There are few modern FPS franchises that have more iconic characters than Halo's Spartan super-soldiers. First appearing in the form of John 117, the Master Chief himself, in Halo: Combat Evolved, these power armor-clad warriors have appeared in almost every Halo property since the franchise's inception. Pick a Halo game, any Halo game, and chances are you will be placed in the shoes of one of these superhuman defenders of humanity.
Despite there not being many Spartans alive in-universe (according to supplementary material, 75 Spartan-IIs exist, but only half of them were deemed fit for active duty), there is still a fair amount of Spartans present as major characters in the games, as well as in the various tie-in novels, animations, comic books and TV shows that make up the Halo franchise. But despite their status as being the best of the best, there are some who just happen to stand out more.
Updated May 30, 2022 By Ben Jessey: Much of the Halo series revolves around Master Chief as he serves as the main protagonist for many of the games. He even has the leading role in the recent streaming series on Paramount+. Yet, he's not the only Spartan in Halo.
If you count everyone from the games, novels, comics, streaming series, animated series, and everything else Halo-related, there are plenty of Spartans in the franchise. The best seven made it into the original version of this list. But a few heavy hitters missed out, so we've updated the piece and included them.
10/10 Frederic-104
Most of Frederic's appearances in the series have come outside of the games. However, he did feature in Halo 5: Guardians. From the video game alone, it's hard to decipher the guy's abilities. But other Halo materials prove that he is an exceptional soldier.
He was a part of the Spartan-II program with the Master Chief. The two actually have a lot of similarities when it comes to their abilities. Both are well-rounded combatants with strong leadership qualities. Even the Chief himself said that the reason Fred didn't win the contests the Spartan-IIs had as kids was because he didn't want the attention. So, clearly, the Chief thinks highly of the soldier.
9/10 Linda-058
The Sniper Rifle is one of the most enjoyable weapons to use in the Halo series. And in canon, pretty much nobody wields it as well as Linda. Another member of the Spartan-II program, Linda excels in long-range combat because she has inhuman sniping abilities.
Much of it comes from her incredible vision - she doesn't need a spotter - but also, she has an incredible mentality. The woman never panics or gets distracted. Unfortunately, you don't get to see much of her skills in the games, as she only appears in Halo 5: Guardians. Thankfully, though, she's in a healthy amount of the other material.
8/10 Samuel-034
The story of Samuel is a sad one as he was the first Spartan-II to die during a battle with the Covenant, and he was only 14 when it happened. Therefore, he didn't quite live long enough to fulfill his potential, but he still made an impact at such a young age.
Part of the impact came from the fact he was over seven feet tall and stronger than all of his teammates. He wasn't just a meathead, though. The guy had incredible hearing and vision. Plus, he was an expert at explosives. So, if he had lived longer, the guy would've probably played a large role in the war with the Covenant.
7/10 Edward Malcolm Buck
First introduced in the well-received campaign of Halo 3: ODST as a member of the titular military branch, Edward Malcolm Buck is one of the more popular recurring characters in the Halo series. Voiced by and modeled after actor Nathan Fillion, Buck would appear in several Halo games after his debut, with the chance that he would appear during a specific mission in Halo: Reach as well as an optional commentator for the game's Firefight mode.
During his debut in ODST, he leads a group of soldiers into the city of New Mombasa on a secret mission, where he quickly lived up to his famous reputation; "If he were any better, he'd be a Spartan". This description would prove to be some pretty major foreshadowing; by the time of his next major appearance in Halo 5: Guardians he had since become a Spartan-IV and had joined Fireteam Osiris, where he acted as a voice of reason during their hunt for Master Chief.
6/10 Spartan-1337
In the early 2010s, 343 Industries - the company that became the custodian of the Halo IP when series creator Bungie split from Microsoft - produced a series of short animated films set in the Halo universe. Similar to efforts such as the Animatrix or the more recent Star Wars Visions, the series was animated by various Japanese animation studios and took a looser approach to canon than later entries in the franchise (such as the live-action Halo: Nightfall mini-series). The final episode of the series, "Odd One Out", is exactly that; an odd, lighthearted episode sandwiched in between the otherwise quite serious drama of the other shorts, and stars probably the strangest Spartan in the whole Halo franchise.
Spartan-1337 is probably the clumsiest Spartan-II to come out of the program, and also possesses the worst luck; in fact, he kickstarts the plot of "Odd One Out" by falling out of a transport onto a random, seemingly deserted planet, with events only escalating from there. Despite the adversity that Spartan-1337 faces, from dinosaurs and rogue AI to Covenant superweapons and teenagers who have stepped straight out of Dragon Ball, he never gives up or backs down. This trait is an admirable one to have and combined with 1337's boisterousness, he is a unique presence on the battlefield. Not bad for a character from a non-canon spoof parody of Shonen anime and Halo!
5/10 Kat-B320
Debuting in Halo: Reach alongside the other members of Noble Team, Catherine, or Kat for short, was the team's second in command, as well as their chief technical expert. Fiercely loyal to her team, she initially struggles to open up to the then-new Noble Six at the beginning of Halo: Reach, before becoming one of their closest allies. She participates in several key missions during the fall of Reach, before dying at the hands of a sniper as The Covenant destroyed the city of New Alexandria.
Kat holds the dubious honor of being the first on-screen depiction of a female Spartan in a mainline Halo game. With her bionic arm, wrist computer, and cool armor, she also had arguably the coolest design out of all the members of Noble Team. Combined with her growth throughout the story, and you have one of the more interesting characters in a Halo game. Just don't mention her bad driving; it might be a sore point.
4/10 Jameson Locke
The second main playable character from Halo 5: Guardians, Jameson Locke is the leader of Fireteam Osiris, as well as one of the youngest playable characters in a Halo game. A former freelance assassin turned ONI operative, by the events of Halo 5: Guardians Locke has become a Spartan-IV, and is leading his team on a mission to track down a disappeared Master Chief and Blue Team. Known for his skill and professionalism in the field, Locke would eventually ally with Chief and Blue Team to face the bigger threat of Cortana in a mission to save the galaxy.
As the second primary protagonist of Halo 5: Guardians, Locke offers players an alternative view of the hunt for Master Chief. While John-117 might be the hero of the Halo franchise, Locke still offered players an interesting and distinct alternative in that game.
3/10 Jorge-052
Also known as Noble Five, Jorge was the sole Spartan-II on Noble Team, as well as their heavy weapon specialist. Born on Reach, he was present at the beginning of the Fall of Reach, undertaking several operations as part of Noble Team. Jorge was notable for his kind-hearted personality and was often the one who communicated with either civilians or non-Spartan military personnel.
But his kind-hearted personality would ultimately be his downfall. During the Fall of Reach Jorge and Noble Six are able to make it to a Covenant supercarrier in orbit around the planet. Once there, Jorge detonates a slipspace bomb, sacrificing himself to destroy what he thought was the source of the invasion. A noble sacrifice for a distinctly noble individual.
2/10 Noble Six (Spartan-B312)
The playable character in Halo: Reach, they were present at the Fall of Reach. Despite only being present for one game, Noble Six had a profound impact on the story of Halo, being the one to unite Master Chief and Cortana (admittedly indirectly, but it still counts). His decision to stay and cover the retreat of the Pillar of Autumn is also what allows the duo to escape Reach, and go on to win the war; there is an argument to be made that Noble Six's sacrifice is just as responsible for humanity's victory as John-117's efforts in the main series.
One of the more interesting things about Noble Six is how customizable they were. Aside from being able to choose the character's body type and whether they had a masculine or feminine voice, players could also completely customize their Mjolnir armor, from the visor color to the different armor components to special effects that could envelop the armor in flame or electricity. The fact that this custom appearance appeared in Halo: Reach's cutscenes worked to help endear the character to players; you weren't just seeing a random character face death and destruction, you were seeing your unique character try to fight against the odds.
1/10 Master Chief (John-117)
Who else was going to be the number one choice? The star of the Halo franchise, the playable character in the original Halo trilogy as well as Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo: Infinite, the man in green has seen it all. One of the original Spartan II's, Master Chief was present at both the beginning and the end of the Human/Covenant War, fighting on the side of humanity throughout. He would later go on to protect humanity from the alien organism The Flood, as well as partnering with Covenant Outcasts to stop the Halo array from firing and to end the war with both the Flood and the Covenant.
As the main hero of the Halo franchise, the Master Chief is also one of the most iconic characters in video game history, with a memorable design and brilliant voice performance by voice actor and radio DJ Steve Downes. The face of the Halo franchise, he deserves to go down as one of the video game greats.
