John-117: Difference between revisions

{{Main|John-117/Early life}}

===Early life===

{{Quote|no=three|John|Ellie|John|q1=Maybe [[Covenant|someone]] up there is wondering what it's like here.|q2=I guess? Do you think we'll ever [[Human-Covenant war|meet]] them?|q3=I hope so. Don't you?|John stargazing philosophically with his friend Ellie.}}

{{Quote|multi=yes|q1=It's very nice to meet you. I wanted to ask you what you were doing?|Halsey|q2=Winning.|John|Dr. Halsey and John during their first meeting.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR2}}}}

At the age of six, John was identified by [[Dr. Catherine Halsey]] as one of 150 preliminary candidates for the [[SPARTAN-II program]]. John was an ideal physical and mental candidate, standing a head taller than the majority of his schoolmates, having greater physical proportions, possessing greater strength, exhibiting superior reflexes, and having an aggressive drive for success. By the time he was conscripted, he had a string of forty-five victories in what Dr. Halsey referred to as a "brutal version" of King of the Hill, resulting in him having a chipped tooth and his opponents suffering various bone fractures.<ref>''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'', ''September 15, 2517''</ref>  

When Dr. Halsey and [[Jacob Keyes|LTJG Jacob Keyes]] visited Eridanus II in [[2517]] to study him - the first of the candidates - they were impressed with his intellect. In a final test of his viability as a candidate, he was asked to determine which side [[Quarter|an old coin]] would land on. He watched the coin as it flew in the air and caught it before it could land; correctly stating which side was face-up, on the side of the eagle. Later that same year, John and 74 other six-year-old children were conscripted to [[Reach]]: they were covertly kidnapped from their homes and replaced with [[Flash cloning|flash clones]] to cover up the kidnappings.{{Ref/Note|''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp]]'' originally showed John being abducted by ONI agents in the back of a van after school; he also sees his clone during the process. However, in the ''[[Scanned]]'' live-action trailer, he is seen being abducted by night during his sleep.}} All of the clones would later die of [[Metabolic Cascade Failure|seemingly natural causes]] as a result of their accelerated growth process, with John's flash-clone dying on December 7, 2517.{{Ref/Reuse|HtT1}}<ref name="DeathRecord">''[[Hunt the Truth]]'': [[:File:Ep 1 image.jpg|UEG public record]]</ref>

{{Main|John-117/Human-Covenant War}}

====Chi Ceti IV====

{{Main|Battle of Chi Ceti IV}}

{{Quote|no=two|q1=Spartans, this is what we've trained our entire lives to do. If we lose here, we lose everything. Let's send our own message.|John-117|q2=Sir, yes, sir!|Spartans|John encouraging his comrades{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}}}}

====Mid-war actions====

John later returned to [[Circinius IV]] at an unknown time to once again aid in the evacuation of the planet's civilian population and to observe the enemy's invasion patterns, as part of [[Operation: PHALANX]]. John is known to have participated in an operation codenamed [[Operation: SWITCHBACK]] at some point prior to [[2544]], though details surrounding it have been redacted. He also was present at [[Cascade]] at some point after this, during which he aided in the destruction of Covenant exploratory fleet elements as part of [[Operation: HORIZON]].<ref name="H5LE">''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition]]'', John-117 dossier</ref>

====Return to Reach====

{{Main|Raid on Reach}}

{{Quote|He sent his team down to the surface of Reach... sent them to their deaths. What commander wouldn't go back? And what commander wouldn't hope that they were alive? No matter what the odds?|Lieutenant Haverson about John's motives<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 10</ref>}}

====Battle for Earth====

{{Main|Battle for Earth}}

{{Quote|no=two|q1=What if you miss?|Cortana|q2=I won't.|John-117|John-117 reassuring Cortana before turning the Covenant's bomb against them<ref name="h2 cairo">''Halo 2'', campaign level [[Cairo Station]]</ref>}}

====Installation 05====

{{Main|Battle of Installation 05}}

{{Quote|This is not your grave...But you are welcome in it.|The Gravemind to John-117 after capturing the latter<ref name="H2 regret">''[[Halo 2]]'', campaign level [[Regret (Halo 2 level)|Regret]]</ref>}}

{{Main|New Phoenix Incident}}

{{Quote|You persist too long after your own defeat. Come then, Warrior. Have your resolution.|Didact to Chief acknowledging his efforts to stop him{{Ref/Reuse|midnight}}}}

With the Didact approaching Earth, planning to imprison all of humanity into digital form, John pursued the Forerunner aboard a [[F-41 Broadsword|Broadsword]] fighter on the outer hull of the Promethean's ship. As the ship exited slipspace near Earth, John was surprised to find the ''Infinity'' and the rest of the [[UNSC Home Fleet|Home Fleet]] ready and waiting for the Didact. John was able to destroy the ship's point defense guns, giving ''Infinity'' the chance to punch through the vessel's hull. Entering the breach, John fought his way to the Forerunner's location.<ref name="midnight">''Halo 4'', campaign level [[Midnight]]</ref> Despite the UNSC's best efforts, the Didact was to fire on Earth with the Composer, digitizing the entire population of [[New Phoenix|New Phoenix, Arizona]]. Armed with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|HAVOK warhead]], John confronted the Didact for the second time on a [[hard light]] bridge. While John was no match for the Forerunner's powerful abilities, the dying Cortana was able to immobilize the Didact with hard light shackles. The weakened John then planted a [[pulse grenade]] in the Didact's armor, blowing him off the bridge and sending him falling into a slipspace rupture underneath the Composer. With time having already run out, John detonated the nuclear bomb manually as a desperate last resort.{{Ref/Reuse|midnight}}

==Physical characteristics==

{{Quote|He’s so serious. Thoughtful eyes, though. Attractive in a primitive animal sort of way, don’t you think, Doctor?|Cortana comments upon a photograph of John to Catherine Halsey after seeing him for the first time in it.}}{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR25}}

John has pale blue eyes and reddish-brown hair.{{Ref/Reuse|H5GLED}}<ref name="EurogamerInterview">[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-08-why-343-isnt-ready-to-show-master-chiefs-face ''Eurogamer'': Why 343 isn't ready to show us Master Chief's face]</ref> As a six-year-old child, John bore a few freckles on his cheeks and had a noticeable gap between his two front teeth.<ref name="HTFOR2">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', Chapter 2</ref> His hair, when it was long enough, was untidy.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR2}}<ref name="Scanned">''[[Scanned]]''</ref> John was larger than most children his age even as a kindergartner.<ref name="HTTS11">''[[Hunt the Truth]]'', [[Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/One|S101]]</ref> The [[Spartan-II]] program molded his body into something formidable even prior to the extensive augmentations he underwent in [[2525]], but even afterward his smooth skin, clear eyes, and thin eyebrows set in an oval face still betrayed his age.<ref name="HTFOR6">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', Chapter 6</ref><ref name="HSS5">''Halo: Silent Storm'', Chapter 5</ref><ref name="HOE">''[[Halo: Oblivion]]'', ''Epilogue''</ref> As a teenager his youthful face tended to undermine the confidence of seasoned commanders he interacted with.<ref name="HO1">''[[Halo: Oblivion]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref> By the age of fourteen, he already had the body, however, of an extremely athletic adult. The catalytic thyroid implant he received at that age boosted the growth of his skeleton and muscles via a [[Drugs|growth hormone]], and a series of intramuscular injections with a specific complex of proteins boosted the density of his musculature.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFOR6}} As a result he suddenly stood over two meters tall and just over a year later weighed almost one-hundred and thirty kilograms at [[Earth]]-standard gravity.{{Ref/Reuse|HO1}} John eventually grew to six feet and ten inches and massed at precisely one-hundred and thirty kilograms (286.6 pounds).{{Ref/Reuse|WaypointMasterChief}}{{Ref/Reuse|DD5}} The augmentation process also left his hands, arms, chest, shoulders, back, and legs deeply scarred by lengthy incisions, in addition to accentuating his eye color.{{Ref/Reuse|HTFORTAS}}{{Ref/Reuse|Scanned}}<ref name="HOSFM106">''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]'', p.106</ref>