Jiralhanae

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The Jiralhanaeare a race of warriors and commanders in the unified conglomerate races of the Covenant. The Humans have termed such warriors Brutes, presumably because of their ferocity in battle. However, the first instance of the name was when Cortana said that it was the term used to refer to them on the Covenant battlenet. Thus, the Covenant who were broadcasting on the battlenet (most probably Elites) also called them Brutes.

Two Brute Captains guarding Installation 05's control room.

The Brutes are the newest race of the Covenant and have high aspirations. They became the Honor Guards of the Prophets after the High Prophet of Regret was slain by the Master Chief, resulting in the removal of the Elites from this traditional role, and protect the Prophets fiercely. They first appeared in the Sacred Icon level, but the only ones seen here are dead bodies. The first level you encounter them alive is Gravemind.

They have thick, gray skin, and are covered with matted, brown or white fur-like hair. They have very sharp teeth and sometimes use them as a weapon. Standing over eight feet tall, they are immensely strong (to the point of overpowering SPARTANs in MJOLNIR armor in hand to hand combat, at least in raw strength) and fight hand-to-hand if they ever lose their weapon. The Brutes, with the exception of Tartarus, do not use energy shielding, as they are strong enough to withstand massive amounts of damage.

They seem to prefer to use a weapon called the Brute Shot that fires high-velocity grenades and has a long blade on the underside of it, which they use for melee attacks in close range. They have their own version of the Plasma Rifle as well. The Brute Plasma Rifle is red (rather than blue), fires red bolts of plasma, and fires at twice the normal rate of fire. All of these advantages are offset by the Brute Plasma Rifles tendency to overheat much faster.

Examples of Brute names are Tartarus and Bracktanus.

The Brutes have a primitive cultural structure, and are split into tribes called "packs", all led by a single "Chieftain". The way a Brute moves up in rank or stature is unknown, but it is probably similar to that of the Elites.

Brutes have a pronounced dislike of the Elites. They believe that they can protect the Prophets better than them, and the Prophet of Truth used this to begin the Covenant Civil War during the events of Halo 2.

Ranks

Known Brute ranks include:

File:Brute captain.jpg

Brute captain with Spiker

• Brute Minors are only seen in Halo 2. They have no armor, wield basic weapons, and are the lowest rank of Brute. After the Brutes became the primary command race of the Covenant, they all started wearing armor, and "naked" brutes in combat will apparently not be seen any longer.

• Brute Regular/Majors are the lowest rank that will be featured in Halo 3. They wear blue armor, and have only been seen to wield Spikers.

• Brute Captains/Ship Masters are signified by the flag mounted on their shoulder, and wield Brute Shots more often than other weapons. In Halo 3, the Brute Captain will wear purple or green armor and wear a more pronounced headdress.

Brute Honor Guard.

• Brute Honor Guards have recently taken the place of the Elites as the protectors of the High Prophets. Since the job was formerly held by Elites, most of the ceremonial combat armor does not fit. Thus, they only wear the helmets, greaves and pauldrons. They wield Honor Guard Pikes in cutscenes, but generally wield Brute Plasma Rifles in actual combat.

• Alpha Jiralhanae/Brute Chieftain Brutes are hightest in the Brute hierarchy. In Halo 2, the Chieftain of the Brutes, Tartarus, was the highest-ranked Brute in the Covenant Army. Since he was killed by the Arbiter, there has not been a Chieftain assigned to his position. In the Halo 3 ViDoc "Et Tu, Brute?", there are more Brute chieftains seen, and they are stated to wear very elaborate gold or red armor, breast-plates, and an even more intricate headdress. They appear to wield gravity hammers of some kind, similar to Tartarus' Fist of Rukt. They have also been seen using the Energy Sword and even the Plasma Cannon.

*It should be noted that the Halo 2 Brutes do not wear color-coded armor. It may be assumed that the Brutes gained the right to wear battle armor when they replaced the Elites, but that they did not have time to 'upgrade' during the events of Halo 2.

Combatting Brutes

File:Brute.JPG

A brute from Halo 3

It has been noted that Brutes always move in groups, and if all but one are killed, the last Brute will drop its weapon and charge for the attacker, attempting to draw near and crush the target in unarmed combat. This tactic is known as "berserking". It has been noted that on Normal, only about 4 or 5 hits from a berserking Brute are necessary to drain shields completely. The Brute's attack speed is nothing to laugh at either. On rare occasions, berserking Brutes have even been known to overpower and kill Hunters.

Brutes have incredible endurance. On Legendary mode, even the weakest of them can take massive amounts of damage.

The Needler is one of the most effective weapons against the Brutes. Fill a Brute with needles until it explodes and that should take out the Brute quickly.

Melee attacking Brutes is incredibly risky, even for skilled players, though strikes from behind is an instant kill.

Another effective weapon for dealing with brutes is the Carbine. One or two headshots are quite useful; the first for dealing with the chrome helmets they are known to wear and the second to deliver the death blow. Even if the Brute is beserking just keep your aim on its head and continue to fire while walking backwards to avoid melee combat.

Using the Brute shot or the Energy Sword is the best way to melee a Brute. Most human weapons are highly effective against them as they do not have shields. They are similar in difficulty as Elites. - Shotguns are very effective against Brutes at point blank. It should take two hits to kill one. It should be noted, however, that combatting a Brute at a close distance is very risky.

The Sniper Rifle and Beam Rifle are effective with headshots; however, unlike an Elite, sniping Brutes on their body is extremely ineffective.

The Battle Rifle is very effective against Brutes if used in a similar manner as the Covenant Carbine. Players will rarely get the chance to try this, however, as High Charity is the only level in which you encounter both. On the last level, only Johnson can take down Tartarus's shield because he's the only one with a Beam Rifle, and you can't trade weapons with him but you can take one beam rifle in the journey before the scarab. It also can take down Tartarus's shield.

A Marine Orbital Drop Shock Trooper engages a Brute.

Best way to fight Tartarus: Take a beam rifle and dual-wield brute plasma rifles. When you want to fight Tartarus, shoot him using the beam rifle on the ledge at the beginning of the battle until you run out of energy. Then, jump down to the main arena. Let Johnson take out the shields and then use the double Brute plasmas. Repeat this and he should fall quickly. There is also a weapons crates at the bottom level. They hold carbines, Brute plasmas and other stuff. Use these weapons to kill him. It is very hard to do this on lengendary as he is almost invincible and he can kill you in one hit.

Weapons Used

• Plasma Rifle
• Brute Plasma Rifle
• Carbine
• Brute Shot
• Battle Rifle (On the level High Charity, when playing on legendary. However, this is quite rare)
• Shotgun
• Plasma Grenade
• Plasma Cannon
• Gravity Hammer (Only wielded by Tartarus, but will return in Halo 3)
• Spiker (Halo 3 only)
• Spike Grenade (Halo 3 only)
• Energy Sword (Halo 3 only)

Trivia

Starry Night depicts Halo 3's Brute variants.

• The word "Jiralhanae" is a Korean swear word meaning something in the league of a "stupid aggressive lunatic". It can also mean phrases like "that's bullshit."

• Brute seem to be carnivorous because there is much diologue about hunting and meat in combat from Brutes.

• In a new documentary by Bungie, ViDoc: Et Tu Brute, Brutes seem to have green blood instead of dark blue. This fluorescent green blood may, however, be a graphics glitch, as dark blue blood can be seen splattering when they are shot.

• In the Vidoc: Et Tu Brute, a Brute minor can be seen firing a brute shot, using the body of a dead comrade as cover.

• Before the Vidoc: Et Tu Brute, leaked details implied that the Brutes would be playable multiplayer or campaign characters. However, this is a only a rumor, and has been debunked by Bungie.

• Brutes are called "Bravo kilos" by Bungie.net's update about the Brute Spiker. A "Bravo kilo sub-chieftain" (probably a Brute Captain) was mentioned in the update about the Mauler.