Grif's Relationships

"There's no "I" in team, Grif."

—Church

"Oh yeah?! Well, there's no "U" either. So I guess if I'm not on the team, and you're not on the team nobody's on the God damn team! The team sucks!"

—Grif in You're the Bomb, Yo

Grif has many relationships with many of the series' characters. Some of his relationships with other characters provide much humor in the series.

Red Team

Grif sees his teammates as annoying friends and avoids doing any work for his group, which often earns him their disrespect. However, he has shown to care for them on several occasions.

Sarge despises Grif and constantly threatens to kill him. He does not consider him a good soldier and constantly berates Grif for his laziness, insubordination and forgetting to bring extra ammunition into battle (Grif's duty). He also appears to hate Grif being near him, even without Sarge's knowledge, shown in Standardized Testing when Sarge says "Why am I so mad all of a sudden?" after Grif runs by. Almost everything Sarge says to Grif is an insult or involves Grif being the target of a threat. Sarge also appoints Grif as the decoy/sacrifice in all of the Red Team's plans, such as planning to construct a "Grif Cannon" when assaulting Zanzibar.

Sarge does sometimes respect Grif's plans and opinions, such as when Grif plans to assist Caboose in tracking down Tucker so there would be more Blues to kill in One New Message. In n+1, Sarge doesn't fire when Grif is in the line of fire to the Meta, even though Sarge's shotgun was loaded, and the Meta would have taken most of the blast, showing Sarge does care about Grif slightly. Although, when he believes Grif died on the cliff, he refuses to look over the edge, hoping that Grif didn't catch a grip. He also has a habit of giving Simmons credit when Grif deserves it.

Despite all of this, Grif does seem to legitimately care about Sarge. This is shown when Grif desperately tries to revive Sarge after he is shot in the head by Caboose in How the Other Half Lives. In Recovering One, Grif pushes Sarge out of the way of a flaming Warthog when the Meta uses his Brute Shot to toss it at them. Also, in n+1, Grif seems to show worry when Simmons states his belief that Sarge is killing himself by approaching the Meta. Regardless of Grif saying he only acts lazy out of dislike of Sarge, throughout the series Grif demonstrates concern for his commanding officer and even desire for Sarge's approval at some points.

When Sarge is injured during the battle of Crash Site Bravo, Grif is genuinely shocked. After he joins the New Republic in hopes to rescue the captured Blood Gulch Crew in Season 12, Grif begins to develop Sarge's traits when commanding his squad, as Simmons notes he subconsciously relates how to lead with Sarge, much to Grif's horror. When they are reunited, Grif and Sarge continue to bicker like they did, with Grif using his superior rank at the time to annoy him. However, Sarge later demands General Doyle promote him to Colonel, simply so he can outrank Grif.

The two seem to have developed some respect for each other during Season 13, even if it is strained. Sarge was shown to be more willing to listen to Grif, follow his suggestions, and occasionally, even follow his orders. This is demonstrated in Temple of the Key when Grif suggests the Reds regroup with Wash, in which Sarge replies, "You just have to suck the fun out of everything, don't you?", but never actively protesting. Another example of the two showing respect to one another is in the final battle in The End, where Grif displays an unusual level of bravado and defiance, to which Sarge chuckles at, and the team prepares for the final fight.

The two seem to have mended their relationship to a certain degree and only seem to fight out of habit. It is unclear if any genuine hatred is felt between the two anymore.

Simmons

Simmons and Grif have a somewhat love/hate relationship and is most likely his most positive relationship among the Reds. When Sarge gets between them, Grif usually ends up being number two, and constantly insults Simmons for being a kiss-ass (in one episode, he also attempts to convince Tex that Simmons is Grif, to save his own skin). Simmons, in turn, insults Grif's stupidity and apathy. The two do seem to be friends on some level, often keeping each other company, working together during missions, and talking.

Simmons does seem to value Grif's life, holding his fire when he stumbled in front of Tex, and risking his own life by diving to save Grif from following the Meta off a cliff. Simmons also seems genuinely upset that Grif "died", sounding depressed and insisting that he look over the edge to make sure Grif is alive, which proves true. Also, when Simmons joined Blue team, Grif was the one who tried to talk him back to the Reds, stating that it wasn't the same without him and if he did return Grif would treat him the same way before. In Season 12 it's shown Grif tries to "man up" Simmons to overcome his nervousness around his squad of girls and Simmons notes that Grif is beginning to act like Sarge, showing the two are concerned for the other's mental being.

When Tucker decides they'll do the rescue mission alone in Self Assessment, Grif is the first to agree, explaining to Simmons he doesn't want to put the recruits in danger for their own selfish reasons. Happy about how Grif has grown, Simmons cries tears of joy. When they later search Crash Site Bravo for the ship's manifest, Grif expresses he's proud of Simmons for no longer kissing up to Sarge. In conclusion, while the two dislike many traits of the other, they have one of the closest friendships out of all the Blood Gulch Crew. Tucker has even come to the conclusion that the two are "madly in love" after only five minutes of listening to them bicker.

In Season 14, it's revealed that Grif and Simmons met each other in basic training at Danger Canyon when the two disrupted training. When they are being scolded for their actions, Simmons is annoyed with Grif's disrespect while Grif is confused with Simmons' desire to make others proud. However, the two soon get along, agreeing not to follow Hammer's plan during their mission at Timberland and develop a bond after witnessing Hammer die. Grif even tries to convince Simmons they should go to the Vegas quadrant after these events to relax, showing he is already fond enough to take a vacation with him.

Donut

Donut seems to like Grif, yet Grif seems to not care for him, holding the opinion that he is unintelligent and annoying. After Donut was crushed by Sister's pelican, Grif even says "What's with all these feelings for Donut?" After the Reds find out that Sister was the one trying to contact them, however, he is the first person to worry about what really happened to Donut. In Relocated: Part Four, before knowing it was Donut, Grif called Donut "Light-ish Red." When Donut returned in Season 11 and acted enthusiastic about being "A group of strapping young men out in the wilderness," Grif responds with "I'm starting to remember why I don't like you."

After the events in Season 12, Grif relationship with Donut seems to improve as time goes on, as he's less annoyed by Donut's comments and even talks pleasantly to him. However in Armonia, Part 2, after Donut mentions that Lopez replaced Grif as the Pelican pilot due to Grif previously crashing it, Grif yells at him.

Lopez

Lopez dislikes Grif simply because of the fact that Sarge programmed him to. Not much notable interaction between these two characters has happened. In one instance, Grif was shocked Lopez was a robot, showing that they don't interact much. However, after Lopez's speech unit was fixed, but only spoke Spanish, Grif started to get annoyed by him because he couldn't understand what he was saying. As the series progressed, Grif and Lopez seemed to have still disliked each other, with Grif's main reason being his annoyance towards Lopez only speaking Spanish.

In Capital Assets, when Lopez tells the Reds at the armory to ensure Jensen never drives a car again due to her terrible skills, Grif (and Simmons) reminds him that they still don't understand him and just "assimilate", infuriating the robot. Their relationship is made worse in Armonia, Part 1, where Grif starts the Pelican's engine when Lopez is fixing it, getting him stuck inside. As Simmons removes him, an enraged Lopez uses his headless body to strangle Grif. As Grif made little attempt to stop Lopez, it's possible that Grif let Lopez strangle him out of guilt.

Hammer

In From Stumbled Beginnings, it's shown that Hammer was Grif and Simmons' drill sergeant during their basic training at Danger Canyon. During this time, it's shown Hammer was quite annoyed of Grif's laziness and avoidance to do training while Grif is confused about him seeking approval from Lieutenant Lieu. He also disagrees with Hammer with his actions on their mission at Timberland, agreeing with Simmons on to only spy on the Blues and return to base instead of attacking the base to find survivors, believing Hammer is reckless.

Despite this, Grif considered Hammer a friend, as when he and Simmons were leaving Grif stated that they were a "wonderful trio" and is shocked by his death. Grif and Simmons later tell the other recruits that Hammer died bravely saving them instead of foolishly, as the two wanted everyone to remember Hammer as the hero he wanted to be.

Blue Team

Despite being rivals, Grif sees no point in facing the Blues. Later on, his relationship with several members of the team improve.

Church

Church sees Grif as the most potentially dangerous member of Red Team. They also spent some time in prison on Sidewinder. During their imprisonment, Grif showed annoyance at Church's constant complaining, although this may have been more a result of their situation. Though Church says to Simmons (posing as a blue) that he thinks Grif is the smartest member of the team, however as Church knew that it was Simmons, this simply may of been a way to wind him up. However, Church later commented to his teammates that he thought Grif was the "craftiest" member of the Red Team and that they should watch out for him, going as far as to compare Grif to himself. Church appears to have some degree of respect towards Grif, and does view him as intelligent. It is possible that due to Grif's logical reasoning, Church views Grif as one of the only really dangerous threats on the Red Team. Grif also does not appear to dislike Church too much, fighting with him less than he fought with others on the blue team, besides Tucker.

Epsilon

Grif treats Epsilon about the same as he did with Church, and vice versa. In Change of Plans, Epsilon calls Grif lazy and blames him and the other Reds and Blues for the cause of all of his problems, which in return disgusts and infuriates Grif, becoming the first of the Reds and Blues to turn his back on Epsilon. However, he later joined the team to save Epsilon and Carolina, stating that if they gave up every time Church got mad, things would have ended long before. While briefly possessing him in Catch Up, No Mustard, Epsilon states his experience of possessing him is like "trying to breathe through a trash can."

Tucker

During The Blood Gulch Chronicles, nothing really happens between the two. They argue a lot in Recreation, with Tucker hinting (possibly to irritate him) that he had had sex with Sister. However, they seem to have become friends in Revelation even going as far as for Grif to tell him his first girlfriend had a dick (which he regrets). In Season 11, Grif insults Tucker for having to exercise everyday.

In Season 12, Grif follows Tucker's training plan when preparing for the potential rescue mission, despite his hatred for exercise. Grif is also the first to agree with Tucker to commence the rescue mission by themselves, showing their relationship has improved overtime. The two seem to get along as good friends, a bit like Grif and Simmons, but with less arguing. Tucker also does give Grif help when needed, which is shown when he insinuated that Grif simply lie about burying the enemy bodies that CT had lead, and gave Grif full credit, showing that the two get along well.

Caboose

Grif finds Caboose as an annoying neighbor or friend instead of an enemy. He has no hatred towards Caboose and is sometimes shown interacting with him casually. However, Grif shows to be angry at Caboose when he mistakes his armor color for yellow or misspells his name. In the Chorus Trilogy, Grif's relationship has improved during their time with the New Republic, though Grif is annoyed by his stupidity still.

Tex

Grif is afraid of Tex, due to her constantly kicking the Red's and Blue's asses. He insulted her when she was the Red's prisoner, saying she wasn't so tough now that her weapon was unloaded, to which Tex casually called him a punk, said she did not require a weapon to kill him, and after Grif mockingly inquired if she would just punch him, made a fake lunge, intimidating him. Later on in Season 3, Grif insulted Tex when she said she lacked the upper body strength to lift the bomb, and Tex later in a rather casual manner after Tucker told her to rip off Grif's arm asked which one was Grif, prompting Grif to identify Simmons as "him."

Grif hit number 7 Why won't she just kill me

Later on in Revelation, when Tex fought the Reds, it was a recurring gag in the fight that she would usually hit him in the groin through various means, causing Grif so much pain he openly inquired why she didn't kill him before collapsing. To describe their relationship in short, Grif shares the common view that Tex is extremely dangerous and intimidating, and tries to avoid contact as much as possible.

Sister

Sister and Grif have a stereotypical brother-sister relationship. When she seems to be in danger, Grif will take action and do what he can to ensure her safety. For example, in the "Fight! Fight!" alternate ending of Episode 100, when Grif assumes Tucker to be threatening her, he kills him. When she appears to be dead in Episode 93, Grif grieves for her. However, when he discovered that she was, in fact, alive and just naked, he calls her a slut, heavily enraged upon seeing her "embarrassing the family," which he seems to care more about than Sister herself.

After Sarge learns from Lopez that the latter "killed" Sister, Grif doubts that she has died, listing examples where she has survived seemingly impossible situations. He also gets very annoyed when Tucker claims that he slept with Sister, implying Grif wants Sister to find a better suitor for her than Tucker or he just doesn't like the idea of Tucker banging her sister. In The End is Near, it's revealed that Sister is indeed alive and that she's overjoyed when she learns Grif is as well.

Washington

Grif originally disliked Washington, (nearly) running him over with the Warthog and jokingly asking, "How's my bumper taste asshole?!" before being shot at by the Freelancer. In Reconstruction Wash seems to have no respect for Grif (or any of the Reds and Blues besides Church for that matter). However by Season 10, Grif has shown to have mellowed out towards Washington, but does retain a manner of disrespect towards him. The latter also has mellowed out to Grif, but retains his view of him being somewhat incompetent. When stranded on Chorus, Grif may have stolen some of Washington's belongings as the two had to recover said items from Grif's room.

Later in season 13, when Grif skips training, Wash makes random soldiers run laps due to Grif's laziness. This later leads to the soldiers ganging up on Grif to stop Wash making them run laps.

Sheila

Due to her constantly attacking the Reds, it's safe to assume Grif dislikes her. Once she ran him over causing him to get an organ transplant from Simmons. At one point, when Simmons claims to be seeing Sheila, Grif sees her, but claims Simmons is acting crazy to annoy him.

Freckles

Grif is afraid of Freckles and is very unwilling to go near him. Grif also considers Freckles a sign of robot domination over the human race. Grif later concocts a plan to trap Freckles in a teleporter cube, however he insists that Donut try it in case it doesn't work for fear for his own life. During their first encounter, Freckles identifies Grif as an "enemy soldier".

Freelancers

Grif sees the Freelancers to be 'badass and scary.' He has stated that the Reds and Blues were out of their league against them, but has learned that if one has a trustful team and friends by their side, they can overcome anything.

Wyoming

Grif likely doesn't like Wyoming due to him leaving him and Church in a cell to rot and shooting the rocket launcher out of Tucker's hands. He later runs over several Wyoming clones using the Warthog when saving the Blues.

Carolina

Like all the Reds and Blues, Grif was confused by Carolina's orders and doesn't hesitate to annoy Carolina with ridiculous excuses such as "snack breaks, bathroom breaks, and stopping to take pictures of funny road signs." He seemed to show no fear when Carolina advanced on him when he disobeyed her orders, hinting that he doesn't have much respect for her. The feeling seems to be mutual as Carolina has little respect for him and the other Reds and Blues as well, calling them "worthless idiots."

However, during True Colors, Carolina saves Grif from being fatally punched in the balls by three Tex-drones. Later in Season 12, she is far more cordial towards him, politely asking how he knew about the teleportation cubes, rather than bitterly such as in the past. However, when Grif accidentally shot at her in Catch Up, No Mustard, she stated she would break his fingers, scaring Grif.

A.I.

Omega

Grif seems to dislike Omega, due to the fact that he attacked and antagonized him and the other Reds and Blues throughout the Blood Gulch Chronicles. Like most of the Reds and Blues, he was briefly possessed by Omega in Why Were We Here?. Although he wanted to "conquer" the universe, he instead takes a nap while he was possessed.

Lopez 2.0

Grif and Lopez 2.0 have had little interaction. Grif was disappointed by the robot's default Spanish language and expressed how he'd like it to be anything other than Spanish. Initially before Lopez 2.0's creation, Grif expressed concerns about robot domination of the human race but now just seems to ignore him. Lopez 2.0 has also stated that it makes him happy to know that Grif is ignored as much as he is. Like everyone else, Grif was surprised by 2.0's betrayal.

New Republic

In Season 12, Grif was assigned his own squad when Kimball promoted him to Captain. According to her, Grif shows much creativity in his training methods, but they often benefit himself.

Bitters

Originally, Grif greatly liked his lieutenant, Bitters, because he considered him a 'maverick'. However, Bitters shows no respect and has a lazy personality like his captain, which slowly angers Grif. Eventually, Grif calls him a "lazy, good-for-nothing, dirtbag" after Bitters eats a jelly cream pie Grif had been saving for years in Reflections. After he realizes he's becoming more like Sarge, Grif supports Tucker's idea to do the rescue mission without the recruits not only to stop himself from becoming like Sarge, but also because he doesn't want the recruits to be harmed for his own selfish reasons, suggesting he still cares about Bitters.

After Grif leaves, Bitters hides his feelings by claiming the captains never cared about them. However, when Felix lies that the Blood Gulch Crew died, Bitters shows he truly cared for Grif, as he leaves the room in a depressing rage. During this time, Grif mentions to Simmons that their squad made them feel important. When the captains and recruits are happily reunited in You Know Who We Are, Bitters states with pride the captains should thank them for picking them up, while Grif retorts that the captains' survival was simply a bonus for saving the planet to the recruits.

Matthews

Matthews shows great respect to Grif and follows his captain's orders, no matter how ridiculous they are as seen in Simmons' journal entry. However, Grif doesn't like Matthews because he considers him a 'kiss-ass' and the latter spies on the Blood Gulch Crew's meeting in Teaming with Problems. When Grif berates Bitters, Matthews stands up to him for going too far, resulting in Grif calling him Simmons. In a way, Grif and Matthews' relationship is similar to the early relationship Grif had with Simmons.

Kimball

Initially, Kimball was very hopeful upon meeting Grif and the other Reds and Blues for the first time in Lost But Not Forgotten, but Grif expressed his doubts that they can do what Kimball thinks they can do. After Kimball grows to learn more about the Blood Gulch Crew, she sees them as misfits though shows her care for them. However, Kimball becomes more annoyed by Grif and his actions during Season 13, constantly placing him on dish duty for his immaturity.

Charon Industries

Grif's interactions with the company were minimal before the Chorus Trilogy. After learning of the Space Pirates' involvement in the Chorus Civil War, he greatly dislikes Charon Industries and its members.

C.T.

Grif most likely disliked the Insurrectionist Leader (known as C.T. at the time) due to the fact that he lied to them and later on tried to kill him. Those feelings were probably mutual, given that C.T. threatened to kill Grif when Caboose "disappeared" in Dumb Cop, Bad Cop in order to get Sarge to tell C.T. Caboose's whereabouts. In spite of that, however, Grif responded in a rather casual manner, going as far as to advise C.T. to find someone more important to threaten (as C.T. didn't know of Sarge's apathy towards Grif).

Felix

After Felix explains their situation in FAQ, Grif back talks to Felix when the group refuse to help the New Republic, despite the fact the latter came to save them. Although he was one of the four to escape the battle in Crash Site Bravo with Felix, Grif seems to dislike Felix, such as for humiliating their rescue team in Training Daze. Grif also states to Felix "I think I liked you better when you thought we were super soldiers," when he tells them to not attempt to rescue their friends in Something Else Entirely. When Felix reveals his betrayal by working with the Space Pirates and taunts the Blood Gulch Crew, their relationship becomes even worse.

In Season 13, fortunately, Grif and the other Reds and Blues get their payback on Felix when the mercenary attempts to attack them in The End is Near. During the fight, Grif tells Felix, "You give orange dudes a bad name!" and takes joy at the latter's death. He seemed curious as to how Felix and Locus died, apparently hoping it was "slow and painful," and then expressing joy when Felix was killed, stating "That was way better than incineration!"

Locus

When Locus incapacitates Donut, Sarge, and Wash during the battle at Crash Site Bravo, Grif develops a hatred for the mercenary. Locus has never refereed to Grif alone, but expresses his disgust for the Reds and Blues for causing a "blemish on [his] record." Grif also has a great distrust toward Locus, as when the mercenary offers the Blood Gulch Crew a ship to leave Chorus freely if they don't mention what has happened to the planet in Multiple Choice, Grif replies with "I'm gonna go ahead and call bullshit on that."

Other

Doc

When the Reds first take Doc in as a prisoner he and Grif become friends, discussing incompetent medical practices but once realizing no one likes him, Doc abandoned him. Later Grif did the same to Doc, but their interactions were minimal until Season 11. In Worst Laid Plans, Grif insults Doc for the failed rescue and Doc later criticizes Grif for playing with the untested Teleportation Cubes. After Grif teleports Doc away in Ready…Aim…, he and the other Reds and Blues completely forget about his absence. When Doc does return in Season 13, Grif finally realizes that he was absent, though doesn't seem to care.

After the Blood Gulch Crew beg Doc to help them once they return to Armonia, Doc gives an example with Grif how a role-playing session can help mend Kimball's and Doyle's relationship, but Doc goes into his O'Malley personality and insults Grif and his family during the example, saddening Grif. Because of this and the fact Grif is responsible for his disappearance, it's implied that Doc now despises Grif (knowingly or not).

Andy

When Grif spied on the Blues in Defusing the Situation, he saw them trying to calm Andy down, much to his confusion. In Season 5, when Grif and Simmons enter the caves, they are drugged by Omega's group with Andy, who then interrogates Grif after kidnapping him. During this time, Andy insults Grif while Grif is left confused of his betrayal.