~*Leonard L. Church*~
Info be Here yo. XD
Name:: Leonard L. Church
Nicknames:: Church, Churchsir, a*****e, Cockbite, whatever Tex and the others can come up with, Epsilon, Alpha, Director
Gender:: Male
Type:: Halo/Red Vs Blue Cosplay
Sexuality:: Bisexual (Just to note, I am NOT pairing him with a Tex cosplay. Ever. They are EX-Boyfriend/Girlfriend in series. For good reasons, from what Church has mentioned in a couple eps. >_> So, basically, anyone that gets Tex for the sole purpose of trying to mate her to Church is going to be sorely disappointed as it won't happen with any Church cosplay I own. Church will also never be paired with any of the A.I. from Project Freelancer due to obvious reasons to those who have actually seen Red Vs Blue.)
Mate/Love Interest:: Curiosity Core ((Owned by me))
Children:: Sonuvuhbitch ((Owned by me)) , Ima Bastid ((Owned by me)), Snap ((Owned by F a l l a c y)), Damnit ((Owned by me)), and Pest ((Owned by me))
Friends:: Nada
Enemies:: Claims to hate everyone equally.
TvTropes Info::
Info be Here yo. XD
Name:: Leonard L. Church
Nicknames:: Church, Churchsir, a*****e, Cockbite, whatever Tex and the others can come up with, Epsilon, Alpha, Director
Gender:: Male
Type:: Halo/Red Vs Blue Cosplay
Sexuality:: Bisexual (Just to note, I am NOT pairing him with a Tex cosplay. Ever. They are EX-Boyfriend/Girlfriend in series. For good reasons, from what Church has mentioned in a couple eps. >_> So, basically, anyone that gets Tex for the sole purpose of trying to mate her to Church is going to be sorely disappointed as it won't happen with any Church cosplay I own. Church will also never be paired with any of the A.I. from Project Freelancer due to obvious reasons to those who have actually seen Red Vs Blue.)
Mate/Love Interest:: Curiosity Core ((Owned by me))
Children:: Sonuvuhbitch ((Owned by me)) , Ima Bastid ((Owned by me)), Snap ((Owned by F a l l a c y)), Damnit ((Owned by me)), and Pest ((Owned by me))
Friends:: Nada
Enemies:: Claims to hate everyone equally.
TvTropes Info::
Private Leonard L. Church
"There's a very fine line between not listening and not caring. I like to think I walk that line every day of my life."
Voiced By: Burnie Burns
The closest the series has to a proper protagonist, Blue Team's de facto leader (though if Sister's story about promotion is applied to the Blues as it should have been delivered to, it's possible Tucker is now on record as Captain), Only Sane Man, Deadpan Snarker, and world champion Jerkass, although he has a nicer side. Church is a neurotic and almost perpetually angry individual who barely gets along with his teammates. He's killed in a friendly fire incident very early in the series, but quickly returns as a ghost, and later possesses a robotic body. Despite wielding a sniper rifle and acting as the team's designated marksman, he is an awful shot, often emptying an entire clip without hitting anything (in one incident, from two feet away from his target). He wears light blue/cobalt armor, though in "ghost" form his armor is white (and transparent).
Reconstruction offered some surprising character development that explained Church's ability to survive death and possess people: he is actually the remains of the Alpha AI, and the Alpha was based on the mind of Freelancer's Director. Church vehemently insists he's a ghost, not an AI, but was nonetheless willing to work with Agent Washington to fight the Meta, culminating in his erasure by an EMP at the end of the season.
In Recreation and Revelation, Church is "resurrected" in the form of Epsilon. At first a mere shell of his former self, he slowly begins to reassemble his personality, as he tries to reunite with Tex. In the process, he mellows out considerably before trapping himself inside a broken memory unit to reunite with and save Tex, whom the Meta had previously trapped inside. Inside, he begins to relive the Alpha's memories of Blood Gulch, reconciling with his past, and realizing that despite the low points, his life was pretty good.
Throughout Season 9, he relives his memories of the Red vs Blue war through a simulation inside the Epsilon Unit, eventually reuniting with Epsilon-Tex and reconciling his relationship with her. However, the memory unit begins to fail, as the world experiences quakes and he succeeds in resolving his issues with Tex by finally letting go of her memory and deleting her from the simulation. He resigns himself to death, only to discover that the unit wasn't failing, but was being broken open by the Reds and Blues (now with Agent Carolina) as an attempted rescue mission.
Below are tropes relating to Church as a character in general. To see tropes relating specifically to The Alpha (in Seasons 1-6) or Epsilon (in Seasons 7-13), see their respective entries on the AI page (or in the other spoiler tags below).
Associated Tropes For Church in General:
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A literal example: no matter the form, Church just plain can't hit a thing with that sniper rifle of his.
Artificial Intelligence: As revealed in Reconstruction, the Church in The Blood Gulch Chronicles and Reconstruction is the remains of the Alpha AI, of which all other AIs in the series are fragmented Literal Split Personality situations. The next one, in Recreation to the present, is the Epsilon fragment.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: An utterly faint, reluctant, and dubious example of this trope, as he mostly enacts this because he's largely surrounded by incompetents that can't or won't deal with the bigger threat at hand. However, it's strong enough for him to butt heads with Tucker in Season 12 when the latter starts being more proactive.
Cloning Blues: If he can be considered a clone of The Director.
Cosmic Plaything: The universe rarely gives him a break. When given an opportunity to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, he (maybe) winds up responsible for his own death, Sheila and Lopez staging a robot revolution and Tucker getting shot with the rocket launcher. And that's not even getting into the fact he is (until Episode 17 of Season 10) just a broken off fragment of a once-complete Smart AI, he's lost his girlfriend more than once, he gets trapped in the Epsilon capture unit for several months, and he isn't released until he lets go of said girlfriend, more or less for no reason, this time losing her quite possibly forever.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's not actually a moron, just incompetent and neurotic. But still, when it comes down to it, he is a remaining piece of a Smart AI (until Episode 17 of Season 10).
Deadpan Snarker: Whether it's in life or death, he manages to out snark his enemies and allies.
The Determinator: As inept as he can be, you have to give Church credit for trying sometimes.
Heroic Sacrifice: Both Epsilon and the Alpha eventually kill themselves for the greater good. The Alpha does so to detonate the "emp" in Season 6, and Epsilon fragments to run Maine's armour and save the Blood Gulch Crew in Season 13.
Irony: Despite being an Only Sane Man, of the entire Blood Gulch crew (their cuckoolander tendencies aside), he's the one who's actually gone insane. Twice, even!
It's All About Me: Justified as for over a hundred episodes, it kind of was.
The Leader: Considers himself a born leader, and is (unoffically) in charge of Blue Team. Along with that, when the Reds and Blues work together to fight the Big Bad, he's usually the one to take charge. He's a type II, by virtue of simply being the least incompetent of the group.
No Hero to His Valet: Church has a habit of mistaking the fondness his peers have for him with respect.
Only Sane Man: Well, he's the only one of the Blues that seems competent enough to get s**t done.
Other Me Annoys Me: Both his complaints in "Reconstruction" about how annoying the AI fragments are, and when Epsilon comments that both the Alpha and the Director are "kind of a d**k".
When he meets Leonard, Caboose's exagerrated mental version of him, Church remarks: "This guy is kind of an a*****e."
Also when he tries to take advantage of the timeloop he's stuck in to stop the bomb, and meets a load of other Churches from the future who failed everything they tried. They bicker quite a lot.
Virtual Ghost: As a Smart AI, the Alpha was one of Director Leonard Church of Project Freelancer. Epsilon is one, in a sense, to the Alpha.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Tucker. Though Epsilon takes until Season 10 to get to that point.
Walking Spoiler: Despite the fact he is the closest there is to a proper main character, the fact that he is the Alpha AI based on the Director of Project Freelancer, and is later reincarnated as the Epsilon AI following the original's death in Season 6, and plays a major role in the Chorus Trilogy after being Put on a Bus at the end of Season 10, and dies for good at the end of Season 13 are all huge spoilers for the series.
Weapon of Choice: His sniper rifle...or it would be if he could actually hit something with it.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Or, "non-ghost," but either way this is called into question by the end of Reconstruction. Recreation and Revelation seem to infer that Epsilon-Church regards himself equally as human as his teammates, and Word of God is that Epsilon is in fact metastable, meaning that he is just as human as the others.
Younger Than He Looks: As an AI, Church is likely no more than seven years old, though his fragmentation may have stalled his rampancy. Epsilon-Church is even younger; his "Church" form is likely less than two years old, though it's probably been on backup for a long time before then. However, not knowing the amount of time between the flashbacks and The Blood Gulch Chronicles, it is difficult to tell how old they are.
"There's a very fine line between not listening and not caring. I like to think I walk that line every day of my life."
Voiced By: Burnie Burns
The closest the series has to a proper protagonist, Blue Team's de facto leader (though if Sister's story about promotion is applied to the Blues as it should have been delivered to, it's possible Tucker is now on record as Captain), Only Sane Man, Deadpan Snarker, and world champion Jerkass, although he has a nicer side. Church is a neurotic and almost perpetually angry individual who barely gets along with his teammates. He's killed in a friendly fire incident very early in the series, but quickly returns as a ghost, and later possesses a robotic body. Despite wielding a sniper rifle and acting as the team's designated marksman, he is an awful shot, often emptying an entire clip without hitting anything (in one incident, from two feet away from his target). He wears light blue/cobalt armor, though in "ghost" form his armor is white (and transparent).
Reconstruction offered some surprising character development that explained Church's ability to survive death and possess people: he is actually the remains of the Alpha AI, and the Alpha was based on the mind of Freelancer's Director. Church vehemently insists he's a ghost, not an AI, but was nonetheless willing to work with Agent Washington to fight the Meta, culminating in his erasure by an EMP at the end of the season.
In Recreation and Revelation, Church is "resurrected" in the form of Epsilon. At first a mere shell of his former self, he slowly begins to reassemble his personality, as he tries to reunite with Tex. In the process, he mellows out considerably before trapping himself inside a broken memory unit to reunite with and save Tex, whom the Meta had previously trapped inside. Inside, he begins to relive the Alpha's memories of Blood Gulch, reconciling with his past, and realizing that despite the low points, his life was pretty good.
Throughout Season 9, he relives his memories of the Red vs Blue war through a simulation inside the Epsilon Unit, eventually reuniting with Epsilon-Tex and reconciling his relationship with her. However, the memory unit begins to fail, as the world experiences quakes and he succeeds in resolving his issues with Tex by finally letting go of her memory and deleting her from the simulation. He resigns himself to death, only to discover that the unit wasn't failing, but was being broken open by the Reds and Blues (now with Agent Carolina) as an attempted rescue mission.
Below are tropes relating to Church as a character in general. To see tropes relating specifically to The Alpha (in Seasons 1-6) or Epsilon (in Seasons 7-13), see their respective entries on the AI page (or in the other spoiler tags below).
Associated Tropes For Church in General:
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A literal example: no matter the form, Church just plain can't hit a thing with that sniper rifle of his.
Artificial Intelligence: As revealed in Reconstruction, the Church in The Blood Gulch Chronicles and Reconstruction is the remains of the Alpha AI, of which all other AIs in the series are fragmented Literal Split Personality situations. The next one, in Recreation to the present, is the Epsilon fragment.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: An utterly faint, reluctant, and dubious example of this trope, as he mostly enacts this because he's largely surrounded by incompetents that can't or won't deal with the bigger threat at hand. However, it's strong enough for him to butt heads with Tucker in Season 12 when the latter starts being more proactive.
Cloning Blues: If he can be considered a clone of The Director.
Cosmic Plaything: The universe rarely gives him a break. When given an opportunity to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, he (maybe) winds up responsible for his own death, Sheila and Lopez staging a robot revolution and Tucker getting shot with the rocket launcher. And that's not even getting into the fact he is (until Episode 17 of Season 10) just a broken off fragment of a once-complete Smart AI, he's lost his girlfriend more than once, he gets trapped in the Epsilon capture unit for several months, and he isn't released until he lets go of said girlfriend, more or less for no reason, this time losing her quite possibly forever.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's not actually a moron, just incompetent and neurotic. But still, when it comes down to it, he is a remaining piece of a Smart AI (until Episode 17 of Season 10).
Deadpan Snarker: Whether it's in life or death, he manages to out snark his enemies and allies.
The Determinator: As inept as he can be, you have to give Church credit for trying sometimes.
Heroic Sacrifice: Both Epsilon and the Alpha eventually kill themselves for the greater good. The Alpha does so to detonate the "emp" in Season 6, and Epsilon fragments to run Maine's armour and save the Blood Gulch Crew in Season 13.
Irony: Despite being an Only Sane Man, of the entire Blood Gulch crew (their cuckoolander tendencies aside), he's the one who's actually gone insane. Twice, even!
It's All About Me: Justified as for over a hundred episodes, it kind of was.
The Leader: Considers himself a born leader, and is (unoffically) in charge of Blue Team. Along with that, when the Reds and Blues work together to fight the Big Bad, he's usually the one to take charge. He's a type II, by virtue of simply being the least incompetent of the group.
No Hero to His Valet: Church has a habit of mistaking the fondness his peers have for him with respect.
Only Sane Man: Well, he's the only one of the Blues that seems competent enough to get s**t done.
Other Me Annoys Me: Both his complaints in "Reconstruction" about how annoying the AI fragments are, and when Epsilon comments that both the Alpha and the Director are "kind of a d**k".
When he meets Leonard, Caboose's exagerrated mental version of him, Church remarks: "This guy is kind of an a*****e."
Also when he tries to take advantage of the timeloop he's stuck in to stop the bomb, and meets a load of other Churches from the future who failed everything they tried. They bicker quite a lot.
Virtual Ghost: As a Smart AI, the Alpha was one of Director Leonard Church of Project Freelancer. Epsilon is one, in a sense, to the Alpha.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Tucker. Though Epsilon takes until Season 10 to get to that point.
Walking Spoiler: Despite the fact he is the closest there is to a proper main character, the fact that he is the Alpha AI based on the Director of Project Freelancer, and is later reincarnated as the Epsilon AI following the original's death in Season 6, and plays a major role in the Chorus Trilogy after being Put on a Bus at the end of Season 10, and dies for good at the end of Season 13 are all huge spoilers for the series.
Weapon of Choice: His sniper rifle...or it would be if he could actually hit something with it.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Or, "non-ghost," but either way this is called into question by the end of Reconstruction. Recreation and Revelation seem to infer that Epsilon-Church regards himself equally as human as his teammates, and Word of God is that Epsilon is in fact metastable, meaning that he is just as human as the others.
Younger Than He Looks: As an AI, Church is likely no more than seven years old, though his fragmentation may have stalled his rampancy. Epsilon-Church is even younger; his "Church" form is likely less than two years old, though it's probably been on backup for a long time before then. However, not knowing the amount of time between the flashbacks and The Blood Gulch Chronicles, it is difficult to tell how old they are.
Alpha
Attribute: N/A
I'm tired. I'm just... really tired.
The original Artificial Intelligence acquired by Project Freelancer. Since they needed more, they subjected it to enough stress and mental torture to cause it to fracture, and harvested the fragments as partners for their special agents. What remained of the original was sequestered away at a backwater outpost, where it convinced itself that it was human based on the memory fragments remaining from the human intelligence it was based off of. In another major twist, Reconstruction's epilogue revealed not only was Church the Alpha, but the Alpha itself was based off the mind of Doctor Leonard Church, the Director of Project Freelancer himself.
The whole and complete Alpha himself shows up in Season 9. He's more or less exactly as flippant and cocky as Church, with the addition of being a genius. Season 10, on the other hand, shows his Cold-Blooded Torture and Its aftermath.
Tropes relating to The Alpha/Alpha-Church
Amnesiac Lover: All of his memories of and feelings for Tex vanished when he sheared off Epsilon. Tex was naturally upset when she found this out.
Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: He had his moments with Tex.
Badass Boast: In Episode 19 of Season 6, only notable because he's essentially acting as an AI god talking to a fanatical follower. That, and also his Famous Last Words.
Alpha: Hi there!
Alpha: When it goes off, I'll be fine. It only affects computers, remember? And I am a ********' ghost.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil: While he isn't all that evil, the immense torture he suffered at the hands of Project Freelancer probably contributed to his vicious temperament.
Berserk Button: Many, but mostly Caboose.
Body Surf: A trait that Omega inherited.
Boomerang Bigot: His fervent and justifiable dislike of AIs and Project Freelancer eventually makes him one of these during Reconstruction in a rather literal display of You Are What You Hate.
Break the Haughty: He started out as a Servile Snarker to the Director. Then it got a whole lot worse for him as he was subsequently forced into countless no-win scenarios to repeatedly drive him insane.
Broken Angel: Washington notes that, due to all the trauma Church has been through, it's impossible for him to access most of his AI functions.
Character Death: Killed by the "emp" at the climax of Season 6, though Epsilon is technically a case of Back from the Dead. Though, it's worth mentioning that the Freelancer Project's official position of "It's cheaper to store it than it is to delete it", could be leveraged as a way to bring Alpha and all the other original fragments back for real
Despair Event Horizon: Throughout all the Mind Rape that the Director put him through, as Alpha was led to believe that the Freelancers were dying due to his miscalculations, he fragmented parts of himself, but remained stable enough to keep his memories. It was only when he was told that Tex died because of him that he finally broke under all the pressure and sheared off his memories.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Alpha-Church, in the finale of Reconstruction, sacrificing himself to distract the Meta and his AI helpers long enough for Wash to activate the "emp".
Empty Shell: Post-Mind Rape, before he was sent to Blood Gulch Canyon.
Famous Last Words:
Alpha-Church: It only affects computers, remember? And I am a ******** ghost.
The Fatalist: After failing to alter the timeline, he decides that everything is set in stone, but that one should make the best of it.
Alpha-Church: No matter how bad [things] seem, they can't be any better, and they can't be any worse, because that's the way things ******** are, and you better get used to it Nancy. Quit yer bitching.
Foil: To Sarge during The Blood Gulch Chronicles. The two of them seem to be the only soldiers that want to actually win against the other team, are verbally (and often physically) abusive towards their subordinates, and have some troubling anger issues. However, while Sarge blindly hates anything associated with the Blues, Church hates the Reds, his own allies, and everyone else for much more personal and intimate reasons.
Flanderization: At the beginning of the series, Church was merely a bad shot with the sniper rifle. By the time Reconstruction came around, he's unable to hit a target at point blank range despite firing an entire magazine full of rounds.
The Hero: Lazy and self-interested, he tries to avoid this but in Reconstruction, he's finally able to pull off one genuine, heroic Crowning Moment of Awesome that turned out to be a Dying Moment of Awesome.
Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to distract the Meta long enough for Washington to activate the "emp".
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Has absolutely horrendous aim. It goes from being nearly completely incapable of using his Sniper Rifle effectively in Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles to being unable to shoot a man standing still two feet in front of him with a handgun in Reconstruction. As proven, however, this is a Justified Trope. He is the Virtual Ghost of a Non-Action Guy, so it is pretty reasonable that he would be a terrible shot. Doesn't explain why he was given a sniper rifle at all, however.
Informed Flaw: Project Freelancer supposedly removed his rage, deceit, and fallibility. Needless to say, Church has those qualities in spades.
Jerkass: His final lines in The Blood Gulch Chronicles are basically a list of reasons of why he hates the Blood Gulch crew. In Revelation, he turns out to have been a Jerkass Woobie all along.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite acting like a total jerk, it's shown that he has some caring behavior for Tex and even Caboose at times.
Knight in Sour Armor: Very cynical. Nevertheless, push comes to shove, he'll try to do the right thing.
Literal Split Personality: All AIs aside from (to a degree) Tex/Beta are personality aspects that the tortured Alpha sheared off to protect itself, explaining why Alpha-Church has no problem reintegrating with his various aspects, such as Omega, or agrees with the logic of Delta, his own logic.
The Masochism Tango: With Tex.
The Neidermeyer: A far more subtle example than Sarge, but he's one of these during the early seasons of the show nonetheless. Endlessly sarcastic and condescending, he has no qualms about injuring or endangering his own men to gain meager tactical advantages and to satisfy his own personal goals. Even Tucker, the closest thing he has to a real friend in the show, is not spared from his vitriol; their first onscreen exchange has Church blowing up at him, his last words to his alarmed teammate had him confess that he hated him even more than the Reds, and he all but allowed The Alien to ruthlessly throttle Tucker For Science!. It's little wonder that while Tucker is fond of him, he pointedly refuses to acknowledge Church as his CO (or any colloquialism that implies a position of leadership) when he tries to pass himself off as such near the middle of the fourth season.
Omnicidal Maniac: Season One has him moon over the idea of blowing up a planet with his newly acquired tank.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Has happened to him a total of three times, however, he is remotely fine with his last relocation as he's alone and thus doesn't have to put up with any of his annoying former cast members.
Senseless Sacrifice: Though stopping the Meta by possessing it and letting himself be killed by the EMP is one of Church's most awesome moments, it didn't actually accomplish much. Sure, it destroyed the AI, but the Meta survived, Project Freelancer was not brought down, and Wash was arrested. The only real good it did was stop the Meta from finishing Wash off.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Tex.
Spell My Name with a "The": He's known as "the Alpha", though the "the" is omitted when speaking to him directly.
Tomato in the Mirror: Though he denies it strongly before his death.
Unreliable Narrator: In-universe. If he tells you about something in his past, his account is probably less than accurate. It's not his fault, due to his Mind Rape as Alpha and breakdown as Epsilon.
Wham Line: In Episode 16 of Season 6. Not said by him, but to him, effectively making one of the bigger Cerebus Retcons in the series.
Washington: Church, there's no such thing as ghosts. You're one of them. You're an A.I. You... are the Alpha.
Attribute: N/A
I'm tired. I'm just... really tired.
The original Artificial Intelligence acquired by Project Freelancer. Since they needed more, they subjected it to enough stress and mental torture to cause it to fracture, and harvested the fragments as partners for their special agents. What remained of the original was sequestered away at a backwater outpost, where it convinced itself that it was human based on the memory fragments remaining from the human intelligence it was based off of. In another major twist, Reconstruction's epilogue revealed not only was Church the Alpha, but the Alpha itself was based off the mind of Doctor Leonard Church, the Director of Project Freelancer himself.
The whole and complete Alpha himself shows up in Season 9. He's more or less exactly as flippant and cocky as Church, with the addition of being a genius. Season 10, on the other hand, shows his Cold-Blooded Torture and Its aftermath.
Tropes relating to The Alpha/Alpha-Church
Amnesiac Lover: All of his memories of and feelings for Tex vanished when he sheared off Epsilon. Tex was naturally upset when she found this out.
Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: He had his moments with Tex.
Badass Boast: In Episode 19 of Season 6, only notable because he's essentially acting as an AI god talking to a fanatical follower. That, and also his Famous Last Words.
Alpha: Hi there!
Alpha: When it goes off, I'll be fine. It only affects computers, remember? And I am a ********' ghost.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil: While he isn't all that evil, the immense torture he suffered at the hands of Project Freelancer probably contributed to his vicious temperament.
Berserk Button: Many, but mostly Caboose.
Body Surf: A trait that Omega inherited.
Boomerang Bigot: His fervent and justifiable dislike of AIs and Project Freelancer eventually makes him one of these during Reconstruction in a rather literal display of You Are What You Hate.
Break the Haughty: He started out as a Servile Snarker to the Director. Then it got a whole lot worse for him as he was subsequently forced into countless no-win scenarios to repeatedly drive him insane.
Broken Angel: Washington notes that, due to all the trauma Church has been through, it's impossible for him to access most of his AI functions.
Character Death: Killed by the "emp" at the climax of Season 6, though Epsilon is technically a case of Back from the Dead. Though, it's worth mentioning that the Freelancer Project's official position of "It's cheaper to store it than it is to delete it", could be leveraged as a way to bring Alpha and all the other original fragments back for real
Despair Event Horizon: Throughout all the Mind Rape that the Director put him through, as Alpha was led to believe that the Freelancers were dying due to his miscalculations, he fragmented parts of himself, but remained stable enough to keep his memories. It was only when he was told that Tex died because of him that he finally broke under all the pressure and sheared off his memories.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Alpha-Church, in the finale of Reconstruction, sacrificing himself to distract the Meta and his AI helpers long enough for Wash to activate the "emp".
Empty Shell: Post-Mind Rape, before he was sent to Blood Gulch Canyon.
Famous Last Words:
Alpha-Church: It only affects computers, remember? And I am a ******** ghost.
The Fatalist: After failing to alter the timeline, he decides that everything is set in stone, but that one should make the best of it.
Alpha-Church: No matter how bad [things] seem, they can't be any better, and they can't be any worse, because that's the way things ******** are, and you better get used to it Nancy. Quit yer bitching.
Foil: To Sarge during The Blood Gulch Chronicles. The two of them seem to be the only soldiers that want to actually win against the other team, are verbally (and often physically) abusive towards their subordinates, and have some troubling anger issues. However, while Sarge blindly hates anything associated with the Blues, Church hates the Reds, his own allies, and everyone else for much more personal and intimate reasons.
Flanderization: At the beginning of the series, Church was merely a bad shot with the sniper rifle. By the time Reconstruction came around, he's unable to hit a target at point blank range despite firing an entire magazine full of rounds.
The Hero: Lazy and self-interested, he tries to avoid this but in Reconstruction, he's finally able to pull off one genuine, heroic Crowning Moment of Awesome that turned out to be a Dying Moment of Awesome.
Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to distract the Meta long enough for Washington to activate the "emp".
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Has absolutely horrendous aim. It goes from being nearly completely incapable of using his Sniper Rifle effectively in Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles to being unable to shoot a man standing still two feet in front of him with a handgun in Reconstruction. As proven, however, this is a Justified Trope. He is the Virtual Ghost of a Non-Action Guy, so it is pretty reasonable that he would be a terrible shot. Doesn't explain why he was given a sniper rifle at all, however.
Informed Flaw: Project Freelancer supposedly removed his rage, deceit, and fallibility. Needless to say, Church has those qualities in spades.
Jerkass: His final lines in The Blood Gulch Chronicles are basically a list of reasons of why he hates the Blood Gulch crew. In Revelation, he turns out to have been a Jerkass Woobie all along.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite acting like a total jerk, it's shown that he has some caring behavior for Tex and even Caboose at times.
Knight in Sour Armor: Very cynical. Nevertheless, push comes to shove, he'll try to do the right thing.
Literal Split Personality: All AIs aside from (to a degree) Tex/Beta are personality aspects that the tortured Alpha sheared off to protect itself, explaining why Alpha-Church has no problem reintegrating with his various aspects, such as Omega, or agrees with the logic of Delta, his own logic.
The Masochism Tango: With Tex.
The Neidermeyer: A far more subtle example than Sarge, but he's one of these during the early seasons of the show nonetheless. Endlessly sarcastic and condescending, he has no qualms about injuring or endangering his own men to gain meager tactical advantages and to satisfy his own personal goals. Even Tucker, the closest thing he has to a real friend in the show, is not spared from his vitriol; their first onscreen exchange has Church blowing up at him, his last words to his alarmed teammate had him confess that he hated him even more than the Reds, and he all but allowed The Alien to ruthlessly throttle Tucker For Science!. It's little wonder that while Tucker is fond of him, he pointedly refuses to acknowledge Church as his CO (or any colloquialism that implies a position of leadership) when he tries to pass himself off as such near the middle of the fourth season.
Omnicidal Maniac: Season One has him moon over the idea of blowing up a planet with his newly acquired tank.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Has happened to him a total of three times, however, he is remotely fine with his last relocation as he's alone and thus doesn't have to put up with any of his annoying former cast members.
Senseless Sacrifice: Though stopping the Meta by possessing it and letting himself be killed by the EMP is one of Church's most awesome moments, it didn't actually accomplish much. Sure, it destroyed the AI, but the Meta survived, Project Freelancer was not brought down, and Wash was arrested. The only real good it did was stop the Meta from finishing Wash off.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Tex.
Spell My Name with a "The": He's known as "the Alpha", though the "the" is omitted when speaking to him directly.
Tomato in the Mirror: Though he denies it strongly before his death.
Unreliable Narrator: In-universe. If he tells you about something in his past, his account is probably less than accurate. It's not his fault, due to his Mind Rape as Alpha and breakdown as Epsilon.
Wham Line: In Episode 16 of Season 6. Not said by him, but to him, effectively making one of the bigger Cerebus Retcons in the series.
Washington: Church, there's no such thing as ghosts. You're one of them. You're an A.I. You... are the Alpha.
Epsilon
Attribute: Memory/Insanity
"I don't know what I am, but I do know this: I'm more than just a copy of you. I'm better than you."
An AI formed out of the Alpha's memory centers. It was originally Washington's AI, but it had a mental breakdown inside his head, and was placed into storage. At the end of Reconstruction, it is the only AI to survive the "emp" due to Caboose rescuing it and taking it back to his home base.
Throughout Recreation, Caboose eventually inserts Epsilon's consciousness into a new host (a Forerunner Monitor), and it assumes the identity of Leonard Church. It has also been shown to house the memories of the other AIs in it, and has used them to communicate to Caboose in the past. Epsilon spends Season 9 inside the memory unit, searching for Tex before he decides to "forget" her once and for all. When he is rescued from the unit, he unwillingly teams up with Carolina to take down the Director. While at first the two don't get along, they bond over the course of Season 10, and eventually leave the Reds and Blues behind on Chorus to hunt down some space pirates Carolina caught wind of.
Upon learning of Control's malicious intent and the "third party" in the Chorus civil war, the two infiltrate the Space Pirates' ranks to regroup with the Reds and Blues in Season 12. At first, Tucker is enraged at Epsilon for leaving them behind, but the two apologise and forgive each other by the end of the season.
Tropes relating to Epsilon-Church
Badass Boast: "I am not a 'thing!' My name is Leonard Church, and YOU WILL FEAR MY LASERFACE!!!"
Badass Decay: Intentionally played out in Season 13: Epsilon seems to be falling apart under the stress of battle, even shutting down altogether during the Sharkface/Carolina fight, and Sharkface earlier called him "a failing A.I."
Berserk Button: Washington in Season 8, and the Director in Season 10.
Big Brother Mentor: He somewhat plays this role to Carolina throughout seasons 10-13, what with helping her resolve several of her issues and trying to help her get accustomed to not being in battle-ready mode 24/seven. It's notable however that she's helped him through his own problems at multiple points as well.
But Now I Must Go: Church leaves with Carolina at the end of Season 10, to investigate discovered Freelancer artifacts with her away from the Red and Blue Teams. In Season 12 Episode 16, he admits it was kind of a jerk move to do so without even bothering to say goodbye.
Chivalrous Pervert: In Season 10, Epsilon was transferred to a mongoose. Carolina... well, rode him through the desert and into a stronghold. After they had a moment, Church admits that he's... rather uncomfortable over it.
Cool Big Bro: Once he and Carolina find some common ground he starts to act like this towards her, although it's definitely a downplayed example.
This behavior also extends to Caboose a bit during seasons 12 and 13, as he's a bit more caring towards his companions and more willing to show it than he was in previous seasons. Instances of this include him debugging Freckles, calling Caboose buddy here and there, and reminding Tucker to pack Caboose a lunch when they're going out on a field mission.
Dogged Nice Guy: While Alpha is rude to Tex, Epsilon is very nice to her, even when she betrays him multiple times.
A God Am I: Played for Laughs after Epsilon is uploaded into a Monitor body.
Heroic BSOD: Literally when Carolina uses him too much in the fight against Sharkface, causing him to crash out of hopelessness.
Hypocrite: He spends the majority of Season 10 rightfully telling Carolina that she needs to let go of the past if she's ever going to be at peace with herself, yet he's still unwilling to let go of his own vendetta against the Director even when everyone else rightly points out that going after the guy won't solve anything and might get them all killed. Eventually, when Carolina herself realizes this, she just tells him what he's been telling her all this time.
Image Song: "I Am the Best"
Insult of Endearment: Quite affectionately refers to his Red and Blue friends as "assholes" during the Chorus arc.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He inherited the Alpha's anger issues, but the major difference between them is that Epsilon actually acknowledges his faults and resolves to be more patient towards his friends. He eventually grows more docile as the series goes on, especially from his return in Season 12 onwards.
Last of His Kind: As of the end of Season 9, he is the last remnant of the Alpha, with the original Alpha, most fragments, Beta, and Epsilon-Tex all dead. Then again, this may be a case of Many Spirits Inside of One.
Left Hanging: The tragic nature of his death, as he laments in his final moments. Despite sacrificing himself to allow Tucker to use Maine's armour in the hopes of giving the Reds and Blues a chance of survival against all of the remaining mooks aboard the Staff of Charon in Charon's last stand, he'll never know whether they survived, or whether his death made any impact at all.
Literally Shattered Lives: In Season 13 Episode 10, when Epsilon falters under stress, the visions of the AI fragments slowly shatter apart, followed by Epsilon himself, showing his deteriorating condition. It happens again in the finale, when he sacrifices his life for good, and comprises the final shot of the season before the cut to credits.
Living Memory: Epsilon is, quite literally, the memories of the Alpha since at least before the split from it. He can also access other AI memories if he has uploaded the information necessary. As of Episode 17 of Season 10, he "remembers everything", with his avatar changing from a glowing, blue, miniature representation to a full-sized character in white armor similar to how Alpha Church was represented out of body in the original series. This signifies that he's become Alpha 2.0 — although it seems to wear off after he loses his temper.
Nice Guy: Well, he's still an a**, it wouldn't be Church if he wasn't. However after season 10 he's shown to be much less likely to snap at others over minor reasons, has a (somewhat) bigger pool of patience, partakes in more playful manner/comments than before, and is overall more mellow than Alpha was. But again, this is just in comparison to Alpha and any pre-season 10 developments. He's an a**, but he can be rather nice when he's in a good mood. This is most likely due to the above Jerkass With A Heart Of Gold trope.
Most notable with his interactions with Tex when compared to Alpha's.
Ornamental Weapon: He's just a holographic projection with no physical presence, so there's really no reason for him to have a gun.
Put on a Bus: He and Carolina leave at the end of Season 11, but make their return halfway through Season 12.
Reality Warper: The Blood Gulch simulation in Season 9 is his creation, he can do what he likes to it in the memory unit. Although that doesn't necessarily mean it does precisely what he wants.
Talking to Themself: Epsilon contains the personalities of all the Alpha fragments, including Alpha himself. He can manifest the other AIs separately, though Delta maintains that he's essentially just pretending they're separate AIs, rather than just memories of them, because he likes to have someone to talk to.
That Man Is Dead: Subverted. Epsilon-Church clearly distinguishes between himself and Alpha, but seems to fully identify himself as "Church". He still answers to Epsilon, though, which is what Washington and Carolina call him.
Took a Level in Badass: Epsilon's still no fighter, but the stunts he pulled in Episode 21 of Season 10 (helping Caboose get angry, as well as splitting up to reach out to Tex) were pretty impressive.
Again in Season 12 where he demonstrates what a smart AI is capable of by working out the best, safest way for Carolina to knock out three incoming security guards.
Wham Line: "I just remembered...everything."
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Carolina expresses doubt about being able to find the Director when Tex couldn't, Church gives a surprising example of this:
Church: Agent Carolina? If Tex was really the best, then she would be standing here right now. Not you.
Attribute: Memory/Insanity
"I don't know what I am, but I do know this: I'm more than just a copy of you. I'm better than you."
An AI formed out of the Alpha's memory centers. It was originally Washington's AI, but it had a mental breakdown inside his head, and was placed into storage. At the end of Reconstruction, it is the only AI to survive the "emp" due to Caboose rescuing it and taking it back to his home base.
Throughout Recreation, Caboose eventually inserts Epsilon's consciousness into a new host (a Forerunner Monitor), and it assumes the identity of Leonard Church. It has also been shown to house the memories of the other AIs in it, and has used them to communicate to Caboose in the past. Epsilon spends Season 9 inside the memory unit, searching for Tex before he decides to "forget" her once and for all. When he is rescued from the unit, he unwillingly teams up with Carolina to take down the Director. While at first the two don't get along, they bond over the course of Season 10, and eventually leave the Reds and Blues behind on Chorus to hunt down some space pirates Carolina caught wind of.
Upon learning of Control's malicious intent and the "third party" in the Chorus civil war, the two infiltrate the Space Pirates' ranks to regroup with the Reds and Blues in Season 12. At first, Tucker is enraged at Epsilon for leaving them behind, but the two apologise and forgive each other by the end of the season.
Tropes relating to Epsilon-Church
Badass Boast: "I am not a 'thing!' My name is Leonard Church, and YOU WILL FEAR MY LASERFACE!!!"
Badass Decay: Intentionally played out in Season 13: Epsilon seems to be falling apart under the stress of battle, even shutting down altogether during the Sharkface/Carolina fight, and Sharkface earlier called him "a failing A.I."
Berserk Button: Washington in Season 8, and the Director in Season 10.
Big Brother Mentor: He somewhat plays this role to Carolina throughout seasons 10-13, what with helping her resolve several of her issues and trying to help her get accustomed to not being in battle-ready mode 24/seven. It's notable however that she's helped him through his own problems at multiple points as well.
But Now I Must Go: Church leaves with Carolina at the end of Season 10, to investigate discovered Freelancer artifacts with her away from the Red and Blue Teams. In Season 12 Episode 16, he admits it was kind of a jerk move to do so without even bothering to say goodbye.
Chivalrous Pervert: In Season 10, Epsilon was transferred to a mongoose. Carolina... well, rode him through the desert and into a stronghold. After they had a moment, Church admits that he's... rather uncomfortable over it.
Cool Big Bro: Once he and Carolina find some common ground he starts to act like this towards her, although it's definitely a downplayed example.
This behavior also extends to Caboose a bit during seasons 12 and 13, as he's a bit more caring towards his companions and more willing to show it than he was in previous seasons. Instances of this include him debugging Freckles, calling Caboose buddy here and there, and reminding Tucker to pack Caboose a lunch when they're going out on a field mission.
Dogged Nice Guy: While Alpha is rude to Tex, Epsilon is very nice to her, even when she betrays him multiple times.
A God Am I: Played for Laughs after Epsilon is uploaded into a Monitor body.
Heroic BSOD: Literally when Carolina uses him too much in the fight against Sharkface, causing him to crash out of hopelessness.
Hypocrite: He spends the majority of Season 10 rightfully telling Carolina that she needs to let go of the past if she's ever going to be at peace with herself, yet he's still unwilling to let go of his own vendetta against the Director even when everyone else rightly points out that going after the guy won't solve anything and might get them all killed. Eventually, when Carolina herself realizes this, she just tells him what he's been telling her all this time.
Image Song: "I Am the Best"
Insult of Endearment: Quite affectionately refers to his Red and Blue friends as "assholes" during the Chorus arc.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He inherited the Alpha's anger issues, but the major difference between them is that Epsilon actually acknowledges his faults and resolves to be more patient towards his friends. He eventually grows more docile as the series goes on, especially from his return in Season 12 onwards.
Last of His Kind: As of the end of Season 9, he is the last remnant of the Alpha, with the original Alpha, most fragments, Beta, and Epsilon-Tex all dead. Then again, this may be a case of Many Spirits Inside of One.
Left Hanging: The tragic nature of his death, as he laments in his final moments. Despite sacrificing himself to allow Tucker to use Maine's armour in the hopes of giving the Reds and Blues a chance of survival against all of the remaining mooks aboard the Staff of Charon in Charon's last stand, he'll never know whether they survived, or whether his death made any impact at all.
Literally Shattered Lives: In Season 13 Episode 10, when Epsilon falters under stress, the visions of the AI fragments slowly shatter apart, followed by Epsilon himself, showing his deteriorating condition. It happens again in the finale, when he sacrifices his life for good, and comprises the final shot of the season before the cut to credits.
Living Memory: Epsilon is, quite literally, the memories of the Alpha since at least before the split from it. He can also access other AI memories if he has uploaded the information necessary. As of Episode 17 of Season 10, he "remembers everything", with his avatar changing from a glowing, blue, miniature representation to a full-sized character in white armor similar to how Alpha Church was represented out of body in the original series. This signifies that he's become Alpha 2.0 — although it seems to wear off after he loses his temper.
Nice Guy: Well, he's still an a**, it wouldn't be Church if he wasn't. However after season 10 he's shown to be much less likely to snap at others over minor reasons, has a (somewhat) bigger pool of patience, partakes in more playful manner/comments than before, and is overall more mellow than Alpha was. But again, this is just in comparison to Alpha and any pre-season 10 developments. He's an a**, but he can be rather nice when he's in a good mood. This is most likely due to the above Jerkass With A Heart Of Gold trope.
Most notable with his interactions with Tex when compared to Alpha's.
Ornamental Weapon: He's just a holographic projection with no physical presence, so there's really no reason for him to have a gun.
Put on a Bus: He and Carolina leave at the end of Season 11, but make their return halfway through Season 12.
Reality Warper: The Blood Gulch simulation in Season 9 is his creation, he can do what he likes to it in the memory unit. Although that doesn't necessarily mean it does precisely what he wants.
Talking to Themself: Epsilon contains the personalities of all the Alpha fragments, including Alpha himself. He can manifest the other AIs separately, though Delta maintains that he's essentially just pretending they're separate AIs, rather than just memories of them, because he likes to have someone to talk to.
That Man Is Dead: Subverted. Epsilon-Church clearly distinguishes between himself and Alpha, but seems to fully identify himself as "Church". He still answers to Epsilon, though, which is what Washington and Carolina call him.
Took a Level in Badass: Epsilon's still no fighter, but the stunts he pulled in Episode 21 of Season 10 (helping Caboose get angry, as well as splitting up to reach out to Tex) were pretty impressive.
Again in Season 12 where he demonstrates what a smart AI is capable of by working out the best, safest way for Carolina to knock out three incoming security guards.
Wham Line: "I just remembered...everything."
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Carolina expresses doubt about being able to find the Director when Tex couldn't, Church gives a surprising example of this:
Church: Agent Carolina? If Tex was really the best, then she would be standing here right now. Not you.
