| 1 | ! {{Spoiler}}s for all ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' works preceding this one will be left unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned! |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/halo4box2_3153.jpg]] |
| 4 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Wake up, John.]]]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ->'''Cortana:''' ''Wake up, John! Chief!'' |
| 7 | ->'''Master Chief:''' ''I'm here.'' |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ''Halo 4'' is the fourth mainline game in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' franchise, and is the first to be developed by Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries instead of Creator/{{Bungie}}[[note]]unless you're counting Creator/EnsembleStudios' work on ''VideoGame/HaloWars'' (or ''[[UpdatedRerelease Halo Anniversary]]'', which was developed by Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries, for that matter)[[/note]]. It was released on the Platform/Xbox360 on November 6, 2012. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Taking place four years after Covenant/Flood conflict, the Master Chief and his AI companion Cortana have been left adrift through space in the partially destroyed frigate ''Forward Unto Dawn''. Having placed himself [[HumanPopsicle into hibernation]], Chief is woken up by Cortana as they come upon an artificial Forerunner planet called Requiem, in which they and a Covenant [[TheRemnant remnant]] are then pulled inside. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | After crashing landing inside the planet, the two soon discover that they have a more pressing matter on their hands: Cortana reveals that [[AIIsaCrapshoot she's in the stages of Rampancy]], a condition in which AIs that are in service for longer than they're intented to start to deteriorate. But if they can get back home, there's a chance that her condition can be cured. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | As they try to find their bearings and reestablish contact with the UNSC, Chief and Cortana learn more about the Forerunners and meet new allies along the way. But in the midst of dealing with their new friends and foes, Chief's true test is whether or not he can race back home and save Cortana, before it's too late. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | While the gameplay for both campaign and multiplayer have gotten an overhaul, the developers consider it to be an natural evolution of the series rather than a full revamp. It takes cues from both the classic trilogy and the changes made in ''VideoGame/HaloReach''. Armor Abilities return with both old favorites and some new selections, including [[XRayVision Promethean Vision]], extended energy shields and deployable turrets. Health packs are removed once more and you can only wield one weapon at a time. For the first time in the series, sprinting is an automatically equipped function (in ''Reach'' it was an optional Armor Ability). The player also now has an entirely new selection of weapons to choose from that are Forerunner in origin. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | In the multiplayer titled "War Games," etailed armor permutations, customized load-outs, and weapon skins are available as you level up your character, and as you gain points in battle you can call in ordinance that gives you more powerful weapons and other upgrades to aid you. Your loadouts are also split between several factors: Primary Weapon, Sidearm, Grenade, Armor Ability, Tactical Package, and Support Upgrade. Most have precedent in previous games, with the exception of Tactical Package and Support Upgrade, which are passive boosts to your character that can give them an edge in certain deployments including: spawning with additional grenades, less points needed for ordinance drops, increasing shield recharge rate, improving vehicle operations (including ejection from vehicle if destroyed), and even gaining more experience per game. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | The game has a SpinOff live-action series called ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn'', which features a group of naval officers-in-training as their school is attacked by the Covenant in the early days of the Covenant war... [[BigDamnHeroes until the Chief shows up]]. The first episode was released on October 5th, 2012, with the next four parts released over the following four weeks. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | In addition, the story of the campaign is expanded upon through ''Spartan Ops'', a co-op campaign which effectively replaces the Firefight mode of ''[[VideoGame/Halo3ODST ODST]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/HaloReach Reach]]''. Its storyline, which takes place six months after the single player campaign, has the players assume the role of the [=Spartan-IVs=] of Fireteam Crimson as they fight for Requiem's key locations. ''Spartan Ops'' was designed to be expanded upon throughout the game's lifespan, with more stories and chapters that would have bridged the gap to ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians''; however, [[StillbornFranchise it only lasted one season before being cancelled]], with its story being continued in ''ComicBook/HaloEscalation'' instead. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | The Xbox One port was published on November 11, 2014, 2 years after the original release as completion of ''The Master Chief Collection'', then the Xbox Series X/S as well as the [=PC=] port was published on November 17, 2020. |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!''Halo 4'' contains examples of: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:General]] |
| 32 | * AbnormalAmmo: Almost all the Forerunner guns use HardLight ammo, which take the form of everything from bullets to ''rockets''. |
| 33 | * ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: The game often punctuates its firefights with moments between the Chief and Cortana. |
| 34 | * ActionPrologue: "Dawn" functions as this. Not only is it noticeably shorter than the rest of the game's levels, but the game's TitleCard is placed after it. |
| 35 | * AirstrikeImpossible: The final level opens with one of these. Master Chief, piloting a Broadsword fighter, must dart close enough to the Didact's ship to remain within the protection of its shields as it traverses through slipspace, dashing closely past shifting geometry and point defense fire. In co-op mode, anyone crashing into the wall will make the other players' screens shake with the force of the impact, making it ''much'' more likely for a series of crashes to follow soon after. |
| 36 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Cortana is getting to the stage [[http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Master-Chief-Corta-Change-Halo-4-37478.html where she is]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG6mmCF8gk8&hd=1&t=2m14s descending further into]] [[http://www.halopedia.org/Rampancy rampancy]], and this is a major piece of the plot in the development of both herself and John. |
| 37 | -->'''Cortana:''' I was put into service eight years ago. AIs deteriorate after seven. |
| 38 | * AlienSky: On Requiem. Mostly because there's a roof, as you're primarily fighting ''inside'' the planet. |
| 39 | * AllThereInTheManual: The game has several essential plot elements which aren't explicitly explained in-game, but only in expanded material such as the novels. For example: |
| 40 | ** The Covenant you fight are not the original Covenant, but rather part of a remnant faction led by [[Literature/HaloGlasslands Jul]] [[Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar 'Mdama]]. |
| 41 | ** The Didact's apparent telekinesis is, in truth, a device called a constraint field, which no one would know without having read ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga''. |
| 42 | ** The backstory for why Halsey is in cuffs and being interrogated by an UNSC officer is explained in ''Literature/HaloGlasslands'', while the backstories of both [[spoiler:the Librarian]] and Didact are primarily explained in ''The Forerunner Saga'' and the ''Halo 3'' terminals. |
| 43 | * AmmoUsingMeleeWeapon: The Energy Sword and Gravity Hammer, which have limited charges but cannot be reloaded. |
| 44 | * AnimationBump: Previous games always rendered cutscenes using the game engine itself, which has always been cutting edge in power and quality, but there are specific cutscenes that are clearly made from a dedicated animation software. |
| 45 | * ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Although Didact is prevented from killing every human on Earth, he still manages to kill the entire population of New Phoenix. It's still quarantined six months later when ''Spartan Ops'' starts.]] |
| 46 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 47 | ** While they were never exactly beautiful, the Covenant are somewhat more grotesque in ''4'' than they were in previous games. Compare the [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/c/c4/H4_profile_-_KigYar.png Halo 4 Jackal]] to the [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/7/72/JackalMinor.png Halo 3 Jackal]], for example. Forerunner architecture is also different: compare the blocky, flat geometry of the [[https://www.halopedia.org/Installation_00_Citadel#/media/File%3ACitadel_Front.jpg Ark's]] [[https://www.halopedia.org/Installation_00_Citadel#/media/File%3AH3_ArkCitadel_Exterior.jpg citadel]] to the more detailed and flowing shapes on [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/8/89/SO-EP1-CH3.png Requiem]]. In both those cases though, WordOfGod is that that the "old" designs are still canon, with the newer ones representing different phenotypes and subspecies in the case of the Covenant, and divergent design philosophies between the different Forerunner castes in the case of Requiem's architecture. |
| 48 | ** Both Master Chief and the frigate ''Forward Unto Dawn'' received radical redesigns, despite there being no in universe justification for them. For Forward Unto Dawn, the ship was already a small frigate cut in half at the end of Halo 3, so they enlarged it to be more suitable as the entire first level. For Master Chief and the Mjolnir armor, previous games were designed to create a seamless blend of hard armor and flex points, making him look like a walking tank. In this game it's clear he is wearing a bodysuit with hard armor strapped over it (with the final moments of the story showing the armor being removed), along with enlarged booster pods on his shoulders he looks both skinnier and more top heavy. |
| 49 | ** Cortana always had an evolving appearance in previous games, but was fairly subtle with much of the changes explained simply through the increased graphical abilities produced by the game. In particular her holographic body always evoked at least a skintight suit if not nudity, as well as clearly being projected light that isn't really there. In this game her figure is more exaggerated and a few more organic touches such as having toes, and the holographic projection looks more tangible. |
| 50 | * ArtifactTitle: A Halo, Installation 03, does briefly show up, but it serves little purpose in the plot. That said, it is somewhat more important [[AllThereInTheManual in the background]], being where the UNSC got a lot of the Forerunner technology they are now applying. |
| 51 | * ArtificialGravity: For some reason, Requiem possesses a gravity generator which seems to serve no function other than to make passing ships crash into it (the surface certainly still appears to possess gravity after it's destroyed). Bizarrely, it's constantly referred to in-game as a "gravity well", which generally refers to a body's ''natural'' gravity field as it pertains to objects attempting to escape from it or pass by without crashing. |
| 52 | * ArtificialStupidity: Vehicle gunners are pretty good about avoiding firing powerful area-of-effect weapons if friendly units or vehicles are near their targets, preventing collateral damage. However, they are not quite smart enough to know when this does not apply. For example, a Covenant Wraith tank will avoid firing plasma artillery at the player if the player is next to an empty Covenant hovering sniper-perch (since it counts as a friendly), while still lining itself up like it's going to make a shot on the player. The player may then fire through the gap between the raised perch and its base without the Wraith firing back or even moving out of the way. On a related note, allied vehicle '''drivers''' are as terrible as ever. |
| 53 | * ArtisticLicensePhysics: Requiem's "Gravity Well", which betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what gravity is. |
| 54 | * AscendedMeme: As tea-bagging is practically a ''Halo'' pastime, the developers even acknowledged it, as you can create a hologram over somebody's body which will then begin tea-bagging it. |
| 55 | * AwesomeButImpractical: |
| 56 | ** The sticky detonator gun in the campaign. It can usually kill Hunters in two hits provided you hit their weak spots from behind, can even kill an [=NPC=]-driven Mantis in 3 shots, the bomb sticks to the enemy if you hit them with it, and it has quite a nice explosive radius, making them very useful for taking out groups of enemies bunched up together. That said, you can usually only carry 6 rounds at best (5 rounds + 1 in the chamber), and the guns themselves are pretty rare and generally only appear in the game's second-to-last level, so their usefulness is limited. |
| 57 | ** The railgun in campaign as well. It has perfect aim, hitscans, and deals heavy explosive damage, killing any Elite or Knight in one shot. You also can only carry a maximum of 6 shots for it, it does trivial damage against heavy vehicles, and despite seemingly like a sniper weapon it lacks a scope and needs to be charged for about half a second before firing. You also never fight any Hunters in the few levels where you can pick one up, which are just about the only infantry-level enemy that would be justified using it against over a simpler sniper rifle or beam rifle. |
| 58 | ** On a similar note, human weapons fall victim to this too in the campaign because first, max ammo capacity has been reduced compared to the other ''Halo'' games. Second, you don't run into human weapons or even ammo caches for them in most of the levels very often[[note]]In contrast, other games often have dead marines laying around with lots of weapons/ammo strewn around them as a convenient excuse to give you ammo (and show that some marines made it to various places before dying)[[/note]]. And third, their power levels are about the same as the alien weaponry, so there's not much point in choosing them over alien ones during most levels. |
| 59 | * BadassBystander: When the Covenant launch a full-scale attack on Ivanov station, most of the archeologists aboard grab pistols and do their best to defend the place. Several of them can be found in a room fighting a pair of Hunters, and actually managing to not die instantly. |
| 60 | * BarbieDollAnatomy: Cortana, as usual, but this time even more noticeable, given her . . . ahem . . . remodeling. |
| 61 | * BaseOnWheels: The UNSC Mammoth, which is both larger and faster than the Elephant from ''Halo 3'', carries more vehicles and ordinance, and is equipped with a railgun/mini-MAC (both terms are used interchangeably) for line-of-sight artillery strikes. |
| 62 | ** The MAC merits some notice - according to its weapon specs, it is capable of hitting targets in ''planetary orbit''. |
| 63 | * TheBattlestar: The ''Infinity'' is certainly this. It possesses very heavy armament of its own, but is also capable of deploying what is essentially a small fleet of frigates plus dozens of squadrons of fighters and dropships from its internal bays. |
| 64 | * {{BFG}}: Alongside the old standbys (Spartan Laser, Rocket Launcher, Fuel Rod Gun), we get two new examples. A man-portable ''[[MagneticWeapons Railgun]]'' is available on the UNSC side of things, and the Forerunners have the [[NoBodyLeftBehind Incineration Cannon]], the unholy fusion of a rocket launcher, flamethrower, and shotgun. |
| 65 | * BigBad: As was heavily implied in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved: [[UpdatedRerelease Anniversary]]'' and the trailers featuring his sigil, it is [[AbusivePrecursors the Ur-Didact]]. |
| 66 | * BittersweetEnding: |
| 67 | ** At the end of the main campaign, [[spoiler:the Chief prevents the Didact from destroying Earth, but Cortana [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices herself]] in the process to ensure that Chief survived the nuclear explosion aboard the Didact's ship]]. |
| 68 | ** ''Spartan Ops'' ends with [[spoiler: Jul 'Mdama and his forces escaping Requiem with half of the Janus Key and Dr. Halsey, who seems to have made a FaceHeelTurn after realizing that the UNSC had ordered her death. On the other hand, the crew of the Infinity has the other half, without which Jul's half is uesless, and they also managed to escape Requiem]]. |
| 69 | * BodyHorror: [[spoiler:The Composer peels away skin, muscles, and skeleton, one at a time, to leave its victims as digital shells of their former selves to be made into Prometheans.]] |
| 70 | * BondVillainStupidity: [[spoiler:Twice, the Didact decides to telekinetically lift the Chief and monologue to him rather than killing him outright. The second time, all he had to do was shut off the hardlight bridge and let the Chief fall. He also doesn't bother carrying any weapons.]] |
| 71 | * BoringButPractical: Elites in ''Halo 4'' demonstrate far fewer variations, but are overall generally more well-rounded than in previous games. Even the Storm Elites, the Remnant's equivalent of Elite Minors, can throw grenades and occasionally use energy swords, tactics that were generally reserved for higher-ranking Elites in previous games. |
| 72 | * BookEnds: [[spoiler:Both the first enemy (an Elite) and the final enemy (The Didact) are defeated through quicktime events. Both enemies also fall to their doom.]] |
| 73 | * BoomHeadshot: The Promethean Crawlers can be killed with one shot to the head, going down with a satisfying explosion and a flash that Cortana mentions as being a 'data purge'. That said, like every other ''Halo'' game, almost every enemy that ''has'' a head goes down in one headshot once its shields are down (or if it doesn't have them to begin with). Knights are able to take more than one headshot on higher difficulties but are still weakest there. The main exception are Hunters, whose 'heads' aren't actually heads given that they're worm-conglomerations. Automatic weapons are still unable to score headshots in the game engine, although the Forerunner Boltshot pistol ''can'' despite the fact that it has no scope and is not explicitly a precision weapon. |
| 74 | * BullyingADragon: Captain Del Rio gets into a disagreement with Master Chief regarding the danger of the Didact and Cortana's oncoming rampancy. Eventually, [[spoiler:he orders Cortana confiscated. Master Chief's stern "No, sir" in response prompts Del Rio to order ship security to arrest him -- the silent, unmoving response of the entire command deck makes it clear that no one wants to even try]]. |
| 75 | * CallBack: |
| 76 | ** The last thing Master Chief said to Cortana before going into cryogenic sleep in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' was "Wake me... when you need me." The ''Halo 4'' reveal trailer has Cortana repeatedly calling out, "Chief, I need you!" |
| 77 | ** In the beginning of the game, her first words to John as he wakes up are "Wake up, John. I need you", a reference to both his last words in ''3'' ("Wake me... when you need me") and the fact that she went into a FirstNameBasis with him by the time of the end of ''3''. |
| 78 | ** When Cortana tells the Chief that she is going through rampancy, and he tells her that he will get her to Earth to be fixed up by Halsey, she says, "Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep", an approximate line from ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''. |
| 79 | ** At the end of the game, Chief finally takes off his helmet... and we don't get to see his face due to the camera. [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Again]]. [[spoiler:Except in the Legendary ending, where a small portion of his face with his eyes shadowed out is shown.]] |
| 80 | ** During the mission "Shutdown", Cortana instructs the Chief to enter a Forerunner energy field, to have his shields disrupt it. This also occurred in the level "Two Betrayals" in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', and Cortana notes she's pulling the idea from their old playbook. |
| 81 | ** In one cutscene, Cortana is flying a ship with Master Chief repeatedly telling her to 'pull up' right up to the moment when she crashes it into the side of their destination; ''Combat Evolved'' had a similar cutscene where the roles were reversed. However, it was played for laughs in ''CE'', and here it is played for drama. |
| 82 | * CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:The Composer was designed to digitize sentient lifeforms in order to escape the Flood. However, the process was flawed and the digitized consciousnesses turned into "abominations" when returned to physical form, with the Didact using the Composer to instead create his Promethean Knights. The Forerunners abandoned the device because of this, but the Didact decided it was still preferable to galactic mass suicide.]] |
| 83 | * CapitalLettersAreMagic: A ''Halo'' staple. In addition to The Forerunners, this game gives us The Didact and The Composer. |
| 84 | * CharacterDevelopment: Master Chief himself does not change a whole lot, but there is a great deal more elaboration on his personality and character. Bucking the previous tradition of him [[HeroicMime only speaking in cutscenes]], here he is more willing to talk during gameplay. The personality he displays is consistent with the personality he is shown to have in the ExpandedUniverse, with an unfailing sense of duty and a strong protectiveness over Cortana. This game brings these elements closer to the surface. |
| 85 | ** For example, John has spent most of his life tasked with saving lives and protecting the human race at all costs, which causes a unique personality clash when he was interacting with civilian scientists he had just saved. In addition, his "bred for combat" nature and [[{{Ubermensch}} superhuman abilities]] make him distant even to his fellow soldiers. |
| 86 | * ChekhovsSkill: In a gameplay sense: The opening level has a sequence of the Chief climbing and crawling in first person. This mechanic doesn't come back up again until [[spoiler:the final level, where the Chief is injured and hanging off the edge of a light bridge, forcing him to climb up and attack the Didact]]. |
| 87 | * CliffHanger: 343 Industries shows surprising restraint by ''averting'' this, despite the fact they were already planning on making a 5th and 6th game before ''4'' had even come out. [[spoiler:The Didact is dealt with definitively, Cortana and Chief say their final goodbyes before she is seemingly KilledOffForReal, and no loose plot threads are left obviously unaddressed.]] However, see the entry for Sequel Hook below. |
| 88 | * CompensatingForSomething: Cortana's assessment of the [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Mammoth]]. |
| 89 | * ContinuityLockout: The previous games by Bungie had plots that were largely self-contained to the game series. The plot of ''Halo 4'', in contrast, depends heavily on the player already being heavily familiar with the expanded universe material. Also see AllThereInTheManual. |
| 90 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 91 | ** In Mission 3, Master Chief gets tackled by a Forerunner Promethean Knight and he punches it in the face, all shown through first person. This is nearly identical to one of the [[EstablishingCharacterMoment defining early moments]] of Noble Six in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', a Spartan suggested to be very similar to Master Chief in that regard. The only difference is that the Chief manages to throw off the assailant on his own (the Knight then rather politely teleports away to be faced later in a straight-up gunfight). |
| 92 | ** In Mission 4 on the ''Infinity'', there are hidden door buttons which would seemingly lead to other places in the facility. Many of the doors are of course, locked. However, one of the doors mentions that Huragok/Engineer population reserves are to be denied access to during emergency procedures. These are implied to be in part the same Huragok who recovered from Trevelyan during the events of ''Literature/HaloGlasslands''. |
| 93 | ** The Mantis's official nomenclature is "HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX Armor Defense System", making it part of the same project that produced the "HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark I Prototype Armor Defense System" that was piloted by Ghost in the ''Prototype'' section of ''Anime/HaloLegends''. It is also a successor to the "HRUNTING Mark III [B] Exoskeleton", a.k.a. the [[PoweredArmor Cyclops]] from ''VideoGame/HaloWars''. |
| 94 | ** At the end of Mission 4, Lasky states that the UNSC has established bases at two Halo rings- specifically, Installations [[VideoGame/{{Halo 2}} 05]] and [[Literature/HaloGlasslands 03]]. |
| 95 | ** Promethean Vision is noted to work with VISR 4.0, an upgraded version of the system used by TheSquad in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST''. |
| 96 | ** The Spartan-IV and Marine [=NPCs=] will often talk about subjects pertaining to previous ''Halo'' media; some examples include the surviving Spartan-[=IIs=] from Blue Team, Captain Keyes and the [[Literature/HaloTheColeProtocol riots of '35]], Chief Petty Officer Mendez, Sergeant Johnson, [[Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn Circinius IV]], Project ORION, [[VideoGame/{{Halo 3}} Voi]], [[VideoGame/{{Halo 2}} that stunt Chief pulled with the Scarab in New Mombasa]], etc. |
| 97 | ** Lasky to Chief: [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved "I don't suppose you're any good at clearing LZs?"]] |
| 98 | ** In the final mission, [[spoiler:Cortana splits herself into multiple copies in order to fulfill various functions]]. She first did this [[spoiler:back during the mission to the ''Unyielding Hierophant'']] in ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike''. |
| 99 | ** The first playable mission has Master Chief being awoken from stasis on a ship being overrun by Covenant boarders, and having to fight his way through them to escape to the nearby Forerunner installation -- just like in ''[[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Halo: CE]]''. |
| 100 | * ContinuitySnarl: Some details in the game as opposed to the ExpandedUniverse seems to be off (even the Ur-Didact's characterization seemed to be completely off until ''Literature/HaloSilentium'' finally clarified things): |
| 101 | ** In ''Literature/HaloPrimordium'', [[spoiler:the Composer isn't as horribly mind-destroying as it's made out to be. The protagonists Chakas and Riser get the minds of two deceased humans implanted in them, and said minds act fine, aside from some expected disorientation. The Librarian herself actually ''uses'' the Composer to store many humans' minds for safety. The process is also described as very relaxing instead of gruesome and painful. Perhaps the Didact was misusing the device?]] |
| 102 | ** In the very opening of the game, there's a scene depicting [=Spartan-IIs=] early in the war. However, instead of wearing their canonical Mark IV armor, they're instead wearing Mark VI armor, which only a handful of [=S-IIs=] ever got because it wasn't introduced until near the very end of the war (October 2552, to be precise). Worse, it's the Chief's customized Mark VI that only he received. It was originally implied that [[UnreliableNarrator this was part of Halsey's imagination]], but according to [[AllThereInTheManual the Essential Visual Guide]], the prologue armor is simply a Mark IV variant that Cortana used as a base for her customization of the Chief's Mark VI. |
| 103 | ** Several media depicting the ''Infinity'', such as ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn'', show a large fleet of cruisers escorting the ship to Requiem. That fleet is nowhere to be seen in ''Halo 4'', though they could easily have been destroyed by Requiem's gravity well before the Chief encountered it. |
| 104 | ** For gameplay reasons, the UNSC ''Forward Unto Dawn'' is carrying Warthogs that didn't enter UNSC service until 2554, new model battle rifles that entered service after 2552, and assault rifles that differ from the model used in ''Halo 3'', despite being isolated from UNSC contact for four years. |
| 105 | * ContrivedCoincidence: Apparently, after being dropped out of slipspace at random at the end of the last game, the rear half of ''Forward Unto Dawn'' was close enough to Requiem, and heading on the right trajectory, to drift there within just four years, meaning it had to have arrived in Requiem's star system to start with[[note]] As Creator/IsaacAsimov pointed out, if you were to make a BlindJump within the Milky Way, the odds would be '''[[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale 250 quadrillion to one]]''' against arriving within a billion miles of ''any'' star, let alone stumbling onto what would quickly prove to be possibly the most important star system in the galaxy.[[/note]]. Not only that, but it got close enough both to trip the planet's automated scanners and to trigger an alert among the Covenant fleet -- prompting Cortana to wake the Chief up -- within just a couple of hours of ''Infinity'''s arrival. Must be Chief's legendary [[BornLucky luck]] striking again. |
| 106 | * CoolPlane: The new Broadsword fighters of the UNSC. While the [[VideoGame/HaloReach Sabres]] may have been the first [[DeflectorShields energy-shielded]] spacecraft deployed by the UNSC, the Broadswords are mass-produced, and armed with higher-caliber autocannons and improved missiles. They are also capable of packing [[NuclearOption HAVOK nukes]] if needed. They also likely possess more powerful propulsion, given their performance in cutscenes and their ease in operating in both aerial and space environments (for one, they don't need boosters to reach orbit). |
| 107 | * CoolStarship: |
| 108 | ** The UNSC ''Infinity'', being the highlight of this installment, and the setting for the entire multiplayer aspect of the game. Also the biggest and most powerful ship ever constructed by humanity[[note]]For size comparison, the ''Infinity'' is over twice the size of the ''Pillar of Autumn'' or a ''Franchise/StarWars'' Imperial Star Destroyer, which are themselves about twice the size of a post-''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' Federation starship[[/note]], implementing all manner of Covenant and Forerunner technology reclaimed by the UNSC over the years. That said, its shields still glow golden just as Spartan shields do (instead of the blue/purple of Covenant and Forerunner shielding), and its armament is still centered around missiles and [=MAC=] weapons - albeit, very powerful, improved [=MAC=]s and missiles that are capable of utterly tearing apart Covenant ships and [[spoiler:forcing the Didact's Cryptum to flee even when the ''Infinity'' was grounded on Requiem]]. |
| 109 | ** The ''Mantle's Approach'' counts as well. One of the fastest and most heavily armed ships in the Forerunner fleet, and thus at this point very likely the most lethal ship in the galaxy [[spoiler: until Chief sets off a nuke inside it]]. 88 miles wide and ''230'' miles tall (as long as many ''U.S. states''), with a re-configurable interior and exterior thanks to HardLight, it's an impressive specimen to say the least. [[spoiler: It was able to effortlessly blow through Earth's defensive grid ''and'' a good portion of humanity's entire space fleet. A defensive grid and space fleet that had been ''specifically upgraded to be superior to the Covenant's''.]] |
| 110 | * CouldSayItBut: Lasky, [[spoiler:after he and the crew of the ''Infinity'' are ordered to arrest John-117 and take in Cortana for [[DeadlyEuphemism termination]]]]: |
| 111 | -->'''Lasky:''' [[spoiler:In case you had already gone, I took the precaution of ordering [[CoolPlane a Pelican]] [[BaseOnWheels outfitted]] for [[MoreDakka full combat pursuit]].]] |
| 112 | * CripplingOverspecialization: The new Railgun. Classified as an anti-infantry weapon, it really is... ''just'' that. It's powerful enough to tear through the toughest of infantry, cutting down Knights and Elites, but does underwhelming damage to light vehicles and practically nothing to tanks. You also never fight Hunters in the couple of levels where you have access to it, which are just about the only infantry-level threats that would justify that level of firepower over a sniper rifle or beam rifle. |
| 113 | * CutsceneBoss: [[spoiler:The Didact's abuse of a constraint field makes him impossible for the Chief to take him on in a straight fight, even after being augmented by the Librarian. The game doesn't even let you try. You end up just watching Cortana immobilize him before you yourself plant a grenade in his chest in a quick time event.]] |
| 114 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax: A couple of occasions: |
| 115 | ** In the ''Scanned'' trailer, one frag grenade is shown to send three Promethean Knights flying, two of them off a cliff to their presumed deaths. Frags don't have anything near this kind of destructive effect on Knights in-game. |
| 116 | ** A minor example in the cutscene following the Broadsword flight segment of the final campaign mission "Midnight": The Chief is shown doing several rolls as he dodges and weaves past the shifting geometry of the Didact's ship. These rolls are, of course, impossible to do when actually piloting the Broadsword in-game. |
| 117 | ** In the second episode of ''Spartan Ops'', Hoya of Fireteam Majestic is able to one-shot a Knight at moderate range with a shotgun. Assuming Heroic as the difficulty ''Halo'' is "meant to be played on" as described by the game, this is impossible even at point-blank range. |
| 118 | ** By the second half of ''Spartan Ops'', cutscene power is a fairly clear factor of NominalImportance. Named characters like Thorne, Palmer and Lasky are able to cut down opponents with weapons that normally would not be so effective, whereas nameless Marines with Assault Rifles are still just as weak as you'd expect them to be. |
| 119 | ** Forerunner infantry weapons. In gameplay, they're around on par with UNSC and Covenant weapons, while in the Terminals they can take down {{Advanced Ancient Human|s}} soldiers in high-tech combat skin with just a single shot. [[spoiler:Or disable the Didact in only two well placed shots.]] |
| 120 | * DamnYouMuscleMemory: |
| 121 | ** The addition of sprinting has led to another button shuffle; the default controls are now virtually identical to ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''[='s=]. Sprinting pushed crouching to the B button, which pushed grenade switching to the D-pad. Prepare to teabag the ground while you try to equip a sticky. |
| 122 | ** Being shot no longer takes you out of zoom. So basically if you never bothered to scope in when taking fire before, you're at a huge disadvantage. |
| 123 | * DarkerAndEdgier: |
| 124 | ** Being a game after the war, where Cortana, John-117's closest friend, is in distinct danger of [[AIIsACrapshoot going rampant]], this seems to be in effect. [[spoiler:There's also the fact that, unlike in ''Halo 3'', the Chief is unable to prevent the Composer firing, though he does stop it before it makes it past one city.]] |
| 125 | ** The Covenant have been redesigned to be even more alien and animalistic, even more so than in ''VideoGame/HaloReach''. Also like in ''Reach'', Grunts don't speak "wacky" English. |
| 126 | * DarkestHour: [[spoiler: The Didact recovers the Composer and uses it on Ivanoff Station, [[DespairEventHorizon utterly horrifying Cortana as she nears her own death]], and then heads to Earth in his uber-advanced flagship. [[HeroicSpirit And yet the Master Chief does his damnedest to stop him.]]]] |
| 127 | * DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: The Covenant remnant, who are completely adrift now that the Great Journey has been proven to be a lie. This is emphasized by the message they've been broadcasting to Requiem for the past three years, which is just an Elite crying out "Didact! Didact!" in a sad, lost, and desperate voice. |
| 128 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 129 | ** At the very beginning of "Dawn", there is an interactive terminal which describes the status of the ship's various systems, the first one being confirmation that the weapon systems are online. Whether you interacted with this terminal will change a conversation later in this level: |
| 130 | --> '''If you did not interact with the terminal''' |
| 131 | ---> '''Chief''': Are any of the ship-to-ship defenses online? |
| 132 | ---> '''Cortana''': Only the Hyperion missiles, but we'll have to fire them manually from the outer hull. |
| 133 | --> '''If you did interact with the terminal''' |
| 134 | ---> '''Chief''': Didn't the ship's sensors say we still had weapons systems online? |
| 135 | ---> '''Cortana''': Yes, but since the ship was torn in half, we can't access the weapons stations. We'll have to fire them manually from the outer hull. |
| 136 | ** If you can get yourself to it on the level "Reclaimer", [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ROiVksbhA you can commandeer a Pelican]]. |
| 137 | ** There are a few emplaced [[MagneticWeapons MAC batteries]] in the background of the level "The Composer", which add some visual flair as they fire at invading Covenant ships in the background. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8jHdn_UA6M If you can escape the level confines, you can take manual control of them.]] |
| 138 | * DialogDuringGameplay: Unlike all previous campaigns save ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'', the Master Chief speaks freely in and out of cutscenes, though he retains his air of stoic professionalism. |
| 139 | * DiegeticInterface: As usual, the motion tracker, DeflectorShield meter and weapon readouts are painted on the inside of the Chief's visor. This game takes it one step further by adding some translucent artifacts and a few fins to screen, representing the visor and the edges of the helmet and creating the illusion that the player is genuinely wearing it. In multiplayer, all of this extra detail is toned down for better visibility. |
| 140 | * DifficultButAwesome: |
| 141 | ** The Thruster Pack, which might seem like a useless short speed burst at first, vastly inferior to the other armor abilities... until you realize that it amplifies ''any movement'' in ''any direction'', allowing speed-strafes, rapid retreats, accelerated falling, elaborate combinations involving jumps, man-cannons and gravity lifts, and basically whatever creative movement you can think of, with a fairly short recharge time as well. |
| 142 | ** The Forerunner Lightrifle, which has the fastest kills of any precision rifle once you realize that its scope gives it a damage boost when activated, especially once you get used to using its orange-tinted 3x scope. The rifle functions as a combat rifle when fired from the hip and shoots a controlled burst of three small shots, but when zoomed, the indicator shows the columns of three bullets turn in a solid one bullet column, making it double as a sniper rifle. |
| 143 | * DisintegratorRay: |
| 144 | ** Many of the HardLight Forerunner weapons have the quality of disintegrating their targets, such as the Binary Rifle, Incineration Cannon, and the Pulse Grenades, though the last two are not necessarily "rays". Given that prior to the activation of the Halo Array the Forerunner were battling [[TheVirus the Flood]], this was probably an intentional effect to make sure [[NoBodyLeftBehind no organic mass was left behind]] for the Flood to infect. |
| 145 | ** This is also the manner of function used by [[spoiler: the Composer, reducing organic bodies to a pile of ash while doing a [[BrainUploading Brain Upload]] for later UnwillingRoboticisation]]. |
| 146 | * DisneyVillainDeath: |
| 147 | ** An Elite wrestled with in the first level is thrown by the Chief down an elevator shaft. |
| 148 | ** [[spoiler:The Didact gets pushed off his light bridge by the Chief's grenade, causing him to fall into a slipspace portal.]] |
| 149 | * DoppelgangerSpin: The Hologram makes its return from ''Reach'' mostly unchanged, but now with the added trait that, if it runs forward on to an enemy corpse, ''it will begin to tea-bag it'', making it even more distracting (and perhaps more realistic) than the previous version. |
| 150 | * EliteMooks: |
| 151 | ** The Promethean Knights are the new additions to this installment, and are legitimately tough. They're only slightly more durable than a Covenant Elite, but have an assortment of special abilities (including spawning autosentries or Watchers and a couple different FlashStep attacks) and are armed with hardlight weapons. Even the basic Knights are able to survive a sticky grenade explosion on Normal difficulty or higher. |
| 152 | ** On the other hand, the Covenant Elites are... not so elite this time, having suffered a BadassDecay wherein they are now both [[ConservationOfNinjutsu more numerous]] and, with the exceptions of the Zealots and gold-armored Warriors (who actually are elite among the Elites), relatively easy to kill (similar to ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'', without their shields they're no tougher than a Grunt or Jackal, and they don't even have the resistance to plasma weapons they had in all previous games). |
| 153 | ** In fact there are only 5 different variants of Elites in ''Halo 4''; Storm Elites are similar to the blue Elite Minors from previous games, only they have the ability to throw grenades and occasionally use energy swords. Elite Commanders, the equivalent of Elite Majors[=/=]Elite Officers, aren't much tougher than Storm Elites, but often carry heavier weapons like concussion rifles and occasionally will pull out an energy sword when angered. Elite Rangers show up in space combat and tend to use precision weapons. Gold-armored Elite Warriors are slightly tougher than Commanders, and in addition to standard Elite weapons will occasionally use fuel rod cannons. Zealots are the toughest Elites in ''Halo 4'', with slightly stronger shields and about twice as much health as Storm Elites (they can just barely survive a sticky grenade, even on Normal difficulty), as well as using cloaking devices and sometimes energy swords. |
| 154 | ** On the [[RedShirtArmy UNSC]] side of things, AI-controlled Spartan-IV [=NPC=]s make occasional appearances, and are basically Marines that are a little smarter and, thanks to regenerating energy shielding, a fair bit tougher; their shields are in fact exactly as tough as those of the player. |
| 155 | * ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Commander Palmer says as much about John-117 upon meeting him for the first time. Even though he's canonically about an inch taller than her![[note]]The degree to which Chief's taller than Palmer in the game itself tends to vary; a few cutscenes show him being at least a ''foot'' taller than her[[/note]]. |
| 156 | * {{Expy}}: The Storm Rifle, a replacement for the old Plasma Rifle. It basically functions the same, but shoots much faster and is less accurate as a result. |
| 157 | * FadeAroundTheEyes: The closing cinematic ends with the Master Chief taking off his helmet. On most difficulties, the FadeToBlack is done with a {{wipe}} that hides his face, [[spoiler:but on Legendary difficulty the area around his eyes is visible for a few seconds before the FadeToBlack]]. |
| 158 | * FamedInStory: Oh my, the Master Chief. Walk into a room with troops under fire and you can hear and see the relief that he's arrived. His reputation is so huge that [[spoiler: Captain Del Rio is fired by High Command for not listening to the Chief and instead leaving him behind on Requiem]]. |
| 159 | * FanservicePack: In the original games Cortana always had a vaguely nude appearance but her design as a hologram obfuscated actually looking naked; yet she did acquire a slightly curvier appearance as the graphical render improved. In this game her holographic appearance has a much higher visual fidelity, along with an even more exaggerated figure to where her TronLines look painted on. It veers away from an actual nude body, but comes close. |
| 160 | * FantasticRacism: [[spoiler: The Didact dismisses the Elites bowing to him on his awakening as "beasts" and "primitives", and comes to the conclusion that humans are not worthy of the Mantle yet simply because we haven't enslaved them yet.]] |
| 161 | * FighterLaunchingSequence: The mission "Shutdown" begins in one of the UNSC ''Infinity'''s launch bays. A Pelican DropShip is loaded for combat and put at the Chief's disposal. He gets in the cockpit, Cortana runs through the pre-flight checklist and keys the engines, the craft is lowered into a launch tube, the Chief throttles up the engine and a catapult launches it out the ship. Notable in that this is the first time in the series (barring {{Easter Egg}}s and {{Game Mod}}s) that a Pelican has been pilotable. |
| 162 | * FinalFirstHug: [[spoiler:In a variation, the first time that Cortana manages to physically touch John-117 (by making a HardLight body for herself following the detonation of the Havok nuke) is what is assumed to be the final time they see each other ever again.]] |
| 163 | -->'''[[spoiler:Cortana]]:''' [[spoiler:[[TearJerker I've waited to do that for so long...]]]] |
| 164 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 165 | ** The short piano riff from the beginning of "This is the Hour" on the ''Halo 3'' soundtrack (AKA the theme from the first ''Halo 3'' trailer) returns at the end of ''Halo 4''[='s=] main theme missing half of its notes, foreshadowing [[spoiler:the death of Cortana]]. |
| 166 | ** In the Prologue, Halsey tells her interrogator that her Spartans are humanity's "next step as a species." [[spoiler: When Chief meets the Librarian, she "accelerates his evolutionary journey", literally turning him into humanity's next step.]] |
| 167 | * FreezeFrameBonus: Pause on the Spartan trainee shown in the first cutscene. On his shirt, one can make out the name "John". |
| 168 | * GameWithinAGame: War Games (AKA multiplayer) is basically a very elaborate holodeck simulator used by Spartan [=IVs=] to train (or play Grifball). |
| 169 | * GlassCannon: All of the higher-tier EliteMooks are this compared to regular EliteMooks. Elite Zealots aren't much tougher than regular Elites, but often carry one-hit-kill energy swords and cloaking devices. Elite Warriors likewise are fairly easy to kill, but sometimes wield fuel rod cannons. Promethean Knights armed with Inferno Cannons likewise aren't much tougher than regular Knights, but can vaporize you with one shot. |
| 170 | * GoalOrientedEvolution: In the opening cutscene Halsey strongly hints that this is her ultimate endgame in creating the SPARTAN-II program, with the whole Covenant war being simply a minor setback rather than the main event. Essentially she's setting humanity down the same path as the Forerunners, with John-117 as her MessianicArchetype. [[spoiler:The Librarian's imprint reveals she planted gei in humans that would eventually lead to them creating Spartans, MJOLNIR armor, and [=AIs=]; Halsey could simply be the embodied activation of these seeds.]] |
| 171 | * HandCannon: |
| 172 | ** While the pistols of ''Halo'' are well known for being more effective than the [[MoreDakka Assault Rifles]], this game features the "M363 Remote Projectile Detonator", also known as the [[StickyBomb Sticky Detonator]]. This muzzle-loaded handgun fires a surprisingly powerful explosive charge that can be remotely detonated by the wielder, with the proximity of friendlies and hostiles to the bomb helpfully indicated by way of a built-in motion tracker. While sticking and blowing up enemies directly is one way to use it, it also facilitates clever traps, and packs enough punch to be a threat to heavy targets like Hunters or vehicles. In many ways, it is less of a traditional handgun and more of a compact GrenadeLauncher. |
| 173 | ** Additionally, there's the Forerunners' standard-issue sidearm, the Boltshot. While its normal fire mode acts as a fast, headshot-capable but otherwise not very powerful semi-auto pistol, it's also capable of a ChargedAttack wherein one can hold down the trigger to charge up and fire off a powerful short-range blast that, while not quite as strong as a full Shotgun, has a slightly longer [[ShortRangeShotgun effective]] range. Hence it is very commonly used as a secondary close-combat weapon in multiplayer, where it is capable of one-hit-kills. |
| 174 | ** And finally, the good ol' UNSC Magnum is once again quite powerful and usable at any range, but with a trade-off between rate of fire and precision due to its reticule bloom. |
| 175 | ** Similar to ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' and ''Halo: Reach'', the humble plasma pistol has been upgraded from the peashooter it was in ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'' to a weapon that almost matches the magnum in stopping power. It can take out an Elite's shields in just a handful of shots and, thanks to the ''4'''s Elites losing their previous resistance against plasma weaponry, can kill an unshielded Elite with just a few shots. The only drawback is the battery is ''significantly'' smaller than in any of the previous games. Thankfully, it's still a peashooter when Grunts and Jackals are using it against you. |
| 176 | * HappyEndingOverride: The end of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' had the Elites and the UNSC finally defeat the Covenant and come to peace with each other; humanity was still somewhat bitter about the war crimes committed by the Elites, but ultimately, both sides are grateful for each other's help. Master Chief and Cortana may not have gotten a very happy ending but they still survived and were finally allowed to rest, rather than being unneeded in a time of peace. ''Halo 4'' and related media shows that there is still fighting against various Covenant remnants (including several Elite-led ones) and that remnants of the Forerunners themselves are returning and have an old score to settle with humanity. |
| 177 | * HardLight: [[HigherTechSpecies Forerunner technology]] is taking this much further this time around. While such technology as hard light bridges and elevators existed on the Halos, seemingly ''everything'' on Requiem is at least partly made of hard light. Additionally, almost all the new Forerunner weapons use hard light as ''ammunition''. [[spoiler:Cortana later traps the Didact with hard light chains, then builds herself a body out of hard light for her to touch John at last.]] |
| 178 | * HearingVoices: [[spoiler: After the Librarian activates her "gift" in the Master Chief, he begins to hear the Didact's voice in his head. He asks Cortana where this is coming from, but she has no idea what he is talking about.]] |
| 179 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Cortana. When Chief himself tries to do this (by manually setting off a nuke on board the Didact's ship with no way, or intention, of escaping the ship himself), Cortana uses her last bit of energy to protect him in a hard light shell.]] |
| 180 | * HeroismMotiveSpeech: Master Chief spends the entire game bouncing from one crisis to the other without any concern for himself; his entire life was spent being a hero and he has a hard time thinking outside of those parameters. Cortana at one point quips that at some point they will figure out who between them is the machine. After Cortana [[spoiler: saves him from the Didact and they have a final conversation]], she reminds him that [[YouAreNotAlone he was not alone in his struggles]] and that they took care of each other. Later on, Lasky comments that Chief [[MeaningfulEcho is not a machine]] and has the right to be a person. |
| 181 | * HiddenAgendaVillain: [[spoiler: In a way. The Didact makes his motives very clear: enslave humanity as punishment for their war with the Forerunners hundreds of millennia ago. However, certain comments and his speech in the epilogue hint at a deeper motivation: a fear that humanity (or any other species) will rise to take the Forerunners' former place and abuse the galaxy, which is confirmed by ''Literature/HaloSilentium''. Those who have read ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'' might discern an even subtler reason for enslaving humans in the present rather than killing them, considering he had done so formerly to defeat the Flood: if ''Literature/HaloPrimordium'' is to be believed, the Flood will return.]] |
| 182 | * {{Hitscan}}: All precision rifles and sniper rifles of all factions are hitscan, as are the human Assault Rifle and Magnum. The human Spartan Laser also has a hitscan damage-over-time property, as it had in its previous appearances. Covenant plasma weapons are still projectiles, as are all non-precision Forerunner weapons. |
| 183 | * HologramProjectionImperfection: Played up with Cortana, who normally looks like her usual projected self, but when she is having a rampant episode, her outlines and color flicker unsteadily, representing her [[ReluctantPsycho having trouble holding herself together]]. This also happens to the projection of Master Chief's HeadsUpDisplay when she is [[InterfaceScrew having an episode inside his armor]]. |
| 184 | * HopeSpot: A variant. [[spoiler:Cortana and John mention several times about bringing her to Halsey as a way to cure her of her rampancy, or at least postpone it. However, Halsey never shows up in the campaign, as she remains in ONI custody for the entirety of the time between ''Literature/HaloGlasslands'' and ''[[PlayableEpilogue Spartan Ops]]'', making the entire plan just a grasp at an impossible hope. That, and there's Cortana's line after Mission 7, where she says that a "new Cortana model" wouldn't be ''her'', which indicates that she herself has lost hope in the plan.]] |
| 185 | * InjuredPlayerCharacterStage: There's a part at the very end where the Chief is too injured to stand and must crawl toward the objective. |
| 186 | * InstantlyProvenWrong: As you open the blast shields aboard the ''Forward Unto Dawn'', Cortana notes that the Covenant boarders aren't outfitted like standard military, and suggests that they may just be from a rogue salvage ship. Then the shield opens to reveal what's going on outside, and she adds, "...''or'', we might have stumbled into [[OhCrap an entire Covenant fleet]]." |
| 187 | * InsurmountableWaistHighFence: There is an odd bit in one level where you encounter a stream. Despite the stream only being a few feet deep and not moving very fast, so much a dipping a toe into it will instantly kill you. While someone ''does'' warn you that "That stream is bad news!", there's still no explanation as to ''why'' it is so much more dangerous than it looks. |
| 188 | * JerkassHasAPoint: The interrogator questioning Dr. Halsey raises many valid points in his criticism of her rose-colored justifications of the Spartan-II project, especially considering it was originally designed to crush human resistance. As Chief's interactions with Captain Del Rio aptly demonstrate, if you create a group of superhumans and they suddenly decide they don't want to follow your orders anymore, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. However, it's later implied his objections to the [=Spartan-IIs=] aren't due to caution about the dangers of transhumanism, but rather fishing for political ammo to smear the [=Spartan-IIs=] in order to boost support for the Spartan-IV program. |
| 189 | * LampshadeHanging: An easter egg can be found with two marines talking about an inverted stick on "Composer", which pokes at how most players use non-inverted sticks anyway. It also acts as a nice, subtle nod to ''WebAnimation/RedvsBlue'' during the "This One Goes to Eleven" episode of season 8 with the "not a fighter" bit. |
| 190 | -->'''Marine:''' We need to test the Mantis. Can you try looking up for me? |
| 191 | -->'''Mantis Marine:''' On it. *Pauses for a moment, then looks down.* Aw C'mon! Who's the idiot who inverted the stick? |
| 192 | -->'''Marine:''' There's a switch in the options panel you can toggle. |
| 193 | -->'''Mantis Marine:''' Yeah, yeah...I just found it. *The Mantis looks up* |
| 194 | -->'''Marine:''' Way better. |
| 195 | -->'''Mantis Marine:''' It just doesn't make sense. [[ShoutOut The thing's a mech, not a fighter.]] |
| 196 | * LaserGuidedKarma: You can dish this out '''beautifully''' in the "Composer" mission. When you get to the air lock areas that often has an automated voice announce the "Exterior/Interior Airlock" activations, usually one can't do this for the first encountered area with the first set of airlocks due to the sheer amount of foes gathered there upon arrival, but in the second one you can. Once the Covvies enter from an exterior airlock, you can immediately [[ThrownOutTheAirlock vent them right back out]], thus easily getting rid of the pests. |
| 197 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Kinda. When the Chief first awakes in his cryotube, you're given the instruction to "Hold X to activate emergency release." The emergency release level is marked with a rather large X right behind it. |
| 198 | * {{Leitmotif}}: The Didact and his Prometheans have a noticeable leitmotif, "[[http://youtu.be/zGfwwERbl1A Revival]]", built around ominous but wordless chanting and an alarming central riff. The UNSC ''Infinity'' also has a recurring theme, "[[http://youtu.be/PwuWTiGYLh0 To Galaxy]]", a sweeping heroic piece heard in the introduction to the game's multiplayer mode (which takes place on board it), the menu background music, and the trailer for ''Spartan Ops''. And then there's the track entitled "[[http://youtu.be/zKoFUCqlcHs 117]]". |
| 199 | * LivingEmotionalCrutch: John becomes this to Cortana in the midst of her rampancy, being her main motivation to keep herself together. [[spoiler:[[TearJerker In the end, it's revealed she was this to John as well.]]]] |
| 200 | -->[[spoiler:'''Master Chief:''' She said that to me, once. About being a machine.]] |
| 201 | * TheLostLenore: You would never expect to find this trope in a first-person shooter, but this game ends with the realization that [[spoiler:there has been a deep, meaningful, and quite real romance brewing in this series between the Chief and Cortana since almost the first scenes of the first game. And ''Halo 4'' ends with Cortana becoming Master Chief's [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]]]]. |
| 202 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: |
| 203 | ** A new armor ability is the Hardlight Shield, a large square sheet of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin hard light]] that you can pull up to protect your front, granting immunity to all weapons save for vehicular splattering, at the expense of speed and the ability to shoot. The idea of the player getting to use this (though with a Jackal shield) has been toyed with since ''Halo 2''. |
| 204 | ** Promethean Watchers can also project Hardlight Shields to protect other [[MechaMooks Forerunner constructs]], particularly Promethean Knights when their regular shields fall. ''Your'' Hardlight Shields of course have to be powered by your own armor, so your normal shields cannot recharge while the Hardlight is up. |
| 205 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 206 | ** Knight Lancers, distinguishable from other Knights by the large white fins on their carapace. When they've taken enough damage from ranged weaponry, they'll quit the Lightrifle fire, do a quick preparatory animation and... lance at you at tremendous speed with their blade-arms, leaving a MotionBlur behind them and, depending on the difficulty, either taking out your shields or killing you outright if the attack connects. After that there is a short period where they are vulnerable to CounterAttack, before they teleport out and recharge their shields. |
| 207 | ** Also, the first and last campaign missions: "Dawn" and "Midnight" respectively. While the first is ostensibly named for the ship ''Forward Unto Dawn'' on which the campaign starts, the campaign can also be seen as a single day in the life of the Master Chief. |
| 208 | * MechaMooks: This is the first game to feature openly hostile non-Monitor-controlled Forerunner constructs; namely the Promethean Watchers, Promethean Knights, and Promethean Crawlers. |
| 209 | * MeleeATrois: Covenant and Prometheans can be found fighting each other early in the game, [[spoiler:but this is much less pronounced than the original demo indicated, as the two forces both fall under the Didact's command after only a single level]]. |
| 210 | * MileLongShip: |
| 211 | ** The UNSC ''Infinity'' is three and a half ''miles'' long. It has ''four'' full-size [=MACs=], as well as 1100 missile pods and serves as the launching point for multiple Pelicans, Falcons, Mammoths, and ''frigates''. |
| 212 | ** The ''Mantle's Approach'', the Didact's personal flagship, is ''371.4 km'' tall. ''And'' 142.7 km long. |
| 213 | * MiniMecha: The new [[http://www.halopedia.org/HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL_Mark_IX_Armor_Defense_System UNSC Mantis]] is one of these, similar to the [[http://www.halopedia.org/HRUNTING_Mark_III_(B)_Exoskeleton Cyclops]] exoskeleton of ''VideoGame/HaloWars''. It possesses [[MacrossMissileMassacre missiles]] (reduced to dumbfire rockets in multiplayer for CompetitiveBalance reasons), a [[MoreDakka chain gun]], and [[DeflectorShields energy shields]]. |
| 214 | * MooksButNoBosses: Not only does ''Halo 4'' lack any boss fights, like most ''Halo'' games (with the exception of ''2'' and ''5''), but (other than the usual Hunters) also lacks any BossInMooksClothing enemy types such as the Elite Zealots from ''Combat Evolved'', the Elite Ultras from ''Halo 2'', or the Elite Generals and Brute Chieftains from ''Halo 3'' and ''Halo: Reach''. The closest are Promethean Knights armed with Inferno Cannons and Elite Zealots and Elite Warriors, all of whom only require a few more bullets to kill than regular versions of their enemy type. |
| 215 | * MoreDakka: |
| 216 | ** The UNSC M739 Light Machine Gun, or "SAW" (Squad Automatic Weapon), as it is colloquially known in-verse, is a new ''vastly'' enhanced power-weapon version of the Assault Rifle, firing the same bullets, but much faster, more accurately, and with a much larger clip (72 rounds as opposed to 32 for the standard AR). While it shreds targets at close ranges, it's capable of lethal effectiveness even at mid-range when fired in bursts, allowing accuracy rivalling that of an unscoped Battle Rifle or Covenant Carbine. Being automatic though, it can't achieve headshots, but it does not really need to given how quickly it can inflict the body-shot damage needed to bring down most opponents. |
| 217 | ** The Pathfinder specialization for Spartan-[=IVs=] gives you the Gunner armor mod, which allows mounted automatic weapon turrets on vehicles and fixed platforms to fire for longer before overheating, generating an easily noticeable advantage when using the UNSC heavy machine guns and autocannons mounted on most of their vehicles (most Covenant heavy weapons fire slower and don't overheat). But perhaps the most notable advantage is that it completely nullifies the movement speed penalty for carrying ripped-off machine gun and plasma cannon turrets, making them a much more viable primary weapon, which again act as super-heavy and more effective tactical equivalents to the standard automatic weapons. |
| 218 | * MundaneUtility: Ambient dialogue indicates the heavily armed military MiniMecha found on Ivanov station are there for lifting and transporting heavy crates. |
| 219 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: For most of mission 3 in the campaign, Master Chief is trying to disable a satellite that is preventing him from contacting the UNSC Infinity. When he finally accesses the satellite, it turns out that [[spoiler: it was actually a prison for an ancient alien with advanced technology, a small army, and a grudge against humanity. And Master Chief just released him]]. |
| 220 | * NightmareFace: The true face of the Promethean Knight, further punctuated by the fact that [[spoiler: the Promethean Knights you're fighting were once human, digitized and spit out by the Composer]]. |
| 221 | * NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The Prometheans Knights [[spoiler: are essentially ancient undead human cyborg warriors created via UnwillingRoboticisation]]. As the Terminals reveal, [[spoiler: the original batch were actual Forerunner Prometheans who volunteered to be Composed into Knights but lacked sufficient numbers]], and as ''Spartan Ops'' reveals, [[spoiler: some of the Knights fighting presently on Requiem were harvested only ''6 months ago'' from modern humans, during the Didact's attack on New Phoenix]]. |
| 222 | * {{Nerf}}: |
| 223 | ** Human Marines are the weakest they've ever been in the series, being able to survive barely more damage than a Covenant Grunt. This is balanced out by the addition of Spartan-[=IV=] allies, who are slightly tougher than Elites. |
| 224 | ** Elites themselves are noticeably less challenging than they were in ''Halo: Reach'', being much less agile and maneuverable, with a reduced selection of weapons and fewer special units. Even their top-tier units, the cloaking, sword-wielding Zealots and gold-armored Warriors, only take a few more bullets to kill compared to regular Elites, while similar units in previous games could be 2 to 3 times more durable than regular Elites. This is explained by ''4'''s Covenant being a rag-tag splinter faction with limited resources and a smaller and less experienced talent pool to draw from (though supplemental materials do state that their ''officers'' are mostly hardened veterans of the original Human-Covenant conflict; the Zealots at least are about on par with the Elites from ''Combat Evolved'' and ''Reach'' in terms of how much damage they can take). |
| 225 | * NoSell: The Promethean Watchers can [[AttackReflector catch and throw]] grenades back at you if you don't either kill them first or shoot the grenades to detonate them early. |
| 226 | * ObstructiveBureaucrat: Del Rio towards the Master Chief. |
| 227 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The Chief battling through and defeating the crew of a Covenant Lich [[spoiler: approaching Ivanoff Station]]. The screen cuts from him on the Lich's outer hull, to the final Elite hitting the floor as the Chief steps over his body. |
| 228 | * OhCrap: Cortana's reaction when she comes back to her senses after her PunctuatedForEmphasis moment. |
| 229 | * OldMaster: While not that old, the Master Chief is this in relation to the younger, higher-tech but less intensively trained Spartan-[=IV=]s, especially given the things he's achieved. It appears that the new Spartans do indeed look up to him as such. |
| 230 | -->'''Cortana:''' Let's show these ''Spartans'' how it's done. |
| 231 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Cortana's behavior in this game is irregular enough for John-117 to notice it almost immediately and call her out on it, resulting in him learning about her oncoming rampancy. |
| 232 | * OneWordTitle: Every single player mission has a one word title; this is the only ''Halo'' game with this distinction. |
| 233 | * OrangeBlueContrast: Forerunner constructs under control of the Librarian have blue TronLines, such as the Sentinels and the Prometheans when they first appear. After the Didact gains control of the Prometheans, their TronLines turn orange. |
| 234 | ** In "Midnight" and some Spartan Ops missions, there are friendly Focus Turrets under control of Cortana and the Librarian, respectively. These Focus Turrets have blue TronLines and fire blue beams. |
| 235 | * PainfullySlowProjectile: The Scorpion's main cannon now fires these, making anti-air play more difficult as you have to account for the projectile's arc and lead your target. It's still faster than the shots fired by the Rocket Launcher, though. |
| 236 | * {{Precursors}}: The Forerunners are upfront and center in this game. |
| 237 | ** AbusivePrecursors: [[spoiler:The Didact, one of the Forerunner's highest military leaders, is the game's villain. In ancient times, he defeated humanity's fleet, viewing them as a invasive race. To keep them down, he forcibly devolved their species, and later harvested their bodies to build [[http://www.halopedia.org/Promethean#Mechanical_Prometheans mechanical Prometheans]]. Soon after being awakened, he resumed these plans upon finding humans are once again a space-faring race.]] |
| 238 | ** BenevolentPrecursors: [[spoiler:However, the Didact's wife, the Librarian, viewed humans as worthy to take the Forerunners' place once the latter were gone. In constrast to her husband, she planted gei to direct humanity's evolution, and has some saved for later with many hidden functions.]] |
| 239 | * PressXToNotDie: This happens in both the first and the last level. |
| 240 | * PreviewsPulse: At the beginning of the game, strange orange scans travel through the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' that create an ominous rumble. |
| 241 | * PreviouslyOn: At the very beginning of the game, you can interact with a semi-hidden terminal which recites John-117's service record, which serves as a concise recap of the original trilogy. |
| 242 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: After "Reclaimer", when Del Rio dismisses Cortana and John-117's warnings, Cortana snaps at him: |
| 243 | -->'''Cortana:''' I will not...allow you to leave...'''THIS''' '''''PLANET!''''' |
| 244 | ** Shortly after, Del Rio has his own [[spoiler:when the Chief refuses to surrender Cortana]]: |
| 245 | -->'''Del Rio:''' Give. Me. [[spoiler:That. Chip.]] |
| 246 | * RagnarokProofing: |
| 247 | ** Given that the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' has been floating through space while cut in half for close to five years, it's impressive that any of its systems work, or that there's still power to run them. Granted, it's probable that Cortana turned off most of the functions not essential to her or the Chief's cryo-pod until the start of the game, as ArtificialGravity returns not long after Chief wakes up and the presence of frost on every surface suggests that life support systems and other heat-generating devices were disabled for the duration. Really, there wasn't much to corrode the ship in space to begin with. |
| 248 | ** Also, basically all of the Forerunners' tech. However, unlike the ''Dawn'', all of this was deliberately Ragnarok-proofed and maintained by a variety of machines and automated foundries. |
| 249 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Commander Thomas Lasky sees first-hand how much of an [[GeneralFailure incompetent]] {{Jerkass}} Captain Del Rio is, and decides to allow Master Chief to escape arrest, even giving him a fully-loaded Pelican to carry on his mission. He's later rewarded when [[spoiler: Del Rio is relieved of his command by FLEETCOM, with Lasky himself becoming captain of the ''Infinity'']]. |
| 250 | * TheRemnant: Though [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Covenant empire]] dissolved about four years before the start of the game, there are a number of remnants who still worship the Forerunners and remain hostile to humanity. The one fought in ''Halo 4'' is an Elite-run faction led by Jul 'Mdama. |
| 251 | * {{Retcon}}: |
| 252 | ** Despite 343's assurances to the contrary, Chief's new armor borders on this. Cortana only ever mentions updating the suit's firmware/OS at the beginning of the game, and the prologue depicts a bunch of [=Spartan-IIs=] wearing the exact same armor in a battle from earlier in the war. Eventually, the Essential Visual Guide brought it back full-circle by stating that Chief's new duds were actually based off an old Mark IV variant (presumably the armor we see in the prologue). |
| 253 | ** The ''Forward Unto Dawn'' [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:H4fudback.jpg in this game]] looks ''nothing'' [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:H3_-_FUD_aft.jpg like it did]] in ''Halo 3''. It's MUCH bigger, and the entire ''Halo 3'' incarnation could probably fit inside the missile launch area. And while ''Halo 3'' frigates were the smallest ships in the sky, just half of ''Halo 4'''s Dawn absolutely dwarfs the nearby Covenant cruisers![[note]]That said, the Covenant cruisers in that segment were later stated to be [[http://www.halopedia.org/CRS-class_light_cruiser CRS-class light cruisers]], rather than the more commonly seen CCS-class battlecruisers.[[/note]] In fairness, this was done for gameplay reasons, with WordOfGod stating that the original design is the canon one; the ''Halo 3'' version wouldn't have been big enough to fill an entire level unless the developers wanted to add a lot of backtracking.[[invoked]] |
| 254 | * TheReveal: |
| 255 | ** A sort-of-example with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7dqtgkSWeQ "Scanned" trailer]], which revealed an awful lot about John - including just what he looked like as a boy, his kidnapping, and his SPARTAN training and BioAugmentation. This had all been long spelled out in various manuals and expanded universe material, but this was the first time any media directly related to the games had actually shown Chief's backstory. |
| 256 | ** [[spoiler:While the Forerunners were known to be non-human, we see them now to be very large bipeds with slits for nostrils, quills for hair, and growths on their heads (similar to the Prophets'). That said, the only ones seen in the flesh have been the highest-ranking Lifeworker and Warrior-Servant, with the expanded universe noting that the Forerunners came in all sorts of shapes and sizes depending on their rank and caste.]] |
| 257 | ** [[spoiler:"The Prometheans... they're ''[[WasOnceAMan human]]''."]] |
| 258 | * RobotWar: The main Forerunner enemies are advanced machines developed with the purpose of fighting [[TheVirus the Flood]], as their mechanical nature makes them largely immune to infection. |
| 259 | * RocketlessReentry: Master Chief makes one more drop from orbit after his ship falls apart before he can reach the escape pods. Fortunately this time he has small thrusters on his suit he can use to slow his fall a bit. |
| 260 | * SanitySlippage: Cortana's rampant state degrades her function as time goes on. Early on, she only offers occasional off-color commentary and uncharacteristic irritation, but the further the story goes on, the worse her symptoms get. She slips in and out of lucidity, and her unstable episodes get progressively worse and at more unfortunately critical times. She is aware of this, and [[ReluctantPsycho seriously doubts her own reliability]], though the [[UndyingLoyalty Chief never loses faith in her]]. |
| 261 | -->'''Cortana:''' They don't ''care'' about you, they ''replaced'' you! Blast! ''*breath*'' I'm sorry! |
| 262 | -->'''Chief:''' Cortana. It's okay. |
| 263 | -->'''Cortana:''' ''How? How'' is this "okay"? ''How'' is putting ''you'' at risk because I can't hold it together "okay"? ''*breath*'' Chief, do you understand what "rampancy" is? Really? We don't just shut down. Our cognitive processes begin dividing exponentially according to our total knowledge base. We literally ''think'' ourselves to death. |
| 264 | -->'''Chief:''' I won't let that happen. |
| 265 | -->'''Cortana:''' [[YouCantFightFate And if it happens anyway?]] |
| 266 | * SceneryPorn: The intended direction behind the game is to recover the sense of mystery and wonder about a Forerunner planet that made the original ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' so memorable. |
| 267 | ** A scene early in the second level where the player emerges from a tunnel into the light on a cliff edge overlooking kilometers of StarScraper buildings hanging from the sky is a notable example of this on full display; it's used as an EstablishingShot for the inside of Requiem. |
| 268 | * ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: [[spoiler:The ''entire crew'' of the UNSC ''Infinity'' decides to help John-117 and Cortana stop the Didact, despite Captain Del Rio ordering them to just go home and implicitly leave the two behind on Requiem.]] It actually becomes rather hilarious when [[spoiler:Del Rio orders the Chief's arrest, but Lasky instead provides him with a fully equipped Pelican to go off save the day; heck, the heavily armed people who are supposedly trying to arrest the Chief ''stand at attention and salute'' as he strolls past them in the landing bay]]. |
| 269 | * SealedBadassInACan: How the Master Chief starts the game, [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved similar to]] [[CallBack his first appearance]]. |
| 270 | * SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:The Didact, who is released from his imprisonment inside a Cryptum at the core of Requiem [[NiceJobBreakingItHero by John-117]] during the latter's attempt to keep the UNSC ''Infinity'' from crashing into the planet due to the intense gravity. Given that he's a Forerunner SuperSoldier, he's also a case of SealedBadassInACan.]] |
| 271 | * SecondaryFire: Some weapons of the Forerunners, such as the Lightrifle and the Boltshot, have two firing modes depending on how they are fired. In the case of the former, non-scope shooting is akin to a battle rifle, while scoped shooting is akin to a DMR. In the case of the latter, not holding down the firing button results in a regular pistol shot, while holding it down results in something similar to a Brute Mauler or slightly weaker shotgun blast. |
| 272 | * SelfServingMemory[=/=]UnreliableNarrator: The first cutscene is [[http://www.halopedia.org/Prologue#Anachronisms full of inconsistencies]] from how events actually occurred in the canon. |
| 273 | -->'''Interrogator''': Dr. Halsey, you're bending history in your favor and you know it. You developed the Spartans to crush human rebellion, not to fight the Covenant. |
| 274 | * SequelHook: |
| 275 | ** [[spoiler:Chief's meeting with the Librarian is full of subtle sequel hooks; namely, the "plan" (presumably for the Precursors' test). Also, whatever the mutation did to Chief, besides giving him immunity to the Composer.]] |
| 276 | ** [[spoiler: The Didact's speech in the epilogue, which indicates that he may have survived his defeat, and is now attempting to convince a surviving population of Forerunners living beyond the confines of the galaxy to prevent humanity from becoming strong enough to take possession of the Mantle. If nothing else, ''Silentium'' confirms that a number of Forerunners did survive the activation of the Halos.]] WordOfGod later [[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/catalog-interaction/4c3e1c6f-6519-4ee0-83a4-4bac13bf07a3/posts?page=14#post262 claimed that]] [[spoiler:said speech was recorded before the firing of the Halos]]; however, this creates a plothole because [[spoiler:the Didact's speech subtly references events from the game such as humanity's experiments with the Composer. Either way, the speech can fit either the past or future]]. Even later, ''ComicBook/HaloEscalation'' revealed that [[spoiler:the Didact did indeed survive the events of ''Halo 4'']].[[invoked]] |
| 277 | * ShoutOut: |
| 278 | ** Creator/JenniferHale's character, Commander Sarah Palmer, is probably a shout-out to ''VideoGame/GroundControl'''s Major Sarah Parker, one of Hale's earliest voice roles. |
| 279 | ** The way that the Forerunner Vision activates when Cortana turns it on in the gameplay trailer to see [[InvisibilityCloak invisible]] Forerunner constructs is very similar to the multi-vision modes from ''Film/{{Predator}}'' in look and the visual of activation. |
| 280 | ** Several helmets in multiplayer seem to shout out to other games. [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/c/c7/VenatorRaptor.png Venator]] looks like one for ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'', [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/4/40/H4-OceanicBrown.png Oceanic]] looks like a [[VideoGame/BioShock Big Daddy]] helmet, and the [[http://halo4nation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/fotus.jpeg Fotus armour]] looks like [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Unit 01]]'s head. Additionally, [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/e/e8/H4_MJOLNIR_Pioneer.png Pioneer]] and [[http://www.halopedia.org/images/8/8d/H4-Specialization-Stalker.png Stalker]] have been compared to Unit 00 and Unit 02 as well, respectively. |
| 281 | ** The Broadsword sequence is clearly inspired by the trench run on the Death Star in ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV: Film/ANewHope''. Like Luke Skywalker, John-117 must pilot a one-man fighter through a system of narrow chasms, (dodging point-defense fire along the way), to destroy a superweapon. He cannot travel above the surface of the trench because the Broadsword cannot survive in slipspace, much as Luke must stay below the minimum angle of the Death Star's surface guns. [[spoiler: Both protagonists receive timely assistance from allied ships, clearing a path to their objectives, which allows them to destroy their respective targets. Both John and Skywalker are greeted by honor guards after rendezvousing with their peers.]] |
| 282 | *** The same Broadsword sequence also has obvious inspiration from VideoGame/StarFox64, especially in terms of gameplay, with a linear sequence that is borderline on-rails as John-117 dodges obstacles and shoots down defenses in his way and then enters a circular arena where he can fly freely to complete objectives. [[spoiler:When the Infinity blows a hole open to allow him to enter the Diadact's ship, the maneouver he pulls to perform entry and the narrow circular corridor his ship traverses easily brings to mind Fox [=McCloud=] beginning the final stretch on Venom to confront Andross by himself and without support, though unlike Fox, John crashes his ship and has to make it the rest of the way on foot.]] |
| 283 | ** The Mantis is quite similar in design to the VideoGame/MetalGear [=REX=], especially in the "head" design and legs. |
| 284 | ** The nature and origin of the Promethean Knights strongly parallels that of the [[spoiler:Collectors of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Both were originally a humanoid race corrupted into horrible abominations, ostensibly for their own good, and subsequently used as drones by {{Big Bad}}s so powerful and sinister that they may as well be {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. They both also have insectoid affectations: The Promethean Knights have their (more or less pointless) buzzy wing-fluttering animation, while the Collectors themselves fly around like locusts, to say nothing of their paralytic bug swarms.]] |
| 285 | ** A warning sign on the mutiplayer map 'Vertigo' mentions a voltage of a [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture 1.21 gigawatts]]. |
| 286 | * ShootTheMedicFirst: Helpfully, the Watchers already look like flying targets. Unfortunately, the two "targets" on each Watcher are just there for show. The real damage is done by hitting the irregularly shaped [[BuffySpeak floaty thingy]] between the targets. |
| 287 | * ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Even the Forerunners grasped this, hence the Scattershot weapon (a short-range but highly effective energy spray that reloads round-by-round like a break-open shotgun). |
| 288 | * SimpleYetAwesome: The DMR. A regular black semi-automatic rifle with a 3x zoom scope, it looks nothing spectacular and is not at all flashy, but can be unlocked very early into your Spartan-IV career (in War Games and ''Spartan Ops'') and is incredibly effective - to the point that it is easily the most heavily used weapon in Big Team multiplayer, and is very commonly seen in other modes as well. Using it is merely a matter of pointing it at the enemy and firing a bullet when you press the trigger. It, like all precision weapons, can headshot unshielded infantry for instant kills, and has the second highest damage and second fastest kill time of any of them when facing shielded targets (the first being the scoped mode of the Forerunner Lightrifle). In addition, it has a large clip size, and has the longest aim-assistance activation range of any non-sniper weapon by a large margin, while still being useful at close to medium ranges. Indeed, its all-around versatility and statistical superiority to other standard-issue loadout weapons has caused it to be considered as overpowered by many, or denounced as a 'noob weapon' by virtue of its simplicity and very noticeable aim assistance. Finally, as a standard issue UNSC firearm, ammunition for the DMR (and the BR, AR, and Magnum) is unlimited in many ''Spartan Ops'' missions, which feature UNSC infinite-ammo crates. |
| 289 | ** There's also the aforementioned new Forerunner Lightrifle. Belonging to the same family as the DMR, Battle Rifle (BR), and Covenant Carbine, it's the Forerunner equivalent to the human DMR; a semi-automatic rifle with a 3x zoom scope. It has a fairly large clip size, is very accurate, and has two firing modes; a 3-round burst of miniature HardLight bullets when firing unscoped, or a single three-in-one hardlight bolt when scoped in. It packs a solid punch, with its bursts being weaker but denser than the BR's bursts, and its single-shots being stronger but slower to fire than DMR or Carbine shots. It retains its versatility and usefulness even on [[HarderThanHard Legendary]] in the campaign and in Forerunner-focused ''Spartan Ops'' missions, where ammo for it is plentiful thanks to it being the standard weapon of Promethean Knights and widely available at Forerunner ammo caches. In multiplayer, the weaker aim assistance, close-range inferiority, and higher visibility of the Lightrifle as compared to the DMR make it relatively uncommon despite its superior long-range damage. |
| 290 | ** In multiplayer especially, the classic fully-automatic [[MoreDakka Assault Rifle]] (AR) is now ''much'' more powerful than it was in previous installments. Not only did 343i up its damage, but they also increased its accuracy by quite a bit. At close range it now greatly outperforms the DMR and BR, and even at mid range it's easier to score kills with it than before, by virtue of its fast damage output and controllable bloom. A sufficiently skilled player could use nothing but a standard AR/Magnum combo given to you at the very start of both the campaign and of your multiplayer career and easily come out on top. Both of these basic weapons are capable of very fast kill times that can be traded off for mid-ranged precision, and in the hands of a player with fast reflexes and situational awareness, they can be used to deadly effect. |
| 291 | * SinisterGeometry: The Didact has a glowing, orange SpheroidDropship that is used for transportation and hacking on Requiem (revealed to be a "combat" [[http://www.halopedia.org/Cryptum Cryptum]]). |
| 292 | * StandardEstablishingSpaceshipShot: The ''Infinity'' gets several. In the multiplayer mode intro, it's seen flying over Earth with a fleet of escort cruisers and a small cloud of Pelicans, and in the intro to the first episode of ''Spartan Ops'', it goes to slipspace from Earth, and upon arriving at Requiem, exits slipspace with shields already raised, ''rams straight through'' a Covenant RCS-class armored cruiser, and proceeds to immediately deploy ground and space forces to engage the rest of the Covenant forces in the area. Made even cooler by the fact that it's hot-launching warships like they were one-man fighters. |
| 293 | * SuddenlyShouting: Due to her rampancy, Cortana occasionally dips into this. However, she's aware of it, and apologizes when she does so. |
| 294 | -->'''Cortana:''' No, it's not alright. Nothing about it is alright. |
| 295 | ** Captain Del Rio also goes into this after [[spoiler:the Chief finally loses patience with him]]: |
| 296 | -->'''Del Rio''': I... am ordering you... [[spoiler:to SURRENDER THAT AI!!!!]] |
| 297 | -->'''Master Chief''': [[spoiler: No, sir.]] |
| 298 | -->'''Del Rio (to Palmer)''': [[spoiler: Lieutenant, arrest that man!]] |
| 299 | -->'''Lasky''': Captain. |
| 300 | -->'''Del Rio''': ''[[spoiler: ARREST HIM!!]]'' |
| 301 | -->'''Lasky''': CAPTAIN! |
| 302 | * SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Didact can seem as though he has seemingly magical abilities, such as levitation, telepathy, and telekinesis, as well as having his armor float by him when he's not wearing it. Only with a careful read through the expanded universe does it reveal itself to be MagicFromTechnology. |
| 303 | * SuperDrowningSkills: If the Chief goes into water that goes above his head, he dies instantly. This is rather jarring, as earlier in the game he's shown perfectly fine breathing in space. |
| 304 | * SuperSoldier: |
| 305 | ** In addition to Spartan-II John-117, Spartan-[=IVs=] are present in the single-player campaign and are the stars of both the multiplayer and ''Spartan Ops''. The developers have gone on record claiming that they wanted to make the player feel more like a genetically-augmented cyborg soldier in a high-tech suit of powered armor than previous games in the series had. So they included scenes of Chief doing some physically impressive acts, such as climbing an elevator shaft while the compartment is decompressing and [[PercussiveMaintenance kicking a missile silo door open]]. |
| 306 | ** Spartan-[=IVs=] use an upgraded version of the MJOLNIR armour (GEN 2, to be precise) to make up for their augmentations which are wound down from the more powerful augs used in Spartan-[=IIs=]. They also have the nice advantage of being drawn from fully adult volunteers, a first for the Spartan program, which means they can be churned out in greater numbers and they lack the psychological issues that plagued the Spartan-[=IIIs=]. Certainly a direct upgrade from their predecessors, but whether they are better than the Spartan-[=IIs=], the jury is still out. |
| 307 | ** The Didact is a SuperSoldier by ''Forerunner standards'', being from a caste dedicated to the role. |
| 308 | * SprintShoes: The "Sprint" armor ability can be used without taking up an armor ability slot now, unlike in ''VideoGame/HaloReach''. |
| 309 | * SymbolicallyBrokenObject: Master Chief and his rapidly-deteriorating AI Cortana work together to destroy the Big Bad's starship. [[spoiler:They succeed in the end, but it takes the last of Cortana's strength to save Chief, even though he was adamant she'd be cured soon. As she vanishes, the starship is seen falling to pieces behind him, representative of his shattered worldview.]] |
| 310 | * TakingYouWithMe: |
| 311 | ** In a very short, scripted moment early on in the campaign mission "Infinity", a Marine can be seen impaled through the heart by a Promethean Knight's hardlight blade and being held up in the air by the Knight. In his last breath, the Marine primes a frag, and ''shoves it into the Knight's face'', blowing them both up, just as the Chief arrives. This Knight, incidentally, is the first one ever seen to drop a usable Promethean Vision module, and given the chronology of the event, probably enables the first ever human use of the technology (initially reverse-engineered by Cortana for use by the Chief, it's later co-opted by the Spartan-IV program as a loadout option). |
| 312 | ** On a larger scale, this is basically the plan [[spoiler: Chief and Cortana had to take out the Didact and the Composer, using a HAVOK nuke. Neither of them expected to survive and escape the Didact's ship after their fighter crashed, and while the Didact was supposedly killed by falling off the hardlight bridge, the nuke was the only way to stop the Composer from continuing its destruction of population centers on Earth, which it would have kept doing regardless of whether the Didact was alive or dead]]. |
| 313 | * TimeForPlanB: In the final level, [[spoiler: after the Broadsword the Chief is piloting crashes.]] |
| 314 | -->[[spoiler:'''Chief''': [Removes [[NuclearOption HAVOK nuclear warhead]] from a missile] ]] |
| 315 | -->[[spoiler:'''Cortana''': Now what?]] |
| 316 | -->[[spoiler:'''Chief''': [Clips warhead to his armor] [[UnplannedManualDetonation Plan B]].]] |
| 317 | * TrilogyCreep: Since Bungie never intended to go past a third game themselves. According to 343 Industries, this will be the start of a whole new saga, with the expectation being that the series will go up to ''Halo 6'', which means there will be at least ''eight'' FPS games in the official canon. |
| 318 | * TooDumbToLive: |
| 319 | ** The Pelican pilot leader in the "Reclaimer" mission is this to an absolute T. Despite Sarah Palmer's [[IWarnedYou repeated warnings]] to lower their altitude due to being '''right''' in the firing path of one of the Forerunner Particle Cannons, he '''still''' continues to fly right into it along with the other group of Pelicans. No points for guessing what happens to them ignoring the aforementioned warnings. |
| 320 | * TookALevelInBadass: |
| 321 | ** The UNSC. Despite their best efforts, they were always outclassed by the Covenant in space in the original trilogy. After four years of peacetime to study and put to use all of the Forerunner technology they'd run into and Reclaimed throughout the war, this is no longer the case. This is demonstrated by the opening for ''Spartan Ops'', which shows the ''Infinity'' [[RammingAlwaysWorks smashing through a Covenant cruiser]], taking no visible damage in the process; frigates and even fighters now possess shields. This is partly due to the fact that the UNSC have never had any qualms about adopting and improving upon Forerunner and Covenant tech, as opposed to the Covenant remnant who are still trying to redevelop their technical skills and don't completely understand the technology that they use. Additionally, the UNSC have improved upon their own signature [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic weaponry]] instead of mimicking the energy weapons of other races, and the results[[note]]which include ship-based [=MAC=]s capable of damaging ''Forerunner'' vessels, vehicular Gauss guns that can destroy pretty much any ground target, and even ''handheld'' railguns capable of efficiently slaying heavily-shielded infantry[[/note]] have not been short of impressive. |
| 322 | --->'''Infinity Intro''': For too many years, humanity was on the backfoot. Reacting to threats, rather than preventing them. Rest of the galaxy was bigger than us. Stronger than us. We were mice, hiding in the shadows, hoping the giants would not see us. ''No more''. Humanity is ''no longer'' on the defense. '''''We''' are the giants now''. |
| 323 | ** Master Chief himself from a purely game-based perspective, as his superhuman attributes are finally displayed in all of their glory outside of the expanded universe. |
| 324 | * TookAThirdOption: A development example. A good number of fans were disappointed when the DMR replaced the Battle Rifle in ''Reach'', but it had its fans; on the other hand, the Battle Rifle has been praised as the "signature" weapon of ''Halo''. Instead of choosing one over the other, 343's solution was to add ''both'', with [[CompetitiveBalance the DMR for more precise distance shooting while the Battle Rifle is for mid range]][[note]]One will notice that the ''Forward unto Dawn'' only stocks Battle Rifles, as the DMR wasn't available in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''. Once you get to the dead soldiers in the level "Infinity", the DMR makes more appearances[[/note]]. Even this Third Option has a Third Option of its own in the form of the Forerunner Lightrifle, which functions like the Battle Rifle when fired from the hip and like the DMR when fired while looking through the scope. |
| 325 | * TragicIntangibility: ''Halo 4'' reveals that Cortana has always wanted to touch Master Chief, but couldn't because of her nature as a holographic AI. [[spoiler:Moments after she can finally touch him, she dies.]] |
| 326 | * TrophyRoom: The Didact appears to have installed one on the Mantle's Approach, in which he appears to have placed examples of weaponry from the major players in the galactic scene at the moment: namely, Battle Rifles for humans, Covenant Carbines for Elites, and Gravity Hammers for Brutes (plus his own Forerunner stock). You pass through it just before the climax, conveniently allowing an opportunity to stock up on your preferred equipment before leaping into the fray. |
| 327 | * UncertainDoom: Given the campaign epilogue, this was pretty much the situation of [[spoiler:the Ur-Didact; ''Escalation'' later revealed that he did indeed survive the events of ''4'']]. |
| 328 | * UnexpectedShmupLevel: Of the 3D variety. The beginning of the final level feels like a [[{{Homage}} affectionate gameplay throwback]] to the likes of ''VideoGame/TerminalVelocity1995''. |
| 329 | * UnnecessarilyLargeVessel: ''Mantle's Approach'', the Ur-Didact's flagship, is larger than any other spaceship in the series except for ''[[TheMothership High Charity]]'', and is flown by a grand total of ''one'' Promethean Warrior-Servant. |
| 330 | * UnplannedManualDetonation: You could make a drinking game out of the number of times this happens to Chief. [[{{DrinkingGame/Halo 4}} In fact...]] |
| 331 | * TheUnreveal: As per tradition, in the end Master Chief gets his armor removed, and just as his helmet is taken off the scene goes black. [[spoiler:But the Legendary ending glimpses the area around his eyes.]] |
| 332 | * UnwillingRoboticisation: [[spoiler:The Promethean Knights turn out to have been made from prehistoric humans. Then we witness this for ourselves when the Composer disintegrates everyone in ''Ivanoff'' Station.]] |
| 333 | * UpdatedRerelease: The update for the PC version of the game on ''The Master Chief Collection'' polishes the game's graphics, introduces several weapon skins for multiplayer that were previously DummiedOut, and includes the Terminals and ''Spartan Ops'' cutscenes in-game rather than requiring players to watch them on the ''Halo Channel''. Forge mode was also given an update which increases the object budget, along with adding new items and features. |
| 334 | ** The Season 7 update adds a new helmet option for customisation, the "Keystone" helmet, which is brand new and based on the default multiplayer helmet in ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite''. The same update also ports the armor effects from ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' to this game. |
| 335 | ** For the game's 10th anniversary, official modding tools, the addition of new Skulls, and Theatre mode for the Campaign and Spartan Ops were all added. |
| 336 | * VillainOverride: [[spoiler:Upon being released, the Didact does this to all of the Promethean constructs on Requiem, [[ConvenientColourChange turning their]] TronLines from blue to orange in the process.]] |
| 337 | * VillainTeamUp: The Covenant and Prometheans team up [[spoiler:under the NotQuiteDead Didact to destroy humanity]]. |
| 338 | * VocalEvolution: Steve Downes still voices Master Chief and his voice has noticeably aged. The game itself is meant to portray a more complex and dynamic Chief and thus the evolution makes sense. |
| 339 | * VoodooShark: |
| 340 | ** WordOfGod is that John's Mark VI suit looks different because Cortana upgraded the suit with {{nanomachines}} at some point. Yet despite completely remodeling the armor, the chest still has a gash on it from ''Halo 3'', meaning she never actually repaired it despite the upgrades. That said, since the Chief's rebuilt armor isn't shown in full until the first cutscene of the second level (just after he survives a rather nasty crash), it presumably got damaged AGAIN in the interim. |
| 341 | ** The justification for why there are anachronisms in the first cutscene is that [[UnreliableNarrator Halsey is imagining them]]. However, she depicts all the Spartans to be wearing John's customized armor, which she's never even seen. Also, [[VideoGame/HaloReach in the past]] she's shown distaste for modified armor. The Essential Visual Guide explains it off as Cortana basing her redesign off yet ''another'' variant of Mark IV (presumably the very armor we see in the prologue). |
| 342 | * WasOnceAMan: [[spoiler:The Prometheans, made from the minds and bodies of harvested humans using the Composer.]] |
| 343 | * WeHaveReserves: Though Prometheans attack the player by the hundreds in-game, in-story they're implied to be dwindling in numbers. As such, Knights are one of the less common enemies in the game, outnumbered heavily by the throwaway Crawler bots and various Covenant units, and Watchers prioritize the protection of Knights via Hardlight shields or resurrection whenever they can, making the already-very-powerful units harder to keep down and leading to inevitable cases of ShootTheMedicFirst. The reason why is explained in the Terminals. |
| 344 | * WhamLine: |
| 345 | ** "Time was your ally, Human. But now it has abandoned you. [[spoiler: The Forerunners have returned]]." |
| 346 | ** While [[spoiler: the Librarian]] is explaining [[spoiler: the Didact's interest in the Composer]]: "A device that will allow him to finally contain the greatest enemy ever faced by Forerunners... [[spoiler:''[[HumansAreSpecial You]]'']]". This is especially true if you haven't read the novels. |
| 347 | ** "The Prometheans... [[spoiler:they're human]]." |
| 348 | * WhatOtherGalaxies: {{Enforced}}. In the marketing campaign, the BigBad Ur-Didact is announced as a threat to the universe when, in fact, he's "only" a galactic menace. |
| 349 | --> Set in the aftermath of Halo 3, Master Chief returns to confront his own destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe [...] |
| 350 | * WhatTheHellHero: |
| 351 | ** Cortana gives one to [[spoiler:Del Rio]] when the latter belittles what her and Chief had learned from [[spoiler:the Librarian's memories]]. [[FromBadToWorse Then she has a brief rampant incident.]] |
| 352 | ** John gives one to Cortana when [[spoiler:she drops the turret placements holding the Didact's Cryptum in place in a rampant incident regarding "imprisonment"]]. However, after one line, he seems to let it go, knowing [[AIIsACrapshoot she can't help it and is very upset about what happened]]. |
| 353 | ** [[spoiler:FLEETCOM does this to Del Rio off-screen when he returns to Earth without John-117, stripping him of his command of the ''Infinity''.]] |
| 354 | * YouCantThwartStageOne: [[spoiler:You fail to stop the Didact from leaving Requiem, then fail to destroy the Composer before he can take it, and by the time you reach a place you can stop him, he comments on your failure and fires the Composer at Earth.]] |
| 355 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Halsey calls out her interrogator on this in the prologue, regarding him berating her for the Spartan-II program ''after'' it's already saved humanity. She also deduces that this is why he's questioning John's emotional capacity: so that he can justify the Spartan-IV program as "better" with the assumption that [[LegallyDead "the Master Chief is dead"]]. |
| 356 | -->'''Halsey:''' When one world fell after another, when my Spartans were all that stood between humanity and extinction, nobody was ''concerned'' over why they were originally built. |
| 357 | * YourSizeMayVary: |
| 358 | ** Depending on the cutscene, the Chief's size relative to other characters varies. In most cutscenes, he's a quite a fair bit taller than any other human, but in the intro and ending, he's gigantic compared to the Spartan-[=IVs=] and especially the ordinary humans (compare the intro scene where the technicians surrounding him to the one where Del Rio and him are arguing). |
| 359 | ** Palmer also displays this: In the ending the Chief is towering over her and she doesn't look much larger than ordinary humans, but in the first cutscene set on the bridge of the ''Infinity'' she's far closer to the Chief's height and obviously a lot bigger than Del Rio and Lasky. |
| 360 | ** Chief also looks quite a bit smaller without his armor than would be expected. The current version of the armor appears to be a lot thicker than previous incarnations, but even considering that, the armor itself doesn't appear to actually take up any more space with John inside it than older versions. |
| 361 | ** Elites in ''Halo 4'' are huge compared to previous games, being nearly twice the size of a human and a good two or three heads taller than Master Chief. Elites in ''Halo 4'' are even larger compared to Master Chief than the Elites in ''Halo: Reach'' were compared to Noble-6, bear in mind Noble-6 is a Spartan-III and somewhat smaller than Chief. |
| 362 | [[/folder]] |
| 363 | |
| 364 | [[folder:Spartan Ops / War Games]] |
| 365 | * AliensSpeakingEnglish: Averted, and for the first time it depicts a real language barrier between humans and the various Covenant aliens. Jul 'Mdama is shown speaking in Sangheli with subtitles and switching to broken English so that a human captive can understand him. Previously when Covenant aliens (including Elites such as the Arbiter and Half-Jaw) spoke English and not BlackSpeech, they were fluent and even eloquent; whereas even when speaking English, 'Mdama has an animalistic sound to his voice and says only one word (as opposed to when addressing his troops in their language, [[EloquentInMyNativeTongue where he is rather eloquent]]). |
| 366 | * AllThereInTheManual: Since her appearance is so brief, Admiral Osman's background as a former Spartan-II is never mentioned. Her background is explained in the novels. |
| 367 | * AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Halsey's left arm is amputated by the Covenant remnant, due to complications from her bullet wound.]] |
| 368 | * ArchaeologicalArmsRace: Basically what the entire conflict on Requiem is all about. |
| 369 | * ArcVillain: Episode 3 centers around tracking down an Elite named Parg Vol, who's a close associate of the Covenant Remnant's leader Jul 'Mdama. |
| 370 | * AudienceSurrogate: Gabriel Thorne isn't a playable character but in the cinematic episodes he is clearly meant to be the most sympathetic individual learning the magnitude of what the cast is getting involved with. This is in contrast to [=DeMarco=]'s huge ego and Palmer's SeenItAll demeanor. |
| 371 | * BadassBoast: Palmer has this to say regarding the Covenant on Requiem: |
| 372 | -->'''Palmer:''' They believe this is the home of one of their gods! Way I see it, if those freaks wanna meet God, it's our duty to help them along! |
| 373 | * BadassInDistress: Happens twice: |
| 374 | ** Fireteam Crimson is captured by the Covenant at the end of Episode 5. However, right at the beginning of Episode 6, Roland disables their bonds, and they proceed to quickly arm themselves and cut their way through their captors. |
| 375 | ** Thorne is accidentally teleported right into the middle of a group of Elites, who end up capturing him. [[spoiler:However, Thorne is also able to free himself by pretending to be unconscious until he has an opportunity to steal a rifle from one of his captors.]] |
| 376 | * BashBrothers: All ''Spartan Ops'' missions are intended to be played with multiple people, as the typical enemy composition is significantly higher than the campaign's. Episode cinematics also show glimpses of the same thing with Fireteam Majestic. In regular War Games it is also in your best interest to work with the rest of your team instead of trying to solo the enemy. In general, ''Halo 4''[='s=] game mechanics somewhat reduce the criticality of individual shooting skills and places heavier value on tactical awareness and coordination, as compared to previous ''Halo'' games. |
| 377 | * BigBad: Jul 'Mdama. |
| 378 | * BigDamnHeroes: |
| 379 | ** At least half of the missions involve Fireteam Crimson rescuing Marines caught up in heavy fighting against the Covenant or Prometheans. |
| 380 | ** Episode 5, Chapter 3 features Crimson on the receiving end of this, with Fireteam Shadow, another group of Spartans, disabling a Covenant Cruiser in the vicinity of Crimson. |
| 381 | ** In Episode 6, Thorne pulls off a rather opportunistic variation of this to rescue [[spoiler:Glassman]]. Specifically, [[spoiler:while Glassman is attempting to escape captivity, he runs into a pair of Elites dragging Throne, allowing the latter to use the distraction to steal a Storm Rifle, kill his captors, and rip off the bomb strapped to Glassman's chest and toss it into a corridor filled with incoming Elites, whereupon Gek unwittingly detonates it]]. |
| 382 | ** In Episode 8, just as Spartan Thorne and Glassman are [[spoiler:going to be killed by Gek, Majestic Team shoots and kills the Elite from behind]] . |
| 383 | * BookEnds: The first and last episodes of ''Spartan Ops'' are called "Departure" and "Exodus." |
| 384 | * TheCameo: If you activate certain Easter Eggs during ''Spartan Ops'', some UNSC dialogue gets replaced by [[WebAnimation/RedVsBlue the Blood Gulch Reds and Blues]]. Episode 10 also has [[DoomedByCanon Agent Georgia]] [[BlackComedy announce over the radio that he has found jetpacks and will use them to board the Lich.]] |
| 385 | * CaptainObvious: [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Jared Miller]] has a severe habit of pointing out new enemy threats the player(s) couldn't possibly have missed, often after the shooting has already started. This gets so bad it's lampshaded twice, once by Palmer, who tells him to cut it out (he doesn't), and later by Roland, who throws in a sarcastic parody (and he still doesn't stop). |
| 386 | * CerebusSyndrome: Chapter Five sees a massive difficulty spike, [[DeadpanSnarker Palmer]] nowhere to be seen (leading to less humor and complimenting of the player), [[spoiler: Halsey being arrested, Thorne getting teleported to Requiem while unarmed, the Covenant Remnant making serious progress to finding the Librarian]], less weapon drops and power weapons found, the possibility of failing objectives (including failing to protect the lives of several civilian scientists, which you're [[WhatTheHellHero called out for]]), and [[spoiler: a massive cliffhanger where Crimson is surrounded by the Covenant]]. It's subtly implied that Palmer being MissionControl is what kept ''every'' mission from being like Chapter Five (Miller instead takes Palmer's place, and Roland takes Miller's). |
| 387 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: Lasky continually tries to weigh the responsibility of being CO of all UNSC operations on the ''Infinity'' and Requiem against a moral code more idealistic than most officers. |
| 388 | * TheChessmaster: |
| 389 | ** [[spoiler:Jul 'Mdama has been letting Forerunner artifacts be captured, manipulating Dr. Halsey, and planning a covert invasion of ''Infinity'', all for his plan to release the Librarian.]] |
| 390 | ** [[spoiler:Halsey herself; she has an override on Roland, figures out 'Mdama was the one feeding her information, and apparently has some plan for him as well.]] |
| 391 | * {{Cliffhanger}}: |
| 392 | ** Episode 5 ends with [[spoiler: Spartan Thorne surrounded by sword-wielding Elites, Glassman activating the Librarian's "shrine", and Crimson Squad surrounded by Covenant with a cruiser hovering just above them.]] |
| 393 | ** Episode 10: [[spoiler:Requiem is destroyed, but half of the Janus Key and Halsey is in Jul 'Mdama's hands, and the now one-armed Halsey is not so forgiving toward the UNSC for trying to assassinate her.]] |
| 394 | * CompetitiveBalance: The Loadouts mechanism helps mitigate the advantage of map-experienced players who rush to pick up weapons on popular maps, to an extent, but it remains balanced by being limited to a set of all-purpose general weapons: an automatic primary rifle, a precision primary rifle, a sidearm, and a grenade from each faction being the choices, along with a set of armor abilities and armor modifications. Any heavier equipment still needs to be found on-map or called down via ordnance drops, which also give the player some choice, and require them to earn their power-ups, albeit in a different way.\ |
| 395 | There was a lot of pressure to start including a progressive level system similar to the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' franchise, but at the same time the primary concern was the potential of having god-like experienced players dominate the more casual players because the former have all the in-game perks, natural bonuses and weapon options. The solution to reconcile the problem was multi-fold: all bonuses are passive rather than aggressive, any damage or shield bonuses come in random ordinance drops, some gametypes offer universal loadouts instead of personal loadouts and the primary armor abilities are easy to unlock (with support upgrades not as vital to performance). |
| 396 | * ContinuityNod: Admiral Serin Osman, the head of ONI, is the same Osman introduced in the ''Kilo-Five'' books. |
| 397 | * CosmeticAward: Similar to ''Reach'', but much more expanded. They don't have the same helmet variations (such as adding a visor or breathing apparatus), but there are dozens of new and old armor pieces and helmets, many new visor colors (and variations, such as matte or reflective), and lastly armor and weapon skins. All of which are unlocked either by straight Spartan Rank or by special achievements like the Mastering the Assistant Commendation (1500+ assist medals). |
| 398 | * CuriosityKilledTheCast: The Forerunner artifact Crimson brings aboard the ''Infinity'' for research purposes ends up causing a ton of headaches for the good guys: |
| 399 | ** Glassman messing with the artifact in Episode 2 of ''Spartan Ops'' [[spoiler:causes it to teleport him straight into the Covenant remnant's main base]]. Something similar later happens to [[spoiler:Thorne, who gets teleported right into the middle of a squad of Elites who end up capturing him]]. |
| 400 | ** The artifact also regularly interferes with the ''Infinity''[='s=] systems, and is later responsible for [[spoiler:teleporting an army of Prometheans and Covenant straight into the ship]]. |
| 401 | ** Finally, [[[spoiler:Jul 'Mdama]] uses the artifact to [[spoiler:forcibly anchor the ''Infinity'' to Requiem... right as he's sending the latter into the nearest sun]]. |
| 402 | * CutscenePowerToTheMax[=/=]CutsceneIncompetence: Weapons appear to be stronger in ''Spartan Ops''[='s=] cutscenes and shields appear to be nonexistent. Standout examples including Episode 6's opening cutscene, where two Elites fall from a single shot each from a Storm Rifle, and Episode 7, where Promethean Knights die from a single headshot. |
| 403 | * TheDayTheMusicLied: Episode 5 Chapter 5. Fireteam Crimson has just defeated hordes of Covenant and is ''finally'' getting evac. "[[{{Leitmotif}} To Galaxy]]" starts playing and it looks like the end of another successful mission. [[spoiler:Then the evac Pelican is shot down out of nowhere. The music cuts out, and looming out of the sky, comes a Covenant cruiser, several Phantoms, and flights of Banshees. What happens next... is not shown, and you obtain a completion achievement by the name of "Dedicated To Crimson"]]. |
| 404 | * TheDragon: |
| 405 | ** The Covenant Remnant consider Jul 'Mdama to be this to the Didact, addressing him as the Didact's Hand in ''Spartan Ops''. Considering [[spoiler:the Didact's apparent demise]], Jul's actions in ''Spartan Ops'' may be an example of DragonTheirFeet; as he's more or less the {{BigBad}} of ''Spartan Ops'', he's also an example of DragonInChief. |
| 406 | ** 'Mdama himself has his own Dragon, Gek, who can be told apart [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic by his lack of helmet]]. |
| 407 | * DualBoss: Two Phantoms in Chapter 3 Episode 2 of Spartan Ops. |
| 408 | * EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:Sending a Forerunner Shield World into a star doesn't produce a very subtle reaction.]] |
| 409 | * EasterEgg: In several chapters you can trigger audio snippets from ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' that vaguely match the story instead of the more appropriate audio actually written for the story. Thus it is quite funny to hear about Caboose apparently being ''on fire'' after touching the BigRedButton (the related audio being scientists admitting they have no clue what they are working with) and Palmer dryly commenting on how that doesn't sound good. |
| 410 | ** Taken to ridiculous levels in Chapter 5, Season 5. Sarge berates Grif for dropping the sports equipment. Over the drop site, the ammo icon appears, but next to it is Sports Equipment. You get to the drop, and find ONLY Gravity Hammers. Even more ridiculous is that the Gravity Hammers aren't nearly as effective in dealing with the Hunters and Wraiths as the Spartan Lasers that the ''Infinity'' normally sends are. The mission ''is'' actually complicated by Grif screwing up. |
| 411 | * ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Though the ''Infinity''[='s=] mission on Requiem involves thousands of operatives from multiple UNSC branches, ''Spartan Ops'' (naturally) focuses largely on the exploits of the Spartans. |
| 412 | * EvilIsPetty: ONI toward Catherine Halsey, continuing their behaviour from the ''[[Literature/HaloGlasslands Kilo]]-[[Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar Five]]'' books. They may have legitimate reasons for locking her up, but what really smacks of vindictiveness on their part? [[spoiler: Deliberately concealing from Halsey that John-117 was alive.]] |
| 413 | * FeaturelessProtagonist: Fireteam Crimson is the title of the squad you are a part of during ''Spartan Ops'', who are depicted as [[HeroicMime being silent]] and [[OneManArmy exceptionally efficient at their jobs]]. Because of the armor customization you can do for your own Spartan-IV, they don't appear in any cutscenes, unlike in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' with Noble Six. |
| 414 | * FighterLaunchingSequence: The very first episode following ''Infinity''[='s=] DynamicEntry arrival at Requiem, wherein it proceeds to scramble Pelicans carrying Spartan-[=IV=]s to the surface, Broadswords to provide cover against Covenant fighters, and even Charon-class ''frigates'' stored in internal bays, which proceed immediately to engage the Covenant fleet in orbit. |
| 415 | * FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:In Episode 7, Roland gets put under Halsey's control. However, the override doesn't last long before he starts to fight it, and eventually he manages to regain control.]] |
| 416 | * FirstNameBasis: Even though he's her commanding officer, Lasky and Palmer are apparently this as shown in the ''Spartan Ops'' cinematics. It helps that six months ago (that is, during the campaign) they held similar ranks. |
| 417 | * ForScience: Dr. Halsey. She wants to know everything so she can solve everything, and hates having secrets kept from her. As she puts it: |
| 418 | -->'''Halsey''': Life is too short. I will never learn all that exists in our own tiny galaxy, let alone the rest of the universe...and I so desperately want to know ''everything''. But the UNSC acts like children at play in a sandbox; mistaking its edges for the limits of the world. |
| 419 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: This is the first entry in the ''Halo'' series that tries to justify the multiplayer component as taking place within the story continuity; both War Games and ''Spartan Ops''. |
| 420 | * GlitchEntity: In "Switchback", you can discover a Promethian Crawler carrying a Lightrifle, a weapon it is very obviously not meant to carry. This was probably either an experimental idea that snuck into the final game (like the [[VideoGame/Halo2 Needler Sentinel]] before it), or a regular Crawler that was assigned a Lightrifle by accident. |
| 421 | * GravityScrew: [[spoiler:In Episode 10, after deactivating the artifact Crimson must escape, but find themselves being flung in the air or off to the side as Requiem's gravity fluctuates.]] |
| 422 | * GunshipRescue: Several, most notably in Episode 3, Chapter 4 where ''Infinity'' takes out a Covenant cruiser after you had to HoldTheLine for a time, and the very next Chapter after that, where a flight of [[SpaceFighter Broadswords]] eradicates a group of Phantoms closing on your position. |
| 423 | * HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: The [=Spartan-IVs=] practically never wear their helmets while on board ''Infinity'', although they do wear them during actual ops on Requiem. That said, it took until episode 9 before Palmer's helmet was seen, and Thorne was certainly not helped by the fact that he didn't have his on (and wasn't carrying his weapon) when [[spoiler: he got translocated through the artifact and landed up right in front of a group of Elites.]] |
| 424 | * HeroicMime: None of the members of Fireteam Crimson have any dialogue. |
| 425 | * HurlItIntoTheSun: [[spoiler:In Episode 9, Jul 'Mdama, having obtained what he needed from Requiem, sends it on a collision course with the nearby star. This occurs in Episode 10, destroying the planet.]] |
| 426 | * {{Hypocrite}}: |
| 427 | ** Very subtly. [[spoiler:Roland calls out Halsey for subterfuge, saying "what has keeping secrets ever done for you?", while keeping secret from her the news that John-117 is alive.]] |
| 428 | ** [[spoiler:Palmer's "Orders are orders" line loses a lot of its meaning knowing that she completely ignored Captain Del Rio's orders six months earlier.]] |
| 429 | * InkSuitActor: Gabriel Thorne and Paul [=DeMarco=] of Fireteam Majestic are modeled after their voice actors: Ethan Peck and Creator/TravisWillingham, respectively. |
| 430 | * JustFollowingOrders: When Admiral Osman orders Lasky to [[spoiler:kill Dr. Halsey after she's captured by the Covenant, he refuses to do so. However, Palmer decides to do it herself despite Lasky ordering her otherwise, telling him that "Orders are orders" and that she [[PlatonicLifePartners doesn't want to see him court-martialed over Halsey]]. Of course, Palmer also genuinely hates Halsey and ''wants'' to see her dead]]. |
| 431 | * LetsGetDangerous: For most of ''Spartan Ops'', Spartan Palmer isn't shown in much action besides some brief firefights on ''Infinity''. Episode 9 shows her finally [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic donning her helmet]] (revealing it as the Scout helmet) and going out into the field commando style. |
| 432 | * LockAndLoadMontage: In the first episode, while the ''Infinity'' is in slipspace, there is a scene of the [=Spartan-IV=]s, and Thorne in particular, armoring up in their [[PoweredArmor MJOLNIR GEN2]] suits while Palmer gives a speech regarding the Covenant presence on Requiem. |
| 433 | * MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: [[spoiler:While Halsey talks with Jul 'Mdama in the Episode 7 intro, Roland does the same splitting Cortana did in the last level of the campaign to regain control of himself.]] |
| 434 | * MidSeasonTwist: For the first six episodes of ''Spartan Ops'', the ''Infinity'' is using the [=Spartan-IVs=] to try and learn more about Requiem, and trying to keep a step ahead of the Covenant. Business as usual. But when Episode 7 rolls around, things aboard get shaken up. [[spoiler: Prometheans teleport aboard, and the Covies board the ship as well. Additionally, tensions with Halsey further peak, as she reveals herself to have hidden backdoors in ''Infinity'''s systems.]] |
| 435 | * MissionControl: Spartan Miller is the one directing all of Crimson's ops, followed by Palmer as Chief of Spartan operations, with the ship's AI Roland stepping in a few times. |
| 436 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Osman orders the assassination of Dr. Halsey for her supposed FaceHeelTurn. Palmer's attempt to carry it out caused her doctor to pull an actual FaceHeelTurn. The fact that this happened immediately after she passed the Janus Key to Thorne (the whole reason she had been conversing with Mdama was to obtain it for the UNSC [or possibly herself, it's unclear]), and forced her arm to be later amputated by her Elite captors likely didn't help matters.]] |
| 437 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Gek activates Glassman's explosive harness to keep him from escaping. However, Thorne simply tears the harness off Glassman and tosses it towards the Elites pursuing them, killing all the Covenant and allowing himself and Glassman to escape.]] |
| 438 | * NoGearLevel: Shattered, the first chapter of Episode 6, which involves Fireteam Crimson being held captive. It's noted that this is the only Spartan Ops mission where the player is unable to select loadouts, and you instead start with a pre-determined loadout consisting of a Covenant Carbine and a Plasma Pistol. |
| 439 | * NostalgiaLevel: "Ragnarok" is a remake of "Valhalla" from ''VideoGame/Halo3'', while "Pitfall" is a remake of "The Pit" from the same game. |
| 440 | * OneManArmy: Canonically, Crimson is made up of multiple Spartans. You can forego this, and play [[{{OneManArmy}} solo]]. Depending on player skill and difficulty level, naturally. |
| 441 | * OohMeAccentsSlipping: The Hacksaw commander in ''Spartan Ops'' just can't seem to figure out where he's from. |
| 442 | * PercussiveMaintenance: In Episode 2, [[spoiler:the artifact that Fireteam Crimson recovered at the end of the first episode activates aboard the ''Infinity'', draining the ship's power, turning off the artificial gravity, and causing it to be caught in Requiem's gravity. Commander Palmer deactivates the artifact by simply kicking it]]. |
| 443 | * PlayableEpilogue: ''Spartan Ops'' takes place six months after the singleplayer campaign. It is, however, not quite an epilogue per se, as it focuses on a largely different cast doing their own thing seperate from the Chief's. |
| 444 | * PortalNetwork: This is the big reveal of Episode 4, which shows how Jul 'Mdama is using Requiem's network to stay just out of the reach of UNSC forces and gain the advantage in confrontations. |
| 445 | * PreviewsPulse: The recovered Forerunner artifact in ''Spartan Ops'' Episode 5 gives ominous pulses as the crew approaches to study it. |
| 446 | * RammingAlwaysWorks: In ''Spartan Ops'', we catch a glimpse of the ''Infinity'' coming out of Slipspace and smashing ''through'' an RCS-class armored cruiser. [[DynamicEntry This collision takes place]] ''[[DynamicEntry immediately]]'' [[DynamicEntry upon leaving slipspace.]] |
| 447 | * RightInFrontOfMe: [=DeMarco=] only realizes that Palmer is his Spartan commander aboard ''Infinity'' two seconds after he starts trying to hit on her. |
| 448 | * SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler: Castle Squad.]] |
| 449 | * TheReveal: Episode 5: Dr. Halsey's mysterious benefactor who's been sending her useful intel and offering help is [[spoiler:[[BigBad Jul 'Mdama]], manipulating her into unwittingly assisting him]]. |
| 450 | * ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Lasky, again. [[spoiler:After Palmer goes to kill Dr. Halsey on Osman's orders, he sends Fireteam Majestic to reach Halsey first so they can save her.]] |
| 451 | * SequelEscalation: Each episode in the second half of ''Spartan Ops'' aims to try and top the previous one in terms of story and threat level. |
| 452 | * ShootTheHostage: [[spoiler:Jul 'Mdama holds Halsey as a human shield. Unfortunately, he doesn't know that Palmer is ''trying'' to kill Halsey. Luckily, Jul calls for his Knight bodyguards and Palmer only manages to wound Halsey.]] |
| 453 | * ShoutOut: The [=Spartan-IV=]s getting their armor fitted on them is quite similar to how Tony Stark suits up as ''Film/IronMan''. |
| 454 | * SmallNameBigEgo: [=DeMarco=] of Fireteam Majestic is awfully cocky at the start of ''Spartan Ops'', especially given that he and his squad has done nothing extraordinary. To be fair, the reason why most of Majestic qualified for Spartanhood to begin with was because they had already proved themselves to be {{Badass Normal}}s. |
| 455 | * StarterVillain: Parg Vol, being the first major Covenant Remnant leader faced by Crimson. |
| 456 | * StatuesqueStunner: Sarah Palmer is the Spartan Commanding Officer, officially standing at 6'9 and is obviously catching the attention of her fellow soldiers. |
| 457 | * SuperPrototype: In ''Spartan Ops'', the [=Spartan-II=]s are regarded as this compared to the [=Spartan-IV=]s. The [=IIs=] may be several decades older in comparison to the more recent, better-equipped, and more mass-produced [=IV=]s, but it's fairly clear that the average S-IV is significantly less badass when compared to the sheer skill and power of the Master Chief - and if Fireteam Majestic is anything to go by, a lot less disciplined. The creator of the [=IIs=], Dr. Halsey, has nothing but contempt for the newer inductees, seeing them as buffoons who aren't ''really'' Spartans: |
| 458 | -->'''Halsey''': (to Majestic leader [=DeMarco=], in reference to the [=Spartan-II=] children): First, we taught them to be silent. Then, we taught them to be ''Spartans''. |
| 459 | ** That said, Fireteam Crimson, the player characters in ''Spartan Ops'', are [[HeroicMime silent, stoic types]] reminiscent of the Master Chief from the previous games, and also known to be among the most competent of the [=IV=]s. Also, in a conversation with Thorne, Halsey expressed mild approval of his level-headed nature, even suggesting that some Spartan [=IV=]s are closer to her original vision than others. |
| 460 | * ThenLetMeBeEvil: [[spoiler:Halsey's reaction to Palmer's assassination attempt.]] |
| 461 | * ThisIsGonnaSuck: Lasky's response to seeing the entirety of the remaining Covenant fleet escaping to slipspace. He's right, since moments later [[spoiler:Requiem starts moving on a collision course to its sun, which nearly takes ''Infinity'' with it]]. |
| 462 | * TookALevelInBadass: Fireteam Majestic eventually prove themselves as being one of the better Spartan fireteams, although still not as efficient as Crimson. |
| 463 | * TwoHalvesMakeAPlot: [[spoiler:The Librarian gives Dr. Halsey an artifact called the Janus Key, which records the location of every Forerunner relic in the galaxy. The device is activated by connecting the two halves, and in the scuffle after 'Mdama gets one half while Spartan Thorne gets the other.]] |
| 464 | * UniqueEnemy: A single Crawler with a lightrifle can be found on the mission "Switchback". This may be a leftover from an enemy type that was not completely removed from the game, similar to the Needler Sentinel in the ''VideoGame/Halo2'' level "Quarantine Zone". |
| 465 | * VillainBall: [[spoiler:'Mdama is so entranced by the activated Forerunner shrine that he fails to notice Dr. Glassman escaping behind him.]] |
| 466 | * VillainOverride: [[spoiler:Halsey activates a hidden trapdoor phrase in Roland that puts him and the ''Infinity'''s systems under her command.]] |
| 467 | * WhamEpisode: |
| 468 | ** Episode 5, "Memento Mori": [[spoiler:Halsey is arrested for subterfuge. Jul 'Mdama is revealed to be TheChessmaster. The Promethean Knights on Requiem are revealed to have been made from the murdered of New Phoenix. Gabriel Thorne is teleported to enemy territory without any weapons. Dr. Glassman manages to partially activate the shrine of the Librarian.]] |
| 469 | ** Also, Episodes 7 to 10, finishing off ''Spartan Ops'' in dramatic procession and introducing a potential game-changer to the entire 'verse in [[spoiler:the Janus Key]]. |
| 470 | * WhamLine: |
| 471 | ** From Episode 7: |
| 472 | -->'''Roland:''' Come on, doc. What has keeping secrets ever really gained you?\ |
| 473 | '''Dr. Halsey:''' What is hidden can be useful.\ |
| 474 | '''Roland:''' Such as?\ |
| 475 | '''Dr. Halsey:''' Such as the phrase...[[spoiler:''undid iridium''?]]\ |
| 476 | '''Roland:''' [[spoiler:Un-un-did-did-un-did-did-undid... [[CreepyMonotone UNSC AI override instructions active, Dr. Catherine Halsey.]]]] |
| 477 | ** From Episode 8: |
| 478 | --->'''ONI Director Serin Osman (to Capt. Lasky):''' You are hereby ordered to [[spoiler:eliminate Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey]]. |
| 479 | ** From the Epilogue of Episode 10: |
| 480 | -->'''[[spoiler:Dr. Halsey]]:''' [[spoiler:The UNSC just tried to execute me. So you'll need to offer something other than idle threats if you want me to help you.]] |
| 481 | -->'''[[spoiler:Jul 'Mdama]]:''' [[spoiler:(Snarls) What is it you desire?]] |
| 482 | -->'''[[spoiler:Dr. Halsey]]:''' [[spoiler:That's easy, Jul. I want revenge]]. |
| 483 | * WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: The subtitle for Episode 5 Chapter 2 is "Nothing Can Go Wrong". The subtitle for the chapter immediately afterward is "[[FromBadToWorse Everything Has Gone Wrong]]". |
| 484 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What exactly ''did'' happen to Science Team Gargarin? |
| 485 | [[/folder]] |
| 486 | |
| 487 | [[folder:Terminals]] |
| 488 | * AdvancedAncientHumans: We get our first visual depictions of the prehistoric spacefaring humans introduced in ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'', including key figures like [[FourStarBadass Forthencho, the Lord of Admirals]]. The weapons and armor of the ancient humans look oddly reminiscent of the modern Project GUNGNIR products (the GUNGNIR armor variant and Spartan Laser), with visorless helmets for their combat skins and shoulder-mounted energy weapons that project red targeting beams. |
| 489 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: The Master Builder Faber, who shares the leadership of the Forerunners with the Didact and the Librarian. In the books, [[BigBad he's a more dangerous foe]], but here he has a smaller role and thus is limited to just [[EvilSoundsDeep sounding evil]] and agreeing with everyone's decisions. |
| 490 | * ArcWords: "The Mantle", sometimes "the Mantle of Responsibility". [[{{DrinkingGame/Halo 4}} A drinking game could be made out of it]]. |
| 491 | * BoomHeadshot: One of the ancient human soldiers fell to the Forerunners in that fashion. |
| 492 | * ContinuitySnarl: The Didact here initially seemed to be at odds with his characterization in the ''Halo 3'' terminals and the [[Literature/HaloCryptum first]] [[Literature/HaloPrimordium two]] ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'' novels, but ''Literature/HaloSilentium'' clarified that there were ''two'' Didacts, with the original one turning evil. |
| 493 | * EvilCostumeSwitch: Happens to the Didact: Compare [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:H4-Terminal-Didact-Armor.jpg this]] with [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:Halo4-Didact-Armor-Cutscene.jpg this]]. |
| 494 | * EvilMakesYouUgly: Also happens to the Didact: Again, compare [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:H4-Terminal-Didact.jpg this]] with [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:Didact2.png this]]. |
| 495 | * HonorBeforeReason: The Didact views upholding the Mantle as his greatest duty, and feels that firing the Halos would be abandoning it. As such, he turns to dozens of other experiments, including Flood cures, super-advanced AI, and the Promethean droid armies. All of them are unsuccessful. |
| 496 | * LaserSight: Laser pointers are the preferred rifle sights for the ancient human soldiers. Justified given the human soldiers' visorless helmets. |
| 497 | * MadeOfIron: The Didact takes ''two shots to the chest'' from a ''binary rifle'' - a sniper rifle capable of killing a fully shielded Spartan in ''[[OneHitKO one hit]]'' - and is only stunned. He is even ''unarmored'' when he was shot! It might have been on some sort of stun mode, but it still took two shots to take him down. |
| 498 | * ProfessorGuineaPig: [[spoiler:The Didact uses an experimental cure for the Flood on himself, but it doesn't work. It does result in him looking more animalistic, as well as immune to the Composer, and is implied to have contributed to his SanitySlippage.]] |
| 499 | * TheReveal: Humans are thought by the Foreunners to be ScaryDogmaticAliens. [[spoiler:The truth is that they were destroying planets not to colonize or for xenocide, but because the Flood had spread to those planets and was risking escape.]] |
| 500 | * SanitySlippage: The Terminals are about the Didact's fall into evil. |
| 501 | * UnwillingRoboticisation: [[spoiler:At first the original Promethean Warrior-Servants willingly volunteer to become machines. But when their numbers begins to run low, this trope manifests as the Didact turns to creating more by harvesting humans.]] |
| 502 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: The Didact himself, since he feels his ultimate duty to uphold the Forerunner Mantle. However, said Mantle is an imperialist doctrine that places Forerunners as the galaxy's supreme "protectors" with all other species being "defended" by them. His zeal leads him to forcibly de-evolve humans to prevent them from being a threat again, [[spoiler:testing Flood cures on himself that mutate him, and harvesting humans to turn them into drones for his army]]. ''Silentium'' implies that [[spoiler: his new drive to wipe out or enslave all potential threats to the Forerunners was due to Gravemind administering a MindRape to put him into an identical mentality to the Precursors]]. |
| 503 | [[/folder]] |
| 504 | ---- |
| 505 | ->[[spoiler:'''Cortana:''' Welcome home, John.]] |
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