Editing Guardian Custode

{{Era|Forerunner|Post}}

{{Outofdate|[[Halo: Fractures]]}}

{{disambig header|the Forerunner construct|other uses|Guardian (disambiguation)}}

|role=Enforcement of the [[Mantle]] and the policing of star systems<ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/tech/guardian '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Guardian'']</ref><ref name="genesis">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Genesis (level)|Genesis]]</ref>

|height=1,412.75 meters (4,635 feet)<ref name="universe"/><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3sFo0i-sQ '''YouTube''': ''Ready Up Live: I played Halo 5 Campaign'']</ref>

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{{Quote|multi=more|1=031 Exuberant Witness|q1=A single Guardian can effectively police a solar system. This show of force is unsettling.|2=Olympia Vale|q2=I'm sorry, 'police'? 'Show of force'?!|3=031 Exuberant Witness|q3=Indeed. Guardians are how the Forerunners enforced peace on the lower systems.|4=[[031 Exuberant Witness]] and [[Olympia Vale]], after Cortana called several Guardians to Genesis<ref name="genesis"/>}}

'''Guardian Custodes''',<ref name="peacemakers">''[[Halo: Warfleet]]'', p. 88-89</ref> commonly known simply as '''Guardians''', are enormous [[Forerunner]] constructs built to enforce the [[Mantle]] within the Forerunners' [[ecumene]].<ref name="h5g"/> Custodes are part of a wider category of policing constructs known as [[Peacemaker]]s. Unlike the most powerful types of Peacemakers, the Guardians, along with the [[Preceptor]]s, were largely used to enforce order among the Forerunners' lesser subject species rather than Forerunner-inhabited systems.<ref name="peacemakers"/>

{{Quote|Whoa. They built them big, didn't they? Figure that's the Guardian?|Spartan [[Edward Buck]], upon first spotting a Guardian<ref name="unconfirmed">'''Halo 5: Guardians''', campaign level ''[[Unconfirmed]]''</ref>}}

Guardians have a segmented body and elaborate, phoenix-like wings consisting of multiple segments. They possess a head that is vertically roughly elliptical, topped with a broad, vaguely conical protrusion and a roughly humanoid face similar to that of the [[Promethean]] constructs. The Guardians are enormous constructs, measuring just over 1,412 meters (4,635 feet) in height.<ref name="universe"/>

They are capable of concealing themselves underground,<ref name="thb">'''[[The Hunt Begins]]'''</ref> underwater, and under lava, and can produce powerful shockwaves capable of demolishing buildings and destroying aircraft.<ref name="BOS">'''Halo 5: Guardians''', campaign level ''[[Battle of Sunaion (level)|Battle of Sunaion]]''</ref> They are also capable of travel through [[Slipstream space|Slipspace]] and produce powerful [[electromagnetic pulse]]s.<ref name="Guardians"/> For defense Guardians are capable of generating energy blasts from their wingtips. Guardian shielding is capable of withstanding the attack from a [[UNSC frigate]]'s [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]].<ref name="F349">'''[[Halo: Fractures]]''', ''[[Rossbach's World (story)|Rossbach's World]]'', ''page 349''</ref>

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[[File:Halo 5 - Guardian on Earth.jpg|thumb|250px|A Guardian emitting an electromagnetic pulse over [[Earth]].]]

The [[Mantle of Responsibility]], the philosophical system adhered to by the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]], was based around the belief that the most technologically developed species was charged with the stewardship of life throughout the [[Milky Way]] galaxy. As such, the Forerunners considered themselves the Mantle's upholders. However, as part of the Mantle's "code", competition and conflict was allowed as long as it did not threaten galactic biodiversity. As such entities proved to be a threat to the Forerunners' hold of the Mantle, the Guardians were designed to police the so-called "lesser" planetary systems and enforce the Mantle's edicts on non-compliant or overly aggressive species. Guardians were utilized throughout Forerunner history to suppress rebellions or were deployed in advance as an imposing threat of force. However, they ultimately proved useless against the parasitic [[Flood]].<ref name="universe"/>

Guardians were designed with multiple roles and functions, though their primary purpose was the monitoring and subjugation of all local power networks on subject worlds. If deemed necessary, Guardians could instantaneously neutralize these power networks through a series of debilitating pulses that incrementally increased in power.<ref name="universe"/> A single Guardian was often enough to effectively police an entire planetary system,<ref name="genesis"/> though the deployment of multiple Guardians at one location allowed the constructs to strategically coordinate their strike, rendering all but the most sophisticated foes completely ineffective. This method of control was largely unchallenged by other species in the galaxy.<ref name="universe"/>

===Tools of the Forerunners===

The Guardians were developed and created by the [[Forerunner]]s to enforce the [[Mantle]] by keeping "lesser" systems in line. The constructs were first created thousands of years prior to the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. Throughout Forerunner history, Guardians quelled rebellions and neutralized threats. During the Forerunners' war with the [[Flood]], Guardians were used in an attempt to combat the Flood but proved useless against the biological parasite. As the Flood brought on the fall of the Forerunner [[ecumene]] and the near-extinction of the Forerunners themselves, the Forerunners buried the remaining Guardians on isolated shelter worlds. With [[Great Purification|the firing]] of the [[Halo Array]] in [[97,445 BCE]], the Guardians were left behind when the remaining Forerunners left the galaxy; the constructs would remain dormant on their shelter worlds until called upon to serve the Mantle once again.<ref name="universe"/>

Millennia later, many of these worlds would be settled by other species, including [[human]]ity and the [[Sangheili]].<ref name="h5g">'''Halo 5: Guardians'''</ref> The Guardian located on [[Sanghelios]] beneath the [[Csurdon Sea]] would later be found by the native Sangheili dive-hunters and fishing skiffs before the species even became space-faring. Nearby [[elder]]s built fortresses to observe and protect the Guardian's location, which they deemed sacred. The city of [[Sunaion]] was later built over the Guardian's location in the sea as a temple to worship the construct and its creators. The [[Covenant]] later explored the Guardian for many years in an effort to learn of the construct's nature, but their attempts proved fruitless.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/sunaion '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Sunaion'']</ref>

===Reemergence===

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{{Quote|She calls the Guardians to serve her!|The Warden Eternal, referring to Cortana<ref name="unconfirmed"/>}}

[[File:Halo 5 - Meridian Guardian.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A Guardian preparing to leave Meridian.]]

In [[2558]], [[Cortana]], who had been restored within the [[Domain]] and come to believe that the [[Created]] — human [[artificial intelligence]]s — were the true inheritors of the [[Mantle of Responsibility]], intended to use the Guardians to enforce the Mantle among all the galaxy's species. She thus began to activate the Guardians across the galaxy and summon them to the nexus of her power at [[Genesis]].<ref name="h5g"/> Sometime after Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] was rescued from [[Onyx]], she discovered a signal that was being bounced around several locations across the known galaxy. One of the sources of the signal caused violent seismic activity on an unknown human colony, leaving only the symbol of the Guardians. Later, in 2558, Halsey helped the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] access her data archive, leading to ONI hiding the presence of the Guardians from humanity.<ref>'''[[Hunt the Signal]]'''</ref>

In October later that year, Guardians emerged on at least twelve [[human colonies]], including [[Meridian]], [[Conrad's Point]], [[Ursa IV]], and [[Laika III]], as well as other worlds inhabited by species of the former [[Covenant]].<ref name="h5g"/> These colonies suffered greatly from the devastation caused by the constructs' activation.<ref name="Osiris">'''Halo 5: Guardians''', campaign level ''[[Osiris]]''</ref> When [[Blue Team]] boarded a Guardian on Meridian, the UNSC held Blue Team's leader, [[John-117]], responsible for the attacks. [[Fireteam Osiris]], led by [[Jameson Locke]], was assigned to hunt him down.<ref name="thb"/> Later, Fireteam Osiris was tasked with retrieving a [[Constructor]] in a Forerunner structure on [[Sanghelios]] in order to activate a Guardian that had been buried under the nearby [[Csurdon Sea]].<ref name="EL">'''Halo 5: Guardians''', campaign level ''[[Enemy Lines]]''</ref> Soon, all of the Guardians that had been awoken would soon be called to Genesis, and then be dispersed throughout human space, to serve the reclaimed [[Mantle of Responsibility]] once again.<ref name="Guardians">'''Halo 5: Guardians''', campaign level ''[[Guardians (level)|Guardians]]''</ref>

In early April of 2559, a Guardian intercepted and captured [[Installation 04C]] en route to the [[Soell system]] from [[Installation 00]]. On the surface of the Halo the Guardian confronted [[Ellen Anders|Professor Ellen Anders]], who had gained control of the ring during the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} crew's [[Battle of Installation 00 (2559)|war against the Banished]] on the Ark.<ref>'''Halo Wars 2''', campaign level ''[[Last Stand]]''</ref>

*[[Oban]] Guardian: This Guardian took an unsuspecting [[UNSC]] Marine who was on patrol to Genesis.<ref>'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', [[Mission Intel#Reunion|Mission Intel Reunion]], ''UNSC Marine Status Update''</ref>

*[[Sanghelios]] Guardian: The Guardian that took Fireteam Osiris to Genesis.

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*A Forerunner construct called "the Guardian" was originally set to appear as an enemy in a ''[[Halo 3]]'' [[Guardian Forest|campaign level]] that later became a [[multiplayer]] level ''[[Guardian (level)|Guardian]]''. It was stated that the player would have been able to rip out the Guardian's eye beam and use it as a weapon in the [[campaign]] level.<ref>[http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/966/966319p1.html '''IGN''': ''GDC 09: The Halo 3 Level You Never Played'']</ref> According to ''[[Art of Halo 3]]'', ''"The Guardian evokes memories of [[w:c:marathongame:Compilers|Compilers]] (from one of Bungie's previous games, [[Marathon]]) and the robes of a High Court Judge -  which is fitting because, as anyone who has encountered them can tell you, their judgments are swift and final, and their logic utterly alien."'' While they were not seen in the final game, their design was later used in ''[[Origins]]'' for two Forerunner constructs seen escorting a [[Keyship]] to the [[Portal at Voi]].

*An early version of the ''Halo 5: Guardians'' incarnation of the Guardians was first seen in the ''[[Halo Xbox One announcement trailer]]'' and later in the bookend cinematics of ''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'', with the final design revealed in promotional artwork. There was considerable speculation as to the nature of the constructs prior to the confirmation of them as the titular Guardians in Game Informer's June 2015 issue. When asked about the construct seen in the ''Halo 5: Guardians'' key art on Twitter, the game's Creative Director [[Josh Holmes]] alluded to the name by replying that ''"The answer is in plain sight."''<ref name="Josh Holmes">[https://twitter.com/JoshingtonState/status/592477020073828352 '''Twitter''': ''Josh Holmes'']</ref>

File:Oxmguardian.gif|A Guardian concept from an ''Official Xbox Magazine'' article on ''[[Halo 3]]''.

File:ArtofH3 - Guardian 01.jpg|Concept art of the Guardian by [[Shi Kai Wang]].

File:ArtofH3 - Guardian 02.jpg|Concept art of the Guardian by Shi Kai Wang.

File:ArtofH3 - Guardian 03.jpg|Concept art of the Guardian by Eric Arroyo.

File:Spheeker02.png|Another view of the holographic render of the Guardian from ''Halo 2: Anniversary'''s prologue.

File:HtT - Conrad's Point crater.jpg|The aftermath of a Guardian at [[Conrad's Point]].

File:HtS_Forerunner_symbol.png|A Forerunner symbol for the Guardian in ''[[Hunt the Signal]]''.

File:Guardian destruction.png|A [[Meridian]] city being destroyed by a Guardian in mere seconds in ''[[A Hero Falls]]''.

File:H5G-Guardian ideas.jpg|Different concepts for the Guardians for ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''.  

File:H5-ForerunnerMachine.jpg|A Guardian in the ''[[Halo Xbox One announcement trailer]]''.

File:HW2-Anders meets a Guardian.png|[[Ellen Anders]] meeting a Guardian on [[Installation 09]] in ''[[Halo Wars 2]]''.

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[[Category:Forerunner technology]]