225-633: Major recurring characters of the Halo multimedia franchise are organized below by their respective affiliations within the series' fictional universe. The franchise's central story revolves around conflict between humanity under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, and an alien alliance known as the Covenant . The artifacts left behind by an ancient race known as the Forerunner play
450-462: A Halo -themed massively multiplayer online game , often referred to as Titan Project , or just Titan . The project was canceled internally in 2007–2008, without a formal announcement from Microsoft. 343 Industries announced a free-to-play Halo multiplayer game for Windows PC, Halo Online , in 2015. The game launched with a closed beta test limited to Russia that year. The title was developed with Saber Interactive using modified version of
675-582: A "multi-discipline research and reflection" project experimenting with the series' aesthetics in Unreal Engine 5, while also acting as a reference tool for training developers on future entries. The success of the main Halo trilogy spurred the creation of spin-off games. Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360. Set in the year 2531, the game takes place 21 years prior to
900-581: A Brute Chieftain on Zeta Halo named Hyperius can be seen wearing Locke's helmet and chest armor on his shoulder as a trophy. It remains unknown what Locke's current status is or whether he survived the encounter with Hyperius. The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are an elite special ops component of the UNSC Marine Corps, distinguished by their unique deployment from space onto planetary surfaces through entry-vehicles nicknamed "drop pods", similar to paratroopers . A battalion of ODSTs, codenamed Alpha-Nine, are
1125-569: A Covenant splinter faction led by two surviving Prophets, Prelate Tem'Bhetek and the Minister of Preparation Boru'a'Neem. The Prelate is shown to have a personal grudge against 'Vadum, blaming him for the death of his family when High Charity fell to the Flood and 'Vadum had the city partially glassed in a failed effort to contain the Flood. After capturing the Prelate, 'Vadum shows sympathy for him and reveals that
1350-618: A Halo ring to stop the Covenant and the threat of the Flood. Master Chief defeats the Prophet of Regret, leading to the Prophets of Truth and Mercy denouncing the Sangheili race as no longer the most honorable species amongst the Covenant. This began a civil war within the Covenant, with many grappling over the revelation that their religion was false. The disgraced former Covenant Sangheili commander known as
1575-411: A Series . TV Guide ranked it No. 5 on their 2013 list of 60 "shows that were canceled too soon". The show's post-airing success led Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce Serenity , a 2005 film that continues the story from the series. The Firefly franchise expanded into other media, including comics and two tabletop role-playing games . The series takes place in the year 2517, on
1800-521: A Windows version of Halo: The Master Chief Collection even though such a version would later officially release in December 2019 and would later include maps from Halo Online in further updates to the game. A Mega Bloks -branded spinoff game, similar to the style of Lego video games, was prototyped for the Xbox 360 and never pursued several years prior to details and footage of the game leaking in 2017. Halo characters have appeared in tie-ins, such as
2025-472: A bizarre purée of wisecracks, old-timey Western-paperback patois, and snatches of Chinese." Tim Minear and Joss Whedon pointed out two scenes that articulated the show's mood clearly: In the original pilot "Serenity" when Mal is eating with chopsticks with a Western tin cup by his plate; and in "The Train Job" pilot when Mal is thrown out of a holographic bar window. The DVD set's "making-of" documentary explains
2250-505: A black ops team of Spartan supersoldiers assigned to the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence. The rebranded comic, Halo: Blood Line , debuted in December 2009. The most recent comic series is a comic retelling of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach , titled Halo: Fall of Reach . Fall of Reach is split into three mini-stories: Boot Camp , Covenant , and Invasion . Two new series were announced in 2013. A three-part series, Halo: Initiation
2475-428: A casting office and several months later was called in for an audition, where he met with Whedon. He was called back to test with two candidates for the role of Zoe (Wash's wife) and was told that it was down to him and one other candidate. The Zoes he tested with were not selected (Gina Torres eventually received the role), and Tudyk was sent home but received a call informing him he had the part anyway. His audition tape
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#17329422796152700-502: A central hub for Halo content called Halo Waypoint. Waypoint is accessed from the Xbox 360 Dashboard and offers players access to multimedia content in addition to tracking their Halo game "career". O'Connor described Waypoint as intended to be the prime destination for Halo . In December 2014, 343 Industries general manager Bonnie Ross expressed Microsoft's aim for the Halo series to last at least 30 more years. Halo 5: Guardians ,
2925-407: A central role—particularly the ringworlds known as Halos , built to contain the threat of the parasitic Flood . The characters underwent major changes over the course of the first Halo game's development, and were continually refined or changed with the advance of graphics and animation technologies. Halo ' s commercial and critical success has led to large amounts of merchandise featuring
3150-428: A challenging world, and that makes for great storytelling. And no aliens!" For Adam Baldwin , who grew up watching westerns, the role of Jayne Cobb was particularly resonant. Canadian actress Jewel Staite videotaped her audition from Vancouver and was asked to come to Los Angeles to meet Whedon, at which point she was cast for the role of Kaylee Frye , the ship's engineer. She was asked to put on weight for
3375-446: A classified ONI mission following the events of Halo 5 . At the end of the novel, Buck decides to return to leading Alpha-Nine full-time and is married to long-time girlfriend Veronica Dare by Infinity's AI Roland . SPARTAN-B312 , also known by his call-sign Noble Six , is a Spartan III who is the main protagonist of Halo: Reach . B312 is the latest addition to Noble Team, a fireteam of fellow Spartan III's and one Spartan II that
3600-477: A coin-operated arcade game called Halo: Fireteam Raven that was released in the later part of 2018, with Round1 USA and Dave & Buster's arcades releasing first. Alternative reality games have been used to promote the release of Halo games, beginning with the Cortana Letters , a series of cryptic email messages, circulated by Bungie prior to Halo: Combat Evolved ' s release. I Love Bees
3825-413: A console game is something entirely new — and entirely wonderful." In an editorial for Edge , N'Gai Croal stated that Forge could "help prove the viability of user-generated content on consoles." Halo 3' s iteration of Forge has received comparisons to Garry's Mod , a 2004 Half-Life 2 mod with a similar emphasis on free-form construction and experimentation. Outside of its intended use as
4050-408: A crew. Find a job. Keep flying. The film Serenity reveals that the planets and moons are in an extensive system, and production documents related to the film indicate that there is no faster-than-light travel in this universe . The characters occasionally refer to "Earth-that-was", and the film establishes that long before the events in the series, a large population had emigrated from Earth to
4275-721: A larger role in Halo 2 , joining forces with the Arbiter to stop Tartarus from activating Installation 05 . In Halo 3 , the Covenant attempt to use him to activate the Halo Array, but are foiled; when the Master Chief decides to activate the local Halo to stop the Flood infestation, the Forerunner construct 343 Guilty Spark kills Johnson to prevent it. Johnson is featured in The Halo Graphic Novel story, "Breaking Quarantine," and
4500-525: A main character in the 2007 novel Halo: Contact Harvest . Johnson is also featured in the real time strategy game Halo Wars 2 , as a playable leader for the UNSC. In many ways similar to the stereotype of charismatic black Marines found in other science fiction (such as Sergeant Apone in Aliens whom Johnson was partially based on), some critics found Johnson a flat character . Joseph Staten admitted that Johnson
4725-444: A major player in the video game console space. Its sequels expanded the franchise's commercial and critical success, and have sold more than 81 million copies worldwide. With more than $ 6 billion in franchise grosses, Halo is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time , spanning novels, graphic novels, comic books, short films, animated films, feature films, and other licensed products . Many millions of years ago,
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#17329422796154950-500: A major plot twist. Reception to the character was lukewarm, with critics alternatively praising the added dimension brought by the Arbiter, or criticizing the sudden twist. Making his debut in Halo 2 , Special Ops Commander Rtas 'Vadum is never named in the game itself, leading to the unofficial nickname of "Half-Jaw" by fans, due to the missing mandibles on the left side of his face. With the release of The Halo Graphic Novel , however,
5175-453: A map editor, Forge has been used to create art installations by arranging in-game props to draw pictures and write messages. Game modes and maps created in Forge have occasionally informed the development of Halo itself. Grifball, a fictional sport that originated in the Halo -themed web series Red vs. Blue , inspired a popular user-created Forge map and game mode styled after rugby . Grifball
5400-492: A massive attack on the Covenant world of Zhoist, destroying two cities, an important fleet support station, kill the special forces sent after them and decimates Nizat's fleet. Throughout these events, Nizat grows more and more annoyed with the Minor Minister of Artifact Survey who is assigned to oversee his fleet, but Survey acts more and more irrational as time goes on, causing Nizat to consider killing him several times despite
5625-529: A new star system in generation ships : "Earth-that-was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many." The emigrants established themselves in this new star system, with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons", and many of these were terraformed , a process that was only the first step in making a planet habitable. The outlying settlements often did not receive support in the construction of their civilizations. This resulted in many border planets and moons having forbidding, dry environments, well-suited to
5850-753: A new parasitic species, connected by a hivemind to the minds of the last Precursors: the Flood . The Forerunners sent the humans to Earth, reverting them to a primitive civilization based in Africa , and fought the Flood, which spread through an infestation of sentient life and overran much of the Milky Way Galaxy . Exhausting all other strategies, the Forerunners conceived the Halo Array — ring-shaped megastructures and weapons of last resort that would destroy all sentient life in
6075-411: A position to work on what I love in a franchise I love." Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori collaborated to produce the soundtracks for Bungie's Halo games. Approached by Bungie to produce something ancient and mysterious for Halo ' s debut, O'Donnell decided to compose a theme using Gregorian chant , joining in with others to sing the vocal parts. Due to the varying nature of gameplay,
6300-636: A quick, smart, and ingenious tactician and an unparalleled fighter, especially with an Energy Sword and is an excellent leader. He expresses great care for his soldiers. He is eager to exact revenge on the Brutes after the Great Schism. 'Vadum appears in the novella Halo: Shadow of Intent taking place after the war. Still the Shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent , 'Vadum protects Sangheili space and comes into conflict with
6525-447: A retrospective article in Edge , Bungie's Jaime Griesemer commented, "The influence of something like Ringworld isn't necessarily in the design—it's in that feeling of being somewhere else. That sense of scale and an epic story going on out there." Griesemer also explained, "One of the main sources of inspiration was Armor [by John Steakley ], in which a soldier has to constantly re-live
6750-452: A role in transferring crucial data to Cortana before she travels to Installation 04 on the Pillar of Autumn , also ensuring the ship's safe departure from Reach. However, most members of Noble Team, including Six, perish during the planet's fall to the Covenant and glassing. While characterized as a male in canon, the player can opt to characterize Noble Six as either male or female prior to playing
6975-400: A secret government institution; she displays symptoms of schizophrenia and often hears voices. It is later revealed that she is a "reader", one who possesses telepathic abilities. Simon gave up a career as an eminent trauma surgeon in an Alliance hospital to rescue her, and they are fugitives. As Whedon states in an episode of a DVD commentary, every show he does is about creating a family. By
List of Halo characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
7200-417: A sequel to Halo Wars titled Halo Wars 2 . The soundtrack was composed by Gordy Haab , Brian Lee White and Brian Trifon under the direction of Paul Lipson who had helped in the audio and music of nearly every previous Halo title. The Halo Wars 2 soundtrack featured many melodies from the music that Stephen Rippy had composed for the first Halo Wars but with new arrangements and more melodies to represent
7425-472: A ship in the image of a firefly. During the pilot episode filming, Whedon was still arguing with Fox that the show should be displayed in widescreen format . Whedon filmed scenes with actors on the edge of both sides so that they could only be shown in widescreen. This led to a few scenes on the DVD (and later Blu-ray) where objects or setups that were not visible in the original 4:3 broadcasts were displayed—such as
7650-610: A show where existence was more physical and more difficult. Whedon also read a book about Jewish partisan fighters in World War II . Whedon wanted to create something for television that was more character-driven and gritty than most modern science fiction. Television science fiction, he felt, had become too pristine and rarefied. Whedon wanted to give the show a name that indicated movement and power and felt that "Firefly" had both. This powerful word's relatively insignificant meaning, Whedon felt, added to its allure. He eventually created
7875-427: A side story, Halo 3: ODST (2009), and a prequel, Halo: Reach (2010). Reach was Bungie's final work on a Halo release. While Bungie remained involved in the Halo series by developing games such as ODST and Reach , the rights to Halo remained with Microsoft. To oversee everything Halo , Microsoft created an internal division, 343 Industries , to oversee the franchise. 343 had already codeveloped
8100-443: A signature: Eastern European or Middle Eastern melodies over a low drone. Simon and River's signature was a piano played sparsely with a violin in the background. This contrasts with the portable instruments of "Serenity": the piano is an instrument that cannot be easily moved and evokes the image of "the distant house and family they both long for." The signatures were mostly established in the first pilot, "Serenity", and helped enhance
8325-677: A species known as the Precursors assumed the Mantle of Responsibility - the guardianship of life in the galaxy. The Precursors chose an ancient form of humanity as their successors, over another species known as the Forerunners. In retaliation, the Forerunners attacked their former masters and drove the Precursors into extinction. Instead of fighting back, the Precursors allowed themselves to die, with some turning into dust intended to spread and later transform into themselves once again. This dust eventually became defective, infecting and contorting organisms into
8550-576: A studio to record their lines. In interviews, Halo ' s voice actors stated that they had no idea that the games would become such a critical and commercial success. Steve Downes , the voice of the game's protagonist, stated that generally when a voice actor has finished their lines, their involvement with the game ends. As the characters in Combat Evolved were relatively undefined, the voice actors were given leeway to develop their own style and personality. Aside from major character roles, members of
8775-593: A variety of planets with numerous habitable moons. The TV series does not reveal whether these celestial bodies are within one star system, only saying that Serenity ' s mode of propulsion through space is a "gravity-drive". Each episode begins with either Book or Captain Reynolds providing the backstory. Book's narration runs as follows: After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system, and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed
9000-501: A wife and daughter, they are long dead. Esparza is later kidnapped by Jega 'Rdomnai and tortured in order to draw the Master Chief out for a final battle with Escharum. Esparza is rescued by the Master Chief and the Weapon and he is surprised by the respect that the Master Chief shows to the dying Escharum. Following the Harbinger's defeat, Esparza finally introduces himself properly and he joins
9225-534: A wild goose chase for a supposed Forerunner artifact on Earth; the ruse is used by Ackerson's brother Ruwan to help the UNSC strike a blow against the Covenant. Joseph Morgan portrays the character in the television series. Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez is the SPARTAN-II 's trainer. After teaching the first class of Spartans, Mendez sees additional action fighting the Covenant, before being recruited to train
List of Halo characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
9450-527: Is a Spartan-IV stationed on UNSC Infinity and the leader of the Spartan IVs. She appears in Halo 4 , Halo 5: Guardians , Halo: Spartan Assault , " Halo: Shadows of Reach ", and the Halo Escalation comic series. Gunnery Sergeant Edward Malcolm Buck ( Nathan Fillion ) is a longtime human soldier. In Halo 3: ODST he is the leader of Alpha-Nine, a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs). He
9675-708: Is a captain in the UNSC who appears in Halo: Reach , Halo: Combat Evolved , Halo: The Flood , Halo: The Cole Protocol , and Halo: The Fall of Reach . His first chronological appearance is in The Fall of Reach , where, as a young Lieutenant, he accompanies Dr. Catherine Halsey on her mission to screen possible SPARTAN-II Project subjects. During battle with the Covenant over the planet Sigma Octanus IV, Keyes became known for his complicated and unorthodox maneuver which allowed him to win against impossible odds. Keyes leads his ship
9900-472: Is a main character in the web series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn , which depicts his training at an officer academy and rescue by Master Chief as the Covenant invade and glass the planet. In Halo 4 , Lasky (voiced by Darren O'Hare) serves as Infinity's first officer and aids the Chief on the Forerunner world Requiem. When Infinity's captain refuses to listen to the Master Chief and Cortana and leaves Requiem, he
10125-478: Is dead in the episode " Serenity ". The most memorable use of "Sad Violin" is at the end of " The Message ", when the crew mourned the death of Tracey . This was also the last scene of the last episode the actors shot, and so this was seen by them and Edmonson, as Firefly 's farewell. To denote danger, "Peril" was used, which is "a low pulse, like a heartbeat, with deep chimes and low strings". The reviewer also noted character signatures. The criminal Niska has
10350-692: Is gross class inequality. As a result of the Sino-American Alliance , Mandarin Chinese is a common second language; English-speaking characters in the show frequently curse in Mandarin. The show features slang not used in contemporary culture, such as adaptations of modern words or new words. "Shiny" is frequently used as the real world slang "cool", and "gorram" is used as a mild swear word. Written and spoken Chinese, as well as Old West dialect, are also employed. As one reviewer noted: "The dialogue tended to be
10575-407: Is included in the special features of the DVD release. Gina Torres , a veteran of several science fiction/fantasy works ( Cleopatra 2525 , The Matrix Reloaded , Alias , Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ), was at first uninterested in doing another science fiction show but "was won over by the quality of the source material". As she recalled, "you had these challenged characters inhabiting
10800-544: Is injured after fighting one of his friends, who was infected by the Flood . During the early events of Halo 2 , 'Vadumee serves as a messenger between the Hierarchs and the Elite Council, as he is seen relaying messages between the two parties in the Prophets' chamber. Surviving the Prophets' betrayal, 'Vadumee joins his brethren in fighting the Brutes, dropping the "-ee" suffix from his surname to symbolize his resignation from
11025-477: Is noted for her incredible speed, even before augmentation. She is initially presumed lost with other Spartans dispatched to Reach during its invasion, but in Halo: First Strike it is revealed she survived. During the events of the novel Halsey kidnaps Kelly and flees with her to Onyx. Kelly appears alongside the Master Chief, Linda and Fred in Halo 5: Guardians . Commander Sarah Palmer ( Jennifer Hale )
11250-530: Is relieved of command and Lasky is promoted. He reappears in Halo 4 Spartan Ops and the Halo: Escalation comic series. In Halo 5: Guardians , Lasky reluctantly sends Spartan Fireteam Osiris after the rogue Spartan Blue Team. When AIs begin pledging loyalty to Cortana en masse , Lasky and Infinity are forced to flee Earth. In Halo: Bad Blood , Lasky and Infinity link up with Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris soon after. Roland (voiced by Brian T. Delaney)
11475-434: Is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity , a " Firefly -class" spaceship . The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters living aboard Serenity . Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things." The show explores the lives of a group of people, some of whom fought on
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#173294227961511700-457: Is stationed on Reach just prior to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved . His identity and background are highly classified due to his prior work with the ONI, and as he is transferred to Noble Team, the Covenant invades the planet. A solitary figure who prefers working alone and gains the nickname "Lone Wolf" as a result, Six earns the respect of his teammates despite their early resentment of him and plays
11925-453: Is subsequently inducted into the SPARTAN-IV program, and is a playable member of Fireteam Osiris in the video game Halo 5 . He makes a brief appearance in Halo: Reach and is the main character of the novels Halo: New Blood and Halo: Bad Blood . In the latter, Buck reunites his old squad Alpha-Nine (minus "Rookie", who died during a previous mission in the timeskip between 3 and 4 ) for
12150-591: Is the Master Chief's new AI companion in Halo Infinite , created by Dr. Catherine Halsey to lock down Cortana for retrieval and deletion aboard the UNSC Infinity . In Halo: Shadows of Reach , Blue Team are sent back to CASTLE Base on Reach to recover important assets for Halsey that hold the key to defeating Cortana. In the game's audio logs, it is revealed that Halsey subsequently used these assets, presumably her remaining cloned brains from creating Cortana, to create
12375-534: Is the current artificial intelligence aboard the UNSC flagship Infinity . Roland's avatar takes the form of a golden World War II fighter pilot. Unlike many human AI, Roland does not join Cortana and her Created, and continues to serve the UNSC. Roland appears in Halo 4 Spartan Ops , Halo 5 , Halo: Spartan Assault , and spin-off media, including the Halo: Escalation comic series, Halo: Fractures and Halo: Tales from Slipspace . The Weapon , portrayed by Jen Taylor ,
12600-528: Is voiced by Terence Stamp ). The novel Halo: Contact Harvest reveals that these three Prophets, originally known as the Minister of Fortitude, the Vice-Minister of Tranquility, and the Philologist, plotted to usurp the throne of the Hierarchs; in the process, they hide the truth that humanity is descended from the Covenant gods, the Forerunners, believing that the revelation could shatter the Covenant. During
12825-543: Is voiced by Andrew Lowe in Halo: Legends , portrayed by Tony Giroux in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn , and portrayed by Travis Willingham in the Halo 2: Anniversary Terminals and in Halo 5: Guardians . Fred survives the fall of Reach, as shown in Halo: First Strike , and assists Master Chief and other Spartans in destroying a Covenant armada massing to attack Earth. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx , Fred and Blue Team fight
13050-495: The Halo 2: Anniversary terminals and Brittany Uomoleale in Halo 5: Guardians ) is an excellent marksman. She appears in both much of the spin-off media and Halo 5: Guardians . After being mortally wounded in Halo: The Fall of Reach , she is placed into suspended animation. In Halo: First Strike she is revived and participates in action against the Covenant. In Ghosts of Onyx she and her fellow Spartans defend Earth from
13275-553: The Halo Legends animated series and had overseen production of Halo: Reach and 2011's Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary , a remaster of the franchise's debut title. The next game in the series, Halo 4 , was announced at E3 2011 as the first entry in what would be originally known as the "Reclaimer Trilogy". The game included many staples of previous games, such as new or redesigned weapon types, an improved map-editing tool and expanded multiplayer options and maps. Halo 4
13500-473: The Arbiter , along with the rest of his race, helped the humans destroy the Covenant and stop the Prophet of Truth from activating the Halo Array via the Ark. The Human-Covenant War ended, though new conflicts began to emerge throughout the universe. In the post-war era, the UNSC trains a new generation of Spartans, and tensions between the UNSC and colonist rebels resumed. The Master Chief and Cortana accidentally free
13725-533: The Halo community and Halo fans have had small roles in the games. The cast from the machinima Red vs. Blue won a lengthy charity auction for a voice role in Halo 3 , and do a comedy routine which changes depending on the difficulty level the game is played on. Cast members of the defunct TV show Firefly — Alan Tudyk , Nathan Fillion , and Adam Baldwin —have roles as marines in Halo 3 as well as Halo 3: ODST and Halo 5: Guardians . Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 , commonly referred to as simply
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#173294227961513950-539: The Halo universe. In the 2000s, spin-off titles were planned or rumored for the Game Boy Advance , Gizmondo , Ultra-Mobile PC , and Nintendo DS . Microsoft announced an episodic video game to be developed by film director Peter Jackson 's Wingnut Interactive in 2006. The game, Halo: Chronicles , was ultimately canceled as part of budget cuts tied to job layoffs in January 2009. Ensemble Studios developed
14175-500: The Halo 3 engine, and published by Innova Systems. The project was canceled in August 2016. Players modified the game to circumvent the region limitations and add new content after the project's official cancellation. The "ElDewrito" project saw legal takedowns from Microsoft for violating its game usage rules. Despite this, ElDewrito's playerbase remained active, and the modders claimed its popularity hastened Microsoft's plans to release
14400-757: The Infinity and Jul's forces battle each other for control over the planet while Jul personally leads the attempt to access the Librarian 's AI which Jul wants to use for the power that the Librarian can give to him. In Halo: Escalation , Jul and Halsey work together while Jul faces a mutiny inside of his own forces. Their mission to access the Absolute Record of Forerunner installations, however, fails. In Halo 5: Guardians , Jul's power has begun to break following all of his defeats and his Prometheans turning against him under
14625-511: The Mac game market because it was smaller and easier to compete, Bungie became a preeminent game developer on the platform. What became Halo: Combat Evolved started as a real-time strategy game for the Mac, originally code-named Monkey Nuts and Blam! , and took place on a hollowed-out world called Solipsis. The planet eventually became a ringworld called "Halo", which became the game's title. Halo
14850-656: The Master Chief , is the main protagonist and main playable character in many of the Halo games. The character is voiced by Steve Downes , a Chicago disc jockey . He is one of the Spartans, an elite group of augmented soldiers raised from childhood to be super soldiers. Assisted by the artificial intelligence Cortana , he prevents the catastrophic firing of the Halo Installation 04 in Halo: Combat Evolved . Developing
15075-493: The Pillar of Autumn to Halo in Combat Evolved . There, Keyes leads a guerrilla insurgency against the Covenant. Captured and assimilated by the parasitic Flood , he is mercifully killed by the Master Chief, who takes Keyes' neural implants to control the ship. Danny Sapani portrays a markedly different iteration of Keyes in the television series . Commander Miranda Keyes is the daughter of Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey . Miranda appears in Halo 2 , Halo 3 and in
15300-580: The Reavers , a cannibalistic group of nomadic humans. The captain of Serenity is Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds ( Nathan Fillion ). The episode " Serenity " establishes that the captain and his first mate Zoe Washburne , née Alleyne ( Gina Torres ) are veteran "Browncoats" of the Unification War, a failed attempt by the outlying worlds to resist the Alliance. A later episode, " Out of Gas ", reveals that Mal bought
15525-434: The first-person shooter video game Halo: Combat Evolved and its tie-in novel, The Fall of Reach . The latest major installment, Halo Infinite , was released in late 2021. Spinoffs include real-time strategy and twin-stick shooter games. Combat Evolved started life as a real-time strategy game for personal computers, turning into a first-person shooter exclusive to the Xbox video game console after Bungie
15750-571: The motion-capture performance for the character in Guardians . Due to scheduling conflicts with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage , Locke's voice acting is replaced by Ike Amadi . He is the current squad leader of Fireteam Osiris, tasked with hunting down Master Chief and Blue Team. Locke kills Jul 'Mdama in single combat and helps the Arbiter defeat the last of the Jul's Covenant forces. in Halo Infinite ,
15975-622: The " Halo sound". Rather than use the Northwest Sinfonia, Rippy traveled to Prague and recorded with the FILMharmonic Orchestra before returning to the United States to complete the music. A standalone compact disc and digital download retail version of the soundtrack was announced in January 2009 for release on February 17. The music of Halo 4 was composed by Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi. The Halo 4 Original Soundtrack
16200-467: The "Golden Triangle of Halo ". The player's health is measured in both hit points and a perpetually recharging energy shield. Released for the Xbox in November 2001, Windows and Mac OS X ports were later developed by Gearbox Software , and released in 2003. A stand-alone expansion, entitled Halo: Custom Edition , was released as a Windows exclusive, and allowed players to create custom content for
16425-548: The "wealth of influences adopted by the Bungie team", a list of Bungie employees' favorite science fiction material was published on the company's website. The developers acknowledged that the Halo series' use of ring-shaped megastructures followed on from concepts featured in Larry Niven 's Ringworld and Iain M. Banks ' Culture series (of which Consider Phlebas and Excession were said to be particularly influential). In
16650-495: The 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved . The game's characters were continually refined through development, as developer Bungie was bought by Microsoft and the platform shifted from the Macintosh to the Xbox . Other Bungie developers would often add input to character development, even if they were not working on the game itself. An outside artist, Shi Kai Wang, developed the early concept sketches of what would eventually become
16875-436: The 2007 New York Comic Con , Marvel Comics announced they would be working on an ongoing Halo series with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev . The limited series, titled Halo: Uprising , bridges the gap between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3 ; initially planned to conclude shortly before the release of Halo 3 , the constant delays led to the final issue being published April 2009. Marvel announced at
17100-440: The 2009 Comic Con that two new comics, a five-part series written by Peter David and a second series written by Fred Van Lente , would appear the coming summer and winter. David's series, Halo: Helljumper , is set prior to Halo: Combat Evolved and focuses on the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The five-part series was published between July and November 2009. Lente's series, originally titled Spartan Black , revolves around
17325-458: The Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the war, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. A ship would bring you work. A gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: Find
17550-515: The Arbiter to relax age-old rules not allowing females to serve in the military, 'Vadum reveals that he plans to use navigation data recovered from the Prelate's ship to seek out the rest of the Prophets and attempt to determine who should be punished as war criminals and who should be pardoned to coexist in peace as innocents. Tartarus (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson ) is the Chieftain of
17775-568: The Arbiter, and to carry on his missions as the "Blade of the Prophets". Eventually, the Arbiter rebels against the Prophets during the Great Schism by dropping the "-ee" suffix from his surname as a symbol of his resignation from the Covenant, and joins his fellow Elites in siding with humanity and stopping the Halo array from firing. Some of his backstory is featured in Halo: The Cole Protocol set about fifteen years before Combat Evolved where
18000-481: The Arbiter, then Shipmaster Thel 'Vadamee, comes into conflict with UNSC forces led by then-Lieutenant Jacob Keyes . The events sow the seeds of doubt in the future Arbiter's mind about the Prophets and their plans. This particular Arbiter is voiced by Keith David ; the Arbiter that appears in Halo Wars is voiced by David Sobolov . Originally to be named " Dervish ," the Arbiter was a playable character intended to be
18225-502: The Brutes, easily recognized by his white hair, distinctive mohawk , and massive gravity hammer known as the "Fist of Rukt". Rough, arrogant, and disdainful of the Elites, Tartarus is completely dedicated to the Prophets' salvific "Great Journey". Halo: Contact Harvest reveals that Tartarus became Chieftain after killing the former Chieftain, his uncle Maccabeus, and seizing the Chieftain's weapon. In Contact Harvest , Tartarus acts as one of
18450-407: The Covenant invaded Reach in 2552, the UNSC's last major stronghold besides Earth, Master Chief John-117 was left as one of the few remaining Spartans. The rediscovery of the Halo rings later that year set the humans against the Covenant, who believed they were instruments of transcendence, not destruction. Master Chief and his artificial intelligence Cortana are instrumental in the destruction of
18675-489: The Covenant on Onyx and end up within a Forerunner shield world. They reconnect with the outside world in Halo: Glasslands ; though to them only a few days have passed, outside months have. In the Halo: Escalation comic series, Fred and the other members of Blue Team are reunited with the Master Chief, and appears alongside the Master Chief, Kelly and Linda in Halo 5: Guardians . Linda-058 (voiced by Andrea Bogart in
18900-547: The Covenant, before being sent to the planet Onyx after receiving a message from Catherine Halsey. Following the end of the Human-Covenant war in Halo: Last Light , Linda and Blue Team investigate a Forerunner structure on the politically unstable planet of Gao and get caught in both the machinations of a power hungry leader and the plans of a rogue Forerunner AI, Intrepid Eye. In the Halo: Escalation comic series, Linda and
19125-456: The Covenant. 'Vadum aids the Arbiter in attacking a Brute base to capture a Scarab before departing to take control of a nearby Covenant ship. In Halo 3 , 'Vadum is Shipmaster of the flagship Shadow of Intent , and supports Cortana 's plan to follow Truth to the Ark. Along with the Arbiter, 'Vadum leaves Earth to return to the Elite's homeworld with the end of the war. Rtas 'Vadum is known for being
19350-535: The DVD release. The soundtrack to the series was released on CD on November 8, 2005, by Varèse Sarabande . Fox Music released a 40-minute soundtrack in September 2005 as a digital EP. "The Ballad of Serenity" was used by NASA as the wake-up song for astronaut Robert L. Behnken and the other crewmembers of STS-130 on February 12, 2010. The series was picked up in December 2001, and casting started in January 2002. In casting his nine-member crew, Whedon looked first at
19575-503: The Didact and he briefly returns to assert supremacy over humanity, though he is foiled by the pair, resulting in Master Chief initially believing Cortana dead in the attempt. Cortana's survival through the Domain leads her to break with the UNSC and assert a new hegemony over the galaxy, with artificial intelligence (the "Created") in control. After two years of a scattered war between Cortana and
19800-466: The Forerunner shield world of Onyx. Jul eventually escaped using one of the shield world's slipspace portals and traveled to the Sangheili colony world of Hesduros which had been cut off from the goings-on in the galaxy since before the Covenant civil war. By portraying his experiences on the shield world in a religious light, Jul was able to win over the inhabitants, but learned that his wife had been killed. Grief-stricken and blaming humanity, Jul discovered
20025-558: The Index in order to activate Halo, but is confronted by the Arbiter. Blind to the Prophets' deception about the Great Journey, Tartarus activates the ring; the Brute is ultimately killed by the coordinated efforts of the Arbiter with the help of Sergeant Major Johnson, successfully preventing the firing of Delta Halo . Designs for Tartarus began after the basic shape and design of the common Brutes
20250-597: The Latin epic Aeneid , written by classical Roman poet Virgil . Travis posits similarities between the plots of both works and compares the characters present in them, with the Flood and Covenant taking the role performed by the Carthaginians and Master Chief taking the role of Aeneas . First introduced in Halo 3 , Forge is an in-game map editor designed for adjusting weapon, vehicle, and prop placement. While in Editor Mode,
20475-639: The Master Chief and the Weapon in continuing their fight against the remaining Banished forces on the Halo ring. Building on the failed ORION Program, Catherine Halsey and the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence developed the SPARTAN-II program to create an elite corps of supersoldiers that could stem rebellions in the UNSC colonies. The Spartan candidates were kidnapped as children and replaced by flash clones that quickly died afterwards. After grueling training, they were subject to dangerous physical augmentation, and equipped with "MJOLNIR" powered armor . Following in
20700-450: The Master Chief, Cortana urges him and the Weapon to learn from her mistakes and to become stronger from them and she tells the Master Chief that the Weapon has a lot of potential. With the Weapon's help, the Master Chief kills Escharum and the Harbinger, but he fails to stop the Harbinger from contacting someone else about the location of the Endless. Subsequently, the Master Chief offers to let
20925-524: The Master Chief. However upon developing a 3D model, the artists decided the Chief looked too slender, almost effeminate, and subsequently bulked up the character. Early Covenant Elites had a more natural jaw rather than the split mandibles they would later sport; at one point, Jason Jones was also insistent about having a tail on the Elites, but this idea was eventually dropped. Originally, the game designers decided to hand-key character animations. The animators videotaped themselves to have reference footage for
21150-483: The Prelate's family may well have been alive when the Prelate departed the city, meaning that Preparation lied to him. 'Vadum's words shake the Prelate's faith in Preparation who is revealed to be planning to use a prototype Halo ring to destroy Sanghelios using the Shadow of Intent to power it. The Prelate sacrifices himself to stop Preparation, leaving 'Vadum with a new outlook following the encounter. Along with getting
21375-591: The SPARTAN-IIIs. Initially uncertain of the new Spartans' potential, Mendez trains several companies of the supersoliders. During the events of Ghosts of Onyx he is sealed inside a shield world with Halsey and other Spartans, and after the Human-Covenant War, retires from service. Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood (voiced by Ron Perlman ) is commander of the UNSC Home Fleet, as well an English noble. During
21600-520: The Servants as they were the best equipped to combat the Arbiter and his forces as Jul did not believe humanity would change and must be stopped while the Arbiter wanted to form a lasting alliance with them. The Servants attempt to defeat the Arbiter ended in catastrophe thanks to the intervention of the UNSC Infinity in the battle. Jul was subsequently captured by the Kilo-Five black ops team and imprisoned on
21825-410: The Spartans try to buy humanity time to adapt to their new enemy by striking at the Covenant behind enemy lines using board-and-destroy tactics. Human insurrectionists, hoping to use the Covenant to destroy the UNSC, provide Nizat and his forces with information on the Spartans, their armor, and their tactics, allowing Nizat to adapt his own strategies to match. Despite this, the UNSC successfully launches
22050-587: The UNSC, Cortana attacks the Banished, a mercenary organization largely led by the Jiralhanae race. The Banished win the resultant conflict, terminating Cortana and battling the UNSC for control of Zeta Halo. Video game developer Bungie was founded in 1991 by Alex Seropian in Chicago, Illinois , who partnered with programmer Jason Jones to market and release Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete . Focusing on
22275-488: The UNSC, Esparza rescues the Master Chief and accompanies him in his journey across the ring, at first reluctantly as Esparza is mainly concerned with going home. However, over time, Esparza becomes a more willing member of the team. Esparza gradually opens up, revealing that he is actually a civilian engineer who had panicked when the Banished had attacked the Infinity and stole the Pelican in order to escape and that while he had
22500-524: The United States on the Fox network on September 20, 2002. By mid-December, it had averaged 4.7 million viewers per episode and was 98th in Nielsen ratings . It was canceled after 11 of the 14 produced episodes were aired. Despite its short run, it received strong sales when it was released on DVD and has large fan support campaigns. It won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2003 for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for
22725-410: The Weapon begs the Master Chief to delete her, but he refuses, stating that he wants to trust her. As they continue their journey, the Master Chief and the Weapon discover that it was actually Cortana herself who had prevented the Weapon's deletion following Cortana's defeat as the other AI knew that the Master Chief would need the Weapon's help against the Banished and the Harbinger. In a final message to
22950-406: The Weapon choose her own name as Dr. Halsey did with Cortana and while she has the perfect name picked out, it is not revealed. Echo-216 (real name Fernando Esparza , portrayed by Nicolas Roye) is a Pelican pilot who aids the Master Chief throughout the events of Halo Infinite , and is generally referred to only by his Pelican's callsign. Stranded in space for six months following the defeat of
23175-586: The Weapon is recovered by the Master Chief following his rescue by Fernando Esparza. Needing help, the Master Chief takes the Weapon on as his new AI companion on a more permanent basis, although he remains distrustful of her, even trying to delete the AI at one point when she falls into danger, much to her fury. The Weapon proves to be an invaluable asset to the Master Chief throughout his journey, leaving her disgruntled over his deletion attempt of her and his continuing distrust. Finally, after watching some of Cortana's memories,
23400-404: The Weapon realizes the truth: she's actually an exact copy of Cortana created by Dr. Halsey in order to fool Cortana's security systems so that she could be locked down. Halsey scrubbed any knowledge from the Weapon that could compromise her and the Master Chief refers to the Weapon as essentially being Cortana if he and Cortana had never met. Horrified and worried that she could end up like Cortana,
23625-409: The Weapon. The Weapon was supposed to be automatically deleted once her mission was over, but her deletion protocol failed to activate, leaving her stranded in the ring's foundations. Having only been recently created, the Weapon possesses a generally sunny and naive personality and lacks basic knowledge on things such as what the Banished or their component species are. Six months after her deployment,
23850-594: The Western genre. The show takes its name from the " Firefly -class" spaceship Serenity that the central characters call home. The Firefly -class ships, some 40,000 still in use, is so named for the resemblance to the shape of a firefly , complete with a tail section that lights up during acceleration, analogous to the bioluminescent insect's abdomen . The Serenity was named for the Battle of Serenity Valley, where Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds and Corporal Zoe Alleyne were among
24075-497: The Wings ". Two weeks later, Whedon called her to tell her she had the part. Veteran television actor Ron Glass has said that until Firefly , he had not experienced or sought a science-fiction or western role. Still, he fell in love with the pilot script and the character of Shepherd Book . Whedon selected Tim Minear to be the show runner , who serves as the head writer and production leader. According to Whedon, "[Minear] understood
24300-487: The ability to command the Didact's Promethean soldiers even after the Didact's own defeat. Subsequent to this, Jul brands himself "the Didact's Hand" with his status and ability to control the Prometheans giving him even more power and attracting more followers to his cause. In Spartan Ops , six months after the Battle of Requiem, the Infinity returns to Requiem which is still occupied by Jul and his Covenant. The forces of
24525-510: The actors and considered their chemistry with others. Cast member Sean Maher recalls, "So then he just sort of put us all together, and I think it was very quick like right out of the gate, we all instantly bonded." All nine cast members were chosen before filming began; while making the original pilot "Serenity", Whedon decided that Rebecca Gayheart was unsuitable for the role of Inara Serra , and shot her scenes in singles so that it would be easier to replace her. Morena Baccarin auditioned for
24750-578: The almost certain death sentence that it would bring upon himself. After the Battle of Zhoist, Nizat's steward Tam 'Lakosee kills Survey for his irrational and disrespectful behavior, but Nizat decides to cover it up in order to protect his subordinate. Halo (franchise) Halo is a military science fiction video game series and media franchise , originally developed and created by Bungie and currently managed and developed by Halo Studios (previously 343 Industries), part of Microsoft 's Xbox Game Studios . The series launched in November 2001 with
24975-549: The assassination of Catherine Halsey, believing her usefulness is at an end. Thanks to the loyalty of the artificial intelligence Black Box, Osman is evacuated from Earth before Cortana attacks. The character appears in the Kilo-5 Trilogy, Halo: Last Light , Halo: Fractures , Halo: Retribution , Halo 4 Spartan Ops , and Halo Fractures . Captain Thomas Lasky is the captain of the UNSC Infinity . Portrayed by Thom Green , he
25200-585: The auspices of the Unified Earth Government, or UEG, and their United Nations Space Command, or UNSC— has colonized many worlds thanks to the development of faster-than-light "slipstream space" (i.e., hyperspace ) travel. Tensions between the government and colonies desiring independence sparked violent clashes. The UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) created the SPARTAN-II Project to create an elite group of enhanced supersoldiers to suppress
25425-474: The campaign of Halo: Reach . Six's male and female incarnations are voiced by Philip Anthony-Rodriguez and Amanda Philipson, respectively. Jameson Locke is a Spartan IV who first appeared in Halo 2 Anniversary ' s both opening and ending with the task of hunting down the Master Chief in Halo 5: Guardians . Mike Colter portrays Locke in both Anniversary and the Nightfall origin movie, and only provided
25650-499: The cargo bay walls are "reminiscent of interlaced, overlapping Asian designs, cleverly reminding us of the American-Chinese Alliance setting while artistically forming a patterned plane for background scale reference." Dixon has also remarked on how the set design contributed to the storytelling through the use of color, depth, composition, lighting, as well as its use of diagonals and patterned shadows. Their small budget
25875-483: The central government, the Alliance. Tracking and steady cameras were used to show the sterility of this aspect of the Firefly universe. Another style employed was lens flares harking back to 1970s television. The need for this particular style resulted in the director of photography ( David Boyd ) favoring cheaper lenses over cutting-edge equipment. Firefly portrays space as silent, as sounds cannot be transmitted in
26100-529: The chamber of the High Prophet of Truth . In Halo 2 , Tartarus acts as an agent of the Prophets, branding the Arbiter for his failures. The Chieftain later appears when the Arbiter tries to retrieve the Activation Index of Delta Halo . On the Prophets' orders, Tartarus takes the Index and pushes the Arbiter to what was intended to be his death in a deep chasm. Tartarus heads to the control room of Halo with
26325-517: The character in the television series. James Ackerson is a high-ranking UNSC Army colonel. He convinces the Office of Naval Intelligence to fund the SPARTAN-III Project, and vied with Halsey for funding. After an attempt to frustrate Halsey's Spartans, Cortana fakes orders to reassign Ackerson to the front lines of the war. On Mars, he is captured by the Covenant, and executed after leading them on
26550-456: The character of Master Chief was part of Bungie's efforts to make players invested in playing the game. The character has since become a gaming icon, the mascot of the Xbox, and rated as one of the greatest characters in video games. In live action, the Chief has been portrayed by Daniel Cudmore in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and Pablo Schreiber in the Paramount+ series . Cortana , voiced in
26775-560: The character was finally named in the story Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor as Rtas 'Vadumee. The character is voiced by Robert Davi . 'Vadum, originally 'Vadumee before the Covenant Civil War, is a veteran Covenant Elite and the second most prominent Elite character in the series after the Arbiter. He carries the Covenant rank of Shipmaster. The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor explains how he loses his left mandibles; he
27000-496: The characters Spartan Nicole-458 and the Arbiter being playable fighters in Dead or Alive 4 and Killer Instinct: Season Three , respectively. Master Chief was added as a playable character in Fortnite alongside a stage inspired by a Halo multiplayer map in 2020. Another game, Halo 2600 , has the players control Master Chief and fight through four regions filled with enemies. It
27225-467: The characters were often getting shot, Trpcic would make up to six versions of the same costume for multiple takes. Since the cancellation of the series, various cast and crew members have revealed details they had planned for the show's future: Firefly consists of a two-hour pilot and thirteen one-hour episodes (with commercials). The series originally premiered in the United States on Fox in September 2002 on Friday nights . Three episodes, including
27450-449: The characters: "Edmonson has developed a specialized collection of musical symbolism for the series." To help illustrate the collection, the reviewer gave leitmotifs , or "signatures", various names, noting that "Serenity" recalls the theme of the show and is used when they return to the ship, or when they were meeting in secret; it was "the sound of their home". The slide guitar and fiddle used in this piece are portable instruments that fit
27675-621: The coordinates to the shield world of Requiem on Hesduros and began building up a massive following, forming a new Sangheili-led Covenant. Jul's Covenant eventually found Requiem, but were trapped outside for three years as depicted in the Halo 4 Terminals because the planet required the presence of a Reclaimer to open. In Halo 4 , the Master Chief arrives at Requiem in the rear half of the Forward Unto Dawn and comes into conflict with Jul and his forces. The Master Chief's presence causes Requiem to finally open, granting Jul's Covenant access to
27900-462: The course of Halo 2 , Regret attacks Earth, and then retreats to Delta Halo. There, he calls for reinforcements, but is killed by the Master Chief. Later, Mercy is attacked by the Flood on High Charity ; Truth could have saved him, but left him to die so he could have full control over the Covenant. In Halo 3: ODST , Truth is seen inspecting some Engineers around the Forerunner construct near New Mombasa. In Halo 3 , Truth also meets his demise at
28125-469: The distinctive frontispiece of the series (wherein Serenity soars over a herd of horses) as Whedon's attempt to capture "everything you need to understand about the series in five seconds." Whedon struggled with Fox over the tone of the show, and especially over the character of Malcolm Reynolds. Fox pressured Whedon to make Mal more "jolly", as they feared he was too dark in the original pilot, epitomized by
28350-495: The editor for the replay value it provided. Heather Campbell of Play Magazine named Halo 3 her game of the year due to Forge, with co-editor Greg Orlando explaining later in the issue: "What separates Halo 3 from other console shooters such as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Team Fortress 2 , though, is the inclusion of a forge mode and the ability to save and edit gameplay films. [...] Although these modes are standard fare in most PC online shooters, their inclusion in
28575-447: The environment worked for us and there weren't a lot of adjustments that needed to be made". This design allowed the viewers to feel they were really in a ship. For Whedon, the design of the ship was crucial in defining the known space for the viewer and that there were not "fourteen hundred decks and a holodeck and an all-you-can-eat buffet in the back." He wanted to convey that it was utilitarian and "beat-up but lived-in. Ultimately, it
28800-418: The episodes out of sequence, making the plot more difficult to follow. The double episode "Serenity" was intended as the premiere , and therefore contained most of the character introductions and back-story . Fox decided that "Serenity" was unsuitable for opening the series, and "The Train Job" was specifically created to act as a new pilot. In addition, Firefly was promoted as an action-comedy rather than
29025-423: The episodes were filmed in a documentary style with hand-held cameras, giving them the look of " found footage ", with deliberately mis-framed and out-of-focus subjects. As Whedon related: "don't be arch, don't be sweeping—be found, be rough and tumble and docu[mentary] and you-are-there". Computer-generated scenes mimicked the motion of a hand-held camera; the style was not used when shooting scenes that involved
29250-469: The events of Halo 2 and 3 he defends Earth against the Covenant, staying behind when Master Chief and Arbiter depart for the Ark. In Halo 3 ' s epilogue, he leads a memorial service for those who fell in the conflict. The short story "Rosbach's World" reveals Hood escapes Cortana's attack on earth during the end of Halo 5 , ending up along with ONI chief Serin Osman on a safe world. Hood blames himself for
29475-512: The events of Halo: Combat Evolved . Much effort was spent on developing a control scheme that was simple and intuitive, unlike other console strategy games. The game was announced at X06 , and released in February and March 2009. In October 2017, 343 Industries developed and released a virtual reality demo title in partnership with Endeavor One called Halo Recruit . In 2018, 343 Industries partnered with Raw Thrills and PlayMechanix to develop
29700-400: The feel was that we wound up using a lot of places or exteriors that just felt too Western and we didn't necessarily want to go that way; but at some point, it just became the lesser of two evils—what could we actually create in three days?" Greg Edmonson composed the musical score for the series. He stated that he wrote for the emotion of the moment. A reviewer stated that he also wrote for
29925-447: The final chapter of Halo: The Cole Protocol . In Halo 2 she supports the Master Chief in his battles, and assists Sergeant Major Johnson and the Arbiter in stopping the activation of the Halo Array. In Halo 3 , Keyes attempts a rescue of Johnson when he is captured by the Covenant to activate the Ark; she is killed by Truth in the attempt. Keyes was voiced by Julie Benz in Halo 2' . Benz said that she loved voiceover work and that it
30150-489: The final designs, the Prophets are made to be dependent on their technology. Special headdresses, stylized differently for each of the Hierarchs, adds personality to the aliens and a regal presence. 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 ,
30375-485: The first three Halo novels with new content and cover art. Another collection, Halo: Fractures , compiled new and previously released short fiction in 2016. The Halo universe was first adapted into the graphic novel format in 2006, with the release of The Halo Graphic Novel , a collection of four short stories . It was written and illustrated by graphic novelists Lee Hammock , Jay Faerber , Tsutomu Nihei , Brett Lewis, Simon Bisley , Ed Lee and Jean Giraud . At
30600-480: The franchise's characters to be produced. The Master Chief, the most visible symbol of the series, has been heavily marketed, with the character's visage appearing on soda bottles, T-shirts, and Xbox controllers. Other merchandise produced includes several sets of action figures . The franchise's characters have received varying reception, with some praised as among the best in gaming, while others have been called cliched or boring. The Halo franchise originated with
30825-505: The galaxy to stop the Flood. A civil war began between the Forerunners' commander, known as the Ur-Didact, who wanted to assimilate all the humans on Earth into his army as AIs, thus immune to the Flood, and his wife, the Librarian, who created the Ark, an instrument that was to shelter sentient species outside the galaxy and allow for the mass creation of Halo installations which could all be activated simultaneously. The Librarian, along with all
31050-608: The game disc and traditional Xbox packaging; and the Collector's Edition with a specially designed steel case, along with an additional bonus DVD, extra booklet, and slightly different user manual. Halo 2 introduced new gameplay elements, chief among them the ability to hold and fire two weapons simultaneously, known as " dual-wielding ". Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 fully supported online multiplayer via Xbox LIVE . The game uses "matchmaking" to facilitate joining online matches by grouping players looking for certain types of games. This
31275-416: The game. The success of the game led to a sequel, Halo 2 , which was announced on August 8, 2002, at Microsoft's X02 press event. It featured improved graphics, new weapons and enemies, and a multiplayer mode on Xbox Live. Halo 2 was released on the Xbox on November 9, 2004 , and later for Windows Vista on May 17, 2007. The game was released in two different editions: a standard edition with just
31500-512: The games by Jen Taylor , is the artificial intelligence (AI) who assists the Master Chief in the video games. She is one of many "smart" AIs, and is based on the brain of Dr. Catherine Halsey ; the nature of her construction means she is subject to a finite lifespan. In Halo 4 , Cortana begins to succumb to her age, and sacrifices herself to save Chief and Earth from the Forerunner Didact, but Halo 5: Guardians reveals that she had survived
31725-504: The hands of the Arbiter when the Prophet attempts to activate all the Halo rings from the Ark . His death becomes the culmination of the Covenant's downfall. Preliminary designs for the Prophets, including the Hierarchs, were done by artist Shi Kai Wang. According to The Art of Halo , the Prophets were designed to look feeble, yet sinister. Originally, the Prophets appeared to be fused to the special hovering thrones they use for transport; even in
31950-427: The heart of the franchise. The character's sex appeal has also been a focus on commentary. Avery Junior Johnson is a Marine sergeant major who leads human forces throughout the Halo series. The character is voiced by David Scully. Johnson and a few other Marines survive the destruction of Installation 04 and are rescued by Cortana and the Master Chief during the novel Halo: First Strike . Johnson plays
32175-487: The heat generated in the ship's tail. Whedon was keen on using vertical space; having the crew quarters accessible by ladder was important. The set design allowed the actors to stay in the moment and interact, without having to stop after each shot and set up for the next, helping contribute to the documentary style Whedon aimed for. The set had several influences, including the sliding doors and tiny cubicles reminiscent of Japanese hotels. Artist Larry Dixon has noted that
32400-442: The individual characters. The original game soundtrack was released on February 17, 2017, and released digitally on February 21, 2017. The music for Halo Infinite was a collaboration between Gareth Coker , Curtis Schweitzer, Joel Corelitz , Alex Bhore, and Eternal Time & Space, overseen by 343 Industries Music Supervisor Joel Yarger. Infinite 's soundtrack was released digitally on December 8, 2021, in two albums, one covering
32625-503: The influence of Cortana . On the remote world of Kamchatka, Jul attempts to access the Forerunner Domain with the help of Halsey while his loyal forces battle the Prometheans. However, Jul is unaware that Halsey has betrayed his location to the UNSC due to the threat Cortana poses. He is killed by Spartan Jameson Locke in single combat and Jul's Covenant falls apart soon thereafter. In Halo: Legacy of Onyx , Jul's two sons are left on
32850-507: The last episode, " Objects in Space ", the fractured character of River has finally become whole, partly because the others decided to accept her into their "family" on the ship. The show blends elements from the space opera and Western genres in a grounded depiction of humanity's future. Firefly takes place in a multi-social future, primarily a fusion of Western and East Asian societies (and in particular those of mainland China ), where there
33075-400: The lifestyle of the crew: "the music they make calls up tunes played out in the open, by people who were hundreds of miles away yesterday. 'Serenity' conjures the nomadic lifestyle the crew leads and underlines the western aspect of the show." Another emotional signature was "Sad Violin" used at the end of the Battle of Serenity Valley but also to set up the joke when Mal tells Simon that Kaylee
33300-603: The literary influences present in the Halo franchise commented on similarities between Halo and Orson Scott Card 's Ender's Game : aspects of the SPARTAN Project and the design of the Covenant Drones are perceived as reminiscent of the super soldier program and Buggers found in the novel. Bungie has also acknowledged James Cameron 's film Aliens as a strong cinematic influence. A report written by Roger Travis and published by The Escapist compares Halo with
33525-506: The losing side of a civil war , who make a living on the fringes of society as part of their star system's pioneer culture. The two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, united to form the central federal government, called the Alliance . According to Whedon's vision, "Nothing will change in the future: Technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today." Firefly premiered in
33750-480: The losing side of a war, their experiences afterward as pioneers and immigrants on the outskirts of civilization, much like the post-American Civil War era of Reconstruction and the American Old West . He intended the show to be "a Stagecoach kind of drama with a lot of people trying to figure out their lives in a bleak pioneer environment". Whedon wanted to develop a show about the tactile nature of life,
33975-412: The main antagonists, working to destroy the human colony of Harvest and coming into conflict with Sergeant Johnson. During the final battle of the novel, Johnson's life is inadvertently saved when one of Tartarus' own soldiers turns against him, damaging Tartarus' armor and forcing him to retreat. Tartarus makes his first appearance in the novel Halo: First Strike , as one of the first Brutes allowed into
34200-536: The main characters appeared in every episode, except " Ariel ", from which Book is absent. Despite the series' short run, several recurring characters emerged from the inhabitants of the Firefly universe: Whedon developed the concept for the show after reading The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara chronicling the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War . He wanted to follow people who had fought on
34425-512: The military to run the SPARTAN-II Project , creating the most effective weapons humanity has against insurrection, and then in the war with the Covenant. Cortana is derived from Halsey's cloned brain. Jen Taylor , who also voices Cortana , provides the voice and motion capture performance, in Halo: Reach , Halo 4 , and Halo 5: Guardians . The character is voiced by Shelly Calene-Black in Halo Legends . Natascha McElhone portrays
34650-426: The moment he suggests he might "space" Simon and River, throwing them out of the airlock. Fox was unhappy that the show portrayed "nobodies" who "get squished by policy" instead of actual policymakers. Firefly maintained an ensemble cast that portrayed nine crew members and passengers of the ship, Serenity , dealing with criminals and schemers, Alliance security forces, the utterly psychotic and brutal Reavers, and
34875-502: The more serious character study it was intended to be, and the showbiz trade paper Variety noted Fox's decision to occasionally preempt the show for sporting events. Fox remastered the complete series in 1080i high-definition for broadcast on Universal HD , which began in April 2008. On March 12, 2009, the series was the winner of the first annual Hulu awards in the category "Shows We'd Bring Back". The Science Channel began airing
35100-405: The movement of game characters; art director Marcus Lehto's wife recorded him "running around a field with a two-by-four" for the human marines. By Halo 3 , Bungie staff had a special room designed for capturing reference material. Many of the subsequent human character's features were based on Bungie designers, while character animators looked to simian, ursine, insectoid, and reptilian features for
35325-408: The music reminds viewers of earlier events, resulting in a tighter continuity throughout the season. The musical score expressed the social fusion depicted in the show. Cowboy guitar blended with Asian influence produced the atmospheric background for the series. As one reviewer stated: Old music from the future—the music of roaring campfires and racous [ sic ] cowboys mixed with
35550-467: The music was designed to change dynamically based on the gameplay. To afford a more enjoyable listening experience, O'Donnell rearranged portions of the music of Halo into standalone suites , which follow the narrative course of the game, for the soundtrack releases. For Halo 2 , the soundtrack included licensed music from Incubus and Breaking Benjamin alongside the orchestral score; rock guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai , performed various solos throughout
35775-421: The mysterious men with "hands of blue"—operatives of a secret agency known only as The Blue Sun Corporation. The crew is driven by the need to secure enough income to keep their ship operational while keeping a low profile to avoid their adversaries. Their situation is complicated by the differing motivations of the individuals aboard Serenity; the show's brief run hampered further characterization . All nine of
36000-412: The narrative. In every episode, the musical score intensified my experience of this intelligent, remarkable show. Using and combining all these signatures, Greg Edmonson brought out aspects of Firefly 's story and characters that were never explicitly revealed in the other elements of the series. Whedon's use of music in his television shows has been regarded as "filmic", as during pivotal moments
36225-415: The new Zeta Halo. The story mainly focuses on exploring the deeper lore of the Halo series, finding what happened to Cortana, and battles with the Banished. It released December 2021. On October 6, 2024 during the year's Halo World Championships, 343 Industries unveiled a seven-minute video where they officially announced their rebranding as Halo Studios, while also confirming that multiple new games in
36450-523: The novels First Strike (2003) and Ghosts of Onyx (2006). Other novels have been written by Joseph Staten , Tobias S. Buckell , Karen Traviss , Greg Bear , Matt Forbeck , John Shirley , Troy Denning , Cassandra Rose Clarke , and Kelly Gay . A collection of Halo short stories, Halo: Evolutions , was simultaneously released in print and audiobook formats in November 2009. Evolutions includes original material by Nylund, Buckell, Karen Traviss and contributions from Bungie. Tor re-released
36675-479: The online Firefly Immediate Assistance campaign whose goal was to support the production of the show by sending in postcards to Fox. After it was canceled, the campaign worked on getting another network such as UPN to pick up the series. The campaign was unsuccessful in securing the show's continuation. The A.V. Club cited several actions by the Fox network that contributed to the show's failure, most notably airing
36900-625: The opposing sides of an ongoing conflict on the Onyx shield world. Dural, now the leader of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, believes the Covenant to truly be gone with the death of his father and the destruction of his faction despite the existence of other ex-Covenant splinter factions in the galaxy. Nizat 'Kvarosee is a former Covenant Fleetmaster appearing in Halo: Silent Storm , Halo: Oblivion and Halo: Outcasts . Cunning and intelligent, Nizat
37125-430: The ordeal. Having found access to the Domain, a Forerunner repository of knowledge, Cortana believes that AIs should serve as the galaxy's caretakers, putting her in conflict with her creators. In Halo Infinite , however, after Atriox seemingly defeats Chief which devastates her, Cortana finally destroys herself. Cortana has been called one of gaming's greatest characters, and one of the "50 Greatest Female Characters" and
37350-563: The original Halo formula. In 2014, Kazuma Jinnouchi confirmed he would be composing the soundtrack for Halo 5: Guardians . On October 30, 2015, Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack was released on CD and vinyl. The soundtrack used a 30-person choir located in Prague, Czech Republic. The orchestral soundtrack was recorded at the Abbey Road Studio over the duration of 5 separate trips. In 2017, 343 Industries and Creative Assembly released
37575-545: The original pilot, were aired out of the production order. Although Whedon had designed the show to run for seven years, low ratings resulted in cancellation by Fox in December 2002 after only 11 of the 14 completed episodes aired in the United States. The three episodes unaired by Fox eventually debuted in 2003 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United Kingdom. Prior to cancellation, some fans, worried about low ratings, formed
37800-407: The other doesn't." Next, the writers develop the scenes onto a marker-filled whiteboard, featuring "a brief ordered description of each scene". A writer is selected to create an outline of the episode's concept—occasionally with some dialogue and jokes—in one day. The outline is given to showrunner Tim Minear, who revises it within a day. The writer uses the revised outline to write the first draft of
38025-532: The other members of Blue Team are reunited with the Master Chief, and she fights with Blue Team during the events of Halo 5 . Linda is also the main character in the Halo: Lone Wolf comic series. Kelly-087 , voiced by Luci Christian in Halo: Legends , Jenna Berman in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and Michelle Lukes in Halo 5: Guardians , is the Spartan-II's scout and the Master Chief's best friend. Kelly
38250-474: The other pan-Asian, explaining the blended linguistic and visual themes of the series. The central planets are firmly under Alliance control, but the outlying planets and moons resemble the American Old West , under little governmental authority. Settlers and refugees on the outlying worlds have relative freedom from the central government but lack the amenities of high-tech civilization found on inner worlds. The outlying areas of space ("the black") are inhabited by
38475-419: The part before he was cast. He noted that "it was really thrilling. It was my first lead, and I was pretty nervous, but I really wanted that part, and I wanted to tell those stories." Fillion later said he was "heartbroken" when he learned the series had been canceled. Fillion has called his time on Firefly the best acting job he ever had, and compares every job he has had to it. Alan Tudyk applied through
38700-419: The planet. Jul eventually leads some of his forces into Requiem's core where the Forerunner known as the Didact is imprisoned. The Didact is able to trick the Master Chief into releasing him and Jul bows down before him. Despite the core's subsequent collapse, Jul manages to escape with his life and allies himself with the Didact against the humans from the Infinity . Jul's alliance with the Didact leaves him with
38925-487: The player becomes a floating robot, or " monitor ", who can spawn, move, and delete any game object on the map. All objects are assigned a monetary value, and cost money to spawn; the level's "Forge budget" determines how much money the player can use to spawn objects. As a component of Halo 3 , Forge received critical acclaim upon its release. GameSpot 's Jeff Gerstmann described Forge as "an extremely powerful addition that might just take over your life", and praised
39150-466: The primary focus of Halo 3: ODST , with Edward Buck serving as the squad leader and the player assuming the role of "The Rookie" on the squad. Several ODSTs, including Antonio Silva, have a disdain for the Spartan IIs and their abilities, likely stemming from an incident when a 14-year-old John-117 accidentally killed two ODSTs while defending himself from being bullied. High Prophets, or Hierarchs, are
39375-414: The protagonist. The soundtrack for Halo 3 was released on November 20, 2007. O'Donnell noted he wanted to bring back the themes from the original game to help tie together the end of the trilogy. The tracks are presented, similarly to the previous soundtrack for Halo 2 , in a suite form. Unlike previous soundtracks, where much of the music had been synthesized on computer, the soundtrack for Halo 3
39600-629: The rank of Arbiter is given to Thel 'Vadamee, the disgraced former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, which was responsible for destroying Reach. It was under his watch that Installation 04 was destroyed in Halo: Combat Evolved and the Ascendant Justice was captured by the Master Chief in Halo: First Strike . Rather than killing him, the Prophets allow the Commander to become
39825-444: The rebellions covertly. In the year 2525, human worlds came under attack by a theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant , whose leadership declared humanity heretics and an affront to their gods: the Forerunners. The Covenant began a genocidal holy war. Their superior technology and numbers proved to be decisive advantages; although effective, the Spartans were too few to turn the tide of battle in humanity's favor. After
40050-571: The remaining Forerunners, trapped her husband inside a Forerunner repository of knowledge known as the Domain, and disappeared as the Array was activated, thus destroying all sentient life in the galaxy and ending the outbreak of the Flood— though some Forerunners are known to have left the Milky Way galaxy for a different, unknown galaxy. Nearly a hundred thousand years later, in the 26th century , humanity— under
40275-553: The rest of the music, much of which was incomplete or not included in the first soundtrack, as the first soundtrack was shipped before the game was released. Halo 2 , unlike its predecessor, was mixed to take full advantage of Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround Sound . In 2014, the in-game music was rerecorded and remastered for the Halo 2 Anniversary release which was part of the Master Chief Collection which included remastered versions of all Halo games with Master Chief as
40500-435: The role and two days later was on the set in her first television show. "Joss brought me down from the testing room like a proud dad, holding my hand and introducing me", Baccarin recalled. Whedon approached Nathan Fillion to play the lead role of Malcolm Reynolds ; after Whedon explained the premise and showed him the treatment for the pilot, Fillion was eager for the role. Fillion was called back several times to read for
40725-518: The role. Sean Maher recalls reading for the part and liking the character of Simon Tam , but that it was Whedon's personality and vision that "sealed the deal" for him. Neil Patrick Harris also read for the part of Simon. For the role of Simon's sister, River Tam , Whedon called in Summer Glau for an audition and test the same day. Glau had first worked for Whedon in the Angel episode " Waiting in
40950-600: The same war over and over again. That sense of hopelessness, a relentless battle, was influential." The Flood were influenced by the assimilating alien species in Christopher Rowley 's The Vang ; it has also been speculated that the Master Chief's name "John 117" may have been a reference to a character named Jon 6725416 in Rowley's Starhammer , or to the John Spartan character of Demolition Man . An IGN article exploring
41175-424: The scene in the pilot where Wash mimes controlling the ship with a non-existent yoke . The Fox executives rejected the pilot, who felt that it lacked action and that the captain was too "dour". They also disliked a scene in which the crew backed down to a crime boss since the scene implied the crew was "being nothing". Fox told Whedon on a Friday afternoon that he had to submit a new pilot script on Monday morning or
41400-616: The score for the campaign, and another covering the music for the game's multiplayer component. The Halo franchise includes various types of merchandise and adaptations outside of the video games. This includes bestselling novels, graphic novels, and other licensed products, from action figures to a packaging tie-in with Mountain Dew . Numerous action figures and vehicles based on Halo have been produced. Joyride Studios created Halo and Halo 2 action figures, while Halo 3 poseable and collectible action figures, aimed at collectors, were produced by McFarlane Toys and became some of
41625-465: The score. The music of Halo helped spur a renewed interest in chant music. For Halo 2 ' s soundtrack , producer Nile Rodgers and O'Donnell decided to split the music into two separate volumes. The first, Volume One, was released on November 9, 2004, and contained all the themes as well as the "inspired-by" music present in the game (featuring Steve Vai , Incubus , Hoobastank , and Breaking Benjamin ). The second release, Volume 2, contained
41850-412: The script while the other writers develop the next. This first draft is usually submitted for revision within three to fourteen days; afterward, a second and sometimes third draft is written. After all modifications are made, the final draft would be produced as the "shooting draft". Jill Ohanneson, Firefly ' s original costume designer, brought on Shawna Trpcic as her assistant for the pilot. When
42075-441: The series were currently in development, and that said games would use Unreal Engine 5 as opposed to the proprietary Slipspace Engine. Studio head Pierre Hintze explained that the decision to rebrand the studio came from an internal shift in development philosophy behind the franchise, giving the team a "clean break" as was the case with transitioning between Bungie and 343. Halo Studios also unveiled "Project Foundry", described as
42300-538: The show as well as any human being, and just brought so much to it that I think of it as though he were always a part of it." Many of the other production staff were people Whedon had worked with in the past, except the director of photography David Boyd, who was the "big find" and who was "full of joy and energy". The writers were selected after interviews and script samplings. Among the writers were José Molina , Ben Edlund , Cheryl Cain, Brett Matthews , Drew Z. Greenberg and Jane Espenson . Espenson wrote an essay on
42525-405: The show was picked up, Ohanneson was involved in another job and declined Firefly , suggesting Trpcic for the job. The costumes were chiefly influenced by World War II , the American Civil War , the American Old West , and 1861 samurai Japan. Trpcic used deep reds and oranges for the main cast to express a feeling of "home" and contrasted that with grays and cool blues for the Alliance. Since
42750-653: The show would not be picked up. Whedon and Tim Minear closeted themselves for the weekend to write what became the new pilot, " The Train Job ". At the direction of Fox, they added "larger than life" characters such as the henchman "Crow" and the "hands of blue" men, who also introduced an X-Files -type ending. For the new pilot, Fox made it clear that they would not air the episodes in widescreen. Whedon and company felt they had to "serve two masters" by filming widescreen for eventual DVD release but keeping objects in-frame so it could still work when aired in pan and scan full frame . To obtain an immersive and immediate feel,
42975-497: The situation due to allowing the Master Chief free rein and falls into a depression. Keir Dullea portrays Hood in the television series. Admiral Serin Osman is a former Spartan-II who washed out of the program. Osman was hand-picked by Office of Naval Intelligence leader Admiral Margaret Parangosky to be her successor. After the Human-Covenant War Osman served as the leader of Kilo-5, a black ops team that worked to destabilize humanity's enemies to prevent future war. She later orders
43200-399: The soundtrack. O'Donnell wrote "somber, more visceral" music to reflect the darker nature of the campaign and style of the game. As Bungie had been making Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach at the same time, Martin O'Donnell had also been composing the soundtracks at the same time, but production for the music of Halo: Reach did not begin until after the release of Halo 3: ODST . The soundtrack
43425-400: The spaceship Serenity to travel increasingly distant reaches of space, beyond Alliance control. Much of the crew's work consists of cargo runs or smuggling . In the original pilot, "Serenity", Simon ( Sean Maher ) joins the crew as a paying passenger, smuggling his sister River Tam ( Summer Glau ) aboard as cargo. River is a child prodigy whose brain was subjected to Alliance scientists at
43650-415: The supreme leaders of the theocratic Covenant . Upon assuming office, each Hierarch picks a new regnal name from a list of names of former Hierarchs, similar to the practice of some Orthodox Patriarchs . In Halo 2 , there are shown to be only three; the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret (voiced by Michael Wincott , Hamilton Camp and Robin Atkin Downes in Halo 2 , respectively; in Halo 3 , Truth
43875-443: The survivors on the losing side. It is revealed in "Bushwhacked" that the Independents' loss at the Battle of Serenity Valley was widely considered as sealing their fate. The Alliance governs the star system through an organization of core planets, following its success in forcibly unifying all the colonies under one government. DVD commentary suggests that the Alliance is composed of two primary systems, one predominantly Western ,
44100-479: The team is deciding where to break for commercial and ensuring the viewer returns. "Finding these moments in the story help give it shape: think of them as tentpoles that support the structure." For instance, in " Shindig ", the break for commercial occurs when Malcolm Reynolds is gravely injured and losing the duel. "It does not end when Mal turns the fight around when he stands victorious over his opponent. They're both big moments, but one of them leaves you curious, and
44325-506: The top-selling action figures of 2007 and 2008. MEGA Bloks partnered with Microsoft to produce Halo Wars -themed toys. As part of Microsoft's multimedia efforts, Microsoft Studios decided to create a tie-in novel for Combat Evolved . Eric Nylund wrote Halo: The Fall of Reach in seven weeks, and it was published in October 2001. The game itself was turned into a novelization by William C. Dietz in 2003, called Halo: The Flood . Nylund would write additional Halo works including
44550-519: The vacuum of space. Production designer Carey Meyer built the ship Serenity in two parts (one for each level) as a complete set with ceilings and practical lighting installed, as part of the set that the cameras could use along with moveable parts. The two-part set also allowed the second unit to shoot in one section while the actors and first unit worked undisturbed in the other. As Whedon recalled: "you could pull it away or move something huge so that you could get in and around everything. That meant
44775-709: The various races of the Covenant. The artificial intelligences of the characters was also deliberately limited to make sure they acted realistically to environmental changes and situations. Later games use motion capture to capture the movement and facial acting of the cast. The Halo series features voice work by television and film actors including Ron Perlman , Orlando Jones , Michelle Rodriguez , Robert Davi , and Terence Stamp . Voice acting became more important as Halo: Combat Evolved ' s sequels were developed; Halo 2 had 2,000 lines of combat dialogue, while Halo 3 has in excess of 14,000 lines. Some actors voiced their lines in remote locations, while others traveled to
45000-411: The wake of the SPARTAN-II Project were the SPARTAN-IIIs, children orphaned by the Covenant War who became cheaper, more expendable soldiers. After the war, the UNSC began training Spartan-IVs from adult volunteers. The existence of the Spartans was disclosed to the public to raise morale as the Covenant War continued to go badly. Fred-104 is a Spartan-II and one of the Master Chief's closest friends. He
45225-425: The warm, pensive sounds of Asian culture and, occasionally, a cold imperial trumpet, heralding the ominous structural presence of a domineering government. Completely thrilling. —Steve Townsley The show's theme song, "The Ballad of Serenity", was written by Joss Whedon and performed by Sonny Rhodes . Whedon wrote the song before the series was greenlit, and a preliminary recording performed by Whedon can be found on
45450-410: The whole trilogy. Players battle various aliens on foot and in vehicles to complete objectives, while attempting to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo. Halo limited the number of weapons players could carry to two, forcing them to carefully select their preferred armament. Players fight with ranged and melee attacks, as well as grenades. Bungie referred to the "weapons-grenades-melee" format as
45675-428: The writing process with Mutant Enemy Productions. A meeting is held and an idea is floated, generally by Whedon, and the writers brainstorm to develop the central theme of the episode and the character development. Next, the writers (except the one working on the previous week's episode) meet in the anteroom to Whedon's office to begin breaking the story into acts and scenes. One of the key components to devising acts for
45900-559: Was a "baseball bat" that smashes everything in its path, a reference to their ceremonial weapons, the Energy Sword and Gravity Hammer, respectively. Jul 'Mdama, voiced by Travis Willingham, is the Supreme Leader of a newly formed Covenant splinter faction following the defeat of the Covenant Empire in Halo 3 . Calling himself "the Didact's Hand," Jul's faction initially seeks the Forerunner warrior Didact as an ally against humanity. The character appears in Karen Traviss' Kilo-5 trilogy of novels, as well as Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians . It
46125-424: Was a change from the more traditional "server list" approach, which was used to find matches in online games at this time. Halo 3 was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo . It utilized a proprietary, in-house graphics engine , and employed advanced graphics technologies. Halo 3 is the final game in the original Halo trilogy, ending the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved . The game
46350-406: Was acquired by Microsoft. Bungie regained its independence in 2007, releasing additional Halo games through 2010 before moving on from the franchise. Microsoft established 343 Industries to oversee Halo going forward, producing games itself and in partnership with other studios. Combat Evolved was a critical and commercial success, serving as the Xbox's " killer app " and cementing Microsoft as
46575-402: Was announced on July 21, 1999, during the Macworld Conference & Expo . The game morphed from a real-time strategy game into a third-person action game. On June 19, 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie and Halo: Combat Evolved became a launch title for the Xbox video game console . The game turned into a first-person shooter, and was modified to work with a controller. Though the first Halo
46800-402: Was another reason to use the ship for much of the storytelling. When the characters did leave the ship, the worlds all had Earth atmosphere and coloring because the production team could not afford to design alien worlds. "I didn't want to go to Yucca Flats every other episode and transform it into Bizarro World by making the sky orange", recalled Whedon. As Meyer recalled: "I think in the end
47025-422: Was complete. Artist Shi Kai Wang added small but distinctive changes to Tartarus' armor and mane in order to distinguish the Chieftain from the other Brutes. The visual design of the Chieftains was later modified for Halo 3 , with the seasoned warriors sporting more elaborate headdresses and shoulder pads. In a review of the character, UGO Networks noted that whereas the Elites "are a precision scalpel ," Tartarus
47250-413: Was developed into an official weekly playlist for Halo 3 , and would go on to be included in every subsequent Halo game after Halo: Reach . 343 Industries employee Nick Bird, working as Forge Quality Assurance on Halo Infinite , credited Forge for his interest in game development; "My time in Forge and the Forge community eventually led me to pursue a career in the industry, and ultimately landed me
47475-399: Was home." Each room represented a feeling or character, usually conveyed by the paint color. He explains that the colors and mood progress from extremely warm to cooler, as you move from the back of the ship in the engine room, toward the front of the ship to the bridge. Besides evoking a mood associated with the character who spends the most time in each area, the color scheme also alludes to
47700-496: Was meant to include an online multiplayer mode, it was excluded because the Xbox Live service was not yet available. Halo was not intended to be the Xbox's flagship game due to internal concerns and gaming press criticism, but Microsoft VP of game publishing Ed Fries did not act on these concerns. The Xbox's marketing heavily featured Halo , whose green color palette meshed with the console's design scheme. Halo: Combat Evolved introduced many gameplay and plot themes common to
47925-428: Was one of humanity's first Covenant enemies before going rogue in his efforts to destroy humanity. In Halo: Silent Storm , taking place near the start of the war between humanity and the Covenant, Nizat is the Fleetmaster of the Covenant Fleet of Inexorable Obedience. In this role, Nizat destroys a number of human colonies and clashes with the Spartans under the leadership of John-117 during Operation: SILENT STORM where
48150-411: Was pure chance she had become the voice of Keyes in the first place. When IGN asked Benz what she thought of her character, she admitted she hadn't played the game. The role was recast for Halo 3 , where Justis Bolding assumes the role. Olive Gray portrays a markedly different iteration of Miranda Keyes in the television series. Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey is a civilian scientist. She works with
48375-473: Was recorded using a 60-piece orchestra, along with a 24-voice chorus. The final soundtrack was recorded by the Northwest Sinfonia at Studio X in Seattle, Washington. The soundtracks were bundled and released as a box set in December 2008. A soundtrack for Halo 3: ODST was released alongside the game and included many of the tracks from the game. For Bungie's last game in the Halo series, Halo: Reach , Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori returned to compose
48600-437: Was released August 2013 with Brian Reed returning as writer. Also announced was Halo: Escalation , an ongoing comic series covering the period directly after Halo 4 . Firefly (series) Firefly is an American space Western drama television series, created by writer and director Joss Whedon , under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive producer , along with Tim Minear . The series
48825-408: Was released for the Xbox One on October 27, 2015. The game takes place across many worlds, mainly the Elite homeworld, and revolves around Spartan Locke's hunt for the rogue Master Chief, who is trying to find a still-living Cortana. The third part of the Reclaimer Saga, Halo Infinite , was announced during E3 2018 . It brings the focus back to Master Chief, and Halo's roots by taking place on
49050-432: Was released on October 22, 2012, followed by a two-disc Special Edition on November 6. Neil Davidge served as an out-of-house composer for 343 Industries which proved to be very expensive leading Kazuma Jinnouchi to take over the responsibility of music production for Halo 5: Guardians . The music by Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi for Halo 4 received mixed reviews, being recognized as creative music but too different from
49275-458: Was released on iTunes on September 15, 2010, and in a two-disc set on September 28, 2010. For Halo Wars , the task of creating the game's music fell to Stephen Rippy . Rippy listened to O'Donnell's soundtracks for inspiration and incorporated the Halo theme into parts of his arrangements. In addition to synthesized and orchestral components, the composer focused on the choir and piano as essential elements, feeling these were important in creating
49500-581: Was released on the Xbox 360 on September 25, 2007. It adds to the series vehicles, weapons, and a class of items called equipment. The game also includes a limited map-editing tool, known as the Forge , which allows players to insert game objects, such as weapons and vehicles, into existing multiplayer map geometry. Players can save a recording of their gameplay sessions, and view them as video, from any angle. Following Halo 3 ' s release, Bungie became an independent company once more. They created two more Halo games as part of their deal with Microsoft:
49725-404: Was released worldwide on November 6, 2012, achieving record sales for the franchise. In a new addition to the series, a story-driven multiplayer campaign entitled Spartan Ops was released over the weeks following Halo 4 ' s release, telling what happened after the end of the main game. In announcing the formation of 343 Industries, Microsoft also announced that Xbox Live would be home to
49950-406: Was revealed in Halo: Escalation that Jul 'Mdama's faction was only one of many factions self-proclaiming to be a new "Covenant". First appearing in the Kilo-Five trilogy , Jul is depicted as a member of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, a religious Covenant splinter faction that is opposed to the Arbiter and his emerging Swords of Sanghelios government. However, Jul is shown to have only joined
50175-445: Was static in Halo: Combat Evolved , and that despite the character's potential, "he sort of inherited those caricature aspects [from Halo ]." Contact Harvest was a chance "to do right" by the character. Luke Cuddy identified Johnson's character arc as closely tied to the series' themes of struggle and sacrifice. He has been included in critic lists of the best black video game characters. Captain Jacob Keyes (voiced by Pete Stacker)
50400-484: Was used to promote the release of Halo 2 . The game revolved around a website created by 42 Entertainment , commissioned by Microsoft and endorsed by Bungie. Over the course of the game, audio clips were released that eventually formed a complete five-hour story set on Earth between Halo and Halo 2 . Similarly, Iris was used as a viral marketing campaign for the release of Halo 3 . It featured five web servers containing various media files related to
50625-468: Was written by Ed Fries, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft, in 2010 for the Atari 2600 . The Halo theme tune was also available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock . In Forza Horizon 4 one level has the player racing across the map in the Warthog as the Master Chief, with the Halo ring visible in the sky, Cortana on the radio and various Covenant based obstacles to avoid. In 2006, in acknowledgment of
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