Robert Watts (Earth-4001)

Colonel Robert Watts was a human insurrectionist leader of the United Rebel Front. Formerly an officer of the UNSC Marine Corps, Watts defected from the UNSC after growing sympathetic to the insurgents he once fought against. Watts led numerous campaigns against the Unified Earth Government, particularly from the Eridanus system, and was responsible for establishing the URF. He was eventually captured by Spartan-IIs of Blue Team in 2525.

History
The history of Robert Watts is the same as his mainstream counterpart.

Personality & Traits
Robert Watts was a resourceful and charismatic leader who was highly esteemed by his peers. As a colonel of the UNSC Marine Corps, Watts was a highly regarded and decorated commander. Watts once was a true believer in the ideals of the Unified Earth Government, though he grew disillusioned with the government and its United Nations Space Command and its policies after years of first-hand experience with the independence movements of the Outer Colonies during his service in the Marine Corps. His experience in engagements, charisma, and success allowed him to eventually gain influence among insurrectionists and led to him creating the United Rebel Front, a unified and somewhat organized composite of insurgent cells that Watts led against the UNSC and the Colonial Military Administration throughout human-occupied space. As the leader of the United Rebel Front, Watts was willing to fight alongside his forces in combat. When one of his ships was threatened by UNSC forces, Watts led his frigate against two UNSC cruisers alone to defend the vulnerable ship. Watts was skilled at evasion and successfully avoided many assassination attempts during his time as a rebel. Throughout his campaigns against the UEG and UNSC at the Eridanus system, Watts often preferred to operate within the system's asteroid belts. By doing so, he was able to avoid UNSC forces as the size of asteroid belts made it nearly impossible to search every asteroid for rebel outposts.

As Watts was once a respected commander of the UNSC, his defection to the insurrectionists was devastating to the UNSC. Watts was known as "that bastard" by most UNSC personnel. CMA personnel, whom by 2525 often had their loyalty called into question, commonly pointed out that Watts was a former UNSC Marine, which resulted in many bar fights between CMA and UNSC Marines. Watts enjoyed luxury items, such as Sweet William cigars, high-quality New York steaks, Procyon vintage champagne, and Swiss chocolates. Ultimately, this vanity allowed the Spartan-II Blue Team to track his location and capture him.

Trivia

 * In the Halo: Fall of Reach comic adaptation and Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series, Halsey erroneously states that Colonel Watts defected to the rebels in 2512. This is impossible due to his well-known insurrectionist activity as early as the late 2480s, especially as reiterated by Halo Waypoint.