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War sphinx

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War sphinx
Artwork of a war sphinx.
Production information

Manufacturer:

Minoris Assembler Vats[1]

Technical specifications

Length:

20 meters (65 ft 7 in)[2][1]

Width:

12.2 meters (40 ft)[1]

Height:

10 meters (32 ft 10 in)[2][1]

Mass:

53 metric tons (52 LT; 58 ST)[1]

Crew:

One operator[2][1]

Usage

Affiliation:

 

War sphinxes were immensely powerful war machines used by Forerunner Warrior-Servants.[2][3] Classified as midsize fighting suits,[2] war sphinxes were versatile combat vehicles that allowed an individual Warrior to operate seamlessly in space, air or a planetary surface. Their roles ranged from acting as capital ship escorts,[4] overwhelming enemy ships in large numbers,[5] or being deployed from orbit and conducting large-scale bombardment operations, boasting firepower to level entire cities.[6] In addition to their predominant air and space roles, they were also equipped with arms and legs, enabling them to operate on the ground as bipedal combat vehicles.[7]

Description[edit]

The war sphinxes were described as being ten meters high and twenty meters long, with an elongated tail that provided lift and power.[3] From the "tail" rose a large rounded torso with a command cabin perched on top. The command cabin was designed to resemble a Forerunner face, with features arranged in an angry or stern expression and two viewports serving as "eyes". The joints of their limbs were composed of hard light.[7] Much like Onyx Sentinels, two sphinxes could also merge to create a larger unit, which still retained a similar "face" at the forward surface.[8]

War sphinxes were programmed to contain samples of their wearer's mental patterns and personalities before they were killed in battle. These preserved personalities were less complete than Durances, but could still be studied by a commander to gain useful information. The Didact kept the final impressions of his children, who were killed in battle, within their war sphinxes.[9]

Ten thousand years after the human-Forerunner wars, Builder Security utilized a comparable type of machine known as the Seeker; these machines lacked the ornate design of the war sphinx and were easily capable of overpowering the Didact's ancient war sphinxes.[10]

Operational history[edit]

One of the war sphinxes (right) that were left to guard the Didact's Cryptum.[11]

Warrior-Servants utilized war sphinxes in large numbers during the human-Forerunner wars. During the Battle of Charum Hakkor, war sphinxes were deployed in the thousands against the human fleet in orbit over Charum Hakkor, swarming human vessels in spiraling cloud-like formations and forcing some to crash into Precursor star roads.[5] Twelve of the machines, once piloted by the Didact's children, contained their partial essences after they were killed in battle.[9] These war sphinxes were left to guard the Didact's Cryptum in the Djamonkin Crater after he entered his first exile. By the time Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting arrived in the Djamonkin Crater in the final decade before the Halos' activation, these suits were considered antiquated and outdated.[2] The war sphinxes continued to serve the Didact, conducting their assigned duties after his revival, and accompanied him as he left Earth on his newly-constructed ship. When Master Builder Faber's forces attacked the Didact's ship over Janjur Qom, the war sphinxes attempted to defend the ship and the Didact to the best of their ability, but were outmatched and quickly destroyed by the superior Seekers.[10]

Warriors continued to employ war sphinxes well into the Forerunner-Flood war. Several war sphinxes had been appropriated by Master Builder Faber's forces on Installation 07; Chakas and Vinnevra observed these machines herding an enormous crowd of humans to a Palace of Pain, overseen by the Primordial. Later, a war sphinx took a captured Chakas and a monitor housing Forthencho's essence to the Halo's Cartographer where Chakas would be linked with the ring's control interface.[12]

Around 100,000 years later, in the mid-26th century, the Office of Naval Intelligence retrieved several Forerunner artifacts from Halo Installation 03. One of them was the eye of a war sphinx variant.[13] It was designated "Specimen 1534" and studied aboard Ivanoff Station. The ONI scientists speculated that it might have been an imaging component and weapon sight belonging to a Forerunner vehicle. They also required the help of SPECWAR in order to analyse the object. By July 24th, 2557, the sphinx's eye remained in Doctor Catherine Halsey's former lab aboard Ivanoff.[14] War sphinxes were found in relatively large numbers on Trevelyan by ONI. The enigmatic controls and complex operational systems plagued ONI scientists seeking to reverse-engineer the technology that powers them.[15] By 2560, the Watershed Division managed to emulate the war sphinx's reflection mirror neural feedback systems and develop the first-generation deep-synchronization interface core, integrated into the ERINYES-class Mjolnir's helmets and associated sub-processor modules.[16]

Production notes[edit]

War sphinxes were originally concepted for and intended to make an appearance in Halo 5: Guardians, but were cut from the final game.[17]

Gallery[edit]

  • Concept art for the sphinx's eye kept onboard Ivanoff Station in Halo 4.

    Concept art for the sphinx's eye kept onboard Ivanoff Station in Halo 4.

  • The eye of a war sphinx on Ivanoff Station in Halo 4.

    The eye of a war sphinx on Ivanoff Station in Halo 4.

  • Concept art of the war sphinx for Halo 5: Guardians.

    Concept art of the war sphinx for Halo 5: Guardians.

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 388
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Halo: Cryptum, page 43
  3. ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Cryptum Glossary (Retrieved on Mar 14, 2014) [local archive] [external archive]
  4. ^ Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 123
  5. ^ a b Halo: Cryptum, page 163
  6. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 95
  7. ^ a b Halo: Cryptum, page 66
  8. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 76
  9. ^ a b Halo: Cryptum, page 138
  10. ^ a b Halo: Cryptum, page 195
  11. ^ Halo Waypoint, Community Update - Entrenched Endeavors (Retrieved on May 28, 2022) [archive]
  12. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 316
  13. ^ Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Have S'Moa
  14. ^ Halo 4, campaign level Composer
  15. ^ Halo Mythos, page 137
  16. ^ Halo Infinite, Armor Hall: Erinyes - Helmet Description "ERINYES helmets and associated sub-processor modules are built around its first-generation deep-synchronization interface core, a crude emulation of reflection mirror neural feedback systems recovered from Forerunner war sphinx wreckage."
  17. ^ War sphinx concept art for Halo 5: Guardians

v • d • e
 
The Forerunners

v • d • e
 
Technology
AI suppressor • Ancilla • Anti-gravity gondola • Assembler vats • Astroengineering • Baffler • Combat skin ((War sphinx • Seeker)) • Confinement bubble • Confinement field • Constraint field • Console • Coordinate key • Dazzler • Design seed ((Upgrade seed)) • Durance ((Didact's Gift)) • Encephalon • Energy core • Engineering unit • Entanglement dish • Flarecore • Gas canister • Guardian • Hard light (Light bridge) • Grappler • Huragok • Interdiction web • Lifeworker beacon • Mind transfer • Modular Dispersal Technology • Observation pane • Personal armor • Power core • Relic core • Sharquoi • Slipspace bubble • Slipspace core (Flake) • Slipspace field pod • Slipspace translocation ((Personal slipspace unit • Teleporter • Teleportation grid • Slipspace portal)) • Smartmatter • State-shifter • Stasis field • Verivorr • Weapon rack • Z-9930 Terminal
For a complete list, check out our Forerunner category.
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