Editing John-117/Relationships

{{Quote|The thing about John is that he only really knew three ways to react to people. If you were his superior officer, he obeyed you. If you were in his squad, he would die for you. But if you were a threat, then God help you.|Samuel-034 about John's behavior.}}<ref name="HTFORTAS">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''</ref>

John formed close friendships with the other Spartans he grew up with since his childhood, most notably [[Samuel-034]] and [[Kelly-087]], his first friends within the group. While still feeling the loss of comrades deeply, he has grown more accustomed to combat than most soldiers. Nevertheless, he was deeply affected by the deaths of each of the Spartans, particularly Sam. He was also saddened by Linda-058's apparent death aboard Gamma Station and was greatly relieved after Dr. Halsey successfully resuscitated her. However, having accepted the responsibility of command for the Spartan-IIs, he has come to maintain a certain professional distance to his comrades and mostly keeps his feelings to himself to maintain his authority.<ref>''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', ''Chapter 29''</ref>

{{Quote|Exhausted as I am, the steadiness in Chief's voice focuses me. Steels me like nothing else. Because I know he's already three steps ahead.|Kelly-087}}<ref>''[[Halo: Tales from Slipspace]]'', ''[[On the Brink]]''</ref>

Kelly is one of John's closest friends and the longest one to have worked as part of a team with him.<ref name="HTFOR4">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', ''Chapter 4''</ref> After decades spent together, he knows her well enough to know when she is worried without even needing to see her face; just a tiny slump of her shoulders is enough.<ref>''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 32''</ref> Kelly is known to routinely make sarcastic jokes at John's expense, often teasing him about his looks, his intelligence, his awkwardness, his overprotectiveness, and his penchant for "hogging all the fun" during combat engagements.<ref name="HSS3">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', ''Chapter 3''</ref><ref>''Halo: Silent Storm'', ''Chapter 5''</ref><ref>''Halo: Silent Storm'', ''Chapter 8''</ref> John usually relies on Kelly to articulate sentiments he struggles to convey himself.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref> Kelly is a recurring subject of John's dreams.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}}<ref name="HFORBC">''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]'', ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp|Boot Camp]]''</ref><ref name="HFORI">''Halo: Fall of Reach'', ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion]]''</ref>

John's relationship with Kelly began with him stealing crackers from her while she wasn't looking during their first day as trainees in the Spartan-II program.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}} Later that day, the two were put on a team with [[Samuel-034]] based on three lines the children were instructed to form. Kelly was clearly unhappy to be grouped with John. She introduced herself after Sam did so first, but John said nothing to either and believed that she would slow down their team. As such, he raced ahead of his teammates during their first attempt at "[[Ring the Bell]]" and though he finished first, Sam and Kelly got stuck in a line as everyone bunched up at the end and were the last two to cross the finish line. This elicited a glare from Kelly, but John could only shrug. After learning that his team lost despite his early finish, however, John became furious with her and Sam, thinking of ways to get even with them for messing up his victory. He avoided both in the classroom the next day, but when the time came to play Ring the Bell once more Sam threatened to push him off of a raised platform if he didn't help them, with Kelly adding that she would jump on top of him. John agreed to work together as long as they didn't slow him down, and when Kelly pointed out that she was very fast he told her she could sprint ahead and hold a spot for them at a basket which would carry them to the bell. When she took off, John was struck that he had never seen anyone move like her, thinking her similar to [[Wikipedia:Wolf|wolve]]s he'd seen footage of, her feet seeming to barely touch the ground. And though their team only came in third this time, they worked together to make that happen and decided to be friends once they were finished.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR4}} Around one year and ten months later, John, Kelly, and Sam were still a unit and he had come to think of the two of them, along with the seventy-two other trainees, as his family.<ref name="HTFOR5">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 5''</ref>During an exercise in [[Reach]]'s [[Highland Mountains]] in July of [[2519]] Kelly was the first to speak up when John asked for a rabbit, meaning someone fast who could be chased after to lure enemies to a location. Right before she could do just that as part of the plan John had concocted, he offered to be the rabbit instead, which earned him a slug on the shoulder for giving the impression that he doubted her. John, nursing his shoulder, took the suggestion back. A short time later, he didn't even ask when he needed someone to be the rabbit again; he just told Kelly the role was hers.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR5}}

Following [[Project ASTER|the series of surgeries]] which augmented their fourteen-year-old bodies in [[2525]], Kelly took the longest to recover of the members of [[Blue Team]].<ref name="HTFOR9">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 9''</ref> There had been a point where John had even worried she might not survive. When she did pull through, John was glad to see that her face had retained its rough, angular beauty and her body its long slender frame. He was forced to admit to himself that she scared him a little now, for though she had been fast before, now nobody could touch her if she didn't allow it.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR9}} ''En route'' to their [[Operation: TALON|first real mission]] as Spartans John dreamed that he saw Kelly, her face bloodied and bruised, and that she asked him where he had been when they needed him.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}}{{Ref/Reuse|HFORBC}} When John was shot in the side during that operation, Kelly was the one to peel back his [[Black body suit|suit]] to inspect the damage, biting her lip upon confirming that the bullet was still inside and causing lots of internal bleeding.<ref name="HTFOR10">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 10''</ref> She then proceeded to administer [[biofoam]] to the wound, cautioning that it might sting a little, and help him back to his feet. As they were returning from the mission with Kelly piloting a stolen [[Pelican]], John's grunting and wincing in pain made Kelly ask how the foam was holding up and if something else was bothering him. To that, John squeezed her shoulder and claimed nothing was wrong.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR10}} Later that year, the [[Spartan]]s suffered their first loss from combat when Sam was forced to stay behind on a [[Unrelenting|doomed Covenant ship]] due to an armor breach that wouldn't allow him to make the transition to the vacuum of space.<ref name="HTFOR14">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 14''</ref> John had to grab Kelly's arm as they said goodbye to Sam, urging her to not look back. When the ship exploded behind them, Kelly clung to John and he consoled her.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR14}}<ref>''Halo: Fall of Reach'', ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant|Covenant]]''</ref> Months later, Kelly suffered a compound rib fracture during [[Skirmish over Netherop|a boarding operation]], which made John's gut clench.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS3}} He immediately ordered [[Frederic-104]] to move her out of the [[gravity lift]] which had injured her. Kelly protested that she didn't need a babysitter and that John was being ''overprotective'' (which John could tell meant ''being a jerk'') but he countered by saying he didn't need an argument.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS3}} In March of [[2526]] John was attempting to reason with a large group of captured [[insurrectionist]]s and one of them, [[Petora Zoyas|a woman]], attempted to distract him by calling him flattering names and suggesting that he lose his armor so she could get a better look at him. This elicited a choice statement from Kelly in which she made sure John knew her flirting wasn't real.<ref>''Halo: Silent Storm'', ''Chapter 13''</ref> In [[2544]] Blue Team was sent [[Operation: WARM BLANKET|to rescue]] Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]] from [[Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence|a]] Covenant fleet.<ref name="HLTP">''[[Halo Legends]]'', ''[[The Package (animated short)|The Package]]''</ref> As the Spartans moved through [[Resplendent Fervor|the fleet's flagship]] its [[shipmaster]] elected to [[Modular Dispersal Technology|dismantle]] the carrier into sections to halt their advance. This led to Kelly, who had outpaced John and found herself between two large portions of the ship, grabbed his hand and swung him about, using the momentum to send him flying all the way to the next section. This caused John to shout her name then, but upon landing within the ship once more, he paused to face the direction he had come and this time whisper it, plainly worried about her.{{Ref/Reuse|HLTP}}

During the Covenant's [[Fall of Reach|attack]] on Reach in [[2552]], Kelly offered to lead a mission to board [[Gamma Station]].<ref name="HTFOR34">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 34''</ref> Though John appreciated the gesture, he refused to even assign her to the operation because he knew it would be ten times as dangerous as the concomitant terrestrial mission the rest of the present Spartans would be embarking on. John led the mission to the orbital station himself but a part of him still longed to join the ground action and he couldn't help watching the Pelican that held Kelly and the others as it descended to Reach.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR34}} When Captain [[Jacob Keyes|Keyes]] later informed John that the ''[[Pillar of Autumn]]'' had lost contact with its Spartans on the planet's surface and that there were no plans to extract them, he requested at once to retrieve them himself with a dropship. His request was denied, leaving John to desperately try to think of a way to save his teammates. He couldn't.<ref>''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Chapter 37''</ref> During the flight from Reach, John dreamed of Kelly while in [[cryostasis]].{{Ref/Reuse|HFORI}} In the dream, the two of them were children once again, overlooking verdant hills. Kelly asked him if he ever wondered what home was like, a question which he dodged by asking it of her in turn. Kelly then suggested that if [[ONI Directive 930|Spartans never truly die]], then maybe they would have enough time to go home again someday. The Kelly in his dream then answered that she did wonder about home and all kinds of other things.{{Ref/Reuse|HFORI}}

{{Quote|No need to do this by yourself, Chief.|Linda-058}}<ref>''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Blue Team (level)|Blue Team]]''</ref>

{{Quote|All the way to the end, brother.|Fred-104}}<ref>''Halo 5: Guardians'', ''[[The Breaking]]''</ref>

Dr. Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN-II program, acted as a motherly figure to John. She often called him by his name rather than "Master Chief" or "Spartan 117," and looked him directly in the eyes instead of focusing on his medals or Spartan insignia. In fact, John noticed that she was the only civilian to do so.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFoRC24|HTFoR|chapter=24}}

The two first met when John was a child on [[Eridanus II]]. Dr. Halsey visited his school, wishing to evaluate his aptitude as a SPARTAN-II candidate. When she arrived at his school, she found him playing a brutal version of king of the hill with several other children, and winning. Watching John for a moment, she wondered to herself if he would have any trouble pushing her off the hill. After engaging him in conversation and testing his luck with a coin toss, Dr. Halsey let him return to his game, calling him "John" as she departed. As she walked away, she scolded herself for calling "Number-117" by his name, telling her that she should not become attached to the subjects.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFoRC2|HTFoR|chapter=2}}

Following a Spartan-II training exercise during which John-117 stole a [[D96 Albatross]] to take his team back to base, Chief Mendez asked Dr. Halsey what they should do with him. Rather than punish him, she suggested that he be promoted to Squad Leader.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFoRC5|HTFoR|chapter=5}} After the Spartans received their augmentations, Mendez conducted an exercise that was witnessed by Dr. Halsey. During the exercise, she was greatly upset when John was targeted by [[stun round]]s at lethal range and nearly shot.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HTFoRC8|HTFoR|chapter=8}}

In 2552, when Kelly asked if John had survived the war, Dr. Halsey replied that John had always been the luckiest. When informed of the possibility that John might be dead, she struggled to accept it and hoped that John was truly missing rather than killed in action.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HGlaC15|HGla|chapter=15}}{{Ref/Level|H4|Prologue}} Upon discovering that the UNSC had hidden the fact that John was alive, she was shocked and angrily slapped [[Captain (NAVCOM)|Captain]] [[Thomas Lasky]], pointing out that she should have been informed.{{Citation needed}} Later, when Blue Team went AWOL in [[2558]], she told Captain Lasky that John was not mentally prepared to face [[Cortana]] as a threat and asked [[Spartan-IV]] [[Jameson Locke]] to "bring John home."{{Ref/Level|H5G|Before the Storm}}

In [[2559]], when Dr. Halsey tasked Blue Team with gathering top-secret assets from [[CASTLE Base]] on Reach, she was distressed by the difficulties of the mission.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSoRC13|HSoR|chapter=13}} After the mission, she was dismayed to see Blue Team return in poor condition. She asked John if he knew that Spartans were her greatest achievement, to which he responded by asking if she was okay. He wanted to tell her that he and the other Spartans were proud of what they had become, but he struggled to find the right words.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSoRCEpilogue|HSoR|chapter=Epilogue}} Later, while creating [[The Weapon|the Weapon]], she questioned whether John could kill his own friend. Consequently, she suggested him to step down, but he refused.{{Citation needed}}

{{Quote|We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did.|Cortana to John moments before perishing.}}<ref>''[[Halo 4]]'', ''[[Midnight]]''</ref>

{{Quote|no=three|q1=Chief, I won't pretend to know how you feel. I've lost [[Cadmon Lasky|people]] [[Chyler Silva|I care]] about, but... never anything like you're going through.|Thomas Lasky|q2=Our duty, as soldiers, is to protect humanity. Whatever the cost.|John-117|q3=You say that like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Soldiers aren't machines. We're just people.|Thomas Lasky|Lasky tries to comfort Chief over Cortana's death.}}<ref>''Halo 4'', ''[[Epilogue (Halo 4 level)|Epilogue]]''</ref>

{{Quote|no=two|q1=Your people used to call him "Demon." Was that an insult or a compliment?|Jameson Locke|q2=An insult, to be sure, but one with a modicum of respect. He was indeed my enemy, but, in time, I named him ally... even friend. The events which forged this bond are… complicated.|Thel 'Vadam|Locke and the Arbiter about the Master Chief<ref>''[[Halo 2]]'', ''[[The Heretic (level)|The Heretic]]''</ref>}}

John and [[Thel 'Vadam]]'s first meeting on Delta Halo was hostile, with the Arbiter continually referring to the Spartan as "Demon" and John's insistence that the San'Shyuum were making a "big mistake" by activating the Halo rings. This was also complicated by the fact that John was directly responsible for Thel being stripped of his rank and branded with the [[Mark of Shame]] because of John's destruction of [[Installation 04]]. Despite this, Thel would later admit that he possessed a modicum of respect for John even as enemies. Upon their next meeting on Earth, John was quick to try and kill the Sangheili before Johnson stopped him. They remained initially wary of one another, but learned to trust each other in combat against the Covenant and the Flood. Thel proved his trustworthiness to John through actions such as assisting him in the rescue of Sergeant Johnson, or counseling his fellow Sangheili not to glass all of Earth after the Flood outbreak at Voi. When they reached the Ark, the two's reliance on each other was cemented, and John demonstrated his respect for Thel by allowing him be the one to kill the Prophet of Truth. The Arbiter also came to his aid on ''High Charity'' despite having little need to do so, and chose to fight with John to the end in his efforts to stop the Flood and consoled him on Johnson's death. 'Vadam was the last one to see John alive before the latter went missing after the war, and afterward expressed to Lord Hood mild doubt that John might be dead. 'Vadam would later refer to John as a friend with John having reciprocated their friendship,{{Ref/Film|[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection terminal trailer]]|Quote=And your Master Chief calls me... friend.}} and upon learning that he was still alive following the [[Battle of Ealen IV|events]] on [[Ealen IV]], Thel believed that he was the key to the galaxy's future. During the [[Battle of Sunaion]], Thel referred to the Chief as the greatest of all Spartans, and later asked Spartan Locke to give the Chief his greetings. Following John's arrival at Sanghelios, 'Vadam greeted him with a dinner to celebrate their victory over Jul 'Mdama's forces. <ref>''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref> During dinner, Thel led John to a quiet location, where he inquired about how John had fared since the end of the Covenant War. John blamed himself for failing to stop Cortana from attacking the galaxy, his mind weighed down by the burden. 'Vadam noticed his distress and sought to comfort the Spartan, and his efforts did not go unnoticed. Thel reminded John that it was he who had opened his eyes to the lies of the Prophets, giving him hope that perhaps he could do the same for Cortana, revealing the truth to her. John's only response was a heavy, "Were it so easy."{{Ref/Reuse|sunrise}} Upon John and the team's departure, both of them clasped their arms together, ready to take the new threats upon them together once again just like [[Battle of Installation 00|they did before]].