List of inconsistencies in the Halo series

This list is compiled to show the various discrepancies spotted in the Halo universe. It is difficult to decide which resource is "superior" to another, so usually, the inconsistency is mentioned in the articles that it involves.

If you think you can explain an inconsistency, do so here, on this article's talk page.

There are two types of inconsistencies: Conflicts and Discrepancies. Conflicts happen when two sources disagree about a situation, subject or object. Discrepancies occur when a seemingly impossible event happens without any explanation.

Halo: Combat Evolved

 * The main view screen on the Pillar of Autumn labels the as-of-yet unidentified ring as "Halo". The name of the ring is not discovered until the level The Truth and Reconciliation.
 * Cortana says she cannot begin to calculate the pulse range of Halo just after 343 Guilty Spark finishes telling her it has a radius of exactly 25,000 light years.
 * This can be accounted for by Cortana's inherent distrust of Guilty Spark's motives. Additionally, since Cortana is an AI with an insatiable urge to know everything she can, she may have tried to calculate the range herself regardless of whatever 343 Guilty Spark had simply told her.
 * She did not state she wanted to know the range, she simply stated she cannot calculate it.
 * Almost every Pelican dropship bears the marking of Foehammer's bird, "E419", on its side, despite the fact that each Pelican has a different serial number.
 * While there is no canon explanation, this is due to the fact only two Pelican models, V933 and E419 are used the two to represent every Pelican in the game.
 * In The Maw, the main objective is to trigger a 'Wildcat destabilization' of the Pillar of Autumn's fusion reactors. Later, Cortana tells Foehammer that the engine sustained more damage than she thought because of the Wildcat destabilization.
 * Note that this may be due to the fact that the engine decay rate was faster than Cortana originally anticipated; she theorized it must have taken damage on impact. Note that the rest of the humans on Halo were aware of the plan to blow up the ship.
 * Also in The Maw, the player has to travel a direct distance of over 3 kilometers atop the Pillar of Autumn to reach the Longsword fighter, but the Autumn is only 1.17 kilometers long.
 * The Longsword's launch bay in The Maw is also at the end of the Warthog run. The front or rear of a ship is an unlikely place to store a launch bay, which implies that Master Chief traveled from side to side. This makes even less sense than the Autumn suddenly being two kilometers longer.
 * During the level Assault on the Control Room, Staff Sergeant Johnson can be seen with the Chief at the time he was really with Captain Keyes searching for the Covenant's "weapon cache"; even though the Captain has been out of reach since The Silent Cartographer.
 * Bungie was reusing Johnson's model instead of creating another Sergeant model.
 * In 343 Guilty Spark when John-117 arrives at the room, he finds Pvt. Jenkins' mission recording. As he opens the door a body collapses on him. It is unclear as to why this body was not infected when the Flood overran the marines in the room.
 * This may have been done simply to add tension and suspense to the level.

Halo 2

 * In the video "Another Day at the Beach", the UNSC forces that land near Hotel Zanzibar wear ODST armor. When the Marines are encountered at the hotel during the level Outskirts, they wear standard Marine BDUs. Also, the location of the crashed Pelican does not match its position in game.
 * This is probably because the cutscene was cut from the original game.
 * Also, on the Halo 2 case, the back depicts Master Chief fighting alongside ODST troops on Earth, whereas in the game, ODSTs are not present until the level "Delta Halo."
 * In the level Delta Halo, you can find dead ODSTs all around the level -- 7 to be exact. However, In Amber Clad only dropped 11 HEVs... 3 ODSTs, the Master Chief, 3 more dead, and the seven ODSTs makes 14 dead soldiers. This may just be a secret 7 reference, however, as 7=7 and 7x2=14.
 * It is also possible that In Amber Clad launched more HEVs.

Halo 3

 * Every Longsword fighter bears the marking 7-89 on its side, despite that each Longsword has a different serial number. This is likely the result of reusing the same model.
 * In the ending cutscene of the level The Storm, all of the UNSC frigates have the same serial number, and all are labeled "Forward Unto Dawn". One of the Frigates is actually the Forward Unto Dawn. This is also likely the result of reusing the same model.

Halo Wars

 * In the level Dome of Light, after requesting the first Rhino to be deployed, the radio operator on the will identify the player as "Harvest Surface Command" even though the level takes place on Arcadia; however this could be that the Spirit of Fire was still assigned to Harvest.
 * The SPARTANs must be wearing Mark IV MJOLNIR armor because the story takes place in 2531, 21 years before Reach would fall to the Covenant. However, the Spartans in the game possess recharging energy shields, a feature that was added in the Mark V armor. This is only a gameplay mechanic and should not be taken as canon. The developers |later confirmed that the SPARTANs' shield were featured merely to enhance gameplay.
 * The Spirit of Fire is presumably equipped with a standard Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. A destroyer-class vessel can fire two rounds with one charge, as it possesses two separate MACs. The could shoot three rounds with one charge, as it possessed an advanced prototype. Super MACs around Reach and Earth could fire one round every five seconds. The MAC aboard the Spirit of Fire is able to deliver four rounds with a single charge, something that is unheard of in a shipborne MAC. However, as the rounds do very little damage to the area surrounding their targets, it may be assumed that the rounds, or the MAC itself, are not standard, or that the rounds are fired with a lower-than-normal charge.
 * In all renders and cutscenes, most notably "She Is Not My Girlfriend" at the beginning of the level Anders' Signal, the M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun is shown with four barrels. It is likely that this is either a variant of the M41 LAAG or a product of artistic license. This four-barreled design is also featured in the The Package, a short from Halo Legends.

Halo: The Fall of Reach

 * During Master Chief's mission to Reach Station Gamma, a Jackal's blood is said to be blue, although it is clearly purple in the games. The same mistake is made with the Elites, saying that their blood is green, while it too is purple.


 * The book describes Lt. Hikowa as male, but then later refers to the lieutenant as female.

Halo: The Flood

 * The book consistently mistakes the 8-gauge shotgun as 12-gauge.
 * During a skirmish with a force of 100 Ghosts, the book describes how snipers and rocket-launcher-armed Marines could not be hit by plasma fire, as the Ghosts' weapons were fixed and the marines were on a hill. Yet in the game, the Ghost's plasma cannons can easily increase or decrease their angle. They could have easily killed the marines, unless they were positioned on an extremely tall and steep hill.
 * On page 101, it stated that "the Spartan was carrying a full combat load of ammo, grenades, and other gear, plus two magazines for the M19 launchers". The Master Chief was not carrying a Rocket Launcher at the time and if he was, he was never seen using it.
 * It also illustrates that John ran out of ammo for his MA5B Assault Rifle, switching to an M6D Pistol; there are no pistols on that level at all.
 * Weapons in-game sometimes do not follow the ones written in the book, and stocks of ammo left behind by dead marines are not mentioned either.
 * On the Truth and Reconciliation chapter, it describes that a Marine was killed and, "his rocket exploded harmlessly..." No Marines were seen wielding a rocket launcher on that or on any other level.
 * Same as the above, but they do not have animations for holding a rocket launcher.
 * In the book it says that three weapons would be unwieldy for the Chief, not to mention "damn heavy." It then says he chose a shotgun and sniper rifle. Later, an Elite sliced his sniper rifle (presumably with an Energy Sword), prompting the Chief to draw a pistol. It was never explained how he obtained the pistol; however, its small size may have exempted it from the Chief's personal two-weapon limit.
 * Sergeant Parker is referred to as a he, and then a she.
 * Supposedly the Second Squad was completely consumed by the Flood, specifically saying that their numbers dwindled until two PFCs remained, before the last of the Marines fell. A page later, however, Foehammer picks up the surviving Marines. This contradicts the other information, though it is possible that part of the second squad was separated, or that she did not know second squad was entirely KIA.
 * First Lieutenant Melissa McKay's mission clock is prefixed by an extra 1. It should be noted that the last time it shows her mission clock, the clock reads D+144:38:19. Master Chief's last mission clock mention reads D+76:18:5 while he is en route to the Pillar of Autumn. It would not take over 5 hours to detonate the ship, let alone 70 hours.
 * Sergeant Stacker is not mentioned in the novel. He is replaced during the raid on the Truth and Reconciliation by Sergeant Parker, and for the raid on the Silent Cartographer by Gunnery Sergeant Waller. One place where he might make an appearance is when the Chief rescued a crashed Marine squad with a Sergeant and where Stacker is normally found in the game.
 * At one point, the book states: "Consistent with his status as a veteran, the first alien to come around the corner wore red-trimmed armor, a methane rig, and a Marine's web pistol belt. The alien wore the captured gear Pancho Villa-style and dragged it across the deck. Two of his comrades brought up the rear." That is three Grunts in the Master Chief's sight. The next paragraph says, "Confident that there were more of the vaguely simian aliens on the way, the Master Chief paused long enough to let more of them appear, then opened fire. The recoil compensators in his armor dampened the effect, but he could still feel the handgun kick against his palm. All three of the Grunts went down from head shots." It is as if the extra Grunts that appeared simply disappeared. Only three Grunts were killed, which are the three original Grunts that first appeared: the leader and the two followers. But "...the Master Chief paused long enough to let more of them appear, then opened fire... All three of the Grunts went down from head shots." It is possible, though, that the Master Chief had simply expected more Grunts to appear; he may have simply waited in case more Grunts appeared, and then opened fire when he was sure there were not any. It is also possible that Master Chief was simply waiting for more of the three Grunts to appear, giving him larger target silhouettes to hit.

Halo: First Strike

 * The Longsword that landed in the Ascendant Justice is repeatedly referred to as a Pelican.
 * Vinh is referred to as Spartan-029, even though that was Joshua's tag. The mistake is probably a typo.

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

 * Dr. Halsey estimates the diameter of the Micro Dyson sphere within Onyx to be "one hundred fifty million kilometers—two astronomical units, or a radius equivalent to the distance of the Earth orbiting its sun." This is contradictory, as one astronomical unit (the distance of Earth from the Sun) is equal to 150 million kilometers, and thus the diameter of the Dyson sphere should instead be 300 million kilometers.

Halo: Cryptum

 * A Builder conversing with Bornstellar's father states that Mendicant Bias and the test-bed Halo sent to Charum Hakkor went missing after the Master Builder used a Halo to sterilize the San 'Shyuum homeworld - an event which took place only some weeks prior to the conversation. However, the implication given later on in the novel is that the Halo went missing at Charum Hakkor 43 years earlier and was not seen until Mendicant Bias used it in his assault on the capital.

Manual versus books
(These discrepancies are created when material from the game manuals is inconsistent with material from the novels.)


 * The Halo: Combat Evolved manual states that the Harvest incident took place in 2520, while all other sources specify 2525.
 * The Halo: Combat Evolved manual says that the fall of Reach took place in 2552, but the final chapters of Halo: The Fall of Reach, it says that the fall of Reach took place in 2542. This is simply a typo in the book.
 * The manual also states that Captain Keyes has served in the UNSC since 2526, though he was fresh out of the UNSC OCS in 2517.
 * The Grunts are referred to as being five feet tall, but in The Fall of Reach, they are referred to as being a meter tall (a little over three feet). Although it could be that Grunts are "a meter tall" in a natural combat stance, while they are actually "five feet tall" if they stand up straight, without a Methane Tank attached to their backs.
 * In Halo: The Flood, the Chief spots some 12-gauge shotgun shells near an entrance. In the manual and in all other media, they are said to be 8-gauge.

Game versus books
(These are created when the novels describe events that are not the same as what is seen in gameplay. As explained in this forum post, the games are considered by Bungie to be more canon.)


 * Cortana identifies Halo in Halo: The Flood when escaping the Pillar of Autumn, but it is not identified until the level Truth and Reconciliation in the game.
 * In Halo: The Fall of Reach, Hikowa and Dowski are female officers of the Pillar of Autumn. However, on the level The Pillar of Autumn, the bridge has no female members.
 * This may imply that, like modern navy ships, the Autumn has rotating shifts.
 * William Lovell's eyes are stated to be green in Halo: The Fall of Reach, but in Halo: Combat Evolved, the Autumn's crew has no green-eyed members.
 * This is likely a result of game engine limitations, or due to rotating shifts, Lovell was simply not present on the bridge at the time.
 * Cortana accesses Halo's Control Center by having the Master Chief remove the memory chip from his helmet and place it in the console, while in the novel she broadcasts herself into the system using the suit's transmitter.
 * In Halo: The Fall of Reach, when Captain Keyes awakens from cryo, Cortana informs him that the Pillar of Autumn's MAC cannon is depolarized and cannot fire, yet the gun is apparently used, and the loss of fire control still makes headlines in Halo: Combat Evolved's opening cutscene.
 * In Halo: The Flood, the presence of the Covenant at Installation 04 is apparently regarded as being unrelated to the arrival of the Pillar of Autumn; the Covenant are surprised by the arrival of the human ship and act as if it ended up in the system by either following one of their ships, or by chance. However, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and the Covenant broadcast log featured in the Adjunct section in the 2010 reissue on The Flood, state that the Covenant found the ring specifically by following the Autumn's slipspace jump from Reach, and arrived at the system in advance, waiting for the Autumn on the far side of Threshold.
 * In the game, Master Chief throws Private Jenkins' recorder chip away, but he still has it in First Strike. This could be explained by the Chief's suit automatically making a copy of Jenkins' recording as a possible means of gathering intelligence, although this is only a theory.
 * In Halo: The Flood, most of the Marines described in the book were female, despite no female marines being in Halo: Combat Evolved at all.
 * In Halo: The Flood, Captain Keyes comments that a single plasma torpedo is capable of destroying the Pillar of Autumn, though in Halo: Combat Evolved it is struck by several without loosing structural integrity and breaking up. This possibly again relates to the Minor Prophet's order to not fire Plasma Torpedoes. The Covenant ships may have chosen to fire undercharged shots to minimize damage caused by stray shots.

Books versus books
(These errors happen when information from some of the novels is inconsistent with information from other novels.)


 * It is stated in Halo: First Strike that Dr. Halsey always referred to John by name, and never by rank or serial number. However, in Halo: The Fall of Reach, she called him "Master Chief" repeatedly.
 * 33 SPARTAN-IIs successfully adapted to the augmentations. Kurt-051; Sheila, and Randall were listed as MIA before 2552, as were Jai-006, Adriana-111, and Mike. Samuel-034 and three other Spartans were KIA, and one WIA, but thirty SPARTAN-IIs were present to defend Reach (John-117, Linda-058, James, and twenty-seven of Red Team). Other KIA Spartans include Cal-141 , Solomon-069, and Arthur-079. Douglas-042, Jerome-092, and Alice-130 became stranded outside UNSC-controlled space, unable to contact allied forces Maria-062 was stationed at Earth, where she had plans of "starting a family". By this count no more than 19 SPARTAN-IIs, apart from Jorge-052 of Noble Team, could have been present for the Battle of Reach.
 * The Pelican's maximum operational capacity is listed as 12 Marines ; elsewhere as 3 crew, 10 seated, 5 standing ; yet still elsewhere they can carry 30 Elites, or 27 Spartans. It should be noted, though, that the Pelican in Halo: First Strike has all the unnecessary equipment removed -- likely including the seats -- and the Spartans are more or less jam-packed into the small craft. It is possible that there may be different variations of Pelicans, though we only see the one type in game, or that these were equipped with some kind of troop bay extension.
 * During the Battle of Reach, many Covenant ships are destroyed, but not before they can let loose their own lethal plasma attacks. However, later plasma en route to a target merely dissipates as the originating ship and its magnetic controls are destroyed. It is possible that the magnetic controls were not destroyed in the former instance, allowing the plasma to continue to its target.
 * Halo: The Fall of Reach states that Harvest has a population of 3 million. However, in Halo: Contact Harvest, it is stated to have a little over 300,000.
 * Lieutenants Hall and Dominique are introduced as members of the command crew of the Pillar of Autumn, but are absent when the ship arrives at Installation 04. It should be noted, though, that Halo: The Fall of Reach states that there was a flutter in Dominique's heart when he came out of cryosleep prior to the discovery of Alpha Halo, perhaps indicating cardiac arrest.
 * In 2525, when Harvest was glassed by the Covenant, UNSC technology took approximately two months to traverse between Harvest and Reach, but in 2552 it takes a ship only 19 days to travel between Reach and Earth, when the distances between the three planets are only between 10 and 11 light years. However, this extended length may be due to damage to the Heracles.
 * Throughout Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Elites referred to their superiors as "sir", while in Halo: The Flood, they said "Excellency". It is possible, though, that the two words are different English approximations of the same Sangheili honorific.
 * In Halo: First Strike, Dr. Halsey puts four sub-machine guns in a bag. In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Kelly found the same weapons, but they were four MA5B Assault Rifles instead.
 * The Covenant has had knowledge on the Oracles for a long time, but in Halo: The Flood, 343 Guilty Spark was regarded as an enemy to the Sangheili.
 * When Lieutenant Keyes is warned of the incoming Covenant fleet and asks what UNSC ships are nearby in Halo: The Cole Protocol, the book first states that three destroyers are picketing, but immediately counters that the and three frigates wouldn't be able to repel a Covenant assault. However, they are later confirmed to be destroyers, one of which is the Do You Feel Lucky?.
 * CPO Mendez remarks that some of the Alpha Company candidates were orphaned at Jericho VII. His speech takes place on December 12, 2531, yet Jericho VII was not glassed until February 2535.
 * In Halo Wars: Genesis, Ellen Anders mentions the planet Onyx in passing, while giving a talk about an alien presence. However, in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Kurt reads a file that says Onyx has been classified since 2511. Genesis takes place in the spring of 2531. It is possible though, that like Dr. Halsey, she has a knack of looking at places where she doesn't have the clearance.
 * In Halo: The Flood it says Captain Keyes killed his first human with a pistol; however, Halo: The Cole Protocol states he used a plasma rifle.
 * The Halo: Evolutions story, The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, it is clearly stated that Preston Cole had one hundred seventeen ships under his command during the Battle of Alpha Aurigae. Halo Wars: Genesis states he only had one hundred seven in the same battle.
 * In the Halo: Evolutions story The Mona Lisa, it is implied the UNSC had a "policy" not to take Covenant prisoners. However, there are multiple instances of the UNSC taking Covenant prisoners in Halo: The Flood and other past works.
 * In various books the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon is also referred to as the Mass Accelerator Cannon. This is most likely a typo.
 * In the Halo: Evolutions story Human Weakness, Cortana knows about the death of Colonel James Ackerson while being held captive by the Gravemind in High Charity. There is no way she could possibly have been aware of the event at this point, as Ackerson was killed after the Battle of Cleveland sometime between November 8 and 17, and the scene in High Charity takes place days prior (though no accurate date is given, by the way the events are presented, it can be assumed hours have passed at the most from the end of the Battle of High Charity). Even accounting for the possibility she may have somehow learned this immediately after Ackerson was executed, she refers to the event in a fashion as if she had been aware of it beforehand.

Game versus games
(This occurs when information from one game is not consistent with information from another.)
 * The doors in High Charity are different in Halo 2 and Halo 3. This could be because the High Charity part of Halo 2 takes place near the Prophets' Sanctum, and in Halo 3 near the core area, accounting for the difference in design.
 * In Halo 3: ODST, the Solemn Penance is seen as being stationary just prior to it jumping into slipspace, yet in Halo 2 during the closing cutscene of the level Metropolis the carrier is moving forwards.
 * From the same scene in ODST, the In Amber Clad can be seen approaching the carrier in a straight line and is clearly separate when they jump, but in Halo 2, the In Amber Clad flies in an arc to a position underneath the starboard side of the carrier, where it would hardly be visible (if at all) to the ODSTs above.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, which takes place directly after Halo: Reach, the Marines on board the Pillar of Autumn are armed with MA5B rifles. However, in Reach, the Marines (which come from the Pillar of Autumn) are armed with MA37 rifles. At the end of the game, the Marines board the Autumn once more, still with MA37 rifles. Therefore, in Halo, the Marines should be equipped with MA37 rifles, unless there is some other reason for the change that has yet to be explained/retconned.
 * However, this is most likely due to Bungie not having the time or ability to program a separate weapon for an NPC which is functionally the same as the rest, in addition to needing to make it so that Noble Six could not use the MA5B.
 * Furthermore, it could simply be that no MA37s were encountered by John during the game, but still exist in the storyline to an extremely limited extent.

Inconsistencies rectified in re-releases
This is a list of disparities that remain in older novel editions, but have been retconned in later releases. For a complete list of changes in the re-releases, see here.

Halo: The Fall of Reach

 * In Halo: The Fall of Reach, the dropship used to transport the 75 SPARTAN-II children to the Military Wilderness Training Preserve was originally identified as a Pelican, whose troop bay would ostensibly be too small for 75 people. However, this was rectified in the 2010 reissue, in which the dropship is changed into a larger Albatross.


 * On page 46 of the original edition, Kelly handed out parts of a map to the seventy-five SPARTAN-II trainees. Then on page 48, when John checked to make sure the children arrived at the lake, he counted only sixty-seven...which seemed to be all of them. In the re-release, "sixty-seven" is changed to seventy-four.


 * In Chapter 22, James-005's left arm is burnt off by an assault cannon. In the original edition, it is said a few pages later that he saluted with his left hand–while it was still missing. In the 2010 re-release, he salutes with his right hand.


 * Captain Keyes refers to Ensign Lovell as "Michael" instead of "William". This has been fixed in the 2010 edition.


 * In the original, a UNSC frigate was referred to as the UNSC Alliance, and then shortly thereafter as the . In the 2010 edition, the ship is referred to as the Allegiance in both instances.


 * In the original edition, the ship was referred to as a cruiser and then later as a carrier. In the 2010 edition, the ship is referred to as a cruiser in both cases.


 * On page 19, Michael Stanforth was said to be a Vice Admiral, and on page 95, it said he was a Rear Admiral. In the 2010 edition, he is referred to as a Vice Admiral in both instances.


 * The Pillar of Autumn was said to be missing its port-side emergency thrusters, but later used them twice. In the 2010 edition, the mention of the thrusters being missing has been removed.


 * In the original edition, the first time John-117 encounters Sangheili warriors in the battlefield is on Gamma Station during the Fall of Reach. In addition, the UNSC is depicted as not having any first-hand intelligence on the species prior to the battle; Dr. Halsey only speculates their existence. This has been largely ignored in later material, and Sangheili have been depicted as being present in battles throughout the war numerous times. References to the Sangheili as being a never-before-seen species were altered in the 2010 re-edition.

Halo: First Strike

 * Similar to the inconsistency of the Spartans' first encounter with Sangheili, in Halo: First Strike, the Spartans did not have any prior knowledge of the Jiralhanae until their encounter with them on the Unyielding Hierophant during Operation: FIRST STRIKE. This has also been contradicted in multiple later works which show Brutes as being well known to UNSC forces throughout the war. Like the Sangheili encounter inconsistency in The Fall of Reach, in the re-release of First Strike, references to the Jiralhanae have been altered so that the Spartans are now familiar with them.

Halo: The Flood

 * The cutscene in Halo: Combat Evolved at the end of the level The Pillar of Autumn clearly shows the Autumn being fired upon with plasma. However, in Halo: The Flood, the Prophet assigned to the fleet forbids the Covenant ships to fire, lest they strike the "sacred relic". However, this is remedied in the fleet broadcast log in the ancillary content of the reissue of Halo: The Flood, where it is revealed that the order was ignored by the fleet's Supreme Commander.