User blog comment:Ahalosniper/What Is Halo About To You?/@comment-24020008-20170624040301

'''I wrote a lot. If you'd rather just see the short answer, I have a tl;dr at the bottom of this post.'''

Just like what Kestrl said, this question is very difficult to give a direct answer to. Halo is such a diverse universe that I can't just name one part of it that makes Halo what it is.

When I first was introduced to Halo back with Combat Evolved (I had it on PC when I first started playing Halo), I played Halo simply because it was fun. I was a kid and simply played to shoot aliens and explore the world.

But fast forward to when I got a 360 and Halos 3 and Wars, and that was when I started to care about the universe and the story. I enjoyed the universe because of how much story Bungie (and Ensemble) threw into the series, and the struggle of Humanity trying to survive against this much more powerful threat. I enjoyed the franchise because of how Humanity still fought until the end, determined to hold their own against the aliens that threatened their very existence.

It wasn't until after 4 that I started to read the books, and that really got me into the story of my favorite video game franchise. I started with GoO, which is still my favorite book, and just kept reading from there. Whatever books I couldn't get my hands on, I instead read about them on Halopedia, which also introduced me to the Insurrection.

After Halo 5, I stumbled across this site and began writing my first character, a Spartan by the name of Kyle-B115. I quickly became a part of the community, but I wasn't sure what to base my fanon around. At first, I was developing ENSIGN Team, inspired by GoO and Reach. But I soon turned my attention to the ODSTs, as I was a big fan of them since I first played as one in my favorite game (which should get a "sequel" by the way). But then I shifted focus again, to an Insurrectionist faction by the name of the CRF.

My short time on HF reflects my history and view on Halo. When I first played Bungie Halo, I enjoyed the struggle against the stronger and more technically advanced Covenant. When I played ODST and Reach, I enjoyed the side stories, the expanded universe of the franchise. And while 343 works on extending the timeline forward, I focused on the early years, the Insurrection.

So, to answer your question, canon Halo should be about Humanity defending it's place in the universe. Whether that is what 343 believes or not, that is what Halo is for me. However, that means all of Humanity. That includes the unaugmented Marines and ODSTs, the civilians, and the rebels. The ones that 343 fails to address, which is why I explore their story the most in my own writing.

'''tl;dr - Halo is about Humanity's place in an alien universe, and where they belong in it. Not only the war for survival and the augmented super soldiers, but the stories of the marines, civilians, and rebels that also played a part in diversifying the universe. It's about the complex and not straightforward story, the fact that everyone has a place in the universe. That everyone has their pasts, their motives, and their adventures. The universe is a living, breathing world, and it is constantly getting expanded upon and evolving. The "bad guys" aren't some evil terrorists or heartless invaders, they also have their reason to fight (at least, that was the case). Not only is each species different from the rest, but each member of each species also has their own personality unlike many sci-fi universes. ''Halo is what it is because of how massive and varied the universe is. There isn't one single part of it that makes Halo, Halo.'