M313 Elephant

The Behemoth-class Troop Transport, colloquially known as the Elephant, is a heavy UNSC Marine Corps Mobile Assault, Support, and Recovery Platform. It appears in Halo 3 on the multiplayer map Sandtrap and as a unit in Halo Wars. The Elephant has two turrets, a detachable one on the side and one that is similar to the LRV Warthog's stationary M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun that cannot be detached from its position. The Behemoth-class also houses a Mongoose in its lower bay. The Elephant seems to serve a similar role to the Shadow of Halo 2, albeit much slower, larger and less maneuverable.

Specifications

The size of the Elephant in comparison to other vehicles and a real Elephant.

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Marines deploy from an early Elephant variant.

The Elephant is a mobile command base and repair vehicle. It can hold as many soldiers as you want to ride in it, and a Mongoose spawns in its forward hold. It is armed with a forward M41 LAAG on the top right and a AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun on the mid left. It is a three storied vehicle with the bottom story, the respawn locale that opens out into the rear cargo tray, the second story, a walkway around the cargo ramp and leads onto the driver's cabin then a small, elevated third story where the M41 LAAG is assembled. It features a crane, numerous firing ports and elevated positions for defending it. It has four tracks set up on each side of the chassis. Its chassis are as high as they is wide, providing stability. An IGN video shows its top speed, driver's cabin and turrets. It's maximum speed is 2.24 MPH (Based on the 1 meter/second figure).

In multiplayer, it can spawn troops, and holds both the flag and the capture point for certain multiplayer maps on Capture The Flag mode. Therefore, in CTF you can actually bring the Capture Point to the enemy flag, although this makes it easier for the enemy to steal yours. The elephant is one of the best weapons on huge battles, since it is basically a drivable fortress, though it it not very effective with only a few people. These mobile command bases can spawn troops and vehicles into battle quickly. Although it may not seem possible, the Elephant cannot be destroyed. In addition to the Elephant's indestructibility, it also grants the driver a few advantages. Due to the indestructible nature of the elephant, the driver is immune to damage from frontal fire, though rarely Spartan Laser blasts may penetrate the driver's window and kill him. In Forge mode drop pods can sometimes damage the pilot's shield. However, the pilot is not immune to damage and any shots from behind will hurt him as they would normally, and he can be easily assassinated. Even with these good qualities, this vehicle is basically useless in Free For All custom games. In Forge, the Elephant cannot be picked up by the monitor. However, through modding, one can pick up the elephant and read the information on the elephant. According to the details, one map is only allowed about 255 elephants and the cost of an elephant is about $ -255. This is through modding however and cannot be confirmed without mods.

Halo Wars

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An Elephant Prototype deploys Marines into combat

The Elephant also appears in Halo Wars as an Armored Personnel Carrier or mobile infantry barracks, capable of creating troops in the field and/or deploying them while defending itself. The elephant still has a crane, though it looks ill suited to repair and recovery as it now mounts three M41 LAAG weapons, one on the top of the drivers cabin and two at the rear on each side of the troop bay. These appear to be remotely operated. The troop bay is enclosed and features a rear dropping ramp. The front also has an enclosed ramp along with deployable support struts on the first, possibly meaning it 'deploys' into becoming a field barracks or these are used in repair and recovery, like modern repair and recovery vehicles. It also appears in concept art to mount a roof mounted cannon, a possible unit upgrade.

Like other Halo Wars units this vehicle has been dimensionally altered, particularly as the bay on the rear has been shrunk (two persons high to one person high) and the bogeys are now the same size.

Flood biomass and tentacles ensnares an Elephant.

Halo Wars Stat

• Costs: 400 Resource units and requires 2 Pop. Cap. and 0 energy units
• Is capable of building SPARTANs and possible other infantry.

Known Elephants

• E-2073 46833-S - UNSC Elephant stationed on Sandtrap (It is interesting to note that both elephants on the level Sandtrap are almost completely identical, including having the same identification numbers). They both have nicknames: one is called the "Behemoth," while the other is called the "Leviathan." Another means of identification is that below the M41 turret at the front is the number 3 for the Behemoth and a number 5 for the Leviathan, also on the Leviathan is another number 5 on one of the panels at the top of the outer left hand side of the cargo tray.

Elephant flight

There are two (or more) methods of achieving the flight of an Elephant, In Halo 3. The first, is the well known technique of filling the hull with explosives, and setting them off. This method achieves minimal Elephant flight, in which the player lacks control of the flight and trajectory of the vehicle. The second, is another well known method, which is exemplified in "The Mammoth", a fan-made multiplayer variation of Sandtrap. By connecting the "wings" of a hornet to an Elephant, the player can lift the Elephant off of the ground with the propulsion system of a hornet. By this method, the player can control the flight of the Elephant by assuming command of the hornet which is lifting it off of the ground, albeit with some difficulty. The third method is by putting two closed drop pods under the walkway and putting a grav lift under them.

Trivia

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A player flips an Elephant, initiating the Easter Egg

• If you go to the bottom level of the Elephant, there is a screen which details about the vehicle's specification such as Mobile Assault Support and Recovery Platform Statistics and Environmental Analysts. It is interesting to note that it says there are two mobile turrets (that you can rip off) while there is actually only one. Perhaps one was removed for balance issues as there is a vacant spot opposite of the other.
• Weapon Holders will not work on the Elephant. Why they can't hold weapons on the Elephant is unknown but it is probably because weapon holders simply don't work on moving objects.
• If by some chance you do manage to flip over an Elephant , the usual "Hold RB to flip <vehicle name>" script dialog is replaced with "Hold RB to flip...wait, what? How did you do that?", referencing the fact that it is the biggest vehicle in the game and that it is seemingly impossible for it to be flipped, even by Spartans, or Elites. (See Elephant Flipping)
• On the left hand side of the red team's Elephant there is a spray-paint graffiti with text that reads "BEHEMOTH" and a red cartoon picture of a woolly mammoth. On the blue team's elephant it says "LEVIATHAN" and has a picture of a blue, whale-like sea creature sporting a mean grimace and wearing a comically tiny golden crown. The Behemoth and Leviathan are two mythological creatures that are enormous in stature and girth. It is said that when the world ends, it's because these two creatures are fighting. The Elephant's size is probably what gave them these call signs, and that is another reference to mythology that Bungie uses. The Behemoth is more hippopotamus-like, while the Leviathan is more whale-like. Leviathan is aquatic and the Behemoth is terrestrial.
• The Elephant is unable to go anywhere within Sandtrap but the outside ring and the middle. The Elephant can be driven to a point over most of the hills where it can't move anymore and will fall down when you stop accelerating.
• The name "Elephant" is a possible reference to Fred Saberhagen's classic science fiction book Empire of the East in which the protagonist defeats an oppressive empire in a post-apocalyptic future using a giant nuclear-powered tank known as the Elephant.
• The Elephants are capable of fitting a single Scorpion inside when the tank is being carried in Forge. This can allow you to wedge the tank inside and pick up the Elephant - unfortunately a little less gracefully than most vehicles.
• If you move the Mongoose, you can fit two Choppers on the bottom floor. Landing a Banshee on top will make this a deadly assault vehicle, especially if you have people manning the guns.
• If the Elephant is flipped, a planted bomb or a flag on its stand will stay in the same spot, essentially flipping with the vehicle, rather than dropping to the ground.
• The Elephant is the only drivable vehicle where you can place Turrets on it without them moving when you drive off. If you placed a crate or two in the cargo bay of the Elephant and place a turret on top of them and then delete the crates, then you can drive the Elephant with the Turret keeping place over the Elephant without it moving.
• Gears of War 2's Derrick looks a lot like the Elephant. Similarly, it bears a slight resemblance to the Jawa Sand crawler from Star Wars.
• The Elephant is the slowest drivable vehicle in the Halo series, moving only slightly slower than normal Spartan/Elite running speed.
• The seemingly glass windshield in front of the driver actually is able to protect from any kind of attack except Spartan Lasers without damage; this is probably a balancing action, because the Elephant is so slow. In addition, the driver can only be attacked from the back; all other sides are completely protected.
• In the upcoming Halo Wars game, the Elephant will serve as a mobile barracks; however it appears to have a closed roof with indoor lighting, and a larger ramp.
• An excellent place to hide and wait for your shields to regenerate in an Elephant in a free-for-all match is behind the screen on the lowest level. The only weapon that can penetrate this screen is the Spartan Laser, and if your opponent charges that weapon, it will give you time to escape unharmed.
• It is possible to create a zero gravity zone by driving one Elephant it to the back of the other so that it is at an angle and drive a light vehicle into the bay of the one that's flat, this can also be achieved by filling the elephant with explosives and drop pods, only works occasionally.
• Flipping an Elephant can be accomplished if you put every explosive you have into it in Forge, save it, then use it in regular Multiplayer.
• You can honk the horn by pressing RT. It sounds like the sounds emitted from the war machines seen in the movie, War of the Worlds.
• Vehicles with gravity propulsion drives will levitate above the elephants cargo bay. To do this, you must place said vehicle over the cockpit and slowly drive it towards the cargo bay. It will remain floating as if there's a floor. This is a good way to see the bottom of covenant vehicles with the exception of the chopper.

Images

• H3 Elephant Sharpened2.jpg

  An Elephant being engaged on Sandtrap.

• Elephant Sand.jpg

  An image of the Elephant seen from above.

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  An Elephant as seen in a Japanese magazine

• Elephant.gif

  Elephant from the side

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  A pair of 'barracks' Elephants as they appear in Halo Wars

Related Links

Videos*http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DzsNrfrBvCs

See Also

• Shadow- Covenant equivalent in Halo 2.