Editing Evan Phillips

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|name=Evan Phillips
|image=[[File:HM-Phillips.jpg|300px]]
|homeworld=[[Australia]], [[Earth]]<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 181''</ref>
|birth=
|death=
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Male
|height={{Convert|170|cm|ftin}}<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 183''</ref>
|mass=
|hair=Reddish-brown<ref name="glass106">'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 106''</ref>
|eyes=
|affiliation=[[Office of Naval Intelligence]]
|rank-title=Title|rank=Professor
|sn=
|notable=
}}
'''Professor Evan W. Phillips''' is a [[human]] [[Xenoanthropology|xenoanthropologist]] recruited by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] as a [[Sangheili]] specialist and analyst.<ref name="section2">'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 290, 356''</ref> Formerly serving with the black ops team [[Kilo-Five]], he specializes in Sangheili culture and is distinguished as being a highly fluent speaker of the [[Sangheili (language)|Sangheili language]].

==Biography==
===Post-war===
Phillips served as an anthropologist and linguistic xenoanthropologist professor at [[Wheatley University]] in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]].<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 83''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 66''</ref> In [[2553#January|January 2553]], he was asked by [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Serin Osman]] to get her an audience with a high-ranking Sangheili who could be a threat to the rule of [[Thel 'Vadam]]. On [[New Llanelli]] he got an audience with [[Avu Med 'Telcam]] of the [[Servants of the Abiding Truth]], prompting Osman to trust him.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 25''</ref> He was recruited by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] to serve as a Sangheili expert in the clandestine unconventional warfare unit [[Kilo-Five]], which was tasked with sowing dissent among the Sangheili in the aftermath of the [[Human-Covenant War]].<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 51''</ref>

In February [[2553]], Phillips along with [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Serin Osman]], [[Corporal]] [[Vasily Beloi|Vaz Beloi]] and Admiral Lord [[Terrence Hood]], were the first humans to visit [[Sanghelios]]. There, 'Vadam and Lord Hood discussed continued peace and the fragile state of both their species. 'Vadam took great interest in Phillips and invited him to return and study Sangheili history and culture on their homeworld.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''pages 358-361''</ref>

===Lost on Sanghelios===
In March 2553, Phillips arrived on Sanghelios. He was greeted by the Arbiter in [[Vadam]] and requested a tour of their most ancient cities to which Thel approved. During his stay at [[Ontom]], Phillips was shown to be adept at figuring out the Sangheili [[toy]] and puzzle, the ''[[arum]]'', a skill which earned him respect and attention from many Sangheili.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 426''</ref> As he was solving arums for a crowd of Sangheili, he received a written warning from 'Telcam. Phillips then distracted his assigned bodyguard [[Cadan 'Ilmir]] with a half-finished arum and went to meet with 'Telcam. As 'Telcam and Phillips approached the entrance of the [[Temple of the Abiding Truth]], they were caught in the midst of a bombing orchestrated by [[Jiralhanae]] dissidents.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''pages 22-23''</ref> In the wake of the uprising, 'Telcam planned to launch his attack on the state of Vadam. Phillips was taken into the custody of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, who permitted him to explore the interior of the stone [[Forerunner]] structure.

As Phillips explored the temple, he noted that the micro-camera unit on his shirt, which contained a fragment of the AI [[Black-Box]], had been peppered with shrapnel. The placement of the unit had saved Phillips' life, but the AI fragment inside had taken damage and activated an emergency purge function, wiping important data and higher personality functions from the AI's memory. While the BB fragment was far less useful in this state, Phillips nonetheless was able to use it to aid in translating certain symbols inside the structure. The data they collected inside was soon speculated to be the locations and operational status of the remaining [[Halo Array|Halo installations]]. Phillips and the BB fragment eventually found their way to a room with a [[Slipspace translocation|translocation portal]]. Phillips unlocked the portal's activation system—similar in design to an arum—and was translocated to the portal's receiving end in [[Acroli]], roughly 80 kilometers from Ontom.

In Acroli, Phillips found himself in a Forerunner ruin and soon encountered [[Unggoy]] field laborers [[Dengo]], [[Gikak]], and [[Sensen]]. After a brief conversation, they agreed to take Phillips to their lords at [[Nes'alun keep]]. On their way to the keep they were attacked by [[Banshee]]s, one of which killed Sensen. Arriving at Nes'alun keep, Phillips met [[Elar 'Nas]], a female Sangheili who was left in charge of the [[keep]] after the males had gone off to fight in the [[Sangheili civil war]].

Elar 'Nas and her sisters had been defending their keep from the [[Lacalu keep]], who had taken advantage of the civil war to launch an assault on Nes'alun Keep in the hopes of acquiring more Acroli land. Phillips proceeded to help Elar 'Nas and the other ladies defend the keep from a wave of attackers. After the skirmish, Elar 'Nas called 'Telcam to inform him that the human he wanted found was with them. Upon receiving the call, 'Telcam ordered [[Forze 'Mdama]] to retrieve Phillips and escort him to ''[[Tart-Cart]]'', so Kilo-Five could return him to the UNSC safely. After pilot [[Lian Devereaux]] performed necessary repairs to the ''Tart-Cart'', Phillips left Sanghelios unsettled by the fate of Elar 'Nas and the others of Nes'alun keep.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 260''</ref>

===Return to the UNSC===
On their flight back to {{UNSCShip|Port Stanley}} a fire erupted and they had to re-route to the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}. There, Phillips met with Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] to see if she could help BB by reintegrating him with his other fragmented-self. He later witnessed ''Infinity'' in action as it helped the Arbiter by destroying many of the Abiding Truth's vessels. Admiral Parangosky then ordered Kilo-Five to extract their informant 'Telcam from the ground. Utilizing the newly repaired and upgraded ''Tart-Cart'', Kilo-Five extracted 'Telcam from the battle and dropped him off on New Llanelli. They were later retrieved by Port Stanley.

Upon his request, Phillips was brought to [[Trevelyan]] where he had a conversation with [[Jul 'Mdama]], who was being held prisoner there. Jul asked Phillips for news about his wife [[Raia 'Mdama|Raia]], whom Phillips had last seen in company with Forze. Phillips promised to find out what had happened to her. Shortly after this, Jul escaped the planet and learned of her demise.

===''Pious Inquisitor''===
{{Main|Skirmish on Pious Inquisitor}}
Following the mission on Sanghelios, Kilo-Five was tasked with neutralizing the [[terrorist]] threat posed by [[Venezia]]n insurgent [[Staffan Sentzke]] and seizing the battlecruiser ''[[Pious Inquisitor]]'' before Sentzke could use it against Earth. During the mission, Phillips learned that [[Avu Med 'Telcam]] had hired a [[Kig-Yar]] [[Shipmaster|Shipmistress]], [[Chol Von]], to steal back the ''Inquisitor''.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 81''</ref> Later, Phillips, Naomi, Devereaux, and Osman returned to [[New Llanelli]] to meet with 'Telcam. On the planet, Phillips gave 'Telcam a translation of the [[Forerunner]] [[Forerunner symbols|inscriptions]] from the [[Temple of the Abiding Truth|temple]] at [[Ontom]], in exchange for intel.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 81''</ref> 

Later, Phillips began translating Sangheili and Kig-Yar conversations that he had gathered from his listening station aboard ''Port Stanley'' and from conversations that [[Kilo-Five]] had recorded on [[Venezia]]. With these recordings, Phillips learned of Chol Von's name and figured out basic information about her.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 216''</ref> He later discovered that 'Telcam was growing impatient with Von.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 297''</ref> When Kilo-Five finally came across the ''Inquisitor'', Phillips and [[Mike Spenser]] operated ''Port Stanley'''s communications, while Naomi and the ODSTs infiltrated the ship. Learning that Von and her crew had taken control of the ship, Phillips warned them of [[mev-ut]]s, Kig-Yar bounties.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 402''</ref>

The mission was eventually a success and Kilo-Five was granted shore leave on [[Cascade]]. Phillips went to a concert with [[Lian Devereaux]], the two having grown fond of one another during their time with Kilo-Five.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 482''</ref>

===Section Two career===
After his time with Kilo-Five, Phillips went on to give introductory lectures to officer candidates applying for Section Two, ONI's public affairs and psyops branch.{{Ref/Reuse|section2}}

==Personality and traits==
Phillips appears somewhat naive and is heavily driven by an almost childlike academic curiosity and enthusiasm about the Sangheili. Despite this, he was remarked as being surprisingly competent, even devious, by Captain Serin Osman.<ref name="sparkast">[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/Podcast/343Sparkast_005.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint —''' ''343 Sparkast <nowiki>#5</nowiki>'']</ref><ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''pages 24-25''</ref> Phillips was saddened by the death of [[Elar 'Nas]] and the others of [[Nes'alun keep]], believing that they could have lived if he had helped.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 368''</ref> Although Phillips respected and admired the Sangheili, he still considered many of them to be the enemy.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 123''</ref> In addition to being fluent in the [[Sangheili (language)|Sangheili language]], Phillips could understand the [[Kig-Yar]] [[Kig-Yar language|dialect]] to a degree.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 297''</ref>

Phillips is a small man, mentioned as being slightly fitter than the average civilian. He has reddish-brown "scrubby" hair and a beard.{{Ref/Reuse|glass106}} He is roughly in his thirties as of 2553.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 65''</ref>

==Equipment==
Evan received an [[Type-25 plasma pistol|''Eos-Mak'' pistol]] from Elar 'Nas. Due to its big size, Phillips had to grasp the pistol as if it were a submachine gun.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 209''</ref> After the skirmish at Nes'alun Keep, he kept it and refused to be parted from it. It was later hung in ''Port Stanley's'' wardroom.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 364''</ref>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Glasslands]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]''
*''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources|2}}

[[Category:Human civilians|Phillips, Evan]]
[[Category:Human characters]]