Huragok
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Huragok (Facticius indoles) | |
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| Physical information | |
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Avg. height: |
180 centimetres (5 ft 11 in)–248 centimetres (8 ft 2 in)[1] |
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Avg. weight: |
56.0 kilograms (123.5 lb)[2] |
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Distinctions: |
Six appendages, bulbous sections, small snout, several eyes |
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Avg. lifespan: |
10,000 years/possibly indefinite[3] |
| Sociocultural information | |
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Notable individuals: |
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Also known as: |
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- "I don't exactly understand how the Huragok work—no surprise there—but they can fix just about anything you can break. They can also hook up to just about any kind of computer hardware in the galaxy. Forerunner, Covenant, and even human."
- — Edward Buck[14]
Huragok (Latin Facticius indoles[3] meaning "artificial genius"),[15] are a race of biomechanical sentient beings that were created by the Forerunners to maintain their technology[3] and, in some cases, biological beings. These remarkably helpful and docile pseudo-organisms are exceedingly patient, rarely communicate with other species, and are almost single-mindedly devoted to their work.[16] Huragok are known to exist in two varieties; those that used to serve the Builders, referred to by some individuals as Engineers,[11] and the rarer Lifeworker Huragok, who were designed to repair and maintain biological lifeforms.[17]
They were the only known non-combatant race of the Covenant aside from the San'Shyuum, though some were rigged to explode like suicide bombers during the Human-Covenant War.[18] This also served the purpose of asset denial, preventing their capture and redeployment by enemy factions. Following the Human-Covenant War, most Huragok mysteriously disappeared,[19] although some remained aligned with splinter factions of the original Covenant, including the Swords of Sanghelios and the Ussans, while a number ended up working with the United Nations Space Command. Similarly, there are many in service to the Banished, who not only continued the Covenant's practice of fitting Huragok with explosive harnesses, but utilized crueler, more creative methods to modify their behavior.[20][21]
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
The Huragok were created by the Forerunners' Builders prior to the activation of the Halo Array with nanocellular technology to serve as maintenance, repair, and enhancement engineers.[3][22][23] They served as "servant-tools" to the Builders, the highest rate in Forerunner society. The Lifeworkers also employed a type of Huragok specializing in living things and medicine rather than machinery, though they were rarer than the Builder variety.[9][24] Huragok often served aboard semi-automated maintenance stations, including a number of facilities within the San'Shyuum home system. They were rarely accorded personhood in Forerunner society, and some found their anaerobic metabolism and gas bladders disgusting. For this reason, they were never allowed in public.[25]
Being mechanical structures rather than organic life forms, they survived the activation and some remained aboard various M-series facilities.[3] Several were left within one of the Forerunners' shield worlds, Shield World 006, and would remain there for the next 100,000 years.[6]
The Covenant[edit]
The Huragok were discovered by the San'Shyuum Reformists aboard the M-series facilities at a point prior to 938 BCE. The Huragok were employed as the San'Shyuum's science, maintenance and archaeological specialists.[1] They were used to retrieve and dissect Forerunner artifacts, as well as to repair spacecraft and machinery. The Huragok did not attempt to resist when the San'Shyuum "tamed" them.[23] Huragok operated aboard San'Shyuum vessels during the War of Beginnings.[26] When the Covenant was established in 852 BCE, the Huragok continued to fulfil the same role they had executed for the Reformists.[1]
Huragok were essentially the scientific and engineering backbone of the Covenant and its economy. They fulfilled one of the most important roles within the Covenant, as they bore the responsibility of maintaining the Covenant's machines, managing medical matters, and interacting with Forerunner technology. While it was generally held that only the San'Shyuum were high enough in the Covenant hierarchy to handle and manage Forerunner research and technology, in reality it was the Huragok who must excavate, unlock, and transport Forerunner artifacts—a fact only known to higher-ranked officials and leaders within the Covenant, due to its sensitive nature.[16] The Huragok were also tasked