The Dark Lore Behind Halo's Cover Art

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Today, we cover the secret lore behind Halo's cover art - dark, clandestine lore that will forever change the way you look at Halo's most iconic cover art...
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Pointing Out The Obvious
2:17 - The Secret Lore Behind Halo's Most Iconic Cover Art
9:07 - A History of ONI Propaganda
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#halo #halolore #haloinfinite #halomcc #halotvseries

[@HiddenXperia]

Make sure to check out Displate using displate.com/?art=5fcffb578bc45 or use code XPERIA to get 25% off 1 Displate, or 35% for 2+ Displates #ad Like this comment if Halo 2's cover art is the greatest piece of art humanity has ever created 👑

[@GojiraGekirinVA]

Plot Twist: The REAL reason why Ben Giraud was arrested was that he kept calling ONI “O.N.I.”

[@johnellington7970]

😂

[@rickjames5998]

as they say in the silver time line " The O-N-I " lol

[@McKillahGuerilla]

😂😂

[@just-there]

@@rickjames5998that is why it is heresy

[@joshstack34]

You know it's a good franchise when even the cover art has lore.

[@TrueTributes13]

True that!

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

But 343 added the Halo 2 Boxart Lore 😢

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

​@@jakespacepiratee3740 So? It's not that 343 is inherently bad, just that they have a tendency to make bad decisions. A good thing coming from 343 is still a good thing.

[@bigghosty6714]

​​@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem 20 years a bit slow. Hell, even 10 years, they could've expanded on bungies lore way before they started making those bad decisions

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

@@bigghosty6714 Doesn't change anything that I said.

[@inha1ed]

2:45 shoutout to the guy using an mp40 in the year 2552 lol

[@kstran415]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@BlaireSnorlax]

Leave him alone, it's a family heirloom.

[@obamajoker7166]

Mp40s have been used as recent as in ukraine, they not going anywhere lmao

[@jffry890]

Well it is Africa.

[@Reckless15]

​@@jffry890nah that was vile 💀

[@thepridedoctor3250]

Can we just appreciate how insanely terrifying oni is when manipulating the public? They had the man reveal top secrets just to make it look like conspiracy theories; twisting the truth in such an elegant way and I adore it. Seriously we need more media about oni’s shady past

[@ryanparker4996]

You could just look up what the CIA has been upto

[@GTAVictor9128]

I believe ONI is heavily inspired by the CIA, which is just as terrifying IRL.

[@holymosey2556]

A halo game set in the ONI midnight facility would be amazing. Imagine all the types of people and species you'd see. Perhaps, you can formulate a long and arduous plan to break out of the place with said prisoners.

[@osirisjojo6876]

Like black ops 1 steps 1 to 8 to freedom out of Vorkuta

[@holymosey2556]

@@osirisjojo6876 hell yeah

[@spartans2805]

Honestly Halo Wars 2 is such an underrated cover, (especially the season pass cover with a spartan pointing to the fight) with Atriox leading his army with those massive scarabs just goes so hard.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

They Damn well better actually add the unique vehicles and soldiers of Halo Wars 2 in Halo: the Endless. Like literally the only HW2 Unit we got was their variant of the Dropship…. Just that. And yes although we got new units in Skimmers and Harbinger they will likely do a “Great Schism” and split off. I think Atriox is basically the Tartarus of the Endless. Too certain their ways are right.

[@TMek42]

the Halo Wars 1 limited edition cover was awesome too

[@gachaofthegalaxy915]

Halo wars 1 also has a badass looking covor

[@Jedi_Spartan_38]

Some What If video suggestions: What If Chief made it back to Earth with Arbiter at the end of Halo 3. What If The Great Schism started before the discovery of Halo (maybe early 2552). What If The Heretic Leader defeated Arbiter. What If Red Flag went ahead (maybe starting early enough to use the Long Night of Solace?).

[@DOOMSLAYER1993-4]

What if noble six went with chief on the pillar of autumn.

[@OPgiSh0tzonYT]

How about these too: - What if Ship Master's ship wasn't hit by the Flood-infested High Charity in Halo 3? - What if Johnson and his team didn't get captured in Sierra 117 or the Covenant in Halo 3? - What if Alpha 9 reached their correct destination instead of crash landing in Halo 3: ODST? And an extra one: What if Chief didn't make it to the bomb in time in Halo 2?

[@Jedi_Spartan_38]

@@DOOMSLAYER1993-4 funnily enough, I made my own version of that with my Head Canon B312... until I revisited it recently, I forgot that I had gotten stuck about what to do and just skipped everything from the Pillar of Autumn raid (from Halo: The Flood) up until The Maw and had a quick summary of his impact on First Strike in the epilogue which included more Spartan-IIs surviving.

[@jakemcdiarmid2480]

What if bungie didnt sell i.p..... halo 4, 5 and 6 would have been good 😂

[@Jedi_Spartan_38]

@@OPgiSh0tzonYT I think the first idea is more interesting for the impact Post Halo 3 than during the actual mission given who would survive the game: the Shadow of Intent would presumably glass the Citadel and High Charity, while Spark gets his new Halo Ring so presumably all the characters aside from Cortana and those in the Citadel would survive into the post war era and Chief wouldn't be stuck in the middle of space.

[@odsttrey2014]

I’m reminded of a visor from Halo 5’s flavor text that said something along the lines of it automatically alters what the Spartan user views to make it more digestible

[@randyscrandy2071]

Do you remember what it was called?

[@stylesrj]

Does the visor turn everything into Pyrovision?

[@bloodhound1182]

Maybe thats why Halo went from M rating to T

[@TheLastArbiter]

Halo 2 is the best cover art of any game ever in my opinion. It’s just perfect. Badass, themed, and seems to capture the feel of the gameplay.

[@theyoboygamer3754]

Not on legendary it doesn't 😭

[@TheLastArbiter]

@@theyoboygamer3754 HAHAHA true, besides Legendary. For legendary, put a picture of the guy from SpongeBob with glass bones and paper skin!

[@verum117]

Felt like I haven't seen your videos in forever because of work

[@TrueTributes13]

I so feel that. Work literally ruins everything

[@chipsdubbo5.56]

Same

[@devastater97]

Hit me with nostalgia right off the bat with Turok: Evolution. Played the shit outta that game when I was little on my PS2.

[@johnk.7523]

That hit me too.

[@aaronbarrett5061]

Remember that weapon that made your head explode 🤣 or the arrows that made you vomit all over the place, good times!

[@devastater97]

@@aaronbarrett5061 Bro the weapons and alt fire modes were PEAK. The flamethrower was one of the most satisfying in gaming. That whole game was just awesome fun.

[@curtisparenteau4704]

I was probably around 6 years young

[@Moonzen_]

i remember getting New Vegas on a whim at a gamestop because "gas mask man look cool" and it was one of the best decisions younger me made along with getting Mass Effect for a similar reason. it also why i got into 40k books too before knowing about the board game and videos games themselves, the covers just looked dope and it was a rabbit hole from there... sometimes judging stuff by its cover really does go a long way lol.

[@jerjsmit6806]

Do a shot everytime HiddenX says clandestine

[@GucciPasta]

i already knew this was going to be about halo 2 and hunt the truth before i even clicked on the video. uber based video you mad lad

[@aceofmusics9029]

Halo Reach cover art with Noble team always gives me goosebumps every time I see it

[@Xlojeron]

crazy how he's about to get 600k subs only now.

[@Finger112]

Thats a big city.

[@sladeindominus2899]

Mixing in the metal gear solid music with halo worked surprisingly well. Nice touch at 12:55.

[@johnk.7523]

I came to comment on the exact same thing!

[@user-qn9wh3ro3v]

@@johnk.7523 same

[@Xtermenator217]

Halo 4 box art is fucking sick

[@Obiwanrollmeone]

Too bad the game is mid as fuck

[@sami-scott4160]

@@Obiwanrollmeone H4 was amazing

[@ThommyofThenn]

I could do without the profanity but i agree with comment and also with the first comment

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@Obiwanrollmeone H4 was amazing

[@xvx_k1r1t0_xvxkillme7]

@@ObiwanrollmeoneH4 was amazing

[@sealingant]

The Halo 3 art will always be a core memory

[@DanReed98]

I’d love to see you make a video about ancient humans vs modern humans

[@hypnotic5472]

You should make a video on if chief could save the malevolent creek in hell divers 🔥🔥

[@tkxbetrayer2405]

Brings me back to eagerly waiting every week for the next episode of "Hunt the Truth" prior to Halo 5s launch. So much potential... It's a shame.

[@homargarcia149]

I knew about this from back Hunt The Truth series came out for halo 5 promo

[@MrJakeros]

Same. I downloaded the entire series because of it. Absolutely phenomenal series with great voice acting (obviously), tension and a deep dive into the little nooks ONI has tried to hide all these years. Ben nearly kickstarted that long-dreaded civil war the Spartans were created for all to voice the truth.

[@wesleysimpson-roberts2216]

The wide smile I had when you said bens name, hunt the truth> halo 5 campaign

[@tyrxian6452]

I recently relistened to Hunt the Truth and it absolutely still holds up: every time I do though, I can't help wonder what could have been with Halo 5...

[@chipsdubbo5.56]

Thanks for all the awesome videos you make brother! We appreciate you

[@Slizzer0706]

This man is somehow able to turn anything related to halo into a Lore video 😂 Bravo 👏

[@austynseymour8419]

been loving your content for awhile man hope your day or night is going or has gone good

[@mah4565ify]

Hunt the truth was so good

[@luckymedic1438]

Halo Wars opening with the Marines celebrating is also canon propoganda in Halo 2 as a billboard.

[@psychobilly42069]

I just recently found my childhood copy of the halo graphic novel and now you post this how bad ass. I love how halo focuses a lot on the propaganda and morally grey conspiracy side of things, it just makes the universe feel so real. Also its fucking insane they got mobeius to do the art for bens story.

[@A_Productions]

12:35 "Spartans never die"

[@Snulge]

The hunt the truth listen was suuuuper long but man it was worth it. Great for a car ride or when mindlessly gaming.

[@Spawn256]

This is a great channel. I'm glad that you reached your goal of 600k. Let's go to million!

[@leethememerwolf]

Halos box arts were bloody fantastic

[@TheCrispyForge]

Halo 2 has such great cover art! To learn there is an entire story explaining it is amazing. My favorite part is that it is canon within Halo lore as a propaganda poster. Loved this video!

[@jango7889]

Halo lore is so friggin cool, I need to start collecting the comics too.

[@FatGuyEngineer]

This was a great video. Absolutely crazy how much lore is in the Halo Universe.

[@WAHFFLZ]

You should do a video like this: What If Noble 6 was with Chief during Halo 1-3

[@MediQate]

Great lore video! I’m glad to see another video with so much interesting information that isn’t known to most people! I would have loved to see how Cortana, the Created Revolution and the Guardians’ Galactic EMPs affected ONI’s Midnight facility. I wonder if we’ll ever get to a point where the games make ONI the enemy or if that is out of the realm of possibility with how iconic Halo has gotten or if it’s possible now that it has gone down a bit in popularity, going from giant to niche. A game with Chief going against ONI and learning everything he really is from Halsey herself would be INSANE.

[@Eggie3000]

Absolutely love when you have RuneScape music is the background

[@the_catstronaut7037]

Another cool thing about displate is if you sign up for their club thing you can make your own prints of anything. I have some in game screenshots and other random art I found online. I have like 30

[@Endymion]

I had a teacher in my school who used to go by the nickname "Durbinator" and used that pic on his classroom was with "I am the durbinator! finish the fight" scribbled on the wall next to it. he had no idea that chief was from a game....

[@samusaran7319]

Great story / video !

[@chambo4645]

I’ve seen more halo posters on people’s walls than any other game

[@TheLindenbeat]

Finally someone said it. Halo 2 is the GOAT. Fight me, I dare you. ):

[@AntnAndArr]

Alright. Halo Reach us the GOAT. There. I said it.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Great video and I love the targent part you sould 10% do them more often!

[@Nostripe361]

Still feel that one of greatest tragedies of halo games is we never got a spinoff game with oni as the villain

[@FrankMuniz]

"Iconic" drinking game begins! 🍻

[@GlucoseYummy]

I know you're going all out on lore videos but I really miss your game reviews/video essays, they were my personal favourite

[@CrimsonArtsStudios]

to be fair...he is mostly a Halo centric Channel and it's been YEARS since we got an actual Halo game. Last one...WAS 3 YEARS AGO

[@GlucoseYummy]

@@CrimsonArtsStudios Yeah okay?

[@CrimsonArtsStudios]

@@GlucoseYummy idk i just wanted to point that out lol

[@GlucoseYummy]

@@CrimsonArtsStudios that's fair haha, I was just confused, I am not saying he shouldn't do lore videos, I enjoy them too

[@kianamarrie]

Opening with Turok is insane in a good way. Just found my next nostalgia trip.

[@lukehutchings3388]

Love the lore behind Ben. Hunt the Truth is fantastic. One of the best pieces of Halo extended media/lore out there.

[@gavinrobinson8925]

The scary part is that organisations like ONI exist in our real world.

[@CHRAXY]

True words

[@nathanoutdoors7981]

Wow man that’s cool thank you for telling me please keep up the good work

[@The-Rowller]

That trickle of MGS music during the video was masterful.

[@dinosaurstwice4959]

what 14 years without a new game does to a fan base

[@CHRAXY]

😂😂

[@scarface406]

That is cool makes me love halo even more

[@jffry890]

Halo 2 box art was a candid photo of Chief ripping a giant fart.

[@TrueTributes13]

Halo by far has the greatest cover art of all time🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌! Nothing beats it!

[@halosnakem6g28]

2:07 this should be a statue or a monument

[@zoesidener7724]

ben deserves one too but for obvious reasons that wouldn’t happen lol

[@RiposteBK]

🚨 TUROK EVOLUTION MENTIONED AGAIN 🚨

[@Dahly3889]

It is such a crime how good Hunt the Truth was compared to what Halo 5 delivered.

[@diosbatman]

Damn, is really good storytelling. Despite the fact that Halo 5 turned out to be, well, Halo 5 lmao; Hunt the Truth remains one of the best quality media pieces on the franchise in my opinion.

[@obamnaprismus]

By 9:40 I realized something was up when I noticed the Metal Gear music. Nice foreshadowing

[@sandalloveromg]

I can never not see the hand guard being the mark 4 guard and not the mark 6 when i look at the halo 2 cover 😂 love it sm tho

[@ericmcmurray7265]

I LOVE the example of the RE4 eruo cover. I have a sick poster of it.

[@ericmcmurray7265]

Adding I have a custom tapestry of the Halo 2 cover art which is the sickest.

[@jordobangs6930]

Bro didn’t think we’d notice the RuneScape background music

[@karimC35]

My first ever game was Turok evolution. My mom took me to Walmart to buy a PS2 and the guy asked if I wanted a game and since I loved dinosaurs I immediately picked evolution. So good

[@yourmum6646]

I used to stare at these cover arts for hours and knit pic every little detail when u was younger

[@SenorGunns]

Hope you reach 600k, that would be well deserved. But just know, the great journey will only have just begun.

[@joshyua4653]

Bring back the ten pound limited collectors edition cases ‼️

[@Spookyy24]

hunt the truth was so dope

[@johnk.7523]

Keep the lore vids coming good sir.

[@garrcakes67]

8:08 Definitely what it felt like when i was a kid :)

[@VRHyoumaru]

That prison shot haunts me for whatever reason.

[@JasonDuaineHahn]

When Metal Gear Solid music fits perfectly with Halo visuals 🔥 12:56

[@FoxSqueeArt]

13:20 was that Myre music? I swear that sounded framiliar. First heard it through Fox Amoore.

[@gagekilcollins7977]

I knew this story was familiar. This is based on those SoundCloud skits that was released before one of the halo games.

[@lexiplays1252]

WOE COSMIC HORRORS UPON YEE-The gravemind (probably)

[@JackaWilko]

God damn, that RuneScape music 😍

[@dukeynukey6725]

I'd say taht Reach and Halo Wars 1/2 coverart would fit into this as well. They do convey the feel and story of the game well

[@inductivegrunt94]

The cover of Halo 2 being a canon heavily modified propaganda image is amazing. The cover art is amazing and it's lore is both incredible and haunting. The fate of Ben Giraud was undeserving and I really hope someday the truth gets leaked despite Oni's best efforts and everything they built up falls apart as the public turns on them and Oni is destroyed by their own hubris and secrecy.

[@stylesrj]

Remember, they also killed the Rookie from ODST as well

[@teensierkitty4214]

Loved hunt the truth it was so fun back in the day wild that the voice of Ben was apart of the classic comedy duo "key and Peele"

[@MrPortal]

Wait what. I never knew this and now it's clicked in my brain and I can't unhear it 😂

[@teensierkitty4214]

@@MrPortal it's shocking to me because I'm mostly familiar with his comedy but hearing him in such a serious role was so cool

[@oopsydaizi3s824]

Gear of war had awesome box art too.

[@ThommyofThenn]

The Halo 2 has art that is very beautiful in a way. It reflects the smog and heat of the city, made worse by the destruction

[@Gamer1990100]

Halo 2's cover art will always be in my heart. My first xbox live online title

[@armoredninetynine4501]

Might be a shoestring connection but the halo 2 cover art reminds me of the starship troopers roughnecks cover art. Interesting bit about the show is that one of the main characters is also a war journalist.

[@mastercheif5645]

Why wasn't Spartan Fred counted as being hyper lethal?

[@michaelkelleypoetry]

ONI's Section 2 is essentially the equivalent of Starfleet's Section 31 in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

[@aaronbarrett5061]

My bottom lip randomly trembled the moment a saw Turok, was not expecting to see that, or my reaction to seeing it 😅

[@AlmightyPaperCut]

True Detective tin man shirt, wicked

[@TheEdricTing]

Halo2 Uncut now feels like the Ture Halo with that Poster And Halo 2 Classis is an ONI Cover up

[@simpmoment]

🗣️🗣️It’s always a good day when hiddenX uploads!!

[@greatgrungustwo904]

ok when will my boy hit 600K its far overdue

[@cygmoid]

Wow this is crazy

[@JesusLopez-sv1jn]

X: You can't hear an image The image: 0:32

[@xxDragonsRockxx]

Not a lore comment but I low key love the RuneScape music in the background

[@marco117sw]

The lore for this cover art is more entertaining than any episode of the Halo TV show.

[@GATEWAYFLMZ]

What a great video