Sangheili

Revision as of 14:55, 16 September 2016

The Sangheili are an alien race that features in Halo.

History

The Sangheili (Elite) were an alien race that came from the planet Sanghelios. Long ago, they were one of the races that arose in the galaxy that was ruled by the Forerunners. However, during the conflict with the Flood, the Forerunners activated the Halos to scourge life from the galaxy in order to eliminate the parasite. In the aftermath, the Sangheili were one of the races that were re-planted by the Forerunners efforts. Their civilization was reborn on their homeworld and continued on its path to development. Several hundred years ago, their kind developed slipspace technology and established a dozen independent colonies whilst Sanghelios remained central to government as well as culture. The early interstellar period of the Sangheili was noted for being volatile. It was during this time that they encountered the San'Shyuum with the two engaging in a long and bloody war. In time, a truce was formed between the two species that together formed a union that became a galactic empire known as the Covenant. Within the Covenant, the two races were united in the worship of the long dead Forerunners and were dedicated in achieving transcendence through the Great Journey. As part of the Covenant, the San'Shyuum slowly began to insinuate themselves into Sangheili culture where they began to replace the scientific and industrial capabilities of their race. At the same time, they began supporting the Sangheili's warlord ambitions with the race beginning to focus purely on martial matters. As the Covenant grew with new races, menial labor and tasks were taken over by the other species whilst the entirety of Sangheili culture was dedicated to conducting holy warfare whilst acquiring sacred Forerunner relics for the San'Shyuum Prophets.

Overview

In appearance, the Sangheili (Latin: Macto Cognatus) were a bipedal race of large saurian that had tall muscular bodies and elongated heads that bore four mandibles. These mandibles were laced with rows of sharp teeth with adults possessing mandibles of varying shapes, sizes, range, and dexterity with it being as distinctive as a fingerprint. Elites had long arms that ended in zygodactyly hands that had impressively dexterous fingers.

They was divided into clans that were composed of tightly-knit families. These in terms formed the basis of their society that historically operated as a type of feudal manorialism. This saw multiple clans that were led by a kaidon who controlled a fortified keep along with its surrounding territory. Such a system evolved and survived into the modern age with major keeps developing into city-states that were led by alliances of lesser kaidons. On smaller colonies, a handful of keeps were responsible for controlling the entirety of resources. In contrast, more developed worlds such as Sangheilios there were hundreds of keeps each of whom vied for power and influence through the use of either political or military force.

One ancient order among their people were the Ascetics that were religiously minded Sangheili with ties to ancient beliefs preading the Covenant. They had been dissolved following the formation of the Covenant but Ascetic priests secretly initiated worthy Sangheili warriors into their ranks. Thus, they managed to keep the ideals of their martial order alive over the ages.

Members

• Thel ‘Vadam :
• Rho 'Barutamee :
• Gek ‘Lhar :
• N’tho ‘Sraom :
• Sesa ‘Refumee :
• Usze ‘Taham :
• Jul ‘Mdama :

Notes

• The Elites were created as antagonists by Bungie Studios for the Halo games.
• Concept artist Shi Kai Wang noted that project lead Jason Jones had, at one point, been insistent on giving the Elites a tail. While Wang thought it made the aliens look too animalistic, the idea was eventually dropped due to practical considerations, including where the tail would go when the Elites were driving vehicles. "At one point, we considered just having the Elites tuck their tails forward, between their legs," Wang noted, "But [we] abandoned that... for obvious reasons."[9] According to Paul Russel, when Bungie was bought by Microsoft and Halo was turned into an Xbox launch title, Microsoft took issue with the design of the Elites, as they felt that the Elites had a resemblance to cats that might alienate Japanese consumers.

Appearances

• Halo: Combat Evolved:
• Halo 2:
• Halo 3:
• Halo 4:
• Halo 5: Guardians:

External Links

• Halo Waypoint Entry
• Halopedia Entry

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