Wallace Jenkins

"What about my family?!"

— Jenkins during the First Battle of Harvest.

Private First Class Wallace A. Jenkins was an infantryman in the UNSC Marine Corps. PFC Jenkins was stationed aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn during the Battle of Installation 04 in September 2552.

Early Life and Career

Wallace Jenkins was born on the Outer Colony world of Harvest, to a farming family. In 2524, he joined the Colonial Militia of Harvest in an effort to make use of himself. His ambition was to join the UNSC Marine Corps as an officer. Though Staff Sergeant Johnson frequently criticized him, he proved to be an extremely quick thinker and a competent Marine. One notable event occurred when he and a fellow recruit, Forsell, were participating in a training exercise with all of the other recruits in the Colonial Militia. The two were able to quickly assess the situation and go around the mock attack staged by Johnson and Byrne. By doing so, they were almost able to win the exercise -- a recruit named Osmo beat them to it. The two proved that they were competent Marines who could think out-of-the-box; they earned the trust of Staff Sergeant Johnson, and developed a close relationship throughout the First Battle of Harvest.

Battle of Harvest

"Staff Sergeant...he's all I've got left."

— Jenkins, after the glassing of Harvest

Jenkins was a natural sharpshooter and was assigned one of the prototype Battle Rifles during the battle. Jenkins' entire family was killed when when Gladsheim was attacked by the Covenant. He was deeply depressed after losing his family, and used his anger to fuel his hatred of the Covenant. The only person close to him to survive was his fellow sharpshooter and friend Forsell. Forsell had saved his life when he was blinded by rage, stopping him from trying to kill Tartarus. After escaping from Harvest, Staff Sergeant Johnson offered Jenkins, Forsell, and the remaining militiamen the chance to become real Marines in his unit. It remains unknown what Jenkins did when he became a Marine, but by 2552, he was stationed on Reach Station Gamma.

The Battle of Reach

During the war, he presumably fought at the Siege of Paris IV. He was on board Reach Station Gamma during the Battle of Reach, still fighting alongside Sergeant Johnson. The other marines with him included Privates Bisenti and O'Brien. Their Friend-Or-Foe tags were detected by the Master Chief and SPARTAN-058. The group was fighting a pack of Jackal Rangers, and defeated them with the help of the Spartans. The Chief also helped them destroy the database of the Circumference and escape the station aboard a Pelican. They then proceeded to board the Pillar of Autumn, and traveled to Installation 04.

The Battle of Installation 04

Upon arrival at the Halo, the Pillar of Autumn was attacked by the Covenant. Jenkins escaped the ship in the same lifeboat as Sergeant Johnson and his squad. After meeting up with the Master Chief and fighting off Covenant patrols, they took Pelican Echo 419 to Alpha Base.

The Flood

The Flood infected Jenkins.

Later, Jenkins, along with the rest of Fire Team Charlie (excluding Chips Dubbo), was taken on Pelican Victor 933 to what they believed was a Covenant weapons cache. This weapons cache turned out to be one of Installation 04's Flood Containment Facilities. There, he, Captain Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, and Privates Bisenti, Mendoza Kappus, and Riley encountered the Flood for the first time on Halo. During the resulting fight, Jenkins panicked, and an Infection Form latched onto him and took over his body. The Master Chief would later watch the horrifying attack using the Recorder Chip from Jenkins' dropped Helmet Recorder. The video ended suddenly, right as the Infection Form hit Jenkins, and infected him.

Jenkins and his entire squad, save for Johnson and Bisenti, were turned into Combat Forms. However, Jenkins' Infection Form was weakened from centuries of containment, and could not fully control him. The infection process occurred normally, but unlike most victims of the Flood, Jenkins remained alive and terrified while the Flood mutated and took control of his body. He was able to control himself to a small degree whenever the Infection Form was in pain, but when it had total command, he could only watch "his" actions.

Survival and Death

The infected Jenkins followed a group of Flood to the surface, where they attacked a group of ODSTs led by First Lieutenant Melissa McKay. Without complete control over his body, Jenkins, who was desperate to end his own life, attempted to get killed while assaulting the Lieutenant. The attempt failed, and he was captured by the ODSTs. Major Antonio Silva tried to interrogate him.

While being interrogated, the Infection Form inside of Jenkins' body attempted to attack its interrogators by extending a tentacle through Jenkins' hand, snapping the bones and veins. As Jenkins described it, it was a "living hell". However, the parasite was knocked unconscious by the pain, giving Jenkins the chance to reveal the imminent threat of the Flood beneath the base.. Lieutenant McKay correctly interpreted this and ordered a squad to exterminate them.

Jenkins was later taken to the Truth and Reconciliation while the Marines assaulted the ship. Jenkins knew that Silva planned to take the ship home to Earth. He also knew that there were more Flood present on the ship, and that they would inevitably escape and overwhelm the human population should Silva succeed in bringing the ship home. He thus overwhelmed the Infection Form inside him and tried to destroy the ship. He failed, but Lieutenant McKay, seeing the truth as well, destroyed the vessel for him. The destruction of the Truth and Reconciliation mercifully ended his suffering. Before he died, he managed to mouth the words "Thank you" to the Lieutenant.

Trivia

• Jenkins is seen alive wearing a basic issue hat, but the Master Chief finds his helmet with battle recorder.
• In nearly 30 years of service in the war (time in cryo unknown), Jenkins only made it up to the rank of PFC.
• He was one of the first people to use the Prototype Battle Rifle, which entered service in 2524.
• Jenkins is voiced by voice actor Chris Wicklund.
• Jenkins is the only being mentioned to be have been infected by an Infection Form that was weakened by the long hibernation the Flood form had undergone. He is consequently the only being known to have survived infection by the Flood, retained his consciousness, and been able to exert limited control over his infected body.
• Jenkins didn't wear a helmet in the game even though there is a helmet with his name on it. He wore a hat.
• Jenkins was 18 in the year 2524, which meant that he was older than the Master Chief.
• Though he was appointed a Sharpshooter in his platoon by Johnson in the events of Contact Harvest, we wielded an MA5B in Halo: Combat Evolved's Flood Containment Facility. This is most likely because the only weapons that survived the Battle of Reach were "standard Marine weapons". The Battle Rifle was still not the main weapon used by Marines, so it would have been stored in special lockers, which were all destroyed during the Fall of Reach.
• He may have some connection with L. Jenkins.
• An interesting fact is that throughout the game, he wears a boonie hat, but in both the Halo Graphic Novel and the cutscene where his squad is attacked by the Flood, he is wearing the standard-issue helmet that other Marines wear.
• For having such a small appearance in Halo: Combat Evolved, Jenkins has become a very popular character. This is most likely due to his appearances in Halo: The Flood and Halo: Contact Harvest.
• Even though Jenkins wears the same helmet as Riley, in the cutscene in 343 Guilty Spark, he has a standard Marine helmet.
• It is strange how he was the only Marine in Fire Team Charlie wearing armor and a helmet; the others were wearing bandannas, Boonie caps, Sergeant caps, or no headgear, and not even Johnson had armor.
• Jenkins dislikes flip music, which is, much to his dismay, the favourite genre of his commanding officer.