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| {{Ratings}}
| | SHE HAS BIG BOOBS, ALMOST AS BIG AS MY DICK |
| {{Era|H1|H2|H3|FOR|TF|FS|GOO}}
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| {{AI Infobox
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| |name=Cortana
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| |image=[[Image:Cortana Halo 3.jpg|200 px]]
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| |began=Before [[2550]]
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| |gender=Female
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| |description=Tall and slender with short-cut hair in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', then long hair in ''[[Halo 2]]'' and ''[[Halo 3]]''
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| |colour=*Normal: Blue/Purple, Green while inside Alpha Halo's central computer
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| *Angry: Pink/Green<ref>''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', page 255</ref>
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| *Flattered: Pink
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| |affiliation=[[United Nations Space Command]]
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| |function=Software Infiltration, Capture of a [[Covenant]] Prophet, Assisting the Spartans
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| |battles=*[[Battle of Reach]]
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| *[[Battle of Installation 04]]
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| *[[Raid of Reach|Second Battle of Reach]]
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| *[[Massacre at Eridanus Secundus|Battle of Eridanus Secundus]]
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| *[[Battle of Installation 05]]
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| *[[First Battle of Earth]]
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| *[[Battle of Installation 00|Destruction of Installation 04 (II)]]
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| }}
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| <center>''Looking for [[Cortana (Level)|Cortana]], the level?''</center>
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| {{Article Quote|"I'm not a thief... but I keep what I steal."}}
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| '''Cortana''', [[UNSC]] [[AI]] serial number CTN 0452-9, is an [[Artificial Intelligence]] construct. She is a "smart" [[A.I.]] (meaning she could perform varying missions and options and can learn new material without having to free up space in her memory), capable of performing processes at blinding speeds. She can calculate up to one trillion computations, as well as possessing a personality similar to that of a [[human]]. She was one of the most important figures in the [[Human-Covenant War]], and served as [[John-117|John-117's]] partner in various combat missions, as well as serving as the AI for the [[United Nations Space Command]] {{Class|Halcyon|Cruiser}} ''[[Pillar of Autumn]]'' and the [[Orbital Defense Platform]] ''[[Cairo Station]].'' In addition, she held vital data pertaining to the Halos, such as the Index from [[Alpha Halo]].
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| ==Biography==
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| ===Creation===
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| Cortana was created using a [[Flash clone|flash cloned]] brain of [[Dr. Catherine Halsey]], the [[Spartans|SPARTAN project]] creator. Twenty of the [[Flash clone|flash cloned]] brains were created, but only one survived, which was used to create Cortana. She is one of only two [[AI]] to be created from Dr. Halsey's brain, the other being her predecessor, [[Kalmiya]] (also a smart AI). Cortana seems to share her creator's memories, thoughts and even values. An example being that when she was asked by [[Dr. Catherine Halsey]] to pick a 'carrier', Cortana had chosen [[John-117]] for their neural patterns compatibility and, with [[Dr. Halsey]] agreeing. She is modelled after [[Dr. Halsey]] when younger. Being a smart A.I., however, her operational life span is approximately [[7]] years. She is not only a facsimile and dubious dummy of [[Dr. Halsey]]'s brain but also her physical form, at a younger age.
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| ===Fateful Meeting===
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| Cortana first met the [[Master Chief]] prior to the [[Battle of Reach]], where she was integrated into his new Mark V [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor|MJOLNIR armor]]. Together, Cortana and the [[Chief]] passed a test that was devised by [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]]. The test included [[LOTUS Anti-Tank Mine|mines]], armed [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|ODST]]s, automatic turrets, and even an air strike. After the test, Cortana was installed into the ''[[Pillar of Autumn]]'' for the mission she was created for.
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| Cortana's primary mission was to aid the [[Spartans]] in the infiltration of a [[Covenant]] vessel and the capturing of a [[Covenant]] [[Prophet]]. The UNSC would then try to bargain with the Covenant for a peace treaty. She had a chance to pick which [[Spartan]] she would partner up with and assist. The [[SPARTAN II|Spartan]] she picked was [[John-117]] because of his "luck".<ref> ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', page 237</ref> It should also be noted that she could have picked [[John-117]] because [[Dr. Catherine Halsey]] had always favoured [[MC|John]]. <ref>''[[Halo 3]] Cutscene "[[Arrival]]"''</ref> In fact, since Cortana thought John "handsome in a primitive, animal sort of way", it is probably what Halsey reflected, as Cortana was simply Halsey's clone.
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| ===Discovery===
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| When the operation was cancelled due to the surprise assault on [[Reach]], she and her new partner, [[John-117]], were left to flee the burning planet to a randomised set of coordinates per the [[Cole Protocol]]. John-117 thought the coordinates were strangely familiar; Cortana scanned them and found out that the coordinates matched the symbols on a rock found on [[Sigma Octanus IV]] and the [[Covenant]] ship [[John-117]] had boarded in [[2525]]. After emerging out of slipspace, they discovered a ring shaped world that was promptly named "[[Installation 04|Halo]]". However, [[Covenant]] ships followed, and began an assault. Controlling the ''[[Pillar of Autumn]]'''s defences, Cortana destroyed four [[Covenant]] targets over [[Installation 04]] before the ship's weapons were disabled. Under the [[Cole Protocol]], [[Captain Jacob Keyes]], the ship's commanding officer, prepared to abandon ship. Since the protocol forbids the capture or destruction of any A.I. construct, the Master Chief was charged with protecting Cortana from the Covenant. When the Master Chief arrived on [[Installation 04|Halo]], Cortana helms the communications channels and helped to direct [[Foehammer]], a dropship pilot, to [[human]] survivors scattered across the ring and assisted the Master Chief in the rescue of Captain Keyes from the Covenant ship ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]''.
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| The [[Master Chief]] and Cortana then located Halo's [[Control Room]] by using the [[Silent Cartographer]]. Upon arriving at Halo's [[Control Room]], Cortana was inserted into Halo's core computer and looked for a way to activate Halo to use it as a weapon against the Covenant, but became visibly agitated and sent the [[Master Chief]] to find [[Jacob Keyes|Captain Keyes]]. Cortana stayed in Halo's computer core as the [[Master Chief]] encountered the parasitic [[Flood]] and was conscripted by the [[Forerunner]] construct [[343 Guilty Spark]] to activate Halo's defenses.
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| [[343 Guilty Spark]] then teleported the [[Master Chief]] to the [[Library]], where the he battled more of the [[Flood]] with help from 343 Guilty Spark's [[Sentinel]]s. They then retrieved the [[Activation Index]], the key to activating Halo, and returned to the [[Control Room]]. Intent on using the Index, the key to Halo, to eliminate the [[Flood]], the [[Master Chief]] inserted the [[index]] into the control panel where he was stopped by Cortana who revealed the truth that she had learned: The Halos do not kill Flood, but their food. If Halo was activated, all sentient life in the galaxy would be annihilated. She took the Index and thus became a target for [[343 Guilty Spark]]. Having captured the Index, Cortana and the [[Master Chief]] planned to destroy Halo. They succeeded after Cortana helped the [[Chief]] detonate the ''[[Pillar of Autumn|Autumn's]]'' fusion reactors, causing an explosion powerful enough to destabilize the ringworld. The two escaped in a [[Longsword]] Fighter and witnessed the ring's destruction.
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| ===Dust and Echoes===
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| After the destruction of Halo, Cortana and the [[Master Chief]], seemingly the sole survivors of the tragic events on the ringworld, discovered a small number of other [[UNSC]] personnel that had escaped the ring in a [[Pelican]] dropship. In order to perform any space travel the Master Chief along with Cortana and the four man crew of the [[Pelican]] fought their way onto a Covenant flagship ''[[Ascendant Justice]]''. Shortly afterwards Cortana took control of the damaged Covenant flagship, and returned the survivors to [[Reach]] and fought the [[Raid of Reach|Second Battle of Reach]], rescuing survivors from the [[glassing]] of the planet. Ascendant Justice was effectively fused with the UNSC ''[[Gettysburg]]'', and she later returned to [[Earth]] with the remaining survivors after destroying the Covenant space station ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'' that threatened Earth. (This is also the first time Cortana encountered the [[Jiralhanae|Brute]] species.) Previously, Cortana had captured a [[Covenant]] [[Associated Intelligence]] present in the ''Ascendant Justice'''s computer; it contained a software-replication program. In this instance, Cortana gained the ability to create imperfect clones of her program. The [[Master Chief]] and [[Spartan Blue Team]] brought one of these clones to ''Unyielding Hierophant''. This clone then re-cloned itself hundreds of times making matters a little difficult. However the clone managed to secure Spartan Blue Team a safe way out of the space station.
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| ===First Battle of Earth===
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| Returning to [[Earth]], Cortana served on the [[Earth]] defence platform [[Cairo]] during the awards ceremony for the survivors of the first Halo installation. When a Covenant Fleet under the command of the [[High Prophet of Regret]] arrived, Cortana took control of the Cairo's [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]] (or MAC) to repel the invaders, and with the [[Master Chief]]'s help successfully deactivated a bomb that would have destroyed the station. The same bomb was used by Spartan-117 to destroy a Covenant [[Assault Carrier]].
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| ===Delta Halo===
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| Later, after escaping on-board the ''[[UNSC In Amber Clad|In Amber Clad]]'' in a slipspace event, they discovered another ringworld, [[Delta Halo]]. Cortana gave [[Commander]] [[Miranda Keyes]] access to all information on the original [[Installation 04|Halo]] ring, and provided intelligence to the Chief, UNSC Marines and the ODST's on the surface of the ring.
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| After the Master Chief assassinated the Prophet of Regret on [[Delta Halo]], he along with Cortana were captured by the [[Flood]] leader, the [[Gravemind]]. However, the [[Gravemind]] did not harm them, instead it wanted the Master Chief and Cortana to stop the [[Prophet of Truth]] from firing the ring. The [[Gravemind]] sent the Master Chief and Cortana to the Covenant holy city of ''[[High Charity]]'', Cortana infiltrated the city's computer systems and remained there while the Master Chief followed the Prophet of Truth. She promised to detonate the crashed ''In Amber Clad'''s reactors to destroy the city and Halo if the ring was activated. However, she was left behind as a fail safe because she did not want to chance a remote detonation. As Truth boarded the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] in the heart of the city to reach the [[Installation 00|Ark]], Cortana fought with the ancient Forerunner A.I. [[Mendicant Bias]] to prevent the ship from launching without the Chief. The firing of [[Halo]] was averted by Keyes, the [[Arbiter (character)|Arbiter]], and [[Sergeant Major]] [[Avery Johnson]], while the Chief successfully boarded the [[Dreadnought]] and escaped ''High Charity'', leaving Cortana in the clutches of the ally turned enemy, the Gravemind, who had, by then, overrun ''[[High Charity]]'', by choice.
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| ===Captured===
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| Cortana managed to send a message to the [[Master Chief]] on [[Earth]], through a [[Flood]]-infected ship. In her message, she stated that the Gravemind was approaching Earth in ''High Charity'' but was unaware of the [[portal]] opened by a Forerunner artefact on Earth. Cortana continued to appear to the Chief, who successfully recovered her from the Flood hive that was ''High Charity''. Surprised that the Chief had against all odds rescued her (as he promised after the [[First Battle of High Charity]]), Cortana produced the Index from Installation 04, which she had kept as a souvenir. With it, Cortana was able to activate the newly constructed ringworld. The new [[Installation 04]], was fired prematurely and destroyed itself, and [[The Ark]].
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| While the Flood were destroyed as planned, the slipspace portal collapsed as the Master Chief, the Arbiter and Cortana attempted to escape through it, cutting the ''[[UNSC Forward Unto Dawn]]'' in half. While the Arbiter (who was on the bridge) escaped to Earth through the portal, the Chief and Cortana (who were in the hangar) were left drifting in space. Cortana activated a distress beacon, but knew that it could be years before they were found. As the Master Chief prepared to go into a cryogenic sleep to await rescue, Cortana confided to him that she would miss him. He replied to wake him when she needed him. After, Cortana was going to say him something else, but the state of cryogenic sleep had already been activated.
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| ==Personality==
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| Cortana has a witty personality and a small sense of humour laced with some gentle sarcasm. She has neither arrogance nor false modesty about her immense capabilities, and her statements about her abilities have an objective perspective that human beings typically cannot achieve, but she does get bored often and easily. In fact it is said that seven seconds of inactivity for an A.I. is excruciating. She has genuine, not merely programmed, loyalty to humanity and the UNSC, but exhibits devotion to John-117 beyond that which her programming or mission requires.
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| Her personal loyalty is regarded as unwavering, but as an AI construct she is subject to corruption. [[Lord Hood]] questioned her reliability when it became clear that she had been compromised in some way by the Gravemind's possession of ''High Charity'', on which she was trapped. John-117, however, never questioned her integrity. Cortana did consent to answer some of the Flood's questions, as a strategy for survival and the possibility of gaining information for the UNSC. Her sanity is pushed to the brink as she eludes the Gravemind's attempts to capture and dissect her for information. Before she reunites with John-117 in [[Halo 3]], she sends him a message, telling him about The Ark and warning him of Flood-infested ''High Charity'''s approach to Earth. She is furthermore instrumental in finally putting a stop to the Flood at the end of the game.
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| Cortana is also very aware of her short [[rampancy|lifespan]] and her derivative nature as a copy of part of another person, rather than a true human being. Desperate and tortured aboard ''High Charity'' she murmurs: "A collection of lies; that's all I am! Stolen thoughts and memories!" Later on she says: "I'm just my mother's shadow..." and "It was the coin's fault," referring to the game of chance that Dr. Halsey played with the young John.
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| She frequently jokes about having a relationship with the Master Chief and it is often implied that the two characters have developed some form of attachment. In ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', she says to Dr. Halsey that the Master Chief is 'attractive in a primitive animal sort of way' while examining a photo of him.
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| ==Appearance==
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| As Cortana is an [[AI]], she has no physical body. She can communicate through comm systems and project a holographic image of herself from appropriate projectors, such as [[Holotank|Holotanks]]. Her chosen avatar appears to be a half-naked, about in her early twenty's, female [[human]] with purplish/bluish skin, short, red, hair and blue to green symbols scrolling down her body. In cases of being in a different emotional state, Cortana usually changes colours. This was especially noticeable in ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', but less so in ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3''. Only in specific instances did she produce the colour changing effect. One instance of Cortana moment occurred right before the Master Chief rescued her at the end of her eponymous [[Cortana (level)|level]]. In ''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]'', Cortana is said to resemble her creator, [[Dr. Catherine Halsey]] as a teenager, with a similar attitude "only unchecked by military and social protocol."
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| [[Bungie]] took a fair of amount of artistic freedom in the evolution of her appearance throughout the [[Halo Series|Halo trilogy]], noticeably from ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' to ''[[Halo 2]]''; she has longer hair, a more realistic figure, making her more human, a much more feminine figure and a slightly different shade of purple. In ''[[Halo 3]]'', she becomes slightly bluer again and her face, hair, and body become more womanly and realistic.
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| ==Abilities==
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| Cortana was designed to infiltrate computer systems and she is excellent at that task. She has become so intelligent that she understands [[Covenant]] technology more than its makers. So far, she has not encountered a security program she was not able to defeat, as she says in Halo 2 while inside High Charity's computer system, "You wouldn't believe the number of kill systems the Covenant are throwing down around me. It's pretty sloppy stuff, though. I guess they never expected a hostile intelligence to penetrate their system from the inside.". In addition, she is proficient with [[UNSC]] military hardware and can run military ships or stations by herself. Indeed, the [[UNSC]]'s primary use of [[AIs]] is to oversee targeting of point-defense weaponry used in space battles. For Cortana, this is merely an additional capability. She helped out in several major battles including Operation First Strike. She is capable of
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| storing such large amounts of data with the many lines of code streaming through her holographic form. Even when she is in the [[Data Crystal Chip]] microscopic lines of code are running through the holographic "filling".
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| Cortana can be transferred among various computer systems. In ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' she needed a [[Data Crystal Chip]] to move in and out of various networks, including the [[Master Chief]]'s [[MJOLNIR]] armor.<ref>''[[Halo: The Flood]]'', page 26</ref> In ''[[Halo 2]]'', she merely needs to be touching another system to access it; however, this is most likely a product of the [[Master Chief]]'s upgraded armor. Quite strangely, in ''[[Halo 3]]'', she reverted to the data chip, this was probably because the [[Master Chief]]'s armor was badly damaged during the fall to [[Earth]] and reverted to a back up system, this is also why the shield is different. However, there are some differences. Instead of having to be physically "plugged in" to the [[holography|hologram projector]], the Chief just holds the chip close to it and she "walks" off and she "touches" the chip to return, holographic representations of the data transfer.
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| Also Cortana seems to have an ability exclusive to herself and [[343 Guilty Spark]] (she may have gained it while in Halo's core.). This ability is being able to hold actual solid objects (such as the [[Index]]) even though she is a merely a holographic form that should logistically not be able to hold solid objects. Although this may be possible if Cortana's image is displayed with light similar to Light Bridges.
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| ==Gallery==
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| <gallery>
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| Image:Cortanamain.jpg|Cortana in The Pillar of Autumn
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| Image:Cortanachief.jpg|From the [[Halo Graphic Novel]] Gallery
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| Image:Cortana2.jpg|Cortana infiltrating [[High Charity]]
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| Image:Cortanam.jpg|A Cortana [[moments|Moment]]
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| Image:Cortanam2.jpg|Another Cortana moment, her green color may mean she is going [[rampant]]
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| Image:cortana_pain.png|Cortana in pain during her message to the [[Master Chief]]
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| Image:1213900536 Cotana-halo.png|Cortana on [[High Charity]]
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| </gallery>
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| ==Trivia==
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| *Since the first Halo game Cortana's color changes. In Halo: CE, she was a purple color, Halo 2 a light blue and Halo 3 a darker shade of blue.
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| *Cortana is voiced by [[Jen Taylor]], the same actress that voiced Princess Peach in the Mario games.
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| *In ''[[Halo 3]]'', look for one of the [[UNSC]] mobile computers. Watch the lower-left monitor. After a few seconds, Cortana's face will appear for an instant and then disappear. Two of the easiest ways to see this is to either look at the aforementioned screen in the beginning of [[Crow's Nest (Level)|Crow's Nest]], or at one of the computers in the multiplayer map [[High Ground]].
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| *There was an alternate story in [[Halo: Combat Evolved]] in which when [[Master Chief]] rediscovered Cortana inside the control room, she had become mad with power and wanted to take over [[Halo]] and the universe.<ref>Revealed by [[Jason Jones]] on the [[Halo 3 Legendary Edition]] bonus disk</ref>
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| *Originally, Cortana was supposed to have a British accent.<ref>Revealed by [[Jason Jones]] on the [[Halo 3 Legendary Edition]] bonus disk</ref>
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| *She was rated as one of the ten most disturbingly sexual game characters by Games.net and one of the fifty greatest female video game characters ever by Tom's Games.
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| *Cortana's hair, body and face get more realistic as each new Halo game gets updated.
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| *In ''Halo 3'', she repeated lines [[Dr. Halsey]] has said before such as "You will be the protector of Earth and all her colonies." which Dr. Halsey says to the 6 year old Spartans in ''[[Halo: The Fall Of Reach]]''. Cortana also recites a few lines from the [[Cortana Letters]] in ''[[Halo 3]]'' in some of her messages and in the announcement trailer. Some of the lines are said in the Cortana moments in the [[Cortana Level]].
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| *Cortana is cloned from [[Dr. Halsey]]'s brain and Halsey was very close and attached to [[Master Chief]], which is a possiblity why Cortana is also very attached to [[Master Chief]] and it is possible her face is most likely similar to or the same as Dr. Halsey's.
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| *In ''Halo 2'', through modding, it can be found she has animations for some guns, although they are very simplistic variations of her standard pose.
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| *Cortana has been through [[7]] Notable Battles, again referring back to Bungie's love of the number.
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| *In [[Halo 2]] and [[Halo 3]], Cortana and [[Miranda Keyes]] have a similar hairstyle, a shoulder length crop.
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| *"Smart" A.I. such as Cortana live for up to 7 years, another Bungie [[7]] reference.
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| *It was noted by [[Dr. Catherine Halsey]] In the novel [[Halo: The Fall of Reach]] that at a certain angle, you can almost see a skeletal structure in Cortana.
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| *Cortana's quote "I keep what I steal," is possibly referring to the [[Index]] that she keeps through the entire Halo series.
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| *In Halo: Combat Evolved, Cortana has a different color scheme of green and yellow to red and blue.
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| *Cortana resembles Jane in the Enders Game book series.
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| *In Halo 2, even though she's only a program, when she shows up (i.e. the Level Gravemind on the holopanels), if you shoot her, the shots will not go through her; rather, they will disintegrate upon hitting her.
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| *Cortana has many similarities to the Marathon games' AI, Leela, such as control over certain functions of ships and other locations if in their computer systems.
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| ==External Links==
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| *[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/cortana.html The Cortana Letters]
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| *[http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/lukemckay/thumbs/cortana.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/artoflukemckay.html&h=113&w=150&sz=5&hl=en&start=19&um=1&tbnid=HuxD_tsyEQqWKM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCortana%2BFan%2BArt%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DHPIC,HPIC:2006-10,HPIC:en%26sa%3DN Cortana and other Halo related fan art]
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| ==References==
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| <references/>
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| {{UNSC AI}}
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| [[Category:UNSC]]
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| [[Category:A.I.]]
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| [[Category:Halo 3]]
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| [[ja:Cortana]]
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