Spotlight: December 9, 2022
Welcome to 2022's final Halo Spotlight blog!
It's been quite a year and the Spotlight offering has considerably expanded. We've added the Community Corner, where we enjoy a one-to-one fireside chat with members of the Halo community to learn more about their journey with the franchise and their role as content creators, and we've also brought in Forge Features to highlight the maps and modes made by the community.
So, one last time for 2022 then—let's take a look at what Halo fans have been cooking!
CRÈME DE LA CRÈME
Our first piece today comes from Briarfox13, who has shared her wonderful ode to Cortana and her plucky sidekick Master Chief. I am in love with the style of these two pieces, any time there's some kind of tarot-adjacent style being used it immediately catches my eye.
As yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Halo Infinite's Campaign release, it seemed only appropriate to have this at the top spot of this Spotlight!
Next up, we've got another dynamic duo in the form of the Master Chief and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam from Nafe_nasutetsu.
Nafe said that they don't like drawing backgrounds, and that's fine by me because I get to appreciate every detail on these two beloved characters.
Frosted_Talents put together something really special for the anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved on November 15, and you can see the fruits of that labor below (along with more in the attached tweet!)
Each Halo installation has its own unique feeling, and that's something which feels so incredibly pronounced in Halo: CE. That sense of scale and openness juxtaposed against its emptiness... it's a reminder that you're not just exploring some nebulous alien artifact, you're breaking into a tomb.
Next up, we have the big man himself: Jul 'Mdama, supreme leader of a reformed group of Covenant, made by Cleb Maher.
I am in awe of... well, just about everything here. The colors, my friends. THE COLORS! It's so visually striking, I daresay this is my personal favorite piece of Jul 'Mdama fan art ever.
And what would the Hand of the Didact be without, well, the Didact himself?
This piece from thedaytimes117 beautifully captures the presence and aesthetic of the character as he gazes into your soul and considers what kind of Promethean Knight it'll make...
And finally for this section, we have another Didact piece from banishedfished in celebration of Halo 4's tenth anniversary. I hope you're as excited to catch up with him in Kelly Gay's Halo: Epitaph novel as I am!
COSPLAY CORNER
What's next, you ask? What's next? Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson, that's what's next!
Joining the r/Halo community for the first time last month, CaptainIncoming is chomping on his finest cigar and is ready for action with his Spartan Laser as he's suited up in Johnson's undefeatable big green style. Bip. Bap. Bam! Welcome to the party!
You know who else has shown up to the party? None other than Rosenda-A344, the Noble Team member who didn't make the cut.
Shadinski has beautifully recreated Rosenda's armor for cosplay and Covenant ass-kicking purposes, and it's truly a sight to behold. The attention to detail on matching the armor and decal colors to her concept design really is admirable, so let's give it up for Shadinski!
TheHudsonForge is a Spartan after my own heart. Y'see, my favorite armor in all of Halo is Semi-Powered Infiltration ("SPI") worn by the Spartan-IIIs in a book you may have heard of called Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.
SPI armor is coming to Halo Infinite when Season 3 launches in March 2023, and I intend to spend the time leading up to that point staring in endless appreciation at the cosplay that TheHudsonForge built. The helmet was 3D printed and the suit is made of EVA foam (but since that's a different armor set, let's just call it SPI foam.)
And I mean, it's hard to believe that isn't a promotional still for a Halo film or something. The polish and detail on display here is incredible, the cosplay community for Halo simply never ceases to impress with their talent and dedication to authenticity.
VALIANT VIDEO
ArcticDamage (AKA AresAnimations) has put together a video that addresses a fundamental aspect of the human condition. It is profoundly, universally relatable. It answers a key question we are all confronted with at some point in our lives...
"What happens if I press that big red button?"
HARUSPINE HANDICRAFTS
Slipspace rupture detected. We've got a Covenant cruiser coming through, and it... looks a little different?
This awesome creation comes to us from ky-ebricks, who has spent the last few months assembling a Covenant warship brick-by-brick.
We also recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of Halo 4, which is an occasion to make everybody feel old.
You can distract yourself from such feelings of distress about the relentless, unceasing indifference of the passage of time by taking a look at Josh Eastaway's stunning 3D model work on the Master Chief's Mark VI MOD armor in Blender.
Hit the image below to see the complete scope of Josh's work on this model. It's glorious!
A GATHERING OF GREATNESS
FIN
All of you who had something featured in this installment should be sure to fill out the submission form so we can grant you your Unicorn of Fire rewards!
Another year down and the creative fires of the Halo community are burning with such incredible intensity, every month sees so many of you creating such cool things—art, cosplay, videos, screenshots, models... it's a privilege to witness, and we can't wait to see what you create in 2023.
Until then, we at 343 are wishing you all Happy Halodays!