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Hot take: while they're both great characters, Cortana is the best Halo character and always has been

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Title obviously refers to Master Chief and Cortana, that's my bad. I recently finished Halo: Infinite and I was reflecting on the Halo series. Master Chief is a great character. He's iconic, he's badass, he is the face of the Halo series. But I think Cortana is a better character. She drives the narrative more than anyone in the games, she has a far more robust personality compared to Chief, who's very monotone and deadpan. A strong silent type. Many of the emotional scenes in the series come from Cortana. Either from her directly or through how much Chief cares about her. She's intelligent, always knows how to get Chief out of a jam. And has some pretty badass moments herself. If you went back and removed Cortana from the Halo series entirely and didn't replace her with anything, it would be a gaping hole in the Halo series and it just wouldn't be the same.

People may disagree, but this is my Halo take and I'm sticking to it. :messenger_sunglasses:
 
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Kamina

Golden Boy
Huh, I can’t say I remember much of Cortana from the first three Halo.
 
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NinjaBoiX

Member
She was good in Halo 4, kind of forgettable before that other than “the blue AI chick”.

The character was actually asked to act and emote in Halo 4 rather than just read exposition from a page, it made for far more engaging cut scenes.
 
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DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Huh, I can’t say I remember much of Cortana from the first three Halo.
I can remember some lines from her, but I honestly can't remember any lines from Chief. He doesn't talk very much. The advantage he has is the obvious one of you get to play as him, but in terms of pure personality and narrative, I think Cortana brings so much more to the story.
 

GymWolf

Member
Not hard to win against a green can who can only express himself via stoic one liners or incredible characters like lasky or the black dude with the cigar...

One thing is sure, she is far better than the annoying new one IA.
 
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Fare thee well

Neophyte
Master chief is a great character?!?!?

I guess if stoicism was all you wanted to convey 😆. Don't get me wrong, Halo was fun af.
 
Cortana was always great. I loved her sarcastic, sassy attitude.

"Thanks for the tank, he never gets me anything"

"I know what your thinking...and it's crazy. Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy"
 
Neither MC nor Cortana are great characters.

MC is a great figurehead and player-insert, but he's barely a character. Cortana was intended to make up for the lack of any characterization for MC. She's serviceable at best, but we barely know much about her from the games and she isn't developed in any meaningful way.

Halo 5 basically jumped the shark with her at the end.
 
Master Chief's charm is that he's pretty much one of the worst characters ever created. All he does is just say the most blunt, mission driven response and then get back to work. It's what makes him hilarious and makes the games fun, as it almost seems like a running joke half the time.

MC: "Status report."
Pilot: "Chief, the Wendy's drive thru closes in less than 5 minutes! We'll never make it across town in time in this traffic! You're going to have to get your combo meal tomorrow."
MC: "As long as it's open, there's still hope."
 
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reksveks

Member
meh.....that ultra-cheeriness can be cringey at times. My first Halo as well.
Being from the UK and a fan of the David Tennant Doctor Who portrayal, I got slightly more used to cringe but yeah I can see it grating for some people. There are a number of games where the main characters is constantly quipping that I know people don't like but I don't mind.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
200.webp
 

UnNamed

Banned
Cortana? Mister Chef?

The best Halo characters is, and she's always been, Foehammer, a character you never see.

Thank you for your sacrifice Foehammer, we'll always miss you.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Halo has so many memorable characters, but Cortana ain't one.
Sergeant Johnson
Sergeant Johnson in the original Halo trilogy

Echo 419
The best Halo characters is, and she's always been, Foehammer, a character you never see.

Thank you for your sacrifice Foehammer, we'll always miss you.
Arbiter aka Player 2
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Gravemind


Rtas 'Vadum

Buck
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Noble Team
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From the Forerunner Trilogy books and Halo 3 terminals - Mendicant Bias, Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting and ofcourse


Ur-Didact
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Spark(formerly Chakas, yes the same 343 Guilty Spark from games but he had a lot of character development later) and Rion Forge
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The Primordial
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Captain Cutter and Atriox
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And ofcourse the Banished Propaganda Grunt in Zeta Halo
 
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oldergamer

Member
half of those characters I don't recall, but I do wonder if they would make a game out of Spark & Rion Forge. 343 is making a second halo game at the same as infinite was being worked on. I'd hope for something different to extend the lore. it would be good to have a sci-fi title that isn't first person within the halo-verse imo.
 
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