Were you looking for the Halo 2 Vista achievement of the same name?

The Bone Cracker (Beat Down in Halo 3, Pummel in Halo: Reach and Melee in Halo 4) medal is awarded for killing an opponent with a melee attack that does not assassinate him (a melee attack from behind).

In Halo 2 through Halo: Reach it is represented by an inverted five-point silver star with a dark green fist. In Halo 4 the medal is represented by a silver fist in a blue circle on a grey four-point star. In Halo 3 after you kill an opponent with a melee attack, a message appears on your screen that says: "You beat down (player's name)." In Halo: Reach the message "You pummeled (player's name)" will appear. In Halo 4 the message says "You meleed (player's name)."

In Halo 3, ODST and Reach it also awarded if an Energy Sword or Gravity Hammer is used to kill an opponent with the right trigger. In Halo 4 these weapons award their own medals.

Tips

• A common way for players to get the medal at the same time is to get a Double Beatdown.
• A simple method to earn this medal is to play Grifball.

Trivia

• The "Green Fist" could be a reference to the Incredible Hulk; the Hulk uses his powerful fists in battles. It may also depict a MJOLNIR-armored gauntlet.
• Earning this medal in a Halo 2 Vista matchmade game on a will unlock the Bonecracker achievement.
• Earning five Beat Down or Assassin medals in a Halo 3 ranked free for all playlist will unlock the Up Close and Personal achievement.
• Earning this medal five times in a Halo 4 War Games matchmaking game on a Castle map will unlock the Beating up the Beat achievement.

• The medal has a Bungie difficulty rating of 3 out of 10.

Gallery

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  The Halo 3 version.

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  The Halo: Reach version.