Canon

"Rook"

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"Rook"
Halo Infinite Player Spartan as Depicted in the Halo Infinite Season 2 Introduction.
Rook wearing yellow MJOLNIR [B] armor.[Note 1]
Personal details

Species:

Human

Political and military information

Affiliation:

United Nations Space Command

Rank:

Spartan

 

"Rook" is a SPARTAN-IV supersoldier serving in the Spartan Operations division of the United Nations Space Command. While their real name is unknown, the nickname of "Rook" was given to them by Spartan Hieu Dinh in February 2560, referencing their "rookie" trainee status at the Avery J. Johnson Academy of Military Science, Nysa.[1][2] Rook is also sometimes nicknamed with variations of "wolf" by Spartan Sigrid Eklund.[3][1]

Biography[edit]

Rook was inducted into the SPARTAN-IV program some time in late 2559, as part of a wave of fresh recruits brought on to replenish the ranks of Spartans lost during the Created uprising and the destruction of Laconia Station.[4][5][6] They arrived at the Avery J. Johnson academy on December 20; around a week after the Battle over Installation 07.[7] While on the flight to the academy, they were informed that their commanding officer, Spartan Commander Laurette Agryna, had just recieved word that UNSC Infinity had been destroyed, and Installation 07 was now missing. After arriving at the academy, Rook was tasked with completing a series of exercises and weapons drills, refamiliarising themselves with UNSC weaponry and technology. They then reported to the base's AI laboratory, where they were given a personal AI, BUTLR. After completing these exercises, Rook was put into a simulated arena combat exercise alongside Spartans Agryna, Page, and Ionescu; fighting against Denning, O'Brien, Leung, and Eusebio. After winning the match, Agryna departed, and Rook continued their Spartan training.[8]

On February 15, 2560,[7][9] Rook was present for the arrival of Spartans Sigrid Eklund and Hieu Dinh at the academy, following their mission to the Chiltift Basin shipbreaking yards on Camber. During the mission, Dinh had been attacked and his neural interface infected by a smart AI based on a Jiralhanae brain; Iratus. Rook assisted Eklund in carrying Dinh inside the base for medical assistance.[10] Three days later on February 18,[9] Commander Agryna ordered Rook and the other Spartans in the base to begin training in the academy's simulators in order to try and draw Iratus out of Dinh's neural chip. This worked, and caused Iratus to be trapped inside the academy's servers - making way for Dinh's recovery two days later.[11] Eklund proceeded to thank Rook for the assistance, and gave them some advice about deployments outside of the academy's walls,[12] alongside given them her collated field notes.[5] When Rook was later introduced to Dinh, they were thanked once again, with Dinh proceeding to gift Rook an M392 "Bandit" designated marksman rifle and encouraging Rook to practice with it, and that once they were proficient with the weapon to come and find him again. While Iratus had been inside Dinh's mind, the AI had trawled through his memories, including those of the history of the academy, when it was still an Office of Naval Intelligence facility.[3]

A week after Dinh's recovery, on February 29,[7][9] Rook joined Dinh for an expedition into some sealed-off parts of the academy. Dinh used the opportunity to teach Rook about the base's history, though was interrupted when they arrived in an old underground laboratory to find that Iratus had escaped containment was busy analysing the base's network, inhabiting a suit of Mirage IIC armor held in a Brokkr Armor Mechanism.[13] Iratus jammed the two's communications as he taunted the Spartans, before proceeding to take control of the academy's systems more broadly. Dinh ordered Rook to get a crew together to warn the base's outlying outposts of what was happening while he proceeding to the AI lab to inform Commander Agryna of the threat. Iratus was ultimately able to call in Banished reinforcements to begin an attack on the academy alongside preventing the UNSC from evacuating; as such, Rook (alongside the rest of the base's personnel) was left to assist in fortifying for the inevitable Banished invasion which arrived on March 3.[1]

The Banished invasion of Nysa began with a single dreadnought deploying drop bases and drop pods onto the planet, with a focus on the academy. During the ensuing battle, Rook was among a group of Spartans who fought to enact the Cole Protocol, purging the base's information stores to prevent enemy access, and also triggering the RUINA subroutine - forcing Iratus to take shelter in the AI lab's compartmentalised servers where he was ultimately recovered by Ilsa Zane.[2] Ultimately, Rook was able to escape the facility with several other Spartans, fighting through to the academy's outlying outposts where they were extracted by a D77 Pelican dropship.[14] It is unknown whether the Pelican was able to make it to UNSC Fearful Symmetry for evacuation to Anvil Station, as with Pelican Bravo 198 which extracted Agyrna, Eklund, Dinh, and Vesco.

Production notes[edit]

Rook serves as the player point-of-view character for the events depicted in Halo Infinite's short-lived multiplayer narrative. As with previous player-determined characters such as Fireteam Crimson, many of the details surrounding Rook including their name, age, sex, gender, pre-SPARTAN history, preferred equipment and personality are left ambiguous as to allow the player to more easily imagine themselves as the character.[4]

In the official YouTube upload for the Halo Infinite Season 02: Lone Wolves Intro Cinematic, Rook is depicted as wearing yellow-coloured MJOLNIR Mark V [B] armour, while in the official upload for the Mindfall cinematic they are depicted as wearing the game's default armour; grey Cavallino helmet on a Mark VII core. However, in-game, the armour changes to reflect that selected by the player, similarly to that of Noble Six in Halo: Reach or the aforementioned Fireteam Crimson in Halo 4.

During the Last Stand update in summer 2025, Halo Studios released an official Firefight playlist called Firefight: Battle of the Academy. The playlist contained two missions, "The Cole Protocol" and "Out With a Bang"; these two missions depict a canonical engagement fought by Rook during the Banished invasion of Nysa - with the former referenced in passing in the simultaneously-released Halo: Battle for the Academy - Part 2.[9]

Gallery[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Rook's appearance is determined by the player; as such, this infobox image uses a configuration of armor depicted by Halo Studios in the game's officially-released material. See production notes for further details.

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Halo: Battle for the Academy - Part 1
  2. ^ a b Halo: Battle for the Academy - Part 2
  3. ^ a b Halo Infinite, Mindfall
  4. ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Showcase Sensitive (Retrieved on Jun 16, 2021) [archive]
  5. ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Eklund's Ensemble (Retrieved on Jul 20, 2022) [archive]
  6. ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Lore of the Jungle (Retrieved on May 6, 2022) [archive]
  7. ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Tasty Tomes (Retrieved on Mar 24, 2025) [archive]
  8. ^ Halo Infinite, campaign level Tutorial
  9. ^ a b c d Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Falcon Fiction Flight (Retrieved on Aug 6, 2025) [archive]
  10. ^ Halo Infinite, Season 02: Lone Wolves: Intro Cinematic
  11. ^ Halo Infinite, Interference
  12. ^ Halo Infinite, Alpha Pack
  13. ^ Halo Infinite, Site Unseen
  14. ^ Halo Infinite, multiplayer map Firefight: Battle of the Academy: Out With a Bang
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