Prophet

Prophets are the leadership caste within the Covenant.

Summary
Little to nothing is known about the Prophets, although it is known that they founded the Covenant with the Elites, and are its religious and political leaders. The Prophets are physically weak, and sit upon floating Gravity Thrones.

The Prophets actually originated on a world that was supposedly once home to a Forerunner colony. This may be the reason that the Covenant revere all Forerunner artifacts, and it is for this reason that the Covenant seem to have such advanced technology, because they have been using the remains of Forerunner technology. This is also thought to be the same world the Elites originate from.

The role of the Prophets, for as long as can be recalled, is to archive, explore and locate Forerunner technology and artifacts. These intelligent, highly evolved beings are physically weak, hence their need for Elite allies. The pact allows the Prophets to advance their search through conquest and occasionally assimilation of species whose homeworlds or solar systems contain Forerunner architecture or technology, often disregarded by the resident species. Prophet ceremony and purpose is not generally known to the Covenant population, most of which simply trust in their wisdom to further the goals and territory of the Covenant.

Rather than have "names" in the traditional sense, most Prophets are instead simply referred to as "Holy One", "Eminence", or some other religiously significant title.

Prophets seem to be divided into three groups: Heirarch Prophets, High Council Prophets, and Lesser Prophets. Heirarch Prophets seem to be referred to in a more reverent manner by the other Covenant races than Lesser Prophets. The Heirarch Prophets have titles such as "High Prophet of Truth", while the Lesser Prophets do not receive such titles as far as is known. High Council Prophets share a seat in power with the Heirarch Prophets but do not have the authority as a Heirarch does.

The place of Prophets in Covenant society is so profound that an analysis by Dr. Catherine Halsey concluded that the killing of one by the UNSC would only serve to escalate the Human-Covenant War. As of late they have cast aside their Elite Honor Guards, and have replaced them with new Brute Honor Guards.

Physical appearance
To date, what has been revealed about the Prophet body is limited, but we know a few things. First off, the only time we have ever seen a Prophet walking is in the Deleted Mural scene. This may show that they are too weak to walk for very long. Also, we know that Prophets are Brown. But The High Prophet of Mercy was pink. This may show that as they age, they're colour gets "pinker" if you will (or maybe this shows that they have fur, and it sheds as the age). They also seem to rely on floating Thrones to move around (supporting the to-weak-to-walk theory.

Combat
Only one Prophet has actually been seen in Combat, and that was High Prophet of Regret. During his melee with Spartan-117, He was known to stay in his throne, and shoot a cannon at you resembling the Fuel Rod Cannon used by Hunters, the exception being that the weapon's discharge is a yellow-orange color. Their tactics seem to be sending out their Honor Guards (armed with Energy Swords, of course). If that fails, they will proceed to shoot their weapon (known as the "Gravity Cannon") at you. On Higher difficulties, this weapon is extremely devastating, and may even score the Prophet a "one-hit-kill". Since they have a sort of Energy Shield around them, weapons are useless, and your only tactic is to high-jack their Gravity Throne, and viciously melee them to death.

Appearances
The only Prophet that you fight is Regret. He appears at the level called Regret. There other appearances, though. In most of the cinematic sequences in Halo 2, there is at least one Prophet present. And besides that, Mercy's corpse is found at the beginning of the level called High Charity.

High Prophets

 * High Prophet of Mercy
 * High Prophet of Regret
 * High Prophet of Truth

Lesser Prophets

 * Prophet of Supposition
 * Prophet of Pity
 * Prophet of Disdain

Legates

 * Minister of Etiology

Flood Prophet Form
Prophet Form is a term to describe Covenant Prophets that have been infected by the Flood. Due to their unusual nature, they are not thought of as Combat Forms in the way infected Humans and Elites are (Note that the term "Prophet Form" has not been officially used as canon to date). It is also worth noting that both "prophet forms" seen had only just been infected, and may not have been assimilated in the conventional way. Prophet of Mercy was the only prophet to be seen being taken down by an infection form and the result of his infection was never shown.

Biblical Reference

 * Revelation 11:5-10: "If anyone tries to harm [the prophets], fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky...to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city...the inhabitants of the Earth will gloat over them and will celebrate...because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the Earth."


 * "If anyone tries to harm [the prophets], fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies."
 * This passage could refer to the Prophets of Mercy and Regret, as Regret and Mercy had thrones that emitted fiery-looking beams (out of an opening similar to a mouth) that were certainly capable of killing anyone who came against them.
 * "Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them."
 * This could refer to how they held absolute power over the Covenant, but when their usefulness to Truth had ended, the Flood came up from a sort of abyss and killed them. It could also refer to the Master Chief killing them or at least being present at their deaths, since he is thought to be a 'Demon' or beast to the Covenant.
 * "Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city...the inhabitants of the Earth will gloat over them and will celebrate...because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the Earth."
 * Mercy's body lays in the streets of High Charity and Regret's body is part of Gravemind, who is currently in High Charity. These two deaths will certainly cause rejoicing among the humans after the war and pain they have caused.

Trivia

 * In Halo: First Strike the Prophets (specifically Truth) appear to have telekinetic powers, although it maybe an illusion based on gravity manipulation technology.
 * The High Prophet of Mercy is named Hod Rumnt.

Related Links

 * High Prophets
 * High Council