The Arbiter, Blade of the Prophets

Name: The Arbiter
From: Halo Wars
Key weapons: Energy Sword, Plasma pistol
Stats:
Strength-8, speed-7, endurance-6, intellgence-8
skill: Can duel wield, Can turn invisible and see great in the dark. Have great reflexes and brute strength. Their strategic plans are high and are good planners.


https://youtu.be/iXZbTCmSeSI

https://youtu.be/nlNHT57SbkA

Presented in Halo 2, the rank of "Arbiter" is bestowed upon a Covenant Elite by the Covenant leadership—the High Prophets—during a time of "extraordinary crisis".[8] The Arbiter acts as the "Blade of the Prophets", undertaking highly dangerous missions to preserve the Covenant. It is expected that these soldiers will die in the course of their duties.[9][10] Although it was originally a rank of great honor, it later became a rank assigned to disgraced or shamed Elites that nevertheless possessed great martial skill, both as a means to have them serve the Covenant, and as a convenient means of disposal after their assigned suicidal missions.[11]

The Arbiter in the Halo trilogy, Thel 'Vadamee,[12] was previously a Supreme Commander in the Covenant fleet, having commanded the ships that follow the human vessel Pillar of Autumn to the ringworld Halo during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. A Prophet orders the Autumn not to be destroyed outright, lest the ring be damaged; this hesitance allows the humans to land on the ring, coordinate a resistance, and ultimately destroy the ring to stop the spread of the parasitic Flood.[13] In the aftermath of the incident, the commander also loses a Covenant ship to UNSC forces, resulting in the annihilation of a Covenant invasion force heading for Earth.[14] As Halo 2 begins, the Covenant High Council brands the Commander a heretic for letting the ringworld—which the Covenant consider a sacred relic—be destroyed.[15] He is stripped of his rank and branded. Though his public execution is soon to follow, he is spared by the High Prophets;[16] the Hierarchs give the disgraced Commander a chance to lead troops once again by becoming the Arbiter.[17]

The Arbiter's first mission is to silence a renegade Elite who has been preaching that the Prophets have lied to the Covenant.[18] The Arbiter is then sent to retrieve the "Sacred Icon" from the library on the newly discovered Delta Halo, in order to activate the ring and bring about the Great Journey,[19] the Covenant's concept of salvation. Though he retrieves the Icon, the Arbiter is betrayed by the Chieftain of the Brutes, Tartarus; Tartarus reveals that the Prophets have given him and his race carte blanche to massacre the Elites and replace them in the Covenant caste system. Though the Arbiter is believed dead, he is rescued—along with his nemesis, the human soldier Master Chief—by the parasitic Flood intelligence Gravemind. Gravemind reveals that the Great Journey actually spells doom for all sentient life, and sends him to stop Tartarus from activating the ring.[20] In the process of stopping the Brute, the Arbiter and his Elites forge an alliance with the humans Miranda Keyes and Avery Johnson,[12] and the Arbiter slays Tartarus, halting the firing of the ring. The unexpected shutdown of Halo triggers a standby sequence, which the Arbiter learns has made all the Halo installations ready to fire remotely from a place known as the Ark.[21]

Taking place 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved,[24] Ensemble Studio's Halo Wars features a different Arbiter from the character seen in the trilogy.[25] Lead designer David Pottinger described Ensemble's Arbiter as a "mean guy. He's Darth Vader times ten." The characterization stemmed from a desire to make the Covenant more basically "evil" in order to provide a good guy-bad guy conflict.[26] Parts of the Arbiter's backstory before the game's events are explained in a tie-in graphic novel, Halo Wars: Genesis.[27] The Elite, Ripa 'Moramee, was given the rank after he fought and lost a campaign against his own clan.[11]