John-A222 is often perceived to be the face of the Trost company of Spartans, due to his rank of Commander.
Spartans or SPARTAN Programs are members of a series of United Nations Space Command projects designed to create physically, genetically, technologically, and mentally superior supersoldiers as special fighting units. Although the word "SPARTAN" is written in all capital letters when used in reference to the programs in a formal context, it is not an acronym; the supersoldiers are known simply as "Spartans".
The first major effort to create augmented supersoldiers was the ORION Project, later retroactively dubbed "SPARTAN-I", which used operatives drafted from the UNSC. The subsequent programs, SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III, were highly successful, but also controversial because of their dubious ethics concerning the use children as candidates, particularly in the Spartan-II program where risk of injury or death in the augmentation procedures was relatively high. The latest installment, SPARTAN-IV, returned to the idea's roots by using consenting adult volunteers primarily drawn from the various special forces units of the UNSC. While formerly serving within the various conventional military branches of the UNSC (mainly the Navy), the Spartans were brought under a single organization with the formation of the military branch known as Spartan Operations to accommodate the growing number of Spartans in the fourth-generation program following the end of the Human-Covenant War.
The Spartan supersoldiers have traditionally been supplied with state-of-the-art equipment and technology, the most iconic being the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor first worn by the Spartan-IIs and later utilized to a great extent by the SPARTAN-IV supersoldiers.
Characters marked with a † are not a part of the mainline canon, and may be a part of an alternate universe setting or are non-canonical. Typically these characters appeared in XCOM Trost.
Background[]
The idea of a genetically modified super-soldier has been around much longer than many would think. However, the SPARTANs were the most successful idea of this sort.
ORION[]
ORION was an idea very similar to the SPARTAN project, and was later referred to as the SPARTAN-I program. Consenting volunteers were augmented and made physically superior to unaugmented soldiers. The project was launched in 2331, and shut down in 2506. 300 soldiers were augmented during the project's lifetime. After the project was shut down, all members of the ORION Program were sent back into regular service.
SPARTAN-II Program[]
After the failure of ORION, Insurrection activity grew in power. In 2517, ONI began to realize they needed to eliminate the rebellion immediately. In 2525, ONI special project division member Catherine Halsey started the SPARTAN-II program. The project's main goal was to minimize civilian casualties and prevent a war. 300 children were taken from their homes against their will, and replaced with flash clones that were engineered to die quickly. The children were trained vigorously, and genetically augmented. Many of the trainees were killed or crippled by the training and augmentations.
Known SPARTAN-IIs[]
- John-117
- Kelly-087
- Frederic-104
- Linda-058
- Jack-082
- Chad-119
- Talia-118
- Jai-006
SPARTAN-III Program[]
The SPARTAN-III Program was the successor to the SPARTAN-II program, and a way to supplement their numbers. Unlike the SPARTAN-II's, however, the SPARTAN-III's were used as a method to buy time while fighting the Covenant, and were much less expensive to train and augment. SPARTAN-IIIs, as a result of their main purpose as cannon fodder, are uncommon to see. However, due to their numbers, they are much more common that SPARTAN-IIs. Unlike the Twos, the Threes were created by Colonel James Ackerson, and were mainly orphans from fallen colonies.
Known Spartan-IIIs[]
- John-A222
- Andrew-G199
- James-G238
- Spartan-B312
- Lynnette-A043
- Dyers-G042
- Augustus-G342†
- Seras-B202
SPARTAN-IV Program[]
The SPARTAN-IV Program, as its name suggests, is the fourth generation of the SPARTAN programs. As of now, the SPARTAN-IV Program is the only SPARTAN program still active. Unlike the SPARTAN-IIs and IIIs, the IV's are consenting adults, similar to the ORION Project. If one is selected, they may accept or decline the offer. Surviving IIs and IIIs were also given the option to become a IVs. The SPARTAN-IV program was the only program to be public from the start, and was not a secret to anyone. The IVs train in simulated "War Games," where they may be thrown into combat against each other or against simulated enemies, or both, which is the case in the newer simulation known as "Warzone."
Known Spartan-IVs[]
- Marc D. Bedragare
- Miranda Rower
- David Li
- Alex Shepard
- Xray
- Joseph Murdoc
- Sam Caster
- Jesse Thermer
- Felix Haul
- Azubuike Enitan
- John Hill
- Kyle Cage
- Ashley Glass
- Johnathan Andrews
- Austin Birch
- Anthony Mendez
- Robert Jameson
- Brandon King
- John Fusion
- Jacob Gray
- Valerie Rogers
- Josh Jones†
- Sophie Matthias
- Alexander Meyer
- Alexander Charleston
- Sean Moorland
- Ivan Sinitsin
- Sarah Roberts
- Katheryn Jarvace†
- Anos Gulvinesh†
- Athena McKnight
SPARTANs in Reborn[]
The following SPARTANs are the Spartans that appear in the Halo Universe Reborn setting, which is an alternate setting from the original HURP timeline.