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> So hey guys, this is my first forum. So Im going to tell you what I know about halo, and then you tell me anything I left out or anything. Also, this is only all the way up to Halo: Reach. Here we go!
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> Long time ago there’s these 3 main species (not including any others). The Prometheans, The Ancient Humans, and the Precursors. But let’s nickname them. Prometheans: Ancient Dudes. Ancient Humans: Old Humans. Precursors: Pre Flood. Alright. Ancient dudes, old humans, and the pre flood all live in peace and harmony (not like ultimate peace, though, cause im sure they still had problems). The pre flood were basically divine gods, and they created everything. Now the pre flood were slowly corrupting, into the flood we all know and love (well, probably just know). And then when rebels started, well, rebelling, the pre flood started to realize their creation was stronger then they have thought, they hid and the turned them selves into a rich, fine, dust. Thousands of years later (this still ancient Halo times) old humans and the ancient dudes found the dust, and they found it to be completely useless. So they fed to their pets, which were dog like. But thing their pets became very violent, and also their bodies’ were decaying. And then when the pets bit their owners, the owners got the same traits. So then from here, they became the parasites known as the flood. So then the ancient dudes were all trying to make these Halo rings. But the humans found out that the ancient humans’ planet was infested with flood, they thought they were doing the ancient dudes a favor by destroying their planet. Now this made the ancient dudes really angry. I mean, who wouldn’t? Anyway, they finished the rings, activated them, and then killed everything, but the copied all the other species, but not the forerunners, or the flood. Now time for the Spartan 2 program. So there’s this lady named Dr Catherine Halsey. She and ONI kidnapped children to make the big super soldiers. Now they replaced them with diseased clones that would die very early after the replaced the kidnapped children. Now for halo reach. You are a lone wolf assassin now noble 6. You meet a team named noble team and, well, like they trailer says, you know what happens next.
On behalf of the community, welcome to the thing we all enjoy!
Of note, Most of this history for the time period you’ve referenced is from three books called the Forerunner Saga, written by Greg Bear. An interesting thin about them is that the truth about the Precursors/Flood, and of the Forerunners’ relationship to humanity are presented as mysteries for the reader to piece together from clued throughout the book. Many people miss this and take what the Forerunners believe as fact, when the evidence shows that the Forerunners’ beliefs are wrong. For this reason, wikis tend to be wrong on the finer details of the lore.
The Precursors are gods, and they exist beyond the confines of time itself, and they have plans that span time the same way they span space. The Precursors initially used organic avatars to gently direct the development of the other races, though this tactic ended when the Forerunners lashed out in their petulant fury, slaughtering the avatars, which didn’t defend themselves, and the Precursors used the survivors to create the Flood.
The Mantle is the Precursors belief that every race has the right to the chance to achieve their maximum potential. The Precursors created a specific race for the purpose of that race becoming the defender of the Mantle when they’d matured and become worthy. Unfortunately that race they created split into two (one faction went to the opposite side of the galaxy and developed as the Precursors intended, and the other faction subjugated the other races, stealing their technology, their homeworlds, and even experimenting on them to incorporate aspects of their biology deemed favorable into their own biology) The first faction was called Humanity when they were rediscovered by the other (not recognizing each-other as the same species), and the second faction called themselves the Forerunners. (The Forerunners turned on the Precursors because when the Forerunners learned that the Precursors planned to elevate humanity and not them, the Forerunners believed they’d been lied to)
The Flood actually adheres to the Mantle. It waited 10-million years after the Forerunners lashed out against their creators, giving the Forerunner civilization time to develop, and then the Flood held back, draging the war out for centuries, pushing the Forerunners to the breaking point, and the Flood only stopped holding back once the Forerunner civilization peaked, and only then did the Flood enact the Precursors’ judgement upon the Forerunners.
In modern Halo, the Flood is largely tasked with asset denial, preventing technologies from getting into the possession of races when that technology would cause them to deviate too greatly from the Precursors’ plans.
I would highly suggest re-reading the Forerunner saga with this in mind. A lot of the details that are typically missed on the first readthrough will jump out at you, and make much more sense if you do.