Editing Forerunner

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Disambig header|the race|the [[Halo 4]] campaign level or achievement|Forerunner (level)|Forerunner (achievement)}}
{{Species infobox
|name=Forerunner
|image=[[File:HM-Forerunners.png|300px]]<br>(From left to right) Faber, the Ur-Didact, and the Librarian
|latin=''Primoris prognatus''{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}}
|classification=
|subspecies= [[Sedaaro Forerunner]]
|diet=Omnivorous
|height=198.1–414 cm (6 ft 6 in–13 ft 7 in){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*[[Miner]]s: 198.1-325.4 cm (6ft 6in-9ft 8in){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*[[Builder]]s: 215.9-414 cm (7ft 1in-13ft 7in){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*[[Lifeworker]]s: 238.8-297.2 cm (7ft 10in-9ft 9in){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*[[Warrior-Servant]]s: 271.8-391.2 cm (8ft 11in-12ft 10in){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*[[Promethean]]s: 274.3-335.3 cm (9ft-11ft){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
|weight=110.6-408.2 kg (243.9-900 lbs){{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*Miners: 110.6-325kg (243.9-716.4lbs){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*Builders: 109.8-360.6kg (242-795lbs){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*Lifeworkers: 117.4-221.6kg (259.3-488.5lbs){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}
*Warrior-Servants: 130.5-377.1kg (287.7-831.4lbs){{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=318-323}}
*Prometheans: 249.5-408.2kg (550-900lbs){{Ref/Reuse|Enc22|}}
|distinctions=Tall, humanoid, partially furred; various [[form]]s assumed by artificially-induced [[Forerunner mutation|mutation]]
|lifespan=Thousands of years{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}}
|homeworld=*[[Ghibalb]]{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}} {{c|formerly}}
*[[Maethrillian]]
|techlevel=Tier 1{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}}
|notable-person=*[[Ur-Didact]]
*[[Librarian]]
*[[IsoDidact]]
*[[Faber-of-Will-and-Might]]
*[[Bornstellar's father]]
*[[Chant-to-Green]]
|othernames=*The Gods
*Holy Ones
*The Ancients
*The Creators
*Great Ones
|languages=[[Digon]], [[Jagon]]
}}
{{Quote|We are Forerunners, guardians of all that exists. The roots of the galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated the soil. Our strength is a luminous sun towards which all intelligence blossoms, and the impervious shelter beneath which it has prospered.|The [[Ur-Didact]], giving a speech on the purpose of the [[Mantle]].}}

The '''Forerunners''' (Latin ''Primoris prognatus'', meaning "Firstborn")<ref name="waypoint forerunner">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/species/forerunners '''Halo Waypoint - Universe''': ''Forerunners'']</ref> were an ancient species of [[Technological Achievement Tiers#Tier 1: World Builders|extremely technologically advanced]] beings whose empire—known as the [[ecumene]]—encompassed three million fertile worlds in the [[Milky Way|Milky Way Galaxy]].<ref name="cryptum">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 9''</ref> The Forerunners reigned for millennia as the ascendant civilization in the galaxy until the [[Great Purification|activation]] of the [[Halo Array]], their Pyrrhic solution to halt the [[Flood]], in [[97,445 BCE]]. Although they themselves are essentially [[Extinction|extinct]], evidence of their existence remained, spread across the galaxy in the form of numerous creations, installations and artifacts.

The Forerunners took upon themselves the role of caretakers of the galaxy, and believed that this "[[Mantle]]" had been passed down to them by the [[Precursor]]s, an even more powerful race that preceded the Forerunner civilization.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''Epilogue''</ref> "Forerunner" is a literal translation of the species' name for themselves; they identified themselves as such because they believed that they held an impermanent place in the universe's [[Living Time]], though, in time, they too would be succeeded by other, superior races.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 31''</ref> Before their disappearance from the galaxy, the Forerunners would name [[human]]ity their successors, identifying them with the title "[[Reclaimer]]".

In modern history, the alien hegemony known as the [[Covenant]] mythologized the Forerunners and revered them as gods, deriving much of their own technology from Forerunner artifacts found throughout the galaxy, and held that any who defaced these relics were [[List of known Covenant heretics|heretic]]s.

==History==
{{Article quote|One hundred thousand years ago, the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] was populated by a great variety of beings. But one species—eons beyond all the others in both technology and knowledge—achieved dominance. They ruled in peace but met opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were the Forerunners—the keepers of the [[Mantle]], the next stage of life in the Universe's [[Living Time]]. And then they vanished.}}

===Origins===
{{Main|Forerunner-Precursor war}}
The Forerunners were created by the [[Precursor]]s, a powerful race responsible for seeding the Milky Way Galaxy with life and creating many other species, [[15,000,000 BCE|fifteen million years ago]].{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}} The Forerunners were seeded on the planet [[Ghibalb]] in the [[Orion complex]] from a base stock that also produced [[humanity]].{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P310|Enc22|Page=310}} The world served as the hub of the Forerunners' fledgling interstellar civilization, comprised of twelve systems within the nebular complex, until it was rendered uninhabitable by an [[astroengineering]] disaster. The Forerunners had attempted to manipulate several stars in their region of space, but accidentally caused a series of [[supernova]]e that resulted in their planet being burned to a cinder by radiation. This event nearly caused the Forerunners' extinction.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 222''</ref>

For ages, the Forerunners and humans evolved alongside each other with the Forerunners eventually overtaking their peers in wisdom and technological development. The Forerunners would master many arts and sciences at the feet of the Precursors, serving as their assistants and adjutants while the strange workings of their creators' minds and artifacts eluded even the Forerunners' keen intellects. As their interstellar civilization developed, the Forerunners came to believe they would be judged worthy to be the inheritors of the Precursors' [[Mantle]] of guardianship of all life. However, according to some records, over [[10,000,000 BCE|ten million years ago]], the Forerunners achieved interstellar travel on their own and found remnants of their creators' existence long after the latter had left the galaxy to observe it from [[Path Kethona]]. During this time, the Forerunners discovered and claimed the Mantle as their own.<ref>'''Halo Mythos''', ''page 7''</ref> The Precursors did not approve of this and made the decision to strip the Forerunners of the Mantle, wipe out the Forerunners,<ref>'''Halo Mythos''', ''page 7''</ref> and pass down the Mantle to humans instead. Other records state that the Precursors originally chose humans to bear the Mantle without the Forerunners ever holding it beforehand.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P310}} Provoked either by this revelation alone,<ref name="sil209">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 209''</ref> or the Precursors' alleged decision to eradicate the Forerunners as a "problematic" species,<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 194'' (''"Long ago, when it became apparent that the Precursors were about to erase Forerunners, there was a war, and Forerunners erased ''them''."'')</ref> the Forerunners responded by [[Forerunner-Precursor war|overthrowing their creators]], exterminating most of them in retaliation.{{Ref/Reuse|sil209}}

The Forerunners, led by the then-dominant [[rate]] of [[Warrior-Servant|Warriors]], began their thorough campaign of extermination in the Milky Way galaxy and later chased the last Precursors down to the [[Magellanic Clouds|satellite galaxy]] of Path Kethona. There, they would finish their work, eradicating all but a few Precursors who managed to elude them. However, some Forerunners began to question the ethics of the genocide and refused to take part; many were summarily executed, while others were exiled on a barren planet in Path Kethona without any advanced technology. [[Sedaaro Forerunner|This population]] would survive for millions of years, preserving the knowledge of their origins in a biological reservoir of ancestral memory. However, they would remain as the last survivors of the fleet that traveled to Path Kethona, as those who had carried out the genocide until the end never returned to the Milky Way.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''Strings 10, 11, 15''</ref>

Records of this war were gradually lost to time over millions of years, and Forerunner civilization as of the Forerunner-Flood war believed that the Precursors had simply disappeared after fulfilling their ultimate goal: creating the Forerunners to be their successors as holders of the Mantle.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 203''</ref> For several millions of years after the annihilation of the Precursors, the truth was purposefully suppressed by those in power; there were [[Boundless|some]] who attempted to uncover the true relationship between the Forerunners and the Precursors, but they were discreetly silenced, mainly by Warriors and [[Builder]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 67-68''</ref>

===Early history===
Over the course of their history, the Forerunners established empires, fought wars, built worlds, and fought each other in a number of civil wars,{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P312|Enc22|Page=312}} one of which took place over half a million years before their war against the Flood.{{Ref/Reuse|jatkrula}} Their own various civilizations grew, splintered, merged and evolved until all eventually converged into the ecumene.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P312}} To safeguard the Orion complex—the center of the ecumene's governance—during these conflicts, the Forerunners constructed the [[Maginot Line]], an immense array of [[Line installation|defensive installations]] spread out in a sphere which completely surrounded the Orion complex. This defense was meant to repel any possible enemy incursion, but it eventually proved vulnerable against an unconventional attack.<ref name="jatkrula">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 104-105''</ref> During the civil wars, the [[Builder]] rate first rose to supremacy and initiated a cultural purge of the other rates, such as Warriors and [[Miner]]s, which involved the suppression of their ancient rituals.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 119''</ref>

The Forerunner civilization had cemented its place as the preeminent civilization in the galaxy by roughly [[150,000 BCE]],<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]''', ''page 26''</ref> around the same time [[human]]ity first began moving its [[Prehistoric human civilization|latest interstellar civilization]] away from their homeworld, supposedly to escape early Forerunner control.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 20''</ref> The [[Capital]], the center of the Forerunner ecumene and the seat of the [[Ecumene Council]], was constructed around [[122,990 BCE]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 296''</ref> At some point in their history, the Forerunners fought a series of battles known as the [[Kradal conflicts]] in the galactic center.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 246''</ref>

===War with ancient humanity===
[[File:H4-Terminal-CharumHakkor-Battle.jpg|thumb|275px|Forerunner and human forces clash on [[Charum Hakkor]].]]
{{Main|Human-Forerunner war}}
Around [[107,445 BCE]], the Forerunners went to [[Human-Forerunner wars|war]] with humanity's [[Prehistoric human civilization|interstellar empire]], in response to a perceived invasion of worlds where the Forerunners had relocated other species.<ref name="Cryptum 25">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 25''</ref> This invasion was thought to be caused by both human resentment at Forerunner expansionism during the previous fifty years and by the rapid growth of human populations.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 112, 130''</ref> After the war, a small number of Forerunners discovered the true cause of the invasion: a desperate human migration away from an extragalactic parasite known as the [[Flood]]. Desperate for new, uninfected worlds to replace the ones lost to the Flood, humanity invaded the worlds of other civilizations, bringing them into direct conflict with the Forerunners, who saw themselves as protectors of the Mantle.<ref name="c267">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 267 - 273''</ref>

The Forerunners perceived humanity's actions to be a threat to the principles of the Mantle, and therefore waged a decisive war against humans, subjugating every human-controlled world and wiping them clean of all traces of human civilization. As punishment, humanity was stripped of its empire and technology and was exiled to its homeworld, [[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]]. There, humanity was devolved, splintered among its collective species and forced to begin anew.{{Ref/Reuse|Cryptum 25}}<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 127 and 188''</ref> The Flood, meanwhile, had been pushed beyond the edge of the galaxy, ostensibly by humanity's military efforts, and was not seen again for nearly nine millennia.{{Ref/Reuse|c267}} 

Following the events of the war with humanity, a select group of [[Councilor (Forerunner)|Councilors]] and other elite Forerunners turned their attention to the possibility that the Flood would return. The Didact advocated a policy of watchfulness and military readiness, and proposed the construction of a series of [[shield world]]s to provide quick military support should the Flood reappear. However, this plan was overruled by the council in favor of one put forward by a faction of Forerunner Builders led by [[Master Builder]] [[Faber-of-Will-and-Might]], who proposed the construction of an array of galaxy-sterilizing [[Halo Array|superweapons]] as the ultimate defense against such a threat. These proposed weapons would be designed to starve the Flood to death by killing all sentient life in the galaxy with enough biomass to sustain them.<ref name="twobetrayals">''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', campaign level ''[[Two Betrayals]]''</ref>

The Council's acceptance of this plan caused the [[Librarian]], a prominent Forerunner [[Lifeworker]] and the wife of the Didact, to speak out in condemnation of the Builders' proposal of mass genocide, and as a result, she and other Lifeworkers were permitted to work on the project as well, integrating their own measures for preserving the galaxy's life into the plan. The plan, the [[Conservation Measure]], resulted in the Lifeworkers gaining biological preserves on the Builders' installations, including two [[Ark]]s and a network of massive ring-shaped superweapons known collectively as the Halo Array. Meanwhile, the Didact and the other [[Promethean]]s who had supported his cause were removed from the council and executed or exiled. The entire [[Warrior-Servant]] rate was marginalized over the next thousand years, with their fleets and armies disbanded or merged into [[Builder Security]], leaving the Forerunners ill-prepared when the Flood re-emerged.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 237-238''</ref>

===Forerunner-Flood war===
{{Main|Forerunner-Flood war}}

[[File:Forerunner Meeting.jpg|275px|thumb|left|A group of Forerunners in combat skin discussing the Flood threat.]]
Roughly nine thousand years after their war with the humans, a Forerunner survey team on the planet [[Seaward]] came into contact with the Flood. After this first contact, the Forerunners immediately recognized the great danger that the Flood posed to the entire galaxy and attempted to contain them. Even though they knew the power of the Flood, the principles of the Mantle forbade them from destroying it. As such, the attempt to contain the Flood was a failure, as they tried methods more suited to disease control instead of all-out warfare, trying to contain and quarantine the Flood rather than attack and destroy it outright. They did not start war until it was far too late.<ref name="h3terminals">'''Halo 3''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]]''</ref>

[[File:ForerunnerObserver.jpg|thumb|275px|A Forerunner observes one of the Halo rings' construction.]]
When the Forerunners were unable to contain the Flood outbreak, the galaxy entered a state of war. The Forerunners desperately studied the Flood, looking for any exploitable weakness. As the Forerunners soon realized that conventional naval tactics were ineffective against the parasite's onslaught, they developed new weapons and tactics to combat the Flood. The [[Sentinel]]s were deployed as a means of maintaining the Flood through surgical, localized tactics. Eventually, the [[Forerunner fleet]] began to enact premature stellar collapse within compromised planetary systems, causing [[supernova]]e to engulf entire worlds.<ref>'''Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe''', ''page 169''</ref> However, these tactics proved only to slow, but never stop the expansion of the Flood. Even at this late hour, the Forerunners were reluctant to use the Halo Array, believing that they should continue to embrace the Mantle and to protect life rather than to destroy it. This led to great stretches of anguished debate and even civil war.<ref>'''Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe''', ''page 172''</ref>{{clear}}

===Firing of the Halo Array===
{{Main|Great Purification}}
[[File:TerminalArkArray.jpg|thumb|275px|The Halo Array over the Ark, awaiting its distribution across the galaxy.]]
{{Quote|After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They and all additional sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned.|[[343 Guilty Spark]] on the fate of the Forerunners.}}
After nearly three centuries of war, what had been a relative stalemate quickly began to turn in the Flood's favor. The [[Gravemind]] managed to convince [[Mendicant Bias]], the AI in charge of Forerunner defense, to unite with the Flood and turn its military assets against its creators. With the Flood growing at an exponential rate, entire [[thema]]s of the ecumene were overrun; the Flood-infested regions, known as [[Burn]]s, soon covered two-thirds of Forerunner space.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 190''</ref> The Forerunners eventually resorted to the [[Maginot Line]], leaving all systems beyond the [[Orion complex]] to fend for themselves.{{Ref/Reuse|jatkrula}} Meanwhile, the Flood and the Graveminds developed into more capable and [[Key Mind|powerful forms]], enabling them to tap into Precursor [[neural physics]] and control Precursor artifacts scattered across the galaxy. The Forerunners possessed no effective defense against these constructs and the Flood won most naval engagements as a result.<ref name="sil214">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 214-215''</ref>

After the [[Maethrillian|Capital]] system was [[Fate of Maethrillian|overwhelmed]], the surviving leaders and population of the ecumene were relocated on the extragalactic installation known as the [[greater Ark]], the original [[Ark]] used to manufacture the first Halo rings.{{Ref/Reuse|sil214}} Aware that the Ark would not stay safe from the Flood for long, the Forerunner leadership realized that the only way to stop the parasite was to deprive it of all hosts by firing the [[Halo Array]].{{Ref/Reuse|twobetrayals}} Soon after this decision, the Flood attacked the greater Ark and destroyed it. With most of the Forerunner leadership and population dead, the few surviving Forerunners, led by the [[IsoDidact]], journeyed to [[Installation 00]], the lesser Ark, its location still hidden from the Flood. The IsoDidact had the Halos distributed across the galaxy and activated the rings, killing all sentient life of sufficient biomass in the [[Milky Way]], including any surviving Forerunners within the range of the Halo effect.<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[The Great Journey]]''</ref> However, the Forerunner [[Lifeworker]]s had managed to save some of the galaxy's species by transporting them to the Ark during the [[Conservation Measure]].{{Ref/Reuse|h3terminals}}<ref>'''Halo Legends''', ''Origins''</ref> All neural structures within the Halos' range were destroyed; these included all [[Precursor]] artifacts, including the [[Domain]], which the Forerunners had come to regard as the foundation of their culture.<ref name="sil322">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 322-323''</ref>

===Exile===
[[File:Keyships.png|thumb|275px|Keyships departing to reseed life in the galaxy.]]
{{Quote|no=two|q1=We will do what we can with what we are given. But what of you? Where will the Forerunners live?|Riser|q2=I do not know, not yet. All I know for certain is that we cannot return to these places. We have already meddled too much in the affairs of others.|IsoDidact|[[Riser]] and the [[IsoDidact]] as they bid farewell on a repopulated Earth.{{Ref/Reuse|rebirth}}}}

A number of Forerunners survived the firing of the Halo Array. Some managed to take refuge on Installation 00, safely out of the Array's range, while the Halo effect swept over the galaxy; most notably, this included the Lifeworkers assigned to installation and the IsoDidact. Based on limited information prior to the firing of the Halos, most of the other rates were believed to have perished on the greater Ark,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 314''</ref> though a number of Warrior-Servants,<ref name="rebirth">'''[[Rebirth]]'''</ref> Builders, and [[Engineer (rate)|Engineers]] were shown to be present later on,<ref name="promises">'''[[Halo: Fractures]]''', ''"[[Promises to Keep]]"''</ref> indicating that more Forerunners survived to take shelter on the lesser Ark than previously predicted.

Around [[97,368 BCE]], the Forerunners discovered that the [[Xalanyn]], a previously unknown species, had inexplicably survived the firing of the Halo rings. Realizing that their plan to pass the Mantle to humanity was in danger and that the Xalanyn were a threat to the rest of the still-recovering species on the Milky Way,{{Ref/Book|Id=enc22p486|Enc22|Page=486}} the Forerunners decided that the Xalanyn were to be imprisoned on Installation 07.{{Ref/Book|Id=enc22p25|Enc22|Page=25}}

After the remaining Forerunners had made sure that the Halos had done their work and the Flood had been eliminated, the species that were preserved on the Ark were [[Reintroduction|returned to their home planets]], a process lasting for over a century.{{Ref/Reuse|promises}} This was done by the remaining Forerunners under the leadership of the new [[Lifeshaper]], [[Chant-to-Green]], who received the title from the Librarian before the latter stranded herself on Earth at the endgame of the Flood war.{{Ref/Reuse|rebirth}}

Following the reseeding process, a group of surviving Forerunners led by the IsoDidact, now known by his original name of Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, [[Mission to Maethrillian|traveled to]] [[Maethrillian]], the ecumene's former capital, in an effort to repair the [[Domain]]. While still mourning the loss of his wife, Bornstellar viewed a message wherein the [[Librarian]] revealed what she had learned from the [[Gravemind]] about the Domain's true nature and requested that he repair it. Within the capital, they were confronted by a [[Precursor]] construct known as [[Abaddon]], who had been housed in the megastructure for millennia and now intended to bring the Forerunners to trial for their crimes. However, the Forerunners were successful in restoring the Domain with the sacrifice of [[Growth-Through-Trial-of-Change]], undoing some of the damage the Halos had caused.{{Ref/Reuse|promises}}

The remaining Forerunners subsequently exiled themselves, as, according to Bornstellar, they were done meddling in the affairs of others.{{Ref/Reuse|rebirth}} This exile has also been referred to as a "Great Journey" by Bornstellar, who wished to bear the record of the Forerunner civilization's failures and their ultimate sacrifice for future generations.{{Ref/Reuse|h3terminals}} The Forerunners left the Milky Way, journeying to another galaxy where they spread their numbers thin, with the plan of allowing their species to die out in time. At least Bornstellar and Chant-to-Green gave up advanced technology in favor of a simple, primitive lifestyle.<ref>'''Halo: Fractures''', ''[[Untitled story (Halo: Fractures)|Untitled story]]''</ref>

Apart from the Forerunners sheltered on the Ark, the [[Ur-Didact]] also survived, having been imprisoned in a [[Cryptum]] in the [[shield world]] [[Requiem]]. While the [[Librarian]] was killed by the Halo pulse on Earth,{{Ref/Reuse|h3terminals}}<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 323-325''</ref> she left behind [[Librarian#Legacy|personality impressions]] of herself in various installations to guide humanity on the path she had intended for them. One such imprint existed in [[Kilimanjaro Forerunner complex|a Forerunner facility]] beneath [[Mount Kilimanjaro]], while [[Librarian's Rest|another]] was based on Requiem.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Reclaimer (level)|Reclaimer]]''</ref> Several of these imprints would later consolidate at the [[Absolute Record]].<ref name="Renegades">'''[[Halo: Renegades]]'''</ref>

===Legacy===
[[File:4 mural.jpg|150px|thumb|The [[Covenant]] was founded upon the worship of the Forerunners.]]
{{Quote|A god who creates tools is still a god. It is not for us to impose qualifications upon the divine or presume to guess its intentions.|[[Avu Med 'Telcam]]}}
After their disappearance, the Forerunners left behind a great deal of artifacts, many of the more significant ones overseen by their dedicated [[monitor]]s which would react to outside visitors in accordance with their programmed instructions. The mystery surrounding the Forerunners and their technology would later become a source of worship, legend, advanced technology, or combination thereof for the various future civilizations which eventually stumbled upon some of the many Forerunner artifacts across the galaxy.<ref name="ch">'''Halo: Contact Harvest'''</ref>

The first known species to make use of reverse-engineered Forerunner technology were the [[Sangheili]] and [[San'Shyuum]], having evolved on worlds rich in Forerunner artifacts. Regarding these artifacts and their creators with religious reverence, [[San'Shyuum Schism|many]] [[Sangheili-San'Shyuum war|wars]] broke out over whether the relics should be left in peace or used to advance their own technology.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''pages 146-147''</ref> Those who believed the latter came together to form the hegemony known as the [[Covenant]], who together created a [[Covenant religion|complex religion]] based around venerating the Forerunners as gods. Due to misinterpreting the ancients' records, the Covenant believed that the Forerunners disappeared from the galaxy after the [[Halo Array]] elevated their species to a state of trans-sentient godhood. As such, they appropriated many Forerunner technologies and artifacts, with the use of [[Luminary|Luminaries]] that allowed them to track Forerunner-made objects all across the galaxy. The most holy of these artifacts, the "Sacred Rings" or [[Halo Array|Halo installations]], were constantly searched for 1700 years, since the Covenant believed themselves to be the chosen inheritors of the Forerunners' legacy,<ref>'''[[Halo Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''' volume II, ''page 299''</ref> and by locating and activating the Halo Array, they believed that they too could follow the Forerunners into godhood.<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Sacred Icon]]''</ref> This was referred to as the "[[Covenant religion#The Great Journey|Great Journey]]" by the Covenant races.{{Ref/Reuse|ch}}<ref>'''Halo 2'''</ref> This mimicry of the Forerunners' remnants caused the Covenant to rise to a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|high technological tier]] very quickly, but additionally stunted their innovation of said technology and kept them from uncovering its true potentials.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 241'' ''page 275 2010 reprint''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''' ''page 87''</ref>

[[File:Relic main.png|thumb|left|225px|Humans examine a Forerunner [[Relic (location)|relic]] on [[Harvest]].]]
As for humanity, they had been chosen by the Forerunners to carry the title of "[[Reclaimer]]" and eventually take over the Mantle. The Librarian had imparted humanity with a species-wide ''[[geas]]'';<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 375''</ref> these genetic instructions include an innate familiarity with Forerunner technology.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''pages 84, 146, 170''</ref><ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 142''</ref> However, humans themselves were unaware of this and came into contact with Forerunner artifacts relatively late in their history, after they had [[Human colonies|colonized]] many planets. In [[2491]], a [[The Assembly|collective]] of human [[artificial intelligence]]s uncovered the presence of Forerunner relics on [[Onyx]] and kept them hidden in the meantime for fear that humanity was not yet ready to use such advanced technology. As such, archaeological excavations did not uncover them until [[2511]], and the [[United Nations Space Command]]'s [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] responded by hiding the planet's location and [[Zone 67|securing the area]]. However, little progress was made in translating any of the relics.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''pages 122-127''</ref> Other relics were discovered on [[Reach]], [[Earth]], and many other colonies. A Reach [[titanium]] mine had been shut down when they breached [[Menachite portal complex|a Forerunner complex]], and [[SWORD Base|SWORD]] and [[CASTLE Base]] were built to guard relics' locations.<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 108''</ref> The [[Portal at Voi]] was buried under [[New Mombasa]] and undiscovered until much later, prompting ONI to construct [[ONI Alpha Site (location)|a major facility]] to study and cover up the structure from the general population.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', 'page 132''</ref> Mixed reactions came from scientists who studied the artifacts, some fascinated by their potential, others fearful for the possibility of a two-front war.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''Chapter 25''</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Artifact involvement===
{{Quote|Mankind is outmatched. When Reach falls - and it will fall - our annihilation is all but certain. Unless...we can glean from this artifact a defense against the Covenant. A game-changer. On the level of the conical bullet in the nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third.|Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]], after decrypting [[Babd Catha Forerunner complex|the Forerunner artifact under]] [[SWORD Base]].}}
[[File:HR Epilogue Autumn.png|thumb|225px|The discovery of Installation 04 was the turning point of the Human-Covenant war.]]
Forerunner artifacts became instrumental to beginning and ending the [[Human-Covenant War]]. First contact was made when humanity's Reclaimer status was discovered by the Covenant, who did not understand that they were being labeled as Forerunner objects. The [[Hierarchs]] of the Covenant soon learned humanity's status as apparently living descendants of their supposed gods, and found it potentially destructive to their religion. Thus they decided to hide this information from the general population and ordered that humanity be eradicated, a goal in which they nearly succeeded.{{Ref/Reuse|ch}} Battles were fought often with relics at the center of the conflict, sometimes risking giving the Covenant victory early, other times hindering them and turning in favor of humans due to the Covenant's reluctance to damage Forerunner treasures. Many relics were destroyed by humans often as traps for Covenant or to keep them from falling into enemy hands.<ref>'''Halo Wars''', campaign levels ''[[Reactor (Halo Wars level)|Reactor]]'', ''[[Escape (Halo Wars level)|Escape]]''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''', ''[[Dirt]]''</ref>

The most important of Forerunner artifacts to be involved was the Halo Array, [[Installation 04|the first ring]] of which was discovered on the heels of the destructive [[Fall of Reach]].<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved''', campaign level ''[[The Pillar of Autumn (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|The Pillar of Autumn]]''</ref> The resulting [[Battle of Installation 04]] revealed to humanity the existence of the Forerunners and their sacred place in the Covenant's religion, as well as the rings' true purpose as weapons of mass destruction. The activation of the Halos led to the awakening of other Forerunner relics, such as the [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinels of Onyx]], or [[Installation 00|the Ark]] that controlled the Halo Array. Humanity's utilization of Forerunner tech was thus regarded as a "game-changer" to turn battles into their favor<ref>'''Halo: Reach''', campaign level ''[[The Package]]''</ref> and also changed the goal of the war, now to keep the Covenant from reactivating the Array in their misguided pursuit of apotheosis. As the conflict drew to a close, the Covenant had been plunged [[Great Schism|into civil war]] as some discovered the Great Journey was false and thus [[Fleet of Retribution|allied with humanity]].<ref>''Halo 3'''</ref> [[Battle of Installation 00|The final battle of the war]] was fought aboard the Forerunners' Ark, and the UNSC and Covenant separatist forces together secured the Halo Array, destroying the Ark shortly afterward. In the post-war years humanity was beginning to reclaim its appointed place, gaining many technological leaps as a result of acquiring and reverse-engineering Forerunner technology with the assistance of a number of [[Huragok]] they had managed to procure.<ref name="ttw">'''Halo: The Thursday War'''</ref>

===Return===
[[File:H4 John-117 Didact first encounter.jpg|thumb|275px|The Didact overpowers John-117.]]
{{Quote|Time was your ally, human, but now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners... have returned.|The Ur-Didact to John-117, after being awakened in the interior of Requiem.}}

The years following the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]] saw the revival of a Forerunner presence in the galaxy, with the reawakening of the [[Ur-Didact]], once the supreme commander of the Forerunner Warrior-Servants. A zealous Forerunner supremacist with a renegade hatred for humans, the Ur-Didact sought to use a machine known as the [[Composer]] to convert all of humanity into [[Promethean Knight|subservient war machines]] near the end of the Forerunners' war with the Flood. To prevent this, the [[Librarian]] imprisoned the Didact in a Cryptum on the shield world [[Requiem]], where he remained for the next 100,000 years.

In [[2557|July 2557]], the Ur-Didact and his mechanized [[Promethean]] forces were accidentally awakened by [[SPARTAN-II Program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] who had stumbled upon Requiem. His views unchanged by his long exile, the Didact disregarded humanity's Reclaimer status and maintained his belief that only the Forerunners were worthy of the Mantle. The Didact and his Prometheans, allied with a [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|new Covenant faction]], went to war against humanity, aiming to prevent them from attaining the Mantle. Attempting to use the Composer to digitize humanity, the Didact [[New Phoenix Incident|attacked Earth]]. However, the Master Chief and his [[Smart AI|AI]] [[Cortana]] stopped and defeated the hateful Forerunner, casting him into a slipspace portal, and subsequently destroying the Composer and the [[Mantle's Approach|Didact's ship]]. They were aided in this by the Librarian, who had left an imprint of her memories behind on [[Requiem]]. The Librarian's essence augmented the Master Chief's genetic code in order to allow him to face the Didact, giving him, along with other things, an immunity to the Composer that saved his life. However, the Didact survived his fall into slipspace and intended to finish what he started. While the Didact was eventually "contained" as a threat by the Master Chief and his [[Blue Team|squad-mates]],<ref>''[[Halo: Escalation]]'', [[Halo: Escalation Issue 10|Issue 10]]</ref> the Promethean-Covenant alliance was not defeated by this setback and the conflict was still in progress in early [[2558]] when the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} [[Requiem campaign|returned to Requiem]]. After a lengthy campaign, Requiem was destroyed by the Covenant leader [[Jul 'Mdama]], along with all Promethean constructs present on the shield world.<ref name="halo 4">'''Halo 4'''</ref>

At some point after the Didact's attack on Earth, Cortana learned about the existence of [[Keeper-of-Tools]], a Forerunner Builder alive on [[Genesis]] and went after him, but the Builder managed to escape from her.
{{Clear}}

==Physiology==
[[File:H4-Terminal-Didact.jpg|thumb|275px|The Ur-Didact, a full-rate Promethean, before undergoing a procedure to achieve Flood immunity which left him disfigured.]]
The Forerunners were a bipedal species resembling humans in overall shape, though they were larger in stature. Over the course of their lives, Forerunners underwent a number of [[Forerunner mutations|artificially-induced mutations]], modifying their bodies to better suit the field of work of their [[rate]]. More specific aspects of their appearance varied with lineage, age and even personal tastes.{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint forerunner}} They relied heavily on [[Forerunner personal armor|personal body-assist armor]] which, in addition to protecting the wearer from harm, augmented their physiology and mental faculties. Among many other advantages, it made their lifespans virtually indefinite by providing constant life support and medical care.<ref name="c47">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 47-48''</ref>{{Ref/Note|It is never directly stated that the Forerunners' armor granted them truly indefinite lifespans, although this can be inferred from several statements in ''The Forerunner Saga''. In ''Halo: Cryptum'', Bornstellar notes that Forerunners died only on rare occasions, usually by accident or during war (''Cryptum'', page 47). In ''Halo: Silentium'', the Librarian mentions having visited the collection of a former [[Theoretical]] on [[Keth Sidon]] (''Silentium'', page 67); since the Theoretical rate was dissolved a million years earlier, the former Theoretical would have been at least a million years old at the time, although it is not explicitly stated that the Theoretical in question was still alive.<br>Nonetheless, ''Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide'' asserts that the Composers were originally designed to transfer old essences into youthful bodies. While this may seem rather trivial given the Forerunners' effective immortality, it is known that older members of the species (such as the [[Confirmer]]) could become significantly disfigured with age. [https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/tech/composer The Composer entry on Halo Waypoint] reiterates ''The Essential Visual Guide''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s statement and further reveals that composed essences may have been integrated into the Domain, granting them true permanence.}}

Before their first mutation, as [[Manipular]]s, Forerunners were tall and slender, and possessed patches of fine, purple-pink or white fur on the top of their heads, along their nape and shoulder area, as well as the backs of their hands.<ref name="prim33">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 33-34''</ref> Their facial features were similar to those of humanity, and they were capable of making analogous expressions, but this changed as they mutated to their higher forms, which characteristically had stiffer facial muscles and a more limited ability to convey emotions.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 28''</ref> There was also a cultural stigma associated with expressing emotions; while even certain higher forms were capable of producing some semblance of a smile or laughter, for example, such uncontrolled display of emotions was regarded as barbaric.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 89''</ref> Unlike humans, Forerunners lacked pronounced noses or ears, having two slitted nostrils and a set of bulbous protrusions instead.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}} Their skulls otherwise bore a very strong resemblance to those of humans, with subtle differences. The Forerunners also had a genetic code that was remarkably similar to humans, though they were not known to be genetically related.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 26''</ref> However the defunct Theoretical rate of the Forerunners own studies of human and Forerunner origins concluded that humanity share a genetic structure homogeneous to the Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Point of Light''', ''page 18''</ref>

The Forerunners exhibited sexual dimorphism largely mirroring that of humans, with the females being more slender and somewhat smaller in stature than the males. The height of higher-form males ranged from around three to four meters; for example, the [[Ur-Didact]] was three and a half meters tall,<ref name="evgdidact">'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 16''</ref> while [[Bornstellar's father]], a high-ranking Builder, was around four meters. [[Bornstellar's mother]], a female Builder of the same social standing, was just over two meters in height,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 224-225''</ref> while the [[Librarian]], head of the Lifeworker rate, was nearly three meters tall.<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 17''</ref> Males of higher forms also bore less resemblance to humans, while the females appear to have been more human-like in appearance.{{Ref/Reuse|prim33}} A large portion of this dimorphism was artificially induced with their mutations and determined by rate.<ref name="sil141">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 141''</ref>
[[File:Didactskull2.png|thumb|left|150px|The skull of the Didact, a [[Warrior-Servant]] who underwent a great amount of mutations.]]
Their skin color ranged greatly, including gray, black, blue, pink, or a mixture thereof. The number of fingers Forerunners possessed varied according to their rate and form; the most common number of fingers per hand appears to have been six, with two opposable thumbs,<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 339''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 83''</ref> although some [[Lifeworker]]s could have as many as seven fingers per hand.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 166''</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Librarian]] had only five fingers in each hand,{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}} although this was a deviation from the norm.{{Ref/Reuse|sil141}}

Thanks to their advanced life-support and medical technology, Forerunners could maintain a youthful appearance for thousands of years should they so choose.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 338''</ref> Even though Forerunner armor was capable of healing most injuries which would otherwise be certainly lethal, including fatal doses of radiation,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 209''</ref> on rare occasions Forerunner individuals may choose to decline basic treatment; the ancient [[Warrior-Servant]] known as [[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]], for example, chose to remain blind and instead relied on her armor to provide sensory input for her.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 247''</ref>

While the Forerunners had a biological need to sleep, this necessity was eliminated by the use of personal armor which allowed them a constant continuity of consciousness without having to sleep;<ref name="Halo: Cryptum, page 241">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 241''</ref> only on rare cases, they would experience diagnostic waking dreams.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 150''</ref> As such, Forerunners slept very rarely, mostly doing so by choice in instances such as long stretches of space travel, which themselves were rare due to their exceedingly fast slipspace technology.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 63''</ref>

Forerunners possessed highly advanced mental capabilities, far beyond those of a human in the case of their higher forms. These abilities were further augmented by their use of personal armor, which integrated with the wearer neurally and stored sensory information and memories, even consistently backing up the wearer's consciousness.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 161''</ref> The armor also allowed Forerunners direct information transfer to one another,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 140''</ref> which could also be employed in the form of "silent conversation".<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 24''</ref> Higher-form Forerunners had the ability to process enormous amounts of information simultaneously; for example, Warrior-Servant commanders could simultaneously process the sensory input of thousands of their subordinates while coordinating large-scale battles and themselves experiencing reality in multiple separate frames of reference with variable streams of time.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 162, 316''</ref> The use of an ancilla enabled Forerunners to recall any past event with exact accuracy,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 319''</ref> and even without armor or a personal ancilla they could remember enormous amounts of precise information; for example, the Didact was able to recite a verbal control code consisting of hundreds of completely random words and numbers after thousands of years.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 82-83''</ref>

===Mutation===
[[File:Forerunner forms.png|thumb|275px|Forerunners of different [[rate]]s and [[form]]s, demonstrating the artificially-induced variety among the species.]]
{{Main|Forerunner mutation}}
When a [[Manipular]] was ready to work within a particular rate, they would undergo an artificially-induced transformation into a more advanced [[form]], which differed depending on the Manipular's chosen caste. Referred to as a "mutation", the transition typically occurred over a long period of time.<ref name="Halo: Cryptum, page 225">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 225''</ref> A typical Forerunner would undergo several mutations over the course of a lifetime, though this was not always the case. Mutations altered Forerunners' abilities and physical shape to suit their class; Warrior-Servants, for example, underwent mutations that made them stronger and more robust. After their first mutation, Forerunners also gained the ability to access the [[Domain]], a realm of information where the entire collated knowledge of the Forerunner civilization was contained.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 167-168''</ref>

In emergency circumstances, an operation known as a "brevet mutation" could be performed on a Manipular. This was a mutation that occurred over a much briefer period of time, and was often painful. Rarely, a brevet mutation could fail and result in deformities; there were rumors that Forerunners whose mutations had failed were sequestered in special enclaves, hidden from the general population.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 146''</ref> The Ur-Didact performed a brevet mutation on Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting to give him access to the Domain.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 178''</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Society and culture==
[[File:Main-Forerunner.png|thumb|275px|The [[Forerunner symbols#Eld|Eld]] symbol represents the [[Mantle]], a permeating aspect of Forerunner culture.]]
[[File:Crowd of Forerunner.jpg|thumb|275px|A crowd of Forerunners.]]
The Forerunner civilization was based around the [[Mantle|Mantle of Responsibility]], a belief that it was their role to protect all life in the galaxy; it was generally believed that the Forerunners had gained the Mantle as a birthright from the [[Precursors]] after they vanished. As a result of their perceived status as universal guardians, the Forerunners largely secluded themselves above other species.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 112-113''</ref> They monitored the evolution of other sentient species throughout the galaxy, intervening in ways that ensured their civilizations would follow paths of peace, free of conflict, but also so that they would not challenge Forerunner dominance. To maintain their position, the Forerunners committed acts such as relocating other species from their homeworlds in order to expand their own empire or gain control of new resources. They also enforced the Mantle by hindering the development of other species, even reducing opposing species to small populations of specimens, as they did with [[Prehistoric human civilization|early humanity]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 126-127''</ref> Those species who submitted to Forerunner rule lived within the ecumene as subject species, allied with but ultimately subservient to the Forerunners; some of these species helped eliminate pockets of human resistance after the human-Forerunner wars.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 156''</ref>

The Forerunners themselves were a race almost entirely without conflict; although political disputes were not uncommon, violence or war between Forerunners was almost unheard of, the last Forerunner civil wars having been fought half a million years before their civilization's end.{{Ref/Reuse|jatkrula}} As such, the [[Warrior-Servant]]s, who conducted most of the Forerunners' military operations, were often looked down upon by the higher rates, as their actions were perceived to be contradictory to the Forerunners' role of preserving life. While they generally strove for peace, when provoked to a war, the Warrior-Servants would carry out the war ruthlessly and thoroughly, as they believed defiance of their rule was equal to showing contempt to the Mantle itself.<ref name="cryptum2">'''Halo: Cryptum''', Chapter 2</ref> One example is the human-Forerunner wars, where many humans were executed following their defeat, and all traces of human achievement was erased from the galaxy.

Forerunner culture was highly stagnant; the fundamental aspects of their society—such as their [[rate]]-based social hierarchy—remained unchanged for millions of years.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 14''</ref> The Forerunners had a rigid social structure, where one's position would be determined mainly by their rate, part of a complex system of different social classes mainly based around a particular occupation. Cultural practices and customs varied by rate and position; generally, Forerunner culture was full of formality and ritual, particularly with the [[Builder]]s, the highest of the rates. Forerunners placed a great deal of value on family lineage and tradition, and one's rate and social standing were largely hereditary.<ref name="Halo: Cryptum, page 242">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 242''</ref> When [[Growth-Through-Trial-of-Change]], born to a Builder family, chose to become a Lifeworker instead, she was treated as an outcast by her family.{{Ref/Reuse|rebirth}}

A central aspect of Forerunner culture was the [[Domain]], a vast repository of information containing virtually all knowledge collated by the Forerunners over the eons, including impressions of the deceased,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 255''</ref> leading the Forerunners to also view the Domain as a form of afterlife.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 275''</ref> Although the Domain permeated Forerunner society for countless millennia, its origin or true nature remained mysterious to the Forerunners themselves. The Domain was best understood by the monastic class of [[Haruspis|Haruspices]], who dedicated their lives to the study of the Domain.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 241-242''</ref> While unknown to the Forerunners, the Domain was actually a [[neural physics]]-based Precursor construct, and as such was destroyed when the Halos fired, taking most of the Forerunners' recorded history and knowledge with it.{{Ref/Reuse|sil322}}

Despite their lack of need to sleep as a result of the use of personal armor, Forerunners had certain moments where each member of a household would retreat for several hours of individual meditation. These moments were typically arranged according to the local day-night cycle, and were sacrosanct in traditional Builder families. During this time, the activities on an entire planet would slow down, including traffic and even the operations of [[ancilla]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|Halo: Cryptum, page 241}}

Forerunners did not eat meat, as the Forerunners' scripture surrounding the Mantle forbade "the eating of the flesh of unfortunates".<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 88''</ref> Taking one's own life was also gravely forbidden.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 99''</ref> Despite their in many ways conservative society, nudity or sexuality were not considered taboos in Forerunner culture; for example, it was normal for both participants to be naked during the rite of [[Forerunner mutation|mutation]], without the procedure being considered explicitly sexual.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 153''</ref>

Some Forerunners rejected their advanced technology, including personal armor, and adopted a more austere and primitive lifestyle in seclusion from the rest of Forerunner society. One such community existed on [[Seaward]], which would incidentally become the first planet in the Forerunner ecumene to be overrun by the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe (Volume I)''', "Soma the Painter"</ref>

===Government and politics===
The Forerunners' primary governing body was known as the [[Ecumene Council]]. Based in the [[capital]], it was led by the [[First Councilor]] and composed of five hundred [[Councilor (Forerunner)|Councilors]], in addition to support by a network of [[ancilla]]s known as the [[Metarchy|Council metarchy]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 292''</ref> The Councilors, who came from various rates, typically served for a thousand years and led humble lifestyles.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 255''</ref> The capital also housed the [[ecumene]]'s primary judicial institution, known as the [[Capital Court]], which could be assembled into the [[Supreme Mantle Court]] in times of great crisis.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 264''</ref>

===Societal classes===
{{Main|Rate}}
Forerunner society was divided into a number of different classes known as rates, each rate specializing in a particular field of work. The [[Builder]]s, who designed most Forerunner technology, from ships and weapons to their various megastructures, were the highest rate and wielded the most political power. The second rate were the [[Miner]]s, who obtained construction materials for the Builders' projects and were responsible for planetary and stellar engineering. Below the Miners were the [[Lifeworker]]s, who were responsible for medicine and biological research. The [[Juridical]]s were a rate whose duties encompassed legal matters within the ecumene. The [[Warrior-Servant]]s served as the primary fighting force of the ecumene, while the [[Engineer (rate)|Engineers]] maintained technology and machinery.{{Ref/Site|Id=CryptumGlossary|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/related/text/cryptum-glossary/62e29c59-a3f9-4b63-af76-def71fda5459|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Cryptum Glossary|D=14|M=03|Y=2014|LocalArchive=Halo: Cryptum/Glossary}}

The rates, in turn, were divided into smaller units, [[guild]]s, [[Maniple]]s and [[clan]]s. Adolescent individuals, known as [[Manipular]]s, were not considered to be part of a rate until their mutation into first-form. During special occasions, each rate of Forerunners wore unique ceremonial headgear except for one day of [[Grand Star Season]], when all rates would wear similar headgear.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 37''</ref>

===Family and marriage===
[[File:H4 - D&L.jpg|thumb|275px|The Didact and the Librarian embrace.]]
Forerunner customs involving marriage were said to be complex; they married for a variety of reasons, though it was said that the lower rates married more often for love,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 77''</ref> while there were often more complex reasons such as familial relations involved in the courtship of higher rates such as Builders.{{Ref/Reuse|Halo: Cryptum, page 225}} Intermarriage between rates was not unheard of; for example, the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], a Warrior-Servant, married the [[Librarian]], a Lifeworker. Additionally, a certain degree of courtship between rates was considered commonplace before individuals were espoused to formal marriage.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 231-232''</ref> Polygamy was also an accepted practice, at least among the higher rates, as demonstrated by [[Master Builder]] [[Faber-of-Will-and-Might|Faber]] having many wives.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 251''</ref> At certain points in their lives, females would enter a "millennial interim", a period when they would not bear children.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 224''</ref>

===Languages and scripts===
[[File:Reclaimer - H4.png|thumb|200px|The Forerunner glyph for "[[Reclaimer]]".]]
Forerunners spoke a variety of languages. Some dialects were older than others, and accordingly were less widely used. [[Digon]] was an ancient language used by [[Promethean]]s, while [[Jagon]] was a slightly less old language used by [[Builder]]s.<ref name="Halo: Cryptum, page 227">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 227''</ref>

The most commonly encountered system of [[Forerunner symbols|Forerunner glyphs]] seems to be based on a series of circular, complex shapes. The glyphs have been inscribed almost everywhere Forerunners were once present, from different areas of Earth, to the Halos. They were also known to put these glyphs and symbols onto their weapons, machinery and clothing, something the Covenant also copied, evident with the Forerunner symbols placed on the hilt of the [[Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword|energy sword]] and on the [[Combat harness|Sangheili combat harness]]. Among the most well-known glyphs are the "[[Mantle]]" and "[[Reclaimer]]" symbols, as well as the [[sigil]]s of individual Forerunners.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}} Some variations of Forerunner symbology possess a strangely attractive, even disorienting quality to humans.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 142'' (2003)</ref>

In addition to the well-known symbols and glyphs, the Forerunners also utilized a more conventional writing system. The characters used in Forerunner writing have been described as resembling a series of dots, squares, bars and triangles. The Covenant writing system is derived from the original Forerunner script, although they use highly embellished variations of the simple, geometric characters used by the Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 197''</ref>

===Naming conventions===
Forerunner names had concrete meanings in their language, and commonly consisted of a combination of words expressing positive attributes in a grandiose, somewhat poetic manner. In many cases, a Forerunner's name was associated with typical terminology involved with the practices of the rate they were born into; for example, "Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting" reflects his Builder lineage. In informal conversation, these names were typically shortened, with only a single part being used.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 261''</ref>{{Ref/Note|In ''Halo: Silentium'' and subsequent media, the words comprising Forerunner names are joined by hyphens, whereas in ''Halo: Cryptum'' and ''Halo: Primordium'', they are separated with spaces.}}

Many, though not all, higher-ranked or older Forerunners were only known by a title not given at birth but rather adopted at one point in the Forerunner's life, often originating as a sobriquet given to that individual due to one of their traits; for example, the Didact, born Shadow-of-Sundered-Star,{{Ref/Reuse|evgdidact}} gained the name "Didact" from his students while teaching in the [[College of Strategic Defense of the Mantle|War College]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 227-228''</ref> [[Manipular]]s were identified as "Form Zero" in their full names.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 33''</ref>

===Funerary rites===
When a Forerunner died (usually by accident or, on rare occasions, during war) elaborate ceremonies would be enacted before their remains were disposed of in fusion fires associated with the activities of their rates — a melting torch or planet cutter, for example.{{Ref/Reuse|c47}}

First, the Forerunner's last memories would be extracted from their armor, which [[Mind transfer|preserved]] a few hours of the occupant's mental patterns. This reduced splinter of personality would be placed in a [[timelock|time-locked]] [[Durance]] with a half-life of more than a million years. The body would then be torched in a solemn ceremony attended only by close relations. A bit of plasma from the immolation was preserved by the appointed [[Master of the Mantle]], who secured it along with the essence in the Durance. The Durance was then given to the closest members of the dead Forerunner's family, who were charged with making sure that it would never be abused. Families and rates were very protective of such places, and tampering with a family Durance was considered sacrilege.{{Ref/Reuse|c47}}

===Space travel===
Traditionally, Forerunner space travel involved several rituals. When a Builder family was returning from an interstellar journey, the entire family would stand at the bridge deck and observe the ship's approach. The senior family member would issue commands in ancient Jagon. These actions were entirely ceremonial, as nearly all Forerunner ships were controlled by an ancilla.{{Ref/Reuse|Halo: Cryptum, page 227}}

After making a slipspace jump, Forerunners of high position, including Councilors, would conduct a ceremony where they formally congratulated the ship's ancilla and would in turn receive a small golden disk containing the cost of [[Slipstream space#Time dilation|particle reconciliation]] for the journey.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 283''</ref>

During prolonged space journeys, Forerunners would often play "diverting games" through their armor to pass the time.<ref name="Halo: Cryptum, page 129">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 129''</ref>

==Technology==
[[File:Forerunner AI.jpg|thumb|275px|A [[Sentinel]] and a [[Monitor]]. Both are Forerunner creations with specific tasks.]]
The Forerunners' technological achievements were almost without parallel in the known galaxy with them being rivaled by ancient humanity and the San'Shyuum before the latter two species defeat in the human-Forerunner wars and with only the Precursors being known to surpass the Foreunners technologically. They managed to create solidified surfaces out of light by using technology known as [[hard light]], use [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] to [[Slipspace translocation|teleport]] between locations almost instantaneously, and create numerous forms of advanced machinery. Another of their greatest achievements is their ability to initiate premature stellar collapses of stars and create planets in less than 10,000 years. The [[Halo Array]] and the [[shield world]]s are, above all others, the most significant pieces of surviving Forerunner technology. The planet Onyx and its inner [[Dyson sphere]], [[Trevelyan|Shield World 006]], in particular demonstrated both their ability for engineering on a grand scale, and their near-transcendent grasp of slipspace technology. Forerunner technology is remarkably resilient, being able to remain intact for over a hundred millennia.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved'''</ref>

Even after millions of years, Forerunner technology still advanced at a comparatively rapid rate, with a number of new breakthroughs and developments occurring within even a single millennium.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 98''</ref> It was believed by some [[Builder]]s that the Forerunners had possessed more advanced technologies in their distant past that they had later lost during periods of technological regression. This was at least partially true, as demonstrated by ten-million-year-old Forerunner [[probability mirror]]s, used for large-scale spacetime reconciliation, and similarly ancient cloaking technology used to obfuscate the interior of an entire star system in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 113''</ref>

They employed a wide variety of [[artificial intelligence]] constructs, generally known to them as [[ancilla]]s. These ranged from simple personal assistants integrated in their armors to various kinds of robotic [[Monitor]]s and immensely powerful [[Metarch-class ancilla|Metarch]]-level AIs, of which the most sophisticated type was the [[Contender-class artificial intelligence|Contender-class]].{{Ref/Reuse|h3terminals}}

The Forerunners had mastered the use of various energy fields, including [[buffer field]]s which they used to manipulate gravity,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 304''</ref> [[constraint field]]s used to restrain individuals, [[confinement field]]s used to block the movement of entire ships, and the containment and collection fields they used to harness entire stars for energy production.<ref name="c243">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 243''</ref> Entire planets could be made habitable even in conditions of lethal stellar radiation via [[planetary shield]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 254''</ref>

[[File:HCE-HardLightEnergyBridge-screen.jpg|thumb|275px|left|[[Light bridge]]s are a common application of the Forerunners' [[hard light]] technology.]]
The Forerunners had an unparalleled knowledge of quantum science, which enabled them much of their sophisticated technology.<ref name="c100">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 100''</ref> After a number of instances of catastrophic data loss in their history, they had abandoned conventional digital storage in binary code entirely in favor of storing information in substrates of [[Wikipedia:Quantum foam|quantum foam]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 131''</ref> Virtually all Forerunner technology was powered by harnessing and draining the energies of untold numbers of nascent alternate realities in the form of [[vacuum energy]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 279''</ref> This enabled the Forerunners to harness enormous amounts of energy, with a single slipspace-based transmission noted as requiring more energy than the generation capacity of all [[UNSC]] assets combined.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 182-183''</ref>

In addition to their superior grasp of slipspace travel, the Forerunners had mastered many other methods of higher-dimensional manipulation. They were capable of altering the fabric of time and space within [[Slipspace bubble|contained "bubbles" of slipspace]], allowing the storage of enormous masses and volumes within a comparatively tiny space; as an extreme example, the 300-million-kilometer [[Trevelyan|Shield World 006]] was held in a space only 23 centimeters in diameter in normal space. In these bubbles, the flow of time could be [[Timelock|suspended altogether]], or numerous millennia could be made to transpire while only seconds had passed in normal space.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 366''</ref> The Forerunners routinely employed the higher dimensions of slipspace in their fleet engagements and created defenses which extended into slipspace,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 211''</ref> most prominently the [[Maginot Line]].<ref>'''[[Halo: Blood Line]]'''</ref>

Forerunner technology could also produce certain objects remarkably quickly without extensive production facilities. For example, personal armor could be manufactured by small engineering units on board a starship,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 106''</ref> and entire ships could be "grown" from a "[[design seed]]", being manufactured on-site from preprogrammed "blueprints" and construction materials obtained from local resources. Likewise, certain automatons — such as [[Promethean Crawler]]s — could be "conjured" on-site and constructed in a matter of seconds from raw materials present in the ground.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}} Most Forerunner technology could disassemble and reconfigure itself into a completely different form, and automatically gather any additional construction materials if necessary; this was demonstrated when the [[Librarian]] had a {{Class|Gargantua|transport}} use both itself and resources mined locally to construct the [[Portal at Voi]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 324''</ref> The Forerunners did use dedicated production plants for large-scale industry. An example of this is the vast [[Sentinel manufacturing facility]] on [[Onyx]], which could produce a new [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinel]] every six seconds.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 316''</ref>

The [[Huragok]], [[nanotechnology|nanomechanical]] "supercomputers" created by the Forerunners for the purposes of maintaining their technology, remained behind after the activation of the Halo Array. Many were eventually incorporated into the Covenant.
{{Clear}}
===Spacecraft===
{{Main|Forerunner fleet#Technology and capabilities|l1=Forerunner fleet technology}}
Forerunner spacecraft used special [[Slipspace flake|crystals]] embedded in their [[slipspace drive]]s to travel through slipspace. In order to move through ordinary space, they utilized [[reaction drive]]s which harnessed virtual particles as a propulsive force; however, they still required the use of onboard reaction mass.<ref name="c124">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 124''</ref> The reaction drive of a mere automated cargo transport allowed travel from Edom to Erde-Tyrene, (a distance of 100 million kilometers at the time), within forty-eight hours; this was considered a mundane trip that did not warrant slipspace manipulation.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 19 and 20''</ref> In addition, the Forerunners created a network of [[slipspace portal]]s for high-traffic slipspace transit across the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 200''</ref> Aboard starships, limited inertial dampening was achieved through the use of buffer fields,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 114''</ref> but during extreme acceleration, the occupants' armors had to be locked to the deck.{{Ref/Reuse|Halo: Cryptum, page 129}}

Forerunner warships could be enormous in scale; the most recent models of [[Fortress-class vessel]] were around a hundred kilometers in length,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 312''</ref> while the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s personal command vessel, ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', was 371 kilometers in height and was even then surpassed in size by the largest Forerunner ships.<ref name="h4evg193">'''Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide''', ''page 193''</ref> 

The interiors of all Forerunner ships were not entirely composed of matter; for example, the structure of a [[planet-breaker]] was only half matter, with one third being fuel and reaction mass and the rest being comprised of [[hard light]], allowing the captain to configure the ship's internal layout and decoration at will. At least some types of Forerunner craft can alter their geometry to better suit their current situation; for example, making the ship more aerodynamic in preparation for surface landing.{{Ref/Reuse|c124}}

Forerunners could also create [[upgrade seed]]s to upgrade vessels of other species into seamless hybrids of their original technology and Forerunner technology. The inclusion of a Forerunner [[slipspace flake]] would give the vessel a Forerunner slipspace drive. Other known upgrades include stealth capability, upgraded weapons, comm and navigational systems kept within the framework of the ship's original operating functional capability.{{Ref/Reuse|Renegades}}

===Communications and sensors===
Forerunners used a type of quantum entanglement for [[superluminal communications|communications]], allowing instant data transfer over vast distances. These communications were routed over proprietary encryption protocols, which could be used to track the source or destination of the communication.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 125''</ref> Forerunners did not use electromagnetic radiation (light, radio, microwaves, etc.) to communicate,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 144''</ref> presumably due to latency, interference, and security issues. Despite this, mundane radar emitters still played a role in short-range detection of incoming objects, such as on [[Seclusion Spiral]], a remote gas mining station.<ref name="defender-storm">'''Halo: Fractures''', "Defender of the Storm"</ref> They also used a form of superluminal communication involving wormholes; however, these communications were significantly slower than communication via the [[Domain]].<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''', ''[[terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminal 4]]''</ref>

Forerunner sensors were capable of instantaneous scanning and detection across interstellar distances. As a particularly impressive example of their available sensor ranges, the Forerunners' [[core authority]] routinely tracked individual slipspace jumps across the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 136''</ref> They were also capable of viewing various alternate spaces adjoining the physical universe—including [[denial of locale]], [[natal void]], [[shunspace]], [[trick geodetics]] and a photon-only realm known as [[the Glow]]—and ascertaining events or objects in normal space through their signatures sometimes visible in these realms.{{Ref/Reuse|c100}} Forerunners shipboard sensors were also highly accurate, being capable of providing a detailed analysis of a single planet's geological and ecological composition from lightyears away through the use of long-range entanglements.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 121''</ref>

The Forerunner government used an automated network to collate data from all technological equipment across their ecumene, from mundane devices such as a [[jetbrush]] to communications satellites and [[space station]]s; overseen by non-intelligent automatons, the system filtered unusual observations and relayed possible significant anomalies to the authorities, specifically the [[Prelate (Forerunner)|Prelate]]. Such anomalies included catastrophes or "Xenovents" - supposedly referring to contact with alien lifeforms. This is how the Forerunners first learned of the Flood's reemergence around [[97,745 BCE]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe (Volume I)''', "Soma the Painter", ''page 10''</ref>

"[[Luminary|Luminaries]]", which were originally designed to pinpoint Forerunner technology, were used to find "relics" by the Covenant. They are also capable of locating Reclaimers. A misunderstanding of a Luminary's readings led to [[First Battle of Harvest|the outbreak]] of the Human-Covenant War.

Forerunners utilized various camouflaging technologies, including [[dazzler]]s, which generated visual and auditory delusions, or [[baffler]]s, which created geometric distortions that could effectively hide a large area not only from plain sight, but also a starship's sensors.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 43''</ref> Cloaking systems were standard on most warships, ranging from small [[Harrier-class vessel|attack harriers]] to enormous command ships like ''[[Mantle's Approach]]''.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 273''</ref> While ships could not use their energy weapons or projectiles while cloaked without giving away their position, gravitic weaponry allowed the ship to remain undetected.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 213''</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Pattern transfer===
{{Main|Mind transfer}}
The Forerunners were capable of extracting an individual's complete mental and biological patterns and memories, which could then be encoded in either another biological body or stored as data. A Forerunner could create an offshoot of their consciousness housed in an ancillary system, as the [[Librarian]] did on [[Requiem]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 297''</ref> An individual's pattern could also be imprinted over another body; an example of this was the [[Ur-Didact]]'s creation of the [[IsoDidact]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 20''</ref> Typically, a dead Forerunner's final memories were recovered and stored in a time-locked container known as a [[Durance]].{{Ref/Reuse|c47}} An abstracted consciousness could also be used as a template for an [[ancilla]]; [[343 Guilty Spark]] was created in this manner.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 356-357''</ref>

The Forerunners had the technology to reproduce entire individuals from encoded DNA/RNA/silicon samples in data streams.<ref>'''Bestiarum''': "''DNA/RNA/Silicon samples are encoded in this data stream. Reproduction of individuals for analysis is prohibited by this facility.''"</ref> This was the primary manner of indexing biological beings during the [[Conservation Measure]]; due to their lack of resources, the Lifeworkers were forced to reduce most specimens into data, although their patterns and memories would be reconstituted during the [[reintroduction]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 57''</ref> Recovered essences or specific commands could also be coded into a sentient being through a genetic imprint known as a ''[[geas]]'', which could potentially be passed on for numerous generations, with encoded memories or actions programmed to trigger under specified circumstances.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 55''</ref>

As part of an effort to protect themselves against the [[Flood]], the Forerunners created a machine known as the [[Composer]]. Designed to process Flood victims ''en masse'', the Composer also reduced its targets to ash, denying the Flood access to any biomass. In the original plan, new bodies would be created for the abstracted individuals, now free of infection. However, the Forerunners never mastered the process and the victims' original forms could no longer be restored.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 40''</ref> The Composer was later used by the Didact in an attempt to create an army of [[Promethean]] [[Promethean Knight|war machines]], which led to his imprisonment on [[Requiem]].{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}}

===Weaponry===
[[File:Old HW Armament.jpg|275px|thumb|A group of Forerunner soldiers firing light-based weaponry.]]
The Forerunners used a broad variety of weapons, encompassing various forms of [[directed energy weapon]]ry as well as [[AI suppressor|electronic warfare]] and offensive technologies based upon [[Confinement field|energy fields]]. Forerunner energy weapons proved to be very effective when battling the Flood, burning Flood forms to the point that they cannot be revived by [[Pod infector|infection forms]]. Additionally, after the Flood's emergence, certain weapons were designed to disintegrate their targets upon inflicting a critical hit, preventing the Flood from making use of any biological matter.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}}

Forerunner infantry weapons utilize various forms of ammunition, including hard light, accelerated beams of ionized particles, antimatter,<ref>'''Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide''', ''page 101''</ref> or combinations thereof. Although many, such as the [[Scattershot]] and [[Lightrifle]], fill relatively basic roles and have clear analogues in human weaponry, many of these weapons also have exotic properties, such as the Scattershot's ricocheting projectiles or the [[Boltshot]]'s secondary burst function. Forerunner ground forces also use [[Z-040 Attenuation Field Generator/Localized|pulse grenades]] which generate an energy-drain field before collapsing, destroying any targets within its effective radius.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}} In most contexts these weapons are operated by dedicated automatons, one example of which are the bipedal [[armiger]] constructs.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-under-locke-keynote '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Under Locke & Keynote'']</ref> When participating in combat operations, the biological Forerunners themselves used advanced [[powered exoskeleton|exoskeletons]] called [[combat skin]]s which ranged greatly in size and capability from more conventional, ground-based battle suits to much larger infantry armatures that were capable of spaceflight, such as [[war sphinx]]es and [[seeker (vehicle)|seekers]].

The many varieties of Forerunner [[sentinel]]s carry a wide array of weaponry. The [[Aggressor Sentinel]]s use moderately effective [[Sentinel beam|beam weapons]], which can also be wielded by humans and certain Covenant races. Meanwhile, [[Enforcer]]s are equipped with [[Forerunner missile launcher|missile launchers]] and a pair of [[shard cannon]]s, which fire clusters of smaller red Needler-like projectiles or bolts of energy at an incredibly high rate of fire. The [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinels of Onyx]] had significantly more powerful weaponry and shielding. Their energy weapons functioned via a single, slow-charging, extremely powerful golden beam which was effective against energy shields and armor alike.<ref name="GoO">''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''</ref> The Forerunners also constructed stationary [[Forerunner automated turret|automated turrets]], resembling stripped-down sentinels. [[Monitor]]s are capable of defending themselves with high-powered pulse weapons akin to those used by Sentinels, as well as with gravity manipulation technology.<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[Floodgate]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]''</ref> As one example of Forerunner weapons technology, certain types of beams could be merged into one stream to amplify its power; this capability was used on both [[Unidentified Forerunner weapon|infantry weapons]] as well as [[Unidentified Forerunner dreadnought class|starship weaponry]].<ref>'''Halo Legends''': ''Origins''</ref>

Forerunner weapons are manufactured out of various forms of exotic matter on an atomic level in hyper-precise nanofabrication forges in accordance with instructions programmed into [[design seed]]s by Forerunner pattern-weavers working in conjunction with an [[ancilla]]. Because of the fidelity of these manufacturing methods, every weapon and piece of technology could be built perfectly identical down to the atomic level. While the [[Builder]]s designed most of their technology to be highly uniform, the [[Warrior-Servant]]s preferred to craft their weapons and armor to be unique and aesthetically pleasing whenever possible. However, the Warrior tradition of custom-crafted equipment waned almost completely as the Forerunners' war with the Flood became increasingly desperate, leaving little room for design considerations beyond lethality and efficiency. Forerunner firearms, like the rest of their technology, are highly sophisticated; most are composed of disparate parts held together by energy fields and display self-assembling capabilities. At least some Forerunner weapons are designed to operate differently according to their wielder; for example, the [[Z-390 incineration cannon|Incineration Cannon]] known as the ''River of Light'' will only unlock its full capabilities in the right hands while reducing its destructive power when wielded by a [[Promethean Knight]] construct.<ref name="uncharted waters">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-uncharted-waters '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Uncharted Waters'']</ref>

===Art and architecture===
[[File:H2A - Library.jpg|thumb|300px|The Library of [[Installation 05]], a classic example of Forerunner architecture.]]

Forerunner architecture incorporates heavy use of geometric angles, usually at either extremely sharp degrees - Forerunner buildings are usually trapezoidal - or at forty-five degree angles. Most Forerunner architecture is constructed with a special type of silver-gray metal that resists deterioration, bullets, plasma bolts and fire, as made evident by Forerunner structures standing in pristine condition 100,000 - 150,000 years after they were built. However, their resistance to heavy [[plasma]] fire is limited; concentrated plasma discharge is capable of destroying some Forerunner architecture.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page ???''</ref><ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''The Great Journey''</ref> Other structures and [[Council ship|certain starships]] were built with a golden-bronze colored metal.

The Forerunners were also highly skilled at creating stone architecture. Typically, these buildings were built from a pale brown or tan stone.{{Ref/Reuse|ttw}} These structures were more subject to wear and aging, but their architectural sophistication remains apparent after 100,000 years.<ref>'''Halo 3''', multiplayer map ''[[Sandtrap]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Delta Halo]]''</ref> A particularly prominent example of intact Forerunner stone architecture could be found within [[Onyx]]'s [[Zone 67]], which contained a massive Forerunner city constructed entirely of polished [[Onyx (material)|chalcedonic quartz]].<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 269''</ref> In some structures, such as the [[Menachite portal complex|Forerunner complex]] beneath [[Reach]]'s [[Menachite Mountain]], patterns and symbols had been embedded in the rock itself by manipulating its mineral inclusions.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 139'' (2003)</ref> Most interestingly, certain Forerunner buildings incorporated "mutable" stonework: [[Temple of the Abiding Truth|a stone Forerunner structure]] in [[Ontom]], [[Sanghelios]] featured passages that could shift and change by literally reshaping the stone from which their walls were built.{{Ref/Reuse|ttw}}

In addition to physical structures, a large portion of Forerunner architecture is actually composed of sophisticated [[hard light]] construction. Such architecture is often crafted in the likeness of corporeal matter, most commonly gray Forerunner metal. Hard light structures can form complex shapes and in many cases, be entirely indistinguishable from physical construction,<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 116, 201''</ref> making it difficult to determine which structural components are made up of actual matter.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}} This technology has many uses, from acting as basic structural components such as platforms or walls to decorating and furnishing everything from Forerunner homes and public spaces to starship interiors.{{Ref/Reuse|Halo: Cryptum, page 242}} Many Forerunner structures are capable of materializing when needed and then melting away when deactivated, a feature most likely facilitated through the use of hard light. The immaterial and flexible nature of this technology lends it a great deal of uses, but as a drawback, it is susceptible to power failures;<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 50''</ref> nonetheless, certain Forerunner ships, such as the command warship ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', employ hard light bonding as a means of maintaining the vessel's structural integrity.{{Ref/Reuse|h4evg193}} Some Forerunner structures, including many of those on [[Requiem]], incorporate components which float in the air without any physical support.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}}

Many symbols and patterns on Forerunner structures employ complex geometric shapes that appear to operate in dimensions higher than human understanding can comprehend.{{Ref/Reuse|GoO}} The Forerunners also decorated the interiors of their structures with a complex pattern of engraved straight lines and applied decorative touches and designs to nearly everything that they built, from structures to weapons. Even Sentinel drones possess small holographic Forerunner script around their "eyes".<ref name="halo 3">'''Halo 3'''</ref> Some Forerunner structures, most prominently those on Requiem, mark bullet holes and other forms of weapon strike points with a small glyph automatically etched around the damaged portion of the surface within moments of the impact.{{Ref/Reuse|halo 4}}

The Forerunners were highly skilled at creating natural-looking habitats, such as those of the Halo installations, which tend to be very elaborate and include realistic weather patterns and self-sustaining biomes. Although they are clearly distinct from the natural landscape, Forerunner structures often appear to "grow" out of the surrounding terrain, resulting in an impression of complementing the landscape as opposed to replacing it.<ref>'''[[The Art of Halo]]''', ''page 90''</ref>

===Astroengineering===
[[File:Halo 3 - Installation04B.jpg|thumb|300px|The incomplete [[Installation 08]] over the [[Installation 00|Ark]].]]
{{Main|Astroengineering}}
While the Forerunners' architectural and technological prowess is legendary, their masterpieces also extended to the fields of stellar and planetary engineering.

[[Trevelyan|Shield World 006]], a full-size [[Dyson sphere|Dyson shell]], existed in [[slipstream space]], where planets and stars cannot ordinarily exist. In addition, the slipspace bubble containing the enormous construct was enclosed within [[Onyx]], a planet-sized structure composed of trillions of [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinels]] arranged into a complex structural scaffolding and covered by a terrestrial crust. The Forerunners also created many smaller shield worlds, essentially planet-sized Dyson shells with terrestrial inner and outer surfaces as well a miniaturized sun in the center. Some works of Forerunner engineering are also located beyond the confines of the galaxy, including [[Installation 00]], a vast, flower-shaped construct with a terrestrial surface and its own artificial star for illumination. Another example of the Forerunners' mastery of megascale engineering was the [[Capital]], a structure which surpassed even the Ark in sheer enormity and complexity.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 280-281''</ref>

In addition to moving and manipulating stars for use in their megastructures, Forerunner [[Miner]]s, specifically stellar-class engineers known colloquially as "[[plasma jockey]]s", experimented with stabilizing young stars.<ref name="c221">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 221''</ref> The Forerunners had also harnessed dozens of stars for energy production by using sophisticated energy fields to direct the energy output of a star.{{Ref/Reuse|c243}} Specialized plasma jockey installations were also capable of suspending the collapse of a star, although this was rarely entertained due to the enormous amounts of energy required in the process.<ref>'''Halo 4''', multiplayer map ''[[Solace]]'' (map description)</ref> In addition to stellar manipulation, the Forerunners were capable of considerably speeding up a planet's formation, artificially collapsing an [[asteroid]] field into a molten mass, then cooling it down and forming it into a terrestrial planet in less than ten thousand years; a relatively short period of time for the ageless Forerunners.{{Ref/Reuse|c221}}

==Production notes==
{{Other languages
|fr={{Tooltip|''Le Forerunner''|The Forerunner (Anglicism and erroneous singular)}}, only the first mention in ''Halo: Combat Evolved''.<br>
{{Tooltip|''Les Forerunners''|The Forerunners (Anglicism)}} in almost all media.<br>
{{Tooltip|''Les Précurseurs''|The Precursors}} in ''Halo Legends: The Duel''.
}}
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|gallerypage=Images of Forerunners}}

{{See also|Terminal_(Halo_3)#Human-Forerunner_connection|l1=Terminal (Halo 3) Human-Forerunner connection}}

*According to [[Bungie]] employee [[David Candland]],<ref name="blam">[http://forums.bungie.org/halo/archive36.pl?read=1070818 '''halo.bungie.org''': ''Re: Why retcons don't bother me anymore''] (Evil Otto: ''"One of the most striking retcons to me is the basic concept of whole role of humanity. Originally (back in Halo 1) the reason why humans weren't conquered and incorporated into the Covenant collective was because their presence defied Covenant religion. When the Covenant discovered humans, they knew they were forerunners, but their presence implied the "great journey" failed. They also weren't the all powerful gods they worshiped, so the Prophets wanted to "sweep them under the carpet," as it were."'')</ref> Bungie's original intention for the connection between humanity and Forerunners was that they were one and the same; this was hinted repeatedly throughout the ''Halo'' Trilogy<ref name="blam2">[http://forums.bungie.org/halo/archive36.pl?read=1070818 '''halo.bungie.org''': ''Re: Why retcons don't bother me anymore''] (Evil Otto: ''"The plot lines in our games imply this everywhere - the chief being called reclaimer, only humans being able to retrieve and insert the index, Spark telling the chief, "you are forerunner." etc."'')</ref> and alluded to in [[Joseph Staten]]'s novel ''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''. During the development of ''[[Halo 3]]'', Bungie was internally split on the relationship of humans and Forerunners. This has been described as there having been a "Game" team, and a "Terminals" team.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=SplitBungie|docabominable|1603050616028368897|Paul Russel|Quote=From what I have gathered by talking to people involved offline: The game and terminal writers were separate teams with overlap; they didn't think the discrepancy would matter; management vetting never read or cared about continuity...|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}} The "Game" team seemed to continue the original intention, as certain dialogue from ''Halo 3's'' story would imply,{{Ref/Twitter|Id=TerminalsAddPrecursors|docabominable|1603095968345620480|Paul Russel|Quote=The way I understand it is that the terminal version is the same but adds the precursor angle of selecting a subset of humans to advance.|D=14|M=12|Y=2022}} while the "Terminals" team added the idea that Forerunners were a "…subset of early humans uplifted by another group (the precursors?)."{{Ref/Twitter|Id=TerminalIntention|docabominable|1603053863866880000|Paul Russel|Quote=One of the writers said that the (terminal) forerunners were a '…subset of early humans uplifted by another group (the precursors?)'. Also 'I don’t believe that management gave a single shit about any story element...they only cared about shipping a game.'|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}}This is echoed in [[Terminal (Halo 3)|''Halo 3's'' terminals]], and also material released as part of the game's marketing campaign,  but such materials do not explicitly comment on the connection between Forerunners and humanity. Because Bungie management were more focused on getting the game finished than canon,{{Ref/Reuse|Id=SplitBungie}} the game shipped with both versions and both were approved.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=BothApproved|docabominable|1602720596328169475|Paul Russel|Quote=I hoped that came across as MAYBE the discrepancy came up and didn’t seem important against everything happening to get a AAA game out the door. I’m trying to be careful to not put words in others mouths. One thing for sure, H3 shipped with both versions and both were approved.|D=13|M=12|Y=2022}}
** The Halo: Evolutions story Soma the Painter first confirmed the two species were seperate species and afterwards the books of ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'' released by [[343 Industries]] expanded greatly on the similarities and difference between both peoples, establishing that the two species were indeed related but distinct and that the actual connection goes far further back than the events in the books, to the time when both species had been created by the Precursors.
**In ''[[Titan (canceled game)|Titan]]'', the canceled ''Halo'' MMO, the Forerunners were depicted as humans with dark skin and white hair, similar to the Atlanteans from Disney's ''[[Wikipedia:Atlantis: The Lost Empire|Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]''. This interspecies resemblance is likely based on Bungie's original intention of the Forerunners being ancient humans.<ref>[http://halo.heavengames.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=halo_mmo_concept_art&id=Forerunner '''Halo Heaven Gallery''': ''Concept Art - Forerunner'']</ref>
* The Forerunners fill a similar narrative role to the [[marathongame:Jjaro|Jjaro]] from Bungie's ''[[Marathon]]'' trilogy. The Jjaro likewise vanished eons ago but left behind technology which is reverse-engineered by the [[marathongame:Pfhor (Race)|Pfhor]], the primary antagonists of the series and spiritual predecessors to the Covenant. The plot of the third game, ''Marathon Infinity'', involves the escape of a cosmic entity known as the [[marathongame:W'rkncacnter|W'rkncacnter]] through the Pfhor's misuse of an ancient Jjaro superweapon, similar to the Flood's release by the Covenant on Installation 04. The protagonist is effectively an undead cyborg reanimated and augmented through the use of Jjaro technology which enables him to interface with other Jjaro technology, much as the Spartan-IIs were created due to a ''geas'' which enables them to use Forerunner technology.
*Bungie environment artist [[Paul Russel]] was largely responsible for establishing the Forerunners' architecture and aesthetic. He cited some of his influences as being sails and movie marquees, as well as the works of American architect [[Wikipedia:Frank Lloyd Wright|Frank Lloyd Wright]];<ref>[https://plus.google.com/photos/114253662089061571624/albums/5500017903460396721/5500019592379269010?banner=pwa ''Paul Russel's image album'']</ref> in particular, Wright's use of cantilevers and stained glass windows with repeating geometric patterns of lines in complementary angles. Russel jokingly stated that ''"I also like the idea of Forerunner columns being sausages meticulously and gorgeously wrapped in bacon by Frank Lloyd Wright's genetic precursor. Now that is a tall tale. Because as far as I know, Forerunner architecture is inedible—unless the fans say otherwise."''<ref>'''[[Halo: The Great Journey: The Art of Building Worlds]]''', ''page 28''</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:TSC01.png|A hologram of the [[Silent Cartographer]] facility on [[Installation 04]] in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''.
File:04B Control Room.png|Installation 08's [[control room]].
File:HCr Promethean Concept.png|Bungie concept art of a [[Promethean]] [[combat skin]], later reused for the design of a [[Prefect]]'s armor.
File:MMO ForerunnerCity Concept 1.jpg|Concept art made by Ensemble Studios for ''[[Titan (canceled game)|Titan]]'' of a Forerunner city in its prime.
File:HLeg IsoDidactArmor.png|A Forerunner Combat Skin, as seen in ''[[Origins]]''.
File:Old_HW_Commanders.png|A group of Forerunner military leaders within the [[Control Room]] of a [[Halo Array|Halo Installation]].
File:Forerunner Apex.jpg|A Forerunner activating a console, showing a remarkable similarity to a human hand. Note that this depiction may not be accurate.<ref>''Halo Legends'': ''Origins'': Commentary: Frank O'Connor: "This is a bit of a trick, you see? Cortana doesn't ''actually'' know what they look like, so their appearance may be further explored in future ''Halo'' canon.</ref> 
File:Origins_library.png|Forerunner automatons indexing the various lifeforms the Forerunners gathered at the Ark.
File:ForeunnerCGI.jpg|A Lifeworker facing a [[Monitor]] in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|terminals]].
File:H4 - Lifeworkers.jpg|Two Forerunner Lifeworkers in ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Terminal (Halo 4)|terminals]].
File:H4 Terminal Didact and Librarian.jpg|The Librarian and the Didact.
File:HM-Forerunnerships1.png|Forerunner ships in ''[[Halo Mythos]]''.
File:HTV-Forerunnerstuff.png|Forerunner technology in ''[[Halo: The Television Series Season One]]''.
File:HTV-Thermopylae-DeadLifeworker.jpg|A dead Forerunner scientist in ''[[Halo: The Television Series Season Two]]''.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-3}}
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{Fm}} {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo 2]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]''
**''[[The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
**''[[Breaking Quarantine]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Uprising]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo 3]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
**''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Wars]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Helljumper]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]'' 
**''[[The Duel]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''
**''[[Dirt]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
**''[[Soma the Painter]]''
**''[[The Mona Lisa]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
**''[[The Return]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Blood Line]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Reach]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Halo: Glasslands]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Scanned]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
**''[[Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Assault]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
{{Col-3}}
*''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Nightfall]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: New Blood]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Saint's Testimony]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Last Light]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Shadow of Intent]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Know Your Enemy]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Ground Command]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]''
*''[[Halo: Fractures]]''
**''[[Lessons Learned]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
**''[[What Remains]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
**''[[Promises to Keep]]''
**''[[Defender of the Storm]]''
*''[[Halo: Tales from Slipspace]]''
**''[[Something Has Happened]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Dominion Splinter]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Envoy]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Retribution]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Fireteam Raven]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]''
*''[[Halo: Battle Born]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Outpost Discovery]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Meridian Divide]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Shadows of Reach]]''
**''[[Sacrifice]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' 
*''[[Halo: Divine Wind]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo Infinite]]''
*''[[Halo: The Television Series]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: The Rubicon Protocol]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Outcasts]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''
{{Col-end}}

==Notes==
{{Ref/Notes}}

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources|3}}

==External links==
*[http://halosm.bungie.org/story/forerunner/jsymbols.html '''Forerunner Symbolism''': ''An article on Forerunner symbols'']
*[http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/ A comprehensive research over the Forerunners].

{{Navbox/Species}}
{{Forerunner}}

[[Category:Forerunner| ]]
[[Category:Sapient species]]
[[Category:Host species]]