Halo 2 - Skulls FAQ
Arranged & Editted By Matt "Junkie" Sicker
Contact Information in [contact_me]
Version 1.6.1
+-----------------+
|Table of Contents|
+-----------------+
I. Introduction
a. Forward
b. Skull History
c. ChangeLog
d. Contact Information
II. The Skulls
a. Important Preliminary Notes
b. Confirmed Skulls
i. Cow Bell (The Blank Skull)
ii. Thunderstorm
iii. Blind
iv. Catch
v. Grunt Birthday Party
vi. Famine
vii. Envy
viii. Assassins
ix. Mythic
x. Sputnik
xi. Angry
xii. Ghost
xiii. Iron
xiv. Black Eye
xv. I Would Have Been Your Daddy
III. Theories
a. EGATFIBGBCSIMAW Acronym
b. JNAMSFTFY
c. EGM's Pondering Explored
d. Other Less Cool Theories
IV. Outside Links
a. Topics Discussing Skulls
b. Unofficial Skull Sites
V. End
a. Special Thanks
b. Copyright
+---------------+
|I. Introduction|
+---------------+
a. Forward
I would like to start off by thanking you for using my FAQ. Just a quick note,
most of the writings in this FAQ were originally discovered by various people
mostly found on the Bungie.net Forums. I personally have compiled as much
information about the skulls into one, well-written FAQ. As a side note, most
places that have accepted codes or FAQs about the skulls are exact copies of
the original posts from the Bungie Forums. In my attempt, I am going to
clarify, clean up, and maintain all the information about the skulls. Since the
origins of this FAQ, I have also been maintaining all information sent to me by
other people and of my own experiences.
Also, to find specific skulls, search for them by "II.(b|c).(i-xv)". Take the
confirmed status (b or c) and the lower-case roman numeral for the corresponding
skull from the table of contents. Simply "Ctrl+F" for it.
When I use a quote from someone, it will generally not be sic as I try to avoid
that at all costs. Most quotes will be cleaned up or rewritten.
b. Skull History
The first appearance of the hidden skulls was revealed by the user Pirate117 on
the Bungie Forums in a topic titled "HIDDEN ITEM FOUND!!!!" What he revealed
was a secret area in "Outskirts" which contained a pair of scoped binoculars,
four frag grenades, and an Oddball skull that when picked up, it flashed the
words "Blind" on the bottom corner of the screen, and all items from his HUD
disappeared. This was a very significant find, but nobody knew what it could
mean. This caused much excitement on the Bungie Forums, which in turn leaked
into other forums and websites. Some speculated that the skull was for use in
the popular Halo comedy series "Red Vs. Blue" in order to get a full-screen
view of the action, but this "Blind Mode" only worked in single-player, so that
was ruled out. Others believed that this Pirate117 was a Bungie employee who
was setting everyone into the correct direction. Others believed he had
acquired the game before the release date, thus allowing him to have more time
to search for easter eggs such as this.
The conclusion was made that the three items together formed the phrase
"Search For Skulls", each acquiring meaning from the binoculars, four grenades,
and the skull. On a side note, the binoculars zoomed in at 8x instead of the
traditional sniper 10x; this may play an importance in the speculation as well.
It wasn't long before information about other skulls started to form together.
With a boost of confidence, many people began to extensively search all the
levels in Campaign mode, looking for more skulls. It was soon discovered that
most of the skulls could only be found in Legendary, thus scaring away the less-
than-stellar Halo 2 gamers from attempting to help solve this puzzle. With the
miniscule amount of information available about the skulls, some people took
advantage of this and reported legitimate-sounding fake skulls, thus screwing
some people up in their quest for the truth.
Lists began to be compiled, and many others tested the validity of each reported
skull, thus allowing progress to continue at a decent rate. As of now, there
have been fourteen confirmed skull findings, including the original Blind skull,
while there are still a couple odd skulls that cannot be fully confirmed or
tested due to complexities at this time.
c. ChangeLog
1.6.1 - 04-Sep-2006
Minor updates, changed copyright to use CC by-nc-sa 2.5.
1.6.0 - 21-May-2005
Skull information has slowed down considerably since January, so I haven't
gotten around to updating until now (since I'm back into Halo 2 due to all the
new multiplayer stuff finally). I've updated areas that I've been emailed
about as well as any other info I missed that High Impact Halo has. This
version might be worth re-printing out!
1.5.2 - 22-Jan-2005
A few minor layout changes, minor skull updates, JNAMSFTFY update, some other
bits and pieces removed from the FAQ, other theory sections updated to current
findings.
1.5.1 - 16-Jan-2005
A couple ideas submitted for the JNAMSFTFY acronym regarding which skulls they
correspond to. Also updated how to get the Thunderstorm skull.
1.5.0 - 08-Jan-2005
Sorry for the lack of updates (even though they aren't too huge usually), but
I had computer problems and a lack of interest in going online. I've added some
updates accrued from emails to me from you helpful contributors. The acronym
section has been updated again with an interesting find from halomods.com.
1.4.0 - 26-Dec-2004
After a great Christmas, I went back on the internet to check out how I could
update this FAQ. After receiving about 20 emails since last time, I have found
some stuff to update. Some skulls updated, other nitbits. See if you can catch
them all!
1.3.0 - 18-Dec-2004
Made updates to quite a few skulls (after eighty million emails, thank you very
much). Added a couple "features" to the skull detail boxes.
1.2.0 - 14-Dec-2004
Fixed the Envy skull description (wrong area), clarified the Black Eye skull.
Received some information about other things, but not needed to put in the FAQ
yet.
1.1.0 - 11-Dec-2004
After my FAQ finally being put up, I received a few emails already. I have
added an alternate method to finding the Envy skull (which needs to be confirm-
ed as usual) along with the confirmation of the theoretical location of the I
Would Have Been Your Daddy skull, but beyond the pool of blood, we still do not
know if the skull is true. Also, a possibly major addition to the acronym
theory has been added regarding the 8x scope and the possibility of its rele-
vance in accruing the skulls in the correct order.
1.0.0 - 26-Nov-2004
Decided that a new and better Skull FAQ had to be written, especially with the
available information at my fingertips that have found no legible way into
GameFAQs. I'm also sick of reading the same damn explanation for every skull
with the same horrible grammar, spelling, and descriptions each and every time.
So far, this is merely a compilation of all the information I've found. I
intend on amending this information and adding my own discoveries as time
passes. This took at least 3-4 hours to write as I wrote everything from
scratch, although the methods to doing many of these things have already been
[poorly] documented. About 4 root beers and 2 kittens gave their lives to
write this (and 2 domokuns just died for saying that).
d. Contact Information [contact_me]
BEFORE CONTACTING ME: Make sure your comment or question hasn't been mentioned
already in this FAQ. Check the notes section for tips, too!
I am absolutely willing to take comments, additions, and error reports regarding
this FAQ, just as long as you are willing to follow directions. You may email
me at <boards AT gmail DOT com> with the subject containing "Halo 2".
+--------------+
|II. The Skulls|
+--------------+
a. Important Preliminary Notes
- Most skulls are found on *Legendary* and can be found on either single-player
or cooperative play.
- If you feel that Legendary is too hard, I suggest checking out the Legendary
FAQ written by Tom Race (halo_2_legendary.txt in this directory). He provides
excellent strategies in completing levels on Legendary and also includes some
skull descriptions to add fun challenges to the game. You can also go bitch
at Bungie <bungie.net> for making Legendary too damn hard.
- Skulls are picked up with the X button (pick up/swap weapons button). Only
one of the known skulls can be kept as a weapon along with your two other
guns.
- Some skulls will increase the difficulty of the game, others may decrease it,
while others may just add an interesting twist to the game. Combinations of
effects can be either fun, challenging, or may unlock an unknown secret that
we so desperately are searching for (read: lost interest in).
- A skull's effect will keep its effect until you restart your Xbox. Dying
won't disable the effect.
- Taking into account the aforementioned effect, you can gather the skulls a lot
easier by simply making a profile for each skull. With each profile, simply
save at the closest checkpoint before the skull. Afterwards, you can collect
all the skulls in a short period of time by going through all the profiles.
- There are no known rewards or unlockables with gathering all skulls, but there
may be some very intriguing effects from acquiring the skulls in a specific,
yet unknown, fashion...
- If you can confirm an unconfirmed skull or add an additional strategy, method,
or clarification to acquiring the skull, please feel free to contact me. You
will be credited for your submission, but if you find the information from
another source, please don't simply copy and paste the description. Instead,
you may link to the source, cite the source with your email, or "word it in
such a way that it portrays the same idea but with different wording."
- Also, if you have suggestions on how to improve my FAQ in general, go ahead
and contact me.
Format:
+--Skull-Name-----------------Level-Location---------------SearchCode+
| Comprehensible directions on finding the skull is detailed here. |
| |
| Effect: Explained in English for your convenience. |
| |
| Notes: Anything else you or I might want to know about it. Also |
| includes room to write your own notes in. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
checkbox ---^
b. Confirmed Skulls
+--*blank*--------------------Armory-----------------------II.b.i----+
| After your diagnostics are complete, Sgt Johnson will tell you to |
| follow him onto the elevator. Simply stay put until Johnson says |
| "Would it help if I said 'Please?'" Now you may join him on the |
| elevator. Follow him into the monorail afterwards, making sure |
| to be as close to the window/door on the opposite side of the way |
| you came in. As the monorail moves to the end of this level, the |
| next room contains the skull. At the end of the room, there is a |
| stack of boxes; the skull is on the ground, behind the stack. You |
| can grab it through the window/door. |
| |
| Effect: [speculation] Enemies can see you easier. |
| [speculation] Weapons are stronger. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Thunderstorm---------------Cairo-Station----------------II.b.ii---+
| In the chapter "Priority Shift", procede until you take out all |
| the enemies in the Armory and the following commons room. From |
| the entrance of 'Commons B.01', run over to the opposite corner |
| of the room, and take the stairs up to the alcove with the |
| plasma turret. From here, look to the left and jump to the long, |
| risen platform that spans across the room. Next, using one of |
| the slanted metal bars as a riser, jump to the 2 metal bars that |
| span across the room. Follow these to the end of the room (above |
| the doorway you entered), and you'll see another ledge to the |
| left in front of some windows with a trash can in the corner. |
| Melee the trash can out of the way; the skull (and a cigar) will |
| be on the ground. |
| |
| Effect: All Grunts and Elites will be transformed into their |
| silver/white-armored versions of themselves with the same power & |
| stats as their silver/white counterparts. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Blind----------------------Outskirts--------------------II.b.iii--+
| At the start of this level, continue into the door straight ahead |
| as normal. When you enter, take notice of the rectangular light- |
| fixture. Jump onto either one, then Crouch Jump to the roof to |
| the left of the way you enter. If this is your first time, it |
| may take a few attempts. When on the roof, turn to your left, |
| towards the dark passage between the two buildings. Follow the |
| path to the end. There should be a pair of binoculars (that have |
| the number 8 engraved on them), four frag grenades, and a skull. |
| |
| Effect: Your HUD will disappear for Campaign mode. |
| |
| Notes: Flashlight doesn't work correctly after obtaining this. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Catch----------------------Metropolis-------------------II.b.iv---+
| Starting from the chapter, "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both |
| of Us", proceed into the large area crawling with Jackal snipers. |
| Go ahead and snipe any that you can, then proceed to the middle |
| area. Grenade Jump your way onto the arc-like structure that |
| leads up onto a building. At the top of the arc, go left, wall- |
| hugging your way around the building. You should come across the |
| skull. |
| |
| Effect: Every AI-controlled character (allies and enemies) will |
| throw more grenades. Their accuracy is basically the same, so |
| your allies won't be too much more helpful and the enemies will |
| be as deadly as they normally are. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Grunt-Birthday-Party-------The-Arbiter------------------II.b.v----+
| When you get a Banshee at the start of the chapter "To The Hunt", |
| fly to the bottom of the station. Down here, you will see three |
| enormous, cylindrical thrusters. Fly over to the middle thruster |
| and search the top portion until you find some Grunts dancing in |
| a circle. They may be a little hidden by the horizontal support |
| beam, so make sure to circle around the area until you see them. |
| Land your Banshee nearby; the skull should be near the Grunts. |
| |
| Effect: Everyone (except Hunters, Drones, invincible allies, and |
| your co-op partner) when shot in the head (with no shields) will |
| explode like a plasma grenade! |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Famine---------------------Oracle-----------------------II.b.vi---+
| Enter the room containing the Flood vs. Heretics battle taking |
| place, shortly after the beginning of the level. After the |
| Heretics kill the Flood and exit, proceed down into the room as |
| usual. Stand on the lower part of the pillars that hold the |
| opposite side's glass room and shoot the glass. From here, you |
| can Crouch Jump through the glass into the glass room opposite of |
| which you entered. The skull is on the ground, surrounded by 3 |
| Combat Flood. |
| |
| Effect: Weapons start with half their ammo (preset and dropped). |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Envy-----------------------Delta-Halo-------------------II.b.vii--+
| Near the end of the chapter "You Break It, You Buy It" (where |
| your Scorpion fun nears an end), you come across the area |
| containing a large central structure that contains the next area |
| and many columns in the surrounding area. Head to the left |
| towards the columns and the edge of this cliff. Go up the ramp |
| and continue down the path (forward from where you came). There |
| you will see some plasma turrets (or where they used to be if you |
| already destroyed them) on a landing. Follow the landing until |
| the end. There, you will see a door that is blocked by a large |
| stone. Jump onto the stone, then again to the thin ledge above |
| it. Get close to the left wall and grenade jump onto the wall. |
| Up here, you will see where the right wall ends with dirt behind |
| it. Jump there and follow the stone wall to the top. At the top,|
| you can look down into the center where you will see 2 cloaked |
| elites looking at each other with the skull in between them. |
| Kill them and take the skull. |
| |
| Effect: Master Chief gains the optical camo ability that only the |
| Arbiter has throughout the game. It lasts five seconds with a 10 |
| second recharge on Legendary, and it lasts longer on lower diffi- |
| culties. This can be abused with a fun little glitch that lets |
| you use it infinitely in a level; check the cheats section. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Assassins------------------Regret-----------------------II.b.viii-+
| After the first Gondola ride, chapter title "One Way Ticket", |
| head into the building and go left. Jump onto the large stone, |
| then to the light fixtures towards the ledge that leads back out- |
| side, then onto that ledge. Using Grenade Jumps and Crouch Jumps,|
| make your way up the side of the building as far as it goes. At |
| the end, you will find a ledge that leads to a small grassy area |
| with two more cloaked, dancing Elites. Take the skull and kill |
| them as you please. (Although this skull appears in other diffi- |
| culties, it only _works_ in Legendary) |
| |
| Effect: All enemies, including Grunts and Jackals, are cloaked. |
| Thus, your allies can't see them, making them even _more_ useless.|
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Mythic---------------------Sacred-Icon------------------II.b.ix---+
| After the Gondola ride in "Buyer's Remorse", continue onwards to |
| the piston that leads down into a dark, murky area. Look for the |
| stack of boxes and jump your way up them. At the top there is a |
| ledge with a dead Combat Flood in a small tunnel; go into this to |
| find the skull. |
| |
| Effect: A harder difficulty is set upon you. Enemies have better |
| physical defense and are stronger when it comes to glassing you. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Sputnik--------------------Quarantine-Zone--------------II.b.x----+
| Right at the beginning, turn left to see an ally Elite. To the |
| left of him is a tunnel. Run to the tunnel and follow it through |
| until you come to a cliff. Turn left and follow the cliff until |
| you reach a rock wall. Follow the narrow passage to the right of |
| the wall; the skull is at the end. |
| |
| Effect: The weight of many objects is decreased, allowing melees |
| and explosions to send them further. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Angry----------------------Gravemind--------------------II.b.xi---+
| In the first chapter, after you arrive outside, go to the right |
| side of the bridge and walk on the wall of it. You will come up |
| to a higher wall with a red railing on it; Crouch Jump to it and |
| follow the path to a gravity lift. The skull is right there. |
| |
| Effect: You can keep this skull as a third weapon. |
| [speculation] Grunts shoot faster and are pissed. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Ghost----------------------Uprising---------------------II.b.xii--+
| In the "Fight Club" chapter, make your way through to the indoor |
| area that contains a mini-armory and two L-shaped rooms that |
| connect the armory to the outside. Inside one of the L-shaped |
| rooms is a rafter that you can reach via grenade jumping. You can|
| also try using one of the boxes to jump from. The skull can also |
| be grabbed during the jump and going into the rafters may be un- |
| necessary. |
| |
| Effect: [speculation] Enemies can't see you as well. |
| [speculation] More enemies. |
| [speculation] No more checkpoints. |
| |
| Notes: Going in from the right, it is the second room. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Iron-----------------------High-Charity-----------------II.b.xiii-+
| At the end of the chapter "Sanctified", take the final grav lift |
| up to the next chapter. On the way, there is a skull that will |
| pass you by. Hold X to grab it on the way! |
| |
| Effect: [speculation] Allies' defense increases to physical |
| attacks, namely melee attacks. This may also make them |
| immune to being killed by vehicles and increasing the |
| defensive power of human vehicles. |
| [speculation] In all difficulties, one of the two players |
| in co-op dying will send you back to the previous check- |
| point. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--Black-Eye------------------The-Great-Journey------------II.b.xiv--+
| In the chapter "Backseat Driver", go ahead to the large, holy |
| structure where you would use the Index to activate Halo. As you |
| arrive, fly towards the top of the dome-shaped part of the struct-|
| ure as far as you can fly. Turn your Banshee around and try to |
| land on the least steep area possible, and attempt to result in |
| your Banshee landing on the platform below in order to finish the |
| level; this is not required as the skull's effect will stay with |
| you, even if you have to jump to your untimely death first. Climb |
| the rest of the way up the slope, then onto the grassy area on |
| the other side. From there, you can climb the steep pillar in |
| the direction of the front of the structure. At the very top of |
| this is the skull. You can either reverse the process to return |
| to your Banshee or just to your untimely doom to speed things up. |
| |
| Effect: Your shields will not regenerate normally. Instead, to |
| regain health, you must melee and _kill_ someone (i.e. an enemy, |
| ally, etc.). You can gain up to a full overshield doing this, but|
| it may not be very useful against the one-hit kill attacks done |
| on you. |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+--I-Would-Have-Been-Your-Daddy--------Outskirts-----------II.b.xv---+
| This skulls is definitely confirmed, so if you're having trouble |
| with it, check out the links for alternate methods. |
| |
| From the beginning of the level, get onto the rooftops via the |
| Blind Skull method. Grenade jump from the place with the |
| barrier. Jump straight ahead and walk through the alley on the |
| building leading to the dumpster thing. Instead of jumping on |
| the road where the Pelican lands, head over to the building with |
| the several platform thingers. There, you should see a large |
| beam going across (if the storyline is still working on time, a |
| Phantom should fly by). Grenade jump at the end of the beam to |
| get on another building. Continue straight ahead to another |
| building. Jump onto the side of the building a bit below you. |
| Turn the corner, and straight ahead you'll see a big, flat thing |
| in between two buildings; walk across that. Here you'll be at |
| Hotel Zanzibar. Run past any enemies, following the normal path |
| from here until you reach the Pelican for real. Wait between the |
| Pelican "runway" and the "door" that leads to that huge ditch. |
| There should be a Magnum on the ground; that's your mark. Wait |
| until the Pelican leaves. Then, run for the big dumpster and |
| jump onto the building with the barrier and orange roof (you have |
| about 17 seconds right after the checkpoint after the Pelican |
| leaves, so hurry up). Jump on the pipes, then onto the roof in |
| front of you. Go straight, and you'll get a checkpoint near the |
| skull's spawn. Pick it up and you'll get to fight a bunch of |
| Elites. I hope you got the checkpoint within the 17 seconds or |
| you only get _one_ try to kill them all.
| |
| Effect: All sorts of characters will have an added soundtrack of |
| hilarious dialogues! Check some of them out at HIH (links). |
| |
| Notes: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------[ ]+
+-------------+
|III. Theories|
+-------------+
a. EGATFIBGBCSIMAW Acronym
To those of you who are WTF'ing at that acronym, let me give a brief history of
Bungie. With every game Bungie has made, there has been an acronym on the box
that usually stood for something humorous. This acronym is found on the Halo 2
Official Sound Track CD case, and what makes it unique from the other acronyms
is that it might lead to an even bigger secret than the skulls themselves.
There are fifteen letters in this acronym, and there are either fourteen + "win"
or fifteen skulls that correspond to each letter of the acronym. For example:
Envy
Grunt Birthday Party
Assassin
Thunderstorm
Famine
I Would Have Been Your Daddy
Blind
Ghost
Black Eye
Catch
Sputnik
Iron
Mythic
Anger
W...? (That's Just... Wrong?)
This acronym could tell the order in which to collect the skulls and beat the
game with in order to unlock a huge secret, or it may be a bunch of shit. The
obvious problem with this is that there are four letters in the acronym that
are ambiguous to two different skulls, namely Iron and I..., Anger and Assassin,
Blind and Black Eye, and Ghost and Grunt Birthday Party.
This acronym might have to be unscrambled as an anagram to find the real order
to collect the skulls in. In this case, the unnamed skull might be a space in
the phrase, allowing the possible existance of another skull to fulfill the W in
the acronym.
Also, the items surrounding each skull may hint the location of when to acquire
that skull in a runthrough. This is all, of course, speculation and has yet to
be fully tested due to the existance of one more unfound skull and the required
patience needed to collect them all on 15 separate profiles (easiest way to re-
gain them quickly).
Another idea links the 8x scope and the skulls by either collected the 8-letter
ambiguous skulls first or last in the acronym.
Another idea submitted is using the physics-defying Sputnik skull to mess
around with boxes and such in order to possibly access new areas (or fling
things at other things). The idea is sketchy, but it adds something to consider
when searching for skulls, especially if used in the theoretical order.
A recent (well, not really recent) post on halomods.com has revealed an order of
skulls that seems to parallel with the acronym. This list was taken from the
hex dump of the mainmenu.map file. You can check it too by ripping the file
from a modded Xbox.
Envy
Grunt Birthday Party
Assassins
Thunderstorm
Famine
I Would Have Been Your Daddy
Blind
Ghost
Black Eye
Catch
Sputnik
Iron
Mythic
Angry
Cow Bell
That's Just... Wrong.
My idea here is that "Cow Bell" is the *blank* skull since the more popular
effect concluded from testing it was that the enemey could find you much easier.
Think about it: put a cowbell on something and whenever it moves, you'd be able
to know its location at any given time.
Now I would also like to know if anyone has any idea how "Cow Bell" fits with
the acronym. "That's Just... Wrong." fits with the W from Wrong, and that could
correspond to a 16th skull or what to do with the skulls. Does anyone think of
how you can make an Elite in multiplayer give people *cough*?
b. JNAMSFTFY Acronym
At first, I didn't include this acronym in the theories section, but due to
another hex dump (from a cache file in-game) and its close resemblance to this
acronym, I've decided to section it out.
And for more discoveries regarding actual hex dumps!
Assassins: Watch your back, the covenant are having a sale on Active camo.
Juggernaut: Brace yourself for baddies with overshields and boomsticks.
Nosferatu: Sure you're tough, but now you must suck to survive.
Say What?: Be poised if other emotional scenes tend to errupt.
Hudless: Go commando! Clear your screen of pesky status indicators.
Disembodied Soul: Experience the miserable existence of the Disembodied Soul.
Makeover: Who says the Masterchief always has to wear green?
This was found in the cache file dump. Possible translations:
Assassins = Assassin
Juggernaut = Mythic (turns the Flood into juggernauts)
Nosferatu = Black Eye ("suck to survive", a Nosferatu is a vampire as well)
Say What? = Angry (emotional scene)
Hudless = Blind (the effect)
Disembodied Soul = Ghost (names are synonymous, effect may be similar to desc.)
Makeover = Envy (the camo is invisible instead of green)
Those names also seem to partly correspond with the JNAMSFTFY acronym from the
Halo 2 case, although the skull names form the letters "AMBABGE", so re-order
them or test in that order however you like. I haven't seen anyone test this
order yet to see if there actually is another secret from skull-collecting.
c. EGM's Pondering Explored
A [recent] discovery mentioned by EGM about the numbers 1 and 7 being found on
Outskirts. They asked Bungie (Mission Designer Tyson Green, Halo 2), and he
said, "There is [significance in those numbers]. It's something that's obvious
once you know what it is, but I'm not going to say--it's just a hint that tells
you the nature of something." They also mention the skulls, but no mention of
my FAQ. =(
Submitted by Captain Obvious, the most probable link between the one and seven
is with a specific part of the ending...
*!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!* - IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE GAME'S ENDING, SKIP THIS!
The seven from above may reference the seven Halos that exist, and the one may
represent the Ark which can control all of them remotely. Also, 343 Guilty
Spark notes in Halo that each Halo has an effective range of 25000 lightyears.
Take that range, multiply it by seven Halos, and you get between 175000 ly and
350000 ly, a range that would be about the size of the Milky Way...
*!!!END SPOILERS YAY!!!*
Don't forget that the number seven is a _very_ common theme in Bungie and other
Bungie-related things. Some examples (please do not submit any, they have no
importance whatsoever):
343 Guilty Spark: 343 = 7^3
Penitent Tangent 2401: 2401 = 7^4
AI units typically think themselves to death after 7 years.
There are 7 species in the Covenant Alliance.
The Bungie fanclub "7th Column"
Bungie's "Tru7h and Reconciliation"
Many maps (campaign and multiplayer) contain groups of 7 objects (e.g. trees).
d. Other Less Cool Theories
Some believe that the skulls are just there to make the game more fun, more
challenging, and more interesting. Others believe it was put in for us to waste
time until the next Halo game is released. Others feel that it was put in to
keep our minds off of the lousy ending.
+-----------------+
|IV. Outside Links|
+-----------------+
a. Topics Discussing the Skulls
The current Bungie Forum topic for this can be found at
<
http://bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=1156052>
The original hidden item found topic can be found at
<
http://bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=1029122>
b. Unofficial Links
High Impact Halo - <
http://www.highimpacthalo.org/showskull.php>
Contains descriptions to each skull, a video for each, etc.
Menace Skulls - <
http://www.freewebs.com/menaceskulls/>
Contains skull information, videos of getting the skull, and other easter
eggs in Halo 2.
Legacy Skulls - <
http://www.freewebs.com/legacy_skulls/>
Contains descriptions and theories.
c. Other Halo/Bungie Links
Developer Bungie's Website - <bungie.net>
Home to all their stuff, has forums (please leave grammar at the door),
other stuff you might find interesting.
Bungie.org's Halo Section - <halo.bungie.org>
Loads of Halo 2 information and discussions. They think outside the .net.
Bungie.org's Bungie Sightings Section - <bs.bungie.org>
Includes their archived information about the current 2 acronyms and past
Bungie acronyms for their earlier Mac/PC games.
7th Column - <bungie.net/7thColumn/>
The official Bungie fan club. You can probably find some groups dedicated
to the skulls if you search really hard...
Halo Mods - <halomods.com>
This site deals with modding Halo games (most apparent is multiplayer maps)
that also touches on interesting findings in the actual maps (such as the
two acronym findings in the two map files).
+------+
|V. End|
+------+
a. Special Thanks
a.i Standard
Bungie - For making Halo 2 at least good enough for me to get addicted to.
Bungie Forums - For discovering the first skull and researching them for us.
GameFAQs - For hosting this FAQ.
EGM - For insighting me to take one of their comments said by some guy.
My Past English Teachers - For teaching me how to use proper English, unlike the
other compilations of skulls that are nearly impossible to understand.
Future Contributors - For helping me (theoretically) test, confirm, and develop
what is in this FAQ.
Barq's - For making such a damn fine root beer that was consumed while writing.
Electricity - For giving my electronics the juice they need to do what we as
humans are too lazy to do. And for providing for Xbox, my PC, etc.
The M Key On My Keyboard - You may have faded away, but you still hold a place
on my keyboard.
Pirates - Both the badass ones and the ones who supplied the music used while
writing this FAQ.
a.ii Specific Contributors
Patrick Shillings - alt method to Envy skull
Julian de Zulueta - new acronym theory regarding 8x
Drew Ulmer - clarification of Black Eye skull, fix for Envy skull
John McCormack - confirming IWHBYD blood balcony location
Danny Wukasch - confirming Catch skull
Jon Sandler - clearing up Mythic skull
Charles Calhoun - new possiblity of using Sputnik skull for other uses
"Avenger" - helping clarify some skulls and providing High Impact Halo vids
"AzN Fantasy Star" - helping confirm the IWHBYD skull
Jean-Paul Goulden - explanations to the mysterious 1 and 7
Bob S. - helping clarify the Envy skull
"How May I Help You" - better explanation of IWHBYD acquiring
"s00pcan" - revealing a skull order found in mainmenu.map
"Supertrek32" - list of 7-related things for theories
"Oblivion Gamer" - updated method to getting the IWHBYD skull
Eight Million Others - for redundantly submitting 7-related items
Many Others - for confirming things
b. Copyright
This FAQ is © 2004, 2005 Matt "Junkie" Sicker. This entire document is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
More details at <
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/>
