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| “ | Everything can be traced back to Project Freelancer, a military organization gone horribly wrong. The men in charge were corrupt and the soldiers who followed them were blind. Guess which side I was on? Eventually it was the project's own creations that tore it to pieces and I was the one sent out to pick them up. I recovered weapons, armor, and A.I. fragments, all in an effort to keep the wrong people from getting them first; but I was too slow. Everyone fought over the remnants of Project Freelancer. I didn't think I could believe in anyone anymore. But then... I met the Reds and Blues. | „ |
| ~ Washington summing up his experience of Project Freelancer in a journal entry in One-Zero-One |
Freelancer Agent Washington, also known as Recovery One, Prisoner 619-B, real name David, or simply Wash for short, is the main protagonist in his eponymous mini-series and a main character in Red vs. Blue overall. First introduced in the series' second saga, the Recollections, Washington was once a Freelancer assigned to the Special Operations Recovery Unit, where he was charged with recovering the artificial constructs of dying Freelancers.
Personality[]
Originally, Washington was very kind, compassionate, and obedient. He interacted very well with the other Freelancers, specifically York, North and on occasion, Carolina, and his compassion and understanding led him to comfort others during times of trouble. When C.T. returned from a failed mission, Wash attempted to tell her that it wasn't entirely her fault, but was rebuked when she claimed he was just making excuses. Although he was quite naive and somewhat immature during his early career as a Freelancer, acting like a child towards anything that piqued his curiosity, Wash could be serious when the situation required it. He wasn't afraid to voice his opinions; an example of this is when he accused Maine and Wyoming of protocol violation after York's injury to the Director.
After the trauma he sustained from Epsilon's breakdown, Wash's personality took a drastic change. Now knowing about the horrors the Director inflicted on Alpha, Washington became cynical, jaded and somewhat cold-hearted. His interaction with other soldiers and A.I. units was cold and professional, limited only to tactical input and vital information about missions. He showed little remorse when he discovered his friends had been killed (Though he did attempt to comfort South for the loss of her brother, albeit barely letting her have any time with him).
Washington also has very little tolerance for disloyalty; a prime example was when he expressed his desire for retribution against South's betrayal, as well as threatening to kill Carolina if she hurt his friends. He was extremely ruthless in completing his objectives, whether it be revenge or freedom, unhesitatingly killing South, executing Lopez, and shooting Donut. Wash was also callous, killing the Alien survivors of C.T.'s dig team with The Meta out of mere annoyance and impatience. Alongside his grittier demeanor, Wash had also become cunning and charismatic, setting up plans to defeat The Meta and shut down Project Freelancer long before the events actually occurred.
He had his methods of keeping the Reds and Blues in line, from simple bargains to keeping them informed of possible consequences of them not following his orders. Though he was still capable of some kindness, such as helping the Reds and Blues escape from Command whilst telling them to be careful and treating Caboose with fatherly care, despite his immense stupidity. He eventually comes to care greatly for the Reds and the Blues, showing fierce loyalty towards them and seeing them as a new family and place to belong. After Carolina threatens Tucker with her rifle, Wash finally realizes that she had crossed the line and, in turn, threatens her at gunpoint. Washington feels responsible for the problems he caused them in the past and wants to prevent more from happening to them.
Skills and Abilities[]
Combat[]
Despite lacking the advantage of an A.I., Agent Washington demonstrates formidable combat ability in Recovery One, Reconstruction and Revelation. He held his own for a while against Agent Wyoming, managed to drive off The Meta, and managed to take down two Hornets single-handedly. Washington seems to have an incredible level of skill with firearms, being able to fire his Battle Rifle accurately in one hand while being run over by the Warthog and cock Sarge's shotgun one-handed in midair, and fire a Fuel Rod Cannon, despite having never seen it, let alone wielded it, before, and shooting a Rocket Launcher out of the Sleeveless Insurrection Soldier's hand while falling down.
A battle rifle is Washington's symbol on the Freelancer leader board and he has shown unmatched skill with it, being able to draw and fire it with his left hand faster than The Meta could lift his Brute Shot in n+1. He also appears to be adept at using knives, as seen when he greatly injured The Meta with Tex's Combat Knife in the same episode. Wash was also able to shoot a speeding Tex in the back during their battle. When the situation calls for it, Washington is also quite skilled at infiltration tactics.
Washington seems to be adept at hand to hand combat, as was seen in his fight against Agent Texas in Revelation, as he was able to trade several blows with her before being knocked back. During Season 12, Wash fights a vicious duel with Felix, utilizing his battle rifle's skills to disarm Felix of the latter's DMR, and when Felix closes to melee range, he again uses his battle rifle and hand to hand combat skills to block Felix's attempts to stab him with a knife, demonstrating exceptional reflex time. Furthermore, in Season 13, Wash holds his own against both Felix and Locus in one-on-one fights, holding the upper hand against Felix for the majority of their fight and even taking Locus by surprise.
Washington also proves himself to be extremely adaptive and a quick thinker. When attempting to reveal Locus during the assault on Crash Site Alpha, he used his own helmet to bait Locus into firing and, with the help of Smith and Bitters, caught the vapor trail. In Great Destroyers he baited Locus' sniper fire again, this time by throwing a grenade up at the mercenaries, allowing him to damage the rifle's scope while Locus was distracted. When fighting a cloaked Locus, Wash uses a knife he caught from Felix to slit his own hand and throws blood around himself, revealing Locus' position.
Resilience[]
Washington has an almost extraordinary ability to survive fatal situations, whether being saved by his allies, circumstances or physical resilience and displays an indomitable will to achieve whatever he wants, whether it be revenge or freedom. He has also shown great patience, having harbored rebellious thoughts against Project Freelancer and the Director for many years before turning on them and is never shown to be frustrated during his hunt for Epsilon, despite the many setbacks. Wash also appears to have a high pain threshold, cutting his own hand and using his blood to expose a cloaked Locus in battle.
Leadership[]
Despite his early days in Project Freelancer, Wash has grown to become an impeccable leader and has been shown to support his comrades, advise them, and take charge of situations numerous times throughout the series. In addition, after getting to know the Reds and Blues, Wash is also willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of his comrades. In Reconstruction, Wash led the Reds and Blues in the destruction of Project Freelancer, and allowed them to escape while he went to prison.
During his pursuit of Epsilon, Wash took command over The Meta, but the latter betrayed him. In Fire, Wash led and supported the Reds and Blues during the battle of Crash Site Bravo and later gained the respect of both the Federal Army and New Republic due to his leadership.
Kills[]
Washington has killed multiple enemies throughout the series; most notably South Dakota and the Freelancer A.I.s (excluding Epsilon) with the EMP, including Tex and Church:
- Several Insurrectionists
- South Dakota
- Valhalla Hornet Pilot
- Church
- Tex
- Delta
- Omega
- Gamma
- Sigma
- Theta
- Eta and Iota
- Various Aliens
- 1 Command Soldier
- Several Tex Drones
- Several Feds
- Several Space Pirates
- Sharkface
Relationships[]
Washington seems to dislike or distrust almost every character he meets. However, by Season 10, he seems to have become kind towards the Reds and Blues, since they are the only friends he's had in years, stating that "they're not that bad, once you get to know them."
Trivia[]
- Washington was in possession of York's healing unit during Reconstruction: Chapter 11 when he uses it to stabilize Caboose. This could be the reason for his remarkable survival skills, as most of his miraculous survivals occurred after finding York's dead body.
- Washington's original armor enhancement was revealed to be an EMP Unit, where he used it to disable two Warthogs in the episode Fall From Heaven. This explains his apparent knowledge of the pronunciation of EMP.
- In Reconstruction, Wash uses a particular armor enhancement: the 'BioCom,' which allows him to check on a teammate's vital signs during battle, as he used it in Chapter 10 (Although, it's possible this is just standard issue to all commanding officers or Recovery Agents, or even perhaps it is in all armor sets and, much like the megaphone/speech amplification, it is just not known by the Blood Gulch soldiers).
- It is also possible that his armor enhancement is the voice modulator that The Meta has at the end of Chapter 4. It has the symbol for Epsilon on the corner of it, which was Wash's A.I. It is possible that The Meta took this enhancement at the end of Recovery One.
- Washington's prisoner number (619-B) is a reference to the address of Rooster Teeth's office building which is 619 B Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701.
- According to Burnie Burns, Washington was the last Freelancer to be officially active, as his pursuit of Epsilon allowed him to get out of jail. All the Freelancers at that time other than Wash had been KIA, had gone rogue or punished after Project Freelancer was shut down.
- Washington was once ranked 6th on the Freelancer leaderboard as shown in Season 9. His rank later increased to fifth, but, in Season 10, returned back to the 6th position.
- Washington has only been portrayed in the Halo: Combat Evolved engine during the DVD menu of Reconstruction. Due to color limitations, this is the only representation of Washington without his yellow markings, being colored completely in Black.
- Washington seems to have had a fear of ending up like Freelancer Georgia, whose fate was caused by a jetpack malfunction.
- During What's the "I" Stand For?, Washington can be seen without his helmet at the Freelancer A.I. course, though his face is not visible. He appears to have spiky blonde hair.
- Washington is one of only four Freelancers whose name has been seen on the Freelancer Ranking board in every scene in which it is featured; the others being York, North Dakota, and Carolina.
- According to Wash in Reconciliation, he was most known for getting his balls stuck by a grappling hook during his time at Project Freelancer.
- Washington, along with Florida, is one of the few Freelancers who did not go rogue and disband from Project Freelancer. Rather, Wash was fired by the Director during Reconstruction: Chapter 19.
- Washington is implied to have motorphobia which is used as a running gag of the show as he's almost always killed by automobiles. An example is in Heavy Metal he says "Why do cars hate me?" when one flies at him which he dodges. Another example is that he screams "...CAR?!" when a warthog almost runs him over in Upon Further Review. He is also chased by a warthog in Fall From Heaven yelling "CAAAAAR!" A minor example is when he almost falls to his death in Fed vs. New, he says "If it's not a car, it's a cliff." Humorously, according to the Red vs. Blue: Ultimate Fan Guide, Wash was late to a session with the Counselor of Project Freelancer due to a "car thing", referencing his running gag with cars. In his own words to the Counselor: "Me and cars don't get along."
