In Halo PC, Halo 2, and Halo 3 when a player in a multiplayer map or game is killed inexplicably (i.e. by a physics glitch, by the environment, or by an AI in Halo: Custom Edition), the message reads "(Player) was killed by The Guardians". This is sometimes triggered when trying to get out of a map, but it is not limited to that. Things such as scenery, objects, and even teleporters can cause a death by the "Guardians". The same goes for being killed in and out of maps by unmanned vehicles (this may not happen in Halo: Combat Evolved, as it will say "(Player) was killed by a vehicle".
Basic Theory
It seems to be that the Guardians are a form of security, that is, they protect the map and the game from the players that attempt to (and also accidentally) go past the level boundaries, or glitch the map in some way and sometimes if you try to super bounce on levels you go through the floor and die. This, if proven, would confirm a fact that shows that the normal map boundaries are just blocking off the outside edges, and preventing the player from violating the Sealed World Rules (a set of rules dictating level geometry and physics). Therefore, if the Guardians could somewhat be "glitched"; removed from active play, then these Rules could be exploited. However, the Guardians are well designed, in that there are very few manageable actions that a player can do short of hard hacking the game that will disable them.
Guardians should basically be assumed as a form of A.I. that shows that you were killed when the map stops the players from exiting the map as in Sandtrap and Snowbound (Halo 3), or when redesigned part of the map killed you such as the trains in Terminal (Halo 2) or any odd forms of deaths like falling Scorpions, solid objects such as crates hitting you at a high velocity, teleporter glitches or any other deaths caused by unpredictable events. The Guardians can be overloaded. If the Guardians are in the form of a turret or mine, but a secondary wall has been placed outside most maps to prevent players from getting a little too far. This wall cannot be "glitched" off.
Examples
- When one of the Ghosts of Halo kills you, it will say, "You were killed by the Guardians".
- On the Halo 2 downloadable level Terminal, if you stand in front of the train and let it crash into you, the Guardians message will pop up at the near the left corner of the screen.
- In the Halo 2 multiplayer map Zanzibar, if you attempt to drive a vehicle up the windmill and you are successful your vehicle will explode and the message "[Player] was killed by the Guardians" will appear.
- In the Halo 2 multiplayer map Waterworks if a player shoots down a stalactite on the ceiling and the player doesn't move and is killed by it the message "Killed by the Guardians" will appear.
- In glitches where a player falls through the bottom of map, it will sometimes state that death was by the Guardians.
- In the Halo 3 map Sandtrap, if you travel too far towards the edge of the map, Brute Landmines launch from the ground and cause your death and the message "[Player] was killed by the Guardians" will appear.
- In the Halo 3 map Narrows, if you fall onto the conveyor belt just below the bridge, you will die after an undetermined amount of time and a message will say "[Player] was killed by the Guardians".
- If you manage to get out the map on Isolation and you go out too far, you will be killed by the "Guardians".
- On Headlong there are gravity lifts that will sometimes glitch and kill you, saying you were "Killed by the Guardians".
- In The Pit, If you put a teleporter outside the map and go through it, you will be "Killed by the Guardians".
- In the Halo 2 multiplayer map Colossus if squashed by a container when it is falling, it will say "You were killed by the Guardians".
- In Forge on Halo 3, if you make never-ending explosions, and try to get into them (without setting your damage tolerance to invincible via the Forge options menu), you will get killed by the Guardians".
- In the Elephant glitch and the item falls, if it lands on you it will say "You were killed by the Guardians".
- On Forge, if the player creates a portal leading to the "Jackal Room" on the map "The Pit", and walks too far behind the room, the player will automatically die, with the message "You were killed by the Guardians".
- In the Halo 3 downloadable map Standoff, if you drive a Mongoose or Warthog up to gate behind the Blue base the player will automatically die, with the message "You were killed by the Guardians".
- In the maps Isolation and Valhalla, if you drive a Banshee too high up, you will die with the message "Killed by the Guardians".
- In Snowbound if you exit the map the Automated Plasma Turret will shoot at you, when you die,it will say you were killed by the guardians.
- In Forge on Halo 3, get a Plasma Pistol in your hand and overcharge it, then go to Edit Mode and drop a Tank and go to Player Mode. Before it crushes you, shoot it with the fully charged Plasma Pistol, the Tank should be disabled and when it hits you it should say "Killed by the Guardians." If not it will say suicide
Trivia
- Most equipment/power-up types, including Bubble Shield and Deployable Cover do not alter the effect of the Guardians and you will continue to take damage as normal.
- Often, if one overloads a map, the Guardians will stop working, allowing players to explore the boundaries of Snowbound, Sandtrap, etc.
- There have been many cases in both Halo 2 and 3 where mysterious deaths have been caused by the Guardians. This is possibly the game's only explanation for being killed by a Ghost of Halo.
- A glitch in the Halo demo causes the player to spontaneously die. When this happens, a message appears saying "You were killed by the Guardians."
- Though unconfirmed, there could quite possibly be an Easter Egg, in Halo 3, in which you can hear evil laughter via your headset after killed by The Guardians. This was heard and accounted for by JayQs1919 when playing a custom game with a friend.[1]