Forums / Community / Halo Universe

Master Chief's replacement

OP LoneWolf4285

OP 11/8/2019

LoneWolf4285

Marine - Bronze

I know that Master Chief being replaced as the main character in the franchise has been a hot topic ever since H5 tried to push Locke into the role, but I think there is an established spartan that would make a good fit: Spartan Jerome.

I loved him in HW2 and I think he has that same kind of aura that the Chief had in the original trilogy. I also think his armor design looks awesome. Let me know what you guys think about him.

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11/8/2019

ManiacalSpark

Marine - Onyx

Halo Wars isn't as well known. You have to think of what they have to do in regards to catering towards the larger percentage of customers. The people on forums? We're the minority, we're the people they know love the series just as much as they do (in 343i's case, pretty sure we actually love it more than them) but we don't bring in the money.

Halo Wars 2 didn't do well, and Halo Wars 1 was ten years ago, which is basically a million years in Internet time. Given that traditional RTS games themselves have largely died, the genre isn't that popular, so thus lower sales.

Same goes with the books. That's why 343i is trying to 'simplify' the story for Infinite and make it more like 'Classic' Halo. They don't want to lean on external media because it's pretty clear that the target audience, the everyday Joe Gamer, isn't buying or reading that stuff. All they want is to rush through a campaign then spend the rest of their time on multiplayer.

SO, to answer your question.

It'll probably be Locke, if they don't kill him off in Infinite. He's a familiar face to Joe Gamer, he's marketable, even if the fanbase doesn't like him. The only other Spartan that ever had traction and allowed us to play as them was Noble 6. Everyone wants to be 6 or Chief, no one wants to play as bLue Team or the Three Stooges. And 6 is dead and Chief will eventually be replaced and Halo Wars and it's characters are so far removed from the wider everything else as to be irrelevant, so it'll be Locke.

Frankly, I'd rather they just shut the franchise down after Infinite. 343i has no idea what they're doing storywise and Halo's original gameplay, what made it popular, is practically antique at this point. The only other choices are to mimic CoD/BF or (shudder) Fortnite. Halo had it's time in the sun and it should have ended with Halo 3, ODST and Reach.

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OP 11/8/2019

LoneWolf4285

Marine - Bronze

ManiacalSpark wrote:
Halo Wars isn't as well known. You have to think of what they have to do in regards to catering towards the larger percentage of customers. The people on forums? We're the minority, we're the people they know love the series just as much as they do (in 343i's case, pretty sure we actually love it more than them) but we don't bring in the money.

Halo Wars 2 didn't do well, and Halo Wars 1 was ten years ago, which is basically a million years in Internet time. Given that traditional RTS games themselves have largely died, the genre isn't that popular, so thus lower sales.

Same goes with the books. That's why 343i is trying to 'simplify' the story for Infinite and make it more like 'Classic' Halo. They don't want to lean on external media because it's pretty clear that the target audience, the everyday Joe Gamer, isn't buying or reading that stuff. All they want is to rush through a campaign then spend the rest of their time on multiplayer.

SO, to answer your question.

It'll probably be Locke, if they don't kill him off in Infinite. He's a familiar face to Joe Gamer, he's marketable, even if the fanbase doesn't like him. The only other Spartan that ever had traction and allowed us to play as them was Noble 6. Everyone wants to be 6 or Chief, no one wants to play as bLue Team or the Three Stooges. And 6 is dead and Chief will eventually be replaced and Halo Wars and it's characters are so far removed from the wider everything else as to be irrelevant, so it'll be Locke.

Frankly, I'd rather they just shut the franchise down after Infinite. 343i has no idea what they're doing storywise and Halo's original gameplay, what made it popular, is practically antique at this point. The only other choices are to mimic CoD/BF or (shudder) Fortnite. Halo had it's time in the sun and it should have ended with Halo 3, ODST and Reach.

I feel like going with Locke isn't an option at this point. They've already written Buck off Fireteam Osiris with Bad Blood so now it's just Locke, Tanaka and Vale. Getting Jerome into the mainline games is just a matter of bringing Chief to the Ark at this point. Plus, Atriox is pretty much the substitute for the Covenant so it makes sense. The legendary endings for HW2 and H5 already show that Cortana is going after the rings and since Anders is on one of them that means there will be a small thread connecting the storylines.

While Locke may be easier to market, he's not a hit like MC (H5's sales show that). I think going with Jerome would be easier since his armor design resembles Chief's more and he carries himself more like Chief did in the original trilogy. Idk, just my two cents.

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11/9/2019

LovingGuardians

Recruit - Bronze

It would be nice if they made it jerome rather than locke but who knows, time will tell. All we can do is hope as it gets closer to the next part of halo be released. I dont forsee halo going far when they no longer have Chief as the main character as he's been the primary icon since the start but having another SII in his place would be better than an SIV i think.

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11/10/2019

JNDreher

ODST - Iron

Reach, ODST, and the two Halo Wars games show that we're fine with other characters being in the spotlight.
That said, this starkly different from having a character be "Master Chief's replacement".
Sure, give Jerome, Locke or any other compelling character their own series of games. It's cool, right up until someone decides "this character is the new face of the franchise, and fans should like him/her the same way they liked the Master Chief".

I'm convinced, if Locke hadn't been presented as Master Chief's replacement, he would have been much better received by the fan base.

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11/10/2019

Happy Place8166

ODST - Onyx

JNDreher wrote:
Reach, ODST, and the two Halo Wars games show that we're fine with other characters being in the spotlight.
That said, this starkly different from having a character be "Master Chief's replacement".
Sure, give Jerome, Locke or any other compelling character their own series of games. It's cool, right up until someone decides "this character is the new face of the franchise, and fans should like him/her the same way they liked the Master Chief".

I'm convinced, if Locke hadn't been presented as Master Chief's replacement, he would have been much better received by the fan base.

There's definitely a vast difference between "here's a new protagonist to try out for a game or two" and "here's the new Chief". Like if H5 Guardians was called "Halo: Guardians" and was marketed as a spin off game focusing on a new character, people probably would have liked it a lot more. Spin offs get to be weird and different without upsetting the fan base too much in the long run. Reach was a bit weird and different when it came out, same with ODST, but both games are massively popular within the community.

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11/10/2019

JNDreher

ODST - Iron

Happy Place8166 wrote:
JNDreher wrote:
Reach, ODST, and the two Halo Wars games show that we're fine with other characters being in the spotlight.
That said, this starkly different from having a character be "Master Chief's replacement".
Sure, give Jerome, Locke or any other compelling character their own series of games. It's cool, right up until someone decides "this character is the new face of the franchise, and fans should like him/her the same way they liked the Master Chief".

I'm convinced, if Locke hadn't been presented as Master Chief's replacement, he would have been much better received by the fan base.
There's definitely a vast difference between "here's a new protagonist to try out for a game or two" and "here's the new Chief". Like if H5 Guardians was called "Halo: Guardians" and was marketed as a spin off game focusing on a new character, people probably would have liked it a lot more. Spin offs get to be weird and different without upsetting the fan base too much in the long run. Reach was a bit weird and different when it came out, same with ODST, but both games are massively popular within the community.

Exactly. Locke could carry his own game. The problem was the marketing, and his debut game being one that should have focused on Master Chief much more, so the fans rejected the new character attempting to try on Master Chief's boots.
And like Halo Wars, a Locke-centric game not being in the main numbered line wouldn't prevent it from having sequels and being its own expansive story that fits into the larger narrative.

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OP 11/10/2019

LoneWolf4285

Marine - Bronze

JNDreher wrote:
Reach, ODST, and the two Halo Wars games show that we're fine with other characters being in the spotlight.
That said, this starkly different from having a character be "Master Chief's replacement".
Sure, give Jerome, Locke or any other compelling character their own series of games. It's cool, right up until someone decides "this character is the new face of the franchise, and fans should like him/her the same way they liked the Master Chief".

I'm convinced, if Locke hadn't been presented as Master Chief's replacement, he would have been much better received by the fan base.

Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not saying that Master Chief should be written out immediately after Infinite drops, I'm just saying that Steve Downes will eventually want to retire the role. When that happens, I feel like the only logical thing to do will be to retire Chief as a character in the franchise (that or end the franchise entirely, but I doubt Microsoft will do that). If Chief continues with a new voice actor then this is a moot point, but if he HAS to be replaced by somebody I'd think Jerome would be a good substitute.

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11/10/2019

JNDreher

ODST - Iron

LoneWolf4285 wrote:
JNDreher wrote:
Reach, ODST, and the two Halo Wars games show that we're fine with other characters being in the spotlight.
That said, this starkly different from having a character be "Master Chief's replacement".
Sure, give Jerome, Locke or any other compelling character their own series of games. It's cool, right up until someone decides "this character is the new face of the franchise, and fans should like him/her the same way they liked the Master Chief".

I'm convinced, if Locke hadn't been presented as Master Chief's replacement, he would have been much better received by the fan base.
Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not saying that Master Chief should be written out immediately after Infinite drops, I'm just saying that Steve Downes will eventually want to retire the role. When that happens, I feel like the only logical thing to do will be to retire Chief as a character in the franchise (that or end the franchise entirely, but I doubt Microsoft will do that). If Chief continues with a new voice actor then this is a moot point, but if he HAS to be replaced by somebody I'd think Jerome would be a good substitute.

I understand what you're saying. My point was that other characters can head their own sets of games, but that at this point in time, no-one else can fill Master Chief's shoes. If Master Chief retires/resigns (which could happen as he deals with having had to kill Cortana to save the galaxy from her), I think it would be best for the Halo franchise to not attempt to elevate someone else to be the new face of the franchise. Let individual games feature their own main characters, but have the "face of the franchise" be a Halo itself.
That's my opinion on the topic.

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11/10/2019

Happy Place8166

ODST - Onyx

JNDreher wrote:
LoneWolf4285 wrote:
JNDreher wrote:
Reach, ODST, and the two Halo Wars games show that we're fine with other characters being in the spotlight.
That said, this starkly different from having a character be "Master Chief's replacement".
Sure, give Jerome, Locke or any other compelling character their own series of games. It's cool, right up until someone decides "this character is the new face of the franchise, and fans should like him/her the same way they liked the Master Chief".

I'm convinced, if Locke hadn't been presented as Master Chief's replacement, he would have been much better received by the fan base.
Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not saying that Master Chief should be written out immediately after Infinite drops, I'm just saying that Steve Downes will eventually want to retire the role. When that happens, I feel like the only logical thing to do will be to retire Chief as a character in the franchise (that or end the franchise entirely, but I doubt Microsoft will do that). If Chief continues with a new voice actor then this is a moot point, but if he HAS to be replaced by somebody I'd think Jerome would be a good substitute.
I understand what you're saying. My point was that other characters can head their own sets of games, but that at this point in time, no-one else can fill Master Chief's shoes. If Master Chief retires/resigns (which could happen as he deals with having had to kill Cortana to save the galaxy from her), I think it would be best for the Halo franchise to not attempt to elevate someone else to be the new face of the franchise. Let individual games feature their own main characters, but have the "face of the franchise" be a Halo itself.
That's my opinion on the topic.

I think you make a fair point that perhaps the answer to this age old question of who will take over after Chief is, in fact, no one. Seriously it makes sense, and I can get behind that idea.

My concern though is that we humans are social creatures. We gravitate toward other people more so than things or ideas. That's why charismatic and confident people tend to be our elected officials. Someone else might have had the same idea, but the charismatic person motivated us to believe said idea. So putting a face on any franchise can be very important. I just hope one of two things happens: either the franchise comes to a satisfying close before that point, or a viable substitute for Chief is found.

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11/19/2019

MrDeath130

Marine - Iron

I think if they push a new protagonist, they have to change the context of the games to a great detail. Maybe a time jump forward, or have it be a character who is different enough from Chief to feel fresh.

I think Halo 4 was a great opportunity to do this by having a new Spartan discover the Forward Unto Dawn on Requiem and then bring Chief out of Cryo.

Obviously it would have been a completely different story than we got and I did love Halo 4. Or maybe have a protagonist that you play as during the Human-Covenant War and they go into Cryo, only to be revived far into the future. Locke was too closely intertwined with Chief's goals in Halo 5 that it was hard to "root" for him when he was trying to stop our favorite Green Spartan II

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11/21/2019

King slayer7553

Marine - Silver

Hopefully they don't replace Chief at all since Halo would really not be Halo without him.

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11/21/2019

Specter Lives

Marine - Gold

As far as creating a new 'Main Character' in the mainline Halo games. I'd prefer something like Reach where it's your character who you play as through the game as your Spartan.

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