M313 Elephant

The Behemoth-class Troop Transport, more commonly known as the Elephant, is a heavy UNSC Marine Corps Mobile Assault, Support, and Recovery Platform. It appears in Halo 3 on the multiplayer map Sandtrap and as a unit in Halo Wars. The Elephant has two turrets, a detachable one on the side and one that is similar to the LRV Warthog's stationary M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun that cannot be detached from its position. The Behemoth-class also houses a Mongoose in its lower bay. The Elephant seems to serve a similar role to the Shadow of Halo 2, albeit much slower, larger and less maneuverable.

Specifications

The size of the Elephant in comparison to other vehicles and a real Elephant

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Marines deploy from an Elephant variant

The Elephant is a mobile command base and repair vehicle. It can hold as many soldiers as you want to ride in it, and a Mongoose spawns in its forward hold. It is armed with a forward M41 LAAG on the top right and a AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun on the mid left. It is a three storied vehicle with the bottom story, the respawn locale that opens out into the rear cargo tray, the second story, a walkway around the cargo ramp and leads onto the driver's cabin then a small, elevated third story where the M41 LAAG is assembled. It features a crane, numerous firing ports and elevated positions for defending it. It has four tracks set up on each side of the chassis. Its chassis is as high as it is long, providing stability. An IGN video shows its top speed, driver's cabin and turrets.

In multiplayer, it can spawn troops, and holds both the flag and the capture point for certain multiplayer maps on Capture The Flag mode. Therefore, in CTF you can actually bring the Capture Point to the enemy flag, although this makes it easier for the enemy to steal yours.The elephant is one of the best weapons on huge battles. These mobile command bases can spawn troops and vehicles into battle quickly. Although it may not seem possible, the Elephant cannot be destroyed. In addition to the Elephant's indestructibility, it also grants the pilot a few advantages. Due to the indestructible nature of the elephant, the pilot is immune to damage from frontal fire, though rarely Spartan Laser blasts may penetrate the driver's window and kill him. However, the pilot is not immune to damage and any shots from behind will hurt him as they would normally. Even with these good qualities, this vehicle is basically useless in Free For All custom games. In Forge, the Elephant cannot be picked up by the monitor. However, through modding, one can pick up the elephant and read the information on the elephant. According to the details, one map is only allowed about 255 elephants and the cost of an elephant is about $ -255. This is through modding however and cannot be confirmed without mods.

Halo Wars

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An Elephant Prototype deploys Marines into combat

The Elephant also appears in Halo Wars as an Armored Personnel Carrier or mobile infantry barracks, capable of creating troops in the field and/or deploying them while defending itself. The elephant still has a crane, though it looks ill suited to repair and recovery as it now mounts three M41 LAAG weapons, one on the top of the drivers cabin and two at the rear on each side of the troop bay. These appear to be remotely operated. The troop bay is enclosed and features a rear dropping ramp. The front also has an enclosed ramp along with deployable support struts on the first, possibly meaning it 'deploys' into becoming a field barracks or these are used in repair and recovery, like modern repair and recovery vehicles. It also appears in concept art to mount a roof mounted cannon, a possible unit upgrade.

Like other Halo Wars units this vehicle has been dimensionally altered, particularly as the bay on the rear has been shrunk (two persons high to one person high) and the bogeys are now the same size.

Halo Wars Stat

• Costs: 400 Resource units and requires 2 Pop. Cap. and 0 energy units
• Is capable of building SPARTANs and possible other infantry.

Known Elephants

• E-2073 46833-S - UNSC Elephant stationed on Sandtrap (It is interesting to note that both elephants on the level Sandtrap are almost completely identical, including having the same identification numbers). They both have nicknames: one is called the "Behemoth," while the other is called the "Leviathan." Another means of identification is that below the M41 turret at the front is the number 3 for the Behemoth and a number 5 for the Leviathan, also on the Leviathan is another number 5 on one of the panels at the top of the outer left hand side of the cargo tray.

Trivia

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A player flips an Elephant, initiating the Easter Egg

• If you go to the bottom level of the elephant, there is a screen. If you look at the screen (zoom required) it will say in the top left corner Mobile Assault Support and Recovery Platform Statistics and Environmental Analysts. You can also see a map of Sandtrap. It is interesting to note that it says there are two mobile turrets (that you can rip off) while there is actually only one. Perhaps one was removed for balance issues as there is a vacant spot opposite of the other. There is also a diagram of the elephant and the mongoose on the lower level on the screen (alternating).
• The Elephant is the only indestructible vehicle in rhe game.
• If by some chance you do manage to flip over an Elephant , the usual "Hold RB to flip <vehicle name>" script dialog is replaced with "Hold RB to flip...wait, what? How did you do that?", referencing the fact that it is the biggest vehicle in the game and that it is seemingly impossible for it to be flipped, even by Spartans, or Elites. (See Elephant Flipping)
• On the left hand side of the red team's Elephant there is a spray-paint graffiti with text that reads "BEHEMOTH" and a red cartoon picture of a woolly mammoth. On the blue team's elephant it says "LEVIATHAN" and has a picture of a blue, whale-like sea creature sporting a mean grimace and wearing a comically tiny golden crown.
• The Behemoth and Leviathan are two mythological creatures that are enormous in stature and girth. It is said that when the world ends, it's because these two creatures are fighting. The Elephant's size is probably what gave them these call signs, and that is another reference to mythology that Bungie uses. The Behemoth is more hippopotamus-like, while the Leviathan is more whale-like. Leviathan is aquatic and the Behemoth is terrestrial.
• Behemoth and Leviathan also appear in biblical book of Job near the end of the book.
• Another way to flip an Elephant is to get one person in each Elephant, drive them at each other, and then when they both reach the middle of the map, if you did it right one should flip over on its back or side.
• It appears to be impossible to drive the Elephant into the minefield, due to an invisible wall. If you make the Elephant fly as it goes round the map it is kept in by an invisible wall around the edge of the minefield. This invisible barrier only works on the Elephant, there is another one further on that keeps everything else inside the map. However, through modding, it is possible to get an elephant in the minefield.
• The Elephant is unable to go anywhere within Sandtrap but the outside ring and the middle. The Elephant can be driven to a point over most of the hills where it can't move anymore and will fall down when you stop accelerating.
• The name "Elephant" is a possible reference to Fred Saberhagen's classic science fiction book Empire of the East in which the protagonist defeats an oppressive empire in a post-apocalyptic future using a giant nuclear-powered tank known as the Elephant.
• The anti-gravity chamber: This is an amusing glitch found on Sandtrap. Take one of the two elephants on the map, and drive it to the front or rear of the other. Drive the elephant onto the other Elephant until yours begins to lift into the air. Once you reach a good angle, dismount your Elephant and take its Mongoose. Drive it into the back of the other Elephant or the space underneath the elevated Elephant. It will be tossed into the air helplessly. Any vehicle will exhibit this behavior. It is a fun and amusing trick to play when you are being chased by a warthog. Also, this is an easy way to flip an elephant.
• The Elephants are capable of fitting a single Scorpion inside when the tank is being carried in forge. This can allow you to wedge the tank inside and pick up the Elephant - unfortunately a little less gracefully than most vehicles.
• If you move the Mongoose, you can fit 2 Choppers on the bottom floor. Landing a Banshee on top will make this a deadly assault vehicle, especially if you have people manning the guns.
• If you can get a Scorpion on top of it, you can get somebody to shoot its cannon while you drive. The Scorpion Tank on top will also protect you from air attacks.
• If the Elephant is flipped, a planted bomb or a flag on its stand will stay in the same spot, essentially flipping with the vehicle, rather than dropping to the ground.
• The Elephant is the only drivable vehicle where you can place Turrets on it without them moving when you drive off. If you placed a crate or two in the cargo bay of the Elephant and place a turret on top of them and then delete the crates, then you can drive the Elephant with the Turret keeping place over the Elephant without it moving.
• If you drive/spawn a Ghost, Wraith, or Prowler onto the control room roof and then drive towards the cargo bay, the vehicle will float above the Elephant. If you leave the elephant, you will fall.
• Gears of War 2's Derrick looks a lot like the Elephant. Similarly, it bears a slight resemblance to the Jawa Sand crawler from Star Wars.
• Though the Elephant is indestructible, you can still bash off the small shield and the handle on the Elephants main turret using gunfire or a melee.
• The Elephant also has a horn which can be activated by pressing the Right Trigger. The Horn sounds like a modern day locomotive horn, although it is difficult to hear.
• The Elephant is the slowest drivable vehicle in the Halo series, moving only slightly slower than normal Spartan/Elite running speed.
• In the upcoming Halo Wars game, the Elephant will serve as a mobile barracks; however it appears to have a closed roof with indoor lighting, and a larger ramp.
• An excellent place to hide and wait for your shields to regenerate in an elephant in a free-for-all match is behind the screen on the lowest level. The only weapon that can penetrate this screen is the Spartan Laser, and if your opponent charges that weapon, it will give you time to escape unharmed.
• There is a glitch that if you deploy a bubble shield on the elephant's lower deck a Spartan Laser can then penetrate it.
• It is possible to make the Elephant fly by using a Hornet, gravity lifts and Drop Pods.
• It is possible to create a zero gravity zone by driving one Elephant it to the back of the other so that it is at an angle and drive a light vehicle into the bay of the one that's flat.
• Adding a bunch of explosives on the Elephant and then setting the respawn timer to 10 then, setting the run-time maximum to the highest it can go, blowing up those explosives will cause the Elephant to fly.
• During a Sandtrap match, a good defensive tactic is to take a chopper and place it in the lower deck of an elephant and only drive it out to engage enemies when they come close (radar range, or you hear the engines of enemy vehicles).
• If you look on the side of the treads, you will see spare treads hanging on to the sides.
• Like the Anti-Gravity chamber glitch, you can also create a reverse gravity chamber, where vehicles can be driven upside-down whilst inside.
• When using a Scorpion tank or any other means to pick up the Elephant, you can place teleporter receivers, senders or two-way teleporters underneath to create a floating Elephant base. They can only be moved by shooting with Rockets, Fuel Rod bolts or Spartan Lasers
• The driver of an Elephant is invincible to all explosions. Even if the elephant is modded into the minefield the driver is still invincible.

Images

• H3 Elephant Sharpened2.jpg

  An Elephant being engaged on Sandtrap.

• Elephant Sand.jpg

  An image of the Elephant seen from above.

• Elephant.jpg

  An Elephant as seen in a Japanese magazine

• Elephant.gif

  Elephant from the side

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  A pair of 'barracks' Elephants as they appear in Halo Wars

• Elephant.jpg

Related Links

Videos*http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DzsNrfrBvCs

See Also

• Shadow- Covenant equivalent in Halo 2