Editing War sphinx

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Vehicle infobox
|name=War sphinx
|image=[[File:Enc22 WarSphinx.png|300px]]
|manufacturer=[[Minoris Assembler Vats]]{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P388|Enc22|Page=388}}
|line=
|model=
|cost=
|length={{Convert|20|m|ftin|sp=us}}<ref name="c43">'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 43''</ref>{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P388}}
|width={{Convert|12.2|m|ft|sp=us}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P388}}
|height={{Convert|10|m|ftin|sp=us}}{{Ref/Reuse|c43}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P388}}
|mass={{Convert|53|MT}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P388}}
|max speed=
|engine=
|hull=
|armament=
|crew=One operator{{Ref/Reuse|c43}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P388}}
|complement=
|consumables=
|othersystems=
|firstuse=
|service=
|role=
|affiliation=*[[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]]{{Ref/Reuse|c43}}
**[[Warrior-Servant]]s{{Ref/Reuse|c43}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P388}}
}}

'''War sphinxes''' were immensely powerful war machines used by [[Forerunner]] [[Warrior-Servant]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|c43}}{{Ref/Site|Id=CryptumGlossary|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/related/text/cryptum-glossary/62e29c59-a3f9-4b63-af76-def71fda5459|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Cryptum Glossary|D=14|M=03|Y=2014|LocalArchive=Halo: Cryptum/Glossary}} Classified as midsize [[Combat skin|fighting suits]],{{Ref/Reuse|c43}} war sphinxes were versatile combat vehicles that allowed an individual Warrior to operate seamlessly in space, air or a planetary surface. Their roles ranged from acting as capital ship escorts,<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 123''</ref> overwhelming enemy ships in large numbers,<ref name="c163">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 163''</ref> or being deployed from orbit and conducting large-scale bombardment operations, boasting firepower to level entire cities.<ref name="c95">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 95''</ref> In addition to their predominant air and space roles, they were also equipped with arms and legs, enabling them to operate on the ground as bipedal combat vehicles.<ref name="c66">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 66''</ref>

==Description==
The war sphinxes were described as being ten meters high and twenty meters long, with an elongated tail that provided lift and power.{{Ref/Reuse|CryptumGlossary}} From the "tail" rose a large rounded torso with a command cabin perched on top. The command cabin was designed to resemble a Forerunner face, with features arranged in an angry or stern expression and two viewports serving as "eyes". The joints of their limbs were composed of [[hard light]].{{Ref/Reuse|c66}} Much like [[Onyx Sentinel]]s, two sphinxes could also merge to create a larger unit, which still retained a similar "face" at the forward surface.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 76''</ref>

War sphinxes were programmed to [[Mind transfer|contain]] samples of their wearer's mental patterns and personalities before they were killed in battle. These preserved personalities were less complete than [[Durance]]s, but could still be studied by a commander to gain useful information. The [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] kept the final impressions of his children, who were killed in battle, within their war sphinxes.<ref name="essences">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 138''</ref>

Ten thousand years after the human-Forerunner wars, [[Builder Security]] utilized a comparable type of machine known as the [[Seeker (vehicle)|Seeker]]; these machines lacked the ornate design of the war sphinx and were easily capable of overpowering the Didact's ancient war sphinxes.<ref name="c195">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 195''</ref>

==Operational history==
[[File:HM Bornstellar-Cryptum.jpg|300px|thumb|One of the war sphinxes (right) that were left to guard the Didact's Cryptum.{{Ref/Site|Id=CU-Entrenched|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/entrenched-endeavors|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Community Update - Entrenched Endeavors|D=28|M=05|Y=2022}}]]
Warrior-Servants utilized war sphinxes in large numbers during the [[human-Forerunner wars]]. During the [[Battle of Charum Hakkor]], war sphinxes were deployed in the thousands against the human fleet in orbit over [[Charum Hakkor]], swarming human vessels in spiraling cloud-like formations and forcing some to crash into [[Precursor]] [[star road]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|c163}} Twelve of the machines, once piloted by the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s children, contained their partial essences after they were killed in battle.{{Ref/Reuse|essences}} These war sphinxes were left to guard the Didact's [[Cryptum]] in the [[Djamonkin Crater]] after he entered his first exile. By the time [[IsoDidact|Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting]] arrived in the Djamonkin Crater in the final decade before the [[Great Purification|Halos' activation]], these suits were considered antiquated and outdated.{{Ref/Reuse|c43}} The war sphinxes continued to serve the Didact, conducting their assigned duties after his revival, and accompanied him as he left Earth on his [[Didact's ship|newly-constructed ship]]. When [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]]'s forces attacked the Didact's ship over [[Janjur Qom]], the war sphinxes attempted to defend the ship and the Didact to the best of their ability, but were outmatched and quickly destroyed by the superior [[Seeker (vehicle)|Seekers]].{{Ref/Reuse|c195}}

Warriors continued to employ war sphinxes well into the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. Several war sphinxes had been appropriated by [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]]'s forces on [[Installation 07]]; [[Chakas]] and [[Vinnevra]] observed these machines herding an enormous crowd of [[human]]s to a [[Palace of Pain]], overseen by the [[Primordial]]. Later, a war sphinx took a captured Chakas and a [[monitor]] housing [[Forthencho]]'s essence to the Halo's [[Cartographer]] where Chakas would be linked with the ring's control interface.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 316''</ref>

Around 100,000 years later, in the mid-26th century, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] retrieved several Forerunner artifacts from [[Halo Array|Halo]] [[Installation 03]]. One of them was the eye of a war sphinx variant.<ref name="fodder">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-have-s-moa '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Have S'Moa'']</ref> It was designated "Specimen 1534" and studied aboard ''[[Ivanoff Station]]''. The ONI scientists [[Halo 4 audio logs#Specimen 1534|speculated]] that it might have been an imaging component and weapon sight belonging to a Forerunner vehicle. They also required the help of SPECWAR in order to analyse the object. By [[2557|July 24th, 2557]], the sphinx's eye remained in [[Catherine Halsey|Doctor Catherine Halsey]]'s former lab aboard ''Ivanoff''.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Composer (level)|Composer]]''</ref> War sphinxes were found in relatively large numbers on [[Trevelyan]] by ONI. The enigmatic controls and complex operational systems plagued ONI scientists seeking to reverse-engineer the technology that powers them.<ref name="Mythos">'''[[Halo Mythos]]''', ''page 137''</ref>

In [[2559#November|November 2559]], the [[San'Shyuum]] [[Kafo Dein]] had pillaged five war sphinxes from ancient weapons stores in the heart of an artifical moon and stored them aboard his ship, the ''[[Vigilance with Piety]]''. After Dein activated the ship's [[self-destruct]], [[Tul 'Juran]], [[Vul 'Soran]] and [[Stolt]] appropriated three of the war sphinxes as an escape method while the stranded [[Jiralhanae]] crew members fought over the last two. Stolt was quickly able to figure out how to control them as the storm cutter's astrogation data had control mapping for the sphinxes, suggesting that Dein had intended to eventually use them. Although Dein sent his ship's Banshees, Seraphs and Phantoms after them, the ancient Forerunner machines easily proved to be more than a match for them despite being outnumbered, quickly destroying most of the enemy craft. A trio of Seraphs heavily damaged 'Juran's war sphinx before she was able to take two of them out, causing it to start venting oxygen and disabling the suit's weapons after 'Juran destroyed two of Dein's [[ren]] shuttles. As a last resort, 'Juran rammed into one of the last two shuttles, causing it to collide with the other one, destroying both. The falling apart sphinx fell into the atmosphere of [[Kus'kah's artificial moon]],{{Ref/Novel|ET|Chapter=6}} but 'Soran and Stolt caught up in time to slow 'Juran's decent enough to land on the moon where a dropship extracted them. The war sphinxes were ravaged seemingly beyond repair in the effort to save 'Juran and were virtually inoperable when they touched down. Although there was discussion about abandoning them during the extraction, 'Soran dodged 'Juran's questions about whether or not the war sphinxes were ferried back to the ''[[Shadow of Intent]]'' for analysis and possible repair.{{Ref/Novel|ET|Chapter=10}}

By [[2560]], the Watershed Division managed to emulate the war sphinx's reflection mirror neural feedback systems and develop the first-generation deep-synchronization interface core, integrated into the [[ERINYES-class Mjolnir]]'s helmets and associated sub-processor modules.{{Ref/Game|Id=Erinyes|HINF|Armor customization (Halo Infinite)|Armor Hall|Detail=Erinyes - Helmet Description|Quote=ERINYES helmets and associated sub-processor modules are built around its first-generation deep-synchronization interface core, a crude emulation of reflection mirror neural feedback systems recovered from Forerunner war sphinx wreckage.}} Watershed Division also reverse-engineered a war sphinx' sensor cluster, developing the Odin's Eye, a helmet attachment compatible with the [[PREFECT-class Mjolnir]], incorporating ultra-tech capabilities on the helmet, such as an hyperscanner for environmental analysis in real-time and anti-baffler camouflage detection.{{Ref/Game|Id=OdinDes|HINF|Armor customization (Halo Infinite)|Armor Hall|Detail=Odin's Eye - Helmet Attachment Description|Quote=Odin's Eye, reverse-engineered from a War Sphinx sensor cluster, incorporates ultra-tech capabilities that allow for hyperscanner environmental analysis in real-time and anti-baffler camouflage detection.}}

==Production notes==
War sphinxes were originally concepted for and intended to [[Cut Halo 5: Guardians enemies#War Sphinx|make an appearance]] in ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', but were cut from the final game.<ref>[[:File:H5GC-WarSphinx.jpg|War sphinx concept art for ''Halo 5: Guardians'']]</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H4 WarSphinxEye concept.jpg|Concept art for the sphinx's eye kept onboard ''Ivanoff Station'' in ''Halo 4''. 
File:War Sphinx Eye.jpg|The eye of a war sphinx on ''Ivanoff Station'' in ''Halo 4''.
File:H5GC-WarSphinx.jpg|Concept art of the war sphinx for ''Halo 5: Guardians''.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]'' {{C|Eye only}}
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Infinite]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''
*''[[Halo: Empty Throne]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Forerunner|technology|category=no}}

[[Category:Forerunner technology]]