Halo: Combat Evolved Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: A ? about the origin of the flood in CE
  • Subject: A ? about the origin of the flood in CE
Subject: A ? about the origin of the flood in CE
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Hello all:
I have a question regarding the flood that I figure someone here can answer!

My experience with the Halo Universe has been limited to an enormous amount of gameplay (campaign) and forays into the Bad Cyborg & HIH. I have not read any of the books, nor have I spent much time on Halopedia. I do not know if this has been asked or delved into before, so let me pose a ?

Is the true form of the flood the infection form?

If you think about it, all of the flood forms except the infection form actually arise AFTER the flood has infected something. The Carrier Forms are Grunts, the Combat Forms are either Humans or Elites. If you ask me, there are an awful lot of post infected flood forms for the amount of humans and covies that were able to be infected (and in such a short time!). You have 1 ship, T & R from the covie side, and the PofA from the human side, and yet there are flood everywhere?? Just how many humans survived the PofA crash??

Is the Infection form the only true original (non-taken over) flood?? In the Library there are the glass covered pits in the floor that house some, and of course the fact that they just seem to pour out of any and all nooks and crannies in the walls. You never see any other flood forms other than those listed, nor mention of any virus or such. As an aside, it does seem to be an odd place to house the spores, right in the middle of the area where the critical firing device resides!! In GS 343 there are the containment areas that seem small enough to have been built for infection form sized beasties (although a dozen combat forms could fit nicely as well!).

I do not know why it took me 5 years to decide there was some sort of hole in my Halo world that has just now become a deep itch in my brain, but the ? finally had to be asked by me.

Any answers??

  • 10.18.2008 11:34 AM PDT

As far as i know, the popcorn is the original state the Flood originated from. This may have changed over millenia, as the Flood infected civilization after civilization, but IMO, this form is the most efficient, and can survive millenia without any food or other sustenance.

The containment areas were indeed built for the infection forms. The rooms were made large enough that the Flood could not force their way through the doors, or so the Forerunner thought.

  • 10.18.2008 11:38 AM PDT

somewhere in the heavens...they are waiting. I love the Marathon Trilogy.
Halo CE will always be the best game in the Halo franchise. What a perfect game.
(Proud LONGTIME owner of the PC and Xbox versions of Halo CE)

I hope someday we go far back to the days of the Forerunners, then maybe we will find the answer.

  • 10.18.2008 2:52 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

To play or not to play....

Well they are the form the Flood use to reproduce. Basically they infect something create more infection forms and infect something else. Carrier forms generate more infection forms and have that explosive thing they do to weaken potential hosts.

As for being true forms of the Flood. Sort of. The infection forms are pure Flood but their only real task is infection.

Other forms we don't see in Halo CE are pure foms. Each Flood form performs a task. So it is hard to say which is pure Flood and which is not.

It is true to say that the containment protocols on Halo 04 were largely designed to contain the smaller infection forms. The larger forms really posed a problem and quickly got out of hand.

[Edited on 10.18.2008 4:36 PM PDT]

  • 10.18.2008 4:35 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Mythic Member
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

According to Halopedia, the earliest stage is a sort of cell that begins to form the bulbous forms on the walls of infected places, and infection forms are created from those. Of course, it's much more horrific and easy to think of the Flood beginning as an infection form, but a spore makes much more sense.

  • 10.18.2008 8:20 PM PDT

Just message me on live.

The infection form would be. The Gravemind is formed by infection forms putting flesh there.

  • 10.19.2008 11:37 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

I think so. But I never thought about the flood forms origins... now I'm going to be stuck thinking about that for the next few days.

  • 10.19.2008 7:31 PM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

EXTREME PREJUDICE

I would have to agree w/ Micro5.

The original form is the simple spore.

[Edited on 10.19.2008 7:43 PM PDT]

  • 10.19.2008 7:42 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

To play or not to play....

Actually come to think of it spores are the real threat. They float around and can settle in areas starting infections. They can be breathed in and infect the host. People assume the infection forms to be the only way the flood spreads but it actually spreads more by spores.

  • 10.27.2008 3:39 AM PDT

Posted by: V101
Actually come to think of it spores are the real threat. They float around and can settle in areas starting infections. They can be breathed in and infect the host. People assume the infection forms to be the only way the flood spreads but it actually spreads more by spores.


I'm pretty certain the spores cannot infect people. Remember the infection forms essentially burrow into your nervous system to force a neural match before the cell.spore changes your body to flood. The infection form is the replacement brain as such, otherwise the host could kill itself once it realises the spore is changing it to a flood form.

I could be wrong though.

Also OP-Nice to see someone else who visits bad cyborg.

  • 10.27.2008 3:53 AM PDT

You'd probably shoot back if i wasn't T-bagging your dead body.

I thought they were macro-virus/parasites

  • 10.30.2008 5:42 PM PDT