The final countdown has begun, and Halo Infinite will soon be in players' hands, and after shadow-dropping its free-to-play multiplayer, all eyes are now on Halo Infinite's campaign. Anticipation for this long-awaited entry has never been higher, and the same can be said for the speculation surrounding it.
Every Halo fan has their own favorite character, and every Halo fan likely wants to see that character appear in Infinite. If it was up to many, Infinite would be the Avengers: Endgame of the Halo franchise. But some characters may actually have a chance at showing up.
Captain Cutter and The Crew of the Spirit of Fire
Any players who finished the surprisingly intuitive and engaging Halo Wars 2 were treated with a little tease of what might be to come in Infinite. At the end of the game, the crew of the Spirit of Fire, a UNSC flagship commanded by Captain Cutter, released a shiny new Halo ring into space in an attempt to make a desperate escape off the Ark. The game ends with that Halo ring floating in space, being intercepted by a Forerunner Guardian.
The crew of the Spirit of Fire never managed to leave the planet and the game and its DLCs leave the crew in a brutal stalemate with their Banished foes, the same foes that the Chief is fighting in Halo Infinite. It's not too much of a stretch to assume that this brand new Halo ring and/or the crew of the Spirit of Fire might appear during Infinite's campaign, perhaps coming to Chief's aid to help him fend off the Banished threat.
The Arbiter
From being a strange and surprising inclusion in Halo 2 to being one of the most beloved characters in the entire franchise, The Arbiter (or Thel 'Vadam) would make an excellent inclusion in Infinite's campaign, not only from a narrative and fan-service perspective but from a gameplay perspective too.
Players last saw The Arbiter during Halo 5: Guardians' closing moments, where he reunited with his old super soldier buddy on Sanghelios. After sharing a brief meal with the rest of Blue Team, they went their separate ways once more. On a thematic note, it would be very poetic to see these two unlikely friends come back together to defeat a common enemy. From a gameplay perspective, having an alien ally on a Warthog turret like the old days would be both extremely nostalgic and helpful.
Edward Buck and Alpha-Nine
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1.5)
Buck and his team of ODSTs have been busier than fans may first think. After their first appearance in Halo 3: ODST, Alpha-Nine were deployed on missions throughout the Sol system, pushing back the Prophet of Truth's forces wherever they could. After the Human-Covenant War, the ODST team was tasked with taking down the Insurrectionist group known as the United Rebel Front. Unfortunately, Rookie, the player-character in Halo 3: ODST, met his fate at this time, and the rest of the team soon after parted ways, with Mickey even defecting to the URF for a time.
After the events of Halo 5, Buck reformed the original team and has since led them on several missions against the Created (Cortana's force of rogue AIs). It would make sense for the team to be called in to assist the Master Chief in Halo Infinite and seeing them make their fiery drop-pod entrance is a sure-fire way to please veteran fans.
Halo Infinite releases December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.