Covenant


 * Covenant redirects here. For more articles of the same name, see Covenant (disambiguation).

"Creatures of the Covenant, the path is broad, and we shall walk it side by side."

- The Prophet of Truth

The Covenant, also referred to as the Covenant Empire was a religious hegemony of multiple alien species that controlled a large portion of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way Galaxy. Originally a mutual alliance between the San 'Shyuum and the Sangheili, the Covenant expanded to include at least six other races united in the worship of the Forerunners and the Halo Array. They waged a genocidal campaign against Humanity until they were defeated due to many factors, the most crucial of which was an internal conflict. While the Covenant's leadership was either lost during the Flood infection of High Charity or during the Battle of Installation 00, the Covenant continues to exist even after the conclusion of the war. In exactly what capacity it continues to operate remains unknown.

Background
In 938 BCE, the San'Shyuum Reformists entered a Sangheili-occupied system that lead to first contact between the San'Shyuum and the Sangheili. The San'Shyuum, who came to Sangheilios in order to claim and study the rich abundance of Forerunner artifacts left behind, soon found themselves sharing different ideologies of how such relics should be treated, which quickly devolved into conflict between the San'Shyuum and the Sangheili.

The Sangheili believed that Forerunner relics were sacred and should not be touched, while the San'Shyuum Reformists believed that they should be studied and use them to make practical objects of their own design. The highly militarized and brutal Sangheili attacked the San 'Shyuum almost as soon as their differences became apparent, and a war between the two species raged for eighty six years.

At the start of the war, the Sangheili had a numerical advantage in terms of ships and soldiers, their strength and military tactics overwhelmed their enemy by a considerable factor. The San'Shyuum's knowledge, gleaned from years of travel and the capabilities of their Forerunner Dreadnought, however gave them the advantage in ship-to-ship combat, the most common type of combat witnessed during the war.

Eventually both species came to fear a very real threat: Annihilation. The Sangheili who feared it though the San'Shyuum's use of the Dreadnought; and the San'Shyuum who came to admit that if the Sangheili were this dangerous, there might be other sentient life far more threatening, making their chances of survival in the galaxy slim. The long and brutal war caused the Sangheili to violate their very beliefs, study and incorporate Forerunner technology into their own in order to avoid defeat — their incorporation of Forerunner technology eventually caused a stalemate in the war against the San'Shyuum, their Dreadnought however proved far too effective and forced the Sangheili to surrender.

In their warrior culture, the Sangheili have great respect for a worthy adversary, and after their surrender the San'Shyuum sought to seek a burgeoning Covenant of the two races, thus the term "Covenant", the alliance between the two species; was formed in 852 BCE with the signing of the Writ of Union, the treaty that ended the conflict and brought about peace between the two.

Society
The species that make up the Empire known as the Covenant come from different parts of the galaxy and take all kinds of physical forms. Organized into a caste system by their religious leaders the San'Shyuum, the different species of the Covenant have many divisions but there is one powerful force that once united them — their blind faith in the Great Journey.

The Covenant society is a single hegemonistic culture, It is a culture with a distinct caste based societal system which has a strong theocratic underpinning. There are three basic Covenant castes: The Religious caste; the Military or Warrior caste; and the Worker caste.

Government
For the majority of its existence, the two ruling classes of the Covenant were the San'Shyuum and the Sangheili, though the San'Shyuum were generally believed to be "the voice of the gods". On the outbreak of the Great Schism, the Sangheili were cast out and the Jiralhanae replaced the Sangheili as the secondary ruling class. The Covenant have ten echelons of government, the highest echelon being the High Council who are responsible for making all important decisions. Prior to the Great Schism, it was made up of 200 members of Sangheili and San'Shyuum, and was ruled by the three San'Shyuum Hierarchs. These Hierarchs were the highest political and religious authority in the Covenant. For each new Age, three new Hierarchs were appointed; in order for them to usher in a new age and assume power, they must receive a blessing from the Oracle of High Charity. This Oracle is a Forerunner Artificial Intelligence found within the Dreadnought which sat at the center of the capital. Until the events that led to the war against Humanity, the Oracle had not spoken for over a millennia, so the ascension of the Hierarchs is steeped with political bribes, black mail and manipulation of the San'Shyuum Philologist.

The High Council consisted of San'Shyuum Councilors and Sangheili Councilors, who are extremely important to the Covenant society. They shared the central theocratic and decision-making body of the Covenant. In addition to the High Council, there are three other Councils: the Council of Concordance, the Council of Deed and Doctrine and the Council of Masters. Below that numerous Ministries exist within the Covenant government, each of which dictates a single, but important role within the Governmental body of the Covenant.

In truth however, the San'Shyuum and Sangheili had an uneasy coexistence, and political infighting was very common behind the scenes. This became an all out war during the Great Schism.

Religion and culture
The Covenant culture and religion is based solely on the worship and reverence of the Forerunners, long ago the San'Shyuum managed to read some of the data stored on terminals aboard the Forerunner Dreadnought, thanks to the Forerunners' robust translation systems they misunderstood the many subtle meanings of Forerunner glyphs. The San'Shyuum incorrectly interpret the activation of the Halo Array as a means of transcendence, a process they came to call the Great Journey. They did not understand that this activation had been designed to kill the Flood, specifically by triggering a galactic holocaust. They simply thought that the Forerunners had disappeared and left other species of the galaxy to their fates. Because of this, the Covenant often search and recover their artifacts and often have to turn to war to achieve their ends. In Covenant society, personal vendettas are not tolerated, although many conflicts in the Covenant's past has been sparked by vendettas.

The Covenant use commerce as a form of economy, as the Covenant's cohesion is grounded in their beliefs of working for and sharing Forerunner technology, every member of the Covenant is given a form of employment, a service to fulfill in exchange for goods and necessities. In the Covenant's culture, service for salvation is the moral motivation for the entire population, despite this there is discrimination within the Covenant, due to their hegemonistic thinking. The lesser species are treated as second hand citizens with absolutely no political or representative voice or power.

The Covenant are always eager to add new species to their faith, so long as they pledge allegiance to the San'Shyuum as their supreme leaders and the Great Journey as their religion. Client races are in all essence enslaved by the Covenant, forced to live a completely different way of life and if unlucky enough have their entire culture and history erased. The client races are held together by a common belief; the slave races are driven by the religion which they have been forced to accept. Most races are only kept for their varying skills to be exploited, rather than to be a part of a flourishing empire.

Military
Like other civilizations, the Covenant maintains a permanent armed forces branch, used to enforce order, conduct atmospheric and space combat operations, and generally project the Covenant's power onto others. Formerly led by the Elites prior to the Covenant Civil War, the Loyalist branches are now led by the Brutes. The military comprises of the Covenant Navy, the Covenant Army and the Special Warfare Group containing the Special Operations Division (SpecOps). Combined with the unique abilities of the client races, help to push the ever-growing war machine of the Covenant.

Species
Many of the alien species conquered by the Covenant are conscripted into, or gradually become part of the alliance. However, during the first contact with the Humans, The Oracle on board the Forerunner Dreadnought revealed to Truth and Regret that Humans are Reclaimers, as shown by its luminary. Since the entire Covenant was based on the belief that the Forerunners had transcended, Truth and Regret knew if any of the other races found out what the Oracle told them, the Covenant would cease to exist.

San 'Shyuum


The highest caste in the Covenant Empire, the San'Shyuum, or Prophets as humans call them, lead the Covenant and exert complete control over all religious and political affairs. Though physically weak, Prophets wield power through absolute command of the Covenant and through scavenged Forerunner technology, leaving the task of conquest to the Sangheili and the other races. The High Prophets are addressed as "Hierarchs", "Noble Hierarchs", "Holy Ones", or "Exalted" by the other races of the Covenant.

Sangheili (pre-Great Schism)
The second highest caste; Sangheili, or Elites as humans call them, served as the military leaders of the Covenant before the Great Schism. While San'Shyuum often had the final say, it was the Sangheili who organized military campaigns and naval engagements.

Jiralhanae


The Jiralhanae, or Brutes as they are known by humans, are one of the newer species to the Covenant Empire and are the only race that has obtained very close to equal status to that of one of the founding "clients" of the Covenant pact, the Sangheili. The Jiralhanae took over their role as personal bodyguards of the High Prophets prior to the Great Schism and make up most of the Covenant military during the Great Schism.

Mgalekgolo


Mgalekgolo, or Hunters as they are known by humans, are thought to be giant monsters, but they are actually an assemblage of worm-like entities called "Lekgolo" that create a communal, armor plated form. They always fight and travel in pairs known as "bond brothers" which technically means that not all of the colonies of worms were able to fit within one set of armor, and are the strongest of the Covenant fighting units. Many of these creatures joined the Sangheili during the Great Schism.

Unggoy


Hailing from Balaho, the Unggoy, or Grunts as they are known by humans, are the most common and lowest-placed caste of the Covenant. They breathe methane and thus must wear a large tank on their back full of the methane to survive on other planets. Relations between the Unggoy and the Kig-Yar are strained in the best of times. Many of these creatures joined the Sangheili during the Great Schism.

Kig-Yar


The Kig-Yar, or Jackals/Skirmishers as they are known by humans, are the scouts and marksmen of the Covenant military due to their superior senses. They are the second lowest Covenant caste and are about 5'6" tall and due to their lack of physical durability, they carry a portable point defense gauntlet during combat.

Yanme'e


The Yanme'e, or Drones as they are known by humans, are flying, insectoid species that served almost exclusively as engineers in the Covenant Empire. They were eventually replaced by the Huragok, and were used as aerial combatants against the UNSC, who are inexperienced at fighting airborne infantry. They became the second Covenant species with the ability of flight.

Huragok


The Huragok, or Engineers as they are known by the humans, are an artificial species created by the Forerunners. They only converse with the San 'Shyuum or individuals who learn their language. The Huragok perform the physical labor of excavating, and gathering data on Forerunner artifacts. In military terms, they are generally a non-militant race. However, at times in the Human-Covenant War they have been placed on the battlefield either as repair workers or suicide bombers. Many of these creatures joined the Sangheili during the Great Schism.

Creatures inhabiting Covenant worlds

 * "Scrub Grubs" are small creatures the equivalent of the rats found on Earth. They were first mentioned in Halo: Contact Harvest, while inhabiting a Jackal ship.
 * "Zap-Jellies" are sea creatures that live on the Grunt home world, Balaho. They are possibly the equivalent to large jellyfish on Earth.
 * "Thorn Beasts" are a food source for the Covenant, though only observed being eaten by Brutes. The only reference to the Thorn Beasts is in Halo: Contact Harvest, when the Brutes are first mentioned, and in Halo Wars, in at least one of the timeline periods. They were also included in the original Halo game being developed for Mac.
 * "Mud Wasps" are insects found on the Grunt home world of Balaho.
 * "Shade Crabs" are crustaceans found on the Grunt home world of Balaho.
 * "Helioskrills" are predators found on Sangheilios that imitate rocks to catch their prey.
 * "Doarmirs" are furry animals found on Sangheilios, their pelts were used by early seafaring Sangheili as cloaks, the tradition is continued by modern Sangheili Shipmasters.

The history of the Covenant
The Covenant created their own means of connoting time, comprised of "Ages." The Covenant's history is broken up into multiple occurrences of seven types of Age, each representing the predominant theme that occurred during those periods of time. These ages do not necessarily follow one another in order, nor are they equal in quantity. As an example, there were significantly more Ages of Conflict and Doubt than Reclamation. Each Age is further broken into what is called Cycles. A Cycle is the Covenant version of a day and it represents one artificial day on High Charity. A Cycle contains approximately 265 units, which if translated into human time is one hour of time on Earth.

After the first Age of Abandonment, the San'Shyuum and Sangheili were able to evolve into space-faring race. The root of the First Age of Conflict was the theological question of whether Forerunner technology should be revered or exploited. The conclusion of that conflict mark the First Age of Reconciliation, followed by the First Age of Conversation, this marked the beginning expansion of the Covenant by bringing the Lekgolo into the Covenant, through out these Ages new races were incorporated into the Covenant. In between these ages were what became known as the Ages of Doubt, these ages signified no great discoveries were made, and members of the Covenant grappling with internecine conflict.

During the 23rd Age of Doubt the Covenant encountered Humanity for the first time. This inevitable meeting would start a war that over time threw the entire foundation of the Covenant's religion and political alliance into a gradual state of disarray.

"The First Age: Ignorance and Fear.''
 * The Second Age: Rivalry and Bloodshed.
 * The Third Age: Humility and Brotherhood.
 * The Fourth Age: Wonder and Understanding.
 * The Fifth Age: Obedience and Freedom.
 * The Sixth Age: Faith and Patience.
 * The Seventh Age: Journey and Salvation."

- Maccabeus and the Jiralhanae of the Rapid Conversion.

During the final years of the war against humanity the remaining Prophets, led by the High Prophet of Truth, used an opportunity to replace the Elites with Brutes as their protectors. However, this move effectively angers the Sangheili, who have been in such a position since the founding of the Covenant.

Truth gave command of the Covenant Fleets to the Jiralhanae, a position previously held by the Sangheili. Once there were enough and an ample amount of Jiralhanae in place, Truth secretly ordered the Jiralhanae to commit a mass genocide on the Sangheili. With this act disguised and incognito as a Brute insurrection, the Jiralhanae replaced the Sangheili within the society of the Covenant. The Sangheili revolted, enlisting the help of some of their following Mgalekgolo and Unggoy, birthing a destructive civil war within High Charity itself and on the surrounding Covenant fleet.

Early into the Great Schism, most of the Sangheili Councilors were assassinated by the Jiralhanae at the will of the Prophets, mainly the Prophet of Truth. When the Sangheili learned the truth about the Halos, it changed the war significantly and added Humanity into the struggle. Instead of a Great Journey, the Gravemind's revelation regarding the super weapon contradicted the entire Covenant's belief system.

Though the Prophet of Truth was eventually killed, and most of the Loyalist's known fleet was destroyed by the Sangheili fleet above the Ark, the Covenant still exists in some force, though in a weakened state, forced to rebuild after the war. Rtas 'Vadum expressed concern that the Sangheili homeworld, Sanghelios, may have still been endangered by the Covenant, and considering the sheer size of the former Covenant it is unlikely that the entirety of the Loyalists were present at Earth. Exactly who or what remains in charge of their political and military leadership is also unknown as the San'Shyuum population is only within the thousands and is near extinction. They have not been sighted by the Sangheili since 2553.

The devout and stubborn Jiralhanae continue their war with the Sangheili and fight amongst themselves, effectively battling their species towards extinction.

Technology
Covenant technology is repeatedly referred to as more imitative rather than innovative. Their technology is based largely on mimicry and reverse engineering of the leftover Forerunner artifacts they have discovered. While Covenant technology is far more advanced than human technology, the Covenant seem to be ignorant of how precise or powerful their technology can be.

While humans are capable of learning and often improving on new technology, Covenant advances are significantly slower. This is, perhaps, the Covenant's most serious disadvantage. Their technology is limited by this almost parasitic reliance on reversed-engineered Forerunner technology. In Covenant culture there are religious taboos that prevent them from fully exploring what the Forerunners employed to create that technology.

Like humans, Covenant ships can enter slipstream space and travel faster than light. However, the Covenant equivalent of the Shaw-Fujikawa Engine is far more efficient and reliable. Covenant vessels do not suffer the "temporal fluidity" of the slipstream to such a degree as Human vessels. As a result, Covenant battle groups are much more efficient when acting as a coordinated group, and can strike more quickly and decisively.

Covenant starships use Repulsor Engines for propulsion in space, rather than traditional reaction drives used by the UNSC. Covenant drive systems seem to be propelled by an unusual combination of gravity "waves" and some form of highly reactive plasma displacement, but the actual means and method of propulsion is currently beyond human understanding.

Only two Covenant A.I. have ever been encountered One was an AI that was stationed aboard the Ascendant Justice and destroyed by Cortana, while the other was The Seeker, sent to infiltrate UNSC systems and alert the Covenant to the location of Earth. However, Cortana's copy references several A.I.'s being present in the Unyielding Hierophant system when the Spartans infiltrate the base.

Covenant architecture is known for its curved, organic and sophisticated looking style, likely for the aesthetic tastes of the higher-ranked castes. Constructed of distinctive purple or white metal, these colors are the main focus of Covenant design and distributed throughout their starships, vehicles, and weapons. The metal they use is unknown to the UNSC but is very strong and resilient.

Weaponry
Most of the Covenant arsenal is plasma-based Directed Energy Weapons, however the Covenant are known to utilize Pulse Lasers, Particle beam weapons and Antimatter and even chemical crystal-based weapons.

Plasma weapons are more rugged and far more effective than laser based weapons, they use a power cell to provide power to the internal components, most importantly a high energy current at the muzzle end of the weapon to complete the cycling, ignition and release operation of the weapon. Plasma weapons use Hydrogen Fluoride as a source of fuel, this fuel is flash boiled and contained within a magnetic field until it turns from a cool liquid to superheated ionized gas.

Covenant plasma weapons are effective but crude, their common weakness is that they are prone to overheating. Weapon designs compensate for this, although they render weapons inoperable as the excess heat is dissipated. Once the energy of the plasma weapon is depleted, it must be recharged, or discarded.

The Covenant are also known to employ ammunition based weapons, the most common of these is crystal based weapons. These weapons appear to use some type of chemical that reacts to environments and forms a hard razor sharp crystal that when fired, homes in on organic material and detonates when either embedded into an object or travels too far away from the weapon itself. These types of weapons are very dangerous, because of their homing ability. With the introduction of the Jiralhanae as a major military caste within the Covenant, their weapons have found limited to widespread use. Utilizing crude projectile-like metal spikes in place of plasma, explosive grenade-like launchers, and sharp blades. They are more primitive, yet brutal - fitting, considering the nature of their creators.

The Covenant are also known to employ melee weapons in addition to their already fearsome arsenal. The most well known is the Energy Sword, used solely by the Sangheili. Creating a solid blade of superheated plasma, it has both ceremonial and martial value to the Sangheili warriors, and its possession is closely monitored. Secondly is the Gravity Hammer, used by Jiralhanae, which seems to be the cultural equivalent to the sword, However, rather than using a blade of plasma, it can generate a gravitational field, doing devastating damage.

Vehicles
Covenant vehicles use advanced anti-gravity technology for propulsion, and are well armored and well armed. Though often faster than their UNSC counterparts, Covenant vehicles are more unstable over uneven terrain where the sudden changes affects its handling. All Covenant vehicles are made from a purple or dark blue type of metal, said to be much more advanced than any alloy known to Humans, and all Covenant vehicles are nicknamed after some kind of supernatural entity by the UNSC, except for Scarabs and Locusts. Recently, Brute vehicles and technology have been incorporated into the Covenant's arsenal. Though more primitive, they serve the Brutes' need for power. Brute vehicles are not named after spiritual entities, and rather than being a series of Covenant vehicles are regarded as native Jiralhanae technology.

Known Covenant worlds

 * Janjur Qom (San 'Shyuum Homeworld)

51 Pegasi System
 * Pegasi Delta

K7-49

Salia System
 * Joyous Exultation
 * Malhiem (Satellite)

Urs System (with stars Fied and Joori as secondary stars)
 * Sanghelios (Sangheili Homeworld)
 * Yermo (Continent)
 * Iruiru
 * Qikost (Satellite)
 * Suban (Satellite)

Tala System
 * Balaho (Unggoy Homeworld)
 * Buwan (Satellite)
 * Padpad (Satellite)

Oth Sonin System
 * Doisac (Jiralhanae Homeworld)
 * Warial (Satellite)
 * Solrapt (Satellite)
 * Teash (Satellite)

Svir System
 * Te (Mgalekgolo Homeworld)
 * Rantu
 * Uhtua
 * 23 smaller satellites

Napret System
 * Palamok (Yanme'e Homeworld)
 * Naxook (Satellite)
 * Oquiu (Satellite)
 * Ka'amoti (Satellite)
 * Kami (Satellite)

Y'Deio System (HD 69830)
 * Chu'ot
 * Eayn (Satellite) (Kig-yar homeworld)

Decided Heart- Sangheili Base planet

Weeping Shadows of Sorrow- Covenant Penitentiary world

Heian - A world with a significant logistics base.

Deleted races

 * "Drinols" are creatures in the form of bosses that did not make it into the Halo games. They are thought to have been remade into the Flood's Tank Pure Form as there are many similarities between the two.


 * "Stalkers" are a Covenant race that did not make it into Halo 2, seen in the Halo 2 Collector's Edition Disc. They were taken from original idea sketches of the Elites in the first Halo game and were supposed to be very wiry and skeletal, with massive amounts of teeth, similar to sharks.


 * "Keelbugs" are only seen in the Halo 2 Collector's Edition Disc. Insectoid in nature, they were supposed to fly into the battlefield, cut dead bodies into sections, and fly off with them, a creative way of removing NPC corpses to free memory from the game. They seemed to be more like animals than a sentient race.


 * "Alien Troopers" are seen in the Halo 2 Collector's Edition Disc. They are understood to be a deleted form of soldier that would complement the Elites in battle. The only known data on these Covenant are that they were supposed to carry its weapon under their bellies.


 * "Special Purpose Snipers" are seen in the Halo 2 Collector's Edition Disc. Their arms were used like a tripod, so they could flip from side to side, without having to switch weapons. They would also be able to hang from trees. This concept appears to have been re-imagined in Halo 3, with Jackal Snipers often being found in trees.


 * "Sharquoi" were mentioned in the Halo 2 Collectors' Edition Conversations from the Universe booklet, detailing conversations among Human and Covenant individuals. Nothing seen in any Halo product outside of that mentioning can be called a Sharquoi with any certainty.

Trivia

 * The Biblical Ark of the Covenant represented the will of God, in connection with the quote: "Your destruction is the will of the Gods...and we are their instrument." This references the Covenant's belief they carry through the will of their gods, the Forerunners.
 * Covenant was an early potential title for Halo: Combat Evolved. Paul Russel joked that it "... sound[ed] like a bad 80's hair band." Covenant was also a major city in Bungie's |Myth series.
 * 343 Guilty Spark often referred to Covenant species as "meddlers" due to their constant disregard for containment protocols, and misinterpretation of Forerunner language and technology.
 * The Covenant have several similarities to the Hierarchy from Universe at War. For example, the Hierarchy leader, Kamal Re'x, is eerily similar to the Prophet of Truth, saying things of comparison: (Kamal): "The universe does not abide by weakness, and we are it's ambassadors" (Truth): "Your destruction is the will of the gods...and we are their instrument."

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: First Strike
 * ''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: The Cole Protocol
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss
 * Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian
 * Dirt
 * Headhunters
 * Blunt Instruments
 * The Mona Lisa
 * Palace Hotel
 * Human Weakness
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
 * The Return


 * Halo Graphic Novel
 * Halo: Uprising
 * Halo: Helljumper
 * Halo: Blood Line
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins
 * The Duel
 * Homecoming
 * Odd One Out
 * Prototype
 * The Babysitter
 * The Package

Internal

 * Governors of Contrition
 * Writ of Union
 * Mark of Shame
 * Covenant Religion
 * True Sayings
 * Ratification Parley
 * Covenant Weapons
 * The Great Journey

External

 * A Covenant Primer: The Best of the Bestiary