John-117

"They let me pick.... did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others you were strong and swift and brave, a natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess? Luck."

- Cortana to John 117

Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, is a SPARTAN-II of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Group. With almost 30 years of active duty, he is one of the most decorated soldiers in the UNSC Navy. In 2553, John-117 went missing in action after the Battle of Installation 04(II) when he and the Arbiter eliminated the Flood threat. He is the main protagonist in the Halo Series.

He is also known as the "Demon" by the Covenant and the Elites, "Master Chief", "Spartan", "Spartan-117" "Sierra 117", "Chief" and "Reclaimer".

Childhood and Spartan Training
When he was a child, John-117 (otherwise known as Master Chief or Spartan-117) lived in Elysium City, on Eridanus II. John-117 is said to have had brown hair, freckles, and a small gap between his front teeth. At the age of six, he was identified by Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey as one of 150 preliminary candidates, for the SPARTAN-II program. John was an ideal physical candidate, standing a head taller than his schoolmates, having perfect physical proportions, and exhibiting quick reflexes. His genetic structure also stood up to Dr. Halsey's rigorous requirements. When Dr. Hasley and Lieutenant Jacob Keyes visited Eridanus II to study him, they were impressed with his intellect and more importantly, his luck. In a final test of his viability as a candidate, he was asked to determine which side an old coin would land on. He watched the coin as it flew in the air and caught it before it could land. Dr. Halsey believed that he either 1) Saw what side it landed on and called out that side, or 2) He picked what side he wanted. John and 74 other six-year-olds were "conscripted" -- covertly kidnapped from their homes without their consent -- and replaced with Flash Clones which later died of natural causes. In this way, the parents would never know that their real children had been kidnapped. Any who were enrolled in the spartan program were never able to communicate with their old parents.

John was renamed John-117 and began a new life that eliminated all aspects of civilian life. The Spartans trained under Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez for seven years, receiving tutelage in history and military strategy as well as weapons and physical fitness training. He bonded early with Kelly and Sam, who would be the only close friends he would ever have. Sam's untimely death in 2525 affected John profoundly.

When the Spartans reached the age of eight years old, they went on their first training mission. The Spartans were dropped over a forest located deep in some snow-capped mountains and expected to get safely to their extraction Pelican. The children also had instructions to leave the last child arriving behind, or the punishment will be painful. When the group came upon the Pelican, it was guarded by armed men. These armed men were actually UNSC soldiers, but were not in uniform and therefore mistaken for a hostile threat. John showed early acumen in critical thinking and tactics, not wishing to take it for granted that guards would be friendly toward the children. He came up with a plan to take the men down, capture the drop ship, and ensure the safe extraction of every team member, as he made sure he was the last person aboard. To do this he ended up hijacking a UNSC dropship with the help of Deja, and beat down the men with stones and many feet, which is the unlikely cause of their deaths. This action caused him to be promoted to Squad Leader of the Spartans.

At the age of 14, John underwent the dangerous and painful process of augmentation that caused most of the Spartans to die, or physically disabled. John-117 was one of 33 Spartans who made it through the process unscathed, while the rest who could still operate were sent for other jobs. When John was only 14 years old, he is also said to have a body of an 18 year old athlete.

Early Military Career
Promoted to Squad Leader at the age of 14, John-117's first mission was against rebels in the asteroid belt of the Eridanus System, where his home world was located. He was slightly wounded while leading his squad to capture rebel leader Colonel Robert Watts, without injuring him. He received a Purple Heart after this mission.

Shortly after that, He and his Spartans would fight the Covenant for the next 27 years, employing the MJOLNIR Mark IV armor. John's first battle against the Covenant was just after they received the Mark IV armor. The Spartans launched with thrusters from a Pelican dropship. Each Spartan carried an Anvil missile with them to destroy a Covenant ship. Only two other Spartans made it to the ship with John, and entered through a hole in its hull, which was put there by a MAC round. These Spartans were Samuel-034 and Kelly-087. They succeeded the mission and blew up the Covenant ship, but lost Sam in the process due to a breach in his suit so he could not go back into vacuum. This first UNSC victory against the Covenant showed John that the Covenant could be beaten, but at a high cost, which was his friend's life.

John served in over 200 missions against the Covenant, including the Battle of Jericho VII and the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, in which he detonated a nuclear bomb to clear all of the enemy forces from the planet. This was one of only a few UNSC victories. A data crystal was discovered during this mission which contained coordinates of Installation 04 and led up to the events on Alpha Halo. He also received every medal except for the POW(Prisoner of War)medal. He is also considered the luckiest and the bravest of the Spartans.

The Battle of Reach, though brief, was of great significance for John. The majority of the Spartans went to the planet's surface to protect MAC generators. John, with Linda-058 and James, was sent to a docking station to protect an unsecured NAV database. If the Covenant obtained it they would find out the location of Earth, which was still a closely guarded secret. John was successful, but at a great cost. James tumbled into deep space and Linda was gravely wounded. John saved four other Marines including Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson. The team returned to the and was placed into cryo sleep as the ship fled Reach and went into slipspace.

Installation 04
Once arrived at Installation 04 the Pillar of Autumn came under attack by Covenant forces. Captain Jacob Keyes ordered John to be woken and tasked with ensuring the escape of the ship's AI, Cortana, telling him to never let her fall into Covenant hands, while Keyes crash-landed the ship onto the ring. Initially fighting on Halo was between UNSC and Covenant forces, but after Captain Keyes' unwitting release of dormant Flood parasites, the majority of both forces were infected by the Flood and fighting shifted to eliminating the new enemy. John soon came to the scene where he is responsible for retrieving an artifact called the Index for 343 Guilty Spark, (AKA the Oracle by the Covenant) a device which is said would activate and destroy all Flood Forms within large radius. The explanation was soon proven wrong by the revelation of Cortana that the installation's true purpose is to destroy all sentient life forms in the galaxy large enough to starve the Flood to death. John soon commenced the three-side combat where the Covenant, the Flood, Sentinels battle around the Control Room. Soon he returned and attempted to save Keyes, but it was too late, the Flood was destined to get off the ring. With this, John retrieve Keyes neural implant that could activate the Pillar of Autumn's Fusion Reactor which would subsequently blow up the ship to destroy the ring. Successfully destroying the Fusion Reactors, John reached the extraction bay in a 5 minute Warthog Run and escaped the Ring before it destroys itself. Very few other members of the UNSC forces survived, notably Sergeant Major Johnson.

OPERATION: First Strike
After the destruction of Alpha Halo, Cortana and the Master Chief fled in space in the Longsword they escaped in. He discovered three cyrotubes floating nearby, one containing Linda, and retrieved them. Soon after, the Covenant Flagship Ascendant Justice came into the system along with a few cruisers. A nearby Pelican drop ship fired at the cruiser to distract it. John linked the two vessels and brought its passengers aboard to the Longsword. The crew of Pelican then helped John in capturing the Covenant ship and making slipspace jump, in proximity to the gas giant Threshold, to Reach to look for surviving Spartans. John eventually locates some of his fellow Spartans on Reach along with Vice Admiral Whitcomb and Dr. Catherine Halsey. When they returned to the captured covenant vessel, they jumped into slipspace where they discovered a base belonging to the Eridanus Rebels (A base John had previously carried his first ever official mission out on). After receiving some repairs they escaped a Covenant assault and made their way towards Covenant space station Unyielding Hierophant.

John faced a dilemma regarding the combat data on the Flood which was given to him by Dr. Halsey. Providing regular data to Lieutenant Haverson, would protect Sergeant Johnson from possible experimentation by ONI. However providing him the complete data which contained reference to Sgt. Johnson's escape from the Flood due to his Boren's Syndrone would result in Johnson's death.

John and the few remaining Spartans, Linda, Grace, Will, and Fred, focused on finding a way to stop the Covenant from reaching Earth, the location of which has been discovered. They decide to destroy the Covenant Station 'Unyielding Hierophant. The Spartans infiltrated the ship, and after eleven hours on board they arrive a temple, where a copy of Cortana warns them of a new type of guard known as "Brutes". Linda took a sniper post and the other four entered the temple. They are ambushed by Brutes, and John is nearly killed, but manages to kill their attackers. Grace is killed by a Brute Shot that the Brutes Chieftain used and John activated the fail-safe on her armor.

The team sabotaged the generator in the Hierophant and as they escaped out a side door, the fail-safe on Grace's armor activated, disintegrating several Elites and many Grunts. John, Fred, and Will were quickly spotted by three Banshees, but their Elite pilots were hit by Linda's sniper fire. The Banshees were then captured by the Spartans. John doubled back to retrieve Linda, who took down four more Elites attempting to kill John. They quickly escape, and arrive back at the Gettysburg.

Vice Admiral Whitcomb and Lieutenant Haverson piloted the Ascendant Justice straight towards the Unyielding Hierophant. Whitcomb discusses the Alamo and Thermopylae with John, then prepares to fight the Covenant off while the Unyielding Hierophant's fusion reactor detonates. Every one of the five hundred covenant ships maneuvers in right next to the Ascendant Justice, and the Admiral draws an SMG. The Admiral and the Lieutenant die when the fusion reactor explodes. The explosion annihilates four-hundred and eighty-eight ships of the Covenant fleet, leaving only a dozen badly damaged ships to invade Earth. John leaves after witnessing Whitcomb's sacrifice, and arrives back at Earth with the last members of his team, Linda, Will, and Fred.

First Battle of Earth
"Something's not right. The fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size."

- Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood

"Don't make a girl a promise,if you know you can't keep it."

- Cortana to John-117 in Halo 2

Aboard Cairo Station, John received Mark VI MJOLNIR armor and attended an awards ceremony. The ceremony was interrupted by the First Battle of Earth. John successfully repulsed Covenant boarders from the station. Upon discovering a bomb on board Cairo Station John fought his way through several waves of Elites until he reached it and allowed Cortana to access and deactivate the boarder's demolition device. He gave the Covenant back their bomb by launching himself and the device, via explosive decompression from one of the station's launch bays, toward a Covenant warship. A timely strike by Longsword interceptors opened a breach in the warship's hull allowing John to direct the bomb into the ship's power plant.

John was then deployed to New Mombasa, East African Protectorate aboard the against Covenant ground forces. His Pelican drop ship was shot down by a Scarab's main cannon. John and other surviving Marines fought their way to the other surviving Pelicans. After a rendezvous with Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker in the Zanzibar Hotel, in Old Mombasa, Master Chief destroyed Covenant units along the shore of the city as he chases the tracks of the Scarab. Arriving at the edge of Old Mombasa, John received a Scorpion Tank from Sergeant Major Johnson.

Fighting through numerous highway tunnels and suburbs, John reached the city center, where Marines under the command of Staff Sergeant Banks were pinned down. With the assistance of the Marines and a large stockpile of weapons, John boarded the Scarab and was able to destroy it. The Master Chief is then transported to In Amber Clad to intercept the Prophet of Regret's flagship. When the flagship starts to enter Slipspace, Commander Miranda Keyes is granted permission to follow it. The Master Chief and all on board In Amber Clad were brought to Installation 05.

Installation 05
"Cortana... what exactly am I looking at?"

- Miranda Keyes "That... is another Halo."

- Cortana "Say What?!"

- Sgt.Johnson

Forced to act quickly once at Installation 05, John manned a Human Entry Vehicle with several Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, tasked with locating and assassinating the Prophet of Regret. Cortana informed him of Regret's intent to fire Halo as soon as possible. He tracked the Prophet of Regret to a temple in the middle of a lake, but not before witnessing countless Covenant vehicles coming out of slipspace, followed by High Charity. He quickly dispatched the Prophet of Regret, and escaped the temple shortly before it is destroyed by an overhead cruiser which glassed the building as John just got out of the way by jumping off the edge of the construct and into the water.

Losing consciousness and so unable to swim in the lake, he was captured by a long tentacle belonging to the Flood Gravemind. Shortly after, the Arbiter was also captured. The Gravemind appealed to the common interest that Flood and Humans share -- that of not wishing the Halos to be fired. John agreed. The Gravemind then tasked both captives with locating the Index, sending them to the two most likely locations. John was sent to High Charity, interrupting a sermon by the Prophet of Truth. In actual fact, this was the least of his worries; the conflict between the Elites and Brutes was beginning and leading the Covenant on the path to civil war. John was caught right in the middle.

John eventually caught up to the Prophets and their Brute escorts, though only a dying Prophet of Mercy (courtesy of a Flood Infection Form) was left to tell him where Truth was headed to Earth. In an instant, John was caught between a rock and a hard place; on one hand, the Covenant had the Index and could activate Halo. On the other, Earth's chances of withstanding the fleet Truth would lead were somewhere between slim and nil. In the end, he followed the latter, forced to leave Cortana behind so that if Halo was activated, she would detonate In Amber Clad's engines. John boarded the Forerunner ship, bound for Earth.

"Chief...When you get to Earth....Good Luck."

- Cortana

"After I'm through with Truth.."

- John-117

"Don't make girl a promise....If you know you can't keep it.."

- Cortana

Battle of Voi
"Radio for VTOL. Heavy lift gear. We're not leaving him here."

- Johnson, upon finding what seems to be John 117's corpse "Yeah... you're not."

- John-117, grabbing Johnson's arm "Where is she, chief? Where's Cortana?"

- Johnson, looking at the empty chip "She stayed behind."

- John-117, replies.

After a series of firefights, captures and escapes, John escaped Truth's ship and crash landed on Earth, where he was found by Sergeant Johnson, the Arbiter, and the rest of their squad. Though the Master Chief seemed dead, he was awake and battle-ready only minutes later, showing that he could recover remarkably fast. He attempted to attack the Arbiter, thinking he was still an enemy. Johnson informed him that they were now allies, as the disillusioned Arbiter had defected from the Covenant.

John and the Marines traveled through the jungle, searching for evac to a nearby military base. Johnson and his team split up from John and the Arbiter, and they were later captured by loyalist Covenant Brutes and rescued by John and the Arbiter. After taking heavy fire from Phantoms a Pelican drop ship evacuated the team to a UNSC base known as Crow's Nest

The base soon came under attack, but not before Lord Hood told John his plan. Commander Miranda Keyes decided to evacuate all forces, many of whom were injured. John, the Arbiter and UNSC fought and defended the base during evacuation, planting a massive bomb to destroy the base along with Covenant forces. Master Chief fought his way through many Brutes, escaping the explosion in an an elevator. He met up with several Marine survivors underground, and they escaped the base and headed for the city of Voi.

At the Battle of Voi, John pushed through many loyalist forces as he made his way to what was believed to be the Ark. Rather, this turned out to be a device that opened up a portal to the Ark. John destroyed a Covenant Anti-Air gun, Anti-Air Wraiths and a Scarab, allowing Lord Hood's ships to fire upon Truth's defenses. Truth fled through the portal with his loyalists forces, while the UNSC remained behind to determine their next move.

Just as the Second Battle of Earth seemed finished, a flood-infested Covenant warship crash landed in Voi. John fought to contain the Flood infection, learning that the only way to contain the Flood was to explode the warship. During the battle, Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum came to aid the UNSC. He fought off the Flood as the Master Chief was sent to retrieve Cortana from the warship, as it was believed she was on board. Aided by 343 Guilty Spark, John retrieved a damaged data device and returned to Shadow of Intent. This data turned out to be a message, rather than Cortana herself. The Elites were able to stop the Flood infestation by glassing much of Kenya and surrounding African countries, much to Lord Hood's displeasure.

The Elites and the UNSC watched Cortana's recording, which contained a warning that High Charity, now overwhelmed and controlled by the Flood Gravemind, was headed for Earth. However, she offered hope, with information of a way to stop the Halos from firing and neutralize the Flood threat. Convinced of the reliability of Cortana's message, John resolved to journey to the Ark while Hood mobilized remaining UNSC forces on Earth. John accompanied a joint UNSC-Elite task force through the portal aboard the to the Ark.

Battle of The Ark
"Brute ships! Staggered line. Shipmaster! They outnumber us, three-to-one!"

- Elite Crewmember "Then it is an even fight. All Cruisers, fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides!"

- Rtas 'Vadum

The Elites carried UNSC forces through the slipspace portal which to the Ark. The team was determined to stop Truth from activating the seven Halos. They descended in Pelicans while Shipmasters cruiser and forces fought hard against the brute ships. They flew to the surface of the Ark to find the Silent Cartographer, eliminating Covenant loyalists and securing a landing zone for Forward Unto Dawn. Traveling in Scorpions, John and other Marines located the Silent Cartographer and learned that Truth was in a Citadel. John, the Arbiter, and joint troops successfully assaulted the fortress.

John fought through loyalist forces and reached the top of the tower, where he deactivated part of the shield to Truth's location. Sergeant Johnson was captured in the battle but not killed, being spared to serve as a Reclaimer. John, the Arbiter, and the Elites deactivated the last tower of the citadel as High Charity came out of slipspace, bringing the Flood into the battle and damaging the Elite carrier Shadow of Intent.

Entering the Citadel, John and the Arbiter pushed toward Truth's location, where Miranda Keyes had forced her way in, breaking through the window with her Pelican. She managed to kill a Brute, but was soon surrounded. Truth shot and killed Keyes with a Spiker as she hesitated before killing Johnson and herself. Johnson was then forced by Truth to activate the Halos. In an unexpected turn of events, John and the Arbiter made a temporary alliance with the Flood to stop the activation of the Halos. The final Brute defenses were defeated by the Flood as John and the Arbiter reached Truth. Truth was infected by the Flood and was killed by the Arbiter while the Master Chief deactivated the rings.

The Gravemind revealed himself, laughing as he succeeded in preventing his own destruction before turning on John and the Arbiter. The two escaped. As they were leaving the citadel, John saw a vision of Cortana that led him to the exit. He learned that a replacement for Installation 04 had been built by the Ark. He decided to return to High Charity to retrieve Cortana.

On High Charity, John battled his way through hordes of Flood forces to reach Cortana, who still had the activation Index from the first Halo ring. John made his way back through High Charity and forced the Covenant City to explode. On his way out, Cortana detected a friendly unit which turned out to be the Arbiter. As High Charity was destroyed, the Flood was believed to be defeated but not destroyed.

Firing Replacement Installation 04
"Halo. It's so new... unfinished. I'm not exactly sure what will happen when we fire it..."

- Cortana to the John-117, evaluating their plan to activate Halo "We'll head for the Portal. And we'll all go home"

- John-117 to Cortana

The final task for John, the Arbiter, and Cortana was to destroy the Flood by activating the replacement Installation 04. The three landed on the Halo, finding that the Flood was not defeated, but instead trying to rebuild itself on the Halo. Flood dispersal pods released Combat Forms into battle against John and the Arbiter, forcing them to fight their way up to the tower where the ring could be destroyed. During the battle, Sergeant Johnson arrived on the Halo aboard Forward Unto Dawn. [Johnson helped the Master Chief and the Arbiter fight using a Spartan Laser. 343 Guilty Spark opened the door to the control room and locked the Flood out. However, once inside, Guilty Spark realized that the team intended to fire the Halo before it could be completed, and that they did not intend to activate all the Halos as intended by the Forerunners. His "protocol" forced him to stop Johnson from activating Installation 04. He knew that a premature firing would destroy the Ark and so he shot Johnson, locked out the Arbiter from the room, and attempted to kill John. John stood his ground, even after being hit by several blasts, and fought. Just as the Monitor seemed invulnerable, Johnson shot the Monitor, temporarily distracting him. He then handed off the laser, and John finished off Guilty Spark. Johnson's injury was fatal, and he requested that John send him out "with a bang" after handing over Cortana's data chip and imploring him "Don't ever let her go."

Cortana activated Installation 04 and they fled the Halo fighting Flood the whole way. Both Cortana and the Arbiter gave their condolences for the loss of Johnson. The team boarded Forward Unto Dawn and escaped the explosion of Installation 04. However, the Slipspace portal opened for them could not sustain itself during the explosion, and its closure severed the ship in half, sending the Arbiter on to Earth and leaving John and Cortana drifting towards a nebula and an unknown planet.

Missing in Action
"Hard to believe he's dead."

- Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood

"were it so easy..."

- The Arbiter

John and Cortana were presumed dead when they did not make it back to Earth. The cockpit portion of Forward Unto Dawn, bearing the Arbiter, crash landed on Earth. Lord Hood commisioned a monument on Mt. Killimanjaro. The Chief's Spartan ID number, 117 was carved into the memorial by an unknown party, and taped beside his number was the UNSC Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy insignia patch.

Survival
John and Cortana did in fact survive the explosion of Installation 04 (II) in the remaining cargo portion of the Dawn, but it was nearly powerless and, without airlocks or a bridge, could not be properly navigated. Cortana, relieved that John survived, explained this to the Chief, and that it could take years before anyone could discover their distress signal. John stowed himself in a cryotube, at which point Cortana said "I'll miss you." John replied with, "Wake me...when you need me."

Age
John's age is affected by the same ambiguities as all beings that leave their home worlds. By technical human Earth years, John is approximately 42 years old at the time he crash-landed on Installation 04. However, during the 27 Earth years that he has spent fighting the Covenant, considerable time was spent in Slipspace. Short Slipspace jumps can take several weeks in Earth time, and long jumps can take months or years, meaning that Slipspace travelers have not aged as much as those who did not travel with them. This phenomenon, Time Dilation, is an aspect of Special Relativity, in which clocks in a moving frame of reference appear to move more slowly than clocks in a non-moving frame of reference. The aging process can be further slowed in Slipspace by deep sleep in cryochambers, in which all cellular aging can be halted completely.

So, although 41 Earth years had passed between John's birth and his arrival on Installation 04, his relative biological age would be much younger. It is presumed that in the 26th century, human longevity would be extended somewhere near its theorized maximum limit of 150 years, which would make 41 years of age the equivalent of being 21 years old in early 21st century aging. Considering that John has gone through physical augmentation, spent time in Slipspace (and in cryo while in Slipspace), his physical condition should be that of a young man at full maturity and the peak of physical health, with a numeric age in Earth years irrelevant to determining age.

Trivia

 * Fans have many theories as to the significance of his number, 117. Inside the Halo Universe the number was randomly assigned, but Bungie's choice has been theorized upon in many ways. For more, see: List of Biblical References in Halo. It is most likely that it was chosen for mathematical reasons, since 1*1*7=7
 * In the novels, Master Chief has more lines than he does in game.
 * In both Halo: Uprising and Halo 3, John is referred to as Sierra 117. This is a military-appropriate identifier using the Phonetic Alphabet.
 * At the end of Halo 3, shown on the memorial to fallen heroes, the Master Chief Petty Officer insignia next to the 117 carving has three stars, with the third being covered up by tape. This is the rank insignia for Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (highest position for an enlisted sailor.)
 * A model was never made for John's face in the game. Although Bungie has consistently stated that John's face would never be revealed to help players imagine themselves as Master Chief, numerous claims have been made that John's face was visible at some point (while playing on Multi-player). During the Halo 3 Beta several players posted videos of a possible version of the Master Chief's face. This face was an Easter egg left by Bungie, and is a model of one of their employees. Bungie's refusal to show John's face has been parodied several times in popular culture.
 * Master Chief has appeared in a parody in the show MAD Tv.
 * A wax sculpture of John-117 can be visited at Madame Tussauds, Las Vegas.
 * John appears in a cameo in Fable II as "Minstrel Chief"..