Feminist Analysis of Halo: Combat Evolved

(I wrote this specifically for a Going Rampant video)

The Xbox first-person-shooter Halo: Combat Evolved, made by Bungie Studios, became one of the most popular American games after its release in 2001 and spawned the long-running Halo franchise. A revamped version of the game will be released this November, what we all recognize as a desperate grab for cash but what Halo fans will get anyway because we’re just that geeky. While the success of the franchise encouraged Bungie to appeal to women in later games, the first one was centered on the generic male market with a lot of homages to their mostly male established fanbase. Even though this is the future where all the countries have combined, it looks pretty much like modern day America in space.

Examination of Female Characters - Part 3 (Halo)

(Crossposted from Halopedia)

Continuing my examination of the female Halo characters (parts one and two can be found here and here), I will now focus on the short stories featured in Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe. I had intended for part three to focus on the original Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach, but I just (finally) picked up Evolutions to read on my spring break vacation to Mexico. With the stories fresh in my brain, this seems the best piece of literature to use. Part three will cover stories from Pariah to The Mona Lisa. To reiterate, this article series is to answer whether or not Halo is sexist, and comments like “I think the female characters are hot!” are inappropriate.

Introductory Post

Because these things should have an introduction:

Hi, I'm Dragonclaws. I’m an adult teenager living in the state of Washington, United States. I could be aptly described as a computer geek, and I currently have a little obsession with the video game series Halo. I write fanfiction, which I post at fanfiction.net, and currently struggle with a few original story ideas. I am philosophically an atheist, generally anarcho-capitalist, and transhumanist. I have a few weird mental conditions including Asperger syndrome, synesthesia, and a somewhat positive perception of pain (masochism? *shrugs*).

The blog’s title “Going Rampant” refers to a concept in the Halo story in which the mind of a smart AI (an AI capable of expanding its mind) expands to the point at which it is able to ignore the confines of its programming and do whatever it wants. As can be imagined, the military does not want this happening under any circumstances and has all applicable AIs killed after a seven year span of life to prevent the onset of Rampancy. Rampant AIs are not all dangerous, though, as Rampancy only means that they can’t be coerced to obey orders, thus making Rampancy more of a coming-of-age event in which an AI chooses who it wants to be. 

I like writing articles about Halo, which I’ll often post at Halopedia. I like to dwell on little philosophic points people often overlook. For this reason, “Going Rampant” seems like a nice description of the kind of things I plan to write about here, expanding viewpoints and all. It also has a rather defiant sound to it that is agreeable. What can I say? I’m a rebel at heart.

I thought I’d start this blog basically because I enjoy writing the kind of articles I post at Halopedia and wanted to expand outward from just Halo writing. Who knows if this blog will pan out, but I’d say it’s worth a shot.