Games - The Flood

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	Games - The Flood

The Flood is a fictional alien life form in the video games Halo and Halo 2.

Overview

The Flood is a parasitic virulent life form which is spread by infected carrier hosts. The Flood appears in three primary forms: Infection, Combat and Carrier forms, but also have more mysterious forms like the Brain form and the Juggernaught form. The lifecycle of the Flood begins at Infection form as a small frail gas bloated fiend that leaps upon a host and drives in three barbed tentacles. From here, the host is paralysed and loses conciousness. The infection form gores itself deep into its host, usually in the chest. For a while it plays with its new body, and over time mutates it by changing hormones and replacing the host's nervous system with its own grotesque tentacles. The host is never fed, and carelessly treated. Often limbs become infected and begin to rot. Vital organs are liquified and the neck is broken and head disused and eventually falls off. If the host is of suitable size eg. Human or Elite, long whip like tentacles emerge from the arms as weapons. If not of suitable size, then the next stage of mutation occurs early. The body becomes so bloated and rotten, that it may no longer be used as a Combat form. Smaller Infection forms grow within the ball of flesh, as it swells with gas and juice. Eventually the Carrier form falls over or simply gives up and explodes. Roughly 4-9 infection forms are emitted and continue the cycle.

There is speculation into many other forms such as spores, unknown and shapeless flesh lumps, brain forms that strip information, Gravemind and even the Juggernaught form.

The origin of the Flood remains unknown, lost in the immense amount of time since those events took place. What is known is that the Forerunners constructed gas giant research facilities and later huge "Fortress World" installations (called "Halos" by the Covenant) to contain and study the Flood. In the event that the Flood was released,which it was, the Halos were designed to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy, like the dinosaurs. The thinking behind this is that if the Flood has no food then it will eventually starve to death, allowing the galaxy to slowly re-populate and preventing the Flood from spreading to even more galaxies throughout the Universe. In the sequel, Halo 2, some levels took place onboard a Forerunner facility. Throughout the levels were many small, decorative pedestals supporting objects that are similar in shape and colour to various forms of Flood. These decorations are repeated many times, too precisely to have been created by the Flood, and are probably intentional references to it.

Flood forms

Infection forms

The Infection forms (also known as "Rangers") are small, tentacled creatures which have their own defined biological framework, which are not dependent upon a host. An infection form will seek out any life of capable bio-mass and calcium deposits to sustain itself, and proceed to attempt to use the creature as a host, by tapping into the spinal system, suppressing the host's consciousness, embedding itself in the thoracic cavity, and releasing spores which cause the host to mutate. (343 Guilty Spark mentions these "spores" during his own synopsis of the Flood life-cycle, which may be either another term for the Infection form, or an even more base form of the Flood.) At this point, the infected creature mutates into a possible one of four other forms. The Infection Form Flood parasites attack in a flood-like swarm that rapidly advances on host organisms, then physically attach themselves to a host as they try to burrow into its chest, once inside the organism will begin to modify the host's genetic code and take over. The Infection Form cannot attach to a host if the host is protected by a personal energy shield; contact with the shield will make them explode with a distinct "pop" sound and do minimal damage. However, if several dozen try to attack a shielded host they will gradually deplete their shields to the point that they are vulnerable. Thus, soldiers such as the human SPARTAN soldiers and the Covenant Elite are able to at least have some protection against the Flood and mount a counter attack, but unshielded troops (the majority of both armies) such as UNSC Marines and Covenant Grunts and Jackals, are quickly and easily obliterated by an attack from the Infection Form Flood.

Combat forms

If the host is strong or deemed "useful" by the parasitic infection form, then the host will be converted into a warrior or worker form, used in defensive/offensive situations as well as maintaining and repairing machinery (In Halo 2, the Flood had the ability to pilot and repair vehicles, which suggests that the flood utilize the memories and knowledge of their hosts). These warrior or combat forms are extremely strong and agile and can jump an extremly far distence, with the Covenant Elite-derived combat forms sometimes being able to use the covenant elite technology remaining and even the energy swords of their hosts. These forms can use all UNSC and Covenant weaponry, except the Fuel Rod Cannon. Combat Flood are also capable of unarmed combat, striking with whip-like tentacles protruding from the arms of the host.

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