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  • Subject: The Flood
Subject: The Flood
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I would like to discuss the flood in this post not only how they fit into the history of the Forerunners but also various tings like how did that one marine escape being infected, what drives the flood a collective or some varient, why are there no flood or mention of flood off the halo rings. I apologize for the length it's just to start things off.

Why discuss the flood because I think the flood are as interesting as the convenant, Master Chief and all the other characters that Bungie makes so well.
I want to start this discussion by going over the anatomy of the flood.
- from most sources the flood in my opinion the flood are less parasitic and more of a semi-virus, they seem to contain dna for flood reproduction and creating various flood forms, but despite this, the flood unless the forerunners gathered millions or millions of Forerunners were infected and were put into containment, the flood need a flood form that can spawn infection forms without killing itself and has a stable food source, similar to plants.

I believe that the flood "see" electrical pulses, whatever you could call something that would easiliy see nerves, circuits or the like. the reason I say that is that the flood are after the nervous system the reason why and how certian species are infected and further mutated if at all i is due to the structure of the nervous system. That they target those with a single centeral nervous system to make infection and information gathering as easy as possible .Why not the head, because it's too vulnerble in most species.

grunts make better carriers than combant forms since it's more efficient to use the smaller amount of organic tissue availible to generate more infection forms than making a weaker combat form that would be less able to spawn infection forms when it needs to.

I don't know how a host's brain affects infection but there must be reason that an elite's head would be rendered usless while a human's still appears to have a purpose, one thing I keep in mind is that the flood tend to do things that serve their purpose and do it in the most effiecient manner attainable.
That's all I wish to say for now, any insight on this subject would appreciated.

[Edited on 9/24/2006]

  • 09.24.2006 6:32 PM PDT

B a n a n a s

No joke, i would have read anything after the first two lines if it wasnt one huge paragraph...

  • 09.24.2006 6:59 PM PDT

Posted by: DryNate
Why discuss the flood because I think the flood are as interesting as the convenant, Master Chief and all the other characters that Bungie makes so well.
I want to start this discussion by going over the anatomy of the flood.
- from most sources the flood in my opinion the flood are less parasitic and more of a semi-virus, they seem to contain dna for flood reproduction and creating various flood forms, but despite this

Aren’t parasites are very similar to viruses; viruses are just on a microscopic scale.

the flood need a flood form that can spawn infection forms without killing itself and has a stable food source, similar to plants.
Why would they need this, as long as every time one of the reproductive flood explode 3 infectious flood come out, their fine. And they may not need a continues food source if just hibernate between when food is available(food include smaller species like jackals and grunts).


I believe that the flood "see" electrical pulses, whatever you could call something that would easiliy see nerves, circuits or the like. the reason I say that is that the flood are after the nervous system the reason why and how certian species are infected and further mutated if at all i is due to the structure of the nervous system. That they target those with a single centeral nervous system to make infection and information gathering as easy as possible .Why not the head, because it's too vulnerble in most species.
That would be a useful sense to the flood because it could help them find a suitable host.

grunts make better carriers than combant forms since it's more efficient to use the smaller amount of organic tissue availible to generate more infection forms than making a weaker combat form that would be less able to spawn infection forms when it needs to
I heard that Grunts and jackels and other small creatures are used as flood food not carriers.
Carriers are old combat forms reaching the end of there life cycle..

I thought the life cycle went like this:

Infections form (little explody flood) -> Combat form(infected human, elite or other big creature) -> Reproductive form(big explody flood that make smaller flood) -> Infections form(little explody flood)

And small inappropriate creatures become food.

  • 09.24.2006 8:35 PM PDT
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I'm just saying that it might be possible that the flood could congrate and form something as long as it gets nutrients it can continuously create infection forms instead of using extra combat forms to do it. Speaking of which have you ever seen a grunt or similar size combat form, the flood mutates a host according the host's abilities, anatomy, biomass, and physical condition.

I just think the flood are capable of doing things we aren't sure about. Like what is Gravemind asides from a command form, and the prospect of flood workers able to use their host's knowledge, what happens with flood infected engineers, pilots, could they eventually be capable of making and flying their own ships once they can use that knowledge?

Does the flood just revolve around a life cycle and have no higher function than to feed and multiple, I say no, there is a intelligence that governs when and what direction to take a host's form.


But you do have a point, but there's much to the flood that is unclear and that's what I want to do, to somewhat clear up this mystery.

in particular what is this flood food you speak of and how would the flood use it? I don't think individual flood forms would need it, since they become carriers once they become "too old".

[Edited on 9/25/2006]

  • 09.24.2006 9:00 PM PDT
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go here for all your flood speculation needs

  • 09.26.2006 3:45 PM PDT
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helpful, but not exactly what I'm looking for. I started this thread to get a clearer definition of the flood than:
Flood: N, some organism that infects poeple and creates more flood,and then goes on with multiple theories trying to explain their behavier.

Basicaly I'm looking for a standard model for the flood that adds definitely accurate theories on the flood to the little that we actually know about the flood.
one example on how little we know about the flood,
how did the marine in 343 Guilty Spark survive while all the other marines were infected?

[Edited on 9/26/2006]

  • 09.26.2006 5:15 PM PDT
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he said he played dead. that in in the link i provided

[Edited on 9/28/2006]

  • 09.28.2006 1:30 PM PDT
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thanks for responding
I'll be clearer: What allowed this particular marine to be bypassed as being dead, was it that the flood really coudn't see that he was alive or what?

  • 09.28.2006 2:44 PM PDT
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It's pretty simple if you know more about the story then from the games themselves. The marine had survived due to a certain brain condition, one that disrupts brain signals and causes hectic impulses in the brain. The parasite interfaces with a host by forcing a resonant freqquency match to each host's neural system. The marines nervous system was so jumbled the flood parasite was unable to force a match. Thats why he is still alive. However, he was not unaffected by the flood dna that was introduced into his system. The remaining genes give him a decent ability to regenerate after recieving certain injuries.

[Edited on 9/28/2006]

  • 09.28.2006 3:07 PM PDT
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So, how about some kool-aid as a reward? >]

  • 09.28.2006 3:10 PM PDT
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where is that from? It sounds similar to how Johnson survived ( in the novels) except he had that radiation syndrome, so far it sounds like you have to be terminally ill or seriously messed up to not be mutated by flood.

Other than your explaination I was thinking it had to do with that marine being the only one I've heard that's been trumatized like that in halo.
so Yeah If I could send you some kool-aid yes, I would but I can't.

[Edited on 9/28/2006]

  • 09.28.2006 3:30 PM PDT
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Actually, Johnson had some strange genetic trait that made him immune to the flood. The details were not fully stated, but Dr. Halsey said in First Strike that it was something that would kill him. (I'm assuming this meant military intelligence or uncertainty of Johnson being healthy)

edit: I think we were talking about Jenkins. The flood that infected him was still weak from being in stasus for so long.

[Edited on 9/28/2006]

  • 09.28.2006 8:56 PM PDT
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No, First Strike page 243, Halsey says how Johnson had gotten Borens syndrome from high yield plasma, specificly plasma grenades captured at Paris 4 , the nervous disruption caused by Borens syndrome is what saved Johnson.

The marine I'm talking about is not Jenkins but the one Master Chief finds half crazy upon reaching the flood chamber. But pretty close though :)

[Edited on 9/29/2006]

  • 09.28.2006 9:23 PM PDT