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Cortana (Halo)

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Cortana
Halo series character
File:Cortana h3.png
Cortana as she appears in Halo 3
First gameHalo: Combat Evolved (2001)

Cortana is a fictional artificial intelligence in the Halo series of video games. She is voiced by actress Jen Taylor in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, and also appears in the expanded universe novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx . During the games, Cortana assists the protagonist - the Master Chief - on his missions, providing backstory and tactical information to the player. In the Halo universe, she is instrumental in preventing the Halo installations from being fired, which would have wiped out most life in the galaxy.

Next to the iconic Master Chief, Cortana is the next best symbol of the game series; the character was replicated twice for action figures preceding the release of Halo 2 and Halo 3 and was also featured in the heavy marketing preceding the third game's release. She has been recognized both for her sex appeal and her believability and depth as a character; Cortana was rated as one of the most "disturbingly sexual game characters", while also being ranked as one of the greatest female characters in video games.

Character design

In an interview, female Bungie artist Lorraine McLees pointed out that game designers are generally men, and "women in their games are perhaps portrayed in the way they themselves see women. Here, the same 3-D artist who wanted to not portray women as sex objects [...] coincidentally, modeled Cortana."[1] Cortana is also featured in the most recent release of Halo 3 action figures, distributed by McFarlane Toys.[2] In the interview, McLees noted that when designing an action figure of Cortana, the model was supposed to portray her as having a older appearance than the one found on the games.[1] This was resolved by making the figure look a little buxom, regardless of McLess making a direct request to reduce the mass of the figure. She explains that the sculptor appeared reluctant to make the change and that time ran out leaving the design intact.[1]

Jen Taylor, the voice behind other video game characters including Princess Peach, noted that she has remained somewhat distanced from the character she portrays, attending only a single fan convention over six years after Halo: Combat Evolved;[3] despite her involvement in several video game franchises, she is not a gamer.[4]Interviewed about Cortana in Halo 3, Taylor said that "There’s a lot more drama and a lot less technical jargon this time around. I actually just finished a couple of lines that nearly had me in tears."[5]

Attributes

Personality

Cortana is a "smart" artificial intelligence (AI) that was constructed from the cloned brain of Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN-II Project. The Doctor's synaptic networks became the base of Cortana's processors.[6] The term "smart" means that, according to the novels, her creative matrix is allowed to continually expand, unlike "dumb" AIs, which have a limited matrix. This grants Cortana the ability to learn and adapt beyond her basic parameters, but at the cost of a limited "lifespan" of only seven years, at the end of which she will literally "think herself to death".[6]

Cortana is highly skilled and capable of hacking alien computer systems,[7] and has a slight smugness about her abilities. Her intellect often leads her to become 'bored', and in Halo: The Fall of Reach she is seen hacking into ONI's Top Secret documents due to her ennui.[8] Her intellect occasionally her to be loquacious to a fault; In The Fall of Reach, Halsey notes that if she let Cortana continue with her hypothesis, the A.I. would talk all day.[9] The Doctor also sees Cortana as a teenage version of herself; smarter than her parents, always "talking, learning, and eager to share her knowledge."[6] Cortana is also described as having a sardonic sense of humor;[10] she is often seen cracking jokes or commenting wryly on a subject.[9] Her high spirits and lack of programming restricts give her a unique set of behavioral "quirks" no other A.I. in the Halo universe is known to have.[11] For example, she becomes irate and impatient when the Master Chief doubts her judgement in Halo: First Strike.[12]

Outward appearance

As Cortana is an artificial construct, she has no physical form or being. However, she always speaks with a smooth female voice,[11] and appears in holographic images as a woman. In Halo: The Fall of Reach, Cortana is described as slender, with close-cropped hair and a skin hue that changes from navy blue to lavender depending on the A.I.'s mood.[8] Her appearance in Halo: Combat Evolved is similar, but in Halo 2 and Halo 3 she becomes bluer in tone and has longer hair. Numbers and symbols flash across her form when she is thinking.[13]

Appearances

Halo: The Fall of Reach

See also: Halo: The Fall of Reach

The origin of Cortana is never explained in the video games, but is illustrated in the Halo novels. Cortana's first chronological appearance in the story is in Halo: The Fall of Reach, a 2003 prequel to the first video game. Dr. Halsey allows Cortana the choice of which SPARTAN-II soldier she would like to be attached to for an upcoming mission - Cortana picks the Master Chief, whom she believes is her best match.[14] Cortana and the Spartans are assigned a near-suicidal mission- to take the cruiser Pillar of Autumn to the Covenant homeworld, capture a Prophet, and hopefully force the Covenant into a truce.[15] Before the mission, Cortana helps the Master Chief survive the near-suicidal tests prepared to test the Chief's MJOLNIR battle armor; afterwards, the A.I. sets up incriminating evidence in the files of the ONI operative who nearly killed both of them, Colonel Ackerson, as a method of revenge.[16] When the Covenant attack the planet Reach, the last human bastion left, Cortana sets the Pillar of Autumn on a course derived from star charts on a Forerunner tablet; this course takes the Autumn to Halo.

Halo: Combat Evolved

See also: Halo: Combat Evolved
File:Cortana.jpg
Cortana in her original form in Halo:Combat Evolved

Cortana makes her first appearance in the videogame series during the introductory cinematic of Halo:Combat Evolved. In the 2003 novelization of the game, Halo: The Flood, Cortana likewise plays an important role. Cortana is in control of the Pillar of Autumn's defenses, and is able to destroy three Covenant targets before the ship's weapons are disabled. Captain Keyes initiates Cole Protocol and makes preparations to abandon ship; this includes the evacuation of any shipboard A.I. The Master Chief is charged with safeguarding Cortana from the Covenant.[17] When the Master Chief arrives on Halo, Cortana helms the communications channels and helps direct Foehammer to human survivors scattered across the ring, as well as assisting the Master Chief in the rescue of Captain Keyes from the Truth and Reconciliation.

Inserted into Halo's Control Room, looking for a way to activate Halo to use as a weapon against the Covenant, Cortana becomes visibly agitated and sends the Master Chief off to try and find Captain Keyes.[18] Cortana stays in Halo's computer core watching as the Master Chief encounters the parasitic Flood and is conscripted to activate Halo's defenses by the Forerunner construct 343 Guilty Spark. Master Chief and Guilty Spark return to the Control Room, intent on using the Index - the key to Halo - in order to wipe out the Flood, but Cortana reveals the full truth she learned while in the Control Room; Halo does not kill Flood, but their food. If Halo were activated, all sentient life in the galaxy would be wiped out.[19] She takes possession of the index and becomes a target for 343 Guilty Spark because of this.[20] With the Index captured, Cortana and the Master Chief plan on destroying Halo. They succeed after Cortana walks the Chief through detonation of the Autumn's fusion reactors, which subsequently destabilizes the ringworld. Cortana and Master Chief escape in a fighter and witness the ring's destruction.

Halo: First Strike

See also: Halo: First Strike

Eric Nylund's follow-up to The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, takes place immediately after the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Cortana and the Master Chief, seemingly the sole survivors of the events of Halo, discover that there were in fact a small number of other UNSC personnel who made it off the ring.[21] Cortana helps take control of a Covenant cruiser, Ascendant Justice, and later returns with the last of the survivors to Earth after destroying the Covenant space station Unyielding Heirophant.[22] In this book, Cortana is shown to have the ability to create imperfect clones of her program; at one point, a copy of herself that the Spartan Blue Team (Composed of Master Chief, Linda, Grace, Will, and Fred) takes on their mission to the "Unyielding Heirophant" ends up cloning itself hundreds of times to help the Spartans complete their mission.

Halo 2

See also: Halo 2

Cortana makes her second video game appearance in Halo 2, on the Earth defense platform Cairo, at an awards ceremony for the heroes of Halo: Combat Evolved. Following the arrival of a Covenant fleet, Cortana takes control of the Cairo's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon in order to repel the invaders,[23] and successfully deactivates a bomb which would have destroyed the station. Later, upon discovering Delta Halo, Cortana gives Commander Miranda Keyes access to all information on the original Halo, and provides intelligence for the Chief and UNSC Marines on the surface of the ring. Upon being sent by the Flood intelligence Gravemind to the Covenant city of High Charity, Cortana stays behind as the Master Chief follows the Prophet of Truth; Cortana promises to detonate the crashed In Amber Clad's reactors to destroy the city and Halo if the ring is activated.[24] The firing of Halo is averted by Keyes, the Arbiter, and Avery Johnson, but Cortana is left in the clutches of Gravemind, who has taken over High Charity.[25]

Halo 3

See also: Halo 3

Cortana appears once again for the final installment in the Halo trilogy, the 2007 Halo 3. During gameplay, Cortana appears to the player through broken transmissions, often reciting lines from Fall of Reach and earlier games.[14][26] Cortana manages to send a message to the Master Chief on Earth, borne by a Flood-infected ship, that Gravemind does not know about the portal that the Forerunner artifact on Earth opened. Cortana continues to appear to the Chief, and Master Chief later sets off into the Flood-controlled High Charity to recover the AI. Surprised that the Chief has against all odds rescued her (as promised), Cortana produces the original Halo's Index- she had kept it as a souvenir.[27] With it, Cortana is able to activate the new ringworld being constructed. While the Flood are destroyed as planned, the slipspace portal the Master Chief, Arbiter, and Cortana use to escape collapses, stranding the Chief and Cortana. Cortana activates a beacon, but knows that it could be years before they are found.[28] As the Master Chief prepares to go into cryonic sleep to await rescue, Cortana confides to him that she will miss him. He replies to wake him when she needs him.[29]

Reception

Some found that Cortana's cryptic messages during the first part of Halo 3 slowed the gameplay.[30] Gamasutra, however, found that the game plodded along without Cortana, "who provided the series with most of what humor it had and most of the exposition".[31] Similarly, CinemaBlend.com decided that the "love story" between Master Chief and Cortana in Halo 3 provides "a focus to the game that an epic war between species can not accomplish. As Chief. the player needs something to anchor them into the story, and that happens to be Cortana."[32] One publication simply noted that Cortana "has inexplicably had a sexy makeover."[33]

Part of Cortana's appeal has lain in her looks; the character was #9 on a list of "Top Ten Xbox Babes",[34]Gamedaily' "Babe of the Week",[35] and ranked as the sixth most "disturbingly sexual game character" by Games.net.[36] Nonetheless, reviewers also found other positive aspects to praise; Cortana was named the fourth best supporting character,[37] and one of the "50 Greatest Female Characters",[38] in a video game.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Szabo, Brooke (2006-01-01). "Bungie Art Grrl McLees". xbox.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Halo 3: Series 1". McFarlane. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  3. ^ Taylor, Jen (narr.) The Cortana Chronicles (2007): from Halo 3 Legendary Edition
  4. ^ Taylor, Jen; Staff (2006-05-03). "SiN Episodes Voice Cast Interview". ritualistic.com. Retrieved 2007-10-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ K., Paul (2007-02-16). "Bungie Weekly Update". bungie.net. Retrieved 2007-10-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b c Nylund, Eric (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 218. ISBN 0-345-45132-5.
  7. ^ Bungie Studios, ed. (2001). Halo: Combat Evolved Instruction Manual. Microsoft Game Studios. p. 9.
  8. ^ a b Nylund, Eric (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 216. ISBN 0-345-45132-5.
  9. ^ a b Nylund, Eric (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 217. ISBN 0-345-45132-5.
  10. ^ Staff (2004-09-14). "Halo 2: Bios Blowout". Team Xbox. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b Nylund, Eric (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 233. ISBN 0-345-45132-5.
  12. ^ Nylund, Eric (2003). Halo: First Strike. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 67. ISBN 0-345-46781-7.
  13. ^ Dietz, William (2003). Halo: The Flood. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 9. ISBN 0-345-45921-0.
  14. ^ a b Nylund, Eric (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 220. ISBN 0-345-45132-5. Halsey: Could you sacrifice him if you had to? Could you watch him die?
  15. ^ Bungie Studios, ed. (2001). Halo: Combat Evolved Instruction Manual. Microsoft Game Studios. pp. 6–7.
  16. ^ Nylund, Eric (2001). Halo: The Fall of Reach. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 247. ISBN 0-345-45132-5.
  17. ^ Keyes: I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but its not up to me, protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of the shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, and that means you are leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace and then sort yourself for hard transfer. / Cortana: Aye aye, sir. / Keyes: Which is where you come in, Chief. Get Cortana off this ship keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her they'll learn everything: force deployment, weapons research, Earth. / Master Chief: I understand. - Bungie Studios (2001). Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: Pillar of Autumn.
  18. ^ Cortana: This is it. Halo's control center. [...] This ring isn't a cudgel, you barbarian. Its something else. Something much more important. The Covenant were right. This ring, its Forerunner. Give me a second to access...yes, the Forerunner built this place, what they called a fortress world, in order to... Wait! No, that can't be! Oh those Covenant fools! They must have known! There must have been signs! / Master Chief: Slow down. You're losing me. / Cortana: The Covenant found something buried in this ring; something horrible. And now they're afraid. - Bungie Studios (2001). Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: Assault on the Control Room.
  19. ^ Cortana: You have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the Forerunners built it? Halo doesn't kill Flood - it kills their food. Humans, Covenant, whatever; we're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death and that's exactly what Halo is designed to do - wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life. You don't believe me? Ask him! - Bungie Studios (2001). Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: Two Betrayals.
  20. ^ Cortana: Get us out of here. Guilty Spark: If you are unwilling to help I will simply find another. Still, I must have the index. Give your construct to me or I will be forced to take her from you. Master Chief: That's not going to happen. Guilty Spark: So be it. Save his head. Dispose of the rest. - Bungie Studios (2001). Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: Two Betrayals.
  21. ^ Nylund, Eric (2003). Halo: First Strike. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 22. ISBN 0-345-46781-7.
  22. ^ Nylund, Eric (2003). Halo: First Strike. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 332. ISBN 0-345-46781-7.
  23. ^ Lord Hood: You have the MAC gun, Cortana. As soon as they come in range, open up. - Bungie Studios (2004). Halo 2 (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: Cairo Station.
  24. ^ Cortana: If he does, I'll detonate In Amber Clad's reactor just like we did the Autumn's. The blast will destroy this city and the ring. Not a very original plan, but we know it'll work. - Bungie Studios (2004). Halo 2 (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: High Charity.
  25. ^ Gravemind: Silence fills the empty grave, now that I have gone. But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger one. Now I will ask, and you will answer. / Cortana: Alright, shoot. - Bungie Studios (2004). Halo 2 (Xbox). Microsoft. Level/area: The Great Journey.
  26. ^ (Master Chief's HUD flickers and disappears, and translucent images of Cortana appear.) Cortana: Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission? - Bungie Studios (2007). Halo 3 (Xbox 360). Microsoft. Level/area: Sierra 117.
  27. ^ Cortana: The activation index, from the first Halo ring. A little souvenir I hung onto, just in case. - Bungie Studios (2007). Halo 3 (Xbox 360). Microsoft. Level/area: Cortana.
  28. ^ Cortana: I'll drop a beacon. But it'll be a while before anyone finds us. Years even. - Bungie Studios (2007). Halo 3 (Xbox 360). Microsoft. Level/area: Halo.
  29. ^ Cortana: I'll miss you. / Master Chief: Wake me. When you need me. - Bungie Studios (2007). Halo 3 (Xbox 360). Microsoft. Level/area: Halo.
  30. ^ Stanley, Jeremy (2007-10-04). "Microsoft's 'Halo 3' Review". hartfordinformer.com. Retrieved 2007-10-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ Cowan, Danny (2007-09-26). "Critical Reception: Microsoft's/Bungie's Halo 3". gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2007-10-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ West, Steve. "Halo 3 Campaign Review". cinemablend.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Text "2007-09-27" ignored (help)
  33. ^ Cardy, Tom (2007-10-01). "Review: Halo 3 (Xbox 360)". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2007-10-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ Staff (2004-06-30). "Top Ten Xbox Babes". teamxbox.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ Staff (2007-09-22). "Babe of the Week: Cortana". gamedaily.com. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ Karl, Ben; Rudden, Dave (2007-10-05). "Top Ten Disturbingly Sexual Game Characters". games.net. Retrieved 2007-10-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ Aberle, Nick (2007-08-28). "Top Five Best Supporting Characters". mmoabc.com. Retrieved 2007-10-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  38. ^ Wright, Rob (2007-02-20). "The 50 Greatest Female Characters in Video Game History". tomsgames.com. Retrieved 2007-10-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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