A hilarious video posted on the Halo subreddit shows what would happen if Luke Skywalker unmasked the Master Chief instead of the infamous Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi. The unmasking of Darth Vader was a huge reveal during the 1983 film, but the unmasking of the Master Chief plays out in a way Luke could never see coming.
The Master Chief has become an icon in the video game industry since Halo: Combat Evolved released on the original Xbox in 2001. Because the Master Chief rarely speaks and keeps his face hidden from view under his Mjolnir helmet, players have long wondered what he looks like behind the golden visor. Halo 4 released in 2012, allowing players to see what he looked like as a kid before his augmentations. Furthermore, beating the game on Legendary difficulty gives a brief glimpse of the Master Chief’s eyes. But his full adult face has never been revealed in the games, probably because the player is meant to project themselves into the Master Chief’s suit.
The intrigue surrounding the Master Chief’s appearance has spawned a number of spoofs and memes over the years, the latest of which is a hilarious and incredibly well-edited video of Luke Skywalker unmasking the Master Chief instead of Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi. Posted on Reddit by Jhameenniemi, the video begins with Luke examining what should be Darth Vader’s helmet as the Halo theme music plays in the background. Luke slowly removes the helmet, and the camera cuts to his surprised reaction before revealing that there, in fact, is no head at all. As Luke stares in awe, the suit fades away. It turns out it was a hologram. The real Master Chief suddenly appears behind Luke, who only hears him say, “Nothing personal, kid,” as he violently swings an Energy Sword at his head. The screen cuts to white.
Luke unmasks Master Chief from halo
The video is both wildly funny and a well-crafted work of art. Just looking at Luke’s reflection in the Master Chief’s visor, one can see that a lot of work went into making this joke. The lighting, the head-tracking, the hologram effects, the Master Chief’s animation – all of this displays a real level of talent on behalf of the editor. The video also potentially references inside jokes within the Halo community. Luke being tricked by a hologram before the Master Chief assassinates him could be a reference to how players were often fooled by holograms in Halo: Reach and Halo 4‘s multiplayer.
While it’s unlikely that players will ever receive a true reveal of the Master Chief’s face in any Halo game, the mystique provides endless fodder for parody content. Videos and screenshots circulating on the internet since the mid-2000s have kept players laughing and engaging with Halo outside of the games. Scenes and dialogue from the Master Chief’s journey in Halo Infinite will offer plenty of new content for spoofs and memes once the next mainline Halo entry drops at the end of 2021.
