Manuel Mendoza
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Manuel Mendoza | |
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 Manuel Mendoza (right) in Wallace Jenkins' helmet recording.
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Brown |
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- Manuel Mendoza: "Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?"
- Avery Johnson: "Watch your mouth, son. This "stuff" is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect."
- Manuel Mendoza: "Hey... if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me."
- — Mendoza and Johnson in regards to flip music.[2]
Private Manuel Mendoza was an enlisted serviceman in the UNSC Marine Corps.[3] Serving as a rifleman on Fireteam Charlie,[4] he was attached to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn in September 2552 and participated in the Battle of Installation 04.[5]
Biography[edit]
Battle over Installation 04[edit]
- Manuel Mendoza: "We can't stop them!"
- Avery Johnson: "Stay cool, Mendoza! What do you expect, rifleman? You think this pleasure cruise is going to last forever?"
- — Mendoza and Johnson fighting the Covenant aboard the Autumn.[4]
Manuel Mendoza was one of the Marines stationed on the UNSC Pillar of Autumn when the ship escaped from the Fall of Reach on August 30, 2552.[6] On September 19, he was listed as a member of Marine Security Detail B on Bravo Shift on Pillar of Autumn's duty roster alongside Chips Dubbo and O'Brien.[7] When the ship arrived at Installation 04 on September 19, it was attacked by the Covenant, marking the beginning of the Battle of Installation 04.[6] Led by Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, Mendoza and the rest of his fireteam repelled Covenant boarders.[4] After escaping aboard an SKT-9 Bumblebee, Mendoza and several members of his fireteam survived the crash landing on Installation 04 and found refuge at a nearby beacon tower. The survivors soon came under attack from Covenant forces; they were rescued by John-117, and then evacuated by Echo 419.[5]
Encounter with the Flood[edit]
Later on, Mendoza was part of the UNSC team led by Captain Jacob Keyes and Sergeant Johnson, to secure a supposed Covenant weapons cache that a captured Sangheili, 'Qualomee, had disclosed to them during an interrogation.[1] Unbeknownst to them, the "cache" was in fact a Flood containment facility. Inside the facility, the marines and Captain Keyes were ambushed by Flood pod infectors. Though Mendoza held off the Flood for a while, unlike his comrades, he attempted to flee the chamber against Keyes' orders. Mendoza was killed, and his body was left lying against the chamber's locked door.[2][8][Note 1]
John-117 later found a Flood-infected Mendoza in the facility. Since John-117 had not seen a human Flood attacker form until then, he attempted to communicate with the creature, unaware that the marine's consciousness had already been taken over by the Flood. The infected Mendoza attacked the Spartan and took three shells from the Spartan's M90 shotgun before falling to the ground. As the corpse-like horror came apart, the Spartan saw that one of the pod infectors had taken up residence inside Mendoza's chest cavity and seemed to have extended its tentacles into other parts of what used to be Mendoza's body.[3]
Personality and traits[edit]
Mendoza disliked flip music, a genre of music which Sergeant Johnson greatly enjoyed, much to the chagrin of his squad.[2]
Production notes[edit]
- In all his game appearances, Manuel Mendoza was voiced by Mark Dias.[9][10][11] Three out-takes from Mark Dias' recording sessions were featured on Bungie.net.[12]
- In the campaign level 343 Guilty Spark, there is a glitch that allows the player to remain on board the Pelican by repeatedly throwing grenades out of the Pelican. Once the Pelican lands, the player may run around the perimeter of the level, where Private Mendoza stands alone. If stuck with a plasma grenade, his body is thrown surprisingly high and far (almost comparable to when the Sputnik Skull is activated in Halo 2). Joseph Staten explained that he wanted Mendoza's model to load before the cutscene that he later appears in; Staten thus coded Mendoza to load early in the level, and simply used the area outside of the level as a storage area. Mendoza, unarmed, can be shot and killed, just like any other Marine.[citation needed]
- Mendoza's line "I have a bad feeling about this," may be a reference to the iconic line in the movie Aliens, soon before the marines are ambushed by xenomorphs. The same line was also used as an iconic line in Star Wars. The line is later referenced again by an Unggoy in the Halo 2 campaign level The Oracle.
- Halo: The Flood and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary both introduce discrepancies to Mendoza's actions and fate in the facility. In Halo: Combat Evolved (and faithfully recreated in Halo: Campaign Evolved), Mendoza is a central character in Jenkins' helmet recording. Mendoza notably points out the dead Sangheili's open chest cavity and later uses a spoofer to unlock the door into the chamber holding the Flood pod infectors; John-117 then finds Mendoza's uninfected body at the very same door. In Halo: The Flood, the marine who uses a spoofer to open the chamber's door is identified as Kappus, while the dead marine at the door is not identified by name; instead, Mendoza is the first human Flood attacker form the Spartan encounters after the Spartan descends into the facility's lower level via an elevator. Additionally, in Halo: Combat Evolved, during the marines' encounter with the Flood, it is Mendoza who says, "There's too many, Sarge!" In Halo: The Flood, the line is said by Jenkins, with "Sarge" being omitted.[1] In Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, John-117 also finds Mendoza's uninfected body at the door, but a different marine — presumably Kappus, who does not wear a boonie hat — investigates the dead Sangheili and unlocks the chamber's door using a spoofer. The cinematic in Halo: Campaign Evolved retains the original series of events, though, rather than running off-screen, Mendoza runs into both Wallace Jenkins and Jacob Keyes when he flees, then trips and falls over at the door.
- Mendoza's appearance varies across the games. In Halo: Combat Evolved, Mendoza is clean-shaven, and wears fatigues as well as a boonie hat. In Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Mendoza wears a full set of body armor, but retains his boonie hat; during gameplay, however, his character model has a different face compared to the cinematic model. In Halo: Campaign Evolved, he has a moustache, and wears a full set of body armor, including a CH252 helmet, which has an O/I optics device along with his surname printed on the back of his helmet much like Jenkins.
Gallery[edit]
Halo: Combat Evolved[edit]
John-117 secures his rear while carrying Mendoza's body.
John-117 sets down Mendoza's body.
Mendoza in Victor 086's troop bay while en route to the Flood containment facility.
Mendoza uses a spoofer to unlock a door in the facility.
Mendoza waves for the other marines upon successfully opening the door.
Mendoza flees from a battle against the Flood.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary[edit]
Mendoza's body in the Flood containment facility.
John-117 sets down Mendoza's body.
Mendoza in Victor 086's troop bay while en route to the Flood containment facility.
Mendoza flees from a battle against the Flood.
Halo: Campaign Evolved[edit]
Mendoz (lower middle) repelling Covenant boarders aboard the Autumn.
Mendoza's body in the Flood containment facility.
John-117 carrying Mendoza's body.
John-117 secures his rear while carrying Mendoza's body.
Mendoza (middle) in Victor 086's troop bay while en route to the Flood containment facility.
Mendoza speaking to Captain Keyes.
Mendoza (left) and his team fighting the Flood.
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
- Halo: The Flood
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Halo: Campaign Evolved
Notes[edit]
- ^ The specifics around Mendoza's involvement and fate vary between Halo: Combat Evolved and its adaptations. See this article's production notes section.
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Halo: The Flood, chapter 6
- ^ a b c d Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level 343 Guilty Spark
- ^ a b Halo: The Flood, chapter 8
- ^ a b c Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn
- ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level Halo
- ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn
- ^ Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn: Bulletin board duty roster
- ^ Halo: Campaign Evolved, campaign level 343 Guilty Spark
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, credits
- ^ halo.bungie.org, Voice Acting (Retrieved on Dec 27, 2001) [archive]
- ^ Halo: Campaign Evolved, credits
- ^ Bungie.net, Halo (Xbox) Voice Outtakes (Retrieved on Jul 13, 2013) [archive]
