Craig

Craig is an internet meme originated from an infamous screenshot of a Jiralhanae Berserker from the Halo Infinite Campaign Gameplay Premiere. A series of Easter eggs that reference Craig can be found in Halo Infinite.

Origins
Following the release of the Halo Infinite Campaign Gameplay Premiere on July 23, 2020, a screenshot from the trailer, depicting a Jiralhanae with a deadpan expression moments before being meleed by John-117, began circulating on Twitter. Users started calling the Jiralhanae in the screenshot "Craig", with 343 Industries Community Director Brian Jarrard endorsing the meme on the next day. Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, jokingly called Craig the "new official Xbox mascot" on Twitter.

Recognition
After 343 Industries announced that the release of Halo Infinite would be delayed from 2020 to 2021, Craig was again brought up in the October 2021 issue of Inside Infinite on Halo Waypoint. Character & Combat Director Steve Dyck cited "Craig" as representative of "some content and systems that were not ready" for the showcase, and noted that the delayed release allowed the Character Team at 343 Industries to make improvements to the facial design. In the same post, Character Art Lead Bryan Repka mentioned that Craig has "picked up a new hobby and has done well for himself", alluding to the Easter egg at the top of Tower, which shows a poster of Craig as a musician touring the Banished outposts and bases. The comparison between the original screenshot and an updated face of a Jiralhanae from the Inside Infinite issue was later posted on the official Xbox Twitter account as a "How It Started vs. How It's Going" meme.

Following the release of Halo Infinite, Craig was among the characters featured on the official Halo-themed Valentine Day cards released on February 14, 2022. On November 25, 2022, the Halo Twitter account revealed a T-shirt featuring the logo of Craig's band and his touring schedule. On December 2, 2022, the Halo Twitter account posted an image in a parody of Spotify Wrapped, Spotify's feature that gives users a summary of their listening habits throughout the previous year. This logo, supposedly from a company called "Craigify," features the logo of Craig's band, lists several of Craig's songs, and also lists Craig as the user's top four artists through the year, with the fifth being Glibnub. It also states that the user had listed for 343,117 minutes and that their top genre was "Craig Rock."

Tower Easter egg
The easter egg can be found on top of Chak 'Lok's Tower. Players can reach the top with a Grappleshot (likely with Quickshot upgrade, which grants 40% cooldown reduction), an AV-49 Wasp, or a Banshee. There is a stage with a guitar, a microphone, and speakers. If the player melees the guitar, it plays a sound of a guitar strum. There is also a music album and a poster. The music album has a picture of "Craig" on it along with the text "Greatest Hits". If the player interacts with the album, it flips over, revealing the back cover, which lists the names of the songs in the album, some of which are references to jokes made about Halo Infinite and Craig's deadpan expression. The songs are titled:
 * I SMILE INSIDE
 * FOR THE CRAIG
 * I WAS ALONE
 * I GOT TEARS LAST SUMMER
 * I'M THE CRAIG IN YOUR HEART
 * MY MOM USED TO LOVE ME
 * POPPED IN THE CHIN BY MY FRIEND
 * SPACE GOPHERS, WHERE'D THE RHINOS GO?
 * THE SMELL OF FLOWERS MAKES ME HAPPY
 * YOUR WORDS HURT BUT I LOVE IT
 * THE DAY YOU BECOME A MEME
 * GRUNT! GRUNT! GRUNT!
 * I CAN'T GROW BEARD
 * I AM SO FAMOUS

A poster listing tour dates can also be found Banished base locations. The poster reads: CRAIG ZETA HALO TOUR 2560
 * 24th OCT---OUTPOST TREMONIUS
 * 25th OCT---ARMORY OF RECKONING
 * 28th OCT---HORN OF ABOLITION
 * 30th OCT---FORGE OF TEASH
 * 3th NOV---RANSOM KEEP
 * 6th NOV---REDOUBT OF SUNDERING
 * 8th NOV---ANNEX RIDGE
 * 11th NOV---RIVEN GATE
 * 15th NOV---HOUSE OF RECKONING

"3th November" uses the wrong suffix for "third"; the correct suffix is "3rd November". This may be a reference to the now-removed “1th” scoreboard text in Halo 2: Anniversary.

Gameplay dialogue
Craig is referenced by various characters in the game:
 * A marine's idle dialogue: "I saw this one Brute—weeeird look in his eyes, (Chuckling) like, really deadpan. You could tell, he'd seen some stuff in his day, man. Umm, I wonder if he had a name. I almost want to call him, like, y'know, like Greg or something. Yeah, Greg. Yeah."
 * One of the Glibnub's dialogue from the propaganda towers: "Hey, we got a Craig out there? I keep hearing about some loser named Craig. Why the heck do you get all the attention? We're just as cool, if not way cooler!"
 * An Unggoy's idle dialogue: "Hey, who’s this Craig guy they keep talking about? He sounds like a cool guy. Is it me? Am I Craig?"
 * Upon the player's death, an Unggoy may taunt them: "Who’s Craig, now?"

Player customization
Craig was mentioned in the description of the Flash Fjord armor and vehicle coatings. With the "Craig Cover Band" stance unlocked from Cyber Showdown II's event pass, the Spartan poses with a shock rifle by holding it like a guitar as a reference to Craig and the Tower easter egg.