Jiralhanae (Earth-5875)

"They are beasts, in essence and action."

- - The Prophet of Clarity on his Record of Punished Deeds

The jiralhanae (Latin Servus ferox, meaning "wild slave"), known to humans as Brutes, are a massive, brutish and carnivorous sapient species of pseudo-ursine mammals from Doisac. Discovered by the Covenant in 2492, they became the last species to be enslaved by the hegemony. Upon being inducted into the Covenant, the jiralhanae developed an intense feud and intense hatred for the sangheili, unlike any other in the Covenant, which was fueled by the naturally aggressive behavior and pack-based mentality of the jiralhanae against the sangheili's xenophobia and sense of societal superiority. An extremely strong species, they surpassed both the sangheili and SPARTAN in terms of strength, and placed a large emphasis on brutality, considered savages by the other species of the Covenant. Their potential for blindly obedience and feud with the sangheili prompted a decades-long plan plotted by the Prophet of Truth to replace the jiralhanae for the sangheili, which was slowly realized through the jiralhanae achieving positions of power and being given freedom in military engagements. At last, in 2552, the Prophet of Truth had his jiralhanae-loyal soldiers and commanders betray and purge the sangheili High Councilors and high-ranking commanders through Covenant space, leading to the catastrophic Great Schism, eventually leading to the breaking and fall of the Covenant. The Schism between the sangheili and the jiralhanae continued well after the end of the First Contact War.