Although this idea was later discarded, Cortana still uses British colloquialisms in Halo: Combat Evolved. I actually just finished a couple of lines that nearly had me in tears.' When choosing a voice actor for the character, Bungie originally wanted Cortana to have a British accent. Interviewed about Cortana in Halo 3, Taylor said that 'There’s a lot more drama and a lot less technical jargon this time around. She felt that portraying Cortana was occasionally challenging because the character lacks a physical form and is 'a computer'. Despite her role in voicing other video game characters, including Princess Peach, she is not a gamer. Voice actor Jen Taylor said that she has remained somewhat distanced from the character, and has attended only one fan convention in six years after the release of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Here, the same 3-D artist who wanted to not portray women as sex objects coincidentally, modeled Cortana.' Cortana's original Halo model was based on the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. In an interview, female Bungie artist Lorraine McLees stated that game designers are generally men, and 'women in their games are perhaps portrayed in the way they themselves see women. Cortana has been recognized for her sex appeal, believability, and character depth she was rated as one of the ten most disturbingly sexual game characters by and one of the fifty greatest female video game characters ever by Tom's Games. Action figures of the character were sold in conjunction with the latter two games, and she appeared in other forms of marketing for Halo 3. Since then, the character has been used extensively to advertise the series. Taylor, despite her extensive voice acting for video games, is not a gamer she described portraying Cortana as challenging, due to the character's lack of a physical form.īungie first introduced Cortana-and Halo-through the Cortana Letters, cryptic emails sent during Combat Evolved 's production in 1999. Ĭortana's original design was based on the Egyptian queen Nefertiti the character's holographic representation always takes the form of a woman. In the story, she is instrumental in preventing the activation of the Halo installations, which would have destroyed all sentient life in the galaxy.

During gameplay, Cortana provides backstory and tactical information to the player, who assumes the role of the Master Chief. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: First Strike, and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. Cortana as she appears in Halo 5: GuardiansĬortana is a fictional artificially intelligent (AI) character in Bungie's Halo video game series.

Halo 2 anniversary cortana