John-117: Difference between revisions

John is also noted for his exceptional luck, which, along with his combat skills and unyielding persistence, has allowed him to emerge victorious from situations many would consider impossible. Because of his many years of constant combat and military conditioning, John is not as emotional or sensitive as he once was, especially to fear. Although he is not devoid of fear, he simply acknowledges the feeling and puts it aside.<ref name="HTFOR22">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', Chapter 22</ref> He is calm in the face of danger but not foolhardy, as demonstrated during his first encounter with the Gravemind, when he warned the Arbiter that his arrogance was likely to get him killed.{{Ref/Reuse|H2G}} John is generally stoic and taciturn, but not devoid of a sense of humor and often makes dry remarks about the situation in hand to his teammates and allies.

He does not see himself as a superior being and fears for the lives of others before his own, putting himself in harm's way for the safety of civilians, and fellow soldiers, and does not judge others. Indeed, he is known to show an exceptional care for soldiers under his command and has shown great respect for the baseline humans he has fought alongside. An example of this is during the Battle of Installation 04. When making his way up to the [[Silent Cartographer]], two Helljumpers, PFC [[Hosky]] and [[Unnamed Corporal|another Corporal]], were killed by two Hunters. Afterward he regretted their loss, blaming himself for their deaths.<ref name="HTF6">''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', Chapter 6</ref> This, and his reaction to [[Avery Johnson|Johnson]]'s death on [[Installation 08]] show that he does exhibit care and sympathy for soldiers under his command, even if he does do a good job of concealing his feelings. In the first two days of training on Reach, John learned two lessons that affected him personally and which he took to heart: you win if the team wins, and the team is stronger together than any one individual alone. He never endangers the lives of those under his command if it is unnecessary. He would rather risk his own life instead of the others. During the [[Battle of Circinius IV]], he drew a Hunter's attention in order to give the cadets a chance to run away, even with him running out of ammo. Deciding to follow Cortana's lead to [[Meridian]] on his own, John wanted to keep other Spartans from violating the UNSC regulations, though they decided otherwise and chose to remain by his side. He was also impressed by the humans who comprised his team following his escape from Installation 04, including [[Sheila Polaski]] and [[Locklear|Corporal Locklear]], both of whom he considered to have been worthy of being Spartans.<ref name="HFS36">''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 36</ref><ref name="HFS26">''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 26</ref>

Throughout his training, John proved himself as one of the most promising leaders among Spartans, and Dr. Halsey considered him the best candidate in the entire program. His aspiration to win and his care of his teammates eventually helped him gain the position of squad leader. In years to come, many Spartan fireteams emerged with their own leaders. John took command of Blue Team, though he kept his commander role for the whole SPARTAN-II company. During [[Operation: SILENT STORM]], John so greatly impressed [[Colonel]] [[Marmon Crowther]] that the Colonel, who had previously expressed doubts about the Spartans, promoted John to the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer from the rank of Petty Officer First Class, a previously unheard of three-rank bump. However, Crowther recognized that John's inexperience left John having trouble differentiating between being a commander and a leader and gave the young Spartan advice that he would take to heart.<ref name="HSS23">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 23</ref>

As a senior Spartan, John took his responsibilities very seriously. After the augmentation procedures that took lives of nearly a half of Spartans, John was devastated; observing how his crippled brothers and sisters were transferred to other UNSC divisions almost made him furious.<ref name="HTFORTAS">''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''</ref> He did not want to lose them, though he understood that they could no longer fight alongside him. John was the one who volunteered to test Mjolnir armor even after Dr. Halsey confirmed that all previous testers died in process. Being a leader, John would not order his men to do what he could not do in the first place. He was always confident in his men's capabilities, suggesting the most proficient ways to solve the matter, which were considered by non-Spartan personnel as suicide.

What affected John the most were the deaths of people under his command; John considered every Spartan lost during the war as his own mistake, swearing to become stronger the next time.{{Ref/Reuse|HLTP}} During the Fall of Reach, John lost contact with his Spartans, however, he was sure that some of them survived the glassing and was determined to save as many as he could. More than once John took command of mixed units or squads consisting of Marines. He was capable to organize them to act as a Spartan fireteam, achieving despite almost impossible odds. On Requiem, during the initial engagements between UNSC and Promethean forces, John assumed tactical command of ''Infinity''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s ground forces including Spartan-IVs, despite being outranked by many of them.{{Ref/Reuse|infil}} Upon his return to Blue Team, Fred-104 ceded command to John despite outranking him. Blue Team also willingly followed John when he chose to go AWOL.