Hidden Marine

The Hidden Marine is an Easter egg that can be found on the Halo: Combat Evolved level 343 Guilty Spark. His character model is that of Private Mendoza.

Background
It appears that Bungie wanted his model to load before the cutscene he later appears in; they thus coded him with scripts to load early in the level, and used the area outside of the level as a storage area. Technically, this makes him not an Easter egg, although it is fun to find him. He can be shot and killed, just like any other Marine. Killing him will not affect the cutscene he is loaded early for however.

In Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, the Hidden Marine is still present, due to the new graphics engine being built over the original gameplay engine. However, a large tree has been placed directly in front of him, hiding him from view unless he is approached from behind, or the game is switched to its original graphics.

Walkthrough
To find him, the player must stay inside the Pelican that drops you off at the beginning of the level. To do this, start throwing grenades as soon as the player is able to. Stay inside the dropship as it flies off. After it travels a certain distance, the Pelican will drop the player off outside of the level barriers. By exploring around, the player will eventually come across the Marine.