Halo’s Covenant Aliens, Explained – Polygon

So you know the history of Halo and the general timeline. You have played through the games and shot down thousands of enemies. But have you ever wondered what the Elite deal is? Or why do the Grunts have those backpacks? Those are great questions and we are here to answer them for you.

Let’s take a look at the eight Covenant races seen throughout the Halo series and explain the main motivation of the religious organization to destroy everything good in the galaxy.

What is the Covenant?

The Covenant is a religious organization that acts as the main villains in the Halo series. It is a group of multiple species, some that came to the Pact voluntarily and others that were conquered.

The Covenant is fueled by their worship of the Forerunners, the race of aliens that built the series’ titular Halo rings. This worship informs “The Great Journey”, the ultimate goal of the Covenant. They believe that the Forerunner activated the Halos – the “Holy Rings” – and took the Great Journey, ascending them to divinity. In reality, the Forerunners activated the Halos to purge the universe (including themselves) of life, starving the parasitic Flood species. But the Covenant don’t know, at least initially.

Prophets (San’Shyuum)

The Prophets are a very ancient alien species and they allied with humans in the original war against the Forerunners. His homeworld is Janjur Qom, and he was rich in Forerunner artifacts, grooming the Prophets to lead the Covenant.

The Prophets are mostly a non-combat race and do not appear in the Halo series until Halo 2.

The three most prominent prophets are the Prophet of Repentance, the Prophet of Mercy, and the Prophet of Truth. The Master Chief beats the Prophet of Regret to death in Delta Halo in Halo 2. Mercy dies at High Charity due to an invasion by Flood, and the Prophet of Truth leaves him to die, ensuring that Truth gains full control over the Pact. The truth, always a leader, is the main villain of Halo 3, and the Inquisitor kills him in the Citadel of the Ark.

The prophets have hunched backs, large heads, and long necks. They’re apparently around 7 feet tall, and they’re even taller when riding their “Gravity Thrones,” sitting at 7 1/2 feet. Outside of the council of the Covenant, most of the Prophets are extinct.

Elites (Sangheili)

Elites are probably the most important and iconic race in the Covenant. They are the main leaders of military squadrons of aura and Halo 2, mainly leading Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers in battle. All serve directly under the orders of the Prophets as honor guards until the Prophets replace the Elites with the Brutus in Halo 2 (an event called “the Great Schism”).

Elites are a battle-hardened race and the warrior half of the Covenant founders (the Prophets act as the mastermind).

There are several notable elites in the Halo universe. The most important elite character is the referee, Thel ‘Vadam. He is a playable character in Halo 2 and a cooperative partner of the Master Chief in Halo 3. He plays a crucial role in Chief’s story, and the two eventually form a friendship. Rtas Vadum, the ship captain with the badass nickname Half-Jaw, also played a major role in defeating the Covenant Elite, helping to aid humanity at the end of the war. He and Thel ‘Vadam eventually helped form a new elite government after the war.

Jul ‘Mdama was an Elite who kept a Covenant cell after Halo 3, during Halo 4. He eventually served the Didact, until the Spartan Locke killed him in Halo 5.

The elites are very tall, standing between 7 feet 4 inches and 8 feet 6 inches, making the Master Chief himself (who is around 6 feet 10 inches without his armor and around 7 in full dress) seem small in comparison. They also have four jaws, each with a row of teeth lining the inside.

Jackals / Skirmishers (Kig-Yar and T’vaoan)

Most of the other races of the Covenant are not as important or complex as the Elites or the Prophets.

The Kig-Yar (jackals) and T’vaoan (bullies) are actually the same race; Skirmishers are just a sub-race that comes from an asteroid colony.

Jackals are an avian species with feathers and beak-shaped snouts. They primarily serve the Covenant army as snipers or shield infantry support. They have impeccable smell and vision, so they are usually the first enemy types to detect or kill you with a single headshot on higher difficulties.

Jackals are between 6 and 6 1/2 feet tall, but they stoop up to about 5 feet.

Grunts (monkey)

Grunts are interesting little creatures and serve as – pun intended – “grumpy” infantry of the Covenant army.

The most interesting fact about Grunts is that they breathe methane thanks to the atmosphere of their home world. This is why they wear respirators in all Halo games and wear a backpack that smokes every time it breaks.

In terms of their tenure in the Covenant, the Grunts actually caused a bit of a panic. After being intimidated by the other races and threatened with chemical castration, the Grunts incited a Covenant rebellion, which ultimately failed.

The grunts are the smallest in the Covenant; they are the size of an adolescent human being or a short adult. At their highest point, Grunts are 5 feet, 6 inches, but they can only be 4 1/2 feet at their lowest.

Hunters (Lekgolo, Mgalekgolo when combined)

The Hunters are secretly the coolest Covenant race. While they look like giant walking tanks, they are actually a collection of worms connected to each other by a suit.

That’s right, the Lekgolo are worm-like creatures from planet Te. They are mildly intelligent individuals who can pilot machines. But together, worms can combine to become a unique personality or community. When combined, they become more powerful and intelligent.

As more Lekgolo combine, they eventually become Mgalekgolo, able to configure themselves as the powerful Hunters the Covenant employs. Another fun fact about Hunters is that they always travel in pairs due to a unique bond they share. When Mgalekgolo gets too big, they split up, but maintain a connection with their former fellow worms. So, two Hunters used to be one at any given time.

The hunters are huge too. While each Lekgolo is only a few inches tall, hunters stand a little over 12 feet tall and can weigh up to 11,000 pounds.

Drones (Yanme’e)

Drones are four-winged flying insects that like to eat meat. Stupid! There are so many of them that they nearly defeated the Covenant in great numbers before the organization assimilated them.

Drones didn’t appear in the Halo series until Halo 2, where they mostly just fly and shoot you with plasma guns. Like the Flying Grunts, the strategy with Drones is to overwhelm the enemy; they implement very few tactics in combat. Aside from its sheer volume, its only real skill is mechanics.

Drones may look gross, but things get worse when you realize that they can be anywhere from 5 feet, 8 inches to 6 feet, 7 inches tall. They are big enough to pick up a UNSC Marine and carry them away.

Gross (Jiralhanae)

The Brutes were late to the Covenant, but rose through the ranks very quickly due to their sheer ferocity. They are large, furry, and do not play well with others, even the Covenant, as evidenced by their long-standing enmity with the Elites.

The Brutes are one of the most important Covenant races, and they play a significant role in combat in various titles, while appearing heavily in the story. They don’t appear until Halo 2, but the Prophets quickly used the killing of the Prophet Repentance by the Master Chief as a reason to replace the Elites with the Brutes, as the Prophet’s guards. This caused the Great Schism, which led the elites to abandon the Covenant to join the cause of humanity. It is also the reason why Brutes are the main enemy type in Halo 3.

There are many important Brutes in the Halo series. Tartarus serves as the main antagonist of Halo 2, and try to activate Delta Halo. The referee kills Tartarus and stops the ring’s shot. Atriox is the main villain in Halo Wars 2, but they did not kill him. Escharum, the main villain of the next Infinite halo, evacuated Atriox, so we will likely see both in Infinite.

Brutes are the most physically imposing race outside of the Hunters. They range from 8 1/2 feet to just over 9 feet tall and weigh up to 1,500 pounds.

Engineers (Huragok)

Engineers are ancient and mysterious beings built by Forerunners to act as mechanics. Engineers are quite tame and focus on support rather than combat, which makes their inclusion in the militaristic Covenant quite sad.

Engineers only really appear in four Halo games: Halo 3: ODST, Halo Reach, Halo Wars, and Halo Wars 2. That means Master Chief never comes face to face with one of these things in a Halo video game, as they “mysteriously disappeared” at some point in the Human-Covenant conflict. An engineer plays an important role in the ending sequence of ODST, but the rest of them mainly only provide Overshields to their allies until they are destroyed.

Engineers are shaped like a floating snail or rock with a snake poking out. Their height varies enormously between almost 6 feet and just 8 feet.