RiDe

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Pairing
Pairing: Dr. Edward Richtofen/Tank Dempsey
Alternative name(s): RiDe
Gender category: m/m slash
Fandom: Call of Duty - Nazi Zombies
Canonical?: It's hinted at quite a bit and Richtofen flatly states that they have 'done it' several times.
Prevalence: Mostly in the later map packs. Though there is one suspicious line in one of the first three maps.
Archives:
Other:
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RiDe is the pairing of the mad Nazi Doctor Richtofen and the American Marine Tank Dempsey from the Nazi Zombies mode for Call of Duty, a mini game that came with COD World at War and COD Black Ops.

Richtofen is voiced by Nolan North and Dempsey by Steve Blum. Both are veteran voice actors and friends in real life. There's good evidence that both were allowed to improvise several lines as the disjointed underlying storyline became more fleshed out. It's considered non canon by most but the evidence is there for the hearing. Generally it is portrayed as a love-hate relationship where both like to aggravate one another and eventually they develop a grudging mutual respect.

History

The first fanworks cropped up around the Release of Kino for COD Black Ops, and continued to generate massive amounts of artwork and fics for about a year afterwards, mostly on DeviantArt. The core group has always been small though, usually 200-300 people per fan site. Currently Tumblr has around 300 Nazi Zombies fans, thought it's hard to say how many are shippers.

Six Degrees Influences

  • Tank Dempsey shows influences from lots of different macho bad asses from videogame history. Duke Nukem and B.J. Blaskowitz from the original Wolfenstein were obvious direct influences. Though at one point Dempsey does muse while on the Moon that he always wanted to be a space Marine, which is likely a reference to the silent protagonist of the Doom series.
  • Dr. Richtofen is your stereotypical blood-thirsty Nazi sadist. The spice is just a touch of gay. He owes his various voice modulations, squealing and verbal mincing to other classically evil and slightly effeminate characters. Specifically the head Blue Meanie from Yellow Submarine, who seems to be the source of this particular trope. For younger readers, just bring to mind 'HIM' from the Powerpuff Girls. [Who was also inspired by the Blue Meanie boss.]

Common Tropes in Fanworks

Usually it is less matter of love then of everyone being in a desperate situation where there are four men and no women. Richtofen will do anything to anyone if given the opportunity and is implied to be bisexual if not outright gay. Everything gets him excited, blood, explosions, dead bodies, getting hit up the ass with a spike trap, his screams generally sound like someone having an orgasm, and he treats death like a momentary irritation. Tank is straight, but desperate. Often he gains access to their Russian companion's vodka and does something regrettable with the Nazi who once experimented on him. Another trope is that the voices in Richtofen's head drive him into a panic attack and Dempsey's genuine caring for him cures his self-destructive behavior. Non-consensual fan fic is and was common in this pairing as well.

Example Fanworks

Fanfic

  • [1] (InfamousDoctorF) This is my AO3 page. I've got quite a few fanfics here.
  • [2] [3] DankTempsey
  • [4] Numba1Shadowfan (this is the last updated chapter in a series. You can get to the other pieces from her page. Must have a DA accuont, this is marked NSFW)

Fanart

Fanvids

  • RiDe1945's Youtube channel - several RiDe AMVs featuring numerous fan artists.
  • 935 Nazi Zombies Series - Group 935 started doing a series of live action Nazi Zombies fan videos. They're extremely well-made. Sadly after the second episode they were contacted by Activision and threatened with a lawsuit if they made any more. Those two videos are still up though and well worth watching.
  • Dr. Edward Richtofens dirty video - This is a video containing artwork by the InfamousDoctorF and all the verbal evidence from the in-game voice-lines for Richtofen's status as a complete pervert who had sex with Dempsey.

Other Fanworks

Archives and Communities

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