Tankmen
The Tankmen are background characters who appear during Week 7. There are many Tankmen soldiers seen throughout the week. Some only spectate the rap battle, but others take part in the battle itself.
Appearances
The Tankmen are soldiers with a monochromatic color scheme; all of their helmets, uniforms, gloves, pants and boots are black, while their skin, goggles and vests are white. Most Tankmen are seen with helmets with the standard rectangular goggles, though an exceptional few have round goggles instead.
During the tracks Ugh and Guns, there are two Tankmen in the foreground crouching on the two smaller speakers that lay beside the large speaker Girlfriend sits on. They both have insignias on their arm and carry rifles that they point at Girlfriend. The soldier on the left has round goggles while the soldier on the right has rectangular ones.
During the track Stress, the two Tankmen on either side of Girlfriend are now gone, both having been killed by Pico during the track's cutscene. Many other Tankmen soldiers with insignias on their arms, carrying rifles will now run in from the background, each one being shot and killed by Pico once they appear.
Throughout all tracks of the week, there is an audience of six visible Tankmen in the front. Steve, a Tankmen soldier with round goggles and Captain's best friend, can occasionally be seen in the background, driving by in a tank.
Origin
The Tankmen originate from TANKMEN, an animated web series created by JohnnyUtah in 2006. They are an army of soldiers under the leadership of Captain who fight against enemy soldiers and survive in a post-apocalyptic desert-like landscape. The series also focuses on other Tankmen related to Captain, including Steve, the deuteragonist of the series and Captain's best friend. He stands out from other Tankmen soldiers thanks to his round goggles.
Trivia
General
- The Tankmen are the second characters to be on the speakers in some way, the first being Girlfriend, the third being Pico, the fourth being Nene and the fifth being Otis.
- The Tankmen are also the third characters to die, the first being Mall Santa if the player gets a Game Over during Week 5, and the second being Senpai.
- In the TANKMEN series, Steve is the only soldier known to wear round goggles, which helped to distinguish him from the other Tankmen soldiers in the series. In-game, there are two Tankmen soldiers seen with round goggles. However, Steve is likely to be the one driving the tank in the background as he has been shown to be able to operate it before in his series. Additionally, the left Tankman in the foreground has insignias on his arm, something that Steve never had in the series.
- PhantomArcade directly refers to the one driving the tank as Steve during a live stream.
- As seen originally on the live stream where PhantomArcade briefly and accidentally leaked Week 7, both Tankmen soldiers in the foreground used to look identical to each other. However, the soldier to the left would later be changed by being given round goggles.
- The scream used for one of the Tankmen about to get shot in the head by Pico in the cutscene for Stress originates from Oney's Final Fantasy VII Let's Play series for OneyPlays, as confirmed by PhantomArcade during a live stream.[1][2]
- In the Flash files, there are unused censored animations for the Tankmen being shot during Stress, with the blood being blue electric sparks. This will likely be used for when the Naughtyness setting is disabled.
Lore
- The Tankmen are confirmed to be asexual by JohnnyUtah in a Tweet.[4]
- In another Tweet, JohnnyUtah described the Tankmen as "gay icons," indicating that they are also homoromantic or otherwise gay.[5]
Gallery
The Tankmen as they appear in Week 7.
The Tankmen as they appear during Stress.
First Tankmen soldier in the audience.
Ditto, but static.
Second Tankmen soldier in the audience.
Ditto, but static.
Third Tankmen soldier in the audience.
Ditto, but static.
Fourth Tankmen soldier in the audience.
Ditto, but static.
Fifth Tankmen soldier in the audience.
Ditto, but static.
Sixth Tankmen soldier in the audience.
Ditto, but static.
Steve's static idle sprite.
Steve's base sprite without the shader or rotation.
Ditto, but static.
Tankmen soldier in the background (remix visuals).
Ditto, but static.
Ted's static idle pose (remix visuals).
Ditto, but static.
The Tankmen on the speakers about to shoot Girlfriend while she's about to unleash her demon powers, until Pico leaps from the sky to kick her off the speakers. Used in the cutscene for Stress.
Ditto, but static.
Ditto, but without the effect.
Ditto, but static.
Ditto, but only the Tankman on the left.
Ditto, but static.
Ditto, but without the effect.
Ditto, but static.
Ditto, but only the Tankman on the right.
Ditto, but static.
Ditto, but without the effect.
Ditto, but static.
Pico killing the Tankmen on the speakers, used in the cutscene for Stress.
Ditto, but static.
The Tankman on the left side of the speakers falling to the ground with his brain exposed after being shot by Pico.
Ditto, but static.
The Tankman on the right side of the speakers screaming and falling to the ground after having his face bashed in.
Ditto, but static.
Running Tankman's static idle pose.
Tankmen soldier getting shot in the chest.
Ditto, but static.
Tankmen soldier getting shot in the face.
Ditto, but static.
Unused sprite of Pico kicking Girlfriend off the speakers, intended to be used in the cutscene for Stress.
Unused censored animation of a Tankmen soldier getting shot in the chest from Stress, found in the Flash files of Week 7. The blood is now blue instead of red, resembling the sparks from Pico's guns. This animation would play if the naughtyness setting is turned off.
Ditto, but static.
Another unused censored animation of a Tankmen soldier getting shot in the head from Stress, found in the Flash files of Week 7.
Ditto, but static.
The Tankmen holding Nene at gunpoint during the cutscene before Stress (Pico Mix).
Ditto, but static.
The Tankmen on A-Bot about to shoot Nene until she stabs the soldier to her right in the eye, followed by Otis leaping from the sky in slow-motion.
Ditto, but static.
Otis kicking Nene off of A-Bot and bashing the two Tankmen soldiers with his AK-47s.
Ditto, but static.
Steve featured in the Pico Day 2021 promotional artwork by cynicallysly.
Steve and another member of the Tankmen along with many Newgrounds characters and creators in an artwork by PKettles for Pico Day 2021.
Two Tankmen kidnapping Girlfriend in a Newgrounds Friday Night Funkin' skin by MD00dles.
Tankmen in the concept art for Week 7.
Official FNF Week 7 T-shirt, featuring Sgt. John and Steve.
Steve and other Tankmen in an artwork from the FNF art booklet.
Steve weirded out by MankTan.
Tanksona!
JohnnyUtah as a Tanksona by PhantomArcade.
Tanksona by mrluwigi drawn by PhantomArcade.
Tanksona by beaa drawn by PhantomArcade.
John by citricaciid drawn by PhantomArcade.
Sugar by floette drawn by PhantomArcade.
Tanay by somesmlsmearfr1 drawn by PhantomArcade.
Tanksona by Guruö drawn by PhantomArcade.
Tanksona by yeonmung drawn by PhantomArcade.
Tanksona by yeonmung drawn by PhantomArcade.
Krissa Higashi as a Tanksona by Krisa Higashikata drawn by PhantomArcade.
Tanksona by spiritpuppz drawn by PhantomArcade.
Steve with a weed symbol on his uniform, drawn by PhantomArcade as an April Fools' joke and described as "concept art for the upcoming 'DANKMEN' level."
Bill smoking a weed joint, drawn by PhantomArcade as an April Fools' joke and described as "concept art for the upcoming 'DANKMEN' level."
Doodle of Captain smoking into Steve's face.
Official "Dankmen" NFT Drop promotional artwork for April Fools' Day 2022, made by Potatoman.
Steve and Captain ended up at Anime Expo.
Dad and his son attacking the Tankmen army.
PhantomArcade's drawing of Bandu from Vs. Dave and Bambi: Golden Apple Edition being held at gunpoint by Steve and Captain.
JohnnyUtah being pregnant with Steve while Tom Fulp gives a thumbs up.
Captain and Steve getting ready to torture Nugget, a character from Max Design Pro, by means of electricity.
Pico on top of pile of dead Tankmen in the promotional art for the playable Pico update.
Sketch of Captain and Steve made by evilsk8r.
Steve as he appears in the Newgrounds New Year's 2025 skin by Stradomyre.
