Aliel Gates

"Look, I'm not crazy okay, I'm telling the truth! I had a vision where my conscience told me that some white guy is coming and he's gonna kill everybody until he finds what he's looking for."

- Gates explaining his vision to his team (High in the Sky)

Private First Class Aliel Gates is a main character in the machinima ''Sandguardians. He first appeared in Welcome to Sandbox!'' fighting off Dax and Ichabod. When he managed to get them cornered he was nearly killed by Legend's Hornet rockets.

Gates is presented as a blunt and aggressive soldier who commonly questions authority. Although he is a strong fighter and strategist, Gates is very stubborn and usually follows his own instincts before considering anyone else's. This has benefitted him numerous times throughout the series as he is shown taking precaution before making big decisions and isn't afraid to speak his mind when he sees something as unfair.

Unfortunately, Gates is prone to arguing with his friends and normally insults them when he disagrees with their views. This has led others to somewhat fear him, as Gates' demeanor hurts the confidence of others. In addition, Gates is shown to be selfish as he, at times, is willing to abandon his teammates for his own safety and well-being.

Overall, Gates is an active individual who genuinely cares about his friends and simply wants to make sure they are safe. When others threaten those he cares about, Gates is the first to become protective of them and is willing to put himself in harms way to ensure their safety.

Personality
Gates is shown to have a very in-your-face, over-the-top kind of attitude, as he constantly makes things more than what they're supposed to be and constantly questions the actions of others. Throughout episodes 1 & 2, Gates was at the point of complete insanity, constantly screaming various comments about the Blues while on the Warthog Turret, never even taking a breath. In Episode 3, his personality and attitude were further shown as he became suspicious towards what Claire & Wilbur were doing inside the base while Miller & him were away, despite the fact that it was unimportant.

Gates also shows a great dislike and distrust towards others, constantly expressing his feelings and opinions of people regardless of what they think. In Manual Labor, Gates completely goes off on engineer Thomas for not being able to repair their Warthog. He insulted him numerous times, made Thomas fix the Warthog himself despite his lack of experience and went so far as to almost run him over with the Warthog. Gates has also expressed a grave disliking of his team in the episode Plan B, describing each of them in mean-spirit: Wilbur being an "incompetent leader", Miller as "a guy who can't think for himself", but hesitates when attempting to describe Claire. This trait stems from Gates' short temper, as he easily becomes angry, frustrated, or annoyed and is commonly shown taking his anger out on others; mainly his own teammates.

Although Gates expresses his dislikes towards others, he has, but rarely, shown a level of compassion to his teammates and genuinely cares about them. In Strange Encounters, Gates apologizes to Claire for almost pushing her away and confesses that he wanted Wilbur's attention. In White Light, Gates bravely defends Claire from the Guy in White and tells her that she has great leadership skills.

During Season 3, Gates grows more selfish and callous, insulting Miller for not being an integral member of Red Team, scolds Claire for her leadership skills, and nearly abandons the Reds and Blues, as well as betray the Guardians. However, Gates gets his comeuppance for his actions and decides to stay with his team. He also later helps the Guardians battle Bernard and his men, having grown some respect for them.

Skill
Gates seems to be one of the most skilled soldiers in the series, being able to use a variety of weapons such as the Fuel Rod Gun and the Warthog turret. However, he quickly goes overboard during battles, yelling very crude and immature comments to his opponents. Commonly, this usually leads to his demise, as he is constantly getting hurt or injured. Despite this, Gates recovers very quickly despite his injuries and always questions the actions of others when he doesn't agree with them, which has led him to success and failure.

In addition to his physical skill, Gates is also a fast thinker. While the Reds were trapped in Help Wanted, Gates quickly found a way to free himself and his teammates by using Miller's sword to destroy the controls to an energy shield that was holding them captive at the ONC Prison.

Miller
Gates sees Miller as his right-hand man and seems to have a good relationship with him. The two are capable of having decent conversations with each other but are sometimes arguing and yelling at each other. Of all the Red Team members, Gates trusted Miller the most. However, their relationship takes a turn for the worst during Season 3, when Gates tells Miller that he is an irrelevant member of the Red team in B.I.A. When Miller defends himself the two engage in a heated argument, which slowly deteriorated their friendship.

Claire
After witnessing her actions in Did I Do That?, Gates sees Claire as a whore. He dislikes her mostly because of her getting praise and attention from Sergeant Wilbur, without ever even doing anything besides sexually pleasuring him. Despite all this, it has been hinted that Gates is attracted to Claire. This is further hinted at when Gates was willing to sacrifice himself for Claire during Ghosts That Linger.

Wilbur
Gates dislikes Wilbur, seeing him as an incompetent leader and a pervert. What fuels his anger is the fact that he gives a large amount of attention to Claire, disregarding anyone or anything around him. After Gates planned to go AWOL in White Light, Wilbur shot Gates in the arm and threatened to have him court-martialed, further implementing Gates' hatred towards him. After Wilbur's death, Gates showed no remorse while giving his eulogy and became angry when Claire compared him to Wilbur.

Thomas
Gates shares a great dislike for Thomas, due to the fact that he lied about being able to fix their Warthog. In summary, Gates sees Thomas as a liar and somewhat of a con man. In Episode 8, Gates compared his work ethic to his armor color: "shit brown". He yelled at him in Episode 14 when he eavesdropped on the Reds' battle plan and screamed at him in Episode 20 when he shared his opinions on his vision.

Injuries
Out of all the soldiers in Sandbox, Gates seems to be the one to get severely injured the most. In Episode 2, he was shot down by Hornet missiles and in Episode 15, he was shot at point blank range by a tank shell which left him in a coma for 16 days. Claire and Thomas worsen his condition when they attempt to perform a surgery on him by sewing up his head and super gluing his back and spine. Shockingly, Gates was able to wake up from his comatose.

Later on, Thomas cared for his wounds and attempted to recover him, but Gates felt tremendous pain during the situation. In White Light, Wilbur shot Gates in the arm and in Ghosts That Linger, the Guy in White shot at Gates multiple times with his sniper rifle, which left Gates extremely injured.

Fuel Rod Gun
Gates seems to be fond of the Fuel Rod Gun, seeing it as a faster and more efficient version of the Rocket Launcher. He is usually seen using it during battle and it appears to be his weapon of choice.

Battle Cry
Every time Gates is in battle, he is constantly screaming vulgar language at the top of his lungs. During episodes 1, 2, and 15, he does exactly that towards the Blue, cancelling out everybody else from his world. This usually leads to his demise, as he is unable to notice danger when it appears.

Trivia

 * Gates is the first Red soldier (and second character) to be seen in the series. He is also the first Red soldier to speak.
 * It is revealed in Manual Labor that Gates has a brother. It is also revealed in Planning Ahead that Gates' uncle was a scientist after the Great War, hinting that he might have worked for the ONC.
 * Revealed in Conduit Connection, Gates' childhood heroes include: Keith David, Buzz Aldrin, Master Chief, and Goofy.