Memes are a powerful cultural tool that binds communities together, and the memes of the Halo community are no different. Whether they make references to the games’ exciting campaigns or intensely competitive multiplayer, no subject is safe and no one would have it any other way.
With Halo Infinite set to release at some point this year in 2021, it would be amusing to take a look back at the series, all the highs, and the lows, through the eyes of creative fans who love the series. Here are ten memes that should appeal to all fans, from the longtime veterans to the newest rookies:
10 Halo 3 Escape
To begin, a meme about an ending. Specifically the ending of Halo 3. Harry Potter and Ron Weasely’s iconic screaming scene as they are almost hit by the Hogwarts Express serves as an amusing analog to Master Chief and Arbiter’s own daring escape from Installation 00. Many Halo fans consider Halo 3 to be their favorite in the franchise, especially for what was supposed to be the grand conclusion at the time. The intensity, the music, the direness of the situation from a story perspective; many fans recognize it and this meme capitalizes on it well.
9 Halo Revelation
Delving into a more recent meme, Halo’s space-faring future makes it the perfect key ingredient to be used in an “Always Has Been” meme. The appeal of this particular example comes from its simultaneous qualities of being both ludicrous and accurate at the same time. This meme’s strength also stems from how important its reference is to Halo itself. When Combat Evolved first released in 2001, no one had any idea that the ringworld of Halo was a superweapon. It was a fantastic shock and if Guilty Spark actually had possessed a bipedal body, this scene might have been a reality rather than a meme.
8 Strong Silent Type
While a slightly aged template now, the message conveyed by this meme is completely correct. While Master Chief is by no means an empty vehicle that players use to shoot their way through the galaxy, it can certainly be argued, especially early in the series’s history, that he lacked a stand-out personality.
That is not the case now, given the progression of the games and the many lore books that have been written surrounding the figure of John-117. However, anytime the mainline Halo games have tried a new protagonist, they have certainly gone for the “men of few words” approach. Or as shown by the meme in the case of the Rookie, “no words at all”.
7 ONI vs Santa?
Not veering too far from Halo 3: ODST, this meme’s creator decided to evoke the “Epic Handshake” meme popularized by the Predator film of 1987 in this screenshot of characters Mickey and Dutch greeting each other. The actual text of the meme is quite creative as well. This meme may only really appeal to fans who pay close enough attention to the story, so for those that are not aware, ONI (The Office of Naval Intelligence) is the branch of the military responsible for creating the Master Chief. Unfortunately, the way they did this was by kidnapping children around the galaxy and replacing them with clones designed to die only a short time later. So yes, just like when Santa visits.
6 Nostalgia
For those with a love for Pixar films, Halo’s use in this Ratatouille meme is sublime. Many fans echoed the sentiment on display here when the cover art for Halo Infinite was revealed. It is heavily evocative of Combat Evolved‘s original cover art, and as a result, reception of a lot of positive praise from longtime fans. The nostalgia was palpable and many still hope that Infinite will be able to capture the old glory and bring Halo back in a direction that will make it a juggernaut once again.
5 Halo Experts
A comical if not inflammatory meme, many such templates exist that seek to be self-reflections or even attacks on certain communities. The Halo community, especially more hardcore fans, has come under fire the last handful of years or so with the release of 343’s line of Halo games. Specifically Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians.
The meme’s jab strikes at disheartened fans who are not happy with some, if not all, of 343’s direction/choices for the franchise. Some more outspoken players may even take to doing their own research and once the superficial level of knowledge is acquired, publicly declare that they possess the information needed to “save Halo”.
4 Eyes Up Marines
A classic debacle for many a Halo player, the pain of this meme’s truth is felt throughout the community. Marines are the extra bit of spice to any Halo level lucky enough to have them. They are funny, authentic, and useful sometimes! But “sometimes” is used only sparingly or even not at all if some fans were to be asked. With that being said, many players can relate to the idea of trying to keep just one of these weaker allies alive all the way to the end of a mission. So when said guarded marine is lost in the final moments, the frustration and disappointment felt probably left many players adopting the same pose as the spartan above.
3 343/Community Shade
Returning to the ever-growing narrative of the animosity that has existed between 343 and the Halo community, this meme adopts one of the Arbiter’s most famous lines in order to describe the difficulty of trying to appease a collective of fans who have so much passion and love for their adopted series, and who lash out when anything new in that continuum does not go the way they hoped. The general poses of both the Arbiter and Lord Hood add an additional layer of movement that gives more breadth to the humor. “Were it so easy”, indeed.
2 Getting Back Out There
A more original meme and the only one that discusses the multiplayer of Halo exclusively, fans who have ever taken a hiatus from the popular shooter series only to return and be metaphorically curb-stomped by the opposing team have experienced the mood of this meme to a “t”. Halo, like any other successful video game, does have a group of fans who exclusively play just that series’s games. Sometimes even just one game out of the series! Woe and beware to any gamer who encounters an opposing veteran Halo player who has played a match every day for the last decade or more. Their skills know few rivals and the definition of mercy was erased from their minds long ago. At least, that’s what it will feel like at the moment.
1 Last Online
Spartan Jorge-052 was one of the more beloved characters to come out of Halo: Reach and this admiration would be forever cemented due to his selfless sacrifice in the campaign. This meme captures that scene and attempts to draw comparisons with it being as dramatic as a particular scenario that those who have played video games for years would probably be able to empathize with. This scenario is when one plays with a friend, business as usual, and then after signing off, the friend one played with, for whatever reason, never comes back online. It is a sad tale, but overall for most people, a minor blip in the story we call life. Comparing it to Jorge’s sacrifice in Reach is comedy gold due to the unlikely possibility, that they do in fact, share the same energy.
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