So we're not basing his abilities on what we've seen? Does this contest not seem loaded to you? Maybe I can say Captain America can throw flames out of his rear end...sure you've never seen that in his books before, but trust me...he can.
No, there's an enormous amount of Bungie canon out there on what MC can and can't do, how he was enhanced and what the armor does to him.
Let's go into a little background:
John (Master Chief, Spartan-117, whatever you want to call him) was abducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence at age six, at which time, without any enhancements, he stood a foot taller than his classmates and could take on some adults in wrestling combat. He was also a master of the game "King of the Hill". He could conquer the best chess champions without much difficulty. His last name was replaced with a number, 117, and he was inducted into the SPARTAN-II program. There, John was further trained physically and mentally as a UNSC soldier. When he was fourteen, he began the physical augmentation program that would make him enormously strong and fast. These include:
Carbide ceramic ossification: advanced material: special metal and ceramic layers, grafting onto skeletal structure to make bones virtually unbreakable. Recommended coverage not to exceed 3 percent total bone mass because of significant white blood cell necrosis. Specific risk for pre- and near-post pubescent adolescents: skeletal growth spurts may cause irreparable bone pulverization.
Muscular enhancement injections: protein complex is injected intramuscularly to increase tissue density and decrease lactase recovery time. Risk: 5 percent of test subjects experience a fatal cardiac volume increase.
Catalytic thyroid implant: platinum pellet containing human growth hormone catalyst is implanted in the thyroid to boost growth of skeletal and muscle tissues, suppressed sexual drive. Risk: rare instances of elephantiasis.
Occipital capillary reversal: submergence and boosted blood vessel flow beneath the rods and cones of subject’s retina. Produces a marked visual perception increase. Risk: retinal rejection and detachment. Permanent blindness.
Superconducting fabrication of neural dendrites: alteration of bioelectrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. Three hundred percent increase in subject’s reflexes. Anecdotal evidence of marked increase in intelligence, memory, and creativity. Risk: significant instances of Parkinson’s disease and Fletcher’s syndrome.
You out-nerded yet?
Basically, this is what John-117 can do
without his armor:
-Capable of running at speeds exceeding 55 KPH (34.155 MPH). SPARTAN-087 was capable of running faster than the rest. Later on, SPARTAN-117 runs at around 105 KPH (65.205 MPH) during a MJOLNIR MARK V training exercise.
-Capable of lifting three times their body weight due to increased muscle density (John-117 weighs about 230lbs without the suit).
-Virtual night vision.
-Reaction times of 20 milliseconds. Significantly faster in combat situations.
-Capable of unprecedented teamwork that resembled "telepathy".
-No physiological or mental instabilities.
These current results were only a few months after augmentation, CPO Mendez himself said that the Spartans will only get better as they adjust to the augmentation. Therefore the only true one is that the Spartans can exceed speeds of 55 KPH (34.155 MPH). These abilities were completely independent of the MJOLNIR armor, which only further augmented the Spartans' unprecedented capabilities.
By the way, this is all from Halopedia (
www.halo.wiki.com), the official source for Halo material.
So, yeah, he kicks butt even without his armor.
And shooting Hulk in the head? That's not even the equivalent of a gnat in his eye. And the Bradley didn't stop him BTW...
Ummm... if it can go through MC's helmet, it can go through the Hulk's head. I'm sorry, but MC's armor is like a tank. Literally.
And as for cultural icons. Again, I am bringin up America. Are you really gonna come in here and tell me because you see him on billboards that MC is more relevant to American culture than Captain America? Really? I thought you admitted to this already. Are we really arguing that the MC, a character from a first-person-shooter created in the 2000s is a "cultural icon" in the league of a WWII propaganda character with 60 years of history? I haven't seen Bugs Bunny on a billboard lately. hmm...MC ownz. HEck this thread alone....where was the thread that sprouted up when MC learned to dual wield? Where was the thread on THR that trumpeted the return of the Halo assault rifle? Uh...maybe because he's a flash-in-the pan video game character (admittedly one from a very, very well made series)? Outside of 8-30year old boys, can "Master CHief" really mean anything to anyone but a 40-something senior NCO who's bound to a desk?
I never said MC was an
American icon, I said he was a
cultural icon. Who's culture? The gamer culture. Which, I might remind you, makes up a significant percent of the population of the world.
Truthfully I'm not seeing which argument you're sticking to. First, it's MC can beat CAp. (I say no; I get news of superiority from the "fact" he's better outside of the medium he is known for: games) Then it's simply that Cap should use a gun. (I repeat ad naseum that he does) Now it's a combination of all of that AND that the MC is a bigger cultural icon. (ditto) All of these have been dropped and/or adhered to with varying degrees of interest. So which is it?
I never said MC was a
bigger cultural icon, only that he was one. The argument that I'm sticking too is the one that came up directly after me wondering why Cap'n didn't use guns as standard. Which was that MC can beat the Cap'n. I mean, hell, the very fact that MC's armor is camouflaged (if a bit shiny, I've always wondered why...) is kind of a testament to his businesslike attitude when compared to Captain America.
Plainly, I will reiterate: Cap can outshoot, outrun, and outclass MC. And he's true blue American Army. Take your UN sanctioned bullpup or raygun...I'll keep his official 1911 officers sidearm.
Ray-gun? You do know that the MA5C Assault Rifle is chambered for 7.62x51 NATO, right? An
American cartridge? By the way, the UNSC was only
formed by the United Nations, it is now run by the UEG. And MC's second-favorite weapon is the Magnum, a .50-caliber pistol. I mean, forgive me if I don't exactly argue for 1911s in the 26th century. Plus the M6 pistol series has been in service with the UNSC for 116 years. So, yeah. You want legacy? Go with the M6.
Y'know what's really funny? I'm not a Halo buff. I haven't played through any of the games all the way. I don't own any of them. Weird.
