Jiralhanae Minor

Brute Minor is the lowest and most common Brute (Jiralhanae) rank. The Brutes who have this rank are the youngest and most inexperienced in the Covenant. They are very weak compared to Major Brutes, but still can be challenging, especially on Heroic and Legendary.

Background
The minors in Halo 2 had little or no armor or helmets, though in Halo 3, the Minors have acquired a green with a lustrous blue-green hue Power Armor, though without the shoulder and knee pads, and ankle armor of the higher ranks. They still have chest and back armor, and unlike before, a blue-green helmet.

Halo 2
These Brutes haven't yet earned the right to carry a Brute Shot, which makes confronting them somewhat easier than it's higher ranking counterparts. Since they don't have helmets, it is easy and best to use headshots from a Sniper Rifle, M6C Magnum, Beam Rifle or a Battle Rifle.

They often make tactical errors, such as standing in one place while firing or rushing forward into enemy fire, which one can use to their advantage. They also fire in shorter bursts and have somewhat less accuracy and lower rate of fire. They usually wield Covenant Carbines or Brute Plasma Rifles. Still, it is foolish to underestimate a Brute of any rank.

Bungie Studios was not very happy on the outcome of the Halo 2 Brutes. They said that they were only "damage sponges" and weren't as fun to kill as Bungie wanted them to be. One could simply kill them by standing back and rapidly shooting at them with the Needler or any other weapon.

Halo 3
Much like the Halo 2 Minor Brutes, they are the lowest in rank and therefore do not wield the far more dangerous weapons such as the Gravity Hammer. However, a Brute is dangerous nonetheless and one strange thing is even with their new armor the Halo 2 brutes can take twice the damage but in Halo 2 they are much more vulnerable to headshots, they are far stronger. They most often use Spikers, Covenant Carbines, and sometimes Plasma Rifles. In addition, they have turquoise armor. One of the best ways to kill them is to use a charged Plasma Pistol shot on their armor followed with a Battle Rifle headshot. On lower difficulties, to save ammo, you can melee them. However, use extreme caution when combating Brutes in hand to hand combat as even Minors have the ability to kill obstinate players. On lower difficulties if you get one or two minors wielding a non-vicious weapons in between yourself and a Brute with a Brute Shot, the Brute Shot Brute may fire at you, miss, and kill the minors. However, this is merely for fun and should not be regarded as strategy. The Brute minors have the least combat experience and are the easiest Brute warriors to kill. Frag Grenades are an excellent strategy on Legendary, especially when you have U-shaped cover. Attack the Brutes and then run to the other side of your hiding spot, throwing a grenade while the Brutes' attention is directed elsewhere.

Trivia

 * Although the Brute Shot is reserved for higher ranked Brutes, Minors have been known to wield it on The Covenant.