343 Guilty Spark

Summary
343 Guilty Spark is the artificial intelligence behind the Sentinels, robots constructed by the ancient Forerunners to protect Halo. He also has his own personal avatar: a small, box-like robot with the ability to hover, to access Halo's teleportation network, to hack computer systems, and, after all this, it is equipped with an impervious energy shield. This avatar can project a clear and chipper voice as well, and all of that it makes it a very utilitarian body. The only disadvantage is that it possesses no offensive capabilities.

There have been some assumptions that 343 Guilty Spark is the artificial intelligence of Halo. 343 Guilty Spark can control the Sentinels, and he must physically interact with Halo's systems to manipulate it.

The personality of 343 Guilty Spark is somewhat egotistical and eccentric; he often reminds himself that he "is a genius". It is possible that 343 Guilty Spark is in a state of Rampancy; although he is still accepting of his role as Monitor, his pursuit of alien knowledge does seem to go beyond his purpose. He usually hums himself a tune.

343 Guilty Spark claims himself to be the "Monitor of Installation 04"; The Covenant know Installation 04 as "Halo". He has been on the ring for a total of 101,217 years, local time; this time has been spent maintaining the structure. He has a vast wealth of knowledge on The Flood, the Forerunners, and Halo's overall purpose.

There have been many elaborate speculations and analyses have been made regarding the origin of 343 Guilty Spark's name, history, and motives. The most notable question: what exactly is he "guilty" of? There have been many suggestions towards genocide of some form (one of his primary functions is, after all, initiating the eradication of all sentient life in the galaxy). In Halo 2, he is no longer an antagonist, but still plays an important role in the plot.

Role
The player, assuming the role of the Master Chief, first comes into contact with 343 Guilty Spark on the sixth level of Halo: Combat Evolved. The Master Chief and several other UNSC soldiers are running towards a tower structure where Foehammer can evacuate them. (The Flood have infested the area.) However, several Sentinels are found at the tower, also in combat with the Flood. The Master Chief and the Sentinels fend off several waves of the Flood before, but then the Master Chief is teleported to the top of the tower, where he interacts with 343 Guilty Spark's avatar. 343 Guilty Spark calls the Master Chief a Reclaimer.

The Master Chief and the avatar are then teleported to the Library, a vast underground complex infested by the Flood. 343 Guilty Spark informs the Master Chief that the Reclaimer must reclaim the Index, the key to activate Halo's defenses and destroy the Flood. Sentinels aid the Master Chief throughout the Library, and the avatar floats above the action, occasionally floating through tunnels to access computers and open otherwise impassable doors; this allows the Reclaimer to move on.

Once the Index has been reclaimed, the Master Chief and the avatar are returned to Halo's Control Room. (The Master Chief and Cortana had been there previously; they had been making an effort to reach it before the Covenant, and the result was Cortana's insertion into the mainframe.) 343 Guilty Spark claims that Master Chief must reunite the Index with the Core, as he himself cannot perform a task of such importance. However, Cortana claims the Index, and reveals that when Halo's defenses are activated, it will not kill the Flood, it will kill their food, starving them to death. (Basically, the eradication of all life within 25,000 lightyears.) 343 Guilty Spark confirms this. When the Reclaimer refuses to fulfill his task, the Sentinels turn on the Master Chief and the avatar teleports away, seeking an alternative way to activate Halo.

The Master Chief and Cortana temporarily disable the pulse generators powering Halo's weapons, meaning that 343 Guilty Spark will have to wait at least a little while for repairs to take place. He is next found on the Pillar of Autumn, accessing information on humanity, which he says is very interesting. He has taken control of the ship, and refuses to allow the self-destruction of its engines. (The Pillar of Autumn, running on a nuclear fusion engine, would cause a monstrous explosion that would easily destroy Halo.) However, the Master Chief and Cortana do battle with Guilty Spark and his Sentinels in the ship's engine room, and succeed in manually initiating a wildcat destabilazation. After several minutes, the explosion destroys Halo and 343 Guilty Spark's Sentinels. But, after the credits, it is revealed that the avatar floats away from Halo and escapes destruction, now able to head to parts unknown.

In Halo 2, he helps an Elite start a Heresy among the Covenant and when the Arbiter meets him, the former Monitor is captured by Tartarus and interrogated by the High Prophets for knowledge and information about Delta Halo, and at the end of the game after Tartarus is killed, he discusses about the Halo Installations and the Ark with the Commander of the UNSC In Amber Clad, Miranda Keyes, the UNSC Marine Sergeant Avery Johnson, and the Arbiter.

Trivia

 * 343 is equal to 7^3, with 7 being a number seen frequently in Bungie games and mythology.


 * The "eye" of 343 Guilty Spark bears the Marathon logo.


 * 2401 from 2401 Penitent Tangent on Delta Halo in Halo 2, is equal to 7^4.


 * The only person who ever refers to 343 Guilty Spark as 343 Guilty Spark is himself.