Assassination

For the medal see Assassin Medal

An assassination is a feature in Halo: Reach that allows player to enter a third-person view while elaborately taking an enemy player down with either a Combat Knife, Energy Dagger, or Energy Sword. Note that assassinations are different from beat downs and pummels. Pummels are kills from a normal melee attack; a beat down occurs when Player A melees Player B by simply tapping the melee button while behind them, resulting in the breaking of the target's spine and thus an instant kill. An assassination occurs when Player A presses and holds the melee button when directly behind Player B, resulting in an elaborate kill and will earn the player a special medal. This results in the humiliation of the assassinated player. Assassinations performed in multiplayer matchmaking also count towards the Rear Admiral commendation.

Types of Multiplayer Assassinations
For both Elite and Spartan III players, there are three different basic assassination types that are played show a specific animation that varies depending on which part of the back is meleed and the players postions. There are also different animations that run if assassinating an enemy of the other species, all depending on the situation during which they are performed.

There are also unique assassinations that can be performed when the player is holding an energy sword.

Spartan against Spartan
When playing as a Spartan in Halo: Reach matchmaking, you can perform several different assassinations using your combat knife that is located on your left shoulder (Right when wearing the SECURITY shoulder).

Basic Assassination 1: Both players are on the ground
This assassination involves Player A standing on the same surface as Player B. The specific animation that is used varies depending on which part of the back is meleed.
 * Player A crouches behind Player B and stabs his/her knife upward into the spine and then cuts sideways, ripping the knife from the body.
 * Player A pushes Player B and brings out his/her knife and stabs Player B in the spine, then pulls out the blade and throws the body to the side.
 * Player A pushes Player B and spins his/her knife and stabs B in the shoulder, then lifts the body and throws it to the ground, ripping the knife out of the body at the same time.
 * Player A pulls out his/her knife while Player B turns around, and Player A then stabs B in the gut.
 * Player A pushes Player B around and stabs him/her right through their head.
 * Player A swings his/her arm around Player B's body, bending him/her backwards and stabbing him/her in the heart.
 * (Energy Sword) Player A slashes Player B's back then cuts the victim along the chest, knocking him/her down, then stabs Player B in the gut.

Basic Assassination 2: Assassin is airborne but victim is not
This assassination involves Player A jumping (or possibly falling) right behind (Close enough proximity to melee) Player B.
 * Player A lands on Player B's back and breaks Player B's neck.

Basic Assassination 3: Both players are airborne
This assassinations involves Player A and B to be airborne with Player A right behind Player B. A will initiate the assassination.
 * Player A knees Player B in the groin and slams both fists on B's head, breaking his/her back.

Basic Assassination 1: Both players are on the ground

 * The Spartan jumps on the Elite's back and stabs its neck.
 * The Spartan pushes the Elite, hops on the Elite and pulls it's face back, breaking it's neck.
 * The Spartan tackles the Elite to the ground and then stabs it in its face.
 * The Spartan slashes the inside of the Elite's knee, then stabs it in the head, and slams the body down with the knife.
 * The Spartan jumps onto the elite and quickly stabs the top of its head
 * (Energy Sword) The Spartan runs and jump on the Elite's back and stabs him/her through the heart.

Basic Assassination 2: Assassin is airborne but victim is not

 * The Spartan grabs the Elite and makes a swift stab in the neck.
 * (Energy Sword) The Spartan grabs the Elite and swiftly stabs it through it's gut

Basic Assassination 3: Both players are airborne

 * The Spartan knocks the Elite on the ground and jumps on the Elite's head afterwards, breaking its skull.

Elite against Elite
When playing as an Elite in Halo: Reach Matchmaking, there are many different assassination performed with the Energy Dagger.

Basic Assassination 1: Both players are on the ground
This assassination involves Player A standing on the same surface as Player B. The specific animation that is used varies depending on which part of the back is meleed.
 * Player A activates it's energy gauntlet and stabs the back of Player B head, then thrashes him around before throwing him on the ground.
 * Player A quickly swings his arm over Player B body, bending the other backwards, then stabs B in the chest.
 * Player A pushes Player B and quickly stabs B in the back, then pulls out the blade and throws the body to the side.
 * Player A pushes Player B to his knees and throws his arm over B's head, and plunges the Energy Dagger into his throat.
 * (Energy Sword) Player A twists Player B around and slashes the sword across B's body.

Basic Assassination 2: Assassin is airborne but victim is not
This assassination involves Player A jumping (or possibly falling) right behind (Close enough proximity to melee) Player B.
 * Player A kicks Player B down and as he tries to get up, Player A activates his energy gauntlet and stabs B in his mouth and throws the body behind him.
 * Player A quickly stabs both blades through Player B body and throat and throws the corpse off behind him/her.

Basic Assassination 3: Both players are airborne
This assassination involves Player A and B to be airborne with Player A right behind Player B.
 * Player A quickly stabs his/her energy gauntlet into Player B's spine, killing him/her.
 * (Energy Sword) Player A quickly stabs his/her sword into Player B's spine, killing him/her.

Basic Assassination 1: Both players are on the ground

 * The Elite knocks the Spartan to the ground, stabs him/her in the back, and then pushes the Spartan off its blade with its foot
 * The Elite pushes the Spartan and stabs the Spartan in the back and follows up with another stab, and to finish the Spartan off, the Elite slashes it's blade through the Spartan's neck.
 * The Elite slashes the Spartan with one Energy Dagger and spins to kick the Spartan back. This is occasionally called the '300 Assassination' or 'Sparta Kick,' after the scene from the movie 300 in which Leonidas kicks a Persian messenger into a pit while saying "This is Sparta!"
 * The Elite pushes the Spartan to his/her knees, then activates it's gauntlet and stabs it into the Spartan's head and pulls the blade out.
 * The Elite pushes the Spartan to it's knees, then activates both of it's blades, then stabs both into the Spartan's neck one after the other before pulling them both out.
 * (Energy Sword) The Elite grabs ahold of the Spartan's arm and then stabs him with the sword, bringing him up over his head and then slamming the Spartan into the ground,

Basic Assassination 2: Assassin is airborne but victim is not

 * The Elite knocks the Spartan to the ground, steps on his/her back, and stabs him/her through the head with its Energy Dagger

Basic Assassination 3: Both players are airborne

 * The Elite knees the Spartan and then stabs him with the Energy Dagger, then throws the Spartan over his head.
 * (Energy Sword) The Elite knees the Spartan and then stabs him with the Energy Sword, then throws the Spartan over his head.

Assassinations in Campaign
There are a few assassinations you can perform on Covenant warriors in Campaign:

Unggoy

 * The player grabs the Grunt and breaks its neck.
 * The player grabs the Grunt and stabs its head.

Jiralhanae

 * The player pushes the Brute down, and then stabs it in the back.
 * The player stabs the Brute between its shoulder blades and throws it to the side in a quick motion.

Kig-Yar/Skirmisher

 * The player drags the Jackal/Skirmisher by its feathers to the ground, while the Jackal/Skirmisher is helpless, the player stabs it in the throat.

Beat Downs vs. Assassinations
With normal beat downs, one will quickly melee the opponent's back, resulting in an instant kill, but will stay in first person view. This earns them a medal but no credit or commendation increase. With an assassination, the player goes into third person view and performs a special finishing move. During an assassination, the player runs a risk of getting their kill stolen by a teammate, which results in the teammate getting a Yoink medal. The player is also able to be damaged and even killed during the animation, which will cause the victim to be saved. This makes assassinations relatively unpopular for fast paced gametypes such as Oddball or Team SWAT. Also, performing assassinations will negate fall damage, unlike beat downs. This allows players to survive fatal falls if an enemy happens to be directly below. This is featured in the achievement, If They Came to Hear Me Beg.

Trivia

 * Occasionally, Elites will laugh at you after certain types of assassinations.