Halo 5: Who’s Under the Helmet?

When I first saw the teaser image for Halo 5: Guardians, my first thought was this: Holy crap that other Spartan is Cortana. Ok, maybe that wasn’t my first thought. My first thought was something more along the lines of “HOLY $#!& HALO 5 IS OFFICIALLY HAPPENING!” But then, after my excitement died down, I began to wonder who that other Spartan was, and my mind wandered to none other than Cortana, Master Chief’s AI companion for all four of the core Halo games. The one true friend that Master Chief ever had (canonically at least, the novels and comics aren’t officially canon), in a Spartan suit, fighting along side every body’s favorite (relatively) silent protagonist.

Cortana already went crazy so why not a little evil?

Of course, the logistics of this would be hard to explain. I never thought that Cortana would manifest physically, but rather that she would control an empty Spartan IV suit, fighting along the Chief. And then, after talking to We the Nerdy’s own video game editor, Robert Steltenpohl, we came up with a theory that fused both of our thoughts. What if the villain was actually a rampant Cortana? Or, better yet, a rampant Cortana being manipulated or controlled by the Guardians. Instead of fighting along side his best friend, Master Chief would have to destroy, in something similar to what Green Lantern: The Animated Series did with the AI Aya.

And then 343 industries came out and absolutely destroyed that theory, saying that this was character was set to be male. Boom. Any hope of it being Cortana is gone. Which, in one sense, is a good thing. Because if it had been Cortana, and had been a villain, the final showdown would have been absolutely devastating. After finding this out, my thoughts went to other major Halo characters that were still alive. Halo Reach’s Jun came to mind, as did ODST’s Buck or even Rookie. But then those theories were all crushed to with the revelation that this character was someone completely new, someone we haven’t seen before. For the time being, I’m still sticking with it being a villain.

Which leads me to my newest theory: It’s a rogue Spartan III or Spartan IV. Perhaps a Spartan who was sent on a mission to deal with the Guardians, or to investigate the Guardians, and then was brainwashed by either the Guardians or the Forerunners. And, on his quest to find Cortana, and restore meaning to his life, Master Chief will encounter this villain, and be forced to deal with him, giving Master Chief a real villain, a real threat that he has to deal with. Something tangible. Something more human. It would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Anyways, since my Cortana theory was destroyed by 343 Industries, I’ve been forced to come up with a new theory about who the mysterious figure on the promo art for Halo 5: Guardians is. To be honest, I think that this theory is actually nowhere near as far fetched as the Cortana theory, since that would have involved a lot of hard core science fiction concepts coming into play, things that haven’t necessarily existed in the Halo Universe before.

Noble 6 and the mysterious Spartan: ONI operatives?

So, my new theory is one similar to my theory about who Halo Reach’s Noble Six was. I thought that Noble 6 was a lone wolf, black ops Spartan, sent to the far reaches of space to eliminate threats before they actually became threats. And this new character could be very similar to that. My guess is that he is a Spartan IV that served as an operative for the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), answering directly to them, therefore bypassing other important members of the UNSC, such as Admiral Hood. Since ONI is known for their unorthodox methods of eliminating threats, it would not be far fetched for them to have a Spartan IV or two that work for them, operating in the far reaches of space to eliminate any possible threats to humanity that may exist.3

Of course, I am still maintaining that this character is going to be the game’s main antagonist, whom the Master Chief will have to face, and potentially kill. But here’s the kicker: he isn’t a rogue Spartan. No, he still works for ONI, within the infrastructure of the UNSC. And this will open Master Chief’s eyes to the problems with the UNSC. Chief, throughout every single Halo game, has taken orders from the UNSC, and from ONI. If elements of the expanded universe are to be believed, he has had friends die as a result of actions taken by ONI. Because ONI are not the good guys, at the end of the day. They play the role of a shadowy government agency, waiting to pounce whenever they get the chance.

Therefore, when he encounters this new Spartan IV, it will change his outlook on the UNSC forever, and that would allow the writers at 343 to actually do something with Master Chief’s character. This new Spartan would act as a catalyst for Chief to change his outlook on his entire life, especially if that character stands in the way of him and Cortana, his best friend in the entire galaxy, who I’m sure will play a large part in the game.

Well, that’s my theory on who’s under that Spartan’s helmet. What are yours? Let me know in the comment section below!