Editing Promethean

{{Era|Forerunner|Post}}

[[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 name="terminal10">'''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 wars]], they were led by the [[Ur-Didact|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>

==Background==

[[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. With a height of 350 centimeters or more,<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 16''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 245''</ref> a fully mature Promethean was two times the height of a Forerunner [[Manipular]] and weighed 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; Prometheans—and Warriors in general—perceived reality in a markedly different way from baseline Forerunners or [[human]]s, particularly during battle when their mental processes were at their peak. Thousands of Prometheans shared their sensory information with their commanders and individual Warriors observed the battle unfold in a number of separate frames of reference whilst their experience of the surrounding world slowed down, allowing them to perform multiple separate tasks simultaneously and granting them a significantly faster reaction time than baseline Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 162''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 316''</ref> This heightened state of perception is somewhat comparable to—although considerably more powerful than—the "Spartan time" experienced by the [[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-II]] and [[SPARTAN-III program|SPARTAN-III]] supersoldiers due to their [[SPARTAN-II augmentation procedures|neural enhancements]].<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 12'' (2003)</ref>

Promethean warriors utilized an assortment of [[combat skin]]s, ranging from various conventional battle armor designs to much larger models, including midsize fighting suits known as [[war sphinx]]es; more akin to vehicles than armor, they possessed enough firepower to destroy cities.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 95''</ref> In large-scale engagements, individual Prometheans could control automated phalanxes of up to a million [[weapon-ship]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 174''</ref> Prometheans organized their forces into [[legion]]s,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 177''</ref> [[Company (Promethean)|companies]]<ref name="terminal10"/> and tactical squadrons.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 76''</ref>

====Known Prometheans====

*[[Ur-Didact|The Ur-Didact]]

*[[IsoDidact|The IsoDidact]]

*[[Confirmer|The Confirmer]]

*[[Grammarian|The Grammarian]]

*[[Strategos|The Strategos]]

*[[Examiner|The Examiner]]

*[[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]]

*[[Endurance-of-Will]]

===Mechanical Prometheans===

[[File:Knight Battlewagon.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Knight Battlewagon]], one of the types of Promethean inhabiting Requiem]]

The mechanical Prometheans, sometimes referred to as the '''Prometheans of Requiem''',<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''pages 50-57''</ref> are war machines created by the [[Ur-Didact]] after his descent into madness near the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. The Didact viewed these constructs as a novel and effective strategy to fight the Flood without risk of biological infection. They encompass various classes of leader units known as [[Promethean Knight|Knights]], specialized [[Sentinel]]s known [[Promethean Watcher|Watchers]], and small, pack-oriented [[Promethean Crawler|Crawlers]] designed to overwhelm the enemy from different directions. These Prometheans were first encountered by UNSC forces and [[Covenant]] [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction|insurgents]] on Requiem in [[2557#July|July 2557]].

The AI of each Promethean Knight is based on the neural pattern, or essence, of an individual organic being, [[mind transfer|extracted and converted]] to machine data by the [[Composer]]. The original Knights were created from the Promethean warriors still loyal enough to the Ur-Didact to willingly comply with his scheme. As the numbers of these constructs began to rapidly dwindle, the Didact composed [[Omega Halo]]'s transplanted [[human]] population and used their essences to create thousands of more Knights; he also saw this as a way to neutralize the humans whom he saw as a threat, and to further punish them for their [[Human-Forerunner War|past aggression]].<ref name="h4terminals"/>

Unlike most Forerunner technology, which is chiefly angular and geometric, these Promethean machines have a more curved, almost organic 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. Correlating with their role as weapons designed to fight the Flood, the Promethean machines' 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>

==History==

===Political battle===

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]]. The Builders proposed the construction of the [[Halo Array]] as the ultimate weapon against the Flood, should they return, while the Prometheans advocated a more conventional solution: numerous [[shield world]]s constructed in strategic locations, used as enormous refuges and fortresses. After several millennia, the Prometheans 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> Out of fear of Builder persecution and losing their prestige, many former Prometheans joined the Builder rate, enlisting in [[Builder Security]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 49''</ref>

===Forerunner-Flood war===

Under the new 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 Ur-Didact was revealed to be alive and was returned to the ecumene. Still adamant in his opposition of the Halo Array, the Ur-Didact used of the [[Composer]], converting his Promethean warriors as well as a number of humans into [[Promethean Knight|war machines]]. Viewing the Ur-Didact's conscription of humans a severe transgression, the [[Librarian]] imprisoned him on Requiem and sealed off the shield world. She also took control of the mechanical Promethean forces stationed on Requiem, tasking them with preventing outsiders from awakening the Didact.<ref name="h4terminals"/>

===Reclamation conflict===

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 forces from [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s Covenant faction 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 [[Post-Covenant War conflicts|to war]] with humanity, trying to use the Composer to neutralize his ancient enemies forever. The Prometheans and Covenant remnants aided in this plan, but with the help of the [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] Cortana, the Master Chief defeated the Didact and destroyed the Composer and his ship ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon]].

The Didact and the composed essences survived, however, and the extracted human mentalities were soon implanted into more Promethean armatures, which [[Skirmish on Installation 03|attacked]] UNSC forces on [[Installation 03]] and later in the [[Composer's Forge]], only a day after the Didact's attack on [[Earth]]. While the Didact was eventually defeated and contained as a threat, most of the newly-created constructs were evidently sent to Requiem<ref>'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 9|Issue #9]]''</ref> and continued to oppose the UNSC forces when the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} returned to the shield world in [[2558|February 2558]].<ref>'''Halo 4''', ''[[Spartan Ops]]''</ref> While Requiem was eventually destroyed, a number of Promethean constructs survived and would later clash with the UNSC in the [[Battle of Oban]], still allied with Jul 'Mdama's Covenant.<ref>'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 13|Issue #13]]''</ref>

==Trivia==

*The Prometheans of Requiem are color-coded based on the individual in command of them at the time; blue is used to represent the [[Librarian]], while the [[Ur-Didact|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. As the Forerunners predated the Greeks by well over 100,000 years, there is no in-universe relation between the names; however, the name was likely picked by the [[translation software|automated translation systems]] utilized by the UNSC in deciphering Forerunner-era languages. The translators replace many of the original Forerunner terms with contextually similar equivalents from modern humanity's history, culture and mythology, explaining the apparent Forerunner use of the human term.

*"Promethean" was one of the names [[Catherine Halsey|Doctor Halsey]] considered for the [[SPARTAN-II program]].<ref>'''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'''</ref>

==Gallery==

File:Halo 4 Promethean Concept art.jpg|Concept art of a Promethean's armor.

File:Didact John comparison.png|The Ur-Didact against John-117, a [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]].

File:HE-Didact.jpg|The Ur-Didact and his Promethean constructs.

==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]]''

**''[[Spartan Ops]]''

*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''

*''[[Halo: Rebirth]]''

*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''

*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''

*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''

==Sources==

{{Reflist|2}}