Chief's Humanity ***Possible Spoilers?

Community Halo Universe
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I’m curious as to why everyone thinks the Master Chief is broken, that he lost his humanity and is a walking machine? The Master Chief is very human and I think the Halo books do a great job of describing his humanity. In the Fall of Reach when John was still in training Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez made it clear, people will die and John had to determine if that life was wasted or spent. In the Fall of Reach John-117, Samuel-034 and Kelly-087 were inseparable. After the death of Samuel-034 (first Spartan II casualty) John was devastated. Furthermore, while Fred and Kelly stayed ground side on Reach, John, Linda and James boarded Reach Station Gamma to destroy the unsecure NAV. Doing this mission James was sent in a uncontrollable spin while engaging the covenant outside the station and John literally witness Linda die (taking five plasma rounds to the chest and going flat line, which she recovered from). Each death of one of his Spartans impacted him greatly. He was responsible for them, he was the Chief.

In Halo: The Flood the book paints a different picture then the game. The Spartans, even mentioned in the Fall of Reach, were not popular. They had a number of confrontations with ODSTs and were hazed, considered freaks, and those who at the Top knew of their true existence and how they came about tried to have them shut down, heck, even killed. After landing on installation 04 Major Antonio Silva ridiculed the Spartan program calling them a complete failure. John took this to heart and it was the first time we saw John about to lose his composure and strike a superior officer. The only individuals who truly regarded Chief as human was Dr. Halsey, Captain Keys and Sgt. Johnson who we suspected may have been a Spartan I. Furthermore, Halo: The Flood, John has to reassure himself numerous of times and try to prevent himself from breaking down emotionally. He was tired and the flood was taking its toll.

In Halo: First Strike the Chief was ecstatic to find that his Spartans were alive on Reach and made a daring attempt to rescue them, which he did. By the end of the book we discover that Frederic-104, Linda-058, William-043 survived and returned to Earth with John-117, Cortana, and Sgt. Johnson.

Master Chief was very attached to his Spartans and those who regarded him as a human (Captain Keys, Sgt. Johnson, Admiral Cole, etc.) John since his youth was always a lone wolf type of kid until CPO Mendez demonstrated on Reach that John could never succeed alone. He had to work as a team and the relentless persistence of Samuel and Kelly made them once again stated inseparable friends. If you have talked to a veteran or watched a documentary about a war, a lot of the survivors mention how the only friends they had were the friends they served since the beginning of basic. To make friends with the replacement that is filling the rank of your best friend that was recently killed, they did not want to know nor expected to live. The Spartans were an elite class of soldier and death of his Spartans, his closest friends, could never be replaced. There was only one group of Spartan II’s. Even in Halo: ODST you could make the argument that the Rookie was broken, heck, he didn’t speak to anyone after the Battle of New Jerusalem and had more psychological problems then the Chief and the same argument could be made about the Spartan III’s which was actually stated in Halo: Ghost of Onyx.

Now, I’ll be honest, I have not played Halo 4 yet. I just ordered it. But after reading the posts on this forum I’m a tad bit concerned that the Chief in Halo 4 is not the Chief I know from Halo: CE, Halo 2 or Halo 3. Once again, I haven’t played Halo 4 yet and I’m making my argument based on what I’ve read on these forums. I apologize if there is any incorrect information (I hope you would correct me). It has been a while since I read the books and I look forward to having a discussion about his humanity when to me, he was always human.

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It is not that John is not human or has lost his humanity. It is that John keeps moving and keeps doing his duty despite everything he has been through. Most people have not experienced the kind of stresses placed on military personnel and cannot relate to how someone successfully handles those stresses. With PTSD being all over the place, most people assume that everyone gets it. Reality is that there are certain people, a considerable amount if not majority, who can take the stresses without mental deficiencies resulting. I mean no disrespect to anyone who has PTSD, it is a legitimate illness and those wounded by it have my respect.

Another argument for John not having humanity deals with his training. Marine Corps Boot Camp, I cannot speak to the other services, involves a certain amount of brainwashing. John’s, and the other SPARTAN II’s, training was considerably harder, lasted 8 years instead of 3 months, and started at the age of 6. Apparently people believe that the training made John into something other then human. An example of this would be when John killed a few ODST’s after receiving his augmentations. The flaw is that was accidental and John was barely adjusted to his augmentations.

John simply has a different moral code then most. John doesn’t just believe in things like honor and duty he lives it everyday. Medals of valor are often given for sacrifices made to protect others. John risks himself time and again to save others. If that is not the pinnacle of humanity I do not know what is.

Given all of that I believe John will bounce back from losing Cortana just fine, if she really stays dead. He knew her for maybe 2 months of time being awake. Granted they connected but still it doesn’t come close to the bonds he shared with the rest of the SPARTAN II’s that have died and he is still OK. John is not broken and he certainly is human. He just needs some time to rest, heal, catch up with the rest of humanity and his fellow SPARTAN II’s, and sort through the things that have happened since Reach because he just hasn’t had time.

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minor spoilers

I think Chief is very objective oriented. He is still human in that he cares for others. However, he has become only a tool for preventing dissaster, even in his own eyes. Cortana mentions this a few times. Everyone else who interacts with him adress him as a tool or just an icon of hope. In the end he is really just a man and is reminded and accepting of this by the end.

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I think Halo 4 did a great job at presenting Master Chief as a human rather than a weapon of war, unlike the previous 3 games. It really shows his soft side, and the legendary ending further improved upon that.