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Does anyone else notice a resemblance between the Covenant from Halo and the Tau. The Ethereals look just like the Prophets (although in my opinion the Covenant are more badass than Tau).

Maybe by a longshot, though I doubt the Tau are as physcially strong as the Covenant, and perhaps a whole lot nicer too. I mean, the Tau would try to recruit the humans as auxilaries, not just fight beside them.

It's not just the resemblance between Prophets and Ethereals, the ideology is similar. The way they support and espouse the Greater Good is similar to the Covenant (although the same could be said of more fanatical Imperials). Another similarity is what happens when a Prophet is killed. Isn't that what happens when an Ehereal is killed?

The Tau remind me more of the UNSC.

No. The similarities end at "Aliens with pew pew guns" and the fact that both armies represent a few races banded together. I guess Ethereals have a similar role to the prophets but that's pretty boilerplate sci fi stuff.

The only ethereal that looks like a Prophet is the space pope in his floaty chair.

Most Ethereals are trucking around on foot, which the Prophets can't do.

Ascalam wrote:The only ethereal that looks like a Prophet is the space pope in his floaty chair.

Most Ethereals are trucking around on foot, which the Prophets can't do.

Hey hey........................................ Truth did in 3 after he shot Miranda.

I'm really not seeing this.

I don't see it at all.

Did you know that anything can be like anything else? 40k has aliens, star wars has aliens, OMGZ.

If you're looking for something, you will often find it. Golden rule.

To be fair the covenant could be compared to the imperium of man as they both use old technology they don't understand and aren't in the manner of advancing technology much.

HONAW wrote:

Ascalam wrote:The only ethereal that looks like a Prophet is the space pope in his floaty chair.

Most Ethereals are trucking around on foot, which the Prophets can't do.

Hey hey........................................ Truth did in 3 after he shot Miranda.

True nuff, i suppose, though he wasn't so much trucking as old-geezer walking . Wasn't he a bit Flood infected at the time and being used as a puppet, though


Brute-led Covenant would be better represented by Orks, i think. with Nobz/Warbosses as the brutes, boyz as jackals etc and grots as grunts. Doesn't really fit, but the grots and grunts share the same 'oh scrud, they shot leader! ' mentality Brute tech also looks and feels orky


Eldar might fit better for Covenant playstyle, though again it doesn't quite fit

Aesthetically the tau have a vague similarity in looks to some covenant geat, in that it's smooth and curvy rather than the angular and blocky look human tech usually has. The Pelicans are smooth and curvy looking though.

*shrug*


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Sonyca wrote:To be fair the covenant could be compared to the imperium of man as they both use old technology they don't understand and aren't in the manner of advancing technology much.

Sort of.

The Covenant retroengineered Forerunner tech to their own designs IIRC. They were said to be good at it in the first game, and their stuff doesn't look Forerunner. It's based on the same technology, but applied differently.

The IOM just slavishly copies the blueprints from yesteryear, and considers innovation to be heresy, even if it would make the device work better. Very occasionally (when GW has a new model to flog) they will come up with something 'new' that's usually just a variant of something they already have with a different gun bolted to it.

Ascalam wrote:

HONAW wrote:

Ascalam wrote:The only ethereal that looks like a Prophet is the space pope in his floaty chair.

Most Ethereals are trucking around on foot, which the Prophets can't do.

Hey hey........................................ Truth did in 3 after he shot Miranda.

True nuff, i suppose, though he wasn't so much trucking as old-geezer walking . Wasn't he a bit Flood infected at the time and being used as a puppet, though


Brute-led Covenant would be better represented by Orks, i think. with Nobz/Warbosses as the brutes, boyz as jackals etc and grots as grunts. Doesn't really fit, but the grots and grunts share the same 'oh scrud, they shot leader! ' mentality Brute tech also looks and feels orky


Eldar might fit better for Covenant playstyle, though again it doesn't quite fit

Aesthetically the tau have a vague similarity in looks to some covenant geat, in that it's smooth and curvy rather than the angular and blocky look human tech usually has. The Pelicans are smooth and curvy looking though.

*shrug*


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Sonyca wrote:To be fair the covenant could be compared to the imperium of man as they both use old technology they don't understand and aren't in the manner of advancing technology much.

Sort of.

The Covenant retroengineered Forerunner tech to their own designs IIRC. They were said to be good at it in the first game, and their stuff doesn't look Forerunner. It's based on the same technology, but applied differently.

The IOM just slavishly copies the blueprints from yesteryear, and considers innovation to be heresy, even if it would make the device work better. Very occasionally (when GW has a new model to flog) they will come up with something 'new' that's usually just a variant of something they already have with a different gun bolted to it.

I was more going for the fact that the covenant doesn't really understand how to use their own technology very well (in halo:first strike cortana manages to increase the power of covenant plasma tech by a hell of a lot in a matter of hours) and therefore don't truly understand how it works. Therefore if they don't know how it works they can't advance it really.

Not run across Halo First Strike yet

I was going off the comments in Halo 1 and 2 about how they managed to impressively retroengineer forerunner tech

*shrugs*

They can at least redesign the stuff, and innovate uses for it, rather than following a set of antique blueprints slavishly.

I'd say they are better off that way than the Ad Mech. They can't make stuff of the same awesome tech level as forerunner stuff, but at least they can innovate with the tech, even if their tech base is lower (it's still ahead of the humans).

Also IIRC Cortana is supposed to be unusual as AI's go, smartswise. I've not read the books, or played outside of Halo 1,2,and 3, so i'm no lore guru for that universe

The Tau and the Covenant have -some- similarities in terms of their hierarchy, but ideologically they cannot be more different. The Covenant is more akin to the Imperium of Man than the Tau in that regard. The Prophets interpret what they believed the Forerunners intended and spread the word around to the lower castes. In fact, it was stated to the Prophet of Truth himself that the humans are the inheritors of the Forerunners, and are in all intents and purposes the descendants of them. He then declared a Holy War on the humans so the truth that the "Great Journey" may not save all wouldn't escape. In addition, each caste isn't treated equally. Grunts are treated like dogs, and Jackals aren't treated all that much better. In fact, Grunts are uneducated slaves for the most part. They do not willingly associate with the Covenant. Prophets also do not want what's best for their allies and people, they want what's best for their own power. The Tau want to fight for the "greater good", and I believe they are atheists. The Covenant isn't nearly as unified and is religiously dogmatic to the extreme. Hence the name "The Covenant".

In regards to how they handle tech, the AdMech is the best analogue. All Covenant tech is based on the Forerunners, and any improvements considered would be thought of as heresy since it casts doubt on the fact that the Forerunners were perfect. It is the reason why Elite armor doesn't have shields like the MJOLNIR armor 's. They also worship technology as much as the Forerunners. Halo itself was worshiped. It was called the "Sacred Ring". 343 Guilty Spark, and all monitors, were called "Oracles" due to their association with the Holy Rings and the Forerunners. The whole Covennat was begun due to their worship of the Forerunner tech. The AdMech's "habit" of venturing into Necron tomb worlds and awakening the Necrons inadvertently is akin to the reason why the Flood was released in Halo: Combat Evolved. Guilty Spark complained several times during the "Library" about how the Covenant constantly probed and intrusively searched Halo for Forerunner tech. The reason why the Imperium has WW1 tanks and the Covenant has Plasma weaponry out the waazoo and hover tech on every vehicle is because they copied vastly different sources. The STC can at most build massive weapons and vehicles. The Forerunners built worlds.

TL;DR: The Covenant is a mix of 10% Tau and 90% IOM.