#FavCharacterAtoZ
#FavCharacterE is another easy one: the mononymously named Emile-A239. The fourth member of Halo Reach's Noble Team, Emile is the team's aggressive, taciturn assault specialist. Armed primarily with a shotgun, Emile is my favorite character in the game by far.

Enough that my Spartans in both versions of Halo Reach and Halo Infinite drew cues from his design.

If you're following along, i like close range, high damage, sturdy characters. Scrappers. Brawlers. Boxers. Fighters. Emile and his power armor and shotgun are all of that. The close quarters specialist in a game full of supersoldiers. He's my favorite parts of Halo in one design.

The shoulder mounted kukri knife, the asymmetrical black and red armor, and the skull carved into his helmet will always be cool to me. It helps that he is also voiced by the actor who played Marlo on The Wire; Emile sounds Black even if he never removes his helmet to confirm it.

The angry, cool, close range specialist Black male Spartan. It's like someone asked me to design a Halo character.

Halo Reach is one of those times when i find media that has a character that feels designed with my tastes in mind with no reservations or qualifiers. He's a hero. He lives like one, he dies like one. No grey morality. Just shooting aliens and saving humanity until you can't anymore.

I wouldn't have poured 400+ hours into Halo Reach without Emile pulling me in and my college friends keeping me there playing online multiplayer.

Among all the characters who die in Reach, Emile's death is the coolest too; impaled from behind by an energy sword, he nevertheless reaches behind him to pull the Elite to the ground and stab him to death before succumbing to his own injury. His last words?

"I'm ready! How 'bout you?"