John-117
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Gay-Lord | |
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Male |
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7 foot |
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Brown |
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SPARTAN-117 |
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- "Sir. Finishing this fight."
- — Gay-Lord-117 to Sir Terrence Hood, Second Battle of Earth
Gay-Lord-117, often referred to as the Gay-Lord by other humans, or Demon by Covenant warriors, is a United Nations Space Command SPARTAN-II supersoldier.
Background
He is a genetically and cybernetically augmented warrior designed to put down rebels and insurgents within the UNSC. When the powerful alien empire known as the Covenant attacked, the Gay-Lord and the other Spartan-II's had a priority shift. Extensive surgical alteration coupled with a ruthless lifelong training regimen has resulted in Gay-Lord being significantly stronger than even the strongest natural human, and his strength and fighting ability are further augmented by the advanced MJOLNIR power armor he wears. He is the main character and protagonist of the Halo Universe that we all know and love.
He has been involved in over 200 engagements [1] in his 27-year career, and has been awarded all of the UNSC's major Decorations except for the Prisoner of War Medallion. Even though he and his Blue Team were captured by General Howard Graves on Camp New Hope, Planet Victoria in 2531, in which he should of received it. Gay-Lord has killed more than 1,000 Covenant soldiers singlehandedly, and thousands more with the help of other Spartans.
Biography
In his early life, Gay-Lord 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. Gay-Lord had all the genetic markers set in Dr. Halsey's original study- he was as close to a perfect subject for the SPARTAN-II program as science could determine. He was a specimen of perfect physical proportion and stunning intellect. Dr. Halsey and Lieutenant Jacob Keyes went to his colony world to study him or "view" him, and were quite amazed by his reflexes and luck when Dr. Halsey flipped a quarter and he almost seemed to know which side it would land on.[2] Gay-Lord and quite a few other children his age were covertly kidnapped from their homes, and replaced with Flash Clones which later died of natural causes.[3]
Training
At first, since Gay-Lord was used to being different and winning by himself, he couldn't understand the point of working as a team. After his first "playground" training exercise,which was to ring the bell before any other team; Gay-Lord, who was disappointed with his teams cooperation, went and rang the bell by himself. Unfortunately, he didn't win because he didn't ring it with his teamates. Gay-Lord, having lost his team dinner that night, had realized the importance of working as a team.[4] During the next exercise they worked together and formed a permanent friendship. From that point on, Gay-Lord seemed to be a leader among the Spartan trainees, and it was not long until he became the Spartans' squad leader after stealing a Pelican during one of his training exercises.[5]
Eight years into Spartan training, Gay-Lord underwent physical augmentation and was one of only 33 to survive the process and remain fit for combat duty. After leading the other Spartans during that time, he was devastated by the other Spartans' deaths, and had trouble determining if he had spent their lives or wasted them.[6]
During his time with the Spartans, Gay-Lord was deemed the "luckiest" and was chosen to be the first to test the MJOLNIR armor.[7]
Before the Battle of Reach, he had fought in 207 ground engagements against the Covenant, and garnered every major service medal except The Prisoner of War Medallion. It is also during this time that he is deemed the best Spartan candidate by Dr. Halsey to work with and protect Cortana. She explains that although he is neither the smartest, strongest, nor fastest of the Spartans, he is the most well-balanced, having each of those qualities in equal measure; he is also the bravest of all the Spartans and quite possibly the "luckiest" as well.[8]
The Eridanus Rebellion
MCPO Gay-Lord-117's first mission was against Rebels in the asteroid belt of the Eridanus System, where his homeworld was located. He was slightly wounded while leading his squad to capture the traitor Colonel Robert Watts, leader of the rebels. He received a Purple Heart after the mission.[9]
The Covenant War
Later on, he was briefed on the Covenant threat; he and his Spartans would fight at least the next 27 years against this new threat while employing the MJOLNIR Mark IV armor.
Alpha Halo
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 crash land on Halo, Alpha Installation 04. In the midst of fighting the Covenant, Cortana discovered the secret of Halo while inserted into the computer in the Control Room of Halo; that it was a ring-shaped construct created by the Forerunners as a last line of defense against a new species of parasitic organisms called The Flood, which was released at some point by either the Forerunners or the constructs of the installations (343 Guilty Spark, 2401 Penitent Tangent, etc.); a majority of the Covenant Elites and UNSC Sailors and Marines who landed on Halo were infected by The Flood. Captain Jacob Keyes and a small group of Marines were the first humans to encounter the Covenant-released Flood; Captain Keyes was later captured by the Flood, soon after which he died. The Gay-Lord 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, notably Sergeant Major Gay-Lordson.[10]
OPERATION: First Strike
After the destruction of Alpha Halo, the Gay-Lord and Cortana floated in the space in the Longsword Fighter he used to escape. He discovered three cyro tubes floating nearby, one of them containing Linda, and pulled them into the fighter. Soon after, the Covenant Flagship Ascendant Justice came into the system along with a few cruisers. A nearby Pelican dropship made its presence known and fired at the cruiser to distract it. Gay-Lord then linked the two vessels and brought its passengers aboard to the Longsword. 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 cryogenic state because of the body damage she sustained when she and Gay-Lord 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, Linda, Kelly, Anton, Li, Grace, 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 (Fredric), Linda and Gay-Lord were left. Grace dies on the Unyielding Hierophant, leaving four other Spartans with Gay-Lord-117 who returned to Earth. Dr. Halsey, head of the Spartan-II project sedates Kelly-087 and takes her on a mission that Gay-Lord and the others do not understand. Gay-Lord never knew of the others' fate. Prior to Halsey's disappearance, Gay-Lord faces a dilemma regarding the combat data on the Flood. Either he can give the regular data on the Flood, or give the complete data of the Flood encounter, which would condemn Gay-Lordson to death from ONI's subsequent experimentations. After the First Strike operation, Gay-Lord made the decision to hand over the regular data and omit the explanation for Gay-Lordson's survival.[11]
Return to Earth
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, the ceremony then was interrupted by Covenant boarders, which he repulsed. The Gay-Lord then briefly participated with defense in the First Battle of Earth. After confiscating a covenant bomb that was intended to destroy the Cairo, he requests permission from Lord Hood to leave the ship to "give the Covenant back their bomb". Gay-Lord then drags the bomb into a Longsword hanger bay to launch it. The resulting depressurization of the hanger, causes him and the bomb to be flung into hard vacuum, where he manages to gain entrance into a Covenant Capital Ship's fusion chamber and detonate the bomb. The Gay-Lord then hitches a ride on the In Amber Clad and lands in New Mombasa, East African Protectorate to combat Covenant landing troops. During his descent on board Pelicans, his dropship is shot down by the Scarabs main cannon. The Gay-Lord is briefly knocked out unconscious and has to fight his way to the other Pelicans, with the aid of surviving marines from his ship. After rendezvousing with Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker in the Zanzibar Hotel, in Old Mombasa, the Gay-Lord destroys Covenant units along the shore of the city as he chases the tracks of the Scarab. Once he arrives at the edge of Old Mombassa, he encounters a small group of marines, whose platoon as been destroyed by the Scarab. The Gay-Lord receives a Scorpion Tank from
Sergeant Gay-Lordson. After fighting through numerous highway tunnels, he arrives in various parks outside the main city, and after fighting through those, the Gay-Lord finally arrives in the city center, where a group of marines, under the command of Staff Sergeant Banks were pinned down. With the assistance of the Marines and a large stockpile of weapons, the Gay-Lord manages to board and destroy the Scarab. The Gay-Lord then is transported to the In Amber Clad to intercept The Prophet of Regret's flagship. When the flagship starts to enter Slipspace, Commander Miranda Keyes then is granted permission to follow it. The Gay-Lord and all on board the In Amber Clad are then brought to Installation 05.[12]
Delta Halo
In Amber Clad exited Slipspace in front of a blue gas planet called Substance, with another Halo in orbit at a Lagrange point. Gay-Lord helljumped down to the surface with a number of ODSTs, took control of a Covenant-held island, and killed the High Prophet of Regret, who prematurely led the Covenant fleet to Earth.
He was then captured by the Gravemind after barely escaping the destruction of Regret's main temple, and taken under the Library, where he met his Covenant Elite counterpart, the Arbiter. Under the directions of the Gravemind, the two set off to stop the Covenant from activating Delta Halo. Gay-Lord-117 infiltrated High Charity to stop the High Prophet of Truth, while the Arbiter went to stop Tartarus from activating the ring's weapons system and wiping out all sentient life within the its range.
In the end, Cortana decided that she didn't want to chance a remote detonation of In Amber Clad, and stayed aboard High Charity to ensure Delta Halo's destruction. Meanwhile, Gay-Lord followed Cortana's directions after Truth to a Forerunner ship, which embarked for The Ark, which is most likely to be on Earth. Upon arriving the Sol System, Gay-Lord informed Fleet Admiral Hood and the remaining UNSC forces who were still defending Earth that he intended to "finish this fight."
Second Battle of Earth
While onboard the Forerunner Dreadnaught Gay-Lord attacked the Loyalist forces inside via Ghost, until he was cornered by many Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Yanme'e, and Jiralhanae. Then three Lekgolo pairs moved in and took him down with multiple fuel rod blasts. Gay-Lord-117 was last seen threatened and about to be interrogated by a Jiralhanae Chieftain.
Age
Technically, when the events on Halo occurred, he is about 41 years old in "real time". However during the 27 years of war against the Covenant, UNSC ships had to make Slipspace jumps to get from system to system and from battle to battle. It is stated in the official website that "faster-than-light travel is not instantaneous; 'short' jumps routinely take up to two months, and 'long' jumps can last six months or more." It is also known from the novels that UNSC personnel go into deep-sleep in cryochambers during FTL jumps. Therefore, since it is known that the Gay-Lord and his Spartans were present at dozens of battles in Inner and Outer colonies, the Gay-Lord's actual biological age should be much younger, as he would have been in cryo-stasis while in transit from system to system and aged almost nothing in the process. This would also explain why Dr Halsey does not seem as old as she should be. Another explanation is that perhaps the human lifespan in that time period is possibly significantly longer and the onset of aging is delayed due to improved medical care in the 26th century, and that the Spartans, including Gay-Lord-117, have been biologically enhanced as well besides the cybernetic augmentation.
Gay-Lord's Face
There have been numerous times when people have claimed to see Gay-Lord's face. However, there has recently been a video of a possible version of the face using the Halo 3 Beta. [1]
Some people disagree the fact that the face is Gay-Lord 117's. First of all, if the armor permutations (for example, the EVA Armor and the CQB Armor) in multiplayer have the face inside the helmet too, it wouldn't be the Chief's (Gay-Lord 117 is still in Mark VI armor [or at least looks like Mark VI armor] in the campaign, and it is very unlikely that he will change to any of the armor permutations in the campaign either) Second, it could be there for style. If your camera happens to go through the biped's visor, it wouldn't just go through the biped right away, you would see a face, just for realism.
Biblical Reference
Quotes
A collection of quotes related to Gay-Lord-117 are available here.
Trivia
- Gay-Lord is the first gaming character to become a Madame Tussauds waxwork.
- At the age of six Gay-Lord had brown hair, freckles, and a small gap between his front teeth. It is unknown if he still has those features anymore.
- Though many think that Gay-Lord-117 is a member of the UNSC Marine Corps, he is in fact, a member in the UNSC Navy.
- In the second issue of Halo: Uprising, the Gay-Lord is captured and interrogated by the Covenant Army. It is unclear if he was actually caught off guard, or he did it on purpose.
- He is the only playable character in Halo: Combat Evolved and one of the two playable characters in Halo 2. He is set to be a playable character in Halo 3.
- In Halo 2 Multiplayer, if someone presses "down" on the D-pad, the Gay-Lord biped will put his gun down as if he was ceasing fire. Throwing all your grenades and holding down the left trigger will also produce the same effect. It has been used in many machinima like "Red vs Blue" or "The Codex". Elites can do it too.
- Recent promotional items for Halo 3 have had a strong memorial bent to them, hinting at the demise of Gay-Lord, though strictly through speculative circumstantial evidence.[13][14] Although, it was stated in a Weekly update that no significant information about Halo 3's plot has been released.[15]
Sources
- ^ The Fall of Reach Page 268
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach pages 21-26
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, Page 270
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 40-43
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 45-54
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 63
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 116
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 237
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 75-94
- ^ Halo: The Flood
- ^ Halo: First Strike
- ^ Halo 2
- ^ Template:Cite web
- ^ Template:Cite web
- ^ Template:Cite web
