It has been 20 years since fans were first introduced to Master Chief, or John-117, the Spartan II with more guns and armor than the entire fleet of Marines behind him. After years of fighting insurgents with Blue Team, Chief takes a long sleep when he awakes to find that the Autumn is being attacked by the Covenant. What follows is an epic that sees Master Chief taking on the Covenant, Flood, and Forerunners in a race to save the other species in the galaxy from extinction. Master Chief returns to save the galaxy once again, this time in Halo Infinite.
With such an impressive service in protecting humankind, it's no surprise that Master Chief has become an icon in the gaming lexicon. Chief's classic green armor and orange visor is likely recognizable to even amateur gamers, as he's remained a cultural figure. However, his overpowering figure and bulky armor do little to make him seem human, and his tendency to say as little as possible doesn't make him the easiest to talk to. However, if Halo Infinite seeks to evolve the Chief past any of his previous entries, 343 Industries may have to finally show his face, which both provides a physical and symbolic vulnerability to the character.
Not so Tough
It's estimated that the Master Chief has seen enough combat to put his kill count upwards of a few hundred thousand, and that would take a toll on the strongest of men. This is especially true when it is compounded on top of years of physical and emotional torture to become a Spartan-II in the first place. The components of their DNA were twisted and changed to improve their overall combat ability and less than half survived the procedures. That's unimaginably difficult on a adolescent, and then to watch friends and allies die by his side one-by-one. Fans don't really get an idea how this affects him in the games, because they never see his face.
So naturally, taking off the helmet will be a big moment because it's when Master Chief becomes John. It will have to either be taken off in a moment of security or ripped away from him in a force of humility, but either way, it will be a vulnerable moment for the man that's taken down entire fleets of the Covenant. 343 Industries hasn't said either way, but it also wouldn't be the first time players have seen parts of Chief's face. In the Halo 4 Legendary ending, Chief finally gets to take off his armor after the first trilogy and fans see two tense looking blue eyes looking back at them.
The Man
It would be a monumental task to finally show the man behind the helmet, but not an impossible one. Since Halo 4, 343 Industries, along with other mediums, have given slight glimpses at Chief's face and personality through the games and other media. It feels like the whole movement has been gearing itself up to reveal Master Chief as a real-life person.
It probably won't be pretty either, as Master Chief has been driving himself at an impossible pace, noticeable in the hand tremor in his intro scene in Halo 5: Guardians, amongst dialogue in-game. With his helmet off, John rubs his thumb over the slot where he would place Cortana for safekeeping. Instead it seems that Cortana is the one loss he can't get over, and overcoming that might be what he needs to evolve Master Chief into the next phase of his life.
There are plenty of fans who are screaming that they would rather not see John-117's face, as they've grown to know Master Chief as a superhuman. However, that means that the Halo games never really evolve past a basic FPS shooter with multiplayer elements. In order to bring Master Chief into the next generation of gaming, the developers have to make him a person that fans can identify with in one way or the other.
Halo Infinite will launch fall 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.