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When you envision the future of humanity in space, what does that look like to you? To a lot of people, our future amongst the stars may involve robed humans and aliens alike who wield swords made of energy battling against an empire in a war for control of the galaxy. To others, it may involve matching uniforms on a sleek star cruiser, and being instantaneously warped on and off planets as you traverse the cosmos. To members of the Halo fandom, the future may be imagined as significantly more grim. Halo is a science-fiction franchise that was established in 2001 with the release of the series’ first game, “Halo: Combat Evolved” and the first novel “Halo: The Fall of Reach”. The year is 2552; mankind has been sailing the stars for centuries, and thought-wrongly-that they were alone. The main plot of Halo focuses on military conflicts, pitting humanity against organized alien zealots, parasitic hive minds, ancient galaxy-destroying technology, and each other. Since its inception, fans of the franchise have created various media, events, and ways to express their appreciation for Halo and its’ unique world.
🫡Doing My Part (For The Fandom)🫡
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| (IGN) Picture from a review of Halo 2 |
The second Halo game was the one that I played the most as a child, alongside my five brothers. Many afternoons and weekends were spent with three or four of us sitting cross legged in front of our tiny box TV, laughing and playfully talking trash to one-another for hours while we played. In addition, the campaign mode of Halo 2 introduces The Arbiter, my favorite character in the Halo franchise. The Arbiter is an alien war general who eventually fights alongside humanity and is a main character in Halo 2. He is also voiced by one of my favorite voice actors, Keith David. For all these reasons, I decided to get a tattoo that matches a brand that The Arbiter receives. I got it because I find the symbol to be aesthetically pleasing, the symbol is established in Halo 2, and because I wanted to get a tattoo that only fellow fans of the franchise might be able to recognize. The tattoo is a symbol of my personal connection to the franchise, and a signal to fellow fans that I’m a fan myself.
My chest tattoo
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| (Halopedia) Drawing of "The Mark of Shame" |
🟥Roses Are Red; Violets Are Blue🟦
Red vs. Blue is an fan created web series set in the Halo universe. According to Wikipedia (2024), Red vs. Blue - also known as RvB - was created by Burnie Burns in 2003. After 18 seasons, it stopped being made in 2020, with a final movie (originally planned to be season 19) being released in 2024 when the production company behind the show shut down. RvB was the second longest running web-series ever, which is especially impressive considering the idea started as a six-eight episode short series. The show was originally recorded with actual Halo gameplay: the team would control the characters to make them move, shoot, etc., film themselves doing the actions, then afterwards they added in their voice lines. Eventually they would go on to add animations and effects from outside the games. RvB is set within the Halo Universe, but most of the story (and the characters within) is original and scarcely relies on source material for plot elements. The series has won several prestigious awards, including “Best Animated Web Series” from the International Academy of Web Television. It also attracted the attention of some notable actors, including Elijah Woods (he played Frodo in Lord Of The Rings) who voiced the AI Sigma in the show. RvB has accumulated hundreds of millions of views and has been generally loved by people both inside and outside of the Halo Fandom, and other highly popular media references lines and events from the show, including some of the Halo games themselves.
Dedicated members of the Halo fandom have gone to extreme lengths to bring their favorite weapons, armor, and vehicles from the series to life. Due to the fact that most of the objects from the games only exist in science fiction, they have to get pretty creative. In this video, one fan manages to recreate a functioning "Ghost" (an floating alien hovercraft) that is featured in the series. Halo also has a thriving cosplay scene, where members of the fandom will sometimes spend months constructing their costumes. The armor of the "Spartans" (in-game super soldiers) is full body and often requires complex 3D prints and patience to recreate in real life. This aspect of the fandom really allows the technological prowess of the fandom shine.
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| (Kirillian555 in their cosplay) |
References
Built IRL. (2021, December 11). Real halo ghost. https://youtu.be/I5lQnVaQg8g?si=9auzYXMTNKfPEyck
Halopedia. (n.d.). Mark of Shame. In Halopedia, the Halo wiki. Retrieved December 1, 2024, from https://halo.wiki.gallery/images/0/02/H2A_-_Mark_of_Shame.jpg
IGN. (November 9, 2004) Halo 2. Retrieved December 5, 2024, from https://www.ign.com/games/halo-2
Impact Props. (2024, March 16) Master Chief shoots a real Halo assault rifle (full auto). https://youtu.be/gWsvR7VedfY?si=Sp135Tsg6CIJqHIL
Kerillian555 [u/Kerillian555] (2024, October 7). My first cosplay! [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cosplay/comments/1fycgjg/my_first_cosplay/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Red vs. Blue. (2024, November 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_vs._Blue
Rooster Teeth. (2009, November 4). Red vs blue theme song. YouTube. https://youtu.be/KRM9DbPVQmc?si=WUZOBZ2jWBy2KBM1
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