Chips Dubbo

"Chips Dubbo"

- Avery J. Johnson

Private Chips Dubbo is a UNSC Marine. He has fought through several battles and returned alive from two discovered Halo installations, and has fought alongside John-117 numerous times. He is characterized by his distinctive Australian accent, unmistakable remarks, gung-ho enthusiasm and laid-back attitude.

Biography
Chips Dubbo was present at Reach when it fell on the 30th of August 2552. He was stationed on the towards the end of the battle, and was on-board the ship as it fled into slipspace, unknowingly bound for Installation 04.

Battle of Installation 04


"Sir! The Captain needs you on the bridge, ASAP! You better follow me."

- Dubbo to John-117 onboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

Almost immediately upon exiting slipspace, the Autumn came under attack from pursuing Covenant ships, and was soon boarded. The ship's Marine complement, Dubbo included, immediately set to work repelling the boarders. While engaging Covenant forces in a corridor nearby the bridge, Dubbo met an unarmed John-117 heading for the bridge. Dubbo escorted the Chief the rest of the way, remarking that the Captain wanted him there as soon as possible. He survived the destruction of the Autumn, along with most of the other Marines, via an escape pod. Dubbo met the Master Chief on Halo again when his squad was under attack by Covenant forces. The Chief defended his squad until the Pelican Echo 419 came to evacuate the Marines.

Dubbo later took part in a mission to rescue Captain Keyes, who had been captured by the Covenant, from the CCS-class battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation. During their escape, he can be heard in the Covenant dropship, complimenting Keyes when he successfully rammed two Hunters with their stolen Spirit.

Dubbo was ultimately one of the few survivors of the ring's destruction, however, the method of his survival is unknown, as he was not on-board John-117's Longsword or Shiela Polaski's Pelican, the only two known UNSC craft to escape.

Battle for Earth


"Hey, check it out! The Malta's already driven off its boarders!"

- Dubbo, moments before Malta Station's destruction.

By October 20, Dubbo was present on Earth's Cairo Station. Early in the Battle of Earth, Dubbo aided Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 in defending the station from Covenant boarding parties, at one point observing that the nearby Orbital Defense Platform Malta Station had almost instantly repulsed it's attackers. Dubbo's observation was immediately followed up by the station's instant destruction by a large explosion from within. After driving off another wave of attackers, the prior scene repeated itself as Athens Station befell the same fate. Dubbo continued to defend the hangar bays as John-117 was tasked with locating a Covenant Bomb aboard the Cairo.

Battle of Installation 05


"Oh man, he's so dead."

- Dubbo, en route to assassinate Regret, commenting on the Prophet's vow to eliminate humanity.

Arriving at Installation 05 on board the UNSC In Amber Clad on November 2, Dubbo was among the first wave of ODSTs dropped onto Installation 05 as part of the 7th ODST Battalion. Along with Gunnery Sergeant Stacker, Sergeant Banks and several Marines from First Platoon, Dubbo supported John-117 as he made his way through Covenant-held ruins on his way to the Prophet of Regret's temple. When Sergeant Johnson and most of First Platoon were pulled out and reassigned to a mission to retrieve the index, Dubbo remained with the Spartan on a mission to assassinate the Prophet. Dubbo and another Marine accompanied John-117 through a series of Covenant-held structures, at one point coming across a holographic projection of Regret as he vowed to drive Humanity to extinction. As the trio entered Regret's temple however, High Charity and its fleet exited slipspace above the Ring, and shortly after John-117 killed the Prophet, the Temple was glassed by arriving Covenant ships.

Battle for Earth
"We're with you, Chief!"

- Dubbo, accompanying John-117 in the defense of Crow's Nest.

Dubbo partook in the late stages of the Battle for Earth. Stationed in the UNSC base Crow's Nest, Dubbo was present when it was attacked by the Covenant, assisting the Chief in clearing hostile forces from the base's south hangar, and was evacuated after the fight. Dubbo took part in the UNSC attack on Voi, punching through multiple waves of Covenant anti-air defenses and a defending the Forerunner artifact.

Battle of Installation 00


"Flak got our Pelican too, sir. But before we went down, we spotted a good LZ. If we can get to our vehicles, we'll lead you to it."

- Dubbo to the arriving John-117, forming a plan to retake his Pelican's crash site.

As part of the crew in the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Dubbo traveled through the Portal to The Ark and participated in the Battle of Installation 00. His Pelican was shot down by Covenant anti-air in a desert, and Dubbo lead the survivors to hide in the rocks above the crash site before Covenant forces arrived. After some time John-117 and a Squad of ODSTs arrived, and after retaking the crash site, Dubbo and the other Marines helped clear a landing zone for the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. Dubbo later assisted John-117, Thel Vadam and 343 Guilty Spark in accessing Installation 00's Cartographer, witnessing John-117's duel with Jiralhanae Chieftain Cethegus, and aiding the Spartan in neutralizing an entire Brute Pack. Dubbo evacuated the Ark with the rest of the surviving Marines and Sangheili aboard the Shadow of Intent. During the Voi Memorial on March 3, 2553, Dubbo took part in the Three Volley Salute for those fallen during battle.

Post-war
Dubbo survived the war successfully, and was later interviewed about his experiences fighting alongside John-117. In the interview, Dubbo over-exaggerated his experiences, claiming that he and the Spartan were "best mates" and in regular contact. When pressed further, he admitted to knowing the origins of the SPARTAN-II program, and thus considering him a part of his found-family in the Marine Corps. This recording was later reviewed by Parisa in 2559.

Gameplay
In-game, Dubbo behaves and acts just as any other Marine NPC would. The player can trade weapons with him (in games where it is possible), and he can be killed during the course of gameplay. If he is killed, he will still reappear in later levels regardless.

Achievements
There is a series of five achievements in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, one per game (sans Halo: Reach), which reference Chips Dubbo. These are as follows:

Production notes
Dubbo is voiced by Australian voice actor Andrew McKaige in all of his appearances. McKaige is also credited with voicing Marines in Halo 3: ODST. He can appear at random as the voice of any of the Marines in the game, but also has scripted appearances in the following levels:


 * Tayari Plaza, as the Marine who greets Buck after the first encounter, and advises him to use the interior of a nearby building to flank the Covenant
 * Uplift Reserve, as the medic treating the wounded Marine nearby the gravity lift landing zone towards the end of the level
 * Kizingo Boulevard, as the Marine who urges Mickey to commandeer the Scorpion before it is destroyed by a nearby Wraith

These Marines appear in completely disparate locations across the city in a very small timeframe, and so it is unlikely that they are the same person. Furthermore, none of these Marines have been identified as Dubbo himself by any official source, and in fact they cannot be, by virtue of the fact that at this time, Dubbo was on-board the UNSC In Amber Clad and en-route to Installation 05. Nevertheless, these Marines are often mistaken for Dubbo by players, due to the shared voice actor. 343 Industries would later poke fun at this perceived canonical error with the Halo: The Master Chief Collection achievement entitled "Two Places, Same Time", which would unlock when the player triggered a voice line from one of these Marines in Halo 3: ODST. The description of this achievement reads "I've got my eye on you, Marine."

Dubbo was later featured in his first definitively canonical appearance in Chapter 4 of Halo Infinite: Memory Agent, in which he appears as part of a interview discussing his experiences fighting alongside Master Chief during the events of the original Halo trilogy.

Trivia

 * There are a number of amusing voice over out-takes from when Dubbo's lines were recorded, including a spoof of Crocodile Hunter called "Flood Hunter".
 * "Dubbo" is the name of a city in New South Wales, Australia. “Chips” may be a reference to Chips Rafferty, a famous Australian actor.
 * Dubbo is always the marine who escorts the Master Chief to the bridge on the level Pillar of Autumn. However, while the scripted dialogue is always Dubbo, whenever this particular Marine is shot, sometimes he will grunt or curse with Mendoza or Bisenti's voice.
 * In the Halo: Combat Evolved data files, dialogue for Chips is in a folder named "aussie", a slang term for "Australian".
 * Dubbo's mother may have been killed by the Covenant, as when he throws a grenade he yells "This one's for my mother!".
 * It is possible to have more than one of Dubbo in combat. This happens more often in Halo 2 when reinforcements are dropped off.
 * In Halo 2 and Halo 3, a glitch can occur in some levels where a Marine ally's voice and accent will change to Chips Dubbo's partway through the level. This glitch is most likely to occur due to Dubbo having scripted dialogue, but Dubbo himself not being present or having been killed. This occurs most often on Delta Halo, where Dubbo has a substantial amount of scripted dialogue. As a result of this, some marines in Halo 2 may have Dubbo's voice but not his character model.
 * In a series of cross-promotions between Xbox and the 2021 film Free Guy, Chips Dubbo made an appearance, albeit voiced by a different voice actor, as a satisfied client to an "Xbox NPC Injury Attorney" Bryan Breynold, who was portrayed by the film's leading actor Ryan Reynolds.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo Infinite: Memory Agent