David Miller III

"Okay, so maybe I fall flat on my ass when it comes to weapons, but I can still be a good asset on the battlefield, right?"

- Miller asking for his team's opinion (Insult and Injury)

Private First Class David Miller III is a main character in the machinima Sandguardians. He is the laid-back and down-to-earth member of the Sandbox Red Team, first appearing in It Came From Above, stealing the starter from the Blue Team's Scorpion tank.

Miller is presented as a level-headed and trustworthy soldier who has no problems following orders. However, he struggles at making his own decisions and prefers to follow someone else's lead rather than lead himself. This causes his teammates to not take him seriously and blame him for being unassertive.

Despite these shortcomings, Miller's friendliness and down-to-earth demeanor make him an ideal team member who is approachable and has an easy time befriending and gaining the trust of others.

Personality
Miller is the level-headed member of the Red Team, always keeping himself calm and collected. He is shown to be able to hold decent conversations with the other characters, rarely yelling or raising his voice unless time need be. However, because of his calm attitude, Miller is the last person to take risks or chances and one could actually consider him a non-threat due to this. Because of this, Miller rarely thinks outside of the box or develop strategies, and as a result he is usually given orders to simply keep watch on the enemy.

A particular trait that Miller possesses is herd-mentality and a lack of self-confidence. Miller usually follows orders, rarely makes decisions, or thinks for himself. This is because of the incident in War Machine, where Wilbur discovers that the Blue team's tank was online, foiling their plans. Because Wilbur blamed Miller for this, and pummeled him for over 10 days because of it, Miller walked on eggshells around his teammates, hoping to not disappoint them again. However, Claire looks down on him because of this, primarily shown in Truth of the Legend, when he does not stand up to Wilbur.

Miller's lack of confidence can be argued to stem from his relationships with his teammates, who rarely take him seriously and don't respect him. In addition, Wilbur, Claire, and Gates seem to take actions that ultimately serve themselves individually rather than each other, unlike Miller, who cares about the well-being and opinions of his squad. Miller is shown to care about making his team happy, being the only one to rarely initiate an insult or argument.

On occasion, Miller has shown moments of bravery and is compassionate towards others. He becomes disappointed whenever he lets someone down, cares for the well-being of his teammates, and is willing to put himself in danger to rescue them. This is shown throughout Season 3, in which Miller, after joining the Guardians, grows more confident and better skilled due to being surrounded by individuals who push him to be better and reinforce his actions positively. He quickly grew to trust and respect the Guardians and refused to abandon them after being given the opportunity by Mickey and Bartholomew in Early in the Mourning. Later on, Miller protected Nash against a Scorpion and made it his priority to get her to safety. This action gained him the respect of the Guardians, Legend (who helped him), Gates, and Claire.

Skill
Miller may have some experience working with vehicles, as he was able to remove a Scorpion tank's starter as seen in It Came From Above and repair a Warthog as seen in Manual Labor. However, he doesn't show much skill in combat. It is revealed in Insult and Injury that Miller once shot his own toe during battle, meaning his fighting skill may be very low. He was ultimately ordered to stay at the base, while the rest of his team went to battle.

Miller also seems to possess excellent recon skills, as he is constantly able to spot things that appear out of the ordinary. In the episode War Machine, Miller spots the Blue team taking down their own base and points this out to Gates. In Secrets Revealed, Miller spots the Guy in White along with Claire and points out the unusual armor setup for an engineer. Later on, Miller proves his skill in battle by managing to successfully kill the Guy in White with the Ghost in Ghosts That Linger. His fighting skills later improve in Season 3 after being trained by Mickey and Bartholomew, growing his self-confidence as well. He manages to land a shot on Bernard, holds his own during the ONC raid at DotCom, and takes Nash to safety when she is injured.

Miller has also proven to have good social skills, being able to keep calm when interacting with others and see things from others' perspectives. This trait makes him a very invaluable soldier as he helps keep his team together and focused during stressful situations.

Gates
Miller seems to spend most of his time with Gates, as the two constantly discuss things; mostly gossip. Miller even talked about Gates behind his back in Episode 2. During Season 2, Miller and Gates' relationship grows more hostile. Gates resents Miller because he doesn't believe his story about the Guy in White, and Miller believes Gates to be selfish and crazy.

The two engage in a heated argument in Season 3, and continue to berate each other throughout the season, with Claire constantly having to calm them down, even ordering them to apologize to each other in B.I.A. After Miller agrees to join the Guardians, he spends much less time with Gates and soon develops some self-confidence. This indicates that his relationship with Gates grew toxic to the point that it affected Miller in a negative way, and distancing himself improved his emotional health. Fortunately, the two improved their trust in each other after battling Bernard and his men, with Gates expressing horror when Miller is almost killed.

Claire
Initially, there wasn't much interaction between the two, besides the fact of Miller catching Claire performing oral sex on Wilbur. During Season 2, Miller and Claire seem to get along with each other, as the two were able to hold a conversation in Episode 24. However, in the following episode, Claire lost some respect for Miller after he failed to bravely inform Sergeant Wilbur about what they discovered.

In Season 3, the two bond further after they both agree to become Guardians in We're in the Club Now and refused to take Mickey and Bart's offer to leave DotCom, deciding to stay and help instead.

Wilbur
Miller doesn't seem to like his sergeant, due to the fact that he is a bad leader doing inappropriate things. He may also see him as a pervert, due to him always wanting to be paired up with Claire, according to Insult and Injury. Miller's relationship with Wilbur is further complicated when the latter threatens to court-martial him if he didn't return to his post. Miller may be greatly intimidated by Wilbur, fearing that he will lose his rank or Wilbur's trust.

Thomas
Miller seems to have mixed feeling towards Thomas. In Episode 5, he seemed enjoy his company, though this may have been because Thomas would be able to repair the Warthog. However, in Episode 8 Miller mixed feelings began to emerge as he and Gates felt conned as they were the ones fixing the Warthog, not Thomas.

Legend
Initially "enemies", Miller grew to be intimidated by Legend to a degree, due to his gruff and independent demeanor. However, Miller later grew to trust Legend after the sergeant saves him from being killed in Raiders. Miller fought alongside Legend while battling Bernard and his men, and together led Nash to safety. In addition, Miller wished to help Legend fight but the latter told him to look over Nash instead, showing that the two cared for each other's safety.

Nash
Miller seems to respect Nash as a leader, as he is shown numerous times to follow her orders without question. Miller fought alongside Nash against Bernard and his men, and actively protected her after she got knocked out, showing great horror beforehand. Miller also pulled Nash to safety and continued to stay by her side in Season 4.

Mickey
Mickey was a significant aspect to Miller's development as a character, due to Mickey helping Miller develop his self-confidence. Miller seemed distrustful of Mickey at first but later agreed to join the Guardians after hearing his plea. Miller's respect for Mickey great measurably when the latter gave them an option to leave, with Miller deciding to stay instead. Their respect for each other grew when Mickey helped Miller grow his confidence by having him train with Claire, Jason, and Dax.

Bartholomew
Miller was initially fearful of Bart due to him being an alien, as he screamed upon first seeing him. Though, after hearing Mickey's plea for help, Miller grew more sympathetic to Bart's struggle and grew more respect for him when he and Mickey gave him and Claire the option to leave for their own safety. While Miller seems to trust Bart he doesn't understand him and seems to have a stronger connection with Mickey.

Trivia

 * Miller is the first character to appear in the Halo 4 engine.