Storyline
Although Team Fortress 2 has no story mode or singleplayer, the storyline and backstory of the game has been revealed through several comics, Meet the Team videos, and major updates, specifically the Halloween Update of October 2009 (and the Halloween Update of October 2010), the WAR! Update of December 2009, the Engineer Update of July 2010, and the Australian Christmas Update of December 2010. Hidden links in these pages as well as the examination of the Team Fortress 2 comic book pages contribute various dates in the Team Fortress 2 timeline.
Contents
1850
The Mann family
Team Fortress 2's backstory begins in 1850 with the wealthy Englishman Zepheniah Mann. Mann was the owner and founder of Mann & Sons Munitions Concerns, later known as Mann Co. , and he traveled to the United States with his two adult sons, Redmond and Blutarch, to expand their munitions business. When they arrived, they discovered the gravel pits and dustbowls were useless; in addition, Zepheniah had contracted numerous illnesses and was dying. In his last will and testament, Zepheniah set up the events of Team Fortress 2.
The last will and testament of Zepheniah Mann
To his maidservant, Elizabeth, a shrewd and angry looking woman, he left all of his funds, plantation, and estate; to his tracker, the burly Australian Barnabus Hale, he left the Mann & Sons company, and to his "brain-defective" sons Redmond and Blutarch, he left the useless land they had found, ordering them to find a way to compromise and share it. Finally, Zepheniah also left an important, scribbled-out duty to an unknown person who is blurred out of his family portrait. Another Mann family member, Silas Mann, is revealed to be part of the family portrait, although he is not the blurred individual. Unsatisfied with this arrangement, both sons began forming a team of mercenaries to kill the other and take the land for themselves.
The battle begins
While the members of the original RED Team are unknown, the members of the original BLU Team were various famous historical figures from the mid-to-late 1800s, many of whom were not even alive at the same time. The team was made up of Billy the Kid (the original Scout), Stonewall Jackson (the original Soldier), Abraham Lincoln (the original Pyro), Alfred Nobel (the original Demoman), John Henry (the original Heavy), Nikola Tesla (the original Engineer), Sigmund Freud (the original Medic), Davy Crockett (the original Sniper), and Fu Manchu (the original Spy). The RED and BLU teams proceeded to enter a massive stalemate as they attempted to destroy the other team and take the land for their respective Mann sibling.
1890
Loose canon
Forty years later, Redmond and Blutarch were still engaged in their unwinnable war. As Blutarch neared death from old age, he called in an Engineer named Radigan Conagher to "make [him] a monster" by artificially extending his life with a machine. Radigan agreed, but then encountered a descendant (presumably daughter) of Elizabeth, who asked Radigan to build Redmond a life extending machine as well. As payment, she gave him a hundred pounds of Australium, a powerful transformative element found only in Australia which had caused the nation of unintelligent savages to become extremely intelligent, developing teleportation and cloaking techniques and other incredible scientific advances. Radigan agreed, and became super-intelligent with the Australium. He then developed life extending machines for Redmond and Blutarch (as well as an unknown third individual).
1968
The modern war
Team Fortress 2 takes place in 1968. Nine individuals - the Scout, the Soldier (real name Jane Doe), the Pyro, the Demoman (real name Tavish DeGroot), the Heavy, the Engineer (real name Dell Conagher), the Medic, the Sniper, and the Spy - are recruited by Reliable Excavation & Demolition (RED) and Builders League United (BLU) to continue Redmond and Blutarch's never-ending war to seize their father's land. A descendant of Elizabeth, named Helen, now acts as the Administrator of the battle, secretly overseeing both teams, something the Mann siblings are likely unaware of. Additionally, Saxton Hale, a descendant of Zepheniah Mann's friend Barnabus, to whom he gave Mann & Sons Munitions Concerns, is now in charge of Mann Co., which acts as a subsidary of the Administrator's shadowy company, TF Industries.
Recent developments
The first major plot event occurs when the RED Demoman and BLU Soldier meet and become friends at an explosives convention, which severely angers the Administrator. With the help of Saxton Hale, she misleads both men into thinking the other is trying to kill them, sparking a bloody war. The next major event occurs when Blutarch Mann realizes his life support machine is breaking. He desperately calls in the BLU Engineer, the grandson of Radigan Conagher, to fix it. Later, Saxton Hale discovers the Internet (which notably did not exist in the 1960s) and uses it to open the online Mann Co. Store for players to purchase weapons and items.
Mysteries
Pyro's identity
The Pyro's identity has been the subject of much debate since the game's release. As the Pyro is one of two classes to not yet receive a Meet the Team video (the other being the Medic), little is known about his or her personality and history. Up until the Engineer Update, a popular theory claimed the Pyro was a woman (and thus, the only female class), in large part because of a frilly flower handbag in the Pyro's locker. Additional evidence supporters note include the Pyro's feminine humiliation stance and domination lines from other classes that use derogatory female terms.
However, with the release of the Engineer Update, much speculation has revolved around the idea that Abraham Lincoln, the original 1850s Pyro, is still alive in the role. Three aspects of the update are used as evidence:
- Abraham Lincoln was the original Pyro in the 1850s.
- Schematics on Radigan Conagher's workbench depict a contraption in which a seated man with a beard and top hat is dropped through a trap door and teleported to a desert location. An image of the penny (on which Lincoln is depicted) and the letters "LIN..." are nearby. Some have suggested this schematic may depict a way in which Lincoln survived his assassination by John "Tower of Hats" Booth.
- Radigan Conagher built a third life extending machine for an unknown individual. While some have cited the machine's construction date of April 14 (the day Lincoln was assassinated) as evidence, Conagher could not have built the third machine until at least 1894, the year he built Redmond and Blutarch's devices. An explanation for Lincoln's possible survival is provided above.
Zepheniah Mann's will recipient
Zepheniah Mann left an important task to an unknown person in his last will and testament. The line reads "Lastly to [obscured] I leave the entirety of my [obscured] and swear you to utmost secrecy in its keeping." This person's identity has not yet been revealed, but cannot be Redmond, Blutarch, Barnabus Hale, or Elizabeth, as all are mentioned in his will already. The person is likely the individual seen scratched out of the Mann family portrait, whose identity is also unknown.
Third life extender machine
After building Blutarch Mann a life extending machine on July 17, 1894, and a second for Redmond Mann on August 3, 1894, Radigan Conagher built a third machine on April 14 of an unknown year. The recipient of this machine is a source of speculation. Some have suggested Abraham Lincoln, the original Pyro (see above), due to the fact that it was built on the day he supposedly died, while others have theorized the unnamed descendant of Elizabeth who enlisted Radigan to make the devices in the first place may have requested one for herself, and is Helen, the current Administrator. Still, others hypothesized that it was this unknown recipient from Zepheniah Mann's last will that have received this life extending machine.
Detailed timeline
| Legend |
|---|
| Important event |
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 18th Century | ||
| 1788 - December 18th | Old Nick turns his boat around to conquer the South Pole while on a voyage to Australia | Link |
| 19th Century | ||
| 1808 | Demoman's Scrumpy is made. | Link |
| 1814 - June | An editorial cartoon is published in the Gentle Manne’s Monthly, entitled “An Editorial Cartoon of Some Insighte,” starring the editorial’s mascot, the Gentle Manne of Leisure, and his Companione. | Link |
| 1850 | The Last Will and Testament of Zepheniah Mann is written and enacted. | Link |
| 1850 | Australia becomes the world's most advanced country. | Link, Link |
| 1857 | Abraham Lincoln invents stairs, replacing rocket jumping | Link |
| 1862 - August 5th | Scientists in Australia "nervously assure the world" that there is "no gold after all." Gold prospectors turns gaze to Canada. | Link, Link |
| 1865 | Abraham Lincoln holds his Second Inaugural Address, stating, "I say this to you with unvarnished factualism of plain talk: I love Arena Mode." | Link |
| 1865 - April 20th | The War Department published a wanted poster for John "Tower of Hats" Booth, for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. | Link |
| 1869 | Shiny's Bullion is established. | Link |
| 1880 | Emily begins her search for Australium. | Link |
| 1890 | Blutarch Mann commissions Radigan Conagher to build a life-extending machine. | Link |
| 1890 | Emily requests Conagher to build one for Redmond Mann as well. | Link |
| 1890 | Biggs starts producing steel rods. | Link |
| 1894 - April 14th | Radigan Conagher finishes third Life Extender Machine for an undisclosed party. | Link |
| 1894 - July 17th | Radigan Conagher finishes building a Life Extender Machine for Blutarch Mann. | Link |
| 1894 - August 3rd | Radigan Conagher finishes another Life Extender Machine for Redmond Mann. | Link |
| 1895 - January 25th | “Hills Discovered!” In Australia, “Mysterious New Geographic Lumps Confound Men of Australian Science." | Link |
| 1895 - March 6th | “War, Mate!” Two months later, the king of Australia declares war on hills, stating “There will be time to study these so-called hills after they are dead.” | Link |
| 1895 - April 5th | “King Conquers Hill!” It is reported that the “Coward Mound Surrendered Without a Fight.” | Link |
| 20th Century | ||
| 1900 - January 23rd | "Mann Co Invents 'Ro-Bot'" Here it is revealed that Mann Co., at the turn of the century, is now an "Australian Weapons Giant." In the article, Mann Co. officials attempt to soothe public concerns over their "Ro-Bot," stating that "these automatons will only be used for violence." On a minor note, a poll shows that "Robin" is the most popular Australian girl’s name. | Link |
| 1900 | Australia tried to colonize space by this time. They seem to have failed. | Link |
| 1901 | Newell and Sons debuts "turnless" board game Teams and Fortresses 2, with explosive "real-time" game-play. | Link |
| 1921 | Franklin D. Roosevelt loses both of his legs while rocket jumping. As a result, he perfects the modern staircase. | Link |
| 1923 | Red Shed beers are distilled in Tougaloo. | Link |
| 1937 | Redstone is established. | Link |
| 1949 | The Soldier, on his Nazi-killing spree in Poland, finds out the war has been over for four years. | Link |
| 1961 | Saxton Hale’s Thrilling Tales first arrives on newsstands. | Link |
| 1962 | Saxton Hale's Jungle Brawl debuts in the U.S. | Link |
| 1963 | Only four items are being produced for the elderly: hats, meat, caskets, and Saxton Hale's Mildly Thrilling Tales. | Link |
| 1964 - March | The first and only issue of Saxton Hale's Mail Storm is published. | Link |
| 1965 | The Engineer creates several mechanical contraptions, including the Sentry Gun, while under contract with TF Industries. | Link |
| 1968 | Boy's Adventure with Saxton Hale comes under fire from the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. | Link |
| 1968 - June | The main setting for Team Fortress 2 | Link |
