Sergeant Avery Johnson
A Marine sergeant major who leads human forces throughout the Halo series, voiced by David Scully until 2013.
Avery Junior Johnson is a Marine sergeant major who leads human forces throughout the Halo series. The character was voiced by David Scully in all Halo media until 2013 following the actor's retirement, while Keston John succeeds him in the role for Halo: Campaign Evolved. Johnson and a few other Marines survive the destruction of Installation 04 and are rescued by Cortana and the Master Chief during the novel Halo: First Strike. Johnson plays a larger role in Halo 2, joining forces with the Arbiter to stop Tartarus from activating Installation 05.
In Halo 3, the Covenant attempt to use him to activate the Halo Array, but are foiled; when the Master Chief decides to activate the local Halo to stop the Flood infestation, the Forerunner construct 343 Guilty Spark kills Johnson to prevent it. Johnson is featured in The Halo Graphic Novel story, "Breaking Quarantine," and a main character in the 2007 novel Halo: Contact Harvest. Johnson is also featured in the real time strategy game Halo Wars 2, as a playable leader for the UNSC.
Quick Facts
- Rank
- Marine sergeant major
- Affiliation
- UNSC
- First appearance
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Species
- Human
- Notable associates
- Master Chief
- Cortana
- Arbiter
- Tartarus
- 343 Guilty Spark
Lore & Background
Avery Johnson is a Marine sergeant major who leads human forces throughout the Halo series. He survives the destruction of Installation 04 alongside a few other Marines and is rescued by Cortana and the Master Chief during the novel Halo: First Strike. In Halo 2, Johnson plays a larger role, joining forces with the Arbiter to stop Tartarus from activating Installation 05. Johnson is featured in The Halo Graphic Novel story, "Breaking Quarantine," and is a main character in the 2007 novel Halo: Contact Harvest.
He is also featured in the real time strategy game Halo Wars 2, as a playable leader for the UNSC. In many ways similar to the stereotype of charismatic black Marines found in other science fiction (such as Sergeant Apone in Aliens whom Johnson was partially based on), some critics found Johnson a flat character. Joseph Staten admitted that Johnson was static in Halo: Combat Evolved, and that despite the character's potential, "he sort of inherited those caricature aspects [from Halo]."
Contact Harvest was a chance "to do right" by the character. Luke Cuddy identified Johnson's character arc as closely tied to the series' themes of struggle and sacrifice. He has been included in critic lists of the best black video game characters.
More in Characters & Spartans
Elsewhere in Halo
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