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The Tea-Bag; Ethics and Etiquette

Last Updated Nov 20th, 2024

A 'tea-bag' is an in-game action where you affectionately dab the sweat from a vanquished opponent's brow with your codpiece. You essentially run over to their crumpled body and crouch up and down.

Originally sharing a name with a dubious sexual act, it has now come to be an expressive non-verbal language in itself. A bit like how certain swear words and obscene gestures mellow over time - and eventually develop their own meanings and interpretations.

And while tea-bagging certainly existed before Halo, it is with Halo 2 that it took off as a form of artistic expression. It came into it's own with rag-doll physics and kill cams. And in the 25 years since, it is the Halo community, above most other games, that have embraced the bag as a form of communication and expression.

It is so much more than aggressive show of disrespect.

" Who can you bag? "
Of course EVERYONE who takes to the field is a potential T-Baguette. We don't discriminate against age, sex, race, religion, footy team, or flavour preferences for frozen yoghurt. If you take to the field - you are a target.

In particular you should bag;

a) To show respect to an opponent after a particularly epic 1v1 dog fight. This is best suited with a quick single dip. Much like tipping your hat in respect.

b) After reversing an unwinnable position - especially if your opponent was brandishing a power weapon or using a power up (special nod to all those dirty filthy sword carrying camo-campers). This calls for a definite, and enthusiastic, bagging.

c) As an act of defiance when your team is being completely destroyed. If you were 45-10 and you've somehow just elevated the team to 45-11. That's a bagging.

d) When it might be funny. Like after a ridiculously silly kill. And this calls for a fun bag; express yourself. Throw in a jump. A couple of spins. Mix up the rhythm! Sometimes the bag can almost be apologetic in it's nature. Best suited to more social and wackier game types.

e) Any team-mate (especially Batty) that died poorly (eg. rushing headlong at the rocket launcher despite your repeated warnings). Definitely anyone killed by a Bot. And if it was you who accidentally dispatched them from this mortal coil - you are simply honour bound to attempt CPR!

f) To surrender. If you're 1v4 and getting smashed - try tea-bagging in an open space (just not over an opponent). Sometimes the other team will stop hunting you down for easy kills and join your for some group bagging shenanigans.

" Who can't you bag "
The list isn't very long. But you shouldn't tea-bag opponents who are way below your pay grade in terms of skill. You just come across as a major douche bag. You should also show some restraint if you are playing a team with reduced numbers. Not cool.

But pretty much anyone else? - it's game on!

" Respecting the process "
a) Don't waste time - they won't be watching for long.

b) It is perfectly ok to reload your weapon as you are taking position. After all the enemy knows what you are doing and are probably already on their way to avenge their fallen comrade.

c) Take care with positioning but don't get too picky - body positions on the server may not match up with what you (or they) see on the screen. Some of the older games by Bungie used to drag the corpse over to you as you were bagging!

d) Call it loud and proud over the intercom. A bit of commentary never goes astray - and has been known to inspire team-mates to even greater heights. Some of our preferred calls include; "taste it", "how do you like that?", and the classic "and the horse you rode in on".

e) Don't rush it (we're tea-bagging not twerking). We're not saying that the 'jack-hammer' doesn't have it's place - but not all the time. The best bags take a caring and sensitive approach.

f) Put an equal emphasis on both the up and the down. Keep it smooth. And it always looks better with the slightest of pauses at both ends.

g) Less than 3 bags is disrespectful (except for the single dip of respect).

h) More than 5 bags starts to look a bit pretentious.

i) Be prepared to die for the Bag. It is OK to shoot or chuck a 'nade during the bag - but you must never cut short the intended bag. Scoring a kill during a bagging demands URGENT bagging of the new kill.

j) Never abandon a team-mate while they are bagging - it's up to you to distract the enemy until the bag is finished.

k) It's also ok to bag someone else's kill if they can't - but in this case it's better to do a 'drive by' (a single or double dip as you pass over the body) - just to acknowledge that the downed player would have been bagged if circumstances were different.

l) Yes, you can bag team-mates. Especially if they threw their life away.

m) If you have more than one body to bag - it's ok to quickly jump from one to another. That way the entire enemy team knows that they are copping a taste.

n) Think very carefully about shooting or smacking people with your weapon in between bags. It is an overtly aggressive act and as such should be reserved for only those who truly deserve your contempt; those sneaking up behind you with the camo and/or sword. Anyone who tried to Ninja you. Oh, and campers. Definitely the campers.

o) Don't let hard-light weapons destroy the vibe. The enemy may have just dissipated into dust - but you can still mark the spot of their demise with a quick air-bag.

" The Case For and Against "
First up - there is not much else you can do in the way of non-verbal communication. Most games are fairly limited in what actions you can or can't do. And it's a simple one button method of expressing yourself that doesn't waste ammo or draw attention unnecessarily.

It is, at it's very core, a way of disrespecting your opponents. And generally that's not cool. But what you need to take into account is the context of the bag and the flow of the game. It's so much more.

And finally it's hard to ignore the sexual connotations. Especially when some extreme opponents have gone as far to describe it as a form of sexual assault. But we'd like to point out that players are fully clothed and armoured. And we no longer emphasise dipping over the head. The body is just fine. And you can no more equate the action to sexual assault than gunning down your opponent as murder.

I think, after 25 plus years we've moved on - and can appreciate that the humble bag has become a more nuanced form of communication.

" Miscellaneous "
Halo 3 had a particularly satisfying bag. The dead body would move towards you with each pass.

Halo 4 had an equipment feature called a hologram which you could use to distract the enemy. If you pointed this hologram at a downed opponent's body it would run over and start bagging them.

Don't forget the warthog bag. Where you run your vehicle back and forth over a splattered corpse.

Or the Mantis stomp. At least three to make your point. And lest we forget H4 again - where the Mantis could actually bag.

And we can't forget our favourite H5 custom game; . Exterrestr1al was a H5 scripting genius.