M313 Elephant

Elephant

The Behemoth-class Troop Transport, colloquially known as the Elephant, is a heavy UNSC Marine Corps Mobile Assault, Support, and Recovery Platform. It appears in Halo 3 on the multiplayer map Sandtrap and as a unit in Halo Wars. The Elephant has two turrets, a detachable one on the side and one that is similar to the LRV Warthog's stationary M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun that cannot be detached from its position. The Behemoth-class also houses a Mongoose in its lower bay, but can be made to hold three Mongooses in the front with two in the back with two Warthogs. The Elephant seems to serve a similar role to the Shadow of Halo 2, albeit much slower, larger and less maneuverable.

Specifications
The Elephant is a mobile command base and repair vehicle. It can hold as many soldiers as you want to ride in it, and a Mongoose spawns in its forward hold. It is armed with a forward M41 LAAG on the top right and a AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun on the mid left. It is a three storied vehicle with the bottom storey, the respawn locale that opens out into the rear cargo tray, the second story, a walkway around the cargo ramp and leads onto the driver's cabin then a small, elevated third story where the M41 LAAG is assembled. It features a crane, numerous firing ports and elevated positions for defending it. It has four tracks set up on each side of the chassis. Its chassis is as high as they are wide, providing stability. An IGN video shows its top speed, driver's cabin and turrets. It's maximum speed is 2.24 MPH (Based on the 1 meter/second figure).

In Multiplayer, it can spawn troops, and holds crucial points of objective gametypes. Therefore, in CTF you can actually bring the Capture Point to the enemy flag, although this makes it easier for the enemy to steal yours. The Elephant is one of the best weapons on huge battles, since it is basically a drivable fortress, though it it not very effective with only a few people. Although it may not seem possible, the Elephant cannot be destroyed. In addition to the Elephant's indestructibility, it also grants the driver a few advantages. Due to the indestructible nature of the Elephant, the driver is immune to damage from frontal fire, though rarely Spartan Laser blasts may penetrate the driver's window and kill him. However, the pilot is not immune to damage and any shots from behind will hurt him as they would normally, and he can be easily assassinated. In Forge, the Elephant cannot be picked up by the monitor. However, through modding, one can pick up the elephant and read the information on the Elephant. In another variant of Sandtrap, called Sand Tarp, Bungie used a special Forge tool to remove the Elephants from the map.

Halo Wars
The Elephant also appears in Halo Wars as an Armored Personnel Carrier or mobile infantry barracks, capable of creating troops in the field and/or deploying them while defending itself. The elephant still has a crane, though it looks ill suited to repair and recovery as it now mounts three M41 LAAG weapons, one on the top of the drivers cabin and two at the rear on each side of the troop bay. These appear to be remotely operated. The troop bay is enclosed and features a rear dropping ramp. The front also has an enclosed ramp along with deployable support struts on the first, possibly meaning it 'deploys' into becoming a field barracks or these are used in repair and recovery, like modern repair and recovery vehicles. It also appears in concept art to mount a roof mounted cannon, a possible unit upgrade. Like other Halo Wars units this vehicle has been dimensionally altered, particularly as the bay on the rear has been shrunk (two persons high to one person high) and the bogeys are now the same size.

Halo Wars Stat

 * Costs: 400 Resource units and requires 2 Pop. Cap. and 0 energy units
 * Is capable of building SPARTANs and possible other infantry.

Known Elephants

 * E-2073 46833-S  - UNSC Elephant stationed on Sandtrap (It is interesting to note that both elephants on the level Sandtrap are almost completely identical, including having the same identification numbers). They both have nicknames: one is called the "Behemoth," while the other is called the "Leviathan" and they both have different insignias painted on their sides. Another means of identification is that below the M41 turret at the front is the number 3 for the Behemoth and a number 5 for the Leviathan, also on the Leviathan is another number 5 on one of the panels at the top of the outer left hand side of the cargo tray.

Elephant Flight
There are two (or more) methods of achieving the flight of an Elephant on the mutiplayer map Sandtrap, in Halo 3. The first, is the well known technique of filling the hull with explosives, set to instant respawn, and setting them off. This method achieves minimal Elephant flight, in which the player lacks control of the flight and trajectory of the vehicle. The second, is another well known method, which is exemplified in "The Mammoth", a fan-made multiplayer variation of Sandtrap. By connecting the "wings" of a hornet to an Elephant, the player can lift the Elephant off of the ground with the propulsion system of a hornet. By this method, the player can control the flight of the Elephant by assuming command of the hornet which is lifting it off of the ground, albeit with some difficulty. The third method is by putting two closed drop pods under the walkway and putting a grav lift under them. See "Flying Elephant" for full information on how to do this.

Trivia

 * If you go to the bottom level of the Elephant, there is a screen which details about the vehicle's specification such as Mobile Assault Support and Recovery Platform Statistics and Environmental Analysts. It is interesting to note that it says there are two mobile turrets (that you can rip off) while there is actually only one. Perhaps one was removed for balance issues as there is a vacant spot opposite of the other.
 * The only part of the Elephant that can be visibly damaged is the shield for the M41 LAAG Machine Gun Turret.
 * Weapon Holders will not work on the Elephant. Why they can't hold weapons on the Elephant is unknown but it is probably because weapon holders simply don't work on moving objects.
 * If by some chance you do manage to flip over an Elephant, the usual "Hold RB to flip " script dialog is replaced with "Hold RB to flip...wait, what? How did you do that?", referencing the fact that it is the biggest vehicle in the game and that it is seemingly impossible for it to be flipped, even by Spartans, or Elites. (See Elephant Flipping)
 * On the left hand side of the red team's Elephant there is a spray-paint graffiti with text that reads "BEHEMOTH" and a red cartoon picture of a woolly mammoth. On the blue team's elephant it says "LEVIATHAN" and has a picture of a blue, whale-like sea creature sporting a mean grimace and wearing a comically tiny golden crown. The Behemoth and Leviathan are two scriptural creatures that are enormous in stature and girth. The Elephant's size is probably what gave them these calsigns. Leviathan is aquatic and the Behemoth is terrestrial.
 * The name "Elephant" is a possible reference to Fred Saberhagen's classic science fiction book Empire of the East in which the protagonist defeats an oppressive empire in a post-apocalyptic future using a giant nuclear-powered tank known as the Elephant.
 * The Elephants are capable of fitting a single Scorpion inside when the tank is being carried in Forge. This can allow you to wedge the tank inside and pick up the Elephant - unfortunately a little less gracefully than most vehicles.
 * If the Elephant is flipped, a planted bomb or a flag on its stand will stay in the same spot, essentially flipping with the vehicle, rather than dropping to the ground.
 * The Elephant is the only drivable vehicle where you can place Turrets on it without them moving when you drive off. If you placed a crate or two in the cargo bay of the Elephant and place a turret on top of them and then delete the crates, then you can drive the Elephant with the Turret keeping place over the Elephant without it moving.
 * Gears of War 2's Derrick looks a lot like the Elephant. Similarly, it bears a slight resemblance to the Jawa Sand crawler from Star Wars.
 * The Elephant is the slowest drivable vehicle in the Halo series, moving only slightly slower than normal Spartan/Elite running speed.
 * The seemingly glass windshield in front of the driver actually is able to protect from any kind of attack except Spartan Lasers without damage; this is probably a balancing action, because the Elephant is so slow. In addition, the driver can only be attacked from the back; all other sides are completely protected.
 * In Halo Wars, the Elephant serve as a mobile barrack; however it appears to have a closed roof with indoor lighting, and a larger ramp.
 * Flipping an Elephant can be accomplished if you put every explosive you have into it in Forge, save it, then use it in regular Multiplayer.
 * You can honk the horn by pressing RT. It sounds like the sounds emitted from the Tripods seen in the movie, War of the Worlds, a low honking that resembles that of a foghorn.

Related Pages

 * Shadow- Covenant equivalent in Halo 2.