Unggoy Ultra: Difference between revisions

'''Ultra''' is the the highest known [[Unggoy]] [[Covenant]] rank.

The Ultra Grunt is the highest [[Unggoy]] rank seen so far in the [[Covenant]] military. Like [[Ultra Elite]]s, Ultra Grunts wear distinct white/pearl-like armor<ref>'''[[Halo 2]]'''</ref>.

Ultra Grunts can sometimes be seen commanding lower classes of [[Grunts]] in battle, even leading black-armored [[Special Operations Grunts]] into combat, and it is rare for the player to find them when playing Halo on lower difficulties, such as [[Easy]] or [[Normal]].

Unlike [[Ultra Elites]], Ultra Grunts do not appear to have any immunity with their command. It is just as likely that two or three will be encountered leading a small group of Grunts, yet the Elites, (or [[Brutes]] in the [[Loyalists]]) are ultimately in complete command. These Grunts, like their lower-ranking cousins, appear in groups. They are very intelligent, making as few tactical errors as [[Major Domo]] [[Elites]].

These Grunts usually display even more bravery in combat than a [[SpecOps]] unit, and are more often used for generic millitary operations, rather than specialized attacks.

Ultra Grunts usually throw more [[grenades]] and are far more accurate and deadly at a greater distance than the lower ranked [[Major Grunt|Major]] and [[Minor Grunt]]s. They are usually seen with [[Needler]]s or [[Plasma Pistol]]s. They can also take the same amount of damage Spec Ops [[Grunts]] do (more than three times as much as a Minor Grunt can), but they are still vulnerable to head shots (even though it may take more than one for lower-end weapons). Like [[SpecOps Grunts]], they are rarely caught sleeping on duty. They still panic if they know that they are being overwhelmed, but are more likely to go berserk than panic-especially if one of their comrades was killed by a grenade. An Ultra Grunt, compared to an average Minor Grunt, can take much more damage and usually takes two to three [[melee]]s instead of one to be killed, even on lower difficulties like Normal.

The purpose of this rank designation has been generally unclear. They were first mentioned in ''[[Halo: First Strike]]'', pushing carts of cleaning fluid, implying that they were even lower than [[Grunt Minors]]. However, they were also seen inside the [[Scarab]] walker in [[New Mombasa]] along with high-ranking Elites ([[Minor]], [[Major]], and [[Ultra Elite|Ultra]]). They were also seen throughout [[New Mombasa]], [[Delta Halo]] and ''[[Cairo Station]]''. This led some to believe that they were "technicians" or engineers (Not to be confused with the [[Engineers (Huragok)|Engineer]] species) of some sort, but the production book, ''[[The Art of Halo]]'', confirms that they outrank [[Major Grunts]]. It has, however, been suggested that white armor actually signifies manual labor, while the more silver armor signifies Ultra. Still, there is not a sufficient color difference to make this a significant case. It may simply be that when author Eric Nylund wrote the book, he chose the color white because it was a color not previously seen in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', and did not know that [[Bungie]] would choose a similar color for the new Grunt rank. It is also possible that even though they are high ranking Grunts, they are not free from manual tasks.

The rank is a rare achievement for an [[Unggoy]], due to the fact that this species has a high death rate. Ultra Grunts most likely delegate a great degree of respect from the Grunts under their command, as their combat prowess must be exemplary, or they are just ''very'' lucky.

These Grunts are seen in both ''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' and ''[[Halo 2]]''. They are seen throughout ''[[Halo 2]]'', but are far more frequent in the [[Heroic]] or [[Legendary]] difficulty levels than the Easy or Normal ones.

*''[[The Oracle (Level)|The Oracle]]'' - An Ultra Grunt is dropped to help the [[Arbiter (Character)|Arbiter]] with some other Spec Ops forces at the exit of the Flood labs.