Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Hello. Today is part two of the Halo topic. This post is going to be about:
Yesterday, I already did a guide to the various species to give you a basic idea of them, so today and can expand on that and go more in dept. I'm going to be doing a guide to all the main characters of the core trilogy.
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MASTER CHIEF
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Master Chief is the main protagonist of the Halo series. He has been training since the age of six, and he has had various modifications and augmentations made to his body. These allows him to run faster, jump further and hit harder than any other human being.
His real name is John, but only a few people actually call him that. He is know throughout the human forces only by his rank, Master Chief, or as Spartan 117, which was the number given to him during his training. It is not known why the Chief got the number 117, but many people suggest this reason: "John 1 Chapter 1, Verse 7, is a passage referring God who relinquished all evil from the world so people could believe."
Master Chief wears the Mjolnir Mark VI armour almost at all times. The armour has a energy shield surrounding it, so the Chief will be able to soak up more damage. However, once the shield is completely drained, the Chief will be in an extremely vulnerable position, and a few well placed shots will be enough to kill him.
The armour also allows Master Chief to leap several meters in a single jump, and it allows him to run at speeds of up to 60km/h. It also grants him enough strength to flip a tank if the tank is over turned. The armour can be modified at any time to help the Chief further.
For example, it can be rendered almost invisible, or the shields on it can be strenghtened by several times at the expanse of a slower movement speed. The armour also has a port at the back of the neck, and this port is linked directly to the Chief's brain.
Artificial Intelligence can be placed into this port, and both the Spartan and the A.I will be able to communicate at the speed of thought. This allows the A.I to help the Spartan with tactical planning, and it could also stream information directly into the Spartan's brain.
The helmet that the Chief wears has a Heads Up Display [HUD]. It looks exactly how your screen looks. It displays everything the Chief needs to know. There's the target reticule for better aiming, a radar, a shield indicator, an ammo counter, and additional information can be added any time there is a need.
Master Chief was introduced right a the start of Halo: CE. He was awaken from cyro sleep on board the Pillar of Autumn. For many of us, that scene of the Master Chief stepping out of the cyro pod is something that cannot be forgotten.
At the end of the Halo 3, after the defeat of the Covenant, Master Chief went back into cyro sleep in a ship floating in space. However, as the Chief drifted closer to an unknown planet, a bright glow was emitted from the planet. This planet is said to be related to the Marathon series, which is the series Bungie was working on prior to the Halo games.
After the Chief went into cyro sleep again, the human forces didn't know his exact locations, or what exactly happened to him. However, they did know that he was one of the greatest heroes mankind had ever known. So while he was stated as Missing In Action by the military, he was said to have been Killed In Action to the public.
This was so that people would feel better if they knew that he was already dead, and not missing in space. To make the public believe them, the military started a massive campaign. They fabricated stories and even made a giant replica of the Chief's last battle, which of course never exactly took place.
This campaign is seen throughout the Halo 3 'Believe' pre-launch trailers.
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THE ARBITER
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The Arbiter was once know as Thel'Vadamee. He was once a Supreme Commander, but after the destruction of the first Halo, he was stripped of his rank and forced to don the ancient armour of the Arbiter.
There were 192 previous Arbiters before him, but they were all dead as the Arbiter was always sent on a suicide mission to gain back honour through death. However, the Prophets under estimated Thel'Vadamee's skill, and he survived.
After the Flood known as Gravemind revealed the true purpose of the Halo array to the Arbiter, he was doubtful, but he slowly began to see the truth in what Gravemind had said. He turned against the Covenant, and together with the rest of his Elite brethren, he allied with the humans.
With the help of Sergeant Johnson and Commander Miranda Keyes, the Arbiter killed the Brute Chieftain Tartarus, and stopped the firing of the Halo array. After armegeddon was averted, the Arbiter asked a ancient AI, 343 Guilty Spark, about the true purpose of the Halo array.
The Spark told the Arbiter that it was to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy, so that the Flood would die from starvation. This made the Arbiter finally believe everything that he had been told, and he pledged his loyalty to the humans, and he swore vengeance on the final surviving prophet leader, the Prophet of Truth.
After the defeat of the Covenant, the Arbiter became the leader of the Elites, and he became Ship Master of his own personal ship. He was separated from the Chief at the end of Halo 3, and since he was found and the Chief wasn't, it was presumed that the Chief was dead.
The Arbiter was present at the dedication to the memorial of those lost in the war. He was seen shaking hands with the leader of the human forces, Lord Hood. This represents the peace between the humans and the Elites. Lord Hood also thanks the Arbiter for sticking with the Chief to the end. The Arbiter and the remaining Elites then leave Earth.
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CORTANA
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Cortana is an Artificial Intelligence of the human forces. She is considered one of the best AI available, and she used to be the one controlling a human ship called the Pillar of Autumn. She is later given to the Master Chief, and she becomes his personal AI.
Cortana and the Chief have been through a lot together, and it has made them very close friends. In fact, she is considered as the love interest of the Chief. Yes, I know it's wrong to love a piece of technology, but the Chief is quite a robot himself, so I guess its alright.
Cortana was actually created from a flash cloned brain of Dr. Catherine Halsey, which is the scientist behind the Spartan project. Cortana share similar thoughts, memories and values as Dr. Halsey. Since Dr. Halsey is probably the closest thing to a mother that the Spartans had, this is probably the reason why the Chief cares a lot for Cortana.
Towards the end of Halo 2, the Chief left Cortana for the first time since the start of the Halo series. She chose to remain on the Prophet home world, High Charity, as she was trying to counter an AI that was preventing the Chief from returning to Earth. Before leaving her, the Chief promises that he will come back for her.
She eventually destroys it and Master Chief is able to take a small space craft back to Earth. However, High Charity soon gets overrun by the Flood, and Cortana gets captured by Gravemind, and Gravemind uses her to get the location of Earth.
Her relationship with the Chief was explored further in depth in Halo 3. She constantly flashes across the screen as you are playing, each time saying short sentences like "Don't make a girl a promise...If you can't keep it."
Master Chief eventually rescues Cortana, who was on the verge of getting corrupted by Gravemind, and with Cortana back in the Chief, they were able to stop the activation of the Ark. As they were trying to escape, the Arbiter got separated from the Chief and Cortana.
While the Arbiter made it back to Earth, Master Chief and Cortana drifted deep into space. Cortana activated a distress signal, but they knew that it would be weeks, or even years before they were found. As the Chief prepares to go into cyro sleep to await rescue, Cortana tells him, "I'll miss you." Master Chief replies by saying, "Wake me, when you need me."
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SERGEANT JOHNSON
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Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson is a battle hardened Marine that is a major ally in all three Halo games. He has a never say die attitude, and he doesn't know the words 'give up'. Sergeant Johnson has a liking to rock music, which isn't shared among his fellow soldiers.
Sergeant Johnson is an expert marksman and he is constantly covering the Chief's back. However, the Chief often needs to rescue Johnson from enemy capture. Sergeant Johnson is also the only know human, other than the Master Chief, to have survived contact with the Flood.
Johnson actively participated in numerous missions ever since he entered the military at the age of nineteen. He is rumoured to be part of the Spartan I program, and is said to be the one of the two remaining Spartan I. The other Spartan I is Chief Mendez, the one responsible for training Master Chief and the other Spartan II's.
Sergeant Johnson was killed towards the end of Halo 3 by 343 Guilty Spark. Spark had tried to stop Johnson from firing the Halo array prematurely, but after Johnson ignored it, it burned a hold through Johnson's back with its main beam weapon.
Johnson was 81 years old when he died, and I know that he looks way younger than that age, but here's the explanation. Basically, people lived to a 150 years on average during that time in the future. People age slower. For example, a 20 year old in the future might look like a 8 year old today. So 81 years old in the future is equivalent to something like 50 years old today.
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There are a whole lot more other characters, but I think these four and the most significant ones. Also, I'm too lazy to write about the rest. If you are really interested in knowing more, you can head over to Halopedia.com. Remember to check back tomorrow for the final part.
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I had to drink some super disgusting herbal oil today. It is horrible. I still need to drink it for the next two days, and I am having a nightmare just thinking of that. Went out for a while in the afternoon.
Ok, I'm done for today. Thanks for reading. Ending off, see you tomorrow.
posted @ 11:39 PM
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