How Strong Is Master Chief Without His Halo Spartan Armor?

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Halo season 2, episode 3

While his armor is quite impressive, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is still quite formidable without it as proven by Halo season 2. Facing opposition from within the ranks of the UNSC itself in Halo season 2, John-117 is desperately trying to take action and expose the truth about an imminent Covenant invasion on the human colony world of Reach. To that end, there have been moments in which John-117 has had to be more covert, forgoing his typical Mjolnir armor.

While set in its own “Silver Timeline” apart from the original Halo comics and games, Paramount’s Halo still features a lot of the core narrative beats, and this includes the origins of John-117 and his role in the SPARTAN-II program led by Doctor Catherine Halsey. Built and bred to become the ultimate soldier in the fight for colonization throughout the stars and against the alien Covenant seeking to wipe humanity out, UNSC Spartans such as John-117 are quite strong, even without their armor.

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Master Chief Is Incredibly Strong As A UNSC Spartan

A True Super Soldier Due To Various Augmentations

Outside of his Mjolnir armor with its durable exoskeleton and shields, John-117 is much stronger than the average human, just as all Spartans are due to rigorous augmentation procedures (which not all survive). Taken as children before the onset of puberty, Spartan recruits receive a collection of key augmentations to both their bodies and their brains. This includes the bonding of ceramic carbide to their bones, making them nearly indestructible, as well as injections to massively increase muscle and tissue density.

Spartans are also given catalytic thyroid implants to boost growth beyond average human capabilities (fully grown Spartans can range anywhere between 7-8ft tall), and their reflexes are also boosted beyond the norm. As such, it’s been implied that the Halo show’s John-117 and his fellow Spartans received the same augmentations as well. With the games and novel confirming that Spartans can lift three times their body weight, the augmentations explain how Master Chief was able to knock two fully grown men unconscious and also send one flying with a simple backhanded swing of his arm in Halo season 2, episode 3.

Master Chief’s Mjolnir Armor Makes Him A Living Weapon

Spartans Were The UNSC’s Greatest Assets

Having already become super soldiers thanks to their augmentations, the addition of the Spartans’ signature Mjolnir armor truly made them living weapons during the Human-Covenant War, allowing them to go head-to-head with the alien alliances’ Elites, Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts. While wearing his armor and its ability to make John-117 even stronger, Master Chief and his fellow Spartans are absolute powerhouses as the UNSC’s greatest assets.

Master Chief not wearing his helmet and armor for significant portions of Paramount’s Halo show has certainly been divisive among fans. However, it has allowed for some unique moments to showcase John’s impressive strength. While helpful and very cool to look at, the Mjolnir armor isn’t doing all the heavy lifting by any means.

Halo

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Action

A live-action adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name, Halo follows Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (Pablo Schrieber) as he fights his part in a war between humanity’s United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and the Covenant, an alliance of multiple hostile races of aliens intent on destroying the human race. The Master Chief is supported by Cortana (Jen Taylor) – an AI construct based on the personality of Dr. Catherine Halsey, who created the Spartan supersoldier program – implanted in his brain.

Release Date

March 24, 2022

Cast

Jen Taylor , Bokeem Woodbine , Charlie Murphy , Shabana Azmi , Kate Kennedy , Natascha McElhone , Yerin Ha , Bentley Kalu , Pablo Schreiber , Danny Sapani , Olive Gray , Natasha Culzac

Seasons

2

Creator(s)

Kyle Killen , Steven Kane

Writers

Kyle Killen , Silka Luisa , Richard Robbins , Steven Kane , Justine Juel Gillmer

Franchise(s)

Halo

Directors

Otto Bathurst , Jonathan Liebesman , Roel Reiné , Dennie Gordon , Debs Paterson , Craig Zisk , Jessica Lowrey

Showrunner

Kyle Killen

Where To Watch

Paramount+