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{{work|wppage=Halo (franchise)}}
[[File:halo_master-chief_7534.jpg|frame|Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. Designation: SPARTAN-117. Occupation: Kicking Alien Ass.
{{quote|''"[[When All You Have Is a Hammer|Thought I'd try shooting my way out.]] [[Lampshade Hanging|Mix things up a little.]]"''|'''Master Chief''', [[Lampshade Hanging|summarizing the series]] in ''[[Halo 3]]''}}
{{Outdated}}
Not to be confused with a [[Holy Halo]], although [[Rule of Symbolism|the parallels are intentional]].
'''''Halo''''' is a massive video game series and one of the premiere franchises exclusive to the [[
The core of ''Halo'' gameplay revolves around the wrinkles it presents in the [[First-Person Shooter]] formula.
* There is no [[Hyperspace Arsenal]] to speak of (although in the first two games, the weapon you didn't have equipped was invisible to other players); you can only carry two different guns at a time. The ammo for each gun is incompatible with any other weapon type (subverting [[Universal Ammo]]), which means finding ammo for your assault rifle requires you to find another assault rifle (there are very few ammo stockpiles and for the most part armories are still limited on certain weapons), and you ''can't'' reload most of the [[Frickin' Laser Beams|plasma weapons]] used by the Covenant. [[Blatant Item Placement]] is also averted; you can grab any weapons dropped by anyone. The guns all have different purposes and performance, so adapting your loadout to fit the situation is a smart idea.
* You have access to three different forms of attack: guns, [[Pistol-Whipping]], and grenades. All three have their own dedicated controller buttons and all three can be used ''at the same time'', with no delays for [[Real Time Weapon Change]]. Melee attacks are a [[One-Hit Kill]] if delivered from behind (and decent damage from any other angle), while grenades come in "[[Stuff Blowing Up|standard frag]]" and "[[Sticky Bomb|stick to the target before exploding]]" varieties, later entries to the series added "[[Kill It with Fire|sets things on fire]]," and "[[Spikes of Doom|shoots spikes]]" flavors. Each attack is a viable and useful option, and the available tactics are a lot broader when you've got three different triggers to pull.
* Vehicles are prevalent and are integrated seamlessly into gameplay: if you run across a jeep, or a hoverbike, or a tank, or even a [[Space Plane]], you can jump right in and the game shifts instantly to a third-person perspective, with no [[Loading Screen]] or separate map or anything. Relatedly, many of the franchise's campaign levels are
* The [[Player Character]] has [[Deflector Shields]] built into his armor (which is [[All There in the Manual|justified perfectly in-universe]]). If they go down, damage is applied directly to your lifebar, but if you avoid enemy fire for a few seconds, your shields will be restored to full strength. It effectively becomes [[Regenerating Health]], especially in the later games when the underlying lifebar was removed entirely. Because you technically have infinite [[Hit Points]], you can focus on the current engagement without [[Resources Management Gameplay|worrying about surviving the entire level on your current lifebar]]. Of course, Bungie took advantage of that to stage intense and frantic battles, increasing the emphasis on knowing when to retreat and recharge your shields.
* Movement speed is a lot slower than older shooters, partly to compensate for the inaccuracy of a joystick and partly for more "serious" gameplay. Going by scale, Doomguy moved about 50 miles per hour without strafe running, whilst the Master Chief can't break 23 KPH (despite the [[Canon]] tie-in novels announcing that he can run at about 50+ KPH, which is about thirty miles per hour). This is also a product of the wide environments, which often supply multiple ways to complete a level; paying attention to the [[Scenery Porn]] is almost mandatory. (Strangely, the Master Chief also has an extremely "floaty" jump, allowing him to clear obstructions taller than himself and hang in the air for a full second.)
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As you can see, it's a gameplay style that is both twitchy and cerebral, with room for the guns-blazing approach ''and'' significant tactical depth. The style has been preserved, with only a few tweaks for the sequels ([[Dual-Wielding]], new or rebalanced weapons, new vehicles, some power-ups, etc) throughout the franchise... not to mention [[Follow the Leader|nearly every modern shooter game]] since. Its influence can be seen anywhere from ''[[Gears of War]]'' (which spins the [[Regenerating Health]] and [[Take Cover]] aspects into a core mechanic) to ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' (two weapons; always-accessible melee) to... its own sequels, which, after ''Halo 3'', deliberately stepped back to the style of the original.
The plot is also fairly complex and alongside the gameplay sometimes requires you to engage in atypical combat. The music and voice acting are nothing to sneer at either. What has made the series so longlasting is the
''Halo'' is one of the best-known [[Killer App|Killer Apps]]. When the original [[
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* ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', the first ''Halo'' game, the Combat Evolved tagline now used to differentiate it from the series as a whole.
* ''[[Halo 2]]'', which was originally supposed to be one game, merged with ''Halo 3''.
* ''[[Halo 3]]'', the conclusion of the original trilogy and the climax of the Covenant war.
* ''[[Halo 3: ODST|Halo 3 ODST]]'', takes place during ''Halo 3'', which was always planned as a DLC, but it grew to become its own game.
* ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', a prequel to the original, but never planned.
* ''[[Halo 4]]'', the first part of "The Reclaimer Trilogy".
* ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
* ''[[Halo Infinite]]''
''Reach'' is Bungie's last ''Halo'' project, with Microsoft opening "[[Arc Number|343]] Industries", tasked with managing the Halo franchise. There are also several novels and a comic book series to make up the [[Expanded Universe]]. The exact future of the Halo universe both in video games and other forms of media is the subject of much speculation.
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At the 2011 E3 convention, two new ''Halo'' games were announced. One is an [[Updated Rerelease]]/[[Video Game Remake]] of the original ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', titled ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1J3z_2Uep8 Halo: Anniversary]'', which will contain updated graphics and campaign and use the ''Halo: Reach'' engine for online multi-player play. The second game is the next chapter in the ''Halo'' series, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9YsrobXezI Halo 4]''.
* ''
** ''[[Halo Wars]]''
** ''[[Halo Wars 2]]''
* ''Spartan'' series
** ''[[Halo: Spartan Assault]]''
** ''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''
{{examples|''Halo'' Books:}}
== Halo Books: ==▼
* ''[[The Fall of Reach]]'', a prequel to ''Combat Evolved'' and the book that spawned the expanded universe, written concurrently with the original game.
* ''[[The Flood]]'', a novelization of ''Combat Evolved'' which expands on the events on the first Halo ring.
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** ''[[Halo: Glasslands|Glasslands]]''
** ''The Thursday War''
== Halo [[Alternate Reality Game|Alternate Reality Games]]: ==▼
* ''[[I Love Bees]]''
* ''Iris''
* ''[[Halo Legends]]'', an [[Anime]] [[Miniseries]]
* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', a [[Fan Work]] that has since become a lucrative franchise in its own right, with [[Rooster Teeth]] being recruited by [[Promoted Fanboy|Bungie themselves]] to promote the newer games and reveal new features, as well as having an [[Easter Egg]] [[Cameo]] in ''[[Halo 3]]'' and the Grifball game mode.
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Check out the [[Halo (series)/Characters|character sheet]].
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== ''Halo'' General ==▼
* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: The Needler, Needle rifle, and related weapons shoot pink to purple crystals that detonate a few seconds after impact.
▲== Halo General ==
* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Captain Keyes looks ''much'' younger in ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' and ''Anniversary'' than he did in the original ''Combat Evolved''.
▲* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: The Needler, Needle rifle, and related weapons shoot pink to purple crystals that detonate a few seconds after impact.
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: Not so much for any characters (the Covenant notwithstanding), but for UNSC ship names. The ones from the games are poetic and [[Cloudcuckoolander|a little bit weird]]: ''Pillar of Autumn'', ''Spirit of Fire'', ''Aegis Fate'', ''In Amber Clad'', ''Forward Unto Dawn'', and ''Say My Name''. But ships from the novels tend to have (more) normal names like ''Leviathan'', ''Fairweather'', ''Gettysburg'', ''Texas'', and (eventually) ''[[Dirty Harry|Do You Feel Lucky?]]''. The odd ship names are very likely a nod to [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks']] ''[[The Culture|Culture]]'' universe [[wikipedia:List of ships
▲* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: Captain Keyes looks ''much'' younger in ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' and ''Anniversary'' than he did in the original ''Combat Evolved''.
▲* [[Aerith and Bob]]: Not so much for any characters (the Covenant notwithstanding), but for UNSC ship names. The ones from the games are poetic and [[Cloudcuckoolander|a little bit weird]]: ''Pillar of Autumn'', ''Spirit of Fire'', ''Aegis Fate'', ''In Amber Clad'', ''Forward Unto Dawn'', and ''Say My Name''. But ships from the novels tend to have (more) normal names like ''Leviathan'', ''Fairweather'', ''Gettysburg'', ''Texas'', and (eventually) ''[[Dirty Harry|Do You Feel Lucky?]]''. The odd ship names are very likely a nod to [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks']] ''[[The Culture|Culture]]'' universe [[wikipedia:List of ships chr(28)The Culturechr(29)|and the shipnames of the Culture]], a setting which also has giant ringworlds. This trope's prevalence in ''Halo'' really [[Depending on the Writer|depends on the writer]]. For example, in ''[[Halo Evolutions]]'' had a story called "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian" written by former Bungie staff Frankie O'Connor takes place in ship called "The Heart of Midlothian.
▲* [[Aggressive Negotiations]]: A Grunt nervously pulls this and starts the entire war.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: Think Halo is just some generic thoughtless [[A Space Marine Is You]] ''[[Doom]]''-clone? [https://web.archive.org/web/20120702163337/http://www.halopedian.com/Main_Page Think again.] There's ''tons'' of supplemental material for the multimedia universe, often including ''the actual manuals''.
▲* [[AI Is a Crapshoot]]
* [[AKA-47]]: Sniper Rifle System 99D-S2 Anti-Matériel bears a heavy resemblance to the South African made NTW-20, manufactured by the Mechem division of the DENEL group, sharing many of the same features; chambering for the 14.5 x 114mm round, the stock, carrying handle/scope guard and the muzzle brake.
▲* [[All There in the Manual]]: Think Halo is just some generic thoughtless [[A Space Marine Is You]] ''[[Doom]]''-clone? [http://www.halopedian.com/Main_Page Think again.] There's ''tons'' of supplemental material for the multimedia universe, often including ''the actual manuals''.
▲* [[AKA-47]]: Sniper Rifle System 99D-S2 Anti-Matériel bears a heavy resemblance to the South African made NTW-20, manufactured by the Mechem division of the DENEL group, sharing many of the same features; chambering for the 14.5 x 114mm round, the stock, carrying handle/scope guard and the muzzle brake.
** According to Robert McLees, the MA5B/C Assault rifle is [[Averted Trope|NOT]] based off of the Belgian FN 2000, though he grudgingly admits that people would think that after comparing the two
{{quote|"I don't know when the images of the FN F2000 appeared, but I didn't see them until three or four months after the game shipped, and I thought 'Oh great. Now everyone's going to think I swiped the design from Fabrique National.' It was surreal to see how close the Halo assault rifle was to its real-life counterpart... and it was all totally by accident."|'''Robert McLees,Writer and Keeper of the Halo Story Bible'''}}
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* [[Alternate Reality Game]] - ''[[I Love Bees]]''
** Also IRIS for ''Halo 3'', Hell, simply visiting Bungie.net can also qualify, due to their love of [[Painting the Fourth Wall]], or hiding clues to future projects in unassuming places.
* [[
* [[And I Must Scream]] '''Jenkins''' and {{spoiler|Keyes when the Flood begins to absorb him. [[Survival Mantra|Reciting his name, rank, and number]] was his only way to fight. It didn't last.}}
* [[Angry Black Man]]: "Who needs a Johnson beatdown?"
* [[The Antichrist]]: The Covenant sees all Spartans, especially the Master Chief as this.
* [[Arc Number]] (7)
** And its powers, especially 7^3 (343), 7^4 (2401) and 7^6 ('''117'''649).
** If you start counting at 0, like programmers do, the powers of 7 are 1,7,49,343,2401,etc. The 4th one is 343, the 5th is 2401. {{spoiler|Which has a strong correlation with which Monitors live at which installations.}}
** 9 also is used
* [[Artifact Title]]: ''ODST'', and most of the [[Expanded Universe]] don't actually feature the Halos. A Halo Installation is present in ''Reach'', but only in
** Except the ''Origins'' episode of ''[[Halo Legends]]'', which explains the creation of the very first Halo, so of course it does have a Halo in it.
** Buck mentioned in an ODST promotional trailer highlighting the characters that the Rookie is only a rookie ''to the team''. He has had plenty of experience and you don't become an ODST without it.
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* [[Badass Baritone]]: The Arbiter
* [[Badass Creed]]: The unit motto of the 105th Orbital Drop Shock Troopers is "Feet first into hell," hence their moniker "Helljumpers". ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' gives us an additional tidbit:
{{quote|
* [[Badass Crew]]: The Spartans.
** The ODST Squad in ''ODST'' also count.
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** Miranda Keyes: Takes down two Brutes by herself and wounds several others with just a shotgun and a pistol.
* [[Big Bad Ensemble]]: In the first trilogy, your top enemies are:
** The Covenant, lead by the Prophet of Truth, is a religious, genocidal coalition of [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]] bent on (unknowingly) causing intergalactic extermination by activating the Halo Array, as a means to "begin the [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|Great Journey]]".
** The Flood are a parasitic, mutated virus, represented by the Gravemind, that seek to literally feed on every organic species in the universe.
** The Sentinels, spearheaded by their Monitors (i.e. 343 Guilty Spark), were created to contain the Flood, as well as anyone else that sought to prevent the firing of the Halo rings, and wished to steal the rings' activation indexes for their own purposes (the two go hand in hand).
* [[Big Dumb Object]]: The titular Halo installations.
* [[Black and Gray Morality]]
** The [[The Federation|UNSC]] is fundamentally benevolent, but somewhat heavy-handed with its colonies, and willing to resort to questionable methods for survival.
** The [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|Insurrectionists]] had legitimate grievances with the UNSC's aforementioned heavy-handedness, but extremist elements pushed them towards terrorism.
** The [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Covenant]]'s ruling caste is highly corrupt (and in some cases, possibly borderline insane), and the [[Killer Space Monkey|Brutes]] are [[Blood Knight|aggressive and violent by nature]], but the rest are either [[Corrupt Church|misguided by religious fervor]], [[Cannon Fodder|expendable slaves for all intents and purposes]], [[Actual Pacifist|just tagging along to fix stuff]], otherwise coerced into serving the Covenant, or simply [[Punch Clock Villain|mercenaries with no real grudge against humans]].
*** The Prophet of Truth, however is a definite [[Omnicidal Maniac]].
** The [[Precursors|Forerunners]] genuinely wished to protect the galaxy and its inhabitants, but they grew complacent because of their extremely advanced technology, and when [[The Virus|the Flood]] came knocking, they could only fulfill their duty as Guardians of the younger species of the galaxy by taking the Flood with themselves in a desperate last resort plan -- which could be interpreted as a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] or the cost of their foolishness, depending on how idealistic/cynical one is.
** The [[Zombie Apocalypse|Flood]] had killed and infected trillions of people, but their leading hive mind, [[Eldritch Abomination|Gravemind]], sincerely believes that he simply [[Utopia Justifies the Means|bring peace and prosperity]] to a galaxy which simply doesn't understand the Flood due to ignorance and fear.
*** While that is never explicitly said, there are many allusions to it, particularly after it becomes clear to it that it has lost:
{{quote|
'''Gravemind:''' Resignation is my virtue; like water I ebb, and flow. Defeat is simply the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved... but you imposed. }}
*** Hell, its personality is so alien in every sense of the word that [[Blue and Orange Morality|anything could go]].
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* [[Beneath the Mask]] Cortana , and every Ai that is secretly Rampant
* [[Cain and Abel]]: Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias. {{spoiler|Except it's Abel (Offensive) who defeats Cain, by leading him into a trap.}}
* [[Character Exaggeration]]: The Covenant's potential to "[[The End of the World as We Know It|glass]]" entire planets is subject to a strong degree of exaggeration [[In-Universe]]. While they certainly have the capacity to reduce an entire planet's surface to glass using their energy weapons, it is a very lengthy process, and [[Awesome but Impractical|though impressive, is rarely worth the time it takes]], leading the Covenant to focus on glassing major population centers and doing a few other token sweeps. With atmospheric convection, the destruction is equally deadly if less absolute. For their part, the Covenant boast of their ability to cleanse entire planets, while reports to the UNSC exaggerate the destructive potential to galvanize humanity into action. This is backed up by information from one of the datapads in ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', saying that the Covenant do not have the resources to glass an entire planet and wage a multi-system war at the same time, and that to '''entirely''' glass Earth would require about thirty years of continuous bombardment by a fleet of equal size to that possessed by the UNSC.
▲* [[Character Exaggeration]]: The Covenant's potential to "[[The End of the World as We Know It|glass]]" entire planets is subject to a strong degree of exaggeration [[In-Universe]]. While they certainly have the capacity to reduce an entire planet's surface to glass using their energy weapons, it is a very lengthy process, and [[Awesome but Impractical|though impressive, is rarely worth the time it takes]], leading the Covenant to focus on glassing major population centers and doing a few other token sweeps. With atmospheric convection, the destruction is equally deadly if less absolute. For their part, the Covenant boast of their ability to cleanse entire planets, while reports to the UNSC exaggerate the destructive potential to galvanize humanity into action. This is backed up by information from one of the datapads in ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', saying that the Covenant do not have the resources to glass an entire planet and wage a multi-system war at the same time, and that to '''entirely''' glass Earth would require about thirty years of continuous bombardment by a fleet of equal size to that possessed by the UNSC.
* [[The Chosen One]]: Master Chief has been set up within the games and in the expanded universe as being a particularly special spartan.
* [[Cold Sniper]]: Romeo and Linda.
** Seemingly subverted with Jun-266, who in the Reach teaser actually comes off as fairly friendly and chatty...then you read his profile which describes him as having [https://web.archive.org/web/20120515124950/http://www.bungie.net/projects/reach/article.aspx?ucc=personnel&cid=24522 "an unhealthy emotional detachment in regards to the consequences of his actions?]. So it seems to be played straight.
* [[Colon Cancer]]: ''Halo: Combat Evolved: Anniversary Edition.''
* [[Command Roster]]: A Bungie [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs2TPo7z0sM ViDoc] for ''Reach'' spells it out fairly well.
** Carter "Noble 1:" [[The Captain]]
** Kat "Noble 2:" [[The Engineer]]/[[Playful Hacker]]/[[The Cracker]]
** Jun "Noble 3:" [[Cold Sniper]]
** Emil "Noble 4:" The Marine (Appears to be [[Hot-Blooded]])
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** Humorously enough, there is an actual band called "Pillar of Autumn" that got their name from the ship.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: Quite a few of them. Regret's carrier being able to jump inside Earth's atmosphere in ''Halo 2'' is probably a nod towards the scene in ''First Strike'' in which Cortana discovers that this can be done by making the ''Ascendant Justice'' enter slipspace within a gas giant.
** ''The Package'' has the Master Chief interact with {{spoiler|Dr. Halsey}} face to face and she acts exactly like Cortana, right down to telling him "Don't make a promise to a girl if you know you can't keep it."
*** To be honest, this scene from ''The Package'' is almost painful to watch. It's as if the writers tried to do their version of Tosh.0's "How many jokes can I do in 30 seconds?" using quotes from Cortana and the Chief from the main three games.
*** Justified in that Cortana ''is'' Halsey, save in AI format, considering the process that it takes to make a true AI.
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** Romeo, so very much.
* [[Defector From Decadence]] (The Arbiter and Elites)
* [[Deflector Shields]]: Used extensively by The Covenant, and to a more limited extent by the UNSC after reverse-engineering The Covenant's shield technology.
* [[Demonic Spider]]: While some of the stronger Covenant/Flood could qualify, the Hunter stands out the most. In the first game, they are easily defeated with a [[Attack Its Weak Point|pistol shot to their backside]], but in later Halo games, none of your weapons can 1-shot them anymore, and they also have a back attack now, so should you try to flank them, they can simply smack their shield backwards on you. While they're easier to beat in a co-op/
* [[Determinator]] - The Spartans, especially the Master Chief.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]] - Sergeant Major Johnson's rank was abbreviated to "Sergeant" many times; even in the first game, his rank was not Sergeant, but Staff Sergeant. (Marine ranks are never abbreviated to the point of losing distinction.)
* [[Doomed Hometown]] - The colony of Reach. Also, the homeworld of every single SPARTAN-II.
* [[Doomsday Device]], [[Depopulation Bomb]] - The Halos.
* [[Drop Pod]] - Human Entry Vehicles, the entire purpose of the ODST "Helljumpers." Elites are often dropped in similar Covenant pods.
* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]] - What happened to Alpha Halo. And the Ark. And Alpha Halo's replacement. And the titular planet in ''Ghosts of Onyx'': after nuclear warheads were set off in its core, it was revealed to be made of trillions of Sentinels. Forerunner worlds have a thing for getting blown up directly, or indirectly, by Spartans.
** Also from ''Ghost Of Onyx'', the so-called "Nova Bomb." (also a [[Chekhov's Gun]] since it was mentioned in an earlier novel, but didn't become a factor until a later book.) The bomb was accidentally set off aboard a Covenant ship in orbit of a planet and it proceeded to instantly vaporize an entire separatist fleet of hundreds of ships (which had been preparing to totally crush the brutes), shatter a nearby moon to pieces, and burn off the entire atmosphere of the planet below it as well as scorching the entire near side into a hellscape. The weapon in question was perhaps the size of a mini van... and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120101052101/http://www.halopedian.com/
** In ''Halo Wars'', the crew of the UNSC ''Spirit of Fire'' destroys a Forerunner Shield World by overloading the ship's fusion core and sending it into its sun. The result is a Death Star-like explosion.
** In ''Halo Evolutions'', {{spoiler|Admiral Cole fires a hundred nuclear warheads into the gas giant Viperidae's core, turning it into a momentary star and decimating the Covenant fleet.}} Also a case of [[No Kill Like Overkill]] and a possible [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
** While the glassing of the most human colonies doesn't technically count, it does render those planets uninhabitable.
* [[Earth That Used to Be Better]]
* [[Eldritch Abomination]] (Gravemind and the Flood.)
** {{spoiler|The last Precursor, who turns out to be a Gravemind himself}}
* [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]: It goes ''Halo [Combat Evolved]'', ''Halo 2'', ''Halo 3'' (and expansion), and then ''Halo: Reach''.
* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: Master Chief, a.k.a. Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117, a.k.a. "John", the Arbiter, the Rookie in ''ODST'', and the Lieutenant in ''Reach''.
* [[Eviler Than Thou]]: The Gravemind vs. the Prophet of Truth.
* [[Evil Overlord]]: Truth has shades of this, given that his underlings are religious zealots that believe they'll [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]] if they ''murder the entire universe''.
* [[Expanded Universe]]: Anime, Literature, Live-Action shorts and a Film in development, among other things.
* [[Experienced Protagonist]]: The various player characters of the ''Halo'' series have been fighting the Covenant invasion - or, in the case of the Arbiter, fighting ''for'' them - for years to decades by the time of the first game they're playable in.
* [[Exposition Fairy]]: Cortana. Serina, in ''Halo Wars''. And to a much lesser extent, just about all the male AI units out there.
* [[Extremely Short Timespan]]: ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' begins on July 24th, 2552. In ''Halo3'', the war officially ends on March 3rd, 2553. All five ([[Halo 4|extant]]) ([[Halo Wars|first-person-shooter]]) [[Overly Narrow Superlative|games in the series]] take place during those nine months.
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* [[The Faceless]]: Master Chief again. Same goes for the Rookie, and possibly the Lieutenant.
** In ''The Fall of Reach'' he's described {{spoiler|as having graying hair, and ghostly skin from wearing the armor all the time.}} Somehow, knowing that only makes him look more badass in-game.
** For those interested, we actually do now have an image of John 117 without his armor several decades before the ''Halo'' trilogy begins thanks to the graphic novels: https://web.archive.org/web/20120702170414/http://www.halopedian.com/John-117.
*** Additionally, the Halo 3 trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnYKHJz_6XY Starry Night] shows Master Chief as a kid, although his face is darkened by the night.
** His face is visible under '''just''' the right conditions [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3bQPHT6lrE in Halo 3].
*** That's actually the face of Marcus Lehto, the Creative Art Director at Bungie. The inclusion of his face in the Halo 3 beta was an
** The only image that Bungie has released thus far of an adult Master Chief without a helmet was their 2010 Christmas Card [https://web.archive.org/web/20120625143217/http://www.bungie.net/images/news/inline10/121710/Holiday_Card_2010.jpg
* [[Fantastic Rank System]]: The Covenant have a completely different rank system, with different ranks existing for different races.
* [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]: The Covenant are a theocratic, imperialistic hegemony with a sword wielding warrior class. They name there weapons and vehicles with a Type-(Number) system. They fight a naval battle against Eaglelandish marines. Imperial Japan anyone?
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* [[Gas Mask Mooks]] - Grunts, since they are methane breathers.
* [[Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter]]: The Gravemind speaks in trochaic [[Arc Number|septameter]].
* [[Hero Antagonist]]: Sesa 'Refumee's Heretics are disillusioned Grunts and Elites that found out the truth about Halo and formed a resistance movement against the Covenant, but remained an independent organization in their own right, centrally opposing the Covenant and attempting to sway more defectors to their cause.
** Arguably, the Insurrectionists can be seen as this as well, though their [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|methods of combating the UNSC]] aren't as noble as [[Defector From Decadence|their motives for wanting out of it]].
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]] - {{spoiler|Sergeant John Forge in ''Halo Wars''}} The books contain several good examples, as well.
** {{spoiler|The Arbiter}} tries to do this early in ''Halo 2'', until {{spoiler|Tartarus rescues him at the last minute. Whoever holds the title is typically sent on suicide missions anyway, so it's to be expected.}}
** {{spoiler|Spartan Kurt 051 does this}} in ''Ghosts of Onyx'', {{spoiler|1=setting off a FENRIS nuke to prevent the Covenant from
** {{spoiler|Cmdr Keyes almost sacrifices herself and Johnson to prevent activation of the rings, but Truth guns her down himself.}}
** {{spoiler|In ''First Strike'', Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb and Lt. Harveson lured the entire Covenant fleet to the doomed Covenant Station''Unyielding Hierophant''. When it exploded, it destroyed over four hundred vessels, achieving one of the greatest UNSC military victories in the war, and delaying the invasion of Earth.}}
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120106032235/http://www.halopedian.com/Thom-293 Thom-293], best known for the ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKRlWLDWhGI Deliver Hope]'' trailer, who saved Kat's life by delivering the tac-nuke to the Covenant ship. Noble Six, the protagonist of ''Halo Reach'', replaces him.
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|In ''Halo: Reach'', Jorge has a sacrifice when he manually detonates a "Slipspace bomb" to destroy a Covenant supercarrier. Carter has a sacrifice when he flies a Pelican into a Scarab to save Emile and Six. The ''[[Player Character|player]]'' has a sacrifice when he stays behind on Reach to cover the Pillar of Autumn's escape, which he only has to do in the first place because Emile is killed just before attempting to do the same thing. Reach is basically ''made of'' [[Heroic Sacrifice]].}}
* [[Hit and Run Tactics]]: You'll need these for dealing with ''Halo 2'''s final boss, even on easy. Just take a look at what happens to your allies and decide if you want to repeat their performance.
** In ''Halo'' in general it was best to use your rechargeable shields to pick off enemies one by one, retreating when under too much fire. This allows you to wittle down their numbers slowly rather than taking the whole squad on at once. Particularly important in the first ''Halo'', where your health didn't recharge when your shields did.
* [[Hive Mind]]: Gravemind. Its computing power rivaled the entire Forerunner empire's data capabilities. You also have the Proto-Gravemind that's present on the {{spoiler|Truth and Reconciliation with Keyes inside}}, as well as the Proto-Graveminds which serve as Flood bases in ''Halo Wars.''
** ''Primordium'' shows that {{spoiler|Halo 007 is crawling with dormant ones.}} [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Thanks a lot, Didact!]]
** {{spoiler|The Timeless One is also Gravemind}}
* [[Holding Back the Phlebotinum]]: Why the UNSC does not field their emerging [[Deflector Shields|shield technology]] more widely. [[All There in the Manual|According to Dr. Halsey's diary]] that accompanies the [[Special Edition]] of ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', humans have a very good understanding of shield technology now, but it is limited by two major related factors: size and power. As the volume of area to be shielded grows, the power requirements to maintain the shield increase exponentially. Shielding an entire starship would require several times more power than that ship can generate. However, shielding an infantryman or small vehicle has more modest power requirements,
* [[Hot Scientist]]
** If the anime is to be believed, she does.
** ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' shows her as the [[Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!]] variation on this.
** Let we forget [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090123013847/halo/images/4/43/Andersnew%27.jpg Professor Ellen Anders] from [[Halo Wars]]...
* [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]
* [[Human Popsicle]]: The Cryo sleep tubes used by the UNSC during space travel
* [[Humans Are Special]]
** Although, judging from Bornstellar and, to a lesser extent, {{spoiler|the Didact}}, {{spoiler|most Forerunners wouldn't give a crap if Humans were all vaporized by the military. It would seem that pre-Flood War era, the only Forerunner who did give a crap was the Librarian.}}
* [[Humans Are Their Own Precursors]]: The ''Forerunner Saga'' and later games reveal that there was an earlier human civilization that encountered and fought both the Flood and Forerunners in the past. They were eventually defeated by the Forerunners and regressed forcibly back to hunter-gatherers. It would be 100,000 years before the games' main timeframe would come to be, and even then humanity not only has forgotten all of what came before, it is still but a pale shadow of its former glory.
* [[Humans Are Warriors]]
** This Trope is explored in the Halo Legends episode ''Origins'', remarking both the achievements that led humanity to be a growing civilization, and the unfathomable slaughter that war had caused upon them. After reviewing the story of both the Forerunners and Humanity, Cortana wonders whenever if warriors will ever be gone from the world... and, bitterly, she comes to the conclusion that they will never disappear, and that there would always be war.
* [[Humongous Mecha]]
* [[Insectoid Aliens]]: The Drones.
* [[It's Raining Men]]: The ODSTs , aka the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, aka the Helljumpers.
** And in ''Halo 3'', MC falls two kilometers, lands on his back, and is pretty much only stunned. Apparently, he survived it, because he surfed through the sky on a door from the Forerunners ship.
** Noble Six performs a similar act in [[Halo: Reach|Reach]] and survives a fall from orbit. However, a cutscene in the level preceding this occurrence shows that s/he is wearing a Reentry Pack and in the following level s/he is
* [[Jack of All Stats]]: Master Chief is this, as noted on the character page. In The Fall of Reach, Dr. Halsey notes that other SPARTANS are faster or stronger but Master Chief is the bravest and out of all of them (possibly in fact due to his wider and varied skill set and leadership skills) the best. According to Cortana, she chose him because he had something "the others didn't; luck. Was I wrong?"
* [[Jerkass]]: Romeo, and O'Brian from ''The Package''. He seems to regret it later though.
* [[Killer Space Monkey]] - Brutes, which the Spartans described as rabid gorillas.
** In universe, Brutes are given the derisive nickname "[[King Kong|Baby Kongs]]" by UNSC forces, often just expressed as "[[Military Alphabet|Bravo Kilos]]".
* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]]: 500 years into the future, we have AI, FTL ships, and [[Powered Armor]], however, most of the UNSC's weapons and vehicles are just shinier versions of ours. Spartan Laser, MAC, and Gauss Cannon are exceptions of course.
** Not a bad thing though, UNSC weapons tend to be more effective against the Flood than the Covenant's. Pure Forms on the other hand...
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* [[One-Man Army]]: Master Chief.
** To a lesser extent, the refit ''Pillar of Autumn'', Capt. Jacob Keyes, commanding. Of course, we only see it in the books, but, still...
* [[Oral Fixation Fixation]]: A pair, and actually quite prominent in the case of Sweet Williams Cigars. The brand is a
** Captain Keyes and his pipe, especially in the books. Given UNSC No-Smoking regulations inside ships, Keyes chews the tip to calm himself.
** Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, and his Sweet Williams Cigar. Chief Petty Officer Mendez in the books probably counts, too.
* [[Our Zombies Are Different]]: The Flood.
* [[Powered Armor]] The SPARTANs's Mjolnir armor, Elites and Brutes (to a degree). Rank and file Marines use powered exoskeletons to move heavy stuff, and the regular armor has enough muscle-enhancing technology to allow ease of movement even with heavy gear. ODST armor takes it to the next level, allowing them to use most of the weapons Spartans can carry. The suits worn by the Spartan 3s were semi-powered armor, with a watered down version of active camouflage as well.
▲* [[Powered Armor]] The SPARTANs's Mjolnir armor, Elites and Brutes (to a degree). Rank and file Marines use powered exoskeletons to move heavy stuff, and the regular armor has enough muscle-enhancing technology to allow ease of movement even with heavy gear. ODST armor takes it to the next level, allowing them to use most of the weapons Spartans can carry. The suits worn by the Spartan 3s were semi-powered armor, with a watered down version of active camouflage as well.
** The Elites armor provides some physical enhancement, but the Brutes don't. Then again, [[Lightning Bruiser|neither race need much enhancement]].
* [[Precursor Killers]] - The Flood, which ironically didn't actually ''kill'' the Forerunner, but forced the Forerunner to commit suicide. And according to ''Cryptum'', {{spoiler|the Forerunners wiped out the Precursors.}}
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** In this tale, the Brutes are also victims of the [[Deconstruction]]. The Brutes, after the deaths of their leaders, happily tinkered away with the equipment they were forbidden from using... but they were too savage, to the point the Brutes fought more among themselves than against the Elites.
* [[Puny Earthlings]] (Played straight with the Elites, Brutes, Hunters, and most Flood forms. Averted when it comes to the Grunts, Jackals, and Drones.)
* [[Rape as Drama]]: Strongly implied with the interactions between Cortana and Gravemind.
** {{spoiler|Disturbingly confirmed in the story ''Human Weakness'' in ''Halo Evolutions''. This, along with making her live the experiences of individuals prior to being consumed by the Flood, and the Gravemind giving her [[Hannibal Lecture|Hannibal Lectures]] that question not only her actions, but her very existence, drive Cortana to a tragically broken state by the time the Master Chief saves her.}}
** On the level "Cortana", a message plays on the crashed pelican which draws about as close a
{{quote|
* [[Retcon]] ''Lots'' of them. The books, video games and other media frequently contradict each other on the dates of the timeline, the history of the Covenant and the level of technology that humanity has. Official policy is that games trump books, and new material trumps old material.
** Some stories which takes place before the original ''Halo'' has neglected the fact that ''The Fall of Reach'' states that Spartan-II's did not have energy shields until just before the Battle of Reach, though in the case of ''Halo Wars'', Ensemble has admitted that this was merely a gameplay decision and that, canonically, Red Team never actually had energy shields.
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** A small one: in ''Halo Wars'', the hero unit Spartan [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|42]]'s real name is [[Douglas Adams|Douglass]].
** Another in ''Halo Wars'': sometimes, when selecting or moving UNSC flamethrower [[Kill It with Fire|Hellbringers]], they will sing [[Homestar Runner|"Burninating the countryside!"]]
** Many of the
** Many of the Daily and Weekly Challenges are quotes from well-known sci-fi names, such as "[[Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age|An Elegant Weapon/Not So Clumsy or Random]]" of Star Wars fame.
* [[Sighted Guns Are Low Tech]]
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* [[The Starscream]] - Some hints in ''Halo 2'', as well as most of the [[Expanded Universe]] stories since then have implied that Regret was this with regards to Truth.
** This is confirmed in ''The Cole Protocol'', when Regret realizes he'll be offed by the Prophet of Truth as soon as he finds no use for him, so he tries to get his own agenda fulfilled before Truth does. {{spoiler|Then the Chief punched him to death, and Truth didn't bother helping his fellow Prophet.}}
* [[Standard Sci-Fi Army]]: Naturally. Infantry dominate (from Light to Elite, and of course the Super Soldiers), although both sides use field aircraft and at least one Armored vehicle. Halo Wars expands on this, giving the UNSC Heavy and Elite infantry (the Hellbringers and Helljumpers respectively), APC's, and Anti-aircraft units. Several of the Covenant vehicles are effectively Technicals, being
* [[Standard Sci
* [[Suicide Mission]]: Occurs throughout the series, such as the Arbiter's first mission in ''Halo 2.''
* [[Super Prototype]] (Inverted with the Arbiter
* [[Survival Mantra]]: [[Tear Jerker|"Keyes, Jacob. Captain. Service number 01928-19912-JK."]]
* [[Theme Naming]]: Not the characters, however. Until ''Halo Wars'' broke the pattern, all UNSC vehicles in the games smaller than a full-size spaceship were named after animals, while Covenant vehicles were named after spooks. Most of the small craft are still named/nicknamed after animals, while space fighters tend to be named after swords.
** And even then ''Halo Wars'' only broke the pattern with the [[Shout-Out]] Cyclops and appropriately named Gremlin.
** Covenant spacecraft names are generally religious allusions, such as the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' or the ''Long Night of Solace''. UNSC ships are named based on importance to the plot - unimportant ships, if given a name at all, have perfunctory one-word names such as the ''Iroquois'' or the ''Savannah'', while more important ones have poetic names like ''Pillar of Autumn'' or ''Forward Unto Dawn''.
* [[Tyke Bomb]] (Master Chief and the other Spartans began training when they were six.)
** [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/5/50/John-117_fighting_ODST_team.png Quite literally after they got their augmentations]
* [[Tragic Monster]] - Captain Keyes, mutated into a Flood "proto-Gravemind" form. MC puts Keyes out of his misery when he retrieves the neural implants.
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* [[We Do the Impossible]]: Master Chief
** Spartans in general really, it's even said to be the "short definition of a Spartan."
* [[The Worm That Walks]]: Mgalekgolo/Hunters are a collection of worm/eel things called Lekgolo, combined to form a single entity with a single consciousness (single as in using "I, me, my" instead of "We, us, our").
* [[You Are Number Six]]: True to a certain extent with all Spartans, who are given numeric designations. Typically they will retain their personal name, suffixing the numeric designation to this.
** This trope is also '''literally''' true in ''Halo: Reach'' where the otherwise unnamed primary player character joins Noble Team as their new "number six."
* [[Zombie Apocalypse]] (The Flood)
** Especially when you find out {{spoiler|The Flood have already completely infected/destroyed ''at least'' one other galaxy already, before the Forerunner even encountered them at the edge of the Milky Way.}}
* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: The Covenant is founded on one of these, except they thought it was holy writ.
* [[Badass Boast]]: Nylund is particularly fond of these. Happens in ''First Strike'' (by VADM Whitcomb), ''Ghosts of Onyx'' (by Whitcomb again, through a recording) and ''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole'' (by the title character), in all cases before the character who delivers the said boast destroys a large Covenant fleet.
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** Actually, she {{spoiler|only cloned her brain and had to make [[Arc Number|seven]] copies of it. Six of them didn't survive and the seventh one created Cortana. There's also a pretty good reference and allusion to Zeus and Athena too.}}
* [[Colonel Badass]]: Colonel Ackerson somewhat as withstood interrogations by Brutes and still managed to protect Earth before being decapitated. It seems that Colonel Deen was he managed to break a Covenant Siege behind enemy lines.
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]: Brutally averted in the case of Covenant [[Kill Sat|
* [[Creative Sterility]]: The Covenant, though technologically superior, are only so because they depend on weapons and ships salvaged from the ruins of the ancient Forerunner race, which they slavishly copy with religious reverence. Humans are the only species capable of innovation, and often incorporate and improve upon captured Covenant tech. The Master Chief's energy shields are based on the similar Elite model, for instance.
** Though it's not so much that the Covenant are incapable of innovation as much as that they generally see even simply changing the settings on Forerunner technology as heretical. The Elites and the Prophets, for example, were already about as technologically advanced as 26th century humanity ''before'' they began messing around with Forerunner tech.
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* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: The title of the first book is ''Halo: The Fall of Reach''. Guess what happens.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Most famously, by Dr. Catherine Halsey in ''The Fall of Reach'', when describing John-117:
{{quote|
* [[Generation Xerox]] - Well, if you consider having your brain cloned and then used to create an AI as having an offspring, Dr. Halsey and Cortana definitely qualify. {{spoiler|Particularly when we finally see Dr. Halsey in person in ''The Package''---she looks exactly like Cortana's hologram and says several of her lines word-for-word.}}
* [[Genius Bruiser]] - Spartans, Elites, and to a lesser extent Brutes. [[All There in the Manual|Hunters, too]].
* [[Hand Wave]]: Though there is a decent-enough explanation for why Sgt. Johnson was able to resist getting nommed by the Flood, it's never really explained how he, Lt. Haverson, Cpl. Locklear, and
* [[Good Job Breaking It Hero]]: During the fall of Reach, Admiral Whitcomb re-purposes one of the UNSC's new experimental [[Earthshattering Kaboom|NOVA Bombs]] and leaves it booby trapped so that if the Covenant took it back to one of their planets, it'd induce massive casualties. By the time the bomb detonates however, the Covenant is fractured under civil war and ending up annihilating a major reorganizing fleet of the faction that ended up siding with Humanity.▼
** Though it is possible that if the fleet remained, they wouldn't have been desperate enough to side with the humans at all.▼
▲* [[Hand Wave]]: Though there is a decent-enough explanation for why Sgt. Johnson was able to resist getting nommed by the Flood, it's never really explained how he, Lt. Haverson, Cpl. Locklear, and [[PO 2]] Polaski were able to commandeer a Pelican despite being separated from other UNSC forces on Halo.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Admiral Cole sure gets one when he fins out that {{spoiler|his wife and the mother of his child, Lyra, is a high-level Insurrection operative.}}
* [[Honor Before Reason]] - The Sangheili honor codes are well beyond the point of ridiculousness. Especially apparent in ''Halo: The Cole Protocol''.
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** Somewhat justified that Silva would hold a grudge against the Spartans, as {{spoiler|1=Silva was the CO of the ODSTs that were killed. Who wouldn't be pissed at someone for killing their squadmates?}}
* {{spoiler|[[The Last Dance]]}}: {{spoiler|Admiral Preston Cole. After being depended upon for so long in the Human-Covenant War by the UNSC (compared in ''The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston Cole'' as being in command of the battles of the Alamo, Termopylae, Stalingrad, and Cold Harbor, and repeating them over, and over), it was believed that he began to fall under the psychological strain, to the point it was speculated that he fell into another [[Heroic BSOD]]... but one that led him to face three hundred Covenant ships around a gas giant, killing plenty of them with slingshot maneuvers, using gravity as both a lure and a shield against the Covenant Plasma shots, mocking them with a [[Badass Boast]] that angers them and drives them towards him, and ending with [[Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?|an implosion using said goddamn gas giant into a sun]], killing all three hundred Covenant ships.}}
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|Oh, right, and the best part? If the ONI officer reviewing Cole's life is correct, Cole [[Beyond the Impossible|SURVIVED by executing an in-atmosphere slip-space jump]], and is most likely finally living a life of peace far outside UNSC or Covenant space. [[Earn Your Happy Ending|He deserves it.]]}}
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Kelly in the novels was always the fastest Spartan, even when they were children. Once she goes through augmentations, she's described as being so fast that nothing could touch her if she didn't allow them too. She can reach speeds up to 62 KPH (roughly 38 miles an hour).
** Which is nonetheless fairly sluggish in comparison with John's recorded maximum speed of ''105 KPH''. Granted, he tore an Achilles tendon getting there, but still...
**** I believe the implication was that she could ''reliably'' run at 62 KPH, as in, that was the highest pace she could keep for a significant amount of time without major side effects. Presumably she could have ran a lot faster if she pushed herself like John did.
*** Of course, ''all'' the Spartans are Lightning Bruisers compared to normal humans.
**** Jorge-052, Noble Teams [[The Big Guy|Heavy weapons specialist]] carries a massive [[BFG|Heavy Machine gun]] which would require an entire crew of regular humans to man and would probably be cumbersome in the hands of even the other Spartans. Jorge however doesn't seem to be slowed down by it in the slightest.
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*** It's also often pronounced one-seventeen, 1:17 is 77 seconds and 7 is Bungie's [[Arc Number]].
* [[The Metric System Is Here to Stay]]
* [[Necessary Drawback]]: The Spartan I training program was a mixture of [[Training
▲* [[
▲** Though it is possible that if the fleet remained, they wouldn't have been desperate enough to side with the humans at all.
* [[Novelization]]: The first game has one, titled ''Halo: The Flood''.
* [[Psychic Static]]: A way of fighting back the Flood if you ever get infested and [[Mind Rape|Mind Raped.]]
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** As a real-life Out-of-Universe inversion of the trope, there is a painting inside an ONI base in Australia called ''Admiral Cole's Last Stand'', described in ''Halo: First Strike''. The book was published nearly five years prior to ''Halo Evolutions'', but in-universe, it was ten years before the end of the war.
* [[Right Hand Versus Left Hand]]: The political machinations within the Covenant in ''Halo 2''. The [[Expanded Universe]] shows that the UNSC is not wholly united either.
** Taken to a whole new extreme with the infighting at the Office of Naval Intelligence. There the right hand doesn't even know the left even exists. Even more blatant when you consider the context behind [https://web.archive.org/web/20121107210117/http://www.bungie.net/projects/reach/article.aspx?ucc=personnel&cid=24040 this] communication. To put it short, Ackerson kidnaps one of Halsey's Spartans(Kurt) to help start his own [[Cannon Fodder|Mass Produced]] Spartan unit to compete with Halsey's. Kurt then covertly spirits a number of those Spartans from the S-III companies in order to form his own secret team of Elite Spartan III's outfitted with [[Powered Armor|Mjolnir armor]] like the original Spartan II's. And everybody is in the dark about getting conned by somebody else.
* [[The Rival]]: Spartans and ODST generally don't get along.
* [[Rock Beats Laser]] (Used and/or subverted depending on certain circumstances. Human firearms can outperform Covenant energy weapons in some cases, such as against the Flood. That said, in space combat the Covenant tend to have a massive advantage over the UNSC.)
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* [[Super Toughness]]: The Spartan II's. Notably ''not'' the Spartan III's, who were elite cannon fodder.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: Guess who kicks the crap out of Master Chief & Co. after the following statement:
{{quote|
* [["Three Laws
* [[Time-Delayed Death]]: In ''Ghosts of Onyx'', Dante, after a particularly hectic firefight, offhandedly mentions "I think they got me." {{spoiler|''He then drops dead.''}} Upon closer inspection, it turns out that nearly ''half of his torso'' had been blown off, and he didn't even notice.
* [[Tsundere]]: Sif in ''Contact Harvest'' is a textbook version.
* [[Tyke Bomb]]: The Spartans were drafted/kidnapped when they were six years old, and due to their training were better fighters than most adults. Then they [[Up to Eleven|got augmented]].
* [[Theme Naming]]: This series and ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' are part of one. ''Durandal, Cortana..'' {{spoiler|Here's betting their next series will have a character named Joyeuse in it.}}
* [[The War of Earthly Aggression]]: In the expanded universe, pre-contact with the Covenant, and continuing through the war, there was a huge ongoing rebellion movement in the Outer Colonies.
* [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions|We Will All Be Atheists in the Future]]: Subverted. Dr. Halsey is specifically stated to be an atheist, suggesting this distinguishes her in some way from other human characters. This is later confirmed in [[Halo 3: ODST|ODST]] with the character of Dutch, who is noted to be a deeply spiritual man and a student of religion and philosophy.
* [[Wham! Episode]]: ''[[The Forerunner Saga|Cryptum]]'', SO MUCH. You were wondering how humans and Forerunners first met 100,000 years ago? How about... {{spoiler|humans had an interstellar empire so large that it rivaled the Forerunners', until it was destroyed by the Forerunners for infringing on their territory while running away from the Flood, which humanity eventually ''defeated'' before falling themselves. That's right, ancient humanity were the first to find and fight the Flood (with the help of the Prophets). We even invented a cure for the Flood that DIDN'T involve the total annihilation of life in the galaxy, but it was destroyed (either out of human bitterness or Forerunner ignorance) when the Forerunners invaded, DEVOLVED OUR SPECIES and erased all traces of the earlier civilization, restricting us to our homeworld. The Librarian mentioned in [[Halo 3]] was actually intended to keep us in check.}}
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* [[You Keep Using That Word]]: ''The Cole Protocol'' calls MACs [[wikipedia:Railgun|railguns]]. They're actually [[wikipedia:Coilgun|coilguns]].
== ''Halo'' Games by Bungie ==
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Subverted and played straight with the Rookie. After learning he fought his way through war-torn Mombasa by himself for several hours, Dare thinks he's one of these. The truth is he was knocked out in his pod for most of it. However, it's perfectly possible to confirm her suspiciouns through gameplay. Heck, if you get all the audiologs, a cutscene changes so Rookie knows more about what's going on than Dare does! And Dare's the intelligence officer!
* [[Ancient Keeper]]: 343 Guilty Spark.
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* [[A Space Marine Is You]] (Seriously. Look at the checklist.)
* [[Attack! Attack! Retreat! Retreat!]]: Occationally, caused by the Marines' combat dialogue acting up.
{{quote|
'''Male Marine''', less than a second later: [[Oh Crap|I see tangos...]] [[Zerg Rush|lots of tangos!]] }}
* [[Attempted Rape]]: {{spoiler|Commissioner Kinsler}} attempts to rape {{spoiler|Sadie}} in the Audio Files' story. {{spoiler|He tries and fails three times, and the third failure gets him brutally killed by an angry mob.}}
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* [[Badass]]: The Master Chief. Also, the entire race of Elites, basically bipedal, evolved Land Sharks with energy shields.
** An oft-overlooked example is the <s>Australian Marine</s> Private Chips Dubbo featured in all the Bungie Halo games, who gets some of the most badass lines in the entire series.
{{quote|
** And, of course, scar-faced, shotgun-wielding Sergeant Pete Stacker, who along with Dubbo is one of the only human characters to have survived all three games.
* [[Badass Back]]: Aka Cheating Bastard Back, the Jackal snipers. In games 2 and 3 the Hunters can melee you behind their back too, which is instant death on Legendary.
* [[Badass Boast]]: After being told that a message from the covenant keeps repeating, over and over, the word "Regret":
{{quote|
'''Pilots''': Oorah! }}
** The Heretic Leader in the same game speaks to the Arbiter and accompanying strike team through a hologram. It's short, but it implies a lot.
{{quote|
'''Heretic:''' Heheheh... Get in line. }}
* [[Bash Brothers]]: Hunters always come in pairs of two. In most games, they're identical and equipped identically.
* [[The Battlestar]]: Any ship that figures into the main plot, such as the ''Pillar of Autumn'', the ''In Amber Clad'', or the ''Forward Unto Dawn''. In ''Halo 3'', the Separatist vessel ''Shadow of Intent'' takes the place of the Rebel Basestar.
* [[Beating a Dead Player]]: The infamous teabag in multiplayer. Additionally, campaign NPCs and enemies will occasionally shoot enemy corpses (including yours) and shout at them.
* [[Beehive Barrier]]: The Bubble Shield. Back again in Reach with a healing ability.
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* [[Butt Monkey]]: The Grunts. They get a lot of abuse, and are so funny at receiving it, too.
* [[Captain Obvious]]: Sometimes, randomized combat dialogue can lead to this.
{{quote|
* [[Charged Attack]]: The Plasma Pistol
** Arguable, but the Needler also counts. It would be virtually useless, despite the homing feature of the needles, except for the fact that once a target has enough needles in them, they simultaneously explode. So the needler can be useful, assuming a player can get enough needles in an opponent to cause the explosion.
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** The Halos themselves. If a Galaxy destroying superweapon is found in the first game it will be fired by the end of the third game.
* [[Cliff Hanger]]: The first game ended with plenty of more story to tell, but still self-contained. ''Halo 2'' has merely a pause in the story.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Following in the tradition of Bungie's ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' and ''[[Oni]]'', enemies in ''Halo'' are color coded to denote rank; orange or blue for rookies, red for veterans, black for spec ops, and silver or gold for the super-tough [[Boss in Mooks Clothing]] types.
** This is somewhat subverted by the Brutes in ''Halo 3''... of the dozen or so Brute variants, 6 are all armored in almost the exact same shade of blue (with only a very minor variance in shade to denote different ranks). That blue-armored Brute with the horned helmet could be either a low-level Brute Captain Minor, an extra-hard Brute Captain Ultra, or a Brute Bodyguard, and you have absolutely no way of knowing exactly which unless you've got an HD TV, are ''really'' good at telling the difference between very close off-shades of blue, and for some reason he's standing still long enough for you to examine his armor.
** Reach subverts it again. The old ranks are the same, but the new highest ranks...cycle back to red.
* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: On Legendary difficulty, most notably in the second game. Rapid-fire plasma pistols, faster-shooting plasma rifles, insta-death melees, [[Badass Back]] sniper shots, attacks that allies and enemies can survive but are instantly fatal to the player(Two words: Beam Rifle), unfair vehicle damage allocation, X-ray vision, sniper-accurate grenade throws, stupid friendly AI, etc.
* [[Copy and Paste Environments]]:
** In the original game, the last level is the first level backwards. The second-to-last level is the second level with different textures. The third level is one half going in, one half going out. The levels after the library are the same as the ones before the library. Except, well, backwards.
** Also, these are noticeable:
*** (<s>The Library</s> ''Every'' interior level in the original game.)
*** The multiplayer map ''Death Island'' from the original game is essentially a remake of the level ''The Silent Cartographer''. All they did was replace the override with 1 base and the map room with another...
*** The Level Floodgate in ''Halo 3'' is pretty much the previous level, backwards. Except everything's apocalyptic, and the Covenant is replaced with the Flood.
*** There's also a slight subversion of this trope in the very end of ''Halo 3''. The control room to fire the Halo is almost identical to the one in the first game, hinting that all Halos are merely copies of each other.
**** Although, since this Halo is an exact replica of the one from the first game, it's not that much of a stretch.
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* [[Decoy Protagonist]]: The Rookie. If anything, ''Halo 3: ODST'' is the story of Buck, Dare, and {{spoiler|the Superintendent/Virgil.}}
** {{spoiler|..unless you get all the audio logs, which makes you the one who knows more about the story than Dare, the ''Intelligence Officer,'' and you also get access to a bazillion guns in secret caches all over the city, thus making you a [[One-Man Army]] [[Heroic Mime]] who ''really'' wants to get back to sleep.}}
** Halo: Reach implies that {{spoiler|Noble Six was this to Master Chief in the series as a whole. Considering that Noble Six is completely customizable and is stated to have the same combat rating as Master Chief, this makes it one of the more sadistic examples.}}
* [[Deflector Shields]] (Used by Elites, some Brutes, and Tartarus, whose shield can only be taken out with a Beam Rifle.)
** In ''Halo: Reach'', there is an armor ability that lets you, temporarily, have unbreakable shields. As soon as the shields run out, however...
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* [[Dying Like Animals]] - A random wounded marine in the Uplift Reserve level of ODST goes on a long-winded rant about how Earth is a cage, humans are zebras, and the Covenant are the lions.
* [[Easter Egg]]: Lots of them. One favorite is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqHttdEwn4o the Insulting Grunt].
{{quote|
** Then there's the [[Red vs. Blue]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waL8K2SGR1M "What's the Password" scene] in ''Halo 3''.
{{quote|
* [[Elevator Action Sequence]] - Seen on The Oracle, Regret, Quarantine Zone, etc.
* [[Elite Mooks]] - Zealot(gold) Elites, Spec-ops(black/purple) Elites, Ultra(silver) Elites, Honor Guard Elites, Spec-ops Grunts, Ultra Grunts, Brute Captains, Brute Chieftains, etc.
* [[Enemy Civil War]] - The Covenant Civil War in Halo 2: Elites, Hunters and Grunts versus Brutes, Jackals and Drones. Beforehand, there was the Heretic uprising, with Spec-Ops Grunts, Elites and the Arbiter eradicating the defectee Grunts and Elites.
* [[Enemy Mine]] - This quickly becomes a theme. The Elites join with the humans during the Covenant Civil War. Guilty Spark assists Master Chief after the destruction of his station. Even Gravemind lends a tentacle in his debut {{spoiler|and again to stop Truth.}} Of course, some of these alliances are more lasting then others...
* [[Escort Mission]] - The final parts of ODST have you, {{spoiler|Buck, and Dare escorting the alien Engineer who's absorbed the Superintendent's data out of the data center, along a highway while it's inside a near-indestructible garbage truck, and finally defending it and yourselves while waiting for the rest of the squad.}} The escortee is relatively tough, though, so it's not as bad as some.
** The Escortee also offers the player some very useful buffs when they're in close proximity.
** Played much straighter in the "Shut Up and Get Behind Me... Sir" segment of the ''Truth and Reconciliation'' level in the first game, where the player has to escort Captain Jacob Keyes off a Covenant Cruiser.
** Some [[Word of God|commentary]] revealed that there was a bug in earlier releases of the game where Keyes would [[Beating a Dead Player|shoot corpses]] just like any other marine in the game. [[Epic Fail|Keyes has a Needler, though.]]
* [[Eternal September]]: Pre-''Halo'', [[Bungie]] had a small but very dedicated fan community, primarily drawn from previous Bungie titles like ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' and ''[[Myth]]'', with whom they kept a very close relationship, hosting fan events, or attending events organized by fans. They even would release a few teasers into the fan community before any formal announcements had been made (such as with "[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/cortana.html The Cortana Letters]".) When ''Halo'' came onto the scene, the fan community experienced an explosion in population size, often completely bypassing the original "old school" community entirely and forming vast new communities which quickly overshadowed them in size and visability. The older Bungie community is still alive and active, but is now a small piece of a much larger whole.
* [[Every Episode Ending]]: Of sorts- Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, ODST and Reach all have a driving sequence in their respective final level, some more prominent than others.
* [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]]: {{spoiler|Both ''Halo'' and ''Halo 3'''s endings}}.
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** Gets lampshaded occasionally by the Marines dialogue. Especially when the {{spoiler|IWHBYD}} skull is active.
** She actually has a little bit of [[Gainaxing]]/JigglePhysics in some of the ''Halo 3'' cutscenes.
** In every game in which she's featured, she is bare-bottomed, and the camera angles almost always manage to make that very visible in every cutscene she is featured in.
* [[Fishing for Mooks]]: Known as the Trap-door Spider Method, luring off single opponents and killing them out of the way of their fellows is often the only way to win in some circumstances when you are low on ammo.
* [[Fission Mailed]] - Cortana's transmissions in ''Halo 3''.
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*** [[The Sixth Ranger]] - The Rookie
*** [[Guest Star Party Member]] - {{spoiler|Virgil the Engineer}}, Sgt. Johnson in multiplayer as a more literal usage of the phrase.
** The SPARTANs of Halo: Reach are shaping up to be this, based on [http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14276699/halo-reach/videos/haloreach_trl_121309hi.html the most recent trailer].
*** [[The Hero]] - Carter
*** [[The Lancer]] - Emile
*** [[The Big Guy]] - Jorge
*** [[The Smart Guy]] - Jun
*** [[The Chick]] - Kat
*** [[Sixth Ranger]] - Noble Six. Reading the site changes things
*** Kat's [[The Lancer]] (best friends with Carter), and [[The Smart Guy]] (hacker)
*** Jorge also the [[Team Dad]] (SPARTAN-II
*** Emile is the [[Token Evil Teammate]] ([[Axe Crazy]]) Noble Six may also be considered this, it is suggested he's Ackersons "private grim reaper". A character known for being a [[Colonel Badass]] [[Knight Templar]].
* [[Five-Token Band]]: Reach's Noble Team is a relatively mild form: Jun is apparently of Indian or Middle Eastern descent, Kat appears to be of Latin-American ancestry, and Emile [[The Faceless|at least sounds like he's black.]]
** Kat is Russian or Eastern European... And Jorge is Hungarian.
* [[Flunky Boss]] - Regret and Tartarus. Tartarus isn't so bad as the Brute reinforcements only show up at two or three pre-scripted points in the fight, and every time they do you usually get a fresh squad of Elite reinforcements to help you. Regret, on the other hand, can reach [[That One Boss]] status due to the endless waves of respawning Honor Guard Elites and Grunts coupled with the lack of good cover and necessity to charge right out into the open to melee damage the boss.
** On the other hand, [[Back-to-Back Badasses|co-op mode]] usually makes the battle against Regret into a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] that lasts all of very quick. One guy on door duty and the other on face-punching. If you both have a heavy weapon (and you should, as they come by the dozens in the area), it usually breezes past, except on [[Nintendo Hard|Legendary.]]
* [[Friendly Enemy]]: A few humorous non-canon Easter Eggs in the first game show Johnson is this to the Covenant. "This is it, baby. Hold me."
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*** The Vidmaster Challenge achievement "Annual" from Halo 3 also counts, as it has simiar conditions as ODST, but on the level Halo. The main difference is instead of using the warthog, or mongoose, you have to use ghosts.
* [[Heroic Mime]] - The Rookie, which is repeatedly lampshaded. Subverted in ''Halo 1'' through ''3'' as neither the Arbiter or Master Chief speak when playing as them in First Person, but do say a few words in third person cutscenes. The other troopers in the ODST squad completely avert this trope, often speaking out both in and out of cutscenes while you're inside their head.
* [[Hobbits]]: The Grunts can be thought of this way. They're shorter than all the others, standing at a mere five feet, and are mostly for comic relief and they suck at fighting.
* [[Hyperspace Arsenal]]: Famously averted -- Master Chief can only carry two guns at a time. [[Fridge Logic]] says he should be able to carry a maximum of five or so, but [[Rule of Fun|pay no attention to that.]]
** He can ''carry'' five guns, but not use them ''effectively''. But he should still be able to carry two one-handed guns and one two-handed gun.
* [[Iconic Logo]]: People wear T-shirts of a 2 or 3 inside the distinctive O in the title and it's obvious what game they play.
* [[Import Gaming]] - The first Halo game suffers from a very strange PAL Xbox conversion. Most badly-optimised PAL conversions are universally 16.666% slower and less smooth than their NTSC counterparts. But the situation with PAL Halo isn't that simple:
** ''Framerates'': PAL Xboxs feature dashboard settings for both PAL 60Hz (allowing games to run as smoothly as their NTSC counterparts - usually 60fps or 30fps) and PAL 50Hz (for use with older TVs - so games run at 50fps or 25fps). But with Halo, setting the Xbox dashboard to 60Hz doesn't improve the framerate smoothness, just adds an annoying periodic stuttering effect where the game doubles-up frames (most noticable in the smooth camera flyby in levels' opening cutscenes). So Halo is one of the few Xbox games for which PAL 50Hz is preferable to PAL 60Hz (and of course NTSC 60Hz is preferable to both).
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* [[Joke Item]]: Several civilian vehicles can be driven in Reach, such as a forklift, which of course has no weapons and doesn't move fast enough to run over enemies. It can be placed in multiplayer maps, perhaps for incredibly slow-paced races, or driven on a Firefight map if you feel like fooling around and have a death wish.
** The forge exclusive golf club,tin cup also.
* [[Justified Tutorial]] - ''Halo 1'' had you going through a mandatory check-up after getting out from cryo. ''Halo 2'' had a check up to see if your new suit worked. ''Halo 3'' had a "how many fingers do I have" simple field check. Service keeps getting more [[Incredibly Lame Pun|spartan]] with the games. In ''ODST'', the Rookie has to look around his pod in order to break out of it. ''Reach'' has Noble Six surveying the ground below before landing in the first mission.
* [[Kick the Dog]] - Miranda Keyes' death at the hands of Truth, and potentially Johnson's death as well.
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* [[King Mook]] - Sesa Refumee(the heretic leader), and Tartarus to some degree.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: When rescuing Cortana from High Charity near the end of Halo 3:
{{quote|
'''Master Chief''' ''"Thought I'd try shooting my way out—mix things up a little."'' }}
* [[Late to the Party]] - The ODST squad arrives at New Mombasa just as it's devastated by a jumping cruiser. While most of the squad jumps straight into the action that follows, the Rookie (who we play as the most) wakes up six hours later and spends most of his time trying to find the rest of the squad.
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* [[Lead the Target]]
* [[Leitmotif]] - Although the composers said they weren't doing a "[[Peter and The Wolf]]" approach, some characters and locations do have musical themes associated with them, such as the Delta Halo theme, the High Charity theme, the first part of "Enough Dead Heroes"(sort of Cortana's theme), the middle third of said piece(often heard when fighting Hunters), "Shadows"(the Flood's theme in the series), "The Last Spartan"(the MC's theme in the second and third games), the Arbiter's characteristic theme(aka "Falling Up"), and "Farthest Outpost"(the Ark theme). Many of these are also [[Recurring Riff|recurring riffs]], ie they play in scenes unassociated with the character or location.
* [[Level Five Onix]] - Hunters in ''Halo 1'' were just sad once you figured out their weak point and how to exploit it (one pistol shot to the orange bits and it's game over). Their cannon shots were powerful but easily dodged, and their melee attacks were so predictable that even the NPC [[Red Shirt|Redshirts]] could dodge them with reasonable consistency. They majorly [[Took a Level
** In the sequels, they become a [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]. They can no longer be one-hit killed except with the sniper rifle, their armor completely deflects projectiles instead of simply reducing their damage (so you can ''only'' hurt them by shooting their weak point), their weak points are much harder to target(nearly impossible to get behind them now), and both their cannon and melee attacks can [[One-Hit Kill]] you.
*** Reach makes them [[Up to Eleven|even more difficult]]
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* [[Misplaced Wildlife]]: Red-tailed hawk calls, etc.
* [[Misplaced Vegetation]]: Temperate plants, eg ivy and rhododendrons, in the African jungles.
* [[The Mothership]]: High Charity
* [[More Dakka]] ("Hold RB to detach turret.")
* [[Musical Pastiche]]: Some examples:
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* [[Nerf]]: Most infamously to the pistol, which went from a powerful mini-sniper rifle in ''Halo: CE'' to a dual-wieldable shield-eater in ''Halo 2''... then it went to standard weak-ass FPS pistol land in the ''updated'' version of ''Halo 2''. Additionally, the later games noticeably weaken the Plasma Rifle as well as making it much less accurate (at least when the player's the one using it) to compensate for the fact you could now [[Guns Akimbo|wield two at once]] (making it more of a Plasma submachine gun). The plasma pistol is likewise much weaker than it's ''Halo: CE'' counterpart when not using overcharge shots.
** Although in Reach, the pistol is quite effective now. Having a high rate of fire, a zoom and is able to effectively take down shields. It just requires some fire control...
** Elites in ''Halo 2'' are significantly weaker without their shields than they were in ''Halo 1''. In fact, an unshielded Elite in ''Halo 2'' can survive less damage than even a mid-level Grunt.
** In ''Halo 3'', the Brutes lose their [[Made of Iron]] status, instead being dependent on energy shields and playing much more like Elites (although unshielded Brutes still have higher-than-average health and can take 15-30 assault rifle bullets (depending on class) to kill).
** Almost all weapons suffered this effect over the series.
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* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]: In the Halo 1 trailer, we see Master Chief holding an Energy Sword, Marines driving a Warthog, a different Warthog mounted turret, Elite with an energy shield... Which most aren't available until Halo 2. Thanks, Bungie.
* [[Nicknaming the Enemy]]: Most alien names fit this trope: Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Elites, Hunters, Buggers, Grubs, and Prophets are all nicknames given by humans to refer to the separate races that compose the coalition of aliens they're at war with. Even their vehicles (Ghosts, Wraiths, Banshees) are nicknamed.
* [[No Campaign for the Wicked]]: Even when playing as the Covenant Elite in ''Halo 2'', you ''never'' fight against Human forces, instead spending those levels battling Covenant rebels and The Flood.
* [[No OSHA Compliance]]: ''High Charity'' and the Halos are full of bottomless pits and narrow catwalks.
* [[Not Distracted by the Sexy]]: Cortana
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** "[[Arc Words|This is the way the world ends]]."
* [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]]
{{quote|
'''Arbiter:''' And so... you must be silenced. }}
* [[Prepare to Die]]: The ODST's line "Prepare to Drop" was changed to this when the Slipspace explosion happened.
* [[The Promise]]:
{{quote|
''"...You... keep it. I do know how to pick 'em."'' }}
* [[Psycho Strings]]: Musics associated with the Flood.
* [[Recurring Riff]] - Countless examples, eg "A Walk In The Woods", "Rock Anthem For Saving The World", "On A Pale Horse", "Enough Dead Heroes", "Under Cover of Night", "High Charity", "The Last Spartan", and "Finish The Fight".
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]. 343 Guilty Spark turns red [[Berserk Button|when he's really upset]], and about to go [[Axe Crazy]].
* [[Redshirt Army]] - The human Marines, though they [[Took a Level
** Indeed, Marines go from easily killed cannon fodder in ''Halo 1'' to serviceable NPC companions who can fight an Elite one-on-one and ''win'' in the sequels.
* [[Running Gag]]: The Rookie naps whenever he has free time.
* [[Scenery Porn]]: And how. Has some of (if not) the best sky boxes in videogames.
* [[Sequence Breaking]] - Common in the first two games, although Bungie tried to patch up the holes in the second, eg with instant-death [[Invisible Wall|Invisible Walls]].
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** There are also several multiplayer ones. For example, Guardian is a spiritual successor to the Halo 2-era Lockout, Sword Base is a spiritual successor to both Prisoner and Boarding Action, etc.
* [[The Stinger]]
* [[Stealth Mook]]: Some mook types have variants that use optical camouflage to turn invisible and surprise you.
* [[Stealth Pun]] - In ODST, you get the achievement "Audiophile" by listening to audio files.
* [[Sticky Bomb]]: Plasma Grenades
* [[Suicidal Overconfidence]] (Averted with the Grunts, who will commonly break ranks and flee if you kill their more powerful allies. Even if backing up and attacking you while doing so, they will frequently sound pretty scared, taken ''very'' literally in ''Halo 3'', where the Grunts sometimes can and ''will'' [[Taking You with Me|grab two plasma grenades, prime them, and charge at you screaming at the top of their lungs]].)
** Watch when the Grunts get desperate ''just'' right in front of you.
** Elites flee from the player in ''Halo 1'' and Elites, Flood, and most lesser Covenant flee from the player in ''Halo 2''.
* [[Super Drowning Skills]] - Mostly averted, but in some places, such as on the level "Sierra 117", bodies of water are made [[Bottomless Pits|instant-kill zones]] to prevent the player from [[Sequence Breaking]] or [[Unwinnable|getting stuck]].
* [[Supporting Leader]]: Buck fulfils this in ''ODST''.
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* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: When Johnson shows up in Halo 2, a Marine asks him how he got off Halo alive (the player saw him being overrun by Flood on video.) His response? "That's classified." The actual answer is a major subplot in ''First Strike''; {{spoiler|earlier in his career, he used a crate of plasma grenades to hold off the Covenant, and got something called "Boren's Syndrome". Since he elected to skip the treatment to remain in the fight, he has an irregular nervous system and is immune to the Flood.}}
** [[Retcon|RetConned]] in the ''Halo'' Graphic Novel: {{spoiler|The Borens Syndrome story was a ONI coverup. Johnson is actualy a SPARTAN-I, and was just so [[Badass]] he managed to fight his way out}}.
* [[United Nations Is a Super Power]]: The United Nations in Halo founded both the Unified Earth Government (UEG) and the UN Space Command (UNSC); the UEG absorbed its parent organization into one of its branches, but was itself eventually subsumed during the Human-Covenant War - by the UNSC, which now rules all of humanity in the Milky Way galaxy.
* [[Video Game Caring Potential]] (The common AI marines. Some may also feel very sorry for the [[Mooks|Grunts.]])
** Don't forget the Engineers. Simple creatures who take no hostile action against you, they provide energy shields to the Covenant, which can make killing them necessary but cruel. {{spoiler|Even if you don't kill them in ODST, the bombs strapped to them still detonate when you kill the Brute Captain leading the opposing Covenant.}}
* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]] (Plasma Grenade + Grunts = [[Hilarity Ensues]]. Also, smacking up enemy corpses after they're already dead. Also more hilarious if they run into their allies, making them a suicide bomber.)
** [[Noodle Incident|"OH NO! NOT AGAIN!"]] * boom*
** And you can shoot specific limbs on the grunts. Watch them slowly try to limp away...
*** Vehicles, anyone?
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*** Bungie confirmed it to be a shout out to ''[[Viva Pinata]]'', even mentioning that the ''Viva Pinata'' team sent them the actual audio file used in the game.
* [[Virtual Paper Doll]]: In ''Halo 2'' multiplayer you could choose to be a Spartan or Elite. ''Halo 3'' added a range of customisation options for each. And ''Reach'' is playing this to the hilt, with an impressive number of unlockable items, which carry over to campaign (and vice versa).
** And how! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[[Jgo 3 p FR Qe O 4]]
** [[And Your Reward Is Clothes]]: In ''Halo 3'' and ''Reach'' getting achievements gets you a better selection of armour.
* [[Voice with an Internet Connection]]: Cortana.
* [[Walk It Off]]: Title dropped in the first level of the third game (after hitting the ground at terminal velocity).
* [[Wave Motion Gun]] - The Scarab's cannon, and the Fuel Rod Cannon somewhat.
* [[We Cannot Go on Without You]]: If Cpt. Keyes dies on "Truth and Reconciliation", it's [[Nonstandard Game Over|Game Over]]}
* [[What the Hell, Player?]]:
{{quote|
** Shoot your commanding officer in the face, and your crewmates' reactions are, well, interesting to say the least.
* [[Weapon Tombstone]]: The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzkL-vg8MHE&feature=related live-action trailer] for ''ODST'' features the 'Helmet, boots, rifle' field burial with the equipment updated appropriately.
** A few of these can be seen by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160817115305/http://www.halopedian.com/File:Memorial_pictures.PNG Hillside Memorial] in the Halo 3 ending.
* [[You Just Had to Say It]]: In ''Halo 1'''s third level.
* [[Your Mom]] (Avery Johnson makes reference to this, saying "I would have been your daddy but the dog beat me over the fence!" in the first game, which has been referenced throughout the series numberous times.)
{{quote|
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