WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS BELOW. CONTINUE?
ENCRYPTION CODE: [CLASSIFIED]
CLASSIFICATION: TVTROPES
SUBJECT: ORION PROJECT / SPARTAN-I PROGRAM
Index
- Main Index
- UNSC (Miscellaneous Personnel)
- The Covenant
- The Banished
- Forerunners
- UEG Civilians
- Other Factions
ORION Project
The first UNSC supersoldier program, ORION was a centuries-old mothballed Colonial Military Administration project that was revived by ONI in order to combat the growing Insurrection. Consisting of highly-skilled volunteers pulled from all branches of the military who were enhanced with experimental augmentations, ORION operatives quickly proved their effectiveness in combat, and soon their membership increased from the original 65 recruits, with 300 candidates total selected for augmentation while the project was active. However, expense coupled with the beginnings of severe side-effects from the augmentations caused the project to be disbanded in only fifteen years, and the surviving 165 operatives were quietly reassigned to non-augmented units, with their participation in the project kept in absolute secrecy. Despite its ultimate failure, the ORION Project was recognized as a key predecessor to subsequent supersoldier programs, and it was retroactively renamed to "SPARTAN-I".
- Bio-Augmentation: Though significantly less extensive than those of their successors, ORION augmentations still included a wide variety of enchancements ranging from genetic therapy to skeletal modification.
- Fictional Disability: The neurological side effects of the augmentations were covered up as being "Boren's Syndrome".
- Flawed Prototype: Many ORION operatives gradually began to suffer from severe physiological and psychological malfunctions as a consequence of their augmentations, including straight-up DNA fragmentation.
- Pretentious Latin Motto: Prosequor ad astra, or "I pursue to the stars".
- Psycho Prototype: Downplayed; some suffered from post-traumatic stress or objected to fighting for the UNSC and tried to join the rebels, and even many who stayed loyal were later discharged for mental instabilities. This influenced the S-II Program's decision to indoctrinate its own supersoldiers from childhood.
- Super-Soldier: The UNSC's original enhanced badasses, their first mission was completed with only one casualty while leaving the Insurrection none the wiser to their existence.
James "Jim" James
A former Spartan-I and father of Janissary James.
- Action Dad: To Jan.
- Alliterative Name: His assumed one, anyway.
- Demolitions Expert: Is heavily implied to have been the go-to demolitionist among the Spartan-Is. First, to keep ONI from finding out about Jan's whereabouts via her lab results, he burns down one of Bergen County's police stations. Later, during the assault on Thin's gang, Gladys remarks "If there was one thing [Jim] could do, it was blow things up." This might be partly why he died to Thin's gang relatively easily, while Gilly was able to rescue Jan by herself - stealth and single-man operations might not have been his forte.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Everyone prefers to call him "Jim", even the actual credits.
- Papa Wolf: Even kills an ONI operative who tried to take Jan away to be a Spartan-II, and assaults a base held by Crystal Security. The latter doesn't work out too well.
- Repetitive Name: A rare case of being chosen, as he believes that nobody would ever imagine he chose it for an assumed identity.
- Retired Badass
- Sacrificial Lion: For I Love Bees, as he's killed by Thin when he tries to attack a group of thugs completely alone.
- Two First Names: Though it's just his alias. His real last name was "Lee", though that can also be a first name.
Gilly
A former, psychotic Spartan-I and mother of Janissary James.
- Action Mom: For Jan.
- He Who Fights Monsters: The Spartan-I lifestyle completely screwed up Gilly, who now has difficulty not killing random people. This leads her to caution Jan away from killing.
- Mama Bear: Even kills Thin and Monster Ann to keep Jan from turning out like she did.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: She's one of those classified as psychotic, since she has problems not killing random people once she's no longer a Spartan-I.
Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson
See the Halo: UNSC Marines and ODST page for more details.
Spartan 1.1's
Spartan 1.1's
The children of Spartan-Is who had returned to civilian life. Though never officially recruited by the UNSC, many of them were subjected to augmentations as infants that rendered them slightly stronger than ordinary humans. Like their parents, several of them wished to defend the UNSC, and began to organize a vigilante army to take the fight to the Covenant.- Bio-Augmentation: With benefits ranging enhanced speed and strength to an inability to get drunk.
- Playing with Syringes: Their abilities come from secret augmentations performed on them during infancy.
Janissary James
Birthdate: c. 2535
Debuted in: I Love Bees
Voiced by: Kari Wahlgren
The daughter of James and Gilly, she lives largely on the run with her father.
- Action Girl: Can handle herself pretty well in a fight, thanks to both her augmentations and her father's training.
- Alliterative Name
- Blessed with Suck: Her augmentations make her incredibly smart and athletic, but it also means that ONI wants to kidnap her.
- Dude Magnet: Has a reputation as "the local heartbreaker" at her school, and Jersey Morelli has a crush on her.
- Meaningful Name: Janissaries
were elite Ottoman slave soldiers who were recruited as children. Now think about why she lives on the run again.. - Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: In-universe example: Jan doesn't like it when you compliment her domestic skills.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Hates the very idea of killing other humans, and she orders Gladys and Gilly to not kill the Crystal Security thugs. She even has trouble pulling the trigger on Thin for killing her father, giving Gilly time to do it herself.
Kevin Morales
Birthdate: Unknown
Debuted in: I Love Bees
Voiced by: "Jim Taggert"
The son of one of James and Gilly's Spartan-I friends.
- The Leader: Of a small group of 1.1s who want to take the fight to the Covenant without joining the UNSC military.
- The Charmer: As Gladys puts it, people tend to get a "wide-eyed, head-spinny look" after Kevin finishes talking to them, and he's able to convince twelve of the fifteen other known Spartan-1.1s to join his mission, including Jan.
- Unreliable Expositor: Downplayed; he admits he's exaggerating a bit when telling Jan about the resources his team has, and Gladys and Gilly later reveal that he's definitely at least stretched the truth about his exploits before.
