Master Chief

Master Chief (real name John-117) is the last of the Spartan II warriors – an elite group of genetically superior, highly trained super-soldiers.

Spartan 117 is expert in all weapon and combat systems. He can run faster, jump higher and hit harder than any normal human. He is the perfect weapon, honed by years of battlefield experience and possessing a natural talent for war, unmatched by anyone left alive. He is our last and best hope.

Cortana

Cortana is the highly advanced AI (UNSC’s most sophisticated) at the heart of the Pillar of Autumn spacecraft. Her design allows her to be uploaded into an appropriately configured battle suit, or to represent herself in holographic form.

After helping destroy the first Halo by piggybacking on the Master Chief’s armor, she formed a closer bond with him – but that bond was wrenched apart by events on Delta Halo. Her last known location was aboard the Flood-infested Covenant capital ship, High Charity, in the thrall of the Flood hive intelligence – the Gravemind.

Sergeant Johnson

The battle-hardened Sergeant is the longtime cohort of the Master Chief. No other human knows the Master Chief as well as this capable and brilliant marine. Johnson is that most singular of soldiers; a professional who’s never more at home than in the thick of battle, and a loyal fearless warrior who will do anything for his men, and his home world.

Prophet of Truth

The deluded, possibly insane leader of the entire Covenant civilization, this pontiff is leading his followers down a suicidal path.

The Prophet of Truth intends to activate the Halo array at any cost, and is happy to sacrifice his culture to do so. The Prophet fully believes that he can follow the Forerunners to their mysterious final destination and share their ancient and unlimited power. The Prophet also knows that the secret to this power may lie in the ancient sands of Earth.

Prophets

The religious and political leaders of the Covenant, Prophets are an elite class of bureaucrats. The theology that they apply to the Covenant species is based on the belief that firing the Halo array will herald, and indeed instigate a “Great Journey” which they appear to believe will result in some kind of sublimation event.

The Arbiter

This disgraced Covenant Commander was stripped of his rank and privilege and forced to don the ancient Armor of the Arbiter. Following this traditional Elite custom, a warrior is sent on a final suicide mission to claim great honor in death.

In the pursuit of this mission, the Arbiter discovered that the Covenant’s Great Journey was a lie, and subsequently began a civil war that has shaken the foundations of the Covenant. The Arbiter’s people, the Elites, have joined humanity’s sturggle against the rest of the Covenant.

Brutes

A shift in Covenant hierarchy after the Elite civil insurrection has put Brutes in a position of military command. Until recently the Brutes played second fiddle to the Elites. With their former superior gone, the Brutes have wasted no time in to applying their pack and Alpha male mentality to their Covenant role. They are powerful, dangerous, and prone to acts of berserker violence.

Elites

Formerly the ruling military class of the Covenant, the Elites are proud, storied fighters with a long and interesting history. Their recent split from the Covenant is based on differences in religious interpretation of the “Great Journey” but the schism runs deeper than that. The Elites have allied with their former Human foes in part because of a deep-seated resentment of the Prophet rule and in part because they actually understand the scale of the Flood problem.

Hunters

Hunters are incredibly dangerous foes, deployed more like equipment than soldiers. They are brought in by the Covenant for demolition or heavy defense, and always work in pairs. These massive creatures appear to be composed of multiple organisms that exist within the Hunter armor, creating a hive creature in bipedal form. Near-impenetrable armor and a devestating hand-held plasma weapon make Hunter pairs very problematic.

Jackals

Excellent shots, the Jackals seem to be higher in Covenant status if not necessarily rank than the Grunts. They often will be found in defensive positions fighting from behind their distinctive energy shields. A well-used shield makes a Jackal a difficult target, but the notch they use to return fire provides a weak spot that can be exploited.

Grunts

The basic infantry unit of the Covenant, Grunts are dangerous in groups but present little threat individually. Tough, physically strong and capable with a wide range of Covenant hardware, they are a significant military force. However, their discipline is hierarchy reliant and based on the security that comes with strict leadership and strength of numbers. Leaderless, they present significantly less resistance.

Drones

Best considered a kind of airborne infantry, these flying insectile warriors occupy an unusual stratum in the Covenant hierarchy. Drones do not interact with other species except to trade and serve in a military capacity. Their ability to fight on the wing makes them an excellent strategic weapon against ground-based, largely bipedal opponents.

Flood

The Flood (sometimes called The Parasite by the Covenant) is a virulent, parasitic lifeform that thrives by consuming other sentient life of sufficient biomass.

The Flood appears in three primary forms: Infection, Combat, and Carrier, but also can evolve into the ‘Gravemind’ form that appears to act as a kind of hive-mind for the entire species. All of these forms have an attraction to any calcium-based life form of sufficient mass to accommodate them and will try to attack/infect any they encounter.

Gravemind

When the virulent Flood organism reaches a certain critical mass, it develops a centralized intelligence, which calls itself a Gravemind. This is the Flood personified, and it carries with it the genetic memory of millenia of slumber.

The thing was stopped once before by the Forerunner activation of the Halo weapon, but it will not be stopped this time by a weak alliance of ruined humanity or the deluded obsessions of the Prophet of Truth. The Gravemind intends to achieve its ultimate purpose – to consume and absorb every thinking creature in the Galaxy.