Flood San 'Shyuum Form



Prophet Form is a term fans have created to describe Covenant Prophets that have been infected and overtaken by the Flood. Due to their unusual nature, they are not thought of as Combat Forms in the way infected Humans and Elites are. Note that the term "Prophet Form" has not been officially used as canon to date.

It is also worth noting that all "Prophet forms" seen had only just been infected, and may not have been assimilated in the conventional way. The only prophets to be seen being taken by an infection form were the Prophet of Mercy and the Prophet of Truth. However, Master Chief removed the infection form from Mercy, and Mercy died shortly afterwards.

Appearance
The Prophet Form maintains the same general form of a Prophet, but with the decayed skin and appearance of a standard Flood organism. If they have been assimilated by Infection Forms, the form does not show visibly, as their sensory stalks do not protrude from the Prophet. This does not mean that the Prophet is kept completely intact- the assimilated Prophet of Regret had only a single, malformed arm, and was impaled by one of the Gravemind's large tentacles. Also, a human skull can be seen in the top right corner of the Prophet Form, which is probably a part of another assimilated being.

Differences to a Combat Form


Note: The so called Prophet Form we have seen may not have been infected by an Infection Form at all, perhaps he was assimilated directly into the Gravemind, that could be why the Prophet maintained part of its mind. Or, it was simply just in the early stages of infection.

The biggest difference between the Prophet Form and that of the conventional Combat Form is that Prophet Forms seen thus far have maintained their personalities to an extent. Combat forms are essentially zombies. They have no sensory organs or cognitive capability remaining, and are subjected completely to the control by the Infection Form within them. On the other hand, Infected Prophets have demonstrated the ability to see, hear, talk, and even act the same that they did before they were assimilated. In this sense, they appear to be more advanced than Brain Forms.

It seems that they sometimes operate as part of a Brain Form, as the Prophet of Regret appeared to be physically attached to the Gravemind. In the case that there is no Brain Form present, the Prophet Form appears to act, to an extent, as the leader of the Flood within an area.

Also a skull can be seen in the top left corner of the Prophet Form. Looking just below the "Prophet Form" the hand of an elite can be seen as well. No other forms of Flood contain skulls.

Personality
Two Prophet Forms have been encountered, each having radically different personalities. The Prophet of Regret, after being assimilated by the Flood, appeared to maintain his previous personality, almost oblivious to the fact that he had been assimilated. This could be either because he was still partially alive, or because the Gravemind was merely controlling him like a puppet. The Minister of Etiology, on the other hand, was completely unlike his previous self. He acted as a spokesperson for the Flood, even taunting Rtas 'Vadumee saying, "The Forerunners not defeat us, what chance you?"

These personalities may be related to the command structure of the Flood in the area. In Regret's case, he was only a part of a larger intelligence, the Gravemind, so his personality did not need altering. The Legate on the other hand, appeared to be the controlling intelligence of the local Flood because the Brain Form on the ship had been destroyed and consequently his mentality was Flood based.

''NOTE: There is a great deal of controversy on the very existence of the Prophet Form. This article is only for the sake of observing the phenomenon of assimilated Prophets. More details of this phenomenon may be revealed at a later date.''

It should be noted that it is likely that the Prophet of Mercy was transformed into a Prophet Form. An Infection Form attacked but was forcibly removed by the Master Chief, the process apparently killing him. However this may not have been the case, evidence for this is Gravemind's quote, "two corpses in one grave." So, when the Master Chief left High Charity, the Flood may be using Mercy also.