- "If they weren't on to you before, they definitely will be now. Come with us Connie. I'm not gonna lose you over this."
- —The leader persuading C.T. to come with him in Follow the Leader
The Leader of Charon's Private Security Forces, also known as C.T. in Recreation, is an Insurrectionist who first appears in the episode Bon Voyage, making only a vocal appearance, and later in My House, From Here making a physical appearance. Initially taking command of a group of Charon Industries soldiers, he later becomes the leader of a desert dig team trying to get their hands on an ancient alien weapon. The Leader serves as a supporting antagonist in the Project Freelancer Saga and the main antagonist in Recreation.
Overview
Before meeting the Reds and Blues, "C.T." was formerly known as the leader of the Insurrection. At some point he and the original C.T., a Freelancer agent, met each other and fell for one another. C.T. began to aid his group by giving them information from Project Freelancer and soon joined him in Season 10. However, after tragedy struck at the Longshore Shipyards, the Insurrectionist Leader took C.T.'s identity. Years later, he became partners with an alien known as Smith and encountered the Reds and Blues at the Ancient Alien Temples.
Role in Plot
Mission in Space
The Leader comforts C.T.
The Insurrectionist Leader is first seen in Planning the Heist during a flashback sequence. Afterwards, he was seen again talking to Freelancer Agent Connecticut in the episode Whole Lot of Shaking, through video. Their conversation was cut short when Freelancer Agent Washington walked in on them, forcing C.T. to end the video call. The Leader made a more prominent appearance in Season 10, commanding the Insurrectionist destroyer Staff of Charon.
The Leader aboard the Staff of Charon
There, he and C.T. reunited and discussed the location of secret artifacts. During this episode, the Leader seemed to show a great care for C.T., imploring her to come with him when it was time to leave the ship. She does and the two are later onboard the Staff of Charon as it comes out of debris and attacks the Mother of Invention. Although they seem to have the upper hand, he orders them to go into slipspace but leaves behind a nuclear device.
Becoming C.T.
The Leader and C.T. argue over the possibility of Project Freelancer finding and killing them both.
The Leader returns with C.T. on a Falcon, where he rejoins with his fellow Insurrectionists. However, his comrades show distrust towards C.T.'s arrival. Shortly after his return, Project Freelancer invades the Insurrection base. He can be seen overlooking the battle and commanding troops. Later, he and C.T. enter a bunker where they are attacked by the Freelancers. They are defended by Chain Guy and Chain Girl, who allow them to escape. However, Tex and Carolina manage to surpass the turret guards and begin their pursuit for C.T. and the Leader. In a room, C.T. and the Leader attempt to get an escape pod ready to retreat, but the former tries to tell her lover that the Freelancers might help them escape, though the Leader is skeptical.
The Leader puts on C.T.'s helmet after she is killed by Agent Texas.
As the power is disabled, Carolina and Tex enter the room, holding the pair at gunpoint. C.T. tries to convince them of the Director's crimes and calls Tex a "shadow", angering her to start a fight between the four. During this, C.T. is fatally wounded by Tex using two of the Leader's tomahawks, and the two retreat to the escape pod. There, C.T. gives the Leader a card full of information about the Director before succumbing to her wounds and dying. In mourning, the Leader takes her helmet and puts it on, taking on her identity.
Digging Team
The Leader and Smith at the Ancient Alien Temples
In Bon Voyage, the Insurrectionist Leader, now C.T., warns Sarge, Grif and Caboose that they are on the location of a top secret facility as well as an active minefield. He attempts to guide the cast through the minefield, but he grows impatient and agrees when Grif suggests they 'fuck it' and run. After they ran through the minefield in the Warthog and crash into his Elephant, he makes his first physical appearance, wearing Mark VI armor with an EOD helmet. He leads the three to believe he and his "co-worker" Smith are part of a top secret joint project between alien diplomats and human researchers, but after Chapter 10, it is clear he is not who he says he is.
The Leader meets with the Reds and Blues
It is revealed in Lay of the Land that C.T.'s group have murdered the alleged original researchers. In Chapter 12, he is seen ushering Grif and Sarge up to the Elephant, where a group of soldiers and Aliens are standing around Caboose. C.T. asks him what he was doing with the digger, and Caboose says he was looking for a home for Epsilon. The Temple doors suddenly open and C.T. panics, ordering the dig squad to kill 'him'. The soldiers run over, and engage the figure while Sarge, Grif, and Caboose make for the Elephant, but bail because it is so slow.
C.T. runs off down the sand dune asking for back-up and disappears. Later, when C.T. breaks into the Temple he is furious with Tucker and shocked when he sees Epsilon in a monitor, claiming Sarge, Caboose and Grif 'activated it'. C.T. has Jones disable the monitor, which enrages the aliens and turns against the human dig team while C.T. escapes with the disabled Epsilon. C.T. drives off in a Warthog, backed up by two soldiers on a Mongoose, and pursued by Sarge, Caboose, and Grif in their EMP Warthog and a Prowler crewed by Religious Aliens.
The Leader and Smith attempt to kill the Reds and Blues
C.T. drives off behind the temple pursued by the Aliens, while the Reds and Caboose kill C.T.'s men. C.T. shakes off the Aliens and ambushes them shortly after, destroying the Prowler but seemingly not killing them. Tucker then stands in the way of his jeep as C.T. drives at him, but Tucker slices the Warthog with his Energy Sword as he leaps out of the way, destroying the jeep but not C.T. While Caboose looks for Epsilon in the wrecked jeep, C.T. corners Tucker on the rooftop of a temple, and states that he should have killed him the second he saw him.
Death and Discovery
The Leader's death.
Tucker seemingly admits defeat, and asks C.T. who he really is and who sent him, to which C.T. maliciously tells him he will never know. Epsilon then emerges from behind the building and C.T. anxiously asks "What the hell is that thing?" Epsilon becomes angered by this and proceeds to shoot C.T. with a laser installed in his orb, killing him. C.T.'s death leaves several questions unanswered about who he works for, and why he and his team were there in the first place.
C.T.'s helmet, once worn by the Leader
In Perusing the Archive, Washington and the Meta discover the helmet of C.T. The Meta attempts to scrounge up what he can from C.T.'s armor, as Washington tells him that C.T. never received an A.I. just before and suggested that as an alternative. In Season 10, after Carolina recruits the Reds and Blues to find and kill the Director, she decides to go locate C.T. for clues to the Director. After the Reds, Blues, and Carolina arrive at the desert, Carolina revealed to Washington that the real C.T. died after the mission at the Longshore Shipyards and that the Insurrectionist Leader posed as her since then.
Appearance
The Insurrectionist Leader appears to have normal ODST armor. His armor color is steel with maroon trim. The leader also seems to wield a knife on his chest plate and an object with a red light on the opposite side. His chest plate displays a capsule emblem, which can also be seen on his shoulder pads. Without his helmet, the Leader is shown to have a mohawk. After C.T.'s death, the Leader took her armor as well as her identity. Because of this, the Leader's armor appearance resembled C.T.'s throughout Recreation, donning an EOD helmet. However, he loses her EOD chest and Scout shoulder pauldrons, replacing them with Mark VI chest and shoulder pauldrons.
Personality
The Leader without his helmet.
The Insurrectionist Leader is shown to be very compassionate towards C.T. and his comrades in Season 10, expressing concern for them and being unwilling to leave them behind. He also showed to have a sense of humor around C.T. However, in battle, the Leader was very aggressive and seemed to enjoy injuring his enemies, such as when he jokingly threw his tomahawk into Florida and when his ship, the Staff of Charon, ambushed the Mother of Invention.
When C.T. died, the Leader took her identity as some sort of penance. He treats Aliens, such as Smith, equally and with as much respect as his human team. Though he is shown to be calm most of the time, after meeting the Reds and Blues, the Leader becomes very annoyed and angry to the point of killing them on sight when given the chance.
Relationships
Despite being a fairly important character, the Insurrectionist Leader doesn't interact with many characters.
C.T.
The former lover of the Insurrectionist Leader, CT cared about him a great deal and was willing to place her job in danger in order to provide him with necessary information. The Leader shared her feelings, as expressed in Follow the Leader where he shows concern for CT's well-being and insists that he come with her, further stating that he's not going to lose her again. In addition, the Leader also makes it his priority to keep CT safe from harm. While he cares about his own comrades, who openly dislike CT, he seems to hold CT's safety over theirs, as he sealed him and CT within their bunker at Longshore. After she is killed, the Leader is left distraught and takes her armor and identity.
Tucker
Due to him killing the original dig team and Tucker sealing off the temple, the two greatly despised each other. After attacking the Leader's men and saving Sarge, Grif, and Caboose, Tucker warned the three of "CT", referring to him as a "fucking liar." When CT and his men corner the crew, CT further expresses his hatred for Tucker, saying he should've killed him the second he saw him. Interestingly, unlike several other villains, CT seemed to see Tucker as a threat, due to the latter's developed combat skill.
Epsilon
Epsilon is shown to greatly distrust C.T., and even displays fear when him and his men enter the temple, fleeing to hide. Upon seeing Epsilon, C.T. kidnaps him, believing him to be a relic. However, after Epsilon speaks to C.T., the latter calls him a "thing", angering Epsilon and prompting him to kill him.
Smith
Being partners, the Leader and Smith trusted each other, as they were shown to work well together. However, after one of C.T.'s men attacked the relic Epsilon was stationed in, Smith and the other aliens betray him and his crew.
Skills and Abilities
Combat
The Insurrectionist Leader has only been seen in combat on a few occasions due to the fact that he is more of a commander than a soldier. However, he is shown to be talented in throwing tomahawks and wielding an axe, as he was able to accurately hit Agent Florida despite his distance. He also has very sharp senses, being able to sense Florida, even though the Freelancer was out of sight. He is also shown to be a formidable fighter, shown when he was able to fight Tex without being knocked down instantly, like most of her opponents.
This feat is probably due to his endurance as, in this same episode he was dropped onto his neck and got up immediately after and though not much was shown, he was clearly losing his fight with Tex and was still able to carry C.T. and escape to safety. Another example of his endurance and perseverance was shown in Think You Know Someone when he survived his warthog exploding and was narrowly able to escape. He also seemed to be a dedicated leader, initially refusing to leave behind his teammates and subordinates, despite most of them being dead or out of reach.
Kills
Off-screen, the Leader and his group killed nearly all the original diplomats and researchers at the desert after Tucker contacts command in Reconstruction: Chapter 17.
Gallery
Trivia
- The Leader seems to be one of the few people that calls C.T. "Connie," hinting at a strong relationship between the two, which is confirmed when C.T. mentioned that the Leader promised her that they would be together in C.T.
- The Insurrectionist Leader is the ninth character to show his face on screen. He is also the second non-freelancer to reveal his face, after Girlie.
- Despite being a major character, the Leader is never given an actual name in the series; he's simply known as the Insurrectionist Leader.
- In Recreation, the Leader's helmet has a white secondary coloring. During the present day scenes of Season 10, however, the white is missing on the helmet.
- The Insurrectionist Leader's face is modeled after Rooster Teeth employee, Brandon Farmahini.
References
| Charon Industries |
|---|
| Most Known: Malcolm Hargrove · Leader · C.T. · Demo Man · Sharkface · Girlie · Sleeveless Soldier · Locus · Felix · Aiden Price |
| Insurrectionist: Resistance Sniper · Chain Guy and Chain Girl · Rhee Sebiel · Scully · Murphy · Coffee Man · Space Station Guard |
| Space Pirates: Jackson · Sam · Zachary Miller · Ross · Curious Pirate Pirate Scientist ·Terrified Pirate · Insane Pirate |
| Other Members: Sherry · Darryl · Terrill |