< Halo (series)

Halo (series)/Characters


Halo: Combat Evolved through Halo 3 characters

Master Chief John-117

"This one is machine and nerve, and has its mind concluded..."

The Player Character and a central figure in the story's mythology. A Silent Protagonist outside of cutscenes, the Chief is the leader of the SPARTAN-IIs, a group of One-Man Army Space Marines serving in the UNSC. The SPARTANs were created to help the fight against human rebels, but once the Covenant showed up they took to that fight without complaint. As of Halo: Combat Evolved, John is officially the only survivor of the corps.

  • Authority Equals Asskicking- The highest-ranking Spartan-II (except for Lieutenant-Commander Kurt-051, eventual Lieutenant Junior Grade Fred-104, and Chief Warrant Officer Grade 5 Jorge-052) and arguably the best.
    • After the war, he was ("posthumously") given the rank of "Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy", the highest enlisted rank in the UNSC navy.
  • Badass: How badass?

343 Industries: A Spartan tossing his chest plate should feel like an anvil dropping… A Spartan sprinting across concrete should be a stealthy whisper... Putting on your helmet should feel like powering up an F-15E.

  • Born Lucky- Many people have stated that John is extremely lucky. Cortana even states in Halo 3 that, of all the other Spartan soldiers, she personally chose John because of his luck.
    • Considering Noble Six, who is the only other SPARTAN rated "hyper lethal", and his luck...
  • Child Soldier- All Spartan-IIs started at age six, receiving their augmentations and armor at 14.
  • Cyborg - Standard-issue Spartan-II enhancements: carbide-ceramic ossification (metal and ceramics on his bones), catalytic thyroid implant (containing human growth hormones), muscular enhancement injections, occipital capillary reversal (souped-up eyes), and superconducting fibrification of neural dendrites (Spartans literally think faster). And, finally, the Powered Armor that "connects" directly to his central nervous system.
  • Deadpan Snarker- He has his moments, especially in the novels.
    • "Thought I'd try shooting my way out...mix things up a little..."
  • Determinator
  • Famed in Story- His legend spreads from the ODST's that knew about him beating four guys to death in a gym without breaking a sweat, to his tales throughout the UNSC about him and his men defeating the Covenant, and even to the Covenant hating him with passion (or respecting him) for the destruction of the first Halo ring.
    • Subverted in the Believe Campaign. While he is honored as the savior of the human race, the battle depicted there is non-canon. Wild Mass Guessing and fanon consider it a massive ONI cover-up campaign to hide the truth about, y'know, all life in the entire galaxy nearly ending and all that.
  • First-Name Basis- With the other Spartans, Dr. Halsey, and Cortana by the end of Halo 3.
  • Genius Bruiser- He didn't reach Master Chief Petty Officer by brawn alone.
  • The Hero
  • Hope Bringer
  • I Gave My Word- "You know me. When I make a promise..." Cortana: "You... keep it... I do know how to pick 'em." Chief: "Lucky me."
  • Jack of All Stats- Noted as being great at everything, but having no skill standing out in terms of capabilities, except for leadership and luck.
  • Lightning Bruiser- As all Spartans are.
  • Made of Iron- The books make it clear that he's kept fighting despite heavy injuries on many occasions.
  • One-Man Army
  • The Paragon- Lampshaded in the Believe Campaign:

"He's received the highest commendations for bravery. Countless decorations for honor and selflessness. But Master Chief's greatest achievement reaches far beyond what any medal could ever hope to commemorate. For the men and women of the 26th Century, he is a human embodiment of possibility, the last Spartan standing against an angry tide. This strength of spirit is forged through his legend. Jericho VII. The Battle of Reach. High Charity. Tales rife with sacrifice and courage. Tales that grow, flourish, and inspire. And while he shapes his own history, he in turn shapes the history of all who follow. For no matter what horrors are released upon the day, they cannot match the reply of soldiers emboldened with his spirit, an army of Master Chiefs unto themselves."

Cortana

An Artificial Intelligence and a main character in her own right, Cortana serves as Mission Control, whether she's uploaded into external computers or the Chief's Powered Armor. According to Expanded Universe material, she was created as tech support (on-the-spot hacking) for a secret mission into Covenant space, but as time goes on, her role gets a lot more complicated.


The Arbiter (Thel 'Vadam)

"...This one is but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded."

A member of the Sangheili ("Elite") race of the Covenant, currently in disgrace after a serious failure. Given one last chance to redeem himself (or die trying) by stepping into the armor of The Arbiter, he becomes a second Player Character for part of the plot and eventually spearheads a diplomatic and military effort to rebel against the Covenant and seek alliance with humanity.

Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum

  • A Father to His Men- He even treats the Grunts with respect.
  • Four-Star Badass: Of a sort. In the end, Rtas isn't the commander of Special Operations for nothing.
  • Fan Nickname- Half-Jaw, due to the fact that he lost his two left mandibles in a fight against his Flood-infected Sub-Commander during the events of Halo 1.
  • Large Ham- Very.
    • "Ship-Master, they outnumber us, three to one!" Rtas: "Then it is an even fight. All cruisers fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides!"
    • Doubles as a Badass Boast.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure- Relatively
  • The Men First- "But these... are my Elites. Their lives matter to me; yours does not."
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist- Was willing to (and almost did) sacrifice humanity to protect the galaxy from the Flood, even after he had entered an alliance with them.

Sergeant Major Avery Johnson

"I would've been yo' daddy, but the dog beat me over the fence!"

Appearing in the first game as one of a number of computer-controlled Marines who can fight alongside the Master Chief, Johnson was the game's Ensemble Darkhorse. In later games he was critical to the plot, gaining Gameplay Ally Immortality and serving as The Lancer and Number Two to both the Arbiter and John.

  • Badass Boast: "Hell, Chief, it'll take more than that pack of walking alien horror-show freaks to take out Sergeant A.J. Johnson".
    • "Am I right, marines?!", "Sir, Yes sir!", "Mm-hmm, Damn right I am!". And that was just his first appearance.
    • He literally makes about a dozen.
  • Badass Grandpa- He's 82 years old.
  • Badass Normal
  • Bald Black Leader Guy- He actually has hair, but otherwise fits.
  • Black Dude Dies First:
    • Inverted. He's the last character to die in the main series.
    • Played straight in the first game. He is the first major character to die in Halo: Combat Evolved. At the end of the game, Cortana very clearly says Master Chief is the only survivor after scanning the entire system for life, and the logical point for Johnson to have died (given that every single other person with him at the time was killed or captured) is fairly early on. His death was retconned in Halo 2, though the game canon has never given an explanation.
    • It's explained in Halo: First Strike that both Sgt. Johnson and a few others managed to escape the wreckage of Halo on a Pelican, and that he was able to avoid being infected by the Flood due to having "Borren's Syndrome," which is a ONI cover-story for the fact that his Spartan-1 augmentations (see Badass Normal entry above) resulted in a condition which provides for him not to be infected by the Flood.
  • Defiant to the End: Even when he was beaten up by the Brutes, he refused to light the Halos. He instead shoved insults right at the Prophet of Truth's face.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Miranda's death seems to be this for him. He no longer fights the Brutes, or mocks Truth. He doesn't resist Truth using him to light the Halos, and after the Flood has beaten the Covenant he doesn't deactivate The Ark. He cradles Miranda's body, and the Master Chief has do it instead.
  • Determinator- He has his moments of this.
  • Enemy Mine- With The Arbiter and the other Elites against Tartarus and the Brutes
  • Famous Last Words- "Send me out... with a bang..."
  • Friendly Sniper
  • Large Ham
  • Nice Hat
  • Sergeant Rock- Am I right, marines?!
    • SIR, YES SIR!
      • Mm-hmm, damn right I am.
  • Smoking Is Cool- Sweet Williams cigars.
  • Super Soldier- Spartan-I
  • The Lancer- Often plays this role to the Chief.
  • Your Mom- Sorta "I woulda been yo' daddy, but the dog beat me over the fence!")

Captain Jacob Keyes

Commander Miranda Keyes

  • Action Girl
  • Badass Normal- Takes down two Brutes by herself and wounds several others with just a shotgun and a pistol.
  • Commanding Coolness
  • Dies Wide Open: Johnson closes them.
  • Heroic Bastard
  • Julie Benz: Voices her in Halo 2.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Yeah we all know she's Keyes daughter, but what most people don't realize her mother is Catherine Halsey, as revealed in her journal.
  • Mercy Kill / Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. She was about to do both of these, to Johnson and then herself, respectively. However, Truth managed to beat her to that last one.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • Statuesque Stunner - She's five-foot-ten, according to the Halo Wiki
  • The Other Darrin - Voice actress change from Halo 2 to 3
  • "Well Done, Daughter" Gal- Her mother, Catherine Halsey, believes that she joined the UNSC Navy and changed her last name to Keyes to impress her father. Their relationship is never actually explored, so it is unknown how he felt.
    • According to the latest novel, Glasslands, Miranda took on Keyes' name because Halsey left her with him, knowing she herself wasn't fit to be a good mother. Or so she justifies it to the head of ONI.
  • Sure, Why Not? - Speculation abounded that she was the daughter of Halsey as far back as 2005, based on small clues on the Bungie forums.

Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood

343 Guilty Spark

The Prophet of Truth

The Prophet of Mercy

  • Hidden Depths- While Truth is more secular and Regret is more dogmatic, Mercy is genuinely religious. When Mendicant Bias tried to launch the Dreadnought from High Charity (an act which would have destroyed the city) he was cheering it on in spiritual awe.
  • Ironic Nickname- He's a merciless bastard.
    • Well, only partly. He did stick his neck out for Regret during Halo2. Not that it did much good for Regret.
  • Satellite Character: His only actual function was to show that Truth was a Manipulative Bastard. His office was literally earned by being at the right place at the right time, and his earlier position was fraudulent and In Name Only (he "communicated" with the Dreadnought's Oracle, who was inert until Truth came there in order to become High Prophet.)

The Prophet of Regret

  • Curb Stomp Battle: It's entirely possible to just run up to his chair, avoiding his easily dodegable lasers, and punch him to death. At least on Normal or Easy. Trying this on Heroic or Legendary will get you shot to death by his dual-plasma rifle wielding Elite Mooks.
  • Disc One Final Boss: His forces make up all of the Chief's enemies in the first five human missions in Halo2, and four of those involve chasing him down before he activates Halo on Earth, but taking him out was only a small portion of the plot to the second game.
  • Flunky Boss: He's backed up by his respawning Elite Honor Guard. He'd be a pushover if it wasn't for them since his only attack is a very powerful (but easy to dodge) laser. He distracts you while his guards kill you, or vice versa.
  • General Failure
  • Glass Cannon: He's fairly weak by himself, but the cannon on his gravity chair is almost always a one hit kill.
  • Hot-Blooded: Something Truth was blaming him for when he attacked Earth, and it later had big consequences for his life and for Truth's plans.
    • It's suspected he caught it from working with the Elites.
  • Hypocritical Humor: "Such a frail thing. You would hardly think them a threat." This is coming from someone who never leaves his hover chair.
  • Ironic Nickname: If he regrets anything, up to and including what he had for breakfast, he didn't show it when he was alive...
    • Even afterward, he doesn't regret anything!
  • Large Ham: "I shall light this holy ring, release its cleansing flame, and burn a path into the DIVINE BEYOND!" We're not kidding; this is how he normally speaks.
    • Heck, that's the translated version. In whatever language he was talking in, it was a calm, steady hymn. And a worded version of the first game's theme.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Somewhat subverted. It seems he genuinely doesn't know what the Halo rings do.
  • Properly Paranoid: Concerning Truth.
  • Smug Snake
  • Spanner in the Works: A milder form of this to Truth.
  • The Starscream: A mild and self-preservational example towards Truth, who he thought would ditch him as soon as he was no longer useful. He was right.
  • Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb

Tartarus, Chieftain of the Brutes

  • Asskicking Equals Authority: Comes with being a Brute Chieftain.
  • Bullfight Boss: Trying to use anything other than hit and run tactics will get you smashed by his gravity hammer
  • The Dragon: To Truth.
  • Drop the Hammer
  • Final Boss: For Halo2.
  • Flunky Boss: Has a few squads of brutes backing him up, though it hardly makes a difference since you have a bunch of Elites backing you up, so you're free to ignore them and just focus Tartarus.
  • Go Mad from the Revelation: Subverted. He gets all berserk when the Arbiter and 343 Guilty Spark tell him the truth of the Halos, but he refuses to believe it. It's a good hint that his rage was born from denial.
  • Large and In Charge

The Gravemind

"I am a monument to all your sins."

  • A God Am I- Though it's arguably the truth.
  • Assimilation Plot- The Gravemind keeps insisting that if it's allowed to carry out its plan, true peace will result. Right...
  • Back from the Dead: It probably wasn't kidding when he told that his death was just a setback, since a Flood form could be seen alive after Halo 04 (II)'s activation in Origins.
    • The Gravemind is literally the consciousness of the flood, so it ALREADY had come back; it's the "same" Gravemind that was in the Forerunner-Flood war in mind, though not in body.
  • Badass Boast- "I HAVE BEATEN FLEETS OF THOUSANDS! CONSUMED A GALAXY OF FLESH AND MIND AND BONE!"
    • There's not even a way to properly convey how much hate and anger is infused in that phrase in text. Even more amazing is that it's not bluffing...
  • Big Bad Ensemble: While separate antagonists, Gravemind and Truth make up the top villains for Halo 2 and Halo 3, though Gravemind is the more powerful threat.
  • Blue and Orange Morality: It's highly likely that the Gravemind doesn't even consider anything it does to be truly evil.
    • While that is never explicitly said, there are many allusions to it, particularly after it becomes clear to it that it has lost:

Gravemind: Do I take life or give it? Who is victim, and who is foe?
Gravemind: Resignation is my virtue; like water I ebb, and flow. Defeat is simply the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved... but you imposed.

    • To be specific, the Gravemind believes that it is the next step in evolution, and that the Flood is a gift he is giving any creature he consumes. This was his main weapon in turning Mendicant Bias: reminding him that his creators' religion revolved around embracing evolution and letting it have its way, painting them in a hypocritical light when they opposed the Flood.
      • Although, considering what we find out in Cryptum, he might just want revenge for the "sentence" that we "imposed".
      • Primordium straightens it out in the most non-straight screwed-up way possible. Apparently, his war against the Forerunner's was punishment for either assuming a title they weren't meant for or handling it horribly, and he now wants to test humans' potential as leaders of the galaxy... so the Flood can consume them. Honestly, any conversation with him is probably a conversation with both the Precursor and the Flood consciousness, so it's guaranteed to be freakin' complicated. We can only hope the last novel clears it up.
  • Eldritch Abomination: An organic plant that represents the consciousness of the parasitic Flood, is he.
  • Enemy Mine: With the Chief & Arbiter, to help stop Truth. It doesn't last.
  • Evil Laugh: In Halo 3, right after Truth is killed.
  • Evil Sounds Deep
  • Galactic Conqueror: And unlike the most of them, it has already conquered at least one galaxy and now wants ours.
  • Gratuitous Trochaic Septameter
  • Hive Mind
  • I Am Legion
  • Large and In Charge: For a plant thing, the thing is the size of a city.
    • And in Halo 3, after turning High Charity into an extension of himself, it is a city, or rather, a moon.
    • A moon over twice the size of the Death Star, to be precise (300+ kilometers). And he was apparently present in a good portion of a Halo, able to grab both Chief and Arbiter when they're a good ways away from each other. Also, the described body is one of dozens. Or hundreds.
  • Large Ham: One of the most prominent examples in the series. Check out it's above Badass Boast for one of it's best.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • My Death Is Just the Beginning- "Resignation is my virtue; like water I ebb and flow. Defeat is simply the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved ... but you imposed."
  • Omnicidal Maniac
  • Terms of Endangerment- it learns the Master Chief's true name in Halo: Evolutions, which nearly drives Cortana to panic.
  • The Chessmaster: Chillingly evident when you consider that it always speaks in verse. Some poets spend years going over individual poems, where as the Gravemind is so intelligent it can improvise every word it speaks into a rhyme.
  • Time Abyss
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Except he doesn't even believe that what he's doing is horrifying.
  • We Can Rule Together: it used this temptation on Mendicant Bias on how they were the superior races unlike the Forerunners and so have every right to conquer them. It worked, but Bias would later regret the offer.
  • Wicked Cultured: it speaks as if it writes poems. When Cortana asked it why it did so in Human Weakness, it simply said it was preference, as after having consumed many poets from different cultures, it grew fond of their gifts.

Gravemind: I have the memories of many poets far beyond your limited human culture. And I have the quickness of intellect to compose all manner of poetic forms as I speak rather than labor over mere words for days.

  • Villainous Breakdown- In Halo 3, when it realizes that Master Chief can actually finish it off forever using the Halo since Gravemind concentrated all of the Flood's forces in one location.

032 Mendicant Bias

  • The Atoner: When the Forerunners activated the rings, he regretted his alliance with the Flood and spent the last 100,000 years wishing to undo his actions. He attempted to finally atone himself by helping Master Chief offscreen on The Ark, even if he knows it wouldn't be enough to redeem himself.
  • Conflict Killer: Rather abruptly towards the end of Cryptum, Bias shows up in his hijacked Halo to assault the Forerunner Capital, derailing the political plot of the book's second half.
  • Face Heel Turn: Reversed 100,000 years later.
  • Fallen Hero: and he spent the last 100,000 years to become a hero again in the eyes of the "reclamiers".
  • Famous Last Words: "And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions. But I would have my masters know that I have changed. And you shall be my example."
  • The Ghost: His only physical appearence is through the Terminals as words. He made a real physical appearance in Origins, looked like a moniter with three eyes.
  • Redemption Equals Death: He probably died when the Installation 04 (II)'s activation "did a number" on the Ark but it's still unknown if he did.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: When his Face Heel Turn ended up with the extinction of the Forerunners.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: First by helping the Flood against the Forerunners and many years later telling the Prophets of the relationship between the humans and the forerunners, provoking the Human-Covenant War.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: At the end of Cryptum, he takes control of five Halo rings, and fires all of them to destroy the Forerunner Capital.
  • Unwitting Pawn
  • What You Are in the Dark: He spends the better part of Halo 2&3 trying to save humanity despite it being very likely none of them will ever know he existed.

Halo 3: ODST Characters

The Rookie

Edward Buck

Romeo (Kojo Agu)

Dutch (Taylor Miles)

Mickey (Michael Crespo)

  • Ace Pilot: He's not especially an amazing flier but it does take a good deal of skill to fly a stolen Phantom.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck- "Son of a gun!"
  • Hey, It's That Voice!- Alan Tudyk, of Firefly.
  • Rookie Red Ranger: He's been on the squad longer than the Rookie, but is a lower rank and has less battle experience. According to Buck, he still hasn't ever seen a glassing.

Veronica Dare

Vergil

  • Actual Pacifist- doesn't stop him giving you energy shields, however.
  • Defector From Decadence- Effectively abandoned the Covenant when they strapped plasma bombs onto the peaceful, non-combative Engineers—for no apparent reason.
    • The Covenant did not want the neutral engineers to be captured by humanity and give them all their technical secrets, so they rigged them to explode when all the Covenant forces in the area die. In one of the novels, an engineer was killed by humanity after fixing Master Chief's armor so it could not take what it learned back to its Covenant fellows.
  • Starfish Aliens
  • The Engineer

Halo Reach Characters

Noble Six (SPARTAN-B312)

"Hyper-lethal... there's only one other Spartan with that rating."

  • Ace Pilot: Apparently sometime before his/her assignment to Noble Team, Six was involved in the testing of an experimental shielded Space fighter called Saber. This seems to be there to justify him/her jumping into one of these craft during the course of the campaign, and taking the fight to the Covenant in orbit.
  • Badass
  • The Faceless
  • Featureless Protagonist: Unlike all the other members of Noble Team, his/her name, gender, and just about everything else is redacted, because he's a completely customizable character.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
  • I Work Alone: Has a history of going solo in missions. Carter is quick to call him/her out on it.
  • Last Stand: How he/she dies.
  • One-Man Army: Along with Master Chief, the only spartan to be rated as "hyper lethal".
  • Sixth Ranger: The newest addition to Noble Team, and the player character.
  • The Quiet One: Hardly ever talks. Six does talk during some cutscenes in the actual game, and while not much, is still not completely silent. Having him/her silent in the first trailer seems to have been a cocktease.
  • You Are Number Six

Carter-A259

"In recognition of...his steadfast resolution, we honor him as commander of Noble"

Kat (Catherine-B320)

"In recognition of...her unparalleled brilliance, we honor her as the true genius of Noble."

Jorge-052

"In recognition of...his endless courage, honor him as the fighting spirit of Noble."

Emile-A239

"In recognition of...his warrior's spirit, we honor him as the merciless wrath of Noble."

  • And This Is For
  • Anti-Hero: Type V.
  • Ax Crazy: Due to his "audacity" in the field, Emile's superiors are often reluctant to deploy him against human insurrectionists.
    • Token Evil Teammate: His antics are so bad that it is recommended that he be yanked off of the team in the event that they have to go up against human enemies, for fear of giving the insurrectionists 'ammunition' to use against the UNSC.
  • Blood Knight
  • Defiant to the End
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: When an Elite rams an energy sword through Emile's chest, Emile pulls out his signature knife and takes the Elite down before/as he dies with a cry of "You ready? I'm ready!".

"I'm ready! How 'bout you?"

Jun-A266

"In recognition of... his tireless diligence, we honor him as the vigilant eye of Noble."

Thom-B293

  • Badass: Just watch the Deliver Hope trailer. Just watch it. And then consider, he took a portable nuke aboard a Covenant Battlecruiser while it was landing troops. In such low orbit, it was clearly vulnerable and would be heavily guarded from within. Who knows how many Covenant he fought through aboard the Battlecruiser to get the nuke to the vehicle hanger?
  • Big Damn Heroes: Died before the game took place pulling one of these.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: How he died, ferrying a portable nuke to a Covenant Battlecruiser and letting it detonate with him still aboard.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Colonel Holland considered him to be a blatant example. He was wrong.
  • One-Scene Wonder: In essence. We only see him in the trailer for Reach, we never hear him talk, but it's quite apparent from the trailer that Thom had some serious balls and was probably as awesome as he is made-out to be.
  • You Are Number Six

Halo Wars Characters

Captain James Cutter

Sergeant John Forge

Professor Ellen Anders

Serina

Arbiter Ripa Moramee

SPARTAN Red Team (Douglas-042, Jerome-092, and Alice-130)

  • Action Girl: Alice.
  • Badass Boast: "War Is Hell. And I'm the Devil."
  • Badass Crew: They're Spartans, so its a given.
  • The Captain: According to Halsey's Journal, both she and CPO Mendez identified Jerome as one of the four emerging leaders of the Spartan-IIs. The other three were John, Fred, and Kurt.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Against the Elites at the end of Halo Wars. Given that those Elites were probably Honor Guards, it's just more awesome.
  • It Has Been an Honor: Jerome to Sergeant Forge when the latter sacrifices himself.
  • Powered Armor: MJOLNIR Mark IV, which lacks the shields players are so used to.

Expanded Universe Characters

Fred-104

Will-043

  • Determinator: John credits him as a one, citing that Will "never failed to complete a mission."
  • Made of Iron: The fact that he was even able to take a few steps before keeling over and dying after taking an unshielded blast to the midsection from a Hunter's cannon is testament to his toughness.
  • Super Soldier: Spartan-II

Kelly-087

Linda-058

Samuel-034

  • The Big Guy- Huge, even for a Spartan-II
  • Defeat Means Friendship- How he, John, and Kelly became friends.
    • Actually, this trope is inverted; When they first meet, John goes lone wolf on Sam and Kelly in a situation requiring teamwork and they end up losing. Sam comes within a hair's breadth of beating him up the next day. Fortunately for John, he improvises a much better plan that gets them working together and winning the scenario, and then they become friends.
  • Sacrificial Lion- The first Spartan to die in combat.
  • Super Soldier- Spartan-II

Grey Team (Jai-006, Adrianna-111, and Mike)

  • Ace Pilot- Mike, who learned how to pilot a Pelican at six just by watching someone else fly one.
  • Action Girl- Adrianna may edge out Kelly and Linda. She didn't try to escape because she wanted to go home, she did it for the thrill.
  • Badass Crew- They're Spartans.
  • Bald of Awesome- Mike
  • Enfante Terrible- At age six, Jai and Adrianna's escapes were so violent that the security guards had to start tranquilizing them from Pelicans for fear of losing limbs.
  • Super Soldier
  • What Happened to the Mouse?- Mentioned to have been out of contact for almost a year by the time of The Fall of Reach. They've been known to go under for long periods, but it's never been addressed if where they are.

Black Team (Black-One, Black-Two, Black-Three and Victor-101 AKA Black-Four)

Kurt-051

Tom-B292

Lucy-B091

  • Broken Bird- Glasslands takes a look at just how awful her post-traumatic stress has become.
  • Dumb Struck- Post-Traumatic Vocal Disarticulation, an aftermath of seeing 298 out of her 300-soldier force die during the mission on Pegasi Delta. She finally speaks again during Glasslands.
  • Famous Last Words- "How are you sure we're alive?"; granted, she isn't dead, but these were still the last words she ever spoke. Until Glasslands, that is.
  • Super Soldier- Spartan-III
  • The Voiceless - Until Glasslands.
  • Waif Fu- One of the physically smallest of the Spartan-IIIs, but being a Spartan implies that she almost-certainly has superb close-combat training. She demonstrates this in Glasslands by punching out Dr Halsey.

Doctor Catherine Halsey

  • Despair Event Horizon- Following the Fall of Reach, the discovery of Halo and the Flood, and learning that the Covenant has found Earth, Halsey becomes convinced that the UNSC cannot win the war, and decides to take the Spartan-IIs (and as many Spartan-IIIs as she can) somewhere safe where they can wait out the war. What she failed to realize is how effective a team John and Cortana were.
  • Hot Mom
  • Hot Scientist- Zigzagged because of her age. Her appearance in the episode The Package is played completely straight, and even Halo: Reach shows that age has been rather kind to her. However, it also said that Cortana's looks are based on her younger self, and The Fall of Reach describes her as "lovely - not beautiful, but definitely a striking woman".
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Her initial justification for the Spartan-II Program.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her actions in the Spartan Program and her often cold, dismissive exterior may throw people off, but she is a genuinely caring person struggling with her own morals.
    • In Glasslands, the central human protagonists have a much more negative opinion on her, ranging from Jerkass (Spartan III's) to a Complete Monster who crossed the Moral Event Horizon a long time ago (Chief Mendez and the ONI team under Serin Osman).
  • Miranda I Am Your Mother
  • My God, What Have I Done?- Eventually, her reaction to the Spartan-II program.
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist- Over the course of the series, she's shown herself to be an expert in medical science, artificial intelligence, xenoarchaeology, mechanical engineering, and quantum physics. You name it, she's probably an expert in it.
  • Parental Substitute- To the Spartan-IIs
  • Rapid-Fire Typing- 120 words-per-minute.
  • Sore Loser: She does not take kindly to being intellectually bested.
  • Teen Genius- Was working on her second doctoral thesis at age 15.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist

Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez

Colonel James Ackerson

  • Colonel Badass
  • Redemption Equals Death
  • Jerkass
  • Lack of Empathy- Was actually glad Reach was glassed in the hopes that Dr. Halsey and the Spartan-IIs were killed. And that's not even getting started on the Spartan-IIIs.
  • Off with His Head- How a Brute kills him during the Second Battle Of Earth.
  • Pet the Dog- When captured by the Covenant and imprisoned, he lies to them about a fake artifact in Cleveland they need to find, keeping them from destroying the city and thus give his brother Ruwan a chance to escape.
  • We Have Reserves- In his own words, the Spartan-IIIs are meant to "trade lives for time".

Admiral Preston James Cole

  • Badass
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: He lures the Covenant fleet at the gas giant Psi Serpentis to attack his flagship, then nukes the core so that the planet explodes into a brown dwarf star, destroying the entire fleet. AND there are hints he may have survived that!
  • Faking the Dead: The ONI report which compiled his biography and the events of Psi Serpentis all but confirmed that Cole faked his death and fled with his estranged wife to a planet outside UNSC space.
  • Heroic BSOD: Upon learning that his wife, who was pregnant with his child, was the captain of an Insurrectionist ship that Cole had spent years hunting.
  • Shotgun Wedding: Twice, but the first time he wasn't actually the father.
  • The Strategist

Vice Admiral Margret O. Paragonsky

  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Genuinely cares about Serin. Bear in mind, she's one of the few people Paragonsky does care about.
  • Evil Old Folks: Extra emphasis on the old. She's over 90 years old by the 2552, and still running ONI.
  • Ice Queen
  • Kick the Dog: Planned on telling Halsey that her hated rival Ackerson had died a hero, but only after informing her of the death of Halsey's daughter Miranda.
    • Which helps add to her being so unlikable: while Halsey did all of her controversial projects fully dedicated to the welfare of humanity, Ackerson was all about his own personal gain. The reason why Parangosky likes him better, though, basically boils down to Halsey being smarter than her.
  • The Spymaster: The head of ONI.
  • Stop Helping Me!: Her idea to make sure the Sangheili don't pose a threat to the UNSC? Start a Civil War among while the rest of the UNSC is trying to make a peace treaty with them. The potential blowback is phenomenal.
    • Not only that, they're planning a civil war by helping an uprising against the Arbiter, who is traveling around the entire homeworld to different states convincing them, among other things, to let the war with the humans go because they have more important things to do. It's the equivalent of Country A helping kill the primary candidate for Country B's leadership whose foremost policies call for peace with Country A, when the runner-up is a blatant anti-Country A supporter.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Catherine Halsey at the end of Glasslands over her use of flash-cloning the SPARTAN-IIs and forcing their parents to watch them die. Although even Halsey's supporters would agree that she needed calling out, the fact that Paragonsky has authorized just as horrible, if not worse, things makes it a particularly twisted form of Even Evil Has Standards to outright hypocritical at worst.
  • We Have Reserves: Authorized the creation of three companies of Laser Guided Tyke Bombs to serve as Cannon Fodder.

The Didact

"The peaceful one is at war without and within"

  • The Atoner: He shares a lot of this with the Arbiter, except he actually managed to defeat us in a genocidal conflict, allowing us to be de-evolved into blathering cavemen. Turns out, we weren't the selfish, racist, human-supremacists he thought we were (mostly): we were simply desperate and running away from a certain cosmic horror, which we defeated, but weakened us to the point that the Forerunner military could finish the job. And them killing all of us lead to the cure to said cosmic horror, dooming the galaxy when it would later resurge. Oops.
  • Four-Star Badass
  • A Father to His Men: Literally: his children served under him in the war with humanity. They were killed, however, which gives us a hint to one of the reasons he thinks...
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Humanity wrecking his fleets and murdering his warriors hasn't painted us in the best light for him. Some subspecies he likes, though: namely, the ones that do what they're told. However...
  • Humans Are Warriors: He has some respect for us, and certainly thinks we're above the bestial image most Forerunners have of us.
  • King in the Mountain: When into a Cryptum to avoid political censure.
  • My Death Is Just the Beginning: He is executed by the Master Builder, but survives through a genetic imprint on Bornsteller Makes Eternal Lasting.
  • Large and In Charge: He could dwarf most Elites, Brutes, and Hunters. The protaganist (a younger Forerunner) mentions that his shoulders are as far apart as his outstretched arms.
  • Sealed Good in a Can: The aforementioned Cryptum.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With the Librarian, quiet literally. Thanks to the Flood, the amount of time they have together is very minimal, considering how long they've been married.
  • The Stoic: A given for most mature Forerunners; his default expression is either sad or solemn. However...
    • Not So Stoic: He smiles slightly when Bornstellar mentions that "Someone saw his potential through his flaws". It's a bit of a heartwarmer.
  • Worthy Opponent: How the Didact viewed the human race as a whole, and the Lord of Admirals in particular.The feeling is mutual.

The Librarian

"I am close. Close to saving them all."

  • Heroic Sacrifice: Destroyed her keyship, preventing her from getting back to the Ark and forcing the Didact to activate the Halo Array. Averted. Guilty Spark confirms in Primordium that she didn't die as everyone thought she did, and that he knows where she is. Not that the risks she took were any less noble.
  • Hot Scientist: Well, beautiful scientist. Even Chakas, a human, thinks she's the most beautiful female he's ever seen.
  • The Messiah: As a Lifeworker, she loves every living thing.
  • Only Sane Woman: Among the Forerunners. She recognizes that the Halo Array is a horrible weapon, and takes steps to preserve life in the event it is used, but at the same time, she also sees that there is no other way to defeat the Flood.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With the Didact.

Forthencho, the Lord of Admirals

The last military commander of the ancient human civilization.

  • Defiant to the End: Despite their best effort, Forerunners couldn't get any useful information from him.
  • Four-Star Badass: Under Forthencho's command, defenders of Charum Hakkor with inferior technology and dwindling number managed to beaten back attack after attack of Forerunner Armada under the command of Didact himself for years. At the end, Forerrunners were forced to use Brute force approach and accept terrifying loss to take the planet.
  • Revenge Before Reason: For all his respect to Forerunner's Warrior-Servants, He would do everything to bring down the Forerunners at any cost.
  • Worthy Opponent: Warrior-Servants as a whole and especially Didact. The feeling is actually mutual.

Halo Legends Characters

Fal 'Chavamee

Hauser

Ghost

O'Brien

Cal-141

Daisy-023

Thel 'Lodamee

  • Hot-Blooded: According to The Fall of Reach, his bloodthirstiness worries his commander.
  • Honor Before Reason: When he finds the Master Chief out of ammo, he tosses an extra energy sword to him so they could duel it out.
  • Large Ham: "I had him! Commander, you fool! A THOUSAND HELLS AWAIT YOU!"
  • Retcon: Was originally supposed to be Thel 'Vadamee (the Arbiter of the Halo trilogy) but this was changed in the 2010 rerelease of The Fall of Reach.

SPARTAN-1337

  • Chew Toy: He fits this trope like a glove. The Master Chief lampshades that this sort of thing happens to him all the time.
  • Determinator: And yet he has a fighting spirit Kamina would be proud of.
  • Hot-Blooded: Very.
  • Large Ham: Forget the Elites. 1337 has the ability to chew the scenery with a helmet. And he's a Spartan!

Factions/Species

United Nations Space Command (UNSC)

  • Civil War: Was beginning to tear itself apart before the Covenant gave Humanity a reason to unite.
  • Enemy Mine: With the Elites during the war's last year. Also with the Flood in order to stop Truth. With the rebels of Metisette and Psi Serpentis. Subverted in Halo: Evolutions there some psychopathic Drones attempted to fool some Spartans before they attempted to kill them. It didn't end up well for them.
  • The Federation
  • Humans Are Warriors: It's due to the Humans' guts and will alone that they did so well and survived so long in the Human-Covenant War. Many Covenant warriors (especially the Elites) lampshade it, and some even believe they've earned the right to join the Covenant. This trope and their relationship with the Forerunners is also the reason why the Gravemind wants to finish them first before he finish the Covenant.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better
  • Proud Warrior Race Guys: Well you can say that. The Humans were the first species to give The Covenant a real fight and they were the ones who won the war.
  • Rock Beats Laser: At least on the ground, the humans' ballistic weapons are somewhat more effective than the Covenant's plasma weapons. In space, it's different.
  • The War of Earthly Aggression: Before the Human-Covenant war, the UNSC ran the risk of splintering under the weight of rebellions.

Insurrectionists

  • Dying Like Animals: From believing the Covenant might be better than the UNSC to still fighting the UNSC after the destruction of the Outer Colonies.
  • Enemy Mine: With the UNSC during the Battle of the Rubble and the Battle of Psi Serpentis.
  • Ironic Nickname: Insurrectionists were called "Innies" by the UNSC, despite desperately wanting "out" of the UNSC.
  • Pet the Dog: They helped evacuate a lot of the colonists from Madrigal prior to its glassing.
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized- There was a lot of sympathy for the planets wanting autonomy from Earth and the UNSC, but extremists eventually started employing terrorist tactics, destroying their standing.
  • Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters

SPARTAN-II Program

  • All of the Other Reindeer: The Spartans are considered freaks by some of the more bigoted humans. For the most part, though, the average human is more than grateful to see a Spartan on the battlefield.
  • Bio Augmentation: Those who weren't killed received unbreakable bones, enhanced strength, senses, and reflexes. Unless you were one of the unfortunate ones.
  • Celibate Hero: One of the side effects of the augmentations was that the Spartans have a lack of interest. The only Spartan to actually try was Maria-062.
  • Child Soldiers: They were abducted at ages 6 or 7, and were given their augmentations at age 14.
  • Genius Bruiser: The Spartans were trained to be both the ultimate soldiers and highly intelligent ones.
  • Interservice Rivalry: With the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.
  • Only One Name: The Spartans only kept their first name, while their service numbers are the number which they were listed on Halsey's candidate list. Since they were "conscripted" at age 6, none of them remember their last names.
  • Powered Armor: MJOLNIR armor is used exclusively by Spartans. Anyone else who uses them would end up crippled.
  • The Spartan Way
  • Super Prototype: To the Spartan-III
  • Super Soldier
  • True Companions: The Spartans grew up together during their training, and always know that they can rely on them.
  • Tyke Bomb

SPARTAN-III Program

  • Bio Augmentation: Not as strong as the Spartan-IIs, but still very strong, and with a much higher survival rate.
  • Child Soldiers: Some even younger than the Spartan-IIs.
  • Doomed Hometown: The Spartan-IIIs are war orphans whose families were killed when the Covenant glassed their planet.
  • Powered Armor: Subverted with the Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor, which provides no physical enhancements. Played straight with those that got MJOLNIR armor.
  • Revenge: Why they joined up.
  • The Spartan Way
  • Suicide Mission: What they were sent on.
  • Super Prototype: The mass-produced version of the Spartan-II, created by Colonel James Ackerson.

"Consider the SPARTAN-II's a proof-of-concept prototype. Now it is time to shift into production mode. Make the units better with new technology. Make more of them. And make them cheaper."

  • Super Soldier
  • True Companions: Like the Spartan-IIs. Although at first, there was concern that Alpha Company would end up killing each other during training.
  • Tyke Bomb
    • Laser Guided Tykebomb: Composed by orphans from glassed colonies. While pitted occassionally against the Insurrection, the main difference between the Spartan-II and the Spartan-III, is that while the II's were marked as "the Protectors of Earth and all her Colonies", the III's are disturbed and traumatized children that care for nothing except revenge.
  • Zerg Rush: Their main tactic in the final missions they are sent to. None of them are expected to survive.

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST)

UNSC Marine Corps

Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

Artificial Intelligence

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Smart AIs have a chance to go rampant after seven years.
  • Sliding Scale of Robot Intelligence: There are 2 kinds of Human AIs: Dumb AIs, who, despite the name, are very smart, but cannot learn, and Smart AIs, like Cortana, who can learn. The Forerunner's Dumb AIs are on par with human Smart AIs. One example is 343 Guilty Spark. The Smart ones are amazingly smart and powerful, but have the risk of rampancy.
  • Virtual Ghost: Smart AI's are created from brains from deceased donors.

The Covenant

The San 'Shyuum (Prophets)

(Perfidia Vermis[1])

  • Exclusively Evil: No Prophet with any sympathetic motives has been shown.
    • Subverted by Halo: Cryptum, which had the Prophets as the allies of the technologically advanced ancient human civilization
  • Cool Chair: Gravity thrones. The higher you ascend in the Covenant hierarchy, the cooler your chair gets.
    • Going by the Prophet of Regret's fight in Halo 2, a gravity throne can fly, teleport, deflect nearly anything with its shields, and has twin laser beams mounted on it.
      • Ah, but he was a Hierarch, who would have the absolute best thrones available.
  • Depopulation Bomb: With the destruction of High Charity and sterilization of infected ships at Delta Halo, only a handful remain. However, the Beastarium implies that the Prophets' claim that their homeworld was destroyed by a stellar collapse might be false, since they seem very shy about saying where it was.
  • Dysfunction Junction: None of the High Prophets seem to get along too well.
  • The Fundamentalist
  • Irony: Halo Cryptum reveals that the San 'Shyuum used to be a close ally of humanity and were imprisioned by the Forerunners after the defeat of Human-San’Shyuum Empire. In the future, some of their descendants worshiped their old enemy as gods and started a genocidal campaign against the descendants of their old ally.
  • Kill All Humans
  • The Masquerade/Ancient Conspiracy: the Prophets incited the Human-Covenant War to prevent other Covenant from learning Humanity succeeds the Forerunners and undermining the Covenant power structure
  • Meaningful Name: The Bestiarum gives their scientific name as "Perfidia Vermis," meaning "Treacherous Worm".
  • The Mothership: High Charity.
  • Omnicidal Maniac
  • Planet of Hats: They're all devious and slippery. Back in the day (of the Forerunners), they're hat was this combined with being Green Skinned Space Babes.

The Sangheili (Elites)

(Macto Cognatus[2])

  • Arch Enemy: (Formerly the Humans, The Brutes; later, the Prophets, The Flood)
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: It wouldn't come as a surprise. After all...
  • Elite Mooks: Zealots
  • Enemy Mine: with the Humans during the last year of the war.
  • Genius Bruiser: Twice as strong as an average human and just as smart.
  • Heavyworlders
  • Heel Face Turn
  • Honor Before Reason: They would rather die than use a human weapon because it would be "heresy". They dump this rule once they start to fight against the Covenant.
  • Interservice Rivalry: With the Brutes
  • Large Ham: Just about every single one of them.
  • Laser Blade: Energy swords, which are just as much symbols of rank as they are weapons.
  • Lightning Bruiser: They're just as agile and fast as they are strong and smart.
  • Meaningful Name: Sangheili consider all names meaningful, with the more names you have meaning the more important you are. They actually forbid the Grunts and Jackals from having more than one name, and are disgusted by humanity's cavalier approach to naming things.
  • Not So Different: With the Humans. Some of them even lampshade it. That is probably the reason why the Sangheili-Human Alliance worked better for half a year than 3,400 years of alliance with the Prophets as the Covenant.
  • Planet of Hats: They all love combat, discipline, and honor.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy
  • Space Romans: Think Imperial Japan IN SPACE!
  • Super Strength
  • Worthy Opponent: Some of them seem to consider humanity as this near the end. One even vocally wonders why the Prophets are bent on wiping them out, when they could be very useful additions to the Covenant.

The Jiralhanae (Brutes)

(Servus Ferox[3])

  • Exclusively Evil: At least the Elites had a few semi-decent characters...
    • There might be one—count it, one—exception seen thus far. The Brute Commander on Harvest had apparently gained respect for humanity's courage and appreciation for their differences.
    • Maccabeus (the Brute Chieftain from Contact Harvest) also seemed to genuinely worship the Forerunners without blindly following orders. His nephew Tartarus has some words with him about that...
  • Asskicking Equals Authority: See Klingon Promotion.
  • Bayonet Ya: Brute weaponry lives off this. Every native Brute weapon is armed with bayonets. Even the Gravity Hammers are bladed.
  • The Berserker: Destroy their armor and they start rampaging, an act which is actually called "berserking".
  • Boss in Mook Clothing: The Chieftains.
  • The Brute: Duh.
  • Drop the Hammer: Gravity Hammers. Like the energy sword, it's based off of ceremonial weapons.
  • Elite Mooks: Chieftains.
  • Grenade Launcher: The Brute Shot, a grenade launcher with a huge bayonet on it. That says all you need to know about Brute combat mentality.
  • Heavyworlders
  • Interservice Rivalry: With the Elites
  • Killer Space Monkey
  • Klingon Promotion: Brute society runs on this... more psychotic version of this Trope. A Brute killing his own Chieftain makes him the Chieftain of his tribe (Or race, in the case of Tartarus). Every time this happens, however, the Brutes fight over the right to lead.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Once they go berserk, you often don't realize it before they are all over you.
  • Nail'Em: The Brute Spiker, a rifle which shoots heated spikes at its opponents.
  • Nerf: Justified. In Reach, only the Chieftains have energy shields, and those are relatively weak compared to the shields used by similarly high ranking elites. On the other hand, more of them carry Gravity Hammers, and their Spikers pack a bit more of a punch.
  • Not So Different: With the Humans too. Both are primate warrior species with a great deal of creativity and savagery.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: A particularly psychotic type.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When the members of a Brute pack are killed, the last one usually goes nuts and tries to bash you with their hands.
  • Spikes of Doom: Brutes love to weaponize spikes. Their signature weapon after the Gravity Hammer and Brute Shot are Spiker Rifles, which shoot burning spikes at an opponent, and the spike grenade, a grenade which to humans appears the size of a club and shoots spikes in every direction upon exploding.
  • Super Strength: Can match or surpass' a Spartan.
  • To Serve Man: Will gladly eat prisoners.

The Unggoy (Grunts)

(Monachus Frigus[4])

  • Bilingual Bonus: Their species name is Tagalog for "monkey;" the names for their home star, home world, and one of its moons are also in Tagalog.
  • Butt Monkey: They take a lot of abuse.
  • Cannon Fodder
  • Dirty Cowards: Until Halo 3, when the Brutes started leading them. Suffice to say, having a commander who makes a game of ripping apart POW's provides a bit more motivation than having a stern but Reasonable Authority Figure.
  • Explosive Breeder: Can go from hundreds to hundreds of thousands in a few short years according to The Cole Protocol. It's mostly a survival method: The Grunt homeworld Balaho is a planet with two winters and naturally occurring pillars of fire, and they were still at the risk of extinction. Ironically, being forced into the Covenant saved them from extinction, but warfare is the only thing that can put a dent in their numbers.
  • Gas Mask Mooks: Justified, as they breathe methane, so the oxygen everyone else breathes would kill them. On the other hand, they are the weakest enemies.
  • Heroic Neutral: The Grunts will protect themselves and their own, but otherwise, they just want to be left alone.
  • Hulk Speak
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain
  • Interservice Rivalry: With the Jackals.
  • Losing the Team Spirit: "Leader dead! Run away!!"
    • Until Halo 3 and subsequent games, where insted of panicking, some of them will draw twin plasma grenades and suicide-rush you.
  • Punch Clock Villain: They're just Slave Mooks who are forced to fight the humans. If they were allowed to choose for themselves, they whould rather stay out of the war completly.
  • Slave Mooks
  • Stout Strength: Stronger than they look, judging by the heavy equipment they're sometimes seen carrying.
  • Taking You with Me: Suicide bombers in 3, ODST, and Reach, and the Suicide Grunts in Halo Wars.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In Halo 3. Instead to run away as they did in the former games, they usually decide to blow themself up in order to kill the Chief. Just listen to their new war cries, it's scary.
    • In-universe, this happened during the Grunt Rebellion, where the Grunts showed the Covenant that they were fully capable of fighting off highly trained warriors with sheer numbers and determination. The Elites response to said rebellion? Give them proper training and real weapons.
  • To Serve Man: During the Battle of Draco III, they were set loose to devour the prisoners the Covenant had captured.
    • Occasionally you may hear some mutter in their sleep: "If hungry, eat Jackal."
  • You No Take Candle
  • Zerg Rush

The Kig-Yar (Jackals and Skirmishers)

(Perosus Latrunculus[5])

  • Cannon Fodder: Less so than the Grunts.
  • Cold Sniper
  • Feathered Fiend: Well, at least we think they're birds... and apparently, according to her journal, so does Dr. Halsey.
    • Played much straighter with the Skirmishers, who actually have feathers.
  • Fragile Speedster: The Jackals are very fast, but very vulnerable, which is why they're carrying shields. Subverted with the Skirmishers, however, who are Made of Iron Speedsters.
  • Hired Guns: Only in the Covenant because they're on the Prophets' payroll.
  • Hot-Blooded: "Too bloodthirsty" to be expert snipers.
  • Interservice Rivalry: With the Grunts
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
  • Planet of Hats: They're all pirates at heart.
  • Punch Clock Villain: Borderline case. They're only in the war for the money, but a lot of them are cruel and violent anyway. Nonetheless, a colony of Kig-Yar in The Cole Protocol happily coexisted in a trade relationship with humans until the Covenant forced them to turn on the humans.
    • For the Cole Protocol example, they were mainly just using the partnership with the Humans so The Rubble would be completed and then they would kill them all.
    • There were some who regreted it, though, as they felt a kinship with the rebels and pirates of the Rubble. Even Reth seems to regret it a bit, but knows there's no backing down.
  • Remember the New Guy?: The Skirmisher subspecies has apparently been in the war the entire time.
    • According to Bungie, nearly every Skirmisher left was stationed on Reach during the battle. And we all know how that turned out.
  • Sinister Scimitar: While it doesn't appear in the games, in the novels Jackals often use energy cutlasses, swords where the blade comes off after hitting flesh and then exploding in the target. It's probably based off the needler.
  • Space Pirates: Not all, but a bunch of them are privateers.
  • To Serve Man: Confirmed in Halo: Evolutions to eat humans if given the chance.

The Mgalekgolo (Hunters)

(Ophis Congregatio[6])

The Yanme'e (Drones or "Buggers")

(Turpis Rex[7])

The Huragok (Engineers)

(Facticius Indoles[8])

Covenant Special Operations

  • Elites Are More Glamorous: Your first mission as a Sangheili puts you along these guys sent on a suicide mission.
  • Invisibility Cloak: One of the main divisions that specialize in this, the other being Stealth Elites and Brute Stalkers.

Honour Guard of the Covenant

Heretics

The Flood

(Inferi Redivivus[9])

The Forerunners

  • Crazy Prepared: They programed the Halos monitors to destroy anything that would threaten the Halos. Which goes a long way to explaining why Spark killed Johnson in Halo 3.
  • Fantastic Racism: Many view themselves as better than everything else. The protagonist in Cryptum (a young Forerunner) mentions that his teachers impressed upon him that humans were little more than animals. When he meets them he sees this is not the case.
  • Humans Are Special: Seemed to have held this view. We learn in Primordium that there is no way to resistant to the Flood...but it can pick and choose who it infects, not wanting to infect something worthy of the Mantle. What does that say about Sergeant Johnson?
  • Crap Saccharine World: At first, the Forerunners appear to be a Perfect Pacifist People, but on closer inspection, their society was actually full of corruption and hypocrisy.
  • Neglectful Precursors: Subverted hard. They did the absolute best they could.
  • Not So Different: It's subtle, but you begin to notice that, despite their hat, they are about as variable personality-wise as humans. They have some Complete Monster, Proud Warrior Race Guys, Friend to All Living Things, etc.
  • Planet of Hats: Their hat would be hypocrisy and possession of massive superiority complexes. They subvert it more than other species on this page though.
  • Precursors: And they had precursors of their own, whom they called... "The Precursors".
  • Precursor Killers: According to Cryptum, the Forerunners wiped out the Precursors who created them. Primordium implies that the Precursors struck first, though.
  • Ragnarok Proofing: Their stuff, built over 100 millenia ago, is still in pretty good shape.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Alien
  • The Empire: What Forerunners civilization truly was.
  • The Ministry of Truth: The Forerunner Coucil seemed to have a rather good one. Nobody in general population knew anything about the losing war against the Flood, they only heard about the quarantine due to some new plagues. The younger generation didn't have any knowledge about the bloody road to power of the Forerunners.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Just read Halo Cryptum
  • We Did What We Had To Do: When they activated the rings to finish the Flood. Lampshaded by Prophet of Truth on how they "wisely put aside their compassion; steeled themselfes for what needed to be done".
  • Turned Against Their Masters The Precursors tried to wipe them out as the had "culled" many sentient races in the past. The Forerunner won.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: Fell victim to one of these.

The Precursors

  • Abusive Precursors: They created or evolved thousands of sentient species, but occasionally "culled" the ones they didn't like. They Forerunners were the last ones they tried this on, but for the first time in history it didn't work out the way they wanted.
  • Blue and Orange Morality: Vengeance against the Forerunner for genocide? How dare you suggest something so primitive? The Timeless One just wants to unify all the life in the galaxy, including the Forerunner and humanity!
  • Foreshadowing: Its title as the Timeless One is a clue that it's really a Flood Gravemind, echoing the main Gravemind's line about how its voice is "Timeless Chorus"
  • Hive Mind: The Timeless One is a Gravemind. Didact suspected that it was a specifically designed by the Flood to mimic a true Precursor. It's a bit unclear... the Precursors may have created the Flood and then allowed themselves to join with (or been consumed involuntarily) it or they may have been Flood-like in their biology themselves all along.
  • Genocide Backfire: Their attempt to wipe out the Forerunner ended in their own destruction.
  • Mind Screw: The Timeless One is Gravemind. No joke.
  • Starfish Alien: The Timeless One is over 10 meters tall, has brown-grey skin, a wide flat arthropodic head with compound eyes, multiple jaws and mandibles, with many jointed appendages and a stinger tail(the Precursors are said to be related to sea scorpions) And the real kicker? It's a Flood Gravemind! Didact suspects that the Timeless One may have been assembled to mimic the appearance of the Precursors, but there's no evidence given for or against that idea.
  • Sufficiently Advanced Alien: To the Forerunner, which are pretty Sufficiently Advanced themselves.
  • There Can Be Only One: They tried to wipe out the Forerunner because they decided they weren't worthy of the mantle. They fact that humanity claimed the Mantle instead ignited the Human-Forerunner war.
  • Time Abyss: The Timeless One was imprisoned for millions of years. Cryptum states that Precursor artifacts can be so old that tectonic shifts on planets unearth them after millions of years.
  • Tomato Surprise: Didact is rather shocked to find out that the Timeless One is actually a Gravemind. The creature's dialogue is very cryptic, but it seems that it is not a true Precursor. When Didact asks what happened to the Precursors, it tells him that those that the Forerunner defeated fled or survived in hiding, referring to them as something apart from itself.
  • The Un-Reveal: It's never explained whether the Precursors were Graveminds or the Timeless One is just a Gravemind shaped like a Precursor. The evidence seems to lean towards the latter, though, see above.

Back to Halo (series)

  1. ↑ Worms of Treachery
  2. ↑ "I Glorify My Kin"
  3. ↑ "Wild Slave"
  4. ↑ "Cold Monk"
  5. ↑ "Hateful Highwayman"
  6. ↑ "Serpent Union"
  7. ↑ "Dishonorable King"
  8. ↑ "Artificial Genius"
  9. ↑ "The Dead Reincarnated"
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