History Franchise / HALO

* ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn''[[/index]]: a five part live action film that introduces the past of Tom Lasky, [[''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' co-commander of the UNSC Infinity]].

* ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn''[[/index]]: a five part live action film that introduces the past of Tom Lasky, a character in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}''.

* ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', which sets up the TheVerse and focusing the battle between the humans and the Covenant aboard the titular Forerunner ring.

!Games in the main ''Halo'' series:

** ''The Fall of Reach'' originally claimed that humanity had never encountered the Elites until they attacked Reach...but they're encountered by the SPARTAN-[=III=]s of Beta Company during Operation: TORPEDO in ''Ghosts of Onyx,'' by the crew of the "Spirit of Fire" in ''Halo Wars'', and by several SPARTAN-[=II=]s and marines in ''Halo Legends'' and ''The Cole Protocol'', all of which took place long before the Battle of Reach. Finally, the 2010 re-release of ''The Fall of Reach'' eliminated any mention of the Elites being a newly encountered species, and the new "Adjunct" section made references to one of the engagements against them that was shown in ''Legends''.
*** Additionally, the events of ''First Strike'' was supposed to be the first time UNSC forces had ever engaged the Brutes, and then ''Contact Harvest'', ''Halo Legends'', and ''Halo: Reach'' all showed that they had been fighting each other since the beginning of the war. Once again, the 2010 re-release eliminated any reference to them being a newly encountered species.

*** Doesn't sound like either of them returned for the ''{{Halo 4}}'' trailer either...

* PoweredArmor The [=SPARTANs=]'s Mjolnir armor, Elites and Brutes (to a degree). Rank and file Marines use powered exoskeletons to move heavy stuff, and the regular armor has enough muscle-enhancing technology to allow ease of movement even with heavy gear. ODST armor takes it to the next level, allowing them to use most of the weapons Spartans can carry. The suits worn by the Spartan 3s were semi-powered armor, with a watered down version of active camouflage as well.

* PrecursorKillers - The Flood, which ironically didn't actually ''kill'' the Forerunner, but forced the Forerunner to commit suicide. And according to ''Cryptum'', [[spoiler: the Forerunners wiped out the Precursors.]]

* ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', the first ''Halo'' game, setting up the TheVerse and focusing the battle between the humans and the Covenant aboard the ring.

* NotSoHarmless - Believe it or not but [[spoiler: 343 Guilty Spark]] is technically the most powerful boss of the games. When [[OneManArmy John-117]], The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Arbiter]] and [[BadassNormal Sgt. Johnson]] planed to activate the unfinish Halo Ring near the ending of ''Halo 3'', knowning it'll be destroyed in progress, [[spoiler: 343 Guilty Spark]] felt that he had enough of their crap and refused to let them destroy "his" ring so he got all [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]] and mean and attacks them with a huge ass laser weapon. It took [[spoiler: Sgt. Johnson's death]], disappearing of the Arbiter, the wasting of John's power armor and four shots of the [[{{BFG}} Spartan Laser]], each shot powerful enough to bust a Wrath tank's sorry ass into atoms, to destroy him.
** Ends up being completely justified when you remember [[spoiler:343 Guilty Spark]] was created by the Forerunners.

* GasMaskMooks - Grunts, since they are methane breathers.

* HeyItsThatVoice: [[StarFox Falco]] dislikes flip music.
* HighSpeedHijack: Possible in the series starting with ''Halo 2''. Enemies can hijack your vehicles in single-player, and there's a medal for doing it to another player during a multiplayer game. Spartan-2s can also hijack enemy vehicles in ''VideoGame/HaloWars''.
* HitAndRunTactics: You'll need these for dealing with ''Halo 2'''s final boss, even on easy. Just take a look at what happens to your allies and decide if you want to repeat their performance.

* Kilo-Five trilogy, a novel series to bridge ''Halo 3'' and ''Halo 4''.

* ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', a prequel to the original revolving around the fall of the UNSC's second-most important planet, Reach.
* ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', the first part of "The Reclaimer Trilogy" continuing Master Chief's story.

* ''Literature/HaloGhostsOfOnyx'', continues the story of the characters from ''First Strike'' and introduces the Spartan-III program. Most of the events take place concurrently with ''Halo 2''.
* ''Literature/HaloContactHarvest'', a prequel that showcases first contact with the Covenant and the start of the Human-Covenant war.
* ''Literature/HaloTheColeProtocol'', a standalone story that focuses on the events in the Outer Colonies early on in the Covenant war.

** ''[[Literature/HaloCryptum Cryptum]]''
** ''[[Literature/HaloPrimordium Primordium]]''

** ''[[Literature/HaloGlasslands Glasslands]]''
** ''[[Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar The Thursday War]]''

* ''TheFallOfReach'', a prequel to ''Combat Evolved'' and the book that spawned the expanded universe, written concurrently with the original game.
* ''TheFlood'', a novelization of ''Combat Evolved'' which expands on the events on the first Halo ring.
* ''FirstStrike'', bridges the events of ''Combat Evolved'' and ''Halo 2''.
* ''GhostsOfOnyx'', continues the story of the characters from ''First Strike'' and introduces the Spartan-III program. Most of the events take place concurrently with ''Halo 2''.
* ''ContactHarvest'', a prequel that showcases first contact with the Covenant and the start of the Human-Covenant war.
* ''TheColeProtocol'', a standalone story that focuses on the events in the Outer Colonies early on in the Covenant war.

* TheForerunnerSaga, a trilogy of novels that document the fall of the Forerunner empire through the eyes of several characters.
** ''[[HaloCryptum Cryptum]]''
** ''[[HaloPrimordium Primordium]]''

** Although unlikely, it is possible the fact that the number 343 (which could have been any of the other first powers of 7, including the next one up, 2401) is an obscure shout out to BuffyTheVampireSlayer, as in the episode Killed By Death, [[spoiler: Buffy's hospital room number is 343.]] This is most likely a [[ArcNumber coincidence]], though.

** Some stories which takes place before the original ''Halo'' has neglected the fact that ''The Fall of Reach'' states that Spartan-II's did not have energy shields until just before the Battle of Reach, though in the case of ''Halo Wars'', Ensemble has admitted that this was merely a gameplay decision and that, canonically, Red Team never actually had energy shields.

*** Reach makes them [[UpToEleven even more difficult]]

* Movement speed is a lot slower than older games (comparatively, you move about half as fast as prior FPS heroes), partly to compensate for the inaccuracy of a joystick and partly for more "serious" gameplay. This is evident in how absolutely mandatory it is to pay attention to the SceneryPorn and navigate through any given location. You also have an extremely "floaty" jump, able to clear obstacles as tall as your character to facilitate some mild platforming.

* BrainUploading Human [=AIs=] are created this way. Dr. Halsey was smart enough to clone herself so she could create Cortana while keeping her own brain safely inside her skull where she needed it.

* DyingLikeAnimals - The inhabitants of the Rubble and the Insurrectionists in ''The Cole Protocol.'' Also Major Silva in ''The Flood''.
* FasterThanLightTravel - [[SubspaceOrHyperspace Slipstream space]], which is more-or-less shortcutting through another dimension. One of the reasons for Covenant space superiority was their greater ability to emerge from Slipspace at pinpoint locations, whereas UNSC exit points might be inaccurate by as many as 100,000 kilometers.

* TheFederation - The UNSC, obviously.

** TheHero - John
** TheLancer - Fred
** TheSmartGuy - Linda
** TheBigGuy - James/Joshua/Sam/Will
** TheChick - Kelly

* GenerationXerox - Well, if you consider having your brain cloned and then used to create an AI as having an offspring, Dr. Halsey and Cortana definitely qualify. [[spoiler: Particularly when we finally see Dr. Halsey in person in ''The Package''---she looks exactly like Cortana's hologram and says several of her lines word-for-word.]]
* GeniusBruiser - Spartans, Elites, and to a lesser extent Brutes. [[AllThereInTheManual Hunters, too]].

* HonorBeforeReason - The Sangheili honor codes are well beyond the point of ridiculousness. Especially apparent in ''Halo: The Cole Protocol''.

* HopeSpot / DiabolusExMachina: In ''Ghosts of Onyx'', Admiral Patterson is down to one carrier and three destroyers, facing two damaged Covenant destroyers. One is taken out, leaving a single Covenant ship utterly defenseless. [[spoiler:And then a Covenant fleet 32 ships strong comes out of slipspace between the lone destroyer and the four UNSC ships, and promptly annihilates the human vessels.]]

* [[spoiler: TheLastDance]]: [[spoiler: Admiral Preston Cole. After being depended upon for so long in the Human-Covenant War by the UNSC (compared in ''The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston Cole'' as being in command of the battles of the Alamo, Termopylae, Stalingrad, and Cold Harbor, and repeating them over, and over), it was believed that he began to fall under the psychological strain, to the point it was speculated that he fell into another HeroicBSOD... but one that led him to face three hundred Covenant ships around a gas giant, killing plenty of them with slingshot maneuvers, using gravity as both a lure and a shield against the Covenant Plasma shots, mocking them with a BadAssBoast that angers them and drives them towards him, and ending with [[RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun an implosion using said goddamn gas giant into a sun]], killing all three hundred Covenant ships.]]

** [[spoiler: Oh, right, and the best part? If the ONI officer reviewing Cole's life is correct, Cole [[BeyondTheImpossible SURVIVED by executing an in-atmosphere slip-space jump]], and is most likely finally living a life of peace far outside UNSC or Covenant space. [[EarnYourHappyEnding He deserves it.]]]]
* LightningBruiser: Kelly in the novels was always the fastest Spartan, even when they were children. Once she goes through augmentations, she's described as being so fast that nothing could touch her if she didn't allow them too. She can reach speeds up to 62 KPH (roughly 38 miles an hour).
** Which is nonetheless fairly sluggish in comparison with John's recorded maximum speed of ''105 KPH''. Granted, he tore an Achilles tendon getting there, but still...
**** I believe the implication was that she could ''reliably'' run at 62 KPH, as in, that was the highest pace she could keep for a significant amount of time without major side effects. Presumably she could have ran a lot faster if she pushed herself like John did.
*** Of course, ''all'' the Spartans are Lightning Bruisers compared to normal humans.
**** Jorge-052, Noble Teams [[TheBigGuy Heavy weapons specialist]] carries a massive [[{{BFG}} Heavy Machine gun]] which would require an entire crew of regular humans to man and would probably be cumbersome in the hands of even the other Spartans. Jorge however doesn't seem to be slowed down by it in the slightest.

* MacGuffin - The Forerunner Crystal in ''First Strike''.

* RockBeatsLaser Used and/or subverted depending on certain circumstances. Human firearms can outperform Covenant energy weapons in some cases, such as against the Flood. Humans also tend to defeat the Covenant on ground battles. That said, in space combat the Covenant tend to have a massive advantage over the UNSC.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Office of Naval Intelligence has a very complicated relationship with both civilian and military law. While the violation of civilian law would be understandable, they also frequently violate military like the Cole Protocol, and have orders that in the event of a Winter Contingency (Covenant attack on a planet) they are to ignore all mission detrimental orders from anyone below secure-grade Captain.
** That's somewhat misleading. They have classified orders to ensure the Cole Protocol is carried out fully. It states that all navigational data must be destroyed upon contact with the Covenant, but that leaves a flaw. The navigational officer. ONI's exact orders are to "destroy all navigational data stored digitally or organically." They ignore the orders of anybody who could or would stop them.
* ShotgunWedding - Admiral Cole, ''twice.'' Subverted both times--- it looks at first like he's being forced to marry Inna Valkov, his first wife and an admiral's daughter but it turns out that he ''wasn't'' the father of her son. His second wife, Lyrra, is also pregnant when they get married [[spoiler: which is too bad because she turns out to be a high-level Insurrection operative and the captain of the frigate that Cole has been hunting for years.]]

* TheSpartanWay (The training regimen of the [=SPARTANs=] as seen in the novels)
* SpaceRomans - The Elite culture is basically Imperial Japan [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]].
* SuperPersistentPredator - Why humans call the Mgalekgolo "Hunters".
* SuperSoldier (The Spartans. You've been kidnapped by the army, kid, will never see your family again, and have been replaced by a clone that will die soon. You will have to go through grueling training and risky augmentation, then get stuffed into a suit of armour that makes people wonder if you're actually a robot, and have difficulty bonding with anyone not a SPARTAN II. Oh, and no one will ever know your real name, if you die you're listed as "MIA" or "WIA", [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and you no longer have any sex drive whatsoever]]. Who wants to volunteer?)
** (Further deconstructed in ''Ghosts of Onyx''. [[spoiler: The SPARTAN III's are prepubescent {{Laser Guided Tykebomb}}s assembled from thousands of orphans of Earth's lost colonies, and trained to assault and hopefully destroy Covenant installations ''en masse'' as mostly cannon fodder to slow the Covenant's advance. The first chapter of said novel details the carnage of one such mission, one that leaves only two survivors out of ''hundreds'', and renders one of them forever mute from Post Traumatic Stress. The worst part? [[ShootTheDog If it hadn't been done, humanity wouldn't have lasted long enough to become nearly extinct in ''Halo 3''.]]]])

* TimeDelayedDeath: In ''Ghosts of Onyx'', Dante, after a particularly hectic firefight, offhandedly mentions "I think they got me." [[spoiler:''He then drops dead.'']] Upon closer inspection, it turns out that nearly ''half of his torso'' had been blown off, and he didn't even notice.

* [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions We Will All Be Atheists in the Future]]: Subverted. Dr. Halsey is specifically stated to be an atheist, suggesting this distinguishes her in some way from other human characters. This is later confirmed in [[Halo3ODST ODST]] with the character of Dutch, who is noted to be a deeply spiritual man and a student of religion and philosophy.
* WhamEpisode: ''[[TheForerunnerSaga Cryptum]]'', SO MUCH. You were wondering how humans and Forerunners first met 100,000 years ago? How about... [[spoiler: humans had an interstellar empire so large that it rivaled the Forerunners', until it was destroyed by the Forerunners for infringing on their territory while running away from the Flood, which humanity eventually ''defeated'' before falling themselves. That's right, ancient humanity were the first to find and fight the Flood (with the help of the Prophets). We even invented a cure for the Flood that DIDN'T involve the total annihilation of life in the galaxy, but it was destroyed (either out of human bitterness or Forerunner ignorance) when the Forerunners invaded, DEVOLVED OUR SPECIES and erased all traces of the earlier civilization, restricting us to our homeworld. The Librarian mentioned in {{Halo3}} was actually intended to keep us in check.]]

* Movement speed is a lot slower than older games (comparatively you move about half as fast as prior FPS heroes), partly to compensate for the inaccuracy of a joystick and partly for more "serious" gameplay. This is evident in how absolutely mandatory it is to pay attention to the SceneryPorn and navigate through any given location. You also have an extremely "floaty" jump, able to clear obstacles as tall as your character to facilitate some mild platforming.
* There is also an extreme amount of effort made both within the games and AllThereInTheManual to justify why the PlayerCharacter is able to be a OneManArmy and not just a blanket excuse of "just ''that'' badass." The short end is that your character is given some of the most cutting edge advanced technology available to enhance their [[TheGift natural talent]] and TrainingFromHell, the foremost of which being the [[PoweredArmor MJOLNIR armor]]. Among the features of this armor include:

Of course, Bungie took advantage of these unique gameplay quirks to stage intense and frantic battles, increasing the emphasis on having the right guns, using all your attacks and knowing when to retreat and recharge your shields. As you can see, it's a gameplay style that is both twitchy and cerebral, with room for the guns-blazing approach ''and'' significant tactical depth. The style has been preserved, with only a few tweaks for the sequels (DualWielding, new or rebalanced weapons, new vehicles, some power-ups, etc) throughout the franchise... not to mention [[FollowTheLeader nearly every modern shooter game]] since. Its influence can be seen anywhere from ''GearsOfWar'' (which spins the RegeneratingHealth and TakeCover aspects into a core mechanic) to ''Left4Dead'' (two weapons; always-accessible melee) to... its own sequels, which, after ''Halo 3'', deliberately stepped back to the style of the original.

* There is also an extreme amount of effort made both within the games and AllThereInTheManual to justify why the PlayerCharacter is able to be a OneManArmy and not just a blanket excuse of "just ''that'' badass." The short end is that your character is given some of the most cutting edge advanced technology available to enhance their [[TheGift natural talent]] and TrainingFromHell, the foremost of which being a PoweredArmor suit called the Mjolnir. Among the features of this armor include:

[[caption-width-right:300:Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer, UNSC Navy. Designation: SPARTAN-117. Occupation: Kicking Alien Ass. Distinctive traits: [[MemeticMutation Pretty cool guy. Doesn't afraid of anything.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer, UNSC Navy. Designation: SPARTAN-117. Occupation: Kicking Alien Ass.]]

** July 2552: Keyes becomes a captain at the Battle of Sigma Octanus. The UNSC only ''now'' discovers that Hunters, Engineers, Elites and Prophets exist. (Brutes are encountered even later on.)

** Somewhat relatedly, movement speed is a lot slower than older shooters, partly to compensate for the inaccuracy of a joystick and partly for more "serious" gameplay. Going by scale, Doomguy moved about 50 miles per hour without strafe running, whilst the Master Chief can't break 23 KPH (despite the {{canon}} tie-in novels announcing that he can run at about 50+ KPH, which is about thirty miles per hour). This is also a product of the wide environments, which often supply multiple ways to complete a level; paying attention to the SceneryPorn is almost mandatory. (Strangely, the Master Chief also has an extremely "floaty" jump, allowing him to clear obstructions taller than himself and hang in the air for a full second, which can likely be explained by the fact that his leg strength makes a professional basketball player look like a paraplegic, hence the jumping really high.)
* The PlayerCharacter has DeflectorShields built into his armor (which is [[AllThereInTheManual justified perfectly in-universe]]). If they go down, damage is applied directly to your lifebar, but if you avoid enemy fire for a few seconds, your shields will be restored to full strength. It effectively becomes RegeneratingHealth, especially in the later games when the underlying lifebar was removed entirely. Because you technically have infinite HitPoints, you can focus on the current engagement without [[ResourcesManagementGameplay worrying about surviving the entire level on your current lifebar]]. Of course, Bungie took advantage of that to stage intense and frantic battles, increasing the emphasis on, well, having the right guns (see above), using all your attacks (see above), and knowing when to retreat and recharge your shields.

As you can see, it's a gameplay style that is both twitchy and cerebral, with room for the guns-blazing approach ''and'' significant tactical depth. The style has been preserved, with only a few tweaks for the sequels (DualWielding, new or rebalanced weapons, new vehicles, some power-ups, etc) throughout the franchise... not to mention [[FollowTheLeader nearly every modern shooter game]] since. Its influence can be seen anywhere from ''GearsOfWar'' (which spins the RegeneratingHealth and TakeCover aspects into a core mechanic) to ''Left4Dead'' (two weapons; always-accessible melee) to... its own sequels, which, after ''Halo 3'', deliberately stepped back to the style of the original.

!Games in the main ''Halo'' series:[[index]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. Designation: SPARTAN-117. Occupation: Kicking Alien Ass.]]

''Halo'' is one of the best-known {{Killer App}}s. When the original XBox was announced, there was a lot of skepticism from those who had already experienced the ConsoleWars and had no reason to believe the XBox would go anywhere. Their reasoning wasn't inaccurate: [[FourIsDeath Three Is Death]] in the console market, which (until then) had had trouble supporting even ''two'' consoles; and, as released, the XBox did not (seem to) have anything worth playing. (The fact the original Xbox was an ''American-made console'' didn't help, after the disaster the AtariJaguar was.) But once gamers got their grubby little hands on it, ''Halo'' singlehandedly kept Microsoft in the race, with [[CausticCritic Edge Magazine]] even going so far as to call it "the most important launch game for any console, ever." All of its sequels have set "biggest-opening-day" records.