Gúta

“Kat, pick any of that up?"
"Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called gúta.”

Gúta are a gigantic semi-bipedal species native to the planet Reach. The largest terrestrial lifeforms to be discovered on the planet, gúta are distinguished not only by their size but also by their sharp tusks and long claws. Despite their aggression rarely reaching severe levels, they are considered extremely dangerous animals. During the Fall of Reach, Covenant troops in the Szurdok Ridge were attacked by a pair of gúta. While on a mission to establish the extent of the Covenant's presence on Reach, Jun-A266 and SPARTAN-B312 witnessed this skirmish and summarily defeated both hostile parties. Fellow Noble Team member Catherine-B320 briefed them on the creatures after their defeat, and the SPARTAN-IIIs continued their mission, without further interference from gúta.

History[]

“Look at that!”

— Jun-A266^[1]

Gúta^[3] are native to the planet Reach, a human inner colony world in the Epsilon Eridani system. On August 11, 2552, during the Fall of Reach, forces of the Covenant Empire encountered two gúta at Szurdok Ridge. Noble Team's Jun-A266 and SPARTAN-B312 came across the resulting altercation, whilst on a mission to determine the extent of the Covenant's presence on Reach. The SPARTAN-IIIs engaged both the Covenant troops and the two gúta, eliminating all immediate hostile threats. Seemingly in awe of the creatures, Jun asked Catherine-B320 whether she witnessed the encounter over their comms. She confirmed that she had and relayed information about the gúta to her fellow Spartans. Jun and Six proceeded with their mission and did not encounter any further gúta.^[1]

Description[]

Gúta are creatures of enormous size, standing at approximately 5.9 meters tall.^[1]^[2] They are the largest terrestrial lifeforms to be discovered on Reach.^[3] Gúta have two tusks on either side of their jaws and their mouths contain a set of jagged teeth. The creatures have two toes on each foot and three digits on each hand, the latter of which sport extremely long claws. In addition to their other features, gúta have a small tail.^[1]

Gúta are semi-bipedal as, although they are capable of standing on two legs, they use their arms for support when running.^[1] Severe aggression in gúta is rare, outside males seeking mates or females protecting their young. Despite this, they are extremely dangerous animals and are not afraid to attack what they perceive to be threats.^[3]

Gameplay[]

Halo: Reach[]

“Major enemy, incoming!”

— Jun-A266^[1]

Gúta appear in Halo: Reach, as enemies in the campaign mission Nightfall. Two can be seen attacking Covenant troops in a small canyon just after the player reaches Rally Point Bravo: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. They will attack both UNSC and Covenant forces. They are durable enemies and can survive two direct headshots from a Sniper Rifle System 99 Anti-Matériel. Upon defeat, the player will be awarded points in campaign scoring. This differs from killing moa, the only other indigenous entities in the game that the player can interact with, as they are not considered enemies.^[1] On a player's post-game statistics and their career page on Bungie.net, defeated gúta are listed as "Mule." Instead of listing a rank on the website, the entry for "Mule" simply says, "No hugging." The "Mule" designation is an internal nickname for gúta used by Bungie employees.^[4]

Trivia[]

Gúta were originally set to be in several campaign missions in addition to Nightfall. However, due to resource constraints, this level features the only two gúta in the game.^[4]
Several ideas were formed around the gúta, but many were ultimately cut from the game. Among these ideas were gúta being used as battle-mounts by Elites and Grunts, gúta that were equipped with mounted weapons, and the ability for the player to "hijack" gúta and plant a grenade in their mouths.^[4]
Since many of Reach's original settlers were of Hungarian descent, it is likely that gúta are named after the same fearsome demon from Hungarian mythology.^[4]
Unlike other corpses in the game, the player can move gúta bodies around by colliding with them.^[1]