Template:Ship The Mauler is a Covenant Loyalist vehicle.
Introduction
To debut as a brand new vehicle in Halo 3, the Mauler is an enigmatic Covenant vehicle. No information has been leaked about this mysterious vehicle, and thus it is heavily speculated upon.
The Mauler was first revealed in one of Bungie's weekly updates[1], which was used primarily to elaborate on the Spartan Laser. To quote:
- "My spotter positively identified the local bravo kilo sub-chieftain. I engaged the target at [censored] meters. The shot burned an approximately [censored] diameter hole through the target and severely damaged the mauler he had just dismounted."
The use of the words "bravo kilo sub-chieftain" proves that the aforementioned mauler was manned by a Brute during the encounter. Due to this, it is believed that it is a Covenant vehicle, though this is unconfirmed.
Speculation
It was at first speculated to be the so-called "Brute Ghost." However, it has since been proven that "Brute Ghost" was actually a misnomer of the Brute Chopper. As such, it is not entirely clear what the Mauler may be. It is unlikely to be the new Wraith, given that no other name has been used for the Wraith before. Some argue that it may be a dropship (although this seems unlikely, as one cannot "dismount" a dropship). Others contend that it may be a Brute flier, similar to a Banshee. This observation was based on the fact that the Banshee appears to be optimized for aerial combat in custom games in the Halo 3 Beta. It may be a marine nickname (in a similar way to bravo-kilo is a nickname for brute) for the chopper. However, this is unlikely, as "bravo-kilo" is a military abbrevation for "baby Kong", while "Mauler" does not correspond to any letter in the NATO alphabet. Furthermore, in a Weekly Update, Frankie confirmed that "at least two vehicles" had yet to be unveiled, meaning that the Mauler is most likely a vehicle that simply has yet to be revealed.