Halo 5: Guardians’ Mystery Spartan is an All-New Character

Halo 5: Guardians has two Spartans on its cover, one of whom is of course Master Chief, but the other is an enigma and now part of that mystery has been lifted as 343 Industries executive producer Josh Holmes revealed he – and it is a he – will be an all-new character. 

For everyone speculating about the mysterious Spartan in Halo 5: Guardians, he’s not Palmer (or Cortana!). He’s a NEW character. 🙂 #Halo

— Josh Holmes (@JoshingtonState) May 16, 2014

There had been plenty of speculation that the character might be Halo 4's Palmer or even Cortana but unless Holmes is trolling everyone that's definitely not the case. 

Master Chief is an aging soldier and it makes sense for 343 to be thinkng about the future, could this Spartan be a new protagonist for the Halo franchise moving forward? One option might see 343 revisit Bungie's Halo 2 concept of splitting game time between two main characters – Chief and the arbiter on that occasion. 

Halo 5: Guardians launches in Autumn 2015 on Xbox One but Microsoft says our Halo journey will begin on the console in 2014, possibly confirming a Halo 2 Anniversary remake is indeed in the works. Rumours about the port earlier this year suggested that it will include a beta invite to Guardians.