Suicide Unggoy

Suicide Unggoy
Function:	Performing suicidal explosive attacks on enemy personnel, vehicles, and structures.
Species:	Unggoy
Affiliation:	Covenant Jul 'Mdama's Covenant Merg Vol's Covenant Banished

Sergeant Major Duvall: "Romeo Company, be advised: we have reports of Covenant suicide squads."

Army trooper: "You gotta be kidding me..."

— UNSC personnel encountering suicide Unggoy during the Fall of Reach.

Unggoy infantry sometimes use suicide tactics as their mode of attack, either out of their own volition or due to specific orders to carry out such attacks; units consisting of the latter are commonly known as suicide Grunts or simply suicide squads.

History

Mainline Unggoy infantry in service of the Covenant and its splinter factions occasionally employ suicide attacks as an act of desperation, often upon the death of their leader, running at the enemy carrying a pair of ignited plasma grenades. Specific Unggoy squads, however, were tasked solely with such tactics in mind. Such "suicide squads" either used plasma grenades or were fitted with special plasma-ignited methane tanks on their harnesses for the sole purpose of igniting them near opposing forces and structures.

Examples of suicide Unggoy deployments during the Human-Covenant War include the Harvest campaign, the Battle of Arcadia, the Battle of Shield World 0459, and the Fall of Reach. According to his UNSC target profile, Ripa 'Moramee frequently used Unggoy in this role.

Simulations of the Battle of Draetheus V in 2554 indicate the use of suicide squads by Merg Vol's remnant of the Covenant. Simulations of the conflicts on Installation 03 and in New Phoenix in July 2557 likewise indicate the use of Unggoy suicide bombers by the reformed Covenant led by Jul 'Mdama.

The suicide Unggoy in service to the Banished are drawn from thrall colonies, where the absence of the environmental hazards of the Unggoy homeworld Balaho, as well as the lack of Covenant oversight, has led to a dramatic increase in the numbers of violently aggressive individuals. The Banished have thus adapted existing indoctrination protocols to turn these Unggoy into legions of suicide bombers. Such squads were used during the Battle of Installation 00 in 2559.

Gameplay

"Beware the shiny hiney."

— Jeff Easterling on suicide Grunts.

An Unggoy Minor preparing to suicidally charge the enemy.

FPS games

Occasionally during combat in Halo 3 and all subsequent Halo first-person shooters, Grunts will enter a suicidal stage. If their leader is killed, Unggoy may sometimes activate two plasma grenades and rush to the player in an attempt to suicide-bomb them. Headshots can easily deal with them if spotted quickly, but if in large numbers, or if the player does not notice them until too late, they can be a devastating force.

Halo Wars

Suicide Grunts in Halo Wars are a special unit available only if Ripa 'Moramee is the chosen leader. They cost 160 resources, 1 population slot, a tech level of 1, and can be built at the Covenant citadel. Although they are armed with T-25 plasma pistols, their ability to explode (toggled using the 'Y' button by default) makes them effective against vehicles and structures.

They can receive the following upgrades:

• "Zeal": Speed boost while in suicide mode. 500 resources and a tech level of 2.
• "Defile": Suicide explosion does extra splash damage. 800 resources and a tech level of 3.

Spartan series

Grunts perform suicide attacks during certain scripted sequences in Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike, often attacking in large waves. As in the rest of the series, it is preferable to dispatch them from a distance with precision weaponry, particularly the magnum (in both games) or the battle rifle (in Spartan Strike).

Halo Wars 2

• Info: Anti-infantry, Deadly in numbers, Cannot attack air
• Tier: 0
• Cost: Population 2, Supplies 100, Power 20
• Suicide Grunt upgrade: New "Recruits"
  • Info: Increases squad size
  • Tier: 3
  • Cost: Supplies 0, Power 600

Unlike their Halo Wars counterparts, suicide Grunts in Halo Wars 2 have no weapons. They can be built at the Raid Camp by all Banished leaders. In Blitz, suicide Grunts cost 80 energy and (unlike in other modes) can destroy aircraft.

Gallery

• 

  Covenant suicide Grunts in Halo Wars.

• 

  Banished suicide Grunts in the Halo Wars 2 Open Beta.

List of appearances

• Halo 3 (First appearance)
• Halo Wars
• Halo 3: ODST
• Halo: Reach
• Halo 4
• Halo: Spartan Assault
• Halo: Spartan Strike
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars 2