Banks

"Marine, did I give you permission to bitch?"

- Staff Sergeant Banks countering a Marine's nervousness

Staff Sergeant Banks was a non-commissioned officer of the UNSC Marine Corps. He served in A Company of an unknown regiment. Banks commanded many Marines during the Battle of Mombasa and later played a significant role in the Battle of Installation 05.

Battle of Mombasa
"When I asked for reinforcements, I didn't think they'd send a Spartan."

- Banks expressing his surprise at the Master Chief's appearance

After his unit's deployment to New Mombasa, Banks was in command of "A" Company after their lieutenant (and presumably captain) were incapacitated on arrival. Coming next in the chain of command, he was forced to take direct command of the Marines in Sector B, likely reporting to the colonel in charge of the city's defense. The company's command post soon came under heavy siege by a number of Wraiths, forcing the Marines to lock the building down to prevent Covenant entry. The entrenched Marines were unable to muster any response due to the presence of several Kig-Yar Snipers covering the building. Fortunately for the Marines, Spartan John-117 arrived in the area and eliminated all Covenant forces. With the enemy neutralised, Banks was able to open the command post again, allowing him to link up with the Chief. The Spartan assisted Banks in disabling an advancing Type-47A 'Protos' Scarab walker. Banks and his platoon provided cover fire as the Spartan boarded the Scarab, killed its crew and ultimately disabled it from within.

Battle of Installation 05
After the Battle of Mombasa, Banks was transferred to the, which left Mombasa in pursuit of the Covenant assault carrier Solemn Penance as the latter ship jumped into slipspace. Banks was eventually captured by Jiralhanae forces, along with Sergeant Major Johnson and Gunnery Sergeant Stacker to be used to activate the installation.

The three soldiers were brought to a series of Forerunner ruins occupied by the Jiralhanae. They were about to be executed when their captors were attacked by the Arbiter and his followers. The three then helped the Arbiter capture a nearby Scarab. Stacker and Banks then boarded the Scarab along with Johnson.

Trivia

 * Banks is voiced by Orlando Jones, who is best known for his work on the sketch comedy series MadTV.
 * In the Halo 2 E3 demo Banks is Caucasian and is voiced by Pete Stacker. He calls an airstrike onto a Covenant artillery platform before giving the Master Chief his M7 SMG. This version of Banks is heavily wounded and does not aid the Master Chief in driving the Covenant out of New Mombasa, standing in stark contrast to the character's retail incarnation.
 * In the level Regret, Sergeant Banks is sometimes one of the Master Chief's Marine allies. A glitch may also happen on the same level, where his voice is that of GySgt Stacker's or vice versa.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo 2: Anniversary