Yar

Chur'R-Yar was the Kig-yar Shipmistress of the Covenant missionary vessel Minor Transgression, and as such is unique in being one of the very few female Covenant characters mentioned in the Halo Universe so far, she is also the only known Ship Master that is not a Sangheili or Jiralhanae. Commanding her ship on the very fringes of Covenant territory, she ordered the raid of two Human freighters before, with the aid of the Deacon Dadab, locating a planet with supposed Forerunner relics. Intending to steal a number of these relics for herself before she could report it to the Covenant, betraying the Deacon as well, she was shot by Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson after the Minor Transgression boarded a third freighter, bait for a trap laid by the UNSC. Before dying, she detonated her own ship in an unsuccessful, suicidal attempt to kill her attacker.

Chur'R-Yar's ancestors were pirates, sailing the oceans of the Kig-Yar homeworld Eayn, battling rival clans and claiming slaves and territory. In this regard, she hoped to mimic them, with space serving as the new ocean. She also hoped to retire with the profit from the stolen relics and raise a family of young Kig-yar. She was killed before she could reach her aspirations.

Trivia

• Chur'R-Yar, is a prominent character, as she is the first female Covenant character ever mentioned in the Halo Universe; however, she is not the only female Covenant character as the Prophetess of Obligation is clearly another female Covenant character.
• Chur'R-Yar motives for taking a share of the apparent relics is because she wants her ship to be out of commission for the whole Kig-Yar mating season.
• Apparently Chur'R-Yar, had chosen the Jackal Zealot Zhar as her mate, based around his physical traits and long, angular spikes no other male has.
• It's possible that the "Chur 'R" is a word which shows that the Kig-Yar is a Shipmasters, considering the fact that the only Jackals having it are Shipmistresses (Chur 'R-Mut), and the fact that Jackals' names are always monosyllabic.