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[Solidsoul]

Note: The purpose of this thread is to contemplate and dissect evidence of the original intents behind Forerunners and their impact in the Halo universe. I know the route 343 took with it and I very much respect and love their interpretation of Forerunner. I actually think it was the intention all along, judging by what I've put together.

Please, please don't let this turn out like every other Halo thread. Starting off promising, but ultimately becoming full of negativity.

Alright having said that, there are several hints and instances of Bungie originally intending for the Forerunners to just be humans, from a long time ago. Ancient if you will. But after digging through several sources and moment beats from the games...I'm just not sure that is the case. I think Forerunners were always intended to be different from humans. I definitely could be wrong, but here is why I think that is the case. I will only use Bungie made content to support my theory, as 343 Industries has factually made Forerunners a separate race from Humans. To start, here are several reasons why people think Forerunners were intended to be Humans.

343 Guilty Spark's words to Master Chief in Halo 3 right after killing Johnson. "You are the child of my makers, Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner, but this ring is mine." It definitely sounds like Guilty Spark is confirming Humans and Forerunners are the same, but Inheritor seems to imply something greater than that.

In the book Contact Harvest written by Joseph Staten from Bungie studios there is a revelation made by Mendicant Bias to the Prophets about Humanity's role in everything. Here is what it says briefly, taken from Halopedia:

When they input the discovery of Harvest and the Luminary's data, the Oracle—which is in fact a fragment of the Forerunner Contender-class AI Mendicant Bias—suddenly awakens from eons of dormancy and reveals that the Covenant has been misinterpreting their findings. What the Kig-Yar thought were artifacts were actually registering the presence of the humans on Harvest, which it claims are Reclaimers, and refers to them as his makers. The Minister of Fortitude concludes that these Reclaimers are living Forerunners and were left behind when the rest transcended.

The words of Mendicant Bias, a character with direct exposure to the Forerunners from thousands of years ago says that the Reclaimers are his makers. Definitely making it seem like Forerunners are one in the same with Humans, but why does Reclaimer get used more than the word Forerunner. If they were the same why does everyone seems to hesitant to say Forerunner, and usually just say Reclaimer. It's also not Mendicant that flat out says Reclaimers are living Forerunners in the quote above. But to further play Devil's Advocate, here is what David Candland, lead Designer of UI at Bungie had to say about 343 Industries introduction of the Forerunner as a separate race entirely.

One of the most striking retcons to me is the basic concept of whole role of humanity. Originally (back in Halo 1) the reason why humans weren't conquered and incorporated into the Covenant collective was because their presence defied Covenant religion. When the Covenant discovered humans, they knew they were forerunners, but their presence implied the "great journey" failed. They also weren't the all powerful gods they worshiped, so the Prophets wanted to "sweep them under the carpet," as it were.

The plot lines in our games imply this everywhere - the chief being called reclaimer, only humans being able to retrieve and insert the index, Spark telling the chief, "you are forerunner." etc.

I just finished reading Cryptum this morning. In it I discovered that the forerunner are now an entirely different caste-based species with Humans as a beaten, but allied race. At this point, I just follow Cody's lead, shrug my shoulders and say, "eh. it was a good read anyway. I'll buy book 2."

The text present in Joseph Staten's novel Contact Harvest as well as David Candland's remarks on top of the fact 343 Guilty Spark straight up says "You are Forerunner" sure makes a very good case for Forerunners at one point being human, but I still am not sure this is the case. First off Candland also says this, to clarify.

I also don't mean to imply that I, as a UI designer, have any control over story in our games.

With David Candland being a UI designer, he probably didn't have access to the Halo Bible and all the knowledge of what the intents behind the story were, nor did he have any impact on how the story was created, presumably.

Changing over to another conversation present in the Halo 3 terminals. This one is between the Didact and Librarian.

My work is done. The portal is inactive, and I've begun the burial measures. Soon there'll be nothing but sand and rock and normal ferrite signatures.

You should see the mountain that watches over it. A beautiful thing--a snowcapped sentinel. That's where I will spend what time is left to me.

Did I tell you? I built a garden. The earth is so rich. A seed falls and a tree sprouts or a flower blooms. There's so much...potential. We knew this was a special place because of them, but unless you've been here, you can't know.

It's [Eden].

I have to stop transmitting. The thing is listening. Its [thinking dead] are babbling--laughing through every channel they can find.

Be proud. The Mind claims victory, yet it still doesn't suspect. You've outwitted it, my love. And now you can destroy it.

But you cannot save me.

What's bolded above makes it very obvious that the earth wasn't a familiar place to the Librarian, she also references "them" making humans something different than what they were. It's hard for me to see how the information in these terminals implies anything less than Forerunners being a separate species. This is also Halo 3 from 2007, before Bungie even announced the split from Microsoft, so there is definitely no 343 industries involvement here. Either way it's just fun to speculate and I am very happy/interested with the direction 343 has taken.

I ultimately just want to have a good conversation about what people think the original intents and purposes of the franchises story were. The fact that the Halo 3 terminals pretty much make it a sure thing Forerunners are separate seems to deem that they are a separate race, as it was the last game in the trilogy and it was done directly by Bungie. Maybe earlier on, maybe on the first game humanity being the same as Forerunner was the idea, and it got changed overtime.

Characters and ideas such as Didact, Librarian, Mendicant Bias, the indexing of species on the Halo's before activation, the mantle, Forerunners discovery of humans were all ideas created by Bungie prior to 343's involvement. It only seems natural 343 Industries would have continued down a path that was already partially laid down by Bungie. (For the record several other things such as prometheans, and the different enemy types you fight in Halo 4 were created entirely by 343, and are not the same exact thing as a regular Forerunner.)

What do you think, were the Forerunners originally Human? Was the fact that they are a separate species in mind from the get go? I'd love to hear your thoughts or read any other further information I have left out.

Oh, and I'd like everyone to keep this in mind, because I think David's makes a very intelligent point about canon.

Oh, and let me follow that up by saying that arguing over what is canon and what isn't (Nicole the spartan, Odd One Out, Reach vs. Fall of Reach) does nobody any good. Enjoy it all.

Sources:
David Candland
David Candland
David Candland
Halopedia

 

[Krejlooc]

I always thought they were supposed to be human, from the moment halo 2 ended. It seemed obvious.

 

[Moon_frogger]

Hmm isn't the title a rather huge spoiler in itself?

 

[AHA-Lambda]

I always thought they were supposed to be human, from the moment halo 2 ended. It seemed obvious.

This but I've not explored the EU, and I've been lost in the plot since 4.

 

[Madness]

Yes. I believe some dev from Bungie even said after that it was what they intended, maybe on HBO or another place. 343 chose to take it a different route. I do feel that the earlier way was better. Allowed there to be some mystery for humanity/covenant/forerunner. It was why humans were so special, why the Prophets were deadset against them being allowed into the Covenant etc

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

I think the original trilogy had two ideas that weren't fleshed out till Halo 3.

1) Humans are Forerunners
2) Foreruners found humans at end of Flood war, gave them mantle of responsibility and access to all Forerunner tech when they (hopefully) evolve into a space faring species.

In Halo 1 and Halo 2 you can easily make the argument for the first idea. Chief is constantly called "Reclaimer" and Guilty Spark is seemingly incapable of disguinushing him from a different species, so much to the point where he talks about a conversation "they" had before the first rings were fired.

But as we all know, in Halo 3 this possibility was put aside to the idea that the Forerunners found the humans on Earth, and when I say that I mean The Librarian found humans.

I have my own personal theory of why the two possibilities existed at the same time basically.

Halo 1 had little lore to go off of, all the lore was basically created when the book "Fall of Reach" was written and gave background to the Halo universe. Before that we know that Chief was actually considered a cyborg in internal development for a good portion of it.

Halo 2 was supposed to have most of Halo 3 in it, it was not meant to end at that cliff hanger. My guess is if Halo 2 had it's original story intact there would be a good chance we get the "Humans are Forerunners" version of events.

However, as we know, Halo 2 was cut in half and the entire final fact was turned into Halo 3, and during that development time more backstory and lore was developed in extended fiction and I assume they went to the idea that humans were found from Forerunners and inherited all their tech.

 

[Dougieflesh]

When it was implied that only Humans could activate the halo's I just assumed the Forerunners were human ancestors.

 

[Toxi]

The real part that makes no sense is the existence of an ancient human empire that warred against the Forerunners.

It feels awkwardly welded into the previous setup with the Forerunners and the Flood, especially when there isn't any sign of said ancient humans in the games like there was with the Forerunners since day 1.

 

[Human_me]

I remember hearing somewhere that the original plans were Humans were Forerunner and was still the case during Halo 3.
However it since changed afterwards, 343 mostly know why.

I'll try and dig up where I heard this.

 

[JonathanNemo]

There's earlier drafts of Halo's plot out there. Cortana Letters on the Marathon's Story web page is one, that extends as far back as Myth: The Fallen Lords 1.3 in 1999. Though I believe that particular take on Halo was largely credited to an employee that didn't stay through the Microsoft acquisition.

Joseph Staten's probably a good source for the early Halo story, since he was Bungie's (more-or-less?) lead writer starting with Myth: The Fallen Lords. I'm not sure if he's willing to comment since he's still in the industry, and anything he says might pour gas on the flames of "343 Studios not being the real caretakers of the series" so-and-so in 2015. And I think everybody from Bungie still wishes the 343 folks the very best.


Bear in mind that I am not, nor have I ever been associated with Bungie or worked with Bungie staff in any way. I traded e-mails with someone associated with the Marathon team long ago, and that was a very different Bungie.

 

[Solidsoul]

I think the original trilogy had two ideas that weren't fleshed out till Halo 3.

1) Humans are Forerunners
2) Foreruners found humans at end of Flood war, gave them mantle of responsibility and access to all Forerunner tech when they (hopefully) evolve into a space faring species.

In Halo 1 and Halo 2 you can easily make the argument for the first idea. Chief is constantly called "Reclaimer" and Guilty Spark is seemingly incapable of disguinushing him from a different species, so much to the point where he talks about a conversation "they" had before the first rings were fired.

But as we all know, in Halo 3 this possibility was put aside to the idea that the Forerunners found the humans on Earth, and when I say that I mean The Librarian found humans.

I have my own personal theory of why the two possibilities existed at the same time basically.

Halo 1 had little lore to go off of, all the lore was basically created when the book "Fall of Reach" was written and gave background to the Halo universe. Before that we know that Chief was actually considered a cyborg in internal development for a good portion of it.

Halo 2 was supposed to have most of Halo 3 in it, it was not meant to end at that cliff hanger. My guess is if Halo 2 had it's original story intact there would be a good chance we get the "Humans are Forerunners" version of events.

However, as we know, Halo 2 was cut in half and the entire final fact was turned into Halo 3, and during that development time more backstory and lore was developed in extended fiction and I assume they went to the idea that humans were found from Forerunners and inherited all their tech.

The Forerunner saga of books gives a very good reason to why 343 Guilty Spark thought he had, had a conversation with Master Chief prior, also even in 343 Industries works there are times where people are called Reclaimer in a way that is undiscernible from Forerunner. But you make a very good point.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

Sounds like they're humans to me.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

The Forerunner saga of books gives a very good reason to why 343 Guilty Spark thought he had, had a conversation with Master Chief prior, also even in 343 Industries works there are times where people are called Reclaimer in a way that is undiscernible from Forerunner. But you make a very good point.

Yea well I think the direction 343i went with the Halo lore is stupid and I honestly lost so much interest with the new trilogy due to the butchering they did to the old lore and how flimsy the new lore is when it comes to the idea of tech 1 civilizations failing to communicate with each other over a mass parasite infection

Lets be clear, the new trilogy of books retconned the original intention. Going back in time to Halo 1 with a new set of rules doesn't negate original intentions.

 

[jem0208]

That one terminal in Halo 3 which you quoted definitely implies there's a difference imo.

We knew this was a special place because of them

Who could "them" be if not humans?

 

[soldat7]

I don't think Bungie ever intended to reveal who/what the Forerunners were. :|

 

[VoltySquirrel]

I prefer the 343i interpretation. I kind of hate it when sci-fi and fantasy makes humans like the most important people. Now, was humans being forerunners the intention? Probably. It's certainly the interpretation I came to when I read Contact Harvest. However, I think making the Forerunners it's own culture and species is for the best. More narrative potential for sure

 

[Diablohead]

I don't think Bungie ever intended to reveal who/what the Forerunners were. :|

would have been better to keep them in the players imagination for sure.

The halo lore is getting stupid IMO

 

[Trup1aya]

I think the conversation between the librarian and the didact in halo 3 killed off the idea that Humans and Forerunner are the same...

Maybe Bungie originally intended for this to be the case ,but they moved away from this idea at some point...

I think 343i just ran with what they had left... Also, if I'm not mistaken they are working off of the same bible.

Also, why have a word for reclaimer and a word for forerunner? In Ghosts of Onyx, the sentinels and the horugoks (?) all refer to Humans as Reclaimers... And in conversation, the Hurugok make it pretty clear that they are awaiting the return of Forerunners... So obviously they Reclaimers and Forerunners aren't the same thing.

Also? How could these ancient machines have a word for Humans if Humans didn't exist at the time of the creation of this word?

 

[GrizzNKev]

I think there's enough evidence to say yes.

 

[DATABASE DATABASE]

I thought Halo 3's terminals made it obvious that the Forerunners and humans were two different species. Guilty Spark was a rampant AI so I didn't put much stock into anything he said.

 

[Solidsoul]

I remember hearing somewhere that the original plans were Humans were Forerunner and was still the case during Halo 3.
However it since changed afterwards, 343 mostly know why.

I'll try and dig up where I heard this.

There's earlier drafts of Halo's plot out there. Cortana Letters on the Marathon's Story web page is one, that extends as far back as Myth: The Fallen Lords 1.3 in 1999. Though I believe that particular take on Halo was largely credited to an employee that didn't stay through the Microsoft acquisition.

Joseph Staten's probably a good source for the early Halo story, since he was Bungie's (more-or-less?) lead writer starting with Myth: The Fallen Lords. I'm not sure if he's willing to comment since he's still in the industry, and anything he says might pour gas on the flames of "343 Studios not being the real caretakers of the series" so-and-so in 2015. And I think everybody from Bungie still wishes the 343 folks the very best.


Bear in mind that I am not, nor have I ever been associated with Bungie or worked with Bungie staff in any way. I traded e-mails with someone associated with the Marathon team long ago, and that was a very different Bungie.

I would absolutely love to read or hear anything else you guys have heard, links to stuff would be great as well.

That one terminal in Halo 3 which you quoted definitely implies there's a difference imo.


Who could "them" be if not humans?

Exactly, while everyone's opinions on Forerunners being humans here make a lot of sense, this is one thing that simply negates that...and it was done entirely by Bungie.

 

[jem0208]

I prefer the 343i interpretation. I kind of hate it when sci-fi and fantasy makes humans like the most important people. Now, was humans being forerunners the intention? Probably. It's certainly the interpretation I came to when I read Contact Harvest. However, I think making the Forerunners it's own culture and species is for the best. More narrative potential for sure

I completely agree with this.

I find the whole "humans are so special" ridiculously clichéd and boring.


I think the original intention was that humans were forerunners or at least descendants of them. However that terminal in H3 shows that Bungie changed their mind. Until someone can come up with a sensible answer to who "them" are if not humans, I think it's obvious there's a difference.

 

[Solidsoul]

I think the conversation between the librarian and the didact in halo 3 killed off the idea that Humans and Forruner are the same...

Maybe Bungie originally intended for this to be the case ,but they moved away from this idea at some point...

I think 343i just ran with what they had left... Also, if I'm not mistaken they are working off of the same bible.

Also, why have a word for reclaimer and a word for forerunner? In Ghosts of Onyx, the sentinels and the horugoks (?) all refer to Humans as Reclaimers... And in conversation, the Hurugok make it pretty clear that they are awaiting the return of Forerunners... So obviously they Reclaimers and Forerunners aren't the same thing.

Also? How could these ancient machines have a word for Humans if Humans didn't exist at the time of the creation of this word?

You make a very good point.

I thought Halo 3's terminals made it obvious that the Forerunners and humans were two different species. Guilty Spark was a rampant AI so I didn't put much stock into anything he said.

This. It's also notable that paralells were being made between Mendicant Bias and 343 Guilty Spark in those terminals. It tells the story of Mendicant Bias's fall into Rampancy and disobeying his masters, the terminals also feature 343 Guilty Sparks anger as he tries to access information he is not permitted. He eventually still attacks Chief and Johnson even after admitting they are "Forerunner". They are very similar AI's with similar downfalls.

 

[Toxi]

I completely agree with this.

I find the whole "humans are so special" ridiculously clichéd and boring.

But humans being "special" has been an important element of Halo's story since the first game, since humans were the only creatures that could activate the Halo arrays.

 

[jem0208]

But humans being "special" has been an important element of Halo's story since the first game, since humans were the only creatures that could activate the Halo arrays.

That's a fairly minor 'speciality'. Obviously in the context of the story it has a reasonable impact but in the overall lore it's not a big deal.

 

[Madness]

I completely agree with this.

I find the whole "humans are so special" ridiculously clichéd and boring.

I think the original intention was that humans were forerunners or at least descendants of them. However that terminal in H3 shows that Bungie changed their mind. Until someone can come up with a sensible answer to who "them" are if not humans, I think it's obvious there's a difference.

Nothing is more clichéd than the mysterious supposedly dead ancient aliens/race coming back and once again being the bigger threat.

I think truly the way forward was no Forerunners at all. Leave them dead. Leave the mystery in the universe. The worst thing ME3 did was explain every single thing about the Protheans and Reapers.

 

[JonathanNemo]

I would absolutely love to read or hear anything else you guys have heard, links to stuff would be great as well.

The second Cortana letter mentions "Giants who formed this world". If you'd like some prehistory on the Halo story, that whole page is a good place to start, from the very beginning. At least, with what the Bungie fandom were told, besides Covenant, Humans, that ring thing in space...

Besides that, it had references to Marathon's three stages of rampancy and a suggestion that Cortana is experiencing a process possibly similar to what Durandal went through at the end of Marathon Infinity. And Robert Blake poetry, references to that too. Later letters mentioned more Blake poetry, Master Chief and the Covenant in their early forms.

Not too much to go on, clearly Cortana became a very different character in Halo 1. Besides maybe some moments of curious aggression here and there.


EDIT: Just a reminder, the authors of Marathon's story were quite different from Myth/Halo and what followed. Don't take any connections seriously, the one time Alex Seropian suggested there was any connection between Marathon and Halo by universe, Jason Jones was pretty quick to shoot that idea down.

 

[rrc1594]

Nothing is more clichéd than the mysterious supposedly dead ancient aliens/race coming back and once again being the bigger threat.

I think truly the way forward was no Forerunners at all. Leave them dead. Leave the mystery in the universe. The worst thing ME3 did was explain every single thing about the Protheans and Reapers.

Yes, but this opens up a chance for Human-Forerunner war game. 343 plz!

 

[Iva Demilcol]

I don't think Bungie ever intended to reveal who/what the Forerunners were. :|

It could've worked much better that way.

When they revealed who the Didactic was I just laughed because it looked like a featherless chicken.

 

[Flame Lord]

I prefer the 343i interpretation. I kind of hate it when sci-fi and fantasy makes humans like the most important people. Now, was humans being forerunners the intention? Probably. It's certainly the interpretation I came to when I read Contact Harvest. However, I think making the Forerunners it's own culture and species is for the best. More narrative potential for sure

How does the new lore not make them seem even more special? Before they would have been an ancient civilization that was driven to near extinction by the Flood. Where as now, they were an ancient civilization that fought both the Flood and the Forerunners and were driven to near extinction, but were declared so badass that the the forerunners decided to off their own species in hopes that humans, a practically dead species would continue where they left off millions of years in the future.

 

[Solidsoul]

But humans being "special" has been an important element of Halo's story since the first game, since humans were the only creatures that could activate the Halo arrays.

This important element never left, they still are the only creatures (besides Forerunners themselves) that can activate the Forerunners technology since they have imprints of the forerunner in there genes and were left to uphold the mantle.

Definitely not discrediting you not liking it because that's very fair...i'm just saying it still works the same, with a bit of difference.

Nothing is more clichéd than the mysterious supposedly dead ancient aliens/race coming back and once again being the bigger threat.

I think truly the way forward was no Forerunners at all. Leave them dead. Leave the mystery in the universe. The worst thing ME3 did was explain every single thing about the Protheans and Reapers.

Even though I really like 343's direction I agree it's very clichéd for sure.

The second Cortana letter mentions "Giants who formed this world". If you'd like some prehistory on the Halo story, that whole page is a good place to start, from the very beginning. At least, with what the Bungie fandom were told, besides Covenant, Humans, that ring thing in space...

Besides that, it had references to Marathon's three stages of rampancy and a suggestion that Cortana is experiencing a process possibly similar to what Durandal went through at the end of Marathon Infinity. And Robert Blake poetry, references to that too. Later letters mentioned more Blake poetry, Master Chief and the Covenant in their early forms.

Not too much to go on, clearly Cortana became a very different character in Halo 1. Besides maybe some moments of curious aggression here and there.


EDIT: Just a reminder, the authors of Marathon's story were quite different from Myth/Halo and what followed. Don't take any connections seriously, the one time Alex Seropian suggested there was any connection between Marathon and Halo by universe, Jason Jones was pretty quick to shoot that idea down.

Thank you so much, I got reading to do!

 

[Monocle]

It could've worked much better that way.

When they revealed who the Didactic was I just laughed because it looked like a featherless chicken.

Yep, awful design. I question a lot of 343's art direction.

The Didact, the Prometheans, the Forerunner architecture... all bad.

 

[rokkerkory]

I always thought humans were engineered with close 'likeness' of the precursors and not forerunners?

 

[akira28]

I think they created a fictional framework that left things intentionally vague, and they didn't decide on making Forerunners weird freaky alien things until later.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

How does the new lore not make them seem even more special? Before they would have been an ancient civilization that was driven to near extinction by the Flood. Where as now, they were an ancient civilization that fought both the Flood and the Forerunners and were driven to near extinction, but were declared so badass that the the forerunners decided to off their own species in hopes that humans, a practically dead species would continue where they left off millions of years in the future.

Yes, and let's not forget that the Forerunners fought the Precursors because they chose humans over the forerunners to protect the galaxy.

 

[Solidsoul]

It could've worked much better that way.

When they revealed who the Didactic was I just laughed because it looked like a featherless chicken.

He only looked odd because of what the tests he did on himself to find an immunity to flood infection did to him. Also, the Didact in Halo 4 is not the one in the terminals from Halo

I always thought humans were engineered with close 'likeness' of the precursors and not forerunners?

Umm, i'm not sure about that? Precursors were definitely an all 343 Industries idea, unless it was already in the Halo Bible when they received it. Wasn't apart of Bungie's works.

 

[Monocle]

I think they created a fictional framework that left things intentionally vague, and they didn't decide on making Forerunners weird freaky alien things until later.

343 at least should have kept an element of mystery in their designs. Give them all opaque helmets or something.

Now they're just wacky space orcs. Hard to take seriously.

 

[rrc1594]

Yes, and let's not forget that the Forerunners fought the Precursors because they chose humans over the forerunners to protect the galaxy.

Forerunners were elitist dicks

 

[Solidsoul]

I prefer the 343i interpretation. I kind of hate it when sci-fi and fantasy makes humans like the most important people. Now, was humans being forerunners the intention? Probably. It's certainly the interpretation I came to when I read Contact Harvest. However, I think making the Forerunners it's own culture and species is for the best. More narrative potential for sure

What's interesting is that Joseph is the writer for both Halo 3 and Contact Harvest, but while Contact Harvest seems to paint the events as Forerunners = Humans....Halo 3 terminals point out the exact opposite. It's so misleading....purposely?

 

[Kalentan]

343 at least should have kept an element of mystery in their designs. Give them all opaque helmets or something.

Now they're just wacky space orcs. Hard to take seriously.

The Didact is the only one with those fangs due to experimentation on himself to try and become immune to the flood. No other Forerunner has them.

 

[REDSLATE]

Yes, Contact Harvest made it quite clear that humans were the Forerunners' descendants.

 

[Olengie]

I think they did at one point during the development process.

 

[Random17]

While it was likely Bungie intended it to be that way, it should be noted that Halo 2 actually did dampen out the fire a little bit:

1. Forerunner hand is unlike that of the human hand. While you could easily claim "genetic manipulation", it makes little sense why human hands would have fewer fingers than the originals. We saw this hand on the button the Arbiter presses when he shuts down the Sentinel Wall.
2. The ruins on Delta Halo only make sense if there were inhabitants of non-Forerunner origin on the ring; likely humans? Even Cortana wasn't able to decipher the language, implying that it was completely independent of Forerunner symbols.

I always found the idea that humans were special because they were Forerunners as cheesy; and while the current implementation has flaws it is better in the sense that the Forerunners maintain their independence from humanity. Then there are problems with the fossil record in the original Halo timeline etc

 

[Pachinko]

Maybe it's like that terrible Prometheus movie , Perhaps the forerunners were godlike beings from a long forgotten past the buried important bits of their genetic code inside a pre-existing juvenile species (humans) and this lead us to be recognized as forerunners ?

I wasn't 100% sure what was going on in Halo 4 in this regard as it seemed like the Didact was a forerunner unless I mis-interpreted it ? I suppose that game was 3 years ago , maybe I should actually try to play through that halo collection at some point.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

I prefer 343i's direction whatever the case, as I like the idea of an ancient human race being the first to encounter and fight the flood, and ultimately being defeated and knocked back down to the stone ages by the forerunners. This defeat took place not necessarily because ancient humanity was no match for forerunners, but largely due to the simple fact that they (humanity) was fighting a war on two fronts, spreading themselves much too thin to properly challenge the forerunners.

Forerunners being an entirely different species, separate from humanity, holds much more potential in the long run than the forerunners simply being ancient humans.

 

[JDHarbs]

I used to think they were just humans, but over time I started to see the word Forerunners as more of a title than a group of beings. Meaning that the term Forerunner reflects the species currently holding the role of the galaxy's guardians. Things like Spark's "You are Forerunner" comment could imply this in a subtle way especially after that Inheritor remark. Basically, translating the term to "You are [the new guardians], Inheritors of all [the previous guardians] left behind, but this ring is mine."

I don't blame 343 for staying away from the Ancient humans approach. The mystery behind the Forerunners is the most intriguing aspect of Halo lore that opens so many more storytelling possibilities which is something very needed now that the Human/Covenant War is over.

Otherwise, we'll be stuck with stories revolving around internal human conflicts which have been done so many times in stories outside of Halo. I got bored pretty fast while reading the Kilo-Five trilogy, and New Blood as well if it weren't for the returning characters.

I kept myself from reading the Forerunner trilogy specifically for this purpose. I wanted the Forerunners to remain a mystery because I feel Halo's lore will become less appealing the more we learn about them. Like with early explorers discovering new parts of the world, once everything was found then we couldn't wonder anymore and there was no longer a need to explore.

 

[fatalexe]

Dude... the title itself is a big spoiler for people like me who are still yet to play Halo 3 or 4 since it's not out on PC or have read the novels. Thanks.

 

[spootime]

I'm not really a fan of the direction that the forerunners have been taken story wise. REALLY not a fan of the "ancient humanity" stuff.

 

[akira28]

Dude... the title itself is a big spoiler for people like me who are still yet to play Halo 3 or 4 since it's not out on PC or have read the novels. Thanks.

JR shot himself.

Samus Aran is a girl. And Halo is fuck old.

 

[Solidsoul]

Yes, Contact Harvest made it quite clear that humans were the Forerunners' descendants.

Did you read my post 2 above yours? It's really not clear. Joseph's novel came out a month after Halo 3. Halo 3 states they are different in the Terminals, the novel seems to give you the idea it's possible they are the same. Yet Joe Staten worked on both the book and the story of the game.

While it was likely Bungie intended it to be that way, it should be noted that Halo 2 actually did dampen out the fire a little bit:

1. Forerunner hand is unlike that of the human hand. While you could easily claim "genetic manipulation", it makes little sense why human hands would have fewer fingers than the originals. We saw this hand on the button the Arbiter presses when he shuts down the Sentinel Wall.
2. The ruins on Delta Halo only make sense if there were inhabitants of non-Forerunner origin on the ring; likely humans? Even Cortana wasn't able to decipher the language, implying that it was completely independent of Forerunner symbols.

I always found the idea that humans were special because they were Forerunners as cheesy; and while the current implementation has flaws it is better in the sense that the Forerunners maintain their independence from humanity. Then there are problems with the fossil record in the original Halo timeline etc

Fossil record? Thanks for bringing that up, I forgot about the hand-print stuff. Good points.

Maybe it's like that terrible Prometheus movie , Perhaps the forerunners were godlike beings from a long forgotten past the buried important bits of their genetic code inside a pre-existing juvenile species (humans) and this lead us to be recognized as forerunners ?

I wasn't 100% sure what was going on in Halo 4 in this regard as it seemed like the Didact was a forerunner unless I mis-interpreted it ? I suppose that game was 3 years ago , maybe I should actually try to play through that halo collection at some point.

They aren't god like beings, but yes they did leave gene imprints in human DNA so the humans who arose after the firing of the Halo array do share that similarity.