History Literature / HaloEvolutions

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: ''Blunt Instruments'' is meant to introduce Team Black for the comic series ''Halo: Blood Line''.

** [[spoiler:SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs]]

''Human Weakness'' takes place between ''Halo 2'' and ''3'', and is written by Karen Traviss, author of the ''[[Literature/HaloGlasslands Kilo-Five]] [[Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar Trilogy]]''. It stars John's AI partner Cortana, and her battle of wits between her and the EldritchAbomination Gravemind. Things quickly go downhill. [[MindRape Very]], ''[[BreakTheCutie very]]'' [[DespairEventHorizon downhill]].

* TookALevelInJerkass: John in his story. In previous media John is a stoic professional soldier who is respectful towards unaugmented troops. Here John is quite cocky about his abilities, yells at Marines that bother him, and has a somewhat creepy sense of humor.

[[caption-width-right:275:Cover art by Alexander Kent.]]

[[caption-width-right:275:Cover art by April Martin.]]

[[caption-width-right:275:Cover art by Garrett "TD Spiral" Post.]]

[[caption-width-right:275:Cover art by Jami Kubota.]]

[[caption-width-right:275:Cover art by Rachel Beaudoin.]]

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Commander Foucault hates being in command, preferring his days as a private. Back then the only people he had to kill were his enemies.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The Flood and the Covenant may be bloodthirsty and cruel, but it breaks Lopez to learn that humans can be just as evil, [[spoiler:since the ''Mona Lisa'' was hosting experimentation by ONI to test the Flood on prisoners. And not for a cure. To ''control'' the Flood.]]

* [[spoiler:BolivianArmyEnding: The story ends with Sergeant Lopez and the Elite "Henry" fighting for the last escape pod as the Flood approaches and as the ''Red Horse'' prepares to fire a nuke at the ship.]]

* [[spoiler:BolivianArmyEnding: ''The Mona Lisa'' ends with Sergeant Lopez and the Elite "Henry" fighting for the last escape pod as the Flood approaches and as the ''Red Horse'' prepares to fire a nuke at the ship.]]

* CloudCuckoolander: Benti most certainly is one.

* MethuselahSyndrome: Soma is 417 years old. Turns out this is actually extremely young for a Forerunner, but Soma's abandonment of his life-extending armor has caused him to age.

* MethuselahSyndrome: Soma is 417 years old.

''Human Weakness'' takes place between ''Halo 2'' and ''3'', and is written by Karen Traviss, author of the ''[[Literature/HaloGlasslands Kilo-Five]] [[Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar Trilogy]]''. It stars John's AI partner Cortana, and her battle of wits between her and the EldritchAbomination Gravemind. Things quickly go downhill. [[MindRape Very]], [[NightmareFuel very]], ''[[BreakTheCutie very]]'' [[DespairEventHorizon downhill]].

* TheWarOfEarthlyAggression: The Insurrection that occupied the UNSC fleet before the Covenant arrived is shown in great detail here. [[GreyAndGreyMorality There are heroes and villains on both sides]]. 27 years in hindsight, SURGEON considers the rebellions to be a good thing.

* TheLastDance: Admiral Preston Cole. After being depended upon for so long in the Human-Covenant War by the UNSC (compared to in-universe 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 HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath... [[spoiler: 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 an implosion turning said goddamn gas giant into a sun, killing all three hundred Covenant ships.]]

* TheLastDance: Admiral Preston Cole. After being depended upon for so long in the Human-Covenant War by the UNSC (compared to in-universe 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 HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath... [[spoiler: 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 an implosion using said goddamn gas giant into a sun, killing all three hundred Covenant ships.]]

''Pariah'', written by B.K. Evenson, tells the story of Soren-066, a trainee in the SPARTAN-II program who was adopted from a troubled childhood. After choosing to go with Dr. Halsey to participate in her program, he does his best to remain adequate as a soldier, but not enough to draw attention to himself, because he only wants to survive. Then when [[BioAugmentation the augmentations]] for the [=S-IIs=] begin, [[spoiler:Soren's body reacts badly to the surgery and he emerges incredibly powerful but crippled. Useless to the rest of his team, Soren is reassigned to a desk job to languish... until gradually he begins to listen to a friend of his named Partch, who has Insurrectionist sympathies. Perhaps by cooperating with him, will Soren be able to find himself a place in the world again?]]

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The inhabitants of Seaward have given up their 24HourArmor, and intend to grow old and die.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} Because the Human-Covenant War is over, the once-mighty Elites have no idea what to do with themselves next. Additionally they have little knowledge of science and thus don't know how to repair their tech and ships.

* [[spoiler:ScrewThisImOuttaHere]]: [[spoiler:SURGEON and USUAL SUSPECTS theorize that Cole faked his death because he was tired of fighting the Covenant and wanted to retire in peace. That left humanity with another ten years being wiped out, though, and the two ONI agents wonder if they might be able to find Cole and convince him to return to the post-war UNSC.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Soren's father wouldn't take his sick wife to a hospital, which led to her death. Later he too got sick and Soren refused to take him to the hospital.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: [[spoiler:At six years old Soren attempted to murder his father in revenge for not taking his mother to a doctor. When caught he ran off and hide in the woods, and later when his father got sick Soren stood above him and watched him die.]]

* [[spoiler:EyeScream: The Spec Ops Elites torture Jonah by burning out one of his eyes with their energy sword.]

* BroadStrokes: ''Palace Hotel'' only vaguely follows the events of the ''Halo 2'' levels "Outskirts" and "Metropolis". And Master Chief is a bit more of a jerk in this story.

* [[spoiler:Cole himself manages to destroy over 300 Covenant ships on his own in his last stand, with the help of nukes and a gas giant.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:The Insurrectionist Fleet at the Battle of Psi Serpentis. Despite being treated as the worst kind of traitors by the UNSC, and even blamed for the early colonies lost to the Covenant, they still show up in the heat of the largest single battle in the history of the war, proceed to rip through the Covenant lines, and give Cole enough time to implement his successful last stand. Of course it helps that Cole's ex-wife (whom he was forced to leave after she was outed as an Insurrectionist) is in charge of the fleet.]]

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Which in the post-war era is now a problem. The Elites have little knowledge of science and thus do not know how to repair their tech and ships.

* DefectorFromDecadence: It's implied its inhabitants of Seaward may be these, [[spoiler:which is the first hint that [[AbusivePrecursors the ancient Forerunner civilization wasn't as pure as fans believed]].]]

* DefectorFromDecadence: It's implied its inhabitants of Seaward may be these, [[spoiler:which is the first hint that the ancient Forerunner civilization wasn't as pure as believed.]]