Soldier

Spread

After the GIF was uploaded to Steam and YouTube, it appeared on the website JoyReactor (under the Russian version) where it was uploaded on August 20th, 2014, by user )|(ENAT as a reaction to a news story about the central McDonald’s in Moscow closing.

The GIF reappeared on Tenor after being uploaded on December 7th, 2015, by an unknown user.

On , the GIF has also been frequently seen as a reaction to various posts and tweets over the years, an example of which can be seen on October 16th, 2019, from user @A_Tiny_Pyro. In this post (seen below), the GIF is used to react to an image encouraging people to boycott Blizzard and play TF2 instead.

In 2020, the GIF began to see rampant use on Reddit as several users posted it alongside captions in a more traditional meme format, particularly on the r/dankmemes sub. The first post came from Redditor TomMcWeedy on March 10th, 2020, under the title “he did nut…” The meme received over 90,000 upvotes, several Reddit awards and 376 comments.

The meme continued to spread as several versions were posted to the r/dankmemes subreddit later that day. Shortly after the original, Redditor mijuzz7 posted another example (shown below) with the title “My time has come,” also receiving a few Reddit awards in addition to 84,300 upvotes and 382 comments.

The Soldier’s Association

The Soldier’s a crucial attacking unit in most modes and can easily handle himself in nearly any situation. He can beat the Heavy and weak classes due to their slow speed and/or lack of health, respectively. The Engineer can be beaten easily by the Soldier because the Soldier carries the Rocket Launcher, making it easy for him to overcome unguarded buildings from long range. With the help of the Spy, the Soldier should have no trouble taking down an Engineer. Against the Scout, Medic, Sniper, and Spy he will most likely be beaten because his little speed compared to theirs makes it easy for them to circle-strafe him and dodge his rockets. They can safely take him out from a further range than his Shotgun allows, putting him at a disadvantage. He can catch an enemy Soldier by surprise to easily beat him, but if both are alert of each other’s position and presence, then a deadlock can occur, due to the long range giving them plenty of time to dodge each other’s rockets. The Soldier can also use his Rocket Jumping ability, which entails the Soldier aiming his rocket launcher at his feet and pulling the trigger, sending the Soldier skyrocketing. This damages the Soldier somewhat (the Gunboats can help to eliminate this problem), but it’s useful for getting you into places the other team wouldn’t expect the slow, unwieldy Soldier to be and giving you an opportunity for a surprise rocket. His massive amounts of different melee weapons make him very dangerous whether at low health or right positioning.

The Soldier’s early design for Team Fortress 2.

Bio

Biography

The Soldier is well known for his spectacular rocket jump. In defiance of all common sense and judgment, the Soldier can detonate a rocket at his feet and launch himself skyward at the cost of some health. This ability allows the Soldier to pop up in unexpected places and reach areas off-limits even to the Scout’s double jump.

The two grenades on the Soldier’s character model cannot be used unless the player finishes the Kamikaze taunt, which can only be used when the Equalizer or the Escape Plan are equipped.

While most if not all of the characters in Team Fortress 2 are mentally unstable, he is one of the two that seem to be completely insane (Along with the Pyro). This is demonstrated in his Meet the Team video where he talks to the heads of decapitated BLU mercenaries, his «friends» who are cardboard cutouts that he talks to in TF2 comic Grordbort`s Crash, and hoarding Captain Dan’s soup in his home in WAR! comic. He also «claims» his name is Mr. «Jane Doe» despite that name being used for unidentified corpses of women, instead of John Doe, the male equivalent. In the Shadow Boxers comic he is shown to believe his entire team consists of only Americans, even though only he, the Engineer, and the Scout are confirmed to be American (Medic is German, Demoman is Scottish, Heavy is Russian, Spy is French, Sniper is Oceanic, and no one knows the Pyro’s nationality, though it’s theorized that Pyro is Mexican.). In Grave Matters, a possible «real» name or just another alias «Barrister Joe» and rank are mentioned by the ghost of his boss Redmond Mann. In Meet the Spy and later videos, he tends to act more idiotic and immature. This may be due to one of the comics revealing he has been drinking contaminated water, instead of the bottled water meant for the team. The Soldier was the basis for many Freak Fortress freaks, such as Painis Cupcake and Rubberfruit.

Origin

The original GIF (shown below) comes from an upload by user Killroy on August 2nd, 2014, to the Team Fortress 2 artwork tab on Steam’s Community section. The post has since accumulated nearly 3,000 likes and 200 comments.

The clip used in the GIF also appears in a YouTube video on Kilroy0901’s channel, specifically the video titled “All My Garry’s Mod Screenshots in 120 seconds + Scrapped Videos,” which was uploaded on August 4th, 2014. In the video (seen below), several screenshots and short clips are shown and the particular part the GIF is pulled from occurs right around the 1:56 mark.

Evil-doer

• RED

• BLU

Alias

The Soldier

Jane DoeMister Jane Doe (by himself)Barrister Joe (by his former ghostly boss)John DoePrivate Haircut (by Demoman)Rocket-Boy (by Engineer)Yankee (by Engineer)Soldier-Boy (by Engineer)Pickle-Headed Drongo (by Sniper)Rocket-Hoppin’ Simpleton (by Sniper)Ploddin’ Potatohead (by Sniper)Sluggish Simpleton (by Spy)

Soldier

Mercenary

Leadership

Peak human durabilityRocket launcherShotgunShovelRocket jumping skills

Hobby

Killing.

Representing American ways through demonstration of weapons.Spend time with RED Demoman (BLU Soldier, formerly).

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Trivia

• The Soldier’s real name is unknown, but he has been referred to as Jane Doe.

  John/Jane Doe are names used to refer to an anonymous person of unknown identity, the name changes depending on gender.

• The Soldier has made several posts on the Official Blog, often referring to the Team Fortress 2 team as «The Powers That Be.»
• The Soldier is both a priest and a lawyer as stated in Grave Matters pg. 14, although he mentions this is conditional to specific states/countries.
• The Soldier calls everybody «maggots», especially when he is irritated. However, he also calls his teammates (especially the Scout) «son» when not.
• He may also call his team «maggots» if they are not helping him cap a control point.
• On May 1st 2020, when Rick May died from COVID-19 in April 8 2020, aged 79 in a nursing home in Seattle while recovering from a stroke, Valve released an update to Team Fortress 2 adding a tribute to May’s voice work as the Soldier in the form of a new main menu theme titled «Saluting The Fallen», and locking the character image in the main menu to Soldier. The update also added statues of the Soldier saluting to most of the official in-game maps. These statues all feature a commemorative plaque dedicated to May, and will reportedly last through the end of the month of May. The statues emit a number of pre-selected voice lines from the Soldier when approached. Many Team Fortress 2 fans have released tribute videos on YouTube to tribute May.
  • According to a Reddit user, who saw a YouTube comment containing May’s final words, May, in his final hours, told a friend «It took a pandemic to kill me.» Although, this is not confirmed.
  • Best class in the entirety of Team Fortress 2.
  • Soldier was revealed to be clone of MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton in the story arc «Balding Eagles»

Highlander[edit]

Main article: Soldier (Highlander)

In Highlander, there is only one Soldier on each team. This Soldier often functions like a Roaming Soldier would in 6v6. As such, many 6v6 Roamer strategies can be applied to Highlander as well. Often used as a roaming pick class, the Soldier is mostly run with Gunboats and the stock Rocket Launcher, The Original or the Black Box. A well-coordinated team can organize pick classes to work together for a common goal, like forcing a Medic to use his ÜberCharge or taking out an Engineer nest. In most maps, the Soldier is used to control the flank. He is used to defend the flank of his own team and in turn harass his opponents. Some teams will run the Soldier closer to the combo so that he can use his splash damage to protect the combo.

Quotes

• «Maggots!»
• «Give ’em hell boys!»
• «You are all weak. You are all bleeders.
• «You’re dead, that’s good, amen.»
• «If God had wanted you to live, he would not have created me!!!!»
• «Take your lumps like a man, Private Twinkletoes.»
• «I am going to crawl down your throat and tear out your very soul!!!»
• «Last one alive lock the door!.»
• «Pain is weakness leaving the man.»
• «This is my world. You are not welcome in my world.»
• «I joined this team just to kill maggots like you.»
• «Boisterous, Bird of Prey!»
• «I have done nothing but teleport bread for three days.»
• «Down and give me 20!»
• «I am not trapped in facility full of robots, you are all trapped in here with me!»
• «We won the battle, now let’s win the war.»
• «Hello Ms. Pauling, we killed everybody and took a briefcase!»
• «Each and every one of you will be sent home to your mama in a box!»
• «Yes, sir.»
• «If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!.»
• «Scotland is not a real country, you are an Englishman in a dress.»
• «Merasmus, I will pull a rabbit out of your ass!»
• «Affirmative.»
• «Roger that.»
• «You can have this when you pry it from my cold dead hands, and even then, it will be difficult because I will have glued it to my cold dead hands.»
• «I’m not going to just give it to ya, that would provide a sensation of pleasure.»
• «We have you surrounded, at least from this side!»
• «Get a haircut, hippie!»

Trivia

• The Soldier and Engineer are essentially the opposite or Antithesis of each other in many ways. Engineer is: from the southern part of USA, calm and intelligent, constructive, wears a hardhat, and seems to be mostly sane. The Soldier is: from the northern part of USA, belligerent and idiotic, destructive, wears a metal helmet, and is one of the most insane characters, partly thanks to drinking toxic water as revealed in the TF2 comics.
• While the Soldier has a xenophobic dislike for foreigners such as French and Scottish people, he has been shown to enjoy The Art of War, which has Chinese origins. Additionally, he seems to make exceptions for some of his teammates like the Demoman, Spy, Heavy, Sniper, and Medic.
• Each of the Soldier’s primary weapons are some form of rocket launchers. His default secondary weapon is a shotgun, though he may also equip a wide variety of useful tools instead, such as an energy weapon pistol or specialized bugles that grant status buffs to his team. His default melee weapon is a shovel, though he has access to several military-grade tools such as pickaxes.
• The BLU Soldier formed a strong friendship with the RED Demoman. Their employer did not appreciate this arrangement, and tricked the two into becoming enemies again.
• The «Meet the Scout» video and «Righteous Bison» taunt show he enjoys juggling explosives.
• When Soldier screamed «I teleported bread!» in Expiration day, his dialogue was briefly provided by Nolan North as Rick May at the time had throat cancer and couldn’t properly scream.
• The Soldier is similar to Charlie Hewitt from the Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2003 remake film as they are both psychotic soldiers armed with a shotgun, and they are both killers.
• He is one of the only two mercenaries in TF2 that do not wear any hand protection whatsoever. The other is Demoman. The Scout wears hand wraps, and the other classes wear gloves.
• Soldier was rejected from every branch of the United States military during World War II, so to get around this, he bought a plane ticket to Poland and went on a «Nazi» killing spree, which was ended quickly when he found out that the war had already ended in 1949. He awarded himself with medals that he designed and patented himself.
• After the Soldier’s voice actor Rick May passed away from COVID-19 in 2020, numerous statues of the Soldier were placed across twenty-nine maps in tribute. The statues only appear every April 8th, but the one located in Granary is permanent.

6v6[edit]

Main article: Soldier (6v6)

In 6v6, the Soldier will usually fulfill two main roles: «Pocket» Soldier and «Roaming» Soldier. The Pocket Soldier focuses on keeping his Medic alive and using heals to deal damage, take positioning on his enemies, and lead his team. The Roaming Soldier plays a fundamental role in initiating battles for his team by creating distractions and advantages and supporting his team by controlling the flank.

The most basic role of the Pocket Soldier is keeping the medic alive and using his abundant heals to deal damage, get kills and lead the team. The Pocket along with the Medic and Demoman form the core «combo» of any 6v6 team. He will usually be the target of an ÜberCharge, if not the Demoman. The Pocket is usually the third biggest pick behind the Medic and Demoman, however since he is usually at a fearsome three hundred health, it is not easy to frag him. The standard or «meta» loadout for the Pocket Soldier is the Rocket Launcher/Original, the Shotgun and the Escape Plan. But some could change this up to the gunboats for their team to be more mobile in fights, although it is not the best choice for most people and or teams.

The Roaming Soldier’s main job is to help one of his Scouts on the flank, and create openings in the other team so that his own team can push. The Roamer is most often the player that will suicide into the other team in hopes of getting a Medic pick or to force the Medic to Übercharge. The Roamer also wants to know the ins and outs of a map so that he knows all of its hiding spots and flanks. He wants to hide so that he can easily get a jump on the enemy team and hopefully get a pick or two. Hiding also provides the advantage of knowing exactly what the enemy team is doing, allowing the Roamer to relay information back to his team and gaining an advantage over the opposition. He is considered the most «disposable» unit of the team. The standard loadout for a Roaming Soldier is the Rocket Launcher/Original, the Gunboats and the Escape Plan.

In higher levels of play, the pocket will usually match the main caller. This means that the pocket will be calling plays such as pushing or falling back. Another thing the pocket should call is when to pop the Übercharge.

Weapons

Primary

Secondary

• Buff Banner
• Gunboats
• Battalion’s Backup
• Concheror
• Mantreads
• Reserve Shooter
• Righteous Bison

Melee

• Shovel
• Frying Pan
• Conscientious Objector
• Freedom Staff
• Bat Outta Hell
• Memory Maker
• Ham Shank
• Saxxy
• Equalizer
• Pain Train
• Half-Zatoichi
• Disciplinary Action
• Market Gardener
• Escape Plan

Strategies

Tips

Reload regularly.

Your Rocket Launcher only holds four rockets at a time. When it’s empty, you’re vulnerable. You can reload at any time by hitting your «Use Special Skill» (right mouse button by default) or «Reload» (R by default) keys, so whenever you’ve got a moment to throw a rocket or two into your launcher. Smart enemies will be counting the number of times you’ve fired, and they’ll try and attack you when they think you’re empty. Reload before you run out, and you can give them a nasty surprise when they charge you.

Learn to Rocket Jump.

One of the unique things a Soldier can do is a Rocket Jump. It’s a term for a somewhat brute force method of gaining some height. Aim your Rocket Launcher straight down at your feet, and press your «Fire» button and your «Jump» button at the same time. The rocket will hit the ground at your feet, exploding and propelling you up into the air. It’ll hurt you a bit, but it’s an excellent way to get into areas of the map that’s usually inaccessible. It takes a bit of practice, but once you’ve got it you’ll be the bane of Snipers everywhere as you Rocket Jump into their sniping positions from the ground below.

Rocket Jump

As a Soldier, the unique thing about your class is your Rocket Jump. Use this to reach normally inaccessible areas and traverse terrain within a matter of seconds. Rocket Jumping can also be used for combat.

Epic Rocket-Walljump Kill — Team Fortress 2 Badwater Basin Replay HD

A soldier using rocket jumping and wall jumping in combat

Basic Rocket jump

To perform a basic Rocket Jump, you must jump, point at the ground, and shoot, launching you to a decent height. The Rocket Jumper is useful if you need to rocket jump and don’t want to lose health.

Classic Rocket jump

Classic Rocket Jumps are the most useful. To perform a Classic Rocket jump you must hit the spacebar+Ctrl and shoot the ground. This will send you nearly double the height of the basic Rocket Jump and uses the same health, therefore making it the most useful.

TF2 Rocket Jumping Tutorial The 3 Techniques

A rocket jumping tutorial

Wall jump

To wall jump, you can either use a classic rocket jump or basic. To wall jump, you must be near a wall of some kind. First, Rocket Jump as you normally would, but ALWAYS stay crouched in mid-air and move towards the wall. When you make contact with the wall, start firing at the bit of wall beneath you. This propels you up and up and up until you either run out of health or reach your destination. Wall jumps can be performed vertically or horizontally.

Freedom — A TF2 Jump Movie, by Dellort

How professionals rocket jump

To wall jump horizontally, you propel yourself towards a wall while facing it and strafing to the side then when you make contact with the wall keep shooting at the bit of wall behind you but, flick your mouse towards the direction behind you, then flicking it back in position, then flicking it back again to the direction your rocket jumping from. Repeat this until you reach your destination.

Pogo Jumping

Pogo (or speed Pogo) is a series of Rocket Jumps low to the ground without stopping. it’s considered to be a way of traversing when there are no walls present to Rocket Jump off of. this tactic is very well used by pro players in matches to start of their rollout. A good way to pogo is to simply jump forward and hold down the primary fire. after the first rocket (if connected well) hold down your crouch button and keep holding down the primary fire. use your movement keys as necessary. if done well, you will go faster as each rocket is beneath the player which will accelerate even further.