343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)
From Halopedia, the Halo Wiki
| Greetings. I am 343 Guilty Spark. I am the monitor of Installation 04. | 
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| |
| 343 Guilty Spark | |
| Biographical information | |
|---|---|
| Began service |
101,217 years ago, or in the year 101,209 B.C. at the year 2552. In the year 2008 he was 100,673 years into duty |
| Ended service |
2553 (UNSC Military Calendar) |
| Physical description | |
| Gender |
AI, with Male programming |
| Description |
Floating, round-edged cube, with one "Eye" making the Marathon sign that is blue by default. |
| Normal color |
Blue and Silver |
| Political information and functions | |
| Affiliation | |
| Primary function |
Monitor of Installation 04 and its replacement. |
| Notable battles | |
| [Source] | |
343 Guilty Spark,[1] an Artificial Intelligence construct of Forerunner origin, he was the AI, Monitor, caretaker and historian left to keep watch over Installation 04 and its contents when the Forerunners departed.
As with UNSC and Covenant artificial intelligences, Guilty Spark's programming prohibits certain actions outside of his function - he cannot, for example, retrieve the Index from the Library or unify it with the Core, instead needing a Reclaimer to carry out this task.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Background
Known to the Covenant as "The Oracle" and to the humans as "The Monitor", "Lightbulb", "Robot", "Spark", and at one time, "Tinkerbell", Spark played a pivotal role in the containment of the Flood as well as the Heretic uprising within the Covenant.
343 Guilty Spark is quirky and very well humored, though at the same time detached and by the book. Protocol is king; the slight emotion shown for those who die along the way seems only to truly mourn the inconvenience of finding another to assist him. "Having had considerable time" to check and recheck the systems of Halo in his masters' absence, the possibility has grown exponentially that his isolation has given more than slight opportunity for insanity to come to the surface. Guilty Spark knows about a Class XII armor that other Forerunners have worn. The name of this armor, however, is unknown.
[edit] Biography
Built by the Forerunners, 343 Guilty Spark had been present on Installation 04 for some 101,217 "local years" and participated in plenty of test firings and in one operational firing of the installation prior to the Battle of Installation 04. Little else is known about his past history. Presumably he had been the Installation's first and only Monitor, attending to all of the duties pertinent to that station, such as aiding in maintaining the structure, combating any Flood outbreaks, etc. However, he went rampant at the attempts of Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan "John" 117 to destroy Installation 04's replacement, killing Avery Johnson and forced John to destroy him.
[edit] The Flood Outbreak
- "Oh dear. Containment protocols appear to have been violated."
- —343 Guilty Spark[3]
The arrival of the Covenant on the ring instigated Installation 04's genocide, and final Flood outbreak. Immediately putting long dormant contingency measures into action, Guilty Spark began to search for a Reclaimer and discovered UNSC Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto. Using Halo's teleportation system, Guilty Spark brought Mobuto to the Library in an effort to retrieve the Index. Ultimately, the ill-equipped Sergeant failed and was killed, forcing the Monitor to seek out another Reclaimer. The Master Chief discovers the body of Mobuto (which was mangled beyond being able to be used by the Flood) during his own journey through the Library (as told in Halo: The Flood), though it can't be seen in-game, and marveled at the Sergeant's ability to get as far as he had.
343 Guilty Spark and a few Sentinels moved to the Flood Containment Facility to aid the Marines and the Master Chief, who were battling the Flood. Here the Monitor recruited the Master Chief as the next Reclaimer, who he quickly teleported to the Library and began guiding to the Index.[4] With superior equipment and training, and despite overwhelming odds, the Master Chief succeeded in retrieving the Index.
Taking the Index for safe keeping, Guilty Spark teleported back to the Control Room. Here, safe from the Flood, the Index was returned to the Master Chief. The Monitor explained that he was not permitted to reunite the Index with the Core, thus activating the Installation. Only a Reclaimer could do so.
However, Cortana, still in the Core, took the Index before it could merge with the Core and explained to an ignorant Master Chief about Halo's purpose. 343 Guilty Spark confirmed this information, claiming that he had believed the Master Chief to have been aware of 'his' role and responsibility. With the Index in the possession of a hostile AI and protected by the now uncooperative former-Reclaimer, the Monitor turned the Sentinels against the Master Chief to attempt to retrieve the Index. This attempt failed and Guilty Spark was forced to seek an alternate way to activate the ring and destroy all sentient life.
After the encounter the Master Chief disabled the three Phase Pulse Generators, forcing their repair and delaying 343 Guilty Spark's plans. Disappointed by his lapse of judgment, the Monitor followed the Master Chief and Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn where he began to download the ship's databanks, being especially interested in the parts pertaining to Human history. He then disabled the vessel's automated self-destruct system to preserve the repository of knowledge he had discovered.
Although the warship's engineering room was protected by many Sentinels, the Master Chief was successful in destabilizing the power cores. Realizing the implications of the ship's destruction, the Monitor immediately made to flee the doomed ring. Moments before the ring was destroyed, the Monitor decided that he had done his utmost to fulfill his responsibilities. Later upon further reflection, when he was floating through space, Guilty Spark found himself happy as, ultimately, his purpose had been fulfilled: the Reclaimer had indeed succeeded in stopping the outbreak, even if it had been done “inelegantly.”
[edit] After Halo
- "Excellent! I believe I see assistance approaching..."
- —343 Guilty Spark[5]
After Halo's destruction Spark moved aimlessly through space thinking and re-thinking what had happened to him and how the Reclaimer had betrayed him and destroyed his Installation. He began to wonder how he made such a mistake in judging the Master Chief's character. However a short time later Spark was saved.
Within a few weeks of the ring's destruction, Guilty Spark was retrieved by a group of soldiers of the Covenant, to whom it was known as "the Oracle". Spark attempted to educate these soldiers about, amongst other things, the rings' true purpose. Exposed to the truth, one Sangheili in particular took a new, critical view on the Great Journey and, gathering other similarly minded Elites and Grunts, founded a new sect that denounced the Prophets and their Great Journey as false. These Heretics set up a base on a Forerunner gas mining facility in Threshold's atmosphere, where they continued to be "enlightened" by 343 Guilty Spark.
Such a state of affairs could not be tolerated for long by the Covenant and soon action was taken to eliminate the Heretics. This was accomplished quickly and quietly by the Arbiter and a team of special operations troops. In the aftermath, Guilty Spark was captured by Tartarus and given to the Prophets aboard High Charity.
Interrogated by the High Prophets, Guilty Spark revealed the nature of the rings and the means to employ them, which made the Prophets send the Arbiter to retrieve Installation 05's "Sacred Icon". After it had been obtained, Tartarus took Guilty Spark and the Index to Installation 05’s Control Room, using Miranda Keyes as the new Reclaimer. When the Arbiter and Avery Junior Johnson arrived to deactivate the ring, 343 Guilty Spark escaped Tartarus' clutches and stood by and watched the ensuing struggle, reminded of the one he had witnessed on the Pillar of Autumn.
After Tartarus and his Brute Captains were killed, 343 Guilty Spark translated the holographic display to Johnson, Keyes, and the Arbiter. The rings were now on standby, meaning they could be activated from the Ark. The Arbiter asked Spark where it was, and he directed them to a specific location which shocked them all...Earth.
[edit] Earth and The Ark
- "On Halo, you tried to kill Cortana. You tried to kill me..."
- —Master Chief
- "Protocol dictated my response. She had the activation Index, and you were going to destroy my installation. You DID destroy my installation. Now I have only one function: to help you, Reclaimer, as I always should have done."
- —343 Guilty Spark [6].
Spark arrived on Earth with a Fleet of Covenant Separatists in order to help them search for a storage device. He found the object, along with Master Chief, and killed a Combat Form that was about to attack the Chief. After a tense exchange between the two, they put aside their past and proceeded to bring the device back to the ship. The device contained a transmission from Cortana, still on High Charity. She claimed she had a solution to stop the Flood without activating the other Halo rings. In order to discover the answer, the Chief, Johnson, Keyes and the Arbiter, along with Separatist forces traveled through the recently-opened Portal; Spark joined them.
The Fleet followed the Loyalist forces through the portal, and came across a large Forerunner Installation similar to the Halos but not in ring form. Upon touchdown, Spark sent orders to all Sentinels that the incoming UNSC and Separatist forces were friendlies, therefore reducing any friendly fire. Searching for Truth's location, the Separatist Sangheili located the construct's Cartographer. Spark followed the Chief and the Arbiter's platoons to penetrate the wall protecting the location, opening doors and providing Sentinels as backup for the assault. Once the Cartographer was found, Spark revealed they were beyond the rim of the Milky Way Galaxy and told the Chief the Installation they stood upon was the Ark. Using the map system, Spark found the Prophet of Truth's location several hundred kilometers away, but he was shielding his location utilizing a barrier installed by the Forerunners. At that moment, a Loyalist Phantom arrived, driving the trio back deeper into the hallways. Spark led them towards Johnson's location a few floors below. After the reunion, Johnson was nervous at the sudden appearance of hundreds of Sentinels, but Spark reassured him they meant no harm and were part of a primary task force, although, not being native to the Ark, he couldn't discern their goal.
UNSC and Separatist forces moved to disable the shield barrier protecting Truth. However, once the barrier was taken down, High Charity appeared from out of Slipspace, nearly destroying Rtas 'Vadum's ship and spreading debris and Flood everywhere on the Ark. Terrified of a complete takeover, Spark insisted that they focus their attention on the Flood. He was met with opposition from Keyes and the Separatist leaders, who made it clear that their first priority was to kill Truth before moving on to the parasite.
Once the Prophet of Truth was dead, the Flood began their infestation under the command of the Gravemind. Spark met up with the Arbiter and Master Chief after their initial escape, only to reveal that the Forerunner constructs began the construction of a new Halo ring, to replace Installation 04. When asked what he would do with the Halo system, Master Chief replied: "Light it". This cheered up Spark, who was thrilled the Flood would finally be dealt with for good. He went off to set up preparations for the firing sequence.
After rescuing Cortana from the Flood-infested High Charity, Master Chief, the Arbiter and Johnson landed on the newly constructed ring. Spark aided their progress through the Installation by providing Sentinels to combat the Flood. Once the initial wave of Combat and Pure forms were destroyed, Spark opened the main blast door to the Control Room.
[edit] Return to Halo
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| You are the child of my makers, inheritors of all They left behind, You are Forerunner, but this ring... is Mine! |
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- "Protocol dictates action! I see now that helping you was wrong! You are a child of my makers, inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner, but this ring is mine!'"
- —343 Guilty Spark[7]
Spark reunited with the Chief, along with Johnson and the Arbiter in the new Installation 04's control room, telling them the ring was almost completed. However, regardless of being informed that activation would destroy the ring, Johnson was adamant to fire anyway. Upon realizing this, an outraged Spark retorted violently and fired upon Johnson to delay activation of the ring, mortally wounding him. Seeing the Master Chief running towards his fallen comrade, the Monitor fired upon him and the Arbiter, knocking the Arbiter out of the room and sealing the entrance behind him. The Master Chief was left to face the Monitor alone. With the Chief on the floor with his shields down Spark made it clear that he would stop at nothing to follow protocol and ensure the safety of the ring and the Ark. Although protocol stated that the structural integrity of Installation 04 (then 04.1) must be protected from damage, primary protocol overwrites this, which stated that an imminent Flood outbreak should be contained immediately. Thus, if immediate containment procedures would cause massive structural failure to Installation 04.1, and delayed action would negate containment procedures, the overwrite command should have been executed and allowed the self-destruction of the installation. It would then be fair to say that 343 Guilty Spark was defunct and ignored protocol for the sake of self-preservation.
The Chief engaged the Monitor in combat when Sgt. Johnson used his Spartan Laser to crack Spark's protective casing, exposing him to fire. Johnson then gave his weapon to John, giving him the means to end Spark's rampage, and telling him to "kick his ass". Spark began to malfunction ever more erratically as the Spartan destroyed him with the weapon, until he finally succumbed to the stress, and exploded spectacularly.
Though, with his last comments, calling John-117 "Forerunner", deepened the mystery, rather than solving it.
[edit] Personality
343 Guilty Spark is the artificial intelligence behind the Sentinels, robots constructed by the ancient Forerunners to protect Halo. He also has his own personal avatar: a small, roughly spherical body which possesses the ability to hover, to access Halo's teleportation network and to hack computer systems. This avatar can project a clear and chipper yet quirky voice as well, with a tendency to hum happily to itself, and all of that it makes it a very utilitarian body. In addition to his teleportation abilities, 343 Guilty Spark has been seen to use four different types of "beams": a greenish white one for carrying things, a blue one for interfacing with electronics, a red beam that is used as a weapon, and a wide yellow blast he uses to push attackers away. While his red beam attack is used against enemies in Halo 3, in previous games he prefers to rely on the Sentinels. It is likely that he is bound by Forerunner morality not to destroy life unless absolutely necessary.
The personality of 343 Guilty Spark is somewhat egotistical and eccentric. The long period of isolation experienced by it may have contributed, or even been the cause, of much of this. 343 Guilty Spark is in a state of Rampancy; although he is still accepting of his role as Monitor, his pursuit of alien knowledge does seem to go beyond his purpose. Since it was his job to manage the Flood, he was also trained to learn. It was intended for him to learn so he can stay ready for any changes in the Flood. However this system is his greatest weakness and he applies it to everything. He loves to learn and to take records; even if he has to force it out. While egotistical much of the time, he seems to be aware of the limitations of his knowledge, such as when he perceived Installation 00 to be part of a Shield Installation, and not what it was all along.
343 Guilty Spark had quite an erratic and abnormal personality, and a disregard to Human and alien life alike. He seemed almost gleeful when, in Halo 2, he told Miranda Keyes there was no way for him to halt or cease the process, showing a great lack of respect and deference for Humanity and Covenant life. This may be due to certain programming parameters. He, like 2401 Penitent Tangent, seems quite eager to activate the Halo Array, perhaps hinting that there is a certain gratification they receive in helping their masters. His atypical personality was shown in the way he would randomly and with no clear, lucid pattern say things such as: 'Ah, I am a genius!'.
[edit] Theories
There have been many elaborate speculations and analysis have been made regarding the origin of 343 Guilty Spark's name, history, and motives. The most notable question: what exactly is he "guilty" of? There have been many suggestions towards genocide of some form (one of his primary functions is, after all, initiating the eradication of all sentient life in the galaxy) but an alternate meaning of "spark" is to set in motion/activate, suggesting he is guilty of prematurely activating Halo, which might explain the absence of the Forerunners. However, due to Halo 3's explanation involving Mendicant Bias it's clear that whatever 343 Guilty Spark may or may not have done, he wasn't responsible for the destruction of the Forerunners. In Halo 2, he is no longer an antagonist, but still plays an important role in the plot. In Halo 3, he isn't an antagonist for the majority of the game and assists the UNSC and Elite forces as they explore the Ark with the Sentinels, opening some passageways for them and guiding them.
343 Guilty Spark, although not mentioned in Halo 3's terminals, may have had a role in the previous Flood outbreak and Ring Activation. People are now claiming he "activated" the first Flood outbreak, which is what he is "guilty" of. He may have chosen Guilty Spark for himself, knowing this information. This is supported by his quote in Halo: Combat Evolved, "Last time, you asked me, if it were my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice, we must activate the rings." Considering that until that point, no character in the game except Cortana knew Halo's true purpose; only a Forerunner could have asked Guilty Spark this question. Guilty Spark also had a conversation with Mendicant Bias through one of the terminals in and recognized an alias for the AI, although Guilty Spark claimed he had little or no knowledge of the working of the Ark (Installation 00) prior to and after this conversation. Other theories state that Guilty Spark had undergone a similar rampancy as Mendicant Bias had.
It is also possible that, despite all of his knowledge, that 343 Guilty Spark may be the Forerunner equivalent of a UNSC "Dumb" Artificial Intelligence. Since he only has his powers on Installation 04, and the fact that he said to the Master Chief when he was trying to recover what he thought was Cortana at the time, but was really a message. When the Chief asked him and the first part of the response was done, he said "You DID destroy my Installation. Now I only have one purpose, to help you, Reclaimer." Since his primary function was destroyed, he could not branch out and learn about how to further his abilities, further increasing the chances that he is a "Dumb" AI, by Forerunner Standards.
[edit] Quotes
- 343 Guilty Spark quotes are available here: 343 Guilty Spark/Quotes.
[edit] Trivia
- 343 is equal to 73, with 7 being a number seen frequently in Bungie games and mythology.
- If the first two numbers are added together whichever way one chooses, it comes together as 7: 3+4=7.
- Due to subtle differences in color and casing, it could be that 343 Guilty Spark is older than his fellow monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent, since Installation 4 was built before Installation 05, and it's reference number is obviously higher.
- In the cutscenes of Halo 2, when 343 Guilty Spark talks his light glows brighter, but during gameplay in Halo 2 when he talks his light grows dim. This is a programming glitch, where he was supposed to do the opposite, and is referred by Joseph Staten as "the most terrible glitch in Halo 2...and nobody cares about it."
- In Halo CE 343 Guilty Spark seems to be unable to participate in any offensive.
- 343 inverted is 434, the location of Bungie's Kirkland office.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved and 3, the "eye" of 343 Guilty Spark bears the Marathon logo.
- The only person who ever refers to 343 Guilty Spark as "343 Guilty Spark" is himself, when he's speaking in third person. Others refer to him as "The Oracle", say "The Monitor" when speaking of him, or even shorten his name to "Spark", or once "Robot", to which 343 Guilty Spark protested against, and also "Tinker Bell" by Avery Johnson in Halo 2 after he asks about where to activate the rings while in standby mode and answered sarcastically. He has also been called "Lightbulb" by Johnson in Halo 2 (to Tartarus: "Please...Don't shake the light-bulb.") and Halo 3 ("A tank's a tank, lightbulb.").
- For an unknown reason, 343 Guilty Spark recognized John-117 (or his armor at least) as though he had met him before. This may be because he resembles a Forerunner as stated at the end of Halo 3 when he said "You are Forerunner" to the Master Chief. It also may be possible that 343 Guilty Spark had met John before, as he said "Last time you asked me, if it were my choice, would I do it?" and "Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?" He could also have just confused Master Chief with a Forerunner he once knew.
- In Halo: The Flood, he found another Human Reclaimer before the second Reclaimer John-117, Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto, who the Chief was amazed to notice how far into the construct he had made it.
- 343 Guilty Spark is the only non-playable character in Halo: Combat Evolved who is immune to damage.
- In a glitch during the last cutscene of 343 Guilty Spark (Level), when 343 Guilty Spark talks to the Master Chief, you can see another 343 Guilty Spark floating around in the background.
- When he becomes an enemy again in Halo 3, 343 Guilty Spark changes from blue to red, similar to his Installation 05 counterpart 2401 Penitent Tangent.
- If you kill your fellow Marines or teammates on Co-op, 343 Guilty Spark will sometimes become hostile and fire his laser at you, and, despite having to fight him while he uses it later on, is much, much more powerful and can easily kill you in one hit, even while in a Scorpion Tank.
- In Halo: CE, Halo 2 and before the battle at the second Installation 04 in Halo 3, he is invincible.
- In Halo 3 Forge, when you enter "edit mode" to customize maps, you are in the form of a Monitor, that at the very least has the same visual appearance as 343 Guilty Spark.
- Despite not being the Monitor of Installation 00, 343 Guilty Spark somehow has control over the installation's Sentinels. It is possible Mendicant Bias (the only known A.I. left on the Ark) relinquished control of the Sentinels to Spark, in order for Bias to work behind the scenes.
- The Disembodied Soul when asked about Guilty Spark, claims the following line "He's my progeny. He inherited my good looks and pleasant personality".
- Occasionally, in Halo 3, he will hum some parts of the Halo Theme Song.
- Spark has a Da Vinci Easter Egg inside his casing. It can be viewed in Theater on the level Halo.
- On the level The Ark, if you step in the way of 343 Guilty Spark's beam whilst he is unlocking a door, the beam will stop, but the door will still open.
- It is possible that 343 Guilty Spark was at the Jealousy stage of rampancy in Halo: CE. In the level The Maw he floats around absorbing information from terminals in the Pillar of Autumn, saying things like "You don't know how exciting this is!". This bears a resemblance to the Jealousy stage of Rampancy "...a third stage begins where the AI will seek to grow and develop as a person. It will do this by attempting to expose itself to new intellectual stimuli and by expanding its sphere of knowledge by assimilating as much data as possible". But as 343 Guilty Spark reaches the stage of Anger in the level Halo in Halo 3, this would be odd. However it is possible that due to being isolated for a 100,000 years, he has already reached the different stages, but certain events "turn them back on"
- In the TV series scrubs, JD (played by Zach Braff, a confessed Halo fan) had the college room 343, this could be a possible link to Guilty Spark.
- 343 Guilty Spark shoots a beam similar to both the UNSC Spartan Laser and the Forerunner Sentinel Beam. But when comparing power, the beam is noticeably weaker than a Spartan Laser and much stronger than a Sentinel Beam.
- After the Halo: Combat Evolved credits, the tune he hums is a portion of the Halo theme.
- 343 Guilty Spark is voiced by Tim Dadabo.
- In the Red vs Blue episode D.I.Y., a Monitor named Ralph, who is supposedly 343 Guilty Spark's lighting and stunt double, shows Sarge and Church around the Heroic Maps Rat's Nest, Foundry, and Standoff.
- In Halo 3, The Ark if you shoot at 343 Guilty Spark he might say "Do you think bullets grow on trees?" or with the IWHBYD skull on, "You are pissing me off. Oh my. I didn't know I have cursing in my vocal structure". This might imply that the Forerunners have the ability to limit an AI's vocal structure.
- In Halo 3, Frag, Plasma, and Spike grenades will all bounce off of him. However, a well-placed Firebomb can cause him to burst into flames, but it will not damage him at all.
- Though probably not a 7 reference, G, the first letter in "Guilty Spark," is the 7th letter in the alphabet.
- At times, with the IWHBYD skull on, Spark will sometimes say, "Oh, I wish I had lips, then I could whistle!"
- There are notable similarities between Guilty Spark and Durandal: Both are able to teleport the Main Character, have a "sister/brother" Monitor that was captured, and ended up rampant.
- Jason Jones has the numbers 343 on his license plate.[verification needed]
- With The IWHBYD skull on, he may sometimes say "I'm A Real boy!"
- During the level "The Ark" Spark has been known to kill the player after killing a number of marines.
[edit] Appearances
- Halo: Combat Evolved/Halo: The Flood
- 343 Guilty Spark
- The Library
- Two Betrayals (Cutscene)
- The Maw
- After credits (Cutscene)
- Halo 2
- Oracle
- Sacred Icon (Cutscene)
- Gravemind (Cutscene)
- Uprising (Cutscene)
- The Great Journey
- Halo 3
- Floodgate (Cutscene)
- The Ark
- The Covenant
- Halo
[edit] Sources
- ↑ Halo: Combat Evolved, 343 Guilty Spark (Level) final cutscene
- ↑ Halo: CE, 343 Guilty Spark (Level) final cutscene
- ↑ Conversations from the Universe, page 1
- ↑ Halo: CE, [343 Guilty Spark (Level)] final cutscene
- ↑ Conversations from the Universe, page 1
- ↑ Halo 3, Floodgate
- ↑ Halo 3, Halo
