Rooster Teeth’s Best Legacy Is The Parody That’s Actually Better Than The Original

Halo has been an interesting adaptation, but the Paramount live-action series is not actually the best on-screen reinvention of the Halo video game franchise. Halo has generated controversy since it first premiered due to its willingness to make serious changes to the world of the original games. The show has tried to be a lot of things at once, with Halo‘s characters going through some interesting shifts and changes. While it has improved across the course of season 2, Halo is a uniquely compelling but frustrating show.

By contrast, a far earlier attempt to use the Halo series as a springboard for a series has been far more successful, with the show running for over twenty years. Produced by Rooster Teeth, the Halo-inspired Red vs. Blue is set to release its 19th and final season in 2024, coinciding with the announcement that Warner Bros will shutter Rooster Teeth as a production company. It’s worth looking back at the show and highlighting what makes it special, especially in contrast to the big-budget Halo series.

Rooster Teeth’s Red Vs. Blue Is A Parody That Improves Upon Halo

Debuting in 2003, Red vs. Blue began life as a parody of the Halo franchise that has steadily become a more complex and exciting take on the military science fiction genre than the franchise that inspired it. Using the in-game graphics from Halo: Combat Evolved along with newly written dialogue and direction, Red vs. Blue premiered as a comedic riff on the franchise. The series initially focused on the titular Red and Blue squadrons assigned to a remote outpost on a distant world. Although the two are nominally mortal enemies, their conflict is less epic war and more snarky bickering.

Even as the scope of the series became larger and more intricate, the series has never really lost sight of that comedic edge. The characters are portrayed as goofy and grounded despite the setting. The series steadily refined a varied sense of humor that can utilize explosive slapstick, dialogue-driven bits, and absurdist comedy. Talking bombs, debates about time travel, and Ralph Wiggum-levels of idiocy have driven the show for over two decades. Playing with the tropes often associated with military-inspired sci-fi and sci-fi tropes in general, Red vs. Blue has developed into a consistently hilarious showcase for over two decades.

Red Vs. Blue Was Packed With Great Action

Although Red vs. Blue was primarily a comedy, the show has developed a knack for creative action that would put other shows to shame. As the animation on the series became more fluid thanks to increased budgets and better technical elements, the team behind Red vs. Blue were able to push the boundaries of the show to surprising heights. Characters like Tex, originally introduced as supposedly unstoppable fighting machines, got the chance to showcase their skills. Fight scenes used the Halo franchise’s wide assortment of weapons and gadgets to great effect, showcasing an inventiveness that Halo can’t always match.

Coupled with a continued commitment to comedy, many of the show’s best fight scenes were able to blend these elements together effectively. This was perhaps best illustrated with the Meta, one of the show’s antagonists. Hidden behind a golden and featureless helmet, the Meta targeted other soldiers so he could kill them and claim their A.I. guidance systems, increasingly turning him into one of the most dangerous forces in the series. Battles against him were chaotic and thrilling, with plenty of smooth action beats that also featured some of Red vs. Blue‘s funniest gags.

Red Vs. Blue Is More Complex Than Paramount’s Halo

What makes Red vs. Blue particularly special in the long run is how ambitious the series steadily became on a storytelling level. The goofy parody eventually gave way to a more complex story about A.I. and the effect that war can have on someone. Characters like Church, initially introduced as snarky soldiers, were slowly revealed to be driven by more complicated backstories. The program that birthed soldiers like the Meta stemmed from tragic attempts to restore lost loved ones, slowly peeling back to reveal a more complicated look at questions about existence and identity.

Red vs. Blue mines the faults and flaws of the military-industrial complex to great effect, while still highlighting the heroism and dedication of soldiers stuck in that system. While the Halo live-action series has struggled to balance its grander ambitions with its characters, Red vs. Blue made that look easy. The characters have grown from their initial comic forms to more three-dimensional characters, while still retaining goofy memorable elements. While it may not have the budget or attention of Halo, Red vs. Blue has proven over the years to be a more adventurous and compelling take on the franchise.