The Horrifying Biology of The Flood (Part One) | The Science of Halo's Parasite

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Today, we'll begin a deep dive into the biology, physiology, form, and function of The Flood parasite, as made famous in the Halo video game series.
This parasite is a horrifying example of biology run rampant, and in this video, we'll see just how inferi redivivus can conquer entire star systems.
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▷ / thoughtpotato
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This video was edited by @CyanRameron , who does excellent work!
Sources:
- Flood transformation sequences provided by Marionette Mayhem: / @marionettemayhem
- Pure form, combat form, and infection form artwork by ThemeFinland: www.deviantart.com/themefinland
- Bungie (2001-2010). Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 [Video game series]. Microsoft Game Studios.
- 343 Industries (2011-present). Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians [Video game series]. Microsoft Studios.
- Cortana (2001). "The Flood" [In-game dialogue]. In Bungie, Halo: Combat Evolved. Microsoft Game Studios.
- Gelvin, S. B. (2003). Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation: the biology behind the "gene-jockeying" tool. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 67(1), 16-37.
- Gohlke, J., & Deeken, R. (2014). Plant responses to Agrobacterium tumefaciens and crown gall development. Frontiers in Plant Science, 5, 155.
- Lacroix, B., & Citovsky, V. (2016). The roles of bacterial and host plant factors in Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation. International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology, 324, 1-34.
- Lacroix B, Citovsky V. Transfer of DNA from Bacteria to Eukaryotes. mBio. 2016 Jul 12;7(4):e00863-16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00863-16. PMID: 27406565; PMCID: PMC4958254.
- kotaku.com/real-life-parasite...

[@ThoughtPotato]

Part two is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKCvZp93bLaEfJo

[@bobsterclause342]

9:00+ You know your your stuff. Subscribed. I've seen plenty of people who don't know the loore and stuff they are comunicating very well. This is pretty much as thurough as you can get.

[@caedenhustler8250]

Is a potootoo?

[@Ragman312]

Part two is there. Part two is everywhere!! 😵‍💫

[@sorrowinchrist3387]

This is why it cannot happen in the real world: Please include this in the video :) I might create a video debunk this theory :) The flood will not exist in our reality. 1. Many aspects of the Flood's biology, such as its ability to rapidly convert cells and integrate genetic material, violate fundamental principles of known biological processes. 2. While parasites and pathogens in nature can manipulate host organisms to some extent, the level of control and sophistication exhibited by the Flood is unprecedented and lacks analogs in real-world biology. 3. There is no scientific evidence or observations to support the existence of organisms capable of the complex behaviors and abilities attributed to the Flood in the Halo series. 4. The Flood is portrayed as having this collective intelligence made up of memories stolen from thousands of hosts. While some animals, like ants, work together in groups, the Flood's brainpower is way beyond anything we've seen in nature. 5. The Flood's biology, with its rapid adaptation and manipulation of hosts, contradicts principles of evolutionary biology, which operate on timescales and mechanisms vastly different from those depicted. 6. The Flood's biology is largely a product of speculative fiction and imagination, and its abilities cannot be replicated or explained within the framework of real world biology.

[@invictus2578]

You should do a video on the Borg from Star Trek next!

[@chipsdubbo4861]

Lil tip for any unlucky S.O.B here planning to fight the Flood, first tip. Don't. If you fail tip one, second tip is stay close to the Chief, just make sure you ain't using the same weapon as him, or he may end up knocking ya out for the ammo. If you fail tip one and tip two, tip three is double check your Magnums loaded, cause you're gonna need at least one bullet handy or you'll risk ending up like my mate Jenkins. And nobody wants that.

[@pill0bug347]

soooo... are you like a cosmic entity, clones, or just some triplets with a weird sense of humor

[@chipsdubbo4861]

@@pill0bug347 Life is full of mysteries, mate. And some of those mysterious have gotta stay mysterious, or the whole bloody universe just gets boring.

[@NobleS1236]

Tip 4: wipe out all life in tha galaxy. Starve the bastards to death.

[@JustSomeWeirdo]

Actually, they bring you back, a magnum isn’t enough, your brain has to be entirely destroyed. Flame thrower is best.

[@justinbiggs1005]

Tip 5. If you're getting overwhelmed. Order a unsc nova bomb to blow you tf up and every planet in that mf system

[@mirage809]

And now I wanna replay the Halo games. The flood were incredibly creepy and frightening throughout the original trilogy.

[@mirage809]

@@flameyoshi07 Oh, no need for any of that. Bought the MCC on an insane sale a long while ago.

[@flameyoshi07]

yeah i bought most of the mcc exept for halo 4,1 and 2

[@extremosaur]

Flood*

[@CommissarChaotic]

Especially *not* CE Anniversary

[@Eremon1]

Halo CE is the only Halo. The rest are just poor attempts to capture the same lightening in a bottle. 343 just keeps missing the mark.

[@murpheyholloran1067]

Literally the best "zombie" in all of fiction. I can't wait for the rest of this series

[@yemm442]

Maybe, however the Black blob from Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is also a very interesting specimen, one that may even contend with the Flood!

[@metal_fusion]

@@yemm442 Dead Space Necromophs

[@justinbiggs1005]

And the flood isn't your cliche zombie virus you get by being bitten. Shit legit resembles a parasitic fungus on steroids in every possible aspect. From a biological perspective fungal plagues are even more horrifying and intriguing wherever you look at them.

[@troyscribner4342]

@@metal_fusion Dead space necromorphs are cool, but they cant hope to compare to the FLOOD.

[@stephenswift9896]

@@troyscribner4342 With the mental effects the marker gives out the necromorphs are an accessory in my opinion. One minute you're fine next thing you know you're in a psychotic trance and you're using all your will power to not kill yourself violently.

[@Forbiddensirenz]

I always forget how large Spartans are. The flood pods seem so tiny and not really threatening when you’re well over 7 feet and over a thousand pounds. But the fact they’re about the size ad weight of a medium sized dog as an average human actually makes them quite abit scarier.

[@NotSoSerious69420]

Everyone always thinks they can square up to something the size of a mid dog till whatever it is comes to find and most people can’t handle it. If it ain’t human shaped and has 4 legs I don’t care if I’m 5x the size I’m probably gonna lose lmao.

[@AC-hj9tv]

Truth. My medium corgi kicked my ass the other day

[@LethalEni]

That’s why I never wasted bullets on em🙃

[@One_Eyed_Cheshire]

Honestly, the most unsettling part of this video was learning that infection forms are three and a half feet tall. Based on their in-game portrayal, I always assumed them to be maybe twelve inches or so.

[@Chad_Thundercock]

It's easy to forget that you see the world though MC's eyes, and he's like 8'5".

[@djcuevas1057]

@@Chad_Thundercockhe’s seven feet.

[@MrMegaMetroid]

​​@@Chad_Thundercockits not the master chiefs size that makes everything look off scale wise, its both the field of view as well as the wrong scake of all other ingame models for gameplay reasons. Playing as an odst barely makes a difference. If you play the first halo, doors are almost 3 times the chiefs size, essentially being as tall as a small house, they still feel claustrophobic. If you play other games like half life in vr, you will notice that basically everything in every game ever is off scale immensely. I remember playing halo in vr once and a banshee is essentially the size of a small bus. Even hunters in odst look marginally taller than you wile in vr you barely reach up their hips. Brute hands can fit your entire torso inside them. I remember in half life vr just how absolutely enormous health stations are, while they look like small boxes on the wall, you can comfortably fit 2 whole people inside. In minecraft i once stood in front of a 3 block high starecase like the one meme of the dude absolutely dwarfed by something off screen looking up in terror. On a screen it looked like a normal garden staircase, in vr it was a monolith of massive stone blocks In gears of war all doors are the size of small houses just to not interfere with the camera. The characters are three times the size of regular humans in width. It never feels that way at all Our sense of scale in 2d projections is completely off. The forerunner tunnels in halo ce are literally 15+ story buildings

[@halinaqi2194]

I had no idea you can play halo games in vr. How tall are the marines in relation to you then? Because I'm pretty sure from chiefs perspective, the males are like 6 ft something.

[@MrMegaMetroid]

@@halinaqi2194 i played a scale simulator in vr in which the aliens and vehicles where on display, not the actual halo games. I was my own real life size as that is how the headset was configured However, once youve seen this and other (full) games in vr, you get an eye for off scale objects. Though i think halo is pretty known for having terrible all over the place scaling (saying this tounge n cheek, not as actual criticism)

[@18videowatcher41]

Honestly, while the Flood are extremely horrifying on a visceral/physical level, I find them even more horrifying from an existential point of view. They were originally the Precursors, who originally created both ancient Humanity and the Forerunners, in addition to many other species. They were going to pass the Mantle of Responsibiliy on to the Forerunners, but then decided they weren't worthy of it and decided to pass it on to Humanity instead. This angered the Forerunners, and they launched an attack on their creators, almost wiping them out entirely. The few remaining Precursors turned themselves into a powder so that they could reconstitute themselves at a later time, but they because twisted by their anger and hate towards the Forerunners and became the Flood. Their goal is to make sure that their children (the species they created) shall never again rise up against them, and to punish all life with endless suffering. They basically went from benevolent eldritch abominations to some of the most absolutely horrifying and malevolent eldritch abominations in any work of fiction. I'd honestly rather stare Cthulhu in the face and go mad then be infected by the Flood. Also, in terms of sci-if monsters that take over your body, The Thing is about tied with the Flood for number one most scary, in my opinion. And the Necromorphs and the Brethren Moons from Dead Space are a close second.

[@elpsykoongro5379]

Precursors and forerunner mean the same thing Bungie had a very different story for the forerunners, they were originally ancient humans, that's the reason humans are the only ones that can activate the halo rings, and the reason guilty spark thinks master chief is a forerunner until he realizes he doesn't even know what halo is capable of, in the pillar of autumn we can see him scanning the records of the ship while saying that he wants to see what his creators have been doing all this time

[@18videowatcher41]

Yes, but none of that is canon any longer. Still an excellent point, though, thanks for bringing that up! 😄👍

[@Omni601]

@@18videowatcher41 Served 😂

[@Phyzikal]

Dawg them necromorphs was crazy😂

[@wolf7115]

@@18videowatcher41 343 has released 0 successful games, sor their version of "cannon" can be brought into question lol

[@Pwn3dbyth3n00b]

I like how in order to make the video scary/mysterious you skipped over the fact that Humans and San'Shyuum used the initial flood dust on their pets to make them behave better. Similar to giving cat some catnip. And eventually that caused the flood out break when they jumped hosts and became extremely violent after a few decades.

[@vlacko]

Yes, basically something simular to antibiotc abouse caused the flood

[@vlacko]

Its funny to think that the most horific thing in Halo unverse began because of substanence abuse

[@Freelancer837]

Tbf that is also apart of a retconned version of the Flood, so it wasn't apart of the original Flood lore. Originally, just a whole section of a Forerunner planet was just completely devoid of all organic life and the Forerunners kept sending investigation teams to find out why until it grew into an unstoppable problem for the galaxy

[@ThoughtPotato]

Honestly the entire backstory is endlessly fascinating, and I didn't omit any part for that reason. I had to to quite a bit of glossing over to summarize as efficiently as possible (or try to, anyway).I highly encourage anyone reading this to check out Greg Bear's Forerunner Saga for all the details!

[@vlacko]

@@ThoughtPotato Great recomendation it's one of the beat Halo Saga's

[@HollowDog5899]

This is gonna be a long series, atleast compared to most of them, i can wait till he gets to when the flood becomes so great in number that it becomes intelligent and becomes a gravemind before changing the atmosphere itself.

[@xXShadDragXx]

I always feel like the floods intelligence is severely undervalued. As far as I am aware as soon as a gravemind is made the flood are capable of becoming a fully functional civilization, it's just always been a slower route than going with the berserk zombie strategy when at any moment a fleet could show up and glass them.

[@captaindonkeyballs]

You think that’s crazy? Wait till they become so intelligent that they start actively rewriting the laws of physics.

[@QGarrison]

​@Gunther R Graveminds on average are by far the most intelligent sentient beings that exist in halos universe.

[@MothFable]

Can’t wait to learn about key minds lol

[@MrMegaMetroid]

@@xXShadDragXx the floods intelligence combined with their super luminal telepathic capabilities makes them literally impossible to defeat once they reach a certain threshold. They really are powerful enough for a galaxy wide genocide to make genuine sense as the only option In my opinion, halo 3s ending actually leaves massive plot holes because of this. The fact that the gravemind just brought every single existing flood form with him to the arc without any backups anywhere else is such an underrated stupid behavior from a being that essentially plays 8d chess while their opponents play connect 4. I am in the process of rewriting the ending of halo 3 to account for this, and instead of going to the ark to find a flood solution (which even in the actual game doesn't exist there, thats such an oversight), they go there to genuinly activate the rings. Truth goes as well, taking only his most loyal followers in a quest to eradicate everyone who is opposed to him, to wipe history clean and rebuild the covenant in his image, with him as the sole leader. He wants to eradicate the humans that got to the arc solely because he wants no witnesses. The humans use the arc as an actual arc, trying to save what little of their species they can (and some covenant splinters that stop following truth, as well as the elites). Shortly before arriving at the citadel, the gravemind comes through and immediately sheds billions of flood pods, ships and spores everywhere on the arc. The second he comes through everyone knows the arc is compromised, the plan failed and in everyones horror, they proceed killing truth, firing the array, and then activating the replacement ring to kill the flood on the ark - and themselves. 343 sets up some stuff for future generations, and the cycle comes to an end. The story ends with humanity taking the mantle, and as their first and only action, they kill everything just as it happened before and pave the way for future civilisations to hopefully manage to beat the flood the next time. 343 sends out the guardians who are tasked with cleansing the galaxy of remaining spores before life developes again

[@AgentSkidZ]

The Forerunners resorting to wiping out the Precursors for giving the Mantle of Responsibility to humanity basically proves why they weren’t worthy of it in the first place.

[@grafton5696]

and also shows the Forerunners weren't "pacifists and religious" which somehow people think they were

[@LTDragoonIII]

​@grafton5696 the later generations were pacifists I believe the older generations lied. Remember how the current/last forerunners basically viewed them as God's?

[@Nick-zp8wk]

Humans ARE the Forerunners. Just ignore all the dumb 'lore' added by 343i. Anything past Reach is bad fanfic.

[@LTDragoonIII]

@Nick-zp8wk you do know Bungie changed them from humans right?

[@Lazypackmule]

@@Nick-zp8wk low IQ post Also actual OG fans that cared at the time would eat you alive for placing the bar after Reach

[@corynthius8860]

I think the crazy part about the flood is if you're somehow mentally strong enough you can still retain a part of yourself, as you watch your body butcher anything in its sights. This already happened to one marine, Jenkins I believe. Though Im pretty sure he was able to do things outside the flood's influence. The transformation is quick but the mental battle could go on for a while (Spell check)

[@burnttoast.2017]

Jenkins wasn't mentally strong. His infection form was weakened by age.

[@nightflash96]

Usually when a host is infected by the flood, the hosts own muscles snap its neck and kill it. Jenkins was infected by a weak infection form, meaning that it couldn't kill him, leaving him conscious all the way, having little to no control over his body

[@CrackDCat]

Jenkins was infected by an old and frail infection form, I could only assume that the spores wouldn't have been as potent as the fresher forms. But you're not exactly wrong, Captain Keyes was able to mentally fight off the Proto-Gravemind's intrusions by constantly repeating his service number, this was depicted in one of the Anniversary terminals "Terminal #9 Keyes" I recommend watching it, it's a decent insight into the psychology of the infection.

[@halofreak1990]

@@nightflash96 "Usually when a host is infected by the flood, the hosts own muscles snap its neck and kill it." You see this also displayed in the video, where the ODST snaps its own neck and falls to the ground before the Flood infection finally transforms the body into a combat form

[@DanielMartinez-jg4qn]

@@CrackDCatin the book “the flood” the whole Keyes resisting the infection is taken more into detail, it’s sad, how he dealt with it until his last thought, worth reading as well

[@ScrumPMC]

The Flood are the best parasite in all of fiction (next to The Thing). Where The Flood elevates itself is that is starts as a bunch of infection forms and slowly turns into a proto-Gravemind and then Gravemind and so on. It just wills itself into existence and the Gravemind can just absorb the intelligence of everything so even if it went up against say the Necromorph brethren moons, it could consume them. Additionally, the logic plague would probably be a strong opponent to the marker’s code.

[@thomasjoychild4962]

Assuming they didn't merge into something incalculably more horrifying :P

[@Luemm3l]

I always like these fictional universe monster battles... zerg versus flood versus necromorphs versus reapers from mass effect versus chaos gods from warhammer versus.... idk, whatever the heck you want... like celebrity deathmatch for fandoms lol....

[@kaelanirevyruun1676]

Actually, I'd argue the Flood is actually superior to the Thing. Yes, both can be killed with fire... But the Thing? It takes on the form of what it infects, and can only infect a single organism at a time. The Flood? You let 1 single Flood spore out into a galaxy. You just nuked that galaxy of all sentient life. That's like accidentally dropping a solitary flue cell and then having it go on to infect an entire galaxy.

[@dudupintarolas5214]

​@@thomasjoychild4962oh hell no please no xenomorph floodforms

[@thomasjoychild4962]

@@dudupintarolas5214 I agree we should never find out :P

[@TehPompkinHead]

The flood still haunts me to this day. Spooky and anxiety inducing as a child playing the first Halo all the way up to Halo 3. Especially terrifying encountering them for the first time in Halo 3 in my mind.

[@FOnewmike]

pansy

[@sferrin2]

You should go watch The Thing from 1982.

[@Archon_of_Freedom_]

I loved playing Halo as a Child. Jump scared me a lot lol but I do miss those times.

[@TehPompkinHead]

@@sferrin2 I have loved both The Thing movies and am looking forward for their next release lol (if they ever make a continuation)

[@benmcreynolds8581]

The flood reminds me of siphonophores mixed with Fungi. In Oregon where I live, they have this huge patch of mycelium that is supposedly one of the largest organisms on the planet. Then I've seen a fungal infection that wraps around a ant's jaw muscle and infected the bug. The flood also really gives me vibes of "the Universe is becoming a living thing"

[@starsilverinfinity]

That’s because that’s what it’s trying to reach The neurophysic magic the precursors used basically imply the universe is alive to some extent and by manipulating its “thoughts and dreams” one can manipulate reality It’s why the flood gets so busted later on in its progression

[@mucky117]

"Precursors felt the Mantle extended to the entire universe, energy and matter as well as living creatures ... some say. The universe lives, but not as we do." Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting explaining the premise of neural physics "I am a monument to all your sins" It wants all life to know only suffering. If the universe is alive, can it be corrupted aswell? Can it suffer? Does it hate us?

[@flavourruling2162]

@@mucky117 Jesus is a monument to human sin the bible. If the universe is god, and god is Christ, and the gravemind is of the universe, it is god - as insects, parasites, and viruses are natural and are just as entitled to expand as humanity. The suffering is necessary yet blissful when all is said and done. Kinda poetic

[@Julius_Siezure]

@@flavourruling2162 bro got infected by the logic plague

[@halcyon9686]

@@flavourruling2162 yknow funnily enough, the precursors loved all life equally but they also loved to see life suffer and to see all life flourish since it made the ballad of reality a term that we dont have the language to describe, but it relates to sweetness

[@vilhelm5549]

I hope you'll cover private Jenkins, Thought Potato. He's the Marine that some survived his transformation with his human side more or less intact.

[@cooperhayes1194]

i believe it was because the infection form that got him was severely weak and thus wasn't able to completely control him

[@liltimothy8109]

I’ve been waiting for a more serious, detailed look other than hidden xperia for so long. I love this

[@kaelanirevyruun1676]

Check out Installation00's Flood Infection story xD It's absolutely insane and horrifying cos of how immersive he makes it xD

[@byronritchie5449]

The flood is essentially if the thing became the things

[@nicholasdanger627]

I would love to see your "investigation" of the viruses, molds, and parasites of Resident Evil

[@ThoughtPotato]

It's on my research list, for sure.

[@jonnypage3730]

​@@ThoughtPotato You may want to check out the backlight virus from prototype.

[@cookiecomments846]

I’ve never played a halo game, but considered me intrigued

[@gulagbatman1318]

Dude, you're missing out big time! Halo 1, 2, 3,(main story) and Halo Reach. (Prequel) Excellent storytelling, beautiful music, fun gameplay.

[@HTTYDinosaur]

Halo is so worth it. Me and my brother played it a lot when we were kids. Of course, we killed each other literally every 2 minutes but it was fun

[@aelius3805]

1 through Reach have a great space opera/military story/good gameplay. The later games are just ok.

[@HTTYDinosaur]

@@aelius3805 yeah, the later halo games aren't as good as the main story ones

[@mirage809]

High recommend the games. The Master Chief Collection is a perfect way to experience the franchise. It's on sale quite often too I suggest playing the games in release order. Reach is an earlier point in the timeline, but playing Reach and then going back to Halo 1 is a bit of a jarring experience.

[@gavinleibert220]

After Deep Rock Galactic released season 3: Plaguefall, i realized how similar the Rockpox is to the flood, as they both infect land and organisms alike

[@aidonk_1460]

A fellow miner! Rock and stone!

[@Solegate]

Within the playthroughs of HALO, the flood are simply their unique version of a zombie-enemy. But as seen here, we partake on an incredibly deep dive into the complexity of this lifeform. I would like to give a big thanks to you, Thoughtful Potato!

[@EnduringFoliage]

I love how this video explains both the complicated Halo lore and the biology of the flood in such a concise manner

[@milkmonstrosity]

This is quite an iconic topic to cover, glad you made it.

[@DanielPerez-hh5sy]

Halo 2 is the peak of the franchise and the Flood representation.

[@TheBassManBoy]

I'm kinda curious on how you're going to explain the hivemind and neural physics aspects of the Flood.

[@ThoughtPotato]

Coming in part two!

[@colebehnke7767]

@@ThoughtPotato what ever it is won’t be as satisfying as simply, they can’t eat nerves and so pile them up into big clumps, these minds act as gestalts of all consumed individuals. The only gestalts that didn’t kill themselves were the evil ones, and these evil gestalts had the knowledge of the forerunners and so could easily build neural physics.

[@thirdplanet4471]

"Join your voice with mine and sing victory ever lasting."

[@Peace_tea]

Bet halo was one of my favorite childhood games thank you for bringing up the flood

[@AngDevigne]

I love this channel so much ❤ I have learned more in your speculative biology videos than I ever learned in biology classes.

[@ThoughtPotato]

That is so great to hear. Thanks for watching!

[@EvanMinecraft22]

The Flood's ability to incorporate host DNA might be similar to how some bacteria can use the CRISPR/Cas9 system to defend against viruses. 🤔 Just a thought.

[@miniaturejayhawk8702]

If you look closely in halo 3 then you will notice how infection form basically drive their hosts (which is probably why the flood cant use vehicles in halo 3).

[@purplehaze2358]

I'm curious as to how the flood would interact with organisms that, for example, lack a spinal column and brain stem. Or organisms that entirely lack a traditional brain in the first place.

[@cqbjones4861]

They just grind the cells into FSCs. Incorporating them into larger structures of flood biomass. The Forerunners attempted to use Lekgolo worms against the Flood due to their lack of traditional nervous systems, however they were quickly educated on how little the Flood have a shit.

[@jasondahfolf4325]

When the flood find organisms they can’t utilize for combat or other mobile forms, they convert it straight into biomass. It’s how you get these entire landscapes in the shade of flood decay tan

[@johndole9810]

Food....

[@Omega-lj9tq]

Same way we interact with them. They’re just food

[@JH-gu4hj]

The flood convert everything Into useful organic biomass. And this biomass can spawn creatures that the flood need in different situations (look up the flood "pure" forms for examples) As this biomass increases so too does the intelligence of the flood. This intelligence can be used to even convince the strongest and most complect artificial intelligences in the galaxy with what is called the "logic plague" in the lore. Basically since they can't infect an artificial intelligence. The grave mind of the flood will converse it's philosophies and turn the Ai to its own side. There is no stopping the flood. The only chance you have is for them to starve themselves out.

[@zach11241]

That moment I saw a flood combat form with a rocket launcher...... that is seared into my brain for eternity.

[@redfriends_gaming]

Dude… the flood are the PRECURSORS… this makes so much sense dude. Just replayed halo 3 and heard the gravemind speaking, his words actually match what this guys saying so we’ll.

[@gavinrailer445]

You have such a soothing voice even though you’re talking about one of the most frightening things to ever come from the human mind. You’re about to put me to sleep by talking about how gruesome and horrible the infection process is 😂

[@orionriftclan2727]

I do like to think that, the Precursors becoming the Flood truely wasn't a mistake, infact maybe that was the plan from the beginning. The Precursors make life, let it get advanced enough then they consum everything before becoming new again. Just this time they changed due to need as they needed to consume in order to survive due to their near genocide.

[@danstrikker6465]

That would explain why when the primordial told humans it's plan they all committed suicide

[@lewatoaofair2522]

Unpopular opinion: The Library is actually a good level. I like to think of it as a Flood endurance test.

[@onegoofyguy]

yes I really enjoyed it, it just felt like playing in waves of enemies

[@connoraber7781]

Never would have expected a Halo related video, but it is VERY welcome! Can't wait for more spooky videos 😄

[@PhyrexianacademicSocialStudies]

This dude slipped into that ad so smoothly I thought it was still the flood info

[@Raygathex]

Would love to see your take on Tyranid, Zerg, Antlions, etc

[@connertomaterhater6691]

Half life creatures in general would be interesting.

[@brycehernandez6392]

Medical science major and my favorite video game franchise?? You knew how to make a video just for me

[@dr.catherineelizabethhalse1820]

4:00 As far as we know Precursors didn’t determine anything at this point. Flood and Primordial did and we don’t know how the other Precursors would see this. There’s been hints at them having different opinions and ideologies among themselves.

[@Isaacreeper]

Today I learned that this is very confusing and thus terrifying.

[@mjolninja9358]

That flood level in Halo 3 was one of the most insane environments I’ve ever played in

[@masterchief9177]

Damn, after all the encounters Chief has gone through Halo 1, 2 and 3. He must be one lucky spartan ever then.

[@thethrasher9072]

This is gonna be a great series, I love to see the flood get some love

[@liononcomputer]

if you like the idea of an intelligent cell going rampant, i definitely recommend reading Blood Music by Greg Bear. the plague in the book shares a lot of similarities with the flood

[@ThoughtPotato]

I'm definitely going to check this out

[@sinfulldreamer]

I highly recommend doing a video of the creatures in the anime Parasyte sometime.

[@rytlocknroll]

I get a lesson in biology, and simultaneously get to learn more about cosmic horrors in one video.

[@dudupintarolas5214]

2 for 1 special offer

[@Star_Skiing_Starskski]

Super fun breakdown of a bit of fiction from my childhood. Thanks buddy!

[@amanoftoomanywords1143]

I love that this is formatted like an actual informative video within the universe of halo

[@colorme14]

Imagine being binded with other people and hearing their moans of pain while being molded to the grave mind to yet hear the final thoughts of your brain and its thoughts comsumed by the gravemind during the molding process. Makes you think there is no god in halo

[@sunsetta9496]

Always enjoy the presentation in your videos. Thank you very much!😃

[@zollof6699]

I love your channel man! Now you're covering the thing that turned me into a huge nerd in the first place. Thanks! Keep up the good work!

[@jorismilleret]

I love the cold and methodic tone, quite hypnotic, of these video. Really coool

[@YodaOnABender]

It’d be cool to see a biology video on the different covenant species

[@takenname8053]

SUPER NICE, I hope you review the other Halo aliens

[@uniformsyter927]

This makes me want to play more halo

[@Tomahawk1]

I just found some weird dust can’t wait to feed it to my alien dog

[@HTTYDinosaur]

LETS GOOOO!!!!! IVE ALWAYS WANTED A HALO BIOLOGY

[@SpartanSigismund316]

That is a very disturbing description of a transformation. Just imagining being in that situation in unsettling.

[@Drac0blade16]

That's a badass scientific name for the Flood. "Recycler of Hell"

[@mrsubject1]

I would love to see you do something on the necromorphs from dead space or the miriad weird and wonderful creatures of Oddworld

[@kestr3l299]

One thing I feel sets the Flood apart from other sci-fi parasites is the speed at which infection happens. The concept of being human one moment and not the next is a different kind of unsettling. I remember my first time playing halo 3 as a kid and watching a marine become infected by the flood before my eyes. My child brain couldn't really process the horror, and between being a kid, and halo 3 having incredible graphics for the time, I found the scene deeply unsettling.

[@i.be.g.3411]

That was a smooth transition to a sponsor ad. Well done. Also, great vid.

[@blubberfeet5430]

Would you ever do the necromorphs from dead space?

[@mrsubject1]

That would be awesome

[@ForTheFREEMAN]

beautiful. please do more

[@MemphiStig]

As a veteran of many an fps campaign, I don't scare easily. But the first time these puppies jumped out at me in Halo CE, I nearly lost it like an npc. Had to change my pants, too. Still gives me chills just thinking about it. At least the nightmares have stopped. For now. Unlike the Flood.

[@pixels_per_minute]

The Flood was the first taste of horror I experienced as a child (probably around 5-6). My first encounter with them was so scaring to me that I stopped playing Halo: CE and didn't return until many months later, where I dredged up the courage to finishe the game. Years later, I'm not only a massive Halo fan but I'm also a horror enthusiast and science fiction nerd.

[@soulreaver1983]

Excellent video thanks

[@viceralman8450]

A similar video with the Necro morphs from Death Space would be awesome.

[@Agora2021]

My two absolute favorite things from Halo; the Flood and the Forerunners.

[@immatheloser2401]

This has a lot of "the thing" vibes, but instead of being only one organism, it's an entire hivemind.

[@colevance5736]

Hmm. I only just noticed that the "Live Infection" animation for the Marines has them snap their own neck before they slump over and get back up.

[@ingram878]

Fascinating, truly fascinating

[@aegis6485]

Holy shit, I guessed it right. Still, fantastic video. It's, like, the hundredth time I've learned about the Flood this way but your individual take was just as interesting as everyone else's.

[@chrisnoah3577]

Love your videos!! You should do a video on the tryanids from Warhammer 40k

[@jennyfeare1702]

I have a feeling we won't have to wait much longer before knowing what the other hint of the scaly fella shall be of, el chupacabra, merfolk, lizardman? we may soon find out... Do hope the "you matter" at the end will be said and not be obstructed texts like in the Mothman episode, did appreciate there being only the text at the start explaining how it's a work of fiction, that was etiquette/enough to get the message/fact across.

[@LazarusGamingandDiscussion]

Hey TP, I love your takes on speculative biology. Do you think you could do a video on the biology of dragons, from the traditional European 4 legs 2 wings, to the more serpentine Asian dragons? Would love to see your explanations!

[@TheRageEnterprise]

I’m so glad that 343 replaced the flood with corrupt Spartan controlling AI. Just so much more interesting ….. 🤦🏻

[@killjoy30011]

I genuinely would love to see how you would explain the Biology of the Kitsune the Variants like the Korean and Chinese versions that eat human flesh vs the Japanese ones that are viewed as both trickers and and benevolent and how you would explain that Japanese Kitsune take human males as Mates

[@ThoughtPotato]

Adding this to my list right now

[@killjoy30011]

@@ThoughtPotato glad you like the idea thanks

[@TheSupaKilla]

Is this flood variants

[@irishspartanstudios]

Oh Halo, how far we have come...

[@DrStxche]

This is awesome! Ooh, would you be able to research the nasty effects of Imulsion Sickness/Rustlung from the Gears of War games? And how Lambency starts?

[@ThoughtPotato]

Love it. I'll check it out for sure!

[@thephantomspectator407]

I prefer the more "traditional" folklore subjects, (vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc.) But still a fantastic video! Would it be too foreword to respectfully suggest a similar, chillingly plausible scientific breakdown of various "cryptids" such as Bigfoot, the Chupacabra, the Michigan Dogmen, the Maryland Goatman, and the Jersey Devil...?

[@ahabsbane]

I was never really an xbox guy, but my friend made me play through the trilogy on CO op legendary, and i loved the story. Glad i stumbled across this!

[@purplejack2020]

Didn't plan on having a pleasant surprise today yet here I am!

[@marksoliva2332]

It's Saturday night, and I'm staying up late watching this.. .on a completely fictional/video game bases disease. But I'm all for it since the presentation and the facts brought up to REAL LIFE diseases makes this top notch!

[@HumanThePerson]

Underrated video breakdown

[@fieryphoenix586]

I played Halo close to its launch. So it was the early days of the internet and several years before KZbin. I had no idea what The Flood was called. Because they looked like ticks that's what I called them. They kept outnumbering me and I couldn't find a walkthrough on how to get passed them.

[@HappyMealPlusTax]

you have a very soothing voice and an S tier channel name I subbed immediately and will be bingeing all your videos - do an episode on the Zerg and Protoss from StarCraft if you haven’t already tho 😡

[@spybgon4597]

I wasn't there for the original Halo but I think the first encounter with the flood must have been freaking insane for most players of the time because the number of them

[@Splarkszter]

Gotta love how the flood spores and Headcrabs are incredibly similar.

[@Smthn_Wicked]

Oh boy, can't wait for Keyes

[@extremosaur]

I refuse to believe the Precursors failed in their last dust stage. It is not known if the Primordial was being honest when it said the formation of the Flood was by design, I believe the species that understood the Nature of Life and the Universe would make such a basic mistake. This is validated by the concept of unity at any cost, something the Precursors would be interested in after the Forerunner betrayals.

[@budwhite9591]

In the book The Flood, the second of the novels: Master Chief had a breach in his suit and was almost infected by a pod. He only survived because Cortana overrode his suit and shocked it to death saving the Chief

[@Mr.Alexander-wx5ku]

I actually went in a deep dive before i found this video and I know the flood very well, and You did the flood some justice.

[@Hxllysis]

I love when there’s a video in the middle of my ad :)

[@18videowatcher41]

I find it fascinating how Flood super cells are essentially the ultimate form of undifferentiated cells.

[@S.L.0311]

i am not a halo fan but i love the lore that it had built over the decades and multiple games

[@abridgedbog7753]

3:38 my head canon is that the dust didn't degraded but the flood is part of the natural evolution of the precursors, they probably did this as a type of challenge, like: "you want to rule the galaxy? fine, but first you need to surpass our ancestors and if you don't we are going to pop again eventually"

[@TrueDenamos]

I'd love a video on the Zerg hyperevolutionary virus.