Sangheili Major

"Station and Salvation both command a heavy price."

- Sangheili Major's mantra.

The Major, is a Sangheili rank. There is also an Officer class, of Sangheili soldiers. Sangheili Majors are directly superior to their Minor counterparts.

Background
If a Sangheili Minor proves himself in battle by killing opponents in legitimate combat, in accordance with honorable achievements earned on the battlefield, he is "promoted". While Sangheili do not think of promotion in the terms humans associate it with; Sangheili Minors who do prove their worth to their commanders, ascend to a commanding role. The officer rank is divided into three distinctive roles; lance leader, platoon leader and battalion leader. Lance leaders is the first role a officer Sangheili serves, lance leaders typically lead four or five soldiers into battle. If the Sangheili lance leader continues to earn honorable kills he will advanced to platoon leader, where he will lead multiple soldiers into battle. The highest number of soldiers a major can command and lead into battle are up to battalion strength.

Sangheili Majors are veteran warriors who have proven themselves in battle, they are skilled warriors who demonstrate leadership, patience and inspiration on the battlefield. Dependent on their position, they lead Covenant soldiers into battle during ground engagements. In addition they act as pilots for both ground vehicles like the Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle and ground support vehicles like the Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft. Additionally, the Majors also serve as the second-in-command positions aboard Covenant ships.

Within the Major rank exists another class called the Officer, essentially a byproduct of the Major rank, the Officer is essentially a Major who is adorn with more ornamental armor. Like Majors, Officers report to their onsite Ultra or, in their absence directly to their General or Shipmaster. Most Officers have a selection of units under their command, this includes Minors, Grunts and Jackals. Sangheili Officers are both formidable leaders as they are skilled combatants on the battlefield.

Select Sangheili Majors are given the temporary title of Ossoona or "Eye of the Prophet" by a Prophet himself. The title of Ossoona awards elevated military status and command and is usually only given for a single mission.

Physical appearance
The armor of a Sangheili Major varies; although it would be expected that armor and rank would be more distinguished like other classes and rank it is not the case with the officer class. Although their armor can differ in both style and color there is no distinguishable difference in the role they serve.

In Halo 2, this color scheme for the major has been extended to two variable colors which featured bright-red and crimson, and in Halo 3, which featured metallic crimson and metallic maroon. Like the Minors in Combat Evolved, there are two differently shaped variations of the helmet for the Majors. The Forerunner symbols featured in Combat Evolved is absent in Halo 2 but is seen in Halo 3.

The color scheme and the designs of the harness underwent some significant changes in Halo: Reach; the color scheme now covers at least three color variables (gold, orange and red). The Major in Reach now has its own unique armor design to differentiate the Major from other Sangheili ranks; the helmet differs greatly from the design of the Minors and is more decorative and elongated, and the pauldrons are slightly larger and more pronounced at the separated tips.

Game combat
Majors are commonly seen in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and Halo: Reach on the Heroic and Legendary difficulties. On Easy and Normal, their presence is minimal to none. They can be seen leading lances of Unggoy, Kig-yar and Minors. Equipped with approximately 50% stronger shields than their lower-ranked counterparts, Majors are competent and forceful warriors capable of overpowering their opponents, namely UNSC Marines and ODSTs although not necessarily. They are less likely to perform tactical errors when compared to the inferior Sangheili Minors; Majors would seek more cover and would fire their weapons with a greater accuracy and faster rate of fire, not to mention they would be more manouverable. However, they still make some tactical mistakes, as they tend not to seek cover in many occasions, even with their shields down.

Like the Minors, Majors usually wield plasma rifles, occasionally dual wielding them. In some scenarios, Majors would wield Carbines and Needlers.

Trivia

 * As seen in an early trailer for Halo: Combat Evolved, Sangheili Majors were originally supposed to wield a point defense gauntlets.
 * The Majors' combat harness, referred to as the Sangheili Officer Harness, is available as a Sangheili armor permutation in multiplayer as a reward for buying the Halo: Reach Limited or Legendary editions.
 * It was assumed that the full title was "Major Domo Sangheili", first mentioned in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, which makes a reference to a "Majordomo Sangheili". However, "majordomo" is a real-world term for the head of a family in an aristocracy. It is more than likely though, that the human term does not apply to the Sangheili and is perhaps another rank within the officer structure. On the following pages Sangheili of the military rank are simply called Majors.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Reach


 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: The Cole Protocol
 * Halo Legends