Who is 343i's finest character?

Community Halo Universe
1

Who is your favourite character created by 343i?
(Most interesting, most developed, who you’re invested in. Someone we’ll care about if they die).

I’ve never jumped on the 343i hate train, I think they’ve done a good job. But one of their weak points has been new character development. Laskey, Palmer, Thorne, the new monitor in Halo 5, the Didact, Warden Eternal haven’t set the world on fire, although I honestly thought Del Rio was one of their best (I hated the character - but it evoked a response from me, meaning he was done well, in my opinion). Didact was good, too, and the Warden.

Who do you think should get a mention? Atriox looks like a winner, too. The Jury’s out on Locke
… He could be more personable.

P.S Edited from my phone, apologies if it seems unneat and rushed.

2

Forthchenko, too. I liked his brief character in the H4 terminals.

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> 2533274852187545;1:
> Who is your favourite character created by 343i?
> (Most interesting, most developed, who you’re invested in. Someone we’ll care about if they die).
>
> I’ve never jumped on the 343i hate train, I think they’ve done a good job. But one of their weak points has been new character development. Laskey, Palmer, Thorne, the new monitor in Halo 5, the Didact, Warden Eternal haven’t set the world on fire, although I honestly thought Del Rio was one of their best (I hated the character - but it evoked a response from me, meaning he was done well, in my opinion). Didact was good, too, and the Warden.
>
> Who do you think should get a mention? Atriox looks like a winner, too. The Jury’s out on Locke
> … He could be more personable.
>
> P.S Edited from my phone, apologies if it seems unneat and rushed.

So far I like what I see of Fred. It’s not much, but I like it.

4

> 2574155679902465;3:
> > 2533274852187545;1:
> > Who is your favourite character created by 343i?
> > (Most interesting, most developed, who you’re invested in. Someone we’ll care about if they die).
> >
> > I’ve never jumped on the 343i hate train, I think they’ve done a good job. But one of their weak points has been new character development. Laskey, Palmer, Thorne, the new monitor in Halo 5, the Didact, Warden Eternal haven’t set the world on fire, although I honestly thought Del Rio was one of their best (I hated the character - but it evoked a response from me, meaning he was done well, in my opinion). Didact was good, too, and the Warden.
> >
> > Who do you think should get a mention? Atriox looks like a winner, too. The Jury’s out on Locke
> > … He could be more personable.
> >
> > P.S Edited from my phone, apologies if it seems unneat and rushed.
>
> So far I like what I see of Fred. It’s not much, but I like it.

Sad to say, but Fred was around before 343 was. He is awesome though.

5

Bornstellar is the only 343 character I can think of who’s story had a beginning, middle, and satisfying end. That ending at the end of Fractures makes me tear up.
Everytime.

Laskey is also one of my favorites, he was great in Halo 4.
Locke could be great, but he needs some serious work( make him more antagonist and intimidating before making him chill out in later games).

But that’s just my opinion.

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> 2535458356653045;4:
> > 2574155679902465;3:
> > > 2533274852187545;1:
> > > Who is your favourite character created by 343i?
> > > (Most interesting, most developed, who you’re invested in. Someone we’ll care about if they die).
> > >
> > > I’ve never jumped on the 343i hate train, I think they’ve done a good job. But one of their weak points has been new character development. Laskey, Palmer, Thorne, the new monitor in Halo 5, the Didact, Warden Eternal haven’t set the world on fire, although I honestly thought Del Rio was one of their best (I hated the character - but it evoked a response from me, meaning he was done well, in my opinion). Didact was good, too, and the Warden.
> > >
> > > Who do you think should get a mention? Atriox looks like a winner, too. The Jury’s out on Locke
> > > … He could be more personable.
> > >
> > > P.S Edited from my phone, apologies if it seems unneat and rushed.
> >
> > So far I like what I see of Fred. It’s not much, but I like it.
>
> Sad to say, but Fred was around before 343 was. He is awesome though.

True true. I meant his depiction in 343 as we’d not seen him on screen before, but good point.

7

> 2533274852187545;1:
> Who is your favourite character created by 343i?
> (Most interesting, most developed, who you’re invested in. Someone we’ll care about if they die).
>
> I’ve never jumped on the 343i hate train, I think they’ve done a good job. But one of their weak points has been new character development. Laskey, Palmer, Thorne, the new monitor in Halo 5, the Didact, Warden Eternal haven’t set the world on fire, although I honestly thought Del Rio was one of their best (I hated the character - but it evoked a response from me, meaning he was done well, in my opinion). Didact was good, too, and the Warden.
>
> Who do you think should get a mention? Atriox looks like a winner, too. The Jury’s out on Locke
> … He could be more personable.
>
> P.S Edited from my phone, apologies if it seems unneat and rushed.

I definitely agree about Del Rio. He was my favorite character added in Halo 4, and I still hate how he was just shoved off behind the scenes in a throw-away line mid-mission near the end.

Halo’s had some great captains. While they were great characters, though, Miranda and Jacob Keyes were the same usual stereotype of space captain. Del Rio was very interesting because he wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t fearless, he wasn’t seemingly invincible, and he wasn’t openly selfless. He was a man doing his work, a commanding officer giving commands. It was really cool to see a space captain in a Halo game who wasn’t a paragon of everything we hold dear, etc, and he wasn’t even a villain, which would have been the easy route to take with this kind of character. He was just a guy doing his damnedest to do his job and get his ship home safe, without being a super-genious or fearless combatant. An excellent character while he lasted, I’d say.

Laskey has a lot of potential, but they need to stop using him as Master Chief’s over-eager-to-please little brother. On his own he’s pretty interesting as a young officer who stands by his morals and ideologies, but hasn’t really had either of those things tested yet. If he stops worshiping Master Chief (his problem in Halo 4) and starts being active and acting in charge (his problem in Halo 5) I think he’ll be wonderful to watch grow.

My favorite character 343i’s created, though, is the Didact (technically a Bungie creation in Halo 3, but for all intents and purposes a new character… and even in Halo 3 I found him rather fascinating). Ur-Didact, that is, but the Iso-Didact is great as well. As someone who was ready to bite 343’s head off for bringing the Forerunners out of their mystery and into the forefront, the Didact is a big part of what had me captivated by the Forerunner saga books and won me over. He really somehow embodies that sense of what the Forerunners seemed to be, back when we knew only the smallest whispers about them.

The Librarian is a very, very close second… My only complaint about her is that she’s a bit too important for a single person. It crosses into Mary Sue levels for me at times.

8

Either Jul M’Dama or the Ur-Didact. I mean, we probably won’t be seeing either of them any time soon, but still.

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> 2533274852187545;2:
> Forthchenko, too. I liked his brief character in the H4 terminals.

Man, just thinking about Halo 4 makes me nostalgic. I mean, I know it wasn’t even remotely a long time ago that it came out, but that game is easily my favorite Halo. Everything just felt so real.

As for best character, I’d say the Didact. Until he became a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain in Escalation. Honestly, I think late 2015 will go down in Halo history as “The Great Flattening” - the time when almost all antagonists were either killed or turned completely two-dimensional.

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> My favorite character 343i’s created, though, is the Didact (technically a Bungie creation in Halo 3, but for all intents and purposes a new character… and even in Halo 3 I found him rather fascinating). Ur-Didact, that is, but the Iso-Didact is great as well. As someone who was ready to bite 343’s head off for bringing the Forerunners out of their mystery and into the forefront, the Didact is a big part of what had me captivated by the Forerunner saga books and won me over. He really somehow embodies that sense of what the Forerunners seemed to be, back when we knew only the smallest whispers about them.

^^^^^

I’m still a relatively newer fan to the franchise. Once I started really getting into the EU I familiarized myself with the plot synopsis of every Halo book long before I actually read them, so I’d know what the hell was going on in the universe with each new piece of material.

I was disgusted by the waste of the Didact’s potential as a character even before I actually read the Forerunner Trilogy, when I only knew what happened in it but hadn’t read the books yet.

I recently finally got around to actually reading them. When I finished Silentium… I wanted to HURL THE BOOK ACROSS THE ROOM IN FRUSTRATION.

The Ur-Didact is a magnificent villain/character. He is hideously evil and must be stopped, but we understand his motivations. We know his history. We know how he thinks. He’s not a brutish monster, he’s a brilliant tactician full of ACTUAL subtlety and nuance. His 100,000+ year life is a tragic, epic tale full of hate and love, faith and despair, winning and losing. He’s a villain we love to hate/hate to love. Despite how much he hates humanity there’s something in you that just wants to root for him, that makes you want to see him enjoy a redemption arc and find some semblance of peace to end his story, while at the same time see him come to justice for the harm that he’s done. I want to give Greg Bear and 343 a standing ovation for such a masterpiece of a character… then I want to scream obscenities and put my fist thru the wall with frustration when I think of how all that potential as a character has been wasted.

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>
> ^^^^^
>
> I’m still a relatively newer fan to the franchise. Once I started really getting into the EU I familiarized myself with the plot synopsis of every Halo book long before I actually read them, so I’d know what the hell was going on in the universe with each new piece of material.
>
> I was disgusted by the waste of the Didact’s potential as a character even before I actually read the Forerunner Trilogy, when I only knew what happened in it but hadn’t read the books yet.
>
> I recently finally got around to actually reading them. When I finished Silentium… I wanted to HURL THE BOOK ACROSS THE ROOM IN FRUSTRATION.
>
> The Ur-Didact is a magnificent villain/character. He is hideously evil and must be stopped, but we understand his motivations. We know his history. We know how he thinks. He’s not a brutish monster, he’s a brilliant tactician full of ACTUAL subtlety and nuance. His 100,000+ year life is a tragic, epic tale full of hate and love, faith and despair, winning and losing. He’s a villain we love to hate/hate to love. Despite how much he hates humanity there’s something in you that just wants to root for him, that makes you want to see him enjoy a redemption arc and find some semblance of peace to end his story, while at the same time see him come to justice for the harm that he’s done. I want to give Greg Bear and 343 a standing ovation for such a masterpiece of a character… then I want to scream obscenities and put my fist thru the wall with frustration when I think of how all that potential as a character has been wasted.

I concur. The Didact is a marvelous character and I would love to see more of him in later games, as well as to see him evolve as a character, for better or for worse to the universe around him.

And as for the way he was used, I wouldn’t say he was wasted. He showed up, he said his voice lines (which sounds awesome), and then he was defeated. And then the Next 72 Hours arc in Halo Escalation writes him into what’s essentially story-time hell. And why is he there? Because everyone hated Halo 4. That’s why. Everyone hated everything in Halo 4, such as the multiplayer, the storyline, and most importanly, the characters, which included bad ol’ Didact. If the reception towards Halo 4 was a little bit more positive, then it’s likely he would still be around (and Halo 5 would possibly be a bit better as well).

12

I think Benjamin Gerard definitely deserves a mention in here.

I thought they did a really good job with making Fred an actual character (pre Halo 5)

Laskey still has a good amount of potential as faithful sidekick / competent commander

343 has some serious missteps , even in these characters listed above, but they have made some very good decisions over the last 4-6 years.

Bornsteller is perfect though, story and all.

Ur-Didact on the other hand…

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> I concur. The Didact is a marvelous character and I would love to see more of him in later games, as well as to see him evolve as a character, for better or for worse to the universe around him.
>
> And as for the way he was used, I wouldn’t say he was wasted. He showed up, he said his voice lines (which sounds awesome), and then he was defeated. And then the Next 72 Hours arc in Halo Escalation writes him into what’s essentially story-time hell. And why is he there? Because everyone hated Halo 4. That’s why. Everyone hated everything in Halo 4, such as the multiplayer, the storyline, and most importanly, the characters, which included bad ol’ Didact. If the reception towards Halo 4 was a little bit more positive, then it’s likely he would still be around (and Halo 5 would possibly be a bit better as well).

Fair 'nuff. And while I’m throwing a melodramatic fit over it, it’s worth remembering he is still technically out there… he could return.

And yes, I do think that the poor reception to Halo 4’s story (not among lore diehards, but among general gaming public) damaged the course of the lore more than a lot of us outside of the developer will ever know…