San'Shyuum

San 'Shyuum (Latin Perfidia vermis, meaning "worm of treachery" ), also known as Prophets, are the leadership caste within the Covenant, and one of the more mysterious member races of the organization. Prophets appear to exert complete control over religious and political affairs, fulfilling the role of religious and political leader.

Summary
Little to nothing is known about the Prophets, beyond the fact that they are the sole members of the leadership caste of the Covenant hierarchy. They are an integral part of the Covenant High Council, formerly sharing this responsibility with the Elites. However, the expulsion of the Elites and their replacement by the Brutes is likely to have caused a power vacuum, and it is not known if any Brute councilors exist, or if the Council has been inadvertently disbanded due to the loss of the Covenant capital city, High Charity. Halo 2 indicates that there is a triumvirate of Covenant leaders. They were known as the Prophet of Truth, Prophet of Mercy and the Prophet of Regret, though all three are now dead.

Prophets appear extremely frail either as an adaptation to a low-gravity world or because of age. The supplemental book incorporated in the Halo 3 Collector's and Legendary editions suggests that inbreeding and a lack of concern for physical health - perhaps superseded by a single-minded desire to achieve "trans-sentience" à la the "Great Journey" - may be responsible for this outcome.

It is known that they claim to have evolved on a former colony of an ancient race called the Forerunners which the Covenant revere as their gods. Prophets derive their legitimacy as leaders - as well as their colloquial names - from this connection. According to the Prophets their world was destroyed some 3200 years ago before the events of Halo 3 (approx. 648 BC) as the result of a stellar collapse; as a result of this they have since elected to make their home on the mobile-planetoid High Charity. It is also known that they waged a fierce and bloody war against the Elites at some point, halted only by the discovery of Forerunner artifacts near the field of battle. The two races united to learn their secrets, forming a mutually beneficial arrangement that would eventually become the Covenant. The Elites would become the protectors of the Prophets while the Prophets would dedicate themselves to studying their "gods" and learning the secrets behind the "ascension" they left on. As the representatives of the gods, the Prophets hold a great amount of power over the other races of the Covenant, earning reverential monikers such as "Holy One" and "Eminence". They are protected at all times by the mighty Legions of Elite Honor Guards, and rarely involve themselves in combat, preferring to dedicate themselves to studying Forerunner artifacts. However, important events to the Covenant usually require a high-ranking Prophet, such as a Hierarch, to be present.

The majority of the Prophets use anti-gravity belts to support themselves. Higher ranking Prophets, such as the Hierarchs (a group of three Prophets with total control of the Covenant), use anti-gravity thrones to support themselves. These however, are not so much for support rather than for personal defense - they are fitted with holographic emitters, an energy shield generator, a teleportation device, and a built-in Gravity Cannon. In the event of assassins getting past their guards, they are able to defend themselves quite well with the Gravity Cannon.

Since the activation of the Halo Array, the Prophet's numbers have been dwindling, with the destruction of their original homeworld 3200 years before the events of 2552 likely contributing, and at the time of Halo 2 there were only 23,831,463 Prophets existing - after the Flood invasion of High Charity, their new "Home World," the majority of their race was consumed, leaving less than a thousand left alive, most doomed by the Elites quarantine of Delta Halo, and the rest of the Covenant Fleet. The Bestiarium contains a most curious reference to the Prophets. Where the rest of the races have one entry for population, the Prophets have two: Their current population, and one noted as "At time of Reseeding", exactly 500,000,000. An interesting fact to note is that the crown-like objects they wear have holographic projections of a halo ring.

Prophet Anatomy and Physiology
Since they bear the status of political figureheads most Prophets are physically quite frail creatures, preferring to move around via gravity belt, or anti-gravity thrones equipped with an impenetrable shield and a powerful particle beam gun and a short-range teleportation device, in the case of the High Prophets. A life of inaction leaves most, if not all Prophets withered and weak.

Each Prophet has distinct, often furry, lobes of skin hanging underneath their chin similar to a beard. Those Prophets of greater age, for example the High Prophet of Mercy, have skin lobes on either side of their heads reminiscent of ears. Prophets have three digits on each hand, and are usually found wearing ornamental pieces that may also double as life support systems. These head-pieces bear a holographic representation of a Halo, but each is uniquely shaped and highly ornamental. However Prophet Councilors have been seen wearing more functional robes that lack any ornamentation whatsoever. These Prophets have a lower status and as a result wear simple robes and can be found on the seating above the Council Chamber accompanying Sangheili Councilors. Prophets also seem to have parts of their brain showing through absences of skin on their heads, while skin is still there, it may be possible that they evolved to allow their brain to grow to such a size that the skin is there simply to hold it in place.

The lifespan of a Prophet appears to be extensive, largely through the development of technologies to increase it. Such a process began in about 1552 which was 1,000 years before the events of Halo 3. Several breakthroughs have been made, ensuring that a quarter of their population are bicentarians.

The massive problems of in-breeding that have plagued the Prophets stems from their separation from their homeworld. In an unknown time after the Covenant formed (or before it began), a thousand or so pro-technology Prophets (who believed in using Forerunner technology for their use and to explore the Dreadnought, called Reformers) left their homeworld, leaving the anti-tech (those who only wished to worship the technology and not explore the Dreadnaught, called Stoics) stranded. The resulting calamity created a log of Prophets who were not allowed to breed so that negative recessive genes will stay out of the gene pool. The Prophet of Truth is on such a list. However, if they should have sexual urges, the Prophets will use a concubine.

San 'Shyuum Civil War
As revealed in Halo: Contact Harvest, the San 'Shyuum left their homeworld with only about one thousand in their population due to a brutal civil war on their home planet. Just like the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War that would take place later on, it all began when some San 'Shyuum believed that they should enter into the Forerunner Dreadnought, even though many of the population believed that they couldn't ever touch the ship and should revere it as it was, which was presumed to be trapped in the surface of the planet as though it had crashed there. The two sides fighting in this war were called the Stoics, or the San 'Shyuum who refused to enter and desecrate the Dreadnought, and the San 'Shyuum who wanted to develop new technologies by entering the Dreadnought, called Reformers. At the climax of the Civil War, about a thousand of the Reformers commandeered the Dreadnought, while the Stoics debated what to do, since even their hate could not bring them to destroy the object of their reverence. However, when the Reformers took flight from the planet they tore a chunk out of it. Even though the Reformers were victorious and had left the Stoics (who sent out communication messages threatening that they would be damned for their digressions to the gods) behind, they realized to their horror that they were indeed ruined by the fact that there were only about a thousand that had joined their cause to control the Dreadnought. After leaving the planet to their horror they saw that they only had 1,000 aboard and if the species were to continue that they would need to selectively breed to prevent inbreeding. The next step in San 'Shyuum history would be the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War, but since they had developed a fleet to complement the Dreadnought, the Reformers may have set down on a planet and set up a base of operations there. And maybe even built cities and begun to build High Charity, but whether or not this is true is yet to be known.

Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War
Soon after encountering each other, the war between the Sangheili and the San 'Shyuum soon started with both creatures having virtually the same argument as the Prophets originally had during their civil war; the right to use Forerunner technology. Sangheili believed that the technology should not be touched or used for personal gain while most of the San 'Shyuum believed otherwise, and disassembled Forerunner relics to produce their own versions. A bloody engagement resulted in their first meeting. Physically, the Sangheili were far superior. One Sangheili warrior was the equal to at least ten San 'Shyuum. However, technologically, the San 'Shyuum had the advantage: they had the Forerunner Dreadnought which proceeded to wipe out the Sangheili armada using hit-and-run tactics. Eventually, in order to ensure the survival of both races, the Sangheilie gave up their own conviction, and the two races merged to form the early Covenant with the San 'Shyuum as the head religious leaders and the Sangheili as the physical backbone.

Appearances
The Prophet of Regret is the only Prophet that is confronted in combat by the Master Chief in the Halo series as of Halo 2. He appears at the level called Regret. The Prophets do make other appearances though, mostly in the cinematic sequences in Halo 2. In fact, in most of the cinematic sequences, there is at least one Prophet present. Also, Mercy's corpse is found at the beginning of the level called High Charity, and Truth's corpse is seen at the last playable section of Covenant.

High Prophets

 * High Prophet of Restraint (deposed)
 * High Prophet of Tolerance (deposed)
 * High Prophetess of Obligation (deposed)
 * High Prophet of Mercy (deceased)
 * High Prophet of Regret (deceased)
 * High Prophet of Truth (deceased)

Lesser Prophets

 * Prophet of Supposition
 * Prophet of Pity
 * Prophet of Disdain
 * Prophet of Objection
 * Truth and Reconciliation's Prophet

Legates

 * Minister of Etiology

Flood Prophet Form
Prophet Form is a term to describe Covenant Prophets that have been infected 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 both "prophet forms" seen had only just been infected, and may not have been assimilated in the conventional way. Prophet of Mercy was one of two prophets to be seen being taken down by an infection form. In the first case, the Infection form was killed by the Master Chief before it could burrow inside Mercy's body. In the second, the prophet was killed by the arbiter, thus ending the Covenant. (Note the human skull in the picture to the right, just above the prophets head and a little to the left. This may indicate other human "hosts" may have passed through the Gravemind before.)

Trivia

 * In Halo: First Strike the Prophets (specifically Truth) appear to have telekinetic powers, although it may be an illusion based on gravity manipulation technology.
 * The High Prophet of Mercy is named Hod Rumnt.
 * Prophet's blood is strikingly red, just like that of a human. This can be seen when you slay the Prophet of Regret and if you shoot Truth's corpse in Halo 3.
 * Perfidia is Latin for "perfidy," which means "a deliberate breach of trust, faithlessness, treachery." Vermis means "worm". Thus, the Prophets' scientific name can be translated into "treacherous worm".
 * In Halo 3 the prophet holograms will flicker to the prophet's true color every few seconds.
 * Halo: Contact Harvest states that only the highest ranking Prophets have the luxury of traveling in singular thrones. Lower ranking prophets have to travel in threes, fives or tens.

Related Links

 * High Prophets
 * High Council