Talk:Gravemind (Form)

Quote edit
The quote "Basking in new freedom" is actually "Asking in you freedom". I recorded it and cleaned it up a little. I think he's referring to the fact that he can not get the index from Cortana but the Chief can, and that's why he's angry at Chief because he can not stand to know that even though he has the index he can do nothing with it.

I changed it before but someone re-changed it, please leave it as is.

What is Gravemind?
what is gravemind from


 * He is a collection of parts brought together and molded into his colossal body. Possibly he is made up of Forerunners. --Dragonclaws 02:48, 22 November 2006 (UTC)


 * He could be made up of multiple forms but just a thought.--prophit of war 14:42, 22 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Don't you think it's weird he weezes flood vapor? He's probably trying to get rid of it.--prophit of war 14:44, 22 November 2006 (UTC)


 * He probably has so many flood spores inside him, that they eminate from him like a vapor. -ED 05:42, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

gravemind is a flood being that is constructed by the combat forms from other living forms. in the graphic novel comic "The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor, the prophet called "minister of etiology" is quoted saying about creature the flood forms on the ship "This creature they are building i believe serves as their leader and organizer. They keep bringing it corpses and other flesh and it has been growing quickly by absorbing them." and it is widely accepted that gravemind is not just the leader of the flood, but the actual concienceness of the flood, absoring not only the bodies of the floods victims, but also the memories of them as well. considering how old gravemind implies that he is in the Halo 2 cut scene at the beginning of the gravemind level, its hard to imagine the extent of his knowledge. _(Sir_Shipman)_ 12:49 pst 3/31/07

I disagree with that. How could they make that? It does not at all resemble a brain form so... yea. Also it might be a brain form but all flood consume everything. There was a skull on the tenticle with Regret on it. I also believe it has a seperate mind from it's minions. In Halo:The Flood Jenkins felt another presence. They all could be smart becuase they do asborb knowledge from those they take. The Gravemind makes the Floodlings and Juggernaughts. Floodlings make parasitic combat forms, carrier forms, and brain forms.

Duskstorm 15:24, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Everyone thinks Gravemind and the Brain form are to different thing but what if the Brain form is the beginnings of Gravemind, a brain form is create when an outbreak reaches a sir ten size and then grows with the outbreak and Gravemind is just the remaining control form from before the Forerunners active the rings -- MCDBBlits 00:06, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

the gravemind starts out as a brain form but then is brought bodies to absorb by combat forms remember in halo 1 in keyes cortana said "look in the corners, the flood are gathering bodies"? well they were gathering them for keyes so that he could absorb them and eventually become a gravemind form. but i dont think that keyes is gravemind though.Alphacheiftain101 02:13, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

you dont have to change this on the article but i dont think its called a "gravemind form" i think that gravemind is just cortanas nickname for him\it.Alphacheiftain101 02:15, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

how does he move
YEAH how deos he move


 * I think he's traped under the Library(reversed message a prison) but he can move his tenticles about through the teleportation grid. He probably can barely move without the teleportation exept for his tenticles and mouth.--prophit of war 14:08, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Just like the part in the graphic novel i referenced in the section above, the flood forms are building a creature as their leader. if gravemind is the "mind" of the flood, wouldnt his mind be in all flood forms?(besides saying that he just has telepathic powers.)this would be a very plausible way for gravemind to "move around" by exhisting in several places at one time. if all flood forms contain graveminds thoughts, then this puts gravemind just about everywhere the flood infests. _Sir_Shipman_ 12:40 pst 3/31/07 SirShipman@gmail.com


 * I don't think the Flood is a hivemind, just that he's a powerful brain form. Cortana mentions in GoO that she thinks the Flood are trying to leave High Charity to meet up with some higher brain form, I think. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 07:44, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I just thinks he gets larger while earting the dead bodies until he get's over the entire city, so he doesn't need to move at allΜΆŜΤΈŖČΗέÏΣΡΈΤΤΥОΓΓïČëŗ 13:47, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

the gravemind itself cant move but it uses the telepotation grid to jump from delta halo to high charity or maybe the flood had it on in amber clad.Alphacheiftain101 02:18, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

My theory is that the gravemind existed in two places simultaneously for a little while. When the flood came to high charity, they probably started making another gravemind and when they had completed it, the graveminds first form collapsed or rotted.

He doesn't need to move; he's the gravemind, just like the overmind from Starcraft. He controls the entire flood, and he only needs to attack using the flood. Hyper Zergling 03:45, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

tentacles in the broken window
Should a pic of the "tentacles in the broken window" be added? I've never seen this.--Satanator 11:58, 26 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I haven't either.--prophit of war 19:14, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
 * What is the picture of "tentacles in the broken window" -- Esemono 03:54, 9 March 2007 (UTC)


 * In High Charity you can see Gravemind's tentacles hanging down a window. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 06:26, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Does the tantacles on Quarantine Zone belongs to the Gravemind?(just for confirm)Master Chief Petty Officer 11:24, 9 March 2007 (UTC)


 * You mean the one Miranda uses to reach the Index? I'd say that's just a combat form's, given how it was tangled up in the Enforcer wreck. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 11:26, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I am just thinking, could it be possible that a combat form tentacles could be that long to reach the index? Master Chief Petty Officer 13:27, 10 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Good point. Yeah, it's possible he had his tentacles all over the place if he had one all the way out where Master Chief sank. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 07:02, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

yeah dude, who knows, maybe he even had tentacles on Alpha Halo :O! SirShipman@gmail.com

I honestly think that's not gonna happened, but I am sure its the Gravemind's. It hids under the library, right? So its possible to reach such a distance, and it might have sense someone touching his tantacles, so it swing and nearly knocking Miranda Keyes off itMaster Chief Petty Officer 13:17, 31 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Whoever it belonged to, I think the tantacle was severed. It was wrapped up in the Enforcer wreck, and started to come loose under Miranda's weight until Johnson grabbed it. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 19:49, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I disagree. Only a reclaimer would be able to retrieve the index and providing a convenient 'rope' for Keyes to reach the index and then dropping her would allow Gravemind to have the index.

No, Maybe the tentacle was connected to Gravemind and he helped Keyes retrieve the index because he could not, seeing as he wasn't a reclaimer. Then he was about to let Keyes fall because he could just retrieve the index at the bottom or was waiting at the bottom for it. Unfortunatly for him, Johnson saved her in time. The only problem I would have for my theory is why didn't the Gravemind fight back with this tentacle. ф><ф

Gravemind is actually Keyes
I personally think that Gravemind is actually Keys. -- Guest


 * The Gravemind can't be Keyes, because Keyes was on the Truth and Reconciliation, which was, according to the books, destroyed. Also, right after that, according to the books AND the game, Halo was destroyed, further destroying any remains of Halo. Finally, Gravemind is on Installation 05, which is probably at least 25,000 light years away from the remains of Keyes as a brain form, and the events of Halo 2 are very soon after Halo.  Guesty - Persony - Thingy  07:18, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

why Gravemind is omniscient
Anybody have any idea why Gravemind is omniscient?
 * The flood absorb the knowledge of each host they infect. Gravemind is comprised of the bodies of thousands of hosts. He knows a lot. -ED 05:44, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Right on point with that idea, but hes probably comprised of something more like Billions or even....quadrillions. hes old as crap. SirShipman@gmail.com
 * Also very true. The iamge of Gravemind on The Art of Halo depicts gravemind as massive, with hundreds of tentacles that are each several miles long. -ED 14:31, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

How long was he in there? He said he listened to the forerunners. that or somethin else... He hears through rock and earth so he must know where the forerunners went. Not all of them could have been wiped out when they went to their last resort.

Duskstorm 15:15, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Theorys
I think that the Gravemind is a Brain Form that controls Halo.This theory has some credibility, since he is able to use Halos telepotation system.Since it would need to control such a large structure, it would need mobility, unlike the normal brainform.Also, in Halo the Brainform is seen consuming capt. keyes for his knowledge of the pillar of automn, so the gravemind could have consumed Penitent tangent and regret for there knowledge of halo. —The preceding unsigned comment was made by Evillevi (talk • contribs). I'm not sure about that... when Keyes was turned into a brain form, the Flood sifted through his brain, simply throwing out anything that wasn't what it was looking for, until it found the information it was looking for. Except it didn't, since MC got to him first. But anyway, Regret and Mr. 2401 still have all their knowledge, so I don't think Gravemind is a brain form. Also, he doesn't look remotely like a brain form, except that they're both Flood-ish. But really, how much is there on Halo to control? There's a Library, which he is under and therefore controls; there's a Control Room, of which controlling isn't really possible by a mouth with tentacles, and there's a bunch of stuff that looks real nice; rivers, lakes, mountains... controlling how much fertilizer the grass gets isn't going to help him with whatever he's trying to do, unless he wants to make the most beautiful garden ever or something. But there probably are roots in what you're saying, it's just that he's not exactly like a brain form, and none of it is solid fact, so it belongs here for now. g u e s t y- p e r s o n y- t h i n g y 23:21, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Not sure if this is relevant or not, but if you read the Terminals found in Halo 3 it mentions "Mendicant Bias" and how its designed to get into the "Central Mind" of the Flood and destroy it...basically to interface with it and destroy it. (At least that's how I interpreted it). Mendicant Bias turned on the Forerunner to assist the flood, and then turned to activate the Arc. It defeated Offencive Bias, but failed to disable to Arc in time. Mendicant Bias then disappears from our knowledge, but speaks with the players through the Terminals. Now, the fun part...in one of the Terminals (in the red portion of it), the AI "ghost" tells you it's Mendicant Bias, and this is what it's done.

343 GS and Johnson ask why the Flood would've come to the Arc, and the Flood logically would not know how to get to the Arc (or what it is), unless of course the Gravemind had survived the activation of the Halo Array...or something had somehow fused with the Gravemind. The fusion of the Gravemind with Mendicant Bias would easily explain how the Gravemind could use all of the Forerunner tech (including the Teleportation Ring) and have such an interest in Cortana. Including how he can begin interfacing with her in Halo 3 (an impossible task for Flood considering they can only attack/infect organic beings).

This probably seems like random babling, but makes sense to me...what do you guys think?

- SnoweyShadow 3:51, 30 September 2007 (EST)

He didn't fuse with Bias, he fused with 2401 Pentinent Tangent.

Gravemind is an Ant
I have a reference on , and its saids that the Gravemind is a Queen Ant which ate (I think) the bodies of its victim and became a form. He remotly becomes like it the Flood, if its possible (its a theory of mines, don't rely on it!)--Master Chief Petty Officer 05:14, 17 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Say What?so gravemind is an ant that ate its victims, probably other ants, until it grew so that it no longer even remotely resembles an ant, grew tentacles, gained control of some method of teleportation, and gained the ability to speak in english, and not just english either, it has enough intelligence, or wit or whatever to speak in trochaic heptameter as he goes along, because there isnt any way he could have rehearsed what he said to the Arbiter and M.C., unless he also gained the ability to look into the future by eating ants. i would have never guessed!Phil.e. 01:02, 8 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, that's what I think, but he seems Flood Like, and, well, I know almost nothing of that figureMaster Chief Petty Officer 05:07, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

The book doesn't say that he is an ant, but makes a comparison. Here's the actual excerpt, since I have the book in front of me. "The Gravemind can be thought of as a cross between the flood's logical evolution and a queen ant." So, the Gravemind can be said to have the ROLE of a queen ant, being the single leader that commands all of the lesser beings below it. Pyromancer 17:55, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

iambic or trochaic?
on the Halopedia article, it says he speaks in iambic heptameter, but in wikipedia, it says trochaic, which one, if any is correct?Phil.e. 22:33, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Trochaic. Iambic has the stress on even-numbered syllables, which Gravemind does not. "Silence fills the empty grave" for example, is trochaic. But he doesn't always speak in any sort of rythm, anyway. -The Dark Lord Azathoth 22:09, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, he does speak in iambic. Iambic pentameter is not stress in even number sylabbles per se; it's alternating stress on syllabbles. Strong syllable, weak syllable, strong syllable...so on. But as to the actual pattern, I haven't found one.


 * You are mistaken. Iambs are, by definition, metrical units with the first half unstressed and the second half stressed. (As in Shakespeare.) Trochees, conversely, are metrical units wherein the first half is stressed and the second half is unstressed. (N.b. Trochaic/Iambic denotes the type of meter used, mono/di/tri/tetra/etc.-meter denotes the number of steps in a verse.)
 * While the Gravemind's speech may not necessarily always follow a trochaic heptameter (I have not personally checked), most of the dialogue I have seen concerning this character matches the trochaic heptameter scheme. -ParoXoN 02:38, 10 December 2007


 * Personally, I think the bigger issue is the fact that he doesn't speak in heptameter, unless he rhymes things in the middle of his lines. What he says at the end of Halo 2, for example, if it is in heptameter, it would look like:
 * Silence fills the empty grave now that I have gone, but my
 * Mind is not at rest, for questions linger on. I will ask
 * And you will answer.
 * In reality, it should be reported that he speaks in a sort of free flowing verse without a set number of trochees per line. Unless, of course, we are allowing the fact that he rhymes in the middle of a line, which is not any sort of poetic style that I have ever heard of.

I might know what he meant
'I...I am the Monument to all of your sins.' Is what the Gravemind is known to have said. Heres one idea why he said that... Monument can refere to basicly a creation. Like the pyramids are 'monuments of the phaorohs' suggesting he is a creation. Monument to your sins can refer in the sort of biblical saying of 'Playing God'. This data suggests that the flood were created by a very intelligent species (i.e. Forerunner?). 19:05 12/3/07

he's a monument to the wrong doings of the forerunners/humans/i think intelligent sentient beings in general. pretty good theory that he was created by the forerunners, it'd make sense. maybe they tried to make something else, and flood were the accident product? who knows. only bungie.... maybe not even them =P FallenMind 01:16, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Pretty Good Theory, most people thinks that he's created by dead bodies, I support the theory that he may be a floodMaster Chief Petty Officer 11:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

All the dead bodies are a combined intelligence which is why Gravemind is so smart

of course hes a floodAlphacheiftain101 02:27, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
 * 343 Guilty Spark said in Halo 2 that the Forerunner discovered the flood. -ED 14:32, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
 * No, he says they encountered the Flood. That doesn't preclude the possibility of some mad Forerunner scientist making them, and then the Forerunners show up to arrest him and HOLYCRAPAAAHWEREALLGONNADIE. Or maybe the Reclaimers made the Flood, and then the Forerunners found it. Who knows. -The Dark Lord Azathoth 13:36, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

I mostly agree with what we're saying here. Monument can be defined as "an exemplar, model, or personification of some abstract quality. Ex: Human ingenuity." Possibly meaning he could see himself as a representation of something related to the Covenant and/or UNSC, or maybe sentient beings in general. I would take a guess and say that he is a "monument" to imperialistic behaviors, or desire to control everything, since the flood's single purpose seems to be to consume all living things. Pyromancer 17:40, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

What if the Forerunners created the gravemind? To communicate with the flood? maybe it got to strong they couldn't control it and it wante to know everything they did a wanted everything they made. Maybe the new halo game that they are still making will clear up all this?

No, the gravemind was created and the forerunner created a moniter (mecadiant bias) to destroy it, it was too late gravemind absorbed forerunner intelligence from their bodies and convinced the moniter to help him.~Lovemuffin

Duskstorm 16:15, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Everything in the Halo Universe seems to be the Bible turned on its head. I think maybe the Gravemind is supposed to be the Devil of the piece. A monument to sin, a lasting reminder of something that happened in the past, maybe some kind of original sin of the Forerunners or something. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 00:40, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

But the forerunners state that the flood is extragalactical and their sins is attempting to halt/slow 'evolution,' as the gravemind believes he is, as well as slaughtering the galaxy to 'save it.'

He's not going to save it, he's going to punish it, a momument to all your sins is showing how their sins will punished by him.

Reclaimers is a kinda nickname for human used by Sparky(343) and/or forerunners. So how can the Reclaimers have made the flood? Hunter-901

Halo3.com
Halo3.com says that the Flood, once its numbers reaches a point, creates a centralised body for its consciousness - the gravemind. Makes sense, kinda - in effect, it IS the Flood, not just a guiding intelligence. it is EVERY Flood mind, and at the same time the only one. Kora &#39;Morhekee 06:16, 1 May 2007 (UTC)


 * But this Gravemind isn't the only one, as stated in GoO. I think that the website is kind of simplifying it for the normal gamer. -- Dragonc laws ( talk ) 00:30, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Virus?
A sentence says that "up to this point it was believed that Flood was an unintelligent virus". Virus? Huh, what i believed, the Flood was a parasite, not a virus. A virus may not survive without a biological host, as the flood may. And a virus are microscopical, and infect without any signs at all. There is also an inseminar period, for how long it takes from that you are infected to the point you get ill (that means sick, americans). The Flood infection form is a self fueling biological creature which can, with a long antenna, stab beings and take control of their spine. They can there access the DNA Code and mutate the poor thing.

Who saw an infection form as a virus?

-- Well, they kinda are a virus. They spread like one. And the Flood need a biological host. Somehow, however, they were able to survive for god knows how long on the first Ring without a host, unless there really was a lifeform on the Ring that supported them (note how there are no native species in the game). Besides, the Flood infect anything in range, as does a virus, through contact of the infection spores which take over the nervous system and render the original inhabitant of the body out of control. Gravemind might be Head Virus guy who controls them all. that would be how ALL learn how to do stuff. Zyrin 01:51, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Learn your biology. A Virus is a parasite. -- ED ( talk )(gaming) 20:32, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

-- Thechnically, it's a parastoid, which is a parasite that stays with its host until its host dies, a parasite, after being with one host for a period of time it simply moves onto another. And it seems that the only time an infection form leaves it's host is when you severly decapitated

The key to wiping out the Flood once and for all...
I bet if you killed the Gravemind, the central controlling intelligence of the Flood, all of the Flood forms connected to it would either die or become mindless beasts. It makes sense because the Gravemind is often reffered to as the "Puppetmaster," so if it is destroyed the rest of the Flood will die. I think we'll have to face Gravemind at some point in Halo 3.
 * It is just a large brain form. If destroyed, the remaining flood would likely simply make another, just like how members of our military use the chain of command to create another leader when a previous one retires/is incapacitated. -- DEMON SPAWN  ED  21:30, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Gravemind wouldn't die like that...ΜΆŜΤΈŖČΗέÏΣΡΈΤΤΥОΓΓïČëŗ 03:11, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

If it was as simple as "Kill The Gravemind" then i think the Forerunners wouldnt have needed the Halos. If it dies, the Flood makes another - because he is the Flood, the embodiment and will of the entire species. You'd have to kill the whole Flood at once to get rid of them.  Kora ‘Morhekee   The Battle-Net  My Conquests.  01:30, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Killing the Gravemind wouldn't kill the Flood, it's only a matured Flood, the Gravemind. Maybe if you use the key or switch to another firing mode, they will kill the Flood istead of their food. ΜΆŜΤΈŖČΗέÏΣΡΈΤΤΥОΓΓïČëŗ 04:06, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Think of the Gravemind also like the Overmind (Starcraft for those that don't know) perfect example, when the leader of a brood of zerg dies (Cerebrate)the brood loses control and attacks anything, when the Overmind is killed the Zerg lose the ability to organize attacks but then the Cerebrates merge into a new Overmind, same thing would happen to the Flood. Gado 17:48, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Uh...
Has anyone noticed the reversed message is played twice? It's played when the Arbiter is being dragged down the hallway with about a thousand Honor Guards, and during the level Gravemind while your rescuing the Marines.


 * Yes. Plenty of people have noticed that, and the actual transcript for the message was gotten from the soundtrack, not from the cutscene, because there's too much dialogue going on during that. -- NOTASTAFF  GPT ( talk )( eating ) 20:00, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

In Halo 3
Isn't he seen anytime during Halo 3? I've read that he is heard a lot of times, but how is it about visual contact? &#91;&#91;User:Vtar &#39;Kakumee&#124;Vtar]] 18:53, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Well,he is seen but bacically its just his tentacles that attack you in cutscenes...which looks a lot like weeds now.But also during many levels the screen will turn green and he will either talk to you,get angry with you,or roar in such a scary way you'll crap in your pants.God bless Halo 10:53, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Sentence?
When I was reading Grave's quotes this one caught my attention,"Defeat is merely an addition of time to a sentence I never deserved. But you, do.",What sentence could he mean,is it the possibility that he doesn't like being flood so if he can't be normal no one else will either,its a little confusing.God bless Halo 14:22, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

I believe that the "sentence" he's referring to is total annihilation. He's implying that the absorbtion of every sentient being in the universe into the Flood is inevitable: eventually, even if it takes millions of years, the Flood will escape again and again until they succeed. Master Chief destroying the current Flood outbreak is just a setback in that plan, adding more time to the Gravemind's "sentence". Captain J 22:15, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

He believes the flood are the final piece in evolution. So he is basicly saying that if he is killed again then the flood will build another, and he'll try again. Having to see everything else being 'imperfect' is his sentence.

Things we need to notice
there are things we need to realize about gravemind
 * If gravemind was once a brain form why is he under the library,because last time I checked brain forms are imobile,and they are only made for using ships and inteligence gathering.
 * If it is made up of dead things put together to creat a single life form then what would come to life to make it the whole thing move,is the Gravemind really just an infection form in its center controlling a giant mass of dead things?
 * I had more but I forgot what they were...God bless Halo 14:49, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Err... when exactly did you know this? I mean, I haven't even heard about it. ΜΆŜΤΈŖČΗέÏΣΡΈΤΤΥОΓΓïČëŗ 12:52, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

these are from our gravemind and brain form articles
 * "Unlike other Flood forms, the Brain Form is apparently immobile and passive in combat."
 * "Gravemind is located far beneath the Library of Installation 05, and has tentacles that reach for kilometers."but why was it under the library when there is nothing down there?God bless Halo 20:16, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

What have carrier forms have to do with Gravemind? FishType1

2 Graveminds?
How come they are 2 graveminds? I read this at Proto-gravemind article.

People are assuming that the gravemind form has been created twice, I think there has only been one. Gravemind in halo3 says that it has consumed fleets of thousands. They're may hve been two forms but obviously the compound intelligence is the same being. ProphetofTruth 15:08, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
 * No, a gravemind was created, and destroyed by the first firing of the Halo rings. The gravemind you see in Halos 2 and 3 is the second one known to exist. -- E D [[Image:ArmyROTC.gif|15px]] 15:12, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
 * The first Halo Effect would have killed the first recorded gravemind off(otherwise, the flood on instillation 04 would have acted much more like the flood on 05, instillation 00, and 04-2.0, still, after saying that, the current gravemind DOES elude to his being around during forerunner times, and the "consumed fleets of thousands" wouldn't seem to match up with our current situation. Perhaps the intelligence of the gravemind from the Forerunner-Flood war has carried over, or perhaps it IS the same gravemind, and during the events at instillation 04 it was in a state of rehabilitation. Think about it, some flood survived the starvation that the Halo Effect caused, who is to say that the gravemind didn't survive, if just barely? The ages of starvation could have whittled the gravemind down, leaving the remaining flood in their early stages of infection. Its worth consideration. --ThePeoplesMark 09:11, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Since the flood originated in another galaxy, its quite possible that the flood completely absorbed that galaxy an created a grave mind, and then using the captured technology and sent ships packed with flood to our galaxy. OR, the flood had already/almost completely absorbed another galaxy when suddenly, the forerunners show up, the flood use the infected forerunners to come to our galaxy and screw stuff up for everybody

When a Gravemind dies, his minions will quickly for a new one, but the old Graveminds "mind" will embody the new one. It is at the page. Hunter-901

Coumpound Form
I tweaked the bit in trivia on the Coumpound Form, First of all, it was Compound Mind not form. Secondly, It was most likely the forerunner term for the flood hive intelligence, not the name of a hulk of biomass. ProphetofTruth 15:08, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Gravemind: a Forerunner experiment gone wrong?
now I know the Flood weren't created by the Forerunner, but what about Gravemind. I mean, sure the Flood can take knowledge from the creatures they take over, but how does that give them a personality? my theory is some secret government Forerunner guys tried to take control of the Flood. so they made an AI called Gravemind and implanted it inside a brain of a potentiol specimen and let the Flood take it over. with Gravemind connected to the infected creature's mind, the AI was able to connect to the Flood as well. then when Gravemind takes control over the Flood's mind, it's objectives reflect on the Flood's survival instincts and ends up as the monster we know now.

Impossible. Gravemind is a stage in a Flood's life. Until next time, respect them Grunts. This is M  ø  u  s  e, squeaking out! 21:16, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Gravemind is a stage of flood cycle, you can't possibly "make" a Gravemind. ΜΆŜΤΈŖČΗέÏΣΡΈΤΤΥОΓΓïČëŗ 11:30, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Multiple voices?
Listen to the Gravemind in the "Inside Job" cutscene. I think I can hear multiple voices speaking at once. Especially in his last few lines of the cutscene. I'm pretty sure I hear a feminine voice being played alongside the louder, masculine one. Quil 01:44, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

on the covanat right before you take off the 2 force field you can hear voices.grey101

The first and second gravemind are the same
"I have beaten fleets of Thousands! Consumed a galaxy of flesh, and mind, and bone!" -said on Halo

I think this line confirms there was only one gravemind. In Halo 2 Cortana says that the fleet surrounding High Charity was the largest fleet ever. And in Halo 3 the Arbiter says that the fleet had hundreds of ships. Royce 20:58, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

I think on either the article about the terminals or on 343 guilty sparks article it shows the conversation he had with mencident bias and mencident bias id was something like 056 05, which shows his instilation was 05 and he also betrayed the forerunners. What if gravemind used installation 05 as his base of operations and got protected from the firing of the rings, that would also explain the quote "i have listened through rock and metal and time" its possible he couldn't get out from the sentinal wall. The ark could of created another monitor but he got captured. i reckon it is the same gravemind. Also the birds on installation 05 survived. (Chris)15:36 GMT 5th December 07

No, Mendicant Bias is/was an AI that the Forerunners created to help them with the Flood, the Gravemind tricked Mendicant Bias into betraying them saying they were destroying the universe while he (Gravemind) was preserving it. Mendicant Bias is not at all a Monitor, Installation 05's monitor is 2401 Penitant Tangent who is seen in the cinematic being held by the Gravemind, I don't know what Medicant's number of 056 05 means but if you add them up its another 7 reference. Gado 17:34, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

yes but its open to speculation, and what if the forerunners changed its use, its just a theory which could be totally wrong but i think it makes an awful lot of sense (Chris) 16:33 GMT 6th December 07

Maybe so but there is considerable doubt pertaining to it. Mendicant Bias is a Contender-class AI as said in Terminal 3 and was not referred to as a Monitor. Although MB may have well been the 05 Monitor in concept he was not in literal terms, to add to that, MB's ID is 05-032 but Penitent Tangent's is 05-2401, 032 does not match the pattern of 7's Bungie has implemented. And as he has done before MB created a copy to survive so why did PT not do so to evade capture of the Gravemind? Gado 21:50, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

He says a quote that would add to this theory:"Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness; the father's sins pass to his son. " with the Child being a reference to The Reclaimer father being the Forerunners. This quote makes sound like he was both enemies to the Forerunner and the Reclaimer(being the Master Chief) which would mean that he existed during the Forerunner-Flood War--Darth Scott 00:26, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Hmm that is possible, the lack of details during the war is a problem though, correct me if I'm wrong but I read that the Gravemind remembers the collective memory of the flood so even if he was destroyed once they could have rebuilt him and he would have remembered everything, but again I cannot prove this as his death was not mentioned in the current history records. Gado 17:25, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I'm setting this straight. Mendicant Bias IS a Monitor. In Halo: Contact Harvest it was said that the prophets encountered a forerunner AI, a monitor, inside the Dreadnought. The MONITOR awoke and said "I am Mednicant Bias..". There, proof from its own mouth/speaker/voice eminator that it is a monitor!

Additional food for thought: Gravemind appears when the Flood achieve critical mass. This means that the Flood must gather sufficient biomaterial for the Gravemind to form. The Gravemind’s omniscience is derived from the memories of its constituents; that is, it has to be made up of sentient, thinking organisms, numbering upwards of hundreds of thousands. Installation 04 and 05 both show a disturbing lack of any indigenous thinking life; with Installation 04, there was little animal life to begin with (if any) before the Flood was released, and on 05, there was no life other than birds and fish outside the Quarantine Zone, which was the only location where the Flood was active, and the only life-forms that arrived ‘inside’ the Zone at any point after its establishment was Covenant Spec-Ops and Human Marines during the levels Sacred Icon and Quarantine Zone, which alone could not be enough to create the Gravemind, who is implied to have existed and battled the Sentinels and Enforcers far longer than what was shown in the Battle of the Quarantine Zone (in fact, the breakout by the Flood was supposed to have been in effect for over 286.5 years [see the Quarantine Zone article and do the math yourself]). So, how could the Gravemind form in the first place if there is (1) insufficient biomass to physically create one, and (2) insufficient sentience to support the Gravemind’s omniscience? My conclusion is that the Gravemind of Halo 2 and 3 is in fact the original Gravemind of the Flood-Forerunner War; He has to be made up of a vast amount of dead Forerunners in order for his existence and intelligence to be justified. How he got to Installation 05 and captured 2401 Penitent Tangent is beyond me at this point, but there is enough evidence to me that the Gravemind we have encountered has to be the same as the one who antagonized the Forerunner for possibly over 900 years. Ivea &#39;Quiton 00:51, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

While I do agree with you on some of that Ivea I'm not so sure its created by specifically requiring a 'large' amount of intelligence, my theory is that the flood as a whole are like a RAID array. For those that are not computer inclined a RAID array is a cluster of harddrives which usually are exact copies of each other, if one HD were to say crash and lose its data the others would use their copies to restore it time and again. Now imagine the Gravemind is 1 of 5 total harddrives and the other 4 are the infection forms etc if the Gravemind died they would rebuild him again. I think that EVERY flood organism regardless of their 'form' has the same memories and data as the gravemind but it is spread out through the entire species, they take bodies of humans and other sentient life as a food to either power their creation of a new Gravemind or maybe it truly does help constitute the actual physical body of the Gravemind. I also think that the inherited experiences of the other forms somehow transfers to the Gravemind when he is created so therefore he would appear to have lived millions of years ago and lived to this day but could have died a thousand times over without losing any of the memories. Two other subjects I want to clear up from discussions above, the quote about listening through stone and metal and time etc probably is meant to be taken metaphoraclly (spelling) as he has been trapped within the halos all over the galaxy for so long (him being him physically and the flood infection forms) that all he can do is listen but it could mean hes just been waiting and listening for the right person or race to release him. And lastly, the "I am a monument to your sins" quote I feel means that the "sins" the Forerunner commited on the Flood by trying to kill them was "passed down" to the humans as they probably look alot like them therefore their "children" and that he himself was the answer that would finally make them atone for them, he is the very thing they were trying to kill and therefore since he 'survived' he is the monument that reminds them of what was done and how he will fix it. And thats all I have haha take it as you like, I do not think this as fact merely speculation and theory. Gado 17:22, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, Gado, while the basic theory is good, it would appear as though it has already been shown otherwise. In the Flood article, in the Neurological Biology sub-section, Infection Forms purge their hosts' memories. It would appear that they don't, to use your computer example, copy and wirelessly redistribute everything from their host's head to the rest of the Flood. No, I think the Infection Forms individually realize which memories, which host, is more needed for the Flood to obtain their galaxy-dominating goal. An example being Captain Jacob Keyes; he was initially assimilated into a Combat Form before the Infection Form controlling him found the knowledge about starships and possible sources of food (human colonies and Earth). If such information was shared among the individual Flood, then they wouldn't need a central intelligence, and they wouldn't have a feral stage. They would be constantly advancing, not dependant on cycles based on food supply. The reality is that this is not the case; single Flood Infection Forms do not carry copies of previous hosts' memories, and Combat Forms look only to defeat enemies, and the Brain-Form and Gravemind are the necessary central intelligence to guide the otherwise wild and undisciplined Flood in ways they would not normally act under normal circumstances (i.e. allying with John-117 and Thel 'Vadam during the events of Halo 2 from the level Gravemind on 'and' in Halo 3 in deactivating the rings' remote activation sequence. Feral Flood never would have shown any restraint.  So, to me, it is illogical to pursue theories about Flood being like copied hard drives.  Although I do give you props for thinking about it.  Ivea &#39;Quiton 20:39, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I see where I may have been confusing in some of my text but I didn't mean that they transferred the memories wirelessly I mean that each flood spore or form (to whatever level it digresses) has a "collection" of memories that the individual knows. Its kind of like how humans have the fight or flight instincts where in extreme situations their bodies are flooded with superhuman strength in order to, say, lift a car off their child etc. But in the Flood's case its unique to that one entity like a subconcious memory so whenever the Gravemind is created from lets say an infected captain among many others those flood's unique memories would also be transferred to the Gravemind. Now obviously when the Gravemind is alive and active he may be able to transmit those memories to other flood forms but its also a temporary thing. When the Gravemind "dies" the memories the infection/combat/carrier etc forms recieved from him are gone and return to a more hibernated memory the knowledge of say commanding and flying a spaceship that they learned from others that made up the Gravemind would probably go back to being a unique memory for those that are actually infected hosts with that knowledge to begin with. (I do apologize if this is confusing or going around in circles but I'm out of it at the moment and not typing quite the way I'm used to haha, I'll clean it up and clear things up later) Gado 19:42, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Again an interesting theory. So let's say for example there was the Gravemind before the first Halo event, and was subsequently destroyed. Another Gravemind forms millenia later on Installation 05. Obviously they are different physical compositions, but the memories of the first Gravemind were put into "storage" and re-released for the second one once he had the capacity to bring them into active memory? Just trying to simplify/clarify your idea. Ivea &#39;Quiton 21:02, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

In a way yes. I'd say that every flood has dormant memories of what the Gravemind remembers of say the Forerunner-Flood war and when they merge into a Gravemind each ones physical experiences are then added to his memories and in a way once the Gravemind is made he IS the entire Flood so any experiences any other flood that had not merged would have of like shooting a jackal with a rocket would be "his" but any knowledge that was obtained from say a human or elite would be a unique memory that would not be shared. Or maybe it truly is shared and the others simply don't have the ability to actually pilot a ship, maybe they don't have hosts or something. And once the Gravemind dies its like all the unique memories stay with those specific combat forms etc and the information is lost until another Gravemind is formed. To be honest alot of this would probably seem so "out there" that its impossible to accept as a possible truth but then the Flood exists haha. I'm basing alot of this theory on ideas from Ghost in the Shell on the Tachkoma's how they all seemed to be having the same experiences and memories but there is always a specific one that is chosen for an assignment. I'll put this all on my talk page once I clean it all up and make it less confusing -.-; Gado 21:24, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Ah, now the waters begin to clear! I don't the the Flood is ANYTHING like most people can compare is to (I am reminded of zombies, you apparently recall Ghosts in a Shell). So to go into this article and come out with a idea like that is somewhat unfair to the canon establishment and to the game developers who came up with Gravemind and the storywriters who tried to justify his existence. I don't mean to bash or flame, but perhaps an open mind and keeping relevant details to their respective worlds would be more in the interests of uncovering the secrets of the Gravemind and the Flood. 19:22, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

You are right, the Flood is nothing we ourselves have any right to call a canon explanation for how the flood operate or think, Bungie is probably the only ones able to do so. But for the sake of speculation and debate its always good to have a firm base understanding of what they are similar to even if the references are noncanon or from another series entirely. I do understand where you are coming from with this and I totally respect it as well as Bungie but this whole topic is for fun and debate :) Gado 19:50, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

This is true. I sincerely apologize if I seem far too serious for my own good. I tend to have a short temper for those who insist a concept is correct when all available evidence points to something quite different. One of my biggest irritations can be found here. I like for things that do have canon, facts, and evidence behind them to be set straight for good and for inconsistancies to be either noted as such or purged entirely for the sake of consistancy. I apologize if I appear aggressive. I mean nothing personally and greatly value your thoughts and judgement. 20:21, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

No worries, no harm done :) Gado 07:45, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Flood Intelligence 101
The most logical explanation for how the flood works will be revealed. 1.All flood gain the memories/knowledge of hosts they infect 2.Once it gains the knowledge it is encoded in its very DNA. 3.Thus any flood descendants of the form retain its knowledge and its ancestor's knowledge 4.However this method limits the knowledge to blood lines so they accumulate as many bodies/minds into one to centralize the knowledge. 5.This brain form encodes the knowledge in its DNA and most every flood then benefits. 6.Each flood is independent but work together because they all share a mind. This method of assimilation means if any part of a brain form survives it can be fully rebuilt or even distributed thus explaining how Gravemind can move to High Charity. Also how infection forms from the forerunner wars can retain knowledge from that history but Jenkins infection form does not know everything Gravemind does. Feel free to dispute or ask for clarification.

More than one?
Is it possible that there is more than one current Graveming in Halo 3? I mean how can Graveming be on the Ark and on High Charity at the same time, while he's only 84 metres long? -Karzhani 03:59, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean "on the Ark and on High Charity at the same time"? High Charity crashed ONTO the Ark, duh.

Don't you mean Gravemind? FishType1

NO
Well this is just my opinion there is only one gravemind

Gravemind Theory.
First of all, i think that the quote about ships of thousands does not really matter, as the gravemind IS the flood, and therefore shares all memories, in the same way that the flood is gravemind. I think that the graveminds are able to enter a deep hibernation, that allows them to survive without food, perhaps re awakening when a new source is found. This was evolved in case the halos were activated. This allows the flood to partially survive activation of the halos. Perhaps he is still alive, stowed onto the Dawn, with Cortana and Master chief, to re awaken when they find a new planet/civilization. This would explain his references to him listening throught time, perhaps him detecting human development during his slumber, which was used when halo was activated, thus allowing him to realize the history of the covenant and the humans and exploit this. This would fit with the parralel of the las few missions to Aliens.

In a physical and literal sense, there have been at least two Graveminds with the possibility of a third one on Alpha Halo, and a fourth one on Alpha(II) Halo. The activation of the Halos wiped out the Gravemind the Forerunners fought with indefinitely. The Flood, however, was not wiped out in its entirety. Everything the Flood does, the Gravemind knows of and vice-versa. So the Flood forms individually have some, if not total "memory" of what they had done throughout time. In fact, if one form had complete memory of what they had done, it would be enough to carry the memories through multiplication. Maybe not even a complete Flood form, but a single spore or a group of spores. The spores have been described as thinking muscles, and their ability to mimic any cell, would mean that retaining memories is not difficult. So after the activation of the first Halos, when the new Gravemind was being made, it would be built with cells from the wave that attacked the Forerunners. So the Gravemind we fought was built with Flood that experienced the events of the past. When High Charity is destroyed, there was still plenty of Flood forms that would have the spores with the retained memories as well as the newer ones. In theory, it would be impossible to kill the Gravemind since as long as one spore remains, a new Gravemind would arise with the memories of each past one, learning from the mistakes. On Alpha Halo, the proto-Gravemind would have some ancient cells to retain the memories as well. What interests me is when the two Graveminds cross paths. More than likely they would "merge" together since they are achieving the same goals, and both would have memories the other wouldn't. Of course, two Graveminds are better than one in the grand scheme of things. All one giant theory, of course, but rather simplistic in idea and essentially plausible. It would be interesting to know the memories the Gravemind has. The Gravemind the Forerunners met may have been literally the hundredth one made, with the memories spanning from the creation of time itself! XRoadToDawnX 23:06, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

If you scroll up to my posts under the "First and second Gravemind are the same you'll see I tlak of much the same stuff you do, the one problem I have with this though is you're assuming a Proto-Gravemind IS a Gravemind, the reason its name has Proto in it means it is not yet a full Gravemind therefore it does not have the same abilities as it would. It more than likely would have memories from the Forerunner war among many other things but the Proto Gravemind cannot move and the only time its ever seen is piloting a ship like the one Commander Keyes turned into. Their whole purpose within the Flood usefulness roster (or w/e you want to call it) is probably to pilot ships and nothing more. True I could be wrong but given the evidence I doubt the true Gravemind views it any more than a tool to use to further the Flood's plans and not as an 'ally'. Gado 00:00, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Latin Name
"Inferi sententia" does not mean "the dead condemn you." It means "Dead (pl.) Sentience" - probably meant to be "Sentience of the Dead," which would be "inferi sententiae." Indeed, there are a few that are wrong, as derived from this cited source: http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=865888

on the level cortana, cortana says "This is UNSC AI serial number CTN0452-9. I am a monument to all your sins.

creepy.


 * You're correct, I'll fix that now.XRoadToDawnX 10:51, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Clarify
There is only one Gravemind in our galaxy. In halo2 he is on the delta halo. in halo 3 he moves onto high charity which crashes onto The Ark. Mendicant Bias allowed the formation of this Gravemind. He speaks through his flood forms so, if he was at earth on high charity and a flood was next to MC on The Ark they could have a nice chat. When the unfinished halo exploded it destroyed th Ark, and the Gravemind.

Where's the proof?
The last note in the trivia section says that the Gravemind in Halo 3 is a newer one, and that the one from Halo 2 died. I don't recall any proof that explicitly said this was truth. So is there any or is it simply speculation?XRoadToDawnX 20:48, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

There can't be a "new" gravemind, because it is the Flood. If its body is destroyed, as it is in Cortana, then it simply builds a new one. -- Specops306 ,  Kora 'Morhek  21:07, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
 * True, but it says that the body from Halo 2 was destroyed. I don't recall any information actually saying that was the case.  I am sure that the body in Halo 3 is the same one from Halo 2, and traveled through High Charity. After that, it really comes down to arguing semantics. XRoadToDawnX 22:16, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

The body doesn't matter it is an eternal mind the encompasses the entire flood species, its formation into centralized mind is an evolutionary step not the creation of a new being. I really think the information about multiple graveminds needs to be cleaned up. ProphetofTruth 16:57, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

There is only one Gravemind
Well, the Halo Array kills all sentient life, right? No one has said it directly kills the Flood, just their food. And over thousands of years, the Gravemind would have just kept using the already acquired calcium to preserve his form. Also, his comments of "I have destroyed fleets of thousands" implies there were fleets of thousands to destroy. And after the Great Schism, there were no fleets that large. Two other things. One, he could have moved to Installation 05 after the Forerunners killed themselves, and Two, what was there on Installation 05 to provide that much calcium before the Covenant came and really released the Flood? Clearly it was already there.


 * Actually, in Terminal six on Legendary it is stated that when the Halo Array was activated, all of Mendicant Bias's Flood-controlled ships were rendered helpless (The [Halo effect] strikes our combined fleets. All ships piloted by biologicals are now [adrift].


 * I can trade Mendicant ship for ship now and still prevail. ).
 * This implies that the Halo effect does, in fact, effect the Flood. Otherwise Offensive Bias would still have been completely overwhelmed and the firings of the Halos would have proved completely useless as it would have only killed off Offensive Bias's fleet. Instead, Offensive used his remote-piloted ships to destroy the Flood fleet and capture Mendicant. As for the comment "I have destroyed fleets of thousands" the Gravemind's memories are preserved in the Flood's cells, if memory serves. Every time a Gravemind is formed, it retains the memories of its predecessor. Furthermore, the Legendary Bestiary explicitly states that a Gravemind is formed when the Flood reaches a certain critical mass, implying that multiple Graveminds can and have been formed. YayapTehGrunt 18:04, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Ever noticed?
Ever noticed how Gravemind looks and sounds like this guy:

http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Teridax

Compare: -Both have pans of universal conquest (though Gravemind might want universal peace by turning everyone into Flood) -Both are the main enemies of their respective storylines -Both made their first appearance underground in a chamber filled with green smoke....

Weird.

Karzhani 12:56, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

If Gravemind died...
If the Gravemind died, what would happen to the rest of the Flood? Would they continue what they were doing, or stop or something? The Sith version of Master Chief  My happy placeWhat I've edited 16:00, 20 January 2009 (UTC)


 * If Gravemind dies, the surviving Flood Forms would just create another Gravemind. However, they wouldn't be organized as seen in Halo 2 and Halo 3. This is best illustrated in Halo:CE where the Flood Forms would just run around, killing everything in its path. Anarchy. :P - 5 ub7 ank (7alk ) 16:32, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

I think that if Gravemind died, he would just be made up again, it i could be a hundred Gravemind, but only one "mind", "soul", "spirit" or whatever you might call it. Hunter-901

The Gravemind is much like the Overmind from Starcraft; they control every action of every single minion of their swarm. I think if the Gravemind died, the rest of the flood under its control would go crazy and start killing anything in sight. Hyper Zergling 00:55, 6 March 2009 (UTC)