History Anime / HaloLegends

* ArtisticLicense: Per WordOfGod, the animators were given ''a lot'' of liberty to mess with the visuals. For example, the shorts have a habit of giving the Covenant species the wrong color of blood (such as ''The Package'' having all the Covenant bleed green, even though ''no'' core Covenant species canonically has green blood). Again, further examples are listed with their respective shorts.

* InternationalCoproduction: The shorts were produced by American developer 343 Industries and various Japanese animation studios. And that's not counting the work outsourced to studios from other countries.

* InternationalCoProduction: The shorts were produced by American developer 343 Industries and various Japanese animation studios. And that's not counting the work outsourced to studios from other countries.

* TheAnimeOfTheGame: A rare case of this being literal for a Western franchise, which usually go with WesternAnimation for their animated adaptations.

* HumanoidAliens: Most of the alien species seen are four-limbed bipedals. In order from most to least human-like, we have the Forerunners ([[spoiler:who themselves speculate in later media that the Precursors are the reason why they and humanity look surprisingly similar]]), the Brutes (who look like ape-bear hybrids), the Grunts (who look like arthropod monkeys), the Prophets (who have incredible long necks), the Jackals (who have a rather bird-like appearance), and the Elites (who look like tailless dinosaurs with distinctive split jaw). The Hunters have a vaguely humanoid form, but are actually sapient worm colonies.
* InternationalCoProduction: The shorts were produced by American developer 343 Industries and various Japanese animation studios. Even more if you count outsourced work.

* InterserviceRivalry: The officer briefing the [=ODSTs=] makes note of their resentment of the Spartans, but tells them to keep it out of the mission. With the exception of O'Brien, the squad manages to do so, and they all develop real respect for Cal-141 by the end.

** [[spoiler:Despite being smacked in the face with a Gravity Hammer, Cal is still able to live long enough to remind O'Brien of the mission and hand over her intel to the [=ODSTs=].]]
** Additionally, [[spoiler:the Brute Chieftain is able to survive being both beaten to a pulp by Cal and kicked off a waterfall, ''and'' have enough energy left over to track down his assailants and kill (though by accident) Cal]].

* DefectorFromDecadence: ''The Duel'' reveals that the reason why the previous-esteemed rank of Arbiter became a position of shame for the Elites is because Arbiter Fal 'Chavamee rebelled against the Covenant.
* DualWielding: During his battle against an entire Covenant army, the Arbiter's Energy Sword runs out of power, so he punches two enemy Elites and grabs both their swords.

* {{Flashback}}: The scenes of Fal battling his foes are intercut with flashbacks showing his past life and how he became mortal enemies with the Covenant in the first place.

* PredatorPastiche: While the Elites were already Predator-like, Han has another aspect not seen before or since: dreadlock-like hair.

* SuicidalSadisticChoice: [[spoiler:Haka forces Fal's attendant Roh to execute Han on pain of death. Then he kills Roh anyways.]]

* BeehiveBarrier: The Spartans [[DeployableCover deploy one]] to protect themselves upon first boarding the Covenant command ship.
* BigBulkyBomb: Of the same spiky "space pickle" type the Covenant used in ''VideoGame/Halo2''; [[spoiler:they've been spread all over the Covenant fleet as decoys, and one is used to kill Solomon-069 after he's lured the wrong ship]].
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The Spartans successfully save Halsey, but at the cost of two of their number.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: When the Master Chief runs out of bullets against Major Thel 'Lodamee, the latter responds by... ''tossing him an Energy Sword'' so they can duel. Though Thel does beat the Chief rather easily almost immediately after, and the latter is only spared by the Elite Supreme Commander choosing to beam Thel out.

* LullDestruction: Kelly-087 also throws a PreMortemOneLiner along with her grenades in the Japanese dub.

* ShoutOut: The Booster Frames look suspiciously similar to the GP03 Dendrobrium Orchis from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory''.

* RecapEpisode: Sort of. While all the animation is brand new, the actual "plot" is basically just a review of the franchise's overarching storyline that fans almost certainly already know.

* ActionGirl: Spartan Daisy-023, who's the toughest soldier in the entire soldier.

* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:The flash clones of the escaped Spartan recruits, who are all suffering from various fatal neurological and physical aliments.]]

* {{Flashback}}: Much of the short consists of flashbacks about the time when Daisy and several other Spartan trainees attempted to run away from the SPARTAN-II Program. There's also a scene set even further back, showing when Daisy was kidnapped by ONI.

* OldFriend: Daisy and Ralph both react in shock upon hearing each other's voices over the comms, as they haven't seen each other since their ill-fated escape attempt years ago. Despite how much time has passed, it's clear the two still regard each other very dearly.
* PhlebotinumRebel: Right after recieving their augmentations, Daisy, Ralph, and three other Spartan trainees attempt to escape the program and return back home.
* PlotParallel: The "present day" scenes of Daisy and her Marine comrades attempting to escape the Covenant are intercut with flashbacks of Daisy and her Spartan comrades attempting to escape from the SPARTAN-II Program.

* TragicKeepsake: Daisy's teddy bear keychain. [[spoiler:She lost it while being kidnapped by ONI, only to have it later returned by her clone as a parting gift.]]

* LightningBruiser: The prototype is not just tough and powerful, but agile as hell, being capable of duking it out with aircraft.

* QuiveringEyes: The dying female marine's eyes are visibly shaking as she tries to summon the strength to say her last words to Ghost.

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: The kids' T-Rex, who'll even play fetch if you throw it a stick.

* GhibliHills: The planet of Cronkee almost completely consists of untouched wilderness.

* MamaBear: "Mama" will not tolerate anyone threatening her kids, who remember her once driving out a band of Jackal pirates. [[spoiler:Later, she straight up shoots Pluton into slipspace.]]

** The [[spoiler:slip-space cannon in the downed frigate in ''Odd One Out'']] resembles the Macross Cannon from ''Anime/{{Macross}}'', far more so than in canon ''Halo'' media.

* LaserBlade: The signature weapon of the Elites is the duel-pronged energy sword.

* PunchPerry: At one point, SPARTAN-1337 attempts to directly counter a punch from Pluton with one of his own; 1337 is blown away by the resulting impact, while Pluton is completely unaffected.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: As Spartan-1337 puts it:

* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler:Despite being smacked in the face with a Gravity Hammer, Cal is still able to live long enough to remind O'Brien of the mission and hand over her intel to the [=ODSTs=].]]

* ShoutOut: :A SuperSoldier badass is sent to a squad of normal human beings [[spoiler:and is wrongly believed to be male. She is an amazing shot and her gender is only discovered after being injured. She also dies. Are we talking about Cal-141 or Tex from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''?]]

* ShoutOut: The prototype bears more than a passing resemblence to several mobile suits from ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}''[='s=] UC continuity.

* HotBlooded: SPARTAN-1337 is

* {{Determinator}}: If nothingelse, SPARTAN-1337 is persistent. To hear him say it:

* ContinuityNod: Much of the banter between the Master Chief and [[spoiler:Dr. Halsey]] is exactly the same as the dialogue between Chief [[spoiler:Halsey's AI clone Cortana]] in the games.

* InMediaRes: The first scene, which shows the Arbiter heading towards his climatic duel with Haka, takes place ''after'' most of the events in the short have already happened.

* BloodyAndGorier: The Covenant meet some rather gruesome deaths at the hands of Ghost.

----

* ActionGirl: Kelly-087, Daisy-023 and [[spoiler: Cal-141]].
* AdaptationDyeJob: Many examples. Dutch has blonde hair in ''The Babysitter'', while in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'', he has brown hair. Dr. Halsey has blonde hair in ''The Package'' and ''Homecoming'', while in the books and ''[[VideoGame/HaloReach Reach]]'', she has black, graying hair. Fred-104 has brown hair instead of black, etc.
* AlienInvasion: Of the "All-Out Attack" variety. The Flood do this out of instinct, the Covenant [[AllThereInTheManual because humans are a personal affront to their religious beliefs]].
* AlienSky: All planets the shorts take place on.
* AllAnimalsAreDogs: The T-Rex in ''Odd One Out''.
* AllThereInTheManual: The shorts are an interesting mix of being the manual and referencing the manual at the same time.

* AnimeHair: Not surprising, considering this is an anime. In the commentary track of ''The Babysitter'', it's noted that real life Marines would pretty much all have buzz cuts and look like each other, but AnimeHair and different body types were used to visually distinguish the ones in the short. To be fair, ''Legends'' isn't the only offender; other ''Halo'' media have shown that [=ODSTs=] can and do grow full heads of hair, such as Buck from ''Halo 3: ODST'' (given that Buck is Creator/NathanFillion AND a [[{{Series/Firefly}} Mal]] {{Expy}}, you don't tell him what to do).
* ArmCannon: The titular Prototype (Type I) and ''Odd One Out''[='s=] Pluton (Type II.)
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: The [=ODSTs=] ponder who was babysitting whom (the [=ODSTs=] or the Spartan) in ''The Babysitter''.
* ArtisticLicense: The Hunters and Spartans are often shown as towering far above other characters, more so than in the original games. In particular, the Hunters in ''The Duel'' are larger than Wraiths (that said, considering that Scarab {{Spider Tank}}s can be considered humongous, slightly more mechanized Hunters, it's possible that Lekgolo worms are able to super-combine into a giant Hunter form; the comparatively smaller in-game ones are permanent colonies, while the giant ones were special multi-colony coalitions created for the purpose of eliminating the Arbiter).
* ArtShift: Since all the stories are done by different studios, they all have varying styles, but two are of special note. The first being ''The Duel'' where the artwork is put through a filter to resemble a watercolor painting. The other one being ''The Package'', which is an AllCGICartoon and thus most resembles the games.
* AscendedMeme: ''Odd One Out'' has two: there's SPARTAN-[[LeetSpeak 1337]], and there's Pluton getting ready to [[Franchise/DragonBall Shoop Da Whoop]].
* TheAtoner: Ghost from ''Prototype''.
* BadassNormal: Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.
* BattleshipRaid: The entirety of ''The Package''.
* BeehiveBarrier: Naturally, due to extensive use of Bubble Shields.
* BigBulkyBomb: The Elites use one in ''The Package''.
* {{BFS}}: Haka's sword in ''The Duel'', unusual in a setting dominated by {{Laser Blade}}s.
* BigDamnHeroes: The Spartan-II squad in ''The Package'' is attacking a Covenant fleet in order to rescue [[spoiler:Dr. Halsey]]. Another example from the same short is the ONI Prowler that rescues said Spartans when they're being pursued by Seraphs.
* BittersweetEnding:
** ''The Package'': [[spoiler: The Spartans successfully save Halsey, but at the cost of two Spartans.]]
** ''The Babysitter'': [[spoiler:The ODST/Spartan squad succeeds in taking out the Prophet but the Spartan dies saving one of the [=ODSTs=].]]
** ''Prototype'': [[spoiler:Sgt. "Ghost" sacrifices himself to save the remaining evacuees.]]
* BizarreSexualDimorphism: ''The Duel'' took ''a lot'' of ArtisticLicense in order to achieve this trope; ''[[http://www.halopedia.org/images/6/6b/Han.jpg this]]'' is its depiction of a [[RubberForeheadAliens female Sangheili/Elite]]! Canonically, however, female Sangheili are actually physically nearly indistinguishable from males (slightly shorter with wider hips); WordOfGod is that the animators simply felt that making Han too "alien" would, well, alienate audiences, with Frankie O'Connor even admitting around the time of release that a canon-compliant visual depiction of her would be a lot more "alien and gross".
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Both [[spoiler:Solomon-069 from ''The Package'']] and [[spoiler:Checkman from ''The Babysitter'']] are the first to die in their respective shorts.
* BloodierAndGorier: ''Prototype'' especially, to the point of including ''dismemberment''.
* BreatherEpisode: ''Odd One Out''.
* BreathWeapon: Pluton from ''Odd One Out'' has one.

* CallForward: From ''The Package'':
-->[[VideoGame/{{Halo2}} Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it.]]
* CanonDiscontinuity: Unlike the rest of the shorts, ''Odd One Out'' is explicitly stated to be "out of canon" in the commentary.
* CaptainErsatz:
** SPARTAN-1337 seems to be [[LargeHam hammy]] and confident enough to be an Ersatz of [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Might Guy]] or [[Franchise/StreetFighter Dan Hibiki]]
** [[spoiler: Cal-141 looks like Sheryl Nome from ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' to some people.]]
** The teenagers in ''Odd One Out'' act [[spoiler: and fight]] exactly like [[Anime/DragonBallZ Gohan and Videl]].
* CloneDegeneration: In ''Homecoming'', [[spoiler: Daisy-023 finds her own clone in what used to be her house, in a wheelchair]]. Also subverted, as [[spoiler:most of the Spartans' clones had already died years before then]].
* CloningBlues: [[spoiler:The inferior clones of the Spartan recruits.]]
* ColourCodedCharacters: In episodes that feature multiple Spartans, they usually are wearing differently colored armor from each other so we can tell which one is which. This was unlike previous ''Halo'' media; ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'' explicitly noted that the Spartans all looked identical with no visual markers when in full armor, with just their trackers to tell them apart. However, later media like ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' decided it was unfair to keep the player/audience guessing every time, so they too began featuring more customization.
* CompressedHair:
** [[spoiler:How ''does'' Cal manage to fit all her hair into her helmet?]]
** Daisy averts this in that she's shown with a pretty spartan ([[{{Pun}} har har]]) bob cut that would be able to fit into her helmet.
* ConspicuousCG: Pops up in many of the episodes.
* ContinuityNod: Master Chief's promise to Dr. Halsey in ''The Package'' is the same as the one he'll make to Halsey's AI clone Cortana in the games.
* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Cortana to Master Chief in ''Origins'' I and II.
* CoolShip: The stealth carrier and Booster Frames in ''The Package''.
* DeadpanSnarker: The children of ''Odd One Out''.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler: All but two of the shorts, including ''Origins'' (which is this for the Forerunners).]]
* DefectorFromDecadence: ''The Duel'' reveals that Arbiter Fal 'Chavamee rebelled against the Covenant, which led to the previously-esteemed rank of Arbiter becoming a position of shame for the Elites.
* DenserAndWackier: ''[[BreatherEpisode Odd One Out]]'' is basically "Halo, but as a goofy [[ShonenDemographic Shonen]] Anime". Where else would you see the Prophet of Truth send out a terminally stupid Brute SuperSoldier like a MonsterOfTheWeek and then lament that he needs a vacation?
* DeployableCover: The Bubble Shield in ''The Package''.
* {{Determinator}}: Spartans, by their very nature. SPARTAN-1337 explicitly states this:
-->'''SPARTAN-1337''': [[PhraseCatcher No one else would say it]], so I will: the fact that I never give up is one of my good points!
* DistantReactionShot: The [[spoiler:self-destruct flash]] in ''Prototype'' can be seen from outer space.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:''Homecoming'' and ''The Duel''; the former in particular borders on ShootTheShaggyDog.]]
* DualWielding:
** During the large battle in ''The Duel'', the Arbiter's Energy Sword runs out of power, so he punches two enemy Elites and grabs both their swords.
** As befitting the short's focus on action, the main Spartan trio all do this in ''The Package:
*** John pulls out two [=SMGs=] while back-flipping over a Brute.
*** Kelly grabs two plasma rifles out of (and while in) mid-air.
*** Fred takes the cake; he pulls out an SMG to take care of a group of Covenant to his side while still maintaining aim with his Spartan Laser. He also pulls out two knives in his fight against the Elites.
* {{Dubtitle}}: Did they record the Japanese or the English dub first? In any case, the English release captions the English dub on both audio tracks, making watching the Japanese track rather distracting due to inconsistent scripts (wildly different, in some cases), timing that's fine for English but horribly distracting to a regular viewer of subtitled Japanese, and very noticeable LullDestruction.

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: While it does mostly follow characters not seen before, pretty much all the main characters are either Spartans, [=ODSTs=], or Sangheili (who are actually referred to by humans as "Elites").
* EmpathyDollShot: A recurring image in ''Homecoming''.
* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: ''Odd One Out''.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: The T-Rex in ''Odd One Out''.
* TheFaceless: In keeping with the tradition of the games, we never see Master Chief's face.
* {{Fanservice}}: The first part of ''The Package'' ends with a back shot of three Spartans (John-117, Frederic-104 and Kelly-087) crouched and bent forward ready to sprint toward a large group of Covenant soldiers. Guess whose butt we have the best view of?
* FinalSpeech: A dying female marine gives one to Ghost during a series of flashbacks in ''Prototype''.
* {{Flashback}}: There are a great many in ''Homecoming'' and ''The Duel'', and a few in ''Prototype'' as well.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The "alien" ruins on Heian in ''The Babysitter''. When you see them, you can clearly see the elements of ancient human architecture in them. It seems the producers were lazy, right? [[spoiler:Wrong! Both ''Literature/HaloCryptum'' and the ''Literature/HaloEvolutions'' short story ''From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal'' imply that those ruins are the last remnants of the prehistoric human civilization that once rivaled the Forerunners.]]
* GatlingGood: The titular Prototype comes equipped with one. [[RuleOfCool Awesomely, but improbably]], the Booster Frames in ''The Package'' have a deployable turret as well.
* GhibliHills: The dinosaur planet from ''Odd One Out''.
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: [[spoiler: ''Origins'' shows that Cortana is not doing too well four years after the end of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''.]]
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Two of the [[spoiler:Spartan trainees who find their ReplacementGoldfish clones in ''Homecoming'']] commit suicide offscreen.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Frederic-104, being a good guy, sports several attractive facial scars.
* GunsAkimbo: Master Chief and Kelly-087 in ''The Package''. Also Frederic-104, for one short cut; it's particularly notable because he's dual-wielding a {{BFG}} Spartan Laser and an SMG.
* GunshipRescue: The last-second arrival of the stealth carrier in ''The Package''. Also horribly subverted in ''Homecoming'', when the gunship gets [[spoiler: ''blown up'' because the Marines won't listen to Daisy and leave her behind]].
* TheHeroDies: Is the case for no less than half of the shorts, with [[spoiler:Fal in ''The Duel'', Daisy-023 in ''Homecoming'', "Ghost" in ''Prototype'' and Cal-141 in ''The Babysitter'' all dying shortly before their respective shorts' conclusions]].
* HappilyMarried: The Arbiter and Han in ''The Duel''.
* HeroicSacrifice: Many.
** Subverted in ''The Package'' when Frederic-104 remains behind to hold off seeming overwhelming numbers of Covenant while armed only with two knives...[[OneManArmy And survives]]. It helps that [[SavedByCanon he had already appeared in multiple works which take place chronologically after]] ''The Package''. Also, Fred is practically Mr. Knives in the novels; anyone who read the books first ''knew'' what was gonna happen when Fred busted out the knives. [[JustForPun Knife to see you, indeed.]]
* HighPressureBlood: Goodness, ''The Duel'''s outcome...
* HonorBeforeReason:
** The Arbiter's conundrum in ''The Duel''.
** When the Master Chief runs out of bullets in ''The Package'', Major Thel 'Lodamee (the red-armored Elite) responds by... ''tossing him an Energy Sword'' so they can duel. Though Thel does beat the Chief rather easily almost immediately after, and the latter is only spared by the Elite Supreme Commander choosing to beam Thel out.
* HopeSpot:
** In ''Homecoming'', when [[spoiler:it looks like Daisy and the Marines might ''just'' be able to escape]].
** ''Origins'' I, when you see the Forerunners teleport down and bust out the hand-held {{Wave Motion Gun}}s against the Flood. Then you remember that it's the ''[[DoomedByCanon Forerunners]]'' [[ForegoneConclusion who're fighting here]].
* HotBlooded: SPARTAN-1337.
* HotScientist: Played fully straight with [[spoiler: Dr. Catherine Halsey herself in ''The Package''. You'd want to check her package out]]. This is especially amusing considering the fact that she's supposed to be 52 at the time, not to mention her more realistic appearance in ''VideoGame/HaloReach''. The producers have admitted that they let her design stray from canon for a little fanservice.
** Halsey in ''Homecoming'' is arguably more attractive than [[spoiler:''The Package'' version]]; AdaptationDyeJob aside, it's at least justified by the fact that ''Homecoming'' Halsey is still in her early 30s.
* HumanoidAliens: In order of human resemblance; the Forerunners ([[spoiler:who themselves speculate in later media that the Precursors are the reason why they and humanity look surprisingly similar]]), the Brutes (who are ape-bears), the Grunts (who are little monkey-looking creatures), the Jackals (who have beak/maws for bitin'), and the Elites (who have a distinctive split jaw).
* HumanPopsicle: Master Chief in ''Origins'' and [[spoiler:Dr. Halsey]] in ''The Package''.
* HumansAreWarriors: Deconstructed in ''Origins''. Cortana laments that humanity will never be rid of war, and that the only thing keeping us from killing ''each other'' is uniting against a common foe.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The Covenant battalion in ''The Duel'', outrageously so.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Throughout ''The Package'', the [=Spartan-IIs=] practically LIVE in bullet time. Flips and spins and GunsAkimbo galore!
* ImprobablePilotingSkills: ''The Package'' features fighter jet/motorcycle hybrids weaving in and out of Covenant fire.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha: The titular Prototype is a scaled-up MJOLNIR suit with heavy weapons and full-blown Bubble Shields. Unlike regular MJOLNIR, it's able to be used by normal humans too.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: [[spoiler:After Daisy is mortally wounded in ''Homecoming'', she tells the Marines to leave her behind; their refusal to do so gets them all killed.]]
* InternationalCoProduction: Being produced with 343 Industries and the Japanese anime studios mentioned. Even more if you count outsourced work.
* LampshadeHanging: ''Odd One Out'', towards both shonen anime AND the entire ''Halo'' franchise.
* LaserBlade: The signature weapon of the Elites.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: The Elite major throws a LaserBlade to Master Chief when the latter runs out of ammunition. His confidence is not misplaced.
* LightningBruiser: The Spartans, the Prototype, and ''everyone'' in ''Odd One Out''.
* LipLock: The Japanese dub of "The Package", since it's CGI and was animated based on the English track.
* LullDestruction: There's a bit going from Japanese to English in ''The Babysitter''. Kelly-087 also throws a PreMortemOneLiner along with her grenades in the Japanese version of ''The Package''.
* MacrossMissileMassacre: Quite prominently in ''The Package''.
* MadeOfIron: [=ODSTs=] and Spartans, of course. But SPARTAN-1337 takes the cake.
* MasterSwordsman: Fal 'Chavamee of ''The Duel'', who is able to take on (and destroy) an entire ARMY of Covenant soldiers. Alone.
* MegatonPunch: Dropped left and right in ''Odd One Out'' as part of the shounen-anime-style parody.
* MementoMacGuffin: Daisy's teddy bear keychain in ''Homecoming''.
* MiniMecha: The Prototype straddles the line between power armor and mecha. A pity that StrongFleshWeakSteel is in effect...
* MistakenIdentity: In ''Odd One Out'', the Prophet of Truth sends out Pluton to crush Master Chief. SPARTAN-1337 is clad in the same iconic colors as John-117. Oops.
* MoodWhiplash: On the DVD, ''Odd One Out'' comes immediately after ''Homecoming''. It makes for a rocky transition.
* MsFanservice:
** Cortana.
** This is also the reason that they made [[spoiler:Dr. Halsey]] look rather youthful for her age (~52 by the events of ''The Package''), according to [[WordOfGod the commentary]]. [[invoked]]
* NighInvulnerable: In ''Odd One Out'', Pluton takes truly insane damage [[spoiler:and is still alive in space at the end of the short after getting blasted through a Slipspace rupture]].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In ''The Package'', Elite Supreme Commander Luro 'Taralumee pulls Thel 'Lodamee away on a gravity lift to retrieve him while their fleet escapes into Slipspace. Unfortunately for the Covenant, [[spoiler:Thel was just about to kill John when he got pulled away at the last minute]].
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind:
** The reason Ghost creatively interprets orders in ''Prototype''.
** This tropes results in horrific consequences in [[spoiler:''Homecoming'']].
* OneManArmy: The general idea behind the SPARTAN-II program.
* OutrunTheFireball: Done in ''The Package''.
* OutOfCharacter: While Dr. Halsey is generally depicted as a cold, stoic character who the Spartans see as a motherly figure of sorts, [[spoiler:''The Package'' puts her in a role of a typical ActionGirl and has her close to flirting with John (which adds an unfortunate bit of IncestSubtext due to the aforementioned motherly role). Not to mention that she looks ''far'' too young for her age compared with the Halsey seen in the novels and games. Although The Fall Of Reach book has Cortana note when she chooses him that she finds John quite attractive, and Halsey blushes at hearing this, noting she must think the same thing, due to Cortana being made from a replica of her own mind, albeit unchecked by social protocol.]]
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The password to confirm the SelfDestructMechanism in ''Prototype'' just happens to be the last words of the female marine who died in Ghost's arms.
* PistolWhipping: Notably by the [=ODSTs=] in ''The Babysitter'', but then, pistol whipping is one of ''Halo''[='s=] iconic elements.
* PoweredArmor: The Spartans' MJOLNIR armor... but of course.
* PowerLevels: Pluton in ''Odd One Out'' can increase his "power level."
* PreAsskickingOneliner: Frederic-104 in ''The Package'':
-->"Alright, the Great Journey ends here."

* ProudWarriorRace: The Elites.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Spartan-1337: "I. Am. Spartan!"
* QuiveringEyes
* RammingAlwaysWorks: In ''Odd One Out'', [[spoiler:Mama disposes of Pluton by launching a space pod at him, pushing him through the slipspace portal]].
* RapunzelHair: [[spoiler: Cal-141 in ''The Babysitter'', who somehow manages to fit it all inside her helmet.]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Ghost]] in ''Prototype''.
* ReplacementGoldfish: As per series canon, children abducted by the SPARTAN-II project are quietly replaced with faulty clones that die young, so the families never look for the real ones.
* TheReveal: When Cal-141's helmet comes off in ''The Babysitter''...
* {{Roboteching}}: Happens in ''Prototype'' and ''The Package''.
* SamusIsAGirl:
** Happens at the start of ''Homecoming'' with Daisy-023 after her BatmanColdOpen.
** [[spoiler: The Spartan in ''The Babysitter'' is female (Cal-141 is presumably short for something like "Calliope"). Given that she never once speaks until her helmet is torn off, which itself only happens after she's been mortally wounded, the trope seems to be played more so that the bigoted ODST squad member realizes that there is an actual human underneath the armor, rather than any particular importance on femininity.]]
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: The Covenant.
* SelfDestructMechanism: The Prototype has one.
* ShoulderCannon: The Prototype.

** ''Odd One Out'' was done by Creator/ToeiAnimation. The 'secret weapon' of the Covenant is called [[Manga/OnePiece Pluton]]. Do the math. Additionally, the art style, the dinosaurs, Pluton's ChunkyUpdraft, and the baseball-shaped space pod (which unfolds to become Pluton's armor) are pretty explicit references to ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
** [[spoiler:Cal-141 in ''The Babysitter'']] is sent to a squad of normal human beings and is a SuperSoldier badass who is believed to be male. She is an amazing shot and her gender is only discovered after being injured. She also dies. [[Machinima/RedVsBlue Who else could we be talking about?]]
** The [[spoiler:slip-space cannon in the downed frigate in ''Odd One Out'']] resembles the [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross Macross Gun]], moreso than in canon ''Halo'' media.
** The titular mech in ''Prototype'' bears more than a passing resemblance to a [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Jagd Doga]]. Notably, the shoulders are ''identical'', except for the lack of funnels.
** The Booster Frames used by the [=Spartan-IIs=] in ''The Package'' are expies of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory GP03 Dendrobrium Orchis]].
* SingleStrokeBattle: [[spoiler: ''The Duel'' ends with this.]]
* SpaceIsNoisy: Most notably seen in ''The Package''.
* SpaceMarines: Well, obviously.
* SphereOfDestruction: [[spoiler:The Prototype's self-destruct]].
* TheSquad: The [=ODSTs=] in ''The Babysitter'' and the Spartan-II squad in ''The Package''.
* StartOfDarkness: Kinda sorta in ''The Duel'', which shows exactly how the position of Arbiter became something to be handed off as a suicide gig to disgraced Elites.
* TheStoic: Ghost in ''Prototype'', after his previous squad was annihilated. This is misunderstood by the other troopers as being a lack of empathy.
** [[NotSoStoic Though another flashback shows Ghost screaming in grief after the last of his marines dies in his arms]].
* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Forerunners.
* SuperPrototype: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment The Prototype]] in ''Prototype'', the [=Spartan-IIs=] as a whole, and especially Pluton in ''Odd One Out''.
* SuperSoldier: The Spartan-[=IIs=], though [[spoiler:the shorts have a fondness for showing how their numbers got thinned out]].
* SwissArmyWeapon: The Prototype, a veritable walking arsenal.
* TakingTheBullet: ''The Babysitter'', when [[spoiler:Cal takes a Gravity Hammer to the face for O'Brien]].
* TakingYouWithMe: The [[spoiler:self-destruct mechanism in ''Prototype'']] generates an explosion large enough to take out any nearby enemies in a very, very large area.
* TeamMom: [[spoiler:A rampant AI]] in ''Odd One Out''. She's even literally referred to as "Mama".
* TimeDissonance: Being an AI, Cortana experiences time quite differently from organic creatures.
* TomboyishName: [[spoiler:Cal in ''The Babysitter'']], which serves to further set up the SamusIsAGirl reveal.
* WarIsHell: It should be obvious.
* WaveMotionGun: The [[spoiler:shoot-you-into-slipspace probe launcher in the crashed frigate from ''Odd One Out'']].
* WeHaveReserves: The Elite Supreme Commander in ''The Package'' starts [[DisposableVehicleSection ejecting parts of his spacecraft]] sending [[ThrownOutTheAirlock everyone in them into space]] once Master Chief starts getting too close to his objective. But [[ProudWarriorRace knowing Elites]], he may have sincerely believed his troops died honorably.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: In ''Homecoming'', several Spartan children escape only to find they have been replaced by clones. In the 'contemporary' scene, even the home itself is a ruin.

* UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler:When Haka kills the Arbiter's wife in ''The Duel'', Fal goes ballistic, tearing apart an entire battalion's worth of Covenant, and despite dying in the climactic duel with Haka he [[MutualKill manages to kill him too nonetheless]].]]

* TheWorfEffect: Lots of Spartans die ([[spoiler:Daisy, Cal, Solomon, Arthur, Ralph, etc.]]), and not always heroically either.

* AnAxeToGrind: The Brute Chieftain and his Gravity Hammer in ''The Babysitter''.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The shorts are deconstructions of the whole ''Halo'' series, as well as things like {{war|IsHell}} and TheStoic archetype. In general, it puts the emotional aspects of the characters more into focus.

* OutOfCharacter: While Dr. Halsey is generally depicted as a cold, stoic character who the Spartans see as a motherly figure of sorts, [[spoiler:''The Package'' puts her in a role of a typical ActionGirl and has her close to flirting with John (which adds an unfortunate bit of IncestSubtext due to the aforementioned motherly role). Not to mention that she looks ''far'' too young for her age compared with the Halsey seen in the novels and games. Although The Fall Of Reach book has Cortana note when she chooses him that she finds John quite attractive, and Halsey flushes a bit at hearing this, noting she thinks the same thing, due to Cortana being made from a replica of her own mind.]]

* OutOfCharacter: While Dr. Halsey is generally depicted as a cold, stoic character who the Spartans see as a motherly figure of sorts, [[spoiler:''The Package'' puts her in a role of a typical ActionGirl and has her close to flirting with John (which adds an unfortunate bit of IncestSubtext due to the aforementioned motherly role). Not to mention that she looks ''far'' too young for her age compared with the Halsey seen in the novels and games. Although The Fall Of Reach book has Cortana note that she finds John quite attractive, and Halsey flushes a bit at this, noting she thinks the same thing, due to Cortana being made from a replica of her own mind.]].

* OutOfCharacter: While Dr. Halsey is generally depicted as a cold, stoic character who the Spartans see as a motherly figure of sorts, [[spoiler:''The Package'' puts her in a role of a typical ActionGirl and has her close to flirting with John (which adds an unfortunate bit of IncestSubtext due to the aforementioned motherly role). Not to mention that she looks ''far'' too young for her age compared with the Halsey seen in the novels and games]].

* WeHaveReserves: The Elite Supreme Commander in ''The Package''. But [[ProudWarriorRace knowing Elites]], he may have sincerely believed his troops died honorably.

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler: The Spartan in ''The Babysitter'' is female (Cal-141 is presumably short for something like "Calliope"). Given that she never once speaks until her helmet is torn off, which itself only happens after she's been mortally wounded, the trope seems to be played more so that the bigoted ODST squad member realizes that there is an actual human underneath the armor, rather than any particular importance on femininity.]]

''Halo Legends'' is an anime-styled series of [[ArcNumber seven]] short stories set in the ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' universe. What ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' did for the ''Film/TheMatrix'' films and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight'' did for ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'', ''Halo Legends'' does for the ''Halo'' ExpandedUniverse. It was produced by Microsoft's internal ''Halo'' entertainment team, Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries, with the animation done by six production houses, namely Creator/BeeTrain, Creator/StudioBones, Casio Entertainment, Creator/ProductionIG, Creator/Studio4C, and Creator/ToeiAnimation. The shorts were originally released one by one on Halo Waypoint over the course of late 2009, before getting a full DVD/Blu-ray release in early 2010.

* AnimationBump: It's quite obvious that ''The Package'', ''Origins'', and ''Odd One Out'' were the shorts that received the best animators, with ''The Babysitter'' being the best animated of the other four shorts.

* AscendedMeme: ''Odd One Out'' has two: there's SPARTAN-[[LeetSpeak 1337]], and there's Pluton getting ready to [[Manga/DragonBall Shoop Da Whoop]].

** The teenagers in ''Odd One Out'' act [[spoiler: and fight]] exactly like [[Manga/DragonBall Gohan and Videl]].

** ''Odd One Out'' was done by Creator/ToeiAnimation. The 'secret weapon' of the Covenant is called [[Manga/OnePiece Pluton]]. Do the math. Additionally, the art style, the dinosaurs, Pluton's ChunkyUpdraft, and the baseball-shaped space pod (which unfolds to become Pluton's armor) are pretty explicit references to ''Manga/DragonBall''.