Terminal

This article is about the terminals in the games. For other uses, see Terminal (disambiguation).

Terminals are objects found in Halo 3, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and in the upcoming Halo 4. Conceptually based upon similar terminals in Bungie's earlier Marathon game series, the Terminals fill the player in on the Halo backstory.

Halo 3

The exterior of a Halo 3 terminal.

Main article: Halo 3 Terminals

The Terminals in Halo 3 are in textual format, similar to the Terminals in Marathon. They are a continuation of the Iris alternate reality game used as viral marketing for Halo 3. They clarify a great deal of the Iris storyline by naming the authors of different messages and by explaining the circumstances of the original firing of the Halo Array. The Terminals follow the stories of the Librarian and the Didact, Forerunner logs of Flood attacks, and Mendicant Bias's progression into rampancy.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

The first terminal in Anniversary.

Main article: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Terminals

The Terminals in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary feature fully-animated cutscenes instead of text like in Halo 3. Most of them are logs narrated by 343 Guilty Spark and expand on the history of Installation 04. They also have connections to the stories of The Forerunner Saga and Halo 4.

Halo 4

The Terminals will return in Halo 4, and it will be fully-animated cutscenes, like the terminals in Anniversary.