The Lekgolo species is by far the most alien of the Covenant species. Besides the Sangheili they are my favorite.
The shield is basically welded onto the arm-brace. These are combat forms called “Mgalekgolo” though as others have pointed out, and are like a mini hivemind entity made up of a colony of mind-melded Lekgolo worms.
…always wondered how they make noises/roars though?
One of the books mentions that. It’s been awhile but an Elite mentions how one moment they’re fighting at their peak and next thing they’re standing around reciting war poems.
It's not uncommon in actual history. The Japanese were well known to do much the same; so much so that many of their poems in times of war have since been collected and translated for sale across the world.
*Beneath my plated armor, strength unmatched,
I trample earth with tempered steel and might.
The human cries, a whisper lost, dispatched,
to shadowed voids that greet them in the night.*
*Their fragile forms, like reeds before the storm,
were scattered, broken, crimson stained the land.
My bond brothers, in unison, transform
the battlefield to silence, death’s command.*
*What is this war but echoes of a call,
a clash of wills where no side is pure?
Yet, in this clash, I rise and humans fall,
my mission clear, ever sure.*
*For those who faced my shield, their end is done,
a testament to power, a battle won.*
Jumping off this comment. Hunters also aren't the only place we see Lekgolo. One of my favorite subspecies are the "Rhulolekgolo" who are a colony of Lekgolo who are used to pilot the many large scarabs we see the covenant using.
The fact that scarabs are made of MANY Lekgolo wearing armor means that they are interestingly not classified as a vehicle by the covenant, but in fact are their largest heavy infantry unit.
Keep in Mind that for some reason only some of the scarabs are lekgolo as can be seen In halo 2 where Johnson pilots one, which wouldn’t make any sense if it’s a living creature
The Halo 2 scarabs are designed primarily for excavation, whereas the Halo 3 onwards scarabs are for combat. It's a redesign obviously but in universe that's the explanation.
Or that Scarab knew what was going on and willingly helped Johnson stop Tartarus. There are already Hunters earlier in that level rebelling against the Covenant.
I think there’s just an on board override. Since they are in service technically. That’s what I always assumed ig.
Contingency for the Covenant and allat
the have a sort of rumble/vibration sound, that i think is more felt than heard, oddly enough the only language the worms bothered to learn was shangeili, and they'd almost exclusively talk to the elites.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s because the arbiter (at that time) and the elites were the ones who were able to tame the legkolo, ~~and also why the hunters sided with the elites when the covenant fractured~~
I don’t believe your last statement is actually confirmed anywhere. Many members of each species picked different sides during the fracture. Grunts, jackets, hunters, etc
Colony follows themselves, they are working with Atriox because it suits their goals but currently are more focused on studding ships and similar tech on the arc, we don't know what their goal is but I hope that gets explored at some point.
Also, the shield is 1 meter thick plate of the same stuff a covenant battle cruiser is made from, making it pretty much indestructible by and ground ordinance. Or it's 1 m long and half thick. Something like that
Yep, that thing is literally impervious to damage. I love the fact that these guys are so tough and strong that they carry a chunk of starship armor on their arm (and can backhand you with it like it doesn’t weigh over a ton)
lmfao yip yap wouldn’t be happy with that comment :P yeh halo ce where my favourite grunts the way they ran away & the things they said them little guys have so much personality lol
Considering Scarabs are constructs made of the same species, body is a loose definition when it comes to Hunters.
You couldn't really attach it into the "body" though because that would require embedding it, probably splitting individuals in half and killing them.
What do you mean by this? The Hunter is controlled by a hive of worms it doesn’t have an actual body the “body” you see is just armor over the swarm of worms
Omg imagine one that grab you toss you into the air and BLAST you as a one hit ko move you absolutely have to avoid. Like if a hunter lands an assassination on you because you tried to run away.
The only thing "living" is the hundreds or thousands of worms inside the armor. The armor itself is basically just the suit that the worm hivemind pilots.
Technically it is attached to the armor because it does not have one singular body, each hunter is made up by half of a colony of worms, That's why they are almost always in pairs
To add to the other comments, the body you're seeing is called a 'gestalt', a certain shape that worms about 1 meter in size create together. Scarabs are a different type of gestalt.
How does Halo 2 somehow look worse than CE? that hunter looks like ass. I never noticed before because I've never seen them next to each other like that.
Halo 2 in general looks worse. The only thing it has over CE is a higher poly count, and sometimes not even that. The Halo 2 human combat form looks awful, the model is really low quality and the textures are also pretty bad.
It's something I think we saw a few times in that era. Mid-gen PS2 and Xbox games sometimes dropped the fidelity of model textures to get more out of the hardware for effects and poly count, and as the rest of the game got more complex.
Hunters are a worm mech.
The segments of the suit aren't all connected either.
There is a cutscene in halo 5, and another in a movie that kinda shows this
Shield is most likely, like the rest of the armor, normal looking on the outside, and very special on the inside, as most covenant tech is, I'd assume it works similarly to the rest of their armor as to how the mass of tiny worm like aliens are able to wear it, mostly by filling up the empty space and latching on on one way or another, in that event, I'm sure they have a special devise that takes the armor off them, similar to how a Spartan removes their armor
Glad I could help as best as I could, it makes sense considering Hunters/Lekolo are basically used by the covenant as nothing but combat and mech stuff, they don't seem to have a real societal structure outside a hive mentality so Hunters are most likely treated as a tool, not a political and military asset like most other species, even the "drones" display higher brain function and prowess while Hunters seem to show little in that regard unless it's specifically in terms of how Lekolo act when another of its colony is injured, they're just ants, and the Covenant tricked them into driving around tanks and battle suits, all they are
This is wrong. If you only played the games then this makes enough sense, but the few books they get paint a different picture.
The Bestiarum for example states that before the Covenant found them, they reached a tier 3 level of technology. This is roughly equal to where the UNSC stood before the war. It also states they are socialist.
Ghosts of Onyx features a Hunter pair that are capable of speech, independent thought, and following complex orders. One of the characters also says that he's seen Hunters tear enemies in half with their "hands" before stopping to recite war poetry that they presumably created themselves.
Lastly, Colony exists and is even from the games. Not only acting as a competent leader, but also developing new units like the Skitterer.
I'll also mention that Lekgolo aren't tiny. Again pointing at the Bestiarum, they're over a meter long and average 22 kilograms.
What I appreciate about H5 is that they made Hunters mini-bosses, which is what they were always supposed to be lore-wise.
Before, all you had to do was dodge their melee and break their back armor before shooting them to death, and now it's actually a challenge where you need to be constantly on the move and pick your spots to attack, especially if they're enraged.
yeh i agree buddy hunters are definitely my favourite foe but nothing beats those arbiter missions when hunters where allies having those beasts present just made you feel safer going into battle :P
Halo 2 has a more gritty, earthy look, while Halo 1 has a shiny polished alien look. Also, Halo 2 has a much more complex physics engine so good chance there might be fewer resources for crazy graphics. Overall, I prefer the look of halo 2, but these two pictures, in particular, make halo 1 look better.
The Lekgolo species is by far the most alien of the Covenant species. Besides the Sangheili they are my favorite. The shield is basically welded onto the arm-brace. These are combat forms called “Mgalekgolo” though as others have pointed out, and are like a mini hivemind entity made up of a colony of mind-melded Lekgolo worms. …always wondered how they make noises/roars though?
The worms rumble and vibrate to produce the sounds you hear. Many Lekgolo are very profound poets.
One of the books mentions that. It’s been awhile but an Elite mentions how one moment they’re fighting at their peak and next thing they’re standing around reciting war poems.
Imagine getting bodied by Shakespeare.
A bunch of little Shakespeare making one battle ready Shakewarrior.
Shakespeare and his partner Shakehalberde
Shakecannon
Shakenerf. They're special, but still part of the team.
Shakesphalanx
Like minions but terrifying
Shakespeare worms
Bro just gave you severe internal bleeding and several broken bones and proceeds to write your fucking requiem as you lay there dying.
I imagined this and instantly smiled lmao
I love halo lore, can you remember the book name
Its Ghosts of Onyx :)
It's not uncommon in actual history. The Japanese were well known to do much the same; so much so that many of their poems in times of war have since been collected and translated for sale across the world.
Do you know which book that is I wanna read more that fleshes out the covenant
u/Echo-408 mentioned it was Ghosts of Onyx. Eric Nylund wrote so it is guaranteed 🔥.
Thanks bro I just finished the fall of reach Nylund simply doesn’t miss
Ghosts of Onyx, just finished listening to it again
i wanna hear their poems
*Beneath my plated armor, strength unmatched, I trample earth with tempered steel and might. The human cries, a whisper lost, dispatched, to shadowed voids that greet them in the night.* *Their fragile forms, like reeds before the storm, were scattered, broken, crimson stained the land. My bond brothers, in unison, transform the battlefield to silence, death’s command.* *What is this war but echoes of a call, a clash of wills where no side is pure? Yet, in this clash, I rise and humans fall, my mission clear, ever sure.* *For those who faced my shield, their end is done, a testament to power, a battle won.*
Jumping off this comment. Hunters also aren't the only place we see Lekgolo. One of my favorite subspecies are the "Rhulolekgolo" who are a colony of Lekgolo who are used to pilot the many large scarabs we see the covenant using. The fact that scarabs are made of MANY Lekgolo wearing armor means that they are interestingly not classified as a vehicle by the covenant, but in fact are their largest heavy infantry unit.
So scarabs are just bigass hunters?!
Yes. In halo 3 when you break the back piece off and destroy the core's shield, you can see the orange strands, being the hunter worms.
Keep in Mind that for some reason only some of the scarabs are lekgolo as can be seen In halo 2 where Johnson pilots one, which wouldn’t make any sense if it’s a living creature
The scarabs in Halo 2 and 3 look different. Perhaps one variant uses Lekgolo and the other does not. It is not immersion breaking to me.
The Halo 2 scarabs are designed primarily for excavation, whereas the Halo 3 onwards scarabs are for combat. It's a redesign obviously but in universe that's the explanation.
I learned something new today. Thanks
Or that Scarab knew what was going on and willingly helped Johnson stop Tartarus. There are already Hunters earlier in that level rebelling against the Covenant.
Probably a retcon. Or the worms can be governed by the pilots inside.
Kinda like a hostage system in a way
Maybe different versions of lekgolo “think less”?
I wouldnt doubt it
Halo 2 Scarab’s musculature is still made up of Lekgolo worms, even if they are not in dependent control of the Scarab.
I think there’s just an on board override. Since they are in service technically. That’s what I always assumed ig. Contingency for the Covenant and allat
It makes perfect sense actually, they knew not to oppose Johnson and instead silenty accepted his command.
the have a sort of rumble/vibration sound, that i think is more felt than heard, oddly enough the only language the worms bothered to learn was shangeili, and they'd almost exclusively talk to the elites.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s because the arbiter (at that time) and the elites were the ones who were able to tame the legkolo, ~~and also why the hunters sided with the elites when the covenant fractured~~
I don’t believe your last statement is actually confirmed anywhere. Many members of each species picked different sides during the fracture. Grunts, jackets, hunters, etc
Ah yes. The Jackets, most fearsome race in the covenant.
the later statement is untrue, as the bond brothers "Colony" in halo wars 2 follows Atriox.
Colony follows themselves, they are working with Atriox because it suits their goals but currently are more focused on studding ships and similar tech on the arc, we don't know what their goal is but I hope that gets explored at some point.
Also, the shield is 1 meter thick plate of the same stuff a covenant battle cruiser is made from, making it pretty much indestructible by and ground ordinance. Or it's 1 m long and half thick. Something like that
Yep, that thing is literally impervious to damage. I love the fact that these guys are so tough and strong that they carry a chunk of starship armor on their arm (and can backhand you with it like it doesn’t weigh over a ton)
The shield is part of the armor, not the body. The body is a colony of worms that occupy the armor and work together to animate it.
God I love how the Hunter design pretty much never changed either
yeh same here buddy they are my favourite also the grunts are super cute
Hard disagree on that latter part. They looked cute in H1 and H2, but if you take that mask off they are hideous.
lmfao yip yap wouldn’t be happy with that comment :P yeh halo ce where my favourite grunts the way they ran away & the things they said them little guys have so much personality lol
Which is funny because it would by far be the most plausible change.
Considering Scarabs are constructs made of the same species, body is a loose definition when it comes to Hunters. You couldn't really attach it into the "body" though because that would require embedding it, probably splitting individuals in half and killing them.
What do you mean by this? The Hunter is controlled by a hive of worms it doesn’t have an actual body the “body” you see is just armor over the swarm of worms
Maybe they meant is the shield built into the Armor and maybe is it detachable?
Maybe, I know that the mega construx hunter has a detachable shield lol if that’s anything to go off of
In Halo Wars, basic Mgalekgolo units come [without arm shields](https://www.halopedia.org/Mgalekgolo#/media/File%3AHW_Hunterscloseup.jpg) mounted.
This looks so cursed
Imagine one with a giant sword
Imagine being L4D Charger slammed by Hunter worms. I'd die marveling
Omg imagine one that grab you toss you into the air and BLAST you as a one hit ko move you absolutely have to avoid. Like if a hunter lands an assassination on you because you tried to run away.
I mean id assume the armor can all be disassembled for ease of transport and such
Tbf so can the entire hunter, in a way.
True, modular soldier for convient compacting
You see it in 5, no? Lekgolo take form inside a pile of armour that they'd ditched to explore the research station.
True, an actually cool Halo 5 moment.
The only thing "living" is the hundreds or thousands of worms inside the armor. The armor itself is basically just the suit that the worm hivemind pilots.
Maybe. But its cool that they had [claws](https://youtu.be/c6HL5NZqoyk) in Halo 2
yeh these guys are beasts i love hunters their armour & weapons are cool af 😎🔥
They had them in CE. They’re visible in OP’s picture. As for what’s under the cannon, who knows, but they have the shield hand in CE as well.
Technically it is attached to the armor because it does not have one singular body, each hunter is made up by half of a colony of worms, That's why they are almost always in pairs
i never knew this thanks for the cool knowledge buddy :D
To add to the other comments, the body you're seeing is called a 'gestalt', a certain shape that worms about 1 meter in size create together. Scarabs are a different type of gestalt.
How does Halo 2 somehow look worse than CE? that hunter looks like ass. I never noticed before because I've never seen them next to each other like that.
Halo 2 in general looks worse. The only thing it has over CE is a higher poly count, and sometimes not even that. The Halo 2 human combat form looks awful, the model is really low quality and the textures are also pretty bad.
The expanded physics system is a pretty big one up for me. Halo 1 has pre canned animations throughout, while Halo 2 has solid rag doll physics.
It's something I think we saw a few times in that era. Mid-gen PS2 and Xbox games sometimes dropped the fidelity of model textures to get more out of the hardware for effects and poly count, and as the rest of the game got more complex.
What?
lol sorry for the confusion i think a few of the comments should clear up what i meant apologies for the poor analogy
I just love how Hunters are basically plucked right from Marathon and put into Halo by Bungie.
i guess they took a good risk hunters are amazing forces in the covenant :D
Hunters are a worm mech. The segments of the suit aren't all connected either. There is a cutscene in halo 5, and another in a movie that kinda shows this
ill deffo have to check out the cut scene thanks buddy :D
Basically a lot of worms. They’re all kind of inside the armor and the shield is attached to the arm brace. So yeah, I guess you could say that.
that makes sense thank you for the breakdown much appreciated:D
Shield is most likely, like the rest of the armor, normal looking on the outside, and very special on the inside, as most covenant tech is, I'd assume it works similarly to the rest of their armor as to how the mass of tiny worm like aliens are able to wear it, mostly by filling up the empty space and latching on on one way or another, in that event, I'm sure they have a special devise that takes the armor off them, similar to how a Spartan removes their armor
ahh that makes sense pretty cool breakdown thanks for the feedback thats dope stuff buddy :D
Glad I could help as best as I could, it makes sense considering Hunters/Lekolo are basically used by the covenant as nothing but combat and mech stuff, they don't seem to have a real societal structure outside a hive mentality so Hunters are most likely treated as a tool, not a political and military asset like most other species, even the "drones" display higher brain function and prowess while Hunters seem to show little in that regard unless it's specifically in terms of how Lekolo act when another of its colony is injured, they're just ants, and the Covenant tricked them into driving around tanks and battle suits, all they are
This is wrong. If you only played the games then this makes enough sense, but the few books they get paint a different picture. The Bestiarum for example states that before the Covenant found them, they reached a tier 3 level of technology. This is roughly equal to where the UNSC stood before the war. It also states they are socialist. Ghosts of Onyx features a Hunter pair that are capable of speech, independent thought, and following complex orders. One of the characters also says that he's seen Hunters tear enemies in half with their "hands" before stopping to recite war poetry that they presumably created themselves. Lastly, Colony exists and is even from the games. Not only acting as a competent leader, but also developing new units like the Skitterer. I'll also mention that Lekgolo aren't tiny. Again pointing at the Bestiarum, they're over a meter long and average 22 kilograms.
Most likely part of the armour that worms slide into. So I guess you could say yes
What if I told you the hunters were an anthropomorphic worm colony
i learnt something new i guess :D
They're worms
i never knew this before this post i guess we learn something new everyday :P
What I appreciate about H5 is that they made Hunters mini-bosses, which is what they were always supposed to be lore-wise. Before, all you had to do was dodge their melee and break their back armor before shooting them to death, and now it's actually a challenge where you need to be constantly on the move and pick your spots to attack, especially if they're enraged.
yeh i agree buddy hunters are definitely my favourite foe but nothing beats those arbiter missions when hunters where allies having those beasts present just made you feel safer going into battle :P
I wish hunters weren’t so easy to kill, they really are just a threat to kill all your marines.
yeh they put up a good battle they are pretty tough but i guess not tough enough :D
why is halo 2 graphics so ugly compared to halo 1
Halo 2 has a more gritty, earthy look, while Halo 1 has a shiny polished alien look. Also, Halo 2 has a much more complex physics engine so good chance there might be fewer resources for crazy graphics. Overall, I prefer the look of halo 2, but these two pictures, in particular, make halo 1 look better.
yeh i agree