The armor-clad Spartans are undeniably mascots of both the Halo franchise and Xbox at large. While Master Chief is commonly considered to be the defining Spartan, quite a few more have emerged in the twenty years since Halo 1's launch; the most recent of which being Halo Infinite's Laurette Agryna.
Agryna recently held the spotlight in one of Halo Infinite's multiplayer trailer, which not only demonstrated her development from human to super soldier, but also shined a light on how massive Spartans are. Toward the end of the trailer, an adolescent Agryna places her hand in the palm of one of Halo's super soldiers, and the size difference between the two is staggering. Looking at this, newer fans might wonder about the reasoning behind these soldiers' super-sized bodies. Thankfully, Halo's lore covers this topic extensively.
Halo Infinite: How Spartans Are Made
Halo's Spartans owe their abnormal sizes to physical augmentations designed to better equip humanity for inter-species warfare. The use of augmentations to create super soldiers began with the ORION Project, which attempted to enhance the abilities of adult UNSC soldiers, but was largely unsuccessful. In the years following ORION's failure, the Spartan-II program would once again pursue the creation of a human super-soldier, and it would go on to succeed where ORION failed.
Through a series of untested surgical operations, those enrolled in the Spartan-II program saw incredible physical enhancements, including a drastic increase in height and weight. Outside of his armor, Halo's iconic Master Chief is nearly seven feet tall and weighs in at a little under 300 pounds of pure muscle. With this in mind, it's no wonder that the Spartan present in Halo Infinite's most recent trailer outclassed the youthful Agryna in terms of size.
However, the Spartan-II program was not without its issues, particularly from an ethical standpoint. Every Spartan-II candidate - including Master Chief himself - was a child abducted from their homes by the UNSC. Furthermore, the experimental augmentation procedures would be administered to candidates as they reached puberty. This is a clear case of a militant force attempting to turn children into war assets, and tragically many did not survive these tests.
Fortunately, later Spartan programs would seek to mitigate the risk that comes with becoming a UNSC super soldier. The Spartan-III program used less invasive means of enhancing subject's bodies, but still possessed the moral failing of turning children into killing machines. However, the Spartan-IV program, which is the most current at the time of Halo Infinite, would cease the use of child candidates in favor of adults, allowing combat-experienced members of the UNSC to become Spartans - such is the case for Laurette Agryna, who became a Spartan Commander upon reaching adulthood.
While the Spartan-IV program is undoubtedly the most ethical thus far, the program's one drawback is that its super soldiers aren't as capable as their predecessors. In Halo: New Blood, Edward Buck - who was formerly an ODST prior to becoming a Spartan-IV - equates the Spartan-IIs to Greek Titans, the Spartan-IIIs to the slightly less-powerful gods that succeeded the titans, and the Spartan-IVs to demigods capable of living among regular humans.
Other Physical Qualities of Halo's Spartans
Beyond the super soldiers' towering height and dense mass, Spartans also possess a wealth of other abilities that make them more effective on the battlefield than even the most skilled, unaugmented human. Their strength is unparalleled, demonstrated in gameplay when one flips over a vehicle or makes a tank explode using only melee strikes. The disparity in strength between Spartans and regular humans is further demonstrated in Halo 3: ODST, the one Halo game that casts players as regular humans. Melee attacks do far less damage due to ODSTs lacking the physical augmentations of their Spartan allies.
The Halo novels also shine a light on Spartans' superhuman physical feats, which has resulted in the creation of Internet memes showcasing how overpowered Halo's titular Spartan, Master Chief, is outside of the games. One notable excerpt from Halo: Shadows of Reach depicts Chief, whose leg is currently on fire, sending a Banshee flying with a single punch.
For balance purposes, players probably won't be pulling off such feats in Halo Infinite. However, the gratification of getting killstreaks, as well as the opportunity to tower over human companions in the campaign, should still make players feel like they're controlling biochemically-enhanced super soldiers.
Halo Infinite launches December 8, 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.