Remnant | UNSC | Covenant | Other Characters
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The Covenant Hegemony
General
Formed from the fires of the War of Beginnings between the San'Shyuum and Sangheili in 852 BCE, referred to as the First Age of Reconciliation, the Covenant Hegemony, otherwise known as the Covenant Empire or simply the Covenant, is a technologically advanced galactic superpower that spans much of the Orion Arm. It is comprised primarily of seven member species - the San'Shyuum, the Sangheili, the Lekgolo, the Yanme'e, the Kig-Yar, the Unggoy, and the Jiralhanae, with countless fringe species who were not deemed significant enough for full membership. Each species is organized into distinct hierarchical castes, and united under the belief of the Great Journey, which postulates that the ancient Forerunners, from which they derive all of their technology, used the might of Halo to ascend into godhood, and by studying their gifts and finding Halo they, too, can follow in their footsteps. At the top, nominally sharing equal power, are the San'Shyuum and Sangheili, each responsible for all religiopolitical and military affairs, respectively. Leading the Covenant is the High Council, exclusively comprised of San'Shyuum and Sangheili, which serves as the Covenant's legislative body. The Council is headed by the Hierarchs, or High Prophets, a triumvirate of San'Shyuum whose ascension marked the beginning of a new Age.
But beneath the spender and might of the Covenant is a dark truth: that the Great Journey itself, their guiding belief, is nothing more than a lie borne from a mistranslation. This revelation, along with the discovery of humanity and its apparent relation to the Forerunners themselves, either as chosen Reclaimers or Forerunners themselves who were "left behind", threatened to unravel the Covenant at its very seams and, most importantly, threaten the San'Shyuum's hold on power. With this in mind, the newly ascended High Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret, the ones who made this discovery, declared humanity's mere existence to be an affront to the gods and marked them for extinction, sparking the Ninth Age of Reclamation and the War of Annihilation, referred to by the humans as the Human-Covenant War.
- Big Bad: The overarching, existential threat of the Covenant overrides all other conflicts both the UNSC and Remnant had, to the point where Remnant is ultimately forced to join the war on the UNSC's side just to have a chance of survival.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Inflicting it onto humanity thanks to their overwhelming numbers and absolute technological superiority. The only reason why humanity hasn't already been rendered extinct at the hands of the Covenant is due to humanity being so far spread out and employing creative tactics to stall their advance.
- Deflector Shields: The Covenant make heavy use of energy shield technology, with Elites wearing full body protection and Jackals carrying a hand-held version.
- Hegemonic Empire: Outside of its core areas, the Covenant is largely decentralized due to its sheer size and limits to even their technology. There are even several species that are protectorates rather than actual members, the Covenant Fringe, who only pay tribute but otherwise don't directly contribute or benefit from Covenant membership.
- I'm a Humanitarian: A few Covenant species, particularly Brutes and Jackals, tend to eat the remains of their human victims. This was the unfortunate fate of the survivors of Khembalung.
- Insufficiently Advanced Alien: Even though the Covenant's technology is vastly superior to what humanity is able to natively produce, and many of the client species already had space colonies prior to joining, the vast majority of the Covenant do not actually fully understand exactly how their technology works. This is because the vast majority of it is directly reverse-engineered from Forerunner artifacts, and they view attempting to innovate and improve upon those designs as heretical.
- Kill All Humans: The Covenant's main MO, something that Halsey, Admiral Cole, and Sergeant Johnson show with images of their colonies' glassings, horrifying those who learned of it. After being shown several glassed worlds, Sienna Khan tries to weakly argue that since the Faunus aren't human, they could be spared. Unfortunately for her and everyone else, Johnson then explains that ultimately, Faunus are no different than humans (especially in the Covenant's eyes), and they would also get massacred by the Covenant.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Burpoion and the other leaders of the Covenant's invasion of Remnant were absolutely shocked after realizing that they'd unwittingly "defaced" a Holy Bastion (Forerunner Shield World) by glassing Remnant. They were all so horrified by their unintentional heresy that Burpoion had himself and the other surviving members of the command staff whipped seven times for every minute that they had glassed Remnant. The rest of the command staff are mentioned as having either committed suicide out of guilt or been killed by the other repenting crew members upon realizing the severity of their sin.
- Outside-Context Problem: The Covenant towards Remnant. While Ozpin and the other headmasters suspected the UNSC was at war with something called the Covenant, they did not anticipate them actually being genocidal aliens, and all of them were taken off-guard after learning just how bad it was.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: Standing in contrast to the relatively unified humanity (outstanding Insurrectionists aside), the Covenant suffers from this tremendously. Rather than having a single unified military structure like the UNSC, the Covenant has several dozen different Ministries, each one competing for resources and having their own independent military. More often than not, these Ministries end up waging war against each other.
- Scary Dogmatic Aliens: As in Halo canon, the Covenant are the "Aliens as Religious Fundamentalists" version. Word of God even lampshaded this in one of their commentaries on SpaceBattles:xTRESTWHOx (Author of Dust and Echoes): The Covenant are like the ultimate repudiation of that belief that technological progress will inevitably rise with moral standards. We've never really seen that. Things just...expand, more than anything, it's just that the Covenant took it much farther than anything people could have imagined.
- Sticky Bomb: The Covenant is fond of using these. The plasma grenade, officially the Type-1 Antipersonal Grenade, serves as the Covenant's primary hand-thrown explosive weapon, able to stick both to vehicles and people before exploding. The Jiralhanae also introduced the spike grenade, which can do the same thing but also stick to surfaces like walls and ceilings.
- Theme Naming: Their vehicles are typically named after mythological and paranormal entities by humanity. Examples include the Ghost, the Banshee, the Spirit, and so on. Mobile weapon platforms are named after insects, such as the Locust and the Scarab.
- The Theocracy: The entire Covenant is completely dedicated to both spreading their religion and finding new Forerunner artifacts so that they can embark on the Great Journey and become gods themselves.
- This Cannot Be!: The Covenant as a whole has this reaction when it discovers that Remnant is in fact a "Holy Bastion", their word for a Forerunner Shield World, which Burpoion had partially glassed. Thel ‘Vadamee also has this reaction on the grounds of how humans can be native to a Holy Bastion in the first place.
- The Unpronounceable: Many humans have difficulty in pronouncing the Covenant species' actual names. When discussing the various Covenant species Qrow has trouble with a few of their names. Specifically with the Hunters (Mgalekgolo) and Brutes (Jiralhanae) with him not even trying to pronounce the former and giving up partway with the latter.
- We Have Reserves: Ignoring the vast technological disparity that gulfs them against humanity, this is the Covenant's greatest advantage in the War of Annhilation. Even if, pound for pound, human soldiers and human tactics are superior to their Covenant equivalents, any losses suffered are easily replaced.
San'Shyuum
General
The San'Shyuum, referred to by humanity as Prophets, are a mammalian species native to the now-lost planet of Janjur Qom. They, alongside the Sangheili, are the founding members of the Covenant, and serve as the theocratic hegemony's religious leaders. Unlike the rest of the Covenant, the San'Shyuum are physically frail and weak, relying on the physical strength of their subordinates to protect themselves as they seek to chart the Covenant on the path of the Great Journey.
- Cargo Cult: They were the ones who created the modern Covenant religion that venerates the Forerunners as gods, and lead the charge in recovering and reverse-engineering the pieces of technology the Forerunners left behind.
- Cool Chair: As a result of thousands of years of in-breeding, the vast majority of Prophets are unable to walk on their own power. While most use simple anti-gravity belts that let them hover over the ground, those with particularly high standing are afforded the use of gravity thrones.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Although technically far from a "defeat" from the traditional sense, the San'Shyuum have this relationship with the Sangheili. Both species fought each other in the brutal and bloody War of Beginnings. Once the war was over and both sides came to a peaceful understanding, the two became equal founders to the Covenant, and by the modern day there isn't a stronger relationship between two species in the entire hegemony. Not that it stops the more power-hungry San'Shyuum from attempting to subvert the Sangheili's authority and outright replace them with the more easily manipulatable Jiralhanae.
- Dying Race: There aren't very many San'Shyuum that are part of the Covenant since it was only a particularly small minority that fled their homeworld on the Forerunner Dreadnaught, which makes inbreeding and accidental death major problems.
- Fantastic Caste System: Both created the one that the Covenant lives by, and one unique to their species.
- Ironic Nickname: The titles that any particular Prophet acquires tends describe them in an opposite way. For example:
- The Prophet of Truth is a consummate liar; Mercy has none to give; Regret doesn't regret anything he's ever done.
- Kill All Humans: It was the San'Shyuum who ordered the extermination of humanity, which the rest of the Covenant follows without question.
- The Masquerade: Although the High Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret justified that the War of Annihilation against humanity was due to their utter desecration of holy Forerunner artifacts, in actuality it was because they discovered both that the Great Journey itself was a lie born from a mistranslation and that humanity are the Reclaimers meant to inherit the Forerunners. In an attempt to secure their own power, a war of complete genocide was declared.
- Population Control: Since there are so few of them, inbreeding is a major concern. As such, all San'Shyuum are under strict regulations and guidelines on who can have children with whom. Those not allowed to breed at all are placed on a "Roll of Celibates", not that this prevents them from having sex. They just can't have any offspring.
High Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret
Ord Casto, Hod Rumnt, and Lod Mron
Homeworld: High Charity
Dates of Birth: March 15, 2396 (Truth/Ord), August 22, 2332 (Mercy/Hod), October 28, 2461 (Lod/Regret)
Hierarchs of the Covenant, the High Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret jointly serve as the head of state of the entire Covenant Empire. The Covenant's countless ministries, fleets, and armies all serve to fulfill their will as they lead the Covenant through the Ninth Age of Reclamation, which started upon their ascension in 2525 upon the discovery of humanity. It was they who claimed that humanity's existence was an affront to the gods themselves due to humanity's willful destruction of Forerunner artifacts, sparking the War of Annihilation.
But in truth, their decision to destroy humanity had nothing to do with what humanity had supposedly done. Just before their ascent to power, the newly ascended triumvirate had discovered a horrific truth: not only was the Great Journey itself a lie born from a simple mistranslation, but that humanity had a direct connection to their gods. Whether it was due to humanity being the gods themselves who were left behind, or their chosen successors, the distinction mattered little. What mattered is that humanity's mere existence threatened the very foundation of the Covenant itself, and the power they desperately desired. In order to protect both, they would stop at nothing to ensure humanity's destruction, not matter the cost.
- Awful Truth: Their discovery from the "Oracle" inside the Forerunner dreadnaught powering High Charity that humanity, not them, were the inheritors to the Forerunners and that they never ascended into godhood threatened to destroy the entire Covenant, not to mention their designs on power. Their decision to destroy humanity was their attempt to keep this secret from getting out.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: All three jointly serve as this for the entire story, sharing it with Salem.
- Faux Affably Evil: Especially Truth, who tends to talk with air of calm and regality while ordering the deaths of billions.
- Ironic Nickname: All of the names that the Hierarchs chose for themselves do not describe their actual personalities at all. Truth constantly tells lies, Mercy has none to give, and Regret has no regrets at all for his actions.
- Meaningful Name: At least for the Prophet of Truth, who chose the name to remind himself of all the lies he'd had to tell to keep both the Covenant and his ambitions going.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Due to both their status as the Covenant heads of state and their physical weakness, none of the Hierarchs directly engage humanity.
- Pet the Dog: Before he was the Prophet of Truth, Ord Casto genuinely attempted to obtain justice for the Unggoy who were sterilized by Kig-Yar saboteurs which had set off the Unggoy Rebellion.
- The Fundamentalist: The Prophet of Mercy is the most genuinely religious out of all three.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: Although they present themselves as a unified front to the Covenant masses, in truth they are anything but. While Mercy tends to mostly go with whatever Truth wants, Truth and Regret's schemes tend to conflict with each other more often than not, which leads to altercations.
The Minister of Veracity
Homeworld: High Charity
A minor minister of the Ministry of Artifact Survey, the Minister of Veracity oversaw Covenant excavation efforts of a Forerunner Cartographer on the human colony world of Peponi from the Valorous Penance, a Covenant stealth frigate. In this role, he served as the direct superior to all Covenant special military forces on the colony, particularly Ir 'Haramai's lance of Zealots and Atriox's pack of Jiralhanae warriors.
- Bad Boss: To Atriox, at least. Although he did afford Atriox more leeway than many of his former commanders, ultimately the Minister of Veracity views Atriox as nothing more than a pawn for him to use as he sees fit, something he outright tells Atriox when he orders him and Decimus to hunt down and execute Ir 'Haramai and his remaining Zealots without sending the wounded Jiralhanae any backup.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Is unceremoniously killed when the Ace-Ops and Task Force 141 infiltrate and destroy the Valorous Penance in order to prevent the Covenant from escaping with their copy of the Cartographer's data. To add insult to injury, the humans had no idea he was even there.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Serves as this for the Battle of Peponi, with Ir, Rteda, and Atriox all reporting to him.
- Jerkass: He only has a single scene where he directly interactions with the other characters, but from what we can tell he is certainly one of these.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Doesn't directly engage the protagonists at all, who don't even know he exists.
- You Have Failed Me: Ir certainly believes that he'll succumb to this fate should the Cartographer fall into human hands. Ultimately, however, Ir's desertion from the mission to protect said Cartographer is what prompts the Minister to order his and his entire Zealot lance's execution.
Sangheili
General
A saurian species native to the world of Sangheilios, the Sangheili people (commonly known as Elites by the UNSC) are one of the two founding races of the Covenant, filling half of the seats on its High Council and are in charge of all its military forces.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Elites make their way up the chain of command based on how many enemies they manage to kill, meaning that the highest-ranking officers are highly skilled and experienced killers.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: As per the original Halo canon, Sangheili culture is heavily based on both the ancient Norse and Imperial Japan.
- Honor Before Reason: The Elites' culture revolves around a martial code of honor, which can lead to rigidity and tactical inflexibility, a weakness the UNSC exploits with relish. Though some commanders, such as Thel Vadamee, are capable of subverting this trend in regard to battlefield judgment.
- The Leader: The Sangheili occupy all positions of military command within the Covenant, from individual lances (squads) to the vast fleets of warships.
- Proud Warrior Race: Every single Elite is a warrior born and bred, having trained from childhood to wield the weapons of the Covenant and serve as the backbone of its armies and fleets.
- Worthy Opponent: The Sangheili have come to regard humanity as this, and it has led to some division and doubt over whether or not it is right to continue their genocide. One young Zealot even notes that there is precedent for forgiving the desecration of Forerunner artifactsnote in the case of the Llekgolo and their destruction of the Orbital over Te, and in elevating a species that has shown bravery and determination in the face of annihilation, as was the case in the Unngoy Rebellion, so why shouldn't humanity be given a similar chance? Even though his superior finds a way to counter these arguments, he still recognizes humanity's actions as honorable and worthy of respect (though not mercy) and that they are possibly the greatest threat to the Covenant in their three thousand-year history.
Thel 'Vadamee
Thel 'Vadamee, Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice and Kaidon of Vadam
Homeworld: Sangheilios (Vadam keep, Vadam)
Birthdate: December 10, 2485
A high-ranking elite warrior, Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee is arguably the Covenant's most effective officer in the Covenant's war against humanity. He has led the Fleet of Particular Justice and its constituent armies to victory on countless occasions, destroying multiple human colonies.
- The Ace: Arguably the Covenant's best commander in their war with the UNSC, reaching the rank of Shipmaster and then Supreme Commander of his own fleet at an incredibly young age.
- Blue Blood: In addition to his high military rank, Thel is also the Kaidon(or great lord) of the House of Vadam, one of the most ancient and powerful city-states on Sangheilios.
- Frontline General: Vadamee stands out among his peers for the propensity with which he takes a personal role in ground assaults with his regular soldiers.
- Warrior Monk: As a Zealot, he qualifies.
Ir 'Haramai
Blademaster Ir 'Haramai
A veteran Blademaster of the Covenant who rose to the illustrious rank of Zealot, Ir 'Haramai was chosen to oversee the ground operations on the human colony of Peponi to excavate and extract a Forerunner Cartographer, becoming one of the first to face off against Huntsmen from Remnant as his path intersects with that of the UNSC Midsummer Night.
- The Ace: Ir is a Blademaster, a title denoting his superb skill with an energy sword that few can ever hope to match. He is also the most skilled member of the Zealots on Peponi, earning him the respect and admiration of his men.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He is by far the most skilled and experienced member of his Zealot team, having fought the humans since the beginning of the War of Annihilation on Harvest.
- Bad Boss: Puts on an air of being a reasonable and honorable commander, but in truth Ir is nothing more than a prideful and arrogant gloryhound who will accept nothing less than unquestioning loyalty to himself by his men. Rteda begins to see him as the prideful and arrogant gloryhound he is when his decisions start going against the needs of the mission for the sake of his own sense of "honor," resulting the deaths of the Zealots under Ir's command. He ultimately gets his entire team killed, along with himself, as a result of his poor leadership. Only Rteda managed to survive because he turned against him.
- Big Bad: Of the Battle of Peponi.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Exclusively wields a Type-1 energy sword in combat. According to him, this is because his respect for humanity in their capacity as warriors demands nothing less than an honorable death by blade at his hands.
- Death Equals Redemption: Fears he may have to attempt this should he lose the Cartographer on Peponi once the UNSC discovers their presence. Not just because losing it would potentially brand him a heretic, the consequences of losing the Cartographer might extend to the rest of his clan. His fear is so great that after ordering his men to retreat with the Cartographer's data, he's already planning their counterattack to reclaim the Cartographer from human hands or die trying, not particularly caring if he dies or not. Ironically, despite technically abandoning the Covenant and ordered executed by his direct superiors, he technically gets this as everyone directly involved in the loss of the Cartographer was either killed when the Valorous Penance was destroyed or, in the case of Atriox, Decimus, and Rteda, kept quiet about the truth of his demise to protect themselves.
- Family Honor: A prime motivator for Ir, and a major source of fear should he lose the Cartographer completely to the humans. Even if he safely extracts the Cartographer's data, losing the site could be seen as heresy, which his clan's rivals would readily exploit against them.
- Fantastic Racism: Has this view towards many non-Sangheili species, outright detesting the Unggoy for their cowardice. Although he respects humanity greatly for their tenacity and resolve, he also views them as deserving of extinction due to their supposed heresy against the Forerunners. He like many Sangheli loath the Jiralhanae and regards the human name for them the Brutes as completely accurate. He even refused to let them accompany his forces in securing the Cartographer not wanting them to get any of the glory.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Ir's death at the hands of Rteda and Atriox is ultimately the result of his own actions, stubbornness, and pride that led him to put his own personal sense of honor over the needs of the mission. More directly, his decision to try and pointlessly defend the Cartographer from UNSC demolition, and subsequently attempting to declare Rteda a heretic for speaking out against his folly, led to the Minister of Veracity branding him a heretic and siccing Atriox to kill him and the rest of his Zealots.
- Honor Before Reason:
- If he activates his energy sword, he refuses to shut it off unless he kills something with it. When the UNSC attacks the Covenant base around the Cartographer, he noticeably goes out of his way to kill a marine before finally turning it off and fleeing with the Cartographer's data.
- He also refuses to use the human workers at the deuterium refinery the remnants of his forces retreat to as hostages as he regards that as below the Sangheili and instead murders them, an action that allows the UNSC to bombard the refinery from orbit with no reservation.
- Karmic Death: After spending the entire Battle of Peponi alienating both Rteda and Atriox due to his shortsighted decisions, leaving the latter for dead after getting shown up by him and attempting to murder the former simply for protesting his reckless decision to attempt a futile defense of the Cartographer rather than escort the data back to the Valorous Penance, he ends up getting killed by them.
- Kick the Dog: In addition to literally bisecting a war dog during an ambush on UNSC Army soldiers, Ir pulls this hard on the civilian workers at the deuterium refinery he and his remaining Zealots retreat to after the UNSC successfully assaults the Peponi Cartographer. Despite knowing that the unarmed humans are no threat to the Zealots and Rteda 'Vasovee pointing out that they could be more useful alive as hostages, thus potentially holding back the UNSC response against them, he brutally has them all murdered anyway. To add insult to injury, he then has his men dump the bodies in a pile beside the river, not even bothering to dig a proper grave in favor of simply erecting a wall so that he wouldn't have to look at them.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Backs down from fighting Atriox and his Jiralhanae seeing that he doesnt stand a chance.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Due to his murder of the human civilians in the deuterium refinery against the advice of his own men, any compunctions Lt. Dare and the Midsummer Night might've had towards holding back out of fear of causing excess causalities is completely gone, causing them to gleefully order an orbital Archer missile strike on the refinery.
- His death at the hands of Rteda, Atriox and Decimus also comes across as this. He had attempted to unjustly brand Rteda and execute him for the "crime" of speaking out against his pointless plan to defend the Cartographer instead of continuing the mission, and had just previously left the Jiralhanae for dead after they saved his life and put him in his place.
- Master Swordsman: Is a Blademaster, allowing him to add an "-ai" suffix to his family name and many privileges, including the right to bed any Sangheili woman he desires.
- Meaningful Name: Subverted. His name happens to mean "cheater's city" in Hebrew, but according to Word of God it comes from a name generator.
- Original Character: Was created for this story and doesn't have a canonical counterpart.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Does not show the slightest bit of gratitude towards Atriox and the Jiralhanae for rescuing him and what's left of his forces and instead picks a fight with them almost immediately after arriving at their base.
- Villainous Breakdown: Begins to suffer from this once the Huntsmen and the UNSC destroy and completely bypass the Covenant's defenses around the Cartographer, forcing him and his Zealots to flee and losing the Cartographer entirely. His decisions increasingly become less and less justified, such as pointlessly murdering dozens of defenseless refinery workers then dumping the bodies in the open instead of taking them hostage and attempting to leave Atriox for dead after extracting the Cartographer's data simply for having his pride be insulted. He fully snaps once he realizes that the UNSC was preparing to destroy the Cartographer to prevent it from falling back into Covenant's hands, a loss he would be blamed for, prompting him to order the Phantom carrying him and Rteda to the Cartographer in a pointless attempt to prevent it. He then attempted to murder Rteda simply for speaking out against his follow, which results in a firefight breaking out within the Phantom and causing it to crash. By the time he finally reaches his end, Ir is nothing more than a violet, raving lunatic.
- Worthy Opponent:
- Despite desiring nothing less than their extinction, Ir greatly respects humanity to the point where he only kills humans with his energy sword. He also firmly believes that humanity is the greatest threat to the Covenant's existence.
- He also admires the war dogs used by the UNSC, to the point that he wishes the Covenant could use them, but unfortunately considers them too tainted by humanity to make the effort.
Rteda 'Vasovee
A newly recruited Zealot serving under Blademaster Ir 'Haramai during the Battle of Peponi, Rteda feels as though he has much to prove. Both to the Covenant he loyally serves, and to himself. But his service during the War of Annhilation has bred doubt towards the validity of their holy mission against humanity, with his path ultimately crossing paths with that of the UNSC Midsummer Night.
- Broken Pedestal: Initially, he's eager to prove his mettle as part of the Zealots and is quick to look to Blademaster Ir 'Haramai for guidance. However, over the course of the battle of Peponi, the Blademaster's increasingly questionable commands draw out his patience. The final straw comes for Rteda when Ir 'Haramai opts to abandon Atriox in spite of the fact that the latter saved their lives, before demanding to risking their own lives to defend the Cartographer instead of escaping with the memory block. When Rteda protests against this, Ir 'Haramai proceeds to banish him from the Zealots before attempting to strike the former down, only for Rteda to take the initiative and shoot first. When Rteda survives after a long, drawn-out battle against his former team in the end thanks to Atriox and Decimus , the former Zealot opts to join a lance instead of joining a new team of Zealots.
- Honor Before Reason: Averted, both due to Rteda's sense of honor being different than most other Zealots (finding no honor in killing the defenseless, for instance) and always trying to put the needs of the mission first. An example was when he advocated for taking the human workers at a deuterium refinery hostage, saying that doing so would hold the UNSC back from simply blowing the refinery up in fear of killing the hostages. But ultimately, he still follows the commands of his superior officer, who puts personal honor above everything else. At least until he has a fruitful discussion with Atriox, and Ir's decision to abandon the mission for the sake of his honor proves to be a step too far.
- In the End, You Are on Your Own: After turning against Ir 'Haramai and causing the Phantom they were on to crash, Rteda spends several hours running from Ir and two of his former Zealot teammates, all of whom want to kill him. He resigns himself to them, but luckily is found by Atriox whom he convinces of his innocence in Ir's heresy and treason.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Feels an immense amount of guilt after taking part in the murder of unarmed human civilians at a deuterium refinery he and the rest of his Zealot team took shelter in. Even worse due to the fact that he tried to stop it, only for Ir 'Haramai to force him to under an unspoken but obvious threat that, if he refused, he would be killed along with them.
- Keeping Secrets Sucks: Is forced to keep secret about the truth behind Ir 'Haramai's death and let the Covenant believe he died as an honorable and glorious crusader rather than the egomaniacal gloryhound he actually was. Not due to some government conspiracy, but because keeping the truth secret was the only reason why he was able to survive and leave the Zealots. Despite knowing he doesn't really have another choice, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth as he feels Ir doesn't deserve his reputation, even in death.
- Original Character: Was created for this story and doesn't have a canonical counterpart.
- Token Good Teammate: By far the most honorable warrior among the Zealots on Peponi, to the point where he questions whether their crusade against humanity was actually justified. He even tries to prevent the slaughter of unarmed human civilians, telling his teammates that they would be more useful to them alive as hostages while actually feeling that killing them held no honor. It's quite a pity that it's strongly implied that he will be joining up with Atriox's Banished instead of performing a true Heel–Face Turn.
- Worthy Opponent: Feels this way towards humanity, to the point where he openly tells his superior that he questions why humanity's transgressions, supposedly destroying Forerunner artifacts, marks them for extinction when the Lekgolo did the same yet were readily accepted into the Covenant's ranks, and the Unngoy were elevated from slavery to soldiery following their rebellion which proved their worth to the Sangheili.
Jiralhanae
General
A mammalian species native to Doisac, and the latest to join the Covenant, the Jiralhanae (often referred to as Brutes by humanity) are a powerful and savage race. Frequently employed as shock troops by the Covenant to take advantage of their vast strength and durability, the Jiralhanae have emerged as rivals to the Sangheili, fueling a mutual animosity between them.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Are often regarded as nothing more than bloodthirsty savages by the rest of the Covenant, particularly the Sangheili, and they are often more than willing to live up that reputation. Their reputation is so infamous that many Sangheili openly admit that the humans' nickname for them, Brutes, is well warranted and deserved despite the fact that those same Sangheili don't believe humans have any right to name anything at all.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Jiralhanae society is organized into packs, and the leaders of said packs rise to their position often by overthrowing the previous Chieftain.
- Bayonet Ya: Are fond of putting large blades on their weapons and vehicles.
- Berserk Button: Tend to react violently when someone stares them in the eyes as they take that as a challenge.
- Boring, but Practical: Favor overwhelming force rather than the complex tactics and maneuvers favored by Sangheili. This also extends to their armament, notably being the only Covenant species to continue using ballistic weaponry rather than plasma as well as heavy armor instead of energy shields.
- Combat Pragmatist: Are far less scrupulous in combat than the Sangheili, which often gives them a tactical advantage. For example, while a Sangheili would rather fight unarmed than grab a human weapon, Jiralhanae have no issue doing so and often strip apart human vehicles to supplement their own armor.
- Elite Mooks: Share this role in the Covenant with the Sangheili, which fuels the mutual animosity and rivalry between the two species.
- Heavyworlder: Their homeworld of Doisac has a gravity of 2.1 G, which is reflected in how they're all hulking behemoths.
- Interservice Rivalry: Have one with the Sangheili due to the fact that they are just as strong, if not stronger, than the co-founder of the Covenant to the point where they are allowed to command their own armies and fleets while using their own weapons, a luxury not afforded by any other non-Sangheili species. They also openly seek to supplant the Sangheili in Covenant society. Although most Sangheili resent this and causes several to openly treat the Jiralhanae with hostility in an attempt to put them in their place, they believe this is only allowed by the San'Shyuum because of the needs of the War of Annihilation, dismissing the actual reason (that several powerful San'Shyuum wish to completely replace the Sangeheili with the Jiralhanae, including the Prophet of Truth himself) as a warrantless conspiracy theory.
- Killer Space Monkey: Generally described as an unholy blend of gorillas and bears, with a bit of rhino thrown in for good measure.
- Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Unlike the rest of the Covenant aside from the Needler, Jiralhanae soldiers continue to use and favor ballistic weapons. Unlike human bullets, though, theirs often fire superheated tungsten spikes through gravitic propulsion.
- Made of Iron: Capable of shrugging off bullets, explosives, and plasma all without the use of energy shields or armor.
- Religious Bruiser: Are much more fanatical in their faith than the Sangheili, which is one of the reasons why the San'Shyuum wish to replace the latter with the former.
- Sapient Eat Sapient: Known to eat prisoners of other species.
- Space Orcs: They're towering aliens resembling huge apes with tusks and claws, and are savage, violent and antisocial barbarians to the last.
- Super-Toughness: Capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment before finally going down.
Atriox
Atriox
Homeworld: Doisac
Birthdate: May 28, 2510
A highly skilled and powerful Jiralhanae chieftain, Atriox has served the Covenant military since the beginning of the War of Annihilation against humanity. In stark contrast to much of his people, Atriox is an ambitious, intelligent, and charismatic leader who has little patience for the arrogance of others. But while he loyally serves the Covenant for now, he is destined for greater things.- Badass Normal: Even by Jiralhanae standards, to the point where he was able to defeat Elm Ederne in one-on-one combat.
- Big Damn Heroes: A villainous example, and happens twice.
- The first time, he and his pack successfully manage to catch the Huntsmen and the UNSC off-guard just when they were about to kill Ir's Zealot lance and capture their copy of the Peponi Cartographer's data. His direct intervention saved the lives of the Zealots and the data while also resulting in the deaths of two Huntsmen, Harriet Bree getting severely wounded, and the deaths of dozens of marines.
- The second time, Atriox comes directly to the aid to Rteda 'Vasovee when he was ordered by the Minister of Veracity to execute Ir 'Haramai and his Zealots for their desertion, which included Rteda. While he had every intention of killing Rteda at first, he was willing to hear the Sangheili out and ultimately fought alongside him to defeat Ir and his two remaining Zealots, sparing Rteda's life.
- Combat Pragmatist: Uses whatever resources and tactics are at his disposal to ensure victory.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- While he has no compunctions about killing unarmed humans, he believes that Ir's decision to simply execute the workers of a deuterium refinery they took shelter in and dump their bodies in the open by the river was a colossal waste and mistake. Had it been up to him, he would've held them hostage or at least disposed of their bodies in a more clandestine manner to potentially give the pursing UNSC forces a modicum of restraint instead of giving them free rein to bomb them from orbit, which is exactly what happened.
- While he is yet to break away from the Covenant, he sees the Covenant's crusade on humanity as pointless slaughter that only got people killed on both sides.
- Genius Bruiser: Unlike most of his species, who tend to simply bulldoze their way through everything and let their anger cloud their mind, Atriox stands apart for constantly remaining calm and composed during even the most intense engagements. For example, during his fight against Elm Ederne, despite having never faced or even heard of a Huntress beforehand, he quickly notices her Aura Roots and figures out how they work, prompting him to break the ground and subsequently win the fight. He also makes a point to explain to Rteda that the key to winning any war is "knowing your enemy" more than any strength of arms alone. This allows him to easily realize that the humans didn't want to capture the memory block containing the Peponi Cartographer's data, they wanted to destroy it because it has the location of human colonies on it.
- It's Personal: Takes immense pleasure in being ordered to execute Ir 'Haramai after the Zealot left him and Decimus for dead.
- Magnetic Hero: To the Jiralhanae under his command, who absolutely revere him.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: Is a chieftain and by far the most skilled warrior of the Jiralhanae pack sent by the Valorous Penance, to the point where he completely manhandles Ir 'Haramai.
- Villainous Rescue: Saves the lives of Ir 'Haramai and his Zealots just when the Huntsmen and UNSC were about to kill them and secure the Cartographer's data, much to their consternation.
- Villain Respect: Has genuine respect for Humanity not backing down against the overwhelming might of the Covenant, despite many of his brethren getting killed by them.
