Halo Story Bible: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:06, April 12, 2023

The cover of one version of the Halo Story Bible.

"It is the ponderous collection of lies, damned lies, and half-truths from which the entire Halo Universe is constructed."

— Robert McLees^[1]

The Halo Story Bible, often shortened as the Story Bible, is a reference document created by Bungie. As a developer's text, the Story Bible contains information to ensure consistency throughout the development of the Halo franchise.

Background[edit]

Consisted of four black-and-silver looseleaf binders, the Story Bible is under the care of Frank O'Connor of 343 Industries. When the Story Bible is not with O'Connor, it is stored in a locked metal cabinet in the studio's offices, which are inaccessible to the rest of Microsoft.^[2]

Following Bungie's end of partnership with Microsoft, Microsoft internal studio (now known as 343 Industries) sought assistance from Starlight Runner Entertainment to assemble a "Halo Bible" to ensure that the fictional content is understandable and easy to digest for any future development of the Halo franchise. During the development of Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo, new additions were incorporated into the story bible to fill gaps and bridge parts of the Halo Universe.^[3]

Released entries[edit]

Some less-sensitive material from the Story Bible was published in the Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets strategy guide. Various portions of the Story Bible, including weapon- and vehicle-related information, have been posted on Bungie.net as well. The Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition) also contains new information on canon, and some of its content originated from the Story Bible.

In 2007 several entries on weapons were released on Bungie.Net.^[4]^[5]

Versions[edit]

Version 6.0: By April 21 2003, the 6th version of the story bible had been created.^[6]

Trivia[edit]

It is apparent that the material in the Story Bible is not static, as the Kig-Yar homeworld of Eayn is a fictional satellite of a real extrasolar planet, HD 69830 d, that was not discovered until May 2006.
During a private question and answer session, Martin O'Donnell jokingly claimed that he had memorized every chapter and verse of the Halo Story Bible.^{[citation needed]}
On February 12, 2010, both Martin O'Donnell and Frank O'Connor joined host Chris Cashman in his booth during a special session of 1 vs 100. When answering a fan's question about continuity in the Halo universe, both of them jokingly referred to the Halo Story Bible.^{[citation needed]}

Sources[edit]

[1] Bungie.net: Halo Universe: Covenant Weapons

[2] Bloomberg Businessweek: The Halo Effect of Microsoft's Halo

[3] Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Did You Myth Me?

[4] Bungie.Net - Use Fire

[5] Bungie.Net - Halo Universe: UNSC Weaponry

[6] halo.bungie.org - Story bible image

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Ratings}}
+{{Status|RealWorld}}
-{{realworld}}
+[[File:HSB small.jpg|thumb|The cover of one version of the Halo Story Bible.]]
+{{Quote|It is the ponderous collection of lies, damned lies, and half-truths from which the entire Halo Universe is constructed.|[[Robert McLees]]<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=12753 '''Bungie.net''': ''Halo Universe: Covenant Weapons'']</ref>}}
+The '''Halo Story Bible''', often shortened as the '''Story Bible''', is a [[wikipedia:Bible (writing)|reference document]] created by [[Bungie]]. As a developer's text, the Story Bible contains information to ensure consistency throughout the development of the ''Halo'' franchise.
-{{quote|It is the ponderous collection of lies, damned lies, and half-truths from which the entire Halo Universe is constructed.|[[Robert McLees]] <ref>http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=12753</ref>}}
+== Background ==
+Consisted of four black-and-silver looseleaf binders, the Story Bible is under the care of [[Frank O'Connor]] of [[343 Industries]]. When the Story Bible is not with O'Connor, it is stored in a locked metal cabinet in the studio's offices, which are inaccessible to the rest of Microsoft.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_36/b4193032898394.htm '''Bloomberg Businessweek''': ''The Halo Effect of Microsoft's Halo'']</ref>
-The '''Halo Story Bible''', created by [[Bungie Studios]], is the single most important object to the development of the [[Halo Universe]] the company has. The Story Bible, as it is simply called, contains all the information Bungie has developed pertaining to the Halo Universe. Bungie has put out some info, of every topic, but some are a great load information, and others are, like small sentences saying where something lived. Bungie sometimes puts out little by little.
+Following Bungie's [[Bungie#End of partnership|end of partnership with Microsoft]], Microsoft internal studio (now known as [[343 Industries]]) sought assistance from Starlight Runner Entertainment to assemble a "Halo Bible" to ensure that the fictional content is understandable and easy to digest for any future development of the ''Halo'' franchise. During the development of ''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]'', new additions were incorporated into the story bible to fill gaps and bridge parts of the ''Halo'' Universe.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/community-update-preview-of-autumn '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Did You Myth Me?'']</ref>
-==Secrecy==
+==Released entries==
-The Bibles content is the most extensive and largest collection of material for the ''[[Halo]]'' universe, and, to date, the single most secretive thing Bungie holds. The book/website contains background information, technical data, and details about Halo related things not mentioned anywhere else. It also is likely to contain development information to future Halo projects, such as upcoming [[Halo Novels]], [[Halo: Chronicles]], and [[Halo 3: ODST]].
+Some less-sensitive material from the ''Story Bible'' was published in the ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets]]'' strategy guide. Various portions of the ''Story Bible'', including weapon- and vehicle-related information, have been posted on [[Bungie.net]] as well. The ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]'' also contains new information on canon, and some of its content originated from the ''Story Bible''.
-The Bible is so carefully guarded that it is unknown how many copies of it exist, or if it is even a book at all. However, a website has been found by the name of halostorybible.net, which is currently in production by a mysterious entity by the name of "Ciarán Walsh", who is guessed to be the editor. The only real text on the page is the following: "Soon", which creates the effect that it is still being developed by Bungie Studios. It is possible that it is the place where the "scribe", probably one of Bungie's staffers, goes and edits it as new ideas and storylines go together. [[Eric Nylund]], writer of three of the six Halo Novels, commented in one of the [[:Category:Letters of Canon| Letters to Halopedia]] that the Story Bible was given to him during the writing of the books then quickly taken back once the novels were complete. It is unknown whether the material in the Bible is static, as the Kig-Yar home world of [[Eayn]] is a fictional satellite of a real extra solar planet (HD 69830 D), which was not discovered until May of 2006.
+In 2007 several entries on weapons were released on Bungie.Net.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=12699 '''Bungie.Net''' ''- Use Fire'']</ref><ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=12704 '''Bungie.Net''' ''- Halo Universe: UNSC Weaponry'']</ref>
-Some of the less sensitive material in the Bible was published in the [[Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets]] strategy guide. Various portions of the Bible, notably weapons data and uses, have been posted on the [[Bungie]] website as well.
+==Versions==
+*'''Version 6.0''': By April 21 [[2003]], the 6th version of the story bible had been created.<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=1214429 '''halo.bungie.org''' ''- Story bible image'']</ref>
-==Trivia==
+== Trivia ==
-*[[Martin O'Donnell]] said in a private Question and Answer session that he'd even memorized every chapter and verse of the Halo Story Bible.{{Fact}}
+*It is apparent that the material in the ''Story Bible'' is not static, as the [[Kig-Yar]] homeworld of [[Eayn]] is a fictional satellite of a real extrasolar planet, [[wikipedia:HD 69830 d|HD 69830 d]], that was not discovered until May 2006.
-* It is unknown if the Story Bible will ever be released to the public, but recently, according to Kotaku, a Halo encyclopedia claiming to have information on many levels regarding the Halo series will be released in October.
+*During a private question and answer session, [[Martin O'Donnell]] jokingly claimed that he had memorized every chapter and verse of the ''Halo Story Bible''.{{citation needed}}
+*On February 12, 2010, both Martin O'Donnell and [[Frank O'Connor]] joined host Chris Cashman in his booth during a special session of ''1 vs 100''. When answering a fan's question about continuity in the ''Halo'' universe, both of them jokingly referred to the ''Halo Story Bible''.{{Citation needed}}
 ==Sources==
-<references/>
+{{Ref/Sources}}
-http://halostorybible.com/