Editing John-117/Early life (section)

==Biography==
===Early childhood===
[[File:JohnBeach.png|thumb|300px|Eridanus II, once famous for its beautiful landscapes, was catastrophically [[H5G:Glassed|Glassed]] by the [[Covenant]] in [[2530]].{{Ref/Reuse|HTTS11}}<ref name="HWF22">''[[Halo Warfleet]]'', ''page 22''</ref>]]
{{Quote|Well, he was a little younger than me, but, let me tell you, that boy did not look like a kindergartner. He was a big kid. My friend, Katrina, and I used to meet him in this vacant lot in the neighborhood. The three of us would build these obstacle courses out of random junk and then race. Ya' know, just kid stuff. On warm nights, sometimes our parents would let us go out to the green space and lie in the grass. And we'd just lie there, stare up at the stars.|Ellie Bloom recalls her childhood with John to journalist [[Benjamin Giraud]] in [[2558]].}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTTS11}}
John was born on [[2511#March|March 7, 2511]] on the [[Outer Colony]] of [[Eridanus II]].<ref name="WaypointMasterChief">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/master-chief-john-117 '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Master Chief'']</ref> He was raised by his [[John-117's mother|mother]] and father and by the age of six he attended school at [[Elysium City]]'s [[Elysium City Primary Education Facility Number 119|Primary Education Facility 119]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR2|TFoR|Chapter=2}} Decades after he last saw her, John could still remember his mother as being very kind and smelling of soap.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTF1|TF|Chapter=1}} She sometimes took him down to the beach where he would play in the sand.<ref name="Scanned">''[[Scanned]]''</ref> John's closest childhood friends were three girls: [[Katrina]], [[Parisa]], and [[Ellie Bloom]].{{Ref/Reuse|HTTS11}}{{Ref/Reuse|HEPH}} John, Ellie, and Katrina would often compete against one another in obstacle courses they built out of random bits of junk in a vacant lot in their neighborhood.{{Ref/Reuse|HTTS11}} He and Ellie, who lived just a few houses down on the same street as his family, would be permitted by their parents to go out to a green space on warm nights to lie in the grass and stargaze.{{Ref/Audio|Id=HTTS11|HtT|Season=1|Episode 01: A Hairline Fracture}} On one of these nights as they lay next to one another John asked Ellie if she ever wondered about aliens and when she in turn asked if he thought they'd ever meet them, he said that he hoped so.<ref name="SN">''[[Starry Night]]''</ref> At school, John was known for being competitive and for being particularly good at winning games of king of the hill that took place on a grassy hill at the end of Primary Education Facility 119's playground. He considered chess to be boring and too easy. By the time Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] met John, he reportedly was not allowed to play [[gravball]] anymore due to his always winning.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR2}} When John wasn't playing various games, [[Wikipedia:Bowling|bowling]] among them, he spent the rest of his free time watching vids.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR5|TFoR|Chapter=5}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}} In [[2517#April|April of 2517]] John had his picture taken and it was the resulting image which the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] later provided to Catherine Halsey.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR2}} On [[2517#August|August 3, 2517]], John and Parisa were playing with one another at [[Lake Gusev]]. Parisa walked too far out into the lake and might have drowned but John saved her life. Afterward, he promised to marry her and always keep her safe.{{Ref/Anthology|Id=HEPH|Evo|Story=Palace Hotel}} Parisa's father took a photograph of the two friends as they laughed hysterically at John's father's antics. Parisa would keep the photo with her long after she thought John had died.{{Ref/Reuse|HEPH}} Over the next two weeks following the incident at the lake, John went on to score forty-five victories in king of the hill at school, leaving his opponents with a dozen broken bones, be they arms, clavicles, or fingers, and himself with a chipped tooth.{{Ref/Book|Id=HJ91517|Dr. Halsey's personal journal|Detail=September 15, 2517}}

===Project: SPARTAN-II===
{{Quote|As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project codenamed SPARTAN-II. You have been called upon to serve. You will be trained... and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies. This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents. This place will become your home. Your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, but I know you will all make it. Rest now. We begin tomorrow.|Catherine Halsey welcomes the abducted children to their new reality.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR3}}
On [[2517#August|August 17, 2517]], John became the first child that Dr. [[Catherine Elizabeth Halsey]], civilian consultant and scientific adviser for the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], paid a visit to.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR2}} John was one-hundred and seventeenth among one-hundred and fifty children of similar age that had been selected based on specific genetic markers for inclusion in [[Spartan-II Program|Project: SPARTAN-II]], which only had facilities and funding for half that number. Halsey and [[Lieutenant Junior Grade]] [[Jacob Keyes]] found John at around 1130 hours on the playground at school while posing as parents inspecting the school for their little girl. John was in the middle of an intense game of king of the hill with eleven other boys and was clearly the dominant contender. When a pair of boys teamed up to take him down, he resorted to kicking, punching, and biting to get free before tearing back up the slop, declaring excitedly that he was king. As soon as the children were unsupervised due to the only other adult present taking a hurt girl inside to the nurse's office, Halsey made her move. She half-jogged over to the hill at the edge of the playground, halting just four meters from the hill's base. The game stopped at her approach, and some of the others teased John, thinking he must be in trouble for his aggressiveness, even though he was sporting a bruised cheek and a cracked lip himself. Halsey singled him out and asked if they might speak, to which he grudgingly agreed, coming down the hill and walking a short distance away with her. [[File:H4L - John 117 flash clone replacement.jpg|thumb|left|300px|John was injected with a drug that made him go to sleep after initially waking and needing to have his mouth covered.{{Ref/Reuse|Scanned}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR4|TFoR|Chapter=4}}]] When she asked his name, John introduced himself and offered a handshake. When she asked what he had been doing, he simply said "Winning." Seeing that the boy liked games, she suggested that he try one of hers: she produced a [[quarter]], once used as currency in the [[Wikipedia:United States of America|United States of America]] on [[Earth]], and dared him to guess which side would land face-up when she tossed it into the air. If he guessed correctly, she told him, she would let him keep the coin. Halsey released the quarter, sending it spinning end over end, but as it fell to the ground John caught it in his upturned palm, confidently exclaiming that it had landed with the eagle facing upwards. To Halsey's great curiosity, he was correct in his declaration. Satisfied that he would make the cut, she bid him farewell and returned to Lieutenant Keyes. Without hesitation, John ran back to the boys on the hill, eager to show off his prize.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR2}}

At some point during the weeks that followed, John was abducted by ONI and replaced with a [[Flash cloning|flash clone]] of himself.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR25|TFoR|Chapter=25}} His flash clone died soon after replacement procedures. ONI operatives initially stole John directly from his bed while he was sleeping at around 0516 hours (local time) and were set to swap him for the clone then and there, but John woke up and had to have his mouth covered and be given a [[Drugs|drug]] to knock him out.{{Ref/Reuse|Scanned}}{{Ref/Film|Id=HTFORTAS|TFoRAS}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}} John was put into [[cryostasis]] and whisked through [[slipstream space]] to [[Reach]], the nexus of the [[United Nations Space Command]]'s [[UNSC Armed Forces|armed forces]].{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR3}} Once revived on [[2517#September|September 23, 2517]], he and seventy-four other children were led into an amphitheater through four sets of double doors, each accompanied by a [[UNSC Navy|naval]] drill instructor. There, at around 2300 hours, far beneath the surface of [[Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex|a FLEETCOM military complex]] (specifically within an ONI facility known as [[CASTLE Base]]), Halsey informed them that per [[Naval Code 45812]], they were thereby conscripted into SPARTAN-II.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR3}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=HMD12|MorDi|Chapter=12}} She explained that they had been called upon to serve and that they would be the protectors of Earth and all its colonies.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR3}} John wrinkled his forehead in confusion at this, but sat up straight and listened to the doctor's words with rapt attention. Halsey told them they could not return to their parents and that from this moment on, the complex on Reach would be their home and their fellow trainees would be their family. And though the training that lay ahead of them would be difficult, she expressed her full confidence in their ability to overcome it. With that said, she told them to rest and that they would begin the next day. [[Chief Petty Officer]] [[Franklin Mendez]] had the children escorted to their barracks, fed, and put to bed. As they were being led away from Halsey, John kept his gaze on her, stoic and unmoved by the drastic turn his life had just taken.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR3|TFoR|Chapter=3}} Trainers took away the quarter that Doctor Halsey had given John but he fought against them doing so, even breaking a few fingers in the process.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR11}}

===Training begins===
{{Main|SPARTAN-II training}}
{{Quote|no=two|q1=But I won. I was first.|John-117|q2=Yes, ''you'' were first. But your team came in last. Remember this: ''you'' don’t win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you lose.|Franklin Mendez|Chief Mendez teaches John and the other trainees a very important lesson.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}}
[[File:JumpingJacks.png|thumb|300px|The first day of training caused John to throw up, which led to a trainer descending on him to ensure he continued the exercises.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}}]]
Whilst dreaming about his mother John was shouted awake the next morning at 0530 hours by Chief Mendez and prodded with a [[humbler stun device]] when he did not pull himself off his cot right away.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}}{{Ref/Comic|Id=HFORBC|FoRBC}} The same scene played out across the barracks with other children and drill instructors. Chief Mendez addressed them all, saying they were to shower at the barracks aft and then return to their cots to dress. At the prodding of Mendez's humbler, John stripped down and joined the other children on a conveyor to be washed in lukewarm soapy water and then rinsed in an icy cold spray. A trunk at the foot of his cot held underwear, thick socks, combat boots, and a matching set of gray sweats with "JOHN-117" stenciled on the chest. Once everyone was clothed, Mendez marched them outside and had them form five rows of fifteen children each. From there, they were ordered through a series of calisthenics which included one-hundred each of jumping jacks, sit-ups, deep squats, knee bends, and leg lifts. After the leg lifts the kids were finally given a respite in the form of water. John had just enough time to flop down on the grass and then roll to his knees briefly before Mendez was ordering them to join him on a run. They jogged through the military compound, past more barracks, along a river, and over a bridge, finally coming to a stop in the courtyard of a naval officers' academy. There John and the others met [[Déjà]], a [[Dumb AI|so-called "dumb" A.I.]] who had been given the job of continuing the trainees' formal education. Within the building, John and the others were served crackers and milk and treated to a history lesson concerning the [[Wikipedia:Battle of Thermopylae|Battle of Thermopylae]]. John, still hungry after finishing his crackers, swiped those that belonged to [[Kelly-087|a girl]] next to him when she wasn't watching. After the lesson the trainees were told they were heading for the playground, but this turned into a two-mile run to a forest of twenty-meter-tall wooden poles, rope cargo nets and bridges, knotted climbing ropes, pulleys, and baskets. Mendez had them form three lines and declared that each row of three would be a team. John found himself in the third team, paired up with a boy to his right named [[Samuel-034]] and a girl to his left, [[Kelly-087]]. John could tell that Kelly was not happy about the arrangement. Chief Mendez explained that they would be playing a game called "[[Ring the Bell]]" in which the objective was for every member of each team to ring a brass bell that hung from a slide pole next to the tallest wooden pole and then make it back to the start. John asked what they would win for finishing first, to which Mendez responded that they would win dinner. The last team to make it back, conversely, would go hungry that evening. As soon as the Chief shouted permission, John took off as fast as he could, scrambling up a cargo net and across a platform. He made it to a basket attached to a pulley, but rather than trying to lift his own weight that way, he opted to ascend directly up a nearby hanging rope. John easily outpaced all the other children and made it back to the starting point first, having rung the bell three times. Elated as he had been to be the winner, Sam and Kelly came back last, as they had gotten stuck in a line that had formed around the end of the course. Mendez congratulated everyone but singled out the members of Team Three, including John, as the ones who would be skipping dinner. He made it clear to John that although he had been first, his team had been last, and thus he had lost. John was greatly upset by this all the way back to the barracks, where he received a liter of water and was soon fast asleep.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}} 
[[File:JohnFredYoung.png|thumb|left|300px|The footage of wolves taking down a moose was played many times in the early days of training in order to emphasize the importance of teamwork.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}}]]
The second day of training began just like the first.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}} The trainees spent the morning doing calisthenics and in the afternoon reported to Déjà to learn. This day, she taught them about the hunting strategies of [[Wikipedia:Wolf|wolves]] and emphasized the importance of the pack over the individual in accomplishing a challenge, such as taking down a [[Wikipedia:Moose|moose]]. Once again, John stole someone else's crackers. When it came time for the "playground" again, Mendez declared that they were to keep the same teams they had the prior day. When Sam and Kelly approached John, Sam gave him a shove and threatened to knock him off one of the poles if he didn't help the two of them. Kelly added to this by saying she would jump on him. John reluctantly agreed to help them as long as they didn't slow him down. The teams had a brief moment to strategize, as the course had been made more complicated as compared to before. Noting that there was still a large basket and pulley at the opposite end, however, John insisted they should all make a run for it as their best option. Kelly claimed to be fast, so John told her to hold the basket for them if she got there first. When Mendez shouted, "Go!" Kelly did indeed make it there first. Another boy tried to get her to give it up to him but both John and Sam came up behind him, pushing him away and telling him to wait his turn. By the time Team Three managed to raise themselves up to the bell, two other teams had already gotten there via other routes. John could tell that Mendez seemed pleased with the change in how he tackled the game. Sam clapped he and Kelly on their backs after their return across the starting line and suggested they should be friends. Both agreed.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}} Three days later, on [[2517#September|September 28]], all the trainees were given haircuts.{{Ref/Book|Id=DHPJS28|Dr. Halsey's personal journal|Detail=September 28, 2517}} John had a [[Wikipedia:Picoliter|picoliter]] of [[blood]] drawn on [[2517#November|November 4 of 2517]] for analysis by a biochemical analysis lab.{{Ref/Book|Id=DHPJextras|Dr. Halsey's personal journal|Detail=additional materials}} On [[2518#May|May 24, 2518]], the children were forced at 0920 hours to run through a course while being shot at with [[paint pellet gun]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}} Each trainee that was hit was made to do an exorbitant amount of push-ups.{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}} By [[2518#December|December 10]] of [[2518]], Doctor Halsey and CPO Mendez had identified John as one of four potential leaders for all the trainees, the others being [[Kurt-051]], [[Jerome-092]], and [[Frederic-104]]. Though Chief Mendez wanted to wager on Kurt, Halsey was confident John would be their leader eventually.{{Ref/Book|Id=DHPJD10|Dr. Halsey's personal journal|Detail=December 10, 2518}}

===Taking the initiative===
{{Quote|no=three|q1=No one’s being left behind. We’re going to figure a way to get ''all'' of us out.|John-117|q2=How? Mendez said—|Kelly-087|q3=I know what he said. But there’s got to be a way—I just haven’t thought of one yet. Even if it has to be me that stays behind—I’ll make sure everyone gets back to the base.|John-117|John demonstrates his commitment to his fellow trainees.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}
[[File:John2519.png|thumb|300px|By the age of eight, John's previous life on Eridanus II had already begun to seem like a distant dream. He had become convinced that his new life as a soldier was what he really wanted.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}]]
John learned more during the first few years of training on Reach than he almost certainly would have ever learned at Primary Education Facility 119 on Eridanus II.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} Déjà taught he and the others [[Wikipedia:Algebra|algebra]], [[Wikipedia:Trigonometry|trigonometry]], and the history of numerous battles and the rulers they happened at the direction of.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} Human history classes included a module devoted to [[Earth]] in which John first saw images of [[Wikipedia:Whale|whale]]s.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS27|HSS|Chapter=27}} Through simulations the trainees learned to pilot various crafts, including the predecessors and variants of the [[GA-TL1 Longsword]]. These simulations even included what to do in the event of a crash landing.{{Ref/Anthology|Id=HEP|Evo|Story=Pariah}} By mid-[[2519]], John could string a trip line, fire a rifle, and treat a chest wound.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} Much of the Spartans' early training took place at [[Military Reservation 01478-B]], known as "Painland" to the soldiers made to endure exercises there.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR27}} As a result of the demanding challenges Chief Mendez put the children through, John spent plenty of time in Painland's emergency first-aid station.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR27|TFoR|Chapter=27}} [[Fenyot Basin]] was a favorite training spot for John and his comrades; there they played month-long games of sniper elimination and stealth tag within its [[Wikipedia:Hoodoo (geology)|hoodoo]] maze.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSOR1|SoR|Chapter=1}} Training often involved obstacle courses and mock patrols.{{Ref/Reuse|HEP}} Mendez tricked, trapped, and tortured the children to the point where they hated, but then eventually, admired him.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HGOO6|GoO|Chapter=6}} John and the others regularly made covert treks to [[Camp Hathcock]] in the [[Highland Mountains]] to pilfer food and supplies.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR24|TFoR|Chapter=24}} John often teased [[Serin-019]] for her habit of taking the leftovers of every other kid she could.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HMD15|MorDi|Chapter=15}} Training in the Highland Mountains was split between Painland, facilities within [[CASTLE Base]], and [[Highlands|another location]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=HFS19|FS|Chapter=19}}{{Ref/Map|Id=HRH|HR|Highlands}} At these locations, John and the others began to be tested against a company of [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|orbital drop shock trooper]]s in jungle maneuvers.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS7}} Amazingly, the children, who averaged around eight years old, often won.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS7|HSS|Chapter=7}} By the time John and the rest had all reached that age they had already earned every combat rating.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS4|HSS|Chapter=4}} All were subjected to [[Wikipedia:Endocrine system|endocrine]] therapy and medical interventions to make them stronger, more resistant to injury, and in possession of quicker reaction times while they were still prepubescent.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HG14|Gla|Chapter=14}} Combat psychology training also supplemented the trainees' education.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HO1|Oblv|Chapter=1}} At some point during their training, John and the others accompanied Mendez to the colony of [[Emerald Cove]], where they were given a mission that involved spending time underwater.{{Ref/Reuse|HFS24}} Mendez sabotaged half the air tanks provided to the trainees, and in response they ended up stealing his. Afterwards, they all ditched the Chief for a whole week while they camped on an island with nothing to do but light bonfires, eat [[Wikipedia:Clam|clam]]s and [[Wikipedia:Calamari|calamari]], and surf.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HFS24|FS|Chapter=24}} At some other point a training mission found John, Kelly, Sam, [[Fred-104]], and [[Linda-058]] descending [[Black Iron Gorge]].{{Ref/Reuse|HSOR9}} The five of them rode through the gorge atop rafts of lashed logs and only ''nearly'' got through the worst of the rapids in one piece thanks to Sam's natural skills as a riverman.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSOR9|SoR|Chapter=9}}

On [[2519#July|July 12, 2519]], all seventy-five children were transported, via [[D96 Albatross]], to a [[Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve|military wilderness training preserve]] in the Highland Mountains.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} While ''en route'' at 0630 hours, Chief Mendez explained that each trainee would be dropped off alone in different locations throughout the preserve with only a piece of various maps provided to them.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}} Their goal was simply to reconvene at a designated extraction point, but the last one to arrive would be forced to walk back to base.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} Mendez announced that John would be dropped off first. He had just enough time after this revelation to sight a lake and the river which fed it out the Albatross' windows and point it out to Sam, who understood John's plan and passed it along to the rest. Dressed in fatigues, a heavy parka, and boots, John ran down the ramp and into the snow-covered forest when the dropship landed just before 0645 hours.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}} He immediately set out in the direction of a particularly sharp mountain peak since he knew from getting an aerial view that the river was in that direction. When he found a stream which led to the larger water body, he followed the direction it took but still kept to the cover offered by the forest. Wild [[Wikipedia:Blueberry|blueberries]] served as a brief snack as he hiked. Once he eventually arrived on the shore of the lake that he'd meant to meet the others at, the sound of someone hooting like an [[Wikipedia:Owl|owl]] signaled that Sam was near at 0801 hours.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}} John and Sam traversed the shoreline, eventually adding Kelly, Fred, and [[Linda-058]] to their number.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}} Sam decided to carve a mark into a tree that they could remember the location by for years to come.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}} They soon after gathered everyone else together in one place.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} John had Sam take [[James-005]], Linda, and [[Fhajad-084]] to scout around them while he watched Kelly piece together the maps from everyone's pieces. It turned out that the extraction point was a full day's hike from where they were so John told the children to move out as soon as the scouts returned. Several miles into their trek, Sam told John he thought that the mission was too easy so far and John agreed that there was likely some part that Mendez hadn't told them about. At noon the children stopped to stretch and eat berries they had gathered along their journey. During the break Fhajad broached the subject of who among them would be left behind, to which John replied that he didn't intend for anyone to be left, but that if someone had to be, he would willingly volunteer.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}
[[File:SquadLeaderPromotion.png|thumb|left|350px|As Squad Leader, John took full responsibility for every failure the other Spartans experienced in the years that followed.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFOR7|TFoR|Chapter=7}}]]
It was near sundown when they finally came upon their destination in a meadow where another Albatross dropship sat.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}} This one was guarded by six men without any uniforms. John and Sam were the ones who scouted ahead and saw the scene first, so they were then also the ones who explained the situation to the rest. John was certain that the men wouldn't just let them board peaceably, so he devised a plan wherein someone who play the role of a "rabbit", luring the men into a trap but being quick enough not to get caught themselves. Kelly enthusiastically took this job. It would be up to her and Sam to convince the guards that Sam had broken his leg. When their guard was down, that was when the rest would strike. John accompanied Kelly to the meadow and gave her the chance to let him be the rabbit instead. She responded with a hard punch to his shoulder for daring to doubt her. When she revealed herself she managed to get one man to chase after her. John crept back stealthily to where Sam lay on the ground, watching for the right moment. As soon as the man, unprovoked, was about to u