I vaguely remember reading about the pre-cursors in the Forerunner Saga novels. They came before the Forerunners, and it seems that they are somewhat connected to the Gravemind. Any one know where this has gone?
only connected to the grave mind/flood because it was their DNA “dust” which mutated living tissue into the flood.
if i remember correctly, this was a punishment. i forget who the punishment was for, but i am sure someone has more information about this than i do.
check halopedia for more info
You’d probably get a better answer posting in the Halo Universe forum, those guys have like freakin PhD’s in the lore.
The Precursors have been kept pretty mysterious. They existed at least 100 billion years ago. They achieved Tier 0 level technology - so advanced they appeared almost supernatural and godlike. They could telekinetically control space and time thru something called “neural physics”. They could travel between star systems without the use of starships.
As far as their physical form, they were shape shifters. They could assume many different forms.
They are the originators of the concept of the Mantle. They gave it to humanity first, which enraged the Forerunners and subsequently led to a Precursor-Forerunner war.
After the Forerunners defeated them and drove them into exile outside the galaxy (HOW, I’m not sure), some, but not all, went on to become the Flood. What became of the rest, as far as I’m aware, is unknown.
The Gravemind does seem to have the collective knowledge and consciousness of the Precursors. He speaks at times as if he IS Precursor.
EDIT: added some additional stuff.
They are very tall