The Halo franchise is chock full of details concerning The Flood, The Covenant, and the ever-present Forerunners. Details concerning Master Chief’s journey towards saving the planet and beating all malicious evils in the galaxy are told within the narratives woven in the canonical video games. However, many juicy lore details are reserved for novels and other expanded universe content.
Like any expansive franchise, learning all there is to know about a universe requires reading up on novels, comics, and other expanded content. Because Halo is one of the most popular game franchises in the world, keeping up to speed with the most obscure and important Halo facts sometimes requires looking beyond the current canon Halo video games.
10 Master Chief’s Preferred Weapon Is The Assault Rifle
In every Halo title, whether it be games, expanded lore texts, or comics, one thing is for certain: Master Chief loves his standard MA3 Assault Rifle; if he is holding a weapon, he is almost always pictured with his handy dandy rifle. The reason for Chief’s dependency over his MA3 is due to how every UNSC soldier’s body is embedded with a neural chip that links them to their equipment. For this cyber-futuristic reason, all MA3 Assault Rifles have no iron sights. Master Chief knows how much ammo and grenades he’s packing thanks to this link.
9 Helmeted Soldier And A Faceless Hero
Bungie originally designed Master Chief as a faceless hero, whom the player can see as themselves. With Spartan 117’s on-brand stoicism and jazzy yet robotic voice with minimal dialogue lines, players are guided towards projecting themselves unto the heroic Master Chief. As the game is also set as a first-person shooter, designing Master Chief as a character that was meant for immersion and helps players see their own fingers on the triggers blasting away enemy Elites and the Flood. Master Chief’s title was also set as his placeholder name (which stuck throughout the game’s development) due to how minimal importance was placed on the name.
8 Master Chief’s Homeworld Is Called Eridanus II
In Eric Nylund’s Halo: The Fall of Reach, a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, Master Chief’s brutal journey towards becoming indoctrinated as a Spartan in the training grounds within the turbulent world of Reach. Inhabited primarily by Humans, Eridanus II served as John-117’s home where he grew up until he was abducted and thrust into the SPARTAN-II program. Unlike most Human-lived planets, Eridanus II was mostly vast and rural and had little pollution within its climate. Despite its peaceful sounding environment, The Fall of Reach details Eradanus II to have many accounts of hostility against the UNSC. As Dr. Catherine Halsey details in the novel, the rebels at some point established Eridanus II and its system as their base of operations.
7 Master Chief’s Rank Is Not To Be Reckoned With
Throughout the various pieces of lore told within the Halo universe, Master Chief is a decorated veteran who has served in various campaigns and has earned every medal in service. Earning the title of Master Chief is entirely represented to the player since the Chief can power jump, shoot with precision, and even bubble shield with cat-like reflexes when facing the Covenant. Donning the title of Master Chief also makes John-117 the perfect candidate to have saved the world over 3 times. Perhaps the newest iteration, Halo Infinite is aptly named since Chief can take on infinite threats.
6 He Is A Beefy Boy
Surprisingly, Master Chief can jump over 3 meters high with all that weight on him. Master Chief weighs over 455 kg. Now, Chief doesn’t pack all this weight in his belly; all this weight he carries is due to his Mjolnir armor packed with titanium alloy and all the protective padding needed when eradicating the flood.
Chief can also withstand almost anything that is fired on him (except the occasional headshot) as he heals up in no time thanks to his suit. In addition, the Hydrostatic gel lines Chief’s armor so that he can withstand falls from the fastest flying banshees.
5 Master Chief Was A Certified Bully
Throughout his childhood Master Chief would always fight his classmates—he was even detailed to have tossed children over hills during playtime. Because he was always a tall kid, John-117 typically stood about a foot over the rest of his classmates. The Master Chief was a Master Jerk. As detailed by some of the novels, Chief was also described as the type to snatch the food right off your plate. As we have come to know Chief, he has certainly matured and retired from his old bullying days. Yet, he needs that kind of toughness to face the hordes of enemies he takes out.
4 He Kind Of Looks Like A Zombie Under That Suit
Master Chief’s entire body is completely pale and covered in scars. Throughout the novels, John-117 receives serious injuries that end up covering most of his body. Coupled with always being inside his Mjolnir armor, Master Chief hardly gets any chance to soak up some Vitamin D. Whenever Master Chief needs to use a UNSC latrine or shower, he is probably greeted by a war-torn body that serves as a stark reminder of his accomplishments. Donning these honor markings, it kind of makes sense for him to be uncomfortable outside of his armor.
3 Clones And The Spartan Program
As John-117 was abducted as a young child, he would have left an empty void in his home planet. However, due to the super futuristic technology within the Halo universe, a clone was left in his place after the Chief was initially abducted from his hometown. These clones typically live out the remaining days of the abductees, so that family and other community members do not feel an absence. As the Spartan-II project was to be kept under wraps, this was the best way to keep others from knowing about them.
2 Master Chief’s Real Age
Although Master Chief is never directly given an age in the games, the novels describe him as being well into his 40s. Now imagine a middle-aged man jumping over the skulls of elites 360-no scoping anything that takes a breath in the wrong direction. Don’t upset this soon-to-be boomer! The novels say that Chief is about 47 years old, which is pretty impressive considering how mobile Master Chief is. Despite being a well-aged seasoned vet, Master Chief shows no signs of slowing down his sprees.
1 How Fast Can A Warthog Go?
As you would imagine, a Spartan’s go-to all-terrain vehicle will always be the warthog—but how fast does this thing move? In the novels, Warthogs are detailed to have a top speed of 60 miles per hour! Sure, this may not be as fast as real-world vehicles, but think about how much artillery, armor, and other gadgets each Warthog is outfitted with? Oftentimes, there is a full-on minigun atop each hog (which is also typically ripped off for Rambo-style action). Speeding through waves of the Flood and crushing them with monster truck tires feels satisfying even at only 60 mph.
NEXT: Halo Infinite Guide: Everything We Know So Far
