History Awesome / Halo

** [[Tropers/Abracadavre This troper]] made the Arbiter a [[BeyondTheImpossible bigger badass]] during the Tartarus fight. The first two times he was vulnerable, said troper hit him with a shotgun blast. The third time, the troper hit Tartarus twice with his bare hands (Read: Energy Sword at 0% battery). Cue Johnson saying: Hey, Mohawk! How'd ''that'' feel?!"

* ''Fall of Reach''. The Cradle. When it [[spoiler: blocks Covenant plasma salvos from hitting the UNSC battlegroup. And they don't launch any escape pods. The entire UNSC force there is stunned, then they really go to town on the Covenant.]]

** My pet theory is that they were field testing the new Beam Rifle (found in Halo 2 and 3). It's why the shot penetrated the shields and why the ship left after firing one shot, despite the clear shots they had on Six and others.

* Three words, one ad: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IklqPx3unjs We Are ODST]]".

* Emile: [[spoiler:At the end, when he yells defiantly at any Covenant attackers, then gets stabbed in the back by an Elite with an Energy Sword - this doesn't stop him, as he angrily turns around and ''stabs the Elite back in the neck''.]]

* This Troper got a personal one when he got 2 sniper Marines onto his Scorpion on "Assault on the Control Room" who proceeded to head-shot every other Ghost pilot they met.

** That one line proves beyond any and all doubt just how {{Badass}} the Elites are.

** Flipping a tank apparently isn't that big a deal in the Halo universe. In ODST, in the level where you drive a tank through the city, toward the end, you have to abandon the tank. by this time, you have four marines with rocket launchers, who will not leave the tank. This Troper managed to flip the tank over, causing the marines to leave. At this point, This Troper was so frustrated that He actually said to the game" If you want that tank, You can flip it back over yourself!" While walking away, I heard a grinding of metal, turned around, and the guys were already climbing back into the tank.
** "press RB to...Wait. What? how did you do that?!" -If you use a glitch to flip over the LARGEST MOVING VEHICLE IN THE GAME.
*** if you can call the Elephant a "moving" vehicle...1 metre an minute is hardly moving.
* Apologies if this is in the wrong spot... On The Ark, master chief is alone, but he has a rocket launcher. used all but two rockets to take out the last bastion of enemies prior to the Wraith Clearing house. he's got 3 marines left living and 1 brute prowler... so gets the fuel rod cannon a grunt dropped, and rockets to one guy and fuel rod cannon to the other. NPCS never run out of ammo... hop on prowler, and you've killed all 3 wraiths, ghosts, and both towers in a matter of about 1.4 minutes. The amount of pure awesome of killing 3 wraiths with a prowler, and overwhelming firepower of doom... it's just so beautiful.

->''Thought I'd try shooting my way out and mix things up a little.''

* Pretty much every cutscene in Halo 1 and Halo 3, where each time Master Chief is only shown holding a frickin' Assault Rifle. It's totally worth mentioning considering the gun is the worst possible weapon to use, and Master Chief supposedly only uses it and nothing else.
** Even better... the Legendary ending cutscene in Halo 3. Master Chief has an Assault Rifle on his back, and the ammo counter on it has only one bullet left.

* My personal favorite moment was everything Avery Johnson did during the last mission of ''Halo 2''. Teaming up with the Arbiter was cool enough, but the best moment had to be when he was opening the Temple door with repeated blasts from a hijacked Scarab, while sardonically commenting in between giant laser blasts, [[ThisisSparta "KNOCK! KNOCK!"]].
** To a San Antonio Spurs fan, even his ''name'' is a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOA]]
* No, no, no. The utter Crowning Moment of Awesome came in the real-time demo for Halo2: Chief and Cortana are battling their way through a war-torn city. They evade several patrols of grunts and Jackals, survive a drop-attack of Brutes, and manage to out-race a Phantom troop carrier. They come to a halt in sight of their target, a damaged Covenant cruiser. Suddenly pods rain down around them, and out pop five black-clad Special Ops Elites, each armed with one-hit-kill energy swords. Chief surveys the odds and drops one of his [=SMGs=].

* One simple exchange in ''Halo 3'':
--->'''Elite''': "Brute ships! Staggered line! Ship Master! They outnumber us three to one!"
--->'''Ship Master''': "Then it is an even fight."
** That one line proves beyond any and all doubt just how {{Badass}} the Elites are.
* One simple line that seals ''Halo 2's'' "The Great Journey" level as one of the best videogame moments of ''all time'':

** Don't forget this gem on legendary from "Halo 2".

*** Of course, another shining example would be this quote (from Halo 2):

* Not to mention getting onto the scarab in Halo 2... Of course, they let you grab an effin' sniper and a rocket launcher first. Plus that jump in the city... I love this game.
* Toward the end of Halo 2, the Arbiter comes across of group of Brutes stationed next to a group of holding cells. Inside of the cells are a couple of Hunters and a couple of Elite Councilors. The Arbiter has the option to quietly shoot out the force fields. You can guess what happens next.
* ''That cable, I'm going to cut it.'' Apparently one of of the three lines Halo 2 was framed around, the other one still in the game being ''I am a monument to all your sins.'' Also, very awesome.

* What about the fight between the TWO SCARABS in Halo 3? You get to ride in the little-used Hornet, drop into the Scarab, shoot out the energy core, and watch as it blows up fantastically...and THEN, you do it again. And all the while, some of the games most awesome music is playing, leading to pure, gut-wrenching epicosity.

* Any time you get to kill a Scarab is CMOA material. I'm particularly fond of ''The Storm'' and ''The Ark'' from ''Halo 3'', especially if, rather than shooting the Scarab until it kneels, you get aboard by hopping onto it from the elevated section (''The Storm''), or driving a vehicle up a grav lift or ramp onto it (''The Ark'').

* One moment in Halo 3 that's not really attributed to one character - Miranda's frigate coming in to land after you clear out the LZ on the Ark. Watching ''Forward Unto Dawn'' grow from a speck on the horizon... and keep growing... very fast... until the thousands of tonnes of metal grinds to a halt hovering above your head, and the turbulence from it's passage sends your Warthog rolling like tumbleweed.

** Flipping a tank apparently isn't that big a deal in the Halo universe. In ODST, In the level where you drive a tank through the city, toward the end, you have to abandon the tank. by this time, you have four marines with rocket launchers, who will not leave the tank. This Troper managed to flip the tank over, causing the marines to leave. At this point, This Troper was so frustrated that He actually said to the game" If you want that tank, You can flip it back over yourself!" While walking away, I heard a grinding of metal, turned around, and the guys were already climbing back into the tank.
** "press RB to...Wait. What? how did you do that?!" -If you use a glitch to flip over the LARGEST MOVING VEHICLE IN THE GAME
*** if you can call the Elephant a "moving" vehicle...1 metre an minute is hardly moving

* Halo 3 multiplayer, Sandtrap map. Make the Elephant fly.
* Towards the end of the Halo 3 level Cortana, after just rescuing [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Cortana]], she asks the Chief his plans to get off of High Charity. Which, need I remind you, is wall-to-wall Flood. Chief's reply:

* Halo 3. [[spoiler: Sighting the Flood and having a [[EnemyMine green targeting reticule]].]] ''Pure. Awesome.''

* Halo 3, the end cutscene of "The Storm". Expecting, like most things by the UNSC in the games, a little piddly assault by some Longsword fighters, but no, not just Longswords... [[spoiler: three fricking starships rumble over your head!]]. That was unexpected, to say the least. We'll overlook the fact that [[spoiler: really they did bugger all damage and merely served to activate the shiny portal of doom]] in favor of [[RuleofCool the sheer awesomeness.]]

* Captain Cutter and Serina at the conclusion of Halo Wars, flying the Spirit of Fire to safety. As Serina says, "Threading a needle while accelerating around an exploding star while inside a planet that's falling apart? Sure, why not?" She may have been sarcastic, but she then proceeded to do just that.
* In the cutscene "Monsters" from Halo Wars. Just Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEDYJxR0NG8

* One of the Spartans in ''Halo Wars'' has a victory quote that drips with pure awesome.

* The final battle in ODST. [[spoiler: An insane three-versus-a-metric-buttload killfest with rockets, hammers, and an engineer providing you with energy shields.]]
* An Engineer [[spoiler:lighting the cigar of none other than Sergeant Johnson]] in the epilogue cutscene of ODST.
* In ODST, when [[spoiler: the gravity hammer-wielding Brute Chieftain is about to finish off Romeo, the rest of the squad kicks its ass just in time. This includes Buck leaping onto its back, the other two tackling it, with Buck finally stabbing it in the neck with his knife. Quickly followed by [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Get this thing off of me."]] Awesome.]]

* A Brute Captain gets one in ODST: "[[strike:Hurry]] Courage, warriors! Take this hill or die upon it!"

* The Rookie gets one in ODST. A lone, regular human, surviving on their own in a Covenant-infested city for hours? Even ''Dare'' says that he's good.
* A regular NMPD officer gets this in ODST. She's in the headquarters talking to Dare, who wants her to get some people into the Superintendent's data center. The woman replies that she can't do that, and Dare apparently threatens to have her fired. The woman laughs and says the following.

* Another from ''Reach'', but this time with a random Marine: at the beginning of ''Long Night Of Solace'' (the space level) when you get in the base you see a dead Ultra Elite with an energy sword. A Marine kicks the body, and it's implied ''he'' killed it.

* Marvin Mabuto in the novel The Flood. He was detached from his squad on the original Halo and Guilty Spark used him as the reclaimer before the Master Chief, and he got far before he was killed. Doesn't sound impressive? He was a regular marine wearing only the standard UNSC-issued ballistic body armor, and when the Flood finally killed him, his body was so thrashed and mangled they couldn't infect it. Hell, when the Master Chief himself finds what's left, he says says (and I quote): "I didn't know you, Sarge, but I sure as hell wish I had. You must have been one hard-core son of a bitch."

* This Troper is surprised that Fall of Reach hasn't been explicitly mentioned. Namely the part where [[spoiler: a wounded marine shoots down two Banshees with a rocket launcher from the back of a moving warthog.]]

* Fall of Reach. The Cradle. When it[[spoiler: blocks Covenant plasma salvos from hitting the UNSC battlegroup. And they don't launch any escape pods. the entire UNSC force there is stunned, then they really go to town on the Covenant.]]

* Also, taking down the Prophet of Truth, while fighting side-by-side with [[spoiler: the Flood.]]
--->''"I am Truth! The voice....of the Covenant!"''
--->''"And so, you must be '''silenced'''."''
* That's not even counting how much awesome is in the novels. Anyone else remember Linda sniping Banshee pilots with ''ricochets'' off the inside of their own cockpits from kilometers off....while hanging upside down....and shooting ''one-handed?''
** And Kelly-087 luring several Sentinels into a trap, and stopping to ''flip one of them off''. Even her teammates are impressed.
*** And Will walking up to that hunter and PUNCHING it to death... Nice.
** The S-II's get a collective one in ''First Strike'' when they have to jump out of their Pelican in mid-flight, and basically survive what amounts to a skydive at five thousand feet ''without any parachutes''. Also in 1,000 pounds of armor that was definitely NOT designed for that kind of use (this would bring their terminal velocity to about a third of the speed of sound).
** It bears repeating; ''flipping off a Sentinel''. That is all.

* What about the fight between the TWO SCARABS in Halo 3? You get to ride in the little-used Hornet, drop into the Scarab, shoot out the energy core, and watch as it blows up fantastically...and THEN, you do it again. And all the while, some of the games most awesome music is playing, leading to pure, gut-wrenching epicosity.
** This troper's favorite moment in all of video gaming comes from this sequence. With two buddies, he cleared the airspace in the vicinity of a scarab, and then dropped his teammates off on top. After they battling through the Covenant on the Scarab, they destroyed the core. But instead of just jumping off, this troper's friends made their way back up to the TOP of the Scarab, where he picked them up and flew away JUST SECONDS before detonation. And then they did it again for the other one. After that enormously satisfying feeling of "Fuck yeah!" to be had from this experience, not much can come close (at least for this troper) to this particular crowing moment of awesome.
** [[EtherealFrog This Troper]] boarded with a Chopper. It took a few tries, but landing on a golden brute after flying 10 meters made it so worth it.
* Any time you get to kill a Scarab is CMOA material. I'm particularly fond of ''The Storm'' and ''The Ark'' from ''Halo 3'', especially if, rather than shooting the Scarab until it kneels, you get aboard by hopping onto it from the elevated section (''The Storm''), or driving a vehicle up a grav lift or ramp onto it (''The Ark'').

* The Gravemind gets a crowning moment of its own in the Terminals on Legendary difficulty, which include [[http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Terminals#Transcripts transcripts recorded by Mendicant Bias]], a Forerunner AI built specifically to eliminate the Gravemind. The transcripts show how, through simple and basic logic, the Gravemind [[MagnificentBastard made the AI programmed to kill it switch sides and try to wipe out the Forerunner.]]
** Offensive Bias gets one shortly (storyline-wise) thereafter when he lures Mendicant into a perfect trap. He mentions throwing around battleships like fighters, and doing things to the laws of physics that would drive his crews mad if they were still alive. Please note that Mendicant's first move in the battle is ''a ZergRush''.
** Mendicant Bias gets one himself in the final terminal, only accessible on Legendary:
--->"You don't know the contortions I had to go through to follow you here, Reclaimer. I know what you're here for. What position do I take? Will I follow one betrayal with another?"
--->"You're going to say I'm making a habit of turning on my masters. But the one that destroyed me long ago, in the upper atmosphere of a world far distant from here, was an implement far cruder than I. My weakness was capacity - unintentional though it was! - to choose the Flood. A mistake my makers would not soon forgive. But I want something far different from you, Reclaimer. Atonement."
--->"And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions. But I would have my masters know that I have changed. And you shall be my example."
* This Troper would suggest that Johnson's Crowning Moment occurs during the legendary ending for the first game. "This is it, baby. Hold me."
* Even a comparatively minor character like Gunnery Sgt. Reynolds gets one, telling a Brute interrogating him, under heavy torture, to "Kiss...My...Ass". Of course, he is voiced by [[{{Firefly}} Nathan Fillion.]]
** This troper enjoys grabbing a Needler from the previous encounter so that, just after Sgt. Reynolds says that, the brute gets turned into pink mist from about 25 needlers suddenly occupying his cranium
** This troper feels the need to notice that Reynolds was being held in the air by that Brute... ''by his throat''. The fact that he was able to ''breathe'' is impressive in and of itself.
* One moment in Halo 3 that's not really attributed to one character - Miranda's frigate coming in to land after you clear out the LZ on the Ark. Watching ''Forward Unto Dawn'' grow from a speck on the horizon... and keep growing... very fast... until the thousands of tonnes of metal grinds to a halt hovering above your head, and the turbulence from it's passage sends your Warthog rolling like tumbleweed.
** It's even strong enough to pick up a tank. Believe me, this troper has seen it happen.
** Then, immediately afterward, when you get to mount up on a Scorpion tank:
--->'''Marine''': Tank beats Ghost...tank beats Hunters....tank beats ''everything!'' I could do this all day!
*** That scene is made even more awesome if you manage to give the four marines riding your tank [[StuffBlowingUp Fuel Rod Guns]].
* On that note, the beach assault on Silent Cartographer. Charging up the beach with a dozen Marines behind you, gunning down the Covenant while the Halo theme blasts in the background....''awesome.''
* One simple line that seals ''Halo 2's'' "The Great Journey" level as one of the best videogame moments of ''all time'':
---> "The Hunters have come to our aid, Arbiter! They will fight by our side!"

** Johnson is the king of CMOA quotes. Another favorite is from ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', when he's briefing his Marines on Legendary difficulty:
--->'''Johnson''': "We made a blind jump to keep the Covenant from getting their slimy claws on Earth. When we got here, we found something they're so hot over they're scrambling over each other to get it. Now I don't care if it's God's Own Personal Anti-Sonuvabitch Machine, or a ''Giant HULA-HOOP,'' we are ''not'' gonna let 'em have it! What we ''will'' let 'em have is a belly full of lead and a pool of their own blood to drown in! AM I RIGHT MARINES?!
--->'''Marines''': ''Sir, yes sir!''
--->'''Johnson''': You're damn right I am. Now move it out!

* Marvin Mabuto in the novel The Flood. He was detached from his squad on the original Halo and Guilty Spark used him as the reclaimer before the Master Chief, and he got far before he was killed. Doesn't sound impressive? He was a regular marine wearing only the standard UNSC-issued ballistic body armor, and when the Flood finally killed him, his body was so thrashed and mangled they couldn't infect it. Hell, when the Master Chief himself finds what's left, he says says (and I quote): "I didn't know you, Sarge, but I sure as hell wish I had. You must have been one hard-core son of a bitch."
** Given that Mabuto's final resting place was within the [[BonusLevelOfHell Library]] (I repeat, the frickin' [[DemonicSpiders LIBRARY]]), the sergeant gets a postmortem CMOA ''by default''.
* Master Chief. Upside down tank. The ability to right any flipped vehicle. Not only is it a CMOA for Master Chief, but also both the player (for flipping the tank in the first place), and the tank. (It bounces around hysterically after Chief trows it some 10 yards.
** Flipping a tank apparently isn't that big a deal in the Halo universe. In ODST, In the level where you drive a tank through the city, toward the end, you have to abandon the tank. by this time, you have four marines with rocket launchers, who will not leave the tank. This Troper managed to flip the tank over, causing the marines to leave. At this point, This Troper was so frustrated that He actually said to the game" If you want that tank, You can flip it back over yourself!" While walking away, I heard a grinding of metal, turned around, and the guys were already climbing back into the tank.
** "press RB to...Wait. What? how did you do that?!" -If you use a glitch to flip over the LARGEST MOVING VEHICLE IN THE GAME
*** if you can call the Elephant a "moving" vehicle...1 metre an minute is hardly moving
* Captain Cutter and Serina at the conclusion of Halo Wars, flying the Spirit of Fire to safety. As Serina says, "Threading a needle while accelerating around an exploding star while inside a planet that's falling apart? Sure, why not?" She may have been sarcastic, but she then proceeded to do just that.
* In the cutscene "Monsters" from Halo Wars. Just Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEDYJxR0NG8
** The fight between the Spartans and Honor Guards playing out while epic music provides even more awesomeness.
** Also a CMOA for Forge when you consider that Elites are as strong as Spartans.
** One for Red Team as well when you consider that those Elites were probably Honour Guards.
* This Troper is surprised that Fall of Reach hasn't been explicitly mentioned. Namely the part where [[spoiler: a wounded marine shoots down two Banshees with a rocket launcher from the back of a moving warthog.]]
** In ''Contact Harvest'', the planetary AIs get a CMOA for [[spoiler:using the defunct ground-to-orbit mass driver to take out a covenant ship. Bear in mind that this is a FIXED mass driver.]]
** In ''Ghosts of Onyx'', [[spoiler:The elite commander comes up to the the Spartan commander at the end and says "You die well, human." The Spartan's response is "Haven't you heard? Spartans never die." Then he detonates the nuke.]]
* Apologies if this is in the wrong spot... On The Ark, master chief is alone, but he has a rocket launcher. used all but two rockets to take out the last bastion of enemies prior to the Wraith Clearing house. he's got 3 marines left living and 1 brute prowler... so gets the fuel rod cannon a grunt dropped, and rockets to one guy and fuel rod cannon to the other. NPCS never run out of ammo... hop on prowler, and you've killed all 3 wraiths, ghosts, and both towers in a matter of about 1.4 minutes. The amount of pure awesome of killing 3 wraiths with a prowler, and overwhelming firepower of doom... it's just so beautiful.
* Halo 3 multiplayer, Sandtrap map. Make the Elephant fly.

* One of the Spartans in ''Halo Wars'' has a victory quote that drips with pure awesome.
-->''"WarIsHell. And I'm the Devil."''
* Towards the end of the Halo 3 level Cortana, after just rescuing [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Cortana]], she asks the Chief his plans to get off of High Charity. Which, need I remind you, is wall-to-wall Flood. Chief's reply:
->''Thought I'd try shooting my way out and mix things up a little.''
** Even better when Cortana decides to get a bit of revenge on the Gravemind by talking the Chief through blowing up High Charity.
* Halo 3. [[spoiler: Sighting the Flood and having a [[EnemyMine green targeting reticule]].]] ''Pure. Awesome.''
** [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder For a few minutes, anyway]]...

* Pretty much every cutscene in Halo 1 and Halo 3, where each time Master Chief is only shown holding a frickin' Assault Rifle. It's totally worth mentioning considering the gun is the worst possible weapon to use, and Master Chief supposedly only uses it and nothing else.
** Even better... the Legendary ending cutscene in Halo 3. Master Chief has an Assault Rifle on his back, and the ammo counter on it has only one bullet left.

** The Stand just before this deserves a mention also. Just five dudes (Romeo, Buck, Mickey, Dutch and some NMPD guy) with the heaviest weapons in the entire game against wave after wave of banshees, phantoms and infantry. Even better when watched at a slight distance in theater mode.
* Travelling back to the early days of Halo, how has no-one remembered the famous Keyes Loop of ''Fall of Reach''? A puny UNSC Destroyer (485m) manages to, with one of the most brilliant, most balls-out ship maneuvers in the entire series, take down ''three'' Covenant ships (two frigates - 1000m - and a destroyer - 1500m) and scare a fourth (a light carrier - 1455m) into escaping. This is the move that got Jacob Keyes promoted to Captain and single-handedly boosted the morale of the entire local UNSC force.

* Halo Evolutions probably wins points for the most audacious moment towards the end. Admiral Cole goes to his (possible) [[NotQuiteDead not-quite death]] by luring a 200+ Covenant Fleet in close and then [[spoiler: igniting a brown dwarf by [[DeusExNukina nuking it repeatedly.]]]]
* Halo 3, the end cutscene of "The Storm". Expecting, like most things by the UNSC in the games, a little piddly assault by some Longsword fighters, but no, not just Longswords... [[spoiler: three fricking starships rumble over your head!]]. That was unexpected, to say the least. We'll overlook the fact that [[spoiler: really they did bugger all damage and merely served to activate the shiny portal of doom]] in favor of [[RuleofCool the sheer awesomeness.]]

* Fall of Reach. The Cradle. When it[[spoiler: blocks Covenant plasma salvos from hitting the UNSC battlegroup. And they don't launch any escape pods. the entire UNSC force there is stunned, then they really go to town on the Covenant.]]
* "The cable. I'm going to cut it." And ''that'', men is how you force your target out: [[CrazyAwesome by sending the space station he's on into freefall!]]
* From the ''Landfall'' live-action videos. One involves a Marine tearing a spike grenade (which, in the video, is the size of a ''baseball bat'') out of a wall, then chucking it into the air, hitting a Banshee in mid-flight as it passes by, blowing it away. There's also another with a Marine fearlessly facing down a charging Chieftain with a hammer, then firing a rocket launcher and blowing the Brute to pieces.

* Halo 3, the end cutscene of "The Storm". Expecting, like most things by the UNSC in the games, a little piddly assault by some Longsword fighters, but no, not just Longswords... [[spoiler: three fricking starships rumble over your head!]]. That was unexpected, to say the least. We'll overlook the fact that [[spoiler: really they did bugger all damage and merely served to activate the shiny portal of doom]] in favor of the sheer awesomeness.

** Actually, given [[spoiler: Carter's kamikaze Pelican run into a Scarab and Noble Six's final moments against all those Elites, EVERY member of Noble Team has a DyingMomentOfAwesome - [[DethroningMomentOfSuck except Kat and Jun.]]]]

** Actually, given [[spoiler: Carter's kamikaze Pelican run into a Scarab and Noble Six's final moments against all those Elites, EVERY member of Noble Team has a DyingMomentOfAwesome - [[DethroningMomentOfSuck except Kat.]]]]

* ''Reach'' has [[spoiler:Jorge's and Emile's [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Dying Moments of Awesome]] - manually detonating a slipspace bomb that annihilates a Covenant Supercarrier, and killing an Elite right after it impaled him, respectively]], and [[spoiler:using a mass driver to one-shot a Covenant Battlecruiser]].