Halo Story Bible

"It is the ponderous collection of lies, damned lies, and half-truths from which the entire Halo Universe is constructed."

— Robert McLees

The Halo Story Bible, created by Bungie Studios, is the single most important object to the development of the Halo universe. The Story Bible contains information on all the canon that has been developed.

Background

The Story Bible is the most extensive collection of material for the Halo universe, and, to date, is also the single most secretive thing Bungie holds. The Story Bible contains background information, technical data, and other details about canon-related topics that have not been mentioned anywhere else.

The Story Bible is so carefully guarded that there are only four in existence. The physical form of it is a looseleaf binder. Frank O'Connor is in charge of them. When they're not with O'Connor, the binders are stored in a locked metal cabinet in the game studio's offices, which are inaccessible to the rest of Microsoft. Eric Nylund, writer of three Halo novels, commented in a letter to Halopedia that the Story Bible was given to him during the writing of the books and quickly taken back once the novels were complete. It is apparent that the material in the Story Bible is not entirely static, as the Kig-yar homeworld of Eayn is a fictional satellite of a real extrasolar planet, HD 69830 d, that was not discovered until May 2006.

Some less-sensitive material from the Story Bible was published in the Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets strategy guide. Various portions of the Story Bible, including weapon- and vehicle-related information, have been posted on Bungie.net as well. The Halo Encyclopedia also contains new information on canon, and some of its content originated from the Story Bible.

Trivia

• During a private question and answer session, Martin O'Donnell jokingly claimed that he had memorized every chapter and verse of the Halo Story Bible.
• On February 12th, 2010, both Martin O'Donnell and Frank O'Connor joined host Chris Cashman in his booth during a special session of 1 vs 100. When answering a fan's question about continuity in the Halo universe, both of them jokingly referred to the Halo Story Bible.

Sources

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_36/b4193032898394.htm