Jacob Keyes
Biographical information
Homeworld:	Earth[1]
Born:	February 8, 2495[1]
Died:	September 22, 2552[2] (aged 57)
Cause of death:	Infected by theFlood and mercy-killed byJohn-117
Siblings:	Unnamed Sister
Children:	CommanderMiranda Keyes
Personal details
Gender:	Male
Height:	194.3 centimeters (6 ft 4.5 in)[1]
Weight:	96 kilograms (212 lb)[1]
Hair color:	Gray(formerly black)
Eye color:	Blue
Political and military information
Affiliation:	UNSCNavy(formerly) Flood(prisoner)
Rank:	Captain
Service number:	01928-19912-JK
Notable info:	FatheredMiranda Keyes withCatherine Halsey Creator of the "Keyes' Loop" and "Air Brake Drop" Part of theProto-Gravemind on Alpha Halo AccompaniedDr. Halsey to observeJohn-117 as a child

"Men like him will save us, you know. We need more like Keyes."

—AdmiralPreston Cole^[3]

CaptainJacob Keyes (service number01928-19912-JK) was acommanding officer and one of the most brilliant tacticians in theUNSC Navy. He commanded great respect as a highly skilled strategist and inspirational leader to those under his command. His many decorations, thirty-five years of combat experience against theCovenant andInsurrectionists, and ability to keep a secret made him an almost natural choice to command theUNSCPillar of Autumn and its secret cargo.

He was renowned as a war hero for his development of theKeyes Loop tactic, and leading theBattle of Installation 04: theHalo Event.

Biography[edit]

Early career[edit]

Keyes exiting a cryo chamber on-board theHan in2517.

Captain Keyes was born onEarth and spent some time around thePacific Ocean during his childhood. He had a sister who later resided on the colony world ofDwarka.^[4] At some point in his life he read thework ofDr. Elias Carver, but considered his view of thesituation in the colonies to be pessimistic.^[5] During his second year of training inOfficer Candidate School, an incident occurred where fourteen ensigns were killed due to an instructor's error during a poorly planned test. Keyes sufferedplasma burns during the test and had to be rehabilitated in a hospital for two months. Keyes refused to testify against the instructor and was nearly demoted for it. Keyes' stubbornness is what brought him to the attention ofDr. Halsey.^[6]

In2517,seven weeks out of the OCS,Lieutenant (J.G.) Keyes was assigned to theUNSCMagellan when those orders were rescinded and he was chosen to assist Dr.Catherine Halsey with her task of searching for usable subjects for herSPARTAN-II project.^[6] Keyes was chosen by Halsey for this assignment partly because he could "keep a secret". In order to fool anybody who was suspicious, they told them that they were looking for a school for their daughter, and so they both began observing the chosen subjects for the program. The first child they chose was SPARTAN subject number 117:John.^[7] Later, he expressed doubts when Halsey actually letSoren-066 choose whether he wanted to become a Spartan, saying it was an "awful lot to lay on a child, even one who's grown up so fast."^[8] Keyes never forgot this assignment or the names of each and every one of the children.

As Keyes slowly started learning of the true nature of the SPARTAN-II project, Dr. Halsey immediately sent him back to normal duty with a fullLieutenant commission.^[9] In2524, he was reunited with Dr. Halsey while attending a conference at theUniversity of Calippus; it was on this occasion that they conceived their daughter,Miranda Halsey.^[10]

Human-Covenant War[edit]

Lieutenant Keyes at the beginning of the war.

Early in theHuman-Covenant War, he became a widely known hero when he led a small group of security troops against the Covenant ambush of the frigateUNSCMeriwether Lewis and held the Covenant off long enough for the ship to escape. He sustained a deep gouging plasma burn to his thigh and had his hand shattered, which was later rebuilt.^[11]

Because of his injuries, Keyes was removed from active service and reassigned to theLuna OCS Academy.^[12] Some of the top brass atUNSC High Command disapproved of him and he got the nickname "Schoolmaster" from those detractors, who thought he didn't belong in command of anything but a classroom, if that. In2531 he agreed to take in his daughter Miranda, when her mother felt she was unable to give her the care she needed. Miranda grew very close to her father, taking his surname, following him into the service, and becoming one of the youngest candidates ever accepted into the OCS Academy.^[13]

In2535, Keyes was placed back on active duty, transferred aboard theUNSCArmageddon's Edge toChi Rho in theEctanus 45 system. He was transported to the planet's surface byPetty Officer Jeffries.^[14] AtCamp Patmos, Keyes met withVice Admiral Jean Mawikizi,Commander Dmitri Zheng, andMajor Akio Watanabe. He was briefed on the newly instatedCole Protocol and offered a position to serve with the bridge crew, under the command of Zheng, aboard the modifiedStalwart-class light frigateUNSCMidsummer Night to help enforce the newly written protocol.^[15] Keyes accepted the offer and convinced Mawikizi to transfer Jeffries to the frigate due to his incredible skill in piloting, believing it would be useful in the unorthodox missions that the frigate would be assigned to.^[16]

Raid onFinnegan's Wake[edit]

TheMidsummer Night travelled to the edges of the Ectanus 45 system, shadowing afreighter,Finnegan's Wake, that had slowly edged its way past the system's ecliptic plane.^[17] To ensure that the freighter's navigation data had been deleted, Keyes led a boarding team ofOrbital Drop Shock Troopers intoFinnegan's Wake. The ODSTs and Keyes discovered the captain of the ship and interrogated him. Before the ODSTs could make their way to delete the navigation data, an explosion in the ship went off, throwing Keyes to the ground and killing several ODSTs, including their commander,Canfield.^[18]

Insurrectionists began attacking the ODSTs and an emergency beacon was activated, asking theMidsummer Night for reinforcements. Realizing that the Insurrectionists were the ones that triggered the beacon, Keyes attempted to warn the frigate, believing the freighter was rigged to blow, but communications were jammed. Keyes borrowed thearmor of an ODST,Markov, and ordered the others to pile the deceased and injured ODSTs into cargo containers.^[19] Using the force of a rigged explosion, the ODSTs, Keyes, and the cargo containers were launched from the freighter towards the frigate, usingbattle rifles to propel themselves into the right direction. The insurgents realized what the ODSTs were doing and desperately blew up the freighter in an attempt to take out some of the nearby ODSTs.^[20] Over twenty ODSTs were killed and Keyes was wounded with a piece of the freighter's hull plating. However, more ODSTs had survived than expected, earning Keyes the respect of nearly everyone on the ship.^[21]

Charybdis IX riots[edit]

Main article:Scyllion Warehouse District riot

After theFinnegan's Wake incident, Keyes and the rest of theMidsummer Night bridge crew were debriefed by Watanabe and Zheng. It was revealed thatCovenant weapons, modified for human use, were being distributed to human civilians and insurgents. Deemed a great violation of the Cole Protocol, theMidsummer Night was to find out where the weapons were coming from. TheOffice of Naval Intelligence had discovered a container of these weapons on theOuter Colony ofCharybdis IX, and theMidsummer Night was assigned to help the ONI operatives of the planet discover who the weapons were being distributed to.^[22] Upon arriving in theCharybdis system, the ODSTs "demonstrated" that they were grateful for Keyes' service atFinnegan's Wake andMajorFaison, the commanding ODST after Canfield's death, had him tattooed with the ODST brand, saying any ODST would help him if he showed it to them.^[23]

Jeffries transported Keyes and Watanabe toScyllion, the planetary capital, in aD77 Pelican. Watanabe explained the history of Scyllion to Keyes and that rioting was becoming commonplace in the city. The two were delivered to the ONI mobile command center in the edges of theScyllion Warehouse District, where they met withCaptain Corinthia Hansen.^[24] Pretending to be a insurgent, Hansen attempted to deliver the cargo container of modified weapons to rebel leaderJason Kincaide, hoping to discover where Kincaide distributes his weapons. However, due to escalating riots nearby, they were forced to capture Kincaide and attempt to flee the city.^[25] However, fellow Insurrectionists and dissatisfied citizens of Scyllion destroyed the ONI convoy of vehicles, killing most of the ONI operatives and freeing Kincaide. Kincaide began to incite the rioting mob and told them to kill all surviving UNSC personnel. Keyes, Hansen, and Watanabe barely escaped the rioters as they began hunting down survivors.^[26]

They attempted to escape with Jeffries' Pelican, but it was destroyed by rebelRPG fire, resulting in the death of Jeffries. The trio fled to the roof of the building, where they called in for ODST reinforcements from theMidsummer Night and engaged in firefights with the rebels and rioters.^[27] Soon, Kincaide began arming rioters with the modified Covenant weapons. While attempting to listen to the rioter discussion below, Kincaide and three rioters attacked the trio. Watanabe killed two of the rioters but was killed by Kincaide, along with the third rioter. In retaliation, Keyes shot Kincaide multiple times and the two wrestled for control of Kincaide's modifiedOkarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle. Keyes gained the upper-hand, and shot Kincaide with the rifle, decapitating him. At first taken back upon realizing he had killed his first human, Keyes threw Kincaide's corpse into the streets below and warned the rioters to disperse and cease hostilities, or else they would be shot.^[28]

After the death of Jason Kincaide, twenty ODSTs dropped into Scyllion and broke up any remaining resistance. Two snipers eliminated any surviving RPG-wielding rebels, allowing Keyes and Hansen to be picked and taken to theMidsummer Night. Although Keyes considered the engagement to be a loss, Hansen told him otherwise, informing him that they learned of the origin of the modified weapons from Kincaide.^[29] While in transit to the frigate, Zheng detected aCovenant fleet arriving near Charybdis IX. While Keyes and Zheng were in favor of making a last stand alongside the threeUNSC destroyers guarding the planet, Hansen revealed that she had a rank higher than both of them and ordered them to continue their search by following theKestrel, a freighter that had supplied Kincaide. Hansen was dropped off at an orbiting depot and theMidsummer Night fled the system before the Covenant couldattack.^[30]

Battle of the Rubble[edit]

Main article:Battle of the Rubble

TheMidsummer Night trailed theKestrel for nearly a week, eventually following it to the23 Librae system. The freighter made its way to theasteroids orbiting a gas giant in the system,Hesiod. Upon further inspection, the crew of the frigate discovered that all the asteroids were connected, forming an Insurrectionist metropolis known asthe Rubble. The crew further learned that the Insurrectionists were working with theKig-Yar.^[31] While admiring the Rubble,Badia Campbell revealed herself as a rebel-sympathizer and mortally wounded Zheng and shotDante Kirtley andRai Li. While Keyes and Campbell wrestled for control of her sidearm, she gained the upper-hand and proceeded to commit suicide.^[32] Campbell had damaged the ship's fusion core coolant system, leaving the frigate nearly disabled. At Zheng's orders, Keyes attacked the Rubble's fleet of freighters, with theMidsummer Night being damaged with amass driver round. While Zheng left the bridge of the ship to check on engineering, the Rubble hailed the frigate, asking to speak with its commander. Keyes left the bridge to find Zheng dying near engineering, having surrendered to the overwhelming rebel forces. Zheng warned Keyes not to trust anyone and gave him command of the frigate before dying. As the rebels boarded the ship, Keyes ordered the ODSTs to stand down.^[33]

A middle-aged Keyes.

TheMidsummer Night was forced to dock with theHabitat Asuncion asteroid and the frigate's crew was given the option to become a resident of the Rubble or be held in prison cells. Keyes gave a speech telling the crew that he would forgive them if they choose to become residents, but he decided that he would not join their citizenry.Maria Esquival warned him that he was not allowed to make any more speeches and had him arrested.^[34] Meanwhile, the leader of the Kig-Yar working with the Rubble's citizens,Reth, was beginning to pre-emptively invade the Rubble to show that he was still loyal to theCovenant.Jai-006, fromGray Team, arrived at Keyes' holding cell and rescued him and the rest of the frigate's imprisoned crew. The Rubble'sAI,Juliana, offered to help Keyes and his crew escape the system in a Kig-Yar ship, if he helped her discover what the Kig-Yar were attempting to do.^[35] Keyes met withIgnatio Delgado aboard the freighterMighty Sparrow and took command of it, with several of its crew. He intended to dock it with Reth'sflagship, theInfinite Spoils, and allow Juliana to infiltrate the vessel's systems.^[36]

TheMighty Sparrow rammed theInfinite Spoils, allowing Faison, his ODSTs, and Jai to board the raider. The ODSTs and Jai quickly eliminated the small Kig-Yar contingent aboard the ship and took control of its bridge. However, aKig-Yar troop carrier, commanded byShipmasterThel 'Vadamee, attacked the two ships.^[37] The troop carrier disabled theMighty Sparrow and Keyes ordered everyone to make their way inside theInfinite Spoils, during which Faison was mortally wounded by a Kig-Yar.^[38] Keyes and the surviving members of the boarding party made their way to the docks and donned vacuum suits. Juliana released the air from the docks, killing most of the Kig-Yar inside. After the ODSTs eliminated any survivors, Keyes came aboard Gray Team's freighter,Petya.^[39]

After discovering theUnggoy army Reth had created on one of Hesiod's moons,Metisette, Keyes prepared to launcha counter-attack to destroy the Covenant forces. Keyes retook control of the repairedMidsummer Night and used the frigate to deploy Gray Team and ODSTs to the moon. To allow Juliana to orbitally bombard Metisette with the Rubble, the Spartans and ODSTs destroyed Kig-Yar AA guns and sensor stations. After they completed their mission, Keyes had Gray Team and the surviving ODSTs returned to the frigate.^[40] Keyes used theMidsummer Night to protectHabitat Exodus while the Rubble's citizens were evacuated inside it, during which the frigate was damaged. After the Exodus asteroid detached from the rest of the Rubble, Juliana used the asteroids to destroy the Unggoy army on Metisette and killed Reth.^[41] However, the Exodus could not make a slipspace jump to safety like it intended to do. Keyes decided to convince theRubble Security Council to travel to anInner Colony, which was still possible at the time. After a short speech to the Council members reminding them of their duty to protect all the Rubble's citizens and the duty to fight back against the Covenant who took their homes, the Council decided to travel toFalaknuma, an Inner Colony in the18 Scorpii system.^[42]

Keyes was brought down and debriefed by ONICommanderHadley andAdmiralPreston Cole himself. Although Keyes expected he would be court-martialed for violating the Cole Protocol by giving the Insurrectionists navigation data, Cole congratulated Keyes for his commendable bravery and work and promoted him to Commander.^[43]

Sigma Octanus[edit]

Main article:Battle of Sigma Octanus IV

Keyes as an older man commanding the UNSC Iroquois.

Keyes eventually assumed command of aHalberd-class destroyer, theUNSCIroquois in April of 2552.^[44] In 2552, he foresaw a Covenant attack onSigma Octanus IV thanks to anastrophysicsjournal bySPARTAN-084. His actions resulted in the destruction of aCovenant destroyer, twoCovenant frigates and the retreat of aCovenant carrier with a daring maneuver dubbed the "Keyes Loop", all without a ship AI to help him.^[45] TheIroquois, still in orbit and badly damaged by the maneuver pulled off by Keyes, deployed the SPARTAN-IIs to engage the Covenant forces on the surface of Sigma Octanus IV towardsCôte d'Azur.^[46]

This unprecedented victory against a Covenant force earned him a promotion toCaptain and aided him to become recognized by the entire UNSC.^[47] Keyes and theIroquois remained in theSigma Octanus system to fight in theBattle of Sigma Octanus IV. Keyes' brilliance and hindsight allowed him to find out what the Covenant were up to, and intercepted a transmission beamed for aCovenant stealth ship to receive, saving Sigma Octanus IV again. During the battle, Keyes used theIroquois to ram the stealth ship and destroyed it withArcher missiles, leaving his destroyer badly damaged.^[48] Shortly after the battle, theIroquois was tagged by aCovenant spy probe, subsequently leading the Covenant toReach.^[49] At Reach, Keyes was debriefed by anONI council atCamp Hathcock.^[50] He was congratulated on his victory and assigned command of theUNSCPillar of Autumn. During his time at Hathcock, Keyes met withJohn-117.^[51]

Fall of Reach[edit]

Main article:Fall of Reach

Noble Six delivers Cortana's fragment to Captain Keyes.

At Reach, Keyes was givenan important mission byRear AdmiralStanforth: to transport the active SPARTAN-II commandos deep into Covenant space in order to capture aHigh Prophet, who would then be used as a ransom to end the Human-Covenant War.^[52] Before theAutumn could leave Reach for slipspace, the Covenant attacked Reach. His mission scrubbed, Keyes offloaded most of the Spartans to the surface of the planet and sent three toGamma Station.^[53] He then tried to aid in the defense of Reach and even destroyed apowerful Covenant "sniper ship", but ultimately, his efforts were in vain.^[54] He could only pick up John-117 along withLinda-058 and a handful of Marines from the station just in time to flee the pursuing Covenant.^[55]

At some point after retrieving John-117, Keyes took thePillar of Autumn to theAsźod ship breaking yards on the ground to retrieve a fragment ofCortana fromSPARTAN-B312. This fragment held valuable navigation data that would lead thePillar of Autumn toInstallation 04. As he met with Noble Six to receive the Cortana fragment, Keyes noted that Dr. Halsey's judgement in choosing the package's carrier had been correct. Noble Six reminded the Captain that the mission's success was thanks to the efforts of the whole ofNoble Team, to which Keyes replied that their sacrifice would be remembered. Noble Six gave covering fire against a CovenantKet-pattern battlecruiser and waves of other Covenant aircraft with a ground-basedmass driver as theAutumn took off and withdrew from the system.^[56]

Halo[edit]

Captain Keyes arms himself with aType-33 Needler and prepares to fight his way out of theTruth and Reconciliation.

Main article:Battle of Installation 04

"Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe."

— Captain Keyes

ThePillar of Autumn'sAICortana ended up navigating the vessel toInstallation 04. They were once again assaulted by Covenant forces, and Captain Keyes told Cortana to lock in a selection of landing zones on the ring and to upload them to his neural interface. Keyes then assigned the Master Chief to protect Cortana and she became a valuable asset to him. Keyes locked in the codes and thePillar of Autumn crashed on the ring.^[57]

Keyes and the command crew of theAutumn managed to escape in aBumblebee life pod,Kilo Tango Victor 17.^[58] During the descent, theOssoona,Isna 'Nosolee was discovered to be lurking aboard by Keyes, and subsequently killed by the Captain. Unfortunately, they were still spotted in the descent by twoSangheili onKaro'etba-pattern Ghosts. Due to the actions oftraitorEnsignEllen Dowski, the Covenant were able to find out where Keyes and the command crew were. When they got there they incapacitated the Captain and killed the rest of the command crew, including Dowski herself. Despite being an inspirational leader to many under his command, the Captain also has a great deal amount of respect for each and everyone of his crew and he dearly cares about them. The death of his crew shocked him, and he had wished to die as well as he was captured by the Covenant.^[59]

Keyes was taken aboard the CovenantKet-pattern battlecruiser, theTruth and Reconciliation. There, he was interrogated, tortured, and held prisoner until the Master Chief, the ODSTs, and a group ofMarines were able to rescue him with the help of Cortana. Combining what Keyes found out from what Cortana was able to hack from the Covenant battlenet, they were able to figure out some of the truth about Halo. They were forced to commandeer aSpirit dropship, during their escape and Keyes piloted it out himself, even going so far as to ram twoMgalekgolo on the flight out for "a little payback".^[60]

Keyes then went toAlpha Base, taking command of the base fromMajorAntonio Silva briefly. He then tookStaff SergeantAvery Johnson,Fire Team Charlie andsecond squad to a facility they thought held a Covenant weapons cache. It turned out that the structure was one of the Halo'sFlood containment facilities. Keyes and his Marines were ambushed by theFlood. During the ensuing firefight, aPod infector latched onto his back and infected him.^[61]

Infection and death[edit]

"Chief... Don't be a fool. Leave me..."

— Captain Jacob Keyes speaks in a twisted voice through a COM channel, struggling as he loses himself to the Flood.

Keyes as he is slowly absorbed into the Floodproto-Gravemind.

Keyes observed helplessly as the Pod infector took over his body and attacked his mind. Originally, Keyes' body was acombat form, but the Flood, apparently realizing his importance, merged him and several other combat forms into aproto-Gravemind. One of the tortures Keyes endured was having his memories ripped away one by one as the Flood tried to learn anything that would help attain new sources of food.^[62] The Flood hoped that his intelligence would help them to operate a damaged Covenant cruiser and escape the ring, but Keyes was able to fend it off by constantly accessing data that was permanently stored in hiscommand neural interface, while feeding it those of his memories that were not vital to the survival of humanity, such as his name, age, and service number (though definitely not anything that could lead to the thought of the location of Earth).^[63]

Just as Keyes acquired the determination to defy his infection, he finally submitted to the Flood.^[64] However, before Keyes succumbed to the overwhelming pressure, the Master Chief boarded the ship once again looking for Keyes and found only the proto-Gravemind form. The Captain was able to contact the Chief three times, warning him to leave him behind, before the proto-Gravemind fully overwhelmed him.^[65] Keyes' life officially ended when the Chief punched through his skull to retrieve his command neural interface after his mind had been absorbed by the Flood infection, with Cortana stating that she knew that "this was what he wanted."^[66] Despite this, Keyes' corpse continued to make faint breathing sounds.^[67]

Keyes' command neural interface enabled Master Chief and Cortana to start up thePillar of Autumn's engines so they could destroy the Halo ring by overloading and exploding the engines.^[68]

Legacy[edit]

Keyes' daughterMiranda accepts her father'sColonial Cross, posthumously awarded to him byFleet AdmiralHood just prior to theBattle of Earth.

"Your father's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, his bravery in the face of impossible odds, reflecting great credit upon himself and the UNSC. The Navy has lost one of its best."

—Fleet AdmiralTerrence Hood toMiranda Keyes after awarding her father with a posthumous Colonial Cross.

The Keyes family lived onLuna, including his daughter,Miranda Keyes. She accepted a posthumousColonial Cross awarded to her father for his bravery during the events on Installation 04 byLord Hood.^[69] In2553, he was remembered at theVoi Memorial alongside his daughter, Sergeant Johnson, and many other victims of the Human-Covenant War.^[70] His courage and skill were never forgotten, making him one of the most important and remembered naval officers in human history.

InMay 2560, the Master Chief andthe Weapon hear one of Cortana's memories of Keyes concerning her safety from just before the Master Chief left thePillar of Autumn's bridge during theBattle of Installation 04, prompting the Weapon to ask about him. The Master Chief states that he was a good man who was lost on the first Halo ring that they had found.^[71] Later, while teleporting through a data cluster, the Master Chief witnesses Cortana's memory of an argument between Keyes and Halsey over Halsey creating Cortana as an AI version of herself, something that Keyes is greatly displeased by.^[72]

Personality and traits[edit]

One of Keyes' final memories ofCatherine Halsey prior to being assimilated into the Proto-Gravemind.

Keyes was often quite officious and put the safety of the UNSC before his own personal safety, even going as far as to almost self destruct the ship he was on so that the Covenant would not find Earth. He was prepared and willing to give anything for his planet. He would oftencharge headlong into battle keeping a straight and calm face, along with an underlying strategy. Keyes was also known to be fearless in most situations, as he refused to tellZuka 'Zamamee aboutJohn-117, and even dared theSangheili to kill him.

As a captain, Keyes expected the best from his Marines and ensured to maintain their morale when facing a hopeless defeat. He silenced one Marine for panicking when there was no available escape route in theTruth and Reconciliation and angrily ordered PrivateMendoza to resume his position when the latter was attempting to flee from their first encounter of the Flood.

Jacob Keyes was very caring to those under his command and attempted to be a strong fatherly figure to his daughter,Miranda, knowing that she had limited time with both of her parents. Although he did not prefer teaching at theLuna OCS Academy, he was glad that he was able to spend time with Miranda. Upon being offered a position aboard theUNSCMidsummer Night, he was hard-pressed about leaving his daughter alone onLuna, but believed that he would be protecting her by fightingInsurrectionists and theCovenant.^[73] Although they were not particularly close, Miranda aspired to be like him, even taking his last name, and joined theUNSC Navy to serve with him.^[13]

At times he thought of his sister and her fate onDwarka. He had banished the guilt of not being able to save her by knowing he had saved the lives of millions fromthe Rubble. However, he felt guilty for the deaths of theODSTs during the raid onFinnegan's Wake, despite not being responsible.^[20] He also was grieved by the death ofJeffries, the pilot Keyes had transferred aboard theMidsummer Night, who was killed by insurgentRPG fire onCharybdis IX.^[74] Keyes also had a habit of fiddling with hisgrandfather's pipe, often chewing on its tip to aid in concentration.^[75]

Decorations[edit]

An artist's rendition of Captain Keyes's medal ribbons.

Keyes wore nine ribbons on his uniform at the time of his death in 2552.^[76] For the sake of this article, these will be numbered Ribbons 1 through 9, in this order.

These ribbons coincide with the following UNSC and old U.S. Air Force decorations:

• Ribbon 1:UNSC Legion of Honor
• Ribbon 2:Distinguished Service Cross
• Ribbon 3:Purple Heart
• Ribbon 4:Air Force Commendation Medal
• Ribbon 5:Combat Readiness Medal
• Ribbon 6:Armed Force Expeditionary Medal
• Ribbon 7:Outstanding Airman of the Year Ribbon
• Ribbon 8:NCO Professional Military Education Graduation Ribbon
• Ribbon 9:Basic Military Training Honor Graduate Ribbon
• The Colonial Cross^[77] (Posthumous)

Non-canon and dubious canon appearances[edit]

Odd One Out[edit]

This article contains information about anon-canonical subject that, while official, is not part of the establishedHalo universe.

Jacob Keyes inOdd One Out.

Jacob Keyes: "You think he'll be okay?"

Master Chief: "This kind of thing happens to him all the time. Well, 1337 is still a Spartan. He's been trained with the best of 'em. There's no need for concern."

Jacob Keyes: "If you say so, Master Chief."

— Jacob Keyes and the Master Chief on SPARTAN-1337.

InOdd One Out, Jacob Keyes was in command of a UNSC starship and served as the superior of the Master Chief, Cortana, andSPARTAN-1337. When SPARTAN-1337 slipped and fell out of his Pelican, Keyes was reassured by the Master Chief that SPARTAN-1337 was still a Spartan and there's no need for concern over the incident. He later notified the Master Chief that they had reestablished radio contact with 1337, allowing the Chief to speak to 1337.^[78]

Silver Timeline[edit]

This article contains information about theSilver Timeline, and is not a part of the establishedHalo canon.

Main article:Jacob Keyes/Silver

Captain Jacob Keyes is a member of the UNSC Navy'sAsymmetric Warfare Research Group.^[79]

Trivia[edit]

Miscellaneous[edit]

	Check out our collection of quotes related toJacob Keyes on itsquotes page.
	Browse more images in this article'sgallery page.

• It is mentioned inHalo: The Cole Protocol that Keyes received the ODST tattoo on his right arm due to the fact that he saved a group of ODSTs aboard an Insurrectionist cargo ship. The tattoo is of thekanji (aChinese character adopted into theJapanese writing system) meaning "bastard" or "bad-ass".^[80]
• Keyes enjoyed smokingSweet William cigars along with many other people in the UNSC such asCPO Mendez andSergeant Major Avery Johnson, but was only ever seen using his pipe.
• On theHalo 3 Legendary Edition bonus disc,Martin O'Donnell jokingly describes Captain Keyes of having at least twelve polygons. He is also jokingly called the "Captain of Exposition".^[81]
• InHalo: Combat Evolved, Captain Keyes' tunic features theMarathon logo, which is also the logo of thePillar of Autumn. The text on the tunic states "Hello My Name Keyes". The missing "is" probably did not fit onto the texture for his in-game uniform model. TheMarathon logo is replaced with theSeventh Column symbol inHalo: Reach due to Bungie-Microsoft copyright issues, and again to a cog inHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
• In the originalCombat Evolved, Keyes wore Marine fatigues when he arrived with the other troops at theFlood containment facility. However, inAnniversary he is still wearing and fights in his uniform.
• InHalo: The Flood, according to one of his memories while being consumed by the Flood, Keyes first killed a human with a pistol. However, this was retconned inHalo: The Cole Protocol, in which Keyes first killed a human with a modified plasma rifle.

Production notes[edit]

• Captain Keyes was voiced byPete Stacker inHalo: Combat Evolved,Halo: Reach, andHalo Infinite. The Captain Keyes model forHalo: Combat Evolved was created byMarcus R. Lehto.

Mistakes[edit]

• Despite holding theNaval rank of captain (O-6), Keyes is consistently depicted with the bars of aUNICOMcaptain (O-3) rather than the proper Captain's Eagle. This mistake was first made inHalo: Combat Evolved and remained uncorrected in bothHalo: Reach andHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
• The Captain Keyes model seen in the PC port ofHalo: Combat Evolved is from a prerelease version of the Xbox game. The older model uses a much lower resolution texture, and the uniform design is more symmetrical barring the ID and ribbons. This incorrect model appears inHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and the issue was later patched in theHalo: The Master Chief CollectionSeries 7: Elite update.
• Ribbon 7 on Keyes' uniform is out of order. In the modern U.S. Military, it would be worn before Ribbon 6 (however, this can be the common occurrence in works of fiction of portraying military personnel as slightly off regulations). Then again, it is also unlikely that Keyes, a naval captain, won an award for being an enlisted member of the Air Force. We can only assume that the meaning of these ribbons has changed.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Captain Jacob Keyes wearing Marine fatigues inHalo: Combat Evolved.

• 

  A close-up of Captain Keyes inthe PC port forHalo: Combat Evolved.

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  A full body render of Captain Keyes in the PC port forHalo: Combat Evolved.

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  Keyes hands Cortana's storage chip to John-117.

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  Captain Jacob Keyes in combat on theTruth and Reconciliation, wielding a needler.

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  John-117 punches Keyes who was assimilated into a Proto-Gravemind.

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  Jacob Keyes' remains before and after John-117 punched a hole through his face to retrieve his neural implants.

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  Concept art of Keyes forHalo: Reach.

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  Halo: Reach concept art of Keyes.

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  Keyes preparing to take possession of the Package inHalo: Reach.

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  Captain Keyes holding the Package inHalo: Reach, showing uniform detail.

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  Keyes and a squad of Marines depart from the landing pad inHalo: Reach.

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  Keyes, age 22, as drawn by Dr. Catherine Halsey inher journal in 2517.

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  A young Jacob Keyes with Dr. Halsey.

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  Captain Keyes debriefed at Camp Hathcock.

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  Captain Keyes and the Master Chief during the Fall of Reach.

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  Keyes inHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

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  Keyes and the Master Chief on the bridge of thePillar of Autumn inHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

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  Keyes smoking his pipe.

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  Keyes and Sergeant Johnson engagingPod infectors as their squad is overwhelmed.

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  Jacob Keyes' remains before and after John-117 punched a hole through his face to retrieve his neural implants.

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  Keyes inTerminal 9 ofAnniversary.

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  Keyes remembering his Marine squad being ambushed by the Flood in theFlood containment facility.

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  Keyes remembering holding tickets to a show he couldn't remember.

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  A memory of a date Keyes had within his youth.

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  Keyes being assimilated by theproto-Gravemind.

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  Keyes recollecting his transformation into aFlood combat form.

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  Art of Keyes inHalo Mythos, and art ofhis daughter fromThe Art of Halo 3.

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  Close-up of Keyes inHalo Mythos.

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  A MegaConstrux render of Keyes holding anM6H2 magnum.

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  A hologram of Jacob Keyes onInstallation 07 inHalo Infinite.

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  Jacob Keyes in theHalo Encyclopedia (2022 edition).

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Male characters
• Non-canon content
• Human characters
• Educators
• UNSC Navy officers

• Pages using page number in novel citations