Editing Manuel Mendoza

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|name=Manuel Mendoza
|image=[[File:Mendoza new.JPG|275px]]
|homeworld=
|birth=
|death=[[2552#September|September 20, 2552]]
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Male
|height=
|mass=
|hair=Black
|eyes=Brown
|affiliation=*[[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] {{c|formerly}}
*[[Flood]]
|rank=[[Private]]
|sn=
|notable=One of the first Marines to be infected by [[the Flood]].
}}
{{Quote|no=three
|1=Manuel Mendoza
|q1=Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?
|2=Avery Johnson
|q2=Watch your mouth, son. This "stuff" is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect.
|3=Manuel Mendoza
|q3=Hey... if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me.
|4=Mendoza and Johnson in regards to [[flip music]].}}

'''Private Manuel Mendoza''' was an infantryman in the [[UNSC Marine Corps]] and a member of [[Fire Team Charlie]]. He participated in the [[Battle of Installation 04]] in September 2552.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''', campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo: Combat Evolved level)|Halo]]''</ref>

==Biography==
===Crash-landing on Halo===
{{Quote|"Thank God Master Chief, I thought we were in real trouble."|Mendoza, to [[John-117|Master Chief]], after being rescued from [[Covenant]] ground forces}}
Manuel Mendoza was one of the [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] stationed on the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} when it was attacked by the [[Covenant]], marking the beginning of the Battle of [[Installation 04]].

After boarding a [[Bumblebee escape pod|lifeboat]], he survived the crash landing on [[Installation 04]], becoming the infantryman at the receiving end of most of the then-[[Staff Sergeant]] [[Avery Junior Johnson|Johnson]]'s shouting and yelling. During the events of the crash landing, he fought alongside the [[John-117|Master Chief]], until he was evacuated by [[Echo 419]].

===Encounter with the Flood===
[[File:Mendozace.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Mendoza sitting in a Pelican's troop bay just before his squad's encounter with the Flood.]]
{{quote|I have a bad feeling about this...|Private Mendoza, before the Flood outbreak.}}

Later on, he was part of Fire Team Charlie, which was led by [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]] and Sergeant Johnson, to find a supposed Covenant weapons cache that a captured [[Sangheili]], [['Qualomee]], had uncovered and disclosed to them in passing.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''', ''page 174''</ref>

Instead, the "cache" turned out to be a [[Flood containment facility]]. Fire Team Charlie was immediately ambushed and, save for Sergeant Johnson,<ref>'''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]''', ''[[Breaking Quarantine]]''</ref> was assimilated into the Flood and turned into [[Flood combat form]]s. Though Mendoza held off the [[Pod infector]]s for a while, unlike his comrades, he was also later assimilated into a combat form. Shortly before he was infected, he attempted to flee the area, against Keyes' and Johnson's orders.

A few hours after infection, John-117 found Mendoza in the structure and attempted to communicate with the Marine, unaware that his consciousness had already been taken over by the Pod infector, as John-117 hadn't seen a human Flood combat form until then. The infected Mendoza attacked the Spartan and took three entire [[Soellkraft 8 Gauge Shell|shells]] from the Master Chief's [[M90 Close Assault Weapon System|Shotgun]] to halt him, with the results both "spectacular and disgusting". As the corpse-like horror came apart, the Spartan saw that one of the small, spherical creatures had taken up residence inside the Marine's chest cavity and seemed to have extended its tentacles into other parts of what used to be Mendoza's body.<ref>'''Halo: The Flood''', ''page 224''</ref>

==Trivia==
*Mendoza disliked [[Flip music]], a genre of music which Sergeant Johnson greatly enjoyed, much to the chagrin of his squad.
*Judging by his name, Mendoza was likely of [[Spanish|Hispanic]] decent. 
*Manuel Mendoza was voiced by [[Mark Dias]] in ''Halo: Combat Evolved''.
*In the [[campaign]] level ''[[343 Guilty Spark (level)|343 Guilty Spark]]'', there is a [[Hidden Marine Easter Egg on 343 Guilty Spark|glitch]] that allows the player to get back on board the [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]] by repeatedly throwing grenades out of the Pelican. Once the Pelican lands, the player may run around the perimeter of the level, where Private Mendoza stands alone. If stuck with a [[Anskum-pattern plasma grenade|plasma grenade]], his body is thrown surprisingly high and far (almost comparable to when the [[Halo 2 skulls#Sputnik|Sputnik Skull]] is activated in ''[[Halo 2]]''). [[Joseph Staten]] explained that he wanted Mendoza's model to load before the [[cutscene]] that he later appears in; Staten thus coded Mendoza to load early in the level, and simply used the area outside of the level as a storage area. Mendoza, unarmed, can be shot and killed, just like any other Marine.
*Mendoza's line "I have a bad feeling about this," may be a reference to the [[List of references to Aliens in Halo#Dialogue|iconic line]] in the movie [[wikipedia: Aliens (film)|''Aliens'']], soon before the marines are ambushed by xenomorphs. However, the line is also [[StarWars:I have a bad feeling about this|used as an iconic line]] in ''Star Wars''. The line is later referenced again by an [[Unggoy]] in the ''Halo 2'' campaign level ''[[The Oracle]]''.
*While Mendoza appears as a [[Flood combat form]] in ''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', in the game, the Master Chief finds his uninfected corpse just before he views Jenkins' helmet recording revealing the existence of the Flood. No reason is ever given for him having an uninfected corpse in the game.

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

[[Category:Human characters|Mendoza, Manuel]]
[[Category:UNSC Marine Corps enlisted personnel|Mendoza, Manuel]]