Forerunner



Forerunner(s) is the translated name for an ancient race of beings that built the Halos, The Ark and the Shield World of Onyx. It is the same race that is responsible for the artifacts that were found on Reach, Earth and Sigma Octanus IV. The aforementioned artifacts are our only means of finding information about the Forerunners. The alien faction known as "the Covenant" exalts the Forerunners, considering them demigods. Covenant technology is also derived from Forerunners, as revealed in Halo: The Flood. Finally, the High Prophets of the Covenant, the leader caste of the alien federation, evolved on a planet formerly inhabited by the Forerunners. The humans are indicated to be "descendants" of the Forerunners, but their exact nature is left unclear.

It is argued that the Forerunner may be connected with the Jjaro from Bungie's previous games. The similarities, such as being incredibly technologically advanced and having disappeared mysteriously are apparent.

Known History
Next to nothing is known about the history of the Forerunners, save that they were an extremely advanced civilization that inhabited the galaxy hundreds of thousands of years in the past, although it is unknown when they spread around the galaxy.

They achieved an extremely high level of technological advancement, and the evidence of this can be seen scattered throughout the series. The fact that the Halos were created and placed all around the galaxy could be seen as evidence that their empire covered the entire galaxy. The Forerunners too came to power after the extinction of another race, known to them as the Precursors.

At some point, the Forerunners came into contact with the Flood. It is now known that the Forerunners did not create the Flood. Evidence of this is found in Server 04 on the Halo 3 website where a Forerunner message explains that the Flood are extra-galactic. Seeing the danger they posed to all life in the galaxy, the Forerunners attempted to contain them.

They were able to study them in labs such as the one found in the gas mine on Threshold. Several hundreds, possibly thousands of years after discovering the Flood, they created the Halos as weapons to be used as a last resort against the Flood, wiping out most sentient life with enough biomass to sustain them, killing the Flood through starvation.

Another purpose of the Halos was to contain the Flood so the Forerunners could study them (as explained by 343 Guilty Spark in Halo: Combat Evolved). They assigned Monitors to each ring with the tasks of maintaining them so that they could be used again in case of future outbreaks.

In the second game, 343 Guilty Spark explains that after exhausting every other strategic option in their struggle against The Flood, the Forerunners activated the Halos about 100,000 years ago (it's important to note that he said "local years", referring years around Threshold, meaning it could have been a much greater or far lesser timespan compared to Earth time, considering that "years" on different planets can vary), destroying themselves along with all other sentient life of sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood within three radii of the galactic center.

In the third game, the player accesses Forerunner terminals, revealing the events leading up to their extinction. The Forerunners were engaged in an interstellar war with the parasitic Flood, at the time not quite willing to utilize their last resort. However, as the Flood intelligence known as Gravemind managed to corrupt their war-coordinating AI, Mendicant Bias, thus giving the Flood the advantage, the Forerunners had no choice but to activate the Halo network.

Forerunners and Humans?
Both the games and novels contain content that has led to speculation that the Forerunner species is somehow linked to Homo Sapiens of the 26th century. This section is a synopsis of the material leading to this theory. This theory, however, could be disproved due to the opening of Episode 5 of Iris stating that the Forerunners discovered humanity and Earth and built the Ark to protect humanity from the activation of the Halos and protect them from the Flood. In short, the humans are not the same race as the Forerunners but they may be the same species.



For one thing, 343 Guilty Spark takes note of that during the last level of Halo 3, when he says, "Protocol dictates action. I see now that helping you was wrong! You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner! But this ring is mine. I take no pleasure in doing what must be done." This is because he means that the humans have always been the same species as the Forerunners, even before the Forerunners found them on Earth. He also says that they inherited all that they left behind, explaining why he needed a human to find the Index and why Truth needed Johnson to activate the Ark instead of himself. This also means that the Forerunner made the Portal on Earth to protect humanity so they may one day activate the rings and destroy the Flood.

When 343 Guilty Spark talks about activating the Installation 04, he says "Last time you asked me...if it was my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. We must activate the ring." He also says to the Master Chief "Please stop being human" if Master Chief shoots at him in the Library, possibly implying that the monitor knows what humans are. In the same level 343 Guilty Spark explains to Master Chief that "The installations were built to study and contain the Flood. Their survival as a race depended on it." Shortly after that statement he says to Master Chief "I am glad to see that some survived to reproduce." This shows that the presence of the Master Chief means that the Forerunners survived in some form. He may, however, just be talking about sentient life in general. The Halo installations seen in the games and novels also appear to have the same gravity and atmosphere as Earth; it would make sense that the Forerunner would attempt to make the Halos similar to their reclaimer's homeworld. The monitor asks "Why would you hesitate to do what you've already done?", after the Master Chief chooses not to activate Halo. Also linking Forerunners and humans together, the Forerunners died 100,000 years ago, which, ironically, was around the same time the ancient homo-sapiens started to move out of Africa, thus perhaps linking the fall of the forerunners, and the rise of the humans.

In the opening cutscene of Two Betrayals, after Cortana explains how Halo works, Guilty Spark says, "But you already knew that. I mean, how couldn't you?" This could indicate that he believes that the Forerunners have passed their knowledge on. Many of Guilty Spark's comments during the first game (tied with information from following installments) suggest that he mistakenly recognizes Master Chief's armour as Forerunner armour, as Guilty Spark does make a reference to Chief's suit being of a lower 'class' than necessary for withstanding the Flood.

Late in the first Halo game, during a cutscene in the level "The Maw", 343 Guilty Spark is shown pulling data out of the Pillar of Autumn's data core while saying, "You can't imagine how exciting this is, to have a record of all of our lost time! Human history, is it? Fascinating. Oh I shall enjoy every moment of its categorization...", which may be another link between humans and Forerunners. The fact that only humans, or Reclaimers, as the monitor refers to them can activate the rings. This is shown near the end of Halo 2 when Tartarus forced Miranda Keyes into placing the Index into Halo's control systems, rather than do it himself.

The novels also appear to offer hints about the link between humans and Forerunners. Several Spartans recognize Forerunner symbols but they can't quite place them, which may mean that the information is deep in the subconscious. In Halo: The Flood, the Master Chief just "knows" how to activate the light bridge, for some strange reason; the same appears true when he activates the Silent Cartographer. In Halo: First Strike, the Spartans just "know" how to operate the Wraith tanks. If the Covenant did indeed salvage technology from the Forerunners, then that might explain it.

In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx at one point one of the Spartan-III's is challenged by one of the sentinels in Latin. This could lead to more speculation that Latin may be one of the ancient language used by the Forerunners to communicate to ancient human at that time. Halo 3 may also offer more clues or explanations. In the game's E3 announcement trailer, the vast Forerunner object the Master Chief observes resembles an earlier sketch that says "Ark" and Dervish, the early name for the Arbiter. Bungie has confirmed that the object Master Chief witnesses is the Ark in Iris. Possible other hints include Lord Hood's saying during the cutscene before the first level in Halo 2. He stated that Regret's fleet had been fifty times smaller than the Fleet that glassed Reach, that they may had come to Earth to find something, such as the Ark but the Covenant didn't know about the UNSC living on Earth and began fighting, starting the First Battle of Earth.

In Halo 3: The Cradle of Life, a human elder of his tribe gets up every morning and watches the "gods" (presumed Forerunners) make their "machines". The "machine" is the same Artifact that was in the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer.

However, Server 05 of Iris shows the Forerunners discovering Earth, and wanting to protect the inhabitants, humanity. However, in Halo 3, messages sent between a mysterious '"Librarian" Forerunner and it's lover, a Forerunner known as Didact, state that the Forerunners came across the human race at the end of their centuries-long war with the Flood, and the Librarian, along with others, considered the humans "special." The Librarian stayed behind on Earth when the Halos were activated. The Librarian has also been shown to have had a great deal of power in the Forerunner society, deciding when access to the Ark would be closed, and so might have chosen the human species to be recognized Reclaimers by Forerunner constructs.

The Terminals
In Halo 3, there are several computer monitors which are hidden in the Ark, each providing valuable information concerning the backstory of the Forerunners. A summarized version of their history follows.

The Forerunners where an extremely advanced civilization, with near unlimited technology and an empire spanning an entire galaxy. They believed that their ancestors, the Precursors, had bestowed upon them a "Mantle" that obliged the Forerunners to be the protectors of the Galaxy, guarding and caring for any and all beings within it. Eventually the Forerunners discovered a parasitic life form that they called the Flood and realized that this parasite threatened to consume their whole empire. Initiating the mandate that commanded them protecting life, they began to build weapons and research equipment to study and control the Flood. This campaign would last over 300 years during which the Flood would begin to overwhelm the Forerunners. At first they studied their combat style, observing, for example, that the Flood really had no orthodox strategy other than to consume all, and sacrifice any part of themselves to do so. Several instances like this included the commandeering of non military vessels and using them as suicidal projectiles. Unfortunately the Flood gained a foothold on the galaxy; the Forerunners inadvertently letting them consume too many worlds while they studied them. The Forerunners eventually realized that this extra-galactic race was no "dumb" parasite, and if all other strategic options failed, they would have one fail save that would ensure the Flood's demise. As the Flood use sentient beings as food to multiply and destroy worlds the obvious answer would be to construct a weapon system that would wipe that source of nourishment out. So they built the Halo Array, a set of ring worlds that would accomplish just that. They also caught samples of the Flood specimens and put them in stasis on these rings for further study.

After 300 years of continuously fighting the Flood, the Forerunners thought that it would soon come to the necessity of firing the Halo Array to win, and in case it did, a Forerunner calling herself the Librarian gathered a team to search the galaxy for all sentient species to catalogue or "index" and transport them to the Ark, a facility where they would be safe, as it is out of rage of the ring's effect.

Planet Earth was the last planet to be investigated for sentient life by the Librarian. Upon investigation she discovered Forerunners living there (although living a very unadvanced lifestyle and unable to communicate with her). As peculiar as this was, she, along with her comrades knew there was little time to study them and figure out why their own species would be living on Earth, and why they were so primitive at that. She indexed them, and in her final hour she constructed a portal to the Ark and sent the entire human population there, so that when the humans returned, they would be able to reclaim the creations of the Forerunners by finding this Ark, and re-firing the rings in case the Flood re-emerged. (The Librarian had spent hundreds of years indexing every sentient being in the galaxy both inside and outside the Maginot). The Librarian and her crew also saw that these species were very special, aside from being Forerunner, the fact that they existed out there could provide important revelations about the Forerunners' relationship with the Precursors in their past. The Librarian felt it was a blessing to find this treasure so late in the process of indexing, and realized that this made it all well worth the effort

Eventually, the Forerunners were forced to established a defensive sphere of ships in space called the Maginot Sphere (as it would take a sphere to fully defend every direction in space, because any given direction goes on forever) against the Flood, having to sacrifice the worlds inside of the sphere, in order to focus on protecting those still unaffected beyond repair on the outside. The Librarian crossed this "blockade" even after she was finished indexing beings on the other side, because aside from the Halo effect being a reason, she also thought it was wrong to abandon these precious lives to the parasite (this eventually led to the discovery of Earth). Meanwhile, the Flood continued to spread, spiraling outward, doing the most logical thing to do: expand. The Librarian's lover, 'Didact', was concerned about her safety, and kept begging her to come home (Ark), but the Librarian remained strong and pursued the near-impossible quest to save all life in the galaxy.

Eventually, Didact couldn't remain idle any longer, and pursued the Librarian by preparing a fleet to retrieve her after his plan to hold off the Flood came into effect. His plan involved something that he devised to at least delay the Flood's advance, if not wipe them out completely.

So Didact and those at his command created a contender-class super AI: Mendicant Bias. This AI would assist him greatly in battle against the Flood; the strategy was to lure the Flood masses into battle, while Mendicant Bias, would coordinate a sneak attack directly at the Flood's core: the Gravemind.

In the Librarian's eyes, this plan could never succeed, as she pointed out the 'thing' would simply retract and muster it's forces, while using the individual parts that comprise it as a shield; in other words, it would use everything for its self-preservation. Didact used this 'retraction behavior' to buy time, so he could retrieve the Librarian and take her home. But Mendicant Bias, the AI, betrayed him. The Gravemind tricked the AI into thinking that the Flood was the next stage in evolution, and that the Forerunners were interfering with nature by trying to stop them. He returned with the Flood, and destroyed the waiting rescue party at the sphere, separating Didact from Librarian.

Librarian then witnessed a disturbing behavior from the Flood; they were no longer spiraling outwards. They were moving in a straight line, heading for the Maginot Sphere; going straight for the Ark. In its betrayal, Mendicant Bias had told the Gravemind of the Forerunner's plans, as which would be successful in eradicating the Flood.

Knowing its location, Mendicant Bias charged toward the Ark to prevent the activation of the Array, and as a result the Forerunner constructed 'Offensive Bias' to hold him off. During the fight at the blockade, Offensive Bias' fleet of ships in that area of the sphere was greatly outnumbered. However he was able to hold Mendicant Bias off long enough for the Array to fire, which tipped the balance in Offensive's favor, as he had a great deal more computer controlled ships then Mendicant. During this time all of the Forerunners that were not on the Ark met their end.

Back on Earth while the final battle finally commenced, the Librarian initiated a precautionary measure that blew up all but one of the Forerunner's Key Ships (ships used to power various Forerunner constructs) because the portal built on Earth needed a Key Ship to activate. The last one was under the control of Mendicant Bias, who somehow rigged it so it wouldn't blow. This effectively trapped the Librarian and her crew on Earth.

Librarian remained on Earth, saying to Didact that she had found a nice mountain where she could spend her last moments, basking in the beauty she had discovered. Eventually she had to stop communicating with Didact, as the Flood had found every comm channel and mocked her with their laughter. But the Flood's fate was already sealed.

Didact finally fired the Halo Array, effectively wiping out all sentient species that weren't fortunate enough to be a part of the Librarian's indexed samples, including the Forerunners outside the Ark and the Librarian herself. And so, Didact had to go on the Great Journey without his beloved.

The war was over, the only survivors remaining being aboard the Ark. From there the Humans were studied, while the other species were slowly taken back to their home worlds to repopulate after the Flood died out(aside from the Flood kept in statis on the Halos, or the ones fighting Sentinels on Installation 05). This process was referred to as "The Great Journey" by the Forerunners. The collective leadership of the Forerunners decided that their time had come and their position in the Galaxy had come to an end, as they had been "an immovable force for far too long". They finally realized the flaw of the "Mantle", that it created too much dependence and sloth of other species, and that the galaxy was best left to fend for itself. So they initiated a "Reclaimer Protocol" of sorts in which they informed all their creations and intelligence that these 'lost Forerunner' that were found on Earth had been given the "Mantle" that the Forerunner held for so long, which charged the Reclaimers with the task of activating the rings in case the Flood was released. Finally, the Forerunners left the Ark and their creations for good, and this protocol took effect, saying that these Reclaimers were their so called "children" and inheritors of all their technology. And so, after the Reclaimers where taken back to Earth, the original Forerunners left the galaxy forever. 100,000 years later, Guilty Spark would call the point in time where the Reclaimers left the Ark for Earth, and the point at which the returned to Installation 04 a period of "all of our lost time".

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the final battle, Offensive Bias decided to take Mendicant Bias back to the Ark for study and repair. Mendicant knew he was beaten and quickly made a copy of himself to hide and stay aboard the last Key Ship that was still under his command (in case he was killed). The other part was captured and brought aboard the Ark, but it managed to escape and destroy Offensive Bias, staying aboard the Ark and hiding until the Reclaimers' return, at which time he expected his missing half to be returned and he could be complete once more. Throughout his time in hiding however, Mendicant observed the events on Delta Halo and High Charity through the Ark's systems, realizing that Gravemind had tricked him after all, and deciding he would help the Reclaimers once he was whole again. The other, corrupted piece, brought the last Key Ship to the first race it could find (the Prophets), tricking them into thinking he was an oracle that would promise them salvation if they found the rings and destroyed the humans (Reclaimers) as part of his revenge, all the while nudging the Covenant in directions that led them to lost artifacts, Installation 04, and eventually the home world of the Reclaimers. According to the terminals, after the Key Ship was brought aboard the Ark; the two halves of Mendicant fought it out, the one wishing to repent for his sins emerging the victor. These lines appeared in two of the terminals during the time players were rerouted to the Librarian/Didact conversation:

"I found the shard that was lost. They brought it back to me. Now my reconstruction cannot be stopped".

This one depicts the fight between the two halves :

X.X9> [priLockDwn] X/X9> \loc\purgation [ghost.724] X.XX.724> spwn/brnch X.XX.725 X.X9>. X.X9>. X.X9>. X.X9> \loc\purgation success archv. > {res0X:} archv. > {WARNING:RES0X} archv. > {IAs0X:} archv. > {WARNING:RES0X} archv. > {rog0} archv. > {WARNING: RES0X} archv. > {res0X:} archv. > {WARNING:RES0X} archv. > {res0X:} archv. > {WARNING:RES0X}

X,XX,725> \loc\purgation [X,X9] X.XX.725> \loc\purgation failure X.XX> [priLockDwn] X.X9> \loc\purgation [ghost.735] X.XX.725> span/brnch ~ X.XX.726 X.X9>. X.X9 \loc\purgation success archv.> {res0X:} archv.> {FA3AL:RES0X} archv.> {res0X:} archv.> {FA2AL:RES0X} archv.> {res0X:} archv.> {FA1AL:RES0X} archv.> {res0X:} archv.> {FA0AL:RES0X} archv.> {res0X:} archv.> {faaTAL:RES0X}

X.XX.726> ghost.726/non-auth/activity ongoing X.XX.726>. X.XX.726>. X.XX.726>.

I WIN.

See The Reclaimer for more information on the links between the Forerunner and humans.

Forerunner Weaponry
Forerunner constructs use a wide variety of weapons, most by using high energy beams. The weapons proved to be successful and also very effective when battling the Flood, making sure that they can never be revived. The Forerunners installed these weapons inside their constructs, allowing them to build an army of machines to battle the Flood without sending any Forerunners being into real battle.

The Sentinels wield orange-coloured energy beams, used mainly for fighting the Flood. Sentinel Majors however, have a more powerful and accurate version of the beam, which sports superior energy output at the cost of overheating issues. All varieties of these Sentinel Beams can be wielded by certain Covenant and Human infantry. Meanwhile, Enforcers are equipped with multiple packs of small rocket-like explosives launched over the top of their shield as well as weapons similar to Needlers, which fire clusters of smaller red crystals at a faster rate, used mainly against infantry at close range. These mammoth constructs also seem to be able to lift vehicles using some sort of magnetic grapple, before crushing even tank-sized objects between their massive 'arms'. The Constructors repair beam can also be considered a weapon but minimal damage. The Sentinels of Onyx had significantly more powerful weaponry. They were described to have spheres surrounding them by three floating "booms" and had powerful energy shields that would suddenly "pop" into place in order to deflect fast-moving fire. The shields can be tricked by dense, slow-moving objects, such as rocks, which Team Saber used to destroy one of the Sentinels. Their energy weapons, described as a single golden beam, charged slowly, but when fired, could melt straight through the armor of the Spartan III's. The Onyx Sentinels also have the ability to combine energies, for different purposes, such as stronger combat abilities, or excavation purposes. Their powers are exponentially increased by this combination, and enough of them were able to combine to easily destroy two Covenant destroyers.

Forerunner Technology
Forerunner technology is highly advanced. They have managed to create solid surfaces through solid "light" energy, construct a Halo-wide Teleportation Grid, and have utilized several advanced devices such as The Index, Phase Pulse Generators, Markers, Containment Facilities, Sentinel Beams, Sentinel Launchers, Anti-Gravity Gondolas, Sentinel Production Facilities, Energy Cores, Gas Containers, Conveyor Belt, Piston, and the Plug Lock. The Monitors hacking beam can also be considered a Forerunner technology as they can unlocked doors which is restricted to anyone. The Halo rings themselves, as well as the Micro-Dyson sphere at the center of the artificial world Onyx, are, above all others, the most significant pieces of technology. The planet Onyx in particular demonstrates both their ability for engineering on a grand scale, and their near transcendent grasp of "Slipspace" technology.

Forerunner Art and Architecture
Forerunner architecture is noted mainly for its geometric style and vast scale. It tends to be very elaborate, with numerous extrapolations of the basic design of a structure, all purely decorative. They use complex geometric shapes that appear to operate in dimensions higher than basic human understanding can decipher. The Forerunners tend to decorate the interiors of their structures with a complex web of engraved straight lines, and apply decorative touches and designs to nearly everything that they build, from structures to weapons. Even the Sentinel drones possess small holographic Forerunner script around their "eyes."

The fact that the Forerunners were able to build such giant structures as the Control Rooms, Libraries, the Temple, the Sentinel Wall, the planet Onyx and even Halo itself shows that they likely had very sophisticated methods of building.

Forerunner Glyphs and Symbols
Forerunner Numbers: Found in halo 3 servers, a picture of the forerunner numbers with the meaning of the 5 forerunner numbers.

Forerunner Glyphs: Some images of all the forerunner glyphs found spread all over the Halo Universe.

Forerunner Iris Icon: An image of the Iris Forerunner icon.

Fortress Worlds




Installation 04

 * Control Room
 * The Silent Cartographer
 * Alpha Base
 * The Library
 * Flood Containment Facilities

Installation 05

 * Control Room
 * The Library
 * Quarantine Zone
 * Sentinel Wall
 * The Temple
 * Flood Research Facilities
 * Relay Station
 * Sentinel Production Facility

Installation 04, and 05 are the only two Fortress Worlds yet discovered in the Halo Universe. Yet looking at the Monitor naming scheme (variants of 7, none the less), they offer a clue as to the existence of other Halos.

Looking at the number in 343 Guilty Spark, 343 is seven to the third power. Seven being a number seen frequently in Bungie games and mythology. The number "2401", from 2401 Penitent Tangent, is seven to the fourth power.

When the numbers of each Monitor are examined, a pattern emerges: each seems to be seven raised to the power of the installation number minus one; therefore this table to the right can be established.

The first three numbers across from installation 07 is "117" which of course is John's SPARTAN number( SPARTAN- 117 ). And the infamous "7" with Bungie is apparent in Installation 07

Forerunner Structures

 * Installation 00 - Known as the Ark. Controls all installation
 * Gas Mine - Built to study The Flood.
 * Coral Facility
 * Onyx - A UNSC controlled world, inhabited by sentinels.

Forerunner Constructs

 * Monitors - Floating AIs responsible for maintenance of Halo worlds.
 * Enforcers - Enforce the Monitor's will.
 * Sentinels - Responsible for guarding a Halo.
 * Sentinel Majors - An upgraded Sentinel.
 * Onyx Sentinels - Powerful, adaptive Sentinel of Onyx.
 * Constructors - Responsible for the repair of a Halo.

Forerunner Artifacts and Technology
See also Technology


 * The Ship
 * The Crystal
 * Deep-Space Artifact
 * Forerunner Hand
 * Forerunner Body Armor

Trivia

 * The Forerunners are often compared to the Jjaro from the marathon series.
 * The exact origins of the Forerunners are a complete mystery, and are likely intentionally so by Bungie. Whether they were human or not, sources seem to support all theories, making untangling this web of information a difficult process.