The Covenant, from theHaloseries, is one of the best villain factions in any video game ever. This is due in large part to them not just being made up of one race, but rather being a collective of multiple races from throughout the universe each set on the same goal, or at least they are forced to have that goal.
Related:The Worst Halo Weapons, Ranked
Despite them being so popular, they are rarely if ever given a lot of explanation in theHalogames and if they are it is just to show how evil they are. This is why we’ve put together some facts about The Covenant that fans should know.
Updated June 11, 2025, by Jerrad Wyche:Halo: Infinite has had a rocky road since launch, but the developers at 343 Industries have been working night and day to win back the dedicated Halo fandom. The game recently saw the addition of a new season of content, but most importantly the implementation of the much-desired Forge mode. A place where the community can create their own experiences. Fromthe Covenantto the Spartan program, the Halo series has captivated fans regardless if they’re the type to dive into the lore and facts of its universe or those who want to spend time with friends in competitive multiplayer.
13Their Nickname Is A Movie Reference
A common thing in almosteveryHalogameis the random chatter players can hear from nearby UNSC soldiers. They’ll often talk about random things that can be either sad or incredibly funny. Sometimes they can be heard calling the Covenant “Covies” or “bugs”.
In addition to that, these soldiers will add on with lines like “The only good bug is a dead bug” or simply “Covie scum”. These are references to classic science fiction moviesStarship TroopersandAliens, respectively. It makes sense considering the Halo series deals with the horrors of space in the same way each of those movies does as well in their own unique way.
12Inspired By Alien
It’s hard to find a piece of modern science fiction that isn’t influenced or inspired by the movieAliens. Halois just as guilty as early design concepts for the Sanghelli, or Elites, which made the large warriors look much closer to Xenomorphsfrom theAlienseries.
TheAlieninfluence doesn’t stop there, as both the aircrafts known as Pelicans and the loudly stern Sgt. Avery Johnson are very much reminiscent of the series as well. There’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from something as iconic and successful asAlien,which is ironic considering theAlienseries itself has lost its way with every follow-up project after the sequelAlienswas released as arguably the best sequel movie of all time.
11Unseen Covenant Races
A big part of game development that isn’t talked about all that often is the content that hits the cutting room floor. Making a game is stressful and due to deadlines and numerous other circumstances, the scope of a game changes on a dime.
The originalHalofrom Bungie is no different and there happens to be a handful of alien races originally intended to be a part of the Covenant that never made it to the final release of the game. Each had its own descriptions and codenames, those being: Drinols, Stalkers, Keelbugs, Alien Troopers, Special Purpose Snipers, and Sharquoi. Some of them are believed to have been morphed into other things in theHaloseries, while others simply never saw the light of day.
10Origins
Despite being the main villains of the entireHalofranchise, the origins of the covenant are rarely talked about and even a decent amount ofveteranHalofansdon’t really know how one of the greatest threats to the universe came to be.
As one could probably assume, the covenant started with the San’Shyuum, also known as the race that the prophets belong to, searching for forerunner artifacts in Sangheili (Elites) occupied planets, this does not go well at first.
9Elite-Prophet War
The Elites believed that the Forerunner artifacts in their possession were sacred and when the Prophets tried to take them in order to study them and make them into tools, that did not go over well with the owners.
This sparked a war between the two races with the Elites having much vaster numbers in terms of troops and ships, as well as much more experience with warfare, but the power that the Prophets had in terms of technology evened this out and out of fear of mutual destruction, the war was ended.
8Caste System
The Covenant is organized into a very rigid caste system based on race. No matter someone’s accomplishments and/or failures, they will stay within their cast simply due to their race meaning that if someone were above another race in the cast, they were still above them even after great failure, as the case with the Arbiter.
Related:The Hardest FPS Games Ever Made, Ranked
This system was mainly based on usefulness to the cause as well as being a founding part of the Covenant, hence why the Prophets are at the top with the Elites second to them.
7Engineers Were Made By The Forerunners
The Huragok, also known as Engineers and Slippery Suckers, were first encountered in 2009’sHalo Warsand later seen again in Halo’s more traditional FPS interpretation inHalo 3: ODSTthat same year.
This race is unlike the others in the universe, as they were actually created by the Forerunners, instead of just having their DNA sequence coded and saved by them. The Engineers also possess no real tissues or organs, instead having biomechanical surrogates that look similar.
6Brutes Were The Last Race to Join The Covenant
The Jiralhanae, more known as Brutes to humans, were the last race to join the Covenant before the death of the Prophets and the destruction of the Halo rings. The Brutes joined the covenant a little before the destruction of the human colony of Harvest and made their in-game debut inHalo 2.
Related:Halo: Best Villains In The Series, Ranked
The Brutes rose through the Covenant caste system quickly, becoming very similar to the Elites in ranking, and might have suppressed them if the Elites did not leave the Covenant.
5Grunts And Jackals Hate Each Other
The two species at the lowest rung of the Covenant’s caste system are the Unggoy (the Grunts) and the Kig-Yar (Jackals/Skirmishers) and they don’t like each other. The Jackals are above the Grunts in terms of the hierarchy and they enjoy letting the grunts know that.
This led to the Jackals poisoning a recreational drug that the Grunts often use, which made a large number of grunts infertile, leading to an event known as the Unggoy rebellion, which actually lead to the death of an Arbiter, but also many grunts.
4Hunters Are Just Worm Colonies
The Mgalekgolo, known to the humans as Hunters, are probably one of the scarier enemies that players can facein theHalofranchise, especially on legendary difficulty. This is only compounded by them always appearing in pairs, sometimes showing up in groups of four, and having the heaviest armor the Covenant has.
The Mgalekgolo are actually a collection of worms known as the Lekgolo which assemble into the armor. The fact that the hunters always work in pairs implies that it is actually a single colony of worms inhabiting two suits of armor.
