Gigantopithecus

There is more information available on this subject at Gigantopithecus on the English Wikipedia.

Gigantopithecus was the largest species of ape to have ever existed, and was known as Shakyanusho in ancient times.

History

Sapient and capable of language, Gigantopithecus once had contact with other hominid species on Earth; together with humans and certain other intelligent primates, the Shakyanusho were similarly regarded as people. They lived in the highlands north of Marontik.

However, they were never particularly numerous, their total numbers rarely reaching more than one thousand even at their height. Mara was noted as being among the last five of her kind at the time when the Librarian indexed her species on Earth and the sole remaining individual when she was brought on Installation 07.

During Master Builder Faber's takeover of Installation 07, Mara lived in the concealed compound of the Lifeworker known as Genemender-Folder-of-Fortune. Genemender was under orders to extract and store the minds of all humans who carried ancestral memory imprints provided by the Librarian, converting their patterns into virtual form but giving them the opportunity to simulate physical interaction via manifesting themselves as sophisticated hard light holograms. This failed to deceive Mara who recognized them as mere illusions, but appeared to appreciate the company nonetheless. Eventually, Mara was the only physical presence in Genemender's station, before the arrival of Chakas, Vinnevra and Gamelpar. Mara and the others were later found by a Forerunner transport and taken to a facility overseen by Mendicant Bias. What happened to Mara following this and the Halo's subsequent near-collision with a planet was not specified.

At least one Gigantopithecus, possibly Mara, was amongst the speicimens preserved in the Lifeworker Archive on Installation 07 as a part of the Conservation Measure. On June 7, 2560, this Gigantopithecus was observed by John-117 who recognized it from reconstructions of the species.

List of appearances

• Halo: Primordium (First appearance)
• Halo: Point of Light (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Edge of Dawn