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  • Subject: Influences of the Halo Trilogy
Subject: Influences of the Halo Trilogy

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The Possible Sources of the Halo Trilogy Story Line

I. Marathon
A number of weapons and plot devices seem to borrow from ideas seen in the Marathon series of first-person shooters made by Bungie in the early to mid-1990s.

These include the concept of MJOLNIR "cyborgs", the supersoldier main character, the weapons, artificial intelligences, and even some of the alien creatures. Upon close inspection, crew members of the Pillar of the Autumn have the Marathon symbol on their uniforms, and the symbol is even embedded in the Halo logo itself. The Elites from Halo are somewhat similar (in their appearance, not their role) to Marathon's Pfhor. Hunters appear in both games filling the same roles. The Hunters from Halo, though much larger, also clearly share design elements with the Hunters from Marathon. A type of alien that was modeled for Halo 2 but later cut is nearly identical to the Drinniol from Marathon. Also, both games use uniform color to differentiate between different ranks of aliens (and crew members), with higher ranks being stronger and harder to kill. There are two multiplayer gaming options, a version of King of the Hill and a game called Oddball (called "Kill the Man with the Ball" in Marathon), which are present in Marathon's multiplayer mode.

These large similarities led to early speculation that Halo took place in the same universe as Marathon, only with different time frames; however, this was later proved highly unlikely. According to both the Halo video games and books, the events in Halo coincide with the events in Marathon. However, due to technology differences (the lack of transporter technology in Halo, for one), this is impossible. On Bungie's own Marathon page, there is a Q&A which states, "Is Marathon the prequel to Halo?

However, some have even argued against this, citing Bungie's nearly irritating use of exact wording. The people who misbelieve it claim that the FAQ asks about a Prequel, which in literary terms, uses the same characters, setting, or even the same storyline. However, if Marathon and Halo were in the same Universe, just different timeframes, this could not, in fact, be a Prequel. Bungie may never tell the public however.

II. Films
Some film parallels in the games have been pointed out by various people. For instance, the active camouflage power-up is very similar to the type of camouflage used by the alien Yautja in the Predator film series. There are notices near the Pillar of Autumn's bridge looking for a cat named Jonesy (the name of Sigourney Weaver's cat in the Alien film series). Elites' mouth parts are similar to the Predators' with bodies very similar to the Xenomorphs. The Flood Spores share a similar purpose with the Face Huggers in the Alien film series. Bill Paxton's character from the movie (Pvt. Hudson) says "I've got a bad feeling about this, man" and is answered with "Man, you always got a bad feeling!", a quote which is used in the cut-sequence right before Master Chief has his first encounter with the Flood. Also, there are numerous similarities between the marines of Halo and those of Aliens. The colonial marines' dropship resembles a Pelican and the Pelican pilot Foe Hammer is based on the dropship pilot from Aliens. Finally, Halo's Sergeant Johnson is very strongly based on Aliens' Sergeant Apone - both are very enthusiastic, black, cigar-smoking squad leaders. Both characters even use the line "They're not paying us by the hour, marines!" Enemies will sometimes use the line "its only a flesh wound", from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

III. Known Space
RingWorld is megastructure 93 million miles in radius that resembles the Halo installations, albeit on an enormously larger scale. This idea has been copied numerous times in science fiction, although normally on a larger scale than in Halo. In both Halo and Known Space, humans develop space travel on their own and later encounter a hostile and technologically superior alien civilization. In one of Larry Niven's early Known Space novels, World of Ptavvs, it details an alien race, known as the Thrintun, and how they ruled a massive empire 2 billion years before humanity, through advanced mind control. At one point, the Thrintun's most advanced slave race eventually instigated a massive rebellion, using much of their own technology, which was developed for their masters, against them. The Thrintun, fearing extinction and intense paranoia, used an amplification device that targeted the minds of all sentient lifeforms and simply told them to "die". The wave from this device spread across the entire galaxy, killing all sentient life, including the Thrintun themselves. In Halo, the Forerunners used the Halos to extinguish all intelligent life in the galaxy, in order to prevent The Flood from escaping the Halo installations.

IV. Biblical references
There are subtle references to the Christian Bible in the Halo series. For example, the story of Noah could be a possible influence for The Flood, as The Ark could be interpreted as a reference to Noah's Ark (saving its occupants from The Flood). Interpreted another way, the Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the destructive power of the Ark, which can activate all of the Halos. Another reference would be Master Chief's real name being John, and designation number 117, possibly relating to John 1:17 in the Bible: "Because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Other permutations of Biblical verses derived from John's name and designation are also possible.

V. Historical and Mythilogical Facts
Halo took names from world history and mythology to aptly name objects and important characters in the Halo universe. Some of these names include:

* Cortana, derived from a sword used by Edward the Confessor.
* Beowulf, a hero in the Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf".
* Tartarus, a deity and a place in the Greek mythological underworld.
* MJOLNIR, Thor's Hammer.
* SPARTAN, the Ancient Greek polis of renowned martial prowess, Sparta.

[Edited on 5/31/2006]

  • 05.31.2006 7:21 AM PDT
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  • Exalted Mythic Member

I am...whimsical today.

I think most of those were on purpose, like the Film Homages to Alien, and Spartan (both trained from a young age, and seperated from parents...LIKE STARWARS!). It is really difficult to come up with a truely original story, everyone has their influences.

  • 05.31.2006 7:28 AM PDT

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Yeah I agree alot of stuff has already been done but I just think some of the things they put into the story like similiarities to the bible and to RingWorld were unnecessary.

  • 05.31.2006 7:33 AM PDT
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Good read :)
Most I already new since downloading Marathon a week ago.

  • 05.31.2006 7:40 AM PDT