Master Chief, also known as John-117, was first introduced in the very firstHalo,Halo: Combat Evolvedfor the original Xbox in 2001. Over nearly two decades, the Master Chief has evolved over the course of fiveHalogames, novels,TV series, and more. And he will likely see more changes over the course of the next major release in the franchise,Halo Infinite, coming this fall.
The journey of Master Chief has been an interesting one, from what was basically an empty shell for the player to a fully-fleshed out character whose human side has been brought more to the forefront in the latest entries in the series. Not only has Master Chief grown in complexity of design thanks to advancing technology and re-designs, but he, John-117, has become integral to the narrative of the mainlineHalogames, withHalo Infiniteup next.
InHalo: Combat Evolved, the remasterof which was just released on PC, Master Chief is very famously a nearly empty shell for the player to in which to insert themselves. Bungie, who developed the originalHalotrilogy, is well known for designing its main characters in this way, with the thought that anyone can pick up the controller and take on the role of Master Chief. Of course, Master Chief does speak inHalo: Combat Evolved, but his lines are short, direct, and to-the-point, quickly getting any of his character out of the way quickly to let the player take over.
Master Chief serves mostly as an avatar in the first game, a super soldier in space that is the only one who can seemingly face the threat of the Covenant and the Flood. Similar toLink inThe Legend of Zeldagames, Master Chief is the archetype that players assume to play throughHalo: Combat Evolved.
When it comes to Master Chief’s design, it was obviously limited by the power of the original Xbox. Master Chief had much simpler armor than in subsequent games, but it set the style for Master Chief. Below is one of the first pieces of concept art, drawn byMarcus Lehto, who is a co-creator ofHaloand credited with the creation of the version of Master Chief fans know as his Mjolnir Mark V armor.
InHalo 2, Master Chief got an upgrade in design, which was explained narratively right away. The game opens on Cairo Station, a space station in earth’s orbit and Master Chief is awarded and receives the Mjolnir Mark VI armor, a numerical step up from his armor from the first game.
After the popularity of the firstHalo, many fans read the novelThe Fall of Reach(which actually released a month before the first game in 2001), which tells the story of Master Chief, also known as John-117. This novelfilled in a lot of information about Master Chiefas a character, but when it came to the games, his personality still remained strong but minimal, staying out of the way of players' experience.
InHalo 3, Master Chief’s armor did not receive a major overhaul, looking very similar to theHalo 2version of the Mark VI armor, but the armor did get a bit of a visual upgrade becauseHalo 3released on Xbox 360 as compared toHalo 2on the original Xbox.
Halo 3also sees more of a gradual evolution of Master Chief, as a bit more of his character comes to the forefront, most notably in relation to his relationship with Cortana. As the conclusion to the original trilogy (andthe last mainline entry developed by Bungie), Master Chief’s character comes more to the top instead of being just an empty shell for players to inhabit. Interestingly, this is perhaps best exhibited by the fact that Master Chief is never called by his name John in the games at all; that is, until the ending cutscene ofHalo 3when Cortana uses his name.
Halo 4was the first entry in the series developed by Microsoft’s own, then-newly establishedHalostudio 343 Industries. It notablyfocused heavily on the character of John-117, giving him more of a voice (literally, as he speaks more than any other previous game) and narrative presence in the game’s story. It was a decision that is still divisive among fans, some of whom still prefer Master Chief to remain more “Chief” than John. But it was clear that 343 wanted to make John-117 a stronger character than just the player avatar that he had been in previous games.
John-117 also received a major design overhaul inHalo 4,giving his Mjolnir armor a huge facelift and new abilities. It served the game well, offering some fresh abilities for players to have beyond what they had known in the first three games; however, fans had to overlook how Master Chief’s armor had received so many upgrades when he was had been locked in stasis since the events ofHalo 3.Halo 4was released on Xbox 360 just asHalo 3was, yet 4 is arguably the better-looking Xbox 360 game, with 343 pushing out some beautiful near-next gen visuals including the most detailed Mjolnir armor that Master Chief had ever worn.
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In the same way, John-117 takes center stage again in the narrative, with his story being central whether players took on the role of Chief himself orthe second main character in the story, Jameson Locke. The campaign and its story were generally regarded as a miss by players, especially considering that the marketing for the game appeared to be misleading to what the game eventually ended up being.
Halo Infiniteis by all accountsHalo 6in that it continues Master Chief’s story and is still very much his game. The best look of Master Chief’s armor forHalo Infinite(at least the armor he appears to start the game with should he receive any upgrades at any point of the game) came inthe “Discover Hope” trailer for the game from E3 2019.
His armor seems a little more classic akin toHalo 2and3than his heavily-militarized versions fromHalo 4and5), which was also seemingly confirmed bynewHalo Infinitetoysthat were recently shown at the New York Toy Fair. Knowing 343’s history, John-117 is also likely to continue to be a strong character in the story, continuing to develop his character rather than to let him fall into the background, but time will tell when the game releases later this year.
Halo Infinitereleases Holiday 2020 for PC and Xbox Series X.
