Summary
TheHalofranchise is home to some of the most iconic enemies in all of video game history. Evolving with eachHaloentry, The Covenant takes center stage in the originalHalotrilogy and most of its spinoffs, with mostHalomedia being set during the Human-Covenant War or shortly thereafter. Elites, Grunts, Brutes, Drones, and Jackals, The Covenant has no shortage of instantly-recognizable foes at its disposal, but there’s one species in theHalouniverse that poses a greater threat than all of The Covenant’s forces combined, and that’s The Flood.
First introduced towards the back-half ofHalo: Combat Evolved, The Flood is a parasitic organism that needs to consume sentient life in order to survive and grow. In the video games, The Flood act as a zombie-like threat that hits hard but can be taken down fairly easily, but inHalolore, The Flood are a lot more terrifying, capable of wiping out entire species in the blink of an eye. The Flood are undoubtedlyHalo’s most threatening enemytype, and though they’ve technically been wiped off the face of the galaxy, their return is still possible.
Halo Might Not Be Done With The Flood Just Yet
The Flood’s Origin
Over the last few decades,The Flood’s origin in theHalouniversehas changed a few times, but the most recent version takes fans all the way back to the Precursor-Forerunner War, set at least 200,000 years before the start of the originalHalotrilogy. According to the novelHalo: Silentium, in the final days of the ancient war, the Precursors - in a last ditch effort to preserve themselves against extinction - turned themselves into a sentient powder, with plans to hibernate for thousands of years and eventually become strong enough to take their revenge. However, this powder became corrupted, and became the parasitic organism now known as The Flood.
The Forerunner-Flood War
Though technically first encountered by the original human species (before the Forerunners were forced to wipe every species from existence and start again), The Flood became the primary adversary of the Forerunner empire, the leading force in the galaxy. When conventional military weapons didn’t stop the mass spread of The Flood, the Forerunners turned to experimental, highly-advanced weaponry, creating Sentinels, and eventually,the Halo Array. 12 ring-worlds, the Halo Array was designed to wipe out The Flood by eliminating its food source, thus cleansing the entire galaxy of life, but not before the Forerunners could create copies of every living species to be released back into the galaxy upon The Flood’s defeat.
The Flood’s Return and Second Defeat
Though the Forerunners were successful in their eradication of The Flood, the parasitic horde would return about 100,00 years later when the UNSC and Covenant brought their war to Installation 04, one of the surviving Halo rings. Here, bothThe Covenant and UNSCstumbled upon an underground Forerunner research facility, where a handful of Flood specimens had been waiting patiently for their inevitable release. Though the Master Chief managed to destroy Installation 04 and The Flood on it, the UNSC super-soldier encounters the threat once again on Installation 05, and this time the forces prove to be too overwhelming for both the UNSC and Covenant.
After spreading across the ring-world and evolving into a Gravemind, The Flood use the UNSC ship “In Amber Clad” to transport themselves to the Covenant space station High Charity, where they proceed to wreak havoc on its occupants. A little while later, The Flood crashes the now-corrupted High Charity onto The Ark, andthe Master Chief and Arbiterare forced to fire a newly constructed Halo ring to eradicate the threat once more, barely making it out alive.
How The Flood Could Come Back
While The Flood has been defeated yet again,the history ofHalo’s universeproves that it won’t stay down for long. There are still plenty of Forerunner rings, Shield Worlds, and research facilities scattered across the galaxy, and presumably there are a few Flood specimens left in each one, meaning that another breakout is more than possible in the near future.
Halo Infinite
WHERE TO PLAY
When all hope is lost and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance, the Master Chief is ready to confront the most ruthless foe he’s ever faced. Step inside the armor of humanity’s greatest hero to experience an epic open-world adventure and explore the massive scale of the Halo ring.With Network Campaign Co-Op and Mission Replay, you can relive your favorite moments, rediscover collectibles and explore the wonders of Zeta Halo on your own or with up to three other fireteam members.Experience Halo’s celebrated multiplayer reimagined and free-to-play! With over 70 maps in matchmaking, billions of customization configurations, and countless community Forge creations to experience, Halo Infinite is the franchise’s most expansive multiplayer offering to date.Enjoy an unprecedented variety of gameplay experiences, ranging from fast-paced intense ranked modes to whimsical mayhem in Custom Games, or even co-operative coordination in the wave-based survival mode Firefight: King of the Hill. Assemble your Fireteam and conquer every mode – Halo offers endless opportunities for teamwork, strategy, and unforgettable victories.
