Elites

Elites are the warrior caste of the Covenant and are above-average in intelligence, or at least they are intelligent enough to see through the Prophets lies after a few thousand years of doing everything they say. They are well-armed and have advanced technology. They waged war against Humans for many years until the Prophets betrayed them and replaced them with Brutes for no particular reason. This, combined with the knowledge of the true purpose of the Halo Array gleaned from the Arbiter, eventually led to the Elites joining the Humans in the war against the Brutes and they formed a splinter faction of the Covenant called the Seperatists.

The Elites live on Sanghelios, a relatively nice planet to live on, if you happen to be a four-lipped bipedal lizard who loves battle and hates all forms of life.

Some Elites, like Thel'Vadam, were really good fighters. Then there were some others. The following clip displays how idiotic some Elites really were. Not only that, they also lost the fight despite having some 10x number advantage. Oh, and a giant 8-foot dinosaur gets killed by your run-of-the-mill Human. This cutscene is a true embarassment for Elites everywhere and I'm sure they won't want you to ever see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=e_cRZ24BVKM&feature=endscreen

Notable Elites

 * The Arbiter Thel Vadam
 * Shitmaster Rtas Vaduum
 * Who's Eaten the Ham
 * Norman Ram