Editing Halo universe

{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Center|For other uses of the word "Halo", see [[Halo (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Outdated}}
[[File:Halo logo (2012-present).png|450px|center|The Halo 4-era Halo logo.]]
[[File:Halo 25 Anniversary Wallpaper.png|300px|thumb|''Halo''{{'}}s 25-year anniversary artwork.]]
[[File:Halo 20 Year Celebration Artwork.jpg|300px|thumb|''Halo''{{'}}s 20-year anniversary artwork.]]
{{Quote|Halo is an epic journey to save humanity from a terrible menace.|[[Chris Carney]] on ''[[Halo 3 Legendary Edition]]: [[Seven|7]] [[7 Steps to World Domination|Steps To World Domination]]''}}
The '''Halo universe''' is the sprawling fictional universe in which all [[Halo (disambiguation)|mainline Halo media]] takes place. In the 26th century, [[human]]kind has [[Human colonies|colonized]] hundreds of worlds in [[Earth]]'s interstellar neighborhood, only to stumble upon a hostile alliance of aliens known as the [[Covenant]]. Motivated by the [[Hierarchs|Prophets']] promises of [[Covenant religion|ascension to godhood]] in the form of the eponymous [[Halo Array|Halos]], a series of ring-shaped superweapons built by the ancient race of the [[Forerunner]]s, the Covenant are bent on humanity's destruction. With the apocalyptic [[Human-Covenant War]] concluded, members of both sides are faced with an uncertain future in a politically complex environment of numerous different factions and affiliations, while ancient Forerunner entities and technologies continue to involve themselves with the galaxy's affairs.

It is this universe where the Halo video game series: ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', ''[[Halo 2]]'', ''[[Halo 3]]'', ''[[Halo Wars]]'', ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'', ''[[Halo 4]]'', ''[[Halo: Spartan Assault]]'', ''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'', ''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]'', ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Halo Wars 2]]'', and ''[[Halo Infinite]]'' take place. In addition to the games, a number of [[Halo novels]] and other media including [[:Category:Audio dramas|audio dramas]], [[Halo comics|comic books]], [[:Category:Tabletop games|tabletop games]], [[:Category:Cinematics|films]] and an [[Halo Legends|anime collection]] have been released. The media beyond the game series expands into the Halo universe timeline before and after the events of the games, as well as running concurrently with the games' timeline.

==Primary factions==
In the Halo universe, there are many factions, political groups, races, planets, and species. The main factions are as follows:

===United Nations Space Command===
{{Main|United Nations Space Command}}
[[File:UNSC insignia (post-war).png|thumb|150px|The emblem of the UNSC.]]
In the 26th century, most of humanity is ruled by the [[Unified Earth Government]] (UEG). As most of the [[Category:Canon|canon]] material from the ''Halo'' universe is from the ongoing war we see the future mainly through the eyes of the UEG's military arm, the [[United Nations Space Command]] (UNSC). During the events of ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'', the UNSC [[Battle of Earth|fought]] the Covenant over [[Earth]] in a last-ditch attempt to protect the human race. The events of ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' are fought defending the planet [[Reach]], the UNSC's former military headquarters.

The UNSC was formed by the [[United Nations]] when overpopulation on [[Earth]] and conflict in the [[Sol System]] started becoming a severe problem in the early 22nd century. In the wake of the [[Interplanetary War]] in the 2160s, the UNSC became the military and space exploratory arm of the newly-established Unified Earth Government. After the emergence of the Covenant threat, the UNSC was given power over the UEG and its colonial governing agency, [[Colonial Administration Authority]], although the civilian government was formally returned its power after the war.

Run by [[UNSC High Command|HIGHCOM]], the UNSC is Earth's premiere defense against external threats. The [[UNSC Navy]] houses the divisions of [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] (including the [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]]s), the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] (ONI), and the [[UNSC fleet|fleet]]. The [[United Nations Space Command]] armed forces includes the [[UNSC Army]], the [[UNSC Air Force]], and [[Spartan Operations]], along with the Navy and Marines. Originally designed to keep the peace between neighboring planets and star systems, when certain [[Insurrectionist|rebellious factions]] began to present a problem in the late 2490s, the UNSC was forced to police its colonies to keep privateers and [[Space piracy|pirates]] from raiding them.

There are several breakaway factions opposed to UNSC and the Colonial Administration Authority as well, collectively known as [[Insurrectionist]]s.
{{clear}}

===Swords of Sanghelios===
{{Main|Swords of Sanghelios}}
[[File:Swords of Sanghelios symbol.png|thumb|150px|left|The Swords of Sanghelios' symbol.]]
The Swords of Sanghelios is a splinter faction of the Covenant formed by the [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]] and [[Shipmaster]] [[Rtas 'Vadum]], based upon an ancient Sangheili order. Formed from the [[Fleet of Retribution|initial alliance]] out of desperation with their former human enemies, the UNSC, they played a key role in ensuring the salvation of the galaxy and start a new era of relative peace alongside the UNSC.

Facing civil war after the end of the Human-Covenant War, the Swords became a major faction within the galaxy's political and military state. Alongside the UNSC they shared the [[Joint Occupation Zone]]s, research and monitoring stations on the Halo rings as well as MJOLNIR armor. Much of the Swords' trouble came from the [[Servants of the Abiding Truth]] and [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s emerging [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant faction]], both directly and indirectly caused by the Office of Naval Intelligence which sought the destabilization of the Sangheili race.

Ruled by a large council of [[kaidon]]s, the Swords of Sanghelios attempt to bring peace and unity to Sanghelios, the Elite homeworld, as well as returning the old values and traditions of Sangheili past. With their UNSC allies, they are succeeding in creating a new era of peace.
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===The Covenant===
{{Main|The Covenant}}
[[File:Covenant LogoHD.png|thumb|150px|The Covenant's symbol.]]
Originally formed by as an alliance between two species; the Prophets ([[San'Shyuum]]) and the Elites ([[Sangheili]]), the Covenant was a theocratic hegemony of multiple alien species. The name "Covenant" is based on the [[Writ of Union|binding Covenant]] formed between the two races, when the Sangheili promised to defend the San'Shyuum as they searched for the "Sacred Rings" ([[Halo Array]]) which are said to start the "[[Covenant religion|Great Journey]]", a term that the Prophets use to explain the disappearance of their Gods, the Forerunner race. The quest of the entire Covenant, the Great Journey is the basis of all of their worship. As the Covenant Empire grew over a millennium, more species were [[Slavery|enslaved]] to their cause, although, up until the [[Great Schism]], none of them were quite as important to the Prophets as the Elites.

At first, the Covenant were mostly held together by a need to survive, but as their society advanced, so did their technology, culture and religion. Now the polytheistic Covenant control a large part of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy and their society is a complicated caste system, with the Prophets still on top, governing the Covenant along with the Elites. The Covenant is a theocracy, based on a prophecy about the Sacred Rings and the Great Journey. The actual context of this prophecy is based on the notion that the Forerunners were so advanced that they had found a way to propel themselves to godlike status using their technology. To oppose this, a parasitic race known as the Flood attacked the Forerunners and attempted to stop the activation of this technology. Before the Flood could stop them, the Forerunners activated the Halo Array, and ascended to godhood. The Covenant design is to find the Halos, and use it to propel themselves to godliness as well.

The three leading Prophets [[Prophet of Truth|Truth]], [[Prophet of Mercy|Mercy]], and [[Prophet of Regret|Regret]] who were the [[Hierarchs]] of the Covenant, wanted to destroy humanity due to the threat they pose to their religion: if humankind really are the Forerunners' heirs, then all that the Covenant believe in is false. Not wanting the truth about the humans to get out, the rest of the Covenant have been told that humanity is a direct affront to the Forerunner, much like the Flood in goal, so must be exterminated if the Great Journey is to be completed.

===Covenant remnants===
{{Main|Covenant remnants|Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Banished}}
After the destruction of the original Covenant in the concluding events of the Human-Covenant War, the former member species fragmented into [[Covenant remnants|many factions]] with varying goals, many of them still hostile to humanity as well as each other.

===The Flood===
{{Main|Flood}}
[[File:H Evol - Mona Lisa Flood Combat Forms.png|thumb|250px|[[Flood]] forms aboard the ''[[Mona Lisa]]''.]]
'''The Flood''' (called '''The Parasite''' by the Covenant) is a species of virulent, parasitic organisms that thrive by consuming other sentient life of sufficient biomass, no matter where in the universe, thus leading Forerunners to the creation of the Halo Array. The Flood appears to be a hive or communal mind, existing in several stages that eventually lead into the creation of a central intelligence known as the [[Gravemind]].

The Flood grow and reproduce via the assimilation of other beings, utilizing corpses and acquiring any biomass (including both animal and plant) in order to spread. They are incapable of sexual reproduction, instead they fester inside a host until a certain time period, after which they explode and many new Flood are given off. Once a Gravemind is formed however, the Flood advance to a stage where they no longer require hosts for this, only biomass and calcium, which they require to feed on, and to build bodies with. Once they have advanced, they create hives which can produce thousands of Flood inside large pustules on walls and other surfaces, which act as incubators. During this stage, the Flood are able to build their own life forms using captured biomass and calcium deposits. The Flood continue in this fashion recurrently until either everything is devoured, or until they are stopped, the former usually occurring.

In modern times, little is known about their origin, except that they arrived from [[Large Magellanic Cloud|another galaxy]] and fought both [[prehistoric human civilization|prehistoric humans]] and Forerunners, eventually defeating the latter. The Forerunners discovered and then fought them until they were overwhelmed after centuries of war. Faced with the Flood spreading throughout the galaxy and consuming every sentient being, the Forerunners created seven artificial rings called the [[Halo Array|Halos]], galactic superweapons in the shape of enormous rings, to contain and hopefully stop the Flood from ever spreading. The point of the rings was to wipe out all sentient life, thus starving the Flood of the sufficient biomass required for them to continue spreading. Through their own interpretation of Forerunner artifacts, the Covenant believed these rings were actually devices that allowed the Forerunner to transcend this plane of existence into godlike state, and thus they seek to do the same by activating them once more, not realizing they would inadvertently wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy if they were to be successful in doing so.

Although it seemed the plan had been successful at eliminating the Flood threat, samples of the organism kept on the rings for study were released on at least two of the installations through accidental means, putting the galaxy once again at risk of complete destruction by the parasite.

===The Forerunners===
{{Main|Ecumene}}
[[File:Main-Forerunner.png|thumb|150px|The Eld, a iconic Forerunners symbol associated with the [[Mantle|Mantle of Responsbility]].]]
Once the dominant civilization in the [[Milky Way]], the Forerunners reached unparalleled technological advancement over 100,000 years before the Human-Covenant War. Believing to be charged by the mysterious [[Precursor]]s with protecting less advanced civilizations in the galaxy, they stumbled upon the Flood and fought a [[Forerunner-Flood war|three-hundred-year long war]] to stop the genocidal parasitic species from overrunning the galaxy. When it looked as if they were going to fail at that task, they built and activated the Halo Array - sterilizing the entire galaxy of sentient life including themselves, starving the Flood into submission, and [[Conservation Measure|repopulating the galaxy]] again with those few species saved from extinction.{{Ref/Film|Hleg|Story=Origins}} 

All that remains now of the Forerunners are the ruins of their ancient temples and cities, a few scattered pieces of functional technology, and their automated combat and maintenance constructs. Their technological brilliance, combined with a garbled version of the Halo activation, led to the Covenant's religion revering the Forerunners as deities, and that this state could be achieved again by activating the Halos. In turn, these attempts led to the Human-Covenant War, and the eventual secession of the Sangheili and their alliance with humanity to stop the Covenant.{{clear}}

===Insurrectionists===
{{Main|Insurrectionist}}
[[File:HM Icon Insurrectionist.png|thumb|left|100px|An Insurrectionist emblem.]]
The Insurrectionists are various rebel groups opposed to the rule of the UNSC throughout human space who seek the colonies' liberation from the Unified Earth Government's influence. Following the rapid volumetric growth of the region of space controlled by the human race throughout the 25th century, the UEG found it increasingly difficult to maintain its hold over the Outer Colonies, hundreds of which were scattered across exceedingly large swathes of space. By 2490, the Outer Colonies surpassed the core worlds in number by several hundred. Despite their more discrete composition, the Outer Colonies proved an ample breeding ground for a strong nationalist sentiment among their citizens which in turn led to their perceiving the Earth government—and the UNSC which imposed its will—as a draconian outside force. In 2513, the UNSC initiated [[Operation: TREBUCHET]], one of the largest operations in UNSC history; spanning ten years and costing hundreds of thousands of lives, the goal was to root out the Insurrectionists and impose order in the Outer Colonies. Following the Covenant attack on Harvest and the onset of the Human-Covenant War in 2525, Operation: TREBUCHET was put on halt by the UNSC. Insurrectionist activity as a whole, while not completely gone, died down during the Covenant War.

After the end of the Human-Covenant conflict, many insurrectionist movements such as the [[United Rebel Front]] which had ceased their operations during the war began to resurface. A number of colonies refused the offer of peace and cut all ties with the UNSC, which, according to them, had abandoned them during the war. Of major significance in the post-war era was the rise of the [[New Colonial Alliance]], founded by rogue UNSC Admiral [[Mattius Drake]], which in early 2553 attempted to hijack the newly-commissioned {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}.
{{Clear}}

==Technology==
{{Center|For more detailed summaries of each faction's technologies, see [[Human technology]], [[Covenant technology]], and [[Forerunner technology]].}}
===Transport===
[[File:Seperatist fleet ark.jpg|thumb|250px|The Sangheili assault carrier ''[[Shadow of Intent]]'' using Slipspace technology to travel.]]
*[[Slipstream space|Slipspace]] is the primary method of faster-than-light travel in the ''Halo'' universe. Humans have not exacted the science of Slipspace jumping, and can often end up hundreds of thousands of miles away from where they want to be, and therefore they work to be inexact, so as not to end up somewhere like the middle of a planet. The Covenant had worked a way around this, as they can pinpoint jump anywhere in the galaxy, even maintaining their formation. The Forerunners had a superior understanding of slipspace technology, being able to create [[Slipspace bubble|technologies]] which allow for manipulation of space-time through slipspace. One of many technologies created by the Forerunners is [[slipspace translocation]], allowing near-instantaneous transit over short distances.
*Wheeled contrivances similar in appearance to today's vehicles are used by the UNSC. However, the Covenant prefer to use [[anti-gravity technology]] assumed to be based on Forerunner technology.

===Artificial intelligence===
*[[Artificial intelligence|AIs]] work at superior speeds and with greater efficiency than biological beings; helping with [[astrogation]], maintenance, managing, and even battle. Human AIs are grouped into two major categories; [[Dumb artificial intelligence|"dumb"]] and [[Smart artificial intelligence|"smart" AIs]]. Dumb AIs are essentially powerful computer programs, which are incredibly intelligent within their programmed fields whether that be battle strategy, or maintaining plantations on [[human colonies]]. Smart AIs, which are created by [[Cognitive Impression Modeling|scanning]] the neural patterns of a human brain, are brilliant and have no limit to their imagination or intelligence other than that of their maximum storage capacity. However, they have a limited lifespan of roughly seven years before they enter a state known as [[rampancy]], which manifests as behavior comparable to human insanity.
*Due to their rigid beliefs, the Covenant only use AI constructs with only the bare minimum in every respect, only capable of piloting ships and have placed a ban on sentient AIs, which they refer to as [[associated intelligence]]s.

===Weapons and armor===
*While the UNSC still uses conventional weapons to a great degree, several innovations have been made. Standard armament on UNSC warships includes both conventional and nuclear missiles, guns of varying sizes, and perhaps most notably, the [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]], a type of [[Wikipedia:Coilgun|coilgun]] capable of delivering metallic projectiles at immense speeds. The UNSC also possesses a handful of [[directed energy weapon]]s, including the man-portable [[M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle|M6 G/GNR]] anti-vehicle [[laser]].
*Most Covenant weapons are [[plasma weaponry|plasma-based]], from their [[Plasma turret|starship weapons]] to the smallest [[Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol|infantry arms]]. Several laser-based weapons are also in use, as well as weapons whose methods of operation are wholly unknown.
*[[Energy shielding]] technology, originally developed by the Forerunners, is featured on most Covenant starships, installations and is integrated in some infantry armor systems as well. During their war with the Covenant, the UNSC have reverse-engineered this technology, though its applications are nowhere near as widespread as in the Covenant.

===Other===
*[[Artificial gravity]] is common on both UNSC and Covenant starships. While some UNSC vessels possess rotating centrifuges to enable this, both factions have developed technology capable of generating artificial gravity through some unknown mechanism. [[Anti-gravity technology]] is also used by both factions on their starships, allowing them to descend and hover in a planet's atmosphere.
*[[Superluminal communications|Instantaneous communication]] over interstellar distances is available to all major factions, with humanity being the most recent civilization to discover a form of this technology.

==History==
===Prehistory===
{{Main|The Forerunner Saga|Halo: Cryptum|Halo: Primordium|Halo: Silentium}}
[[File:Forerunner Saga compilation.png|thumb|250px|''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'' by [[Greg Bear]] chronicles the ancient history of the ''Halo'' universe.]]
Over ten million years [[10,000,000 BCE|ago]], an advanced civilization known as the [[Precursor]]s controlled the galaxy. Having reigned for billions of years and reached the pinnacle of technological advancement, they seeded the galaxy with life and created many species, including humans and Forerunners. The Precursors held the [[Mantle|Mantle of Responsibility]], the guardianship of all life in the galaxy. They eventually decided to give the Mantle to one of their creations and they initially selected the Forerunners. However, the Precursors changed their minds on handing it to them - tasking humanity with it. The Forerunners, enraged by their creators' favoring of humanity over themselves, rebelled against the Precursors and [[Forerunner-Precursor war|wiped them out]] almost entirely. Some Precursors survived by reducing themselves to dust that, although meant to regenerate their original forms in time, was corrupted over the passage of millions of years and would eventually manifest itself in a completely new form - the parasitic [[Flood]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=silentium|Sil}} Meanwhile, the Forerunners would adopt the Mantle to themselves and rise to become the dominant civilization in the galaxy, directing the evolution and development of other species as they saw fit. Records of the truth about the Precursors were lost over time and faded into legend; ten million years after the destruction of the Precursors, Forerunners simply believed that their creators had disappeared and given them the gift of the Mantle.{{Ref/Novel|Id=cryptum|Cry}}

Early humanity first arose on their homeworld Earth, then known as "Erde-Tyrene" and mastered interstellar travel, eventually becoming a [[Prehistoric human civilization|prosperous interstellar empire]] based on the planet [[Charum Hakkor]]. They also [[Human-San'Shyuum alliance|allied]] with the [[San'Shyuum]] species, who would become the ruling caste of the Covenant thousands of years later. Around [[107,445 BCE]], however, humanity stumbled upon the nascent form of the [[Flood]] parasite near the galaxy's edges. Hundreds of systems were lost to the parasite in [[Human-Flood war|a conflict]] between the humans and the Flood as humans desperately sterilized any infested world while securing new colonies for their dwindled populations in the borders of the Forerunner ecumene. Humanity's aggressive expansion and the perceived violations of the [[Mantle]] eventually prompted the Forerunners to take action and [[human-Forerunner wars|go to war]] against humanity. Despite being forced to fight a two-front war against the Flood and the Forerunners, humanity evidently drove the Flood out of the galaxy. However, the Forerunners, led by the [[Promethean]] supreme commander known as the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], eventually emerged victorious over humanity after defeating their last stronghold on Charum Hakkor.{{Ref/Reuse|cryptum}}

Following the war in approximately [[106,445 BCE]], the Forerunners dismantled humanity's civilization, regressing them into a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] species. The remaining humans exiled to their homeworld Earth, where the supreme Forerunner [[Lifeshaper]], known as the [[Librarian]], tended to them and slowly guided them toward developing [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|a primitive civilization]]; unlike most Forerunners, the Librarian saw potential in humanity to eventually become the Forerunners' successors.{{Ref/Reuse|cryptum}}

Circa [[97,745 BCE]], the Flood resurfaced to challenge the Forerunners. Weakened by their struggle with humanity as well as major internal strife, the Forerunners were easy prey to the resurgent Flood. For three hundred years, the parasite claimed numerous Forerunner planets and systems, until virtually overrunning the entire ecumene. As a final resort, the Forerunners - specifically, an individual known as the [[IsoDidact]] - [[Great Purification|fired]] the [[Halo Array]], a network of superweapons which eradicated all neurologically complex life in the galaxy and subsequently caused most Flood to die out. While life was [[Conservation Measure|re-seeded]] into the galaxy by the Forerunners, the few surviving Forerunners themselves would go into self-imposed exile and not return, passing their Mantle down to its rightful inheritors - humanity.{{Ref/Reuse|silentium}}

===Rise of the Covenant===
{{Main|History of the Covenant|Halo: Broken Circle}}
Dozens of millennia after the disappearance of the Forerunners, two original species of the Covenant, the San'Shyuum and the Sangheili, spent years locked in a bitter war over the control of the remains of the Forerunners. The Prophets wished to use the technology to search and explore the galaxy, but the Elites believed such usage to be a desecration of their holy artifacts. As the devastating war ravaged both species, the Elites saw that the only way for them to win was to do the exact thing they opposed; use their own Forerunner technology to adapt and befit their vessels. Eventually, the two species formed an alliance which was formalized with the [[Writ of Union]]. Over the following centuries, many species would be absorbed under the power of the Covenant hegemony, and thus conscripted into the search for Forerunner relics, and later the attempt to eradicate the human race.

===Origin of the UNSC===
{{Main|History of the UNSC|Human colonies}}
In the late 21st and early 22nd centuries, humanity colonized several worlds in the [[Sol system|Solar System]], including [[Luna|Earth's moon]], [[Mars]], the [[Jovian Moons]], and several [[asteroid]]s. In the years [[2160|2160-2200]], various [[National government|governments]] and factions fought for control of Earth and its first colonies. As overpopulation and unrest on Earth mounted, new political movements formed including the Jovian [[Frieden]] and [[Koslovics]] led by [[Vladimir Koslov]], resurgences of [[fascism]] and neo-[[communism]] which waged the [[Interplanetary War|Interplanetary]], [[Rain Forest Wars]] and [[Argyre Planitia Campaign|Mars]] clashes and were defeated by the victorious United Nations Space Command. The Unified Earth Government was established following the conflicts, emerging as the rulers of most of humanity who now faced the problem of overpopulation, famine and economic instability caused by the wars.

In the late 23rd century, humanity developed the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]],