Ripa 'Moramee

Looking for the Arbiter rank, the level The Arbiter or Thel 'Vadam, the last known Arbiter?

"Do you enjoy the slaughter?."

- Prophet of Regret

"I feel the joy of doing what I was born to. I have no regrets... save that I will not die fighting."

- Ripa 'Moramee

Ripa 'Moramee was a Sangheili Commander of the Covenant Army during the Third Battle of Harvest and other Outer Colony campaigns until his demise in 2531. After being punished for leading a coup against his clan leadership on Decided Heart he was given the rank of Arbiter by the Hierarchs, mainly at the urging of the Prophet of Regret.

In his new role he led the Covenant attack on Harvest and the excavations of a Forerunner artifact on the planet surface. Later, both he and Regret spearheaded an attempt to reactivate a dormant Forerunner fleet on one of the Shield Worlds, for which purpose he kidnapped the human scientist Ellen Anders on Arcadia. This led to a series of violent engagements with forces led by Captain Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire, and the eventual death of 'Moramee at the hands of Sgt. Forge during the Covenant assault on SPARTAN Red Team, who were attempting to destroy the artificial planet with the Spirit of Fire's removed FTL Reactor.

Early Career
"I live only to serve the Holy One. What task awaits your Arbiter?"

- Ripa 'Moramee to the Prophet of Regret

Ripa 'Moramee's first known military action was the suppression of the Sixteenth Unggoy Disobedience and ending the heretical reign of a Kig-Yar Pirate Prince. Later he attempted a coup within his clan on Decided Heart; the coup failed and he was imprisoned in the Weeping Shadows of Sorrow penitentiary, not only for his insubordination but because he failed. Moramee would have died in the prison had it not been for the intervention of the the Hierarchs- specifically the Prophet of Regret-who appointed him as the Arbiter, and tasked him with conducting the war of extermination against humanity and uncovering Forerunner artifacts. It was a decision that led to concerned mumblings amongst the Prophets' Honor Guards who had no prior knowledge of this plan. He was not selected just for his combat record alone: the Covenant leaders believed that he, as the new Arbiter, would not ask politically inconvenient questions (an important factor given the secret status of humanity as Forerunner-designated Reclaimers). The creation of a new Arbiter caused a split in the Covenant: an ever-growing faction of Elites, who were opposed to the new Prophets, seized control of several Forerunner relics, including one that supposedly contained a "key" of some sort. The Arbiter was sent by the Hierarchs to end this rebellion, resulting in a vicious battle that raged for days which ended with the destruction of many heretics. The key, however, was never found.

Harvest
"I care not for your little life! Open the relic!"

- Ripa 'Moramee overruling Field Master Re'gish Wamik's objections to entering the Forerunner artifact on Harvest

'Moramee was present at the Third Battle of Harvest in 2531. The UNSC was aware of his presence but was unable to gather more than cursory intelligence on him. Ripa 'Moramee oversaw the excavation of a Forerunner site in the planet's northern polar region. The installation's entrance was uncovered by Field Master Re'gish Wamik, and the area was quickly invested by Covenant forces.

Despite concerns by Field Master Wamik that the humans would "defile" the installation, 'Moramee pressed on due to the impatience and pressure of the Hierarchs. With the UNSC closing in, the Prophet of Regret ordered him to destroy the installation and return to the Covenant with the information he had gathered. Ripa 'Moramee was reluctant to destroy the Forerunner construction but complied nonetheless upon the continued insistence of the Prophet of Regret. The attempt to destroy the relic failed when the demolition teams were thwarted by UNSC ground forces deployed from the orbiting UNSC Spirit of Fire.

The Shield World
"The ancients have granted us the power to doom your race. Let the deconstruction of our great gifts begin! The majesty of our new fleet will be unparalleled!"

Later that year, Ripa 'Moramee was involved in a Covenant attempt to activate Forerunner ships from a recently discovered Shield World. However, 'Moramee was concerned about why he was not fulfilling his task of destroying humanity, when he should command all their forces for a frontal assault; Regret stated that they need these ships to increase the size of their fleets, so that the Covenant won't have to dedicate all their forces for the war effort and leave them defenseless. After Covenant attempts to interface with the Forerunner technology failed, 'Moramee was sent on a mission to capture Ellen Anders after the First Battle of Arcadia by the Prophet of Regret, as it was believed she would have information and knowledge of the Forerunners that the Covenant was unaware of. The Arbiter successfully captured her despite Sergeant John Forge's intervention and escaped by Spirit to an awaiting ship.

The pursued him through slipspace, deeming Anders capture to be a "significant security breach". 'Moramee reached the Shield World first and brought Anders to the the Apex site and forced her to interface with the Forerunner controls and begin activating the Forerunner fleet. Soon afterwards the Spirit of Fire arrived on station over the artificial planet surface and began to organize a rescue mission.

Death
"My face will be the last thing your pathetic eyes ever see."

- 'Moramee gloating over Sgt. Forge, moments before his demise

Anders managed to escape from 'Moramee through the Apex's teleport system and alerted the UNSC of the Covenant's intentions. Sgt. John Forge and SPARTAN-II Red Team were quickly dispatched to Apex site with orders to destroy the Shield World using the Spirit of Fire's removed FTL Reactor by causing its core to overheat. An engagement ensued in which Red Team held off the Sangheili Honor Guard assault and Forge engaged 'Moramee, who had used his cloak to ambush and kill the Marine officer in charge of opening the Apex's entrance. Forge prevailed in the struggle despite the physical disparity between himself and the Arbiter, relying on skill rather than strength. Eventually disarmed and feigning defeat, Forge challenged 'Moramee to look him in the eye before killing him. The Arbiter complied and dragged the sergeant up with one arm while unwittingly bringing his neck within the reach of his opponent. Forge drove his combat knife, "Lucy", into his adversary's neck and then used the wounded Arbiter's dropped Energy Sword to stab him through the chest. Ripa 'Moramee's corpse was rolled off the platform by Alice-130 of Red Team shortly before the FTL Reactor overheated and destroyed the Shield World.

Abilities

 * "Defiant Rage": receive additional health for damage inflicted.
 * "Spiteful Rage": ability costs less resources.
 * "Blinding Rage": increases the Arbiter's and the Covenant's attack power.
 * Additionally, the Arbiter can also summon Suicide Grunts (available at the Command Center).

Upgrades

 * "Fiendish Return": allows the Arbiter to reflect attacks back at the enemy.
 * "Vicious Blades": increases damage inflicted by the Arbiter.
 * "Ghastly Vision": increases Fiendish Return reflection and equips the Arbiter with active camouflage.

Leader Ability - Rage Mode
When activated, the camera locks onto the Arbiter, whom you control with the Left thumbstick and attack with the Right. It will use up resources every second and can be upgraded in the temple. Rage mode allows the Arbiter to single out enemy units, lunge at them, and deal damage on them.

A fully upgraded rage increases your units damage while the rage is still active. This also effects other allies, including allied UNSC units, boosting their damage.

Personality and Traits
"Like the rest of your race, weak and undisciplined."

- 'Moramee taunting Sgt. Forge during the battle for the Apex

'Moramee was a brutal and ruthless commander. Despite being an Elite, he showed an uncharacteristic disregard for Sangheili traditional values such as honor and arrogantly underestimated his foes, ignoring his subordinates advice. He is also extremely muscular compared to most Sangheili. He has proved himself to be fanatically loyal to the Hierarchs, especially the Prophet of Regret, and carried out his task to eradicate Humanity with fervent zeal and efficiency. .

He was very quick to anger and fanatical in his devotion to the Hierarchs and the quest for the Great Journey. Prior to his service as the Arbiter, during Regret's visit to Ripa in his prison, he thought of how easily can to kill the "noisemaker." When his orders to open the Forerunner relic on Harvest were questioned by Re'gish Wamik, he verbally lashed out at his subordinate, telling him "I care not for your little life!" During a visit to the Apex, Regret pondered on how to open the Apex. Ripa's response was that he would "Take what we have!" in regards to the Covenant Fleet. During this outburst, he made a considerably foolish decision of drawing his weapons in the precence of a Hierarch, with no intention of using it before putting it away. This is a blatant disregard of both Covenant laws and traditional Elite customs. His status as Arbiter most likely kept the Honor Guard from killing him. While at the Apex during an attempted interrogation of Ellen Anders, he struck a Zealot - throwing him to the ground and presumably knocking him unconscious - upon being informed that the Spirit of Fire had followed them to the Shield World. This is clearly unacceptable behavior, as the Elite who was knocked down did nothing wrong, and was holding a very high rank.

The Arbiter also showed a particular fondness for grabbing humans by the neck, as seen several times in his interactions with Ellen Anders and John Forge, at one point lifting and dragging Anders by the throat despite orders to capture her unharmed.

Behind the Scenes

 * Ripa 'Moramee is the primary antagonist from Halo Wars, although in-game he is only known by his rank. He is the second Arbiter to appear as a character in the universe, with the first being Thel 'Vadam. His lines were performed by veteran Canadian voice actor David Sobolov, while the character was digitally animated for cutscenes by the California based animation studio Blur.
 * Early renders of Moramee depict his Arbiter armor with various additions to the Halo 3 Arbiter armor, including a mouth guard and spiked wrist guards. These were probably removed in later versions, as they were radically different to the standard Arbiter armor.

Trivia

 * It appears as though 'Moramee's energy swords may be integrated into his armor. If one looks carefully enough, the hilts of his swords can be seen flipping out from their concealed position on the Elite's wrists upon activation. This would explain his ability to draw his blades so quickly, and the reason he appears to possess no visible weapons when not in battle.
 * An Easter Egg in the hint text from Halo Wars claims "Few people know that the Arbiter's given birth name is Shirley," referring to his line from the first level in response the Regret's command to destroy the relic on Harvest: "Surely you jest!" This refers to a running gag in the Naked Gun series which also appears in the movie Airplane! and (more recently) in the game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: "Surely you're kidding!?" "I am not, and don't call me Shirley!" and "Surely, you can't be serious!?" "I'm serious, and don't call me Shirley!", on a level taking place on an airplane. The game happened to also feature David Sobolov as Lt. Vasquez.
 * Ripa 'Moramee is the first Elite portrayed to date in the games wielding two Energy Swords. Furthermore, his differed from known variants in that they had basket hilt hand guards. Ironically, Sgt. Forge killed him with one of his own weapons during the battle for the Apex site.
 * Chronologically, he is the first Arbiter to be seen by humans.
 * He is the second arbiter to be seen in a Halo game.
 * By dying and being caught in an explosion, he proved that the Arbiter armor is not passed down to others, as previously believed. This is backed up in the Halo Encyclopedia, which states that Arbiter armor is individually made for each user, keeping with the same design, yet in Halo 2 a Spec-Ops Elite stated that the Arbiters armor is not as advanced so it wouldn't be able to use camouflage for very long, but if it was made each time, the camouflage ability would most likely have been made so the camouflage ability would have lasted longer.