The Halo universe has one of the most expansive universes in all of gaming. Xbox’s flagship franchise has a number of unique and fascinating aliens in its universe regardless of whether they are a part of the villainous Covenant or not. One of the most recognizable enemies and aliens are the pretty pathetic but also lovable Grunts.
Grunts, also known by the real species name of Unggoy, have been around the games since the very beginning in Combat Evolved’s opening level on the original Xbox. Yet there is still a lot about the Grunts that even veteran Halo players might not know about. Here are things people probably never knew about Grunts.
10 They Are Taller Than You Think
Since players are usually always playing as the Spartan super soldiers, grunts may not seem that tall since Spartans usually tower over them. But a Grunt’s actual height may be surprising.
Their average height is usually around 5 feet. This makes them close to the height of the average person and taller than most kids. Despite this though, they are still shorter than most of the races of the Covenant.
9 They Are Treated Poorly By The Covenant
Despite being ever so loyal to the Covenant (more on their loyalty later), the Grunts are actually treated terribly by the Covenant. This could be for a number of reasons but it is still clear as day to how they are treated.
Their civil rights are severely limited and are basically treated as second-class citizens at best. This would later lead to a rebellion at one point due to their mistreatment and their bad blood with the Kig-Yar, aka Jackals.
8 Their Bad Blood With The Jackals
Speaking of bad blood with the Jackals, the two are at the lowest point of the Covenant hierarchy. Similar to the Brutes and Elites, the two despise each other and only tolerate each other on the best of days.
The sad part of it all is that the Covenant leadership is content to just let the two just duke it out since apparently they don’t believe in the saying “divided we fall.”
7 They Outnumber The Rest Of The Covenant
While the Grunts are at the bottom of the Covenant food chain, they have the most numbers due to their high reproduction rate. It is so high that overpopulation becomes a big issue for them during peacetime.
This is also why the Grunts are usually the most encountered enemy out of the Covenant. The Covenant leadership uses them cannon fodder. But a whole lot of them, together and organized, would be a threat in any large-scale firefight, with or without skulls on.
6 They Rebelled Against The Covenant
As previously stated earlier, the Grunts at one point actually staged a rebellion at one point in the year 2462. This came after the aforementioned mistreatment and the fact that the High Council refuse to punish the Jackals for poisoning Grunt narcotics in an effort to make them sterile.
This caused the Grunts to lash out at the Covenant, only being stopped by an Arbiter and the partial glassing of their homeworld. The Grunts were able to show that they were stronger and better than they were given credit for. After this, they were given the right to join the army as infantryman and could bear arms. But their rights were still pretty limited.
5 They Breathe Methane Instead Of Oxygen
In all of their major appearances in the series, the Grunts have had a breathing apparatus of some sort. This usually takes the form of a gas mask, as seen in older games, or nose tubes that feed them air, as seen in newer games. While it may seem like an attempt to look cool, this is because they actually breathe methane instead of oxygen.
If they were to breathe in oxygen instead, then they could suffocate and die. Turns out there is another purpose to those masks on top of trying to look cool.
4 Their Methane Tanks Can Be Shot Off
The methane they breathe is stored in tanks on their backs. This is the weird pointy things that are on their backs, it is not apart of their anatomy. In most Halo games, this can actually be shot at and it will react.
Shoot at it with a precision to see a big boom. In Halo: Reach, shooting it will make them go flying and then explode if shot or melee-ed at. It can damage the player though so keep that in mind when doing it up close.
3 Their Homeworld Is A Mess
The homeworld of the Grunts is Balaho, which has a methane atmosphere and is a bit of a miss. In ancient times before the Halos were built, the planet was devastated by a very real threat, mass global industrialization.
It got so bad that a resource war occurred and it took only the intervention of the Forerunners, specifically The Librarian, to calm things down by indexing and preserving them to protect them from the Halos firing. By the time the Grunts were discovered by the Covenant, they had just rediscovered electricity. Even now, Balaho is devastated yearly by two winters and insufficient food.
2 They Obey The Covenant Out Of Fear
After how they are treated and at seeing time and time again at the atrocities committed by the Covenant, it seems as though the grunts obey the Covenant more out of fear than loyalty.
This would explain why during The Great Schism, the civil war between the Elites and Covenant, the Grunts stayed with the Covenant despite some siding with the Elites. They are absolutely terrified at what could happen to them.
1 The Covenant Actually Saved Them
Despite how badly the others in the Covenant treat them, they are the ones that ironically saved the Grunts from extinction.
The Covenant, despite making them basically a slave race, enabled them to have a sufficient food supply and other places to live. This caused life-expectancy for non-combatants to double and cut the infant mortality to below 50 percent.
