Halo: The Master Chief Collection skulls

The skull selection menu in The Master Chief Collection as of the July 2023 update.

Skulls are gameplay modifiers with the appearance of a human skull featured in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Like in Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach and Halo 4, the skulls are no longer easter eggs in-game, and can also be accessed in the campaign menu without claiming them in campaign levels. A total 38 skulls are included in the collection, including several unique additions to Halo 2: Anniversary.

Skulls in The Master Chief Collection are divided into two categories: Scoring and Non-Scoring. Scoring skulls increase the challenge and reward players with higher score multipliers or bonuses to base enemy values when turned on. Non-Scoring skulls can either be neutral, such as Grunt Birthday Party, or in cases of cheat-like skulls, have a score multiplier of zero. Zero multiplier skulls like Scarab disqualify level times and scores from being recorded on the leaderboard and disable score and time-based achievements.

List of skulls

The games in which the skull is available are listed below each skull. Pre-order skulls are marked with and were unlocked globally on December 12, 2014. With the exception of these as well as the Swarm skull, all other skulls are unlocked from the start.

Skulls marked with were not available in the original release of the games, but were implemented via updates in the MCC Insider Program.

Skulls marked with are "experimental"; starting a level with one of these skulls activated will result in a pop-up message warning "You have turned on an experimental skull which may produce unexpected scenarios or hinder your ability to complete this mission. Experimental skulls may be disabled to return the game to a normal state."

The Acrophobia skull was added into the game for Halo 3 for the release of Halo 3 on PC. The Acrophobia could originally only be unlocked for use by completing a seasonal challenge to kill 343 flying enemies in Halo 3, between July 14 and July 29, 2020. It was unlocked globally after July 29, 2020. New skulls from the collection became available on Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST with the update on 11 April 2022. Acrophobia and Bandanna were added to Halo 4 in the December 2022 update. Acrophobia was added to Halo: Combat Evolved in July 2023. Hunter boarding via the Bandanna skull was added to Reach in September 2022, and Halo 2 in July 2023.

Icon	Name	Description	Multiplier	HCEA	H2A	H3	ODST	H4	Reach
	Acrophobia	The Corps: Now issue rifles AND wings... (Press Jump twice to fly.)	0.00x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Anger	Enemies fire their weapons faster and more frequently.	1.10x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Assassins	All enemies in the game are permanently cloaked.	1.20x	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
	Bandanna	Infinite Ammo. In Halo 2 and Reach, this skull will allow players to board Hunters.	0.00x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Black Eye	Your shields only recharge when you melee enemies. Bash your way to better health!	1.10x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Blind	HUD and weapon do not display onscreen.	1.10x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Bonded Pair	Co-op skull: When one player dies, the other player gets a large damage boost that lasts a while.	0.00x	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Boom	Explosions have twice the damage radius. Light fuse, run away.	1.00x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No