I’d love to see The Chief finally lose the helmet (in 5 or 6, but preferably sooner). 343i clearly wants to humanize him and though I’ve loved the Chief as a badass cypher, and am certainly a ‘classic’ Halo fan, I’d really love it if in the next games we see his face. I think it’s unexpected and daring creatively.
Main reason is that it’s a seemingly small change with massive implications, effectively changes the face of Microsoft’s première franchise, and potentially breathes a bit of new life and humanity into it. It would almost be like getting a whole new protagonist - but in a good way.
I obviously doubt this will ever happen (purely for marketing reasons), but I think if 343 really wants to be daring and inject a bit of positive change into the franchise, making the Chief’s face visible and emphasizing the humanity and depth of his character with some good writing would go a long way. And it’s also something very unique to Halo, a way for the franchise to do something others typically don’t.
To be clear, I’m not trying to start an argument about this topic, merely share my totally biased point of view and ask for yours.
Does Chief losing his mask appeal to you in the way that it does to me? For different reasons? Or not at all?
Thanks!
I have mixed feelings on it. In my mind, the closest I’d like to get would be him taking off his helmet was he sits down, dying. We are looking over his shoulder or past his side at the horizon of who knows where, maybe a Halo ring that’s about to detonate, but I’m not sure I ever need to see his face. What would it add? Nothing for me. His armour, his voice, his skill; those are the defining features of him for me.
I’m not against it, but it would have to be done properly, casually even (in a sense). I wouldn’t want it to be some epic unmasking; that would just be anticlimactic. I’d want it to be the end for him, one last goodbye; seeing Halo with his own eyes, not visor in the way.
I think it would be pretty cool if we finally got to see his face. After a long time of him being a mysterious hero, I would like to see the face behind the hero.
Not yet. First he should have his personal journey as a character fully explored, so that when he finally takes off his helmet he will be able to do so as a human, and we will be able to recognize him as such.
At that point he can go out with one last bang to save the galaxy. Not out of duty this time, but instead out of compassion. And that will be the end of our friend John.
The idea doesn’t appeal to me. I would like him to remain a faceless hero, but I am totally cool with 343i humanizing him.
I love that they are humanizing him, but I don’t really want to see his face. The snip of his eyes in halo 4 legendary ending brought a mixed reaction to me, as in I can’t decide if I liked seeing even that much of him.
If MC takes his helmet off we will all see that he looks too much like Alfred E Neuman…
Cast off the helmet, it is about time to do so.
It doesn’t appeal to me. Do you watch Arrow?
This quote comes to mind:
“The Arrow is more important to Starling City than ‘the man under the hood’”
Not sure how I feel about this.
I’d rather he get a new helmet, preferably the original Mark VI. But it’s good to leave him faceless, I think.
Then again, maybe at the end of it all, we could see hiis face: tired, battle-worn, but satisfied that he’d done his duty. The way 343i is trying to turn machine to flesh, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.
I didn’t like it when Vader removed his helmet, and I will for damn sure not like it if the Chief removes his helmet.
I, like a lot of others it seems, am open to the idea, but i want it done right, as he’s dying a hero’s death, hopefully halo 6, i just don’t wanna see the chief go on any longer than that really, he’s a great protagonist, but halo is such a lore rich series, that the passage of time does actually matter, so he’s gonna age, and I’m not exactly a big fan of the idea of playing as a geriatric john-117.
No. It ruins such a mysterious and iconic character. Taking away his helmet just makes him like every other video-game protagonist.
In my opinion, the exciting thing is that everyone has their own view of how he should look (if at all) in their own minds. When we’ve had something for SO long, when you take it away it just seems wrong.
When you see Master Chief on the front of gaming magazines etc. it shows just how much of an iconic character he really is (the biggest in modern gaming without a doubt). I don’t want that to change, because if they unmask him, it will.
They should never show any more than they did in Halo 4.
To me, if anyone, I imagine Chief to be Steve Downes. He is the voice and so I’ve always thought of his face behind the mask more than anything else.
> No. It ruins such a mysterious and iconic character. Taking away his helmet just makes him like every other video-game protagonist.
>
> In my opinion, the exciting thing is that everyone has their own view of how he should look (if at all) in their own minds. When we’ve had something for SO long, when you take it away it just seems wrong.
>
> When you see Master Chief on the front of gaming magazines etc. it shows just how much of an iconic character he really is (the biggest in modern gaming without a doubt). I don’t want that to change, because if they unmask him, it will.
>
> They should never show any more than they did in Halo 4.
>
> To me, if anyone, I imagine Chief to be Steve Downes. He is the voice and so I’ve always thought of his face behind the mask more than anything else.
Everyone just probably pictures Chief as a typical caucasian male in his early 30s with black or brown hair, a set of blue eyes and a strong jawline.
> > No. It ruins such a mysterious and iconic character. Taking away his helmet just makes him like every other video-game protagonist.
> >
> > In my opinion, the exciting thing is that everyone has their own view of how he should look (if at all) in their own minds. When we’ve had something for SO long, when you take it away it just seems wrong.
> >
> > When you see Master Chief on the front of gaming magazines etc. it shows just how much of an iconic character he really is (the biggest in modern gaming without a doubt). I don’t want that to change, because if they unmask him, it will.
> >
> > They should never show any more than they did in Halo 4.
> >
> > To me, if anyone, I imagine Chief to be Steve Downes. He is the voice and so I’ve always thought of his face behind the mask more than anything else.
>
> Everyone just probably pictures Chief as a typical caucasian male in his early 30s with black or brown hair, a set of blue eyes and a strong jawline.
Really?
I imagined him looking the way that he was described in the books: bald and very pale from wearing a helmet all of the time.
Like others have said, it would only be good if done right. And even then, only as one of the last actions John ever does.
I had a thread a while back asking the question of “how would you want John to end?” I think it’s a little relevant. Could be a shameless plug, though 
The Legendary ending from H4 still haunts me. With a little adjusting the contrast and brightness and whatnot, you can get a much better feeling for John’s face and emotional state. I have to say, for a video game, it’s terrifyingly depictive.
I think they will in the end, but that will not bother me. That would be the final step in making Chief a human.
But I don’t think that he is ready for it in H5.
> If MC takes his helmet off we will all see that he looks too much like Alfred E Neuman…
This would scare me, but… What? Me worry?
Anyway, I personally don’t think Chief should completely reveal his face until the very end of the Halo franchise. There could be some cool espionage things, though. Allow me to explain:
So one of the theories out there is that the new ONI Spartan has a mission to hunt down Chief. One way or another, Chief finds out, and takes precautions (because if the super-company that has plans to replace you sends their personal supersolider after you, you best hide). So, with that potato sack cloak we saw in 2013’s teaser, John walks around, helmet off, with the cloak on. There’s barely anybody who knows what he truly looks like anymore. We could see this cloaked 117 in cutsences, but wouldn’t even know it’s him until the end.
I dunno, that’s just a really out-there idea I had. :\
Should Chief loose his helmet?
I very reasonable question… especially when 343 Industries is boasting the character’s human aspects in the new Reclaimer Saga.
The answer is yes… however not as everyone expects… yes he should loose his helmet, but he can still remain unseen…
Perhaps in his final moments he commits to his final coup d’etat of the Mantle Of Responsibility, from the Ur-Didact’s manic and selfish clutches… to ensure Humanity bear the righteous burden. His helmet could be destroy, or better ripped away from John-117’s head… so the Ur-Didact can finally put a face to his worthy equal… and also this would finally be symbolic to that the Master Chief has both a Human core; and that he no longer needs Cortana as a crutch for his Humanity… because his Mjolnir helmet was the integration between himself and her. His heroic body could finally fall victorious, to which would also symbolize his job is complete as the Milky Way galaxy is finally at peace and safe… in a reflective surface, probably water or liquid, you see his face but blurred out due to ripples.