In a poll, I proposed several Halo spinoff games, and one of the more popular ideas was a game showing the formation of the Swords of Sanghelios after Halo 3. This game would follow the Arbiter, and the Elites who accompanied him in Halo 3, and show the aftermath of the breakup of the Covenant into hundreds of smaller factions. In this mafia-like struggle, the plot would follow the Arbiter as he attempts to unite the Elites under his rule. I wrote that such a game should feature Jul M’dama as the main villain, and feature him prominently, as a conspirator who attempts to undermine the Arbiter and/or stage a coup.
Jul was introduced in Halo: Spartan Ops as the main villain, but then killed off way too quickly in Halo 5. While some found him to be uninteresting, I think he still has lots of good potential as an antagonist. Here are my thoughts on how he could be built up to be a much more interesting and dangerous threat to the Arbiter.
The first aspect of Jul is that he fits the motif of a false prophet. In Spartan Ops, he motivated his followers with promises of riches and power, rather than salvation. This is a litmus test used for thousands of years by all manner of religions to test men claiming to be prophets. The bible, for example, contains many warnings against false prophets who promise peace and plenty when judgement is coming.
Jul clearly intends to enrich himself by claiming spiritual leadership, and makes no effort to hide it from his followers. He promises to share this ill-gotten wealth with his followers, appealing to their worst characteristics. He appeals to their greed, and their sense of being owed something. The old Covenant demanded so much sacrifice, but now Jul promises so many rewards.
Some of his followers follow for faith, others for the money, and still others to avenge their pride at being defeated in the Human-Covenant War, but these are not mutually exclusive. Jul draws mercenaries and killers to his side like Atriox, but has greater diversity and variety among his recruits. As a false prophet, he is capable of motivating them to fanaticism far greater than anything the Covenant could stimulate in its rank-and-file. His confidence, determination, strong will and forceful personality all play into this.
Much like the Prophet of Truth, Jul should be a very charismatic and seductive speaker. His words should be very enticing for all the wrong reasons. He should be able to play upon fears, hopes, and all manner of emotions. His audiences should be so entranced by him that they follow him out of awe, if nothing else. He should have a keen political intuition, which will later keep his Storm Covenant together even after the Promethians turn on him. He keeps his power by being this glue that holds everything together. Any potential inside threats know that if he dies, the entire affair dies with him, so they need to keep him alive.
Unlike the Prophet of Truth, however, Jul has a side similar to Decimus from Halo Wars 2: he believes that might makes right. Honor has no place in Jul’s Storm Covenant, in contrast to the Arbiters’ strong belief in honor. The Arbiter’s position itself is based on an Elite redeeming his honor, and both the Arbiters from Halo 2/3 and Halo Wars 1 embodied the honor, nobility, and pride of the Elites.
Jul believes that honor is for the weak. To him, the strong do as they please and the weak do as they must. Honor is a pair of handcuffs that hold back the strong, and is therefore a proof of weakness in itself. However, reputation and strength of personality are not signs of weakness. Strength to him stems from a strong, ruthless will to be on top. War and politics are a clash of wills, and everything he does is to, by any means necessary, weaken his enemy’s will to resist. He believes that he deserves to be a Forerunner prophet, and ruler of the Covenant modeled in his image and likeness, because he alone has the will to see it through. He will drive his men farther and longer than any battlefield commander for victory because of this. He will fight anybody to the end, hoping to break their will and prove his worldview and his legitimacy.
Both of these attributes mirror his personality in Spartan Ops. He encourages his followers with promises of riches, and seeks power precisely because he has the willpower to seek it. He is sly, charismatic, an opportunist, greedy, selfish, strong-willed, and ruthless. But once he is dead, his Storm Covenant doesn’t have anybody capable of replacing him. His irreplaceability made him untouchable from the inside, so only his outside enemies could stop him. This could be part of why the Arbiter had so much difficulty dealing with him before the UNSC killed him.
The Storm Covenant held together, and fought so fanatically, under all conditions and circumstances. The Covenant could take horrific punishment because of their sheer numbers, but the Storm Covenant never had this advantage. The Storm Covenant gave a good performance when they had all the material advantages, and did equally well when they were being pushed back by their many enemies. Now we know why: only a leader like Jul could inspire such deeds in his followers.
