The Master Chief - Influences and Analysis

Influences and Analysis

IGN saw in the Master Chief elements of Jon 6725416, a character in Christopher Rowley's novel Starhammer. The plot is similar in that Jon Iehard (Jon 6725416) is a superlative human aided by a female hacker (Meg). Jon must steal an advanced spaceship (the Winston Churchill) to find and use a superweapon (the Starhammer) to defeat an oppressive alien empire that lives by a repressive code of behavior (the Laowon) in order to save humanity. The superweapon was originally created by a wise ancient culture (the Wisdom Wishing) to destroy a deadly parasitic race (the Vang) - who, unbeknownst to the Laowon and Humanity, are still around. It differs in that Jon is an accomplished former slave who is distrusted and hated by nearly every human he meets (who think he is a pampered pet and collaborator), while Master Chief (John 117) is revered and respected by anyone who knows of him. The plot is also dissimilar in that the humans are already conquered and controlled by the sadistic Laowon, who wish to eradicate all of humanity for the crimes of one lone human.

Other reviewers have suggested that the name John-117 could be a Biblical reference. John 1:17 in the bible reads: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The line refers to how the Old Testament God laid down rules and set punishments, but the New Testament God preached by Jesus was one of mercy and forgiveness and that Jesus had died to spread this message. This perhaps refers to the concepts of the Prophets as rigid fanatics and Master Chief as a savior. John 11:7 reads "Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." Jesus has been summoned to the funeral of Lazarus, who he intends to bring back from the dead. He is in danger, because the Pharisees wish to stone him for heresy. He goes anyway because he believes his faith and supernatural abilities will protect him. The verses are similar to the plot of HALO: Combat Evolved, in which Master Chief, a super-powered clone, defies a force of fanatics (the Covenant and their Prophets) to activate the Forerunner's ringworld. Or it could be a reference to the phrase "John 1:17" being shown on posterboard signs at televised sports events by Christians. Bungie might have adopted it to look deep and spiritual without really thinking about its theological or philosophical meaning or intent.

Michael Nitsche of the Georgia Institute of Technology found similarity to Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of Valve Corporation's Half-Life series of FPS video games: " are the independent, individualistic, and often lonely heroes that gain admiration by constantly proving their superiority ... in technology-driven, hostile, often closed spaces".

Roger Travis, associate professor of classics at the University of Connecticut, compared the Master Chief to the epic hero Aeneas, in that both superhuman characters save a civilization by defeating strong enemies in a martial setting. The audience is intended to identify with the protagonist similarly in both stories. Matthew Stover compared Halo to the Iliad, saying that both stories share the meta-theme that "war is the crucible of character". As military science fiction, Halo further raises the issue of being human. Stover argued that, since players are to imagine themselves as the Master Chief, the character is correctly presented as a cyborg, neither a flawless machine nor fully human. Players would be unable to empathize with the former, and the latter would be too specifically developed. This immersion has facilitated the use of the Halo series' multiplayer mode for live digital puppetry, as in Chris Burke's machinima talk show This Spartan Life.