I’m finding it a bit strange that there is a large emphasis on titles rather than names. A good reason I see them having basic names is because Infinite is trying to go back to the basics and give us a better, straightforward narrative. The Banished have names and that’s reasonable because they’re the bad guys. But there HAS to be a reason we don’t know the names of seemingly important characters. Here I try to break it down and give my thoughts…
The Pilot:
I’m not exactly sure how important the Pilot is besides being Chief’s battle buddy and transporter, but he’s clearly no cardboard cut-out. Could he have a name that’ll make lore fans freak out? His voice actor said he’s named after his (Nicolas Roye’s) childhood friends so that’s not the best option haha. Or is he simply some random pilot who survived and stumbled across Chief? I’m willing to bet the latter. But the Pilot, named or not, will bring a very human element to this story. That being said, I am actually slightly afraid to get attached to him lol. (We all know what happens to those who get close to Chief).
The Weapon: Cortana 2.0 essentially. I will be very pleasantly surprised if she even gets a name. If she does I think it’ll come with a dramatic revelation OR it’ll just be a name that’ll make fans nod their head saying, “Oh, okay cool.” I could just imagine if the latter is the choice then she’ll be named after someone important or possibly close to John (that isn’t Cortana). Or heck, maybe she really is just Cortana. Or just “The Weapon” the whole story.
The Harbinger: Undoubtedly no one knows a thing about the Harbinger. It is honoring Atriox though? Maybe it’s singular, maybe it’s plural. Maybe it’s just the nickname the Banished gave Cortana or maybe something more sinister that lore fans know of. Possibly Mendicant? The composed embodiment of the Didact himself? Who knows but I’m hoping the Harbinger is of Forerunner/Created/Ancient Human origin. Although if it is honoring Atriox then maybe it is just some faction that sided with the Banished. There’s a ton of Covenant-looking forces on Zeta Halo that makes me think they’re ex-Covenant who still hold a grudge and follow the Great Journey but are siding with the more powerful Banished to acquire resources and knowledge on the Ring.
The Chief: Wrapping up my theories is the man himself. It’s not really a theory though but 343 has been trying to humanize him for a while now. John is not a one dimensional husk like he used to be. The Chief isn’t just the Master Chief or Spartan 117. He’s John. And without a doubt we’ll be seeing his story from Halo 4 carry over into Infinite. We’ll see the side of him from the books. This alone makes me super excited.
If you have any good info or speculation lemme know!