Believe

"A hero is more than a person, a hero is a belief. A belief that, against impossible odds, the world can be saved—and that the world is still worth saving. Heroes inspire that belief in us. They renew our faith and give us that most precious of all gifts—hope. The world needs heroes. That's why, when a true hero arrives, the world will honor him."

- Xbox.com introduction of "Believe" .

Believe is a Microsoft marketing campaign for Halo 3.

It features the word "Believe" as a tagline, and appears to be honoring the legacy of SPARTAN-117, citing him as a hero of the United Nations Space Command whose brave actions inspired other servicemen during the Human-Covenant War.

It includes handouts, live-action TV commercials, magazine page advertisements, and XBOX live marketplace ads:


 * Believe (Magazine) - An advertisement in the September issues of EGM and OXM.
 * Believe (Event) - A pamphlet distributed at the Project Revolution musical festival, featuring in-universe musical presentation of the UNSC Symphony Orchestra.
 * Diorama - An interactive flash movie, a part of the Believe campaign for Halo 3. It is a fly through of the John-117 Monument, and can be viewed at the Halo 3 website.
 * Museum - A live-action TV commercial featuring Retired Major Pawel Czernek, a UNSC veteran that fought in the Battle of New Mombasa alongside SPARTAN-117, reminiscing of his memories of the inspiring hero.
 * Hunted - A live-action TV commercial.
 * Enemy Weapon - A live-action TV commercial.
 * Gravesite - A live-action TV commercial that explores the battleground and talks of Spartan 117's "death".

A website has been created featuring the entire monument in a Flash format, in which the viewer uses the mouse or arrow keys to move through the monument. Throughout this "tour", there are many interactive icons, which show reflections by Marines who served in the Battle for New Mombasa, synopsis of enemies, vehicles, other Marines, and most importantly, the videos.

Trivia

 * There was also an In-universe look at the creation of the Believe models.
 * On Xbox.com there is a collection of photographs from war photographer Jake Courage titled "Shooting a Hero".
 * Stan Winston Studio was responsible for the diorama featured in the Halo 3 Believe ads.
 * John 1, Chapter 1, Verse 7 in the bible, is a passage referring to someone that removed all evil from the world so that people could 'Believe'.
 * Because the interviews took place more than 50 years after the end of the Human-Covenant War, it is assumed that John-117 is still lost in space up till that point.
 * Because the events that were depicted in the interviews (the Second Battle of Mombasa and the capture and death of the Master Chief) never actually happened, the interviews are assumed as a massive cover-up operation done by the ONI's Section Two to cover up the truth about the Forerunners, the Fortress Worlds, and the Flood.
 * The events and interviews depicted in "Believe" are assumed to be non-canon, as Microsoft created them, and Microsoft has no creative control over the Halo storyline.
 * Frederic Chopin's "Raindrop" was used for the Believe diorama trailer. Coincidently a RPG game called Eternal Sonata was released for Xbox 360 on September 17, 2007 in North America, had "Raindrop" as a track.