In Halo Infinitee continues an old tradition that dates back to the first Halo game: the “Tea-Bagging.” What is it exactly, and why is this toxic gesture considered commonplace in games like Halo or Splitgate? MeinMMO provides you with the answers.
Whether in Call of Duty, Battlefield or Halo – anyone who plays shooters online has surely seen this toxic gesture at some point. When an opponent is killed, the victorious player repeatedly crouches over the corpse of the opponent – preferably right above the head.
Experienced players garnish this gesture with melee attacks, shots at the corpse, spinning movements, or turn it into a team activity.
This is called “Tea-Bagging,” which metaphorically describes a vulgar act with a scrotum. Especially in Halo Infinite and comparable games like Splitgate, this actually toxic gesture is extremely popular. But why? And why do players from the communities take it so lightly?
The reasons lie in the rules of a subculture that has been established since the first Halo in 2001.
Toxic gesture is considered good form in the community – with grading notes
Why is Tea-Bagging associated with Halo? Tea-Bagging is an integral part of the Halo community, and it has been since the first part of the series. The first Halo in 2001 featured a unique characteristic: When you die, you can still see your own corpse for a few seconds.
When it moved to online lobbies with Halo 2 in 2004, and online shooters on consoles became a major phenomenon, Tea-Bagging also became a massive trend.
This trend permeated the entire culture surrounding Halo and console gaming. It was part toxic power demonstration; part cheeky gag at the opponents and teammates that everyone could laugh about.
The popular comedy series Red vs Blue by RoosterTeeth, created entirely within the engine of the Halo games, also used Tea-Bagging as a gag:
How do players see it today? In Halo Infinite, Tea-Bagging remains a popular gesture, enriched with new gadgets like grappling hooks adding new facets. As it is now viewed more as a cheeky prank rather than a vile humiliation, players are searching for new forms of mockery – with moderate success (via Kotaku).
For Halo players, Tea-Bagging is thus mostly just harmless fun. The community, however, takes the form seriously:
You young *** all need to learn how to properly tea-bag. It makes me angrier than anything else in this game. I don’t even get mad when I get tea-bagged, I love it because it’s hilarious.
But when you tea-bag, I expect you to drag your *** across my face. None of this crappy crouch-spamming where you barely bend your knees 10 degrees. Get your butt down and bury your *** in my throat, with a few hits to boot.
Those old-timers know how to do it right, you young bucks have no idea.
/u/Crosso221 on reddit
This post shows that there are humorously intended grading notes for this actually toxic gesture. It resembles etiquette courses:
Tea-Baggers in Halo receive private messages via Xbox, but instead of the expected toxic hate, they get tips on proper posture: “Please do your next tea-bag correctly, don’t go up and down, do it slowly and calmly. Make sure to really swipe those balls, we want to feel them. Have a good one!”
Splitgate turns gesture into a game mode: What extent the culture of Tea-Bagging has in arena shooters is also shown by the competition from the game Splitgate. This F2P shooter, which is a conscious homage to Halo, celebrates Tea-Bagging almost.
In the stats menu, Splitgate players not only see their kills, deaths, and gameplay time – they also see how often they have tea-bagged someone. Players who have been tea-bagged hear the laughter of an audience like in a sitcom. And in the game mode “Teabag Confirmed,” your kills only count if you humiliate your victims sufficiently and correctly.
What is “Tea-Bagging”?
Why is it called “tea-bagging”? Literally, the term refers to the act of dunking a tea bag into a cup. But this is only figurative – in reality, this term describes something else.
During “tea-bagging,” the character’s scrotum is dunked on the face or into the mouth of the deceased opponent. That is why tea-baggers prefer to aim for the head of opponents. However, this does not mean that female characters must use a different technique – the rules of “tea-bagging” apply to all.
Why is it so widespread? Nowadays, emotes are particularly used to mock opponents or bad teammates. In Fortnite, for instance, the dab or the orange-justice dance is popular, while in Destiny 2 an ear-cat dance drives players to madness.
However, emotes are a relatively new phenomenon in shooters. Therefore, players who wanted to be mocking had to resort to other means. And since the controls of most shooters are quite simple, the crouch button had to be repurposed. The fact that a vulgar image arises from a simple gesture has turned it into a toxic trend.
What do you think about Tea-Bagging? Do you find it funny, or offensive? Are you perhaps a passionate tea-bagger yourself? How are your grading notes on tea-bagging? Let us know in the comments.
Why despite the popular community rites Halo Infinite isn’t currently in its most successful phase, you can find out in our article:
After a strong start, Halo Infinite continues to lose more players on Steam and Xbox – Why?
Why despite the popular community rites Halo Infinite isn’t currently in its most successful phase, you can find out in our article:
After a strong start, Halo Infinite continues to lose more players on Steam and Xbox – Why?
