The Flood (Halo)
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The Flood is a fictional alien life form in the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2.
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[edit] Overview
The Flood is a parasitic virulent life form which is spread by infected carrier hosts. In the game, the Flood appears as three primary forms: Infection, Combat, and Carrier forms, but also have forms such as the Brain form and the Juggernaut form which have not been fully explained. All of these have an attraction to any lifeform of sufficent mass to accommodate them and will try to attack/infect any they encounter. The lifecycle of the Flood begins at Infection form as a small, frail, gas-bloated creature that leaps upon a host and attempts to drive in three barbed tentacles (although the small spores that some Flood are seen to release are also used to either infect or incapacitate potential hosts, as 343 Guilty Spark explains over the din of The Library level in the first game).<ref>http://halosm.bungie.org/story/level_transcripts/lv07_library.html Halo Story Page | Level Transcripts</ref> From here, the host is paralysed and loses consciousness. The infection form bores itself deep into its host, usually in the chest. For a while it plays with its new body, and over time it mutates it by changing hormones and replacing the host's nervous system with its own tentacles. In a combat siatuation, the host is never fed, and is carelessly treated. Often limbs become infected and begin to rot. Vital organs are liquified and the neck is broken. The disused head of the victim eventually falls off. If the host is of suitable size eg. Human or Elite, long whip-like tentacles emerge from the arms as weapons. If not of suitable size or sufficiently damaged to prevent use in combat the next stage of mutation occurs. The body becomes bloated and rotten. Smaller Infection forms grow within the ball of flesh, as it swells with gas and diseased innards. Eventually the Carrier form falls over (or simply gives up) and explodes. The infection forms are released and continue the cycle.
In Halo, 343 Guilty Spark mentions that the Flood actually terraform the atmosphere to suit them: <ref>http://halosm.bungie.org/story/level_transcripts/lv07_library.html Halo Story Page | Level Transcripts: 343 Guilty Spark: "Your environment suit should serve you well when the Flood begins to alter the atmosphere. You are a good planner."</ref> This hints that the Flood live in an environment noxious to most other living creatures.
The origin of the Flood remains unknown, lost in the immense amount of time since those events took place. According to Halo, the Forerunner constructed research facilities situated over gas giants and later huge "Fortress World" installations (called "Halos" by the Covenant) to contain and study the Flood. In the event that the Flood was released, which it was, the Halos were designed to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy. The thinking behind this is that if the Flood has no food then it will eventually starve to death, allowing the galaxy to slowly re-populate and preventing the Flood from spreading to even more galaxies throughout the Universe. In the sequel, Halo 2, some levels took place onboard a Forerunner facility. Throughout the levels were many small, decorative pedestals supporting objects that are similar in shape and colour to various forms of Flood. These decorations are repeated many times, too precisely to have been created by the Flood, and are probably intentional references to it.
[edit] Flood forms
[edit] Infection forms
The infection forms are small, tentacled creatures which have their own defined biological framework, and therefore are not dependent upon a host. Individually they are weak and fragile; they appear to come in huge swarms. An infection form will seek out any sentient life of capable bio-mass and calcium deposits to sustain itself, and proceed to attempt to use the creature as a host, by tapping into the spinal/nervous system, suppressing the host's consciousness, embedding itself in the thoracic cavity, and releasing spores which cause the host to mutate. (343 Guilty Spark mentions these "spores" during his own synopsis of the Flood life-cycle, which may be either another term for the Infection form, or an even more basic form of the Flood.) At this point, the infected creature mutates into a possible one of four other forms.
The infection form parasites attack in a flood-like swarm (hence the Flood moniker) that rapidly advances on host organisms, then physically attach themselves to a host as they try to burrow into its chest. Once inside the organism it will begin to modify the host's genetic code and take over. The infection form cannot attach to a host if the host is protected by a personal energy shield; contact with the shield will make them explode with a distinct "pop" sound and will have a minimal effect on the shield's strength. However, if several dozen try to attack a shielded host they will gradually deplete their shields to the point that they are vulnerable. Thus, soldiers such as the human SPARTAN soldiers and the Covenant Elites have some protection against the Flood and may mount a counter-attack, but unshielded troops (the majority of both armies) such as UNSC Marines and Covenant Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Drones, and at times even Hunters are quickly and easily obliterated by an attack by masses of infection forms. Brutes have not been seen infected, possibly due to their non-deployment to Flood-infested areas, while the symbiotic communal nature of the Hunter makes them immune to infection.
[edit] Combat forms
If the host is strong or deemed "useful" by the parasitic infection form, then the host will be converted into a warrior or worker form, used in defensive/offensive situations as well as maintaining and repairing machinery. In Halo 2, the Flood have the ability to pilot and repair vehicles, which suggests that the Flood utilize the memories and knowledge of their hosts. The Halo novels also make reference to the Flood leeching the memories of their hosts to use equipment. These warrior or combat forms are extremely strong and agile and can jump an extremely long distance and extremely high, with the Covenant Elite-derived combat forms sometimes being able to use the energy shielding technology on their remaining Elite armour in Halo 2. These forms can use all UNSC and Covenant weaponry, but are not seen using the Fuel Rod Gun (and in Halo they did not use sniper rifles). Combat Flood are also capable of unarmed combat, striking with whip-like tentacles protruding from the arms of the host. These tentacles can grow out of the arm at an alarming rate, simply breaking the nearby bones and displacing them. They also carry the grenades equipped before the host was infected, which are dropped when killed. Flood combat forms totally ignore any threat to themselves and those fighting alongside them and will often kill themselves to kill an opponent. The source of this reckless behaviour has never been identified, though because the Flood are intelligent—albeit not necessarily on an individual level—it is unlikely that the explanation for the wantonly violent ways of combat forms is quite as simple as a primitive drive to obtain food.
UNSC Marines and Covenant Elites are typically converted into combat forms. The Covenant type are larger and quicker with stiff tentacles that are used to slash, with their heads hanging limply over their backs as though their neck bones have been removed. In one encounter the Elite combat forms have active camouflage, although it is unknown if they are capable of operating it or were just wearing it when they were infected. Elite forms have learned to use their remaining armour's energy shields and some can be seen sporting them. The Human type is smaller, slower and more frail in their appearance and attack with whip-like tentacles. Both forms carry assorted weaponry, showing no discernible preference for weapon type or origin.
[edit] Carrier forms
The third stage of the flood cycle. A combat form mutates into a carrier form when it is horribly damaged or useless in battle. Carriers grow large sacs which contain several infection forms. When a carrier is in close proximity to any number of suitable hosts; or is fired upon it triggers some manner of biochemical reaction, causing the sacs to explode and spread the infection forms in order to infect more hosts. This continues the Flood life cycle. Also, as the Flood do not care for their physical forms, older and worn combat forms can be turned into carriers once they have outlived their usefulness. Covenant Grunts, Jackals, and decayed combat forms are often used to serve as carrier forms.
[edit] Juggernaut
Not seen in any of the Halo series games, the Flood Juggernaut is one of the most enigmatic of the Flood forms. Similar in jumping ability to the combat forms, and similar in walking speed and style to the carrier, the Juggernaut is a powerful foe which will become more aggressive when its partner is killed, in a similar fashion to Covenant Brutes. The Juggernaut was not completed and so has no death animations, meaning it simply becomes still when killed, but otherwise is a functioning enemy. The Juggernaut's purpose is never revealed. Its host form is not known. The Juggernaut was previously unknown to the Halo community until the code and models for the creature were found buried in the Halo 2 disc's coding. Plans for the Juggernaut's encounter with the Arbiter can be found on a drawn top-down view of a Quarantine Zone map blue-print on page 142 of the Halo Art Book, and on one of the art pieces on the Halo 2 LE DVD. The drawing depicts an area actually seen ingame describing when and where Juggernauts would appear, and describes "this is the last time we see the Sentinels winning" and "Once the Juggernauts show up, the Sentinels start to get their metal asses kicked." There were also spawn points for the Juggernaut on the Level Oracle. The Juggernaut may be some kind of mutation of a prophet civilian from the city as shown in a cutscene before the level Gravemind. Or, simply, a mutation of several species.
A video of the Flood Juggernaut in action can be seen here.[1] [2]
[edit] Brain forms
Image:Brainform Flood.jpg Brain forms are large, spongy Flood forms which resemble a large bag of flesh with tentacles. They are used to collect information on important things, such as codes, planet locations and information about the species that the Flood can infect. In Halo, Captain Jacob Keyes was subjected to an 'interrogation' of sorts by one of these forms before finally being assimilated by the Flood form. The form containing Keyes also had other limbs protruding from its 'body' - these are likely to be some other marines being interrogated.
Over time the Brain form strips memories and information from its victims. However, Keyes was able to resist giving the Flood information regarding the location of Earth when he realized that the Flood could not strip away information that he could draw from his neural implants, such as his name, rank, serial number, and the name of the ship that he commanded. Thus by "feeding" the Flood that information, he could continue to access it and avoid giving the Flood more important information.<ref>See the novel [Halo: The Flood]</ref> Many other individuals are also absorbed into the brain form, but are simply used as food sources. All body tissues and bones are soon reduced to fluid, and is digested as the brain slowly absorbs the information. Eventually the brain form is used to create more infection forms.
[edit] Command forms
The command forms, due to their limited exposure in the Halo trilogy, are not well understood. Their purpose is not exactly known. The Gravemind from Halo 2 is also believed to be a command form over the Flood on Installation 05 (Delta Halo).
[edit] Flood details
Late in Halo 2 it is revealed by 343 Guilty Spark that there were originally seven Halos; six currently remain after one (Installation 04) was destroyed in the first game. As it is believed that each Halo has a firing range of 25,000 light years, there are still enough Halos to destroy most sentient life in the galaxy.
The Flood on Installation 04 were completely destroyed in Halo: Combat Evolved and in Halo 2 they returned with the ability to operate in-game vehicles. The Flood is apparently led by Gravemind, a massive creature that dwells beneath Delta Halo's Library and on High Charity, although the player gains more of a sense that the Gravemind "corrals" the flood rather than leading it in the traditional sense. It is not currently known if there is a Gravemind in each Halo, or if the Gravemind encountered on Delta Halo is the controller of all Flood. The Gravemind is also thought to be the collection of the Flood's minds, not the leader of the Flood.
"The Flood" were probably named as such due to their overwhelming numbers. However, it may also be a reference to the Great Flood which wiped out the sinful in the Biblical story of Noah's Ark. This is supported by the existence of an enormous, enigmatic Forerunner structure believed to be either located under the ruins of Mombassa's outskirts known as "The Ark" which can remotely control the Halos, or the ship that was powering High Charity.
[edit] External links
- Halopedia - Halo Knowledge center
- Bungie.org Flood Archives
- Flood Discussion @ Bungie Forums
[edit] References
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