2560. The Banished have come to Suban, the blood-moon of Sanghelios, seeking to claim the unique natural resource within its vast mines: the beautiful but volatile Subanese crystals.
The Swords of Sanghelios and their Spartan allies face an overwhelming force on the ground, while a Sangheili shipmistress in the skies above seeks to find a weakness in the enemy’s armor that might turn the tide against these invaders.
Scion is a Sangheili noble title, typically held by Sangheili females. The title is applied upon the death of a keep's given kaidon. While female Sangheili, by tradition, may be mistress of their keep and ruler of their kaidon husbands, they may never become owner and heir to their father's lands and posessions. If the Scion is the only remaining living member of the house, lesser kaidons will vie for the Scion's inheritance by attempting to secure their marriage for themselves or their sons. The Scion is able to refuse such offers, with many Scions in Sangheili history being notable for having done so for years or decades. Some such as the Gray Maiden of Konar lived their entire lives in perpetual siege, fortified in their keeps and aided by loyal vassals and the foolishness of rival kaidons who wasted decades fighting among themselves. Scions, due to being female Sangheili, were typically not able to request the right of release, though Scion Tul 'Juran was succesfully able to do so following the Attack on Rahnelo.[1] In the years since, the Scions have become more valued and respected as Thel 'Vadam's influence has grown.
Okay okay so we’re all in agreement that the Sangheili have a sick design and it’s super fun to think of all the various ways they could look, like different skin tones, eye colours, markings, etc.
But I’m sure one type of design that’s crossed a lot of people’s minds is an albino Sangheili, and so I’ve made it my job today to delve into what that could theoretically and realistically look like and how they would exist in the Halo universe!
(Full disclaimer: I am not an “ologist” of any kind and the following is 100% speculation based on what I was able to research, so apologies if there’s any information I get incorrect.)
So the first thing to consider and look at is how real-world albinism works. Albinism can be present in humans, animals, and even plants (bet you didn’t know that. Neither did I). The simplest way I can explain how it’s caused is it stems from a gene mutation that occurs during the growth of the embryo that prevents the natural production of melanin, the pigments that give our skin, eyes, and hair their colour. This is what makes organisms with albinism appear white or lacking in darker colours.
The poster-child appearance for albinism is pure white skin/fur/feathers/scales and red/pink eyes, but this isn’t always the case. Some species with albinism possess the yellow or red/orange pigmentations known as carotenoids, which are actually caused by the animal’s diet, unlike melanin which is naturally produced by the body. As for the eyes, the lack of melanin actually makes all of the blood vessels visible, which is what gives them their red colour.
(It’s also important to note that albinism should not be confused with leucism; albinism is the complete loss of pigmentation, while leucism is the partial loss of pigmentation. Leucism also affects all pigments, not just melanin, which is why leucistic snakes for example are pure white (or piebald; leucism can be very patchy) and have no visible patterns, because the carotenoids are also being prevented. Leucistic animals also commonly have blue eyes.)
Now, what are the health impacts of albinism? Creatures with albinism are generally as healthy as any other of their species (well, most of the time anyway; sometimes there are exceptions) - it’s external factors that give them a less than stellar reputation. For wild animals, albinism obviously gets rid of any camouflage, so prey are easy targets for predators, and predators find it difficult to go unnoticed by prey. But the food chain isn’t their biggest threat: it’s actually the sun.
Melanin is our natural protection against UV, and without it, we’re extremely vulnerable to burns and skin cancer. Since albinism affects your eyes, sunlight can seriously harm your vision, too - think of melanin in your eyes as natural sunglasses; take those sunglasses away and the light is suddenly not very pleasant to look at. Not only are you photosensitive, but there’s no UV protection here either, so prolonged exposure in the sunlight means your vision will quickly degrade. The same goes for animals, and this is why many don’t survive to adulthood.
So, with all that in mind, let’s take a look at some real-world photos of albinism (in reptiles specifically, since Sangheili are saurian) so we can start putting together how it might look on a Sangheili.
Since albinism appears differently on varying species, we’ll start by organizing them by type and then decide which varient works best for a Sangheili.
Starting with snakes, patterned carotenoids are very common, and in some cases parts of the snake can even appear translucent:
Lizards are also very similar in that aspect:
Crocodillians (usually alligators) however don’t always have prominent patterning, so a majority of them are mostly white with tinted areas of carotenoids instead:
(Babies are an exception though)
There’s also turtles, but I wanted to keep this list limited to reptiles that are similar to Sangheili.
Now, which out of all the above is correct for an albino Sangheili?
Looking at the model, well...it could honestly be any of them. It’s entirely dependent on the creative liberties you take with your character - for example, if you want your Sangheili to have patterning, then they’ll probably have carotenoids since they’re omnivorous (but because they’re aliens, those pigments might not even be yellow or red/orange). However, if your Sangheili is a lot more plain, then they’ll most likely be more white with slight tinting, like alligators.
If you want my opinion though, Sangheili skin seems to resemble a combination of crocodillians and lizards the most. They have rough, bumpy osteoderms lining their head, shoulders, and back, as well as loose patches of skin, especially around the mouth and neck. The latter I could see having a slight translucency to it with albinism, but the former would be plain white (with some hints of pigmentation), since the rest of their skin is very thick.
However, there’s one thing about the Sangheili that makes them differ slightly to Earth’s albinos:
Sangheili blood isn’t red.
(Even though it tehcnically should be because oxygen is what makes blood cells red and Sangheili breathe oxygen but whatever ALIENS)
But why am I bringing this up, you ask?
Well, remember that red eyes in albinos are caused by the blood vessels being visible due to the lack of melanin. So, if Sangheili blood isn’t red...
That’s right, albino Sangheili would have indigo-coloured eyes instead.
The colour of the blood could also potentially affect some of the white on their skin, especially where translucency and visible blood vessels are concerned, making them appear more blue or purple tinted.
So yeah, that’s something to keep in mind.
WOO, now that we’ve covered how albino Sangheili would look, it’s time to go over if they would even be around in the Halo universe!
And, well...they actually wouldn’t.
And that’s not because they can’t exist in the first place, they absolutely can be born because it’s simply a genetic mutation. The reason you wouldn’t ever see one though is because they would never survive for long.
Especially on Sanghelios.
Sanghelios, for those of you who don’t know, is a planet in a tri-star system, meaning it has THREE SUNS. As such, the planet’s surface is an incredibly harsh environment, and most of its land is dry and rocky.
Remember what I said about albinism causing a lack of UV protection? Albino reptiles are especially prone to UV radiation because they have no fur or feathers, which would otherwise provide some protection.
And since the Sangheili are so far behind on medical science, they would have no idea that it’s the sunlight that kills their albinos.
In fact, as Sangheili are very supersitious, I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually believe these “white childlings born with eyes of blood” are cursed. They’re probably seen as a sign of ill omen, and I can imagine many parents trying their best to prevent a seemingly doomed fate, while others would know it is fultile and give their child an early mercy.
However, since many Sangheili now have an alliance with the humans, it’s entirely possible that albinos can finally starting growing to adulthood, because all it would take is a human visiting Sanghelios and seeing or hearing about an albino childling and going, “Oh yeah it’s cuz they’re born without natural protection is all, just keep them out of the sun and they should be fine” and imagine how many Sangheili minds would be blown that day, lmao.
