History YMMV / Halo

** A case could be made for Guilty Spark. The terminals from Halo CE Anniversary show how Spark [[GoMadfromtheIsolation went crazy from a hundred thousand years of crushing loneliness]].

** There isn't one piece of music in this series that doesn't fall into this!
** The option to adjust the volume of the music separately from other audio is a technical accreditation requirement for Xbox and Xbox 360 games, much like achievements. ''Halo'' games have a special waiver for this requirement, because the music is just that good.

* CompleteMonster: The [[IronicNickname Prophet of Truth]], [[OmnicidalManiac Ord Casto]], is one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the original trilogy and instigator of the attempted genocide of two species. After finding out that humans are the descendants of Forerunners, thus violating [[Characters/HaloTheCovenant Covenant]] doctrine, Truth, along with his cohorts Mercy and Regret, decide to wipe out humanity rather than risk their species losing power. While originally more concerned with personal power instead of the Covenant religion, as time goes on Truth becomes more and more devoted to the idea of procuring [[GodhoodSeeker godhood for himself]] through [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence the Great Journey]], and takes more drastic steps to make it a reality. Believing the Jiralhane (Brutes) to be more vicious and mindlessly devoted pawns than the Sangheili (Elites), Truth secretly orders the [[FinalSolution genocide of the Sangheili race]] after ensuring the Jiralhane will supplant them. This triggers the Covenant Civil War. Cold-blooded and ruthless, Truth feels no loyalty or affection for his fellow Prophets. Truth prevents Covenant forces from saving Regret in order to use Regret's death for political gain, and allows Mercy to be killed by the Flood in order to seize absolute power over the Covenant. Even when having evidence that the Halo Rings were not devices to procure godhood but are instead weapons of mass destruction, Truth decides to activate all of them anyway, willing to risk the death of all life in the galaxy just to have the chance to [[GodhoodSeeker become a god]].

* CompleteMonster: The [[IronicNickname Prophet of Truth]], [[OmnicidalManiac Ord Casto]], is one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the original trilogy and instigator of the attempted genocide of two species. After finding out that humans are the descendants of Forerunners, thus violating [[Characters/HaloTheCovenant Covenant]] doctrine, Truth, along with his cohorts Mercy and Regret, decide to wipe out humanity rather than risk their species losing power. While originally more concerned with personal power instead of the Covenant religion, as time goes on Truth becomes more and more devoted to the idea of procuring [[GodhoodSeeker godhood for himself]] through [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence the Great Journey]], and takes more drastic steps to make it a reality. Believing the Jiralhanae (Brutes) to be more vicious and mindlessly devoted pawns than the Sangheili (Elites), Truth secretly orders the genocide of the Sangheili race after ensuring the Jiralhanae will supplant them. This triggers the Covenant Civil War. Cold-blooded and ruthless, Truth feels no loyalty or affection for his fellow Prophets. Truth prevents Covenant forces from saving Regret in order to use Regret's death for political gain, and allows Mercy to be killed by the Flood in order to seize absolute power over the Covenant. Even when having evidence that the Halo Rings were not devices to procure godhood but are instead weapons of mass destruction, Truth decides to activate all of them anyway, willing to risk the death of all life in the galaxy just to have the chance to become a god.

* CompleteMonster: The [[IronicNickname Prophet of Truth]], [[OmnicidalManiac Ord Casto]], is one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the entire series and instigator of the attempted genocide of two species. After finding out that humans are the descendants of Forerunners, thus violating [[Characters/HaloTheCovenant Covenant]] doctrine, Truth, along with his cohorts Mercy and Regret, decide to wipe out humanity rather than risk their species losing power. While originally more concerned with personal power instead of the Covenant religion, as time goes on Truth becomes more and more devoted to the idea of procuring [[GodhoodSeeker godhood for himself]] through [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence the Great Journey]], and takes more drastic steps to make it a reality. Believing the Jiralhanae (Brutes) to be more vicious and mindlessly devoted pawns than the Sangheili (Elites), Truth secretly orders the genocide of the Sangheili race after ensuring the Jiralhanae will supplant them. This triggers the Covenant Civil War. Cold-blooded and ruthless, Truth feels no loyalty or affection for his fellow Prophets. Truth prevents Covenant forces from saving Regret in order to use Regret's death for political gain, and allows Mercy to be killed by the Flood in order to seize absolute power over the Covenant. Even when having evidence that the Halo Rings were not devices to procure godhood but are instead weapons of mass destruction, Truth decides to activate all of them anyway, willing to risk the death of all life in the galaxy just to have the chance to become a god.

* ItsPopularNowItSucks:
** Many of the people who utterly despise ''Halo'' and its fans are the same people who thought ''Marathon'' was Da Bomb back in the good ol' UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh days.
** Look around any video game message board and see a thread about what the Worst/Most Overrated/etc. game is and count how many people say ''Halo''. Yeah, this trope is very much in effect.

** [[FrontlineGeneral Thel 'Vadam]], best known as [[TheStrategist the Arbiter]], is a [[Characters/HaloSangheili Sangheili]] commander and a genius warrior who rose to command through the crucible of battle, defeating and outwitting assassins sent against him by members of his own clan. A brilliant leader, 'Vadam ensured the Covenant victory at Reach, before the Flood was unleashed to deal him a defeat. Condemned by the Prophets, 'Vadam becomes their hidden enforcer, the Arbiter, and a OneManyArmy who deals harsh punishment to rebels and heretics. Eventually betrayed by the Prophets, 'Vadam rallies the Sangheili and outfights the Prophets and the Covenant, personally killing the megalomaniac tyrant Truth and helping to ensure a lasting peace between humans and the Covenant, [[FireForgedFriends considering the Master Chief his friend]] when once he believed him a demon.

* MagnificentBastard: The surprisingly eloquent and crafty Gravemind is the [[HiveMind Lord of the Flood]]. A genius who nearly defeated the Forerunners with its strategy and power, Gravemind even managed to use its force of will and a [[BreakThemByTalking breaking speech]] to turn a loyal AI to Gravemind's own side while instituting a LogicBomb on the other AI. After being defeated and returning in the current day, Gravemind manipulates the Master Chief and Arbiter into fighting for it to handle its enemies as it prepares the Flood to take over all else, even employing its clever strategy to spread itself, such as when it takes over a ship and crashes it to take over a populated city. Even in defeat, Gravemind proclaims that besting it for the moment is simply added time to "a sentence I never deserved, but you imposed", truly believing that peace will be gained when the Flood dominate the galaxy.

*** The Drone Major sports recharging energy shields AND rapid-fire Brute plasma rifles. Did we mention that Drones are already almost impossible to hit due to their small size and the way in which they erratically fly around the screen? Bungie, you are NOT NICE PEOPLE!!!

* MagnificentBastard: The surprisingly eloquent and crafty Gravemind is the [[HiveMind Lord of the Flood]]. A genius who nearly defeated the Forerunners with its strategy and power, Gravemind even managed to use its force of will and a BreakingSpeech to turn a loyal AI to Gravemind's own side while instituting a LogicBomb on the other AI. After being defeated and returning in the current day, Gravemind manipulates the Master Chief and Arbiter into fighting for it to handle its enemies as it prepares the Flood to take over all else, even employing its clever strategy to spread itself, such as when it takes over a ship and crashes it to take over a populated city. Even in defeat, Gravemind proclaims that besting it for the moment is simply added time to "a sentence I never deserved, but you imposed", truly believing that peace will be gained when the Flood dominate the galaxy.

** "GREETINGS!" [[labelnote:Explanation]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY55zyS-1HAA four second clip of an Elite Ultra Honor Guard]] running through a doorway, up to the camera and happiyl shouting "GREETINGS!" With how out o fnowhere the clip is, it caught on as, well, a greeting among Halo fans.[[/labelnote]]

* ThatOneLevel: Levels where the Flood as the primary opponent seem to be the standard.

** It is quite impossible to hear about the series without hearing about the Flood, whose existence were the major plot twist of the first game. The later-released novelization of the first game was even called ''Halo: The Flood''.

** You know the Arbiter, that snarky 7-foot alien buddy of yours that kicks ass? He's the one who, [[spoiler:after Jorge died, called in ''the entire goddamn fleet'' to Reach. Essentially, the Arbiter/Thel 'Vadam helped murder most of Reach. Yeah]]. A trailer for ''Halo 2: Anniversary'' actually has the Arbiter mention this, implying that the Chief doesn't know yet (though the latter is obviously under no illusions about the Arbiter's innocence regarding the war as a whole), and both the ''Halo 2'' terminals and ''Halo 5: Guardians'' reveal that Locke had originally volunteered to assassinate the Arbiter for this very reason. It helps, however, that there's some pretty heavy implications that the Arbiter is well aware of his sins while under the Covenant, not just to Humanity, but to the Sanghelli race itself, and is spending the better part of his off-screen time from ''Halo 4'' onwards doing what he can to [[TheAtoner redeem himself]] by ridding the galaxy of the Covenant for good. Fleet Admiral Hood also acknowledges this at the end of ''3'', outright stating that while he can never forgive the Arbiter for what he did, he is grateful for their assistance.

* GeniusBonus: Most of the UNSC rifles have a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullpup bullpup]] design, meaning the magazine is mounted behind the trigger and grip. This allows guns to be more accurate and powerful without making them significantly longer, possibly justifying their higher damage output than present-day guns.

** 031 Exuberant Witness Does her best to help Fireteam Osiris in a very cheerful and friendly manner, and is in general quite endearing with her commentary. This quote sums it best:

* CompleteMonster: The [[IronicNickname Prophet of Truth]], [[OmnicidalManiac Ord Casto]], is one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the entire series and instigator of the attempted genocide of two species. After finding out that humans are the descendants of Forerunners, thus violating [[Characters/HaloTheCovenant Covenant]] doctrine, Truth, along with his cohorts Mercy and Regret, decide to wipe out humanity rather than risk their species losing power. While originally more concerned with personal power instead of the Covenant religion, as time goes on Truth becomes more and more devoted to the idea of procuring [[GodhoodSeeker godhood for himself]] through [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence the Great Journey]], and takes more drastic steps to make it a reality. Believing the Jiralhane (Brutes) to be more vicious and mindlessly devoted pawns than the Sangheili (Elites), Truth secretly orders the genocide of the Sangheili race after ensuring the Jiralhane will supplant them. This triggers the Covenant Civil War. Cold-blooded and ruthless, Truth feels no loyalty or affection for his fellow Prophets. Truth prevents Covenant forces from saving Regret in order to use Regret's death for political gain, and allows Mercy to be killed by the Flood in order to seize absolute power over the Covenant. Even when having evidence that the Halo Rings were not devices to procure godhood but are instead weapons of mass destruction, Truth decides to activate all of them anyway, willing to risk the death of all life in the galaxy just to have the chance to become a god.

** [[BreakoutCharacter Sergeant Johnson]] was initially just meant to be another Marine; he could be killed in gameplay and would appear later, and appeared getting killed in the Legendary ending when Halo explodes. However, his hilarious lines and no-nonsense attitude, helped greatly by his basis on Sergeant Apone from ''Film/Aliens'' meant that he was brought back in the sequels as a major character with GameplayAllyImmortality. [[spoiler:May he rest in peace.]]

** Jackal Snipers. Either you have to worry about being instantly killed by a beam rifle, or have to deal with a Focus Rifle blocking your vision. ''Especially'' in ''2''. The description for ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'''s [[NintendoHard Legendary]] difficulty even {{Lampshades}} this.

** Jackal Snipers. Either you have to worry about being instantly killed by a beam rifle, or have to deal with a Focus Rifle blocking your vision. ''Especially'' in ''2''.

* InternetJerk: Like all online video games, Halo's online portion has had issues with {{Griefer}}s. Unfortunately due to its popularity, the GIFT has been placed at the forefront, to the point that they are actually MisBlamed for "creating" it.

** You know the Arbiter, that snarky 7-foot alien buddy of yours that kicks ass? He's the one who, [[spoiler:after Jorge died, called in ''the entire goddamn fleet'' to Reach. Essentially, the Arbiter/Thel 'Vadam helped murder most of Reach. Yeah]]. A trailer for ''Halo 2: Anniversary'' actually has the Arbiter mention this, implying that the Chief doesn't know yet (though the latter is obviously under no illusions about the Arbiter's innocence regarding the war as a whole), and both the ''Halo 2'' terminals and ''Halo 5: Guardians'' reveal that Locke had originally volunteered to assassinate the Arbiter for this very reason.