Editing Promethean

{{Era|Forerunner}}
[[File:H4 - Warrior-Servant.jpg|250px|thumb|A Promethean warrior.]]
{{Quote|Oh, but what I would not give to have even a single company of Prometheans here right now... oh, they would most certainly restore order with their trademark lethality...|[[343 Guilty Spark]] musing to himself as [[Installation 04|his Installation]] is about to be destroyed.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary''' - ''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary#Terminal 10|Terminal 10]]''</ref>}}
The '''Prometheans''' were the highest and most respected group of [[Warrior-Servant]]s in the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 54''</ref> During and after the [[Human-Forerunner War]], they were led by the [[Didact]]. The Prometheans' main base of operations was the [[shield world]] known as [[Requiem]].<ref name="h4guide">[http://www.halowaypoint.com/en-US/halo4guide '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Halo 4 Interactive Guide'']</ref>

During the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], the Prometheans were converted into digital intelligences, known as [[Promethean Knight|Knights]], by the Forerunner machine known as the [[Composer]].<ref name="h4terminals">'''Halo 4''', ''Terminals''</ref> These constructs, along with the Didact, survived the activation of the [[Halo Array]], eventually awakening within Requiem and rising to oppose the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] in [[2557]].<ref name="characters">[http://halo.xbox.com/halo4#!an-epic-universe/characters/8c164b48-05e7-4c13-a268-f60ec3a72938 '''Halo 4 Official Site''', ''Characters'']</ref>

==Background==
===Original Prometheans===
[[File:H4-Terminal-Didact.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Didact]], the commander of the Prometheans, in his original [[form]].]]
Physically, Prometheans were the highest [[form]] a Warrior-Servant could [[Forerunner mutation|mutate]] to, standing around two times the height of a Forerunner [[Manipular]] and weighing about four or five times a Manipular's mass.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 65''</ref> They were heavily muscled, their hands capable of easily crushing a [[human]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 77''</ref> Their mental capabilities were also very sophisticated; it was common for a Promethean to share information and sensory input with the warriors under their command.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 162''</ref> Prometheans were also capable of controlling a million remote-controlled craft, such as [[weapon-ship]]s, simultaneously.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 174''</ref>

They also used powerful vehicles known as [[war sphinx]]es for large-scale operations.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 95''</ref> In order to combat the parasitic [[Flood]] during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], the Prometheans' arsenal of weapons was specifically tailored to disintegrate targets to prevent the Flood from repurposing any available biomass.<ref name="gi">'''GameInformer''', ''October 2012 edition'' (digital content)</ref>

The Prometheans were responsible for creating "Warrior Keeps" known as [[Cryptum]]s, where an exiled warrior could live in [[Xankara|suspended animation]] for thousands of years.

====Known Prometheans====
*[[Didact|The Didact]]
*[[Confirmer|The Confirmer]]
*[[Grammarian|The Grammarian]]
*[[Strategos|The Strategos]]

===Mechanical Prometheans===
[[File:Knight Battlewagon.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Knight Battlewagon]], one of the types of Promethean inhabiting Requiem.]]
The Promethean forces encountered by UNSC forces and [[Covenant remnant]] insurgents on Requiem are primarily mechanical in nature, and encompass various classes of leader units known as [[Promethean Knight|Knights]], support drones known as [[Promethean Watcher|Watchers]], and small, pack-oriented [[Promethean Crawler|Crawlers]] designed to overwhelm the enemy from different directions. Significantly different from the original Prometheans,<ref name="characters"/> these constructs were created by the Didact toward the end of the Flood conflict; in order to render them immune to Flood infection, the Didact used a machine known as the [[Composer]] to convert his warriors into digital intelligences; the warriors willingly accepted and were relieved of biological form. However, as the Prometheans' numbers continued to dwindle, the Didact used the Composer on a population of [[human]]s transplanted on a [[Halo Array|Halo installation]] to create more of these mechanical Prometheans.<ref name="h4terminals"/>

Visually, unlike most Forerunner technology which is chiefly angular and geometric, these Promethean units have a more curved, almost biomechanical aesthetic. Various Promethean units, including Knights and Watchers, have distinct heads embedded in their mechanical carapaces, complete with stylized facial features; this feature was shared by the [[war sphinx]]es used by the original Prometheans.

====Types====
*[[Promethean Knight]]
**[[Knight Lancer]]
**[[Knight Battlewagon]]
**[[Knight Commander]]
*[[Promethean Crawler]]
**[[Crawler Snipe]]
**[[Alpha Crawler]]
*[[Promethean Watcher]]

==History==
[[File:Requiem.png|thumb|250px|Requiem, the primary fortress world of the Prometheans.]]

For thousands of years, the fortified shield world [[Requiem]] served as the main command center of the Prometheans.<ref name="h4terminals"/> Following the [[Human-Forerunner War]] and the discovery of the [[Flood]], the Prometheans, under the leadership of the Didact, stood in opposition to the radical faction of [[Builder]]s led by [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]], who proposed the construction of the [[Halo Array]]. They lost the political battle and were subsequently removed from the [[Ecumene Council]], with the Master Builder's allies rising to power in the Council instead. Disgraced, the Didact and some of the other highest-ranking Prometheans were allowed the dignified choice of exile in a Cryptum, while some of the lesser-ranked commanders were accorded more severe punishments.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 238-239''</ref>

After a thousand years of exile, the Didact was reawakened amidst the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. Shortly after his revival, a radical shift occurred in the Council, and Faber lost his political power due to his crimes against the [[Mantle]]. Called upon to defend the ecumene against the onslaught of the Flood, the new Council elevated the Prometheans back to their former status, and the Didact resumed his duties as the supreme commander of Forerunner military forces.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 336-339''</ref> Under the Didact's leadership, the Prometheans would lead the ecumene's defenses against the Flood until the end of the conflict and the activation of the Halo Array. Near the end of the war, the Didact, still adamant in his opposition of the Halo Array, resorted to the use of the [[Composer]], converting his Promethean warriors as well as a number of humans into [[Promethean Knight|war machines]]. Viewing the Didact's conscription of humans into his army as a severe transgression, the [[Librarian]] imprisoned the Didact on Requiem and sealed off the shield world while taking control of the mechanical Promethean forces stationed there, tasking them with preventing outsiders from awakening the Didact.<ref name="h4terminals"/>

In [[2557#July|July 2557]], over four and a half years after the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]], [[John-117]] and [[Cortana]], drifting aboard the wreckage of the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}}, came across Requiem. They and a [[Covenant remnant]] force were forcibly pulled into Requiem and crashed on the surface, and were soon after engaged by the Promethean constructs inhabiting the shield world. After John-117 accidentally awoke the Didact, the latter took control of the Prometheans. Bent on preventing humanity's ascendance to the Mantle in the Forerunners' place, the Didact went [[Human-Promethean War|to war]] with humanity, trying to use the Composer to neutralize his ancient enemies forever. The Prometheans and Covenant remnant aided in this plan, but with the help of the [[AI]] [[Cortana]], the Master Chief defeated the Didact and destroyed the Composer and his ship ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon]]. However, the Promethean constructs continued to oppose the UNSC forces when the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} returned to Requiem in [[2558|February 2558]].<ref>'''Halo 4''', ''[[Spartan Ops]]''</ref>

==Trivia==
*Prometheans are color-coded based on the individual in command of them at the time; blue is used to represent the [[Librarian]], while the [[Didact]] is represented by orange.<ref name="h4terminals"/> Prometheans with blue lights only appear in the level ''[[Forerunner (level)|Forerunner]]'', until the Didact takes control of them in the final cutscene. Despite this, there is no in-game difference between the way the orange or blue Prometheans behave.
*The name "Promethean" was probably inspired by the Titan [[Wikipedia:Prometheus|Prometheus]] in [[List of Greek mythology references in Halo|Greek mythology]], who gave the gift of fire to mankind. However, there is no in-universe relation between the names, as the Forerunners predated the Greeks by well over 100,000 years.
*"Promethean" was one of the names [[Catherine Halsey|Doctor Halsey]] considered for the [[SPARTAN-II Program]].<ref>'''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'''</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H4-Knight.png|Promethean Knight.
File:H4-Watcher.png|Promethean Watcher.
File:H4-Crawler.png|Promethean Crawler.
File:H4-Cryptum.jpg|John-117 facing the Didact's Cryptum.<ref>[http://press.xbox360.com/products/p51/halo-4?grp=Blockbuster+Games&event=5 '''Xbox.com''': ''Xbox Press Center - Halo 4'' - Artwork ''(Halo 4 Key Art - Cryptum_Vertical)'']</ref>
File:Halo 4 Promethean Concept art.jpg|Concept art of a Promethean's armor.
File:Halo 4 Promethean Concept Art 2.jpg|Multiple concepts of a Promethean's armor.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]''

==Sources==
<references/>
[[Category:Forerunner organizations]]
[[Category:Promethean| ]]