Editing Promethean Knight

|manufacturer=[[Requiem Forge]]{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=322-333}}

|width=

|armament=

*[[Hardlight blade]]

*Various weapons

|armor=[[Smartmatter]]{{Ref/Book|Id=WF83|HWF|Page=83}}

|shields=[[Energy shielding|Energy shield]]-equipped

|systems=

{{Quote|I have led you, my Prometheans, for thousands of years, and I shall continue to lead you. Rise! Rise, and protect the Forerunners! Rise, and protect the galaxy!|The [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] to his legions of newly created Promethean Knights{{Ref/Game|Id=H4T5|H4|Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminal #5}}}}

'''Promethean Knights''' are a class of [[armiger]], or mechanised [[Forerunner]] warrior, created by the [[Ur-Didact]] toward the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]] to combat the [[Flood]]. They are named for their origins in the [[Promethean]]s, one of the highest and most well-respected groups in the [[rate]] of [[Warrior-Servant]]s; the first Promethean Knights were created by [[Composer|composing]] the Forerunner Prometheans, sublimating their consciousness into robotic form in the hopes of creating an infantry force that would be immune to Flood infection. Despite this, there were still too few Promethean Knights to make a meaningful difference in the progress of the war, leading to the Didact instead turning the Composer on [[Ancestors|ancient human]] populations and creating an army of beastial machine-soldiers enthralled into his service.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

After the [[Librarian]] exiled the Ur-Didact on [[Requiem]] for this act, several legions of these constructs stationed on the [[shield world]] went dormant for the next 100,000 years. The machines—as well as their master—were reawakened in late [[2557]], when [[John-117]] and the [[United Nations Space Command]] stumbled upon Requiem.{{Ref/Site|Id=characters|URL=http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Halo-4/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d530919|Site=Halo 4 Official site|Page=Characters|Detail=Promethean Knights|D=25|M=12|Y=2012}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} By [[2558]] they, along with several other Promethean constructs, had fallen under control of the [[Created]] led by [[Cortana]], who believed the [[artificial intelligence]]s were the rightful heirs of the [[Mantle|Mantle of Responsibility]], not humanity.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22Created|Enc22|Page=397}}

The Promethean Knights are bipedal, fully weaponized mechanical warriors designed to operate and eliminate threats in a wide variety of environments.{{Ref/Reuse|characters}} While the Knights are fully machines, their AI is a result of organic minds transformed into software format via a device called the [[Composer]], unlike the [[Promethean Crawler|Crawler]]s or the [[sentinel]]s which are completely artificial in origin.{{Ref/Reuse|H4EVG}} Similar to the other Promethean constructs, as well as some earlier types of Forerunner military automatons,{{Ref/Novel|HCry|Chapter=32}} Knights have a number of insectoid attributes; they produce noticeably insect-like clicking sounds and tend to make spasmodic movements, especially when idle. Additionally, their carapace resembles that of an insect and possesses hatches resembling insect wings which frequently twitch and flutter seemingly at random; located on the "wings" are the Knight's anterior shield distributors.{{Ref/Reuse|H4EVG}} Knights have two sets of arms; two large, artificial arms at each shoulder in which the weapons are mounted and two smaller arms below the shoulders. The larger arms are composed of separate segments held in formation through an energy field. Knights also have a comparatively smaller set with small, five-fingered hands. These smaller arms are more "organic" in shape and are physically attached to the Knight's body. Their main locomotion is provided by a pair of extremely powerful legs designed for agility and speed. Broad-set stabilizers support the large body and reinforced joints offer fluid movement despite the Knight's size and mass. At the back of their feet there is a counter-locking system for tactile balance.{{Ref/Reuse|H4EVG}}

The Knight's carapace is composed of [[smartmatter]], a form of [[Wikipedia:Programmable matter|programmable matter]] held together by [[hard light]] bonds.{{Ref/Reuse|WF83}} Upon taking critical damage, Knights completely disintegrate, a process that [[Cortana]] described as a "data purge."{{Ref/Level|Id=forelevel|H4|Forerunner (level)|Forerunner}} Their bodies erode away from where the fatal shot was received and dissolve into glowing particles. After disintegration, a small ball of swirling light is left behind for a brief period; a Promethean Watcher can use this remnant to recreate and revive the Knight; however, an individual Knight can only be revived in this manner only once. If a Knight is destroyed, revived, and then destroyed again, the Knight's body disintegrates completely, leaving nothing behind. When a Knight is destroyed, it drops a weapon; after revival, it wields a weapon of the same type even if the first weapon was picked up.{{Ref/Reuse|H4}}

Knights are covered in patterns of light and have a fire-like glow around their heads. The color of this light usually indicates their allegiance. Those with blue lights are controlled or otherwise loyal to the [[Librarian]] or her remnant;{{Ref/Game|H4|Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminal #7}} upon the Didact's release from his [[Cryptum]] the Knights' color changed to orange, indicating they had returned to his control.{{Ref/Reuse|forelevel}} The head features an armored helmet with glowing eyes and what appear to be grimacing jaws with rows of teeth. This helmet assembly can be retracted in two sections, revealing a glowing humanoid skull underneath.{{Ref/Reuse|H4}} Cortana initially theorized that this is because the Prometheans have mimetic capabilities, and had based the skull on scans taken of the Master Chief, though the skull may in fact be based on that of a Forerunner.

Knights carry a single [[Promethean Watcher]] sentinel in the back of their armored carapace, which can be deployed at will for combat support. The Watcher's AI is a low-level ancilla split off from the Knight's essence when the Watcher is deployed.{{Ref/Reuse|H4EVG}} The Watcher can greatly improve the Knight's combat capabilities by raising [[Z-90 hardlight shield|hardlight shields]], reviving fallen Knights, summoning [[Promethean Crawler|Crawlers]], building automated turrets, and flinging back enemy [[grenade]]s while distracting them with its own weaponry.{{Ref/Game|Id=H4|H4|Knight in-game enemies}}

===Creation===

Unlike [[armiger]]s and [[sentinel]]s, Knights are not [[artificial intelligence]]s, even despite their robotic exterior. They instead consist of a sapient mind converted into a software form by a Forerunner device known as the [[Composer]]. The conversion process is called sublimation, and is something the Forerunners never truly understood. The results of the Composer's work are [[essence]] imprints akin to high-level [[ancilla]], with stored mentalities that are capable of being given individual localised consciousness by replicating their original brain's neural structure.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}} The digitised essences are stored in the [[Composer's Abyss]] aboard [[Installation 03]] until they can be implanted in a Knight shell.{{Ref/Comic|HEsc|Issue=8}}

 

 

 

==Variants and ranks==

 

Alongside command authority ranks, Knight variants exist for specialised battlefield roles. During the [[Battle of Requiem]] and [[Requiem Campaign]], the UNSC recorded three distinct classes of Knight alongside the standard Knights, though speculated there may be further variations for even more specialised roles.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

After the Didact's defeat in mid-2557, the Prometheans under [[Jul 'Mdama]]'s command began to exhibit design differentiations from those found on Requiem, alongside similar functionality upgrades to their weaponry.{{Ref/Site|Id=CFLockeLoad|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-locke-load|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Locke & Load|D=23|M=12|Y=2019}}{{Ref/Game|H5G|List of REQ Cards|REQ Card|Detail=Boltshot|Quote=Burst-fire energy pistol. Bolts home-in on close range targets. This new functionality appears to be related to other adaptions the Prometheans have displayed since the disappearance of the Didact.}} These changes were first reported by the UNSC during Jul 'Mdama's [[Battle of Oban|attack]] on [[Oban]].{{Ref/Level|H5G|Osiris (level)|Osiris|Quote=New kind too. Like they reported on Oban.|Quotee=Holly Tanaka}} The eventual conversion of the Promethean Knight force from Covenant to [[Created]] control in the [[Created uprising]] of [[2558#October|October 2558]] saw these changes finalised as the Knights were brought under [[Cortana]]'s control. Many of the AI who joined the Created were given the opportunity to house their data cores within Created Knights, though the severing of the Created's centralised network during the [[Battle for Zeta Halo]] the following year has left the operational status of these Knights - and their allegiances - unknown.{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22Created}}

 

*[[Knight Ascendos]]

*[[Knight Bannerman]]

*[[Knight Bellator]]

*[[Knight Luminary]]

*[[Knight Marshal]]

*[[Knight Noble]]

*[[Knight Strategos]]

*[[Habit-To-Sever]]{{Ref/Reuse|CFDecennial}}

*[[Lochagos]]{{Ref/Reuse|CFDecennial}}

*[[Malice-Begets-Demise]]{{Ref/Reuse|CFDecennial}}

*[[Knight Ortus|Ortus]]{{Ref/Reuse|CFDecennial}}

 

;Human-derived Knights

*[[TDS-002]]{{Ref/Reuse|HTMB}}

*[[Sandra Tillson|TDS-009]]{{Ref/Reuse|HTMB}}

 

This extreme measure was intended by the [[Ur-Didact]] to create an unstoppable army, completely immune to Flood infection, near the end of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. The Didact's [[Promethean]] [[Warrior-Servant]]s were the first Knights, but these were too few in number to turn the tide. Desperate for greater numbers and still refusing to accept the [[Halo Array]] as a final option, the Didact "conscripted" a large population of [[human]]s from [[Omega Halo]] to expand his army; this genocidal act was the ultimate reason the Librarian imprisoned her husband. Despite housing harvested human and Forerunner essences, the original personalities are no longer in evidence; the Knights are intelligent, but viciously ruthless in behavior and seemingly lacking any form of free will.<ref name="h4terminals">'''Halo 4''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''</ref>

*Promethean Knights are "voiced" by [[Wikipedia: Tasmanian devil|Tasmanian devils]].{{Ref/Marketing|H5G|The Sprint|The Sprint: Composer}}

File:H5G-SadKnight.png|TDS-009 bangs the walls of its cell on [[Genesis]].

File:H5G-CryingKnight.png|TDS-009 cradling its head in its arms.