This article marks the first of character bios from Halo Nightfall.
So who and what is that four nostril nosed alien from Halo Nightfall? Axl is one of a newly introduced race in the Covenant. The race are called “Yonhe”. The following is Axl’s Bio per Halo Waypoint”
Axl
Fringe Smuggler
Species: Yonhet
Affiliation: Covenant Fringe
Occupation: Smuggler/Trader
Languages Spoken: Trade Pidgin, Yonhetian (Native)
Homeworld: Yonhe
Summary:
Axl is a member of the Yonhet, an alien race native to a small moon called Yonhe, and who appear to be very talented at acquiring a large variety of difficult to find items. When the Yonhet initially came in contact with the Covenant, they were viewed as militarily insignificant, and with such a tiny population, there was little value in considering them as full signatories to the Covenant empire. However, their talents and usefulness gave them flexibility and a high degree of tolerance within the Covenant, and their cynical but devoted adherence to the potential benefits of the Great Journey meant that their loyalty was never in question.
Fringe Benefits:
The Yonhet are considered part the “Covenant fringe”, a collection of species scattered throughout the Orion Arm that both provide various strategic and infrastructure-related advantages as well as posing no real military threat to Covenant empire. With the war focus shifting, and attentions turned back towards human expansion and rebuilding efforts, ONI and the UNSC are just beginning to gather the first bits of intelligence on the exact nature and size of the Fringe.
Axl and many others of his species largely remained in hiding until the Human-Covenant War was over, both because it was a fight that wasn’t their own, and because the growing scale of the conflict had made exploration and trade much too dangerous and difficult. In the past few years, the Yonhet have begun to emerge in hopes that the coast is clear enough to make a profit from the fleeting peacetime and political uncertainty. In the opinion of more than a few Sangheili, the Yonhet are considered more reliable than even the Kig-Yar. Taking advantage of the chaos and confusion of the Treaty period, fledgling Covenant warlords have begun to turn to the Yonhet more often to take advantage of their natural skill at sniffing out Forerunner relics. The interaction between these new warlords and the fringe species’ varies greatly however. Where some Covenant leaders have seen fit to elevate particular individuals to more trusted roles, others have taken a more oppressive approach. This has led to multiple isolated reports of Yonhet mistreatment and even enslavement by Sangheili warlords desperate for a larger share of the reemerging Covenant power structure.
HFFL: I’ve always known there were more races to the Covenant than just the ones we’ve seen in the games. Just how many though remains to be seen. Reading Axl’s bio leads me to believe we’re going to see a good deal more races we’ve never seen before. I’m actually pretty happy about that. The galaxy is HUGE. So it makes sense that tree are more than say 10 races in all of it. The Yonhet are but the first of new races to be revealed.
I believe that Nightfall is actually the SECOND time we get to see the Yonhet. On the next to last page of Issue #11 of Escalation, Spartan Ray finds a pirate’s nest where “They’re even selling captives from the Covenant Fringe”. One panel shows a chain gang of slaves that includes Unggoy, Humans, and what appears to be a group of Yonhet. Whatever else you may think of 343, you’ve got to admit that they do a pretty good job of integrating all the different threads of the Halo fiction.
I don’t believe those are Yonhet. They do not have the jaw scruff or pale greenish skin. Then again, that is a small panel in the comic book, so maybe. I’ll ask 343 about this and see if I get a response. Good eye.
Interesting to see a new Covenant species. I wonder if they’ll be a new enemy or make an appearance in future Halo games and what the other species are in the Covenant fringe.