I, Sangheili
The Spartan soldier walked down the confined, iron corridors of The Pillar of Autumn, his shoulders set at an angle and his assault rifle’s prow aimed into the dark recesses. What was once a well-lit hallway which led to the barracks was now a blackened fog of smoke and ash – destruction plastered on the walls and charred human remains on the floor.
This was the residue of the Covenant. They had come this way.
Trained since the age of five to six without hesitation, the super soldier did not give into trepidation or fear. He moved forward – slowly, silently and methodically, his eyes penetrating the fuming mist as a hunter would his prey.
There was something nearby; he could sense it. Something familiar.
As he came to a part in the smoke, his eyes trained on a shadowy figure. Pushing forward ever so slightly, this figure came into full view.
At nearly three meters tall and enmeshed in crimson armor, the Elite Major was the highest-ranking military operator involved in the boarding action against the Autumn. These creatures, by their own name Sangheili, were elegant and noble beasts – the military leaders of the Covenant. The aliens walked on haunches that ended in large hooves and their stooped muscular bodies were covered in a scaly flesh offering the look and scent of a reptile. Their arms were long and came to an end with four ambidextrous and tapered fingers, capable of wrapping tightly around their deadly Covenant weaponry with deft ease. Their heads were flat, with two pairs of mandibles covering their guttural vocal passages. They had keen yet hollow eyes, resembling those of a shark’s. This comparison didn’t end there, as it was clear that they had been the result of millions of years of evolution leading them to a path of predatory superiority on their planet, Sanghelios.
This one, of course, was far different than his barbaric ancestors. His gait implied a haughty certainty, a strategically sophisticated role as the Covenant’s iron heart and fist. Apart from their leaders, the Prophets, the Elites were the leaders of the Covenant and they had proven as much, over the years of war with humanity.
This was a perfectly-crafted enemy – the very definition of a worthy opponent.
This was Sangheili.
This is why my Halo 3 avatar is an Elite ๐
Great job Vociferous. I have been following this blog ever since the Terminals feature.
Comment by Hale 079 — May 19, 2008 @ 1:58 am
elites are awesome, but the way you described them just added to there badassness.
Comment by gruntkiller99 — May 19, 2008 @ 10:57 am
Yeh…Great and all but one thing that bugged me is John/MC was training since he was 6 not 5…
Comment by Soundwave09 — May 19, 2008 @ 11:01 am
What’s with the comments on the other pages. Oh well.
Anyway as you read through the precursing history of the covenant, only three ages are highlighted. Though it fits, aren’t there nine ages of the covenant?
* Age of Abandonment
* Age of Conflict
* Age of Reconciliation
* Age of Discovery
* Age of Conversion
* Age of Doubt
* Age of Reclamation
Check it: http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Covenant#The_History_Of_The_Covenant
Other than that, good job and I love the article.
Comment by Diddler — May 19, 2008 @ 11:05 am
Soundwave, I’ve made that correction. Thanks for pointing it out.
Diddler, there are, in fact, nine separate ages. I unfortunately could not cover them all in this piece, so I did the best covering those which were highlighted in Sangheilian history – as documented in Staten’s “Contact Harvest.”
Comment by vociferous — May 19, 2008 @ 11:31 am
Amazing Dramaturgy.
This took a long time to read, but I am sure it was a fraction of the hours you put into consuming, digesting, and summarizing all of this for the rest of us.
Thanks for filling in what I incorrectly regarded as plot holes.
Comment by XerxdeeJ — May 19, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
Yeah vociferous you wrote like a novel on this.
Comment by Diddler — May 19, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
I have to say, this just makes me love the Elites all the more. Even back in Halo: Combat Evolved, I hoped that the UNSC would manage at least a temporary truce with the Covenant, while they dealt with the Flood – alas, it took Halo 3 for my dream to come true.
The Sangheili are noble, yes. And they are powerful, and intelligent, and honourable. But they are also “deep.” They are the only Covenant species we know so much about – nobody cares about the Grunts or Jackals or other “lesser” races, the Jiralhanae haven’t really got that much history behind them, and the Prophets are by their very nature mysterious. But the Sangheili – we know so much about them.
Comment by Kora_Morhek — May 19, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
Wow I applaud your perfect attepmt to descride our favorite Covenant soldiers.
And where did you find ALL of this, I know mostly from the transcripts and bboks, but wow.
Comment by Anthony Neri — May 20, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
wow…..just wow.
i love and always loved the Sangheilis, mostly because their story is amazing. and to read a compilation of their stoty like this is just……wow.
thanks for this what has been an amazing read to me
Comment by AnimeFreak — May 21, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
I absolutely love the backstory of the Sangheili, and having your huge and incredibly in-depth article as a wealth of reference for an upcoming project relating to these very creature, I am ever thankful.
I thought I might mention something, however:
You note in your article that it is never quite determined how they stumbled upon the location of Earth. That isn’t exactly true. It isn’t exactly false either. Allow me to explain:
We all remember I Love Bees, I assume; the Halo 2 Marketing campaign that revealed itself through short snippets of a larger audio drama.
Much later, it was later stated by both Joseph Staten and Frank O’Conner on two separate occasions that they try to embrace ILB as canonical content as much as possible.
If it is considered canon, then the following excerpts from the ILB audio drama (Week 12, Subject 1) reveals just how the Covenant discovered Earth:
Durga: Cloaked and running deep in Covenant space, we intercepted communications that implied a Covenant attack was coming–
Rani: Troy! That’s when they decided to mount a covert evac!
Durga: Yes.
Jan: But the Covies figured it out.
Durga: Yes, and then–
Rani: Oh! They built a Trojan Horse!
Durga: They hid a virus buried in a transmission I was meant to intercept. Nothing big, nothing smart. Just the smallest, effective piece of code.
Jan: What was it supposed to do?
Jersey: Gain control of the ship?
Kahmal: Find the location of Earth?
Durga: One, or the other, or both. But most of all? It wanted to find the artifact.
Then there is the other excerpt:
Jan: Jersey there was this virus.
Jersey: Yeah? Can you turn down the music?!
Jan: And what it really wanted to do was find the artifact or artifacts like it.
Jersey: Uh huh?!
Jan: And then, you know, it wanted to send a signal the virus would try any way it could, Jersey. That was its mission. To reveal the location of the artifact. It was designed to bring the Covenant to wherever it was, Jersey. Before they were too far away, but now…
Jersey: Turn down the freakin’ music, Durga, I can barely hear you!!
Durga: Enjoy it, Jersey. Take a minute. Just, bear with me.
Jersey: What are you — Durga!!
Durga: Jersey, don’t!
Jersey: Would you just turn it —
*Jersey turns off the music, revealing a loud siren*
Jersey: Oh…
Jan: …Yeah.
*Skipping some dialogue*
Jersey: Durga…
Jan: …They’re here.
If ILB is indeed canonical, then I’d say this solves that mystery. At least, in my opinion. Sorry for taking up so much space.
Comment by Dream053 — May 21, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Oh, just to clarify: The “artifact” that they are discussing is located within an Earth military base called “Chawla Base”.
Comment by Dream053 — May 21, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
Sangheili are possibly my favorite aspect of Halo. As enemies, I respected them, and later as Allies, I proudly fought beside them. I was dissapointed how little you saw of them in the Halo 3 campaign though. I love the councilors from Halo 2, especially when they were equipped with energy swords. Wonderfully put Vociferous!
Comment by Khyberius — May 22, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
vociferous you are awesome ive always thought the Sangheilis were noble to tell the truth,but thier story is amazing.i knew only a small part about the elites before.now i know practically everything about them. and also i have never liked the brutes.yes i know that that’s kind of random
Comment by prototype7007 — May 22, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Like, how old is John? 42?
Comment by Swes`Achumes — May 22, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
i never could really get into reading unless i was forced to by my teachers at school. My freind recomended “The Fall Of Reach” to me and i finished it in 2 days. I absolutly love the fiction involved in Halo and this piece here is the perfect example of fiction i love. great work man
Comment by daniel korman — May 22, 2008 @ 7:01 pm
I have always like the elites and this is awesome
Comment by rundownrat — May 22, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
I have always like the elites and this is awesome, i do pray there is more to their story!!!
Comment by rundownrat — May 22, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
Y’know, this is awsomely done, but i have to wonder.
Hooves? This can’t be possible, when in the first Halo, when an elite is merely walking, the sound is rather… squishy.
Halo 2, angle and shape of the boot changes a bit more.
Halo 3, The bottoms of the boots are not flat, which would be required for hoove-feet. Note also, that Hooves don’t split. not normally, and not in any curved way, which is the Elite’s foot structure.
I’m pretty sure elite’s don’t have hooves. Other than that?
EPIC ELITE.
Comment by JJ — May 22, 2008 @ 9:37 pm
Dream 053 thanx for that, I was getting ready to point out the error of the Covenant knowing Humanities homeworld. They only came to Earth for the Artifact, if there was 1 thing that the cutscenes made clear in Halo2 was that they didn’t know humanity would be on Earth.
Beat me to the punch.
Comment by Fimalo — May 23, 2008 @ 1:37 am
I have also liked the elites sence halo 1 and am very glad that they fight along side the humans and at the end of halo 2 I really liked the councilers with swords,they were cool. And forum on bungie to get us elite lovers honor guard. Just vote yes and maybe soon….
Comment by harbor 402 — May 23, 2008 @ 5:11 am
Dude, bungie should hire your ass so hard. Or at least give you a peek at the bible. Or even gasp recon!
Comment by Factor — May 23, 2008 @ 6:49 am
I love Elites (not in a mm mmm mmm m kind of way)but i dont understand why the elites were shamed except th arbitar because in a halo 2 cut scene the spec ops commander was finishing talking with the elites and they say the elites rebeled even though he is an elite and wouldent he know already
Comment by deathless — May 24, 2008 @ 11:47 am
I like what you guys are doing here. Awesome work, can’t wait to see what else you can decipher. I agree, the Sangheili are awesome. Kind of an adaption from multiple scfi movies from the mid and late 90’s but well thought out character anatomy and back story. Now, what outcomes came from the occurences they had with the forerunners. Were they given an artifact(s) to maintain or were they just inhabitants of galaxies that the forerunners themselfs once occupied? Hence all the artifacts found with the Luminary on nearby planets planets… I assume there’s something more indepth to it then I am seeing. The forerunners themself seem complex because of the mystery that surrounds them but yet they seem a simple race following the same principles of life that every lifeform in the universe endeavors…. survival.
Comment by DirectorGunner — May 26, 2008 @ 1:06 am
i just thought about something dont elites look vaugly like the alien from AVP
Comment by deathless — May 30, 2008 @ 6:38 am
Your insights are extraordinary. You’ve opened up a whole new depth to an increasingly rich universe.
Comment by felix113 — May 30, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
Fantastic read, thank you for this amazing piece… the Imperial Admiral would be proud ๐
Comment by Falcon Zero — June 4, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
I’m impressed, too bad there’s not much about Elite history anywhere in the Halo universe. I’m talking about in-depth history of the Elitse, their first strike against the prophets so on, so forth.
Comment by Spartan-039 — June 10, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
i think the reason for the different climats on the rings like the new covenant the forerunners might have been differnt spiecies of alien with there own unique climats or they were just trying to play god becouse with building the flood we know they were playing with genetics
Comment by kk4tx — June 11, 2008 @ 11:24 am
I believe that this was a really good runthrough of the story–really good job!!
The Arbitor may have believed that the Master Chief was still alive–as mentioned in your story, I believe–because he was a Spartan, which was supposed to be superior to all other humans. This is why the Arbiter probably thought he survived, which it turns out he did. Still, if Bungie makes a Halo 4, how can they integrate the name “Halo” into the name, regardless of where it is, since all of the ringworlds were destroyed?
Comment by Mark — July 8, 2008 @ 11:01 pm
Also, in response to #29, the rings could have different climates because they needed to sustain many types of life. I say this, because flood research facilities are located on the rings, so this could lead one to the conclusion that the forerunners breathed oxygen, such as humans do, and the flood, too. Also, in Halo: CE, near the start of the “Assault on the Control Room” level, Cortana mentions that the Forerunners could have wanted the installation to have inclement weather, meaning the snow, or it could have been an error in programming.
I also doubt the Forerunners would try to play God, because they only wanted to study and contain the flood by any means necessary, even sacrificing themselves for it. Their work with genetics was probably to try to expose a weakness in the flood, or give future species access to their technological advances.
Comment by Mark — July 8, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
Hi,
Great article and i think you have opened up an interesting extenion into the halo universe. I hope bungie do give us some kind of content (vidoe game or not) that carries on the rest of the Sanghelli story.
I am still amazed by the stroy of the forunners and how humans are were the true airs – and the sanghelli secretly belived it.
Halo plot rocks
Dave
Comment by David — August 14, 2008 @ 10:11 am
yo man that great love how detail is put into all of this stuff but if such detail and all imagintion why dont u try make story going on after that but trying to keep close to what could or might happen just putting it out there if it offends u in any thats alright
Comment by Bryan — August 16, 2008 @ 9:24 am
I think in halo 2 on the level the oricle i think its funny how Rtas Vudamee say to the heritic leader “come out so we can kill you”
Comment by deathless — August 19, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
Commando FTW!!! it would be sweet if for the elite instead of getting katana for 1000gp you get arbiter armour or something… anyway good work and thanks for clearing up my patchy knowledge of elite history ๐
Comment by el davo rox — August 24, 2008 @ 2:19 am
Wow, you obviously love Halo as much as I do. This has been an excellent read!
Comment by Dragonclaws — September 28, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
Um, Master Chief did make it. Don’t you wait until AFTER the credits? Master Chief and Cortana SURVIVE. They are in a separate region of space. MC goes back into cryosleep. The Legendary ending shows them heading toward a planet.
Comment by xxW4R EAGL3xx — November 15, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
This is beyond amazing. how you got all this information: i don’t know.
The Sangheili have always benn cool, but now they are… wow.
I like how you mentioned later that Halo isn’t just a shooting game. It has real meaning. and now we understand what all started this whole war.
I still have questions about Halo, so would you mind making more blogs about it? kinda like the flood, prophets, master cheif’s past, and all that? thanks.
And i think i speak for everyone when i say,
“Dude, this is awsome and THANK YOU for all the time you put into this!”
Comment by Jared — November 29, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
The Elites are awesome, they’re the only part of the Covenant I like. My favourite line from Halo 3 is the one when they’re ships exit the Ark’s portal;
Brute ships, staggered line. Shipmaster, they outnumber us 3-to-1!
Then it is an even fight, all cruisers fire at will, burn their mongrel hides!
Comment by SuperSkyline89 — April 16, 2009 @ 11:11 am
Any chance of seeing I, Jiralhanae?
Comment by Tom-Tom — May 3, 2009 @ 1:52 pm
These are funny lines I’ve heard from elites
now that is a deed to remember
did I get you this for Christmas
I shall name my next child after you
is there something in my teeth
It will rain blood today
show us your medals reclaimer
(waves) hello
those were only a few I’ll see if I can remember any more
good write up
Comment by Rtas monkatarae — September 16, 2009 @ 3:16 am
There’s a bit that’s wrong. A major Elite was NOT the highest ranking member of the Sangheili race on board the Pillar of Autumn. If you read Halo: The Flood, you can see that there was actually a Special Operations Elite named Zuka ‘Zamamee on board. Special Operation Elites are considered almost as highly ranked as Ultra Elites, so they are defintely a LOT more highly ranked than Major Elites.
Comment by halo 0 1 — November 2, 2009 @ 10:49 am