John Forge

"He’s the guy you want in the foxhole next to yours… but you’d never introduce him to your sister."

- Common saying by Marines under Forge's command

Sergeant John Forge was a veteran Non-Commissioned Officer and an Infantryman in the UNSC Marine Corps. Although excelling in tactics and combat, he had a repeating pattern of insubordination. Examples of these include fighting with an officer (which resulted in 2.4 years in jail time) and striking a superior officer. He has an ace of spades playing card attached to his left pauldron, and also carries a Combat Knife he named "Lucy".

Early career
Born on Earth in 2502, Forge's life was all about the military. His family lineage has been a part of the military for generations, dating back to at least World War II. He signed up for bootcamp at the minimum age of 16. Although not physically gifted, Forge was strong for his size and weight. He displayed desire and toughness in just about everything he did. The fact that he was incredibly competitive and driven to succeed didn't hurt either. These qualities made him a lifetime member of the Corps. His training and discipline had left him with a "unique" personality and method of getting things done. Those under his command trusted him greatly, despite the fact that he failed his last psychological exam. Forge was a born warrior, but that was all he was. His wife was a distant shadow in his mind, but his daughter had never really given up on him, though it had been months since they had talked. Forge has been decorated numerous times for valor and gallantry on the battlefield, but just as many counts for insubordination, conduct unbecoming, and striking a superior officer. He spent 2.4 years in prison, an infraction that removed any chance of moving through OCS or even progressing beyond the rank of Sergeant. In 2531, Lieutenant Prosser assaulted a woman in a bar, in which Sergeant John Forge stopped and confronted the Lieutenant. They engaged in a fist fight, with charges brought upon Sergeant Forge. Luckily for Forge, the woman proclaimed him as a hero and all charges were dropped, where he was later reassigned to the UNSC Spirit of Fire by Admiral Preston Cole personally.

Securing the Prophecy
Later, he served aboard the were they were sent to assist the crippled UNSC Prophecy during the Third Battle of Harvest. Captain Cutter ordered the Prophecy's Nav Database and survivors to be recovered, sending Forge and various Fire Teams on board the Prophecy while the Spirit of Fire engaged several Covenant vessels. Forge's Pelican was hit by a Phantom and crash-lands upon the Prophecy hull. Forge and Team Lima breach and enter inside the Prophecy. They are attacked by some Jackal Rangers, where Forge breaks his ankle during combat. With Serina's guidance, he is able to find the ship's Terminal 4 to recover the ship's Black box and wipe its Nav Core, while the rest of Team Lima rescue the survivors. Serina warns Forge that the Prophecy's A.I. may "act peculiar" due to high radiation levels. Upon scanning his retina to gain access to the terminal, Forge is halted by FitzGibbon, who explains he cannot allow him to enter due to his CSV. Forge reminds the A.I. of the Cole Protocol and tells him he's there to ensure it would not to be violated. The latter lets him in the terminal room enabling radiation repair routines. Forge purges the Nav Database and heads back to the Pelicans as FitzGibbon activates the Prophecy's self-destruct sequence which destroys the ship. After the Marines and Forge escape with the survivors, they are taken to the med bay of the Spirit of Fire. When Forge asked how the survivors were doing, Serina told him that there are no survivors, that they took too much radiation when aboard the Prophecy to survive and says all they could do is watch them die. Forge is angered by her indifference towards the survivors and comforts them in their final moments, believing that even if they were dead, they were still people and deserved better.

Harvest
Forge was sent to Harvest on his first mission to scout out Covenant activity in a northern polar region of Harvest, driving through Quadrant 4 to find a battalion of Elites a Hornet squadron had spotted earlier. Reporting the Covenant activity to his superiors, as to how they'd found a relic buried in the ice, he returned to an overrun Alpha Base, helping round up UNSC forces along the way. With his rag-tag army, they were able to take Alpha Base back. He then commanded the Marine forces responsible for taking back the Relic from the Covenant before they could destroy it. Professor Anders was then sent to the planet's surface to investigate the Relic, and Forge reluctantly escorted her inside. He was present when Anders activated the Forerunner Star Map, and protected her when they were ambushed by a team of Elites. The Spirit of Fire then evacuated most of its ground troops, including Forge, and set course for Arcadia, the planet to which the Star Map had pointed.

Arcadia
After arriving at Arcadia, Forge was one of the first UNSC troops to set foot in the besieged Pirth City, where he aided with the evacuation of civilians. When the civilian transports took off, Forge and his men abandoned the Covenant-infested city, and fell back to the outskirts. There, he took part in the destruction of a Covenant base, assisted by SPARTAN Team Omega. He also participated in the battle to destroy the Covenant's energy dome and Super Scarab. While he and Anders were surveying the area, a cloaked Arbiter ambushes them. Forge is swiftly defeated and was about to be killed, until Anders stops him by agreeing to come with him. After Spartan Red Team unsuccessfully tried to stop the Arbiter from escaping, they immediately retreated back to the Spirit of Fire. He was aboard the ship when it made the slipspace jump to the Flood-controlled Shield World.

Shield World
After Douglas-042 recommended destroying 'Moramee's ship and killing Anders rather than let classified information fall into Covenant hands, Forge confronted the Spartan. The altercation resulted in a broken chair, a seal malfunction on a bulkhead and a stern interruption from the ship's AI Serina. From then on, Forge and Douglas always ate together in the mess hall.

Upon arriving at the Shield World, Forge was sent down to the planet's surface, and was subsequently one of the first human beings to encounter (and survive) the Flood. Following that, he was put in charge of the evacuation of the Spirit's ground troops and the scouring of Flood from the ship's hull. Through a strange stroke of luck, he came upon the recently escaped Ellen Anders in the Shield World's interior, and escorted her back to the Spirit of Fire. He was then put in charge of the strike team that would deliver the Spirit 's Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine to the Apex, to destroy the Shield World and its armada of Forerunner ships. Atop the Apex, he once again faced the Arbiter in battle, while the Spartans of Red Team took care of his Honor Guards. He only overcame his foe at the last minute when challenging the Arbiter to look him in the eye, and then stabbing him in the neck with his prized combat knife, "Lucy". He then proceeded to pick up the Arbiter's Energy Sword, and drove it through the Sangheili's stomach, killing him. As Spartan Alice-130 rolled Ripa's dead body off the platform, John looked at the Translight Engine, realizing that it was damaged slightly.

When it became clear that the damaged Translight Engine would have to be detonated manually, Forge, realizing that Spartans would play a far greater role in this war than he ever could, volunteered to take the FTL Drive into the Shield World's sun. He gave the Spirit's crew the time they needed to escape the hollow planet and then detonated the drive, sacrificing his own life, but dealing the Covenant a massive blow in the process.

In-Game Information
Sergeant Forge serves as a Hero Unit in Halo Wars. His special abilities include:

Abilities

 * "Leader Power": Carpet Bomb.
 * "Unique Unit": Cyclops.

Upgrades

 * "Super Upgrade": Grizzly—a superior version of the Scorpion tank which has dual cannons.
 * "Economy Bonus": All Supply Pads on Forge's bases start as Heavy Supply Pads.

Other
Forge rides into battle on an upgraded Gauss Warthog with greater defense and attack power. If his Warthog is destroyed, once he is revived he attacks with a M90 Shotgun with a special attack that causes him to quick-shuffle his shotgun until empty.

Trivia

 * He has nine Legendary symbols on his right breast plate; however, these cannot be seen on cutscenes taking place on Harvest. This could be a tally of enemy kills of some sort. It may also be a count of battles he has fought in or won.
 * John Forge has had five promotions, but also three demotions, including one for striking a superior officer, despite the fact that this would have made him a Lance Corporal.
 * John Forge, as of February 2531, is the only Human non-Spartan ever noted to have used a Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword, a Sangheili weapon. Additionally, he is the only known individual to have ever killed an Arbiter.
 * He was voiced by Nolan North, who was known for voicing one of the AI marines in Halo 3, Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series of video games, as well as Romeo in Halo 3: ODST.
 * While on foot, he will occasionally shout "Yipee-kai-yay!", in reference to the film Die Hard.
 * In Skirmish and Multiplayer games, Forge's supply pads automatically start as Heavy Supply Pads, making him very useful for gathering supplies to support team mates.
 * He has an ace of spades card clipped on his shoulder, however in Halo Wars: Genesis it looks like it's painted on his suit. This is because in that scene he's wearing a completely different, vacuum-enhanced suit.
 * In the cutscene Monsters, the back of Forge's head is clearly seen, yet his neural interface is not visible. This is considered a simple oversight on the part of Blur Studios, the company that animated the scene.
 * It is possible that he outranks those under his command by "Billet." For example, he would have been given tactical command of the Spartans who accompanied him to the Apex. This would also explain why he often leads multiple platoons of Marines. It should be noted that Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 was in tactical command of ONI Lieutenant Haverson during Halo: First Strike, which may be very similar to the case of Sergeant Forge.