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Thel 'Vadam: Difference between revisions
Included stuff from trivia section and a couple of the most development-relevant sentences from the former reception section into production notes.
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Despite his hatred of the Prophets, Thel was gracious enough to attempt to reason with the Brute Chieftain [[Tartarus]] in Installation 05's Control Room. He is shown to be true to his title "Arbiter", and sometimes tries to negotiate with his enemies, such as Drones during the battle of Earth. He holds deep respect for his fellow Sangheili warriors. | Despite his hatred of the Prophets, Thel was gracious enough to attempt to reason with the Brute Chieftain [[Tartarus]] in Installation 05's Control Room. He is shown to be true to his title "Arbiter", and sometimes tries to negotiate with his enemies, such as Drones during the battle of Earth. He holds deep respect for his fellow Sangheili warriors. | ||
Despite his former hatred for humans, Thel has displayed great respect for some, even former battlefield foes. Presumably due to the role Johnson played in his killing of Tartarus, Thel respected him greatly and grieved his death, expressing sorrow to the Master Chief, but promising that his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Despite initially hating the Master Chief greatly for destroying Installation 04 and being the "Demon" of the Covenant who killed so many soldiers, the Arbiter came to greatly respect and trust the Chief. The Chief helped convince him of the truth of the Great Journey and they fought together against the Covenant and Truth. Together they defeated Truth and deactivated the Halo Array. When the Master Chief went to rescue Cortana and activate [[Installation 04B]], Thel remained behind to help him and shared a nod of respect with him when it was over. Even though the Master Chief was believed to be dead, Thel showed disbelief in this presumption, | Despite his former hatred for humans, Thel has displayed great respect for some, even former battlefield foes. Presumably due to the role Johnson played in his killing of Tartarus, Thel respected him greatly and grieved his death, expressing sorrow to the Master Chief, but promising that his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Despite initially hating the Master Chief greatly for destroying Installation 04 and being the "Demon" of the Covenant who killed so many soldiers, the Arbiter came to greatly respect and trust the Chief. The Chief helped convince him of the truth of the Great Journey and they fought together against the Covenant and Truth. Together they defeated Truth and deactivated the Halo Array. When the Master Chief went to rescue Cortana and activate [[Installation 04B]], Thel remained behind to help him and shared a nod of respect with him when it was over. Even though the Master Chief was believed to be dead, Thel showed disbelief in this presumption, confident that the Spartan had survived thanks to his extraordinary ability to overcome impossible odds. | ||
==Production notes== | |||
Voiced by [[Keith David]], the Arbiter was introduced as a secondary playable character in ''[[Halo 2]]''; this was part of [[Bungie]]'s creative decision to broaden the scope of the story from what [[Jaime Griesemer]] referred to as an "alien war movie with a space marine". Reception to his inclusion was mixed; Bungie community lead [[Brian Jarrard]] attributed some of the fan backlash to a discord between the game's marketing and the actual gameplay; whereas the marketing presented the game's focus as being the defense of Earth from the Covenant, this aspect constitutes only the first missions of the game.<ref>[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/better-than-halo-the-making-of-halo-2-article '''Eurogamer.net:''' ''Better Than Halo: The Making of Halo 2'']</ref> In ''[[Halo 3]]'', the Arbiter was relegated into a supporting character and there are no levels designed solely from his perspective; he remains a playable character in the [[Cooperative play|co-op]] [[campaign]]. | |||
The original title for the character was "the Dervish", a title from the Sufi sect of Islam, but was changed to avoid overt parallels with the Muslim world. Ultimately, it was decided that "Arbiter" was more thematically suitable for his character arc.<ref>[http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17985 '''Gamasutra''': ''Q&A: Englobe's Edwards Talks Gaming's "Geocultural Risks"'']</ref> In the Spanish versions of ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'', the Arbiter is translated as ''Inquisidor'', which means Inquisitor. This is because the cognate of Arbiter in Spanish, "''arbitro''", means "referee". | |||
His name, Thel 'Vadam, was first established in the novel ''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''. While the narrative does not explicitly connect the character with that of the Arbiter from the games, in the very end of the story a reference is made to him being assigned in command of the Fleet of Particular Justice. It was not until later videos on ''Halo Waypoint'' that the Arbiter was explicitly identified as Thel 'Vadam. | |||
In ''Halo 2'', the Arbiter has no mandible guards, but he does in ''Halo 3''. Notably, the armor of the previous Arbiter, [[Ripa 'Moramee]], did possess mandible guards. In ''[[Halo: Escalation]]'', 'Vadam is shown with much lighter skin than in previous media. His new armor exposes his left forearm, which is scaly and mottled instead of smooth and leathery. These changes match the Sangheili shown in ''Halo 4'' and other recent media, though it is unclear whether this represents a retcon or simply artistic license. | |||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|quote=yes}} | {{Linkbox|gallery=yes|quote=yes}} | ||
*When the Arbiter activates his active camouflage in ''Halo 2'', his eyes will remain visible. This is visible only on Co-Op. | |||
*When the Arbiter activates his | |||
*He is one of the few Sangheili to refer to John-117 as "Spartan". Even during and after the [[Great Schism]], many still refer to him as the Demon (though some, notably, adopt 343 Guilty Spark's designation for him - [[Reclaimer]]). Rtas 'Vadum also holds this distinction. Thel has also called him the Master Chief. | *He is one of the few Sangheili to refer to John-117 as "Spartan". Even during and after the [[Great Schism]], many still refer to him as the Demon (though some, notably, adopt 343 Guilty Spark's designation for him - [[Reclaimer]]). Rtas 'Vadum also holds this distinction. Thel has also called him the Master Chief. | ||
*In ''Halo 3'', if the player outdistances or removes 'Vadam from the map (such as pushing him off a cliff), he will suddenly reappear as if phasing out of Active Camo. This also happens when the Master Chief enters the driver's seat of the [[Warthog]] at the end of the level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 Level)|Halo]]''; the Arbiter will appear on the Warthog's turret in this same manner. | *In ''Halo 3'', if the player outdistances or removes 'Vadam from the map (such as pushing him off a cliff), he will suddenly reappear as if phasing out of Active Camo. This also happens when the Master Chief enters the driver's seat of the [[Warthog]] at the end of the level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 Level)|Halo]]''; the Arbiter will appear on the Warthog's turret in this same manner. | ||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||