List of seven references in Halo

"Some of you may be wondering - 'What's up with this unhealthy obsession with the number 7?' This page offers some insights."

- Brian Jarrard, linking to this very page

"Cause that's the best number. It's like rock. Nothing beats rock or 7."

- Michael Wu

Bungie Studios has long enjoyed using the number Seven (7) in its games in many prominent ways. Ensemble Studios, 343 Industries, and authors also have certain obvious seven references in their works about Halo. The following attempts to list the intentional references Bungie placed into Halo for the fans to find. As such, not all of these references may be fully accurate, and many of them may be proven to be false at any time. Bungie's obsession with the number seven may be attributed to (or be a determining factor) why John-117 is considered lucky, as 7 is considered a lucky number. In spite of the fact that the number seven is featured extensively in Bungie's work, it has generated an aura of apophenia. This cultural nuance can be compared to the 23 enigma.

Halo Series

 * A fireteam can consist of up to seven troops.
 * There are seven operating Halo Rings.
 * John's Service tag (S-117) is another seven reference (S; seven begins with S and 1*1*7 = 7).
 * The Halo Array needs to spin at 7 km/s to maintain an acceleration of one g at 5000 km radius.
 * "John 117" consists of 4 letters and 3 numbers (4+3=7).
 * "Cortana"'s name consists of 7 letters.
 * The word Arbiter is seven letters long.
 * Slip space is located in the seventh dimension.
 * 72= 49 (049 Abject Testament)
 * 73 = 343 (343 Guilty Spark)
 * 74 = 2401 (2401 Penitent Tangent)

Halo: Combat Evolved (and Halo: The Flood)
Page 68 of "The Flood" Novel by W.Dietz - He counted to three, then dashed from boulder to boulder. He leapfrogged uphill, still very much aware of the banshee at his back, but reasonably certain he'd given the aircraft the slip. There were no blips on his threat detector, until he topped the rise and paused to examine the terrain ahead. A telltale red dot popped onto his HUD. John-117 eased his way forward, waiting for the moment of contact. Then he saw movement as hunched bodies dashed from one scrap of cover to the next. There were four of them, including a blue-armored Elite. (3 seconds, 4 Contacts - 3+4=7)

Halo 3

 * Firing the Plasma Rifle without stopping after first pulling the trigger until it overheats will only deplete 7% of its energy.

Cortana Letters and Transmissions

 * Cortana signs one letter with seven 'X's and 'O's.
 * Cortana sends eight emails. But Letter Three was likely never intended, so seven messages were planned.

Halo: Contact Harvest

 * There were seven space elevators of the Tiara.
 * Seven main maglev train lines led out from each base of the space elevators.
 * Prophet Senior Ministry staffers could manage to travel in their gravity thrones in groups as small as seven.
 * The first space elevator to collapse was the seventh elevator.
 * Later Loki changed the five minute interval for the containers to seven minutes.
 * Sif's electronics were stored in seven towers in the Tiara's control room.
 * On the cover of the book, there are seven Militia men, including Staff Sergeant Johnson.

Halo: The Cole Protocol

 * Seven ODST's were killed during the attack on the Redoubt.
 * There are seven named Sangheili that appear as characters throughout the story.
 * The 's Hull classification symbol contains a seven reference: FFG-209; 9-2=7.

Halo Wars

 * There are seven major UNSC characters.
 * In Halo Wars, both the UNSC Fortress and Covenant citadel possess 7 expansion sockets.
 * There are 7 Elites deactivating camouflage in the first Halo Wars Trailer
 * There are 7 types of buildings for each UNSC and Covenant.
 * There are 7 power nodes that you can destroy to make the super scarab's searchlight move slower.
 * In the Halo Wars: Genesis, Sergeant John Forge needs to take 7 anti-rad injections.
 * There is a maximum of 7 objects available for purchase in a building's circle menu.
 * Jerome-092's service tag contains a seven reference: 092: 9-2 = 7.
 * The Pelican Bravo 029 contains a seven reference: 9-2=7.
 * The Covenant penitentiary Weeping Shadows of Sorrow (from Halo Wars: Genesis) has seven syllables.

Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian

 * Sergeant Michael Baird found fourteen terabytes of information on cancer using Shipnet. 14/2=7
 * Mo Ye's initial plan was to have Baird drive the ship into a red giant fourteen million miles starboard. 14/2=7
 * When Baird first exited the medbay he ran into seven Covenant soldiers (4 Unggoy, 2 Kig-Yar, and 1 Elite).

Palace Hotel

 * John-117 was less than seven meters from a Kig-Yar when its head snapped to the side.

The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole

 * Preston Cole was one of seven children (four boys and three girls).
 * Ensign Alexis Indara begins management training (Series 7) following the CMA Season of Plenty's bi-annual personnel review.
 * The UNSC destroyers which participated in the Callisto Incident in 2494 carried only 7 Ares Missiles.
 * During the Skirmish at Theta Ursae Majoris the had seven Pelicans on standby.
 * "The scattered debris of seven destroyers, however, continued on their previous trajectories."

Halo Legends

 * There are 7 different anime shorts in Halo Legends.

The Duel

 * There is a 7 in the sky just before the Desert Battle.

Odd One Out

 * 7 residents of planet Cronkee are spoken of in the episode, including 'Mama' and the dinosaur.
 * 7 is referenced in SPARTAN-1337's spartan tag: 1+3+3=7.

The Package

 * The battle between John-117 and Thel 'Lodamee lasts 7 seconds.
 * When Frederic-104, Kelly-087 and John-117 enter the Covenant Flagship Kelly says, "We got three minutes" indicating that the space battle lasted 7 minutes.

Homecoming

 * Ralph-103 mentions to Daisy-023 that it has been 7 years since they were abducted to participate in the SPARTAN-II Program.

Halo: Glasslands

 * A Forerunner building Blue Team enters has 7 floors.
 * After the Piety was boarded by the crew of the, there were 7 dead aliens on board.
 * The crew of the UNSC Port Stanley consists of 7 members.
 * Tom Muir was stranded alone on New Llanelli for 7 years.

Internal

 * List of references to religion in Halo
 * List of Marathon references in Halo

External

 * The Septionary is a fan-created list every seven letter word in the English language.
 * The relevant Bungie.Net forum topic is here.


 * List of "Three" References in Halo - Parody of this list at Gruntipedia.