John-117

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John
Biographical information
Birthplace:	Eridanus II
Date of birth:	2511
Gender:	Male
Height:	7 foot
Hair color:	Brown
Political and military information
Spartan tag:	SPARTAN-117
Rank:	Master Chief Petty Officer

"Sir. Finishing this fight."

— John-117 to Sir Terrence Hood, Second Battle of Earth

John-117, often referred to as the Master Chief by other humans, or Demon by Covenant warriors, is a United Nations Space Command SPARTAN-II supersoldier.

Background

He is a genetically and cybernetically augmented warrior designed to put down rebels and insurgents within the UNSC. When the powerful alien empire known as the Covenant attacked, the Master Chief and the other Spartan-II's had a priority shift. Extensive surgical alteration coupled with a ruthless lifelong training regimen has resulted in Master Chief being significantly stronger than even the strongest natural human, and his strength and fighting ability are further augmented by the advanced MJOLNIR power armor he wears. He is the main character and protagonist of the Halo Universe that we all know and love.

He has been involved in over 200 engagements in his 27-year career, and has been awarded all of the UNSC's major Decorations except for the Prisoner of War Medallion. Even though he and his Blue Team were captured by General Howard Graves on Camp New Hope, Planet Victoria in 2531, in which he should of received it. John has killed more than 1,000 Covenant soldiers singlehandedly, and thousands more with the help of other Spartans.

Biography

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Possibly John-117 as a child

In his early life, John lived in Elysium City, on the planet of Eridanus II. He was large for his age at the time, approximately a foot above his school peers. John had all the genetic markers set in Dr. Halsey's original study- he was as close to a perfect subject for the SPARTAN-II program as science could determine. He was a specimen of perfect physical proportion and stunning intellect. Dr. Halsey and Lieutenant Jacob Keyes went to his colony world to study him or "view" him, and were quite amazed by his reflexes and luck when Dr. Halsey flipped a quarter and he almost seemed to know which side it would land on. John and quite a few other children his age were covertly kidnapped from their homes, and replaced with Flash Clones which later died of natural causes.

Training

At first, since John was used to being different and winning by himself, he couldn't understand the point of working as a team. After his first "playground" training exercise,which was to ring the bell before any other team; John, who was disappointed with his teams cooperation, went and rang the bell by himself. Unfortunately, he didn't win because he didn't ring it with his teamates. John, having lost his team dinner that night, had realized the importance of working as a team. During the next exercise they worked together and formed a permanent friendship. From that point on, John seemed to be a leader among the Spartan trainees, and it was not long until he became the Spartans' squad leader after stealing a Pelican during one of his training exercises.

Eight years into Spartan training, John underwent physical augmentation and was one of only 33 to survive the process and remain fit for combat duty. After leading the other Spartans during that time, he was devastated by the other Spartans' deaths, and had trouble determining if he had spent their lives or wasted them.

During his time with the Spartans, John was deemed the "luckiest" and was chosen to be the first to test the MJOLNIR armor.

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Master Chief with a Shotgun, circa Halo 2.

Before the Battle of Reach, he had fought in 207 ground engagements against the Covenant, and garnered every major service medal except The Prisoner of War Medallion. It is also during this time that he is deemed the best Spartan candidate by Dr. Halsey to work with and protect Cortana. She explains that although he is neither the smartest, strongest, nor fastest of the Spartans, he is the most well-balanced, having each of those qualities in equal measure; he is also the bravest of all the Spartans and quite possibly the "luckiest" as well.

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Master Chief and 343 Guilty Spark in Halo's Control Room.

The Eridanus Rebellion

MCPO John-117's first mission was against Rebels in the asteroid belt of the Eridanus System, where his homeworld was located. He was slightly wounded while leading his squad to capture the traitor Colonel Robert Watts, leader of the rebels. He received a Purple Heart after the mission.

The Covenant War

Later on, he was briefed on the Covenant threat; he and his Spartans would fight at least the next 27 years against this new threat while employing the MJOLNIR Mark IV armor.

Alpha Halo

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Master Chief fires his weapon

After many battles in the Human-Covenant War and surviving the Fall of Reach, he embarked with the Pillar of Autumn. The Pillar of Autumn was later attacked by the Covenant and was forced to crash land on Halo, Alpha Installation 04. In the midst of fighting the Covenant, Cortana discovered the secret of Halo while inserted into the computer in the Control Room of Halo; that it was a ring-shaped construct created by the Forerunners as a last line of defense against a new species of parasitic organisms called The Flood, which was released at some point by either the Forerunners or the constructs of the installations (343 Guilty Spark, 2401 Penitent Tangent, etc.); a majority of the Covenant Elites and UNSC Sailors and Marines who landed on Halo were infected by The Flood. Captain Jacob Keyes and a small group of Marines were the first humans to encounter the Covenant-released Flood; Captain Keyes was later captured by the Flood, soon after which he died. The Master Chief was then responsible for retrieving the Index for 343 Guilty Spark, a device which would activate Halo and destroy all life within a large radius. Later, Cortana informed him of the truth about the purpose of the installation (that it was a superweapon), which led him to keep the Index from 343 Guilty Spark as long as possible. While being attacked by many Covenant, Flood and Forerunner Sentinels, he later made his way back to the Pillar of Autumn and initiated the destruction of Halo. Very few other members of the UNSC forces survived, notably Sergeant Major Johnson.

OPERATION: First Strike

After the destruction of Alpha Halo, the Master Chief and Cortana floated in the space in the Longsword Fighter he used to escape. He discovered three cyro tubes floating nearby, one of them containing Linda, and pulled them into the fighter. Soon after, the Covenant Flagship Ascendant Justice came into the system along with a few cruisers. A nearby Pelican dropship made its presence known and fired at the cruiser to distract it. John then linked the two vessels and brought its passengers aboard to the Longsword. There were seven others that helped in capturing a Covenant ship, rendezvousing with the Eridanus Rebels, and destroying the Covenant space station, Unyielding Hierophant. Linda-058 was another Spartan on the Pillar of Autumn, stored in a cryogenic state because of the body damage she sustained when she and Master Chief destroyed the data base containing the info needed by the Covenant to find Earth. Anton and Li were Spartans that died in an explosion after repairing the Slipspace drive on the captured Covenant ship, the Ascendant Justice.

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One of the many medals John has received

Also, two other Spartans, Issac and Vinh, survived the initial attack on Reach with Fred, Linda, Kelly, Anton, Li, Grace, Will and Dr. Catherine Hasley but sacrificed themselves by running into the middle of an entire battalion of Covenant troops and detonating an explosive. This selfless act decimated the Covenant troops by more than half. Only Grace, Kelly, Will, Fred (Fredric), Linda and John were left. Grace dies on the Unyielding Hierophant, leaving four other Spartans with John-117 who returned to Earth. Dr. Halsey, head of the Spartan-II project sedates Kelly-087 and takes her on a mission that John and the others do not understand. John never knew of the others' fate. Prior to Halsey's disappearance, John faces a dilemma regarding the combat data on the Flood. Either he can give the regular data on the Flood, or give the complete data of the Flood encounter, which would condemn Johnson to death from ONI's subsequent experimentations. After the First Strike operation, John made the decision to hand over the regular data and omit the explanation for Johnson's survival.

Return to Earth

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SPARTAN-117

Chief's Mark V MJOLNIR armor was switched by technicians aboard the orbiting defense station Cairo to a Mark VI model. He attended a brief awards ceremony aboard the station, the ceremony then was interrupted by Covenant boarders, which he repulsed. The Master Chief then briefly participated with defense in the First Battle of Earth. After confiscating a covenant bomb that was intended to destroy the Cairo, he requests permission from Lord Hood to leave the ship to "give the Covenant back their bomb". Master Chief then drags the bomb into a Longsword hanger bay to launch it. The resulting depressurization of the hanger, causes him and the bomb to be flung into hard vacuum, where he manages to gain entrance into a Covenant Capital Ship's fusion chamber and detonate the bomb. The Master Chief then hitches a ride on the In Amber Clad and lands in New Mombasa, East African Protectorate to combat Covenant landing troops. During his descent on board Pelicans, his dropship is shot down by the Scarabs main cannon. The Master Chief is briefly knocked out unconscious and has to fight his way to the other Pelicans, with the aid of surviving marines from his ship. After rendezvousing with Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker in the Zanzibar Hotel, in Old Mombasa, the Master Chief destroys Covenant units along the shore of the city as he chases the tracks of the Scarab. Once he arrives at the edge of Old Mombassa, he encounters a small group of marines, whose platoon as been destroyed by the Scarab. The Master Chief receives a Scorpion Tank from

Master Chief with the Covenant bomb

Sergeant Johnson. After fighting through numerous highway tunnels, he arrives in various parks outside the main city, and after fighting through those, the Master Chief finally arrives in the city center, where a group of marines, under the command of Staff Sergeant Banks were pinned down. With the assistance of the Marines and a large stockpile of weapons, the Master Chief manages to board and destroy the Scarab. The Master Chief then is transported to the In Amber Clad to intercept The Prophet of Regret's flagship. When the flagship starts to enter Slipspace, Commander Miranda Keyes then is granted permission to follow it. The Master Chief and all on board the In Amber Clad are then brought to Installation 05.

Delta Halo

In Amber Clad exited Slipspace in front of a blue gas planet called Substance, with another Halo in orbit at a Lagrange point. John helljumped down to the surface with a number of ODSTs, took control of a Covenant-held island, and killed the High Prophet of Regret, who prematurely led the Covenant fleet to Earth.

Chief and Cortana plan their hunt for the Prophet of Truth on High Charity

He was then captured by the Gravemind after barely escaping the destruction of Regret's main temple, and taken under the Library, where he met his Covenant Elite counterpart, the Arbiter. Under the directions of the Gravemind, the two set off to stop the Covenant from activating Delta Halo. John-117 infiltrated High Charity to stop the High Prophet of Truth, while the Arbiter went to stop Tartarus from activating the ring's weapons system and wiping out all sentient life within the its range.

In the end, Cortana decided that she didn't want to chance a remote detonation of In Amber Clad, and stayed aboard High Charity to ensure Delta Halo's destruction. Meanwhile, John followed Cortana's directions after Truth to a Forerunner ship, which embarked for The Ark, which is most likely to be on Earth. Upon arriving the Sol System, John informed Fleet Admiral Hood and the remaining UNSC forces who were still defending Earth that he intended to "finish this fight."

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Chief and a fire team of Marines take cover in a forest.

Second Battle of Earth

While onboard the Forerunner Dreadnaught John attacked the Loyalist forces inside via Ghost, until he was cornered by many Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Yanme'e, and Jiralhanae. Then three Lekgolo pairs moved in and took him down with multiple fuel rod blasts. John-117 was last seen threatened and about to be interrogated by a Jiralhanae Chieftain.

Age

Technically, when the events on Halo occurred, he is about 41 years old in "real time". However during the 27 years of war against the Covenant, UNSC ships had to make Slipspace jumps to get from system to system and from battle to battle. It is stated in the official website that "faster-than-light travel is not instantaneous; 'short' jumps routinely take up to two months, and 'long' jumps can last six months or more." It is also known from the novels that UNSC personnel go into deep-sleep in cryochambers during FTL jumps. Therefore, since it is known that the Master Chief and his Spartans were present at dozens of battles in Inner and Outer colonies, the Master Chief's actual biological age should be much younger, as he would have been in cryo-stasis while in transit from system to system and aged almost nothing in the process. This would also explain why Dr Halsey does not seem as old as she should be. Another explanation is that perhaps the human lifespan in that time period is possibly significantly longer and the onset of aging is delayed due to improved medical care in the 26th century, and that the Spartans, including John-117, have been biologically enhanced as well besides the cybernetic augmentation.

John's Face

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A cleaned up version of the video face, notice the pupil less eyes and the scar.

There have been numerous times when people have claimed to see John's face. However, there has recently been a video of a possible version of the face using the Halo 3 Beta. [1]

Some people disagree the fact that the face is John 117's. First of all, if the armor permutations (for example, the EVA Armor and the CQB Armor) in multiplayer have the face inside the helmet too, it wouldn't be the Chief's (John 117 is still in Mark VI armor [or at least looks like Mark VI armor] in the campaign, and it is very unlikely that he will change to any of the armor permutations in the campaign either) Second, it could be there for style. If your camera happens to go through the biped's visor, it wouldn't just go through the biped right away, you would see a face, just for realism.

Biblical Reference

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A view of Master Chief from behind

"John-117" is believed by many fans to be a reference to New Testament of the Christian Bible.

Bungie Studios is known to have placed many biblical references in their earlier Marathon video game series, and many other such references have been found in the Halo series.

Here are passages from the Book of Revelation (more formally known as The Revelation of St. John the Divine). Revelation in Greek is called "The Apocalypse", a title possibly shortened from "The Apocalypse of John."

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last."

I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Book of Revelation, NIV. Chapter 1 - verses 17 and 18.

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Revelation. 11:7

There are also references in one other book of the Bible. 1 John houses these:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:7 (1 John 1: 7)

And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

- 1 John 2: 1 7

Spartan 117

And here are passages from the Gospel of John. These are thought less likely to be references:

Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

Gospel of John, 11:7

For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Gospel of John, 1:17

Alternatively, others believe the number to be a reference to "site 117", an archeology site containing the first evidence of human battle. The site is near Jebel Sahaba, Nubia and dates from between 12,000-10,000 BC. The site contains 59 human remains of men, women and children who were clearly killed with primitive hunting implements.

It is also interesting to note that in the year 117 AD, John I became the 7th Bishop of Jerusalem.

Quotes

A collection of quotes related to John-117 are available here.

Trivia

• Master Chief is the first gaming character to become a Madame Tussauds waxwork.
• At the age of six John had brown hair, freckles, and a small gap between his front teeth. It is unknown if he still has those features anymore.
• Though many think that John-117 is a member of the UNSC Marine Corps, he is in fact, a member in the UNSC Navy.
• In the second issue of Halo: Uprising, the Master Chief is captured and interrogated by the Covenant Army. It is unclear if he was actually caught off guard, or he did it on purpose.
• He is the only playable character in Halo: Combat Evolved and one of the two playable characters in Halo 2. He is set to be a playable character in Halo 3.
• In Halo 2 Multiplayer, if someone presses "down" on the D-pad, the Master Chief biped will put his gun down as if he was ceasing fire. Throwing all your grenades and holding down the left trigger will also produce the same effect. It has been used in many machinima like "Red vs Blue" or "The Codex". Elites can do it too.
• Recent promotional items for Halo 3 have had a strong memorial bent to them, hinting at the demise of Master Chief, though strictly through speculative circumstantial evidence. Although, it was stated in a Weekly update that no significant information about Halo 3's plot has been released.