As always, watching, playing, or reading a sci-fi series is like falling in love repeatedly.
Every time a new book, episode, or movie comes out, we become enthralled by the characters, the otherworldly scenes, and the storyline. We love it all – the characters, the scenes, and Halo, the video game, is a 20-year-old saga that is no different.
Halo Wars has a huge sci-fi storyline because it is not just a video game. Instead, it is a series of video games, books, animated series, films, and there is even a comic book series.
Who Are the Best Characters in The Halo Series?
There are the favorites, and then there are the characters without whom there would be no story. Some have met their end, some have just gone away, while others are still carrying on the good fight. As we navigate Halo, we will cover some of the essential characters in the storyline to help readers, viewers, and gamers better understand the game.
The Good Guys
Let's start with our Halo tier list of great good guys. They are the characters we love and play, the characters we have sometimes only been told about but haven’t ever met. These are the characters that have led to the story's progression in the Xbox game pass, the movies, and the novels. In some cases, there are characters that lead into the game and have only ever appeared in the books and the movies.
Master Chief – John-117
Who doesn't love a good hero? John 117, also known as Master Chief, is a loyal, true-blue hero. He is a human with superhuman strength. Everyone loves this about him because he is an average man made into something non-average, something great. He has physical strength, is super loyal, and has tremendous leadership skills. Also known as John-117, he is the main character of every Halo game, most of the videos, books, and comics.
John-117 was turned into a superhuman when he was forcefully enrolled into the UNSC as a youngster. the UNSC augmented his physical form to help him fight off the Covenant.
The UNSCs purpose was to create super soldiers, so they drafted young humans and enhanced their physical capabilities through painful medical procedures. John’s purpose in the Spartan military program is to fight off the Covenant, a coalition of alien races trying to activate the Halos created by an ancient civilization, The Forerunners. The Forerunners no longer exist, but the aliens worship them as gods, and believe their mission is to activate the Halos and eliminate life. Humans like John-117, are trying to stop the aliens from controlling the Halos and activating them.
Arbiter
Who doesn't like the bad guy gone good? That is the story of the Arbiter of the Sangheili elite. An alien that has turned to the side of the humans. He is as tall as a building and has a massive sword. He can handle more than a few of the Flood. He kills covenant soldiers with his bare hands and sees elites even when wearing their active camouflage. He is a favored halo character, loved by game players and even by the viewers of the tv series.
You have to love this guy for the thing he always seems to be saying, "Kill me or release me, parasite. It is so cheesy; it’s funny.
The Arbiter character started as a Covenant Zealot who would die for his Prophets, but as the story continues, we see him fall out of favor with his Gods and the Prophets. He starts to think and moves away from the status quo to what he is not supposed to do, have an alliance with humans. The Arbiter is extraordinary, and his transformation marks a clever way Halo creators found to split the Covenant.
Basically, he is a good alien, the bad guy gone good. And who doesn’t love a good, bad guy? Some would say he is the equivalent of an alien Spartan, and of course, let’s not forget his fantastic weapon array.
Catherine Halsey
Dr. Catherine Halsey is no warrior, but perhaps her role is more critical in the Halo saga. She is a scientist, the person who came up with the idea of the Spartan-II project. If it wasn’t for Halsey, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy all of the Halo weapons. In fact, even Cortana is a part of Dr. Halsey. She was designed and made from Halsey's cloned brain.
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Cortana
The beautiful AI has been with the master chief from the very beginning of the Halo game series. Fans believed it was a beautiful relationship until she went ballistic in Halo 5. It was like a best friend (love) relationship. He is human, and she is computer-based and an unrealistic love, but a great relationship all the same. Then Halo 5 changed everything. Suddenly, she turned on him. The relationship went down the drain, and she ran off on a suicide mission.
Cortana starts falling apart in Halo 4, Cortana is falling apart. She has been too active, and her destiny is unknown, but fans hope for her survival. In Halo 5, everyone realizes it’s just not going to work out. The bad news is that Cortana, like all other Als, only lives for seven years. After that, she goes crazy. She’s got too much information running around in her head and begins to think herself to death.
The Weapon
Halo Infinite introduces a new character, the master chief's new AI, someone who may be better for him than Cortana. While Weapon is just as intelligent as the old, good Cortana, she has a sass about her that is very intriguing. Although she has no experience with the banished and doesn't interact with other people, she is talkative. She is emotional, hopeful, and believes in master chief, even if he doesn't believe in himself. Her mission in the Halo Infinite campaign is to help the master chief navigate the Halo ring and is constantly asking questions that players might be thinking. She gives players insight into the world and provides the Master Chief with more humanity. His responses help players understand the man under the super-soldier façade.
Sargent Johnson
Sargent Johnson is a great star of the Halo series, no question about it. He is gone now, but there will never be anyone like Sergeant Major Avery Johnson. He is a legend, a superhuman who is more than that because he is the only human in the universe not affected by the Flood.
In the early games and books, Sargent Johnson is known for his funny speeches. But aside from the humorous jokes and his go-get-'em personality, his journey through the series is tremendously impressive, almost as much as that of the Arbiter or the Master Chief.
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Buck
Buck is the ultimate fighter who started as an ordinary UNSC marine but went on to fight the ODST in the Human-Covenant War and became a part of the Spartan-IV program. He is a born leader and is cool-as-a-cucumber even in the most stressful situations. It is the skill that has probably kept him alive for so long.
He may not be able to compete with some of those Spartan-IIs for strength, but you can't say no to him; his accomplishments have gotten him into the Spartan program. Most Spartan IVs don't have as much combat experience as he does, and it shows best when he is out on that battlefield. Even so, He is beloved in the Halo multiplayer world.
Captain James Cutter
Although we haven't seen him in the Halo Infinite campaign yet, the game designers might want to consider bringing in Captain James Cutter again. This character was first introduced in Halo ars as the captain of the United Nations Space Command ship, Spirit of Fire, where he was the line of defense against the Banished on the Ark.
He and his crew suffered significant losses from the Banished and the Flood, yet he lived to fight on. Although no one knows where he is, he may play a role in the new Halo Infinite.
Sarah Palmer
Everyone seems to agree. We need more women to grace the Halo universe, especially in the Halo infinite multiplayer campaign. One of the favorites many fans believe should come into the multiplayer game is Sarah Palmer, the commander of the Spartans IVs on the Infinity. She may not have been all that popular before, but Halo Infinite could help expand her character, especially now that there is a more open-world approach. Palmer could hand out the missions and be someone to help the Master Chief.
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Captain Jacob Keyes
Captain Keyes is a captain in the UNSC who appears in the Halo franchise in the Fall of The Reach game. He also continues to appear in many other episodes of the Master Chief collection. As a young lieutenant, he follows Dr. Halsey on her mission to screen candidates for the Spartan II project. He doesn't become a favorite of Halo fans until he is in a battle with the Covenant on the Sigma planet and becomes known for his unorthodox maneuvers and flexibility. He admirably beats the impossible odds and commands his ship, Pillar of Autumn, to the Halo. Here he leads a Guerrilla against the Halo high prophet but is captured and assimilated by the Flood. In the end, Master Chief was forced to kill Jacob Keyes.
Miranda Keyes
Commander Miranda Keyes, the daughter of Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey, makes her first appearance in Halo 2 and continues to reappear through Halo 3, where she is killed at the end. She tries to rescue Johnson after he is captured but is killed in the attempt.
Franklin Mendez
Chief Petty Officer is the Spartan IIs trainer. After training the first Spartans, Mendez also sees fighting when faced with the Covenant. He is convinced by his superiors that his skills are needed to train the new Spartan IIIs. He is not confident of their fighting potential. Still, he trains many of the super-soldiers. Somewhere along the line, he is sealed inside a shield world. He is released after the Human-Covenant war and retires from the Spartan programs.
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Terrence Hood
Lord Terrence Hood is a Fleet Admiral and the commander of the Home Fleet of the UNSC. Aside from these high military positions, he is also an English noble. In Halo 3, he defends Earth against the Covenant and stays there when the Master Chief and Arbiter leave for Ark. In a Halo 3 epilogue, he leads a memorial service for the soldiers lost in the conflict. In Halo 5, Terrence escaped Cortana's attack and ended up with Serin Osman in a safe world. He blames himself for the entire situation and believes he gave Master Chief too many concessions. He falls into a depression.
Serin Osman
A former Spartan II, now an admiral, Serin Osman, didn’t seem very important as a character, but Admiral Margaret Parangosky did choose him as her replacement. So now, Osman serves as the leader of a special black ops team that has decreased the enemies and tried to prevent future wars.
Thanks to inside information Osman is evacuated from Earth before Cortana attacks in Halo.
Thomas Lasky
He is a captain who is rescued by the Master Chief in Halo 4. At one point, he was the Infinity's first office, but he ended up helping the Chief on the world Requiem. He is present when Master Chief tries to warn the captain about the Covenant invasion. When the then captain refuses to listen, Master Chief relieves him of duty and places Lasky in his place as captain.
In Halo 5, Lasky sends Spartan Fireteam Osiris after the Spartan Blue team. And, when all of the AIs begin to show allegiance to Cortana, Lasky is forced to flee Earth in the Infinity, and later they encounter the Blue Team and the Fireteam Osiris.
Roland
He is the AI that helps the flagship INfinity. Roland shows himself in the form of a golden World War II pilot. For some strange reason, he does not unify with Cortana and continues to serve the UNSC. He appears in Halo 4 and Halo 5 and may continue to appear in Halo Infinite.
The Bad Guys
There would be no Halo storyline without these interesting villain characters, even if they only grunt and make noises. Here are the fans' favorite lousy guy characters.
The Flood
The Flood is a parasite alien and probably the worst antagonist in Halo. It wants to infect all life forms, primarily humans and can infect all creatures. It is so large a threat that the Forerunners created an artificial ring world superweapon to contain it. These are called Halos and are used as a last resort to kill the Flood’s spread by starving it and killing the possible hosts.
Escharium
He is cold and has no empathy, but he is power-hungry, making him a foe to watch out for. Like the alien Brutes he is from, he loves to battle and welcomes any opportunity to fight the legendary Master Chief. Atriox was the leader before Escharium, but went missing in action in a battle against the Created; Escharum became the acting leader for the Banished.
However, unlike Atriox, who welcomed all species, including humans, into the Banished, Escharium has extreme prejudice against humanity and wishes to destroy them all. IT is this hatred that has led to the war against the UNSC.
Escharium has led his forces against the UNSC countless times and won. He seized control of the Zeta Halo but could not use it because of Cortana's suicide bomb.
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The Grunts
These guys are so ugly they are funny. They are the pint-sized backbone fighters of several Covenant factions. They travel in squads, running away when their commanding Brute or Elite is killed. By themselves, they are rarely a threat, but they are much more dangerous when they go suicidal and light the twin Plasma Grenades and then rush towards you.
Jackals
These bad ones are easily seen because of their arm-mounted blue energy shields. It is their weapons and shields that make them strong because physically, they are rather weak. The jackals also have a Plasma Pistol that they use along with their shields. Sometimes, you may come across a Jackal with a Needler, but this is a rarity.
Elites
These guys don't have a big presence in the Banished, not as they did in the Covenant, but you can still run into one on the battlefield. These guys are blue armored and have energy shields. They often use a Pulse Carbine but sometimes have a Heatwave or a Ravager.
Elite unaware of your presence will not have their shields on, which could give you a chance to take them out before they can see you. These guys are more agile and defensive than Brutes but are not as healthy.
Hunters
The Hunters are huge. They are like tanks, and they keep on coming. These colonies have heavy armor and a plasma cannon. They usually appear in pairs and are challenging to defeat without heavy artillery. Their armor is protective against most guns, and they are hard to kill. Hunters are mighty and can send the Master Chief flying. Remember, if you kill one, the partner goes crazy and will try to hunt you down.
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Brutes
The Brutes lead the Banished faction. They are highly focused, although they don't have shields. However, they are incredibly healthy and hard to kill. They also have lots of firearms and are ready and willing to use them whenever possible.
All in All, We Can Say
Halo has some attractive character design, and everyone tends to fall in love with the best of the heroes and the villains. Each new series comes up with a few new characters, and the plot continues to thicken as the game continues.
Every Halo fan, regardless of whether they play Xbox Live, play multiplayer campaigns, or simply watch the Halo tv series, seems to have their favorite character, whether he is the hero of the story or simply because he is one of those evil characters who is so ugly, he is cute. Halo has been around for a long time, so whether you started on Xbox One or simply enjoy watching the storyline, like star wars, the characters are well-loved by one and all.
