Arbiter (Character)

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"I will not be shamed! Not again! Not by you!"

—The Arbiter on The Storm

"We are the arm of the Prophets, Arbiter, and you are the blade."

—Rtas 'Vadumee to The Arbiter during an anti heretic battle

The Arbiter Biographical information Homeworld Sanghelios Physical description Species Sangheili, (Elites) Gender Male Height 8'6" Weapons Plasma Rifle (starting weapon) Plasma Grenades (starting weapon) Covenant Carbine (starting weapon) Energy Sword (starting weapon) Beam Rifle (starting weapon) Plasma Pistol (starting weapon) Flamethrower (only if you don't take the Flamethrower from beginning of the level Cortana) Any weapon given or taken in Campaign Equipment Elite Personal Energy Shield Active Camouflage (Halo 2 only, obselete in Halo 3) Flashlight (Halo 3 only) Hair color None Eye color Orange Chronological and political information Era(s) Human-Covenant War Great Schism Affiliation Covenant Separatists

[Source]

The current Arbiter is a distinguished Sangheili. At the apogee of his career with the Covenant he served as the Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. However, following the destruction of Installation 04 he was stripped of his rank, and forced to don the ancient armor of Arbiter. He accepted the position of Arbiter to continue his service to the Covenant, even in his disgraced state. The Arbiter is always sent on a suicidal mission to claim great honor in death, so he was not expected to live. He now joins sides with Master Chief, after the Gravemind told him of the Halo's true purpose, and was betrayed by the Covenant Loyalists.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Military Career

The Supreme Commander, before he became the Arbiter.

As Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, he led the victorious Covenant forces at the First Battle of Reach. As the battle ended he ordered his ships to pursue the fleeing Pillar of Autumn to Installation 04. He was unable to prevent the destruction of the ring and the capture of the Ascendant Justice by John-117 and he was called before the High Council to answer for these failures. He traveled to High Charity on the flagship Seeker of Truth. He's also voiced by black man.

The loss of the Forerunner relic that the Covenant held "holy" rendered the Council unmoved by his defense and the Sangheili was stripped of his rank, branded with the Mark of Shame in front of much of the Covenant, and sentenced to death. He would "be hung by his entrails" and his corpse "paraded through the city" as an example to others. ^[1]

Upon being brought to the Prophet Hierarchs of Truth and Mercy, they intervened and offered to commute the sentence if he would become the new Arbiter. Understanding that becoming the Arbiter amounted to an indirect death sentence, but also seeking an opportunity to redeem himself, the Sangheili accepted the offer.

The Arbiter discovered however, that the Covenant's Great Journey was a lie and he subsequently started a civil war that rocked the foundations of the Covenant.

The Arbiter before the Prophets, stripped of his armor and branded him with the Mark of Shame.

[edit] Gas Mine

The Arbiter's first combat assignment as the Arbiter was to stop a Heretic uprising based in a Forerunner gas mining facility in the atmosphere of Threshold. He was assisted by Rtas 'Vadumee and Special Operations Elites and Grunts. The operation was complicated by the unexpected escape of the Flood from the facility. During the chaos that followed, the Heretic leader sealed himself in a protected zone of the station, to protect himself from the storm. The Arbiter drove the Heretics out by cutting the cables from which the facility hung from a larger structure, causing the gas mine to fall. After he had severed the cables, he chased the heretic leader in a Banshee to another part of the station. After crashing his Banshee, the Arbiter had to fight his way through massive amounts of Flood and a few surviving Heretics until he reached the hangar. Before 'Refumee could escape in a Seraph, the Arbiter killed Sesa 'Refumee, who said shortly prior to his death that the Great Journey was a lie. The Arbiter was confused to discover that the Heretics had been aided by a Monitor, who called himself 343 Guilty Spark.

With the uprising suppressed, Tartarus extracted the Arbiter and used the Fist of Rukt to get the Oracle. His actions, which involved throwing the Monitor into the Phantom recklessly, angered the Arbiter enough for him to remind the Chieftain who he was dealing with.

[edit] Battle of the Quarantine Zone

"We shall cut into the heart of this infestation, retrieve the Icon, and burn any Flood that stand in our way!"

—Rtas 'Vadumee

The Arbiter

The Arbiter was then sent to the "Quarantine Zone" on Installation 05 to retrieve the "Sacred Icon" needed to activate the Halo. Before to the mission, the Arbiter witnessed the replacement of the Elite Honor Guards with Brutes. Fighting his way through the Sentinel Wall to deactivate the Library's shield, he was forced to make his way on foot to the Library, though he was aided by the remaining SpecOps forces of Rtas 'Vadumee again. Eventually reaching a Gondola, he and the commandos made their way to the library in relative safety, though they were forced to relentlessly fend off Flood controlled-armor resistance and Forerunner constructs. The Commandos chose not to accompany the Arbiter to the "Icon," instead protecting their Gondola, believing it to be their only way of escape despite the fact that Tartarus' Phantom was still present.

The Arbiter proceeded into the Library, encountering the remains of a battle between Marines and Flood Combat Forms, and witnessed Commander Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson retrieving the Index. He knocked Johnson unconscious, and disarmed Keyes before Tartarus and his Brutes joined the fight. After the initial scrap, Tartarus captured Keyes using the Fist of Rukt to levitate her, and claimed the Index for himself. Following the orders of the Prophets he sent the Arbiter into the chasm from a shock wave from his Fist of Rukt, expecting this to be the death of the Arbiter.

[edit] Control Room of Installation 05

"This one is but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded."

—The Gravemind describing the Arbiter

Instead of being killed by the fall, as expected, the Arbiter was rescued and captured in mid-air by the Gravemind, the central intelligence of the Flood. After briefly meeting the Master Chief, the cause of his disgrace, the Arbiter was teleported by the Gravemind near the Control Room to stop Tartarus from activating the Halo.

Discovering the consequences of the Prophets' betrayal of the Elites and the slaughtering of his species by the Brutes, the Arbiter joined forces with a band of Spec Ops Commandos, Minors, Majors, and a Zealot, as well as a small number of Hunters and Grunts, to raze a Brute encampment to the ground. Eventually, he met Rtas 'Vadumee yet again, joining forces to reach a Scarab. Near the Scarab, the Arbiter and his forces managed to save a group of UNSC Marines from execution and butchery; including Sergeant Johnson. Johnson volunteered to drive the Scarab and break down the door to the control room while the Arbiter covered him from enemy Wraiths, Spectres and Banshees from the air in a Banshee.

[edit] Battle with Tartarus

"Tartarus, the Prophets have betrayed us."

—Arbiter

After Johnson opened the way to the Control Room with a helpful (if not destructive) blast from the Scarab, the Arbiter entered the Room and confronted Tartarus, who was attempting to force Miranda Keyes to activate the Halo. 343 Guilty Spark was also present, so the Arbiter asked the Spark what Halo's purpose was, and the Spark replied that the Halos were there to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy. Despite being directly told the proof of what the Halos did, Tartarus chose to side with the Prophets, his fanatical belief in the Great Journey nearly causing the activation of the Halo Array. Only his death at the hands of the Arbiter allowed Miranda Keyes to stop its activation in time, although its shutdown activated a backup-system: the Ark. The Arbiter then escapes the Flood infested installation with the surviving Humans, Elites, Hunters and Grunts.

[edit] Meeting the Chief on Earth

John-117 and the Arbiter in the jungles of Africa.

"Were it so easy."

—Arbiter

Upon arriving on Earth with Johnson, the Arbiter and several of his allies later find the Master Chief, who has just arrived on Earth as well. Once the Master Chief regains consciousness and recovers from his long fall, he attempts to kill the Arbiter, but is stopped by Johnson, who tells the Chief that the Arbiter has joined them as an ally. He assists the Master Chief through the jungles of New Mombasa , guiding him through the dense forest to the dam site where they are extracted. He then aids the Chief and the other UNSC forces during the defense of a UNSC base, Crow's Nest.

[edit] Battle of Voi

After leaving the Chief on the last departing flight from Crow's Nest before the base is leveled, the Arbiter rejoined him at the docks, shortly after the Chief cleared the road to Voi of Covenant and began to destroy a section of the Covenant mechanized presence defending the area rimming the Forerunner artifact. The Arbiter assisted the Chief and surviving UNSC forces in destroying a crucial antiaircraft battery, aiding them as they fought through Covenant occupied warehouses, eventually helping them destroy the emplacement, and opening a hole in the Covenant air defenses to allow Lord Hood's naval forces to assault the Prophet of Truth's Dreadnought, which was docked and idle atop the Artifact.

The strike upon the Dreadnought did no visible damage, and was followed by the tumultuous activation of the artifact. An enormous, fiery sphere was triggered over the activated artifact, and to the Arbiter's chagrin, Truth led his fleet within. But before Lord Hood could consolidate the scattered and confused human resistance, a Flood-infested Covenant cruiser, which had broken through the Elites quarantine fleet around High Charity, transitioned out of slipspace nearby, crashing into the city and infesting an indiscriminately large portion of the African continent. The Arbiter and Chief proceeded to cauterize the local area of the Flood infestation, battling their way to the cruiser with the purpose of catastrophically overloading the crashed ship's engines to level the entire city before the parasitic infestation grew beyond control. They were aided by a handful of Marines who were not claimed by the Flood, and eventually Sangheili special operations shock troops, led by the recently promoted Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum, ("ee" suffix at the end was removed after the Great Schism) and a battle group under his command. The Arbiter assisted the Chief in clearing a swath to the crashed cruiser, and the Chief infiltrated the cruiser alone and recovered a holo-projector containing a fragment of Cortana.

[edit] Battle of the Ark

After UNSC and Separatist forces regrouped, they moved through the portal created by the Dreadnought, arriving at the Ark. The Arbiter joined the Master Chief at the entrance of a local Cartographer facility to clear their way through the building to the Cartographer terminal. Once there, they learned Truth's perilous location, as well as an unfortunate defense he had conjured from the Ark itself. When the group was attacked after activating the Cartographer, the Arbiter joined the battle for the skies, instructing the Chief to follow 343 Guilty Spark to a location for extraction.

With routing of the Covenant Loyalist fleet, Rtas 'Vadum's carrier positioned itself near the Ark's Citadel in preparation to deal a lethal blow to Truth's stronghold, where he planned to remotely activate the rings. The Arbiter led his fellow Sangheili forces in a three-pronged assault on the shield generators to lower the barrier around Truth and the Citadel, deactivating the generator from a console in the tower's spire. After Sergeant Johnson failed to deactivate the third generator because of Brute resistance, the Arbiter landed his forces at the third tower along with the Chief to deactivate the final generator and shut down the barrier.

As Rtas 'Vadum maneuvered over the citadel to glass Truth with it, High Charity exited Slipspace, crashing into the Ark. In its plummet to the surface, High Charity scattered a barrage of infection capsules which put 'Vadum's carrier out of commission and seeded the Ark with Flood. The Arbiter led his forces in conjunction with the Marines to clear the third tower of Flood, with the Chief's assistance. As a security measure, the Arbiter escorted a distressed 343 Guilty Spark to reconnoiter the damage inflicted to the Ark by the Flood, leaving his Sangheili with the Chief to push on to the Citadel.

After the Arbiter entered the Citadel, joining the Chief at the bridge to the Citadel with a distraught 343 Guilty Spark, the Flood allied with their effort to reach Truth and abort the firing of the Halo Array. Fighting through the last Loyalist forces standing between Truth the Arbiter's allies, the Arbiter and the Chief succeed in reaching the Prophet of Truth, who had been infected by the Flood. The Chief deactivated the Halo Array.

[edit] The Death Of Truth

"I will have my revenge, on a Prophet, not a plague!"

—Arbiter

The Arbiter reached Truth in the Ark's Control Room and after a brief conversation the Prophet makes a quick speech before being executed by the Arbiter's Energy Sword but before Truth was fully infected by the Flood, finally taking his revenge for Truth's crimes. The Chief and the Arbiter then faced the betrayal of the Flood's allegiance with the abortion of Halo's firing.

[edit] Destroying the Flood

The Arbiter with an energy Sword.

Fighting their way back the way they had come, the two witnessed the construction of a new Installation 04, and planned to activate it. The Arbiter, Johnson and Rtas 'Vadum evacuate all UNSC and Separatist forces from the Ark. The Arbiter, worried about the Chief (who went to High Charity alone to rescue the A.I. Cortana) arrived after the Master Chief at High Charity's crash site, and used a Flamethrower he found to cover their escape upon finding the Chief had accomplished his objective.

The two then escape on a Pelican from High Charity crashing it into the newly-constructed Halo, meeting up with Sergeant Johnson and 343 Guilty Spark at the Control Room after fighting through numerous Flood forms where they started infesting. Reaching the Control Room, the Monitor turned on them upon realizing that activating the Ring would destroy it and damage the Ark, since it wasn't fully built, and he killed Johnson in the battle that ensued. The Arbiter was blasted out of the room, while the Master Chief battled and destroyed the Forerunner construct. The two retrieved Johnson's Warthog, crossing across Forerunner structures used for building the Halo, attacked by more Flood and the now-enemy Sentinels, and succeeded in reaching the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn and escaping the Ark and Halo just in time.

[edit] The End of the Human-Covenant War and the Covenant Civil War

The portal collapsed as the Forward Unto Dawn was transiting and the after end of the ship, with John-117 and Cortana, was sheared off and failed to return to Earth. The bow section, containing the Arbiter, made it through and crashed into the sea, where the Arbiter was rescued. The Arbiter was present at the dedication of the memorial to those lost during the War on March 3, 2553. After being thanked by Admiral Terrence Hood for "standing by him to the end" saying "It's hard to believe he's dead", the Arbiter, not believing he was gone, responded " Were it so easy". This line of text is also said when he meets, for the first time, the Master Chief. The Arbiter departed for Sanghelios aboard the Shadow of Intent as the ship master, with Rtas 'Vadum.

The Arbiter

[edit] Combat

The player model for the Arbiter is different from that of the Master Chief, only by the replacement of the Chief's flashlight with an Active Camouflage feature, and the Arbiter bleeds purple blood instead of red. Due to the antiquated armor of the Arbiter, this camouflage does not last forever, and the amount of time it lasts decreases based on the current difficulty setting. In Halo 3, he still has active camouflage, but it is only illustrated in the first cutscene and to get away from enemies, and player two cannot activate it. He has a flashlight on his left shoulder in Halo 3. (Which player two can use.)

The Arbiter has experience fighting, and this is shown in his knowledge of every weapon and vehicle. His most commonly used weapons are the plasma rifle, energy sword, and the carbine. However, if the Arbiter character is being used in co-op campaign, he can use any weapon the player chooses. The plasma rifle, sword, and carbine would only be level start weapons. Also, in Halo 2 the Arbiter's HUD is a pinkish-purple color rather than blue; in Halo 3 it is teal and is presented in a more curved fashion than Player One's. Player Three and Four's HUDs are also more curved as they are Elites also.

In Halo 3, the Arbiter is a very useful ally (especially against the Flood when he has his sword out), but when fighting enemies on his own on Heroic and Legendary, the Arbiter NPC tends to die a lot (though not as much on Heroic). This is mostly due to him leading suicidal charges with his energy sword even though the enemy is a great distance away from him. It is best to keep the NPC Arbiter away from combat if possible, especially if you have Campaign Scoring on and you don't want to lose valuable points for not babysitting the single-minded Arbiter.

[edit] Quotes

Main Article: Arbiter (Character)/Quotes

"Were it so easy"

—Arbiter in the beginning and the end of Halo 3.

"And so, you must be silenced"

—Arbiter about to kill the Prophet of Truth.

"Unworthy of my blades."

—{{{2}}}

[edit] Reactions

The Arbiter with UNSC Marines and ODSTs.

The image that Bungie produced for Halo 2 was one featuring the Master Chief on Earth fighting the Covenant. Once the game was released, this was shown to be the case until the level The Arbiter level, when the player abruptly took the role of the Arbiter.

The change in the overall story line affected some fans' reactions to the game. Some fans considered the Master Chief the only character that should be played as and focused on. However, most fans took it in as a new chapter in Bungie's story making. Bungie worked hard to preserve this secret until the game's release. Unfortunately, a leaked French copy of the game came out a few days before the game's launch.

[edit] Trivia

• The Arbiter's armor was originally an armor permutation in Halo 3.
• He is voiced by actor Keith David. The Arbiter is one of two playable characters in the campaign part of the game Halo 2 and one of the four playable characters in the co-op campaign part of Halo 3.
• The Arbiter was originally called the Dervish. The name was changed because it could be considered offensive to Muslims.
• In the final level of Halo 2, at the point where Sergeant Johnson takes over the Scarab, the Marines refer to the Arbiter as they would Master Chief. Also, when fighting Tartarus, Miranda Keyes calls him the Chief.
• In Halo: First Strike, the Master Chief captures the flagship Ascendant Justice. To do this, he had to fight an Elite in hand to hand combat. He does not kill the Elite, only shoves him into an escape pod. It is greatly speculated he may have been the Arbiter, since at the end of the book Tartarus and the Prophet of Truth are discussing the fate of "The one who lost the Ascendant Justice", and in the cutscene where the two meet for the first time in the game, it seems like the Arbiter has met him before. This is unlikely because the book said it has black armor, but the Arbiter had gold.
• The Arbiter, along with Rtas 'Vadum, are the only main characters in the Halo series who have never had their real/full names said in-game, only being referred to by their titles (Arbiter and Spec-Ops Commander/Ship Master respectively).
• In Halo 3 the Arbiter's armor includes mandible guards and a flashlight on his left shoulder. His armor's color was also changed from silver to a burnished gold.
• He is one of the only Elites to call the Chief by the name "Spartan". Rtas 'Vadum also shares this distinction.
• If one attempts to kill the Arbiter in Halo 3 in single player Campaign mode, he will fall unconscious, but he will get up again and pick up any weapons near him. If you "kill" the Arbiter for his weapons, his Energy Sword has a ridiculously low battery. Also, if you make the Arbiter fall unconscious twice (or three times, on lower difficulty) he will get up and call you a traitor, then kill you with a single shot if he is wielding the Carbine, at least. If he is left alone, after a while he will forgive the player and return to being an ally. When highlighted with the reticule, it still shows green even when his movement is a red dot on the motion tracker and he is considered an enemy. Interestingly, when he is found fighting the Drones on the level Crow's Nest, he may have no weapons and be unable to shoot at you, but still with a Plasma Rifle attached to his waist. This can be done by killing him and removing all weapons from the area (a Gravity hammer can be useful here). One can tell if the Arbiter is an enemy or not, as when he becomes an enemy bent on killing you, the arrow above him vanishes. It reappears when he becomes a friendly again.
• The Arbiter can survive lethal drops to the player, for example, at the end of Sierra 117, he can be knocked into the water where the Phantom was. The player can jump in after him, dying and sinking to the bottom, though the Arbiter will be standing there, quite alive.
• Also, you can give the Arbiter any weapon in Halo 3 in single player campaign mode, just make the Arbiter fall unconscious and immediately switch the weapon you are holding with the weapon the Arbiter is nearest to.
• Interestingly enough, if you can outdistance or remove the Arbiter from the map, he will suddenly appear as if phasing out of active camouflage.
• When playing single campaign in Halo 3 the Arbiter AI is always seen wielding Plasma Rifles (usually dual-wielding them), Carbines, Energy Swords and a Flamethrower (on the level Cortana). But if you kill him he will grab the closest weapon to him. However, he can still use a Fuel Rod Cannon. This may be due to balancing of the game.
• The Arbiter AI can melee with dual Plasma Rifles without dropping one.
• On Easy, Normal and Heroic difficulties, the Arbiter AI has a lot of shielding and health. He can even survive a Spike Grenade stick. Despite this, however, once his shields are down, he can be killed with a single headshot from a Magnum, Battle Rifle, or Carbine, on any difficulty.
• On the level The Storm, it is possible to completely remove the Arbiter from the level, via a glitch. As a reversal of the previously mentioned glitch, on the level The Covenant, you can get two Arbiters, again, via a glitch.
• If the Arbiter dies while he is pulling out his sword, it has a high amount, if not 100% battery left.
• It is possible that the Arbiter may appear in future Halo media, such as a game or novel, as Frank O'Connor said in an interview "There's an aspect of the Arbiter's character that is still secret to this day and will remain so for good reason", implying that the secret may be revealed at some point.^[2]
• In some very rare situations, the Arbiter AI can jump ridiculously high, such as the hill just outside the Control Room on the level Halo after killing the Monitor.
• On the level The Covenant, if you destroy the Phantom that is dropping him off at the third tower, he will come from the other one. If you destroy both, he will not appear. However, after you deactivate the tower you will hear his voice, but you can't see him.
• The Arbiter AI character is compatible with all weapons, with the exceptions of the Spartan Laser and Gravity Hammer.
• In Halo 3's second level, Crows Nest, the Arbiter tries to talk some Drones into joining the Covenant Separatists. This attempt obviously fails as the Arbiter kills all three Drones.
• The Arbiter's armor changes color from Grey in Halo 2 to a light shade of gold on Halo 3 although this may be purely because of the lighting effects.
• The Abiters hoof size is 24.

[edit] Gallery

Before the Mark of Shame.

The Holy Arbiter Armor.

Arbiter meets Spartan 117.

The Arbiter with his Carbine.

[edit] Sources

1. ↑ Halo 2, The Arbiter
2. ↑ MTV News: Halo 3 Developer Won't Divulge Secrets