User:Matt-256/Meta-Mattiverse/Species

A list of the currently known sentient species native to the Milky Way Galaxy.

Given the sheer size of the galaxy, it should not come as a particularly big surprise that it is home to many sentient species. In fact, the number of known sentient species at this point is actually much lower than the actual number should be – Forerunner records tell that at least 133 sapient, technologically capable species were preserved by the Conservation Measure. While the galaxy is not without its share of dangers – asteroid impacts, solar flares, extreme ecological changes etc. – and some species (such as the ) have been recorded as dying out during the “Dark Time” after they were reintroduced to the galaxy, and others (such as the Lagkter) going extinct later due to competition from other species, it would probably be wise to expect to discover more sapient creatures in the future. This is also not taking into account any intelligent life forms that may have developed in any of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies (barring the Greater Magellan Cloud which was purged by a Halo’s directed pulse on orders from the Master Builder of the Forerunner Ecumene) or beyond, as they were never touched by the blast of the Halo Array.

Humans (Homo sapiens)
Humanity is a species of biped mammals native to the Sol System’s third planet, Earth. Once created by the Precursors and chosen to bear the “Mantle of Responsibility” over the Milky Way, the ancient human civilizations were often enemies of the Forerunners, who also laid claim to the Mantle. After a simultaneous war against both the Flood and the Forerunners, humanity and their closest allies, the San ‘Shyuum, were forcibly de-evolved and had their advanced technology stripped from them by the vengeful Forerunners.

However, once the Forerunners began to lose their own war against the Flood, a faction of the Forerunner Ecumene headed by the Lifeworker known as the Librarian chose humanity as the “Reclaimers” of their legacy and the Mantle after the activation of the Halo Array. Over time, humanity once more achieved advanced technology (though nowhere near what they once had) and built a sizeable interstellar empire along the Orion Arm, which over time became more and more unstable due to civil unrest in its outer colonies.

In 2525, humanity encountered the collective of alien species known as the Covenant, which led to a 27-year long war for the survival of their species, as the Covenant leadership had declared them “unclean” in order to cover up that they were in fact the Forerunners’ successors. Ultimately, due to the release of the Flood, a civil war among the Covenant, and the revelation of the true purpose of the Halo Array, the Human-Covenant War ended in humanity’s favor, ensuring their survival.

In the post-war era that followed, humanity gradually reclaimed much of their lost empire and expanded further at the expense of Covenant splinter factions, largely due to a considerable leap in technological advancement enabled by access to Covenant and Forerunner technology. Despite opposition from various Covenant remnants and certain remnants of the Forerunner empire, humanity eventually became a leading military and political power in the Milky Way. Although the chosen of the Forerunners, many factions have attempted to claim the Mantle for themselves, or at least contest humanity’s right to it out of fear of the humans using it as an excuse to dominate the entire galaxy. So far, however, humanity attempts to maintain healthy relations with most alien governments despite their power only really being challenged by the Sangheili.

Sangheili (Macto cognatus)
A biped saurian species native to Sanghelios, the Sangheili are renowned throughout the Milky Way as exceptional warriors and strategists. For a long time – between a bloody war with the San ‘Shyuum and the Great Schism – they made up the secondary leader caste of the Covenant Empire, primarily concerned with military matters to contrast with the San ‘Shyuum’s focus on political and religious leadership. While this arrangement was never completely unopposed – as shown by numerous Sangheili-led rebel factions throughout the ages – the species was for the most part a faithful and reliable component of the Covenant, routinely enforcing discipline amongst the less loyal species and vigilantly guarding their San ‘Shyuum leaders in the name of the Great Journey.

However, this changed with the advent of the Great Schism. For years, the current San ‘Shyuum hierarchs – the High Prophet of Truth in particular – had gradually begun to place more and more faith in the more recently converted Jiralhanae, who tended to show more loyalty to leadership figures than to higher ideals like many Sangheili did. This culminated during the Battle of Installation 05, when the Prophets of Truth and Mercy first replaced the Sangheili Honor Guards with Jiralhanae, and then tried to replace the Sangheili commanders throughout the Covenant military with Jiralhanae leaders. This move sparked a civil war within the Covenant, but despite heavy losses, the Sangheili ultimately defeated Truth and his Jiralhanae allies with the help of humanity.

After making peace with humanity (a move which was not universally accepted by the various Sangheili clan leaders), the Sangheili arguably faced more problems than humanity. Chief among these was surprisingly not the continued war with the remnants of the Covenant Loyalists and Jiralhanae splinter factions, or a civil war on Sanghelios, but rather the loss of their people’s spiritual identity after the revelations about the Covenant religion, as well as the need to adapt after spending millennia as a species dedicated almost solely to warfare and as a result falling behind in many important aspects. Different factions attempted to find different ways to do this – some attempted to rebuild the Covenant one way or another and subsequently exploit the lesser species to cover for their own weaknesses, others tried to rebuild their civilization properly by starting from scratch and re-learning what they needed on their own or through a peaceful trade of knowledge on the subjects with other species without exploiting them.

Ultimately, the latter proved more successful in the long-term, as the United Sangheili Republic – a government carefully constructed from the ground up and built on a strong foundation thanks to a trade of knowledge and resources with other species – outlasted other Sangheili-led factions like the Covenant of Hesduros and the Acolytes of Devotion – which tried to stick to more traditional methods to maintain their respective societies. Today, the Sangheili is a significant military and political power in the galaxy, much like humanity.

San ‘Shyuum (Perfidia vermis)
A mammalian species hailing from Janjur Qom, the San ‘Shyuum once had a technologically advanced civilization in the distant past much like humanity – in fact, the two species were close allies and both enemies of the Forerunners. Ironically, after their people began to rebuild after the activation of the Halo Array, the San ‘Shyuum came to worship the Forerunners as gods due to being exposed early on to their advanced technology. However, the proper way of worshipping the Forerunners was disputed between two major movements, the Stoics and the Reformists.

Ultimately, the reformists stole the San ‘Shyuum’s most sacred Forerunner artifact – a Dreadnought – and used it to leave their homeworld behind. The reformists, who later formed the Covenant together with the Sangheili after a war with them, would later claim that Janjur Qom was destroyed in a supernova. This was later revealed to be false – the planet was destroyed, but by some kind of alien threat (possibly the Necros or one of the Enclave species) rather than its own star. Whatever the exact nature of the planet’s destruction, a considerable number of San ‘Shyuum were able to escape the cataclysm and were subsequently found by their wayward brethren. The reformists, who by that point had firmly established themselves as the leadership caste of the Covenant, covered up the discovery and sentenced the survivors to imprisonment and slave work on a distant and isolated colony world as penance for their ancestors’ persecution of the reformists (though some would be covertly integrated with Covenant society as simple servants or concubines).

The San ‘Shyuum remained in control of the Covenant for millennia, only losing it in the last year of the Human-Covenant War, when the Sangheili came out victorious during the Great Schism even after several San Shyuum’s long-running schemes to replace them with the Jiralhanae. The infection and destruction of High Charity also brought the species to the brink of extinction, though they nonetheless continued to hold significant power within some Covenant remnant factions for a few years after the war. Many of these San ‘Shyuum proceeded to disappear under mysterious circumstances, leaving many remnant factions to collapse without their stabilizing influence on the Jiralhanae military leaders on which they had come to rely.

The San ‘Shyuum initially led the Covenant of Victorious Avowal, but were later sidelined by the Governors of Contrition. San ‘Shyuum also led the Covenant of Perseverance – which had taken control of the prison world of the Stoics’ descendants and proceeded to officially integrate them with its society in an attempt to save the species from extinction. After the Covenant of Perseverance fell, most of its San ‘Shyuum members surrendered and consented to being restricted to a Sangheili-managed protectorate, where they could both attempt to repopulate their species in peace and be under careful watch by the Sangheili, though some also found their way to the Covenant of Deliverance. The species is currently endangered, but with a possibility of recovery given time.

Jiralhanae (Servus ferox)
The Jiralhanae are a mammal species from Doisac, known for their skill as warriors, loyalty to authority figures and savagery in battle. They were intelligent enough to develop spaceflight technology – refined enough to enable them to settle their homeworld’s moons, Warial, Solrapt and Teash – but shortly afterward their society collapsed as the Alpha Tribes lost control of the various Master-Packs pledged to their service, who subsequently waged a war which destabilized their planet’s climate and destroyed much of their technology. By the time the Covenant found them, they had only just begun to recreate some of their technology, leaving them vulnerable to being absorbed into the alien conglomerate.

In the Covenant, the Jiralhanae gradually began to earn the favor of the San ‘Shyuum, who appreciated their (generally) blind loyalty to authority figures in comparison to the Sangheili, who often were more loyal to the concepts and ideals of the Covenant religion than to the Prophets themselves. As such, during the war with humanity, the new hierarchs – particularly the Prophet of Truth – elevated the Jiralhanae’s standing in the Covenant caste system, culminating in an attempt to replace the Sangheili as the leading warrior caste entirely. Though they succeeded for a time, the Great Schism eventually turned in the Sangheili’s favor and the Covenant fractured beyond repair under the Jiralhanae’s leadership. Without the influence of the Prophets, the Jiralhanae mostly descended into tribal in-fighting like they had done many times before.

However, despite their ancient feud with the Sangheili, some Jiralhanae were willing to surrender or make peace with them, as well as humanity (reasons for this varied; some did it out of survival instinct after deciding that they stood no chance against the Sangheili, others were legitimately distraught over the lies of the San ‘Shyuum like the Sangheili, and still others respected the Sangheili’s martial power and subconsciously replaced the Prophets with them as superior authority figures). Most of these groups eventually ended up under the authority of the Jiralhanae Alliance, a loose union of the various tribes, clans and packs of Oth Sonin and other surrounding systems.

Oth Voren Jiralhanae (Servus ferox vorax)
Though the Covenant didn’t stumble upon the Jiralhanae homeworld on Doisac until 2492 (human calendar), the Jiralhanae species had been encountered much earlier, in 2256. Or, it might be more accurate to say that a sub-species of the Jiralhanae was discovered that year. More specifically, the sub-species known as the Oth Voren (after the star) or Vorenatus (after the planet they inhabited in the system) Jiralhanae (called “Vorenae” derisively by some Doisac Jiralhanae). Likely due to Vorenatus’ slightly higher gravity than Doisac, Oth Voren Jiralhanae generally tended to be more muscular, and therefore faster, stronger and tougher than Jiralhanae from Doisac, though as soon as the San ‘Shyuum realized this (after absorbing the Doisac Jiralhanae), they proceeded to merge clans from both Jiralhanae species together to encourage cross-breeding in order to enhance Doisac Jiralhanae physiology, while also attempting to give members of the Oth Voren sub-species an improved ability to control their berserker rage, a trait generally shown by Doisac Jiralhanae. By the time of the Great Schism, there was very little separating the two species anymore due to this cross-breeding effort, though conflicts between clans of different origins remained prevalent.

It’s unclear exactly when and how the Oth Voren Jiralhanae separated from their Doisac cousins, though Oth Voren legends suggest that their ancestors had originally colonized Warial. During a “great war” (most likely the great Jiralhanae civil war), the Oth Voren ancestors were on the receiving end of an attempted genocide by tribes on Doisac, and to escape it, they used a “gate into the void” (the common consensus is that it was a Forerunner translocation artifact, though second-hand studies of supposed Forerunner artifacts on Vorenatus by human scientists after the First Great War suggest that it may have also been an artifact of the old Charum Hakkor Empire), which then transported them to Vorenatus, where they then began to rebuild their civilization.

Interestingly, much like their kinsmen on Doisac, the Oth Voren tribes also descended into self-destructive civil war which destroyed much of their technology (though there are hints that it wasn’t as devastating as the wars on Doisac). In addition, most of the Oth Voren tribes inherited their Doisac brethren’s naming traditions – including the use of primarily –us and –um suffixes. Also interesting is that unlike their Doisac relatives, they had made forays into the development of plasma weaponry before their induction into the Covenant (research which would later be used by the San ‘Shyuum to develop the Jiralhanae Plasma Rifle), likely due to the presence of Forerunner (or ancient human) artifacts. However, they seem to have rarely employed armor, seemingly preferring to rely on their natural resiliency or – in the case of some particularly powerful chieftains – “overshield” modules installed in their ceremonial gravity hammers. Some of these traditions would also be adopted by Jiralhanae of primarily Doisac lineage, such as Tartarus, the old Covenant’s last Chieftain of the Jiralhanae – a title initially created for the Oth Voren Jiralhanae. This is in contrast to Doisac Jiralhanae, who held a long tradition of creating powered armor (although this tradition was restricted to a few chosen packs and, shortly before the Fall of Reach, to chieftains, due to the Sangheili being hesitant about allowing lesser species access to energy shield technology), though after the Sangheili officially withdrew from the Covenant, many previously unarmored Jiralhanae (including those of Oth Voren descent) equipped powered armor for pragmatic reasons.

Lekgolo (Ophis congregatio)
A species of worm-like beings, the Lekgolo are surprisingly one of the more technologically advanced Covenant client species, having achieved Tier 3 on the Forerunners’ Technological Achievement Scale before encountering the Covenant (however, their development of spacefaring technology was stunted by the high gravity of their homeworld, Te). Though each Lekgolo worm is not particularly intelligent on its own, the worms bond together into various different gestalts for different purposes, and through the new forms’ combined nervous systems achieves true sentience. However, much of their culture and motivations are unknown, or at least misunderstood by other species (although some did embrace the Covenant religion and some of its splinter denominations, this seems to have been an exception rather than the norm – most seem to have entirely different motives for serving any particular side that they are unwilling to share).

Though valuable additions to the Covenant military (mainly through their “Mgalekgolo” forms) and excavation teams (individual worms could be tamed to efficiently burrow through certain minerals to uncover Forerunner installations and artifacts without hurting them – ironic considering the Covenant first tried to destroy the species because some worms had developed a taste for Forerunner materials), like the Sangheili their loyalty has often not been absolute. Lekgolo forms were reasonably common in Covenant rebel or heretic movements, some even being composed entirely of Lekgolo. Interestingly, despite being slightly telepathic, the species as a whole isn’t a hive mind – rather, the species tends to be very split on how to resolve issues and which sides to choose in conflicts. It’s likely that this is due to their “telepathy” only working at very short range, ensuring that smaller groups or individuals are sufficiently isolated from each other to reach different conclusion.

During the Great Schism, the species was notably quite divided between the Loyalists and Separatists, as well as the numerous other splinter factions that cropped up during this time (though a slight majority sided with Sangheili factions – possibly due to a deep respect between the two species born out of many ages of relatively close cooperation and respect). This indecisive stance continued well into the post-war era. Some chose to become dedicated auxiliary troops in the United Sangheili Republic in return for Sangheili protection of their home system, others sided with numerous Covenant remnant factions, particularly the Covenants of Hesduros and Perseverance.

Mgalekgolo
The most common form seen in the Covenant military – though ironically one of the rarer forms overall – the Mgalekgolo serve primarily as anti-vehicle and heavy assault units. They also serve as bodyguards of important Covenant installations and ships, as well as high-ranking Sangheili, and can occasionally be entrusted with commanding lesser species on the Sangheili’s behalf (such as during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV). This form is usually nearly four meters tall and weighs nearly five ton, though worms born and raised on planets with lower gravity than Te can sometimes form much larger gestalts.

Kgalekgolo
A much smaller combat-oriented gestalt which was initially somewhat common after the Taming of the Lekgolo, serving as basic infantry led by Sangheili. However, the form drifted out of use after the Covenant discovered the Kig-Yar and Unggoy, who proceeded to take its place as subordinate infantry. Lekgolo worms were instead conditioned to form Mgalekgolo colonies in increased quantities. The form began to be used once more by the Covenant of Perseverance, after it started to breed Sharquoi to fill the niche of the Mgalekgolo. The Kgalekgolo were repurposed into serving as shock infantry to replace the Jiralhanae who tended to serve this role in the old Covenant when the Jiralhanae instead assumed the role of warrior leadership caste.

Skaolekgolo
A colony that inhabits and controls most Covenant scarabs. They are easily one of the most powerful Lekgolo forms, capable of wreaking massive destruction on the battlefield. It’s also useful for excavation purposes.

Sbaolekgolo
A larger variant of the Skaolekgolo, which controls Harvesters. As such, it is probably the deadliest form of Lekgolo gestalt. It was primarily used by the old Covenant, though the Covenant of Hesduros somehow managed to acquire at least one, which was deployed on Requiem.

Kig-Yar (Perosus latrunculus)
The Kig-Yar is a bird-like saurian species hailing from the dwarf planet Eayn, known for their mercantile and mercenary culture. Unlike most former Covenant species, the Kig-Yar weren’t quite conquered as much as contracted by the San ‘Shyuum to provide the Covenant with soldiers and ships for military and missionary purposes. The members of the species tends to think in a profit-maximizing perspective, which often makes them natural merchants, pirates and mercenaries (though often they make little distinction between the three – pirates often sell their services and much of their loot on illegal and legal markets alike, and merchants more often than not contract pirates to sabotage competitors or acquire rare goods). Their entrepreneurial nature and free spirit also often make them difficult to properly control unless they feel they are sufficiently compensated (the old Covenant’s attempts to institute a centralized government on their homeworld and to legitimately convert them to the Covenant religion through the use of Unggoy Deacons, for example, were largely unsuccessful). Compared to other Covenant species, they also seem to make greater use of purposeful mutations (derived from Forerunner mutation technology, made forbidden by the San ‘Shyuum except when performed by themselves in certain circumstances), which contributes to their already unusual number of morphologically different sub-species.

They usually served as light infantry and marksmen in the Covenant military, though some were also allowed to command their own ships. They shared the role of low-ranking infantry with the Unggoy, which fostered a strong rivalry and mutual hatred between the two species.

Most Kig-Yar served the Covenant somewhat faithfully for most of their mutual history, since Covenant rebel movements usually wouldn’t be able to afford a higher price than the Covenant were willing to pay to maintain the Kig-Yar’s loyalties. In the Great Schism, most Kig-Yar sided with the Covenant Loyalists, though a considerable minority still sided with the Separatists (a number that swelled as it became increasingly clear that the Separatists were winning and the revelation of the true nature of the Halo Array), and smaller groups aligning with splinter factions were not uncommon. However, many also took advantage of the Schism to strike out on their own, once more becoming independent raiders and merchants.

In the post-war era, many Kig-Yar clans united under the leadership of several Merchant and Pirate Princes to form the Kig-Yar Union, claiming the territories of their home system and several surrounding systems. It was recognized as the new official government for the Kig-Yar species by the Sangheili and the UNSC, in return for mutually lucrative deals with both the former (increased trade of rare resources found in Kig-Yar systems to the UNSC, and providing auxiliary troops for the Sangheili through the Covenant of Sanghelios). However, numerous Kig-Yar clans continued to operate independently throughout the Milky Way as pirate and merchant fleets, and mercenary guilds.

Khaz’K Kig-Yar
Often called “Skirmishers”, the Khaz’K Kig-Yar have adapted to higher gravity than average Kig-Yar, both from many generations of living on a higher gravity-world than Eayn and the use of Covenant-sanctioned mutations to enhance combat effectiveness. They are, however, rare, due to breeding more slowly than most other sub-species, and therefore suffered near-extinction after the Fall of Reach (where most of their remaining troops were deployed and subsequently fell during the desperate human defense).

Ibie’sh Kig-Yar
A sub-species with a decidedly more reptilian appearance than most of their kin, the Ibie’sh Kig-Yar originated from the more isolated continent of Ibie’sh on Eayn. As such, clans of Ibie’sh descent also tended to have a cultural identity separate from their kinsmen, resulting in them forming their own isolated mercenary, pirate and merchant groups. Due to being known as relatively cheap and loyal compared to many other Kig-Yar groups, Ibie’sh Kig-Yar were hired by the Covenant of Hesduros in large quantities, making up most of their Kig-Yar troops.

Unggoy (Monachus frigus)
See 

Yanme’e (Turpis rex)
See 

Huragok (Facticius indoles)
See