Over the last 22 years, the Halo franchise has seen its fair share of iconic antagonists. The first Halo introduced fans to the Covenant, a group alien zealots comprised of multiple different species, acting as the perfect villains both in terms of gameplay and narrative. At the head of the Covenant sat the Prophets, a handful of hover chair-bound aliens who manipulated their way to the top using religion and false promises. Then there's the Flood, Halo's take on zombies whose introduction is burned into the memories of countless gamers. Most recently comes Halo Infinite's Banished, a faction that still has a lot of potential.
Introduced in the RTS spin-off Halo Wars 2, the Banished is a group of mercenaries and raiders who rebelled against their Covenant leaders. As the human-Covenant war came to an end, the Banished continued to rise, eventually becoming a serious threat to the newly peaceful galaxy. While Halo Infinite may not quite have been the return to form that fans were hoping for, its failures shouldn't mean that the Banished are forgotten about; especially when its leader is such an intriguing character.
The Next Halo Shouldn't Forget About Atriox
A leader in the Covenant for years, Atriox was eventually forced into exile when he murdered his would-be executioner, an Elite officer who sentenced him to death after Atriox continued to cite rebellion among his troops. Following his rebellion, Atriox fled the Covenant, but continued to pick up more followers who agreed that the Prophets' wishes seemed illogical and selfish. As mentioned, Atriox is first introduced in Halo Wars 2, where he leads an intimidating force to Installation 00 in an attempt to create a Halo ring for his own personal use.
The campaign of Halo Wars 2 does a decent job of making Atriox seem like a significant threat, with the Brute leader managing to wipe out a room of Spartans in seconds. However, as is the way with all antagonists, Atriox loses his fight in Halo Wars 2 and is forced to retreat when a newly-forged Halo ring is lost through a Slipspace portal.
Atriox makes his return in Halo Infinite, creating quite a first impression for those who didn't play Halo Wars 2. After being ambushed by Atriox's Banished forces, the Master Chief is left to defeat the Brute single-handedly. He fails to do so, with Atriox beating the Spartan and throwing him out into the vacuum of space. When the Master Chief wakes up and lands on Installation 07, also known as Zeta Halo, Atriox is believed to be dead after an explosion that detonated a portion of the ring-world. After players roll credits on Halo Infinite, they're treated to a scene that reveals Atriox didn't die in the explosion, and he has found a prison where the remaining Xalanyns - also known as the Endless - have been kept.
While Halo Infinite's somewhat generic campaign wasn't perfect, the next Halo game shouldn't just drop this plot thread completely. The Endless may have seemed a little out of place in Halo Infinite, but they deserve more time to try and flesh them out by keeping Atriox as a central villain. By now, Halo fans know Atriox well, and they understand how much of a threat he poses to the galaxy. With the Endless on his side, Atriox could stand out as potentially the most threatening villain in the entire Halo franchise, destined for a rematch with the Master Chief.
Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.