Ripa 'Moramee

This article is about the Arbiter during the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. For other articles including "Arbiter", see Arbiter (disambiguation).

"Do you enjoy the slaughter?"

— Prophet of Regret

"I feel the joy of doing what I was born to. I have no regrets, save that I will not die fighting."

— Ripa 'Moramee

Ripa 'Moramee was a Sangheili Arbiter and commander of the Covenant Fleet of Glorious Interdiction during the Harvest Campaign and other Outer Colony campaigns until his demise in 2531. After being punished for leading a coup against his clan leadership and failing on Decided Heart, he was given the rank of Arbiter by the Hierarchs, mainly at the urging of the Prophet of Regret.

In his new role, he led the Covenant attack on Harvest and the excavations of a Forerunner artifact on the planet surface. Shortly afterward, he assisted the Prophet of Regret in an attempt to reactivate a dormant Forerunner fleet on a Forerunner Shield World, for which purpose he kidnapped the human scientist Ellen Anders on Arcadia. This led to a series of violent engagements against forces led by Captain Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire, and the eventual death of 'Moramee at the hands of Sergeant Forge during the Covenant assault on SPARTAN Red Team, who were attempting to destroy the artificial planet with the Spirit of Fire's removed FTL reactor.

Biography

Early career

"I live only to serve the Holy One. What task awaits your Arbiter?"

— Ripa 'Moramee to the Prophet of Regret

Before his role as an Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee served under the Ministry of Preservation, quelling internal dissent within the Covenant. One of his many missions was the suppression of the Sixteenth Unggoy Disobedience and ending the heretical reign of a Kig-Yar "pirate prince", Krith. Later, he attempted a coup within his clan on Decided Heart; the coup failed, and he was imprisoned in the Weeping Shadows of Sorrow penitentiary, for both his insubordination and failure. 'Moramee would have died in the prison had it not been for the intervention of the the Hierarchs - specifically the Prophet of Regret - who appointed him as the Arbiter, and tasked him with conducting the war of extermination against humanity and uncovering Forerunner artifacts as the commander of a military force under Regret's personal supervision.

It was a decision that led to concerned mumblings amongst the Prophets' Honor Guards, who had no prior knowledge of this plan. He was not selected just for his combat record alone; the Covenant leaders believed that he, as the new Arbiter, would not ask politically inconvenient questions (an important factor given the secret status of humanity as Forerunner-designated Reclaimers). The creation of a new Arbiter caused a split in the Covenant: an ever-growing faction of Sangheili, who were opposed to the new Prophets, seized control of several Forerunner relics, including one that supposedly contained a "key" of some sort. The Arbiter was sent by the Hierarchs to end this rebellion, resulting in a vicious battle that raged for days which ended with the destruction of many heretics. The mysterious key, however, was never found.

Harvest

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Ripa 'Moramee and Re'gish Wamik uncover the Forerunner structure on Harvest.

"I care not for your little life! Open the relic!"

— Ripa 'Moramee overruling Field Master Re'gish Wamik's objections to entering the Forerunner artifact on Harvest.

'Moramee was present at the Harvest Campaign in 2531. The UNSC was aware of his presence but was unable to gather more than cursory intelligence on him. Ripa 'Moramee oversaw the excavation of a Forerunner site in the planet's northern polar region. The installation's entrance was uncovered by Field Master Re'gish Wamik, and the area was quickly investigated by Covenant forces.

Despite concerns by Field Master Wamik that the humans would "defile" the installation, 'Moramee pressed on due to the impatience and pressure of the Hierarchs. With the UNSC closing in, the Prophet of Regret ordered him to destroy the installation and return to the Covenant with the information he had gathered. Ripa 'Moramee was reluctant to destroy the Forerunner construction but complied nonetheless upon the continued insistence of the Prophet. The attempt to destroy the relic failed when the demolition teams were thwarted by UNSC ground forces deployed from the orbiting Spirit of Fire.

The Shield World

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The Arbiter discusses plans with the Prophet of Regret on Shield 0459.

"The Ancients have granted us the power to doom your race. Let the deconstruction of our great gifts begin! The majesty of our new fleet will be unparalleled!"

— Ripa 'Moramee preaching to his brethren upon the activation of the dormant Forerunner fleet on the Shield World

The information from the Forerunner structure on Harvest led the Covenant to Arcadia, where a collection of Forerunner ruins was discovered. These ruins, in turn, revealed the location of a Forerunner Shield World, which 'Moramee and the Prophet of Regret immediately travelled to.

Ripa 'Moramee was involved in a Covenant attempt to activate a dormant fleet of Forerunner ships from the Shield World. However, 'Moramee was concerned about why he was not fulfilling his task of destroying humanity, when he should command all their forces for a frontal assault; Regret stated that they need the Forerunner ships to increase the size of their fleets, so that the Covenant won't have to dedicate all their forces for the war effort and thus leave themselves defenseless. After Covenant attempts to interface with the Forerunner technology failed, 'Moramee was sent on a mission to capture Ellen Anders after the Battle of Arcadia by the Prophet of Regret, as it was believed she would have information and knowledge of how to interface with Forerunner structures that the Covenant did not. The Arbiter successfully captured her despite Sergeant John Forge's intervention and escaped in a Spirit to an awaiting ship.

The UNSC Spirit of Fire pursued them through Slipspace, deeming Anders's capture to be a "significant security breach." 'Moramee reached the Shield World first, brought Anders to the the Apex site, and forced her to interface with the Forerunner controls and begin activating the Forerunner fleet. Soon afterward the UNSC Spirit of Fire arrived on station over the artificial planet surface and began to organize a rescue mission.

Death

Main article: Battle of Shield 0459

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The Arbiter meets his fate at the hands of Sgt. Forge after the battle for control of the Apex.

"My face will be the last thing your pathetic eyes ever see."

— 'Moramee gloating over Sgt. Forge, moments before his demise

Anders managed to escape from 'Moramee through the Apex's teleportation system and alerted the UNSC of the Covenant's intentions. Sergeant Forge and Spartan Red Team were quickly dispatched to Apex site with orders to destroy the Shield World using the Spirit of Fire's removed Shaw-Fujikawa drive by causing its core to overheat, thereby causing the Shield World's internal sun to go supernova. An engagement ensued in which Red Team held off the Sangheili Honor Guard assault and Forge engaged 'Moramee, who had used his cloak to ambush and kill the Marine officer in charge of opening the Apex's entrance.

In the beginning, Forge managed to disarm his opponent despite the physical disparity between himself and the Arbiter, relying on combat skill rather than raw strength. However, 'Moramee quickly fought off Forge and incapacitated him with a punch to the stomach. The Arbiter then proceeded to taunt and injure him by throwing him around. Feigning defeat, Forge challenged 'Moramee to look him in the eye before killing him. The Arbiter complied and lifted the sergeant by his neck while unwittingly bringing his own neck within the reach of his opponent. Forge drove his combat knife, "Lucy", into his adversary's neck, then used the incapacitated Arbiter's dropped Energy Sword to stab him through the chest. Ripa 'Moramee's corpse was rolled off the platform by Alice-130 of Red Team shortly before the translight engine overheated and destroyed the Shield World.

Personality and traits

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The Arbiter's capture of Ellen Anders on Arcadia.

"Like the rest of your race, weak and undisciplined."

— 'Moramee taunting Sgt. Forge during the battle for the Apex.

Ripa 'Moramee was a brutal and ruthless commander. Despite being a Sangheili, he showed an uncharacteristic disregard for Sangheili traditional values such as honor and arrogantly underestimated his foes, ignoring the advice of his subordinates. He is also extremely tall and muscular compared to most Sangheili. He has proved himself to be fanatically loyal to the Hierarchs, especially the Prophet of Regret, and carried out his task to eradicate humanity with fervent zeal and efficiency as a means to secure his place in the Great Journey.

He was also unusually violent and quick to anger. Prior to his service as the Arbiter, during Regret's visit to Ripa in his prison, he thought of how easy it would be to kill "the noisemaker." When his orders to open the Forerunner relic on Harvest were questioned by Re'gish Wamik, he verbally lashed out at his subordinate, telling him "I care not for your little life!" During a visit to the Apex, Regret pondered on how to open the Apex. Ripa's response was that he would "Take what we have!" in regards to the Covenant fleet; during this outburst, he made the considerably foolish decision of activating his Energy Swords in the presence of the Prophet of Regret, with no intention of using it before putting it away. This is a blatant disregard of both Covenant laws (drawing a weapon in the presence of a Hierarch) and traditional Sangheili customs (a drawn weapon is said to "demand blood" before it can be stowed again, although this could be because he was demanding the blood of humanity). His status as Arbiter most likely kept the Honor Guard present from killing him on the spot. While at the Apex during an attempted interrogation of Ellen Anders, he struck a Zealot - throwing him to the ground and presumably knocking him unconscious - upon being informed that the Spirit of Fire had followed them to the Shield World. This is clearly unacceptable behavior, as the Elite who was knocked down not only did nothing wrong, but also held a very high rank.

The Arbiter also showed a particular fondness for grabbing humans by the neck, as seen several times in his interactions with Ellen Anders and John Forge, at one point lifting and dragging Anders by the throat despite orders to capture her unharmed. This is probably an expression of his cruel and dominating behavior, as it is likely that 'Moramee would take pleasure in demonstrating his physical superiority over the humans. This would eventually prove to be his downfall in his final battle with Forge, during which he chose to taunt and humiliate his opponent while he could easily have killed the human after he gained the upper hand.

In-game information

Abilities

• "Defiant Rage": receive additional health for casualties inflicted.
• "Spiteful Rage": abilities cost less resources.
• "Blinding Rage": increases the Arbiter's and nearby allied units' attack power.
• Additionally, the Arbiter can also summon Suicide Grunts at the Command Center.

Upgrades

• "Fiendish Return": allows the Arbiter to reflect attacks back at the enemy.
• "Vicious Blades": increases damage inflicted by the Arbiter.
• "Ghastly Vision": increases Fiendish Return reflection and equips the Arbiter with active camouflage.

Leader ability - rage mode

When activated, the camera locks onto the Arbiter, whom you control with the left thumbstick and attack with the right. It will use up resources every second it is in use and can be upgraded in the Temple. Rage Mode allows the Arbiter to single out enemy units, lunge at them, and deal damage on them.

A fully upgraded Rage increases your units' damage while the Rage is still active. This also effects other allies, including allied UNSC units, boosting their damage.

Trivia

• Ripa 'Moramee is the primary antagonist of Halo Wars. He is the second Arbiter to appear as a character in the universe, with the first being Thel 'Vadam. His lines were performed by Canadian voice actor David Sobolov, while the character was digitally animated for cutscenes by the California-based animation studio Blur Studios.
• Early renders of 'Moramee depict his Arbiter armor with various additions to the Halo 3 Arbiter armor, including a mouth guard and spiked wrist guards. These were removed in later versions, probably because they were radically different from the standard Arbiter armor.
• It appears as though 'Moramee's Energy Swords may be integrated into his armor. If one looks carefully enough, the hilts of his swords can be seen flipping out from their concealed position on the Elite's wrists upon activation. This would explain his ability to draw his blades so quickly, and the reason he appears to possess no visible weapons when not in battle.
• An Easter Egg in the hint text from Halo Wars claims "Few people know that the Arbiter's given birth name is Shirley," referring to his line from the first level in response the Regret's command to destroy the relic on Harvest: "Surely you jest!" This refers to a running gag in the Naked Gun series which also appears in the movie Airplane!: "Surely you can't be serious!?" "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley!"
• Ripa is known to toy with his enemies, fighting more to cause pain than to kill. When he fights Sergeant Forge, he takes the time to taunt the human at several points, which included insulting the rest of the human species at the same time. Considering his strength, he also could have easily killed Forge outright with the punch to his stomach or at least follow with a killing blow, but instead opted to hold back so as to make Forge suffer for his last few moments.
• At 8'1", 'Moramee is among the largest Sangheili in the series; only Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, at over 11'6", is known to be larger. In addition, it has been hinted by Eric Nylund in several interviews that Wattinree's height is due not only to the ceremonial headdress he wears, but also to special elevated boots he secretly wears, similar to platform shoes. It is thus possible that 'Moramee may be even larger than Wattinree.

Gallery

• Arbiter-leader.jpg

  Early concept art of Ripa 'Moramee.

• HaloWars-ArbiterRipaMoramee.png

  Face-on view of Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee in Halo Wars.

• 0Cov Arbiter Render v2 3.jpg

  Arbiter armor study for Ripa 'Moramee, based on early concept art.

• Cov arbiter render v6 3.jpg

  A side preview of Ripa 'Moramee.

• 787625243 5 PsOd.jpg

  A front preview of Ripa 'Moramee.

• IMG 0007.jpg

  Front of Arbiter's Leader Card.

• IMG 0008.jpg

  Back of Arbiter's Leader Card.

• Arbiter Closeup Apex.png

  Ripa 'Moramee at the Apex.

• The Arbiter - Halo Wars.png

  Ripa 'Moramee at the Forerunner relic on Harvest.

• HalowarsBoardingAction.jpg

  The Arbiter in-game seen dual wielding two Energy Swords, in "Rage" mode.

• Halo8 hwarbiter photo 01 dp.jpg

  An action figure of Ripa Moramee released by McFarlane Toys.

• 0halo-wars-arbiter-mcfarlane-toy.jpg

  Another figure of Ripa 'Moramee by Mcfarlane Toys.

• 0hw-prima-blog-03-01.jpg

  Ripa 'Moramee facing John Forge

List of appearances

• Halo Wars (First appearance)
• Halo Wars: Genesis