June Vega
Corporal Juniper "June" Vega is a main character in Guard Duty, voiced by series creator Syp The Mighty. She is a soldier stationed on Outpost Black Out.
Personality
June is a jaded and cynical woman who has a disdain for most of her fellow soldiers on Outpost Black Out, including her sister Nicole. She seemingly even forgets their relation in Infinity after nearly leaving Nicole behind upon her departure from Black Out. Despite her bad personality, she is always assigned to patrol with her optimistic teammate Geff Rodrigo, whom she dislikes.
Biography
Like the other guards of Outpost Black Out, Nicole had been stationed there for years prior to Talking, as shown in the flashback sequence of Truth.
Events of Classic Season 1
In Talking, June had to listen to her coworker Geff Rodrigo complain about their status as security guards as opposed to "real" soldiers. June dismissed these complaints, and made fun of Geff with her boss Mitchell Miller as Geff tried calling HQ in Something. During The Point, Geff learns of the Spartan IV Program taking new candidates and convinces June to join him on the condition that Miller and Sarah also take part. As she prepared to depart in The Transfer, June criticized Sarah's attempt at bringing all of her luggage. When Emery Eden, under the guise of an official UNSC pilot in Infinity, is about to depart with the guards, June's sister Nicole Vega reveals herself and chides June for forgetting about her. After a quick stop at Outpost Rat's Nest, the guards were sent to Cold Storage.
Events of Classic Season 2
At the end of Clueless, June unveils herself to Miller and Geff as she reveals she transitioned from male to female. Miller was confused but didn't seem to mind, while Geff was supportive. Despite Geff's support, June would join Miller in insulting him. During an all-hands meeting in Paranoia, June and Sarah are sent by Miller to investigate a reading from his radar. This led to the two encountering a silent Emery in Arrival, though Emery would ultimately decide against harming them. Miller was unimpressed by June and Sarah's explanation of events in Reactionary as Nicole made herself known after breaking out of the Flood containment center she was trapped inside of. Miller then commanded everyone to join him in a thorough search around the outside of Cold Storage, leading June and the other guards to re-encounter Emery in an unfriendly reunion. After Emery attacked Miller and revealed he was there for Geff, June was unfazed by it.
Moments later in Dare, Emery is shot at by unknown attackers. Fearful for their own lives, June runs off to cover while Sarah and Nicole hide behind a crate in the opposite direction. Miller, waking up in a cold sweat, ends up catching up to her and the two decide to stick together as they discover the attackers' warthog. Stealing it, Miller drives the pair to a now-abandoned Outpost Ice Box for refuge as the pair figure out what their next course of action is, much to June's chagrin.
Trivia
- June presents as male in Classic Season 1, being referred to as Josh. In Clueless, the first episode of Guard Duty, she's shown to have transitioned to a woman and adopted her new name in-between seasons. This makes her the first transgender character in the series.
- Because of this, the flashback sequences at the start of Truth and Dare that occur before Classic Season 2 deliberately avoid referring to June by name and gender. Additionally, Sides episodes produced during Classic Season 2 that are implied to occur on Outpost Black Out such as Tagged completely ignore June's prior identity.
- Additionally, Season 1 will ignore she was male altogether by having her present as female from the get-go.
- In flashbacks shown within the Halo engine, June is shown wearing the full Mark VI armor set like the rest of the guards, despite wearing a Mark V helmet in the present day Halo-set episodes. This is due to Halo 2 not featuring as much armor customization and thus June was unable to be filmed with her usual Mark V helmet. She would later don the standard Mark VI in Season 1.
- June's last name, Vega, is revealed in Tagged on Geff's computer screen.
- June's voice is simply series creator Syp The Mighty's natural speaking voice.
- In Pilot and Classic Season 1, June wears a CQB chest plate in addition to her Mark VI shoulder pads and Mark V helmet. However, from Annoyances onward she wears a Mark VI chest plate. While Syp can't remember the reason for the initial change, she retained the Mark VI chest plate in Classic Season 2 to be consistent with the other guards as the CQB had become associated with higher ranking soldiers by that point.