Characters of Halo
Encyclopedia
Recurring characters of Halo
are organized below by their respective factions in the fictional universe. The multimedia franchise's central story revolves around an interstellar war between future humanity under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, and an alien theocratic alliance known as the Covenant
. The artifacts left behind by an ancient race known as the Forerunner play a central role, particularly the massive weapons, dubbed Halos
, built to contain the parasitic Flood. Beginning with developer Bungie
's 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved
, the franchise expanded to include the sequels Halo 2
, Halo 3
, Halo Wars
, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach
; the novels Halo: The Fall of Reach
, Halo: The Flood
, Halo: First Strike
, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
, Halo: Contact Harvest
, and Halo: The Cole Protocol
; and the Halo Graphic Novel
, among other works.
In the foreword for a collection titled The Art of Halo, Bungie founder Jason Jones
noted that bringing together the elements of a video game is unmistakably "art". However, Jones also noted that the character designers and artists had to make a "living, breathing world" and populate it with interesting characters and places. The game's development which spanned four years brought numerous evolutions and revisions to the character's designs and personalities. Characters were also updated to take full advantage of new graphics technologies; for instance, the Master Chief
's armor was redesigned in a lengthy conceptual process and the final model was bump mapped
. Each video game offered opportunities to refine the character's appearances and designs.
Halos commercial and critical success has led to large amounts of merchandise featuring the franchise's characters to be produced. The Master Chief, the most visible symbol of the series, has been heavily marketed, with the character's visage appearing on soda bottles, t-shirts, and Xbox
controllers. Other merchandise produced includes several sets of action figure
s, produced by Joyride Studios and McFarlane Toys
among other manufacturers. Halos characters have received varying reception, with characters such as the Chief, Cortana
and the Arbiter
well-received by critics, and Gravemind
and Avery Johnson derided as clichéd or corny.
and the platform shifted from the Macintosh
to the Xbox
. Other Bungie developers would often add input to the progress of characters in Halo, even if they were not working on the game itself. For example, an outside artist, Shi Kai Wang, developed the early concept sketches of what would eventually become the Master Chief. However upon developing a 3D model, the artists decided the Chief looked too slender, almost effeminate, and subsequently bulked up the character. Early Covenant Elites had a more natural jaw rather than the split mandibles they would later sport; at one point, Jason Jones was also insistent about having a tail on the Elites, but this idea was eventually dropped.
Designers decided to hand-key animations, rather than attempt motion capture
. The animators also often videotaped themselves to have reference footage for the movement of game characters. Art Director Marcus Lehto had his wife videotape him "running around a field with a two-by-four" for footage for human marines. By Halo 3, Bungie staff had a special room designed for capturing reference material. Many of the subsequent human character's features were based on Bungie designers, while character animators looked to simian, ursine, insectoid and reptilian features for the various races of the Covenant. The artificial intelligences of the characters was also deliberately limited to make sure they acted realistically to environmental changes and situations.
, Orlando Jones
, Michelle Rodriguez
, Robert Davi
, and Terrence Stamp. Voice acting became more important as Halo: Combat Evolveds sequels were developed; Halo 2 had 2,000 lines of combat dialogue, while Halo 3 has in excess of 14,000 lines. The actual technology for the trilogy changed very little; while some actors voiced their lines in remote locations, others traveled to Bungie to record their lines. In interviews, Halos voice actors stated that they had no idea that the games would become such a critical and commercial success. Steve Downes
, the voice of the game's protagonist, stated that generally when a voice actor has finished their lines, their involvement with the game ends. As the characters in Combat Evolved were relatively undefined, the voice actors were given leeway to develop their own style and personality.
Aside from major character roles, members of the Halo community and Halo fans have had small roles in the games. The cast from the machinima
Red vs. Blue
won a lengthy charity auction for a voice role in Halo 3, and do a comedy routine which changes depending on the difficulty level the game is played on. Cast members of the defunct TV show Firefly—Alan Tudyk
, Nathan Fillion
, and Adam Baldwin
—have roles as marines in Halo 3 as well as Halo 3: ODST.
Master Chief Petty Officer
John-117, commonly referred to as simply the Master Chief, is the protagonist and main playable character in the Halo trilogy. The character is voiced by Chicago disc jockey
Steve Downes
. One of the last SPARTAN-II supersoldiers still in active service (one of the few survivors of the Fall of Reach), the Master Chief inspires awe and fear in the alien Covenant, who refer to him as a "Demon". Assisted by the artificial intelligence Cortana, he prevents the firing of Installation 04
in Halo: Combat Evolved, an event which the player is told would have destroyed all sentient life in the galaxy. Bungie staff member Joseph Staten
noted that until the Master Chief was created, Bungie had not paid any attention to how to make people want to play in the world. "Master Chief is really what kicked off the creativity," he said, "in terms of how people react to him. He's a space marine in really cool green armor." The character has since become a gaming icon, the mascot of the Xbox, and was rated as one of the greatest videogame characters of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly
.
, is the artificial intelligence (AI) who assists the Master Chief throughout Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. She is one of many "smart" AIs, and is based on the brain of Dr. Halsey; the nature of her programming means that she will eventually "think" herself to death after a lifespan of about seven years. Her actions during Halo: Combat Evolved help prevent the activation of Installation 04. She escapes Halo along with the Master Chief in a fighter, and is instrumental in helping the UNSC survivors capture the Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice during the events of Halo: First Strike
. During Halo 2, Cortana is put in charge of the MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon) defense platform Cairo over Earth when the Covenant attack; she then accompanies the Chief aboard In Amber Clad to Delta Halo, where she further assists in intelligence work. Cortana stays behind on the Covenant city of High Charity to detonate In Amber Clad' s engines in case Delta Halo is activated. She subsequently falls into the clutches of the Gravemind
. In Halo 3, Cortana is rescued by the Master Chief from High Charity and aids him in activating the Halo ring under construction in the Ark. After narrowly escaping from Halo's destructive blast, she and the Master Chief are stranded in space, awaiting rescue. Cortana was named the fifth best supporting character, and one of the "50 Greatest Female Characters" in a video game. Reviewers noted the character's determination and fearlessness meshed perfectly with the Master Chief, and that Cortana provides an anchor linking players to Halos story.
and Flood
assaults throughout the Halo series. The character is voiced by David Scully. Johnson and a few other Marines survive the destruction of Installation 04 and are rescued by Cortana
and the Master Chief
during the novel Halo: First Strike
. Johnson plays a much larger role in Halo 2, joining forces with the Arbiter to stop Tartarus from activating Installation 05. In Halo 2, he is awarded the Colonial Cross for his heroic actions at Installation 04, and leads UNSC forces to drive the Covenant from New Mombasa, Kenya after the Covenant take the city during the events of the game. In Halo 3: ODST, Johnson is seen asking an Engineer what the Covenant want in New Mombasa and the Engineer lit Johnson's cigar. In Halo 3, the Forerunner construct 343 Guilty Spark kills him when Johnson tries to activate the incomplete Halo at the Ark. Johnson is the sole character featured in The Halo Graphic Novel story, "Breaking Quarantine", which details Johnson's escape from the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved, and a main character in the 2007 novel Halo: Contact Harvest
. Johnson was said to have an immunity to the Flood due to his previous involvement in the Orion Project, also called the SPARTAN-I Project.
In many ways similar to the stereotype of charismatic black Marines found in other science fiction (such as Sergeant Apone in Aliens
), some publications found Johnson, though enjoyable, somewhat of a flat character. In an interview for Halo: Contact Harvest
, Joseph Staten of Bungie admitted that Johnson was a static character in Halo: Combat Evolved, and that despite the character's potential, "he sort of inherited those caricature aspects [from Halo]." Contact Harvest was a chance "to do right by Johnson, to give him the rich, fully fleshed out back-story he deserves, that we have never been able to give him in the game."
, Halo: Combat Evolved
, its novelization, Halo: The Flood
, Halo: The Cole Protocol
, and Halo: The Fall of Reach
. His first chronological appearance is in The Fall of Reach, where, as a young Lieutenant, he accompanies Dr. Catherine Halsey on her mission to screen possible SPARTAN-II Project subjects. In 2534, Lieutenant Keyes plays a pivotal role in saving a million insurrectionists' lives from Covenant forces. By 2552, midway through The Fall of Reach Keyes is commander of the Iroquois, a UNSC destroyer. Keyes is promoted to Captain after he singlehandedly defeats four Covenant ships about to attack a human colony by performing a maneuver later named the "Keyes Loop". When the Iroquois is recalled to the human bastion Reach, a Covenant tracking device aboard the ship alerts the Covenant to the planet's existence, and they proceed to attack the colony. As the planet is glassed
by the Covenant, Keyes follows Cole Protocol, which leads his new ship, the Pillar of Autumn to Halo
. There, Keyes leads a guerrilla insurgency against the Covenant, until he is captured and assimilated by the parasitic Flood. His daughter is Miranda Keyes. He also appeared in the recent Halo: Reach
near the end of the last mission, where he retrieves Cortana from Noble Six, and tells him "Good luck to you, Spartan" when Six decides to remain on Reach.
to accept a medal posthumously for her father. Soon after, a Covenant fleet launches an attack on Earth, and Keyes takes control of the UNSC ship In Amber Clad and assists in the defense of New Mombasa, Kenya. When the Prophet of Regret retreats from Earth, Keyes orders In Amber Clad to follow; this results in the discovery of Installation 05, another Halo. Keyes, along with Johnson and a squad of Marines, head for Halo's library in order to retrieve the Activation Index and prevent the ring's activation while the Master Chief assassinates the Prophet of Regret; in the process, she and Johnson are captured by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus. As a "Reclaimer," only she or another human can insert the Index into Halo's control panel, and Tartarus attempts to make her do this. When the Arbiter
tries to stop the firing, Tartarus forces Keyes to insert the Index, initiating Halo's firing sequence. After the Arbiter engages and kills Tartarus, Keyes successfully removes the Index and prevents Halo from activating, but inadvertently causes all the remaining Halo installations to enter standby mode, enabling the remote firing of these installations from The Ark. In Halo 3, Miranda Keyes returns to Earth and leads the pursuit of the Prophet of Truth through the portal he creates using the artifact buried under New Mombasa, which leads to the Ark. When Sergeant Johnson is captured by the Covenant to activate the installation, she attempts to rescue him, but is killed when Truth shoots her in the back.
Miranda Keyes was voiced by Julie Benz
in Halo 2, but Bungie recast the role for Halo 3, ostensibly because they wanted someone with an accent. Despite not being a part of Halo 3, Benz said that she loved voiceover work and that it was pure chance she had become the voice of Keyes in the first place. When IGN
asked Benz what she thought of her character, she admitted she hadn't played Halo 2, even though Bungie
had sent her "like four copies of the game". The character is voiced by Justis Bolding
in Halo 3.
shorts "Homecoming" and "The Package", and Halo: Reach
. In the fiction, a flash clone of her brain tissue is the basis for the construction of the "smart" AI Cortana
. As the creator of the SPARTAN-II Project, she is responsible for 75 of the 150 Spartan children, along with their training and the subsequent death of 30 due to the dangerous augmentation process. She is viewed by the SPARTAN-IIs as a "mother" figure, and addresses each soldier by their name rather than designation, even when the Spartans are fully suited in their armor. Halsey justifies her actions through her belief that the suffering of a few is acceptable for the benefit of many. Sergeant Johnson, however, unknowingly causes Halsey to rethink her position, and she decides to "save each and every member of humanity beginning with herself" during Halo: First Strike. She hijacks a shuttle for her own private mission to the planet Onyx; there, she assists in deciphering the surrounding Forerunner glyphs on the planet and leads the surviving Spartan-IIs and Spartan-IIIs to a Dyson Sphere
at the heart of Onyx. She is later revealed to be the mother of Miranda Keyes.
, who has seen many years of service and has survived several battles with the Covenant. Such is his influence that he dominates the Security Committee and can talk down most higher-ranking officers without fear of reprisal. Due to the competition between Ackerson and other departments, most notably Section Three and the SPARTAN-II project, Ackerson harbors a strong resentment toward his opponents and toward the Spartans in particular. He does eventually convince the top members of ONI to approve his SPARTAN-III Program. In Halo: The Fall of Reach
, he attempts to sabotage the MJOLNIR Mark V testing process by using ordnance far above the established guidelines, including Lotus anti-tank mines, a full squad of ODSTs ordered to shoot to kill, automated gun turrets, and an airstrike. However, Cortana retaliates by forging a letter requesting a reassignment to the front lines as well as planting evidence of illicit activities in his bank records. In Halo: First Strike, it is revealed that Ackerson manages to weasel his way out of Cortana's mess, In the limited comic series Halo: Uprising
Ackerson falls into the hands of Covenant orbiting Mars
and is slated to die before Ackerson tells his interrogator about a "key" to Earth. The "key" is in fact a fabrication by Ackerson to save a relative living in Cleveland, Ohio. After the Brutes holding Ackerson prisoner are informed that no such key exists, Ackerson is beheaded.
. He provides his trainees with excellent weapons and physical lessons, as well as tactical and mental training. He is not very talkative, but possesses a brilliant mind for warfare, and this is reflected in the Master Chief's abilities. He is described as neither tall nor muscular, with close-cut hair that has a dash of gray at the temples. He leaves the Spartans after the discovery of the Covenant to train the next batch of Spartans, and is recruited by Colonel Ackerson to assist Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose (Spartan-II Kurt-051) with training the SPARTAN-III supersoldiers at the secret world of Onyx after a few years of combat duty (receiving two Purple Heart
s in the process). During Ghosts of Onyx he is sealed inside the Forerunner Dyson Sphere
at the heart of the planet with the remaining Spartan survivors.
) first appears in the novel, Halo: First Strike
. He is a member of the UNSC Security Committee and is the Chief of Naval Operations. He greatly respects the Spartans, not only because of their record, but because they have saved his life on two occasions. When Halo 2 begins, Admiral Hood presents the Master Chief, Sergeant Johnson, and Miranda Keyes with medals aboard the Cairo Station. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
, Hood receives an urgent message by Dr. Halsey requesting for him to send Spartans to assist her, and obliges by ordering Fred-104, Will-043, and Linda-058 to Onyx. In Halo 3, Hood is in overall command of Earth's defense with Commander Miranda Keyes reporting directly to him. He accepts the need for humanity to ally with the Elites, but is not entirely happy about it. He leads the remaining human naval forces in an attack on the Prophet of Truth's dreadnought, but the attack fails when the Forerunner artifact under New Mombasa activates, creating a portal to the Ark. When the Master Chief, Keyes, and several Elite and human forces choose to follow the Prophet of Truth through the portal, he decides to stay behind to make a final stand on Earth. At the end of the game, he commemorates a small monument to the war and the sacrifices it involved.
reveals that the soldier was a member of the colony Harvest's defense militia, where his family is killed. In Halo: The Flood
, Jenkins assists in defending the human stronghold under the command of Major Antonio Silva. He is also part of an assault team led by Sergeant Avery Johnson and Captain Jacob Keyes, sent to recover a Covenant arms cache during Halo: Combat Evolved. The team is overwhelmed by the Flood, leaving the entire squad except Sergeant Johnson infected and resulting in the eventual death of Captain Keyes. In the video game, the Master Chief recovers Jenkins' helmet, and reviews the recording of the mission that it contained, introducing the Flood to the player through the Marine's eyes. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the fate of the Marine is left unknown.
Halo: The Flood
reveals the fate of Jenkins; the Private is transformed into a Flood Combat Form along with the rest of his squad, but he is able to exercise a certain degree of control over the infection, due to the mind of the parasite being weakened by its long hibernation. He uses this limited control in an attempt to end his own life, charging at UNSC Marines in the hope that they would shoot him. Instead, he is captured as a live specimen for study. He is brought aboard the Covenant cruiser Truth and Reconciliation as part of a mission under Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Major Silva to capture a Covenant vessel and return it to Earth
intact. Jenkins successfully convinces Lieutenant Melissa McKay, that such a mission would spread the Flood to Earth, and Jenkins dies with the other human troops on the vessel as it crashed into Halo.
, and the prequel games Halo Wars
and Halo: Reach
. In an effort to raise morale as the war continued to sour for humanity, the existence of the SPARTAN-II Program is disclosed to the general public
. The Spartans become hero
es and veritable legends; in order to maintain public confidence that the war is going well, Spartans are never listed as killed, only as Missing in Action
or Wounded in Action
.
The most distinctive element of the Spartans is their special MJOLNIR armor. The Mark V armor from Halo: Combat Evolved was ranked third of Casualty Gamer's "Top 10 Bodysuits", with the author commenting "It’s one of the most recognizable symbols from any game, and is literally the image of the franchise’s legendary hero, Master Chief." The "Recon" armor of Halo 3s multiplayer was also rated tenth of Machinima.com's "Top 10 Video Game Armor", as well as Maxim's.
Inspired by the Halo video game series, Troy Hurtubise
, known for his anti-bear suits, developed a real counterpart to the MJOLNIR battle armor, named the Trojan. The suit is functional and its capabilities were inspired by those present in the video games versions of the armor. The armor's features include a system that purifies air powered by solar panels located in the helmet, equipment for weapon transportation, a recording system, emergency illumination and a transponder that can be activated if the wearer is in serious jeopardy. The armor offers protection against attacks with knives, blunt objects and small explosions and is bulletproof. Hurtubise expressed that he is able to improve this design for use in the military for a price of 2,000 dollar
s per piece. Non-functional replicas of the MJOLNIR armor have also been created by hobbyists; a Spike TV
pre-Halo 3
special profiled some of these dedicated fans.
High Prophets, or Hierarchs, are the supreme leaders of the theocratic Covenant
. Upon assuming office, each Hierarch picks a new regnal name
from a list of names of former Hierarchs, similar to the practice of some Orthodox
Patriarchs. In Halo 2, there are shown to be only three; the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret (voiced by Michael Wincott
, Hamilton Camp
and Robin Atkin Downes
in Halo 2, respectively; in Halo 3, Truth is voiced by Terrence Stamp). The novel Halo: Contact Harvest
reveals that these three Prophets, originally known as the Minister of Fortitude, the Vice-Minister of Tranquility, and the Philologist, plotted to usurp the throne of the Hierarchs; in the process, they hide the truth that humanity is descended from the Covenant gods, the Forerunners, believing that the revelation could shatter the Covenant. During the course of Halo 2, Regret attacks Earth, and then retreats to Delta Halo. There, he calls for reinforcements, but is killed by the Master Chief. Later, Mercy is attacked by Flood on High Charity, and left by Truth to die. In Halo 3: ODST, Truth is seen inspecting some Engineers around the Forerunner construct near New Mombasa. In Halo 3
, Truth also meets his demise at the hands of the Arbiter
when the Prophet attempts to activate all the Halo rings from the Ark.
Preliminary designs for the Prophets, including the Hierarchs, were done by artist Shi Kai Wang. According to The Art of Halo, the Prophets were designed to look feeble, yet sinister. Originally, the Prophets appeared to be fused to the special hovering thrones they use for transport; even in the final designs, the Prophets are made to be dependent on their technology. Special headdresses, stylized differently for each of the Hierarchs, adds personality to the aliens and a regal presence.
and the Ascendant Justice was captured by the Master Chief
in Halo: First Strike
. Rather than killing him, the Prophets allow the Commander to become the Arbiter, and to carry on his missions as the "Blade of the Prophets". Eventually, the Arbiter rebels against the Prophets, dropping the "-ee" suffix from his surname as a symbol of his resignation from the Covenant, and joins his fellow Elites in siding with humanity and stopping the Halo array from firing.
Originally to be named "Dervish
", the Arbiter was a playable character intended to be a major plot twist by Bungie
. Reception to the character was lukewarm, with critics alternatively praising the added dimension brought by the Arbiter as well as complaining about having to play as the alien.
In Halo Wars
, set 20 years before Halo: Combat Evolved, a second Arbiter is shown, possibly as the last to wear the armor before the more recognized character. He is described as a "mean guy," lead designer David Pottinger comparing him to Darth Vader
. The second Arbiter is the main antagonist of Halo Wars. He leads the Covenant to the fleet of Forerunner ships as well as capturing Ellen Anders in order to do so. After a fight he is killed by Sergeant Forge and a Spartan rolls his body off a cliff.
, however, the character was finally named in the story Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor as Rtas 'Vadumee. The character is voiced by Robert Davi
.
'Vadum, originally 'Vadumee before the Covenant Civil War, is a veteran Covenant Elite and the second most prominent Elite character in the series after the Arbiter. The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor explains how he loses his left mandibles; he is injured after fighting one of his friends, who was infected by the Flood. During the early events of Halo 2, 'Vadumee serves as a messenger between the Hierarchs and the Elite Council, as he is seen relaying messages between the two parties in the Prophets' chamber; when the Elites split from the Covenant, 'Vadumee joins his brethren in fighting the Brutes, dropping the "-ee" suffix from his surname to symbolize his resignation from the Covenant. In Halo 3, 'Vadum is Shipmaster of the flagship Shadow of Intent, and supports Cortana
's plan to follow Truth to the Ark. Along with the Arbiter, 'Vadum leaves Earth to return to the Elite's homeworld with the end of the war.
) is the Chieftain of the Brutes, easily recognized by his white hair, distinctive mohawk
, and massive gravity hammer known as the "Fist of Rukt". Rough, arrogant, and disdainful of the Elites, Tartarus is completely dedicated to the Prophets' salvific "Great Journey". Halo: Contact Harvest
reveals that Tartarus became Chieftain after killing the former Chieftan, his uncle Maccabeus, and seizing the Chieftain's weapon. Tartarus makes his first appearance in the novel Halo: First Strike
, as one of the first Brutes allowed into the chamber of the High Prophet of Truth. In Halo 2, Tartarus acts as an agent of the Prophets, branding the Arbiter
for his failures. The Chieftain later appears when the Arbiter tries to retrieve the Activation Index of Delta Halo. On the Prophets' orders, Tartarus takes the Index and pushes the Arbiter to what was intended to be his death in a deep chasm. Tartarus heads to the control room of Halo with the Index in order to activate Halo, but is confronted by the Arbiter. Blind to the Prophets' deception about the Great Journey, Tartarus activates the ring; the Brute is ultimately killed by the coordinated efforts of the Arbiter with the help of Sergeant Major Johnson, successfully preventing the firing of Delta Halo.
Designs for Tartarus began after the basic shape and design of the common Brutes was complete. Artist Shi Kai Wang added small but distinctive changes to Tartarus' armor and mane in order to distinguish the Chieftain from the other Brutes. The visual design of the Chieftains was later modified for Halo 3, with the seasoned warriors sporting more elaborate headdresses and shoulder pads. In a review of the character, UGO Networks noted that whereas the Elites "are a precision scalpel
", Tartarus was a "baseball bat" that smashes everything in its path.
343 Guilty Spark (voiced by Tim Dadabo
) is the Monitor of Installation 04. He is first encountered by the player at the end of Halo' s sixth level, "343 Guilty Spark", after the Flood breach containment. He enlists the help of the Master Chief
, whom he calls a "Reclaimer", to activate Halo's defenses, neglecting to tell the Master Chief that Halo's "defenses" would cause the destruction of all sentient life in the galaxy. He attempts to stop the Master Chief and Cortana
from destroying the Pillar of Autumn, and thereby destroying Halo, but is ultimately thwarted when the ship explodes and destabilizes his ring, causing it to break up. Discovered in the system by the Covenant, Spark, known as an "Oracle" to the Prophets, eventually informs the Covenant Hierarchs
of how to activate Installation 05 in Halo 2. In Halo 3, Spark allies with the humans and Elites; since his installation has been destroyed and he has no more orders, Spark decides to help the Master Chief. Leading the Chief across the Ark, Guilty Spark discovers a new, uncompleted Halo, which is being built to replace Installation 04. Guilty Spark is ecstatic, but when Sergeant Johnson prepares to fire the new Halo to stop the Flood—a process that would destroy the incomplete ring and damage the Ark—Spark goes berserk, refusing to let the Reclaimers destroy "his" ring. He is subsequently destroyed by the Master Chief with a Spartan Laser, but Sergeant Johnson is fatally wounded in the fight.
Bungie originally wanted Guilty Spark to sound similar to the robot C-3PO
. Dadabo noted in an interview that reactions to his character have been hostile, finding Spark highly annoying. He described Spark's character as a "bastard" who strings others along in order to accomplish his ends. An annual Halloween
pumpkin carving contest named 343 Guilt O'Lantern is organized by Halo.Bungie.Org
; both the contest's title and logo use the character's design and name as inspiration. Gaming site GameDaily
listed Guilty Spark as one of the top "evil masterminds" of video games, stating "If HAL-9000 had any distant relatives, [Guilty Spark would] be closest of kin."
) was the Contender-class Forerunner A.I. charged with organizing Forerunner defense against the Flood. It was later defected by Gravemind
turning it rampant and against the Forerunners, but was eventually defeated after the firing of the Halo array and broken into sections, one of which was taken to the Ark, while another was left on the Forerunner ship that would eventually be incorporated into the Covenant city of High Charity. It is this section of Mendicant Bias that informs the Covenant Hierarchs of the human's descendance from the Forerunners in Halo: Contact Harvest
, prompting the Heirarchs to usurp the Covenant leadership and instigate the Human-Covenant War.
Mendicant Bias is first encountered in Halo 3
on the Ark, as it attempted to communicate with the Master Chief through Terminals, claiming it sought atonement for its defection to the Flood by helping the Spartan, and was presumably destroyed along with the Ark when the Chief activated the incomplete Halo that the Ark was constructing.
and Arbiter
from their deaths, bringing the two face to face in the bowels of Delta Halo. Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the "sacred rings" are actually weapons of last resort; a fact the Master Chief confirms. In order to stop Halo from being fired, Gravemind teleports the Master Chief and Arbiter to separate locations, but also uses them as a distraction; Gravemind infects the human ship In Amber Clad, and uses it to invade the Covenant city of High Charity. Capturing Cortana
, Gravemind brings High Charity to the Ark in an effort to stop the High Prophet of Truth from activating the Halo network. Although the Master Chief destroys High Charity, Gravemind attempts to rebuild itself on the incomplete Halo
. When Halo is activated, Gravemind is resigned to his fate, determined that the activation of the ring will only slow, not stop, the progress of the Flood.
Designed to be a massive, horrifying combination of tentacles and rotting matter, reception to the character was generally poor. Mike Leonard of the AllXbox community said that the introduction of the "Little Shop of Horrors" reject "ruined the 'cool'" of the Halo franchise. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com
complained that the link between Gravemind and the Flood was never explicitly stated in either Halo 2 or Halo 3 and was hardly seen in the last game.
. There have also been several series of licensed action figure
s produced, with the Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 collectibles being produced by Joyride Studios in several series. For Halo 3, the responsibility of designing the action figures was given to McFarlane Toys
; a total of eight series have been announced, with ninth series devoted to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the francise by re-issueing a few of the earlier figurines along with pieces to construct a buildable plaque of the Legendary icon used in the game for the hardest skill level. Kotobukiya produced high-end figurines. Besides general figures like Covenant Elites and Spartans, figurines produced include the Master Chief
, Cortana
, Arbiter
, Prophet of Regret, Tartarus, and Sergeant Johnson.
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
are organized below by their respective factions in the fictional universe. The multimedia franchise's central story revolves around an interstellar war between future humanity under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, and an alien theocratic alliance known as the Covenant
Covenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
. The artifacts left behind by an ancient race known as the Forerunner play a central role, particularly the massive weapons, dubbed Halos
Halo (megastructure)
Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners...
, built to contain the parasitic Flood. Beginning with developer Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
's 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
, the franchise expanded to include the sequels Halo 2
Halo 2
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved...
, Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
, Halo Wars
Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009, in PAL territories on February 27, and in North America on March 3...
, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
; the novels Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach is a 2001 science fiction novel by Eric Nylund based on the Halo series of video games and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations...
, Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood is a 2003 novel based on the 2001 Xbox video game Halo: Combat Evolved written by William C. Dietz. Closely depicting the events of the video game, The Flood begins with the escape of a human ship Pillar of Autumn from enemy aliens known as the Covenant...
, Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Ghosts of Onyx is a novel by Eric Nylund, set in the universe of the Halo video game series and released on October 31, 2006. Ghosts of Onyx was the fourth Halo novel published, and Nylund's third contribution to the series...
, Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
, and Halo: The Cole Protocol
Halo: The Cole Protocol
Halo: The Cole Protocol is the sixth novel adaptation of the Halo science fiction franchise. The book was written by Tobias S. Buckell and published on November 25, 2008...
; and the Halo Graphic Novel
Halo Graphic Novel
The Halo Graphic Novel is the first graphic novel adaptation of the science fiction video game Halo, published by Marvel Comics in partnership with Bungie Studios...
, among other works.
In the foreword for a collection titled The Art of Halo, Bungie founder Jason Jones
Jason Jones (programmer)
Jason Jones is a game developer and programmer who co-founded video game studio Bungie with Alex Seropian in 1991. Jones began programming on Apple computers in high school, assembling a multiplayer game called Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete...
noted that bringing together the elements of a video game is unmistakably "art". However, Jones also noted that the character designers and artists had to make a "living, breathing world" and populate it with interesting characters and places. The game's development which spanned four years brought numerous evolutions and revisions to the character's designs and personalities. Characters were also updated to take full advantage of new graphics technologies; for instance, the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
's armor was redesigned in a lengthy conceptual process and the final model was bump mapped
Bump mapping
Bump mapping is a technique in computer graphics for simulating bumps and wrinkles on the surface of an object. This is achieved by perturbing the surface normals of the object and using the perturbed normal during lighting calculations. The result is an apparently bumpy surface rather than a...
. Each video game offered opportunities to refine the character's appearances and designs.
Halos commercial and critical success has led to large amounts of merchandise featuring the franchise's characters to be produced. The Master Chief, the most visible symbol of the series, has been heavily marketed, with the character's visage appearing on soda bottles, t-shirts, and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
controllers. Other merchandise produced includes several sets of action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s, produced by Joyride Studios and McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys, a subsidiary of Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., is a company started by Todd McFarlane that makes highly detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, video games, and sport figures...
among other manufacturers. Halos characters have received varying reception, with characters such as the Chief, Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
and the Arbiter
Arbiter (Halo)
Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon alien Covenant Elites in the Halo science fiction universe. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander as a way to atone for his failures...
well-received by critics, and Gravemind
Gravemind
The Gravemind is a parasitic intelligence in the Halo universe. While only one Gravemind is ever seen in the games, the title is given to the final stage of Flood evolution. The Flood is a highly-infectious parasite which is released several times during Halos story...
and Avery Johnson derided as clichéd or corny.
Character design and creation
Halos characters were continually refined through development, as the company was bought by MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and the platform shifted from the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
to the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. Other Bungie developers would often add input to the progress of characters in Halo, even if they were not working on the game itself. For example, an outside artist, Shi Kai Wang, developed the early concept sketches of what would eventually become the Master Chief. However upon developing a 3D model, the artists decided the Chief looked too slender, almost effeminate, and subsequently bulked up the character. Early Covenant Elites had a more natural jaw rather than the split mandibles they would later sport; at one point, Jason Jones was also insistent about having a tail on the Elites, but this idea was eventually dropped.
Designers decided to hand-key animations, rather than attempt motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
. The animators also often videotaped themselves to have reference footage for the movement of game characters. Art Director Marcus Lehto had his wife videotape him "running around a field with a two-by-four" for footage for human marines. By Halo 3, Bungie staff had a special room designed for capturing reference material. Many of the subsequent human character's features were based on Bungie designers, while character animators looked to simian, ursine, insectoid and reptilian features for the various races of the Covenant. The artificial intelligences of the characters was also deliberately limited to make sure they acted realistically to environmental changes and situations.
Voice acting
The Halo series features voice work by television and film actors including Ron PerlmanRon Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
, Orlando Jones
Orlando Jones
Orlando Jones is an American comedian and film and television actor. He is notable for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series MADtv and for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999-2002.-Early life:...
, Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
, Robert Davi
Robert Davi
Robert John Davi is an American actor and singer. He has played such roles as Vietnam veteran and Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard, the villainous Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, and Al Torres in Showgirls...
, and Terrence Stamp. Voice acting became more important as Halo: Combat Evolveds sequels were developed; Halo 2 had 2,000 lines of combat dialogue, while Halo 3 has in excess of 14,000 lines. The actual technology for the trilogy changed very little; while some actors voiced their lines in remote locations, others traveled to Bungie to record their lines. In interviews, Halos voice actors stated that they had no idea that the games would become such a critical and commercial success. Steve Downes
Steve Downes
Steve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
, the voice of the game's protagonist, stated that generally when a voice actor has finished their lines, their involvement with the game ends. As the characters in Combat Evolved were relatively undefined, the voice actors were given leeway to develop their own style and personality.
Aside from major character roles, members of the Halo community and Halo fans have had small roles in the games. The cast from the machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue, often abbreviated as RvB, is a set of related comic science fiction video series created by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed through the Internet and on DVD...
won a lengthy charity auction for a voice role in Halo 3, and do a comedy routine which changes depending on the difficulty level the game is played on. Cast members of the defunct TV show Firefly—Alan Tudyk
Alan Tudyk
Alan Wray Tudyk is an American actor known for his roles as Simon in the British comedy Death at a Funeral, as Steve the Pirate in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, as Sonny in the science fiction drama I, Robot, as Doc Potter in 3:10 to Yuma, as Tucker in the Tucker & Dale vs Evil and as Hoban...
, Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion is a Canadian actor, currently starring as Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle. He is also known for his portrayal of the lead role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the television series Firefly and its feature film continuation, Serenity.He has acted in traditionally distributed...
, and Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
—have roles as marines in Halo 3 as well as Halo 3: ODST.
Master Chief
Master Chief Petty Officer
Master Chief Petty Officer
- Master Chief Petty Officer :U.S. Coast GuardMaster ChiefPetty OfficerCap & Collar deviceU.S. Coast GuardMaster ChiefPetty OfficerinsigniaGood conductRating badgeMaster ChiefPetty OfficerCap & Collar Insignia...
John-117, commonly referred to as simply the Master Chief, is the protagonist and main playable character in the Halo trilogy. The character is voiced by Chicago disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Steve Downes
Steve Downes
Steve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
. One of the last SPARTAN-II supersoldiers still in active service (one of the few survivors of the Fall of Reach), the Master Chief inspires awe and fear in the alien Covenant, who refer to him as a "Demon". Assisted by the artificial intelligence Cortana, he prevents the firing of Installation 04
Halo (megastructure)
Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners...
in Halo: Combat Evolved, an event which the player is told would have destroyed all sentient life in the galaxy. Bungie staff member Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten is a bestselling American writer born in San Francisco, California. The son of a theologian, Staten originally planned on becoming an actor, but dropped the idea in college...
noted that until the Master Chief was created, Bungie had not paid any attention to how to make people want to play in the world. "Master Chief is really what kicked off the creativity," he said, "in terms of how people react to him. He's a space marine in really cool green armor." The character has since become a gaming icon, the mascot of the Xbox, and was rated as one of the greatest videogame characters of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
.
Cortana
Cortana, voiced in the games by Jen TaylorJen Taylor
Jennifer Lee "Jen" Taylor is an American voice actress best known for her role as Cortana in various Halo games and the Xbox 360 game "1 vs. 100".-Voice work:...
, is the artificial intelligence (AI) who assists the Master Chief throughout Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. She is one of many "smart" AIs, and is based on the brain of Dr. Halsey; the nature of her programming means that she will eventually "think" herself to death after a lifespan of about seven years. Her actions during Halo: Combat Evolved help prevent the activation of Installation 04. She escapes Halo along with the Master Chief in a fighter, and is instrumental in helping the UNSC survivors capture the Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice during the events of Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
. During Halo 2, Cortana is put in charge of the MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon) defense platform Cairo over Earth when the Covenant attack; she then accompanies the Chief aboard In Amber Clad to Delta Halo, where she further assists in intelligence work. Cortana stays behind on the Covenant city of High Charity to detonate In Amber Clad
Gravemind
The Gravemind is a parasitic intelligence in the Halo universe. While only one Gravemind is ever seen in the games, the title is given to the final stage of Flood evolution. The Flood is a highly-infectious parasite which is released several times during Halos story...
. In Halo 3, Cortana is rescued by the Master Chief from High Charity and aids him in activating the Halo ring under construction in the Ark. After narrowly escaping from Halo's destructive blast, she and the Master Chief are stranded in space, awaiting rescue. Cortana was named the fifth best supporting character, and one of the "50 Greatest Female Characters" in a video game. Reviewers noted the character's determination and fearlessness meshed perfectly with the Master Chief, and that Cortana provides an anchor linking players to Halos story.
Avery Johnson
Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson is a Marine who leads human forces against CovenantCovenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
and Flood
The Flood (Halo)
The Flood are fictional parasitic alien life forms in Bungie's Halo video game series. They are introduced in Halo: Combat Evolved as a second enemy faction alongside the Covenant, and return in sequels Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo Wars...
assaults throughout the Halo series. The character is voiced by David Scully. Johnson and a few other Marines survive the destruction of Installation 04 and are rescued by Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
and the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
during the novel Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
. Johnson plays a much larger role in Halo 2, joining forces with the Arbiter to stop Tartarus from activating Installation 05. In Halo 2, he is awarded the Colonial Cross for his heroic actions at Installation 04, and leads UNSC forces to drive the Covenant from New Mombasa, Kenya after the Covenant take the city during the events of the game. In Halo 3: ODST, Johnson is seen asking an Engineer what the Covenant want in New Mombasa and the Engineer lit Johnson's cigar. In Halo 3, the Forerunner construct 343 Guilty Spark kills him when Johnson tries to activate the incomplete Halo at the Ark. Johnson is the sole character featured in The Halo Graphic Novel story, "Breaking Quarantine", which details Johnson's escape from the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved, and a main character in the 2007 novel Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
. Johnson was said to have an immunity to the Flood due to his previous involvement in the Orion Project, also called the SPARTAN-I Project.
In many ways similar to the stereotype of charismatic black Marines found in other science fiction (such as Sergeant Apone in Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
), some publications found Johnson, though enjoyable, somewhat of a flat character. In an interview for Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
, Joseph Staten of Bungie admitted that Johnson was a static character in Halo: Combat Evolved, and that despite the character's potential, "he sort of inherited those caricature aspects [from Halo]." Contact Harvest was a chance "to do right by Johnson, to give him the rich, fully fleshed out back-story he deserves, that we have never been able to give him in the game."
Jacob Keyes
Captain Jacob Keyes (voiced by Pete Stacker) is a captain in the UNSC who appears in Halo: ReachHalo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
, its novelization, Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood is a 2003 novel based on the 2001 Xbox video game Halo: Combat Evolved written by William C. Dietz. Closely depicting the events of the video game, The Flood begins with the escape of a human ship Pillar of Autumn from enemy aliens known as the Covenant...
, Halo: The Cole Protocol
Halo: The Cole Protocol
Halo: The Cole Protocol is the sixth novel adaptation of the Halo science fiction franchise. The book was written by Tobias S. Buckell and published on November 25, 2008...
, and Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach is a 2001 science fiction novel by Eric Nylund based on the Halo series of video games and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations...
. His first chronological appearance is in The Fall of Reach, where, as a young Lieutenant, he accompanies Dr. Catherine Halsey on her mission to screen possible SPARTAN-II Project subjects. In 2534, Lieutenant Keyes plays a pivotal role in saving a million insurrectionists' lives from Covenant forces. By 2552, midway through The Fall of Reach Keyes is commander of the Iroquois, a UNSC destroyer. Keyes is promoted to Captain after he singlehandedly defeats four Covenant ships about to attack a human colony by performing a maneuver later named the "Keyes Loop". When the Iroquois is recalled to the human bastion Reach, a Covenant tracking device aboard the ship alerts the Covenant to the planet's existence, and they proceed to attack the colony. As the planet is glassed
Glass transition
The liquid-glass transition is the reversible transition in amorphous materials from a hard and relatively brittle state into a molten or rubber-like state. An amorphous solid that exhibits a glass transition is called a glass...
by the Covenant, Keyes follows Cole Protocol, which leads his new ship, the Pillar of Autumn to Halo
Halo (megastructure)
Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners...
. There, Keyes leads a guerrilla insurgency against the Covenant, until he is captured and assimilated by the parasitic Flood. His daughter is Miranda Keyes. He also appeared in the recent Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
near the end of the last mission, where he retrieves Cortana from Noble Six, and tells him "Good luck to you, Spartan" when Six decides to remain on Reach.
Miranda Keyes
Commander Miranda Keyes is the daughter of Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey, whom she lived with in her younger years. Halsey and Miranda had a falling out in which she changed her last name (then Halsey) to her father's name (Keyes). Miranda appears in Halo 2, Halo 3 and in the final chapter of Halo: The Cole Protocol. At the beginning of Halo 2, Keyes is present at an awards ceremony on board the Cairo defense platform above EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
to accept a medal posthumously for her father. Soon after, a Covenant fleet launches an attack on Earth, and Keyes takes control of the UNSC ship In Amber Clad and assists in the defense of New Mombasa, Kenya. When the Prophet of Regret retreats from Earth, Keyes orders In Amber Clad to follow; this results in the discovery of Installation 05, another Halo. Keyes, along with Johnson and a squad of Marines, head for Halo's library in order to retrieve the Activation Index and prevent the ring's activation while the Master Chief assassinates the Prophet of Regret; in the process, she and Johnson are captured by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus. As a "Reclaimer," only she or another human can insert the Index into Halo's control panel, and Tartarus attempts to make her do this. When the Arbiter
Arbiter (Halo)
Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon alien Covenant Elites in the Halo science fiction universe. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander as a way to atone for his failures...
tries to stop the firing, Tartarus forces Keyes to insert the Index, initiating Halo's firing sequence. After the Arbiter engages and kills Tartarus, Keyes successfully removes the Index and prevents Halo from activating, but inadvertently causes all the remaining Halo installations to enter standby mode, enabling the remote firing of these installations from The Ark. In Halo 3, Miranda Keyes returns to Earth and leads the pursuit of the Prophet of Truth through the portal he creates using the artifact buried under New Mombasa, which leads to the Ark. When Sergeant Johnson is captured by the Covenant to activate the installation, she attempts to rescue him, but is killed when Truth shoots her in the back.
Miranda Keyes was voiced by Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...
in Halo 2, but Bungie recast the role for Halo 3, ostensibly because they wanted someone with an accent. Despite not being a part of Halo 3, Benz said that she loved voiceover work and that it was pure chance she had become the voice of Keyes in the first place. When IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
asked Benz what she thought of her character, she admitted she hadn't played Halo 2, even though Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
had sent her "like four copies of the game". The character is voiced by Justis Bolding
Justis Bolding
Justis Bolding is an American actress. She is known for her role as Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live .-Career:...
in Halo 3.
Catherine Halsey
Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey is a civilian scientist in the UNSC. She appears in the books Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, as well as the Halo LegendsHalo Legends
Halo Legends is a collection of seven short anime films set in the Halo science-fiction universe. Financed by Halo franchise overseer 343 Industries, the stories were created by six Japanese production houses: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation...
shorts "Homecoming" and "The Package", and Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
. In the fiction, a flash clone of her brain tissue is the basis for the construction of the "smart" AI Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
. As the creator of the SPARTAN-II Project, she is responsible for 75 of the 150 Spartan children, along with their training and the subsequent death of 30 due to the dangerous augmentation process. She is viewed by the SPARTAN-IIs as a "mother" figure, and addresses each soldier by their name rather than designation, even when the Spartans are fully suited in their armor. Halsey justifies her actions through her belief that the suffering of a few is acceptable for the benefit of many. Sergeant Johnson, however, unknowingly causes Halsey to rethink her position, and she decides to "save each and every member of humanity beginning with herself" during Halo: First Strike. She hijacks a shuttle for her own private mission to the planet Onyx; there, she assists in deciphering the surrounding Forerunner glyphs on the planet and leads the surviving Spartan-IIs and Spartan-IIIs to a Dyson Sphere
Dyson sphere
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
at the heart of Onyx. She is later revealed to be the mother of Miranda Keyes.
James Ackerson
Colonel James Ackerson is a high ranking officer in the Office of Naval IntelligenceOffice of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
, who has seen many years of service and has survived several battles with the Covenant. Such is his influence that he dominates the Security Committee and can talk down most higher-ranking officers without fear of reprisal. Due to the competition between Ackerson and other departments, most notably Section Three and the SPARTAN-II project, Ackerson harbors a strong resentment toward his opponents and toward the Spartans in particular. He does eventually convince the top members of ONI to approve his SPARTAN-III Program. In Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach is a 2001 science fiction novel by Eric Nylund based on the Halo series of video games and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations...
, he attempts to sabotage the MJOLNIR Mark V testing process by using ordnance far above the established guidelines, including Lotus anti-tank mines, a full squad of ODSTs ordered to shoot to kill, automated gun turrets, and an airstrike. However, Cortana retaliates by forging a letter requesting a reassignment to the front lines as well as planting evidence of illicit activities in his bank records. In Halo: First Strike, it is revealed that Ackerson manages to weasel his way out of Cortana's mess, In the limited comic series Halo: Uprising
Halo: Uprising
Halo: Uprising is a four-issue American comic book limited series set in the Halo universe. The series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Alex Maleev, and published by Marvel Comics...
Ackerson falls into the hands of Covenant orbiting Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
and is slated to die before Ackerson tells his interrogator about a "key" to Earth. The "key" is in fact a fabrication by Ackerson to save a relative living in Cleveland, Ohio. After the Brutes holding Ackerson prisoner are informed that no such key exists, Ackerson is beheaded.
Franklin Mendez
Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez is the SPARTAN-II's trainer on Reach during the early events of Halo: The Fall of ReachHalo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach is a 2001 science fiction novel by Eric Nylund based on the Halo series of video games and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations...
. He provides his trainees with excellent weapons and physical lessons, as well as tactical and mental training. He is not very talkative, but possesses a brilliant mind for warfare, and this is reflected in the Master Chief's abilities. He is described as neither tall nor muscular, with close-cut hair that has a dash of gray at the temples. He leaves the Spartans after the discovery of the Covenant to train the next batch of Spartans, and is recruited by Colonel Ackerson to assist Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose (Spartan-II Kurt-051) with training the SPARTAN-III supersoldiers at the secret world of Onyx after a few years of combat duty (receiving two Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
s in the process). During Ghosts of Onyx he is sealed inside the Forerunner Dyson Sphere
Dyson sphere
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
at the heart of the planet with the remaining Spartan survivors.
Terrence Hood
Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood (voiced by Ron PerlmanRon Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
) first appears in the novel, Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
. He is a member of the UNSC Security Committee and is the Chief of Naval Operations. He greatly respects the Spartans, not only because of their record, but because they have saved his life on two occasions. When Halo 2 begins, Admiral Hood presents the Master Chief, Sergeant Johnson, and Miranda Keyes with medals aboard the Cairo Station. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Ghosts of Onyx is a novel by Eric Nylund, set in the universe of the Halo video game series and released on October 31, 2006. Ghosts of Onyx was the fourth Halo novel published, and Nylund's third contribution to the series...
, Hood receives an urgent message by Dr. Halsey requesting for him to send Spartans to assist her, and obliges by ordering Fred-104, Will-043, and Linda-058 to Onyx. In Halo 3, Hood is in overall command of Earth's defense with Commander Miranda Keyes reporting directly to him. He accepts the need for humanity to ally with the Elites, but is not entirely happy about it. He leads the remaining human naval forces in an attack on the Prophet of Truth's dreadnought, but the attack fails when the Forerunner artifact under New Mombasa activates, creating a portal to the Ark. When the Master Chief, Keyes, and several Elite and human forces choose to follow the Prophet of Truth through the portal, he decides to stay behind to make a final stand on Earth. At the end of the game, he commemorates a small monument to the war and the sacrifices it involved.
Wallace Jenkins
Private Wallace A. Jenkins is one of many UNSC forces that survived the initial Covenant attack in Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo: Contact HarvestHalo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
reveals that the soldier was a member of the colony Harvest's defense militia, where his family is killed. In Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood is a 2003 novel based on the 2001 Xbox video game Halo: Combat Evolved written by William C. Dietz. Closely depicting the events of the video game, The Flood begins with the escape of a human ship Pillar of Autumn from enemy aliens known as the Covenant...
, Jenkins assists in defending the human stronghold under the command of Major Antonio Silva. He is also part of an assault team led by Sergeant Avery Johnson and Captain Jacob Keyes, sent to recover a Covenant arms cache during Halo: Combat Evolved. The team is overwhelmed by the Flood, leaving the entire squad except Sergeant Johnson infected and resulting in the eventual death of Captain Keyes. In the video game, the Master Chief recovers Jenkins' helmet, and reviews the recording of the mission that it contained, introducing the Flood to the player through the Marine's eyes. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the fate of the Marine is left unknown.
Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood is a 2003 novel based on the 2001 Xbox video game Halo: Combat Evolved written by William C. Dietz. Closely depicting the events of the video game, The Flood begins with the escape of a human ship Pillar of Autumn from enemy aliens known as the Covenant...
reveals the fate of Jenkins; the Private is transformed into a Flood Combat Form along with the rest of his squad, but he is able to exercise a certain degree of control over the infection, due to the mind of the parasite being weakened by its long hibernation. He uses this limited control in an attempt to end his own life, charging at UNSC Marines in the hope that they would shoot him. Instead, he is captured as a live specimen for study. He is brought aboard the Covenant cruiser Truth and Reconciliation as part of a mission under Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Major Silva to capture a Covenant vessel and return it to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
intact. Jenkins successfully convinces Lieutenant Melissa McKay, that such a mission would spread the Flood to Earth, and Jenkins dies with the other human troops on the vessel as it crashed into Halo.
Spartans
Conceived by Halsey, the SPARTAN-II project was secretly commissioned to create an elite corps of supersoldiers who could stem rebellion in the UNSC colonies; these soldiers became the best weapon against the alien Covenant when war broke out. While the Master Chief is the hero of the trilogy, other soldiers play a significant role in the novels, Halo LegendsHalo Legends
Halo Legends is a collection of seven short anime films set in the Halo science-fiction universe. Financed by Halo franchise overseer 343 Industries, the stories were created by six Japanese production houses: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation...
, and the prequel games Halo Wars
Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009, in PAL territories on February 27, and in North America on March 3...
and Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
. In an effort to raise morale as the war continued to sour for humanity, the existence of the SPARTAN-II Program is disclosed to the general public
General Public
General Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash...
. The Spartans become hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
es and veritable legends; in order to maintain public confidence that the war is going well, Spartans are never listed as killed, only as Missing in Action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
or Wounded in Action
Wounded in action
Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....
.
The most distinctive element of the Spartans is their special MJOLNIR armor. The Mark V armor from Halo: Combat Evolved was ranked third of Casualty Gamer's "Top 10 Bodysuits", with the author commenting "It’s one of the most recognizable symbols from any game, and is literally the image of the franchise’s legendary hero, Master Chief." The "Recon" armor of Halo 3s multiplayer was also rated tenth of Machinima.com's "Top 10 Video Game Armor", as well as Maxim's.
Inspired by the Halo video game series, Troy Hurtubise
Troy Hurtubise
Troy James Hurtubise is an inventor and conservationist from North Bay, Ontario, Canada noted for his often bizarre creations that he tests on himself in spectacular ways...
, known for his anti-bear suits, developed a real counterpart to the MJOLNIR battle armor, named the Trojan. The suit is functional and its capabilities were inspired by those present in the video games versions of the armor. The armor's features include a system that purifies air powered by solar panels located in the helmet, equipment for weapon transportation, a recording system, emergency illumination and a transponder that can be activated if the wearer is in serious jeopardy. The armor offers protection against attacks with knives, blunt objects and small explosions and is bulletproof. Hurtubise expressed that he is able to improve this design for use in the military for a price of 2,000 dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
s per piece. Non-functional replicas of the MJOLNIR armor have also been created by hobbyists; a Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
pre-Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
special profiled some of these dedicated fans.
High Prophets
Covenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
. Upon assuming office, each Hierarch picks a new regnal name
Regnal name
A regnal name, or reign name, is a formal name used by some monarchs and popes during their reigns. Since medieval times, monarchs have frequently chosen to use a name different from their own personal name when they inherit a throne....
from a list of names of former Hierarchs, similar to the practice of some Orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
Patriarchs. In Halo 2, there are shown to be only three; the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret (voiced by Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
, Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp was an English-American singer, songwriter, actor and voice actor.-Early life:Camp was born in London, England, and was evacuated during World War II to the United States as a child with his mother and sister. He became a child actor in films and onstage...
and Robin Atkin Downes
Robin Atkin Downes
Born in London, England, Robin Atkin Downes is an English actor who is one of the most prolific voice-over actors in Los Angeles. He is well known for his work in film, television and voice acting...
in Halo 2, respectively; in Halo 3, Truth is voiced by Terrence Stamp). The novel Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
reveals that these three Prophets, originally known as the Minister of Fortitude, the Vice-Minister of Tranquility, and the Philologist, plotted to usurp the throne of the Hierarchs; in the process, they hide the truth that humanity is descended from the Covenant gods, the Forerunners, believing that the revelation could shatter the Covenant. During the course of Halo 2, Regret attacks Earth, and then retreats to Delta Halo. There, he calls for reinforcements, but is killed by the Master Chief. Later, Mercy is attacked by Flood on High Charity, and left by Truth to die. In Halo 3: ODST, Truth is seen inspecting some Engineers around the Forerunner construct near New Mombasa. In Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
, Truth also meets his demise at the hands of the Arbiter
Arbiter (Halo)
Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon alien Covenant Elites in the Halo science fiction universe. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander as a way to atone for his failures...
when the Prophet attempts to activate all the Halo rings from the Ark.
Preliminary designs for the Prophets, including the Hierarchs, were done by artist Shi Kai Wang. According to The Art of Halo, the Prophets were designed to look feeble, yet sinister. Originally, the Prophets appeared to be fused to the special hovering thrones they use for transport; even in the final designs, the Prophets are made to be dependent on their technology. Special headdresses, stylized differently for each of the Hierarchs, adds personality to the aliens and a regal presence.
Arbiter
The Arbiter is a rank given to special Covenant Elite soldiers who undertake suicidal missions on behalf of the Hierarchs to gain honor upon their death. They are revered amongst the Covenant for their bravery and skills. In Halo 2, the rank of Arbiter is given to Thel 'Vadamee, the disgraced former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, which was responsible for destroying Reach. It was under his watch that Installation 04 was destroyed in Halo: Combat EvolvedHalo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
and the Ascendant Justice was captured by the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
in Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
. Rather than killing him, the Prophets allow the Commander to become the Arbiter, and to carry on his missions as the "Blade of the Prophets". Eventually, the Arbiter rebels against the Prophets, dropping the "-ee" suffix from his surname as a symbol of his resignation from the Covenant, and joins his fellow Elites in siding with humanity and stopping the Halo array from firing.
Originally to be named "Dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
", the Arbiter was a playable character intended to be a major plot twist by Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
. Reception to the character was lukewarm, with critics alternatively praising the added dimension brought by the Arbiter as well as complaining about having to play as the alien.
In Halo Wars
Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009, in PAL territories on February 27, and in North America on March 3...
, set 20 years before Halo: Combat Evolved, a second Arbiter is shown, possibly as the last to wear the armor before the more recognized character. He is described as a "mean guy," lead designer David Pottinger comparing him to Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
. The second Arbiter is the main antagonist of Halo Wars. He leads the Covenant to the fleet of Forerunner ships as well as capturing Ellen Anders in order to do so. After a fight he is killed by Sergeant Forge and a Spartan rolls his body off a cliff.
Rtas 'Vadum
Making his debut in Halo 2, Special Ops Commander Rtas 'Vadum is never named in the game itself, leading to the unofficial nickname of "Half-Jaw" by fans, due to the missing mandibles on the left side of his face. With the release of the Halo Graphic NovelHalo Graphic Novel
The Halo Graphic Novel is the first graphic novel adaptation of the science fiction video game Halo, published by Marvel Comics in partnership with Bungie Studios...
, however, the character was finally named in the story Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor as Rtas 'Vadumee. The character is voiced by Robert Davi
Robert Davi
Robert John Davi is an American actor and singer. He has played such roles as Vietnam veteran and Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard, the villainous Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, and Al Torres in Showgirls...
.
'Vadum, originally 'Vadumee before the Covenant Civil War, is a veteran Covenant Elite and the second most prominent Elite character in the series after the Arbiter. The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor explains how he loses his left mandibles; he is injured after fighting one of his friends, who was infected by the Flood. During the early events of Halo 2, 'Vadumee serves as a messenger between the Hierarchs and the Elite Council, as he is seen relaying messages between the two parties in the Prophets' chamber; when the Elites split from the Covenant, 'Vadumee joins his brethren in fighting the Brutes, dropping the "-ee" suffix from his surname to symbolize his resignation from the Covenant. In Halo 3, 'Vadum is Shipmaster of the flagship Shadow of Intent, and supports Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
's plan to follow Truth to the Ark. Along with the Arbiter, 'Vadum leaves Earth to return to the Elite's homeworld with the end of the war.
Tartarus
Tartarus (voiced by Kevin Michael RichardsonKevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson is an American actor and voice actor who currently stars as Cleveland Brown, Jr. in The Cleveland Show...
) is the Chieftain of the Brutes, easily recognized by his white hair, distinctive mohawk
Mohawk hairstyle
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair...
, and massive gravity hammer known as the "Fist of Rukt". Rough, arrogant, and disdainful of the Elites, Tartarus is completely dedicated to the Prophets' salvific "Great Journey". Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
reveals that Tartarus became Chieftain after killing the former Chieftan, his uncle Maccabeus, and seizing the Chieftain's weapon. Tartarus makes his first appearance in the novel Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
, as one of the first Brutes allowed into the chamber of the High Prophet of Truth. In Halo 2, Tartarus acts as an agent of the Prophets, branding the Arbiter
Arbiter (Halo)
Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon alien Covenant Elites in the Halo science fiction universe. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander as a way to atone for his failures...
for his failures. The Chieftain later appears when the Arbiter tries to retrieve the Activation Index of Delta Halo. On the Prophets' orders, Tartarus takes the Index and pushes the Arbiter to what was intended to be his death in a deep chasm. Tartarus heads to the control room of Halo with the Index in order to activate Halo, but is confronted by the Arbiter. Blind to the Prophets' deception about the Great Journey, Tartarus activates the ring; the Brute is ultimately killed by the coordinated efforts of the Arbiter with the help of Sergeant Major Johnson, successfully preventing the firing of Delta Halo.
Designs for Tartarus began after the basic shape and design of the common Brutes was complete. Artist Shi Kai Wang added small but distinctive changes to Tartarus' armor and mane in order to distinguish the Chieftain from the other Brutes. The visual design of the Chieftains was later modified for Halo 3, with the seasoned warriors sporting more elaborate headdresses and shoulder pads. In a review of the character, UGO Networks noted that whereas the Elites "are a precision scalpel
Scalpel
A scalpel, or lancet, is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, and various arts and crafts . Scalpels may be single-use disposable or re-usable. Re-usable scalpels can have attached, resharpenable blades or, more commonly, non-attached, replaceable...
", Tartarus was a "baseball bat" that smashes everything in its path.
343 Guilty Spark
Tim Dadabo
Tim Dadabo is a voice actor and singer who has appeared in several video game roles including the popular Halo series as the Forerunner Monitor 343 Guilty Spark. He will star in the upcoming animated sitcom Two Dreadful Children on Fox.-Roles:...
) is the Monitor of Installation 04. He is first encountered by the player at the end of Halo
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
, whom he calls a "Reclaimer", to activate Halo's defenses, neglecting to tell the Master Chief that Halo's "defenses" would cause the destruction of all sentient life in the galaxy. He attempts to stop the Master Chief and Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
from destroying the Pillar of Autumn, and thereby destroying Halo, but is ultimately thwarted when the ship explodes and destabilizes his ring, causing it to break up. Discovered in the system by the Covenant, Spark, known as an "Oracle" to the Prophets, eventually informs the Covenant Hierarchs
Covenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
of how to activate Installation 05 in Halo 2. In Halo 3, Spark allies with the humans and Elites; since his installation has been destroyed and he has no more orders, Spark decides to help the Master Chief. Leading the Chief across the Ark, Guilty Spark discovers a new, uncompleted Halo, which is being built to replace Installation 04. Guilty Spark is ecstatic, but when Sergeant Johnson prepares to fire the new Halo to stop the Flood—a process that would destroy the incomplete ring and damage the Ark—Spark goes berserk, refusing to let the Reclaimers destroy "his" ring. He is subsequently destroyed by the Master Chief with a Spartan Laser, but Sergeant Johnson is fatally wounded in the fight.
Bungie originally wanted Guilty Spark to sound similar to the robot C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
. Dadabo noted in an interview that reactions to his character have been hostile, finding Spark highly annoying. He described Spark's character as a "bastard" who strings others along in order to accomplish his ends. An annual Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
pumpkin carving contest named 343 Guilt O'Lantern is organized by Halo.Bungie.Org
Halo.Bungie.Org
Halo.Bungie.Org, often referred to as HBO, is a fansite created in 1999 by Claude Errera and two associates as a news site for the Bungie video game Halo: Combat Evolved. The site was started in 1999 as Blam.bungie.org based on the project's development name before it was called Halo...
; both the contest's title and logo use the character's design and name as inspiration. Gaming site GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
listed Guilty Spark as one of the top "evil masterminds" of video games, stating "If HAL-9000 had any distant relatives, [Guilty Spark would] be closest of kin."
05-032 Mendicant Bias
05-032 Mendicant Bias ("Beggar after Knowledge" as revealed in Halo: CryptumHalo: Cryptum
Halo: Cryptum is a science fiction novel by Greg Bear, set in the Halo universe. The book released on January 4, 2011, and is the eighth Halo novel, following 2009s Halo: Evolutions, an anthology written by various writers creating short stories.Set approximately 100,000 years before the events of...
) was the Contender-class Forerunner A.I. charged with organizing Forerunner defense against the Flood. It was later defected by Gravemind
Gravemind
The Gravemind is a parasitic intelligence in the Halo universe. While only one Gravemind is ever seen in the games, the title is given to the final stage of Flood evolution. The Flood is a highly-infectious parasite which is released several times during Halos story...
turning it rampant and against the Forerunners, but was eventually defeated after the firing of the Halo array and broken into sections, one of which was taken to the Ark, while another was left on the Forerunner ship that would eventually be incorporated into the Covenant city of High Charity. It is this section of Mendicant Bias that informs the Covenant Hierarchs of the human's descendance from the Forerunners in Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
, prompting the Heirarchs to usurp the Covenant leadership and instigate the Human-Covenant War.
Mendicant Bias is first encountered in Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
on the Ark, as it attempted to communicate with the Master Chief through Terminals, claiming it sought atonement for its defection to the Flood by helping the Spartan, and was presumably destroyed along with the Ark when the Chief activated the incomplete Halo that the Ark was constructing.
Gravemind
Gravemind is one of the primary antagonists in the Halo series. The Gravemind is a large, sentient creature of Flood origin, created by the parasite to serve as its central intelligence once a critical biomass has been achieved. It was introduced during the events of Halo 2, where the creature saves both the Master ChiefMaster Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
and Arbiter
Arbiter (Halo)
Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon alien Covenant Elites in the Halo science fiction universe. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander as a way to atone for his failures...
from their deaths, bringing the two face to face in the bowels of Delta Halo. Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the "sacred rings" are actually weapons of last resort; a fact the Master Chief confirms. In order to stop Halo from being fired, Gravemind teleports the Master Chief and Arbiter to separate locations, but also uses them as a distraction; Gravemind infects the human ship In Amber Clad, and uses it to invade the Covenant city of High Charity. Capturing Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
, Gravemind brings High Charity to the Ark in an effort to stop the High Prophet of Truth from activating the Halo network. Although the Master Chief destroys High Charity, Gravemind attempts to rebuild itself on the incomplete Halo
Halo (megastructure)
Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners...
. When Halo is activated, Gravemind is resigned to his fate, determined that the activation of the ring will only slow, not stop, the progress of the Flood.
Designed to be a massive, horrifying combination of tentacles and rotting matter, reception to the character was generally poor. Mike Leonard of the AllXbox community said that the introduction of the "Little Shop of Horrors" reject "ruined the 'cool'" of the Halo franchise. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
complained that the link between Gravemind and the Flood was never explicitly stated in either Halo 2 or Halo 3 and was hardly seen in the last game.
Merchandise
The Halo franchise has produced numerous merchandising partnerships, and the characters of Halo have likewise been featured in a variety of products. The Master Chief, being the symbol of the franchise, has appeared on everything from soda to t-shirts and mugs. At one point, marketers for Halo 3 were planning on producing Cortana-themed lingerieLingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
. There have also been several series of licensed action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s produced, with the Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 collectibles being produced by Joyride Studios in several series. For Halo 3, the responsibility of designing the action figures was given to McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys, a subsidiary of Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., is a company started by Todd McFarlane that makes highly detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, video games, and sport figures...
; a total of eight series have been announced, with ninth series devoted to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the francise by re-issueing a few of the earlier figurines along with pieces to construct a buildable plaque of the Legendary icon used in the game for the hardest skill level. Kotobukiya produced high-end figurines. Besides general figures like Covenant Elites and Spartans, figurines produced include the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
, Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
, Arbiter
Arbiter (Halo)
Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon alien Covenant Elites in the Halo science fiction universe. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander as a way to atone for his failures...
, Prophet of Regret, Tartarus, and Sergeant Johnson.