Guardian Custode: Difference between revisions

The Guardians have a storied history with the ''Halo'' series, with their core idea dating back to the development of ''[[Halo 2]]''. Notably, the Guardians were heavily developed for ''[[Halo 3]]'', with many pieces of concept art created for their design. The Guardians were to feature in the eponymous level [[Guardian Forest]] as enemies, with a model and animations being created for them, and the in-game character in iteration. In the level, the player would have been able to rip out the Guardian's "eye" and use it as a laser weapon.{{Ref/Site|Id=GDC|URL=https://www.gdcvault.com/browse/gdc-09/play/1284|SiteName=GDC Vault|PageName=Building Your Airplane While Flying: Production at Bungie}}{{Ref/Site|Id=Powerpoint|URL=http://downloads.bungie.net/presentations/gdc_bungieproduction_march2009.pptx|SiteName=Bungie.net|PageName=Building Your Airplane While Flying: Production at Bungie|Detail=Original presentation download}} Unfortunately, the level and the Guardian enemy had to be cut, with the level being repurposed as the [[Guardian (map)|Guardian]] multiplayer map and the Guardian enemy model itself used on [[Epitaph]] in holographic form. The Guardian was intended to be similar in size to the similarly-cut [[Strato-Sentinel]]s.{{Ref/Site|Id=Vic1|URL=https://twitter.com/vicdeleon/status/1304910772313575424|SiteName=Twitter|PageName=Vic DeLeon|Quote=Fwiw this is almost exactly what the Guardians looked like back when they were first imagined on Halo 2, only they were much larger, almost like the Strato-Sentinel.}}

 

According to ''[[Art of Halo 3]]'', ''"The Guardian evokes memories of [[marathongame:Compilers|Compilers]] (from one of Bungie's previous games, [[Marathon]]) and the robes of a High Court Judge -  which is fitting because, as anyone who has encountered them can tell you, their judgments are swift and final, and their logic utterly alien."'' While they were not seen in the final game, their design was later used in ''[[Origins]]'' for two Forerunner constructs seen escorting a [[Keyship]] to the [[Portal at Voi]].

 

The Guardians later found their way back into the ''Halo'' series as a major plot element (and origin of the name for) ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''. In ''Halo 5'', the Guardians were vastly redesigned, resembling birds moreso than the original monolithic Sentinels. Early in the development of ''Halo 5: Guardians'', the Guardians were known internally as "Titans", and went through heavy design iteration.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qAkxwR|SiteName=ArtStation|PageName=TITAN}}{{Ref/Site|URL=http://www.axisanimation.com/features/halo-xbox-one/|SiteName=Axis Animation|PageName=Halo Xbox One}} By mid-[[2013]], the bird design had become semi-final, and can be seen in the ''[[Halo Xbox One announcement trailer]]'' and ''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' bookend cutscenes, though the final design in ''Halo 5: Guardians'' was changed radically. There was considerable speculation as to the nature of the constructs prior to the confirmation of them as the titular Guardians in Game Informer's June 2015 issue. When asked about the construct seen in the ''Halo 5: Guardians'' key art on Twitter, the game's Creative Director [[Josh Holmes]] alluded to the name by replying that ''"The answer is in plain sight."''<ref name="Josh Holmes">[https://twitter.com/JoshingtonState/status/592477020073828352 '''Twitter''': ''Josh Holmes'']</ref>

File:H3 Guardian Concept 1.jpg|Early concept art.

File:H3 Guardian Concept 2.jpg|Early concept art.

File:H3 Guardian Concept 3.jpg|Early concept art.

File:H3 Guardian Concept 4.jpg|Near-final concept art.

File:H3 Epitaph Hologram.png|The Guardian hologram on Epitaph.

File:H3 Modded Guardian.jpg|A Guardian enemy [[Modding|modded]] into ''Halo 3'' using the model found on Epitaph. Notably, this fan-made restoration is described by [[Vic DeLeon]] as looking almost exactly like the intended Guardian enemy in the original game.{{Ref/Reuse|Vic1}}

File:Origins_Guardians_Keyship.png|''Halo 3''-style Guardians escorting a Keyship in ''Origins''.