Editing Manuel Mendoza

{{era|HCW}}

{{Human Character Infobox

|name       = Manuel Mendoza

|image       = [[File:Mendozace.jpg|250px]]

|death       = [[2552#September|September 20th, 2552]]

|rank        = [[Private]]

|species     = [[Human]]

|gender     = Male

|weapons    = [[MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System|Assault Rifle]]

|vehicles    =  

|hair       = Black

|eyes       = Brown

|era        = [[Human-Covenant War]]

*Likely of [[Spanish|Hispanic]] decent.

*One of the first Marines to be infected by [[The Flood]].

|affiliation = *[[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]

*[[The Flood]] (later)

'''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>.

===Crash Landing on Halo===

Manuel Mendoza was one of the [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] stationed on the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} when it was attacked by the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]], marking the beginning of the Battle of [[Installation 04]].

{{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 [[Flood infection form]]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, unknown that his consciousness was already taken over by the Infection form, which is because 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>.

*Mendoza disliked [[Flip Music]], a genre of music which Sergeant Johnson greatly enjoyed, much to the chagrin of his squad.

*In the [[campaign]] level ''[[343 Guilty Spark (level)|343 Guilty Spark]]'', there is an [[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 [[Type-1 Antipersonnel 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 [[w:c:StarWars:I have a bad feeling about this|used as an iconic line]] in ''Star Wars''.

*Mendoza's line "I have a bad feeling about this" was referenced in the ''Halo 2'' campaign level ''[[The Oracle]]'' by a [[Unggoy|Grunt]], who said the exact same line. The Grunt is a reference to Mendoza, as both of them were the player's allies and both of them were attacked by the Flood.  

<references/>

[[Category:UNSC Marine Corps Personnel|Mendoza, Manuel]]