Flood carrier form
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Carrier Form | |
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The ubiquitous carrier form, created from infected hosts | |
Biological overview | |
Classification: |
Carrier form |
Species: |
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Physical information | |
Avg. height: |
203.9 centimeters (6 ft 8.3 in) to 220.1 centimeters (7 ft 2.7 in)[1] |
Avg. weight: |
146.5 kilograms (323 lb) to 241 kilograms (530 lb)[1] |
Distinctions: |
Large, bloated with two tentacles and short, stubby legs |
- "...this thing contained four of the infection forms you saw earlier, and when it popped the resulting explosion had enough force to knock Sergeant Lister on his can."
- — Melissa McKay on the remains of a carrier form.[2]
The carrier form is a classification of various Flood forms that incubate and spread infection forms.[3]
The ubiquitous carrier form is transformed from older combat forms,[4] or from infected bodies that are unsuitable for combat;[5][6] however, the carrier form also has a variety of specialized forms, such as the burster,[7] the bomber form,[3] and the spawner form,[8][9]
Overview[edit]
- "The infection forms rewrite a victim's cellular structure and convert him into a combat form, then later a carrier form—an incubator for more infection forms."
- — Cortana[4]
While there are subtypes of carrier forms, they are characterized by the ability to incubate and release Flood infection forms from their bulbous and bloated bodies. Carrier forms perpetuate the Flood species by acting as mobile incubators for newly created Pod infectors. If potential hosts are detected, the carrier form will attempt to close in and release its infection forms.[3]
During the Battle of Installation 05, carrier forms were utilized as "boarding parties" by the Flood. They were ejected from an airlock of an infected ship towards an uninfected ship.[10] The spawner form can release infection forms anywhere it wishes without killing itself in the process,[3] while the burster spawns a variety of Flood forms once its internal pressure has reached a certain point.[11] The bomber form floats using its gas bladders, dropping blisters full of pod infectors and spores onto enemies below.[3]
Types of carrier forms[edit]
Carrier[edit]
Serving as the final stage of an infected host's transformation process,[1] the most common type of the Flood carrier form has two types: converted and demoted. The converted carrier forms are hosts with little offensive capabilities,[3] lacking the calcium mass to serve as combat forms,[5] and transformed into carrier forms immediately.[3] The demoted carrier forms are combat forms that have outlived their usefulness or become too damaged to fight.[3] In both cases, the carrier form will begin to spontaneously generate Pod infectors within their host bodies.[1][4] Upper body swells to grotesque proportions to hold infection forms,[5] the limbs wither away into stumpy legs and flailing tentacle-like appendages. While unable to attack with conventional methods, the carrier form retains enough mobility to move toward potential hosts.[3] If its sacs are not already perforated, it will expand its incubation sac with gases until it explodes.[5] This detonation scatters the Pod infectors and can injure or kill potential hosts.[3]
Specialized carrier forms[edit]
- Flood burster: Flood bursters burrow underground and travel via subterranean means; as they approach a target, they erupt from the ground, simultaneously releasing their cache of parasites and spores.[7]
- Flood bomber form: With an non-sapient airborne pseudo-cephalodpod serving as its original host, the bomber form uses its host's gas bladders to stay aloft and incubate blisters within its body before dropping them onto victims below.[3]
- Flood spawner form: Unlike other carrier forms, the spawner form is a pure form — created solely with Flood biomass — rather than being an infected host. A brood sac hanging down from its body can be used to grow infection forms of all kinds.[8][9]
Production notes[edit]
- The Flood carrier form is the successor of the Simulacrums from the Marathon series. The Simulacrums were cybernetic humans made to look like the crew of the UESC Marathon, the only flaw was that they all wore green jump suits, making it easy to distinguish which humans were actually Simulacrums. As soon as the player was three meters away from them, the Simulacrum would explode, heavily damaging or killing the player.
- A variant of the carrier form using the Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet was cut from Halo 2, but can still be found in the game files.[12][13]
- In Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, carrier forms release between four-to-six pod infectors when they explode, whereas carrier forms would release dozens of pod infectors in Halo 3; this is leveled out by a smaller damage radius.
- In Halo 3, the firebomb kills both the carrier form and the pod infectors inside of it; however, when killed by the flamethrower, the carrier form will explode and release the pod infectors, which have apparently survived the fire damage.
Gallery[edit]
Browse more images in this article's gallery page. |
Concept art and illustrations[edit]
Screenshots[edit]
A carrier form in Halo 3.
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
- Halo: The Flood
- Halo: First Strike (Mentioned only)
- Halo 2
- Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
- Halo 3
- Halo Wars
- Halo 3: ODST (Halo: The Master Chief Collection-only)
- Halo Legends
- Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
- The Mona Lisa (Motion comic only)
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Halo 2: Anniversary
- Halo Mythos
- Halo: Tales from Slipspace
- Halo: Fireteam Raven
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Library: Carrier Form
- ^ Halo: The Flood, chapter 10
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 409
- ^ a b c Halo: First Strike, chapter 6: "The Infection Forms rewrite a victim's cellular structure and convert him into a Combat Form, then later a Carrier Form—an incubator for more Infection Forms."
- ^ a b c d Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 165
- ^ Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual, page 174
- ^ a b Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Logs: Bursters
- ^ a b Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Logs: Spawners
- ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 410
- ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 22: "It touched one of its brother ships, energy shields shimmered, frequencies matched, and the Flood-infected ship released a swarm of bulbous carrier forms."
- ^ Halo Wars 2, campaign level Light the Fuse
- ^ halo.bungie.org, Shileded Flood Carrier Form! OH SHI- (Retrieved on Oct 31, 2021) [archive]
- ^ halo.bungie.org, RE: Interesting. (Retrieved on Oct 31, 2021) [archive]
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