San'Shyuum

"Who would doubt the Prophets? What have they foretold that has not come to pass?"

- Prophet of Truth

San 'Shyuum (Latin Perfidia vermis, meaning "Worms of Treachery" ), also known as Prophets, are a mammal-like species who are the leadership caste within the Covenant and one of the more mysterious member races of the hegemony. Prophets appear to exert complete control over religious and political affairs, fulfilling the role of religious and political leaders. Prophets enforce a misguided theology based on the false belief that firing the Halo Array will start the Great Journey transcending them into a God-like status. Although physically frail compared to other Covenant species, they wield absolute power over the Covenant, making them more dangerous than most.

Summary
Very little is known about the Prophets, beyond the fact that they are the sole members of the leadership and religious caste of the Covenant hierarchy. They are extremely important in the Covenant because they not only study the holy Forerunner artifacts, but they keep order in the Covenant. The only prophet that you fight within gameplay (Discounting the campaign against the Prophet of Truth) is the Prophet of Regret. They are an integral part of the Covenant High Council, formerly sharing this responsibility with the Elites. However the expulsion of the Sangheili and their replacement by the Jiralhanae is likely to have caused a power vacuum, and it is not known if any Brute Councilors exist, or if the High Council has been inadvertently disbanded due to the loss of the Covenant Capital City, High Charity. Halo 2 indicates that there is a triumvirate of Covenant leaders. They were known as the Prophet of Truth, Prophet of Mercy and the Prophet of Regret, though all three are now dead. Regret was killed by the Master Chief on Delta Halo, Mercy by the Flood on High Charity, and Truth by Thel 'Vadam in the Citadel on the Ark.

Prophets appear extremely frail either as an adaptation to a low-gravity world or because of age. The supplemental book incorporated in the Halo 3 Collector's and Legendary Edition suggests that inbreeding and a lack of concern for physical health, perhaps superseded by the single-minded desire to achieve "trans-sentience" (Also known as the "Great Journey"), is probably responsible for this outcome.

It is known that they claim to have evolved on a former colony of an ancient race called the Forerunners which the Covenant revere as their gods. Prophets derive their legitimacy as leaders as well as their colloquial names from this connection. According to the Prophets their world was destroyed some 3200 years ago before the events of Halo 3 (approx. 648 BCE) as the result of a natural stellar collapse; and because of this they have since elected to make their home on the mobile-planetoid High Charity. It is also known that they waged a fierce and bloody war against the Elites at some point, halted only by the discovery of Forerunner artifacts near the field of battle. The two races united to learn their secrets, forming a mutually beneficial arrangement that would eventually become the Covenant, although they usually see themselves above the Elites. The Elites would become the protectors of the Prophets while the Prophets would dedicate themselves to studying their "gods" and learning the secrets behind the "ascension" they left on.

As the representatives of the gods, the Prophets hold a great amount of power over the other races of the Covenant, earning reverential titles such as "Holy One" and "Eminence". They are protected at all times by the mighty Legions of Elite Honor Guards, and rarely involve themselves in combat, preferring to dedicate themselves to studying Forerunner artifacts. However, important events to the Covenant usually require a high-ranking Prophet, such as a Hierarch, to be present.

The majority of the Prophets use anti-gravity belts to support themselves. Higher ranking Prophets, such as the Hierarchs (a group of three Prophets with total control of the Covenant), use anti-gravity thrones to support themselves. These however, are not so much for support as they are for personal defense - they are fitted with holographic emitters, an energy shield generator, a teleportation device, and a built-in Gravity Cannon. In the event of assassins getting past their guards, they are able to defend themselves quite well with the Gravity Cannon.

Since the activation of the Halo Array, the Prophet's numbers have been dwindling, with the destruction of their original homeworld 3200 years before the events of 2552 likely contributing. At the time of Halo 2, there were only 23,831,463 Prophets existing. After the Flood invasion of High Charity, their new "Home World," the majority of their species was consumed, leaving less than a thousand alive. Most were doomed by the Elite's quarantine of Delta Halo and the rest of the Covenant Fleet. The Bestiarum contains a most curious reference to the Prophets. Where the rest of the races have one entry for population, the Prophets have two: Their current population, and one noted as "At time of Reseeding", exactly 500,000,000.

Anatomy and Physiology
Since they bear the status of political figureheads, most Prophets are physically frail creatures, preferring to move around via Gravity Belts, or Gravity Thrones outfitted with an impenetrable shield, a powerful particle beam gun, and a short-range teleportation device, in the case of the High Prophets. A life of physical inactivity leaves most if not all Prophets withered and weak. It should also be noted that the Prophets are at an odd middle-point in mass; it appears, therefore, that they are transformed into their own special Flood form due to their frailty. In the Halo 3 level The Covenant, the Prophet of Truth is seen walking for a short amount of time.

Each Prophet has distinct, often fur-covered lobes of skin hanging underneath their chin similar to a beard, known as "wattles". Prophets of greater age, for example the High Prophet of Mercy, have skin lobes on either side of their heads reminiscent of ears; despite this resemblance, the San 'Shyuum actually receive sound at the back of the head. The Prophet of Truth (and possibly others) appears to have slits on both sides of his head. Prophets have three digits on each hand, and are usually found wearing ornamental pieces that may also double as life support systems. These head-pieces bear a holographic representation of a Halo (indicating that the Covenant have known about the Halo rings for much longer than originally thought), but each is uniquely shaped and highly ornamental. However Prophet Councilors have been seen wearing more functional robes that lack any ornamentation whatsoever. These Prophets have a lower status and as a result wear simple robes and can be found on the seating above the Council Chamber accompanying Sangheili Councilors. Prophets also seem to have parts of their brain showing through absences of skin on their heads, while skin is still there, it may be possible that they evolved to allow their brain to grow to such a size that the skin is there simply to hold it in place.

The lifespan of a Prophet appears to be extensive, largely through the development of technologies to increase it. Such a process began in about 1552, which was one thousand years before the events of Halo 3. The San 'Shyuum have put considerable effort into the increase of lifespan of their own species, as more than a quarter of their population are now super-bicentenarians.

In an unknown time, before the Covenant was formed, a thousand or so pro-technology Prophets called Reformists (who believed in using Forerunner technology for their use and wished to explore the Dreadnought) left their homeworld, leaving the anti-tech Stoics (those who only wished to worship the technology and not explore the Dreadnought) stranded. The resulting calamity meant that the Covenant San 'Shyuum population was reduced to a few thousand, forcing the species to carefully manage their gene pool to prevent the loss of beneficial genes and the introduction of undesirable traits, with individuals possessing negative recessive traits placed in the Roll of Celibates to prevent their breeding. The Prophet of Truth is on such a list. However, if they should have such sexual urges, the Prophets will use concubines.

Culture
Little is known about the culture of the San 'Shyuum. However, it is known that the fertility cycles of female San 'Shyuum are short and few and far between, which would make it difficult for San 'Shyuum to have children. As a result, they would have a celebration called a Birthing Period when a child was conceived, which was very uncommon.

San 'Shyuum Civil War
As revealed in Halo: Contact Harvest, the San 'Shyuum left their homeworld with only about one thousand in their population due to a brutal civil war on their home planet. Just like the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War that would take place later on, it all began when some San 'Shyuum believed that they should enter into the Forerunner Dreadnought present on their planet, even though many of the population believed that they shouldn't ever touch the ship and should revere it as it was, which was presumed to be trapped in the surface of the planet as though it had crashed there. The two sides fighting in this war were called the Stoics, or the San 'Shyuum who refused to enter and desecrate the Dreadnought, and the San 'Shyuum who wanted to develop new technologies by entering the Dreadnought, called Reformists.

In 2100 B.C.E. at the climax of the Civil War, about a thousand of the Reformers commandeered the Dreadnought, while the Stoics debated what to do, since even their hate could not bring them to destroy the object of their reverence. However, when the Reformers took flight from the planet they tore a chunk out of it.

Even though the Reformers were victorious and had left the Stoics (who sent out communication messages threatening that they would be damned for their digressions to the gods) behind, they realized that they were indeed ruined by the fact that there were only about a thousand that had joined their cause to control the Dreadnought. With an extremely small gene pool they would need to create strict controls around mating to prevent potentially disastrous inbreeding. The next step in San 'Shyuum history would be the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War, but since they had developed a fleet to complement the Dreadnought.

Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War
The war between the Sangheili and the San 'Shyuum began soon after their first encounter in 938 B.C.E.. Sangheili believed that Forerunner technology should not be touched or used for personal gain while most of the San 'Shyuum believed otherwise, and disassembled Forerunner relics to produce their own versions. Their first meeting resulted in a bloody engagement. Physically the Sangheili were far superior. One Sangheili warrior was the equal to at least ten San 'Shyuum. However, technologically, the San 'Shyuum had the advantage: they had the Forerunner Dreadnought which proceeded to wipe out the Sangheili armada using hit-and-run tactics. Eventually in 852 B.C.E., in order to ensure the survival of both races, the Sangheili gave up their own conviction, and the two races merged to form the early Covenant with the San 'Shyuum as the head religious leaders and the Sangheili as the physical backbone and defenders of the Prophets.

Fall of High Charity
With the outbreak of the Flood and its subsequent arrival on the holy city High Charity, the San 'Shyuum will have had two extinction events visited upon them within a single great cycle. Only those individuals who were permanently posted somewhere other than their ersatz homeworld are certain to have survived. Even those who held some position within the Covenant fleet have no hope for survival, as the entire fleet was present at Installation 05 and the Sangheili quarantined it.This is also impacted by many Elites killing the San 'Shyuum in an act of vengeance and/or honor. Their current total population is now estimated at less than one thousand. It is likely that the number of Flood Prophet forms are drastically higher as a result of the Flood outbreak.

Post-War
Little is known about what happened to the San 'Shyuum after the Human-Covenant War, but according to a Sangheili Shipmaster, the Prophets "vanished". The Sangheili had heard rumors that the San 'Shyuum went on the Great Journey, but disregarded them. Most likely the few remaining survivors went into hiding or simply died out.

Appearances
The Prophet of Regret is the only Prophet that is confronted in combat by the Master Chief in the Halo series in the game Halo 2. He appears at the level called Regret. The Prophets do make other appearances though, mostly in the cinematic sequences in Halo 2. In fact, in most of the cinematic sequences, there is at least one Prophet present. Also, Mercy's corpse is found at the beginning of the level called High Charity, and Truth's corpse can be seen at the last playable section of The Covenant.

The Prophet of Regret also appears as an in-game "Hero" unit in Halo Wars, riding his gravity throne amidst combat. He can call down a "cleansing beam" or glassing beam that drains the players resources; it is guided around by one of the thumbsticks.

High Prophets

 * High Prophet of Restraint (Deposed)
 * High Prophet of Tolerance (Deposed)
 * High Prophetess of Obligation (Deposed)
 * High Prophet of Mercy (Deceased)
 * High Prophet of Regret (Deceased)
 * High Prophet of Truth (Deceased)
 * Unidentified Prophet (The Duel) (Unknown)

Lesser Prophets

 * Prophet of Supposition
 * Prophet of Pity
 * Prophet of Disdain
 * Prophet of Objection (Unknown, probably Deceased)
 * Truth and Reconciliation's Prophet (Deceased)
 * Unidentified Prophet (The Babysitter) (Deceased)
 * Prophet of Conviction (Deceased)

Legates

 * Minister of Etiology (Deceased)
 * Minister of Inquisition (Deceased)
 * Minister of Penance (Unknown)

Ranks

 * High Prophet- High Council (Hierarchs)
 * Lesser Prophet - High Council
 * Minister - Leader of a Ministry
 * Vice-Minister
 * Junior Minister
 * Cleric


 * Note: Only the San 'Shyuum in the High Council are referred to as Prophets. This is likely due to the "Prophet of..." title only appearing in High Councilors.

Flood Prophet Form


Prophet Form is a term to describe Covenant Prophets that have been infected by the Flood. Due to their unusual nature, they are not thought of as Combat Forms in the way infected Humans, Elites, or Brutes are (Note that the term "Prophet Form" has not been officially used as canon to date). Regret was the first Prophet to be infected in-game, although, the Minister of Etiology was infected long before Regret and it is assumed that most of the millions of Prophets on High Charity fell victim to the Flood after the Gravemind escaped Installation 05. The Prophet of Mercy was one of two Prophets to be seen being infected by an Infection form. In his case, the Infection Form was killed by the Master Chief before it could burrow inside Mercy's body. In the second case, The Gravemind took control of the Prophet of Truth while he was being infected and spoke through him as though he were a puppet. When Thel 'Vadam was preparing to finish Truth, small Flood tentacles and boils can be seen erupting from Truth's skin. Thel 'Vadam killed the Prophet of Truth, but his body was not reanimated, as most infected corpses are. This may be due to the mortal wound Thel 'Vadam inflicted, or it could be that the Prophets' frail nature does not support them being resurrected. It is worth noting that at the time of Truth's death a small Flood 'popping' sound can be heard, indicating that Thel Vadam's sword killed the Infection Form as well. (Regret, pictured right, has what seems to be a Human skull assimilated into himself, just above his head and a little to the left. This may indicate other Human "hosts" may have passed through the Gravemind before).

Trivia

 * The Prophets' names are often the opposite of what their behavior is, e.g. the Prophet Of Truth was prone to lying, the Prophet Of Mercy was very harsh towards others, the Prophet of Regret even when captured by the Flood he still spoke of The Great Journey to try to convince the Arbiter to not listen to the Gravemind showing he never regretted his actions in the Covenant, and the Prophet of Restraint stepped down as a result of high sexual exploits when it was forbidden for him to do so, therefore showing a lack of restraint.
 * Prophet's blood is strikingly red, like that of a Human. This can be seen when you beat the Prophet of Regret in Halo 2 and if you shoot Truth's corpse in Halo 3.
 * Perfidia is Latin for "Perfidy," which means "a deliberate breach of trust, faithlessness, treachery." Vermis means, "worm". Thus, the Prophets' scientific name can be translated into "treacherous worm".
 * Early designs of the Prophets had a far more integrated feel, with the Gravity Throne more fused with the Prophet's organic structures.
 * Halo: Contact Harvest states that only the highest-ranking Prophets have the luxury of traveling in singular platforms in High Charity. Lower-ranking Prophets have to travel in groups of threes, fives or tens. This is because the thrones of the lower-ranking Prophets are not individually capable of flight, so they must combine gravity fields with other thrones in order to fly.
 * Truth kills Miranda Keyes with a Spiker. He holds the rifle awkwardly, since it was designed for Brute hands and tosses it aside as if it disgusted him to even touch such a weapon. This could hint towards the San 'Shyuum's repulsed feelings towards the Jiralhanae's primitive ways, or their dislike of having to do anything themselves.
 * The Halo 3 Limited Edition Beastrium states that there are less then 1000 San 'Shyuum's left in the universe.
 * Most of the San 'Shyuum's technology, and as a result the Covenant's, is copied from the Forerunner species.

Internal

 * High Prophets
 * High Council

Profeti (San 'Shyuum)