Michael J. Caboose

## Other

### Voice Actors

John Andersmith, Takako Suigara, Takashi Komuro, Rei Miyamoto, Saeko Busujima, Saya Takagi, Kohta Hirano, Takuzo, Naomi, Shizuka Marikawa, Julia Yahiro, Kazu Ishii, Tsunoda, Yamada

"*My name is Michael J. Caboose, and I hate babies!*"
—Caboose in Visiting Old Friends
"Um... what was I suppose to do again?"
—Caboose in Zombies and Ordinary Antics
**Captain Michael J. Caboose/Yukie Takanashi** is a main character in *Red vs. Blue*. Voiced by Joel Heyman, Caboose first appears in The Rookies as a new recruit for the Blood Gulch Blue Team. Caboose is portrayed as one of the most eccentric characters in the series. Consistently shown to be mentally abnormal, his behavior varies from merely somewhat dim-witted in Season 1 to almost completely divorced from reality by Season 3 and onwards. Because of his involvement, he could be considered to be the main protagonist of *Recreation*.

In A Time in the Universe, he is one of the three main protagonists in Season 1 with John Andersmith and Takako Suigara.

## Biography

Caboose can be considered as, by far, the most unintelligent character in the series, although at first this wasn't noticeable. In Season 1, Caboose was dim-witted and less eccentric than he was in later seasons, where he then later showed near detachment from reality. In the course of the series, he has been repeatedly subjected to mental trauma and physical brain damage, which is visible in the downward spiral of his behavior. Because of his intelligence and unusual behavior, he acts very childish: treating serious situations like a game, envious for not being favored at some points, and having illogical reasons for his actions, which frequently earns him the scorn and disrespect of the series' other characters.

Despite this, many characters show care for him, including the Reds, who he treats as neighbors instead of enemies. Caboose always tries to impress Church and help him as well, stating that they are best friends, despite the fact Church is constantly annoyed by him. Partially due to positive early fan reaction, Burnie Burns, the main writer for the series, focused the storyline on Caboose and Donut (Dan Godwin), the Red Team's rookie. The staff later made Caboose less intelligent to add more humor in series. Later on Caboose, arguably, became the most iconic character of *Red vs. Blue*.

In A Time in the Universe, he was chosen as one of the main heroes in Season 1 along with John Andersmith and Takako Suigara.

## Role in the Story.

Three days after the events of Season 13, Michael J. Caboose was celebrating with the rest of the Reds and Blues, Kimball, Emily Grey and the four Lieutenants. However, his celebrations were cut short when Seryu Ubiquitous, a member of the Imperial Army and Revived Charon, used a portal device to send Caboose to multiple universes, dragging John Andersmith along the way.

(TO BE ADDED)

## Relationships

### John Andersmith

Caboose and John are a perfect example of an unbreakable bond.

## Abilities

Michael J. Caboose is described as the strongest member of The Universal Alliance. However, he has developed Insanity, which is an unstable version of his serious side.

(TO BE ADDED)

## Trivia (Original)

* Caboose's name is a reference to actor Michael J. Fox. It may also be a reference to Burnie Burns' given name, "Michael J. Burns".
* Caboose's middle initial "J" stands for Jesus, though it is the Spanish pronunciation.
* Caboose has nine toes, as his left "pinky toe" fell off after Church shot him in the foot as an excuse to get Doc over to him.
* At Battle Creek and during a New Republic training exercise, Caboose 'wrote' his name on the wall of a base in bullets, misspelling it as "CABOSE".
* Caboose is very bad at eulogies. He seems to have no idea what they are as he started Church and Tex's with: "*Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to witness the joining together of Tex, and Church, in eternalness together, smuh- speak now, or forever rest in peace! With liberty… and justice… for all. The end!*" His second one in *Revelation*, while almost salvaging Epsilon's "Parable" quickly deteriorates into another bunch of ceremonial cliches: "*let there be cake, hallelujah, gesundheit!*"
* Caboose used crayons for ammunition in Season 4, although he did not fire a single shot through the whole season.
* It seems Caboose's claims of being a 'vehicle destroyer' are actually true, as seen in his initial appearance in Reconstruction where he had destroyed every single one of the Rat's Nest Blue Team's vehicles on his own, and he is mentioned as having been forbidden from operating heavy machinery for the New Republic.
* According to Tucker in Repent, the End Is Near, Caboose separates everything into two categories: He doesn't understand, or he doesn't care.
* Caboose has only participated in the characters' "SON OF A BITCH!" moments twice. Once after being crushed by the falling debris of Donut's Ghost at the end of the "fight fight!" one of many alternate endings of episode 100 and once before being taken over by O'Malley (The Bitch part of that is spoken by O'Malley).
* In the *Halo 3* engine, Caboose is seen wearing the MJOLNIR Mark V helmet, rather than the Mark VI helmet (With the exception of any appearances made prior to Reconstruction, where he is shown wearing the default Mark VI helmet). When this is pointed out to him, he claims that he was "upgrading", and that "*In a top ten list, five is better than six!*" In reality it's because Caboose and Church would have looked too similar due to their armor coloring, as well as the Mark V's simplistic helmet design, better suiting Caboose's personality. Caboose's helmet choice has proven to be useful, as it made Caboose immune to the effects of the "Armor Lock" safety protocol while the other characters in the Freelancer facility were affected during Revelation. Caboose's Epsilon-double also wears a Mark V helmet in *Halo: Reach*. With the change to Halo 4 however, which initially did not feature the Mark V helmet at the time of Season 11's release, Caboose returned to wearing the Mark VI helmet. When the helmet was later made available through DLC, Caboose once again regained it during the episode Neighborhood Watch.
* Caboose is typically shown carrying an Assault Rifle, the iconic weapon of *Halo: Combat Evolved*, as opposed to the other characters who carry Battle Rifles, the iconic weapon of *Halo 2*.
* Recovery Command has a shortcut on their keyboard for the sole purpose of recording Caboose's team kills: Ctrl + F + U.
* When Washington scans Caboose with a "BioCom" in Reconstruction: Chapter 10, Caboose's Brain Activity is listed as "UNK" (unknown), a reference to his limited intelligence.
* Revealed in Reconstruction: Chapter 18, Caboose can only operate a manual gear system on vehicles, not automatic. The reason for this remains unknown.
* Between *Relocated* and *Recreation*, it's been noted in the Valentine PSA that Church would rip out Caboose's heart and Doc would have to sew it back in.
* Caboose has the most appearances in the second saga of the series out of all characters (58 episodes).
* Caboose has the second highest A.I. count in the series, being beaten only by the Meta, who has had ten. Caboose has had six A.I. (Alpha, Beta, Omega, Delta, Epsilon, and Santa).
* Caboose is the last of the eight main characters to appear animated in Poser. It was stated in the Rooster Teeth Panel at Comic Con 2010 that they had no plans to animate Caboose in Poser as of now (which led to a disappointing outcry from the audience). Though he was planned to be animated in Poser, and by the behind the scenes special feature on the DVD, Monty Oum made a model for Caboose. He was finally shown animated in Poser in the episode "True Colors", fighting alongside the other Reds and Blues against an army of Tex drones.
* Although, Caboose was seen previously rendered with Poser on the Caboosisms poster and, although not done by Rooster Teeth, in the Season 9 PSA, What I Did On My Summer Vacation, where he appeared computer animated by Halo: Reach's in-game cinematic campaign animations.
* After Omega left Caboose the first time, Caboose gained the ability to unlock berserk rage within himself saying "*O'Malley taught me to be mean"* during this enraged state Caboose talks in Omega's deep voice and is capable of incredible destruction. This, however, has only been shown twice in the series, likely due to, as per his claim, forgetting to do so.
* As said above, Caboose has used that ability only twice, but he may have used it off screen. This is hinted in Reconstruction: Chapter 5 when Washington, Caboose, and Church find Sheila. Caboose gets angry when Wash keeps calling Sheila a program prompting Caboose to say, *"Do not speak to her like that, she is not a program!"* Church chose to hide behind Caboose, hinting that he fears his O'Mally state.
	+ In *Halo 4* - Spartan Ops mode, in the last mission of Episode Departure, *The Core*, if the player unlocks an RvB Easter Egg, Caboose will be heard slip in the radio transmissions between the SPARTANS Sarah Palmer, Robert Dalton, and the Majestic Squad.
	+ Caboose, along with Sarge and Grif, is the one of the only characters in the series to appear in every season of *Red vs. Blue*.
	+ Geoff Ramsey made a reference to Caboose and his team kills in *Fails of the Weak: 126;* "*It's like that guy is playing on a team of multiple Cabooses."*
	+ Caboose's promotion to Captain in Season 12 now makes him among the highest ranking soldiers encountered in the series, along with fellow captains Flowers, Grif, Simmons, and Tucker.
	+ Caboose once had a guinea pig named Mr. Frittles, but he unfortunately crushed him to death after "showing him his affection." This is similar to how Lenny from the classic American novel, "Of Mice and Men," accidentally kills a rabbit. Coincidentally, Caboose and Lenny are both fans of small animals, mentally challenged, and freakishly strong.
	+ According to the Red vs. Blue: The Ultimate Fan Guide Caboose was stationed on a station near the moon where he was supposed to fill the suits of the astronauts who went outside with oxygen, but was transferred to Project Freelancer due to not understanding how breathing works in space.
	+ Caboose can apparently understand the font Wing-Dings as mentioned in the episode *Tourist Trap*.
	+ In the 64th episode of Screw Atttack's hit series *Death Battle* Caboose is shown to know about the show, and seems to know Wiz and Boomstick as well.
	+ Caboose has been awarded the purple heart medal after being shot in the foot by church during the blood gulch chronicles and hopes to one day make a full purple person to be his best friend
	+ Although Caboose was introduced in episode 3 of Season 1, his name wasn't stated until episode 9 (when Tucker tells Caboose to get out of the tank just before Sheila is destroyed in an air strike).
	+ Prior to the series, Caboose was born and raised in a colony on the moon with 17 sisters. He joined the army after mistaking a recruiting center for college.
	+ He apparently had to have an illustrated field manual, and apparently at first thought that he had to hold a grenade over his head while it fired arrows at enemies, due to the diagram being unspecific.
	+ In *Why They're Here*, it is revealed Caboose wasn't supposed end up in Blood Gulch and was only there because Flower's corrupted Vic's list.
	+ Caboose shares many similarities to Agent Iowa.
		- Both wear blue armor.
		- Both have relatively low intelligence.
		- Both lost oxygen while in their suits, which likely caused brain damage and probably the cause of low intelligence
		- Both inadvertently destroy vehicles.
		- Iowa's real first name is Mike, a short form of Caboose's first name, Michael.

## Trivia (A Time in the Universe)

* For some reason, Caboose has learned Insanity, an unstable variation of the Yato's killing Intent from Gintama.
* Caboose is currently the first Male Red vs. Blue character to receive a Harem but it has yet to be confirmed by the creator.
* It was confirmed that Caboose will face off against Akame from Akame Ga Kill in one of the episodes.
* Caboose's facial appearance is somehow similar to Yuji Kazami from The Fruit of Grisaia,