Forerunner

"After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life within three radii of the galactic center died, as planned."

- 343 Guilty Spark explaining the fate of the Forerunner.

The Forerunner is the translated name for an ancient race of enlightened beings that were the creators and builders of the Halos, the Ark, the Shield Worlds, Onyx, along with the artifacts that were found on the planets Reach, Earth, Sigma Octanus IV, Harvest, and Arcadia. All that is known about the Forerunner has been gleaned from these various artifacts. The predecessors of the Forerunner are thought to be another alien race, known as the Precursors. The alien faction known as the Covenant worshipped the Forerunners as gods, deriving much of their technology from Forerunner artifacts found throughout the galaxy, and believing any who tampered or destroyed these relics to be heretics.

Known History
Next to nothing is known about the Forerunners, except that they were a very advanced civilization, coming to power after the disappearance of another race, known to them as the Precursors. The Forerunners reached their peak before activating the Halo Array around 100,000 years ago, exactly as planned (as explained by 343 Guilty Spark in Halo 2). The Forerunners had a technological achievement scale, where they were rated as being the second highest level.

The Forerunners were highly technologically advanced during their reign; some speculated that the ancient faction had the ability to accelerate a species stage development. Being the only known race ever to achieve Tier 1 technology based on the Technological Achievement Tiers measurement, they were only superseded by the mysterious Precursors at Tier 0; evidence of which has been found on various planets. The fact that the Halos were scattered around the galaxy also hints at the possibility that the Forerunner empire covered most, if not all, of the galaxy. It has also been hinted at in the Terminals that the Forerunners received their "Mantle" from the coinciding "Precursors".

Later in their history, a Forerunner survey team came into contact with an extra-galactic parasite known as the Flood on the planet G 617 g (details of this first contact are unavailable). After this first contact, the Forerunner realized the great danger that the Flood posed to the entire galaxy and attempted to contain them. The attempt to contain the Flood was a failure, primarily because in the beginning, they treated the Flood as a disease, attempting to contain it and quarantine it, instead of treating it as a severe threat and declaring an all out war on the Flood. They did not start war until it was far too late.

When the Forerunners were unable to contain the Flood outbreak, war between the two factions broke loose. During the 300 years of conflict, the Forerunner studied the Flood in labs such as the gas mine located in the atmosphere of Threshold, looking for some sort of weakness. Eventually they created the Halo Array, a weapon of last resort designed to starve the Flood to death by killing all sentient life with enough biomass to sustain them.

At first, the Forerunners were reluctant to use the Array. The Gravemind managed to convince a Contender-class AI, Mendicant Bias, to unite with the Flood. Mendicant Bias soon led his massive fleet in an attack on the "Maginot Line", the final barrier between what the Forerunners could protect and what they had to let go. The Forerunner were given no choice but to activate the Halo rings, killing themselves and all life of sufficient biomass and cognitive ability in the Milky Way, with the exception of those species safely placed on the Ark.

Forerunner Technology
Forerunner technology was highly cultivated and progressive. They managed to create solidified surfaces out of meticulous energy, construct a Halo-wide teleportation grid and create and utilize a plethora of other advanced gadgets. The Halo Rings themselves, the Micro-Dyson Mark II sphere, which is connected through a portal to the shield world Onyx, and the Ark (Installation 00) are, above all others, the most significant pieces of Forerunner technology. The planet Onyx in particular demonstrates both their ability for engineering on a grand scale, and their near transcendent grasp of Slipspace technology. It is unknown how much of their technology is based on the technology of the Precursors.

Covenant Luminaries (which are actually stolen Forerunner equipment designed to detect other Forerunner objects) can detect Humans, previously mislabeled as "Forerunner Artifacts", leading to the initial Human-Covenant contact which sparked a seemingly endless war. Ironically, the Covenant worships the Forerunners but fight Humans, who have been confirmed as Forerunner descendants by the Oracle. The idea of living Forerunners in the Galaxy (Described by the Oracle as Reclaimers) terrified the Covenant leadership. In an attempt to protect their religion the Prophets of Truth, Regret and Mercy concealed the true identity of Humanity to the rest of the Covenant and deemed them as heretics, thus sparking the Human-Covenant War.

Engineers are the only known Forerunner creation to be both non-robotic and to join the Covenant.

Forerunners have the technology to reproduce entire individuals from encoded DNA/RNA/silicon samples in data streams. This was mentioned in the Bestiarum: "DNA/RNA/Silicon samples are encoded in this data stream. Reproduction of individuals for analysis is prohibited by this facility."

The Forerunner seem to be genetically identical to the humans, which can be corroborated by the Iris Server-05 message about the humans providing "answers" to the Forerunner's own "mysteries", and Mendicant Bias's own declaration in Halo: Contact Harvest. This also explains why the Prophets ordered the Covenant to exterminate humanity; knowing that they are the Forerunner's descendants.

Weaponry
Forerunner constructs and sentries use a broad variety of weapons, typically high-energy powered beams. These weapons proved to be very effective when battling the Flood, burning Flood forms to the point that they cannot be revived by their compatriots. The Forerunners installed and constructed these intricate beam weapons inside their paradigm Arrays, allowing them to build an army of machines to battle the Flood without sending any Forerunner to the front lines. Forerunners evidently made active use of plasma weaponry as well; the Covenant's own weapons and technology are solely based on Forerunner artifacts.

The Sentinels wield orange-colored directed energy beams, used primarily for fighting the Flood. Sentinel Majors however, have a more powerful and accurate version of the beam, which sports superior energy output, at the cost of overheating issues. These more advanced energy beams are colored blue. All variants of these Sentinel Beams can be wielded by Humans and certain Covenant races.

Meanwhile, Enforcers are equipped with multiple packs of small grenades, or mortar-like explosives launched over the top of their shield. The Enforcer also boasts a pair of Pulse Beams, which fire clusters of smaller red projectiles or bolts of energy at an incredibly high rate of fire. These pulse beams are primarily used against infantry at close range. These mammoth constructs also seem capable of lifting even tanks, using some sort of magnetic or anti-gravity grapple, before crushing the target between their massive 'arms'. The Constructors' repair beam can also be considered a weapon, but with minimal damage output.

The Sentinels of Onyx had significantly more powerful weaponry. They were described to be a sphere surrounded by three floating "booms", or small pieces of armor that possessed powerful energy shields which would suddenly "pop" into place in order to deflect objects moving at high velocities. Their shields are not activated by slow-moving objects, however - Team Saber used this to their advantage to destroy one of the Sentinels with rocks. Their energy weapons are described as a single, slow-charging, golden beam that could melt straight through the SPI armor of the Spartan-IIIs. SPARTAN-058 had also noted that one blast from these weapons was enough to drain the shields of her MJOLNIR Mk V armor. The Onyx Sentinels also have the ability to combine for different purposes, such as exponentially increasing their combat capabilities, or for large-scale excavation. One formation of these combined Sentinels was able to easily destroy two Covenant destroyers. However, it should be noted that the second Covenant Destroyer was caught off guard after a slipstream space jump, and the first one had had its energy shields down.

The Forerunners also constructed Automated Turrets that fire blue beams similar to those of sentinel majors. These turrets themselves resemble stripped-down sentinels, and hover in mid-air, tracking enemy targets, but are otherwise immobile.

In Halo 3, it seemed that even the Monitors had the ability to defend themselves against the Flood using a focused beam similar to the Sentinel's beam, but much more powerful. 343 Guilty Spark displayed this ability in Floodgate and Halo. The weapon was capable of draining the shields of a Spartan-II in one blast and mortally wounding Sergeant Major Avery Johnson. It is also quite odd and puzzling as to why 2401 Penitent Tangent didn't use this ability against the Gravemind in Halo 2. It is assumed that the Gravemind is likely to have damaged 2401 Penitent Tangent when he captured the Monitor, disabling its beam weaponry. It could simply be that it was not equipped with one. Although, it is possible the Monitor attacked the Gravemind every chance he got, explaining his red "eye". With the Gravemind's size and power, it was probably never injured.

Art and Architecture
Forerunner architecture is noted mainly for being large-scale and geometric in style, mostly triangular shaped when observed. The Forerunners had a habit of creating natural habitats, such as those of the Halo rings, which tend to be very elaborate, with numerous extrapolations of the basic design of a construct appearing to be purely decorative. That said, their distinctive beauty are not restricted to Halo Array network. The Aztec-esque stones of Cote D'Azur, the arches and weathered inscriptions of Sigma Octanus IV, the intricate caverns and three-kilometer holographic dome beneath ONI's Reach complex, the ancient stepping-stones of the Grunt's homeworld, and the Forerunner City discovered in the depths of the human-inhabited Onyx, all display the Forerunner's innovative architectures. Most Forerunner architecture is constructed with a special type of metal that resists deterioration, bullets, plasma bolts and fire, as evidenced by Forerunner structures standing in pristine condition 100,000-150,500 years after they were built. However their resistance to plasma fire is limited; in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx the Elites blasted a hole in a Forerunner wall with plasma weapons. In Halo 2, Sgt. Avery Johnson destroyed the door to the control room of Delta Halo with a Scarab. Other structures are constructed out of traditional materials, such as chalcedonic quartz, which does not preserve nearly so well. These structures employ complex geometric shapes that appear to operate in dimensions higher than human understanding can comprehend. The Forerunners also decorated the interiors of their structures with a complex web of engraved straight lines and applied decorative touches and designs to nearly everything that they build, from structures to weapons. Even the Sentinel robotic drones possess small holographic Forerunner script around their "eyes".

Forerunner architecture distinguishes itself from Covenant structures in that they incorporate the use of angles, usually at extremely sharp degrees as the Forerunner buildings are usually triangular. Originally, the ideas and concepts on Forerunner structures and technology was that it would be sleek and curved to give it an advanced feel. However, Bungie wanted the structures to feel as if they could stand the test of time and redesigned them to be solid and monolithic. The smooth, near-organic design would later be adopted by the Covenant in their architecture, although they did not adopt the Forerunner tradition of decorating their structures with glyphs. In Halo Wars the Forerunner counting system is used to open and close portals on the last level.

Forerunner Stellar Engineering
While the Forerunners' architectural and technological prowess is legendary among the Covenant and UNSC, their masterpieces also extended to the fields of stellar engineering. At least three Forerunner sites, the Shield World Onyx, the Ark, and the Micro Dyson Sphere that holds the Apex, made use of suns where none should exist. The Shield World existed permanently in Slipspace, where solar systems outside of a Dyson Sphere cannot exist, and the Ark was located far outside of the galaxy where galactic material would have been insufficient to form the sun that illuminates the Ark. The sun at the center of the Dyson Sphere where the Apex was housed was abnormally small, in order to accommodate the planet-sized Dyson Sphere. Whether these suns are artificially engineered or simply moved from another star system by the Forerunner is unknown: either would have been an enormous technological achievement. Another known Shield World is the planet discovered by the Spirit of Fire. This world had a outer crust like Onyx, but its inner Dyson sphere was accessed through a long narrow tunnel hidden under one of the planets oceans. Once through the tunnel, the Spirit of Fire had to pass through several "cleansing rings" in order to make it to the center of the planet. This Dyson sphere, unlike the Onyx Dyson sphere, was not separated in slipspace but was actually constructed on what appeared to be hollowed out inside of the planet. This sphere seemed to have had an artificially created sun like the one on the Ark.

The Ark is confirmed to be artificial, due to its unnatural "flower head" shape. It has been theorized to be an Alderson Disk. It is likewise unknown if these are the only stellar engineering achievements the Forerunners made; whether the systems that the Halo Installations orbit are artificial or native to that region of space; whether other Shield Worlds exist; and how the construction or movement of such large stellar bodies was accomplished.

Forerunner in Covenant Religions
The Covenant venerate the Forerunners as gods and referred to them as the Ancients, believing that the Halo Array elevated the Forerunner to godhood instead of killing them. As such, they have appropriated many Forerunner technologies and artifacts, and such searching led to the Covenant coming to Harvest in the first place, therefore beginning the Human-Covenant war. Also they dedicated a significant amount of time to the search for other "holy relics" such as the Halo Installations, believing that they can follow the Forerunners into godhood. This is referred to as the "Great Journey" by the Covenant races. The Covenant believe that the Forerunner's ascension to godhood was finalized after the rings were fired.

Known Forerunners

 * Librarian
 * Didact
 * Filial Devotion

Trivia

 * The Forerunners seem to be similar to the Silver Race of Greek mythology. Similarly, the Forerunners are very similar to the Ancients of the Stargate television series in that they both built technologically advanced rings as well as galactic scale weaponry, and are thought of as gods by aliens. They also went extinct thousands of years ago,and thought of humans as their children. They show some similarities (their highly advanced technology and the fact that they mysteriously vanished) to the Jjaro, a race of aliens from a previous Bungie game, Marathon, the Eloh from the MMORPG Tabula Rasa, the Old Ones from Warhammer 40,000, the Protheans in Mass Effect, the Precursors of Star Control, the Rakata or Builders of Star Wars, the Progenitors of Homeworld, the Chozo and Alimbics of Metroid, the "Preservers" species of Star Trek, the Xel'Naga in Starcraft, the Great Beings of Bionicle, the Time Lords, of "Doctor Who", and most especially, the Krell of the film Forbidden Planet. The concept of a highly advanced extinct race leaving technological relics behind is not a new concept and has appeared in several other media such as books and films like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Forerunner also bear a striking similarity to Larry Niven's Pak Protectors (Ringworld Series), whom also built a Ring-like Station but disappeared, leaving the Ringworld to go off balance from its own sun.
 * Another key similarity to the Ancients is that they are seemingly an advanced race of Humans, and that those born on Earth are much like a second or third evolution of the species, or at least some kind of splinter group or sub-species.
 * The Forerunners were the main focus of the alternate reality game, Iris.
 * The holographic construct on Epitaph is said to be the Forerunner AI, Mendicant Bias.
 * On the final level of Halo Wars, 7 Forerunner numbers can be seen on the forcefield ground. When the forcefield is deactivated, the numbers go away.
 * It was announced recently that a trilogy of books based on the Forerunners' culture and their war with the Flood will be written by Greg Bear.
 * In Halo, the last Campaign mission in Halo 3, there is a cutscene in which a rampant 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, among other things, has led to many fans to conclude that Humanity and the Forerunner are one and the same. Humans are capable of using Forerunner technology directly, specifically those that other species cannot, such as the Halo Rings and the Ark. However, the Terminals show that that the "Librarian" was on Earth, discovering early modern humans 100,000 years ago, indexed them, and built a portal to Ark to send them there. This has led to another theory, where humans, while not being direct descendants of the Forerunners, were considered to be special, and chosen to inherit their role in the galaxy and their empire.