Jiralhanae Minor

Jiralhanae Minor is the lowest and most common Jiralhanae rank. The Jiralhanae who have this rank are the youngest and most inexperienced in the Covenant.^[1] They are very weak compared to Brute Majors, but still can be challenging, especially on Heroic and Legendary. Jiralhanae (Brute) Minors are one of the most common enemies in Halo 3.

Background[]

The Minors in Halo 2 had little armor and no helmets. In Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST, the Minors have attained lustrous cyan Power Armor, but lack the shoulder pads, knee pads, and ankle armor of the higher ranks. They still have chest and back armor, and unlike before, a cyan helmet for a little added protection.

Combat[]

Halo 2[]

Main article: Halo 2

These Brutes haven't yet earned the right to carry Brute Shots, which makes confronting them somewhat easier than their higher ranking counterparts. Since they don't have helmets, it is best to use headshots from a Sniper Rifle, M6C Magnum, Beam Rifle, Carbine, or a Battle rifle.

They often make tactical errors, such as standing in one place while firing or rushing forward into enemy fire, which can be used to one's advantage. They fire in shorter bursts and have somewhat less accuracy and lower rate of fire. They usually wield Covenant Carbines or Brute Plasma Rifles.

Bungie was disappointed on the outcome of the Halo 2 Brutes. They stated that they were "damage sponges," and weren't as fun to kill as Bungie wanted them to be. A player could simply kill them by standing back and rapidly shooting at them with the Needler or any other weapon.

Halo 3[]

Main article: Halo 3

Much like the Halo 2 Minor Brutes, they are the lowest in rank and therefore do not wield the far more dangerous weapons such as the Gravity Hammer. They often use Spikers, and occasionally Carbines or Plasma Rifles. In addition, they have turquoise armor. Brute Minors are never encountered alone, typically attacking in packs of 4-6 at once under the command of a Brute Captain. On the Heroic difficulty, they can withstand about 24 MA5C Assault Rifle bullets or 13-16 Plasma Rifle bolts; 7 bullets or 4 plasma bolts to drop their shield, and an additional 17 bullets or 9-12 plasma bolts to kill them.

One of the best and quickest ways to kill them is by using the Noob Combo. On lower difficulties, you can melee them to save some ammunition. However, use extreme caution when combating Brutes in hand-to-hand combat as even Minors have the ability to kill obstinate players. On lower difficulties if you get one or two Minors wielding a non-vicious weapon in between yourself and a Brute with a Brute Shot, the Brute Shot Brute may fire at you, miss, and kill the Minors. However, this is merely for fun and should not be regarded as strategy. The Brute minors have the least combat experience and are the easiest Brute warriors to kill. Frag Grenades are an excellent strategy on Legendary, especially when you have U-shaped cover. Attack the Brutes and then run to the other side of your hiding spot, throwing a grenade while the Brutes' attention is directed elsewhere.

Halo: Reach[]

Halo Reach's Brute Minors more closely resemble Halo 2's Brute Minor's in terms of gameplay. Like in Halo 2, Brute Minors do not possess power armor or any form of shielding; they also have a helmet, much like Reach's Grunt Ultras', that protects them from one headshot before falling off, after that they are highly vulnerable to headshots. Minor Brutes will normally wield Spikers or Plasma Repeaters, and are often found in groups of 3-5 minors led by a Captain Major.

Much like all past installments featuring Brutes, the are highly resilient to human projectile weapons but are still vulnerable to headshot kills. Since Minors do not possess power armor, they are especially vulnerable to Needle type weapons; in Reach a single super-combine from either a Needle Rifle or a regular Needler will kill a Minor on any difficulty including the unofficial Mythic difficulty. Brute Minors will often use Armor Lock if they've been hit a few times, or lose their helmets. This can usually be used to the player's advantage, since they will be easy targets once they come out of Armor Lock. Note that they seem to use Armor Lock less when the 'Tough Luck' skull is turned on and will be vulnerable when they recover from evading attacks.

Trivia[]

Although the Brute Shot is reserved for higher ranking Brutes, Minors have been known to use it on the level "The Covenant." Although this could be due to the fact the Covenant did not have enough high ranks in the area and they needed every soldier armed with power weapons to guard the Prophet.
When any other Brute rank gets infected by the Flood, its armor turns into the armor of a Minor.
This rank has frequently been used erroneously to identify Brutes wearing complete Power Armor in marketing campaigns and videos like Halo: Landfall, Believe, and We Are ODST, which is often gray in coloration. This rank has even been applied to a Jiralhanae wearing Stalker-type Power Armor.
The Halo Encyclopedia erroneously replaces an image of a Brute Minor with a Major.
In Reach, Minors along with Captains lack the shields that only Brute Chieftains have.
On the Bungie website in the "Games" section, the Halo: Reach "Enemies" page shows a Brute Minor wielding an Assault Rifle.