Sharquoi

"Q: What's a Sharquoi?"

- Press

"A: Very freaking dangerous."

- Frank O'Connor

The Sharquoi is in the Conversations from the Universe booklet found in Halo 2: Limited Collector's Edition. They were also supposed to be one of the Covenant Species and were supposed to appear in Halo 3. But they never did.

Background
Although the Sharquoi have been cut from Halo 2 which they were originally planned to appear in, they have never been confirmed as deleted content by Bungie and may actually be part of a story still in planning or production.

This has been speculated to be another Covenant race. In a deleted scene, a mural can be seen showcasing the Covenant races, including a very large creature believed by some to be a Sharquoi and may had been resembling the Mgaekgolo. However, this creature could also be a Drinol, which may or may not have been cut at that stage of development. However since they were never shown their current appearance is unknown.

It is also mentioned in Conversations between two Sangheili discussing why the humans don't join the Covenant, implying it to be some sort of weapon or otherwise; "I suspect we are forcing them (the humans) into a tighter arena than they care to fight in - soon we may be able to use the Sharquoi." Unlike most of the elements listed as deleted content here, the existence of something called the Sharquoi is known to be part of the canon Halo universe, thanks to its mention in Conversations.

Theories

 * The Sharquoi and the Drinol are the same thing—Sharquoi is the Covenant name for the Drinol.
 * It should be noted that this is somewhat unlikely, as "Drinol" is not a human word.


 * The Sharquoi is not a species, but a sort of weapon that the Covenant use.
 * The Sharquoi is the Covenant name for the Scarab.
 * The Sharquoi is the Covenant name for the antimatter bombs that destroyed the Athens and Malta.
 * The Sharquoi could be the glassing of a world, since the Covenant always attacked and beat ground forces first then glass the planet from orbit.


 * The Sharquoi could be another name for Brutes, as they were not used in combat until late in Halo 2 and Halo: First Strike. However, this is unlikely due to the use of the term "Jiralhanae", the Covenant word for "Brute," at the end of the conversation in which the Sharquoi is mentioned.
 * The Sharquoi are a completely new species native to Sanghelios. They could possibly be a large, powerful race founded and controlled by the elites, thus not apearing in the loyalist Covenant in Halo 3.


 * Sharquoi could be some piece of Forerunner technolgy.
 * Sharquoi could be featured in the project that Keep it Clean was a teaser for. Bungie has not confirmed them to be deleted material, and Keep it Clean seems to be set in a time barely touched in the story of the games and books.