Leonard L. Church

Church
Statistics
Name:	Church
Aliases:	Alpha Epsilon The Director
Status:	Erased
First Appearance:	Why Are We Here?
Armor Color(s):	Cobalt (Robot body) White/Sapphire (A.I. form) Blue (Out of Mind) Steel (monitor body)
Last Appearance:	The End
Weapon(s):	Sniper Rifle
Characteristics:	Bring cranky Delivering exposition Missing targets at close and long ranges
Occupation:	Self appointed leader Smart A.I.
Relative(s):	Director (creator) Tex (lover) Project Freelancer A.I. (fragments) Carolina ('sister')
Voice Actor(s):	Burnie Burns

“	I'm more than just a copy of you, I'm better than you.	”
–Church's last words to his creator in Don't Say it

Private Leonard L. Church, also known as Artificial Intelligence Program Alpha, or Artificial Intelligence Program Epsilon is a main character in Red vs. Blue, and is voiced by Burnie Burns, co-creator and main writer of the series. He is the de facto leader of the Blood Gulch Blue Team and the Freelancer AI Alpha (revealed in Reconstruction: Chapter 16 by Agent Washington). Rooster Teeth often uses Church, who has an irate disposition, to advance the plot by managing the situation at hand; this in a way makes Church the main protagonist of The Blood Gulch Chronicles and deuteragonist in Reconstruction, along with Agent Washington.

At the end of Reconstruction: Chapter 19, Church is finally revealed to be based upon the personality of the former Director of Project Freelancer, Dr. Leonard Church. In his current state, Church is also known as Epsilon-Church, since the remaining part of Church, Epsilon, recovered his memories, he has recovered his personality and consciousness. As Epsilon, he is still voiced by Burns and has similar traits and looks, despite being a fragment.

Overview

"You know what? I fuckin' hate you."

When the series began, Rooster Teeth wanted to portray Church to be like Gustavo Sorola, being quite annoyed and having a sarcastic, yet intelligent grasp on certain situations. Church shows to be easily angered or annoyed by anyone and "dying" has added to this trait of his. Even though he states he dislikes his team mates and the Reds, some instances have shown Church to be a caring person to several characters through the series, most notably Tex as the two used to be a couple.

To provide a twist in character development, Burns decided to kill Church early in the series and to return as a ghost. However, this posed filming and post-production challenges for the creators. Church has also been filmed in four different games representing the three different eras of the story. As the series progressed, Red vs Blue became more focused on Church.

Role in Plot

Project Freelancer

The Alpha AI's holographic avatar

2 years after Doctor Leonard Church's Project Freelancer was cleared for funding, they were provided with a single Smart A.I., designated Alpha, for their experiments. The original intention was to pair Alpha with the most suitable soldier in the project and test how much more effective said soldier would be with the assistance of a Smart A.I. in combat. The Alpha was based on the mind of Dr. Church. How Dr. Church managed to have Alpha created and registered for service in the UNSC is unknown. During this first year, Alpha occasionally suffered difficulty focusing, struggling with Dr Church's memories of his lost wife, Allison. One night, the grief of Allison's death pushes Alpha too far and he creates a spontaneous, standalone byproduct fragment, an A.I. based on Dr Church's memories of Allison. This fragment was code-named Beta and secretly cleared for service as an agent of Project Freelancer. After this, Dr. Church applied for more A.I.s but was rejected, and in desperation for more to continue with his experiments, came up with a "creative solution" based on how Beta was created.

Alpha continued to assist in Freelancer operations a year after this event, and was heard in the episode Planning the Heist, telling the Director of calculations he made for stealing an item known as The Sarcophagus. When the Director says the calculations sound correct, Alpha replies by saying it is because the Director and him share the same mind. He then adds, however, that the Director would have made the calculations in a much longer period of time. The two continue to talk, both questioning who is the more arrogant, until Carolina walks in. The Director then orders Alpha to log off.

Alpha is told Agent Texas died in order to break him down.

After obtaining this asset, the director and the Counselor start torturing Alpha with the intent of causing him to manifest a split personality, then harvesting the alternate personalities as fragments, to be used as new A.I. units for the project.

Eventually, more and more A.I. appear, some even ahead of schedule, and they are each given to an agent whose personality matches to balance the A.I.'s. The agents eventually begin to question what is being done to create these fragments, and how theirs are beginning to obsess over their "creator."

In Season 10, Alpha is seen being, indirectly, tortured by the Director, the Counselor, and A.I. units Sigma, Omega, and Gamma. During the torturing, Alpha becomes concerned by the fact that he hurt one of his friends and asks his superiors if the information regarding it is true. In response, the Director lies to Alpha by stating that Washington and Tex were killed because of him, the latter of which greatly saddens the Alpha. During this time, the Director, with the help of Sigma, Gamma, and Omega, extracts Alpha's emotions into a storage unit.

A new fragment is harvested.

The last thing that Alpha fragmented was its memories, as it would otherwise have been driven insane by what it had experienced. This fragment was given the code name Epsilon, and was assigned to Agent Washington. Unfortunately, the memories of the trauma endured caused Epsilon to be unstable, causing him to go crazy and star unraveling inside Washington's head. Washington was shown various memories stored in the Epsilon unit during this incident, from the torture, to the Director's memories of Allison.  Epsilon attempted suicide in Wash's head, and was removed immediately after, however the fragment survived and was placed into holographic storage.

"I don't know why but, I hate goodbyes."

After Epsilon's removal from Alpha, Tex broke in to see him, after going rogue. By uploading herself into the Mother of Invention's computers, Tex manages to speak with Alpha, but the latter doesn't recognize her. Tex reminds Alpha that he is also known as Church and tries to convince him to leave with her. However Alpha declines her request, stating that he feels tired. When Tex says goodbye Alpha states that he dislikes goodbyes, to which Tex replies she does too, before leaving. Later, the Director and Counselor planned to move Alpha to place where he'd never be found and was put under the security of Butch Flowers, also known as Agent Florida, to watch over and protect him.

Misadventures in Blood Gulch

Church first appears in Episode 1, spying on the Red Team with his teammate, Tucker. The series establishes Church's disposition quickly; annoyed with Tucker's questions about the Red Team, he responds, "You know what? I fucking hate you." As Donut, the Red Team's new recruit arrives, they meet their own rookie, Caboose, and their new tank. When they first meet, Church becomes annoyed with Caboose for his nonstop talking but this is only the start of this when Caboose calls his girlfriend a cow and sends him to guard the flag.

Church is killed by Caboose

When Donut arrives on a fool's errand, Church thinks he is Caboose and tells him to go inside, thus leading to Donut taking the Blue Team's flag in Episode 4. Church proceeds to chase him. As he and Tucker catch up with Donut, they are ambushed by Simmons and Grif in the Warthog and are forced to take shelter behind a boulder. When Caboose arrives with Sheila, they are scared off. However, Caboose, the Blue Team rookie, loses control of Sheila, the Blue Team's tank, and accidentally kills Church. Church reappears as a "ghost" in Episode 10 to warn his teammates about Tex, the Freelancer hired by Blue Command (in truth, the Counselor, with the Director's approval, disclosed Alpha's location to Tex, believing she would try to protect him, but not extract him from the canyon). Church's recollection of the Freelancer break in ends up being a confused reconstruction of him as a blue soldier, stationed in Sidewinder, and all of his allies killed by Tex, including Private Mickey and Private Jimmy.

Tex retrieves the Blue flag in Episode 12 but is captured by the Reds. Church reappears and explains that Tex is his former girlfriend, now under the control of an evil, psychotic artificial intelligence program. He rescues Tex in Episode 14 by possessing Sarge, though he is shot in the head by Caboose who was trying to 'help.' He then has a brief conversation with Sarge in the 'afterlife.' In an attempt to slow Tex's progress so that he can remove the AI from her head, he attempts to warn the Reds of Tex's second attack by possessing the Reds' Spanish-speaking robot, Lopez, in the season finale of Episode 19. However, he is unable to warn them because he can only speak Spanish. He fails, and Tex dies at Donut's hands. Church runs over to her and is thanked for removing the AI.

In Season 2, set three months later, Church is still attempting to adjust to his stolen robot body. When the Blue Team attempt to turn on Lopez's repair function in order to repair Sheila, they come across a switch. After flipping it, the Blues unknowingly activate the Red Team's Warthog remotely. As Church gets annoyed by its beeping sound, Caboose pulls out the cord, resulting in Church losing control of his waist and legs. He then leaves Lopez's body, in hopes that the robot would be able to repair itself, but Tex (as a "ghost") takes control of Lopez's body. She uses it as a bargaining chip to convince Church to help her destroy her evil A.I., O'Malley, who had possessed Caboose just before her death. When the team learns of this, Church and Tex remove him from Caboose's Mind, but in the process, O'Malley escapes into the medic, named Doc.

Into the "Future"

Using a captured Donut as leverage, Church forces Sarge, the Red Team leader to build permanent robot bodies for Tex and himself. However, Sarge installs a bomb inside Church's body. It explodes in Episode 43 and sends all the characters into the future except Church, who is sent into the distant past. In Episode 50 and Episode 51, Church travels to his recent past and attempts to prevent the events of the first two seasons. The situation is revealed as a predestination paradox, in which he causes not only the events of the first and second seasons, but also the death of his former captain, Captain Butch Flowers.

Eventually, Church manages to break the time loop and to travel forward in time to join the other characters. Later in Season 3, Church and the Blues meet Andy, a talking, sentient bomb built by Tex. Church attempts to learn more about a prophecy from a computer, Gary, that he first encountered in the distant past. Episode 57, the last of Season 3, ends as Church, unaware that a creature is approaching him, responds to Gary's knock-knock joke with "Who's there?" Episode 58 reveals that Church has been scared out of his body. After recovering his body, Church meets the alien and learns about his quest, which involves Tucker's sword.

Return to Blood Gulch

"This is what we call in the military, a total ass kicking."

After his teammates leave to help the alien in his quest, Church returns to Blood Gulch in Episode 68. He saves Simmons from execution by Sarge, assuming leadership over him. Church takes the Red Team's jeep before Simmons returns to the Reds. In Episode 71, Church accidentally contacts Vic Jr. via radio. This new character scoffs at the mention of Blue Command; as the episode ends, he says that he has much to tell, but the information is not revealed to the viewer. After Tucker, Caboose, and Andy return to Blood Gulch in Episode 73, Tucker becomes ill for an unknown reason, and Church calls Doc for help. In Episode 76, Doc reveals that Tucker is pregnant, but Church refuses to believe him until he learns from Andy that the Alien impregnated Tucker with a parasitic embryo.

Church then returns to the Blue Base to help Tucker. When the ship that Blue Command sends to Blood Gulch crashes, he claims it as his own, threatening the Reds with Sheila. However, Sheila abruptly leaves, forcing Church to abandon the ship. In Episode 80 Church meets Junior for the first time, and quickly says that he should be killed. Believing the Reds may have reinforcements or weapons on the ship, he unsuccessfully attempts to contact Vic Jr. Some time after, however, Grif brings over Sister who was the new recruit on the Red Team, explaining that she is actually a Blue, and Church accepts her as part of the Blue Team.

Following this, Church, with Caboose and a newly-returned Tex in tow, attempts to fix Sheila by rebooting her; when turning her back on proves to be impossible, he makes the decision to move her into the ship. While moving Sheila into the ship, Vic Jr. contacts Church and orders them to kill the Reds. Church sends Doc, Sister, and Junior through the caves as per the orders, and he infiltrates Red Base with Tex and Tucker. After a brief search of the base, they find it empty. Tex is contacted by Caboose and, after an unheard conversation, points her gun at Church demanding that O'Malley not move. Church quickly learns that Caboose and Sheila identified O'Malley as inside the Blue leader, which cannot be him as he was never officially promoted. He then accurately guesses that the real host of O'Malley is a revived Captain Butch Flowers.

Omega's Assault

Church, Tex, and Tucker are soon ambushed by Wyoming and Gamma, who has now taken control of the tank. They manage to escape with the help of Tucker figuring out Wyoming's time distortion routine. Unfortunately, they are once again attacked by Wyoming's clones, due to the effect of the time distortion unit, and Church is nearly shot by Gamma. The Reds arrive and eliminate the Wyoming clones in their Warthog, leaving one left. The last Wyoming tells Church, Tucker, and Tex about Omega's plan to infect Junior; a plan Tex is apart of. As a result, Tex kills the last Wyoming, knocks down Church to prevent him from stopping her, and activates her radio in order to be infected.

When Omega infects Caboose, Tex and Church follow him into Caboose's Mind. There, Church knocks Omega and Tex out of Caboose's mind with mental Tucker's sword. When Church escapes, Caboose tells him that Tex took Tucker's sword, Junior, and Wyoming's helmet and put them on the ship, shocking Church. With Omega infecting every person, he eventually infects Church, who states that he doesn't feel different. Tex then knocks him down and Omega infects her. She leaves Blood Gulch in the Pelican with her necessities on board. However, Sarge orders Andy, whom he secretly placed on the ship, to detonate and explode, shocking Church.

As Church tries to contact Andy on where Tex is going, Andy explodes inside the ship, just as it escapes Blood Gulch. With nothing else to do, Church and the Blues return to base. At Blue base, Caboose asks Church if he ever wonders why they're here. Church replies with a rant about hating people. However, Caboose corrects him, stating that he simply wanted to know why they were in the sun when they could be in the shade. Church, realizing what he meant, agrees to go stand in the shade with Caboose.

Discovering the Truth

A year after his deployment on Blood Gulch, Church reappears in Reconstruction: Chapter 4, having been relocated to Outpost 48-A. Despite the fact that Church had tried desperately to keep Caboose away from him, Caboose, along with Agent Washington, manages to track him down. Although Church was not interested in joining Washington at first, when he learns that O'Malley is involved and Tex's ship has been located, he reluctantly joins Washington and Caboose on their mission. Church is quickly able to work alongside Wash; however, he is still extremely displeased about having to be on the same team with Caboose again. Together, the three arrive at Valhalla and discover a video log from Sheila, before she shuts down. Suddenly, Wash gets a Recovery Beacon from Agent South, and pursues her with the Blues.

They then return to Outpost 48-A and engage both South Dakota and the Meta, but the latter escapes. After Church informs Wash of Wyoming's helmet being present on the ship, South is killed and Delta is retrieved. The group eventually make it to Zanzibar, where Delta informs Church more about Project Freelancer. Soon after, the group encounter Meta, but are soon ambushed by the Reds. The Reds and the Blues cease their fighting when the Meta soon starts attacking the Reds (specifically Grif) but is forced to flee when Washington intervened. Church is later forced to enter the mind of a comatose Caboose in order to find out what's wrong with him. Within Caboose's mind, Church encounters a memory fragment of Delta, who gives him a message, "Memory is the key."

Church learns the truth.

In Reconstruction: Chapter 11, Church finally reveals to Washington that he is a ghost and tells him about Delta's message. Wash then tells the Reds and Blues that they must break into Freelancer Command, in order to unlock the Alpha. This results in the team soon finding themselves scavenging for a vehicle at Valhalla. While there, Church investigates the Valhalla Blue base for Tex, but Wash informs him that she is long gone. After obtaining a vehicle, Church and the rest of the group make it into Command. Washington and Church pair up and enter the Freelancer A.I. Containment Facility, where they find a storage unit for Wash's A.I. Epsilon.

Washington and Church, moments before the EMP is activated.

Church becomes furious that Wash lied to him, but Wash explains that all the other A.I. were never copied from the Alpha, but were instead fragments of it, created by torturing the Alpha until it began to split off parts of its personality in order to protect its sanity, which were then harvested for use. He then reveals to Church that he is the Alpha AI, a secret even he didn't know about. Church refuses to believe this, still believing himself to be 'a motherfuckin' ghost', and leaves with the others to escape with Epsilon. However, Church returns to help Wash and provides him time to activate the EMP. When Wash does so, Alpha and the other A.I. fragments (excluding Epsilon) are caught in the blast and destroyed, allowing the Reds and Caboose to successfully escape with Epsilon. With Project Freelancer effectively shut down, the director signs his last correspondence as "the former director", identifying himself as Doctor Leonard Church, and stating that he does not believe he will be convicted for his actions towards Alpha, because he viewed them as self mutilation.

Memory is the Key

During the Epilogue of Reconstruction, Caboose is seen, apparently attempting to implant Epsilon into Tex's robotic body, but throughout Relocated he is seen fiddling with Epsilon, along with Tex's body and the destroyed ship.

In Recreation, Caboose is again seen modifying the parts, to little avail, even going so far as to light himself on fire. He is also seen telling Epsilon stories of the events of "The Blood Gulch Chronicles," because, as Caboose claims, Epsilon enjoys being told stories, and even makes an odd humming sound when spoken to. In Catching Up, Caboose reveals to Donut his intentions: to use Epsilon, parts from Tex's robot body, and parts from the ship "to make a new super best friend," although he has had little success. Caboose is seen taking Epsilon to the Red Base's secret Hologram Chamber, upon hearing of its existence by Donut.

Inside the chamber, the container opens revealing Delta, which Epsilon explains as him taking a form which had expressed reliable information in the past. Caboose asks if he could take other forms, Epsilon explains he could, if they were in his memory banks. Epsilon then suggests that Caboose heads to the desert where Tucker was last spotted, noting an energy spike there he could use to create a new body. Caboose agrees, and Sarge and Grif are convinced to join him.

Epsilon-Church

"It's just a long way back from here."

When they arrive at the desert, the team is cornered by C.T. and his men, until Tucker rescues them. As they take refuge inside a temple, Caboose runs off and inserts Epsilon into a new body, a Forerunner Monitor, where it is reborn as Church. When Tucker, Sarge, and Grif finally find Caboose, it is soon apparent that Church recalls none of his memories other than those supplied by Caboose's stories which were wrong, like that Tucker being Captain Flowers back from the dead; Grif having yellow armor and thinking that his name is spelled with two F's; and that Sarge is a pirate and captain of a ship. He is also still learning about his new body and is unable to fully control it.

An enraged Epsilon shoots C.T. with his "Laser Face"

Church soon loses control of his body and drifts around. To make matters worse, while trying to turn on his long-term memory Church instead shuts off his short-term memory, but was turned back on when Caboose hits him. After C.T. and his men forcibly enter the temple, Church soon realizes he can levitate objects and kills an alien with a box. He is later disabled by Jones and grabbed by C.T. After a long chase, C.T. is stopped by Tucker. Tucker follows C.T. after he escapes, but is later cornered by him atop a temple at gunpoint. Church comes to the rescue and kills C.T. with his "laser face", after the latter calls him a "thing." The group suddenly becomes surrounded by the aliens.

Old Memories

The memory of the Delta fragment appearing in Epsilon

In Revelation, Church is being worshiped by the Aliens, and is slightly abusing the power. He then starts having memory flashes, including a vision of Valhalla and a dark figure entering the Blue Base. When he leaves to Valhalla with the Reds, he rages at the sight of Washington, firing his laser in the process and blocking an entrance to the remaining Reds and himself. He then started panicking about them "finding her", shortly before shutting down. The encounter with Washington, the one who the Epsilon fragment went crazy inside of, and the one who told Church of his true identity as Alpha, jarred loose Church's repressed memories. When the Reds return him back to the desert, a memory of Delta tells Caboose that Church is looking for a specific memory and also notes that he may restart a cycle, which "must not happen". Delta also reveals that the rest of the A.I. memories are with Delta, yet Church must not know of their presence.

When Church recovers, he and Caboose venture to the Freelancer Offsite Storage Facility and get past F.I.L.S.S., who mistakes him for the Director. Inside, he and Caboose enter a room filled identical robotic bodies all identical to the ones used by Church previously, where Church uncovers a metallic box containing a black armored robotic body. At this point Church repeats what he did years ago and spontaneously creates another Tex. After Tex escapes, she soundly defeats the other Reds and Blues until she is suddenly hit in the head by the deactivated Monitor shell of Church, who is revealed to have implanted himself into a new body. However, Tex promptly starts beating him with his Monitor body. Caboose then utilizes the facility-wide armor lock, via F.I.L.S.S. Church soon frees the others and then enters Tex's mind to calm her down before he frees her.

"How bout you pick on somebody your own size?"

After the altercation, Church has a chat with Tex, who asks him to give her complete access to F.I.L.S.S.'s files. When he questions her motives, she tells him that she simply wants to find out who she is. He then agrees to give her access, and finds her, having enlisted Simmons' to help, probing the facility's files further. She shows Church a picture of a Freelancer base and asks him if he recognizes it. He acknowledges this, which confirms her suspicions and prompts her to leave for the installation. Not wanting Tex to go alone, Church decides to accompany her. Before he goes, however, he accesses a personal journal of the Director and discovers a startling truth about who, and what, Tex is. He has all the logs transferred to him, and then commands F.I.L.S.S. to delete the rest of the entries.

Secrets at Sidewinder

At the Freelancer base, Tex makes quick work of the guards, and then leads Church into the facility. He realizes that he's been here before, and Tex tells him the story behind the base: it had once been the holding facility for the Alpha, whom she had attempted to rescue with the help of other rogue agents. However, she had arrived too late and the Alpha's mind was long gone. Later outside of the base, Church attempted to stop Tex, but she intends to find the Director. Church, incredulous, reminds her that no one knows where he is, but Tex suggests that the Meta and Washington might.

Church tries to convince her not to pursue them, believing that they may not know anything either, but Tex, however, doesn't mind that possibility. She then pulls out her pistol and shoots Church in the foot, in order to activate his recovery beacon, which she needed to use to bait Washington. Church tells her that he would have helped her, but Tex retorts that he can't even help himself before leaving him in the snow as she goes to prepare for the two agents' arrival. Some time later, Wash, Doc, and the Meta arrive as predicted, where Wash is quick to realize that Church is being used as bait.

Suddenly, the three are blown sky high with explosives that Tex had cleverly placed beneath them. In spite of this, however, the two survive and Tex is forced to engage them in combat, but is eventually captured and contained in the Meta's capture unit. Church demands Wash release her, but Wash replies that he can't, but that he would be coming with him anyway. As Wash prepares to capture him with the unit as well, the allure of power overcomes the Meta, and he uses the captured Tex to gain her Cloaking abilities. Church is then forced to flee as the Meta begins to attack. Being his one ticket to freedom, Wash attempts to protect Church, but is easily defeated.

Washington and Church stand beside the capture unit.

Fortunately, the timely arrival of the Reds and Blues stops the madness. When the Capture Unit is found by Church, he repeats his demands that Wash free Tex from her imprisonment. Wash agrees on the condition that Church surrenders. Church accepts and Wash then orders the Reds and the Blues to gather the materials he needs. After they flee in search for the items, Church explains what and who Tex really is: an A.I. based on a woman the Director loved named Allison. He further explains that since Tex is based on what the Director remembered of her, which is that she died, Tex is always doomed to fail, no matter what her goal is, until suddenly, the Capture Unit slowly rises out of the snow on the cloaked Meta's back, revealing that it was still attached to him.

"Bye buddy."

When Church is injured by the Meta, the Reds and Tucker battle against the enemy. The Meta is finally defeated and the Capture Unit is found. Church knowingly defies all reason and jumps into the failing unit to find Tex, asking Caboose to remember him if he doesn't make it back out, saying goodbye to him in a warm manner. Unfortunately, the unit fails and shuts down, leaving Church trapped inside. When UNSC Police arrive at the scene, they toss the unit in evidence due to its bad condition, making it of no use to the Chairman. Inside the unit, Church monologues, declaring his decision to wait for Tex to come to him, because every time he tries to find her, her memory is pushed farther and farther away. In the meantime, he conjures up a recreation of Blood Gulch based on his memories, in hopes that Tex will find him there.

Searching for Tex

Church returns to Blood Gulch in his mind.

While inside the capture unit, Church starts a monologue about himself, but is repeatedly interrupted by Tucker. He joins Tucker and Caboose on the cliff to check out modifications to the Reds' new vehicle, but finds out that Donut is now acting as the leader. To fix this, Church confronts the Reds but is shot in order to speak. He tells each of them of their incorrect personalities, with the exception of Simmons, but Donut decides he's heard enough and aims his DMR at Church, who leaves back to Blue Base, leaving the Reds to debate over whether what Church said is true or not.

When Church returns to Blue Base Caboose tells him that he made a call to command for a new soldier. Fearing the soldier to be Tex, Church attempts to activate the tank in preparation for her arrival, prompting Tucker to take Church and Caboose to the beach to teach them about women. Back at Blue base, another earthquake occurs, and Tucker asks why Church is so calm during them. Church explains that everything in the memory unit is fake except for him and Tex, however, neither Tucker nor Caboose seem to be able to understand. The Blues suddenly notice a grenade and come to the conclusion that someone threw it at them, before it explodes. It is revealed that the grenade thrown at them was only a flashbang tossed by Epsilon-Tex.

Church shares his final moments with Tex.

Tex reveals herself to them and questions their dead soldier, so Church makes up a lie in order for Tex to stay. After calling Command, Tex decides to stay and help them with "Andersmith" by killing a Red. Eventually, the Blues end up killing Lopez, who Tex believes is Simmons. Back at Blue Base, Church attempts to talk to Tex, but is interrupted by Caboose. On his second try, he manages to talk with her about her time at Project Freelancer, where she reveals that she is aware of who and what she is, surprising Church. As the number of earthquakes increase, Tucker and Caboose escape, while Church and Tex stay behind. Church then wishes Tucker and Caboose good luck as they leave in the tank.

Church is removed from the Epsilon Unit.

Church and Tex then share a heartfelt moment, in which Church tells her that he now figured out what the Director, and himself previously, couldn't. By stating three words, despite not wanting to say them, Church frees Tex by saying "I forget you", causing her to disappear. Church then suddenly hears real-world Caboose's voice. He is then forcibly pulled out of the Epsilon unit and brought up to date in the real world by Sarge and Caboose. He demands they return him back inside as he was finally at peace with himself, but Caboose mentions that she told them the rescue would work. Suddenly, Carolina steps into the room and tells Alpha that he's going to help her kill the Director.

Conflict with Carolina

Church questions Carolina about how she is alive and then learns that Washington has replaced him on Blue Team, much to his anger. As the group leave the UNSC Archives, they make a pit stop at Zanzibar where Church is implanted into Tucker's A.I. slot. The two soon sneak off to spy on Wash and Carolina, but are caught when Tucker's perverted instincts get the better of him and are ordered to leave without any answers. The group then arrive back at the desert to find C.T., where Church convinces the Reds and Blues that they need to stick together and can't trust Carolina or Wash. Simmons then gets the idea to insert Church inside of Carolina's Mongoose, in order to figure out what she's up to.

"I know what it's like to spend your life chasing ghosts."

After Church is inserted into the Mongoose, Carolina departs to a nearby island, unaware that Church is stored inside. When Carolina arrives at the location of York's death, Church reveals himself to her and asks her why she doesn't trust them. In response, Carolina claims that she can't trust anybody anymore, due to the fact that her fellow Freelancers did horrible things during their time at Project Freelancer and afterwards. As a result, Church reveals memory logs of York to console Carolina. Touched by his effort, she thanks him and the two head back to the desert. Upon their arrival, Church is implanted into Carolina and the two reveal to the group that they are heading to Outpost 17-B.

Once the team arrives at Valhalla, Tucker and Caboose question Church about his sudden relationship with Carolina, where the latter explains that by staying close to Carolina, he is more likely to discover further information. Afterwards, Carolina has Church implant himself into the ship to get some intel, but he is unable to find any information. After getting into an argument with Tucker, Church speaks with Carolina alone, questioning her hatred and bitterness towards Tex. He then tells her that if she wanted to find the Director, she has to let her jealousy of Tex go, claiming if Tex was the best, she would be in Carolina's shoes.

"Each and every one of you is just a problem that I have to deal with on a daily basis!!"

After pulling a dog tag from her pocket, Carolina discovers it to belong to C.T. Church realizes that the tag contains data and decides to search inside. He exits and informs Carolina that he remembers everything, including the Director's location. The two then lead the Reds and Blues into the Holographic Chamber, where Carolina explains her plan to kill the Director, much to the group's distaste. After multiple refusals and complaints, Church blames the group for causing all of his problems, resulting in the Reds and Blues leaving one by one, disgusted and hurt. Church tries to apologize, but comes to no avail. Carolina assures Church that they don't need them, but he simply remains quiet.

Confronting the Director

With the Reds and Blues refusing to help them, Church and Carolina journey to the Freelancer Offsite Storage Facility to find the Director themselves. While there the two find F.I.L.S.S., and the latter informs them that the Director had returned to the facility and hasn't left since. Inside, Church and Carolina overhear the Director listening to an audio recording of Allison. The two then enter a teleporter to confront him, but end up in a room filled with hostile robots that resemble Tex, where Church then realizes that the Director had never stopped trying to create a perfect copy of her. When the robots attack the two, Church's coordination is jarred from the intensity of the fight and he is unable to assist Carolina.

"I know why."

As the drones overwhelm them, the Reds and Blues come to their rescue and together, after reconciling their relationship, lay waste to the majority of the robots. However, they slowly become overwhelmed as well; thus, Church splits into multiple fragments, enters each drone and finds Tex in a similar predicament to what he was in many years ago. Church reminds her of their relationship and comforts her, telling her to rest, which Tex wearily, but happily complies to. Church then says goodbye and returns to the facility, where all of the Tex drones shut down as a result of his actions. The Reds and Blues take a moment to savor their victory, but Church, however, replies that he and Carolina must complete the next objective of their mission alone.

"Your past doesn't define who you are. It just gives you the starting point for who you're going to be."

Carolina and Church soon find the Director watching a video file of Allison repeatedly. The Director pleads for more time so he can bring back Allison, but Church demands that they make him pay for what he has done. Carolina attempts to rekindle her hatred towards the Director, but simply gives him a sad frown and kisses him on the forehead. After leaving the Director her pistol, upon his request, Church becomes frustrated at this decision, but Carolina reminds him of what he learned while inside the storage unit of letting go. Before leaving, Church tells the Director that he isn't just a copy of him, he's a better person than him.

"He's just not here right now."

Afterwards, Church, Carolina, and the Reds and Blues are pardoned for their actions by the UNSC, but soon crash land on an unknown planet, where they continue their usual bickering. Overlooking both teams on a cliff, Church decides to stay with them, but Carolina mentions that she intercepted a transmission detailing thugs that have stolen Freelancer equipment, and offers Church to accompany her. She then quotes her mother on a saying on goodbyes, and Church remarks that Carolina's mother was a smart lady. The two then both disappear from the area, as Caboose looks on from below.

Mission on Chorus

As Church and Carolina investigate, they realize something is wrong with this planet. Early on they recieve an emergency transmission from Washington and the other Reds and Blues. Their attempt to respond to it fails, and their call is traced back to them by a mercenary named Locus. Later on Church hacks into a radio transmission between Locus and an unknown individual going by "Control". After weeks of laying low, gathering Intel, and sabotaging facilities, the two infiltrate an abandoned F.A.C. munitions facility and obtain data regarding stolen Freelancer equipment. While inside, Church accesses the memories of the former A.I. fragments to help Carolina escape. Soon afterwards, the two discover that Control, Locus, and a mercenary named Felix have obtained advanced weaponry and plan to kill Chorus' inhabitants as well as the Reds and Blues. Luckily, Church and Carolina rescue them from the space pirates at F.A.C. Outpost 37 and use a Teleportation Grenade to escape.

Arriving at their secret Forest Base, Church joyfully greets the teams, but Tucker expresses his anger towards the latter for leaving them. Despite this, Carolina and Church explain to them that their ship was purposely crashed on Chorus by the Space Pirates, who are mass-producing advanced versions of the ship's Freelancer equipment. So, the Blood Gulch Crew decide to analyze Grif's Suppressor, and soon discover a connection between it and the Teleportation Grenades. In order to know who supplied the grenades, Carolina and the Blues decide to search one half of the ship at Crash Site Alpha, while the Reds search for the ship's manifest at Crash Site Bravo.

While at Alpha, the Blues and Carolina are attacked by several Space Pirates. As they close in on them, Tucker frantically removes a drive Church was using to transfer data, forcing the group to teleport away. When Church blames Tucker for his actions, Caboose is nearly killed by a Space Pirate who teleported back with them, but is rescued by Carolina. As she and Wash interrogate the pirate, Church discovers that the manifest the Reds obtained is locked, due to Doc accessing it without proper clearance and tries to get around the problem.

"Somebody just got fuckin busted!"

Unfortunately, the group are attacked by more space pirates, forcing Wash to teleport them away to a fueling station, where he reveals that Freckles' storage unit contains a tracking device. After Church removes the tracker he soon gets into an argument with Tucker. Later, Tucker and Church finally talk about their issues, with Church admitting he shouldn't have just left without telling them, and Tucker saying Church doesn't have to do everything anymore like before. Afterwards, Felix and Locus contact the Blood Gulch Crew and offer them a ride home if they agree never to speak of their involvement. Distrustful of the two, Church and the rest of the group considers multiple options. The rest of the Reds and Blues are offered to go home while Church and the Freelancer continue the fight on their own, but they decide to stay. The group instead executes a sneak attack on the mercenaries at Radio Jammer Station 1C. There, Tucker manages to get Felix to monologue over the Pirates' actions and soon reveals Church to him, who has recorded Felix's entire monologue by using Tucker's helmet cam.

Going to War

"P.S. Suck our balls."

After the Reds and Blues disable the radio jammer, Church relays Felix's recorded words to the Feds and Rebels at Armonia, who finally learn secret behind the Pirates' involvement in the war. Because of this, Felix and Locus teleport away. After the Feds and Rebels form a truce, they pick up the Blood Gulch Crew from the radio jammer station and regroup at the New Republic HQ. There Church processes the manifest, and discovers the true identity of Control: Chairman Malcom Hargrove. When the Chairman declares war on Chorus, the Blood Gulch Crew, Federal Army, and New Republic, accept.

A month later, Church and Carolina oversee the management of a captured Charon facility alongside Sarge and Tucker, and discover an alien temple nearby. Upon learning that many of Chorus' inhabitants are familiar with the temples, Church and Carolina get help from Dr. Grey in order find out why Charon was studying them. Grey discovers that Charon was attempting to activate the temple and decides to survey it with Tucker, Sarge and, to Church's request, Caboose. After Tucker accidentally reactivates the temple, which destroys all of Charon's hybrid weaponry, the group relay the information to the others at Armonia and devise a plan to fight the pirates while they're down. Kimball, Wash, the Reds, and Chorus armies will attack the pirates at Crash Site Alpha while Carolina, Grey, and the Blues follow coordinates the temple emitted.

Upon arriving at their destination the group find a portal and learn that only a true warrior of mental clarity and great strength can be accepted through. Church realizes that Caboose fits these instructions and the latter is sent through as a result. He manages to pass the test and befriends an alien A.I. he names Santa. Santa informs them of the Temple of Communication, which will allow them contact with Earth without the disruption of the radio jammers. He also mentions the planet's Purge and the location of a key that can activate it. Just then the group is ambushed by Sharkface and his band of space pirates, forcing Carolina to protect the team under her bubble shield.

"I don't know......"

After Sharkface leaves to get the key, Grey has Freckles kill his pirates. The group then learn that Doyle himself flew to the key's location and obtained it, prompting them to follow him. Upon arriving at an east mountain range, the team encounter Sharkface again, who soon flees. Carolina chases him and the two quickly engage in combat. As Sharkface begins to overwhelm Carolina, the latter pushes Church to run all of her enhancements in order to beat him, but Church is unable to, losing control of his memory counterparts of Delta and Theta in the process. Because of this, Church goes offline, causing Carolina to fall off a cliff.

Charon's Final Assault

Luckily, the two survive and are later picked up and brought back to Armonia, regrouping with the rest of the Blood Gulch Crew and Chorus armies. Carolina then confronts Church about his actions at the mountains, in which the latter explains that he can't run multiple enhancements at once since he is only a fragment. Carolina tells Church she watched the Freelancers die in the gateway, then she had to watch Wash and the Reds and Blues die too. Church and Doyle convince her that she should have more faith in herself.  Afterward, the Blood Gulch Crew hold a counseling session for Kimball and Doyle in order to improve their relationship, but the session is abruptly cut off when the Space Pirates attack the city. In order to survive, Church suggests eradicating the pirates by overloading the nuclear reactor in the center of the city, with Wash, Carolina, and Kimball being sent to overload it.

However, after running into Sharkface, Carolina convinces him to spare the other two and fight her alone, which Sharkface agrees to. As the two engage in battle, Carolina apologizes to Sharkface for what Project Freelancer did to him and his friends, but Sharkface refuses her apology and attacks. As they fight, Church helps Carolina hop onto a monorail and flee, but Sharkface catches up to them. Luckily, Carolina manages to outmatch Sharkface and soon regroups with Wash and Kimball, who quickly execute him. After the Reds drop off the Blues in a safe area, they return to the city and pick up Church, Wash, Kimball, and Carolina.

However, they realize that Doyle decided to remain in the city to ignite the reactor, in an act of self sacrifice. When Doyle does so, he kills a majority of the space pirates and destroys the city, causing a huge nuclear blast. Thus, Church helps Carolina form her bubble shield on top of the Pelican to protect their friends, but the action leaves him incapacitated. Church later awakens at Crash Site Bravo, where the Blood Gulch Crew and most of the Feds and Rebels have taken refuge, with others scattered across Chorus. After the crew form a counterattack plan to stop Felix and Locus, Kimball delivers a passionate speech to the Chorus armies that motivates them to fight as one.

While the Reds and Blues fight off the pirates at the Communication Temple with the Feds and Rebels, Church, Wash, and Carolina confront Felix and Locus at the Purge. After a brutal fight the three inform the two mercs that their base, Crash Site Alpha, has been taken over and soon discover the Tartarus being pulled in towards the Purge, due to the tractor beams being reactivated. With Church's help, Wash and Carolina survive the ship's destruction and the three regroup with the others at the Comm Temple. However, the pirates release several Mantis to fight the group. Because of this, Tucker takes Church and enters the temple's control room with the other Reds and Blues to broadcast their message.

The End

Unfortunately, the crew are confronted by Felix and Locus, having survived the Tartarus' destruction. Surprisingly, however, Locus betrays Felix and refuses to attack the crew, prompting Felix to attack them. Luckily, the crew quickly kill Felix, with Locus gaining control of Felix's discarded sword. Locus then activates the Comm. Temple for the crew and disappears, allowing Church to broadcast the message. Church reveals Chorus' location, the Blood Gulch Crew's survival, and Hargrove's crimes to the message's recipients across the galaxy. In response to this, the Chairman flies to Chorus and releases numerous Mantis droids to kill the remaining inhabitants.

"Where is Hargrove, now?"

Church, as a result, suggests infiltrating the Staff of Charon in order to shut them down. After the crew manage to enter the ship by flying up in Felix and Locus' Falcon, they reunite with F.I.L.S.S., who directs them to a terminal located inside Hargrove's trophy room that can shut down the droids. Upon reaching the trophy room, Church connects to the terminal and overrides the Mantises' controls, shutting them all down. Unfortunately, the Reds and Blues are forced to hide inside the trophy room when Hargrove's personal forces attack them.

"Out of everyone I've ever met, I hate you all the least."

When Hargrove's forces begin welding the door, the crew decide to stand their ground and fight. Church, having discovered it while connected to the terminal, reveals the Meta's suit to the crew and has Tucker wear it. After Tucker dons the suit, the crew prepare for the impending attack as Hargrove's forces prepare to breach through. Church, however, cannot run the suit as Epsilon. Existing through a memory fragment means that each memory Church makes takes up more of his functionality and holds him back. He decides to erase his memories, deconstruct himself, and leave behind the other A.I. fragments in order to ensure that the crew will survive. Before erasing himself, Church leaves behind several messages, including a final farewell to the Reds and Blues:

“	Hey guys. If you're hearing this then it means you did it. You won. You kicked the shit out of Hargrove's forces. I knew you could. But this is my last stop. See, when I came into this world, I was really just a collection of somebody else's memories. But with your help, these memories they... they took form! They became my voice, my personality. And, after a while, I... I began to make brand new memories of my own. All of these things... are what make me who I am, but they're also holding me back. I can't run this suit as Epsilon. But if I erase my memories, if I... deconstruct myself, the fragments I'll leave behind will have the strength to get you through this. I believe that. I wish that there was another way. But I’m leaving this message, as well as others, in the hopes that you'll understand why I have to go this time. Ahah, it was... it was actually Doyle who made me realize something that I've never thought of before. There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero... never gets to see that ending. They'll... never know if their sacrifice... actually made a difference. They'll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith.	”
–Leonard L. Church's last words, Season 13 Episode 20

"Ain't that a bitch?"

Personality

Church has a very angry personality as he hates several of the characters' traits and is easily annoyed by them, often trying to avoid connecting with them personally. After "dying", Church's traits became more noticeable, expressing selfishness as he began to wish that one of the others died and stated "Misery loves company," when knowing the bomb would destroy his body no matter what in Make Your Time.

Despite this, Church shows a level of compassion and care for his teammates, most notably towards Tex. Because of his logical reasoning, Church holds great leadership and proved to be a selfless individual when he stayed and helped Washington face the Meta at Command, not knowing if he would live or die when the EMP would go off.

When Church was first created, he was less angry, but had a greater sense of arrogance given his status as a Smart A.I. Following the abuse he endured by his creator, he was left a broken shell who was naturally angry at everything, unable to understand why.

When Church was first revived in Epsilon, he was happier due to having complete amnesia, but his ego and arrogance resurfaced, as evidenced by how much he enjoyed being treated like a god by the aliens.

Over time, Church grew to like the reds and blues despite his attitude towards them. Despite what he says to Caboose, when he was shot in Everything Old is New Again, Church was clearly distressed. He would occasionally call him "buddy". He also admitted in n+1 that his memories of his time in Blood Gulch with them are among his favorite. He still would get angry with the reds and blues, but he would regret it, as seen in both Change of Plans and Out of the Frying Pan. In The End, Church's final words to the Reds and Blues (before leaving them a message) were to tell them that out of everyone he ever met, he hated them the least.

One of Church's most notable characteristics is his love for Tex. Over the course of the series he learns to accept that she's gone and let go, in contrast to his creator. He also teaches these lessons to Agent Carolina and helps her move on from what she went through.

Relationships

Main article: Church's Relationships

Church has many complex relationships with characters in the series.

Ambiguous/non-canon appearances

Out of Mind

In Out of Mind: Part II, Church was seen at the Freelancer Special Training Facility as a Blue recruit. While there, he talks with Tex about A.I. implantation. Wyoming comes up to them and has him leave. Church nearly tells Tex something but instead merely says to stay safe before going with Pvt. Jimmy. Considering Church and Tex's identities, it is impossible for these events to have actually played out, and it cannot be an inaccurate memory by Church, because Tex was the one remembering this.

Sidewinder

In A Shadow of His Former Self, Church tells a story of how he was stationed at Sidewinder with Jimmy, his friend Mickey, and other Blue soldiers. One day, he and Jimmy were sitting around when Tex attacked, killing all of the other Blues there except Church who she spared. It is unknown if this is Church's interpretation of Tex breaking in to free him, or if the director planted these memories.

Recreation Trailer

Church appears in the Recreation Trailer, lamenting his death in Reconstruction, complaining that Caboose setting fire to the Epsilon Unit is his legacy. Tex then appears and tells Church he's not really dead if someone remembers him. Church notes Caboose is not the best person for that job, lamenting that the road to coming back is a long one for them. Tex asks if it's over, to which Church says it isn't. Church then gives Tex a very sarcastic thanks for the encouragement, to which Tex gives a sarcastic response in return. Burnie Burns confirmed this portion of the trailer was meant to be taken metaphorically as foreshadowing to their return in Seasons 7 and 8, rather than literally them watching.

Themes

Angry Personality

From the outset, Rooster Teeth establishes that Church is often angry. Burns has said that, in this way, Church was modeled after Gustavo Sorola, who voices the character Simmons. At the time, Sorola was frustrated with his job.To emphasize this trait, Caboose, for whom Rooster Teeth did not have a plan originally, was basically "a catalyst for getting Church pissed off." When Church and Tex explore Caboose's Mind as ghosts, Caboose's mental image of Church, Leonard, is portrayed as over-the-top, vulgar, and Caboose's best friend.

During season 1, Rooster Teeth made a conscious decision to reduce vulgarity in Red vs. Blue, partly inspired by Homestar Runner and partly in response to requests to make the videos safe for work. However, response to this change was worse, and Leonard's excessive vulgarity was Rooster Teeth's response to criticism that they had eliminated too much foul language. In the audio commentary for the Season 4 DVD, Rooster Teeth has noted, however, that they had portrayed Church as less angry in later episodes.

As time goes by in the series, Church gets less angry, but he will occasionally relapse into a rage at specific moments. Following the end of Season 10, Church has largely abandoned his angry personality, only getting angry once and a while, due to being at peace with his life and what happened to him.

Firing Accuracy

Church often wields a sniper rifle, but mainly for observation purposes, since he is a very poor shot, a fact which has been demonstrated on numerous occasions. He has had only 2 successful shots during the span of the series with the rifle: The first was shooting Wyoming in the crotch in Episode 98, much to his surprise and delight; however, technically this shot didn't happen due to a time-loop caused by Wyoming; the other time, the bullet ricocheted off several structures, miraculously wounding the Meta. He was also able to shoot off Caboose's pinky toe from a distance with a magnum.

Due to Alpha's torture and fragmentation, Church's accuracy was split out of him and into Theta, Alpha's trust. Church's inability to aim has been a running joke since the beginning of the series. He has missed Caboose on numerous occasions, Donut during his return to Blood Gulch in season 3, and Doc/O'Malley near the end of Season 4, even when they were standing perfectly still, and only a relatively short distance away.

"Hey can I get a little help; I'm, out of bullets."

Church's accuracy with weapons tends to fluctuate from having exceptional skill to having none at all. He failed to hit a Freelancer Project guard with multiple pistol shots at close range during his and Washington's infiltration of the Freelancer command in Reconstruction Chapter 15 and he failed to hit a stationary rock in Season 9. In contrast, Church has been able to make a few incredible shots, the most noteworthy being his missile assault on the Meta. Despite targeting an incredibly agile foe and taking only a moment to aim, Church's shot not only was dead on, but it was clearly a perfectly centered head shot. In the Old Annoyance Be Forgot special he proves capable of hitting three tiny Christmas baubles hanging on the Reds' tree from a considerable distance away. Also, in the Fight, Fight! alternate ending to the Blood Gulch chronicles, although non-canon, he not only kills Sarge with a sniper shot after the latter taunts him about Tex's death, but kills Simmons with a perfect headshot after he unwittingly does the same, perhaps indicating that Church can make these kinds of shots if he is angry enough. This is supported by Season 7, where his "laser face" goes right through the insurrectionist leader, while in Season 8, the laser completely misses Washington.

"Death"

"Boo, motherfucker!"

Church tends to die quite frequently in the series. He was blown up by Sheila and sniped (while in Sarge's body) in Season 1. In Season 3, a bomb went off in his stomach and he failed to stop it despite over ten trips back in time trying to reverse it. At the start of Season 4, Church is forced out of his body by Crunchbite. In Season 5, Church is sniped out of his body by Tex when she returns to Blood Gulch. In Reconstruction, Church is killed in the E.M.P., only to be revived via the Epsilon fragment. Church faced a final death in Season 13, sacrificing himself to protect his friends.

Bodies/Hosts

Church is known to change bodies quite frequently. In the first two seasons he went through three robot bodies. After being revived in Season 7, he was given a monitor body, which he later replaced with a fourth robot body. Inside the memory unit, he had a human body because, even though his body was robotic, Church remembered/believed he was human back during the Blood Gulch Chronicles, so in the constructed Blood Gulch scenario based on his memories, he has a human body. He was moved into a mongoose during Season 10. Additionally, throughout the series, he's either possessed, or been implanted in every member of the Blood Gulch cast, with the exception of Doc and Simmons.

Multiple Versions

There have been various versions of Leonard Church throughout the series. Dr Leonard Church made The Alpha based on his mind, then split the Alpha into multiple fragments, then the Epsilon fragment repeated this process in The End. Additionally there have been various other versions of Church like Yellow Church or Caboose's mental image of Leonard.

Memory

"I just remembered........everything."

A recurring phrase related to Church's character is "memory is the key". When Alpha was first created, the Director's memories of Allison were so powerful, that they caused Alpha to create another A.I. personality based on those memories. After being tortured and splitting off his memories, Church seemed to barely remember his name, however upon being moved to Blood Gulch, he seemed to have retained some of the Director's memories, believing them to be his own, as well as potentially some fabricated memories as his interpretation of certain events he witnessed. When the memory fragment, Epsilon, was placed in Washington's head, Wash was made witness to both the Director's and Alpha's memories, causing him to learn of Allison, and Alpha's torture. This experience proved to be traumatic for Washington and caused him to develop a more serious personality. After the EMP, the Epsilon fragment was used to revive Church, resulting in him living on his memories so to speak. He also uses this form to summon the likenesses of the other A.I. fragments, via his memory of them. In Season 8, as he regains his memories of Tex and Blood Gulch, he uses them to create another Tex. In Season 9, he spends majority of the season in a recreation of Blood Gulch based on his memories, however the recreation was inaccurate due to Caboose telling his version of stories from Blood Gulch, which clashed with his actual memories of Blood Gulch. In Season 10, after accessing C.T.'s data unit, Church regains all of his memories and uses this information to find the Director. In Season 13, it is revealed that since Epsilon is the memory fragment of the Alpha, Church's existence in this form becomes more taxing to maintain the more memories he makes, so he erases his memories and deconstructs himself so what's left behind will be capable enough to run The Meta's suit. Red vs Blue: The Ultimate Fan Guide uses the metaphor of a fading memory to describe Church's condition leading up to this decision.

Letting Go

In tandem with memory, letting go is a recurring element of Church's character. Miles Luna, lead writer of the Chorus Trilogy, when asked to sum up the plot of Red vs. Blue in less than two sentences, responded "A guy is trying to get over his ex girlfriend, but he can't do it without the help of his buddies." After 9 seasons of pursuing Tex, Church figures out that the solution to her situation is to accept that Allison is dead, let her go, and let Tex rest. After figuring this out, he is freed by Carolina, someone who bears her own series of grudges on the Director and Allison/Tex. When Carolina is having difficulty coping with York's death, Church plays a journal recording of York and Delta talking, with York saying that if he met her again, he'd have told her he wished she learned to let things go. Later on Church tells Carolina to let go of her grudge against Tex, noting that if she was really the best, it would be her, not Carolina, standing with him, still alive. As Church regains his memories of being tortured, he becomes more determined to exact revenge on the Director, and it ends up being Carolina, unable to follow through with her own vengeance, who reminds him to let go, telling him his past doesn't need to define who he is. Church declares that because of this, he is more than just a copy of the director, but a better person than him.

Skills and Abilities

Leadership

Church going over plans with the Reds and Blues

Despite being a private, a major characteristic of Church is that he's been shown to be a great leader. For example: despite Tucker being higher in rank, Church commonly leads the Blues and has also led the Reds and Blues against O'Malley's final assault. This is also shown in Reconstruction, where he seemingly takes second-in-command under Washington when the teams were pitted against the Meta. It can be assumed that he obtained this trait from the Director, as he leads an advanced military program. He stopped the group from fighting and convinced them to face C.T. during Recreation. While in the capture unit, he took command of the Blue team during Season 9. In Season 10, when the Reds and Blues didn't trust Carolina, Church gathered them to form a plan to spy on her and figure out what she wants. According to Tucker in Reconciliation, Church's leadership was him "taking the blame when shit went wrong." Throughout Season 12, Church would regularly take command of the Reds and Blues alongside Carolina in order to get them focused and attentive. In turn, the Blues seem to look up to Church and appreciate his leadership. Evident during Season 12 where both Tucker and Caboose missed having him around. In Season 13, Church continues to provide leadership, however more often than previously, the other reds and blues assist in that duty, so much so that he has complete faith that they will be okay even after his death.

Logic

Church calculating multiple ways to counter a door breach within milliseconds.

As a smart A.I., Alpha has exceptional calculating logic. He used this skill to flawlessly calculate and synchronize the timings between the two targets in the Freelancer theft of the Sarcophagus. He lost access to most of his higher functions due to the trauma he endured, unable to even remember the fact that he is an A.I. Even with this limitation he was shown to be a cunning strategist, forming various plans throughout the series. In Season 10, as his memories of being the Alpha came back, his functions returned too. His advanced calculative ability was shown in Season 12 as he was able to analyze a door breach, and formulate a counter strategy for Carolina at instantaneous speeds.

Memory

Church remembering Delta and Theta to simulate conversation with them.

Since the Epsilon fragment represents memory, in this form, Church has the ability to use his memories to internalize other people and things. He uses this ability to take the likeness of the other A.I. fragments like Delta or Theta. He also can simulate conversations with them by imagining what they'd say back to him and projecting that. He uses this ability to regain abilities he lost when the Director tortured him, such as looking at a difficult logical situation, and then thinking "If Delta were here, what would he do?" then remembering what Delta would do, and making that decision real.

Possession

Church possesses Sarge

Due to being an A.I., Church has the ability to possess and take control of anyone. After "dying", Church first demonstrated this ability by possessing Sarge in order to rescue Tex. He has since used this ability to learn vital info, sneak into bases, and even go against Omega in Caboose's mind. Being the Alpha, Church has shown to be much more skilled in possession than other A.I.s, as he completely takes over the host in a few seconds, while O'Malley caused some characters to develop a split-personality, showing they still had some control, and it took Sigma many days, or even months, to take control of Maine. He also possessed a mongoose which allowed him to bond with Carolina, he unlocked Caboose's anger, and was able to put the remaining Tex-drones to 'rest' by splitting himself into multiple fragments in Season 10. It's also suggested that he can increase a character's abilities if he possesses them. In Season 12 he was able to take control of Grif in order to disarm him.

Kills

Most Church's kills are the result of the time loop. He accidentally killed his captain, Butch Flowers, while trying to save him from a "heart attack". However, he was able to kill Wyoming in an alternate timeline with his sniper rifle and possibly some of his clones before the Reds came to save them. While in his monitor form, Church has killed one of the religious aliens using his telekinesis and the Insurrectionist Leader with his laser in Recreation. He deleted Epsilon Tex in Season 9 by 'forgetting her'. He also was able to put the remaining Tex-drones to 'rest' in True Colors as an A.I. The Red vs Blue Ultimate Fan Guide notes Church to have a net positive of 8 kills, with his team kills counting against him.

Butch Flowers

Wyoming

1 religious alien

Insurrectionist Leader

Remaining Tex-drones

Gallery

Alpha's original form

Alpha inside his mind

Epsilon inside Washington's head

Tex and Church meet for the first time

Tex lets Church rest

Churh takes aim with his sniper rifle

Church and Tucker spying on the Reds

Church and Washington are reunited with the Reds during their pursuit of The Meta

Church is told his true identity by Washington

Church and Caboose

"When it goes off I'll be fine. It only affects computers remember? And I, am a motherfucking ghost."

"My name is Leonard Church, and you will fear my LASER FACE!"

"That doesn't seem physically possible".

"God I forgot how much this place sucks!"

"I forget you."

"Oh no...."

Church implanted in Tucker

Church inside a Mongoose

Church implanted in Carolina

Church's hologram distorting slightly due to limited connection.

Church's 'ghost' hologram in physical form inside the holographic storage room.

"Caboose...?"

"Seeing this many ex girlfriends in one room, kinda has me terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

Church splits into multiple fragments to enter multiple bodies

Church and Tex meet for the last time

"I'm more than just a copy of you, I'm better than you."

"Miss me assholes?"

"Alright, looks like it's just you and me, sis."'

Church possesses Grif

Church removes the tracking device from Freckles

Church and Tucker's "broment".

"Bring it on. Motherfuckers!"

"North, was a crazy son of a bitch."

"You crash our ship, we crash yours."

"I'm leaving this message, as well as others, in the hopes that you'll understand why I have to go this time."

"The fragments I'll leave behind will have the strength to get your through this."

"Ain't that a bitch?"

Trivia

• Despite holding a sniper rifle all the time, Church seems to miss nearly every shot with it, unless he's lucky or by accident. Whenever Church actually manages to line up a shot, something always renders it irrelevant (either he shoots something unimportant or a temporal loop/distortion gets in the way).

• Church's hologram form can be seen in the introduction to Recovery One: Part Four during a flashback of Epsilon's "death".
• For some unknown reason Church is afraid of sickness. This is revealed in Season 4 when Tucker was "sick" and Church was too afraid to go into Blue Base and find out what was wrong with Tucker instead being content with sending in Andy instead, despite the fact that he was still an A.I. in a robot's body, or at least a ghost as far as he knew at the time.

• Despite living in a robot body, Caboose and Tucker claim Church is getting fatter in Season 5.*In Human Peer Bonding, Caboose calls Church a gay robot. Ironically, unbeknownst to him, Church was inhabiting a robot's body at the time, though he is not gay.
• While Church was revealed to be an A.I., the body he possessed before Caboose killed him wasn't biological, even though Tucker claims it stunk. Burnie Burns confirmed in the Jenga Jam interview that Church's first body was in fact robotic and Tucker's comment was just a joke.

“	Nah it's just a body. It's the same mechanical body. And those events take place before we set up that. If I had to have one inconsistency in the whole storyline, it's that one. The Church's body and the Tucker thing. Tucker's of course cracking his jokes about it stinking or whatever. The best way to think about it is that the existence of Lopez is important in the sense of the existence of Church. Everything's balanced in Blood Gulch canyon, right? The one thing that's not balanced the fact that Red Team has a robot, and why is that? Why is this one thing imbalanced? They both have a vehicle. They both have a base. They both have a flag. But why does one team get this robot? And the actual explanation is within the larger story.	”
–Burnie Burns, Late Nite Jenga Jam, Episode 141: Burnie Burns vs LFTO

• In Everything Old is New Again, when Church's and Tex's graves are seen, one of which has the Star of David, and one has a cross, suggesting one is Christian and the other is Jewish, but for a long time, it was left up to interpretation who was which. In 2015, Red vs Blue: The Ultimate Fan Guide was released, and contained a story of the original Leonard and Allison meeting, and Leonard state his last name was Jewish.
• Epsilon is the only known Alpha fragment that wasn't destroyed in the EMP.
• As stated in Hang Time, Church's favorite color is green.
• Church is one of the series’ few "smart" characters of the Blood Gulch soldiers (Although, he is the Alpha A.I., as revealed in Reconstruction, so it isn't surprising if he is), the others being Simmons, Lopez, and Tex.
• Church currently has appeared in more mini-series than any other character (5 total).
• Church has the most appearances in the third saga of the series out of all characters (45 episodes).
• In Don't Say It, Church takes the appearances of Delta, Theta, Gamma, Omega, and Sigma. An attribute of each is displayed other than their appearance as well: an echoey, robotic voice (Delta), a higher pitched childlike voice and the sound of fireworks (Theta), broken/jerky vocal patterns (Gamma), a deep aggressive tone (Omega), and a secondary, almost demonic, voice repeating the sentence just said (Sigma). What Church says in each form also echoes the personalities of each fragment: Church takes the form of Delta while calling the Director "brilliant", then Theta as he states that the Freelancers trusted him, then Gamma as he says he lied to them, then Omega as he says he used them, then Sigma as he says he "manipulated us for his own purposes".
• Church's affection towards Tex originally started out like the Director's, as the two attempted to bring her back and refused to refer to her as a shadow. Yet later on, in Don't Say It, Church refers to Tex as "this...shadow?", proving his statement of "I'm more than just a copy of you. I'm better than you," towards the Director. That said, Church is still visibly pissed in The End when he saw Tex's helmet stored as a trophy in The Staff of Charon.
• Church shares several similarities with Weiss Schnee from RWBY. Both characters have a connection to a powerful organization, they bothsee highly of themselves, and they get annoyed by their own teammates. Both have also come to like their teammates more over the course of their respective shows. Weiss isn't the leader of her team however.

• Just like the number 10 for Tex, Church has been connected to the number 13. The Red vs Blue football shirts gave Church the number 13, the song Good Fight, often seen as a song about Church, has the phrase "my lucky number seven is thirteen" in the lyrics. Church's connection to this number could be a reference to his bad luck throughout the series. In an interview with AfterBuzzTV, Burnie Burns states that the decision to kill of Church permanently in Season 13 is an intentional tie in to 13 "being Church's number.

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