Talk:T'vaoan

I actually don't think they look that much different from regular Kig-Yar. They're bodies are obviously the same with heads that seem more similar to H3 jackals than anything. They do seem to have shorter snouts and maybe sharper teeth, but not by much. The noticeable difference lies in the bushy, feather protrusions on their head rather than the traditional spines. Does anyone think this is more of a racial, regional thing more than an entirely different species? Nerfherder1428 00:03, January 15, 2010 (UTC)


 * "Cousins of the jackal" suggests they are further apart than just racial. Either the Skirmisher is a subspecies of Kig-yar, or they are species within a genus. Think of it like cousins of humanity. The nearest is Homo Sapiens Idaltu, while another close cousin is the Neanderthal.--  Fore  run  ner  00:20, January 15, 2010 (UTC)

We've always known that jackals had a bird like structure and probably evolved from something like a large bird. I think the skirmisher is a less intelligent, less evolved, and more aggressive version of the Jackals. The fact that they are much more like a bird just shows thet. Maybe they aren't extinct and are actually just a Covanant light infantry version of the Brutes. FatalSnipe117 21:09, January 25, 2010 (UTC)

Oooh, a new Covenant species! I'm eager to learn about their background and civilization (If they have one). I think we really overlook the fact that they're COUSINS of the Kig-Yar. I want to know how two intelligent races are able to co-exist and evolve alongside each other on the same planet. Are they economic like the Kig-Yar? Are they completely extinct, or just their troops? Think of it like this; What if Chimps were intelligent and lived alongside humans? Introducing a new species of Covenant with an unknown background is major, especially since we've never heard about them. If we had heard about them, I'd expect it to be in the novel "Halo: The Fall of Reach" or "The Cole Protocol" if anything. -Manzaross, the unoffical official Halologist

I'm excited too, Manzaross! If I had to guess, I'd say that they have a warlike, tribal culture and are much more aggressive than the Kig-Yar, but we'll see. I'm also interested to see how they fit into the Covenant hierarchy. The Elites are still my faves though! -User:Webspidrman 1 February 2010

Is it just me, or do they look like monster chicken-dinosaurs on steroids? H91 20:40, January 28, 2010 (UTC)

I think they look like velociraptors from Jurassic Park 3, you know with the feathers on top of the head, snout, muscularity, color, they work in packs for crying out loud! SalemElliot 20:22, January 30, 2010 (UTC)

Weapons?
I did not see them holding any wepons in the picture.


 * You can see a blurry outline of the Type-25 DE Pistol.

ehhh the skirmishers look differnt i meen u can definitly see the resebleince but still they also look like dinos in a way
 * Well considering they are "Cousins" of the Kig-yar race, they could be a less evolved race considering their appearance and they prefer CQB style fighting which is something mostly any Jackal would avoid against a SPARTAN-II or a SPARTAN-III. This could explain the Carbine-Needler hybrid which in my opinion, is a crude hybrid the Skirmishers created to better suite their own purpose and since this design could be against the Covenant Heirarchy, The Prophets would banned this (not saying its canon, just saying). If you read about the Brute Spiker, you would see a small hint of my piont. The Brutes created the Spiker as their own crude invention but the only reason why I think it wasn't banned is because the Prophets would not want their own army of Brutes to berserk against them. Also please watch your spelling and sign your posts.--ASEC 03:14, January 29, 2010 (UTC)

Skirmishers wiped out
I doubt that they where wipped out but I do think that the Covenant kept them held back to help protect the Kig-Yar home world. Massacer.

It says in the article Bungie hinted that by the end of the battle of Reach the skirmishers were wiped out can anyone find proof of this such as a forum post a recent video interview or maybe something out of gameinformer, and if not it should be removed. Xxxjeffxxx 01:48, January 25, 2010 (UTC)

I found where they said it but I'm not very good at editing I have the link could someone put it where it needs to go. http://www.edge-online.com/features/halo-reach-tales-of-the-fall Xxxjeffxxx 05:45, January 25, 2010 (UTC)

They also mention this in the newly released article from Gamereactor, and even though Bungie did need to come up with a reason for not having them in any other games does anyone think it makes little sense that every single one was killed off at Reach? I would imagine there had to be some somewhere else at the time.Kalicokaiju 22:37, January 25, 2010 (UTC)

POssible that a cataclysmic event happened at hom, destroying them, and thus leaving those on reach as the last ones. Or, they might be newcomers to the covenant, and seceded? ~Enlightment~ ~Fighting Vandalism and Watching Unregistereds~ 08:00, January 27, 2010 (UTC)

I think the implication is that almost all Skirmishers were used at Reach, and that the process of its fall saw them wiped out by humanity's spirited defence. --  Administrator  Specops306  -   Qur'a 'Morhek   12:09, January 27, 2010 (UTC)

That's one way of putting it, "spirited" lol. What I could never understand was why the covenant seemed to find it easier to smash through earths defences, then reach, even though earth has even stronger defences? you'd think covenant losses would be catistrophic, but they don't appear to be. ~Enlightment~ ~Fighting Vandalism and Watching Unregistereds~ 13:21, January 27, 2010 (UTC)

It is logical that the femals and children of them are on theire homeworld Eyan so only the entire skirmisher troops are wiped out. DP

I think that maybe the Skirmishers have a much smaller population than the Jackals, hence why they haven't been seen so far. They're rare and they're saved as special military units for the most crucial operations. If the Skirmisher units were small and saved until Reach, they might have suffered such heavy casualties that they weren't suitable for deployment again and still rebuilding their losses at the time of the Halo, Earth, and Ark battles. Flayer92 04:00, February 1, 2010 (UTC)

Sub-Species?
Based on the quote above, it seems that the Kig-yar species is composed of two race; the Jackals and the Skirmishers. With that said, they are not really sub-species. It is more of a differentiation in physical traits between the two Kig-yar races. Take us, humans, for example. Each race (Chinese, German, Indian, etc) has different physical traits... which lead to several stereotypes... anyway, what do you think?-  5 əb'7 aŋk (7alk ) 02:16, January 29, 2010 (UTC)

it's actually true, they are the same race, bungie said it, the pages for Skirmishers and Jackals should be merged 159.250.29.4 17:22, January 29, 2010 (UTC)

I agree, it should be merged and the sub-species factor be noted on the Kig-yar page --<The Lord of Fanon. Praise My Name, And Behold All My Holy Deeds>> 22:48, January 29, 2010 (UTC)

Reclassify the article?
It seems more and more like the Skirmishers are not really so much of a different species from the Jackals, not even a subspecies anymore, just big muscular Jackals wearing masks and feather headdresses from the looks of it.

So should Skirmisher be reclassified as a rank, rather than a species?


 * I think it should be a completely different species, not sub-species. The jackals aren't really the main species. They come from the same family, but they are a different species. For example, you don't say that tigers and lions are the same species. Teh lolz! Bionicle+Lotr 17:58, January 30, 2010 (UTC)


 * And no, they aren't big muscular Jackals wearing masks. The feathers and stuff are all natural. Teh lolz! Bionicle+Lotr 18:01, January 30, 2010 (UTC)

The article says that Jackals and Skirmishers are of the same species. That's closer than lions and tigers. It's more like chihuahuas and Dobermans...two very different looking dogs, but the same species.


 * So BAM! I agree with unregistered, nameless contributor here since he has a legitimate source. So can we really consider this now?--Nerfherder1428 14:27, January 31, 2010 (UTC)

Unsigned unregistered contributor is I Flayer92 16:51, January 31, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'd prefer they stay as separate articles. I mean, if they were just Kig-yar, then why bother mentioning them at all? --  Fore  run  ner  17:29, January 31, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, chihuahua's and dobermans are both dogs, but they're different species of dogs. We don't call one "dog" and the other one "dog sub-species". One can't be the master racce. This is the same with Kig-Yar and Skirmishers. we know they're related, but I don't think we can sum up that Kig-Yar are the master race. This is just like saying one race of humans is a sub-species of another race, which we never do in real life. Teh lolz! Bionicle+Lotr 21:59, January 31, 2010 (UTC)
 * So, would they be considered as a race or a sub-species? Based on the description released by Bungie, it appears they are showing the physical differences between the two organisms and as such suggests that they are more of a race and not a species. But, again... I'm no biologist.-  5 əb'7 aŋk (7alk ) 22:12, January 31, 2010 (UTC)
 * No, you're wrong. They're the exact same species, Canis familiarus. They are not separate species because you can breed a chihuahua and a Doberman. In this case Kig-Yar would be the blanket race term like the word dog, and Jackal and Skirmisher would be sub-sets like the Doberman and the chihuahua. I'm not proposing a deletion or a merger with the Jackal page, just that Skirmisher be reclassified as a rank, like Sniper or Major. It even sounds like a rank - Covenant race names tend to describe their place in Covenant society (Prophets, Elites, Engineers, Grunts) or just how humans perceive them (Brutes, Drones, Hunters, Jackals). Skirmisher really doesn't do either of these. As a combat rank name, on the other hand, it would describe their role perfectly.