List of Marathon References in Halo



This is a list of most, if not all the references to Marathon that Bungie put in the Halo games, most of which are sightings of the Marathon logo, as seen to the right.

Halo: Combat Evolved

 * The front cover of the game has the Marathon logo between the "a" and the "l" of the word Halo.
 * 343 Guilty Spark has the Marathon symbol around his eye and on his eye.
 * Captain Keyes has the ship's Emblem of the Pillar of Autumn on his uniform, that has the Marathon logo on it.
 * Captain Keyes pipe has the Marathon logo on it.
 * Captain Keyes has the Marathon logo on his coffee cup.
 * The Control Room's (from the level Assault on the Control Room) main chamber, when viewed from the top, is shaped like the Marathon logo.
 * Cortana- The Marathon AI Durandal, is named after a mythical sword. Cortana is a sword which bears the inscription: My name is Curtana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durendal.
 * Dialogue- Sometimes Grunts or Marines will shout "They're everywhere!", similar to the BOBs of Marathon.
 * Foehammer- A level in Marathon: Infinity is called "Foe Hammer".
 * Level title- Marathon has a level named "If I Had a Rocket Launcher, I'd Make Somebody Pay," Halo has a level called "If I Had a Super Weapon..."
 * Light markers- The Covenant light markers in Two Betrayals bear a resemblance to Pfhor staves.
 * MJOLNIR- There are Mjolnir Mark IV cyborgs in Marathon, there is Mjolnir Mark V battle armor in Halo.
 * On the back part of the Halo rocket launcher it says "SPNKR" which is a reference to the Rocket launcher of Marathon, the "SPNKR X-18 SSM Launcher".
 * Pillar of Autumn - The Marathon logo can be seen on the side of the ship.
 * Warthog- The Marathon logo can be seen on the dashboard panel.
 * Silent Cartographer- The center of the island is shaped like the Marathon logo.
 * Halo PC Loading Screen- If you brighten the gamma on Halo PC a lot, you can see what looks like the Marathon symbol etched in the background of the first loading screen.
 * Spirits - The Marathon logo is on the front of the cockpit.


 * The Flamethrower in Halo PC has a similar name to the flamethrower found in Marathon: 7057 = TOZT
 * The Flood resemble the Zombie Pfhor, an enemy which was cut from Marathon 2 during its development.
 * The Plasma Pistol is much like the Fusion Pistol from the Marathon series, which also shares a vibrating overcharge shot.
 * On the Plasma Grenade the Marathon logo is visible on the orange part.
 * Grunts are similar in design to the generic Pfhor fighters, both being gray-skinned with gangly limbs, with unprotected heads but wearing masks over their mouths (though this is a loose comparison). This continues in Halo 2 and Halo 3.
 * Sergeant Johnson on the level 343 Guilty Spark may say "Oh God, I recognized that one. That was Bob!"
 * The Master Chief's Spartan Number is 117. In Marathon Infinity there was a hidden multiplayer map called Hats Off to 819 (named after fan Hamish Sinclair, H=8, S=19) 819 divided by 7 is 117

Halo 2

 * UESC- Lord Hood says, "United Earth Space Corps," Marathon features the Unified Earth Space Council, both share the UESC acronym.
 * Marathon cruiser- On the first cutscene of the games we can see a Marathon-Class Cruiser near Cairo Station.
 * The Marathon Logo can be applied as a 'decal' to the multiplayer avatar/flag.
 * The Marathon symbol is also used in the Halo 2 Multiplayer online as a gamer tag symbol.
 * The Marathon logo can be seen on the Doors on the level Regret.
 * If you get outside the level Burial Mounds, look at the rubble by the "ribs" a large piece of debris is engraved with the logo.
 * On the map Midship, you can see the Marathon symbol on Africa (best viewed with scope).
 * The Enforcers' shields make up a Marathon symbol.
 * If you melee with a shotgun, you can see a Marathon symbol on the silver casing.
 * The multiplayer map "Foundation" is based off of the Marathon "Thunderdome" levels.
 * The multiplayer map "Gemini" is based off of the Marathon level "Duality". This is supported by the map's description, mentioning the "ancient duality of the Covenant..."
 * On Headlong, in the building which houses mostly human weapons, if you look at the second floor from above it makes out the Marathon Logo
 * If you look at the multiplayer map "Ivory Tower" from above, you will see that the circular courtyard and the small ditch which the water runs along makes up a Marathon logo.
 * The Elite rebellion against the Covenant parallels similar events in the Marathon series. In Marathon 1, Durandal convinced a group of S'pht to rise up against the Pfhor who enslaved them; and after Durandal's disappearance in Marathon 2, the rebel S'pht found themselves stranded together with a group of humans on a hostile world (similar to the Elites' predicament on Delta Halo).
 * The player's main goal in Halo 2 is to stop the Covenant from inadvertently destroying all life in the galaxy with the Halo installations; in Marathon Infinity, it was to prevent the Pfhor from inadvertently releasing a galaxy-destroying chaos being.
 * Some Marines can be heard saying "Eat it, boy!", possibly referring to the Marathon 2 level named "Eat it, Vid Boy!"
 * The Oddball skull has the Marathon logo in its eye.
 * There is a sub-chapter in The Great Journey named "Delusions and Grandeur". Marathon Infinity has a network level named "Delusions of Grandeur".
 * In the level Uprising, when you get to the final cutscene at the end and the level Great Journey begins, go back to the door and you can see two Marathon logos on the door.
 * In the level Great Journey, there are two Marathon logos on the large door by the part with the two wraiths.
 * Also in Uprising, there are two Marathon logos on the big door that leads to the outside part of the level.

Halo 3

 * The weapons are often decaled with Marathon symbols
 * On the last cutscene of the level Floodgate, when the Arbiter is bringing human weapons the weapons are the same weapons "a M7057/Defoliant Projector and a Rocket Launcher" are held in the same position as the Cyborg's picture from Marathon Infinity.
 * The Marathon symbol can be seen in the planet in the sky on the level Snowbound
 * When you look at a High-Res screenshot of John's gun from the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer you can see a Marathon logo. Confirmed by KP.
 * The BR55HB SR Battle Rifle has the Marathon logo on its optical sight.
 * There is an achievement for accessing all the terminals in the campaign, called Marathon Man.
 * In the second E3 Trailer, boxes marked TRAXUS can be seen. Traxus IV was the name of a famous rampant AI in Marathon's universe.
 * Additionally, in the level The Storm, Traxus IV can be seen etched on the glass panels in the warehouses.
 * The Brute Mauler was probably based on the shotgun from Marathon, which was also dual-wieldable.
 * There is a Marathon: Infinity level editor called Forge. Halo 3 shares that name of its map editor.
 * At the end of the game, the rear section of the ship Master Chief is on, the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, drifts toward a planet as the Marathon logo flashes on the surface. Alex Seropian once stated that Master Chief and the main character of Marathon were the same character. Bungie has since denied this, with Seropian explaining that they weren't the same person, but different reincarnations of the same character.
 * The M6G has the Marathon logo on the grip near the back.
 * Guilty Spark's Eye, which makes the shape of the circle in the Marathon Logo, also has the full logo inside the eye.
 * On the Spartan Insignia, there is a gold Marathon logo.
 * The way the Brute holds the marine captive on Sierra 117 is possibly a reference to the L'howon chapter screen.
 * The control panels on the elevators on the level The Covenant have the Marathon symbol on them.
 * Some Marines sometimes say "Thank God you're here!", which may refer to when BOBs say "Thank God it's you!"
 * A Marine can be heard saying (without the IWHBYD skull) "Kill 'em all, sort 'em later", which may refer to the Marathon: Durandal level "God Will Sort the Dead From the Living". Sergeant Pete Stacker can also be heard saying "Let God Sort 'em out!", which is also a reference to the level. Or may refer to the movie Doom, referring to when Sarge says "Kill them all let God sort them out."
 * On the level Tsavo Highway, the Marathon logo appears on the sides of the CCS-Battlecruiser flying overhead.
 * On July the Fourth, the phrase "B-B-Q at BOB's Place!" which can be seen on the Forerunner wall of Valhalla which is a reference to BOB-B-Qing, when you kill many of the BOBs in Marathon.
 * The MA5C has a Marathon logo on its butt plate.
 * Some ODSTs have the Marathon symbol on their chest armor.
 * The Marathon Logo can be seen on the launch bays of Covenant Capital Ships. This is most easily seen by traveling toward the one outside the hanger in saved films on Crow's Nest.
 * In the settings menu, the picture of the spartan when appearance is high-lighted, has the logo on its shoulder
 * In Marathon, the first level (Arrival) shares its name with Halo 3's opening cutscene.
 * The Security Helmet in Halo 3 resembles the helmet that the main character of Marathon (who works in security) wears. It also has a Marathon symbol on its forehead.
 * The control platform of the Citadel is a Marathon symbol.
 * Elite Combat Forms Occasionally Say "Melancholia, Anger..." a reference to the 3 stages of Rampancy, a reference to the error with AI in Marathon.
 * There is a distorted Marathon symbol on the table of the Shadow of Intent's Conference Room.
 * Just like in Halo: CE, the Control Room of Installation 04 (II) forms the Marathon symbol.
 * The elevators on The Covenant (and possibly The Ark as well) have the Marathon symbol on their control panels.
 * The blue objects on Drones have a Marathon logo on them.
 * The yellow hologram on the multiplayer map Epitaph has a Marthon logo on the circular part.

Misc.

 * Novels - In the novels Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, Halo: First Strike, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, and Halo: Contact Harvest, the Marathon logo is easily visible between the "A" and the "L" in the word HALO in the title.
 * Cortana Letters- These messages are riddled with references.
 * Drinol- Similarity with Drinniol, a Marathon foe.
 * Melissa- A UNSC AI with the Marathon symbol on her left shoulder.
 * Hunter- Similarity with Marathon foe of the same name.
 * Halo: Contact Harvest- The description of the Forerunner glyph for "Reclaimer" sounds identical to the Marathon logo.
 * Marathon-class- A class of Cruisers mentioned in Halo: The Fall of Reach.
 * Multiplayer- The multiplayer game "Oddball" is derived from Marathon's "Kill The Man With The Ball", which had the same objective.
 * In both Halo and Marathon, there is a company called Misriah on Mars.
 * Though almost certainly a coincidence, the source code for Marathon 2 was released on January 17 (1/17) of 2000.
 * An early promotional brochure for Halo used the tagline "Somewhere in the heavens, Halo is waiting", a variation on Marathon's original tagline "somewhere in the heavens...they are waiting."
 * Marathon 1 takes place in a ship that is orbiting Tau Ceti IV, and there is a system in Halo called the Tau Ceti system (although that star does really exist).
 * In the Halo 3 Trailer shown at E3 2007, there is a hidden message stating "The fight lives on The Chosen One, Marathon Continues" as the Bungie logo flickers away at the ending.
 * In the Diorama on Halo3.com, the video Testimonial: Enemy Weapon, when the camera centers on a sniper rifle, a closer look brings up a Marathon symbol.
 * In Halo 3, the toolboxes and small toolboxes have the word Traxus written on them, referencing the rampant AI Traxus IV.
 * The center of the Halo 3 multiplayer map Guardian is similar to the Marathon logo
 * There is a very faint Marathon logo on Master Chief's visor in www.halo3ost.com
 * In Halo: The Flood, Lt. McKay once interrupted Wellsley from his virtual reality battle of Marathon. This is a reference to The Battle of Marathon after which the Marathon game takes its name.
 * In the newly released map (Cold Storage) the Marathon symbol can be found on the monitors eye. (the monitor can be found in the room with the rocket launcher)
 * On the front side of a banshee near where the plasma blasters are there is a Marathon symbol, although it has an extra notch. The Symbol is also on its side, so you may have to tilt the banshee downward to see it.

Related Links

 * List of "Seven" References in Halo
 * List of Biblical References in Halo