The Weekender: A realization while playing Halo

Halo: Revelations!

So, a few days ago I posted about Halo, and why I love it.  Well, I know more about why I love it while playing it this weekend in order to get myself in the groove to play Halo 5 on Tuesday:  I love it because of the Sangheili!  

The Elite of the Covenant, the Sangheili!

"So what, Shane?  They're ali-"  They are lizard people!  And they both prove my original point about lizard people in popular media, and resist it (in a limited sense as of Halo 4).  In the original Halo, they are only referred to as Elites, and they are the ... elite... soldiers of the alien hegemony called the Covenant, which makes them the bad guys.  They are the military leaders of their armed forces, and are generally armed with a special energy sword or a plasma rifle.  Now, in Halo 2, we are introduced to the Arbiter.

Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter,
and Redeemer of Lizard People Everywhere 

The Arbiter was the Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, which means every single one of the baddies in Halo: Combat Evolved.  Having failed to kill the Hero, Master Chief, he's disgraced by the leaders of the Covenant and forced to become the Arbiter, a commando meant to die on a suicide mission for the glory of the Covenant.  And guess what?  You get to play as him as he tries to redeem himself.  Well, a spoiler alert later (come on, it's been like 10 years), the Arbiter realized the Covies are crazy genocidal maniacs and the Sangheili become good guys!  (For now.)  In Halo 3, still good guys, they help you finish off the Covenant, and if you played the 4 person Xbox-Live Co-Op, Chief is joined by the Arbiter and two other elites to kick more alien butt.

Then comes Halo 4, and guess who's back to being baddies?  If you guessed anyone besides the Sangheili, you were wrong.  Sorry, I know.  Moving on.

So to my point:  More of why I love Halo!  In my experience, (which I admit may be quite limited), this is probably one of the only times outside of a tabletop RPG, an MMO, or an Elder Scrolls game that you get to play as a non-humanoid/demi-human (such as orcs, dwarves, elves, etc).  And not only that, they get a truly fleshed out culture that reminds me of samurai ruled Japan, with clans and a caste system.  No swamp dwelling, bone wearing, warm-blood deathing lizard people.  Okay, maybe they're still screaming for the death of human at first but the lore of the Halo Universe says that the Elites believed humans were worthy of respect for fighting against all odds for their existance, which is why the Sangheili eventually team up with the humans.  As of Halo 5, humans are helping the Arbiter end a civil war among the Elites.

SPARTAN Locke and Fireteam Osiris
storming Sangheilios to help the Arbiter

In relation to my book, the Sangheili probably informed the way I wanted my lizard people to look, as well as the way I want them to act.  I've always been fascinated with samurai, and the Elites are lizard-people-alien-space-samurai-complete-awesome-plasma-swords.  Anyway, here is a shot of a Sangheili (I think the Arbiter) without armor on.

Notice the four-fingered hand?

I may discuss my design decisions for my people in-depth tomorrow!  So, there's my weekend edition of my blog.  Going forward, I plan to write one Weekender sometimes Saturday or Sunday, and then one per weekday (provided I'm not too busy, and not on major holidays).  So thanks for reading.  And as always, "No politics, I promise!"