sigh... *takes big breath*
In the year 2291 scientists have developed the "Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine" which allows interstellar travel.[10] Over the next 200 years humans colonize over 800 planets, which are separated into the "Inner Colonies" and "Outer Colonies". The Inner Colonies are the oldest, thus they are closer to Earth and remain more developed than the others. In 2525 communication with Harvest, an Outer Colony, is lost and the ship sent to investigate is destroyed by the Covenant.[10] The Hierarchs declare humanity an affront to the gods and order its destruction. By 2535 almost all Outer Colonies have been wiped out.
In 2552 the Covenant arrive at Reach, the UNSC's Head Quarters, and glass the planet. Master Chief escapes on Pillar of Autumn to supposedly random coordinates selected by Cortana that she actually obtained from Forerunner heiroglyphs. The Pillar of Autumn arrives at Installation 04 and is engaged by the Covenant.[11] After being forced to the surface of the ring the Flood, a parasitic alien species, is released by the Covenant and 343 Guilty Spark, an AI monitor of the ring, leads the Master Chief to activate the ring which Guilty Spark claims will kill the Flood. Upon discovery that the Halo ring will kill sentient beings rather than the Flood directly, the Master Chief detonates the fusion reactors in the crashed Pillar of Autumn, destroying the ring, and escapes in a small fighter spacecraft.[11]
The Master Chief travels back to the Reach solar system and links up with the few survivors of Reach. He and 3 other SPARTAN-II's proceed to attack a Covenant space station and rendezvous point pending their attack on Earth. The space station is destroyed buying time for Earth to prepare a defence.[12] The Master Chief then travels to Earth and shortly after his arrival a fleet of Covenant ships arrive. The only suviving Covenant Assault Carrier flees to Installation 05 taking In Amber Clad with it. At this Halo ring the Master Chief kills the Prophet of Regret. The successful assassination of the prophet leads to the Brutes replacing the Elites as the core of the Covenant caste system which sparks a Covenant civil war. The Arbiter, with the aid of Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson, prevents the firing of the Halo by Tartarus putting the rings on standby; pending activation from "The Ark".[13]
The Master Chief stows away on a Forerunner vessel headed for Earth, where the Covenant have excavated a Forerunner artifact in the Kenyan desert. When he arrives at Earth he learns that the Elites have sided with the humans to prevent the firing of the rings. Despite a failed attempt by the Master Chief and marines to prevent it, the Prophet of Truth activates the artifact which opens a slipspace portal to The Ark. The Master Chief and the Arbiter travel through the portal onboard an Elite ship and prevent Truth from activating The Ark. They then activate a new Halo ring being built to replace Installation 04 - which Master Chief destroyed in the first game - but because it is not completed a misfire occurs, destroying the ring and badly damaging The Ark. The Arbiter escapes the explosion to Earth but the Master Chief and Cortana are left drifting in space, apparently trapped in the severed rear half of their ship.
Halo 2 takes place in the same science fiction universe as Halo. According to the story, humans have colonized numerous worlds due to the development of faster-than-light travel.[8] Twenty-seven years before the beginning of Halo 2, the outer colony world of Harvest was destroyed by a collection of alien races, called the Covenant.[7] Since then, the humans and Covenant have been locked in a bloody war, with the UNSC forces continually losing major engagements. The Cole Protocol was created in the hope of preventing the Covenant from discovering human population centers, particularly Earth itself. However, shortly before the events of Halo 2, the Master Chief heads to Earth after destroying a Covenant fleet to warn of an impending Covenant attack on humanity's home planet The story of Halo 2 is told through in-game dialogue as well as cutscenes; the back-story to the game can be found in the game manual. Taking place shortly after the events of the novel Halo: First Strike, the game opens with the judgment and torture of a former Covenant Elite Commander, who is being punished by his fellow Covenant for failing to stop the destruction of the ringworld Halo during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. This is juxtaposed with the recognition ceremony of the humans Master Chief and Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson receiving awards aboard Cairo Station, a MAC gun platform orbiting Earth, alongside Commander Miranda Keyes.[17] It is revealed that the Covenant's interest in Halo lies in the belief that the activation of Halo would bring about the "Great Journey", which would allow them to follow the ancient Forerunners to the "divine beyond".[18]
Soon after the commencement of Master Chief's ceremony, a Covenant fleet jumps out of slipspace near Earth. The Covenant proceeds to send boarding parties towards a battle cluster of MAC stations. These boarding parties are secretly carrying explosives designed to take out the MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon) guns that protect Earth from attack.[19] Master Chief finds and disarms a bomb located on Cairo Station with the help of Cortana, while the flagship of the Covenant fleet speeds past Earth's defenses and heads toward Earth itself. Master Chief and Cortana join the UNSC ship In Amber Clad, which is en route to New Mombasa to deal with the Covenant flagship.
Before reaching New Mombasa, Cortana decodes transmissions revealing that the flagship carries the High Prophet of Regret, an important Covenant figure. The UNSC successfully repels the Covenant invasion force with the help of Master Chief, and the Covenant ship begins preparations for a slipspace jump to an unknown destination. The ship makes the jump, and the city is destroyed in the shockwave. To avoid destruction, In Amber Clad follows and discovers a second Halo installation dubbed "Delta Halo". Despite the Covenant's own ideas about the rings, Master Chief and the crew of the Amber Clad know that the rings are actually weapons that if activated would wreak devastation on a galactic scale. Master Chief is sent to kill the High Prophet of Regret while Keyes attempts to secure the Index to prevent the activation of Delta Halo.[20]
Meanwhile, the disgraced Covenant commander has been given a chance to redeem himself as the "Blade of the Prophets", the Arbiter. His first mission is to silence a heretic who doubts the Prophets' teachings, in turn starting the Arbiter along a path which ultimately results in him doubting his own beliefs about Halo. Seeds of discord are further sown within the Covenant when the Prophets decide to grant the Brutes the job of protecting the Prophets instead of the traditionally favored Elites. During his missions, The Arbiter finally realizes the danger that the rings represent.[21]
The Arbiter (left) and Master Chief, the game's protagonists, in the tentacles of Gravemind.The Master Chief and the Arbiter meet upon the release of the Flood, a race of parasitic creatures, from Delta Halo. A mysterious Flood creature called the Gravemind sends the Arbiter and Master Chief in separate directions to prevent The High Prophets from activating Delta Halo.[22] Master Chief finds himself aboard the Covenant Holy City High Charity, a gargantuan space station, and pursues the remaining Prophets. During his mission, he finds himself in the middle of an erupting Covenant civil war between the Brutes and the Elites. After capturing In Amber Clad, the Flood, led by Gravemind, arrive at the city and begin to consume and infect the populace. The only remaining High Prophet, Truth, escapes on a Forerunner vessel hidden in the core of High Charity. The Master Chief stows away on board while Cortana stays behind in order to detonate the In Amber Clad's engine reactors to destroy Delta Halo and High Charity if the Brute Tartarus activates the ring.[23] The Arbiter, with the help of fellow Elites, Avery Johnson, and Keyes, manage to stop the firing. However, the unexpected shutdown causes the ring to send a signal out to the other remaining Halos, sending them all into a "standby" mode so they can be remotely activated from the Ark. Meanwhile, the Forerunner ship that Master Chief has stowed away on approaches Earth. One of Earth's remaining orbital forces contacts him and asks what he is doing aboard the Forerunner ship. He replies, "Sir, finishing this fight," ending the game with an abrupt cliffhanger and setting the tone for Halo 3.
Halo 3's campaign does not begin right where Halo 2 left off. Instead, the comic mini-series, Halo: Uprising, bridges the story gap between the ending of Halo 2 and the beginning of Halo 3 The game begins with the Master Chief entering Earth's atmosphere and falling to the ground. Sergeant Major Avery Johnson and his squad discover him and, along with the Arbiter, make their way to a UNSC outpost, which falls under attack soon after. The Master Chief receives orders from Commander Keyes and Lord Hood to clear a way into the African city of Voi, and destroy all anti-air Covenant defenses in preparation for an all-out assault on the Prophet of Truth and the Forerunner artifact he is uncovering. Using the opening caused by the ground attack, the last earth ships mount their offensive against Truth's ship, but the Prophet activates the buried artifact and creates an enormous, stable slipspace portal which he and his followers enter. As the human ships attempt to recover from the shock wave, a Flood-controlled Covenant ship arrives via slipspace and crash-lands nearby. Covenant Elite forces, now allied with humanity after a civil war, arrive on Earth, and help glass Flood-infected areas of Earth, neutralizing the threat. The Master Chief, Arbiter, Elites, and Keyes decide to follow Truth through the slipspace portal. Joining them is the Forerunner construct Guilty Spark, who decides to help.
After going through the slipspace portal, the UNSC and Elites find an immense artificial structure – the Ark – which is well outside the Milky Way galaxy. Here, Truth can activate all the Halos and purge the Milky Way of all sentient life; the Chief and company are determined to stop him. Guided by Guilty Spark, the Chief and the Arbiter make their way towards the control room of the station. During their journey, a Flood-controlled High Charity arrives by slipspace, and Flood begin infesting the Ark. Johnson is captured by Truth in an effort to activate the rings, and despite the arrival of Commander Keyes, the Ark is activated. The Flood intelligence Gravemind forges a truce with the Chief and Arbiter in an effort to stop the firing. Keyes is killed by Truth, who in turn is killed by the Arbiter, but the installation's firing is halted. Gravemind quickly turns on the Chief and Arbiter, but Johnson flies away while the Chief and Arbiter fight their way out. They discover that the Ark has constructed a new Halo structure to replace the one the Master Chief destroyed in Halo: Combat Evolved. The Chief decides to activate the new ring to destroy the local Flood and the Gravemind while sparing the galaxy at large. Before he can activate Halo, he needs an Activation Index, which Cortana had aquired in Halo: Combat Evolved. He saves Cortana from High Charity, and overloads its Main Reactor to destroy High Charity and take the Gravemind and his Flood down with it.
Arriving on Halo, Cortana warns that the Gravemind is trying to rebuild itself on the ring. The Chief, the Arbiter, and Sergeant Major Johnson make their way to the control room, where they attempt to fire the main weapon. Guilty Spark explains that the ring is not quite completed, and that a premature activation will destroy it and the Ark. When Johnson ignores his warning, Guilty Spark kills him. Master Chief then destroys Guilty Spark, activates the ring, and barely manages to escape with the Arbiter and Cortana to Forward Unto Dawn, a UNSC ship.
Back on Earth, the front half of Forward Unto Dawn crashes into the ocean, and workers cut the Arbiter out of the wreckage. A memorial service is held for the fallen heroes of the war, which includes the Master Chief as he, along with Cortana, apparently did not make it through the slipspace portal with the Arbiter. After the memorial service, the Arbiter boards his ship and departs for his home planet, where the Elites are finally free of the Prophets' hegemony. The game then ends with a close-up of the number "117" (The Master Chief's UNSC given Spartan number) etched into the side of the Covenant War memorial statue, alongside a Master Chief Petty Officer patch. If the player waits through the closing credits, a scene reveals that the Master Chief and Cortana have in fact survived in the rear section of the ship. Cortana explains that the slipspace portal became unstable from the catastrophic Halo activation, and they are drifting helplessly through space. Cortana activates a distress beacon, noting it might be years before they are rescued. As the Master Chief climbs into a cryo-tube to await rescue, Cortana tells the Master Chief that she will miss him. The Master Chief responds by saying "Wake me... when you need me" and proceeds to close the cryo-tube. If the game is completed on the highest difficulty level (legendary), the scene continues and the severed section of the Dawn is seen drifting towards what resembles the night side of a planet.
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, commonly called Master Chief, is the fictional protagonist of the Halo universe, created by Bungie Studios, and is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. Outside of video games, the Master Chief appears in the novels Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Uprising, and has cameos in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx and the Halo Graphic Novel. He is voiced by Steve Downes in the video games in which he appears.
The Arbiter is a fictional ceremonial and political rank bestowed upon special Covenant Elites in the Halo universe. In Halo 2, the rank is bestowed upon a disgraced Elite as a way to atone for his failures during Halo: Combat Evolved. Subsequently, the Arbiter allies with his former enemies, the humans, and stops the ringworld Delta Halo from being fired. The character is one of two playable characters in Halo 2 and Halo 3, and is voiced by Keith David in both games
Jacob Keyes
Captain Jacob Keyes aboard the Pillar of Autumn.In Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Fall of Reach, Captain Jacob Keyes (voiced by Pete Stacker) is a commander in the UNSC. As a young Lieutenant, Keyes accompanied Catherine Halsey on her mission to screen possible SPARTAN-II Project subjects.[16] By 2552, Keyes was commander of the Iroquois, a UNSC destroyer.[17] Keyes realizes that a strange mass approaching Sigma Octanus IV is in fact a Covenant armada;[18] with reinforcements hours away, Keyes' ship alone takes on four Covenant ships. However, Keyes' tactical brilliance makes up for the disparity in numbers; using the Covenant's own plasma torpedoes against them, Keyes executes a roll around the Covenant ship, hitting them with their own weapons;[19] the maneuver, dubbed the "Keyes Loop",[20] makes the Commander a hero.
Newly promoted to Captain,[21] Keyes leads his ship along with fellow UNSC forces against an even larger Covenant fleet that arrives at Octanus IV. Having successfully defended the colony from the Covenant, the Iroquois is recalled to Reach, unwittingly carrying a Covenant spy drone which relays their location of the human colony.[22] At Reach, Keyes is given command of the cruiser Pillar of Autumn. The ship is to undertake a mission with a complement of SPARTAN-IIs to capture a Prophet and end the war with the Covenant.[23] However, the Covenant attack first, and the Autumn follows Cole Protocol and arrives at Halo.[23] There, Keyes leads a guerilla insurgency against the Covenant, until he is captured and assimilated by the Flood in Halo's ninth mission, the eponymous Keyes. After Keyes' integration into a Brain Form, Master Chief was forced to punch into the captain's infected skull to retrieve his neural implants in order to destroy Alpha Halo. He is posthumously awarded a medal for his bravery in Halo 2.[24].
Miranda Keyes
Cmdr. Miranda Keyes as seen in Halo 3Commander Miranda Keyes is the daughter of Captain Jacob Keyes and first appears in Halo 2. She is the commanding officer of UNSC frigate In Amber Clad, which is later taken over by the Flood. She is referred to by 343 Guilty Spark as a "Reclaimer",[25] like the Master Chief was in Halo. Thus, she is able to retrieve the Index from the Delta Halo Library. Miranda is voiced by Julie Benz in Halo 2, but Bungie recast the role for Halo 3 because they wanted someone with an accent.[26] Keyes is voiced by Justis Bolding in Halo 3.
At the beginning of Halo 2, Keyes is present at an awards ceremony on board the Cairo defense platform above Earth to accept a medal (Colonial Cross) posthumously for her father, who had been consumed by the Flood during the events of Halo. Soon after, a Covenant fleet launches an attack on Earth, and Commander Keyes links up with the rest of the fleet aboard the In Amber Clad. She is able to retrieve the Master Chief and deploy him, along with many of her marines, to assist in the defense of New Mombasa. When the High Prophet of Regret retreats from Earth by initiating a slipspace jump, Keyes orders the pilots of In Amber Clad to follow Regret's ship, resulting in the ship's arrival near Delta Halo.
Keyes decides to deploy two teams to the surface of Halo: one, led by the Master Chief, would locate and assassinate Regret, while she and Sergeant Johnson would locate the Index before the Covenant. She and Johnson are able to reach the Index, but are captured by Tartarus. As a Reclaimer, only she can insert the Index into Halo's control panel, and Tartarus attempts to force her to 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 and Johnson engage and kill Tartarus, Keyes successfully removes the Index and prevents Halo from activating, but inadvertently causes all remaining Halo installations to enter standby mode, enabling the remote detonation of these installations from The Ark.[27]
In Halo 3, Miranda Keyes assists in the defense of Earth after the Covenant invasion of the planet. She leads the pursuit into a Slipspace portal the Prophet of Truth creates using the artifact buried under New Mombasa, which leads to the facility known as the Ark. When Sergeant Johnson is captured by the Covenant to activate the Ark, she attempts to prevent the activation, but is killed when the Prophet of Truth shoots her in the back with a Brute Spiker.
Catherine Halsey
Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey is a civilian scientist in the UNSC, in which she holds a prominent position. A flash clone of her brain tissue was the basis for the construction of the "smart" AI Cortana.[28] As the creator of the SPARTAN-II Project, she was responsible for the kidnapping of the seventy-five Spartan children, along with their training and the subsequent death of thirty of them due to the dangerous augmentation process.[29] She is viewed by the SPARTAN-IIs as a "mother" figure. Because of the overnight success of the project, she quickly rose through the ranks of the UNSC, despite quarrels with one or two members of the Admiralty.
Halsey enjoys the time she spends with her Spartans, each of whom she addresses by first name rather than designation.[30] Little is known of her personal life, but it is implied that she is a lonely workaholic, and highly criticized for her involvement with the SPARTAN-II project. 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".[31]
During First Strike Dr. Halsey hijacks a shuttle for her own private mission to the planet Onyx.[32] There, she assists in deciphering the surrounding Forerunner ruins on the planet and leads the surviving humans within a Dyson Sphere contained within the spatially compressed core of the planet, in actuality a "shield-world" construct left unused by the Forerunners.
James Ackerson
Colonel James Ackerson is a high ranking officer in the Office of Naval Intelligence, 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.[33] 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. In Halo: The Fall of Reach, he attempted 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 with a Skyhawk jump jet fighter. However, Cortana soon got back at Ackerson by forging a letter requesting a reassignment to the front lines, following planting evidence of illicit activities in his bank records. In Halo: First Strike, it is revealed that Ackerson managed to weasel his way out of Cortana's mess,[34] and is in charge of the SPARTAN-III program. In Halo: Uprising Ackerson falls into the hands of Covenant orbiting Mars, is tortured and is slated to die, revealing the presence of a "key" on Earth to his interrogators.[35]
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 Reach. 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 shows through 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.[36] Also, he looks very ordinary for a man who has seen such extensive combat. His walk is described as being slow and graceful, as though he were not bound by gravity as much as others. He leaves after the discovery of the Covenant to train the next batch of Spartans.[37]
Chief Mendez was recruited by Colonel Ackerson to assist Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose with training the SPARTAN-III supersoldiers at the secret world of Onyx after a few years of combat duty (receiving two Purple Hearts in the process).[38] He trained three companies of Spartan-IIIs. During Ghosts of Onyx he participated in the events that occurred on the planet between October 31 and November 4, 2552 and was sealed inside the Forerunner Dyson Sphere at the heart of the planet, with the remaining human survivors.[39]
Terrence Hood
Admiral Hood aboard the ODP CairoFleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood (voiced by Ron Perlman) 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. Captain Keyes' medal is posthumous and thus presented to his daughter, Miranda. Lord Hood was in overall command of the battle when Prophet of Regret's fleet attacked Earth (this is made clear when he orders Fleet Admiral Harper to defend the Cairo, Athens, and Malta MAC stations instead of attacking the Covenant ships directly). Later, at the end of Halo 2, he is seen commanding the defense of Earth aboard the Cairo as he finds out that Master Chief is aboard the High Prophet of Truth's Forerunner flagship. 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 dreadnaught, 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, saying "This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Either way, I doubt I will live long enough to know which." In the end of the game, he commemorates a small monument to the war and the sacrifices it involved, especially lamenting the loss of Commander Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Avery Johnson, and Master Chief John-117. When the Arbiter comes to pay his respects, he tells him that he can never forgive what has happened, but thanks him for staying with the Master Chief until his apparent death.
Danforth Whitcomb
Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb is deputy chief of naval operations in the UNSC. When Reach falls under Covenant attack before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, he is rescued by Gamma Team, a division of the Spartans sent to defend Reach from the Covenant invasion.[41] He is later picked up by the Master Chief and escaped in Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice. Whitcomb sacrifices himself to destroy the bulk of the Covenant invasion fleet near the Unyielding Hierophant. Broadcasting a challenge to fight along with a picture of a Forerunner artifact the Covenant had been searching for, Whitcomb uses the captured Covenant cruiser Ascendant Justice to cluster the Covenant around the Hierophant, whose reactors are about to detonate.[42] The station explodes, destroying almost all of the Covenant fleet.
Carol "Foehammer" Rawley
Rawley's dropship, picking up UNSC survivors on Alpha Halo.Flight Officer Captain Carol Rawley, referred to in-game by the callsign Foehammer, is the pilot of dropship Echo 419 on the UNSC cruiser Pillar of Autumn.[44] She assists the protagonist in Halo: Combat Evolved numerous times, providing troop extractions and dropping in reinforcements. Foehammer is voiced by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates. She is technically an unseen character, as players can only see her ship, not the pilot inside.
Not long after the Pillar of Autumn arrives at Alpha Halo, Covenant forces descend upon the ship. Foehammer, as well as a group of fellow pilots, escape the Autumn by taking some of the Pelican dropships to the surface of the ring. There, she helps the Master Chief and Cortana pick up scattered Marines and rescue Captain Jacob Keyes, allowing the humans to wage a guerilla war against the Covenant. She inserts the Master Chief and Marines into several tough spots, including an assault to find Halo's control room. Near the end of the game, she is killed while attempting to extract the Master Chief and Cortana from the soon-to-explode remains of the Pillar of Autumn, her ship shot down by two Covenant Banshees.[46]
Antonio Silva
Major Antonio Silva is commander of the Marine Helljumper battalion on the Pillar of Autumn when it crashes on Halo in Halo: Combat Evolved. An Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, Silva harbors little love for the SPARTAN-II program, bearing a grudge from when several of his fellow Helljumpers were killed as a test of a Spartan's willingness to obey orders.[47] Though a brilliant tactical commander, Silva is ambitious to a fault, and is also very protective of his own troops. His subordinates feel his ambition clouds his judgement.[48] At the end of Halo: The Flood, he led the assault and capture of the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation, and, blinded by his own ambitions, refused to exterminate the remaining Flood specimens on board, believing that humanity needed to see live specimens of the parasite.[49] He is killed when his subordinate, Lieutenant McKay, destroys the cruiser rather than let the Flood escape.
Melissa McKay
Lieutenant Melissa McKay is Major Silva's executive officer during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood. A brave and stalwart officer who fought in several battles on the Halo construct, McKay was driven close to the breaking point as the battle wore on and the Flood parasite began to emerge. At the end of the novel, McKay attempted to convince Silva that they could not leave Halo with live Flood specimens on board their captured ship, but Silva refused to listen to her.[50] Taking matters into her own hands, McKay destroyed a critical control line to the cruiser's bridge, causing the ship to crash and killing everyone on board to contain the spread of the Flood.[50]
Wallace Jenkins
Footage from Jenkins's helmet camera, showing his squad being overrun by Flood Infection forms.Private Wallace A. Jenkins is one of many UNSC forces that survives the initial Covenant attack in Halo: Combat Evolved. 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 soldier's eyes. In Halo, the soldier's fate is left unknown.
Halo: The Flood reveals the fate of Jenkins; the Private is transformed into a Combat Form of the Flood 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.[51] 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.[52] 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 ODST Major Silva to capture a Covenant vessel and return it to Earth intact. Jenkins successfully convinces Silva's second-in-command, Lieutenant McKay, that such a mission would spread the Flood to Earth, and she destroys the conduit connecting the ship's controls to the engines, destroying the vessel as it crashed into Halo.[53] The 12th track of the Halo soundtrack is titled "Lament For Pvt. Jenkins".
Corporal Locklear
Corporal Locklear is an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper who was involved in the battle on Installation 04 in Halo: Combat Evolved. Not much is known of his efforts or achievements in the fight. In Halo: First Strike, it is revealed that he escaped Halo on a Pelican with Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, Lieutenant Elias Haverson, and Warrant Officer Shiela Polaski, who he seems to have been attracted to.[54] He meets his death in the novel Halo: First Strike, after being dosed with extremely lethal levels of radiation after attempting to blow up the Covenenant Artifact recovered from Reach. It is not known whether or not this was suicide, as their is no indication the Corporal knew what would happen, as he ducked behind cover to avoid dying in the conventional explosion.[55] It is known that he had been drinking (medicinal grade ethyl-alcohol)[56] and was grieving the death of Flight Officer Polaski. In doing so, he protects the rest of the crew on the Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice from the Covenant, who would have tracked the crystal's radioactive emissions in Slipspace, possibly all the way to earth.
SPARTAN-IIs
The SPARTAN-II Project is a top-secret project to create human super-soldiers who were originally planned to crush revolts in the human colonies. After the Covenant attack, the Spartans experience a priority shift. In an effort to boost support for a war humanity is losing, the UNSC High Command reveals the existence of the Spartans to the general public. While the Master Chief is the only soldier of the SPARTAN-II Project seen in the game, many others are featured or mentioned in the Halo novels. In the books, all Spartans are recorded as MIA even if they are dead; this is because the UNSC High Command does not want civilians to think that Spartans can be killed, in an effort to boost morale.[57]
Most Spartans are now listed as Missing in Action; only a handful remain on active duty. Linda-058, Kelly-087, Frederic-104 and John-117, the first three being trapped inside a slipspace Dyson Sphere inside the 'planet' Onyx after the events of Ghosts of Onyx. [39]; Kurt-051 is killed after staying behind to stop the Covenant from following his comrades into the Sphere. [58]
Li-008 is killed covering those repairing the Ascendant Justice in slipspace during Halo: First Strike, as is Anton-044.[59] Later on, Grace-093 is killed by Brutes on board the Unyielding Hierophant in an effort to destroy the station.[60] William-043 is killed in Onyx by a Hunter. Other Spartans mentioned (and now MIA) include Joshua-029, Vinh-030, Sam-034, Isaac-039, Malcolm-059, and three unidentified SPARTAN II's designated "Gray Team",[61] [62] who at the time of Halo: The Fall of Reach were in fields of battle too distant to be recalled, [63] and hasn't contacted command for a year [62]. John-117, the Master Chief, is considered MIA following the events of Halo 3 (the cutscene shown at the end of the games credits shows him put in cryo-sleep while he awaits rescue as the vessel he and Cortana occupied drifts in deepspace).
Kurt-051
Kurt-051 is one of the primary characters of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. Kurt graduated with the original class of SPARTAN-IIs. Kurt was much more social than the other Spartans, going to lengths to be friends with not only his fellow Spartans but also the support personnel who trained and aided them.[64] Although some (particularly John-117, the leader of the Spartans) found this quality to be detrimental to his duties, he proved to be an able leader and often led the Green Team in training exercises.[64] After the death of Sam-034 in 2531, Kurt was assigned to replace him as a member of Blue Team under the command of John-117. Later that year, on a mission in the Groombridge 34 system, his thruster pack apparently malfunctioned while EVA. He was recovered by the UNSC Prowler Point of No Return, unbeknownst to his teammates. In actuality, the "accident" had been elaborately staged by Colonel James Ackerson of the Office of Naval Intelligence in order to recruit Kurt to head up the SPARTAN-III program without anyone else knowing. He is given a new name and an officer's commission, effectively starting a new life as Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose.[66]
Kurt is assigned to head up the selection and training of the next generation of Spartans, training three companies of approximately three hundred SPARTAN-IIIs each at Onyx, and for his efforts and the success of the program, he was eventually promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Driven by the guilt of watching two generations of his SPARTAN-IIIs die in combat, he worked to protect them at any cost, taking extreme measures to ensure their survival. When the Forerunner Sentinels began attacking in Zone 67, Kurt withdrew to the camp armory and his house, where he retrieved his suit of SPI armor, consciously choosing it instead of his vastly superior MJOLNIR armor in a show of solidarity with his troops. After the arrival of Dr. Halsey and the SPARTAN-II Blue Team, Kurt along with the remaining 7 SPARTAN-IIIs accompanied them to the center of Zone 67 - a recently unearthed Forerunner city - to protect the Forerunner technology from falling to the Covenant forces who had just entered orbit. Eventually, he realized that Dr. Halsey's actual plan was to take the remaining Spartans into the safety of the core of Onyx, an advanced Forerunner shelter which existed in slipspace. He led the Spartans in defending the core against the Covenant forces, but ordered the rest of the Spartans into the shelter along with Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez when it was clear that they could no longer hold their position. Kurt was killed at the end of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by detonating two FENRIS nuclear warheads to prevent the Covenant from pursuing his comrades.
Maria-062
A SPARTAN-II who chose to retire from the SPARTAN-II program to start a family.[67] After doing so she had tested out a new model of MJOLNIR Mark VI armor before it was sent to be used by the Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan John-117 in Halo 2.This event is depicted in the Halo Graphic Novel, entitled Armor Testing, by W. Andrew Robinson (pencils), Ed Lee (colors), and Jay Faerber (Story).
AIs
A common presence on UNSC worlds and fleets, advanced artificial intelligences serve as highly capable computerized assistants in everything from naval warfare and military planning to accounting. UNSC AIs come in two types, "dumb" and "smart." "Dumb" AIs are specialized in one specific field and cannot improve their knowledge in regards to any other field or grow in terms of processing power. "Smart" AIs are unlimited in their ability to expand and learn, though their rapid rate of self-advancement results in a cognitive "death" after roughly seven operational years, due to critical system functions being used up by the AI to think and process, analogous to a human using so much of their brain to think that they no longer breathe.[68]
Cortana
Main article: Cortana
Cortana, voiced in the games by Jen Taylor, is the AI who assists the Master Chief throughout Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. She is one of many smart AIs, and is based on Dr. Halsey. Her actions during Halo: Combat Evolved help prevent the activation of the ringworld. 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 defense platform Cairo over Earth when the Covenant attack;[69] she then follows the Chief on In Amber Clad to Delta Halo, where she further assists in intelligence work. Cortana stays behind on High Charity to detonate In Amber Clad's engines in case Halo is activated; she is last seen in the clutches of Gravemind. In Halo 3, Cortana is rescued by the Master Chief from High Charity near the game's end, and aids him in activating the Halo ring under construction on the Ark in order to destroy the Flood and kill the Gravemind. After narrowly escaping from Halo's destructive blast, the end half of the ship where she and Master Chief were was sheared off and barely made it through slipspace leaving them stranded somewhere in space. Cortana informs the Chief that it could be years before someone finds them as he puts himself into a cryogenic suspension.
Dejâ
Dejà was the AI in "Halo: The Fall of Reach" that assisted Dr. Halsey in the SPARTAN-II project, and acted as the primary educator to the SPARTAN-IIs when they were children. Her appearance took on the form of a Greek Goddess, wearing a long white toga, laurel leaves, and had an aura of light surrounding her.
Kalmiya
Kalmiya was Dr. Catherine Halsey's "test" experiment, to see whether an AI could handle the code-breaking abilities that were required for the Spartan II's mission. Kalmiya is a "smart" AI - copied directly from the neural patterns of a human brain. She also contributes a portion of her core programming to the making of Cortana. She is erased according to UNSC protocol when the ONI Castle Base on Reach self-destructs to prevent the Covenant from discovering any human secrets, such as the location of Earth.
Wellsley
Wellsley is a Class-C Military A.I. who assisted Helljumpers Major Silva and Lt. McKay on Halo to set up and operate Alpha Base, the center of the human resistance on the ringworld. He is only mentioned in Halo: The Flood and is effectively erased when Lt. McKay destroys the Truth and Reconciliation in an attempt to stop her superior's plans to capture and examine the Flood. He is also a "dumb" A.I. - meaning he was only created for one type of position, in this case being a military assistant. His name and personality come from the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley (original, correct spelling), who won the Battle of Waterloo.[71] The A.I. Wellsley often refers to victories that the Duke made as though he was the Duke and not an artificial recreation.[72]
Araqiel
Araqiel is the personal AI of Colonel James Ackerson, a rival of Dr. Catherine Halsey and strong critic of the Spartan-II program. Since the overnight success of the program threatened Ackerson, he deployed Araqiel to attack the files of Dr. Halsey, stealing data (such as every Spartan's DNA) for the SPARTAN-III program's study. Araqiel is only mentioned in the book, Halo: First Strike, and is erased by Dr. Halsey and Kalmiya during the Covenant assault on the planet Reach after threatening to report Halsey to the ONI for treason. His appearance is that of an elongated skull with long, demon-like horns, fire-filled eyes and jagged teeth. His voice is a low bestial growl or rumble containing a trace of far-off thunder, probably evoking the demon for which he is named.
Deep Winter
Deep Winter became the functioning A.I. for the training camp of the new Spartan III soldiers. He replaced Eternal Spring. Deep Winter became aware of illegal drugs being used on the new soldiers and tried to warn Spartan Kurt-051, not knowing that Kurt-051 was the one responsible for them being used in the first place. Fortunately for Kurt, the A.I. was at the end of its lifespan, and was replaced by the A.I. Endless Summer. Deep Winter appeared as an old man with snow blowing around him.
The Covenant
the High Prophets
Main article: Hierarchs (Halo)
The High Prophets or Hierarchs are the supreme leaders of the theocratic Covenant. In Halo 2, there are shown to be only three; the Prophets of Mercy, Truth, and Regret (voiced by Hamilton Camp, Michael Wincott and Robin Atkin Downes, respectively). During the course of Halo 2, Regret attacks Earth, then retreats to Delta Halo. There, he calls for reinforcements, but is killed by the Master Chief. Later, Mercy is attacked by Flood, and abandoned by Truth. Based on Gravemind's comments during the level "High Charity", both Mercy and Regret have been assimilated into the Flood intelligence.] In Halo 3, Truth meets his demise at the blade of the Arbiter when he attempts to activate The Ark.
Arbiter
Main article: Arbiter (Halo)
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 the disgraced former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. Under his watch the Ascendant Justice was captured by the Master Chief and Installation 04 was destroyed. Rather than killing him, the Prophets allow the Commander to become the Arbiter, and to carry on his missions.
The Arbiter succeeds in silencing the heretic leader Sesa ‘Refumee before traveling to Delta Halo. Here, he succeeds in capturing the Index, vital for the Covenant's "Great Journey" to occur. However he is betrayed by the Brutes and the Prophets, sparking the Covenant Civil War, and subsequently learns from Gravemind that the Halos are weapons of destruction, not salvation. The Arbiter then leads fellow Elites and other Separatist forces against the Brutes, joining forces with Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson in stopping Tartarus from activating Delta Halo. After suceeding he travels to Earth and aids the Master Chief through his campaign in Halo 3, and kills The High Prophet of Truth in the process. Afterwards he and Rtas 'Vadum lead the remaining elites "home".
Tartarus
Chieftain TartarusTartarus (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is the Chieftain of the Brutes, easily recognized by his albinism, distinctive mohawk, and massive gravity hammer. He is named for the deepest part of the Ancient Greek underworld, where the Titans are imprisoned. Rough, arrogant and disdainful of the Covenant Elite, Tartarus is completely dedicated to the Prophets' "Great Journey".
Tartarus makes his first chronological appearance in the novel Halo: First Strike, in the chamber of the High Prophet of Truth. Tartarus reports that the Covenant Fleet preparing to attack Earth has been destroyed. He had scoured the wreckage of the Covenant attack coordination station Unyielding Hierophant after its destruction at the hands of the Master Chief, and recovered an artifact that had all but been lost to the destruction: only three small chips remain, which he presents to Truth. He is instructed to reward the surviving pilots well, and then to "execute them all. Quickly. Quietly."[76]
In Halo 2, Tartarus brands the Elite who would later become the Arbiter with the "Mark of Shame", and takes him to the Mausoleum of the Arbiters to carry out his execution. When the Prophets give the same Elite the role of the Arbiter, Tartarus is displeased, but does not openly voice his objections to the Prophets. He later appears when the Arbiter tries to retrieve the 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 the deep central chasm of the Library.Tartarus then returns to High Charity with the Index, and captives Commander Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Avery Johnson, in his possession.
While trying to get Miranda Keyes (the Reclaimer) to activate Halo, Tartarus is confronted by the Arbiter. Blind to the Prophets' deception, he activates Delta Halo and guards the Index from all comers. Tartarus is ultimately killed by the coordinated efforts of the Arbiter and Sergeant Johnson, successfully preventing the firing of Delta Halo.
In Halo 3, other Brute Chieftains are seen, and often wield gravity hammers similar to the one in Tartarus' possession.
Rtas 'Vadumee
Rtas 'Vadumee (right) consulting with the Arbiter.Making his debut in Halo 2, the Special Ops Commander is never named in the game itself, leading to the unofficial nickname of "Half-Jaw" by fans.[78] With the release of the Halo Graphic Novel however, the character was finally named in the story Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor as Rtas 'Vadumee. 'Vadumee is voiced by Robert Davi.
'Vadumee is a veteran Covenant Elite who is missing half of both his left mandibles. The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor explains how he incurs this injury; he is injured after fighting one of his friends, who has been 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.
In gameplay, 'Vadumee serves as the Covenant analog to Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson; he frequently fights beside the Arbiter throughout Halo 2, and in such appearances is consistently invincible. Like Sergeant Major Johnson, he rarely stays long enough to significantly assist the Arbiter, often leaving him with lesser Elites to go fight other unseen battles on his own throughout the game. At one point, Tartarus references this pattern of behavior and calls 'Vadumee a coward.[81] However, both in-game cutscenes and the graphic novel show that he does not do this out of cowardice, but rather out of concern for the lives of his Elites. The missions he leaves on are almost always more dangerous than those he leaves in the care of his Elites. 'Vadumee's final appearance in Halo 2 is in the game's final level, where he assists the Arbiter in reaching a Scarab by guarding him with a captured Wraith tank. Once reaching a point where his tank can no longer follow the Arbiter, 'Vadumee leaves to capture a Covenant cruiser which had been taken over by the Brutes.[82]
Having dropped the Covenant "-ee" from his name, Rtas 'Vadum reappears in Halo 3 as the commander of the Elite forces; the other characters in the game refer to him as Ship Master in reference to his role commanding the Elites' flagship assault carrier, Shadow of Intent.
Sesa 'Refumee
Sesa 'Refumee shortly before fighting the Arbiter.Sesa 'Refumee (voiced by Miguel Ferrer) is the first "boss" character in Halo 2, presented as a Heretic to the Covenant faith and an enemy to the Arbiter as a result.
'Refumee commanded an Artifact Retrieval Group attached to the Covenant fleet at the first Halo. Busy investigating a retrofitted Forerunner mining facility in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant, Threshold, 'Refumee was fortunate not to be on the ring when the Master Chief detonated the fusion engines on the Pillar of Autumn, thus avoiding the subsequent destruction of the ring.
A few days after Halo's destruction, 'Refumee first encounters Halo's Monitor, 343 Guilty Spark. Guilty Spark explains the true purpose of Halo to 'Refumee, as well the fate of the Forerunners, inspiring 'Refumee and those under his command to rebel against the Prophets.[83] To quell the insurrection, the High Prophets send the Arbiter to silence 'Refumee and all those who follow him.[84]
During the level in which he appears, 'Refumee continuously attempts to flee the Arbiter, first taking flight in a Banshee and then hiding behind a shielded door when the Arbiter catches up. To scare him out, the Arbiter cuts the cable holding their portion of the station in place, causing the facility to go into a free fall into Threshold's atmosphere. 'Refumee again attempts escape, this time by means of a ship docked in a nearby hanger, but is routed by the Arbiter. Finally cornered, he does battle with the Arbiter, using several lethal holographic drones and a jetpack to tip the odds in his favor. He is killed regardless.
'Refumee serves to inspire doubt in the Arbiter, which culminates in the Arbiter learning the truth for himself near the end of the game. As he does battle with the Arbiter, 'Refumee gives the Arbiter hints that Halo's purpose is destruction, not salvation.
Zuka 'Zamamee
Appearing in the book Halo: The Flood, Zuka 'Zamamee is an Elite who is wounded aboard the Pillar of Autumn and is saved by Yayap the Grunt. After recovering, 'Zamamee is granted permission by the Prophets to hunt down and kill the Master Chief. With Yayap, 'Zamamee attempts to assassinate the Master Chief several times throughout the course of The Flood. After a failed raid on the human encampment on Halo, 'Zamamee is forced to leave the scene by Yayap, impersonating another Elite at the Autumn's crash site.
'Zamamee is seen only once in Halo: Combat Evolved. After the Master Chief sets off the Autumn's engines, he prepares to take an elevator to a maintenance corridor. On this elevator is a Shade turret, a few Grunts who helped wrestle it aboard and one Spec Ops Elite, who is 'Zamamee. In the novel, 'Zamamee meets his demise when Cortana drops the lift he is on, which is followed by a rain of grenades by the Chief. This kills the Grunts and sends the Elite out of the turret and into the air, giving him one last look at the Chief before falling to his death.
Voro 'Mantakree
Voro 'Mantakree is a Major Domo Covenant Elite who is forced to kill his Ship Master when the superior officer goes mad from the "glory" of the ring world known as Delta HaloWhen Voro assumes control of the Covenant destroyer, he engages several Brute vessels and narrowly escapes.[88] Voro is then summoned to a meeting, along with his fellow Ship Masters. Once there, Xytan 'Jar Watinree, a high-ranking Elite, promotes him for his wisdom. The newly promoted Voro assembles a Covenant armada, and invades the planet Onyx. On the surface 'Mantakree encounters Kurt-051, injured from previous fighting and on the verge of death. 'Mantakree treats him honorably and respectfully, allowing him to stand and die a warrior's death. Kurt activates a pair of nuclear warheads, annihilating himself along with all the Covenant present, including 'Mantakree, in order to stop them from reaching Onyx's Dyson Sphere.
Yayap
A cowardly but smart Grunt file leader, Yayap always tries to steer his squad away from danger by avoiding combat. After saving Zuka 'Zamamee aboard the Pillar of Autumn, the Elite conscripted Yayap to accompany him on a mission to assassinate the Master Chief.[89] Yayap infiltrated the UNSC base camp on Halo, posing as a wounded Grunt in order to be captured. During the ensuing Covenant assault on the camp, Yayap confronted 'Zamamee with a plasma pistol and forced him to commandeer a captured Banshee to escape. Later, he deserted his post at the Pillar of Autumn's crash site, taking a Ghost, a day's worth of food, and a spare methane tank. On the run, he finally discovered the sense of peace he'd sought.[50] He died on Halo after the Master Chief detonated the Autumn's engines, destroying the ship and much of Halo.
N'tho 'Sraom
N’tho ‘Sraom, the third player to join the lobby on an Xbox Live or LAN game plays as him.When playing Cooperatively in Halo 3 the third player to join a lobby in System link or Xbox Live, will play as an Elite named N'tho 'Sraom. In the game, 'Sraom is the youngest member of a Special Operations unit and is sympathetic of the human cause. He is described as a fairly typical young male adult Sangheili — he began compulsory military service at the end of adolescence, and remains unmarried with no close, non-familial relationships outside of his martial order. 'Sraom refuses to stand by while the Prophets replace the Elites with Brutes.[90]
Usze 'Taham
Usze 'Taham is one of two new cooperative characters featuring in Halo 3; The fourth player to join a cooperative game lobby over system link or Xbox Live plays as this character. According to the official Bungie bio, Usze 'Taham graduated with honors from the top War College. Shortly after receiving his first post within the Covenant Navy, he is offered a place on the Prophets' Honor Guard. He declines this post twice, citing a "lack of practical experience", but his real motivation is that he has no desire to be part of a largely ceremonial unit. This is a potentially dangerous move, as his refusal can be seen as apostasy.
[edit] Forerunner
343 Guilty Spark
Main article: 343 Guilty Spark
343 Guilty Spark 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,[91] neglecting to tell the protagonist 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. However, his goal of preventing the Flood's escape is fulfilled, albeit inelegantly. He escapes the ring's destruction, and eventually informs the Covenant Hierarchs of how to access Installation 05 in Halo 2.
In Halo 3, he assists the combined UNSC/Elite assault on the Ark by accessing Forerunner technology and leading the humans and Elites through the facilities. When a new, uncompleted Halo is revealed to be stored at the heart of the installation, Guilty Spark is ecstatic, but when the Master Chief prepares to fire the new Halo — 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, but Sergeant Johnson is mortally wounded in the fight. 343 is 7³, continuing Bungie's obsession with the number 7.
2401 Penitent Tangent
2401 Penitent Tangent, voiced by John Michael Higgins, first appears in Halo 2 as the Monitor of Installation 05, though he is in the custody of Gravemind. Aside from a red eye, his appearance is identical to 343 Guilty Spark. While Penitent Tangent's screentime is quite limited in comparison with Guilty Spark, his brief scenes reveal that his personality and overall behavior are nearly identical. He speaks with a similar voice and in the same style as Guilty Spark, as well. Penitent Tangent, like Guilty Spark, quickly identifies the Master Chief as a "Reclaimer" which can activate the facility and contain the outbreak of the Flood.
Further similarities between the two Monitors are shown during a brief argument with the High Prophet of Regret. 2401 Penitent Tangent displays the same amount of regulation and protocol when it comes to dealing with the threat of the Flood as Guilty Spark does, chastising the Prophet's disregard of protocol and misinterpreting his attachment to prayer. This is much to the dismay of Regret, who insists that "[...] of all the objects our lords [the Forerunners] left behind, there are none so worthless as these Oracles [Monitors]! They know nothing of The Great Journey!"[93]
2401 Penitent Tangent is also seen in the Halo 2 multiplayer map "Backwash" (obtained in the multiplayer map pack Maptacular Pack) which can be obtained via Xbox Live, or the Halo Multiplayer Map Pack. Here he simply flies around the sky, occasionally humming cheerily and giggling to himself as 343 Guilty Spark often does. His number is 7 to the 4th power, consistent with Bungie's obsession with the number 7.
Mendicant Bias
An unseen character, Mendicant Bias is a Forerunner AI mentioned and encountered repeatedly in the terminals that can be accessed in Halo 3. Bias was created by the Forerunners to coordinate their war against the Flood. However, when Mendicant Bias made contact with the Gravemind controlling the Flood, the Flood intelligence convinced the AI that it was simply furthering evolution and that the Forerunners were standing in the way of the inevitable progress of the universe. As a result, Mendicant Bias opted to join the Flood and lead their forces through the Forerunner defenses, forcing Didact to fire the Halo array. Afterward, a part of his personality matrix is captured by Offensive Bias and taken to the Ark for study, and he appears to have either escaped or been released. If the player reads a particular terminal entry for too long, they are detected by Bias and redirected to a series of transcripts of conversations between Didact and the Librarian. On Legendary difficulty, the player can read text logs from Bias, and when using the final terminal of the last level Bias communicates directly with the Master Chief, explaining that he desires atonement for his act of aiding the Flood, and will attempt to help the Reclaimer in an unseen way.
Offensive Bias
Another Forerunner artificial intelligence, created by Didact to combat Mendicant Bias after the other AI joined the Flood. Offensive Bias intercepted Mendicant Bias' fleet of AI and Flood-controlled ships when they attempted to breach the Forerunners' defenses. Offensive Bias forced Mendicant Bias to waste ships and troops attacking his biological-piloted vessels, and then used the strategically-timed activation of the Halo array to disable all of the Forerunner and Flood-controlled ships at once, leaving Mendicant Bias with a vastly weakened fleet that was easily destroyed by the Forerunner vessels. After winning the battle, Offensive Bias showed mercy on Mendicant Bias by capturing part of his personality matrix.
Didact
An unseen character who appears in a number of terminal entries in Halo 3. The entries indicate that Didact served as a high-ranking, if not overall commander, of the Forerunner military, and was the Librarian's lover. Didact repeatedly asks that the Librarian return to the safety of the Ark, but the Librarian refuses. When Mendicant Bias betrayed the Forerunners, Didact had no choice but to activate the Halo array; afterwards, Didact sets out on what is referred to as a "Great Journey."
The Librarian
A fourth unseen character, the Librarian was an idealistic Forerunner who was attempting to save as many sentient species as possible from the Flood. The Librarian's lover, Didact, repeatedly demanded that the Librarian return to the safety of the Ark, but was repeatedly refused, as the need to save all life in the galaxy was paramount. The Librarian eventually found Earth, which contained "special" species (plural) on earth. It was here that the Librarian built the Forerunner artifact that was unearthed beneath New Mombasa, which opened a gateway to the Ark; the Librarian also claims to have built the Garden of Eden.
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