Atriox

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Atriox
Biographical information
Date of birth	May 28, 2510
Physical information
Species	Jiralhanae
Gender	Male
Weapon(s)	Chainbreaker
Equipment	Jiralhanae Power Armor
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Amber
Chronological and political information
Affiliation	Covenant (formerly) The Banished
Rank(s)	Leader

“The warriors who will follow me will do so because they know me. Because they have seen me - and they know I will fight whoever it takes, wherever I have to - and that I will win, no matter what. Mark my words, Decimus - those who see us will join us. That is a promise!”

— Atriox, in a speech to his second-in-command Decimus

Atriox is a Jiralhanae Warlord and is the leader of The Banished, a Brute-led splinter faction that fought against the Covenant long before the Great Schism. He led the Banished against SPARTAN Red Team at a human outpost situated at Installation 00, in 2559. His weapon of choice is an energy mace called "Chainbreaker," a weapon he created himself from parts of a T-2 "Gravity Hammer".

Biography

For most of his life, Atriox was a warrior in the Covenant's ground forces.

Human-Covenant War

“My brothers fall in the war against your kind. And for what?”

— Atriox venting to a Marine about how pointless he considers the war against humanity to be.

During the Human-Covenant war, before the Jiralhanae civilization's ascension in the Covenant hierarchy, Brutes were commonly used as shock troopers; sent into suicidal combat scenarios where they were expected to be slaughtered, told that death in battle was the only way that they would be able to take the Great Journey. Atriox and his clan were sent in groups of forty into such situations. Atriox was the only survivor in each mission, and he disliked having to fight and die for beliefs that were not his.

Atriox's ability to survive such fights gained him the respect of many, but he began to despise the Covenant sending his kind to be butchered, and thus began to defy the Covenant.

Rebellion and Birth of the Banished

“"In everything we know of the Covenant's thousand-year history, Atriox was the first to defy the Covenant and survive.”

— Isabel summarizes Atriox's founding of the Banished.

In the later stages of the Human-Covenant war, Atriox was sent as part of a Covenant force to destroy the human colony of Algolis, and participated in the ensuing battle. Out of his 40-strong Jiralhanae detachment sent into battle, only he returned, having personally finished off the outpost's UNSC Marine garrison. While he was praised and revered by his fellow Brutes, a Sangheili soldier called the Executioner, a sort of Covenant Commissar, was ordered to send Atriox on another mission and to watch him closely.

After the UNSC forces were dealt with, Atriox voiced his hatred of the Covenant and the Prophets and was then attacked by a pious Brute who was angered by his heresy, but Atriox slew him in self-defense. Now with something concrete to pin to the malcontent Brute, the Executioner, who had seen the whole thing, declared Atriox a heretic for slaying a comrade and sentenced him to death. Atriox, while still speaking defiantly, seemed to surrender to his fate, and the Executioner raised his energy sword. However, before he could strike the killing blow, Atriox grabbed the Elite's wrist, staying his weapon, and strangled the executioner with his bare hands. Before the other Elites of the executioner squad could attack, Decimus and the rest of Atriox's brutes fell upon them and slaughtered them all.

At that moment, the legend of Atriox and the Banished were born.

Recruitment

In theory, all who can aid Atriox's ambition and will bend the knee are welcome, from human to hunter, but their violence and conditions of service limit recruitment opportunities.

— Atriox's willingness to recruit all species, noted in the OFSM.

For the rest of the Human-Covenant War, the Banished raided across Covenant space, growing in numbers and notoriety with every attack. Many mercenaries, pirates, and Covenant warriors also sick of the cruelty of the Covenant leadership joined Atriox's ranks.

Caught between the Banished threat as well as the Flood and the formation of the Covenant Separatists, who allied themselves with the UNSC, the Covenant were powerless to put Atriox down. Atriox continued to raid Covenant forces until they fell at the end of the War and even gained the notice of the UNSC.

After the Great Schism, Atriox was captured by Shipmaster Let 'Volir, the Sangheili commander of the CAS-class Assault Carrier Enduring Conviction. 'Volir had no purpose now that the Prophet's lies had been revealed, so Atriox offered to give him something to fight for as well as to keep his ship fueled up and his crew roster full, in exchange that 'Volir follow him. The Shipmaster was hesitant to take orders from a Brute, having commanded them in the past and seeing them as beneath him, but saw it was his only choice and accepted. 'Volir quickly came to realize that Atriox was not an ordinary Brute and came to both respect and fear him.

Several of Atriox's Chieftains spread his influence across human criminal enterprises, and they were welcome to join if they chose to.

The Ark

“Yesss... run little demons!”

— Atriox taunting Spartan Red Team.

In the year 2559, Atriox came upon Installation 00, also known as the Ark. Deciding to make it his new base of operations, he sent his chief lieutenant Decimus to attack the UNSC research outpost on the surface, killing every human there. Atriox quickly learned how to make use of the Installation's Cartographer and the Ark's portal network to rapidly move supplies and troops all over the installation as they began to salvage resources.

Four months after Atriox's arrival on the Ark, the long-lost human warship UNSC Spirit of Fire arrived, having drifted for 28 years. Unaware of the situation, Captain James Cutter dispatched Spartan Red Team, comprised of Spartans Jerome-092, Alice-130, and Douglas-042, to the surface to investigate the UNSC base. Atriox learned of this and went to meet the newcomers himself. The Spartans entered the compound where the Logistics AI, Isabel, attempted to warn them, but Atriox ambushed the Spartans, overpowering them with ease and throwing them around like ragdolls. Douglas managed to stab him, but, unfazed, Atriox crushed the Spartan's shoulder with one hand, through his armor, and stuck a near-lethal blow with Chainbreaker. He taunted the Spartans as they dragged their badly-wounded comrade away, crushing Douglas's helmet in his fist. He then skulked away from the scene as his troops pursued the retreating Spartans. Cutter declared all-out war on the Banished, and the battle for the Ark had begun.

Atriox's ability to rapidly distribute his forces throughout the Ark was soon turned against him when Professor Ellen Anders shut down the portal network, leaving some of Atriox's troops stranded and the rest unable to deploy as quickly as they could before, turning the fight in the UNSC's favor. In addition, the Banished's mining operations had incurred the wrath of the Ark's guard dogs: swarms of Forerunner Sentinels began attacking Banished forces.

Realizing the threat that the UNSC posed now, Atriox dispatched his CAS-class Assault Carrier, the Enduring Conviction to engage the Spirit of Fire, hoping to take out the human's command ship. The carrier quickly began to overwhelm the Spirit of Fire, which lacked the firepower to fight back and had nowhere to run. However, Isabel devised a plan using a Forerunner particle cannon to disable the carrier's shields and boarded the ship with Jerome. Hacking into the ship, Isabel used the ship's glassing beam to provoke a swarm of Sentinels into destroying the capital ship, much to Atriox's frustration.

Following the destruction of Enduring Conviction, Atriox ordered 'Volir's remaining troops to secure the newly activated Halo ring released from the Ark. However, this was thwarted by Red Team blocking his reinforcements to the Ring and Anders using the ring's gravity systems to eject all the Banished troops on the Ring into space. The Ring departed shortly after with Anders on it, but the Spirit of Fire and all other UNSC personnel were left behind.

Atriox once again set about preparing his horde for a long war on the Spirit of Fire's forces. While still a formidable tactician with a seemingly endless number of troops, vehicles, and resources at his command, he had lost his ability to rapidly deploy his forces, he no longer has the air support of his carrier, and he had lost many officers. Instead of an all-out assault, he instead began to fortify key locations across the Ark to deny the UNSC resources and increased mining operations and salvaging of abandoned Covenant wreckages.

Flood Outbreak on the Ark

“I told you NOT to go inside.”

— Atriox scolding Voridus and Pavium.

However, the UNSC and Forerunner Sentinels were revealed to not be the only threat to Atriox's control of the installation. Atriox had uncovered the location of the long-lost High Charity, which had crashed onto the Ark's surface seven years prior. In addition to the Forerunner Sentinels having put up a quarantine shield around the fallen city, Atriox recalled stories of the Flood overrunning High Charity and ordered his forces to scavenge the nearby wreckage instead, ordering that the site be left alone.

Unfortunately, an overly-eager Brute commander named Voridus ignored Atriox's warnings, as well as those of his more prudent brother Pavium, using a Scarab to penetrate the shield and investigate High Charity. Within moments, a sea of Flood forms poured from the breach, quickly overwhelming Banished forces. Atriox was soon informed of the situation by Pavium, and knowing the threat the Flood posed, was forced to send troops from the defensive lines he had planned for months to deal with the Flood outbreak. As the two brothers continued pushing the Flood back, Atriox informed them he would be arriving soon and that he expected the situation to be under control when he arrived.

The two brothers were able to defeat the unusually Proto-Gravemind before it reached critical mass and Atriox's expected arrival. When he arrived, he berated the two Jiralhanae for disobeying orders. As he began to inspect the aftermath of the battlefield, a Flood Infection Form lurking in some organic matter lunged at Atriox in an attempt to infect him. Atriox, having sensed the Infection Form before it had made its move, caught it in his hand and crushed it, tossing its remains in front of Vordius. He then ordered the two to clean up the mess, dangerously glaring at Vordius for having caused the catastrophe in the first place as he turned around to inspect the remains of the Proto-Gravemind.

Vordius' recklessness had caused significant damage to the Banished, as both brothers' war packs had taken heavy casualties, numerous Banished mines and bases were destroyed, and the UNSC had taken advantage of Atriox's withdrawal of his troops to deal with the Flood threat.

Personality

Atriox is a cold, calculating, cunning, and brutal leader.

He is shown to be significantly more intelligent than most Brutes, yet much more level headed as well. He keeps his cool in situations that would send any other of his kind into a destructive rage. For example, rather than beating or even killing Voridus for his mistakes, he instead punishes the Brute by making him rectify his messes. Unlike most Jiralhanae, Atriox was open-minded enough to employ Sangheili as he didn't care for the Sangheili-Jiralhanae war, and held no hatred for humanity. Likewise, he also seems to have a degree of honor, shown when he offers Cutter and his crew the chance to flee or when he allows Spartan Red team to retreat when he easily could have killed them all himself. Most of all, he is ambitious, and this coupled with his hatred of the Covenant made him a grave threat to its power.

Atriox is very confident, not shy of gloating when he knows he has won and taunting his enemies as they run away. Adept with technology, he quickly learns how to use Forerunner tech and can design weapons such as his Hammer, Chainbreaker, as well as vehicles like the Blisterback.

Atriox is incredibly strong and resilient, a veteran of countless desperate combat scenarios that even many Sangheili Arbiters have failed to return from. He is capable of holding his own not just against other Covenant, but against legendary, combat-hardened Spartans like Jerome, even if they are working in teams.

In-game information

Blitz

Unique Units

Ironclad Hunters

Image	Energy Cost	Rarity	Keywords	Faction	In-game
	60	Uncommon	Guard	Banished

Enduring Blisterbacks

Image	Energy Cost	Rarity	Keywords	Faction	In-game
	150	Rare	Last Stand 3	The Banished

Skirmish

Unique Units:

Atriox's Chosen

Image	Energy Cost	Rarity	Keywords	Faction
	180	Legendary	Shock Shield	The Banished

Leader

• Tiers
• Leader Powers
• Accessible units

Tier 1

• Counter Measure - Drops Mines around newly captured points, slow enemy recap rate. Jump Pack Brutes drop Trip Mines while in flight
• Fortifications 1 - The Strongholds, Fortify, & Turrets upgrades are now have reduced cost & research time. Base level turrets, shield towers, & outpost now cost less.
  • Further improved all currency provide bonuses (The Strongholds, Fortify, & Turrets upgrades now have further reduced cost & research time. Base level turrets, shield towers, & outpost now cost much less.)

Tier 2

• Plasma Mines 1 - Activate to drop a line of cloaked mines. Once armed, mines explode on contact. Does not damage air troops.
  • Plasma Mines 2 - Increases Damage and explosion size.
• Dying Breath - affected units ignore their own death and continue to fight for a short time.

Tier 3

• Atriox's Bulwark 1 - Activate to create a healing area. Gives brief invulnerability. Heals units and buildings
  • Atriox's Bulwark 2 - Increases area size, healing and duration.
    • Atriox's Bulwark 3 - Further increases size, healing, duration and invulnerability

• Spirit Assualt 1- Deploys two Suicide Grunts
  • Spirit Assualt 2- Upgrades and vets up the Grunts. Adds one Jump Pack Brute Squad.
    • Spirit Assualt 3- Adds one more Jump Pack Brute Squad. Upgrades and fully vets all squads.

Tier 4

• Glassing Beam - Fires a powerful player-controlled beam at the battlefield.
  • Glassing Beam 2 - Increase beam area and damage.

• Teleport - Teleports own units within a set range.

Tier 5

• Unbreakable - Renders all units invulnerable for a set time.
• Eradication - Unleashes 8 beams that converge to crate a massive blast.

• Active Powers
  • Plasma Mines - Activate to drop a line of cloaked mines. Once armed, mines explode on contact. Does not damage air troops.
  • Dying Breath - affected units ignore their own death and continue to fight for a short time.
  • Atriox's Bulwark - Activate to create a healing area. Gives brief invulnerability. Heals units and buildings
  • Spirit Assualt - Deploys units
  • Teleport - Teleports own units within a set range.
  • Unbreakable - Renders all units invulnerable for a set time.
  • Eradication - Unleashes 8 beams that converge to crate a massive blast.

• Passives
  • Counter Measure - Drops Mines around newly captured points, slow enemy recap rate. Jump Pack Brutes drop Trip Mines while in flight
  • Fortifications - The Strongholds, Fortify, & Turrets upgrades are now have reduced cost & research time. Base level turrets, shield towers, & outpost now cost less.

Skirmish

Infantry

• Grunts
• Jump Pack Brutes
• Elite Rangers
• Hunters
• Suicide Grunts
• Chosen

Vehicles

• Chopper
• Marauder
• Reaver
• Locust
• Wraith

Air

• Banshee
• Engineer
• Blisterback

Super

• Scarab

Blitz

Infantry

• Grunt Mob
• Ironclad Hunters

Vehicles

• Bloodfuel Locust
• Prowling Reaver
• Ironclad Wraith

Air

• Enduring Blisterback

Terminus

Vehicles

• Ghost (Cannot upgrade)

Gameplay

In game, Atriox can be played in two different ways: a base spam style, or an aggressive style. The first takes advantage of his Fortifications power, which makes bases cheaper and much easier to buy up all over the map. Cheap turrets help keep the bases alive along with the fact that Fortifications also makes the Fortify upgrade (located in the War Council) cheaper as well. If he can get up enough bases and keep them alive, Atriox will be in a winning position. A combination of Atriox's Chosen, Turrets, Engineers, and Suicide Grunts should be able to hold early pushes and ensure that he snowballs into a massive eco.

The more aggressive style focusses on taking the map early with an Atriox's Chosen and spamming Jump Pack Brutes, which are augmented by the Counter-Measures power. They can also use their y ability to slow clumps of enemy troops which leaves them vulnerable to Atriox's powerful Plasma Mines. The Chosen, while rather fragile, is fast and heavy-hitting with the additional effect of slowing down whatever he hits. The Chosen is the centerpiece of Atriox's army when employing this strategy. Swarming the enemy with Grunts and Jump Pack Brutes means that enemy snipers (the Chosen's biggest weakness) will have trouble targetting the hero down. Make sure to capture energy nodes, as Counter Measures also helps you hold them more easily.

Atriox is a solid pick whether you choose to employ either of these strategies, but map and matchup also depend quite a bit. His early, mid, and late game are all solid: The Chosen carries him in tech 1, his bulwark negates enemy nukes in tech 2 and his Eradication is a great base-stripping tool, and in tech 3 his Chosen's upgrade greatly increases his range and damage, and his units become a massive pain to kill when dying breath is used on them en masse.

Appearance

Atriox stands somewhat taller than even other Brutes, who stand as one of the largest bipedal species in the galaxy. His body is covered in gray and white armor made from scavenged parts. His fur, like other Brutes, is dark brown, but his beard and hair are braided and he wears white paint on his face.

The piece of armor adorning and protecting his abdomen is taken from an ODST's chestplate, meaning he has likely fought and killed at least one before.

Quotes

• "Run, little demons!"
• "As I suspected, nothing but a man."
• "Hunt them down. Find out where they came from. And bring me back anything useful."
• "Ah, little Spartan, I see you've recovered from our introduction. It seems you need another lesson."
• "Prove you are still worth your price."

Gallery

Concept art of Atriox's face.

A reference concept sheet of Atriox.

Render of Atriox's Leader profile.

Atriox activating Chainbreaker.

Atriox holding it to his face, illuminating it with a red light.

Note the ODST chestplate on Atriox's abdomen.

Atriox and Cutter face-to-face.

A 3D-printed model of Atriox.

Atriox in the Cinematic Trailer

Halo Rise of Atriox Comic Mini-series Teaser

Appearances

• Halo Wars 2 (first appearance)
• Halo Infinite