Keepsake

"It's just... It's sorta like a charm..."

— Parisa

A keepsake in remembrance of Cortana.

A keepsake, memento, or souvenir is a unique item that a person holds to be of special importance, reminding them of a person, place, or event. They range from photographs, toys, trinkets, and other memorabilia. Many are kept out of memory of the person who gave it or originally owned it. Being personal objects, they are mostly unrecognizable to outsiders. Within the UNSC Armed Forces, soldiers often pass along their dog tags as keepsakes for their comrades to remember them by. Although generally considered an unseemly act, and in the case of the United Nations Space Command, against protocol, some Covenant and human soldiers were known to keep souvenirs from fallen enemies as war trophies.

List of keepsakes

Individual	Items	Importance	Image
Catherine Halsey	Dr. Halsey's personal journal	Halsey bought her journal when she was eighteen and used it to record her life for the next 42 years. Inside she wrote personal thoughts, scientific diagrams, potential theories, and sketches of people and places significant to her life.
Cortana	Installation 04's Activation Index	Cortana took the Activation Index from its owner 343 Guilty Spark so that he could not use it to fire the Halo ring. The Index's contents put a heavy toll on her memory, due to containing a hundred millennia's worth of biological and technological data recorded on the ring, but came to help as a means to activate Alpha Halo's replacement.
Daisy-023	Teddy Bear keychain	Daisy once possessed a small teddy bear on a chain which she lost the day she was abducted into the Spartan-II program. Years later, her own flash clone gave one to her. Daisy kept it with her to the day she was killed in action.
Dimah Tchakova	A stuffed toy	Dimah would occasionally comfort herself with a plush toy that she had taken with her to Corbulo Academy.
Emile-A239	Stolen Covenant contraband	Spartan Emile possessed an "impressive" collection of souvenirs taken from Covenant he had killed. This was in direct violation of Subsection Seven of the Cole Protocol, which stated all Covenant items should be scanned for tracking devices before being brought into human territory. However his superiors ignored this, due to being part of the Army instead of Navy.
Frank Kodiak	Type-1 energy sword	During the Covenant war, Frank Kodiak obtained an energy sword from a Sangheili warrior he had killed. Years later, he used the sword in a duel against N'tho 'Sraom, the Sangheili responsible for severing his right arm.	(A standard Covenant energy sword)
Gabriel Thorne	Paul DeMarco's / Gek 'Lhar's Energy Sword Grandparents Ayres vintage playing cards	During the Requiem Campaign, Fireteam Majestic leader Paul DeMarco saved Thorne's life by killing Gek 'Lhar. As a sign of gratitude, Thorne gifted DeMarco the Sangheili commander's sword. When DeMarco perished later on Ealen IV, his sword was left in the possession of Fireteam Bailey. Tedra Grant won his keepsake in a card game against Jones and soon lost it on poker night to Carlo Hoya. Thorne then joined in and started a new game using playing cards that he inherited from his grandparents. Thorne won the tribute with his lucky hand and expressed appreciation for his fallen friend.
Gek 'Lhar	13 dog tags belonging to several soldiers and Spartans.	Thirteen UNSC dog tags were attached to the left side of Gek's harness; these were taken from enemies he had killed, including a few Spartans. Among them was the dog tags of Rion Forge's companion and lover, Cade.
Jacob Keyes	Keyes' pipe	Keyes' pipe was a family heirloom. As he was not permitted to smoke aboard spacecraft, Keyes usually settled for chewing on it to aid concentration.
John-117	A Quarter dollar, an antique United States coin.	The coin was used by Dr. Halsey to choose which of the potential children should become Spartans. Halsey let John keep the coin after he guessed correctly which side it would land on. It was taken from him when he was abducted for the Spartans, but returned years later by Franklin Mendez, recalling how John had broken its thieves' fingers.
John Forge	The ace of spades playing card	When Forge last saw his daughter, she told him to keep the card because it was lucky in the card games they played together, and she wanted him to have all the luck he could get when he was away fighting in the war. Forge kept the ace of spades playing card and later attached it to his left shoulder pauldron on his BDU. Years later his daughter would name her own ship the Ace of Spades in reference to this keepsake.
Levu 'Mdama	M12 Warthog	Kaidon 'Mdama was a Sangheili traditionalist but was known to have eccentric tastes. Due to his eccentric tendecies, it was suspected that he was responsible for bringing a UNSC Warthog back to his clan's state as a battlefied trophy.	(A standard UNSC Warthog)
Michael Crespo The Rookie	Luna medallions	At the conclusion of the war, Mickey and the Rookie purchased circular medallions that resembled the surface of Earth's moon. The shocktroopers bought them to remember their common home, both having been born in Crisium City on Luna.	(Luna, Earth's only natural satellite)
Naomi-010	Planetarium lamp Dollhouse miniature chair	Naomi Sentzke was fascinated with toy dollhouses and Astronomy as a young girl. For her sixth birthday, Naomi's father planned to gift her a planetarium lamp, however, Naomi never received it as she was abducted into the Spartan-II program days before her birthday. Devastated by his daughter's disappearance, Staffan Sentzke took up crafting and kept the star lamp as a keepsake for years, well after the glassing of his homeworld, Sansar. Decades later, when Staffan learned Naomi was alive and well, he sent her the lamp and a miniature painted wooden chair.
Parisa	A childhood photograph	Parisa had a photo of herself with a boy named John taken when they were six years old. John had saved her from drowning and promised to marry her. Two decades later, the now-Master Chief recognized himself in her photo but chose not to tell her who he really was.
Reth	Sangheili practice helmet	Reth, the Kig-Yar leader of the Redoubt on Metisette, was an art collector who acquired many pieces from other Covenant species through trade and theft. The most prized possession in his hoard was a Sangheili practice helmet that was carved from wood and painted black. Because Sangheili didn't part with their gifts easily, Reth had worked hard to pilfer this handmade item for his collection.
SPARTAN-B312	Jorge-052's dog tag	Jorge gave his dog tag to Noble Six shortly before he sacrificed himself to detonate the slipspace bomb to destroy the Long Night of Solace. Six kept them as a reminder of Jorge's heroism, while the Covenant continued to assault Reach. Though Six tried to give them to Emile-A239, Emile refused the offer and told Six to keep them since Jorge had chosen to give them to Six.
Thomas Lasky	Cadmon Lasky's and Chyler Silva's dog tags. A shard of a Mgalekgolo's armor.	Lasky kept his brother Cadmon's dogtags after he was killed by Insurrectionists on Andesia, and then his friend Chyler's dogtags after she was killed by the Covenant during the Battle of Circinius IV. After the battle, the Master Chief gave Lasky a fragment of a dead Hunter's armor, which they had both worked together to kill.

See also

• List of items of curious thoroughness