Flood Juggernaut

Flood Juggernaut
General overview
Distinctions:	Massive with two immensely large tentacles for arms and quick legs which give it the ability to make incredible jumps.
Height:	548 centimeters (18 ft 0 in)
Method of attack:	Flailing and pounding arms into a threat towards submission

This article is about the Flood form. For the multiplayer gametype, see Juggernaut.

The Flood Juggernaut is a large Flood command form. Fireteam Raven fought against multiple Juggernauts during the Battle of Installation 04.^[1] The Abomination key mind form is an evolution of the Juggernaut.^[2]

Background

Juggernauts are highly specialized combat forms directed by a seething mass of infection forms linked to multiple hosts. The creature harnesses the hosts' minds to analyze enemy activity and adjust the local Flood strategy accordingly. They have some of the traits associated with full-fledged key minds, including the abilities to synchronize nearby parasites and relay information between distant Flood hordes.^[3]

The most significant aspect of the Juggernaut is their enormous size and raw physical strength, capable of impaling armored vehicles with their sharpened tendril-arms and crush unsuspecting victims with their trunk-like legs.^[3]

Behind the scenes

Background

"More like Jugger-NOT"

— Urk^[4]

The Juggernaut was originally planned to debut as a gameplay enemy in Halo 2, but was ultimately cut from the game. The form's canon status remained in limbo until it was mentioned in Halo Wars 2's Phoenix Logs and eventually made an appearance as an enemy in the arcade shooter Halo: Fireteam Raven.

Juggernauts were originally slated to appear in the levels "The Oracle" and "Quarantine Zone". There would never be more than one Juggernaut in any given place. Once the player eliminated it, the combat forms that were supplementing it would go "offline". The Juggernaut has four to six infection forms inside its body to control it, similar to combat forms. According to Robert McLees, the Juggernaut was supposed to be "... this uber-intelligent mini boss, but the suggested intelligence was way too high for what design needed to use it for, which was as a big tank".^[4]

The Juggernaut was also the conceptual progenitor of the pure forms seen in Halo 3. However, whereas the Juggernaut was to be controlled by infection forms, pure forms are created entirely from Flood biomass.^[4]

Halo 2 gameplay

A player facing down a Flood Juggernaut in Halo 2.

The Juggernaut's model and AI are still present in the game files, allowing the NPC to be added to gameplay via modding, similar to the Huragok in Halo: Combat Evolved. The Juggernaut stands nearly twice as tall as a Spartan or an Elite. It has two large tentacles that can kill the player character with only one hit. They also can jump much higher and farther than regular combat forms can. They often jump high in the air at the player character when noticed, sometimes landing on top of them and killing them instantly. The Juggernaut will also sometimes forget the player character is there remain still for a few moments. Finding cover is ill-advised, as the Juggernaut will hit it out of the way, sending the object a great distance and killing the player if it connects. The Juggernaut is highly resistant to damage. Powerful weapons such as the shotgun and rocket launcher are all but necessary against it.^{[citation needed]}

Through modding, it has been found that the Juggernauts have a defensive position; stopping and moving their whip-like appendages in front of their body in an X formation. When running low on health, some occurrences have happened where the Juggernaut goes berserk, waving its tentacles around wildly before striking the player with speed. As Bungie never programmed a death animation for the Juggernaut, when it has ran out of health, it simply freezes in place.^{[citation needed]}

Although the model, textures, etc. for the Juggernaut are stored in the files of the level "High Charity", there are no spawn points for it. Modders and Halo 2 Vista players can fight against the Juggernaut on the level by switching them to spawn in place of another character's existing spawn point.^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

The Art of Halo features a concept sketch of the Flood carrier form that resembles the Juggernaut.
Juggernauts are playable pieces in Halo Wars Risk. However, they do not resemble the Juggernaut, rather looking like a Thrasher Form instead.
In the motion comic adaptation of the short story "The Mona Lisa", a Sangheili-derived combat form closely resembles the Juggernaut.
The Juggernaut's appearance suggests that it could be a pure form. However, pure forms require a Gravemind, which was not present during the events of Fireteam Raven. This may have been an oversight, or could indicate that the Juggernaut is not close enough to a pure form to require a Gravemind for its creation.

Gallery

A Juggernaut in Halo 2.
Fighting a Flood Juggernaut.
A Flood Juggernaught in Halo 2.
A Juggernaut in defensive stance.
Concept art for the Juggernaut.
A Juggernaut-like form in The Mona Lisa. Note that it spawned from a Sangheili host, indicated by its head being on the right shoulder.
A Juggernaut in Fireteam Raven.
A Juggernaut in Fireteam Raven.