Atriox

"I am not Tartarus or some fanatic. I am not Truth. I am not Regret. I am their remedy."

- Atriox to the Silent Shadow assassins sent to kill him.

Atriox is a powerful Jiralhanae chieftain and the warlord of the Banished. A deadly warrior and brilliant military leader, Atriox is the commander of the Banished's massive army. While attempting to take control of Installation 00, Atriox and the Banished encountered the crew of.

Banishment
"With every victory his legend and his hatred grew. Eventually both were impossible to conceal and they tried to banish him. In everything we know about the Covenant's thousand year history, Atriox was the first to defy the Covenant and survive. And his defiance inspired others. The Covenant had two targets in those years. They almost got us...But Atriox...They never came close."

- Isabel retelling Atriox's history.

Atriox was once a member of the Covenant military. At some point during the empire's war against humanity, the Covenant began to use his clan as frontline soldiers. Groups of 40 Jiralhanae would storm enemy positions, clearing the way for follow-up attacks, but typically all of the attackers would die in the process. Atriox emerged as the sole survivor of several such missions. He did not believe in the Great Journey and thus saw no purpose in wantonly warring against the humans. After repeatedly losing his brothers "39 at a time" to enemies he did not feel the need to fight, Atriox developed a deep-seated anger. He eventually refused the San'Shyuum's commands and in reprisal, a Sangheili squad was send to assassinate him. However, he managed to survive. Shortly after, he rebelled against the Covenant, establishing his own faction known as the Banished. Another Jiralhanae, Decimus, admired Atriox's strength and became one of his generals, serving directly beneath him. When the Banished split from the Covenant, the group took a myriad of armaments and other technologies with them. The Banished became a mercenary organization that waged war against the Covenant, forcing the empire to fight two enemies at once.

With the demise of the Covenant Empire in 2552, Atriox acquired numerous weapons and soldiers once belonging to the Covenant's vast military. One of the most powerful assets he gained was the Enduring Conviction, along with her experienced Sangheili crew and warriors. Let 'Volir, the shipmaster of the assault carrier, reluctantly agreed to serve Atriox in exchange for fuel and supplies. Atriox's experience fighting against the Covenant gave the Banished a strong advantage over other factions in the post-Covenant War galactic environment, as Atriox consolidated a significant amount of power and influence from the fallen empire.

Silencing the Shadow
"I see you for what you are and what you could be. We can do great things together. Not as master and slaves, but as the warriors you truly are -- free to continue your crusade without the shackles of outdated faith."

- Atriox to Resa 'Azavayl and the rest of the Silent Shadow.

At some point following the Great Schism, a unit of Special Operations Sangheili called the Silent Shadow began to mercilessly hunt down and slaughter groups of Jiralhanae and any others unlucky enough to be found associating with them. Atriox was leading from a captured, Elegy's Lament, at the time. The Silent Shadow, led by Resa 'Azavayl, managed to infiltrate the vessel and catch several Jiralhanae off-guard thanks to the use of active camouflage. An alarm was soon sounded, tipping Atriox off to the assassins' presence on his ship. When the Sangheili finally approached Atriox on the bridge, he was ready. He invited the would-be assassins to show themselves and proceeded to question their motives. Resa had been unaware that his target was Atriox, whom he called "the betrayer". Atriox conceded that he would gladly fight the Silent Shadow if necessary, but he made it clear that it would be in the interests of all involved to join forces. He mocked their short-sightedness and stubborn adherence to old hatreds. Resa was not swayed from his task upon Atriox's words, but the others responded quite differently, driving their energy swords into their leader's back and allowing themselves to be welcomed into the Banished.

The Ark
"As I suspected. Nothing but a man."

- Atriox, after beating Douglas-042.

By 2559, Atriox desired to gain more power. Turning his attention to the Forerunners' Installation 00 beyond the rim of the Milky Way, Atriox learned that the installation was capable of firing the entire Halo Array. Through unknown means, Atriox and the Banished arrived at the Ark and sought to take control of it. They slaughtered all of the humans at the Ark Research Outpost, leaving no survivors but the logistics artificial intelligence, Isabel. Not long after, the  arrived at the installation, with her crew finally awakening after sleeping in cryostasis since 2531. Spartan-II Red Team was deployed to the Ark's surface to investigate an emergency beacon being broadcast by Isabel from the Ark Research Outpost, and it was there that Atriox sprung his trap. He ambushed the Spartans, easily wounding Douglas-042 severely. Red Team was forced to retreat, and Atriox ordered Jiralhanae to hunt them down and capture them, since he wished to learn where they came from and obtain resources for the Banished. It was not long before the team was in an M12 Warthog LRV and being pursued by Type-32 Ghosts. Red Team did manage to return to Spirit of Fire, and soon Captain James Cutter was spearheading a fight against the Banished to prevent the Ark from falling under their control.

Personality and traits
Cunning and brilliant, Atriox is a deadly warrior and a skilled military commander, leading the massive army of the Banished. He is fluent in basic Sangheili. Atriox is an intelligent and versatile soldier, collecting and re-purposing the Covenant military's former weapons, vehicles, and other equipment to allow the Banished to gain militaristic strength against other factions. Atriox hated the Covenant and its remnants. Atriox has no attachment to faith, and actively lauds it as outdated and needless. After encountering the Spartans of Red Team, it amused him when he confirmed that they were indeed only humans beneath their armor. He subsequently mocked them by calling them "little demons".

Equipment
Atriox wears signature, unique black and white combat armor of United Nations Space Command origin made from various pieces, including an ODST chestplate. He dons an augmented power gauntlet that is melee focused and which artificially enhances his strength to a significant degree. He wields a customized energy mace called Chainbreaker, which he created from parts of a Type-2 gravity hammer.

Behind the scenes

 * Atriox is set to serve as the primary antagonist of Halo Wars 2, with Dan Ayoub of 343 Industries desiring to tell a deep story with the character in the game's cinematics. First being introduced in the announcement teaser for Halo Wars 2 as an unidentified Jiralhanae leader, Atriox's name and nature were expanded upon at the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where it was also revealed that Atriox would serve as one of the game's six playable leader characters at launch.
 * Following the pseudo-Latin theme of most Jiralhanae names, Atriox likely comes from the Latin atrox ("furious", "savage"), the root of the English atrocious and atrocity.

List of appearances

 * Know Your Enemy
 * Halo: Tales from Slipspace
 * Hunting Party
 * Halo: Smoke and Shadow
 * Halo Wars 2