Unicorns

343 Industries has enjoyed using Unicorns, and stuff related to the references they do, in its games and external media in many prominent ways. While almost anything can be made into a reference to something with effort or constructed accidentally through pareidolia, the following attempts to list the intentional references 343i placed into Halo for the fans to find. As such, not all of these references may be fully accurate, and many of them may be proven to be false at any time. 343i's obsession with the creature may be attributed to Frank O'Connor being born in Scotland where the national animal there is the Unicorn.

Unicorns are horse-like mythical creatures with one horn sticking out their head.

Unicorn references[edit]

The references started in Halo Legends with the story Odd One Out taking place in the Unicorn System^[1]
In Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary on the Anniversary bulletin board in The Pillar of Autumn level. There is a poster of a band called Fist of the Unicorn.^[2]
On the Halo Waypoint Forums, when the ranking system was first being implemented, a glitch broke a lot of peoples ranks, keeping them at the original rank of "Member". On the 29th November 2011 the rank was changed to "I R STUCK" as a joke that the ranks were broken. On the 2nd January 2012, a forum user joked that the rank should be called "Master of Unicorns",^[3] and the rank shortly after was then changed to that by the web-team. Later on in 2014 when the forums updated to make things easier for the web-team, the rank stayed, and everyone who had the rank got a special Unicorn rank banner.
If you got the Halo 4 Console edition you got access to a Unicorn Emblem, and also FOTUS-class Mjolnir. FOTUS in Halo 4 is presented as a metafictional joke. The acronym supposedly stands for "Fist of the Unicorn(s)". The armors description in Halo 4 are not meant to be taken seriously. The armor has a horn sticking out its head that is thought to be a reference to Unicorns.
In Halo 2: Anniversary on walls all around Old Mombasa are posters for a "Fist of the Unicorns" cover band called Fluke of the Narwal.^[4]
When approving armor for Halo 5: Guardians 343i used a Unicorn stamp to show what was going to be used in the game.
FOTUS returns in Halo 5: Guardians, alongside several Unicorn based emblems fans can unlock.
In Halo 5: Guardians, the "Daily Win" and "Wonderful Toys" Commendations uses a unicorn emblem.
In Halo 5: Guardians, 343i had Weapon skins called "343 Industries"(one for the Assault Rifle and Magnum), and an emblem that implemented unicorns on them.
- After 343i made available the "343 Industries" skins to the public. 343i then added a brand new set of skins for their use only, for all loadout weapons called "Unicorn Fist".
An easter egg on Urban contains a painting that includes a Unicorn.