Master Chief is more than Halo’s heroic protagonist. Over the decades, he has become one of the most important and recognizable characters in video game history. His popularity is such that he became Xbox’s mascot and is often compared to icons like Mario and Kratos. Creating him was a massive challenge for Marcus Lehto, former Bungie art director responsible for designing the versatile super-soldier.
In a recent interview, the creator discussed his creative process for bringing Master Chief to life — a character defined by his discipline, stoic demeanor, and determination to face any threat in combat. Interestingly, Lehto revealed that a tank, a helicopter, and a bicycle helmet inspired Halo’s protagonist.
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Marcus Lehto explains how he created Master Chief, Halo’s protagonist
Bungie had many doubts during the development of the first Halo, but there was always one certainty: the protagonist needed to be an avatar for the player and embody someone powerful. As the shooter took shape, Lehto designed a faceless character wearing imposing armor and possessing almost no defined personality — a direction that emphasized the strength of who would become Master Chief.
As time went on, they defined his identity: John-117, a supersoldier who underwent extreme training and biological augmentation. Reaching his final design took time, but Lehto clearly nailed it. In an interview with Kent State University’s magazine (via GameSpot) — the place where he studied — Lehto revealed how Master Chief came to be.
Designing Master Chief involved a long creative process, during which the former Bungie artist experimented heavily to arrive at the final look. He made countless adjustments to achieve the ideal proportions and a design worthy of the face of a major franchise. The character’s appearance drew inspiration from an M1 Abrams tank, Apache helicopters, and a BMX helmet.
“Creating Master Chief was something that required a lot of tweaking to find the perfect look, feel, and stature for a character like him. And from a visual design perspective, I focused on some of the things I learned here at Kent State to break the design into its most basic visual elements. It’s essential to get that right so the design doesn’t become unnecessarily complicated.”
Lehto added that the early designs were “too slim and stylized.” He confessed that reaching the final version “took forever.” After nine attempts, he created a character he was satisfied with — and one that Bungie approved. The rest is history: Halo became one of Xbox’s most important franchises.
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The end of Halo Infinite and the future of the franchise
Halo Infinite — the most recent title in the franchise — fell short of expectations. Xbox originally envisioned it as a platform that would remain active for 10 years; however, Halo Studios released its last major content update this month, only four years after launch.
The studio is currently developing Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of the original game that will bring the franchise to PlayStation. Rumors suggest that Halo 2 and Halo 3 will receive the same treatment, with improved versions launching across multiple platforms. Reports also indicate that Xbox is working on a new multiplayer project and the next mainline entry in the series.
Following its internal crisis and multiple setbacks, Halo Studios made significant changes to define the franchise’s future. The company abandoned the Slipspace Engine — a key source of Halo Infinite’s development struggles. Future Halo games will now be built with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
For now, there are no clues about the next mainline entry, but it is likely that Xbox plans it for its next hardware. According to reports, “Xbox Magnus” will function as a console-like PC combining the best of Windows and Xbox. What is certain is that Halo will remain one of the brand’s key pillars, despite recent stumbles and the fact that it is no longer an exclusive franchise.
