Editing Forerunner

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{{Era|H1|H2|H3|HW|FOR|TF|FS|GOO|UP|HGN|ILB|IRIS}}                                                             

{{Quote|After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned.|[[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]] explaining the fate of the Forerunners.}}                

'''Forerunner''' is the translated name, for an ancient race of beings that were the creators and builders of the Halos, [[the Ark]] and the [[Shield World]], [[Onyx]]. Along with the artifacts that were found on [[Reach]], [[Earth]] and [[Sigma Octanus IV]]. All that is known about the Forerunners has been gleaned from these various artifacts. The predecessors of the Forerunners are thought to be another alien race known as the Precursors. The former alien faction known as "The [[Covenant]]" worshiped the Forerunners as so called "gods", deriving much of their technology from Forerunner artifacts found throughout the galaxy <ref>[[Halo: The Flood]]. From the experiences of [[John-117]] the Master Chief, the Covenant do not fully understand the Forerunners. This is evident when they mistranslated the Glyph "Reclaimer" as "Reclamation"</ref>.

==Known History==
The Forerunners are the creators and constructors of the [[Installation|Halo]] Installations. Next to nothing is known about the Forerunners, except that they were an extremely advanced civilization that reached its peak before activating the Halo Array around 100,000 years ago, coming to power after the disappearance of another race, known to them as the [[Precursors]].<ref>''Halo 3 Limited Edition'' - Bestiarium</ref>

The Forerunners were highly technologically advanced during their reign, some speculated that the ancient faction had the ability to accelerate a species stage development. Being the ''only'' known race ever to achieve Tier 1 technology based on the [[Technological Achievement Tiers]] measurement, they were only superseded by the mysterious [[Precursors]] at Tier 0; evidence of which has been found on various planets. The fact that The Halo's were scattered around the galaxy also hints at the possibility that the Forerunner empire covered most, if not all, of the galaxy. It has also been hinted at in the [[Terminals]] that the Forerunners received their "[[Mantle]]" from the coinciding [[Precursors]]. 

Later in their history a Forerunner survey team came into contact with an extra-galactic parasite known as the [[Flood]] on the planet [[G 617 g]]. After this first contact, the Forerunner realized the great danger that the Flood posed to the entire galaxy and attempted to contain them.<ref>[http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/a-voice-from-the-tomb-i/]</ref>

The Forerunners were unable to contain the [[Flood]] outbreak, and war between the two factions broke loose. During the 300 years of conflict, the Forerunner studied the Flood in labs such as the one located in the atmosphere of [[Threshold]], looking for some sort of weakness. Eventually they created the [[Halo]] Array, a weapon of last resort designed to starve the Flood to death by killing all sentient life with enough biomass to sustain them. <ref>''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', 343 Guilty Spark</ref>

At first, the Forerunners were reluctant to use the Array. The [[Gravemind]] managed to convince a [[Contender-class Artificial Intelligence|Contender-class AI]], [[Mendicant Bias]], to join the Flood. Mendicant Bias, soon led his massive fleet in an attack on the "Maginot Line". The Forerunner were given no choice but to activate the [[Halo]]s, killing themselves and all life of sufficient biomass and cognitive ability in the Milky Way with the exception of those species safely placed on [[the Ark]].

Note in the last mission on ''[[Halo 3]]'' (''[[Halo]]'') in the cut scene before fighting the [[Monitor]], [[343 Guilty Spark]] says to the [[Master Chief]] "''You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner.''" This may have been placed to further complicate the story to engender more speculation or to further emphasize the passing of the mantle.

One train of thought shows the idea of humans as forerunner ancestors.  There are many tidbits of information that makes this thought seemingly logical.  However if one looks at the timeline of the forerunners it just makes this idea more confusing.  According to 343 guilty spark, installation 04 has been through 101 thousand local years.  without knowing how fast halo orbits its' sun, this can translate from 10 thousand to 200 thousand Earth years.  however, the forerunners may have been around for some years after they built the rings, but the rings were built after they discovered the flood and soon activated when they were overrun.  Now lets look at the proofs that make the humans forerunner ancestors.  John spartan 117 always found it quizzical how he knew which buttons to press on the forerunner holo-switches and they reminded him of old Aztec symbols.  Guilty spark knew how to speak English upon first contact.  The onyx sentinels tried communicating with a spartan III through root languages and simple Latin.  The luminaries on Covenant ships blip the humans as forerunner artifacts or forerunners themselves.  Human AI's were mistaken by the Convenant as oracles.  As we know that the Covenant used forerunner technology so when Cortana found a Covenant ship AI (Ancient Forerunner AI?) she found it almost identical to her own buildup.  The covenant plasma on their ships used formulas that Cortana had more info on than the Covenant themselves.  The activation of the halo rings must be done by humans.  Truth actually found out the the humans were forerunner remains and kept it as a secret as noted from Halo 3 in the level the Covenant and the book Contact Harvest.  The shield worlds of Onyx and the Ark were uninhabited and yet were built to be protected from the Halo's.  Real forerunners may have died out and how their technology have disappeared from humans is still unanswered.  Did they just pass on their genes and instincts?  this is for you to speculate and this is just my theory.

==Forerunner Technology==

Forerunner technology was highly cultivated and progressive. They managed to create solidified surfaces out of meticulous energy, construct a Halo-wide teleportation grid and create and utilize a plethora of other advanced gadgets. The Halo Rings themselves, the Micro-Dyson Mark II sphere, which is connected through a portal to the shield world [[Onyx]], and the [[Ark]] (Installation 00) are, above all others, the most significant pieces of Forerunner technology. The planet Onyx in particular demonstrates both their ability for engineering on a grand scale, and their near transcendent grasp of [[Slipspace]] technology. It is unknown how much of their technology is based on the technology of the Precursors.  

===Weaponry===

Forerunner constructs and sentries use a broad variety of weapons, typically high-energy powered beams. These weapons proved to be very effective when battling the [[Flood]], burning them to the point that they cannot be revived by even their [[Infection Forms|compatriots]]. The Forerunners installed and constructed these intricate beam weapons inside their paradigm Arrays, allowing them to build an army of machines to battle the Flood without sending any Forerunner into real battle. Other Forerunner weaponry was possibly lost to the ravages of time.

The [[Sentinels]] wield orange-colored directed energy beams, used primarily for fighting the Flood. [[Sentinel Majors]] however, have a more powerful and accurate version of the beam, which sports superior energy output at the cost of overheating issues. All varieties of these [[Sentinel Beams]] can be wielded by certain Covenant and Human infantry.

Meanwhile, [[Enforcers]] are equipped with multiple packs of small grenade or mortar-like explosives launched over the top of their shield as well as a pair of [[Heavy Needler|Heavy Needlers]], which fire clusters of smaller red projectiles or bolts of energy at an extremely fast rate, used mainly against infantry at close range. These mammoth constructs also seem to be able to lift vehicles using some sort of magnetic or anti-gravity grapple, before crushing even tank-sized objects between their massive 'arms'. The [[Constructors|Constructors']] repair beam can also be considered a weapon, but with minimal damage output.

The [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinels of Onyx]] had significantly more powerful weaponry. They were described to be a sphere surrounded by three floating "booms", or small pieces of armor that had powerful energy shields that would suddenly "pop" into place in order to deflect objects moving at high velocities.<ref>''Halo: Ghost of Onyx''</ref> Their shields are not activated by slow-moving objects, such as rocks, which [[Team Saber]] used to destroy one of the Sentinels. Their energy weapons, described as a single golden beam that, although charged slowly, could melt straight through the armor of the Spartan-IIIs. The Onyx Sentinels also have the ability to combine energies, for different purposes, such as stronger combat abilities, or excavation purposes. Their powers are exponentially increased by this combination, and enough of them were able to combine to easily destroy two Covenant destroyers. However, the second Covenant Destroyer was caught off guard after a slipstream space jump, and the first one had its energy shields down.

In [[Halo 3]], it seemed that even the [[Monitors]] had the ability to defend themselves against the Flood using a focused beam similar to the Sentinel's beam, but much more powerful. [[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]] showed this ability in ''[[Halo (Halo 3 Level)|Halo]]''<ref>''Halo'' (''Halo 3'' Level)</ref>. It is also quite odd and puzzling as to why [[2401 Penitent Tangent]] didn't use this ability against the Gravemind in ''[[Halo 2]]''. It is assumed that the Gravemind is likely to have damaged [[2401 Penitent Tangent]] when he captured the Monitor, disabling its beam weaponry. It could simply be that it was not equipped with one, or that the Monitor was corrupted by the Gravemind. Although, it is possible the [[2401 Penitent Tangent|Monitor]] attacked the Gravemind every chance he got, explaining his red "eye". With the Graveminds size and power, it was probably never injured.

===Art and Architecture===
[[Image:Sacredicon1600.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Library]], which is a good example of a Forerunner architecture.]] 

Forerunner architecture is noted mainly for being large-scale and geometric in style. The Forerunners had a habit of creating natural habitats, such as those of the Halo rings, which tend to be very elaborate, with numerous extrapolations of the basic design of a construct appearing to be purely decorative. All Forerunner architecture is constructed with a special type of metal that resists deterioration, bullets, plasma bolts and fire, as evidenced by Forerunner structures standing in pristine condition 100,000-150,500 years after they were built. However their resistance to [[plasma]] fire is limited; in ''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'' the [[Elites]] blasted a hole in a Forerunner wall with plasma weapons. These structures employ complex geometric shapes that appear to operate in dimensions higher than basic [[human]] understanding can comprehend.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''</ref> The Forerunners also decorated the interiors of their structures with a complex web of engraved straight lines and applied decorative touches and designs to nearly everything that they build, from structures to weapons. Even the Sentinel robotic drones possess small holographic Forerunner script around their "eyes". The Forerunner's buildings are some what always triangular.

A major element found in most Forerunner structures is the 45 degree and 180 degree angles. However, there are not many Forerunner structures that do not have these angles.

===Forerunner Stellar Engineering===

{{Main|Stellar Engineering}}
While the Forerunners' architectural and technological prowess is legendary among the [[Covenant]] and [[UNSC]], their masterpieces also extended to the fields of stellar engineering. At least two Forerunner sites, the [[Shield World]]<ref>''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''</ref> Onyx, and the [[Installation 00|Ark]]<ref>''[[Halo 3]]'', ''[[The Ark (Level)|The Ark]]'' and ''[[Halo (Halo 3 Level)|Halo]]'' Levels</ref>, made use of suns where none should exist. The Shield World existed permanently in [[Slipspace]], where solar systems outside of a Dyson Sphere cannot exist, and the Ark was located far outside of the galaxy where galactic material would have been insufficient to form the sun that illuminates [[the Ark]]. Whether these suns are artificially engineered or simply moved from another star system by the Forerunner is unknown: either would have been an enormous technological achievement.

[[The Ark]] is confirmed to be artificial, due to its unnatural "flower head" shape. It has been theorized to be an [[wikipedia:Alderson Disk|Alderson Disk]]. It is likewise unknown if these are the only stellar engineering achievements the Forerunners made; whether the systems that the [[The Halo Array|Halo Installations]] orbit are artificial or native to that region of space; whether other Shield Worlds exist; and how the construction or movement of such large stellar bodies was accomplished.

====Known Fortress Worlds====
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|1
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!02
|[[7]]
|-
!03
|49
|-
!04
|'''[[343 Guilty Spark|343]]'''
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!05
|'''[[2401 Penitent Tangent|2401]]'''
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[[Image:Installation 05.jpg|150px|thumb|Installation 05 sends a galactic standby signal to the rest of the Halo network after The Index is removed during Installation 05's preparation to fire.]]
{{Main|Halo Array}}

=====Installation 04=====
{{main|Installation 04}}
*[[Control Room]]
*[[The Silent Cartographer]]
*[[Alpha Base]]
*[[Library|The Library]]
*[[Flood Containment Facilities]]
*[[Forerunner_Bridges|Bridges]]

=====Installation 05=====
{{main|Installation 05}}
*[[Control Room]]
*[[Library|The Library]]
*[[Quarantine Zone]]
*[[Sentinel Wall]]
*[[The Temple]]
*[[Flood Research Facilities]]
*[[Relay Station]]
*[[Sentinel Production Facility]]

Note: Installation 04, 05 and the Ark are the only three Fortress Worlds that have been directly observed in the Halo Universe.

====Other Forerunner Structures====
*[[Installation 00]] - Known as the Ark. Controls all other installations.
*[[Gas Mine]] – Houses laboratories created to study [[The Flood]].
*[[Coral|Coral Facility ]]
*[[Onyx]] - An artificial UNSC controlled world, inhabited by, and made out of, Sentinels (Unknown to the UNSC).
*[[Shield World]]
*[[Backwash]]
*[[Relic]]
*[[Ark Portal]]

===Forerunner Constructs===
*[[Monitor|Monitors/Oracles]] - Floating A.I.s responsible for maintenance of [[Halo]] worlds and containment of the Flood. 
*[[Enforcer|Enforcers]] - Enforce the Monitor's will. They are large, floating machines designed to contain major [[Flood]] outbreaks.
*[[Onyx Sentinel]]s - Powerful, adaptive Sentinels guarding [[Onyx]].
*[[Sentinel Major|Sentinel Majors]] - An upgraded, much more powerful Sentinel.
*[[Sentinels]] - Controlled by the monitors, they are responsible for guarding a [[Halo]]. Can be seen flying around on Isolation and on Guardian. 
*[[Automated Turret]] - Created to be a deployable equipment for the Forerunners to defend themselves against possible Flood threats or another type of threat.  
*[[Constructors|Constructors]] - Small constructing devices that repair damage to any Forerunner structure they find, as they are responsible for the repair of a [[Halo]] Installation. They also act as a mobile patrol/security alarm units, seeing as how the [[Sentinels]] will come to their aid if they are attacked. The Constructors can be seen below on the ''Halo 3'' multiplayer map ''Construct''.

===Forerunner Artifacts and Technology===
''See also [[Technology]]''

*[[Forerunner Ship|The Forerunner Dreadnought]] 
*[[Forerunner Crystal|The Crystal]]
*[[Deep-Space Artifact]]
*[[Forerunner Hand]]
*[[Combat Skin|Forerunner Body Armor]]
*[[Terminals]]

==Known Forerunner Worlds==
* [[Battle of LP 656-38 e|LP 656-38 e]]
* [[CE-10-2165-d]]
*[[Battle of DM-3-1123 b|DM-3-1123 b]]
*[[G617g]]

==Forerunner Glyphs and Symbols==
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'''Forerunner Numbers''':

Found in the ''Halo 3'' ''Iris'' servers, these symbols are possibly part of a Forerunner numbering system.
[[Image:Glyphs.gif|left|thumb|155px]]
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'''Forerunner Glyphs''':

Some images of all the forerunner glyphs found spread all over the ''Halo'' Universe.
[[Image:CFsymbols.jpg|thumb|left|Forerunner glyphs.]]
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'''Iris Icon''':
An image of the ''Iris'' Forerunner icon.
[[Image:Iris icon.gif|thumb|left]]
{{col-end}}

===Bases' Signals===
In ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', in the multiplayer maps ''Blood Gulch'', ''Danger Canyon'', ''Longest'', and ''Hang 'Em High'', these bases bear Forerunner Glyphs; one red and other blue respective to the base color. In these maps, the Glyphs are the same for the bases.

===Weapons===
If you look closely at both the [[Energy Sword]], [[Plasma Grenade]] and [[Sentinel Beams]] in theater mode, you'll see glyphs on the edges

===Campaign===
In ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', in the campaign level ''[[343 Guilty Spark]]'', Forerunner Glyphs can be seen on a few walls that have doors on them within the [[Flood Containment Facility]]. They can also be seen on the back of some [[Elites]].

===Multiplayer Characters===
In ''[[Halo 3]]'', on an Elite's armor near their wrists, you can see three Forerunner Glyphs. A Glyph can also be found on top of the Monitor in Forge Mode.

===Other Symbols===
There are multiple other symbols seen throught them game as holopraphic images.
<center><gallery>
Image:1219523283 Security Override holo-panel.JPG|The security overried holo-panel seen on the Silent Cartographer.
Image:1219550282 TSC random Holo-panel 7.JPG|A larger holo-panel.
Image:1219550327 TSC random Holo-panel 6.JPG|Another holo-panel.
Image:1219550419 TSC random Holo-panel 4.JPG|Another small holo-panel.
</gallery></center>

==Forerunner in Covenant Religion==
The [[Covenant]] venerate the Forerunners as gods, believing that the [[Halo Array]] elevated the Forerunner to godhood instead of killing them. As such, they have appropriated many Forerunner technologies and artifacts, and dedicated a significant amount of time to the search for other "holy relics" such as the [[Halo Installations]], believing that they can follow the Forerunners into godhood. This is referred to as the "[[Great Journey]]" by the Covenant races. The [[Covenant]] believe that the Forerunner's ascension to god-hood was finalized after the rings were fired.

==Trivia==
*The [[Librarian]] and [[Didact]] are the only specified Forerunners in the known Halo Universe. They are mentioned in the terminals in ''[[Halo 3]]'' as D: and L: .
*The term Forerunner means "one that goes before". Latin for Forerunner is ''[[Precursor]]'', which is the given name of the race that the Forerunners revere (as stated in the [[Bestiarum]]).
*Only appearing in ''[[Halo:Combat Evolved]]'', the Forerunner Symbols seemed to be present on the back of [[Zealots]], [[SpecOps Elites]] and [[Stealth Elites]]. It is unknown why it is absent in ''Halo 2'' and ''[[Halo 3]]''. The Forerunners were speculated to be related to the Elites because of their glyphs that appear on their backs in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''. 
*Many speculated that the Forerunners resembled humans. 
*They show some similarities (their highly advanced technology and the fact that they mysteriously vanished) to the [[Marathon (video game series)#The_Jjaro|Jjaro]], a race of aliens from a previous [[Bungie]] game, ''[[Marathon (video game series)|Marathon]]'', the Eloh from the MMORPG ''[[Wikipedia:Tabula Rasa (video game)|Tabula Rasa]]'', the Protheans in ''[[Wikipedia:Mass Effect|Mass Effect]]'', the [[Wikipedia:Precursor (Star Control) | Precursors]] of ''[[Wikipedia::Star Control | Star Control]]'', the [http://www.starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rakatan Rakatan or Builder]s of ''[[Wikipedia:Star Wars|Star Wars]]'', the [[Wikipedia:Progenitors (Homeworld) | Progenitors]] of ''[[Wikipedia:Homeworld|Homeworld]]'', the Chozo of ''[[Wikipedia:Metroid|Metroid]]'', the [[Wikipedia:Ancients (Stargate)|Ancients]] of the ''[[Wikipedia:Stargate|Stargate]]'' television series, the Xel'Naga in ''Starcraft'',   the [http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Great_Being Great Beings] of ''[[Wikipedia:Bionicle|Bionicle]]'', and most especially, the Krell of the film Forbidden Planet  . The concept of a highly advanced extinct race leaving technological relics behind is not a new concept and has appeared in several other media such as books and films.
*The Forerunner also bear a striking similarity to, Larry Niven's Pak Protectors (''Ringworld'' Series), whom also built a Ring-like Station but disappeared, leaving the Ringworld to go off balance from its own sun. It has long been speculated that Larry Niven's ''Ringworld'' Series inspired ''Halo'''s setting, [[Halo]]. 
*The very first ideas and concepts on Forerunner structures and technology was that it would be sleek and curved to give it an advanced feel. However [[Bungie]] wanted the structures to feel as if they could stand the test of time and redesigned them to be solid and monolithic. The smooth, near-organic design would later be adopted by the [[Covenant]] in their architecture. 
*[[Covenant]] Luminaries (actually stolen Forerunner equipment designed to detect other Forerunner objects) can detect humans, previously mislabeled as "Forerunner Artifacts", leading to initial [[Human]]-[[Covenant]] contact.
*[[Engineers]] are the only known Forerunner creation to not be robotic and to join the [[Covenant]].
*Forerunners have the technology to encode DNA/RNA/silicon samples into data stream, and reproduce entire individuals from it. This was mentioned in the [[Bestiarum]]: "''DNA/RNA/Silicon samples are encoded in this data stream. Reproduction of individuals for analysis is prohibited by this facility.''"
*[[The Guardians]] are thought to be somehow related to Forerunners.
*In the cover of ''[[Halo: Ghost of Onyx]]'', the Forerunner's symbol representing [[Shield World]] can be seen.<ref>''[[Halo: Ghost of Onyx]]'''s Cover</ref>
*The Forerunners were the main focus of the alternate reality game, ''[[Iris]]''.
*Though some believe that humans are of Forerunner descent, this seems unlikely because of the substantial disconnect in evolution on different worlds in terms of biology, culture, and technology. In the Cradle of Life comic, an African tribesman sees the Forerunner building [[The Portal]].
*Its possible that the Forerunner were more of a near-human species, which can be corroborated by the Iris Server-05 message about the humans providing "answers" to the Forerunner's own "mysteries."

==Sources==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://halosm.bungie.org/story/forerunner/jsymbols.html Forerunner Symbology] - An article on Forerunner symbols.
*[http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/ A Comprehensive Research over the Forerunners]

{{Forerunner-Flood War}}
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{{Major Factions}}

[[Category:The Forerunner]]
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[[fr:Les Forerunners]]