Master Chief

Master Chief is a character that appears in 5 games

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Master Chief Petty Officer John-117- a.k.a. "Master Chief"- is the physically enhanced cyborg super soldier protagonist of the Halo series.

Overview

Master Chief is the faceless cybernetic protagonist of Bungie's Halo series. He has appeared in the series' main games, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3, as well as numerous comic books and novels. Bungie conceptual artist Shi Kai Wang created Master Chief's original design. When his first version was transferred to 3D, however, the character looked almost effeminate, so his armor was bulked up and tinted green, resulting in the Master Chief seen today. He is voiced by Chicago disc jockey Steve Downes, who previously worked with Bungie composer Martin O'Donell on the project Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator. When casting started for Master Chief's voice, O'Donell thought of Downes for the role due to their previous experience together.

History

Master Chief's history is revealed in the Halo novel The Fall of Reach. Originally named John, he was born in the year 2511 and lived with his family on the human colony of Eridanus II. He was a particularly large child for his age. When John was six years old, 74 children were secretly kidnapped by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) to participate in the Spartan-II project, which sought to create a new breed of cybernetic super soldier. The kidnapped children were "flash cloned" by the UNSC so that the parents of the children never even knew they were kidnapped. Upon their arrival on the planet Reach, they were given new names, and Master Chief was called John-117.

Eight years later, all of the Spartan-II subjects underwent psychological, biological, and cybernetic enhancements, but only John and 32 others survived. These remaining Spartans donned their trademark MJOLNIR armor and entered into military service after completing the project, and went on to face the deadly Halo antagonists the Covenant, the Flood, and the Brutes. After a surprise attack on the planet Reach where the entire Spartan-II task force was located at the time, most of the Spartan-II's were killed, although a handful survived. These other surviving Spartan-II's have never been mentioned outside of the Halo novels, and are never acknowledged in the games. Indeed, the back of Halo: CE states that the Master Chief is the "last of his kind", although at least seven other Spartan-II's survive the glassing of Reach. Halo: Combat Evolved picks up the story immediately after the battle of Reach, as the UNSC Pillar of Autumn emerges from a random Slipspace jump in the vicinity of the Halo construct.

Physical Appearance

Master Chief is never seen outside of his armor; the only description of his appearance is in the Halo novel The Flood, where he is described as being tall, with short hair, serious eyes, and rugged facial features. He is also apparently very pale, more than likely due to spending most of his time in the suit. Out of his armor it has been stated that he stands at six feet, seven inches, and weighs 287 pounds. In the The Fall of Reach, Master Chief as a child is described as a normal boy one foot taller than the other kids his age, with a gap between his two front teeth, brown hair, and freckles.

Master Chief's armored, faceless visage has become iconic and synonymous with the Halo franchise. Among other things, his MJOLNIR suit gives him advanced protection from damage, a recharging shield system, and enhanced jumping abilities.

Halo: The Fall of Reach

Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund was the first book written in the Halo franchise and a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, depicting the beginning of the Spartan - II program to struggle to the defense of "Reach" from the Covenant onslaught. The novel portrays a younger and newly promoted Captain Jacob Keyes and a Dr. Catherine Halsey on a mission to find subjects for the Spartan - II program. On one of these missions, they find themselves on Eridanus - II, watching a freckled face boy defeat his playmates in King of the Hill. Dr. Halsey flips a coin to determine the whether she will take the boy. This is the beginning of the Master Chief's so-called Luck throughout the rest of the franchise. The boy is later kidnapped and enrolled in the Spartan - II program rising to the grade of Petty-Officer 2nd class and squad leader of the other spartans.

The first Halo novel

In 2552, (25 years later) the Master Chief has a mission to capture and control a Covenant spaceship for research and analysis, with the aid of the Pillar of Autumn, commanded by Captain Keyes. However, the mission is soon interrupted when Reach is attacked by a Covenant armada. The Master Chief and the Spartans quickly go to aid the doomed planet. Unfortunately, the battle is lost and the spartans are assumed dead when the planet is glassed by the Covenant. The Master Chief escapes with Cortana on the Pillar of Autumn, using the slipspace coordinates she acquired from a forerunner artifact discovered on Reach. This leads to them to the discovery of Halo and the beginning of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Halo: The Flood

Halo: The Flood written in 2003 by William Deitz follows the story arc of Halo: Combat Evolved, depicting in greater detail, the struggle between the human and the Covenant on a personal level. The novel opens in 2552, with the Pillar of Autumn crew discovering Halo and seemingly a Covenant fleet waiting for them. The Covenant refuse to engage in ship to ship combat, for fear of damaging the sacred ring. The aliens then board the Pillar of Autumn. Meanwhile, the Master Chief is being awoken from Cryo sleep in order to aid in the defense of the Pillar of Autumn. Once awoken the Master Chief receives Cortana from Captain Keyes with orders to prevent her capture. The Master Chief escapes from the damned ship on an escape pod, crash landing on Halo.

A novel depicting the events of Halo: Combat Evolved in greater detail

The novel then follows the Master Chief's endeavors, which can also be played in Halo: Combat Evolved. However the novel does expand on the story with the character Major Antonio Silva and Melissa Mckay as they lead Orbital Drop Shock Troops (ODST) in combat against the Covenant. The Master Chief then rescues Captain Keyes from the Covenant ship "Truth and Reconciliation", Keyes then reveals all the secrets of Halo he has learned overheard from the Covenant throughout his stay; mainly that Halo is a weapon.

While the Master Chief is trying to attempting to unearth the whereabouts of a lost squad, he comes across the helmet of Pvt. Wallace Jenkins. Using the video playback feature, the Master Chief uncovers the fate which befell the lost squad. 343 Guilty Spark (a.k.a. The Monitor) approaches the Master Chief and enlists him for the endeavor of activating Halo. As the Chief is about to activate the ring, an infuriated Cortana stops him in his tracks. Subsequently the true nature of Halo is unveiled, the ring does not destroy the Flood, it destroys their food; an activation of Halo would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy. The Master Chief is then forced to defend himself against the Sentinels and escape from Halo while the Pillar of Autumn's fusion reactors explode, destroying the ring itself. The novel ends with the Master Chief in a Longsword, floating in dead space, and awaiting rescue.

Halo: First Strike

Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund was written in 2003, transcribing the events that transpired between the Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 video games. The novel starts right after the last scene in Halo: Combat Evolved with the Master Chief drifting of into space. Cortana soon finds a suspicious aircraft adrift in the wreckage remaining after the destruction of Installation 04. Onboard they discover Corporal Locklear, Sergeant Johnson and others. The Master Chief initially suspects Johnson of being a flood form, since he saw him overcome on the Private Jenkins recording. It is later discoverd that Sergeant Johnson's prolonged exposure to Plasma fire is his past has caused a unique immunity to the flood.

Bridging the gap between Halo 1 and 2, First Strike also picks up where "Fall of Reach" left off

The Master Chief and his newly acquired squad comandeer a Covenant ship called Ascendant Justice while it is patrolling through the wreckage. The humans then pilot the ship to get back to Reach; upon arrival the Master Chief recognizes a signal their ship intercepts saying "Oly Oly Oxen Free", a signal which the Spartans used when they were in training on Reach. The Master Chief conjects that there are surviving Spartans on the glassed planet. After landing, the Master Chief discovers several Spartans, Dr. Hasely and Vice Admiral Whitcomb; whom ordered his own rescue during the battle for Reach. The reason for the Covenant not glassing this section of the planet perplexes everyone until it is revealed that the Covenant are seeking a Forerunner crystal. With the Covenant unwiling to damage the crystal in any way, the humans are able to avoid being fired upon for some time. Meanwhile, Cortana still aboard the Ascendant Jusctice has uncovered that the Covenant have acquired the location of Earth and are preparing for an invasion.

The humans arm a Nova Thermonuclear mine, which is capable of destroying a planet and escape to the Ascendant Justice using the grav lift. Before escaping, the Covenant seriously damage the Ascendant Justice leaving only one plasma cannon capable of firing. The Master Chief recalls the location of a rebel base (which he invaded on his first mission) hidden in an asteroid. The humans enlist the aid of the rebels for repairs and the impending Covenant attack. Dr. Hasely instructs Locklear to prevent the Covenant from acquiring the Forerunner crystal, then abducts the unconcious Kelly - 087 on one of the rebel ships, leaving the others confused and betrayed by her actions. Locklear acts on his orders by using explosives, resulting in his death as well. Fortunately, the destruction of the crystal ends the ability of the Covenant to track the ships movement.

While the fall of Earth is imminent, the Spartans determine that any time possibly acquired by delaying the Covenant was well worth the cost. The Spartans then launch a covert attack on the Covenant space-station, Unyielding Hierophant, where the Covenant are amassing their ships for impending invasion *. The Spartans set the space-station to self-destruct and escape, although losing one Spartan to their first Brute encounter. Vice Admiral Whitcomb then realizes his most heroic effort in his lifetime, he single-handely baits the entire Covenant fleet to encircle the Unyielding Hierophant at the time of the explosion, destroying almost all of the ships. While this effort would only hinder the Covenant effort, every hour bought for Earth's preperation would crucial for the defense of the last human sanctuary, Earth.

* The fact that the Covenant know the location of Earth and are prepared for the invasion of Earth is implied in this novel. However, this contradicts Cortana's acquired information at the beginning of Halo 2, when she uncovers the fact that the Covenant were surprised to find humans or any resistance on Earth.

Master Chief games Edit

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Name	Platforms	Developer
Halo 3 released on Sept. 25, 2007	X360	Bungie Studios
Halo Triple Pack	XBOX	Bungie Studios
Halo 2 released on Nov. 9, 2004	XBOX, PC	Bungie Studios
Halo: Custom Edition released on May 4, 2004	PC	Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie Studios, Gearbox Software LLC
Halo: Combat Evolved released on Nov. 15, 2001	XBOX, XBLM	Bungie Studios, MacSoft, Gearbox Software LLC