Covenant (Halo)

The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the first trilogy of the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds known as Halos will provide a path to salvation. After the Covenant leadership—the High Prophets—declare humanity an affront to their gods, the Covenant prosecute a lengthy genocidal campaign against the technologically inferior human species.

The Covenant were first introduced in the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved as enemies of the playable character, a human super soldier known as the Master Chief. Not realizing the Halos were meant as weapons of destruction rather than salvation, the Covenant attempt to activate the rings on three separate occasions throughout the series, inadvertently releasing a virulent parasite known as the Flood in the process.

To develop a distinctive look for the various species of the Covenant, Bungie artists drew inspiration from reptilian, ursine, and avian characteristics. A Covenant design scheme of purples and reflective surfaces was made to separate the alien from human architecture. The Covenant were generally well received by critics who appreciated the challenge they provided to players; several critics lamented the change of the main enemies from Elites to Brutes in Halo 3 and conversely praised their return in the later Halo: Reach.

Like most of the other characters and species in the Halo universe, the Covenant were slowly developed during the initial concept phase and refined as Halo: Combat Evolved progressed. During the course of development of Halo, the designers decided upon three "schools" of architecture, for each of the races represented — the humans, the Covenant, and the Forerunners. For the Covenant, the team decided on "sleek and shiny", with reflective surfaces, organic shapes, and use of purples.

Like the character designs, Covenant technology, architecture, and design continually changed throughout development, occasionally for practical reasons as well as aesthetics. According to Eric Arroyo, the Covenant cruiser Truth and Reconciliation, which plays a major role in Halo: Combat Evolved, was to be boarded by the player by a long ramp. However, due to technical considerations of having a fully textured ship so close to the player, the designers came up with a "gravity lift", which allowed the ship to be farther away (thus not requiring as much processing power for detail) as well as adding a "visually interesting" component of Covenant technology.

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