Little to nothing is known about the Prophets due to the fact they are one of the most secretive races of all the Covenant castes. They are the one of the first species that started the Covenant with the Elites and Engineers.

They are the religious and political leaders of the Covenant.
Prophets actually originated on a world that was once home to a Forerunner colony. This is known and respected by all the higher Covenant castes. This is the reason that the Covenant revere all Forerunner artifacts, and it is for this reason that the Covenant have such advanced technology, because they have been using technological remnants of the Forerunners.

The role of the Prophets, for as long as can be recalled, is to archive, explore and locate Forerunner technology and artifacts. These intelligent, highly evolved beings are physically weak, hence their need for Elite allies. The pact allows the Prophets to advance their search through conquest and occasionally assimilation of species whose home worlds or solar systems contain Forerunner architecture or technology, often disregarded by the resident species. Prophet ceremony and purpose is not generally known to the Covenant population, most of which simply trust in their wisdom to further the goals and territory of the Covenant.

Contrary to popular belief the Prophets aren’t solely in charge of the Covenant Empire. Highly ranked Elites that have proven themselves can outrank all but the most esteemed Prophets. A technique used to balance power and show the mutual dependences of each race for its talents.

Prophets were one of the founding races of the Covenant.

Rather than have "names" in the traditional sense, most Prophets are instead simply referred to as "Holy One", "Eminence", or some other religiously significant title.

Prophets are divided into two groups: High Prophets, and Lesser Prophets. High Prophets are referred to in a more reverent manner by the other Covenant races than Lesser Prophets. The High Prophets have titles such as "High Prophet of Truth", while the Lesser Prophets do not receive such titles as far as is known.

Games - Halo 2

Engineers are the backbone of the Covenant War Machine, it is the Engineer caste who must excavate, unlock and transport Forerunner artifacts. These remarkable aliens are patient, almost completely silent and utterly focused on their task and its religious implications. Engineers maintain all Covenant technology, including the mighty space fleet. Without them the empire would be in disarray as none of the other castes, save perhaps the Elites and Prophets, would have the knowledge and skill to perform such tasks.

The Engineers are an amorphous, purple-skinned species that have six dark eyes, and have 4 tentacles that can split into very small, near-microscopic cilia. The Engineers use these cilia to construct, or repair nearly anything they can grasp. They can take apart whole vehicles and rearrange the entire structure of it in a matter of seconds, and it will still operate. They learn at an unprecedented rate, and store that information for future reference if ever they need to repair the same thing twice. Engineers are not a tactical threat and are hardly ever seen in combat situations.

Their concentration has been described as "a trance-like reverie". They communicate only with Prophets - a fact that may contribute to the balance of power between Elites and Prophets - and will usually ignore anything that is neither a Prophet nor a Forerunner artifact. One observed exception is a high-pitched, keening wail that Engineers will emit should Forerunner objects, structures or themselves be threatened. Engineers were one of the founding races of the Covenant.

Unlike the other races, Engineers don’t have military ranks. This is simply because they are the only race of the Covenant that are non militant. They simply, build, repair, transport and learn; using these skills to greatly aid the Covenant.

Games - Halo 2

There are a few varieties of Elite, but all are roughly 8’ 6” tall and incredibly strong. Their superior strength allows them to rely on brute force when necessary but are quite capable of brilliant battlefield tactics as well. Their natural resilience is augmented with full body energy shielding which recharges when depleted.

The Covenant Elite is the most formidable of all the Covenant. They have excellent weapon accuracy, nimble feet for dodging grenades and weapons fire and have the ability to adjust to hand-to-hand combat in close quarters. Elites are ferocious and exceptionally smart, able to ambush opponents and perform flanking maneuvers. Elites can throw plasma grenades with pinpoint accuracy.

Elites consider the other client races to be below them in all ways. The Elites are the only known race permitted to build and operate star ships within the Covenant, though the crews are always composed of a mix of races.

Elites have an interesting physical appearance. Their jaw is quadruple-hinged; they have an upper jaw, and then four mandible-like lips which are lined with sharp teeth. Their legs are double jointed so they can jump great distances compared to humans, and their unusually shaped feet give them tremendous balance. Their hands have four fingers; two middle fingers and two thumb-like fingers on the outside of the hand for grasping. They have gray skin and have small scales covering parts of the body, they breathe oxygen.

Elite Names

In the Elite culture names are considered a privilege. Only things of importance are named. The Elites generally consider humans to be nameless and resent the fact that humans dare name them, as humans have no standing to be naming things.

Because names are important to Elite society, each element of the name has a meaning, Elite names are constructed from a series of parts. An example is Ado ’Mortumee. “Ado” is his given name, which is all he had until considered an adult. As an adult he earned the right to carry the badge name “Mortumee.”

This name is made up of three parts: MOR (an adjectival descriptor, such as “fast” or “deadly”), TUM (basically his family line), and EE (an honorific indicating that he is part of the military).

Most Elites will have names with this kind of construction.

Elite Military Career

The Covenant military promotion is by merit. A Covenant soldier must succeed to advance. Success is often measured in scalps. A Covenant of Commander, may have personally slaughtered thousands of individuals.

Elites have several classes or ranks:

Blue armored Elites are Rookies, squad leaders of lesser races and foot-soldiers.

The Red armored Elites are Veterans who command multiple squads of both Elites and lesser races.

The Gold armored Elites are Commanders, they normally captain stars ships or lead whole regiments of troops in large engagements.

The White and Black armored Elites are Special Ops. White command Spec Op Grunts and small Covenant regiments whilst Black stay in Spec Ops teams of just Spec Ops Elites and Grunts.

Silver armored Elites are Infiltrators and are rarely ever seen without their active camouflage generators engaged. The true rank of the infiltrator Elites are Ossoona’s, which means “Eye of the Prophet”. They are sent on special missions that are personally issued by the Prophets themselves.

The Highly Ornate Gold armored Elites carrying staffs are the Imperial Guard. The best Elites of the entire army who are given the honor to guard the Holy Ones in their inner sanctums on Covenant worlds.

Higher ranking Elites are allowed to place Forerunner glyphs on their amour as a sign of their religious devotion.

Go to http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/stuntmutt/l337name/  in order to create your own Elite names.

Games - Halo, Halo 2

BRUTES

Brutes stand about 7’ tall. They serve as Ceremonial Guards of the Covenant Temples, Prophet Temples and places of Holy significance to the Covenant. The Brutes have been known to guard these places fiercely rather dying in combat than risk damage to the Temple. Due to lack of interaction with other Covenant races very little about the Brutes.

They are gray skinned, and covered with brown, fur-like hair. They have very sharp teeth and sometimes use them as a weapon. They are immensely strong and fight hand-to-hand if they ever lose their weapon.

Brutes are exceptionally strong, quite possibly the strongest of all the Covenant castes. Despite their incredible bulk, which consists mostly of muscle, they are very agile equaling that of the Human Spartans.

Brutes seem to have some sort of disdain for the Elites. This is due to many reasons, as the races are equal in the caste system there is a rivalry between the two races. There is much competition over the two in order to please the Prophets. At this moment the Elites seem to be on top but there are many things changing within the Covenant society.

In the latter stages of the war there numbers were seen more often in the battlefield.

An example of a Brute name is Tartarus.

Games - Halo 2

HUNTERS

Hunters stand 12’ tall, though in their combat state they contract to approximately eight feet. Hunters fight with a Fuel Rod Gun integrated directly into their armor. They carry an enormous and nearly impervious shield which they sometimes use as a melee weapon. Hunters are actually multiple organisms that exist within the armor, creating a bipedal hive-creature.

Hunters are almost impossible to kill due to their thick armor and shield, they are like walking tanks. Hunters are very agile, considering its size and work in tandem units, called “bonded pairs”. Hunters are deployed more like equipment on the battlefield rather than as units. Often being used for demolition or heavy defense.

Hunters have very long spines protruding from their back which are very sharp. Hunters have been known to impale careless Marines upon these spines when surrounded.

Hunters have one massive weakness, their tender skin which lies underneath their armor. This is believed to be due to the fact that a Hunter, in combat stance, contracts and hunches over, so any armor around that portion of their body would cause severe discomfort. However, if a Hunter is caught off guard, these regions become exposed for brief moments.

Exposed orange skin is particularly susceptible to firearms which will inflict greater damage by striking these points.

Hunters almost never associate or indeed communicate with other Covenant client races, save for the Elites. They are dismissive, scornful and arrogant to the “lesser” Covenant races, and are utterly contemptuous of their foes. Hunters were forced into the Covenant by the superior star ship technology of the Elites - on the ground they were always victorious. Faced with extinction by orbital bombardment, they joined the Covenant.

Hunters have three names: personal name, bond name and line name. The personal name is given at birth. The line name represents the genetic heritage, being the most successful Hunter of his ancestors. If a Hunter reaches a certain level of status, his offspring will have his personal name as their line name.

The bond name is taken between bonded pairs, a relationship about which little is known. Bonded Hunters consider themselves brothers and are fiercely protective of each other.

Hunters breathe oxygen because they do not appear to use any type of special life-support system when operating in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The Hunters have orange skin, orange blood, short, stubby heads, and long necks that are concealed in their armor.

Examples of Hunter names include Igido Nosa Hurru and Ogada Nosa Fasu.

Games - Halo, Halo 2

DRONES

Drones are a new race used in the Covenant military and are being deployed en masse in the battlefields. Drones are insectoid in origin, in addition to helping maintain Covenant spaceships, they have a limited ability to fly and are excellent shots. Highly intelligent, their mastery of anti-gravity flight assistance has given them an almost insurmountable strategic advantage in combat.  

Games - Halo 2

JACKALS

Jackals stand approximately 5’ 8” and with superior senses of sight, hearing and smell compared to the other Covenant castes. Therefore they serve as scouts and assassins in the Covenant forces.

They are physically weak but use a strong energy shield to compensate for this. Jackals can hold their own against several Marines. Even so they aren’t of the same caliber as the Elite. The Jackal isn’t as quick or cunning.

Jackals have little status in the Covenant hierarchy. While they stand as equals to the Grunts, the reality is that Jackals are usually in an elevated position. While other races consider the Grunts beneath notice, the Jackals are often purposely cruel in order to assure themselves of their own superiority.

Jackals are birdlike creatures, with varying skin tones and patterns. Males of the species also have featherlike crests on their heads, though this feathery hair can also be found on all Jackals arms and feet if it isn’t shaved off. As well as to show they are in a state of battle it is also used in mating procedures and their offspring come from eggs.

Jackals are not permitted by Elites to have more than one name, but Jackal society has never placed a premium on such things, so they don’t care.

Examples of Jackal names include Yeg, Jak and Bok.

Games - Halo, Halo 2

GRUNTS

Grunt culture has been largely erased by their incorporation into the Covenant. They are essentially a slave race. Their home world is a swampy planet with a methane atmosphere and naturally occurring pillars of fire.

Approximately 5’ tall and relatively weak compared to other races, Grunts should not be underestimated, they can often kill a squad of careless marines. Though not at all agile they can carry heavy apparatus such as the Fuel Rod Gun and carry methane tanks within their armor which they need to breathe.

Grunts obey the other Covenant out of fear, because they have no political power in Covenant society. However within the Grunt community there is a strong hatred for other species, and a belief that someday a dynamic Grunt leader will lead them to freedom on a methane-rich paradise world.

Due to their low status, Grunts are not permitted by Elites to possess family names. They do value their ties to their offspring, but are usually separated from their families at an early age by the requirements of their service to the Covenant. The Grunts resent this greatly, but are unable to muster any effective response.

Grunts are the lowest of the Covenant castes. They’re the easiest Covenant to kill and are used as cannon fodder on the battlefield. However, their presence poses indirect challenges. Grunts travel in groups, so if there are often others nearby if only one is seen. Grunts might be weak individually, but in squads they become much more capable. Also Grunts stick close to more powerful Covenant, specifically Elites and Jackals. If there are a group of Grunts higher-ranking Covenant are often in the vicinity.

Grunts usually man the Shade stationary turrets and are capable of using the Covenant Ghost.

Grunts have no shields, so any weapon will tear through the Grunt’s rather flimsy armor. Of the many Grunt varieties, the black-colored “Special Ops” Grunts are the most lethal - they carry the fuel rod gun, which is much more powerful than the other weapons the Grunts use.

Examples of Grunt names include: Yayap, Linglin, Zawaz and Gagaw.

Games - Halo, Halo 2