Summary
He is most often referred to as the Master Chief, although his role is not similar to that of those holding the Master Chief Petty Officer rank in the United States Navy which is a purely administrative position, his role better fits that of an action hero. He is known to The Covenant as the Demon, and Cortana has refered to him as John.
In the game series he is always portrayed in his MJOLNIR battle armor which features an opaque, reflective visor: creating the effect of never revealing his face. The Chief wears MJOLNIR Mark V until the beginning of Halo 2 where he starts using MJOLNIR Mark VI. The two times where his face could have been seen, in the ending cutscene of Halo 1 and the starting cutscene of The Armory, were deliberately made so that the camera had his face obstructed while he was removing the helmet, in the Halo 1 ending cutscene, and putting it on, in the Armory starting cutscene.
He is voiced by Steve Downes in the video game series.
Biography
Until the age of six, 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 - a sign of a "perfect genetic match" for a project dubbed "Spartan II".
At the age of six, John and quite a few other children his age were covertly captured from their houses, and replaced with Flash Clones. This specific form of clone was employed to ensure that none of the families knew that their children had been kidnapped, and to quickly die so that the parents would never seek their "lost" child.
Six years into Spartan training, John and his fellow Spartans were biologically modified and enhanced. The following procedures were done:
- Advanced carbide ceramic material grafted onto bones to make them much more durable
- Protein complex injections to increase muscle density and lower recovery time
- Body growth hormone pellet injected into thyroid, to boost skeletal and muscle tissue
- Occipital capillary reversal to increase bloodflow to the eyes, resulting in enhanced vision
- Superconducting fibers added to nerve endings, resulting in 300% increase in reflexes and increases in intelligence, memory, and creativity.
These procedures had substantial risks, and only 32 Spartans survived to functional status. 12 others suffered major problems, and were delegated to tactical duties. The rest died. John, during his time with the Spartans, was deemed the "luckiest" and was the first to test the MJOLNIR Armor.
According to Bungie programmers, the Chief stands 7' tall and weighs approximately 2,000 pounds in the full MJOLNIR Mark VI battle armor.
Halo: The Fall of Reach
MCPO John-117's first mission was against Rebels in the asteroid belt of the Eridanus System, where his homeworld was located. He was minorly wounded while leading his squad to capture Colonel Robert Watts, leader of the rebels. He recieved a Purple Heart after the mission.
Later on, he was briefed on the Covenant threat; he and his Spartans would fight at least the next 30 years against this new threat.
Halo: Combat Evolved
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 to crash land on Halo, Alpha Installation 04. In the midst of fighting the Covenant, Jacob Keyes discovered the secret of Halo, that it was a ring-shaped construct created by the Forerunners as a last line of defense against a new species of alien called The Flood, which was released at some point by either the Forerunners or their legacy; a majority of the Covenant and UNSC troops who landed on Halo were infected by The Flood. Jacob Keyes and a small group of Marines were the first humans to encounter the Covenant-released Flood; 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, including Sergeant Major Johnson.
Halo 2 andHalo: First Strike
First Strike
MCPO John-117 and the other Spartans plus Dr. Halsey are on Reach in this book that links "Halo: The Fall of Reach" with "Halo: CE" and "Halo 2". 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 cyrogenic 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. Also, two other Spartans, Issac and Vinh, survived the initial attack on Reach with Fred, Kelly, Anton, Li, Grace, and 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 (Fredrick), and John were left. Grace dies on the Unyielding Hieophant 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.
Halo 2
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, which was interrupted by Covenant boarders, which he repulsed. He destroyed one of their ships with their own bomb intended to destroy the Cairo, and landed in New Mombasa, East African Protectorate to combat Covenant landing troops. He boarded and destroyed a Scarab with the nominal assistance of a small squad of Marines and followed the main Covenant invasion force aboard the In Amber Clad to Delta Halo Installation 05, where he killed one of the High Prophets, the Prophet of Regret, the Covenant invasion/occupation force commander.
He was captured by the Gravemind after barely escaping from the High Prophet's main temple and met his Covenant Elite counterpart, the Arbiter and the two set off to stop the Covenant from activating Delta Halo, John-117 infilitrating High Charity to stop the High Prophet of Truth while the Arbiter went to stop Tartarus from activating the ring.
In the end Cortana decided to stay behind aboard High Charity in order to ensure the destruction of Delta Halo by initiating the ship's self-destruct if necessary. Meanwhile the Master Chief followed the last High Prophet to a Forerunner-powered ship which launches and embarks for The Ark on Earth. Upon arriving in the Solar System, Spartan-117 informed UNSC superiors and comrades who were still defending Earth that he intended "to finish this fight."
Halo 3
In the beginning of Halo 3, Master Chief falls into an African jungle after becoming seperated from the piece of the Forerunner Dreadnought that he was using to shield himself. He was found shorty after by a squad of UNSC Marines led by Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson. It was here that Master Chief once again encountered Thel 'Vadam and attempted to kill him, however, Johnson explained that Thel 'Vadam and the rest of his kind have sided with Humanity. After making their way through the jungle, Master Chief, Johnson, and Thel 'Vadam made it back to Crow's Nest, where Master Cheif met with Commander Miranda Keyes again. Lord Hood also contacted the base, only to be interupted by a transmission from the Prophet of Truth. Covenant Loyalists had attacked the base shortly after the transmission, and Master Chief had to make his way through hordes of Covenant forces before activating the Crow's Nest Bomb and destroying the base.
Master Chief had survived, however, as well as a group of Marines. Together, they made their way out of the wreckage and drove through Tsavo Highway to get to the town of Voi, where Master Chief, along with Thel 'Vadam ceased Covenant Anti-Aircraft fire. However, the Covenant had created a portal leading to the Ark. Shortly after this portal has been opened, a Covenant cruiser exited Slipspace. Unfortunately, this cruiser is inhabited by the Flood. After the Flood had almost completely infected Voi, the UNSC decided it would be best to glass the town, preventing the Flood from spreding to the rest of the Earth, but not before Master Chief could recover a message from Cortana inside the Gravemind.
The message that Cortana had recorded informed the UNSC of a solution to the Flood on the other side of the portal that the Covenant had opened, and that High Charity was heading toward Earth with a Gravemind on board. Lord Hood suggested to stay on Earth and defend against the Flood, but Miranda Keyes insisted on going through the portal and finding a solution. Master Chief, along with Miranda Keyes, Johnson, and Thel 'Vadam went through the portal, and found Installation 00.
Once Master Chief got onto Installation 00 along with UNSC ODSTs, he had to seek out the Cartographer to locate the Prophet of Truth. Once he had located the Cartographer, he made his way to the Barrier Towers to deactivate the barrier keeping the UNSC forces from getting to the Citadel, where the Prophet of Truth was located. However, while attepting to deactivate the Barrier Towers, Johnson was captured by the Covenant Loyalists, and was brought to the Citadel to activate the Halo Rings. However, Master Chief was successful at deactivating the last Barrier Tower, allowing Miranda Keyes to make her way into the Citadel. However, her efforts were vanquished after Brutes manges to kill her and used Johnson to activate the firing sequence of the Halo Installations. But before the Halo Installations were able to fire, Master Chief, with the help of the Flood, were able to stop The Prophet of Truth and deactivate the Halo Rings.
After rescuing Johnson and finishing the fight with The Covenant, Master Chief made his way through the Gravemind to rescue Cortana. After making it through hordes of Flood, Master Chief managed to get Cortana and destroyed High Chartiy, making his way to the newly built Installation 04B. Master Chief, along with Cortana, Thel 'Vadam, and Johnson had gotten to the Control Room to begin the firing sequence of the new Installation. However, 343 Guilty Spark did not agree to firing the Installation prematurely, which would destroy the Installation as well. Master Chief then engaged 343 Guilty Spark, but his weapons did nothing to the Monitor. Luckily for Master Chief, Johnson managed to damage 343 Guilty Spark using a Spartan Laser. Master Chief was then able to aquire the Spartan Laser from Johnson and destroyed 343 Guilty Spark. However, 343 Guilty Spark had managed to preform a fatal blow to Johnson, smiting him.
After Master Chief activated the Halo Ring, he, Cortana, and Thel 'Vadam used Johnson's Warthog in order to escape from Installaion 04B, in order to escape into the hangar of the Forward Unto Dawn. While escapeing through the portal, however, it closed in on itself, splitting the Frigate in half. While Thel 'Vadam, who was controling the Foward Unto Dawn, made it through the portal and made it back to Earth. Master Cheif and Cortana were still in the hangar, and were last seen floating in space toward an unknown planet. Master Chief entered a Cryo Chamber, while Cortana began showing signs of Rampancy.
Back on Earth, it is shown that Master Chief is believed to be dead, as his Identification Number was etched on the Hillside Memorial, for those who died during the Human-Covenant War. However, he was offiacially declared to be Missing In Action.
Biblical Reference
"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.
Fans have found that a passage from the Book of Revelation (more formally known as The Revelation of St. John the Divine) to be a good fit for the Master Chief.
- 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.
(This quote could mean that he was the First Spartan, and is the last one left alive)
- 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.
(This quote could mean that he is the one who will save mankind. At the start of Halo, he was in cryo sleep, probably recovering from his injuries at Reach, and then he was awakened to refight the Covenant on Installation 04. The last phrase probably refers to the way the Chief slaughters Humanity's opponents.)
The statement "I am the First and the Last" has led some fans to believe (along with other evidence) that future releases in the Halo series will involve time travel, as Marathon Infinity has.
"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them." John 11:7
This too seems to define the Master Chief in almost an Identical manor. It describes him as ascending out of the bottomless pit and makeing war against "them". This describes how the Master Chief came out of Chryo-Freezing and waged war upon the Covenant. He is also supposed to be the one to finish off the Covenant once and for all.
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