Mgalekgolo

"They're all scary and angry and they like to smash things..."

- Bungie

The Mgalekgolo (Ophis congregatio, meaning "serpent union"), is a gestalt of Lekgolo, which are small worm-like creatures that group together to exponentially increase their intelligence, strength, and maneuverability. Of the myriad Lekgolo collectives, the best known is the Mgalekgolo or Hunter, a bipedal form that is used for heavy assault. Ironically, the Mgalekgolo is among the least common Lekgolo configurations, but due to their formidable combat capabilities they are most commonly fielded by the Covenant.

History
After the formation of the Covenant, early experiments with the Luminaries reverse-engineered from the Forerunner Dreadnought in High Charity led the Covenant to the Lekgolo homeworld Te, which was located near Urs, the home system of the Sangheili. While the San 'Shyuum and Sangheili hoped to find a treasure trove of Forerunner artifacts, they instead found hives of Lekgolo inside orbital rings surrounding the planet. The rings were in fact the destroyed remains of an ancient Forerunner installation in orbit. The relics had been the Lekgolo's food for millennia, and the orbital rings were actually composed of digested-and-destroyed Forerunner relics that some of the Lekgolo had been consuming.

Enraged by the Lekgolo's "desecration" of Forerunner relics, the Covenant began a military campaign against the Lekgolo. After facing considerable difficulty eradicating the creatures, a Sangheili Arbiter sent to study the Lekgolo for a full year on Rantu, one of Te's moons. It was there that the Arbiter witnessed the Lekgolo combine into Mgalekgolo to battle him, forming around a series of rocks to support their bipedal forms. Recognizing the potential of the gestalts, the Arbiter returned to High Charity and suggested that the Lekgolo be inducted into the Covenant. This event later came to be known amongst the Covenant as the "Taming of the Lekgolo".

The Mgalekgolo gestalts, armed with thick armor plates and assault cannons, would come to serve the Covenant as shock troops. Numerous Mgalekgolo participated in the Human-Covenant War. During the Great Schism, most Mgalekgolo pairs sided with the Sangheili and the Swords of Sanghelios, though others remained with the Prophet of Truth and the main body of the Covenant. There is no known reason for the split in loyalty. It is likely that the separatist Mgalekgolo split from the Covenant due to their respect for the Sangheili while those that remained with the loyalists may have done so out of loyalty to their agreement with the Covenant or fear of retribution.

During the further conflicts in the wake of the Human-Covenant War many Mgalekgolo would fight on behalf of Jul 'Mdama's new Covenant order against humanity. These Mgalekgolo participated in the battles of Requiem and Ealen IV.

Anatomy and physiology


A Mgalekgolo is not a single organism, but rather a collective of small, orange, eel-like creatures called Lekgolo. In order to form a Mgalekgolo, dozens of individual Lekgolo bond with one another both physically and neurologically to form a single "hive-minded" community. The Mgalekgolo is the most common form seen in combat during the Human-Covenant War, but is actually one of the more rarer and smaller forms in the Lekgolo society, used primarily in interaction with the Covenant hierarchy. Their primary combat tactic is an approximation of a hunter-killer formation, hence the name "Hunter". Because of their combined neural nets' sensitivity to their surroundings, Mgalekgolo can think and work as an effective combat unit without even using verbal communication. They can also locate their enemies even without directly "seeing" them, such as when they are facing the opposite direction.

Mgalekgolo usually stand between twelve to thirteen feet tall, but during combat they hunch themselves over to protect their vulnerable neck and midsection, reducing their height to roughly eight feet. They fight using assault cannons integrated directly into their armor, and they carry an enormous shield made of an alloy derived from the same material that forms Covenant warship hulls. This shield protects them from almost every form of plasma-based or ballistic weaponry available to Covenant and human infantry alike, and is a powerful melee tool capable of crushing anything in its path and allowing the Mgalekgolo to sweep away most enemies in close combat.

The assault cannon the Mgalekgolo wields operates in two modes; one firing a single explosive capsule of incendiary fluid, the other spraying the fluid out like a beam.

Bond brothers
When a single Mgalekgolo becomes too big, the colony will divide in half to create two independent Lekgolo colonies. These colonies will share an extremely close and mysterious bond, referred to only as being "bond brothers", or "mates". Mgalekgolo that have split into "bond brothers" are recognized by spiked appendages that rise from their shoulders, which means that they are bonded to another Mgalekgolo. Bonded Mgalekgolo colonies are dropped into battle together by the Covenant, as the Spartans learned: where you find a Mgalekgolo, there is always another close by. If one of the bonded colonies is killed, the other will go into a frenzied state, much like the berserk state of a Jiralhanae, or the suicidal charge of a desperate Unggoy. If left alone for a long period of time, however, they will adopt a "tactical split personality" of shooting followed by melee attacks.

Naming
Mgalekgolo have three names: a personal name, a bond name, and a line name. The personal name is given at their "birth". The line name represents the genetic heritage, being the name of the most successful Mgalekgolo of its ancestors. If one reaches a certain level of status, its offspring will have its personal name as their line name. The bond name, or their middle name, is taken between bonded pairs. Examples of some Mgalekgolo names include Igido Nosa Hurru and Ogada Nosa Fasu.

Ranking system
Unlike most Covenant forces, Mgalekgolo seem to possess no visible rank. As they are deployed more like equipment or weapons platforms rather than conventional troops, rank may simply not apply for them.

However, they can be deployed independently of other Covenant troops, which may indicate that a level of independence and responsibility may be granted, thus meaning that they may have a high enough rank to be trusted by themselves. During the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, Mgalekgolo are seen guarding the crystal in Côte d'Azur, which is retrieved by Blue Team. One of these Mgalekgolo killed a Kig-Yar by stepping on it, demonstrating the Lekgolo colonies' characteristic disregard for the lives of other species, whom they generally view as annoyances rather than allies. During the Battle of Onyx, some Mgalekgolo apparently had command of lower-ranking Sangheili, even killing one of them for failing to follow orders, signifying they may have a higher military rank in the Covenant military than previously indicated.

During the Battle of Mombasa, Mgalekgolo appeared in two different forms in two different colors: the normal blue-armored Mgalekgolo that are armed with an assault cannon that fires a continuous stream of radioactive incendiary gel, and a gold-armored Mgalekgolo armed with an assault cannon that fires a single bolt of radioactive incendiary gel.

Production notes

 * Halo: The Flood, mentions that Hunters have skin and a jutting spine. This is incorrect, as they were later revealed to be a compound of small worm-like creatures. However, this does not preclude the possibility that the worms may form a skin-like membrane on the outside of their colony for protection against more casual damage, and in Halo 3 a metal column can be seen after the back armor plating has been detached, perhaps forming an artificial "spine" for vertical support. Strangely, the reference to Hunters having spines was kept in the 2010 re-release of the novel.
 * At first, Hunters were meant to comprise the whole of Heretic forces on the Threshold gas mine.
 * The Hunter was inspired by the Pfhor Hunter from the Marathon series, as well as by the Drinniol, or Hulk, from the original Marathon. However, the Pfhor Hunter is actually a class of power armored soldier with a shoulder-mounted cannon rather than an arm-mounted cannon. The Drinniol also inspired the creation of the Drinol, Covenant species that was designed for Halo: Combat Evolved but was cut during development.
 * No Hunters are ever seen supporting the Master Chief during the events of Halo 3. This is because in the making of Halo 3, Bungie did not want to confuse players by having them with both the Covenant separatists and loyalists so they were only shown as loyalists.
 * Despite appearing on the cover of Halo: Spartan Assault none actually appear in game.

Gameplay

 * When combating Hunters, a player can 'leapfrog' the charging melee attack, either jumping above or to the side of the Hunter. This exposes the rear armor to a quick shotgun blast or grenade stick, often resulting in death on lower difficulties. Although this tactic does not work as well on Halo 3: ODST, simply circling around behind the Hunter at the right time works the same way.
 * In Halo 3, it is possible to splatter a Hunter with a M274 Mongoose.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved Hunters are not harmed by Type-33 fuel rod guns. This may be because you're not supposed to have fuel rod guns in campaign, or it may be a precaution meant to prevent Hunters from injuring each other when fighting.
 * Hunters have ranks in the actor variant tags. One variant is called 'Hunter' and another called 'Hunter major'.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, a single shot from a pistol or sniper rifle to any non armored section will kill a Hunter; this is likely because the Hunter's exposed flesh was considered to be its "head."
 * In Halo 2, it is impossible to kill or even damage a Hunter with a melee attack.
 * In Halo Wars, a Hunter's shield can deflect projectiles that would almost always kill them in previous games, like Wraith Mortars and shots from the M808B Scorpion's main cannon.
 * In Halo: Reach, Hunters have received a huge graphical overhaul. They are much more textured, are larger, have Forerunner symbols and emblems on their armor and appear to have some kind of eyes on their helmets.
 * Hunters are also much tougher in Reach. They are capable of surviving multiple explosive hits and even repeated plasma grenade sticks. Their back armor is much more durable, making their weak point harder to expose. They will also raise their shield vertically when being attacked from the front, covering both their neck and mid-section to protect themselves from incoming fire and are less likely to turn around and expose their back to the player.
 * In Halo: Reach, a near-miss from a Hunter's melee will cause the player's screen to shake violently.
 * Although the Hunters present in Halo: Anniversary use the Halo: Reach skin, the Hunters are almost half the size of their Halo: Reach counterparts due to the much smaller skeleton frame used in the original game. Their abdomens also appear to be armored, though this armor doesn't do anything and they're just as vulnerable as they were in the original game.

Miscellaneous

 * Like most other races of the Covenant, Hunters' blood differs from that of humans. Mgalekgolo blood is bright, fluorescent orange and appears to have a very thick, slimy texture. It has also been noted that their blood smells strongly of burnt plastic, hinting that the make-up of their bodily fluids is drastically different from that of a human.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo 2
 * Conversations from the Universe
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Uprising
 * Halo 3
 * Bestiarum
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo Legends
 * The Duel
 * Prototype


 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Blunt Instruments
 * The Return
 * Wages of Sin
 * Halo: Blood Line
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Covenant
 * Invasion
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo: Broken Circle
 * Halo 2 Anniversary
 * Terminals