Heretic Unggoy

Heretic Grunts are Covenant Unggoy that have rebelled against the Covenant's Prophets.

Summary
The Heretic Grunts followed their Elite organizers in a rebellion against the Covenant's Prophets. They started as members of an artifact retrieval group led by the Elite Sesa 'Refumee. When he and his Elites chose to rebel against the High Council after being informed of Halo's true purpose by 343 Guilty Spark, the Grunts in his command followed them. They do what they can to stand out from the rest of the Covenant, especially other Grunts.

Appearance
These Grunts have different methane tubes than their non-Heretic counterparts. They have just two round tubes, instead of the pointed-pyramid shape. Another feature of the Heretic Grunt armor is a small mouth-breather that exposes a Grunt's teeth.

Unlike the armor of the Heretic Elites, there is only one uniform color for a Grunt's armor, which is a shining, golden-brown. Because of this, there is no hierarchy or ranking system, and Heretic Grunts are inferior only to Heretic Elites.

They're seen only in the levels The Arbiter and Oracle, both in Halo 2.

Combat
Heretic Grunts fight differently than the Covenant-loyal Grunts normally encountered by one fact: They never try to escape, even during Easy difficulty. Though they may say "They got our Elite, run!" or "Run Away!", a Heretic Grunt will stand its ground. The only exception to this rule is when a Heretic Grunt is stuck with a Plasma Grenade, needles, or otherwise knows it will soon die; even then, they will run towards you, setting the precedent for Kamikazes in Halo 3.

Heretic Grunts are also superior to their Covenant counterparts by their equipment and usage thereof. They almost always use Needlers, or occasionally Fuel Rod Guns, but never the weak, inaccurate Plasma Pistol that is so often overused by their counterparts. They also try to set up turrets sometimes like Heavy Grunts. Beware, their skill with the Needler is unchallenged; they fire incredibly quickly, accurately, and reload when taking cover.

Judging by the fact they always wield Needlers or Fuel Rod Guns, it indicates that they are better treated than their Covenant counterparts, and are not used as cannon fodder.

They are also far harder to kill than the average Unggoy. Any Heretic Grunt can take as much damage as a Major Grunt. They do not come in ranks, and all have the same life and intelligence as each other. The only difference in difficulty facing them is the weapons they carry. Depending on what weapon you are better against will usually depend on how hard it is to beat the Grunt. In combat, Covenant Grunts will usually be encountered in groups of four or more, where as the Heretic Grunts are normally in smaller groups, of about four or less. Heretics Grunts are also harder to melee because of the reduced size of their methane tanks. In fact, in Legendary, they can take as many body shots as you can. They are still vulnerable to high-power weapons like the Energy Sword, and rapid-fire weapons like the Needler or Sentinel Beam.

Trivia

 * The Heretic Grunts are one of the least used Bipeds in the Halo trilogy along with Heretic Elites, as they appear only in two levels: The Arbiter and The Oracle, both in Halo 2.
 * Even though Heretic Grunts don't run away they still will yell what normal Grunts say before they run when their leader is killed.
 * They will always use a Needler or a Fuel Rod Cannon even if you see Plasma Pistols around.
 * They don't appear to have a proper ranking system.
 * Heretic Grunts seem to have two methane tanks as opposed to the normal Grunts singular tank.
 * Perhaps the superior skills and tenacity of these Grunts compared to regular Covenant Grunts are a small example of what Grunts were capable of in the Grunt Rebellion.
 * This is the first Grunt model to give a glimpse of what a Grunt's face looked like behind the mask. It wasn't until Halo 3 that the mask could be exposed fully in gameplay, however.

Related Links

 * Sesa 'Refumee
 * Heretic Elite
 * Heretic Banshee
 * Grunts
 * Heretics