Jiralhanae Captain

Captain
	File:BruteCaptain.png
Function:	Commanding lesser troops
Species:	Jiralhanae
Affiliation:	Covenant
Notable individuals:	Melchus

"Brute military doctrine states that to lead, one must be seen."

— Jiralhanae Captain's mantra^[1]

Captain is a rank for the Jiralhanae serving in the Covenant and the lowest of the three Jiralhanae captain ranks.

Description

Jirlhanae Captains are a low-tier command rank, commanding groups of infantry but still being subordinate to higher-ranking Captain Majors and Chieftains. Captains are seasoned veteran Jiralhanae, and are more heavily armed and armored than standard Jiralhanae infantry.^[2] They often use weapons such as Type-25 Brute shots, plasma repeaters, concussion rifles, spikers, needle rifles, and even gravity hammers.

Prior to the Great Schism, Captains were identified by either gold helmets^[3] or holographic flags attached to their harnesses. After the Jiralhanae were given elevated status in the Covenant military, they were issued with iridescent purple-blue power armor, equipped with energy shields.

Jiralhanae Captains are smarter and significantly tougher than their lesser brethren, and they will hold their ground more often, making them far more effective killing machines. Their combat effectiveness is due to their superior experience in the field and the heavy weapons they carry.

Equipment

The violet armor Jiralhanae Captains wear is more resistant to attack than that of the standard Jiralhanae warrior.^[2] Prior to the Great Schism, they wore the standard partial body armor of a Jiralhanae warrior, but had a gold helmet or small holographic red flag extending from their back or shoulder. During the Schism, they were outfitted with full-body Jiralhanae power armor with large, similarly-colored headdresses showing their rank instead of the flags. Their helmets prior to the Schism could withstand multiple headshots.

The right shoulder-pad worn by post-Schism Captains is identical to the shoulder pads of regular Jiralhanae Majors and Ultras. The left shoulder, however, is more intricate, somewhat resembling that worn by Tartarus. Captains also wear plating on their forearms, and have heavier thigh armor than regular Jiralhanae.^[4]

The standard and iconic armament of the Jiralhanae Captain is the Type-25 Brute shot and it is almost exclusively wielded by Captains. Captains are considered to experts at wielding the Brute shot.^[2] However, they will uncommonly wield Type-25 Brute plasma rifles or Covenant carbines. During the Schism, their range of weaponry expanded, and in addition to the Brute shot, they wield both the Type-25 spiker and the Type-25 plasma rifle.^[5] During the Great Schism, some Jiralhanae Captains even used human-made shotguns at times.^[6]

Gameplay

The Jiralhanae Captain sports more defenses than the standard Jiralhanae and is therefore more difficult to engage, especially on higher difficulty settings. Their primary tactics are to bombard an enemy at range with the high-caliber explosive projectiles from the Brute shot and they also sport a ferocious melee attack at close range, making the options available to the player limited when encountering a Jiralhanae Captain.

The safest option is to use the beam rifle from long range, although it takes several headshots to penetrate the thick helmet and skull of the Jiralhanae Captain, although the player may choose to resort to the magnum, Covenant carbine, or battle rifle, those three weapons are effective against Jiralhanae Captains. At close range the energy sword and the shotgun are recommended. A preferable tactic when approaching any Jiralhanae Captain with a shotgun is to put a quick burst into their chest and quickly follow up with a beat-down to the face. This tactic can kill a Jiralhanae Captain (on any difficulty) with efficiency (strictly Halo 3).

They are the only Jiralhanae that when killed can cause Unggoy to go kamikaze.

Jiralhanae Captain vs. Jiralhanae Bodyguard

The Jiralhanae Captains and the common Jiralhanae Bodyguard look similar, (especially in dim lighting), but there are slight differences in their armor color. The Jiralhanae Captains have a violet tinge to the armor, but the Bodyguards have a more indigo color. Furthermore, Jiralhanae Captains power armor is more durable than that of Bodyguards. It can be difficult to tell in the heat of combat and due to the fact that the armor shape is identical for both.

Gallery

Captains in Halo 2 wear blue armor and helmets with a red flag on their back.
A Jiralhanae Captain going berserk in Halo 2.
A red Jiralhanae. Variant never appears in-game; the only one ever seen is Lepidus. Tartarus also wore this armor before becoming Chieftain.
Red Jiralhanae captains were originally going to be used for this position, but were scrapped and replaced with violet coloring during production of Halo 3 for unknown reasons.
A Jiralhanae Captain in Halo: Reach.
Patterns on the captain armor in Halo: Reach.
H2A - Jiralhanae Captain model.jpg

A model of a Captain for Halo 2: Anniversary.
A Jiralhanae Captain on Installation 05 in Halo 2: Anniversary.