For an average soldier in the Halo universe, there are a lot of monsters to contend with, especially after the events of Infinite on Zeta Halo and the presumable unleashing of The Endless. The universe is crawling with all sorts of advanced alien lifeforms with much stronger weaponry, and unless you’re in a Spartan suit, you’ll probably end up dead.

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One particular brute that strikes fear into any Human's heart is the Hunter. Their first appearance in the series was in Halo: Combat Evolved, fighting for the Covenant on the front lines, and staying among the sturdiest enemy encounters for the rest of the game. On the outside, they seem like just a big dumb alien that can 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:one-shot Spartans easily, but there’s quite a lot of i🎀n♓teresting lore behind them. For those that are curious, here’s everything you need to know about Hunters.

What Are Hunters?

Hunters, or Mgalekgolo as the species is known, are not one singular being strapped inside a suit of power armor like the Sangheili or the Unggoy. Hunters are in fact a race of worms, known individually as Lekgolo. When massed together, t🌠hey can form a sentient gestalt intelligence that can create complex shapes and objects when working together.

This allows them to create large combat forms with thi𒈔ck hides and artificial muscle that can pick up and wield extremely heavy weaponry like Fuel Rod Cannons, or form together to operate their huge suits of power armor. They’re mainly ꦺused as Shock Troops. In dire situations, they can also join with other groups of Mgalekgolo to create bigger and stronger organisms known as Goliaths. Although it has been noted that the larger the creatures they create are, the more animalistic and uncontrollable they can become. So it’s not something they do too often.

Hunter Biology

The biology of the Hunter species is honestly fascinating, and you could lose hours just poring over t🐈heir backstory. The idea that they’re just really big orange space worms is a nightmarish image to begin with. But when you consider that the more of them there are, the smarter they get, they end up becoming a monster you wouldn’t want to face alone without the right equipment.

For example, they're so intelligent that the species can be found inhabiting Covenant starship mechanisms or the inner workings of the Scarab Walkers, showing that they provide more usefulness than just ground troops. In fact, intricate machines are often maintained or literally held together by tightly coiled Lekgolo worms. In the Halo TV series Nightfall, a rabid strain of them was strong and♎ coordinated enough to rip a Pelican out of the air with ease.

The species is also incredibly resilient, able to survive extreme temperatures, deadly toxins, and radiation. They even have a certain level of resistance against 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Flood, as it's much more difficult for the parasite to take hold since infected worms can instantly be discarded to quarantine and protect the rest of the colony. Its adaptability and toughness are astounding, having earned the species a large degree of respect in the larger Covenant Empire.

They Form Attachments

As mindless they may seem, Lekgolo are surprisingly deep thinkers and they form incredibly close emotional and familial ties with other Lekgolo in their colony. If one Hunter witnesses the demise of another from the same colony, or a “Bond Brother,” they will go into an 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:unstoppable rage, smashing and blasting everything and everyone within range.

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This deep tie is down to the fast reproduction cycles of the Lekgolo, with multiple Hunter groups oft🅺en comprising of one single colony of worms that are all genetically related. After a time these then split off to create another Hunter, or a “Bond Brother,” increasing the size of the Colony further. Hunters that are related are often found near or next to each other and have distinct spiked ridges on their armo🍒r.

Equipment

What makes Hunters such a massive threat in the Halo Universe is not just their gigantic stature, it’s their weaponry. Alongside being encased in thick armor plating that can shrug offꩲ anything that isn’t armor-piercing or explosive tipped, 🎃they also wield some massive guns of their own.

Most Hunters can be found hefting Fuel Rod cannons and other heavy weapons like lightweight toys before they carpet bomb their targets. To keep them safe they also have the ultimate defense — a huge shield that weighs two tons and is composed of a super-dense material similar to that of a Covenant starship's hull. So if you only have a pl൲asma pistol in your pocket when you see them coming, run.

How Did They Join The Covenant?

Like most races that form the Covenant, they weren’t initially there by choice. This species was discovered on its homeworld of Te by everyone's favorite spacefaring zealots when they tried to strip mine the Mgalekgolo homeworld for its riches.

Not being particularly fond of that idea, these creatures used the rocks and stones of their home planet as their armor and weapons, shrugging off intense energy beams and superheated plasma bursts to break through the early Covenant lines with ease. It all seemed to be going poorly the Covenant until they decided to glass the planet from orbit. With nothing to counter these de﷽vastating attacks, the Lekgolo finally had to submit to them or be annihilated.

Post-Great Schism

The civil war that fractured the once-great Covenant Empire was something that affected all of the species wiౠthin it. In the case of the Hunters, it pretty much broke them right down the middle, with one half join꧋ing separatist groups while the other half stayed with what remained of the Covenant.

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Now, these large beasts can be found almost anywhere in the galaxy fighting for any cause, as is the case of those found alongside The Banished and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Harbinger. Or as seen in Nightfall, they can exist happily on their own as vast colonies of Lekgolo in the most inhospitable of environments. It’s an incredibly resili♔ent species that, if ever developed into a fully organized force of its own, could put the galaxy at extreme risk.

Notable Hunters

As common as this race has become on the battlefields of far-off planets and Forerunner bases like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Zeta Halo, there are a few that have made themselves distinct from the Lekgolo collective swarm. These notable Hunters are found only briefly in certain Halo games, here’s who they are and where they’re encountered🥂.

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