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"What can I tell ya? I guess some things are just harder to face than others."
—North Dakota in Out of Body

Freelancer Agent North Dakota, often referred to as simply North, was an agent in the Special Operation's program Project Freelancer. North and his twin sister South Dakota were part of an experiment to see how one agent who received an A.I. while the other did not would react. As a result, North was given the artificial intelligence program Theta, a childlike A.I. who North grew a close bond with, due to his nurturing nature. However, his closeness with Theta, as well as the fact that he had an A.I., strained his relationship with South, who grew jealous and resentful of him. Seemingly ignorant of his Sister's hostility, North was eventually killed by the Meta, due to South's planning to claim his AI for herself at the cost of her brother's life.

North serves as a main character in the Project Freelancer Saga and is voiced by John Erler.

Overview[]

North in danger

North and South were both part of a superfluous experiment to study what would happen if one agent received an A.I. and the other didn't. Being that they were twins, they were the ideal subjects for said experiment. In addition, both being siblings participating in a specific experiment, it is most likely they were assigned their respective codenames to colloquially refer to them and the experiment as "the Dakotas." The result of the experiment was South betraying her brother, allowing the Meta to kill him to take his A.I., Theta, and his armor enhancement.

Role in Plot[]

Infiltration at Bjørndal Cryogenics[]

North atop roof

North in Season 9.

North and his sister, South, are sent on a mission to the Bjørndal Cryogenics Research Facility to recover a data file from an unknown enemy. While South recovers the data file, North provides sniper support from atop a smokestack, the steam from which conceals his presence. When a guard that South kills lands on an alarm, North rushes to assist his sister, killing anyone in his way. He and South soon regroup at a platform leading to a helipad and make their way to the extraction point, killing all the guards on the walkway. When they make it to the center of the pad, they become surrounded by guards.

13

North fights off Insurrectionist soldiers

However, Freelancer Carolina arrives and assists them in fighting off the guards. During the course of the fighting, North notices a guard manning a turret and aiming for South, which prompts him to push his sister out of the way but is heavily wounded in the process. Carolina later pulls the both of them out of the fight scene and they escape the facility on a Pelican, with the required data file safe in South's hand. Later, two Longswords show up and attempt to stop their escape. With their Pelican taking heavy fire, North realizes that he needs to take drastic action to ensure their survival.

North takes on 8 missiles

North, about to utilize his energy shield to stop several incoming missiles

South is knocked out during the fighting and North straps her into a seat before ascending to the roof of the Pelican to face the Longswords. The missiles fired by the Longswords head straight for the Pelican and would have surely destroyed it, but North then activates his Domed Energy Shield armor enhancement and protects the Pelican from the oncoming missiles. He then makes his way back into the vehicle, where they are rescued by the Freelancer frigate, Mother of Invention, that destroys the pursuing Longswords.

S9e5

North, Carolina, and South on the Mother of Invention.

Now aboard the Mother of Invention, North, South, and Carolina are briefed on the importance of the data they recovered and are congratulated by the Director on the success of the mission. Afterward, the Director updates the Freelancer leaderboard, placing North ahead of South as she ruined the stealth aspect of the mission. As South angrily walks away, Carolina asks North if she should go talk to her. Upon seeing South punch a door control and knock it off the wall, North suggests they give her a minute.

Mission for the Sarcophagus[]

Wash and North

"Help me out here. I'm still getting heat about using equipment in the field."

Later on, North approaches Agent Washington to ask about his conversation with Internals. Wash tells him not to worry as the meeting was unrelated to North using equipment in the field. Their conversation is interrupted by a group of soldiers making their way to the training room to watch Agents Maine, Wyoming and York square off against a new agent. North, along with South, Washington,C.T., and Carolina, watch the new recruit, Agent Texas, defeat the trio. North comments on Tex's skill and shows some concern when Wyoming and Maine begin to use live rounds.

Team B

North leading Team B.

When York becomes injured, North leads the watching party into the training floor while Carolina calls for medical assistance. North, along with the other Freelancers who observed the match, is then yelled at by the Director. Sometime later, North is seen in the briefing room with the other Freelancers as they go over their next mission to obtain a Sarcophagus from the Insurrection. He is assigned as the leader of Team B, consisting of C.T. and Wyoming, whose objective is to obtain a passcode, located inside a briefcase, to open the Sarcophagus.

Team B down

On the mission, North briefly speaks to Team A and outlines the mission objectives to his respective team members in their Pelican. When Carolina has North report on Team B's status, Team B is revealed to be pinned down by police, with Wyoming injured. Despite this, North advises Team A to go after Rhee Sebiel before he gets away, which Team A successfully complete. Back aboard the Mother of Invention, North tells York that the leaderboard has changed. The two then share a conversation about how everything has been changing since Tex showed up, and York asks North if the Freelancers are the good guys. North is unable to answer confidently, a fact that York notes.

Receiving Theta[]

North and Carolina flying

North and Carolina using their jet packs in space.

North later appears on a Pelican with Carolina, Wash, C.T., and South on their mission at the UNSC Scrap Metal Recycling Station. As the Freelancers enter an Insurrectionist hangar, North kills several enemies in a zero-gravity battle. After the battle, the team prepares to leave for Bone Valley to attempt to capture the Insurrectionist Leader. Suddenly, York rejoins the group and North pats him on the back before leaving with the rest of the team. As the squad make their way to the extraction pelican, the Staff of Charon emerges from the debris and attacks the Mother of Invention. It then ceases its assault and leaves the area, but not before dropping a nuclear device. North and the rest of the team make it onto the extraction pelican and leave safely before it detonates.

North talks to Theta

North later appears with York, Washington, and South Dakota inside the Mother of Invention, trying to introduce his newly gained A.I. program Theta. Although Theta was initially shy when meeting the other Freelancers, North and York helped him gain confidence by allowing him to meet Delta. The Director arrives and requests that North and Theta take to the training room floor in order to begin a simulation test of Theta's abilities. North and Theta manage to successfully complete the test despite a number of challenging variables, impressing York and Wash, although South leaves the room without making a comment.

Theta firework

After the test, North is seen in class attending a class about A.I.s with the other Freelancers. During the class, South's attitude towards Carolina disappoints him. In the Freelancer mess hall, Theta shows North a trick, which North enjoys. York then sits with North and asks Theta to log off in order for him to speak with North alone. After Theta does so, York questions North about the Alpha, which quickly catches North's attention. Washington soon joins the conversation and the three discuss the topic of the Alpha.

North & South take cover

Later on, North and the Freelancers execute an attack on the Insurrection base at the Longshore Shipyards, where North is forced behind cover with his sister by several snipers. North calls on Theta's help to guide his Domed Energy Shield to land near the squad of snipers. One of the soldiers attempts to shoot his way out, but the fire from his gun ricochets off the walls of the shield, causing him to kill everyone trapped inside. North thanks Theta as Carolina orders him and the several other Freelancers to stay outside and keep a lookout as she, York, and Washington look for C.T. Unfortunately, the Insurrectionist Leader and the dying C.T. fly away from the shipyard.

Conflict aboard the Mother of Invention[]

Yorkandnorth 1

After the battle at the Longshore base, North arrives in an observation room of the training center to find York watching Carolina train. York comments that she has been pushing herself farther than her limits, but North claims that she always pushes herself too much. North then replies that Theta has been keeping him up and York says that Theta has to confront his fears at some point. Exhausted, North leaves for bed and tells York to get some rest. Afterward, North is seen inside of a locker room, listening to South complain about Carolina's actions at taking both the Eta and Iota A.I. After a brief confrontation with Texas, South angrily storms out of the room, resulting in North following after her.

Freelancers watching Texas and Carolina - S10

Sometime later, he is seen along with York, Washington, Wyoming, and Maine in the observation room to watch the match between Texas and Carolina. As the match begins, the Director suddenly appears and, upon noticing that Tex is in the match, yells out her name in a mixture of concern and panic, sending all of the A.I. into a relapse and resulting in them calling out Allison's name. As Carolina clutches her head in agony, North and the others, with the exception of Wash, also double over in pain in response to the reactions of the A.I. to the Director's words. However, this quickly subsides, and the Freelancers recover, except for Carolina, whose A.I. have become unstable.

Freelancer Break-In[]

Tex and North

Several days later, North and Tex check up on Carolina at the medical observatory. Tex tells North that South has filed a petition to receive one of Carolina's A.I., a move that disgusts North, and warns him that he should keep an eye on her in the future. She then confides to North that she refuses to use her A.I. Omega, because she believes he is too dangerous. North believes that Carolina's accident would bring a halt to the A.I. implantations, but Tex tells him that the Director has already scheduled Wash for implantation, leading North to believe that the Freelancers are nothing but the Director's guinea pigs. Tex then leaves, informing North to let her know when Carolina wakes up.

Wash and North S10

Theta then appears and discusses the change in Tex's personality with him, both complimenting on their liking to her, although still finding her scary. Washington wakes up in the Recovery center after his implantation of Epsilon, with North and South standing by him. North tells him that the Director not only removed Epsilon, but has decided to remove all of the A.I. from the Freelancers. Wash questions Carolina's whereabouts, in which North reveals that the Director has been planning to send Carolina to go after Tex, who has recently gone rogue. South states that Tex had attacked Wyoming and stole his A.I. and equipment, but North rejects the rumor, believing Tex would not go that far.

North dual wielding snipers

Their conversation is interrupted by the sudden blare of a security alarm. At some point after Carolina wakes up, Tex approaches North and seeks his assistance to liberate the Alpha. When South attempts to kill Tex with a Missile Pod, North stops her, shooting down all the missiles with two sniper rifles. He then tells Tex to continue on with her objective, stating that he has to "have a talk" with South. When Tex leaves the room, the two siblings open fire on each other.

Death[]

North

North's body, left.

As time passes after the Freelancer break-in, North and his sister are eventually tracked down by the Meta, who was hunting down Freelancers. Though South was spared, North was less fortunate as the Meta killed him in order to obtain Theta. It is later revealed that South put North in a position to be killed by the Meta so she escape. North was later confirmed KIA when Recovery One, Washington, answers a Priority One call to retrieve his construct (which had been stolen along with his Domed Energy Shield armor enhancement). North's body and armor were then detonated by Washington to erase evidence of the event.

Personality[]

North and York talk

North Dakota's personality is the exact opposite of that of his sister. North is shown to be very calm and logical in battle, as he tried to give his sister advice when infiltrating the Bjørndal Cryogenics Research Facility. North is also very kind and caring towards his fellow Freelancers and (according to York) is used to looking out for them, such as showing concern when York becomes injured during a training match and when he visited Wash (along with South) after he woke up following the implantation of Epsilon and its subsequent insanity. It was North's caring and nurturing personality that lead him to be considered the ideal candidate to be paired with the childlike Theta A.I., being an ideal parental figure.

North also shows a high degree of kindness and somewhat protectiveness towards his sister, shown when he pushed South away from a firing turret and when he tries to calm her down when she loses her temper. North also treats his A.I., Theta, very well, as he walked with Theta in order for him to get to sleep and didn't want to pull Theta out of his head because he felt like he was obligated to help. Overall he seems to be one of the most openly kind characters in the series, though his trusting nature would eventually lead to his demise due to underestimating the length of his sister's frustrations.

Relationships[]

North has many relationships within Project Freelancer, although he doesn't develop any others in different factions.

South Dakota[]

North and South

North and his sister, South

Being twins, it is shown that South has a strong relationship with her brother, North. While the two often bicker about situations, in addition to South acting childish towards North, both truly care for each other and want to do what's best for the other. Such examples include in Number One, when South becomes horrified after North is shot, and Evacuation Plan, where North risks his own safety to protect his sister after she is knocked out. However, North begins to develop concerns for South when she becomes more cynical and jealous as the series progresses. Their relationship is soon strained in Season 10, as South becomes increasingly jealous and angry to obtain an A.I. of her own after North obtained Theta.

The Twins S9E2

While the others note her bad attitude, North attempts to defend South's actions, ignoring their concern. When the Freelancer break-in occurs, North fights against his sister to allow Tex to continue her mission. Afterwards, it seems that their relationship was restored, as South joined North when he left Project Freelancer, wanting to stay by his side. However, years later, when the Meta attacked them, North was betrayed by South, as she sacrificed him to save herself. Despite this, South is still regretful of her actions, sadly wondering how she would continue without North and later revealing her guilt to Delta. Unfortunately, her selfish nature remained, as shown when she decided to give up Delta to the Meta during Reconstruction.

York[]

York & North

North and York were shown to be good friends during Project Freelancer as the two often spent quality time together, discussing their issues and even allowed their own A.I. to interact with each other. North often corrects York when the two are talking about their A.I., Delta and Theta, as York often fails to find a correct word to describe the situation, with North quickly finding the word to describe it. As time passed, both acknowledged the crimes the Director had committed and joined Tex on her mission to save Alpha during the break-in.

Washington[]

Wash and North

Like with York, North's interactions with Washington seemed to be on friendly terms as seen in Captive Audience when they have a brief conversation about Wash's meeting with Internals. During Season 10, the two also converse about the size of A.I. units, due to Wash's surprise at Theta's size, and seem to regularly converse with each other. North, along with his sister South, also checked on Washington after his implantation with Epsilon.

However, in Recovery One: Part Two, Wash shows little remorse upon standing over North's dead body and hardly lets South have any time with her dead brother. This may have been due to a change in attitude on the part of Wash as a result of the Epsilon incident.

Carolina[]

Carolina and North

Carolina and North seem to get along well, being able to fight alongside one another several times. In Realignment, Carolina asks North if she can talk to South, after her rank is reduced on the Freelancer leaderboard, showing some concern for the twins. After Carolina was implanted with two A.I. and suffered a mental break down in Season 10, North expresses his concern for her well being and watched over her in the medical observatory. Years later, Carolina listed both of the Dakotas as reasons for her thirst for revenge against the Director.

Tex[]

Tex and North talk

Tex and North seem to have friendly relationship, freely talking about the growing problems with Project Freelancer and their A.I. Tex even tells North about her secretly pulling Omega without the Director's knowledge. Theta shares North's liking for Tex, with North stating that she grows on you, but agrees with Theta that Tex is scary. Later, after Tex goes rogue, North defends Tex from South's accusations of her stealing Wyoming's A.I. and equipment, telling her that he knows Tex wouldn't do that. When Tex storms the Mother of Invention during her break-in, North acts as her inside man and saves her from South so she can continue her objective to save Alpha.

Theta[]

North & Theta work together

North is shown to greatly care for Theta, acting as if he was a big brother to the A.I. In The New Kid, Theta was nervous upon meeting the other Freelancers and Delta, but North assured him they were all nice. The two were often shown working well together in combat, such as when fighting the Insurrection in Fall From Heaven. In Out of Body, North states he has to 'walk' Theta around to get him to 'sleep' and feels obligated to help him with his fears. Even after North left Project Freelancer, Theta stayed with him before the two became victims of the Meta years later.

Themes[]

Trust[]

North dissappointed South not coming

During the Project Freelancer Saga, it was shown that North was not only compassionate, but trustful to others. Originally, North didn't doubt the choices of those in Project Freelancer, as he tried to convince York they were the "good guys" in Whole Lot of Shaking. Also, Theta was given to North due to his caring and trustworthy nature. However, because of this trait, North sometimes seemed naive or often ignored the suspicious actions of others, such as refusing to take action regarding his sister's selfish behavior.

While he does later acknowledge the crimes Project Freelancer commits, North continues to trust South despite her previous actions, which eventually leads to his death in Recovery One. Ironically, in Out of Body, he states to York "I guess some things are just harder to face than others," which mirrors North's difficulty to confront his issues due to his trust.

Skills and Abilities[]

Combat[]

S9 E2

Throughout Season 9, North Dakota displayed great skill both as a soldier and as a fighter. During The Twins, he and South both displayed great skill in combat together with their weapons and agility, eliminating anyone that got in their way. Also, during Hell's Angel, though no feats were displayed, North was shown uninjured during the mission while Wyoming was; whether this is an indication of skill difference or merely caused by circumstances is unknown.

Resilience[]

North dual wielding snipers 2

North has displayed great endurance and stamina. Despite being critically injured prior to this occurring, North was able to climb to the top of a fast moving Pelican and activate his armor enhancement to protect it from oncoming missiles launched by two Longswords. Upon returning from the mission, North moved up from the fifth highest ranking Freelancer on the ranking board to the 4th, replacing his sister in the process, moving her down to 5th. After the mission involving the Sarcophagus, however, his rank moved down to sixth, making North the only member of Team B that was on the list by the end of the season.

Resourcefulness[]

North - Best offence is a good defense!

North is also shown to have exceptional skill with the sniper rifle, frequently using it during his time at Project Freelancer and being able to dual wield two in Party Crasher, where he subsequently eliminated seven oncoming missiles out of the air in a matter of seconds. North also seems to be capable in reconnaissance, as he alerted South of an incoming enemy despite the fact that she did not activate her motion tracker in The Twins.

Kills[]

Before his death, North had successfully killed many Insurrection soldiers, including the Resistance Sniper by using his domed energy shield.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • North is the second character in Red vs. Blue to reveal his face on screen.
  • Throughout the series, North Dakota and his sister South Dakota have shared a number of similarities:
    • Both of their Freelancer names are derived from one of the Dakota states.
    • Both of their armor sets are primarily a shade of purple with a shade of green for their trimming.
    • Both used Domed Energy Shield armor enhancements.
    • Both were killed by Freelancers (North by Maine/Meta, South by Washington), who would later serve as antagonists in Revelation.
    • Both would have the A.I. that they were using prior to their deaths stolen by the Meta.
    • Both are blonde.
    • Both remove their helmets in Season 9.
    • Both suffered injuries to their left cheeks at one point in their lives, as South is seen with a scar on her cheek while North is shown with a bleeding wound on his.
  • South and North, being brother and sister, are depicted of showing some level of kindness to each other (North pushing South out of a firing turret's way and South shouting out his name after he is shot). It is clear that North greatly cares for his sister. However, South's jealousy of North owning an AI ultimately led her to consider him expendable to save her own life.
  • There is a slight inconsistency in North's armor color between Recovery One and Season 9. In Recovery One, North's corpse was shown to have a light purple/orchid colored armor, while in Seasons 9 & 10, his armor color bears a dark purple. It should also be noted that, in Recovery One, his twin sister, South, had a darkish purple armor while in Reconstruction, Seasons 9, and Season 10 she had a light purple/orchid. Their armor colors essentially switched between Seasons 9 & 10 and Recovery One.
  • Apparently, North has to walk Theta around to get him to 'sleep', similar to what his father would do with South when she was younger.
  • North is one of four Freelancers, the others being York, Carolina, and Wash, whose name has been seen on the Freelancer Leaderboard in every scene in which it is featured.
  • North is the only protagonist of the series that has no relation to the Reds and Blues. While all other protagonists are either members or allies of the group, North never meets a single member of the Reds and Blues after it's formed.
  • Revealed in a deleted scene on the Season 10 DVD, North is seen carrying South on his back after their battle. As the two exit the Mother of Invention, North tells South that he will always have her back, in which South grimly responds that she is watching his as well, foreshadowing her betrayal in the future.
North & South - S10

References[]

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