As part of Halo's 25th anniversary celebration, we're inviting Halo fans from around the world to share favorite memories and vote on community polls in our official Halo Discord server. Follow @Halo on social media to join the fun!

As we look back on twenty-five years with our passionate community, we’re selecting a resonant theme from Halo’s timeless chorus to explore each month in community polls, Discord discussions, and video quizzes featuring Halo trivia.

Since January’s theme was “UNSC Heroes,” we asked you to vote on your favorite defenders of humanity and tell us what sets them apart—and you delivered!

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Put your lore knowledge to the test in this month’s video quiz, and don’t forget to join the official Halo Discord server and vote on new monthly community polls all year long!

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In our first Silver Anniversary Discord poll, fans voted on their favorite UNSC heroes from across the Halo franchise. Master Chief John-117, that devilish Demon, came out on top, followed closely on his heroic heels by the stalwart Sergeant (Major) Avery Johnson.

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Securing 27% and 21% of the vote respectively, these decorated soldiers enjoyed roughly equal acclaim among our resident panel of Halo experts (who will no doubt be delighted to see the duo team up again in Halo: Campaign Evolved later this year).

No surprises there! When you weigh out their many contributions in the fight against the Covenant—not to mention their shared knack for lucky escapes—these time-tested warfighters certainly deserve the honor.

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Among other top contenders, a close competition arose between Cortana (13%) and Captain Keyes (9%), with lots of love for UNSC greats such as Fernando Esparza, Chips Dubbo, and Foehammer rounding out the count.

Check out some of our favorite additional shout-outs below, and don’t forget to vote on next month’s poll in the #25th-anniversary-celebration channel on Discord!

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With so many UNSC heroes to choose from, one puny poll cannot sufficiently enumerate their sacrifices, distinctions, and courageous acts.

Fans in our Discord server offered an effusion of support for their most celebrated heroes, along with shout-outs for additional heroes beyond those covered in the top eight choices.

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Commendations were awarded to the intrepid Captain Lasky of the UNSC Infinity, Noble Team (especially our favorite lone wolf, SPARTAN-B312, a.k.a. “Noble Six”), Red Team (Jerome-092, “chairman” of Flood diplomacy, in particular), the ODSTs of Alpha Nine (with fond farewells to our dearly departed Rookie), and even to less widely-known, but no less infectious personalities such as PFC Wallace Jenkins.

Read a selection of great shout-outs from fellow fans below!

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• darealmasterfreak: If someone doesn’t like Johnson, they are NOT invited to my birthday party.
• osky: My “Other” vote is for Noble Six. If he doesn’t get Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn, there is no “Cortana and Master Chief” story. He’s a huge part of the universe!
• Ricky 117: Master Chief is definitely top. Besides him, I feel Miranda Keyes played a huge role at the end of the war, and was ready to sacrifice herself and Johnson to save the galaxy.
• Master Chef#5952: Sergeant Stacker! He may not be as legendary as Johnson, but he certainly deserves a spot in the poll.
• otto.2967: It is the man, the myth, the legend, Chips "The Flood Hunter" Dubbo all the way. The only reason he wasn't offered a position as a Spartan-IV was because the UNSC knew he'd be too powerful. (Editor’s note: big if true.)
• ChaosSpartan275: Jerome-092, because he is the true successor to the Master Chief!
• KingObsid1an: 10,000% Lasky in the Hall of Heroes. My man is an icon.
• Kamron: A second choice that’s very close to my boy Johnson is Red Team, the coolest Spartans, but in all honesty the entire Spirit of Fire crew is the definition of the Indomitable Human Spirit.
• KazooMan: I think everyone has mentioned some awesome characters, but I'm gonna raise you all with one of my favorite heroes in the entire series, Lucas Browning. What that man went through, just to buy the boat crew some time? All the pain and suffering he put up with just for the events of Edge of Dawn to happen? I won't say much more because I don't want to spoil our most recent book, but it touched me. I can't not throw his name in the mix!
• Woodsgump: Jenkins is my favorite Halo hero. He saved everyone from the Flood spreading because of his sheer will to keep going.
• Kidskull51: Rion Forge, daughter of John Forge from Halo Wars. She's just as badass if not more than her father.
• CIA391: Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb and Corporal Locklear. Both gave their lives to stop the Covenant from reaching Earth in late 2552, giving Spartans and other Alpha Halo survivors time to warn us of the upcoming threat!
• EternalCanadian: My vote’s for the Spartan-III’s of Alpha and Beta Companies—Spartans who weren’t pulled out by Deep Winter, yet saved the human race a number of times—as well your common UNSC/CMA service members, and even the civilians. True heroism isn’t given by augmentations or advanced weaponry, and being assigned to some special squad doesn’t make you a hero. The real heroes, to use a Porco Rosso quote, are dead, or scarred by battles, yet not really acknowledged for their contributions, however small they might’ve been.
• S20boominator: Jerome-092 killing the Flood with a metal chair is a hero moment.
• BOSVanguard: Jerome-092 because he singlehandedly killed squads of Brutes and Elites while Isabel was taking control of the Banished flagship. Another reason is because he, Douglas-042, and Alice-130 were flunked out from the SPARTAN-II program. UNSC and ONI revived them, and Jerome would go on to lead Red Team through the early days of the Covenant War through battles of Arcadia, Trove, and the Second Ark Conflict.
• Demetrius: For me, it's SPARTAN-Β312 of Noble Team, a.k.a. Noble Six. I don't think I need to explain why; he stayed behind to secure the Pillar of Autumn, and he and his team sacrificed themselves in order to deliver Cortana in one piece. It's sad they didn't make it to see the final victory.
• Drizztbc: Captain Cutter, an aging captain for an equally outdated ship. Yet can still give the Covenant a good fight!

That’s a wrap for this month’s “variations on a theme!” Stay tuned next month for a new community poll, a new video quiz, and more discussions with fellow Halo fans around the theme of “Alien Heroes & Villains.”

Don’t forget to bookmark the Silver Anniversary Community Hub for all the latest updates from our 25th anniversary celebration.

All year long, we’ll be inviting Halo fans to share their favorite Halo memories, celebrate Halo's iconic legacy, and vote on community polls to help us tell the whole Halo story.

Whether you’re a battle-hardened Spartan or a Halo rookie, we hope you’ll join the fun by sharing your Halo story through our official submission form, on social media using hashtag #Halo25Together, in our official Discord server, or on r/Halo with the #Halo25Together tag.