Kig-Yar
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Kig-Yar | |
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Ruuhtian
 Ibie'shan
 T'vaoan
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| Biological overview | |
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Latin name: |
Perosus latrunculus [1] |
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Classification: |
Saurian[1] |
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Diet: |
Omnivorous[2] |
| Physical information | |
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Avg. height: |
190–210 cm (6 ft 2 in–6 ft 8 due to hunched over anatomy they appear shorter about 5ft or 155 cm)[3] |
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Avg. weight: |
88–93 kilograms (195–206 lbs)[3] |
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Distinctions: |
Sinewy and slender; dinosauroid features, tridactyl clawed hands and feet |
| Sociocultural information | |
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Homeworld: |
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Native Tier 4 (Adopted Tier 2)[4] | |
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Notable individuals: |
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Also known as: |
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Languages: |
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- "Jackals may be superior marksmen and they're very sneaky, but that doesn't make them excellent snipers — they’re a little too bloodthirsty for that."
- — Anonymous UNSC Marine
The Kig-Yar (sometimes rendered as "Kig-yar"; Forerunner designation: Perosus latrunculus, Latin for "hateful bandit";[12] UNSC designation: Covenant secundarium carnivora prœdonis, Latin for "Covenant secondary carnivorous combatant"[13]) are a dinosaur-like saurian species.[14] Following their assimilation in 1342 CE, the Kig-Yar served the Covenant until its dissolution in 2552. Many went on to aid its remnants as mercenaries, privateers, and pirates, though the majority stayed independent of any such factions.
There are several distinct races of Kig-Yar, though humans have commonly identified two groupings (Jackals and Skirmishers) based on encounters in the battlefield. In combat, Kig-Yar typically served the Covenant as snipers and scouts due to their excellent senses of sight, smell, and hearing.[15]
History[edit]
The Ark and reseeding[edit]
The Kig-Yar were one of many species indexed by the Librarian as part of the Conservation Measure and preserved on Installation 00 from the firing of the Halo Array. They were subsequently returned to their homeworld, where they began rebuilding their culture.[16]
Development of civilization[edit]
The Kig-Yar are believed to have evolved from a saurian species on the continent of Ah'lomet.[17] During their early history, Kig-Yar society was divided into clans that sailed across Eayn's seas as pirates, raiding the encampments and settlements of rival clans.[18] Ancient Kig-Yar once experienced a gladiatorial era, similar to humans. These ancient Kig-Yar would hold inter-clan physical combat competitions in the largest population centers on Eayn's biggest continent.[19] Excessive raiding and piracy on Eayn would ultimately culminate in the Czaalo Wars - a series of large-scale conflicts.[20] Eventually, the clans united, and the Kig-Yar species worked together in developing space-travel technology.[21]
Shortly afterward, they established colonies on many small asteroids and planetoids around Chu'ot. The Kig-Yar on these asteroids were sustained by gray market trade and developed free from the government that dominated Eayn. Some Kig-Yar continued their ancient ways of life and became pirates once more, preying upon merchant starships. The piracy and looting in the system led to the Kig-Yar government's militia recruiting selectively picked Commandos from sectarian societies from the asteroids that orbit Chu'ot. The Commandos fought off the pirates in an extremely ruthless and precise fashion.[19] When the overwhelming Covenant military juggernaut arrived in the Kig-Yar home system in 1342, the Kig-Yar pirates and militia joined forces in an attempt to fend off the alien intruders.[21]
The Covenant[edit]
At first, the Covenant arrived in the Kig-Yar home system with small contingent fleets. These fleets were directly attacked by ruthless Kig-Yar pirates and mercenaries, leading to a long naval war in the system.[1] Despite the sheer strength and numbers of the Covenant, the Kig-Yar used the Y'Deio system to their advantage. It was difficult for the larger Covenant ships to maneuver through Y'Deio's abnormally dense asteroid belt compared to the Kig-Yar's smaller vessels, while Kig-Yar forces could use the asteroids for hiding.[22] The war between the Covenant and Kig-Yar forces culminated in sieges of redoubts on the asteroids surrounding their world. Eventually, realizing the unlikelihood of them winning the war and the opportunity to profit from the expansion of trade, they accepted Letters of Marque: commissions from the Ministry of Tranquility to engage in the services of the Covenant, though often this was merely used as an excuse to continue their plundering lifestyle. The Kig-Yar would spend much of their time preying on the ships of the Covenant's enemies, such as humanity.[23]
Kig-Yar are around the same level as the Unggoy in the Covenant hierarchy, although the Kig-Yar despised the Unggoy and believed themselves to be superior. This reached a boiling point in 2462, when the growing Unggoy population on High Charity put pressure on the Kig-Yar as many of the Kig-Yar were forced to relocate their homes and nests to accommodate the Unggoy. The relocation caused stress for female Kig-Yar that were going through their incubation cycles, and Kig-Yar infant mortality rose on High Charity and the birth rate declined. To exact their revenge, a radical group of Kig-Yar shipmasters poisoned infusions—recreational narcotics the Unggoy enjoyed—on High Charity and on the vessels operated by the Kig-Yar which left many male Unggoy sterile. Although a junior staffer in the Ministry of Concert found evidence of this, the High Council failed to properly investigate the incident, as they were willing to accept several thousand sterile Unggoy rather than risk upsetting the Kig-Yar. As a result, the offending Kig-Yar were not imprisoned and the guilty shipmasters were simply fined for damages. The lack of attention and the case's results eventually culminated to the Unggoy Rebellion. The Unggoy began to attack, not only the Kig-Yar but, all other races in the Covenant. The Sangheili and Kig-Yar faced difficulty quelling the rebellion, which led to an Arbiter partially glassing Balaho to convince the Unggoy to surrender.[24][25]
Human-Covenant War[edit]
- Main article: Human-Covenant War
A Kig-Yar missionary ship, the Minor Transgression, was the first Covenant vessel to make contact with humanity. The ship raided a commercial freighter leaving the planet Harvest,[26] and the events that followed would later lead to full-scale military action on the part of humanity and the Covenant.[27] The Kig-Yar serving with the Ministry of Tranquility would continue to patrol the space around humanity's known territory. The Kig-Yar were responsible for discovering numerous human colonies, such as Madrigal, and would report their findings to the rest of the Covenant fleet.[22]
Following the outbreak of the Human-Covenant War, human encounters with Kig-Yar were brief and poorly documented. Rumors and fragmentary evidence pointed to incidents of Jackal piracy against human civilians.[28]
In 2535, a group of Kig-Yar under Reth discovered the Rubble, a community of Insurrectionists and human survivors of the glassing of Madrigal, while attempting to mine the asteroids in the 23 Librae system.[29] Peter Bonifacio, a member of the Rubble Security Council, made contact with the Kig-Yar and agreed to trade Covenant weaponry in exchange for human slipspace drives.[30] Although the humans believed the Kig-Yar were rebels defying Covenant authority, they were in fact secretly proceeding with the blessing of the High Prophet of Truth to use the weapons to map UNSC space and learn the location of Earth and other human colonies. Reth had created an Unggoy army on a nearby moon with the intents to attack the Rubble with it and use it for Kig-Yar nesting grounds.[31][32] However, the plan fell apart due to the High Prophet of Regret sending Sangheili warriors to investigate the weapons, believing the Kig-Yar to be heretics.[33]
During the Great Schism, many Kig-Yar sided with the Jiralhanae troops loyal to the Hierarchs against the Sangheili. However, the Minister of Discovery predicted that the Kig-Yar would follow whichever side would lead them to profit. [34] Some Kig-Yar protested against the Jiralhanae and San'Shyuum at the dawn of the Schism.[35]
Post-war[edit]
Following the collapse of the Covenant and the end of the Human-Covenant War, the majority of Kig-Yar returned to a lifestyle of piracy and trade. The overall population and social makeup of the Kig-Yar remained stable following the end of the war, with their homeworld and major colonies experiencing manageable growth.[36] Many Kig-Yar had dealings with humans, as well as the former Covenant species, in independent locations such as Venezia; some took advantage of the Covenant's collapse and began to loot