Gravity hammer

Avitus wielding his Akelas Workshop gravity hammer.

Gravity hammers are a class of two-handed melee weapons developed by the Covenant and inherited by its splinter factions. To their users, the Jiralhanae, they are formally designated as war hammers.^[1]^[2] The Office of Naval Intelligence has typically type-classified encountered gravity hammer variants under the designation of the Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer (T-2 EW/H).^[3]^[4] Nicknames for the gravity hammer includes the Hammer and the Club.^[5]

Overview

A Jiralhanae using his gravity hammer's impact to generate a pulse to repel the Flood during the Outbreak on Installation 00.

Design details

"One hit from that hammer and you ended up a puddle of bones and blood."

— Private Aaron Landvik^[6]

A gravity hammer typically consists of a two-meter long haft,^[4] a hammerhead, and a tungsten-alloy blade on the reverse side of the head.^[3]^[7] A counterweight is attached to the bottom end of the haft.^[8] A short-range shock-field-generating gravitational energy drive is integrated inside the head of the hammer,^[5]^[9] while the head's striking face is lined with repurposed Covenant gravitic impellers,^[1] which release a concussive force upon impact.^[2] Together, the devices allows the wielder to produce an area-of-effect kinetic pulse (of approximately 4.5 meters),^[3] which briefly displaces local gravity at the point of the hammer's impact with impressive knockback.^[1]^[10] The gravitational energy drive's effects allows the user to displace objects of greater weight or power than what a normal blow might do.^[5] The gravity drive can also manipulate localized energy fields,^[8] allowing the ability to pull a target towards the wielder or push the target away,^[11]^[12]^[13] However, the Jiralhanae's brutal nature, along with the increased damage from the impellers,^[9] means that they often prefer to use the weapon in melee combat.^[4] Although humans first encountered the weapon in 2526,^[14] the exact mechanism by which the gravity hammer functions was still under investigation by United Nations Space Command in 2552.^[3]

History

The gravity hammer evolved from traditional Jiralhanae-bladed war hammers,^[1] dating back to the war-totems wielded by war chieftains on Doisac.^[2]^[14] Within the Jiralhanae's barbaric culture, in addition to being a powerful weapon, the war hammers serve as the ultimate symbol of clan leadership,^[7]^[4] taking on an almost religious significance among the Jiralhanae.^[5] The ceremonial hammer of a pack or a clan is only passed to another Jiralhanae if he can best his chieftain in ceremonial combat; the mantle of leadership passes along with the weapon.^[4]

Tartarus holding the Fist of Rukt, with its modifications by the Covenant.

Following the Jiralhanae's absorption into the Covenant hegemony in 2492,^[4] the war hammers were modified with Forerunner technology reverse-engineered by the Covenant.^[1]^[2]^[10] The first gravity hammer and the template for the standardized weapons of this type was the Fist of Rukt, an ancestral war hammer of Maccabeus' clan which was upgraded with Covenant gravity technology after Tartarus was appointed the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae in the Covenant.^[15] After Tartarus was granted the Fist of Rukt, many minor chieftains commissioned similar weapons, with components of the ancestral hammers incorporated when possible.^[14] Over the course of the Human-Covenant War, a variety of hammer variants were produced in workshops and war forges, sporting performance upgrades and individual stylistic tweaks.^[1] The gravity hammers inherited the war hammers' totemistic and ceremonial significance,^[7] with wielders being expected to treat their gravity hammer with great care.^[16] Furthermore, some hammer have been aesthetically-tailored to the use of specific clans, families, or packs,^[4] resulting in numerous variants. During his rise to power within the Covenant, Tartarus used his relationship with the San'Shyuum to reward loyal lieutenants with similarly-advanced hammers secretly forged within the Sacred Promissory.^[17]

In 2552, only a few months before the Great Schism and the fall of High Charity, the Sacred Promissory began producing gravity hammers en masse.^[7] Following the dissolution of the Covenant, the Banished seized the design templates for nearly all Covenant gravity hammer variants. The Banished contracted war-forges to reproduce and modify existing designs or create new variants, with the number of variants being employed reaching upwards of 50.^[2]

Usage

Avery Johnson: "Heavy pistols, and a hammer."

Ponder: "Say again?"

Avery Johnson: "A giant hammer, sir. On their leader."

— Avery Johnson describing Maccabeus with the Fist of Rukt, to Ponder^[18]

The gravity hammer serves dual purposes as a weapon as well as a defining ceremonial vestige of clan leadership, and is thus typically wielded by a chieftain or other high-ranking members.^[4] Within the Covenant, the gravity hammers were commonly seen wielded by Chieftains.^[19]^[20]^[21] Within the Banished, the gravity hammer was a much more common sight,^[22]^[23] notably being used by Jiralhanae Warlords and Jiralhanae Jumpers.^[24] The variants with most widespread use among the Banished includes the Sepulo'ez, Halbashi, and Akelas variants.^[2]

Variants

During the Jiralhanae's alliance within the Covenant, numerous designs of gravity hammers were developed.^[1]

Akelas Workshop gravity hammer: A variant used by the Covenant and the Banished, with a notable wielder being Chieftain Avitus.^[2]
Akelus Workshop gravity hammer: A variant used by Jiralhanae Chieftains in the Covenant during the Battle for Earth and the Battle of Installation 00.^[1]
Eektah-fel siphon hammer: A variant used by some Banished Jiralhanae Warlords.^[25]^[26]
- Voridus' infused hammer: A variant which leaves pools of infusion gel on impact. Only wielded by Voridus.^[27]^[28]
Halbashi Workshop gravity hammer: A variant of the gravity hammer used by the Banished during the Battle for Zeta Halo.^[29]^[1]
- Rushdown Hammer: A variant that has been painted white and gives the user increased speed. One notable wielder being En'Geddon during the Battle for Zeta Halo.^[29]
Paegaas Workshop gravity hammer: A variant used by the Jiralhanae in the Covenant during the Fall of Reach,^[2] then Banished Jiralhanae Warlords and Jiralhanae Jumpers during the Second Ark Conflict.^[30] Models recovered from the field were used by Spartan-IVs in War Games simulations.^[9]^[31]
Sepulo'tez Workshop gravity hammer: A variant used by Spartan-IVs in War Games simulations.^[1]
- Corpsemaker: An improved variant with faster swing time and additional energy capacity, made from the finest materials its creator could coerce or steal from raider lairs on Warial and Teash.^[32]
- Grinder: An improved variant with uncalibrated impellors that generate an unstable gravimetric vortex EMP at the point of impact.^[32]
- Tartarus' Gavel: One of the many advanced variants secretly forged from the Sacred Promissory, with its creation tracing back to Tartarus, who used his relationship with the Prophets during his ascent to power within the Covenant to reward loyal lieutenants with advanced weaponry.^[32]

Akelas Workshop gravity hammer.
Akelus Workshop gravity hammer.
Eektah-fel siphon hammer.
Voridus' unique infused hammer.
Enc22-HalbashiGravityHammer.png

Halbashi Workshop gravity hammer.
En'Geddon holding a Halbashi Rushdown Hammer.
Paegaas Workshop gravity hammer.
Sepulo'tez Workshop gravity hammer.
Corpsemaker.
Grinder.
Tartarus' Gavel.

In-game information

Main article: Gravity hammer

The gravity hammers were introduced into the Halo first-person shooter games with the debut of the Fist of Rukt in 2004's Halo 2, albeit unusable by players. Gravity hammers were then made usable by players in Halo 3 and has become a mainstay weapon in series ever since. The gravity hammer is a powerful melee weapon that can kill multiple foes in one swing, and can even be effectively used against vehicles. They are power weapons which appear on some multiplayer maps.

Trivia

The gravity hammer is used in the popular playlist Grifball, in which the players have no shields and must somehow take their bomb and get it to the other team's base. The hammer is often used to create enough force to propel the bomb-carrying player over the heads of their opponents and into the goal.
In Halo 3 and Halo: Reach, there is a remodeled version of the gravity hammer called "7 wood". The 7 wood performs exactly the same gameplay wise, except it is modeled to look like a giant golf club and features a different reticule.
In Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, if the player is hit with a gravity hammer but does not die, the player will hear an ear ringing sound effect usually heard when they is hit with explosives in the campaign.

Gallery

A chieftain wielding an Akelus Workshop gravity hammer in Halo 3.
A War Chieftain wielding an Akelus Workshop gravity hammer in Halo 3: ODST.
Jiralhanae Captain wielding a Paegaas Workshop gravity hammer Halo: Reach.
A Jiralhanae Captain Major with an Akelus Workshop gravity hammer in The Return.
A gravity hammer's impact sends dust and rubble flying in Halo 4's Prologue.
A Spartan-IV wielding the Paegaas Workshop gravity hammer in Halo 4.
The Paegaas Workshop gravity hammer in Halo Online.
A Chieftain swinging a gravity hammer at Spartan Davis in Halo: Spartan Assault.
A Jiralhanae Captain Major with a gravity hammer in Halo: Escalation.
A close-up view of the gravity impellers on the hammer in Halo 5: Guardians.
A Flood gaunt form pulling on an Akelas Workshop gravity hammer away from a Jiralhanae in Halo Wars 2.
Blitz card of a Jiralhanae Warlord with an Eektah-fel siphon hammer in Halo Wars 2.
A close-up view of the Eektah-fel siphon hammer in Halo Wars 2.
A close-up view of Voridus' infused hammer in Halo Wars 2.
Eektah-fel variants wielded by Banished Warlords in Halo Wars 2.
John-117 with a Halbashi gravity hammer in Fortnite.
John-117 with a Halbashi gravity hammer in Halo Infinite.