FEATURE: Why America Embraced Master Chief
- Scribbled on September 19th, 2007 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Features, Microsoft Xbox 360, Shooter
There has been never been a phenomena in the United States like the Halo series, and in particular, its hero, Master Chief. While there have been crazes - the Pac-Man craze, the Pokemon craze, the Mario craze - they have never had the presence or popularity that Master Chief has had. There’s never been a Mario wax figure at Madame Tussauds. There’s never been huge four-city bashes at this level - heck, few films have had this sort of advance mania (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace comes to mind.) While Super Mario Bros. was a low-budget stinker directed by some no name scrubs (and the less said about The Wizard, the better - “He touched my BREAST!”), the planned Halo movie is being backed by an Oscar-winning director and producer in Peter Jackson.
The question is - why? Why has Master Chief captured the imagination? What sort of magic synergies have elevated Master Chief in America to icon level? This article shall explore why, and find that there actually is no mystery to Master Chief’s success.
He’s Made in USA
What do Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, Pac-Man and Solid Snake all have in common? They’re all Japanese-born. They’re icons, all right, but in Japan. They all have a Japanese flavor, even the seemingly Italian Mario and the indeterminate Western-bred Snake. Master Chief is born in the U.S.A. He comes from the wellspring of minds of Bungie, a Seattle-based developer. His name, John-117, is rife with Judeo-Christian meanings in a Judeo-Christian country. The philosophies of Halo do not share the same spiritual energies that Japanese games do. While Japanese games tend to run towards Gaea theories, American run towards the more Puritan ideas of hard work and sacrifice. The “Believe” campaign is stressing the Master Chief/Jesus symbology even more, portraying “Master Chief as Savior of Humanity.”
It is interesting, however, that there is a nod to Japanese sensibilities in Halo. Master Chief’s name, for instance, is in the long tradition of such Japanese titles as “Prince of Space” and “Space Chief”. Bungie, after all, did made the anime homage ONI, so they are somewhat influenced by Japanese heroes.
Master Chief is a Soldier
Master Chief is, first and foremost, a soldier. His rank is, in fact, named after the naval rank Master Chief Petty Officer. He works for the United Nations Space Command, and he goes to war for freedom of the whole of human race. It’s not unimportant to recognize that Halo debuted just two months after the 9/11 Tragedy in 2001.
And if there’s something that post-9/11 America loves, it’s the soldier, and despite the reverence which Master Chief’s fellow squadmates show John, Master Chief fights alongside them. He’s both elevated and humble, and he always tries to do The Right Thing. He wreaks vengeance on those who would subjugate us. He is the epitomy of pureness.
But it goes even beyond that. Master Chief is faceless. He’s the Unknown Soldier. He’s the Everyman. Since his face has never been seen (yet), he represents the player. The only thing that is known is that Master Chief is male - otherwise, he could be any race or nationality. This allows the player to identify with the character because they can imagine themselves as the hero. There’s also a mystery to him as well, due to his facelessness. The biggest shock that could ever happen in a Halo game is not Master Chief’s death - it’s his unmasking.
Halo is a First Person Shooter
First person shooters are an American genre. For years, on console systems, games were either platform jumpers, maze games, roleplaying games, or scrolling shooters, for the simple reason that consoles simply could not handle the processing power required for first person shooters. Since console systems were basically originating from Japanese companies like Nintendo, Sega, and Sony - the last popular console by an American company was the ColecoVision/ADAM - shooters were unknown. Meanwhile, computer gamers started to get into a type of game called the FPS, by id Software and 3D Realms, for the most part. During those early days, Americans overcame the nausea that first person games that Japanese currently still endure.
First person shooters became popular in Europe as well, but the genre still remains uniquely American. While rudimentary shooters began to pop up on consoles, like GoldenEye, it wasn’t until the Xbox and its hard drive that a true computer-style FPS landed on consoles - and it was Halo.
Microsoft Backs Master Chief
It doesn’t hurt that Master Chief also has a behemoth backing him up. The television commercials, the parties, and the hype - it costs money, which Microsoft has more than enough of. Microsoft is also the master of marketing, and wise in the way it chooses to sell its product. They won’t oversell Master Chief - you won’t see Master Chief Bathing Suits or Master Chief Barbeque Bibs - but they will sell to the people who count - the hardcore fans. Microsoft has its M.V.P. Program, which keeps it grounded with the common gamer, but also has its expertise on a corporate level as well.
Comparing Marathon with Halo is apt. Marathon was as much a revolutionary first person shooter as Halo, but on the wrong system for shooters (the Mac) and without the resources of Microsoft. Halo in anyone else’s hands would have been just another great shooter, which brings us to the next reason..
Halo is a Great Game
None of this would matter if Halo were just a good shooter. The fact of the matter is, the Halo series stands alone with Half-Life as the greatest shooters ever made. The first Halo was so good, while it was winning every award known to man, people went to extremes to play online multiplayer, making Gamespy’s Tunnel program popular beyond belief. Halo 2, despite the “problems” (only being discussed three years after the fact), is still one of the hottest online games for the Xbox 360, and possibly the main reason Microsoft acquiesced on backwards compatibility for its new system. Halo 3 has just received a 37/40 “Platinum” review from the FPS-phobic Japanese publication Famitsu. There’s a reason people know who Master Chief is, and not Parker (the hero of Red Faction).
It Could Have Been You, Duke
It might have been someone else, though. Back in 1996, the Great FPS Debate began when Duke Nukem 3D and Quake were released. While Quake clearly had the better technology, Duke 3D and its primitive Build engine captured the hearts of many gamers. Duke, an unrepentent macho Army of Darkness-quoting (”Come get some!”) blonde commando, was quite the character. He made Roddy Piper’s tossaway line from They Live! immortal: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum.” While the technology itself was fairly pedestrian, the game wasn’t, full of strange and wild weaponry, such as the freezer, shrink rays and the ultimate in humiliating defeat - the Mighty Foot. It also offered terrific multiplayer, making laser tripwires the ultimate in strategy. It had all the tools to make Duke America’s icon, Master Chief before Master Chief, only with more personality.
Then 3D Realms started on Duke Nukem Forever.
Duke Nukem’s chance of being a star vanished, and id’s choice of protagonist - silent, personality-less ciphers - ruled the day, with no stories backing the Quake and DOOM games. It wasn’t til Gordon Freeman came around before first person shooters had an actual plot (with apologies to System Shock.) But his image was too wimpy (a bespectacled assistant scientist?), and Valve’s constant long development time scotched any chance of Gordon becoming as mainstream popular as Master Chief.
Following in Master Chief’s Footsteps?
The other Big Event Game that Microsoft had for the Xbox 360 was last year’s Gears of War, which shared many commonalities with Halo, a space military-themed shooter with tremendous gameplay and addictive, if less expansive, multiplayer. It also benefited from Microsoft’s publicity machine, with commercials and showcases galore.
Is Marcus Fenix the next Master Chief? It’s hard to say. Master Chief’s sidekick, the glowing blue AI Cortana, was more of a contrast to John’s stoicness than Dominic was to Marcus. While Master Chief is 7′2″, he’s not the football player-shaped character that Marcus is, and the mystery of Marcus is not his identity - he spends the entire game without any head protection (!) - but his past. Marcus is also less “approachable” than John. John will shake your hand - Marcus is more likely to glower at you if you try to greet him.
The corporate synergy is also different. Microsoft owns Bungie. Microsoft has to partner itself with Epic. The friction over multiplayer and Live For Windows was a non-issue with Bungie; the same was definitely not true with Gears of War. There’s nothing Microsoft can do if Epic decides to make Gears of War 3 for another console. Time shall tell if Marcus becomes an iconic figure alongside Master Chief.
(They like him in Canada, too.)
September 19th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I think you’re on to something. Though I’d never, ever call Halo 2 “great”, one did define console FPS’.
I don’t think Marcus is following the footsteps. Chief is nearly mainstream - Fenix is too brutish. I don’t think the public would appreciate “Eat shit and die!” Chainsaws.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I just did a little bit of sick in my mouth while reading that…
September 19th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Master Chief is the faceless hero that we all need or want to be.
Halo has a great story.
Halo has great play mechanics.
Halo has a great sound track and should not be under estimated for it’s ability to affect the player emotionally.
The majority of us are Christian and the obvious links, though I don’t think planned, to Islamists get our emotions going.
The Covenant races are interesting.
It’s always heart warming when your greatest enemy become your greatest ally such as with the Elites.
All this and so much more is why Halo is embraced by millions.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:38 am
*The question is - why?*
Easy: Microsoft has a marketing budget bigger than God’s.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Yeah, sure. Explain Brute Force’s failure, then.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:38 am
sorry to contradict a part of the story, but Master Chief does have a race. As for nationality, we do not know. But if you read the Fall of Reach novel, they state that when Master Chief removes his helmet, he is ghostly white which amplifies his status among the UNSC foot soldiers. It gives him this Phantom status, as if the Spartan-IIs exist, but to see one is a chance in a lifetime.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I have a confession to make… I enjoyed Brute Force when it came out.
And yeah, buddy here is right. I’m positive he’s white. Whether it’s albino or plain Caucasian I don’t know, but he’s one or the other.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Note: America doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the books. I know that he has brown hair and freckles. That’s entirely NOT the point. We’re talking about the video game and the video game experience. Do you honestly believe had Halo only been released as a book anyone would have cared about Master Chief?
In the game, you never see Master Chief’s face or skin color. Period.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
No you’re not. You’re talking about the character and the impact he had on mainstream consumers. He’s expanded beyond the Geekdom status and has risen higher in to regular press. The games are merely the basis for this astounding surrounding universe that he resides in. Yes, the games are the most popular and most well known, but like it or not, the surrounding fiction is there, and Chief is what he is. They don’t mention it in the games because it’s not important. Him being faceless adds to his mystique but knowing more about him is for the hardcore fans, or fans of the universe in general. That way you know a little more about him, his history, why there’s no more Spartans, as well as what happened between games.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Ask any person on the street about the Halo books, and they’ll respond, “There’s books?” Even most Halo players don’t bother with the books.
No one cares that Elmer Fudd was Egghead, either. It’s irrelevent.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
In a world dominated for over a decade by hermaphroditic Japanese game characters wearing gay S&M clothing and spouting nonsensical dialogue about their kidnapped sisters, the sight of a real man in a game took the western world by storm.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
No one cares that Elmer Fudd was Egghead, either. It’s irrelevent.
HE WAS?
I have proof that Master Chief loves Canada more.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Like it or not Jonah, he is what he is. The novels ARE RELEVANT to the surrounding fiction. There’s references to them, and I can only assume that Ghosts of Onyx will have an effect on the events in Halo 3.
If you ask any person on the street “Do you know this man?” and show them a picture of the Chief, I guarantee you half of them will not have a clue what you’re talking about. Still, his race IS defined.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
But irrelevent to the mainstream public. You can have a deep backstory and still no one will care. See: Marathon.
September 20th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
But because it’s so POPULAR, people DO care.
September 20th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I’ve read the books. I have four friends all into Halo that have not. I’ve many times referenced them when talking about the game and they now know some of the backstory. Word spreads amongst the hardcore and they pass it to casual players which are who I assume you mean by the “mainstream”.
September 20th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
So? What?
The books in terms of American perception are completely unrelated. Do you think the Star Wars books are in the public consciousness, too? Heck, even KOTOR has no bearing on the Star Wars icon in public consciousness.
This is image, not backstory.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I would of went with the idea that Americans are just into shooting dudes in the face, but your theory works well too.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Great article. All Japanese developers should read it to get an understanding of American taste.
September 21st, 2007 at 8:23 am
First off I’ll say that I think that Halo games are great despite being produced for a console made by evil incarnate…. However, I gotta say that some of the undertones of this article and the agreement of some of the forum posters exemplifies the closed-minded stupidity of America. It starts with the whole “buy American because its made in America” ideal and blossoms into more. I for one choose to buy quality products no matter who makes it, so I would buy Halo 3, but not an XBOX 360 because it is an engineering debacle so I’d have nothing to play it on.
September 21st, 2007 at 8:52 am
Great write up.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:09 am
Great piece! Insightful and well argued. I agree and gave it a “digg”
Good job. - BAT
September 21st, 2007 at 9:52 am
I allowed RuddigerPez’s comment to be posted because I wanted people to laugh at its stupidity.
Nowhere in the article does it say Halo is popular ONLY in America. I’m just pointing out why it’s such a big smash in the US of A, and like it or not, the USA is the most powerful cultural leader in the world (thanks to Hollywood.)That’s not to say its original (many of the best US sitcoms, for instance, are adaptation of Brit sitcoms), but the distribution power and influence is unmatched. One need only to see how many people watch the Academy Awards and how many watch the BAFTA Awards as a comparison.
But hey, you go on mixing politics with a video game. LOL
September 21st, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Why would you not allow his comment to be posted? It’s his opinion, and he supports it with rational and unoffensive thinking — even though I disagree slightly with his stance.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Come on guys! Halo is by far hands down the best FPS Game out there! Halo 3 will be the flood gate for Hollywood to trigger their slow moving feet to a quick fast pace trot to sign a deal! I think Hugh Jackman should play Master Chief! Now to address the question, plain and simple American’s love Heroes, and Master Chief is on his way to Hollywood!
September 21st, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Great article!!!!
I’ve been a hardcore fan of FPS since DOOM in the 90’s, got addicted to team based games with TeamFotressClassic, and bought an xbox after playing Halo CE the day after thanksgiving in Electronics Boutique while Christmas shopping.
Halo is a great game, and it could only have been developed in America, where the ‘little guy’ (he IS only an enlisted rank) and ‘underdog’ ( there is only one SPARTAN left) are embraced with open arms because of American values.
The U.S. has long been known as the ‘land of opportunity’, where the common man can rise from nothing to mind-numbing heights of accomplishment through hard work and perseverance. (see Bill Gates, the richest colledge drop-out in America, 59 Billion at last count)
and about the MC being ‘pasty white” it says in “the Flood” it’s from constantly wearing his helmet, and never seeing the light of day without it on.
September 21st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Wow jonahfalcon, thank you so much for allowing my post. I am uplifted by your pity.
First of all, since your article was suggesting reasons why America embraced Master Chief, my post responded to those reasons. So I never made mention of his popularity in other countries because it was irrelevant. However, if I may do so now, I’d like to point out that Halo 2 had half the attach rate outside of America than it did in America. So while it was still popular (20% of XBOX owners had it outside the US) it was not as popular. And I doubt its popularity in other countries had anything to do with the fact that Master Chief was a soldier and the game came out after 9/11, or that it was made in America and backed by MS…they likely played Halo 2 just because it was a good game.
And as far as your Academy Awards vs. BAFTA point, note that the US has 5 times the population of Great Britain and probably many more TVs per capita. That might account for viewership size differences right there.
Just trying to stomp out some of the “RAH, RAH AMERICA!” flames you were setting… But I’m bored now so I suppose I’m finished.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:15 am
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