List of references to Aliens in the Halo series

There are numerous similarities between the Halo and Aliens universes. Bungie has even admitted to being inspired by the movie. Listed below are detailed account of how the beloved science fiction of Aliens influenced the Halo trilogy.

The Marines
The UNSC Marines bears several resemblance to the Colonial Marines from Aliens in terms of armour design and behaviour (characteristic and personality). It is evident that Bungie clearly loved them and fashioned their own closely after them.

Both Sergeant Apone and Sergeant Johnson obviously have a strikingly similar appearance. Both are tough-as-nails, moustache-lipped, black, cigar-chomping, gung-ho Sergeants with a penchant for playfully mocking their Marines and spouting humorous one-liners, and Johnson occasionally repeats Apone's lines. Bungie admitted that Sergeant Johnson was inspired from Sergeant Apone.

The colonial Marines' main weapon, the M41A Pulse rifle, is equipped with a digital ammo counter and fires caseless ammunition. Similarly, the UNSC Marines main rifles have digital ammo counters, and their SMG uses caseless ammunition as well. Both Marines have helmet cameras which can be used to track their activities. When a Spartan wields a broken off Gun turret, it is operated in a similar fashion to the Smart Gun used by the Colonial Marines. Lastly, both types of Marines have an exceptional tendency to be slaughtered by xenoform type aliens. In their initial encounter the the Xenomorphs, the majority of the Colonial Marine team was killed. Likewise, UNSC marines are extremely easily infected, often not able to withstand an attack by even one infection form.

The Parasites
Notice the similarities between the Facehugger and Infection Form. Both are roughly the size of, say, a football, their coloring is extremely similar, neither has visible eyes or mouth, both move around low to the ground on numerous long, thin appendages and both have a ridged tail. Another characteristic that they share is their great ability to leap with appendages spread open in order to latch on to their hosts.

Similarly, when a Facehugger attaches to a host it implants the Xenomorph embryo inside of it, which will eventually become a “Chestburster” and smash its way out of the victim. This tiny Xenomorph will grow very quickly into either a Warrior or a Queen. When the Flood attaches to a host it will mutate and take over the host, transforming it into a Flood warrior (if adequate biomass is present). In the case of both aliens the genetic make-up of the host will influence the genetic make-up of the resulting creature “born” from the parasitic process. For example, if a Xenomorph hatches from a human it will retain human characteristics and if a Flood attaches to a human, it will adopt human characteristics.

The robot Ash describes the alien in the franchise's first film as "the perfect organism," while the Gravemind considers its species to be the perfect society---the last, most advanced stage of evolution. The "society" of both species is one governed by a Queen Bee-like leader of a central hive-mind. In both societies, there appears to be no internal divisions or opposing behaviors.

The Aliens
As seen in the image, the headdress worn by Councilor Elites closely resemble the Alien Queen's head, albeit smaller and narrower. In addition, both the Covenant and Aliens have a caste system. Whereas the Covenant's is based on race and religion, the Alien's is based on their different life stages and species.

The Vehicles and Structures
Similar to the above section, several vehicles and structures within the Halo trilogy are inspired by the Alien franchise. One such example would be the Pelican Dropship where it bears some resemblance in form and function to Aliens' UD4L Cheyenne dropship in their descent to the surface of LV-426.While the UD-4L has an APC (armored personnel carrier) loaded internally in its belly, the Pelican is capable of holding various vehicles externally from under its tail-section, including the Warthog. Both swoop in, drop the Marines off and get out of dodge. In a cutscene from “The Ark” level in Halo 3, a Pelican snaps off of its frigate and plummets toward the construct below in almost the exact same fashion as the UD-4L deploys from the Sulaco starship in Aliens. In addition, the UNSC Frigates, such as the Forward Unto Dawn, the In Amber Clad, and the Aegis Fate with its protrusions from the bow, greatly resemble the ship Sulaco, both in appearance and usage. The most obvious shared trait is that both of their profiles look like massive guns, a characteristic the Sulaco is famous for. In a cutscene from “The Ark” level in Halo 3, a Pelican snaps off of its frigate and plummets toward the construct below in almost the exact same fashion as the UD-4L deploys from the Sulaco starship in Aliens.

In Aliens’ fiction, “atmosphere processors” (above left and right) are set up by colonists in order to alter the atmosphere on new worlds, to make them survivable by humans. This structure is prominent in the story as it is the place where the colonists are cocooned and the Colonial Marines have their first “close encounter” with the Xenomorphs. The Forerunner gateway artifact, which generated a portal to the Ark (below) is also a prominent set piece in Halo 3.

Dialogues
Several dialogues heard in the Halo trilogy are identical to those from Alien franchise. As stated throughout the whole article, Bungie was largely inspired by the franchise and chose to parody it in the game. For example:


 * Apone: All right, let’s go people. They ain’t payin’ us by the hour.  Let’s go, head ‘em out.
 * Johnson: Hit it, Marines! Go! Go! Go! The Corps ain’t payin’ us by the hour!

In some cases Halo’s Johnson borrows military banter from other Aliens cast members.


 * Hicks: All right people. Let’s move like we got a purpose.
 * Johnson: You heard the lady. Move like you got a purpose!

The following dialogue occurs in the Colonial Marines dropship as they head toward the colony, before meeting the Xenomorph.


 * Frost: …telling ya, I got a bad feeling about this drop.
 * Crowe: You always say that Frost. You always have a bad feeling about this drop.

The following discussion takes place in Halo: Combat Evolved before the UNSC Marines encounter the Flood for the first time.


 * Mendoza: I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
 * Johnson: Boy, you always got a bad feeling about something.

The following comical exchange in Halo 2 is worth noting here.


 * Grunt 1: Me have bad feeling about this.
 * Grunt 2: You always have bad feeling! You had bad feeling about morning food nipple!

The following discussion takes place in the opening cutscene of Halo after the Bumblebee exits UNSC Pillar of Autumn. The Bumblebee pilot has a resemblence to Ferro as well.


 * Ferro: Stand by to initiate release sequencer. On my mark. Five. Four.
 * Bumblebee Pilot: Heads up everyone, this is it. We’re entering the ring’s atmosphere in five…

Notice the similarity in dialogue and jargon below that Foehammer and her Marines share with Ferro and hers.


 * Hicks: Ferro, do you copy?
 * Ferro: Standing by.
 * Hicks: Prep for dust off. We’re gonna need immediate evac.
 * Ferro: Roger. On our way.
 * Gorman: [To Ferro] Immediate dust off on my clear, then stay on station.
 * Ferro: In the pipe. Five by five.

During the “Halo” level in Halo: Combat Evolved:


 * Cortana: [to Foehammer] We have survivors and need immediate dust off.
 * Foehammer: Echo 419 staying on station, Foehammer out.

During “The Maw” level in Halo: Combat Evolved:


 * Cortana: Cortana to Echo 419. Come in Echo 419.
 * Foehammer: Roger, Cortana. I read you five by five.
 * Foehammer: Affirmative. Echo 419 going on station.

The following dialogue occurs after the dropship sent to rescue the Colonial Marines crashes in spectacular fashion when a Xenomorph butchers Ferro mid-flight.


 * Hudson: Well that’s great. That’s just fucking great, man! Now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We’re in some real pretty shit now, man!
 * Hicks: [Grabs Hudson] Are you finished?
 * [A moment of dialogue takes place between other characters]
 * Hudson: That’s it, man. Game over, man.  Game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?

The following dialogue occurs in Halo: Combat Evolved after the dropship pilot informs a group of Marines that she is taking fire and can’t rescue them from the Covenant ship they are now trapped on.


 * UNSC Marine: Oh man, we’re trapped in here. We’re screwed!  We’re screwed, man!
 * Captain Keyes: Stow the bellyaching soldier. Remember that you’re a leatherneck.

Tension builds before a dramatic “last stand” scene in Aliens as Hudson gets a lot of activity on his motion tracker and famously declares one of the better-known lines of the film.


 * Hudson: There’s movement all over the place!

When Chief first emerges to the surface after his first bloody meeting with the Flood only to battle more of them on the surface, Foehammer says,


 * Foehammer: I’m tracking movement all over the place!

The name of the "We're in for some Chop" achievement is a reference to a line from the movie Aliens.

Jonesy

 * The light blue poster reads, “LOST: CALICO CAT ANSWERS TO: JONESY.” which is a reference when Brett goes looking for the ship cat Jones by calling "Jonesy".

Gameplay

 * During Flood levels in both Halo and Halo 2, most notably 343 Guilty Spark and High Charity where visibility is limited and close quarters fighting is common, the player is forced to keep an eye on the motion tracker, a homage to Aliens. This was pointed out in The Art of Halo.

Story

 * Ripley begins and ends both Alien and Aliens in cryo-stasis much like the Chief's overall story throughout the three games.
 * Both Ripley and Master Chief begin Alien and Halo in a large ship with other people and end up alone in a smaller shuttle with a non human, Ripley with Jonesy and Master Chief with Cortana.
 * In keeping with the similarities between the Chief and Ripley, both characters seem to be a rarity in that they can survive encounters with the Flood and the Xenomorphs, respectively.