James O'Neill

"Over the hill, lads!"

- O'Neill to his men during the,.

James Charles O'Neill, also known as "Lucky", was a UNSC during the  as well as after. He has participated in many important battles and is the current commander of the Valkyrie Company of the.

Early Life
James O'Neill was born on July 7, 2524 in the city of New Waterford on Munster II, a small Inner Colony populated by people mostly of southern Irish descent, as it is named for the southern-most province in Ireland. His father, Sean O'Neill, was a sergeant in the and his mother, Marissa O'Neill, was a doctor. James was born just around the time that humanity first came into contact with the Covenant, and his father was among the men who were sent to fight them on. Fortunately, he survived, but with a missing arm, which he had lost in the fighting. James had a fairly normal life, but was noted by many to be a natural leader, being able to take command of most situations he was in as well as get people to do what he wanted.

Early Military Career
"But one thing I will not forget was the blood. There was so much blood. Alien, mine, Denny's. It was all over me and him."

- O'Neill recalling the events of the Battle of Mortintoj.

In 2540, wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, he signed up to join the UNSC Marine Corps on his birthday, graduating with flying colors in November 2541. He first saw combat in early 2542, on the small colony of Mortintoj in which he and another Marine, named Dennis Cook, were the only survivors or their squad. The rest were killed by a team of Elites, and O'Neill and Cook only survived because they played dead. They were later rescued, although O'Neill had lost his index finger when a plasma bolt hit near it, blowing it off. However, it was replaced with a cybernetic finger. Afterwards, both were promoted to lance corporal and sent to another squad. This squad later participated in another battle, where the squad emerged relatively unscathed, and O'Neill was promoted again to corporal to replace one of the two Marines lost in the battle.

Becoming an ODST
In September 2544, after surviving the Battle of Pius VII, he and Cook, who had become good friends, volunteered to join the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, and passed the training in April of 2545. They were placed in a squad, part of "Valkryie Company" of the 7th Shock Troops Battalion, together. O'Neill rose through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming a Gunnery Sergeant and taking command of the squad by 2546, when they helped fight the Covenant at the. There, the squad, designated Delta-Seven, became holed up in a hotel. They managed to fight their way out, but one of the squad members was killed.

In August 2549, O'Neill entered officer school at West Point on Earth, where he passed in 2550, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant and was given command of the Valkryie Company's 2nd Platoon. The company participated in the, helping to push back the Covenant there.

Battle of Munster II
In early 2551, a small Covenant fleet made its way to O'Neill's homeworld, Munster II. Coincidentally, the 7th Shock Troops Battalion was sent to help repel the attack. They arrived in O'Neill's hometown, finding it under assault from a large Covenant force. However, O'Neill was glad to see that the local Army garrison as well as militia and police forces were holding well against the Covenant through shear force of will and guerilla warfare. Due to this, a Covenant frigate began glassing the city, and the ODSTs decided to take control of a nearby MAC gun, which was currently held by Covenant forces. O'Neill's platoon and another were sent to take it. The Pelican O'Neill was in was shot down by a Covenant Shade turret near the MAC gun, and only he, Cook, and three other ODSTs survived the crash. They managed to make their way to the gun, link up with the rest of the force and take the MAC gun. With the help of the UNSC Brian Boru, the ODSTs were able to take down the Covenant ship, but both platoons had taken heavy losses, with O'Neill's platoon losing half of its men. The remaining ODSTs then went back to try and defend the city, participating in the same guerilla style warfare that was being carried by the civilians. But, it was to no avail, as the city was eventually assaulted in full force by two Covenant ships, which glassed the city. O'Neill and Cook, among others, managed to escape. O'Neill's mother was killed in the attack, which deeply affected him, and strengthened his resolve to fight the Covenant.

Battle of Reach
In 2552, the UNSC stronghold of Reach was attacked by the Covenant. O'Neill, now a 1st Lieutenant, was sent with the rest of the 7th Shock Troops Battalion to the planet to help repel the attack. He fought in the Battle of Viery with the rest of the 7th, in the northern section. During this battle he was nearly killed by a Covenant sniper, with a plasma beam flying mere inches from his head. Luckily, he was able to duck just in time. He and his platoon also fought in, but evacuated with the rest of the UNSC forces before the city was glassed. Afterwards, he was taken off-planet and to. His 2nd Platoon and the 3rd Platoon were stationed aboard, 4th Platoon aboard , one of the defense platforms around Earth, and was stationed aboard the.

Battle of Earth
When a small Covenant led by the  assaulted the , O'Neill and his platoon took part in the operation meant to board the Covenant carrier, but it jumped into slipspace over the city of , destroying much of the city and killing many of the ODSTs meant to board it. O'Neill, Cook, and two others, Lance Corporals Reznov and Larson managed to survive and link up in the city. They found a small group of Marines and officers, and managed to escape the city aboard an NMPD Pelican.

After escaping, O'Neill found that other members of both his platoon and the 3rd Platoon survived, and O'Neill spent some time organizing the survivors and bringing in survivors from other units until both platoons had been brought up to almost full strength. But 4th Platoon was also heavily cut down, and 1st Platoon was completely wiped out on. Thanks to this, the company was very understrength, but still in some sort of fighting shape, as they would soon fight on the last Halo Installation.

Battle of Installation 00
On December 11, 2552, the Sanghelli fleet and the arrives at  and deploys the wounded Valkyrie Company onto the surface. O'Neill took a small strike team to take out one of the anti-aircraft guns keeping the Dawn from landing. They were dropped in via drop pods, but two pods were knocked off course and lost, leaving O'Neill and three others left. They fortunately managed to catch the Covenant by surprise and took the gun out, and were picked up later on by a Pelican. The team later joined in  the, helping to take out the defenses around the towers and the two Scarabs in the citadel canyon. He and the surviving members of the company made it back to Earth onboard the, however, Cook had been killed in the assault on the Citadel, which greatly upset O'Neill.

Post-War Career
After the Human-Covenant War, O'Neill attended the Voi Memorial, where he put a picture of Cook on the memorial. He was promoted to Captain soon after, as the company commander was killed earlier on. The company was stationed on Earth for a few months in 2553, and later on participated in the.

In January 2555, O'Neill married another ODST, Petra Glockner, in Dublin, Ireland on Earth, and had twins there in December of that same year named Charles and Dennis O'Neill. James later attended the musical event with Petra, made in honor of the Human-Covenant War and of. A year after, he left, and Valkyrie Company participated briefly in the, the first time that O'Neill and the members of the company ever faced. Despite this, they took fairly minimal casualties, especially compared to other Marine units. James returned home the next year, and took care to spend as much time with his kids as possible, often bringing them with him to where he and Petra were stationed.

He was also selected to join the program, but turned it down, stating that "I like where and who I am and don't really want a bunch of crazy fluids injected into my body, but thanks anyway."

Personality and Traits
"Oh, God, there is no drummer better than Neil Peart!"

- O'Neill while listening to "Tom Sawyer".

O'Neill was typically a no-nonsense officer, but had a humorous side as well, occasionally cracking jokes before and after combat, but was always serious during it. He preferred attacking enemies at a distance, hence his preference of the battle rifle. However, he was not afraid to engage enemies up close.

He was described by his men as being very lucky, earning him the nickname "Lucky". Of his 15+ years in the Marine Corps, he has only been shot six times, only two of which were enough to injure him.

He enjoys relaxing and listening to music on his free-time, as he did not get much of it during the War. O'Neill also has PTSD, which he was diagnosed with after his squad's slaughter on Mortintoj. However, he has done a fairly good job of not letting it dictate his actions, and by the time of the Battle of Installation 00, it was mostly treated, but O'Neill would still occasionally get flashbacks.

His favorite song is "Tom Sawyer" by Rush. He also likes the songs "Bulls On Parade" by Rage Against the Machine and "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls.

Trivia

 * O'Neill's birthday, July 7, is a reference to, the unofficial holiday of the creators of , . It is also one day after the writer's birthday.
 * The quote describing O'Neill's reaction to listening to the song Tom Sawyer is a reference to a scene in Family Guy in which Chester the Cheetah snorts Cheeto dust while also listening to Tom Sawyer.

Appearances

 * Slaughter on Mortintoj (First Appearance)