Flood San 'Shyuum Form



Prophet Form is a term fans have created to describe Covenant Prophets that have been infected and overtaken by the Flood. Due to their unusual nature, they are not thought of as Combat Forms in the way infected Humans and Elites are. Note that the term "Prophet Form" has not been officially used as canon to date.

It is also worth noting that all "Prophet forms" seen had only just been infected, and may not have been assimilated in the conventional way. The only prophets to be seen being taken by an infection form were the Prophet of Mercy and the Prophet of Truth. However, Master Chief removed the infection form from Mercy, killing him, and Truth was killed by the Arbiter in Halo 3. It is also strange how he was infected because of the forerunner temple he was in was destroyed by a CCS-cruiser's energy projector.

Appearance
The Prophet Form maintains the same general form of a Prophet, but with the decayed skin and appearance of a standard Flood organism. If they have been assimilated by Infection Forms, the form does not show visibly, as their sensory stalks do not protrude from the Prophet. This does not mean that the Prophet is kept completely intact- the assimilated Prophet of Regret had only a single, malformed arm, and was impaled by one of the Gravemind's large tentacles. Also, a human skull can be seen in the top right corner of the Prophet Form, which is probably a part of another assimilated being.

Differences to a Combat Form


The biggest difference between the Prophet Form and that of the conventional Combat Form is that Prophet Forms seen thus far have maintained their personalities to an extent. Combat forms are essentially zombies. They have no sensory organs or cognitive capability remaining, and are subjected completely to the control by the Infection Form within them. On the other hand, Infected Prophets have demonstrated the ability to see, hear, talk, and even act the same that they did before they were assimilated. In this sense, they appear to be more advanced than Brain Forms.

It seems that they sometimes operate as part of a Brain Form, as the Prophet of Regret appeared to be physically attached to the Gravemind. In the case that there is no Brain Form present, the Prophet Form appears to act, to an extent, as the leader of the Flood within an area.

Also a skull can be seen in the top left corner of the Prophet Form. Looking just below the "Prophet Form" the hand of an elite can be seen as well. No other forms of Flood contain skulls.

Note: The so called Prophet Form we have seen may not have been infected by an Infection Form at all, perhaps he was assimilated directly into the Gravemind, that could be why the Prophet maintained part of its mind. Or, it was simply just in the early stages of infection.

Personality
Three Prophet Forms have been encountered, each having radically different personalities. The Prophet of Regret, after being assimilated by the Flood, appeared to maintain his previous personality, almost oblivious to the fact that he had been assimilated. This could be either because he was still partially alive, or because the Gravemind was merely controlling him like a puppet. The Minister of Etiology, on the other hand, was completely unlike his previous self. He acted as a spokesperson for the Flood, even taunting Rtas 'Vadumee by asking him what chance he had of defeating them when the Forerunners had not.

The partially infected Prophet of Truth seen in Halo 3 retained both his personality and acted as a spokesperson for the Gravemind.

These personalities may be related to the command structure of the Flood in the area. In Regret's and Truth's case, they were only a part of a larger intelligence, the Gravemind, so their personality did not need altering. The Legate on the other hand, appeared to be the controlling intelligence of the local Flood because the Brain Form on the ship had been destroyed and consequently his mentality was Flood based.