Kig-Yar Major

Major
Function:	Ground Assault, Infiltration, Defense
Species:	Kig-Yar
Affiliation:	Covenant Empire
Other role(s):	Infantry, Support

"Pecking order is earned via survival instincts alone."

— A Kig-Yar Major's philosophy

Kig-Yar Major is the second military rank attainable by Kig-Yar. They are effectively equal in rank to a UNSC Corporal or Sergeant. They are characterized by their orange (Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2), purple (Halo 3), or red (Halo: Reach) Point Defense Gauntlets, and have moderately greater stamina than Kig-Yar Minors.^[1]^[2]

Description

Similar to their less experienced brethren, Majors constitute a large part of the Covenant's mainstream infantry. They are seen in almost every engagement alongside other types of Covenant forces. Although higher in rank than Minors, they are still subject to the command of a lance leader, typically a Sangheili or Jiralhanae.

Majors wield point-defense gauntlets of greater energy output than those used by Minors. The energy emitted by a Major's shield is typically shifted into the red spectrum, glowing orange, violet or red and shifting to blue as it takes fire. Majors occasionally sport additional armor as well, such as forearm gauntlets on both arms.

Combat

Kig-Yar Majors are known for wielding Plasma Pistols as their standard weapon of choice, though canonically they have also been known to utilize Needlers. When engaging an enemy, they tend to overcharge their Plasma Pistols to eliminate enemy SPARTAN's energy shields and release volleys of plasma bolts to quickly eliminate them. When engaged by an enemy, a Major will use its personal arm shield to block enemy fire.

When engaging a Kig-Yar Major from afar, it is best to use a precision weapon such as an M6 pistol, Battle Rifle, or Covenant Carbine and aim at their exposed left hand. From medium range, weapons such as the Plasma Rifle, the SMG and the Assault Rifle provide good suppressive fire against the Major, as a hit on their body will cause the Jackal to stumble, momentarily exposing it to a melee or headshot. Alternatively, one can eliminate the Kig-Yar's personal arm shield by firing a volley from a Plasma Rifle or an overcharged shot from a Plasma Pistol. Once the personal arm shield collapses, the Kig-Yar Major is open to all attacks.

On higher difficulties, it is advisable for players to utilize either long-range firing technique using a precision weapon or the overcharged plasma bolt.

Trivia

In the PC Halo: Combat Evolved, it looks like the textures, coloring and all-out graphics were never completed or they didn't transfer from the Xbox to the PC very well. This causes Jackal Minors and Jackal Majors to have the same shield color (turquoise). In the Xbox version, the Jackal Majors have orange shields while Jackal Minors have turquoise shields.
In Halo: Combat Evolved, Jackal Majors are not only differentiated from Jackal Minors by the color of their shields, but also the color of their skin. Jackal Majors have orange skin, while Minors have grey-green skin.
In Halo 2, Jackal Majors have an orange combat suit, rather than the grey ones seen in the other games.
In Halo: Reach, Jackal Majors appear to have bright red shields and wear added armor on the forearms and shoulders.
Near the end of Halo: Reach, the player encounters a single Jackal Major wielding a Plasma Rifle. This is the only instance, in any game, of an non-sniper Jackal wielding something other than a Plasma Pistol or Needler by default.