Forerunners (Halo)
The Forerunners are an ancient species that appear in Halo.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Forerunners were an ancient race who themselves were created by an even older species known as the Precursors. They were seeded in the Milky Way Galaxy alongside other species around fifteen million years ago where they evolved on the planet Ghibalb in the Orion complex. In time, their home world served as the centre of their young interstellar civilisation that consisted of twelve systems inside a nebular complex. Ghibalb was rendered uninhabitable by an astro-engineering disaster when they were attempting to manipulate several stars in that region of space but an accident instead caused a number of supernovae that left their planet scarred by radiation. This incident was noted for nearly causing the extinction of the Forerunner people. Despite this incident, they continued their development and came to see themselves as inheritors to the Precursors to the point that they believed that would inherit the Mantle of guardianship of life. During this time, they resettled on a new world called Maethrillian that served as the Capital of the Forerunner Ecumene. Over ten million years ago, however, the Precursors decided to pass on the Mantle to Humans who were chosen to be their successors. This sequence of events led to the Forerunners being provoked and it was believed that the Precursors intended to eliminate them. As a result, the Forerunners responded by attacking their creators and exterminated the majority of them in retaliation for their actions.
In an effort to immunize himself from the Flood, the Didact conducted a procedure that ultimately failed. As a result, it was deemed that the only option left was the use of the Composer though it would not operate on the Didact's new form. However, his Prometheans willingly submitted themselves to the process as they believed that it was the only way to defeat the Flood. This resulted in the Prometheans being transformed into energy based constructs that were immediately deployed to attack the Flood where they assaulted infested vessels above one world. Despite their success in destroying several vessels, the Flood was simply too many by this point. The Didact reasoned that if he had greater numbers than perhaps he could proceed to wipe them out. He decided to go one of the worlds that the Humans had been settled on and forcibly used the Composer on them to add them to his army. The Didact believed that this served as final recompense for their actions during the Human-Forerunner War. Upon learning of his actions, the Librarian had the Humans moved to safety to protect them from further retribution from her husband the Didact. Ultimately, the Forerunners decided to utilize the Halo Array to scour the infestation of the Flood which was a move that the Didact was firmly opposed to as he intended to wage conventional warfare against the parasite. To silence his opposition, the Librarian betrayed him by rendering him unconscious and sealing him within a Cryptum on the Shield World Requiem. Trapped inside, she intended that he survive the Halo Array and perhaps learn from his mistakes to guide humanity in the future that were to be the Reclaimers to inherit the Mantle from the Forerunners.
Legacy
This saw the rise of the Covenant with the Prophets leading them in the belief that the Forerunners were gods and that their technology were sacred relics. Critical to their belief was that of the Great Journey where they believed the faithful would go to Paradise by the use of the sacred Halo rings. As such, the Covenant were completely blind to the true purpose of the Halos.
The Master Chief and his AI Cortana had landed on the Shield World Requiem where they attempted to warn the UNSC ship Infinity from following them into the titanic artificial planet. Unknown to them, the signals Cortana had received were a trick to open up the Cryptum and free the Didact from his long imprisonment. Upon being freed, he took over the Prometheans once more and intended to continue his campaign against mankind.
Overview
This species was designated as Primoris prognatus were generally a large bipedal race whose physiology and appearance amongst the various rates. As such, whilst a single species there was a great deal of morphological differences among the rates. These distinctive phenotypes were created through a wide range of means that included genetic engineering, biochemical manipulation and gene therapy. Advancement rate involved further augmentations known as mutations with these preparing the for their further education in the sciences along with their station.
Their caste based system was divided into a number of Rates that included:
- Builders :
- Miners :
- Lifeworkers :
- Juridical :
- Warrior-Servants :
- Engineers :
- Theoreticals :
Certain members of their kind that committed crimes and voluntarily decided to repent for their actions. Such Forerunners underwent training to become a Catalog where they sacrificed their individuality to become a collective entity that was part of the Juridical network. Their bodies were misshapen as they adopted a carapace shell that had five legs and an array of recording optical devices that could be extended or retracted. The purpose of a Catalog was to record the deposition and evidence of an interviewed subject to be passed to the Juridicals.
A central tenet followed by the Forerunners was a quasi-religious philosophy known as the Mantle. It was the Mantle that guided their rule of law and placed an obligation on not only preserving life but protecting it as well. The government of their civilization was the Forerunner Ecumene that was headed by the Ecumene Council.
Technology
The most powerful AI created by them was a Contender-class artificial intelligence.
A further height in their mega-engineering skills was the construction of large sanctuaries known as Shield Worlds. These were entire planets that were encased in a series of concentric planetary shells within each other and enclosed beneath a vast armored surface. Such artificial worlds were created as bases for the Forerunners and placed to protect themselves from the effects of attacks such as from the Halo Array. Another example was the artificial moon the UNSC designated X50 that had a planetary destroying weapon and was used by the Miner Rate to demolish or construct planets.
Members
- Didact :
- Librarian :
Notes
Appearances
- Halo:
- Halo 2:
- Halo 3:
- Halo 4:
- Halo Wars:
- Halo: Spartan Assault:
External Links
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