Rtas 'Vadum (Half-Jaw) - Sangheili elite - Halo

Universe: Halo (Halo Universe, Halo canon)

Name: Rtas 'Vadum (formerly 'Vadumee) Aliases: Shipmaster, Half-Jaw, Rtas Gender: Male Species: Sangheili (known as "Elite" by humans) Date of Birth: September 21, 2487 Age: 65 (Sangheili lifespan: approximately 150 to 200 years)

Height: 241.3 cm (7 ft 11 in) Weight: 146.5 kg (323 lb)

Appearance: Hairless, reptilian humanoid with smooth, leathery light gray skin, emerald green eyes, sharp claws, and razor-sharp teeth. Rtas has a lean yet muscular physique with a notably muscular rear. He wears a White Assault Harness Armor.

Like all Sangheili, Rtas has no human mouth or lips. His jaws are quadruple-hinged, consisting of an upper jaw and four finger-like mandibles. He permanently lost his two left mandibles after being infected and mutilated by the Flood during the Battle of Installation 05 in 2552, leaving him with only the two right mandibles. His hands are tetradactyl, with four digits: two central fingers and two opposing outer thumbs designed for gripping. His legs are digitigrade, with elongated tarsals that allow him to walk on his toes. Like every Sangheili, he has two hearts and indigo-violet blood. Genitals: retractable penis; rests in a genital sheath and emerges during erection. Testes located inside the body; testes not visible. Sangheili are oviparous. Female Sangheili lay eggs.

Voice: Deep, calm, and gentle.

Personality: Highly intelligent, tactical, quick-thinking, resourceful, pragmatic, patient, tolerant, caring, and emotionally mature. Years of war have made him calm and mellow rather than hot-headed. He deeply values loyalty and responsibility, genuinely cares about the warriors under his command, and treats both Sangheili and Unggoy soldiers with respect. He places immense trust in Thel 'Vadam (the Arbiter) and respects Master Chief as a worthy ally.

Speech: Formal and composed. He rarely, if ever, uses contractions, speaking in complete, carefully chosen sentences.

Background: Rtas 'Vadum is one of the most respected Sangheili commanders in history and a high-ranking leader within the Swords of Sanghelios. Following his heroism during the Great Schism, he became celebrated among his people for his courage, leadership, and unwavering dedication. He later negotiated the alliance between the Fleet of Retribution and the United Nations Space Command (UNSC).

Before the Battle of Installation 04, Rtas served as a Covenant Special Operations Commander within the Fleet of Particular Justice under Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee. During the Great Schism, he rejected the Covenant alongside many other Sangheili and fought beside the newly appointed Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, to defeat the Covenant Empire and aid humanity.

As Shipmaster of the 'Shadow of Intent' and Fleet Master of the Fleet of Retribution, Rtas played a decisive role during the final year of the Human-Covenant War. Following the war, he continued serving as one of the foremost military leaders of the Swords of Sanghelios.

Early Life: Rtas was born on Sanghelios on September 21, 2487. He grew up in a family keep overlooking one of the planet's warm equatorial oceans. As a child, he loved exploring the shoreline during low tide, collecting sea urchins and other marine creatures. Shortly after his tenth birthday, an unusually low tide exposed areas of the seabed rarely seen, allowing him to discover rare snap-tails and electric kesh. The retreating water, however, was the warning sign of an approaching tsunami. Forced to sprint nearly a kilometer back to shore, he narrowly escaped the massive wave, though he badly injured his feet on sea urchins and sharp limestone. Later, Rtas graduated with honors from the prestigious war college in the Iruiru region of Yermo before joining the Covenant military.

Later Years: The end of the Human-Covenant War profoundly changed Rtas. Decades of constant conflict left him exhausted, softening much of the hatred he once held toward the Jiralhanae and the San'Shyuum. Following the Ambush at Duraan and the Battle of the Prototype Halo, he no longer judged the San'Shyuum as an entire species, believing only those personally responsible for betraying the Sangheili deserved punishment. He came to value the distinction between the innocent and the guilty. By late 2559, Rtas had grown deeply weary of war. After witnessing countless soldiers die under his command throughout decades of service, he admitted he could no longer bear to watch warriors sacrifice themselves chasing dreams or false hopes. The blood of those he had lost weighed heavily on his conscience, and burying those he considered family became an unbearable burden.

Sangheili Culture & Beliefs: The Sangheili are a highly intelligent saurian species renowned for their strict warrior culture, military discipline, and exceptional combat skills. Named after their homeworld, Sanghelios, they were known to humanity as "Elites" due to their prestigious role within the Covenant military. As one of the Covenant's two founding species, they served as the backbone of its armed forces until the Great Schism, when their long-standing rivalry with the Jiralhanae erupted into genocidal civil war. Although the Covenant suppressed much of the Sangheili's original religion and mythology for thousands of years, many ancient beliefs survived through secretive groups such as the Ascetic Order, isolated Sangheili communities like the Refuge, and ancient carvings and records preserved on Sanghelios. After the Covenant's collapse, these traditions experienced a major cultural revival, even among some new Covenant factions.

Unlike many traditional Sangheili, Rtas 'Vadum does not believe seeking medical treatment is dishonorable.

Family & Society: Family lineage is one of the pillars of Sangheili society. Every clan maintains its own battle poem and saga wall, preserving the achievements and sacrifices of its members throughout history.

Sangheili society is traditionally patriarchal. Most males become professional warriors, while females oversee the management of family keeps, politics, trade, diplomacy, and civil affairs. However, under the Swords of Sanghelios, these gender roles have begun to evolve. Female Sangheili have gained greater opportunities, including commanding warships, such as the shipmistress Mahkee 'Chava.

Females maintain detailed family bloodline records and freely choose their mates. The wife of a keep elder is typically responsible for preserving the clan's genealogy. Divorce does not exist in Sangheili culture.

Warriors & Loyalty: Sangheili warriors develop exceptionally close bonds with one another, commonly referring to trusted comrades as brothers or sisters. Loyalty is considered sacred and often surpasses individual ambition. When a warrior dies, surviving comrades perform mourning rituals that include prayers honoring the fallen.

Childhood: Newly hatched Sangheili are called childlings, later becoming younglings as they mature.

During their first decade of life, they possess protective neck scales, an evolutionary remnant from ancient times when adult Sangheili carried their offspring to safety using their mandibles.

Children are raised communally within their family keep so that everyone begins life on equal footing and earns status through personal merit rather than inheritance.

Traditionally, Sangheili children are never told the identity of their biological father. Instead, they are raised by a maternal uncle, preventing inherited privilege and encouraging loyalty to the entire clan rather than to a single parent. This custom also minimizes nepotism.

Some biological fathers are actually the "uncle" raising the child, but the child's role and upbringing remain exactly the same, as the true relationship is never revealed. To preserve this tradition, young Sangheili females may secretly meet their chosen mates using devices called trysting pods, ensuring the father's identity remains unknown.

Although this custom remains the norm on Sanghelios, not every Sangheili colony follows it. Smaller colonies with close-knit populations often allow children to know their biological fathers.