M313 Elephant: Difference between revisions

{{Era|HCW}}

<center>'''''Elephant''' redirects here. For the vehicle introduced in [[Halo Wars]], see [[M312 Elephant]]. For the civilian version, see [[Olifant]].''</center>

{{Vehicle Infobox

|manufacturer=[[JOTUN Heavy Industries]]<ref name="visual">'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 55''</ref>

|line=Elephant

|model=M313<ref name="H3Art">'''[[The Art of Halo 3]]''', ''page 41''</ref><ref name="ENC">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''': ''page 236''</ref><ref name="visual"/>

|length={{Convert|25.7|m|ft}}<ref name="ENC"/>

|width={{Convert|13.6|m|ft}}<ref name="visual"/>

|height=

|mass={{Convert|205|ton|lb}}<ref name="ENC"/>

|max speed=

|hull=

*[[M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun]] (1)

*[[AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun]] (2) (optional)<ref>'''[[Halo 3: The Official Guide]]''', ''page 192''</ref>

*Driver (1)

*Gunner (2)

|complement=*Personnel (12-16)

*[[Warthog]] (1); or

*[[Mongoose]] (6)

|othersystems=Crane system

|firstuse-title=In service

|firstuse=[[Human-Covenant War]] <br> [[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]

The '''M313 Heavy Recovery Vehicle''',<ref name="H3Art"/><ref name="ENC"/><ref name="visual"/> commonly known as the '''Elephant''', is a heavy [[UNSC Marine Corps]] Mobile Assault, Support, and Recovery Platform.<ref>'''[[Halo 3]]''': In-game operation display underneath the driver's section</ref> Sometimes referred as the '''Behemoth-class Troop Transport''',<ref name="ENC"/> the vehicle is one of the largest ground vehicles employed by the UNSC for ground-based operations.

Designed and manufactured by [[JOTUN Heavy Industries]], the Elephants were initially used in the utility and farming industries during the early colonial expansion periods.<ref name="visual"/> After several decades serving in the civilian market, JOTUN was contracted by the UNSC to develop the Elephants and build them as [[wikipedia:armoured recovery vehicle|armored repair and recovery vehicles]].<ref name="visual"/> As time has progressed, the Elephant has been modified into several variants and upgrades, though the Elephant's versatility remains unchanged.

[[File:ElephantSizeComparison.jpg|thumb|left|The size of the Elephant in comparison to other vehicles and a real Elephant.]]

The vehicle is a three-level vehicle with the bottom level, the respawn locale that opens out into the rear cargo tray, the second level, a walkway around the cargo ramp and leads onto the driver's cabin then a small, elevated third level where the primary armament is assembled. Like the [[M312 HRV|M312 Elephant]], the M313 Elephant is designed to safely transport troops, equipment and light vehicles to and from the frontlines. However unlike its previous model, the M313 Elephant features only one [[M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun]] as its armament, though this can be improved with two additional [[AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun]]s. It also features a crane, numerous firing ports and elevated positions for defending it. Its chassis is also as wide as they are high, providing stability. The Elephant houses a [[Mongoose]] in its lower bay, and can be made to hold up to an additional of three Mongooses in the front with two in the back with two [[Warthogs]]. The vehicle's rear bay lacks the protective armor that is available on the M312 Elephant, thus increasing the vulnerability of its carriage.

==Variants==

The Olifant is a civilian version of the vehicle designed for the purposes of waste management. [[New Mombasa Waste Management]] owned and operated these vehicles, using them as garbage trucks.<ref name="odst">'''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'''</ref><ref name="coastal">'''Halo 3: ODST''', campaign level ''[[Coastal Highway]]''</ref>

The Elephant appears exclusively in Halo 3's multiplayer map [[Sandtrap]], located at each end of the map. It is completely invincible, and open-topped, unlike [[M312 HRV|its counterpart]] in ''[[Halo Wars]]''. The open roof is probably due to the fact that it is a service and repair station, not a troop carrier.

Inside the Elephant is a large screen which contains information on a Mongoose and the Sandtrap's atmosphere, although it is incredibly hard to read. While the vehicle itself cannot be destroyed, its slow speed and lack of armor for gunners render them quite vulnerable. Killing the driver must be attempted from behind, ideally in a vehicle like a [[Banshee]]. In objective based games, the elephant also serves as a mobile bomb plant/spawn site and flag stand.

*An [[Wikipedia:Elephant|elephant]] is a large, grey mammal native to Africa and southern Asia, in keeping with the UNSC's tradition of naming ground-based vehicles after real animals, with the exceptions of the [[Cyclops]] and [[Gremlin]], which are named after mythical creatures.  

*If you go to the bottom level of the Elephant, there is a screen which details about the vehicle's specification such as '''Mobile Assault Support and Recovery Platform Statistics and Environmental Analysts'''. It is interesting to note that it says there are two mobile turrets (that you can rip off) while there is actually only one. Perhaps one was removed for balance issues as there is a vacant spot opposite of the other.

*The M313 Heavy Recovering Vehicle's name is a [[Seven|7]] reference, as 3+1+3=7.

*The Elephant is the only drivable vehicle where players can place turrets on it without them moving when they drive off. If players placed a crate or two in the cargo bay of the Elephant and place a turret on top of them and then delete the crates, then players can drive the Elephant with the turret keeping place over the Elephant.

*''[[w:c:Gearsofwar:Gears of War 2|Gears of War 2]]'''s [[w:c:gearsofwar:Derrick|Derrick]] bears a striking resembalance to the Elephant, most likely due to the fact that both are heavy recovery vehicles. Both in turn bear a slight resemblance to the [[w:c:starwars:Sandcrawler|Jawa Sandcrawler]] from ''Star Wars''.

*On the left hand side of the Red Team's Elephant there is a spray-paint graffiti with text that reads "BEHEMOTH" and a red cartoon picture of a woolly mammoth. On the Blue Team's Elephant it says "LEVIATHAN" and has a picture of a blue, whale-like sea creature sporting a mean grimace and wearing a comically tiny golden crown. The Behemoth and Leviathan are two scriptural creatures that are enormous in stature and girth.

===Easter Eggs===

[[File:WaitWhat-ElephantFlip.jpg|200px|thumb|A player flips an Elephant, initiating the Easter Egg.]]

If by some chance the player does manage to flip over an Elephant, the usual "''Hold RB to flip [vehicle name]''" script dialog is replaced with "''Hold RB to flip...wait, what? How did you do that?''", referencing the fact that it is the biggest vehicle in the game and that it is seemingly impossible for it to be flipped. For more information, see [[Elephant Flipping]].

*There are many methods of achieving the flight of an Elephant on the mutiplayer map [[Sandtrap]] in ''Halo 3''. The first, is the well known technique of filling the hull with explosives, set to instant respawn, and setting them off. This is a trial and error method, and achieves minimal Elephant flight, in which the player lacks control of the flight and trajectory of the vehicle. For more, see [[Flying Elephant]].

*If you place a Covenant hover vehicle like a [[Ghost]] or [[Brute Prowler|Prowler]] on top of the cockpit, and then drive to the center of the Elephant, the vehicle will stay floating as if there were an invisible floor on top of the Elephant. This same glitch (or a similar one) is present in ''Halo 2'', although with the Scarab instead of the Elephant.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJIdIX4hIMQ '''YouTube:''' ''Halo 3 - Invisible Floor On "Sandtrap" Glitch'']</ref>

*[[Lag]] from [[Cheating#Standbying|standbying]] can allow a player to directly manipulate an Elephant in [[Forge]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DCIb1y6cNk '''YouTube:''' ''Halo 3 Picking Up Elephant Forge Tutorial'']</ref> In some cases, lag on map variants [[modding|with a lot of Elephants]] can have the same effect.

File:Elephant 1up.jpg|An unoccupied Elephant in Halo 3.

File:H3 Elephant Sharpened2.jpg|An Elephant being engaged on "[[Sandtrap]]".

File:ElephantFlipPrepared.jpg|The rear of the Elephant, showing the cargo ramp leading to the driver's cabin.

File:Escape from Faraday.png|An Elephant in one of ''Halo: Spartan Assault's'' mission briefings.

<references/>

{{UNSC Vehicles}}