Donut
- Full name: Private Franklin Delano Donut
- Armor color: Red, pink (episode 16 and onward)
- Voice actor: Dan Godwin
Donut, whose full name is a reference to former United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is the Red Team's over-eager rookie, who, at least initially, is unable to grasp the current situation. Upon arriving in Blood Gulch, he immediately falls for a fool's errand, mistakes the Blue Base for the "store", and loses his way several times. His general naïveté, garrulousness, and cheerfulness tend to annoy his teammates.
Injured when Tex attacks the Red Base, Donut is consequently airlifted out of the gulch for medical treatment. Pleased that he captured the Blues' flag, Red Command gives him his own armor color, which becomes a sensitive issue for him: He insists that his new armor is "lightish red", even though it is clearly pink to everyone else. In season 2, he does eventually accept it as pink. As the series progresses, the armor color and the trauma he received from Tex seem to take their toll on Donut's mind; his speech and personality become increasingly effeminate. He also becomes more childish, pretending to be a secret agent during a reconnaissance operation, and later sticking his hand in machinery despite repeated warnings.
Donut is also prone to long conversations or convoluted narratives. In season 2, he twice attempts to engage another Red in idle chatter, to little success. When blasted forward into the future, he attempts to organize a play to explain events. He also concocts an implausible tale to distract the Blues in episode 53 and, in episode 70, falsely portrays himself as a hero, supposedly rescuing the other Reds from the Blue Base.
Despite these flaws, Donut sometimes demonstrates alertness or knowledge beyond that of his teammates. For example, in season 2, he is the only one to suggest correctly that Church is a ghost (and hence why Sarge went mad, and Lopez ran away). Initially unable, as with the other Reds, to understand Lopez, he later demonstrates the ability both to understand and speak some Spanish. (However, in episode 75, it becomes clear that this ability is limited, as his Spanish is poor, and he cannot understand the instructions in Spanish from Red Command.) Left to his own devices when the other Reds leave him behind in search of a distress signal, Donut manages to steal O'Malley's hovercraft and catch up to his team. In addition, he is the only one who supports Simmons' assertion that Sheila is still roaming Blood Gulch in the future. In episode 75, Donut reveals his awareness of Vic's vasectomy, but it is unknown how he learns of this information; his stealth encounter with Doc and O'Malley in season 2 did not include the conversation in which Vic revealed his sterility. Nevertheless, his insights are ignored by his team.
After Simmons' exile from the Red Team, Donut replaces him as Sarge's right-hand man, a move that Sarge quickly comes to regret. Much to Sarge's displeasure, Donut suggests various changes, including the incorporation of more positive reinforcement and the redecoration of the Red Base. When a large ship from Red Command lands on Donut at the end of episode 77, his teammates seem indifferent, and Donut's fate remains unknown.
