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6/5/2011 11:29:51 PM
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Cortana as the main character of the Halo trilogy...
Has anyone else besides me seen it this way? Cortana is generally seen as the main protagonist in my eyes. Sure she doesn't accomplish what Master Chief did (she's an AI, how could she?), but she compensates as Master Chief's "brains", whereas he compensates as her "brawn" or "bodyguard".
Along with that, Master Chief never confronts or battles the main antagonist, the Gravemind, directly, whereas he is Cortana's direct polar opposite it seems, always prodding her for information, interrogating her, torturing her. I definitely found myself more emotionally attached to the situation of Cortana than the Chief. To me Master Chief was a walking gun in Halo 3, whereas Cortana was most of the emotional trauma. Master Chief and the Arbiter seemed to me to be the dueteragonists of the trilogy. The "action" and the "explosives", with Johnson supplying the comic relief and 'human' element, and the various other UNSC characters (Hood, Keyes, Stacker, etc).
TL;DR:
After replaying Halo: Reach, it definitely emphasizes and emblazons Cortana as being "Humanity's last hope", with her notable couriers being Master Chief and Noble Six(...you). What are your thoughts on this theory?
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] MGTrey [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ThePredkiller2 She is quite possibly the most important piece of equipment both and the most important individual figure in the Human-Covenant War, it isn't surprising to be honest. Without her, the Master Chief would have been nothing. Without her, Noble Six and Noble Team would have had no purpose. She is the common denominator and ultimate catalyst of the entire Halo series.[/quote] And without the Chief, Cortana is in that same arbitrary category of being nothing. Their teamwork is what gets the job done; one doesn't succeed without the other. For all that Cortana has done, the Chief is still clearly the main character. And Halsey is easily more of a "catalyst" than Cortana. But I dislike playing that "who had more effect?" game. [/quote] I always found the main character to be the one the viewer, or in this case, player, empathized most with. In my case it is Cortana. I guess it really depends then, varying from gamer to gamer.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ThePredkiller2 She is quite possibly the most important piece of equipment both and the most important individual figure in the Human-Covenant War, it isn't surprising to be honest. Without her, the Master Chief would have been nothing. Without her, Noble Six and Noble Team would have had no purpose. She is the common denominator and ultimate catalyst of the entire Halo series.[/quote] And without the Chief, Cortana is in that same arbitrary category of being nothing. Their teamwork is what gets the job done; one doesn't succeed without the other. For all that Cortana has done, the Chief is still clearly the main character. And Halsey is easily more of a "catalyst" than Cortana. But I dislike playing that "who had more effect?" game.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] SubtleSpartan [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Metroidman42 Master Chief is Odysseus,Cortana is Athena.[/quote] This works.[/quote] Yeah, or: Cortana = Ellen Ripley Master Chief = Corporal Hicks
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Metroidman42 Master Chief is Odysseus,Cortana is Athena.[/quote] This works.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] MGTrey People need to learn literary mechanics. In Halo CE, you could make a case that Cortana was at the most a co-protagonist. The story is told from the Chief's POV at all times, but she's right there almost the entire game and gives directives. And a fair bit of plot exposition comes from her as well. Halo 2, the Chief and the Arbiter were the stars of the show. Cortana was a B-tier character along with Johnson and Keyes. Halo 3 was all Chief, even though the Arbiter had a bit of shine. So, if you add that all up, Chief would clearly be the main character. Almost everything of worth in the trilogy happens to him or because of him, and the vast majority of the story is told from his point of view.[/quote] I know literary mechanics. I also know that there are endless ways an author can tell a story. Believe me, I am a writer. But onto the topic at hand... (this is from another thread) I'm just working off of personal theory, not known fact. I think that with the addition of Forerunner "knowledge" and tech - as seen in Halo: Reach - she became more of a Forerunner construct and less of a UNSC construct, or a hybrid of the two. It's possible that she has the ability to keep going indefinitely, "forgetting" or deleting irrelevant information as needed. She is quite possibly the most important piece of equipment both and the most important individual figure in the Human-Covenant War, it isn't surprising to be honest. Without her, the Master Chief would have been nothing. Without her, Noble Six and Noble Team would have had no purpose. She is the common denominator and ultimate catalyst of the entire Halo series.
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People need to learn literary mechanics. In Halo CE, you could make a case that Cortana was at the most a co-protagonist. The story is told from the Chief's POV at all times, but she's right there almost the entire game and gives directives. And a fair bit of plot exposition comes from her as well. Halo 2, the Chief and the Arbiter were the stars of the show. Cortana was a B-tier character along with Johnson and Keyes. Halo 3 was all Chief, even though the Arbiter had a bit of shine. So, if you add that all up, Chief would clearly be the main character. Almost everything of worth in the trilogy happens to him or because of him, and the vast majority of the story is told from his point of view.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ThePredkiller2 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ZedFish She seems more like a handy utensil or a sidekick. Technically, she's the key point to the plot, but that doesn't make her the main protagonist.[/quote] She is definitely much more than that, a character, a MAIN one, one more emotionally moving than Chief ever will be. Not to mention she has fought The Gravemind (mentally), personally, and escaped with the Chief.[/quote]Ah, but really, any character can be made the main character by bringing out their achievements and overcome adversities, or how emotional they are. I could say that Lord Hood is the main character, due to him leading the UNSC to victory against the Covenant. Not quite. He was a major factor in the plot, but he was by no means the protagonist. I think John is the protagonist with Cortana almost being a "supporting character"; it seems most of the events of the Halo trilogy are caused and/or solved entirely by him, with a few exceptions. Cortana is his guide, his Virgil. She may not be the protagonist, but she works heavily as a support character through the series. Even though I don't want to come off as a "Master cheef OMG lolol" type person, he is pretty clearly the protagonist, with Cortana holding up perhaps the "second-most-important" role.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ZedFish She seems more like a handy utensil or a sidekick. Technically, she's the key point to the plot, but that doesn't make her the main protagonist.[/quote] She is definitely much more than that, a character, a MAIN one, one more emotionally moving than Chief ever will be. Not to mention she has fought The Gravemind (mentally), personally, and escaped with the Chief.
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She seems more like a handy utensil or a sidekick. Technically, she's the key point to the plot, but that doesn't make her the main protagonist.
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I [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgVod3KbAaw&feature=related]this[/url] was the Master Chief's climax as far as his screen time goes in Halo 3's campaign. Cortana gets the spotlight on every major cutscene after he rescues her. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEnWjrjJpDc]An example.[/url] [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ninjakenzen [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] dibbs089 I still feel as if the main character of this story is Mendicant Bias. He is the link that spans the entirety of the series; the only one that knows the whole story. Cortana herself might very well be a stepping stone MB uses for his own ends.[/quote] That's a very interesting take. Considering he's been pulling the strings behind the scenes. It's like a fallen angel looking for redemption for past sins.[/quote] Well, my take on it is that he is an omnipotent, timeless force that is not looking for redemption at all and does indeed have very nefarious plans in the works. [Edited on 06.05.2011 10:24 PM PDT]
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] dibbs089 I still feel as if the main character of this story is Mendicant Bias. He is the link that spans the entirety of the series; the only one that knows the whole story. Cortana herself might very well be a stepping stone MB uses for his own ends.[/quote] That's a very interesting take. Considering he's been pulling the strings behind the scenes. It's like a fallen angel looking for redemption for past sins.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ThePredkiller2 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] dibbs089 I still feel as if the main character of this story is Mendicant Bias. He is the link that spans the entirety of the series; the only one that knows the whole story. Cortana herself might very well be a stepping stone MB uses for his own ends.[/quote] An interesting take on the storyline. I personally think Mendicant Bias could very well be the mastermind behind everything following the Forerunner era...[/quote]I don't think his power extended that far. He was, after all, unable to leave High Charity when he wanted to (the Hunter worms fried the circuits) so he's not all powerful during the Master Chief era. I think by the end of the Forerunner series of books, we'll find out just what his connection to the future is (i.e. where he sent the Chief - obviously a Forerunner planet, but which one and why?) and then 343 will most likely flush out the Chiefs story once MB's past and link to the future is revealed.
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Master Chief is Odysseus,Cortana is Athena. [Edited on 06.05.2011 10:13 PM PDT]
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Cortana only met chief a few weeks before CE. I find it kind of odd that bungie decided to make everything revolve around what cortana does and thinks, despite chief operating perfectly fine without her for 40 years. But I suppose it is to illustrate that a spartan with an AI = much more effective than one who doesn't. Thanks to cortana Chief saved the human race. Without her he's just another extremely effective soldier. Sort of like thanks to cortana, Chief "evolved" well beyond that of any other spartan. I mean, without her he wouldn't have known what to do on halo period. He would've been dead in the first half of the game.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] dibbs089 I still feel as if the main character of this story is Mendicant Bias. He is the link that spans the entirety of the series; the only one that knows the whole story. Cortana herself might very well be a stepping stone MB uses for his own ends.[/quote] An interesting take on the storyline. I personally think Mendicant Bias could very well be the mastermind behind everything following the Forerunner era...
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I still feel as if the main character of this story is Mendicant Bias. He is the link that spans the entirety of the series; the only one that knows the whole story. Cortana herself might very well be a stepping stone MB uses for his own ends.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] xecnalxes117 You're basing this off the games, not the books. In the books, it was actually chief before Cortana. Even now that they're together, Chief get's the missions done & saves humanity. Cortana just tells him to go left or right.[/quote] Perhaps. But it remains a fact, that: a) Master Chief would have activated Halo and wiped out all life in the Galaxy had it not been for that information that Cortana had, which 343 Guilty Spark almost tricked Master Chief with. b) Cortana helped Master Chief deflect a Rocket by timing his reflex at the correct time, ride down to the millisecond. c) Cortana aided Master Chief in saving Cairo Station, as she was the only one who had the "brains" to deactivate the bomb at the right time, and reactivate it at the right time (to destroy the Assault Carrier as it was passing Cairo station), which helped the UNSC in the long run. d) She was the one who led Master Chief to the Ark to find her. e) She saved the Index from the first Halo ring, without it the Chief, Arbiter, and Johnson couldn't have activated the Halo to destroy Gravemind. f) She knew all of the Gravemind's secrets, his lies, and his weaknesses. Without Cortana, humanity would have been f#<&ed. Spartans are tools for the trade, without her, Master Chief would have been f#<&ed. End of... [Edited on 06.05.2011 10:03 PM PDT]
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You're basing this off the games, not the books. In the books, it was actually chief before Cortana. Even now that they're together, Chief get's the missions done & saves humanity. Cortana just tells him to go left or right. [Edited on 06.05.2011 7:57 PM PDT]
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Some neat ideas, but I wouldn't say the Gravemind is the main antagonist.
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a very interesting way of viewing things!
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ninjakenzen They both complement each other, one can do what the other can't and vice versa. If anything, Halsey is responsible for both, so in that sense, she is the mastermind behind the icons.[/quote] I wouldn't consider Halsey the main character, but I would rate her up there. I see her as the "mother" or "mentor" figure in the story though. Master Chief doesn't really have the personality to match up to the task of being the main character. I see him as being more of a "poster child" for Halo, but when you actually start playing the games you find your find out more about Cortana over the course of the 3 games than you do the Chief, and form more of a personal attachment to her.
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They both complement each other, one can do what the other can't and vice versa. If anything, Halsey is responsible for both, so in that sense, she is the mastermind behind the icons.
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agreed..... interwebz cookie for you!
