| “ | You are, all of you, vermin! Cowering in the dirt, thinking... what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? No! Your world will burn until its surface is but glass! And not even your Demon will live to creep - blackened - from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage, the culmination of our Journey. For your destruction is the will of the gods! And I? I am their instrument! | „ |
| ~ Truth to the UNSC and by extension, all of Humanity |
| “ | Now I see why they left you behind. You were weak, and the gods must be strong. | „ |
| ~ Truth to Sergeant Johnson. |
Ord Casto, also known as The Prophet of Truth is the one of the two main antagonists of the Halo franchise.
Despite initially presenting himself as an ally to Thel 'Vadam and his faction in the first half of the game. He is also a posthumous overarching antagonist of the Forerunner Saga.
Truth was the one of the leaders of the Covenant Empire spanning multiple planets, alongside The Prophet of Mercy and The Prophet of Regret. Truth was the instigator of war against Humanity, due to him wanting to remove Humanity's status as the Reclaimers. He is therefore indirectly responsible for the deaths of billions of humans alongside the destruction of multiple colonies. Truth masterminded the assassination of Regret at the hands of John-117 (also known as the Master Chief) by allowing him to invade Earth, as well as letting Mercy die by ordering Tartarus not to save him. These actions propelled Truth to become the sole leader of the Covenant Empire, soon afterwards trying to eliminate the Elites of the Covenant in favor of the Brutes, sparking the Covenant Civil War with the deaths of thousands of his own subjects.
He was voiced by Michael Wincott in Halo 2 (who also played Top Dollar in The Crow, Armand Dorleac in The Count of Monte Cristo and Scroop in Treasure Planet), and Terence Stamp in Halo 3.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Although as Casto, he reported a conspiracy against the Unggoys, he did it to ensure and fulfill his own ambitions to reach the top of the Covenant ladder.
- Usurped the previous minister of the Covenant by blackmailing him about his affair.
- Despite him having spared Thel 'Vadamee, the future Arbiter for thwarting his assassination at the hands of 'Vadamee's friend Zhar, Truth betrayed him without any regrets in his later life just so that he would cast aside a political pawn, thus showing him to be thoroughly ungrateful.
- Planned a war of extinction against Humans after learning about their status as the Reclaimers, not the Covenant as was falsely believed.
- Even though he convinced Mercy and Regret that hiding the truth from the Covenant is necessary, he also convinced them to utterly wipe humanity out rather than give them an opportunity to join the Covenant, as was standard doctrine, and quietly bury the truth. This genocidal war will ultimately cause the deaths of all three Prophets as well as the ultimate collapse of the Covenant.
- Oversaw a campaign that led to the deaths of billions of humans across multiple colonies.
- Oversaw glassing of hundreds of planets, causing a massive loss to life in those planets.
- Planned a massive fleet to invade Earth without informing the other Prophets, already planning to kill them both.
- Masterminded the assassination of Regret in order to seize the Covenant.
- Ordered the execution of the Covenant survivors to suppress the truth of Operation: First Strike.
- Makes Thel 'Vadam The Arbiter so that Truth can justify any of his failures as a pretext to eliminating the Sanghelli.
- Ordered Tartarus to kill Arbiter and his men after they succeed in getting the Index of Installation 05.
- Let the Prophet of Mercy die after he got infected by the Flood.
- Started the Covenant Civil War after ordering the Brutes to commit genocide on the Elites. This will cause the Elites to break away from the Covenant and defect to the side of humans.
- Continued his goal of activating the Halo Rings even after learning their true purpose, only so that he can rise from the ashes as a god, utterly uncaring for the lives of trillions across the galaxy.
- Taunted the UNSC and the Arbiter that he is willing to activate the Halo Rings and become a god, before sending his troops to their facility to kill them all.
- Invaded Earth to get hold of the Ark.
- Razed New Mombasa to the ground after the defiance of the ODST's, and to seize the Ark.
- Sacrificed thousands of his loyal soldiers at the hands of the UNSC so that Truth could beat them to the Index of Installation 00.
- Captured Sergeant Johnson and forced him to fire the Halo Array to avoid dirtying his own hands.
- Killed Miranda Keyes after she try to kill both Johnson and herself in order to prevent the Halo Array from firing, and taunted Johnson regarding her death.
- In the end, while Truth used to be sympathetic towards the lower rungs of the Covenant, he discarded it while preparing to fire the rings which would undoubtedly kill every living being in the galaxy so that he could use the Covenant Empire to make himself a god and rule over the ashes of the galaxy.
Trivia[]
- He is the only Halo Pure Evil.
- His name is very ironic, given he's the least truthful character in his franchise.
External Links[]
- Prophet of Truth on the Halo Wiki
- Prophet of Truth on the Villains Wiki