Talk:Forerunner

The forerunners
The forerunners are very interesting in many ways, but they have many mysteries (as we all know). Their appearance is the number one thing that I am working on. People always say, "The Forerunners appearance will never be revealed !!!" But I am working on a real life experience project called operation Forerunner. All I have so far is some info on there background and appearance. The forerunners were currently alive in 97448 BC. I also have a hand... a forerunner hand that I have sketched onto a lined piece of paper. The six finger idea came from the idea of the forerunner hand print on the level, Sacred icon.

"Note: in the last mission on Halo 3 (Halo) in the cut scene before fighting the Monitor, 343 Guilty Spark says to the Master Chief "You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner." This has led to many fans concluding that Humanity and the Forerunner are one and the same, and various passages from the books support this. Another strong indicator is that Humans can activate and use Forerunner technology without dissecting and reverse engineering it. However the Terminals suggest that the "Librarian" was on the Earth with early modern humans 100,000 years ago. This is also made more obvious by the fact that a portal was built in East Africa to allow humans to reach the Ark. It is suggested that humans were considered to be "special" and we were decided to be the "inheritors of all they left behind."

However, in the Halo 3 IRIS Videos (Didact's last transition) He states that "They (Humanity) may hold the answer to our own mysteries." This could support a theory that the Humans are the Precursors and that the Precursors and the Forerunner are in-fact the same. Or that they are Forerunners who somehow escaped the notice of the Precursors and were therefore not given the mantle.

There are also multiple quotes supporting the theory that Humanity is in-fact Forerunner. Guilty Spark:" You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind, you are Forerunner." Guilty Spark:" Last time you asked me: If it were my choice, would I do it? Having had significant time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. We must activate the rings." (Refers to Spark believing that Master Chief is Didact, who theoretically asked for the opinions of the Monitors before array activation. This is also supported by the quote "How can you hesitate to do what you have already done?"

Prophet of Truth: "I see now, why they left you behind...you were weak and Gods must be strong!"

The Gravemind: ”I offer no forgiveness for a father's sins, passed to his sons."


 * Wow... thats good... plus with the novel trilogy coming out, your operation will be a success, and to help you with this is my thoughts. I think that Master Chief is a Forerunner, not like Rreclamer wise because Humans were special to the Forerunners because they had the same hands (I think Forerunners were Humans, but they evolved on another planet, not earth, same with the Precursor, on the same planet, but I think the Forerunners evolved from the Precursors, which would explains why the Didact wanted to "follow in their footsteps" (I think), but anyways, I don't think nether were the reason of Humans on Earth) and that is why Humans were known as Reclamers, but they wern't desendantes of Forerunners, but they could acsuss Forerunner tech. that needed Forerunner hand prints. But this is also how the Forerunners were able to seperate other Alians (which they called medlers) from Humans. But anyways, I think the Forerunners Librarian and Didact mated and the Librarian was pregnant and gave birth to twins on Earth. Then the Librarian deid of an unknown sickness some years later and the twins (one boy and one girl) went there seperat ways and left Africa and mated with other Humans in Europe and gave birth to one baby for both. Then tose Twins died of an unknown sickness(probebly the same one their mother, the Librarian, died of), and their generation continued, and one gereration of both went to the planet Master Chief was born on (because he was not born on Earth, but I forget the name of his home planet) at the same time and continued the generation on that planet. Then we come to 2511, when the curant generation of both twins met, a man and a woman, and they got married and gave birth to a boy named John(Master Chief Xb). Now the twins were 100% Forerunner, but their childean and other generations were half Forerunner. You have to be 100% Forerunner to be a real Forerunner, half dose not count. So, Master Chief is 100% Forerunner and is a real and the last Forerunner. That may explan why 343 Guilty Spark mistakened Master Chief as the Didact in Halo, because Master Chief is the decendent of the Didact, and Spark some how knew of it, and told him that he IS a Forerunner in Halo 3. I also think that N'chala from Halo 3: The Cradle of Life met the Librarian when she isolated herself on Earth and stayed in his village, but this, plus my thoughts, and yours will offically be confirmed in the Novel trilogy. I hope my thoughts will help your operation. :) - Anonnimous 3:13, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

...You really thought that one over, didn't you?


 * Yeah. But one thing I forgot to add. The Forerunner hand in Halo 2, that I am not sure about because Halo Wars confused me. I thought that the spere needed Forerunner hand prints to activate it and that Human hands and Forerunner hands are the same, but then I looked it up on here and it said that it was wating for a RECLAMER to activate it. So the Forerunners reprogramed it, if there hands are as the one in Halo 2 because I am still not sure about it, but novel trilogy should reveale the truth. - Anonnimous 11:35, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

It's kind of hard to tell what exactly you are trying to say. First of all John may have been born on another planet, but his ancestors were most definitely Earthling (why he is in the UNSC and human). Also, Miranda Keyes is identified as Reclaimer (as are most humans, at least at first). Then their is the link between the Ark and Earth: in Africa(the uncontested birthplace of man-kind) there is a direct link by slip-space portal to the Ark, the central installation for controlling the Flood, which indicates that after the Flood had starved, Forerunners living in the Ark began to return to the world with all now unusable do to the lack of knowledge on how to use it so they had to re adapt to life. Also, the war makes a whole lot more sense if Humans are in fact forerunner. The Prophets(specifically Truth), realizing that the continued existance of the ones that they call "Gods," jeapordizes their place of authority at the top of the Covenant. It also helps explain how Regret found Earth while not expecting humans to be there (especially over Africa). He was looking for the Ark and was not considered important enough by truth to know that humans were Forerunner.-- Were   fan g 17:24, 13 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I see your point, but the Forerunner Librarian was on Earth and was not in the Forerunner's sacrefic, plus, I still think that she and Didact mated, with her having twins on Earth (maybe having N'chala act as their grandfather if N'chala met the Librarian, which I think they did). Plus they could not trase back ancestors from 97448 BC. Now the prophets predictio of Humans being Forerunners was wrong. 032 Medicant Bias was not spusific enuff in Halo: Contact Harvest. Now I hope this will not cunfuse you no more, Werefang. Now were did you get Miranda Keyes from because I did not menton her in the first one. - Anonnimous 11:27, 14 July 2009

Holy Shit man, you can write. Anyway, how would two part-Forunners mating make a 100% forunner baby? That doesn't add up, First born would be 100%, children 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, 3.125, 1.5625, 0.78125, 0.390625, and that's only 9 generations, it was over 2552+B.C.+time on the Ark, the numbers would be totally insignificant by now, er then. Everything else pretty much makes sense.--Kre &#39;Nunumee 06:28, 30 August 2009 (UTC) the
 * Thanks, man. Now to answer your question, this is just a theory, but a very likely one. The novel trilogy should confirm the truth. Sorry for the long delay. - Anonnimous 3:10, 15 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Here's what I know.
 * A group of Forerunners went to investigate a planet. They were attacked by the Flood. When the freshly-infested Forerunners failed to report to their superiors, small military forces were sent after them, leading to the beginning of the Forerunner-Flood War.
 * The Forerunners were eventually forced to divide the galaxy into two sections. Everything inside the Maginot Sphere was untouched and could be saved. Everything outside that sphere was to be abandoned -- no military forces would leave the sphere.
 * The Halo Array and the Ark were constructed, but Didact was reluctant to fire the rings. This was due to two reasons: firing the Halo Array would kill a large amount of Forerunners, and firing the Halo Array would kill his love, The Librarian.
 * The Librarian continued to "index" sentient species. It is known that "index", in this context, refers to an evacuation process. The Librarian used Keyships to transport sentient species to the Ark for safekeeping.
 * In order to stall for time, Didact had Mendicant Bias created. Bias's mission was to study the Flood. To do this, Bias would have to leave the Maginot Sphere; he did.
 * As the Librarian continued to index species outside the Maginot Sphere, Bias continued his travels.


 * The Librarian found Earth, and was quite amazed by the variety of wildlife on the planet. and by humanity.
 * Mendicant Bias is corrupted by the Gravemind. He sends threats to the Forerunners while preparing to attack them.
 * The Librarian, after building a Portal on Earth and burying it near Mount Kilimanjaro, destroys all of her Keyships, stranding herself on Earth. Her motive? To get Didact to fire the Array, so that the species that were transferred to the Ark might actually have a chance of survival, though the Forerunners were completely screwed.
 * Offensive Bias is created, to prevent Mendicant Bias from bringing the Flood to the Ark. Offensive had only mission: stall until the Halos were fired. After that, the Ark would be safe from the Flood. Offensive Bias succeeded.
 * The sentient species would eventually find their way back to their home planets, though to my knowledge it isn't known how. Perhaps some AI or construct teleported them back?
 * It's widely acknowledged that humans originated in Africa, and in the "Haloverse", the Portal is located there. Perhaps that was their particular method of return?
 * Now, we don't know how much time passed between the Librarian's discovery of Earth and Didact's activation of the Halo rings, but it is entirely possible that she could have sent some data or command to the Halos or the Ark, "registering" the humans as potential Reclaimers. [[Image:DavidJCobb_Emblem.svg|16px]] DavidJCobb  01:14, September 17, 2009 (UTC)


 * Good theory, yet, I still think The Librarian was the only Forerunner that did not die in the activation, and had this underground highway looking strucure built right next to the portal, and when the rings activated, this strucure would shot a beam up in the sky and when hitting above the atmosheare, it would make a shield around the planet, prtecting it from the array's firing, a this is another theory of mine, it may involve the Legendary ending of Halo 3:ODST (that Forerunner strucure at the end is the one I am talking about, but it could be a part of the portal), but to go with your theory and my theory of The Librarian giving birth to twins on Earth, DavidJCobb, She may have given birth before activation and gave her children to N'chala, who then broght them with him when he went to the Ark and then once getting back to Earth, he toke care of them and became their guardian. But like I have said before (and I know I have said it a lot and it may be tiering to hear XD, but it is true), the novel trilogy should confirm the truth. BTW, the AI that teleported all the sentient beng back to their home planets that your talking about in your theory, DavidJCobb, maybe the AI from the Iris campain (can't spell the name) or Offensive Bias. - Anonnimous 5:11, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

My theory is that the forerunners were the first species to "naturally evolve" in the milky way. When the precusors came, they began to seed the area with life. The forerunners saw themselves as the second "real" species. After the Precusors left, the forerunners expanded until they found the flood. You know the rest. When they found earth, they realized that the precusors had not created humans at all. Humans, therefore, are the third "real" species. The forerunners didn't program their technology to accept humans, but only to reject precussor created life. Michael Douglas


 * Interesting theory, Michael! I have never even considered anything along those lines... It still doesn't explain why Guilty Spark mistook John for a Forerunner, though. --Fluffball Gato 23:27, November 30, 2009 (UTC)


 * Good Theory, Michael. Now for you question, Fluffball Gato, John maybe a Forerunner desendent, I think Didact and Lilbrarian, and Sparks knew about it, read the begining of this artice for more info, so I hope that sums it up for you. Anyways, sorry I have been gone for a while, but since of Halo: Reach's new trailer premier on Spike (which was awesome BTW), I thought I'd get back to this artice. Anywho, the Encyclopedia confirmed a lot about the Forerunners, so for once I'm not saying the novel trilogy will confirm these things XD. We'll talk about them later, I just thought I'd give a heads up on it. - Anonnimous 10:55 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/f/f5/Forerunner_Apex.jpg


 * HAHA! On January 2, we will finaly see what the Forerunners look like in part 1 of the Halo Legends short, Origins! I am so excited, and even thoe I don't wan't to spoile the shorts to myself until Halo Legends comes out on DVD and BlueRay, I will make an exception with this one, since we will finally see what the Forerunners will look! And you know whats funny? I thought the novel trilogy would sho use what the Forerunners would look like, but it looks like Legends will show use what they look like first, probebly as a sneak peek, and from the looks of things, the Forerunners do NOT have six fingers, but five, just like Humans, meaning that the apex shere was just like that always and not reprogramed for Humans, and that the hand from Halo 2 was just a design, and this maybe why Humans can access Forerunner technology! So two other things that the novel trilogy did not confirm, but I'll be back on Saturday will this exciting sneak peek! I just can't wate! XD - Anonnimous 10:00, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

==Strange Forerunner symbol== I first noticed that this symbol was seen on the front cover of Ghosts of Onyx. In the book it is described as the symbol for Shield World. Then I noticed that it is seen in the terminals in Halo 3. Then it is also seen on top of 343 Guilty Spark's "head." AND, if you look closely, it is behind the Marathon symbol on Guilty Spark. Does anybody know what the symbol means? User: AdjutantBias

That is accully the main emblem of the Forerunners. It is also seen in Halo and Halo 2. - anonnomus 9:49, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Forerunners Ain't Dead
I believe that >>SOME<< Forerunners were alive after the activation. They had to be to get all the indexed species back home. Also, out of the shield worlds we have seen, they were probably used, but abandoned after the firing. Not saying they're alive now, but there would of been some in the Ark, and the numerous Shield Worlds. They could of even moved onto another galaxy afterwards. 61.68.59.131 00:31, October 5, 2009 (UTC)


 * AI-controlled robots could've guided the species back home, or perhaps the species just found the Portal(s) and returned home on their own. [[Image:DavidJCobb_Emblem.svg|16px]] DavidJCobb  01:06, October 5, 2009 (UTC)

Forerunners and Hellenic Mythology
The references seen in TRIVIA about Greek Mythology are not right because as seen in texts of Hsiod, the did destroyed, but because of gods will and not from conflicts with monsters created by gods(like the children of Ehidna). I believe that Forerunners refer to the Olympic Gods themselves, because we can see that humanity is or survived Forerunners or creations of them(or genetically modified species because in comics we see humans of pre-historic time observe Forerunner' machines). Moreover, children of Gods are races such as Greeks and Atlantians. When guilty spark says Master Chief 'Forerunner' or 'Forerunners child', he may indeed refes to the blood-types between Forerunners and some of humans.--Kronusslayer 14:55, October 20, 2009 (UTC)

Concerning The Flood Forerunner War
The Forerunners actually found the Flood on a planet so is it possible the Flood infestation they found spreads across different planets not yet found or possibly other galaxies?[I know this probably should have been put in the Flood disscussion sry]                      --Didact Ambrose 13 02:03, November 28, 2009 (UTC)Didact Ambrose 13

Acclerated Evolution?
"The Forerunners were highly technologically advanced during their reign; some speculated that the ancient faction had the ability to accelerate a species stage development."

- Unknown Contributor

Where in the Halo Universe is a supposed acceleration of evolution ever even implied? Certainly they created the Huragok from scratch, but no other Covenant species holds any belief that they were "accelerated" by the Forerunners, beyond mere technological repurposing. I think the quote is confusing the Forerunners with the older Precursors, which even the Forerunners knew little about. --  Administrator  Specops306  -   Qur'a 'Morhek   10:49, November 28, 2009 (UTC)


 * I can't give you a direct source for this information, but throughout the story of 'Halo' it is heavily implied that the Forerunners accelerated the evolution of humanity. Just think: They refer to Earth as a good place to keep their legacy going, humanity is the only species capable of activating installations, humanity is, multiple times, referred to as the "child" of the Forerunners... The list of implications is pretty much endless. Humanity advanced from tier 5 to tier 3 in less than five centuries, while the Covenant got from tier 4 to tier 2 in 1,000 years.  The Forerunners granted humanity "the mantle", doesn't that prove something? I know I am getting pretty deep into the Halo story, but I am sure that is what the quote means.  It has taken me two years to grasp a hold of the concept. --Fluffball Gato 18:41, November 28, 2009 (UTC)


 * That doesn't prove anything. The only thing the evidence indicates is that they regarded humanity as special, perhaps similar to themselves in some hazily defined way - it doesn't say anything about their advancement and evolution being artificially advanced by the Forerunners. And in terms of their technological achievements - we only reached the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, about 98,000 years after the activation of the Halo's - even the Elites were already a spacefaring race in the 1000th Century B.C.E., largely without Forerunner influence. --  Administrator  Specops306  -   Qur'a 'Morhek   10:00, November 29, 2009 (UTC)


 * You have to admit the implications are outstanding, though. Humanity being their "Reclaimers" and such. Besides, we do not know what technological tier the Sangheili were at when the rings were fired. I have always presumed they were considerably further than humanity at that point. By the 26th century humanity is gaining on them, surpassing two tiers in five centuries. And again, surely you have noticed all the biblical references in Halo, correct?  Remember in Halo: Combat Evolved when 343 Guilty Spark mistakes the Master Chief for a Forerunner, presumably Didact? And seeing as the two races can share the same make of 'combat skins' it it blatantly obvious that the two races looked remarkably similar, possibly identical.  Hopefully you have caught the biblical reference- 'God created man in his own image.' I have never even read the Bible yet I know that line. Also, in the book Ringworld, which has many, many influences for Halo, has the creators of the Ring be considered "gods"... And they look exactly like humanity. I highly doubt this is parallel evolution, as that theory makes absolutely no sense.  The heavy implication has been that the Forerunners found Earth and accelerated the evolution of primates to look more and more like themselves.  Remember how the Librarian stated they were giving "the Mantle" to humanity? They had to have done that by artificial means, implanting such beliefs or creating them.  You asked when the "acceleration of evolution is ever even implied," and I just gave you an answer. --Fluffball Gato 18:13, November 29, 2009 (UTC)


 * You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this matter. --  Administrator  Specops306  -   Qur'a 'Morhek   20:33, November 30, 2009 (UTC)
 * I accept that. --Fluffball Gato 23:25, November 30, 2009 (UTC)

Population
After trying to complete the Marathon achievement i read the last paragraph on the first terminal and it said: '''following the evacuation of unmolested population centers. Enemy losses were total. Estimated number of citizens evacuated before commencement of orbital blanket bombardment: 1,318,797 civilian/42,669 military (.0006% of total population).'''

Now 0.0006% of the total population is 1,361,466; so the total population (100%) is 226,911,000,000. Now this 'evacuation' was one planet as far as the text tells me (i think) but the question that eludes me is: what is the 'total population'? Is it either the total forerunner population altogether or just that planet's total population? As the 'total population' is over 200 billion it is more likely that the total population refers to the total forerunner population of the whole entire race everywhere in the galaxy. On another note it says that the evacuation is of unmolested population centres. So one: any of the flood molested areas could have survivors to increase that number. Two: population centres are the main areas like cities and other places, so smaller towns or space stations ect, will also increase that number. Three: this was an estimate so it was most likely rounded to the nearest million, so the actual size may be smaller or larger. Furthermore this would be the same everywhere in the galaxy and so this estimate and any off-record or MIA (but not KIA) forerunner lives would increase the population more.

So in conclusion what i'm getting at is that we add something along these lines to the article (probably in the overview): The total population of the entire Forerunner race is over 226,911,000,000. And then reference that to the first terminal text and maybe this post for reference on how that specific number came to be via inference. I wanted to run this past the site members to get feedback and so people understand the reasoning behind the aforementioned statement before it is included in the article, if included at all. Thanks for reading, please comment:

the parkster   @Burnopedia  20:04, December 20, 2009 (UTC)


 * They might have been talking about the entire population. I think they'd have specified it if they were talking about one particular planet. On top of that, that would have to be a pretty large planet to support that many Forerunner.  Smoke Sound off! 02:16, December 22, 2009 (UTC)

Most likely this is the total population, why are you baffled by this? The forerunners have the capability to build artificial planets, so most likely seeing as they have a large population they started building planets to live on. in that case you would have in inhabitants on the inner and outer shells of the planet. grey 20:57, December 30, 2009 (UTC)

Forerunner hand
It seems that the trailer for halo origins shows a forerunner hand at the end and also appears to be setting the background story for halowars seeing as the dreadnoughts are seen in a familiar fashion. It could also be cortana's hand.


 * I don't believe it's Cortana's hand. It's clearly armored so it's gotta be a Forerunner hand. Also that panel in Sacred Icon has six fingers probably meaning it can be activated with either right or left hand. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 14:27, December 29, 2009 (UTC)

It isn't cortana's hand, look at the location. It clearly takes place withing a cache shield world (like halowars) also the hand touches the that terminal which as far as we know only humans and forerunners can use. The episode is being showed throu cortana's eyes not cortana herself. and good point Jugus, i didn't think of it like thatgrey 20:30, December 30, 2009 (UTC)101

I thought it was odd. If the hand was wearing a kind of armor, how did the console react? --Heretic Havana


 * They react to the shape.--  Fore  run  ner  15:26, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

I didnt know that. Do we have an article about that? -- Heretic Havana

Forerunner may still be alive
At the end of origins a hand is seen locking a door with forerunner armor in it, since this is shown after the war it is possible some forerunner made it to a Shield World and survived. Also you can briefly see the back of someones head as the camera goes up, this head does not resemble a humans head so it has to be forerunner. SanghelliS-104 06:46, January 3, 2010 (UTC)

Forerunner Head
If you look at the picture I made at the right, you can see that the helmets are mostly the same, apart from a few aesthetic differences. This is evidence that the Forerunners indeed looked almost exactly the same as humans; with the same hands, and mostly the same heads. --  General5 7    talk    contribs    email   22:40, January 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * I noticed that too, it shows very well the Forerunner influence on humanity.--Sgt.T.N.Biscuits 01:37, January 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * You cannot say that the Forerunners looked exactly like humans from a helmet. For we know, they could have a face so ugly even mighty Cthulu would barf from disgust. There have been canon works before in which the story is canon but not the appearance of the creatures. I imagine if Bungie shows us a Forerunner, it'll look far different.--Zervziel 03:06, January 18, 2010 (UTC)

Birds
The armors looked like funky birds. Anybody noticed it? 91.189.19.89

Why do the Forerunner speak English?
Really, AI that speak English (343 Guilty Spark and the other monitors), English in their terminals, and they have English names (Librarian, Dialect, etc). Did English come from the Forerunner language or something? 72.83.66.151 04:48, January 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Maybe the Forerunner AI and people are fluent in all languages in case if some dude who is going to activate Halo is Russian or Spanish. Lunar ankou2 05:01, January 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * The AI are programmed with "insta-translate" technology, I believe. Because there's no way 343 speaks English to Master Chief upon their first encounter without having learned it first, which he obviously couldn't have. Oresus 05:43, January 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * I think something that Oresus said is explained in Ghosts of Onyx. EchostreamFanJosh


 * The text in the terminals is translated to the player from the Forerunner language, as are the names of Librarian and Didact. The translator just picks the name closest to the original meaning. The monitor probably speaks English because he had time to observe the humans for some time before the Flood outbreak, and learned their language that way. Not sure how 2401 can speak it though, it's probably mostly for the same reason the Covenant speak English among themselves in the games. For the sake of storytelling. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 06:43, January 8, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, Bungie's explanation for that is that the Covenant had been observing humanity for some time, and hired their smartest Sangheili to learn the language. Oresus 06:48, January 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Didn't 343 Guilt Spark come across human technology before he met the Chief? Corporal John

The Sentinals on Onyx used Latin as a base languade and from their went to English, 343 and 2401 could have done the same. They where designed to learn after all. CR8ZY-ArAB  17:32, January 14, 2010 (UTC)

To the original poster: well... if they spoke any other language, we wouldn't understand them, and it'd be just like watching someone speak a bunch of gibberish - which would be detrimental to the story, especially seeing as the dialogue must be understood to even tell the story in the first place.  Smoke Sound off! 17:55, January 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * But aren't the Covenant going to speak their own languages in Halo: Reach?--Sgt.T.N.Biscuits 23:52, January 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * In battle, I think. That's just regular dialogue. I mean stuff like cutscenes or (in this case) terminals. Things used to advance the story.  Smoke Sound off! 00:21, January 15, 2010 (UTC)