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This topic has moved here: Subject: Is Halo Wars Canon?
  • Subject: Is Halo Wars Canon?
Subject: Is Halo Wars Canon?
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I know this has nothing to do with Reach but this is where the most hardcore Halo fans hang out so I thought I'd ask it

Many people have said the Halo Wars isn't Halo Canon because of the forerunners, flood etc...

I just wondered if anyone knew?

  • 10.15.2009 11:27 AM PDT
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Halo Wars is canon

even if they went against a lot of the canon

Most of the Bungie community doesn't take it seriously,but it still is canon.

[Edited on 10.15.2009 11:32 AM PDT]

  • 10.15.2009 11:32 AM PDT
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what is this halo you speak of?

it is bungie said it was

  • 10.15.2009 11:37 AM PDT

Yes. it dose not follow it at all though. Nobody dose or should take it seriously though.

  • 10.15.2009 11:46 AM PDT

Posted by: shoop da whoop
even if they went against a lot of the canon

I haven't been able to play the game in it's entirety, so do you mind explaining that one?

I'm only aware of the non-canonical appearance of Spartans.

  • 10.15.2009 11:48 AM PDT
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what is this halo you speak of?

Posted by: BIGNERENT
Yes. it dose not follow it at all though. Nobody dose or should take it seriously though.


it is complete canon

are books and movies of the books exactly the same no.

same thing with halo.

reach will not be completely the same as the book but will still be canon

  • 10.15.2009 11:54 AM PDT

Posted by: scorch062
Posted by: shoop da whoop
even if they went against a lot of the canon

I haven't been able to play the game in it's entirety, so do you mind explaining that one?

I'm only aware of the non-canonical appearance of Spartans.


For one the flood showed up and im pretty sure the flood was not found untill halo 1 on instalation 04.

  • 10.15.2009 11:55 AM PDT

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Yes it is. There are tiers to the canon. Most important are the games, and then the novels and other official media, and then things like 3rd party ads (BELIEVE and the Halo 3 CGI ad). If something from the games contradict something in the novels, that instance becomes obsolete and non-canon in the novels, and the new outlook on that instance from the games is now the official canon.

There haven't been many of these, but they are definitely there. Lots of stuff in TFoR has been retconned. The Spartan numbers, for example, do not add up. There should only have been like 20 Spartans at Reach when it fell but there were 30. The Brutes and Elites in TFoR are described as being hypothetical, but they were encountered frequently in the newer novels and Halo Wars, so TFoR gets bumped and the new canon takes a seat.

Nothing in HW really went against the canon though. All humans who encountered the Flood were lost in space on the Spirit of Fire. Even if they did get recovered the Flood would have been kept top secret, like the SPARTAN-IIIs, and Cortana would have had no knowledge about them.

  • 10.15.2009 11:58 AM PDT

Posted by: Goob0t
Posted by: BIGNERENT
Yes. it dose not follow it at all though. Nobody dose or should take it seriously though.


it is complete canon

are books and movies of the books exactly the same no.

same thing with halo.

reach will not be completely the same as the book but will still be canon


I said it was conon. Halo wars went to far, They added spartans and stuck in a species that was not even discovered at the time. It was just stupid. They should have had a bit of respect for the story line and not just say "Fl00DZ WAZ uBer coo s0 Ima put teh flo0dz in teh game s0 wez beh haven a super coo game."

  • 10.15.2009 11:58 AM PDT
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what is this halo you speak of?

Posted by: BIGNERENT
Posted by: scorch062
Posted by: shoop da whoop
even if they went against a lot of the canon

I haven't been able to play the game in it's entirety, so do you mind explaining that one?

I'm only aware of the non-canonical appearance of Spartans.


For one the flood showed up and im pretty sure the flood was not found untill halo 1 on instalation 04.


spirt of fire never made it back to any other human colony thus no one knew about them

  • 10.15.2009 11:59 AM PDT

Posted by: scorch062
Posted by: shoop da whoop
even if they went against a lot of the canon

I haven't been able to play the game in it's entirety, so do you mind explaining that one?

I'm only aware of the non-canonical appearance of Spartans.


Nothing went against canon in Halo Wars. Just consider the cutscenes canon and not the gameplay (Spartans in Mark IV with shields for example). The only place would be halo 2 Arbiter armor vs Halo Wars Arbiter armor. If I recall correctly, in Halo 2 the Prophets said it was the same armor, but in Halo Wars the Spartans threw that armor into a very big hole... that was then asploded.

  • 10.15.2009 12:01 PM PDT

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME GROUP INVITATIONS

The Halo REACH Script (post thoughts in thread)

Writing Lead of Whisper Studios. Check out Heron!

Look... I'm on bungiepedia!

Joe Staten says:

Everything that Bungie has ever approved is canonical. But even then, certain things trump others. In order of canonical influence:

- The games rank first
- Published materials (books, comics, soundtrack liner notes etc.) rank second
- Marketing and PR materials third

Meaning that the games (CE, 2, 3, Wars, ODST, REACH) rank above the novels. So if something gets retconned in one of the games, it may be going against the old canon, but it doesn't make the game non-canon, it makes that instance from the older novel non-canon. ex. Brutes and Elites being encountered frequently before 2552.

  • 10.15.2009 12:02 PM PDT
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what is this halo you speak of?

Posted by: azliand
Posted by: scorch062
Posted by: shoop da whoop
even if they went against a lot of the canon

I haven't been able to play the game in it's entirety, so do you mind explaining that one?

I'm only aware of the non-canonical appearance of Spartans.


Nothing went against canon in Halo Wars. Just consider the cutscenes canon and not the gameplay (Spartans in Mark IV with shields for example). The only place would be halo 2 Arbiter armor vs Halo Wars Arbiter armor. If I recall correctly, in Halo 2 the Prophets said it was the same armor, but in Halo Wars the Spartans threw that armor into a very big hole... that was then asploded.


im not to sure about the arbiter amor but i do think they had some revisions of it so that could have been one and maybe they meant the one before him not from the begging?

  • 10.15.2009 12:05 PM PDT

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME GROUP INVITATIONS

The Halo REACH Script (post thoughts in thread)

Writing Lead of Whisper Studios. Check out Heron!

Look... I'm on bungiepedia!

It was never stated that the Arbiters all shared the same armor. In fact it would be silly to assume that true. All Arbiters before died in combat... most against other Covenant.

Covenant... plasma. Explosions. Vaporization. Each Arbiter would have logically had his own armor, just crafted in the same ornamental fashion as the others before it.

  • 10.15.2009 12:08 PM PDT
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So from all this....

Halo Wars is canon but I should not take it that seriously...

  • 10.15.2009 12:35 PM PDT

Posted by: Lozza
So from all this....

Halo Wars is canon but I should not take it that seriously...


Cutscenes are serious business. Gameplay is child's play.

  • 10.15.2009 12:36 PM PDT

1. Halo Wars is mostly canon

2. It takes place 25 years before Halo CE

3. The flood were in it but then destroyed making it as if it never happened

4. ^Same with Spirit of Fire

  • 10.15.2009 12:42 PM PDT

I hunt for the Prophet of Contentment, the San 'Shyumm that murdered my son, and stole his birthright, his Energy Sword. They call our species Heretics. They claim to all that our tongues sting, our words a vile poison that feeds on the unworthy. I have seen the true face of Heresy. The head of a gallant warrior lay on the ground. His neck scorched and blistered, scarred by his own blade. I shall retrieve the weapon, and drive it through that bastard's heart! Punishment for his sins is nigh.

The Halo Wars story IS Canon, but it also broke alot of other Canon.

  • 10.15.2009 12:52 PM PDT
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what is this halo you speak of?

ok we get it its 100% canon now let this thread die

  • 10.15.2009 12:52 PM PDT

I hunt for the Prophet of Contentment, the San 'Shyumm that murdered my son, and stole his birthright, his Energy Sword. They call our species Heretics. They claim to all that our tongues sting, our words a vile poison that feeds on the unworthy. I have seen the true face of Heresy. The head of a gallant warrior lay on the ground. His neck scorched and blistered, scarred by his own blade. I shall retrieve the weapon, and drive it through that bastard's heart! Punishment for his sins is nigh.

@ Cheehwawa
I REALLY think that Game Mechanics wreck Canon once in a while, and that when it comes to weapon power/effectiveness, the books make the most Canon sense.

  • 10.15.2009 12:54 PM PDT

"Dear Humanity; we regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth. And we most definitely regret that the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!"
—Avery J. Johnson
click it you know you want to

Posted by: MLG Cheehwawa
Joe Staten says:

Everything that Bungie has ever approved is canonical. But even then, certain things trump others. In order of canonical influence:

- The games rank first
- Published materials (books, comics, soundtrack liner notes etc.) rank second
- Marketing and PR materials third

Meaning that the games (CE, 2, 3, Wars, ODST, REACH) rank above the novels. So if something gets retconned in one of the games, it may be going against the old canon, but it doesn't make the game non-canon, it makes that instance from the older novel non-canon. ex. Brutes and Elites being encountered frequently before 2552.

Joe Staten Says:
Man, have I worked up a BIG, GRUNTY THIRST!!!!.

  • 10.15.2009 1:11 PM PDT