Elites: Combat Leadership

Elites (Sangheili in the Covenant language) are the fearless leaders of the Covenant alien army.



Halo 2 Elite wielding an Energy Sword

Elites are highly strategic, intelligent, and brutal warriors, but hold a sense of honor. They are often seen commanding a squad of grunts (Unggoy).  They stand around eight and a half feet tall and easily outwit a standard UNSC marine. In the older games, their armor color represented their rank, but new armor sets were developed throughout the series.

Their great size can be seen in this size-comparison with a seven foot Spartan:

 

Remember that Spartans are already much taller than normal humans, so Elites are HUGE. To give a perspective, a regulation basketball hoop is ten feet tall. An elite is about a foot and a half shorter. Can you see how tall elites are now?

This is a chart showing the evolution of elites from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo: 4.




Elites have been popularly associated with Energy Swords, seen in the following images.

 

The top-most elite officer is known as the Arbiter. There have been many Arbiters during times of need for the Covenant, but some Covenant Arbiters have made themselves well known.

To learn about Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee, go to: http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Ripa_%27Moramee
To learn about Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, go to: http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Thel_%27Vadam
To learn about the origin of the Halo Arbiter, go to: http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Arbiter

These websites are from Halo Nation. Their information on Halo topics goes far beyond many sites. They even give the eye color of characters! Halo Nation has some dedicated Halo fans.

Some elites have some really cool armor. These are some cool-looking elites.




Elite Councilor (Halo 2)
For information on Elite Councilors, visit http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Councilor

 

Elites are also capable of operating virtually any vehicle in the Halo franchise, but are usually seen operating Wraiths, Ghosts, and Banshees. Occasionally, an elite can be seen operating a stolen Warthog in the campaign.

I may update this entry with more information on elites in the future, but this is all I have to say for now. The website on Sangheili from Halo Nation seems to have left nothing out of their long explanation. I highly recommend checking out the following website from Halo Nation: http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Sangheili.