Tartarus

Tartarus is a brute chieftain working with the covenant. He first appears on the first level of Halo 2 given the Arbiter the Mark of Shame. He dies on the last level of Halo 2 by the Arbiter while he is activating Delta Halo.

Bio: Tartarus started life as the nephew of a venerable and religious pack leader known as Maccabeus. He took on the childhood nickname of "Tartar". Wearing the scarlet armor of a Brute Captain, the young Tartarus was part of his uncle's crew of one of the few Brute-controlled ships in the Covenant, the Rapid Conversion. The Elites did not approve of a Brute controlling a ship and had disabled many of its key features such as weaponry, gravity lifts, and other useful mechanics, but Maccabeus' faith in the Great Journey helped him turn a blind eye to this unfair treatment. Soon a Grunt Deacon named Dadab and his companion, a Huragok named Lighter Than Some, found themselves on board the Rapid Conversion after escaping the destruction of their ship, the Minor Transgression, a Kig-Yar pirate ship. Maccabeus summoned Tartarus at the pair's explosive arrival and would later become a protector of the Engineer when the resentful Drones on board set out to kill it for taking their job, repair and maintenance of the vessel. He journeyed to Harvest during the first contact between the Brutes and the Humans, in a staged offer of peace that soon erupted into battle. Tartarus found himself aboard a Spirit Dropship that was soon destroyed, although he did not evacuate until he had tried everything to save Ritul, a young pack mate of his, from the destruction. Ritul burned to death before Tartarus could save him. After being attacked by the Humans in a trap designed by Loki, the Rapid Conversion was left severely damaged with Maccabeus on board. After Tartarus returned to the crippled ship he confronted Maccabeus about the legitimacy of their search for holy artifacts. Tartarus then challenged his uncle in the ritualistic manner of Brutes to a fight to the death. With the victor emerging as the Chieftain. He made concession to his wounded opponent by imposing a handicap on himself. He successfully killed Maccabeus and received his uncle's weapon, the Fist of Rukt. Tartarus began his ascent to the upper echelons of power.[1]Even back before the First Battle of Earth, Prophet of Truth had trusted Tartarus enough to dismiss the Elite Honor Guards that usually never left the Prophets unprotected in order to speak to him alone. Tartarus had scoured the wreckage of the Covenant attack coordination station Unyielding Hierophant after its destruction at the hands of the Master Chief, Grace (who died there), Fred, Will, and Linda. Tartarus reported the Covenant Fleet preparing to attack Earth was largely destroyed, and an artifact of the Forerunners that was able to bend time and disrupted Slip space almost entirely lost but for three small chips, the rest of which were lost in Slipspace after Corporal Locklear destroyed it with C-7 Foaming Explosive, which he presented to Truth. He was instructed to reward the surviving pilots well, then "Execute them all. Quickly. Quietly." He was also requested to bring the Supreme Commander, who was unable to stop the destruction of Alpha Halo, before the Council to let "his fate match the magnitude of his failure." Tartarus branded the Commander with the Mark of Shame and took him to the Mausoleum of the Arbiters for his execution. When the Sangheili was pardoned and promoted to Arbiter, Tartarus was obviously displeased, but kept silent out of respect for the Prophets. Tartarus provided aerial support for the Arbiter during his mission to assassinate Sesa 'Refumee on Threshold. The Arbiter encountered the Oracle during his duel with 'Refumee, the Heretic leader and Tartarus swiftly captured it and returned to High Charity.

The Sacred Icon: Using information gained from the Oracle, Truth and Mercy sent the Arbiter and Tartarus on a mission to obtain the Sacred Icon on Delta Halo. However, as soon as the Icon was obtained, Tartarus betrayed the Sangheili, apparently acting on orders from the Prophets. Simultaneously, Tartarus captured Sgt. Johnson and Miranda Keyes, therefore gaining leverage against the humans. He also captured Sergeants Stacker and Banks, and took them to be used as Reclaimers in order to activate Installation 05. He chose Miranda Keyes and left the three Sergeants in the hands of his Captains with the words; "Mine will do. Kill the others."

Death: While trying to get Miranda Keyes to cooperate in the Control Room, Tartarus was confronted by the Arbiter. Doing as the Hierarchs and his faith commanded, he forced Keyes to unify the Index with Delta Halo's control panel, thereby activating the ring thus began to fight the Sangheili, who fought along side the Arbiter and Sgt. Johnson. Tartarus used The Fist of Rukt to a devastating effect, killing several of the attacking Elites. Tartarus introduces the Gravity Hammer while fighting off the Arbiter. Johnson, armed with a Beam Rifle, managed to lower Tartarus's shields. Tartarus continued to fight the Elites, but he succumbed to the ferocity of the Arbiter and Elites' attack. (Although you might not kill Tartarus yourself, occasionally another Elite will kill him.)