Jackal

The **Kig-Yar**, referred by humans as **Jackals**, are a avian/reptilian species of the Covenant.

## Overview and Background

Kig-Yar have features similar to that of birds of prey as well as reptiles. Their legs are sinewy and muscular, and are digitigrade in a similar fashion to birds. They have sharp claws on both hands and feet.

Being carnivores, their jaws are lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth; some have far more numerous teeth which bear a passing resemblance to baleen. Kig-Yar have been known to eat the flesh of fallen enemies, as well as live prisoners. Kig-Yar have extraordinary senses of sight, hearing, and smell.

Within the Covenant, the Kig-Yar occupy a low but important position. As the closest equivalent of a middle-class citizen in the Covenant, the Kig-Yar's history of piracy and trade has made important merchants within the Covenant sphere. Despite this, the Kig-Yar only joined the Covenant out of material goods rather than any sincere belief in the Great Journey, which is why the Kig-Yar has such a low position in the Covenant Hierarchy and why the Sangheili generally looked down upon them.

Despite sharing such a low position in Covenant's army, they share a high position in the Covenant's space fleet due to their history in piracy. Nevertheless, their low social position has made the Kig-Yar to form a long and bitter rivalry with the equally low Unggoy, some of which, led to entire Grunt Rebellions.

While Kig-Yar have hollow bones and are physically frail, they are capable of moving quickly to evade harm. Their blood is bright purple in color, similar to that of the Sangheili, possibly showing a similar chemical makeup. Despite the lack of calcium in their skeletons, the Flood still make use of them.

Instead of being turned into a combat form, they are turned into a carrier form that differs from the grunt's form. The Jackal Carrier Form walks on all 4 legs, crawl on walls and ceilings, and can leap but at the cost of being more agile, they are weaker.

## Rank Structure, Weaponry and Equipment

 Special Operations Jackal
 Jackal Marksman Ultra
 Jackal Marksman Major
 Jackal Marksman Minor
 Jackal Major
 Jackal Minor
During the Flood outbreak of Installation 04, Savage Jackal Minors equipped themselves with weapons which closely resembled the weapons they were typically issued; light-blue shield bearers armed themselves with M6G Magnums, while purple shield bearers resorted to using Shredders and M7/S Submachine Guns.

## Gameplay Information

### General

Jackals are relatively frail and do not possess any full-body energy shielding, making all ranks highly susceptible to ballistic and headshot-capable weaponry.

#### Infantry + Spec-Ops

Jackal Infantry and Spec-Ops are equipped with a Point Defense Gauntlet on their right arm, which is capable of reflecting all forms of ballistic weaponry and can absorb a number of plasma bolts before collapsing. The strength of the shield is dependent on the Jackal's rank; a Major's shield being capable of absorbing more plasma than a Minor's before collapsing, while a Spec-Op's Shield is can absorb an indefinite amount plasma and can only be collapsed via an EMP. Jackal shields offer no protection from explosives or melee strikes, thus Jackals are virtually unprotected from these methods of attack.

While in combat, Jackals will typically hold their ground against the enemy by crouching behind their shields. While this defensive stance offers a great amount of protection from frontal attacks, it offers no protection for the sides and rear. Additionally, the shield emitted by the gauntlet possesses small cutaways on either side, allowing the Jackal to fire on enemies but exposing their hand in the process. Jackals will regularly try to better position themselves during engagements by performing combat rolls, and will sometimes retreat when their commanding officer has been killed.

#### Marksmen

Unlike Infantry, Jackal Marksmen are not equipped with Point Defense Gauntlets and are thus completely exposed to enemy fire. However, this is offset by how they're typically encountered from long distances and/or from elevated positions, including cliff edges, tall Forerunner structures and the sides of Phantom Dropships. While this initially makes them hard to spot on the battlefield, they can be easily pinpointed by the bright light emitted by the targeting scopes on their helmets. Additionally, the weapons they use leave visible trails when fired, which will give away a Marksman's position if they attack the player first.

Jackal Marksmen Ultras are armed with Sniper Rifles, which are always a two-shot kill on any difficulty; the first shot will complete drain the player's energy shields regardless of its strength, and the damage will not bleed into their health; the second shot will instantly kill the player. Despite this, Marksman Ultras will take long pauses between each shot, allowing the player ample time to move to cover. Additionally, a dim light will occasionally glint off of the Sniper Rifle's scope, indicating that the Marksman Ultra has locked onto you and is preparing to fire.

### Strategy

* An EMP generated from the Plasma Pistol's overcharge shot and Plasma/Gravity Grenade detonations will immediately overload all Jackal shields within its vicinity, regardless of the shield's strength.
* If you don’t want to waste an energy weapon's battery collapsing the shield, target the Jackal's exposed left hand through the firing cutaway with a headshot-capable weapon (Pistol and DMR work best because of the higher damage-per-bullet). This will cause the Jackal to momentarily stumble, leaving them open to a headshot if they were originally facing you.
* A single grenade/shot from an explosive weapon is capable of taking out a large group of Jackal Infantry/Spec-Ops if placed correctly.
* When fighting an individual Jackal at close range, you close the gap between you and it by moving forward from cover to cover and hit it with a melee attack. This will momentarily stagger the Jackal, allowing you to finish it off with either a high rate-of-fire automatic weapon or another melee strike (especially if the weapon is capable of dealing double melee damage).

## Trivia

* The name "Jackal" comes from a wild dog that is similar to the coyote, and is a reference to their scavenger appearance and nature.
* "Kig-Yar" is Breton for "chicken" and Phonetic Welsh for "chicken meat".
* Unlike other members of the Covenant, Jackals shoot left-handed.
* Jackal Marksmen Ultras were originally encountered earlier in the campaign alongside non-Savage Covenant using the Binary Needler, however this idea was scrapped when the weapon was cut during development.
	+ Because of the information above, the Jackal Marksman Ultra is the only Covenant infantry unit to be purely of the Savage Covenant, as they only wield the Sniper Rifle, a UNSC weapon.
		- Since Savage Covenant are not encountered in Firefight, the Jackal Marksman Ultra is one of the 3 enemy types not to be featured at all in Firefight.
* In The Commander: Evolved, Jackals, along with Brutes, have had their alien dialect replaced with English spoken phrases. This is because the player character in the mission, Thel 'Vadamee, would presumably be able to understand them.
	+ The only other time Jackals have spoken English is in Halo 5: Guardians.

## Gallery

Jackal Zealot PatrollingA Marksman and two Major endure the horrors of the FloodSpecial Operations Jackals in "The Maw"Special Operations Trio patrols in the Proto-Gravemind if not attacked.