Halo 3 Legendary Edition helmet was so small only a few cats wore it

In 2007, the Legendary Edition Halo 3The Xbox 360 included a replica of the Master Chief helmet. The helmet was unfortunately too small to be worn by most people. These limitations meant that certain cats were forced to wear the helmet. These are their tales.

As for who is to blame for the indignity these cats have endured, the answer may be Bungie’s own Luke Smith. Back in 2006, Smith worked as a games journalist for 1UP, and he described the Legendary Edition helmet as “cat-head sized.” Other people ran with the joke after that. Joystiq and Engadget put “cat helmet” in their headline, quoting and linking to Smith’s evocative phrasing and illustrating it all with a photo of a cat. Wired’s writeup similarly called the helmet “kitty-sized.” Fan forums everywhere dubbed it “the cat helmet.”

The trend was logical as cat photos were the most popular type of internet content in the 2000s. Many fans at the time also had expected the helmet to be a life-size replica that a human could wear, so referring to the helmet as a “cat helmet” was a cute way to dampen their disappointment. Once the helmet was finally in fans’ hands, however, the disappointment returned.

As IGN reported in an article titled “Cats denied chance to be Master Chief,” the bottom of the helmet had a strangely-shaped rectangular opening that made it almost impossible for anyone to wear. I recently asked for stories on the cat helmet. Twitter user billieberserk took a photoTo illustrate the issue, we took the helmet off the victim’s head.

Back in 2007, though, the internet’s hunger for photos of cats wearing Master Chief helmets had to be assuaged. Nerds Trozobudos’ blog has some brave fans who found small-headed cats that could make this work.

Image: Nerds Trozobudos

Others simply photoshopped the helmet onto cats to illustrate what might have been, as is evident in articles at Gamerant and IGN, the latter of which acknowledged the problem: “After months of trying to duct tape their Legendary Edition Master Chief helmets to their cat’s head, people have accepted that it doesn’t fit. Cats and small dogs everywhere are still rejoicing.”

Internet jokes are not easily forgotten in this period. For over a year, the cat helmet joke was popular. Years. Weta Workshop began selling Spartan miniature helmets in 2010. Joystiq referred to these as cat helmets. Gamerant, Gamerfront and other outlets also shared the fun.

The cat helmet meme is now almost forgotten. Although I received many responses to my request for stories about Spartan helmets that were too small, only a handful of them came from those who took part in the meme’s heyday. Christian Nutt (a writer and ex-games journalist) was one of the many fans who used Photoshop to capture his memories.

Jessica Lachenal was my ex-coworker at The Mary Sue. She told me that she put her Spartan helmet onto her cat. but didn’t take a photo (for shame!). Tsuki Tenicela, a Polygon reader took this photo last week of her helmet next to her cat. Polygon users also sent photos of their cats wearing Spartan helmets.

The saddest story of all came from Nic Weinberg, who got the helmet at age 13 but hadn’t gotten the memo about its diminutive size. “I dreamt of it for months: opening that big beautiful box, taking the helmet off its pedestal and donning it so that I could finally — after all those years — Finish The Fight,” Weinberg wrote. “After awkwardly biking home carrying this absurdly huge box, I crept quietly into the basement so I could begin my ritual in solitude. As many others, I found out the truth. The helmet wasn’t my fault. Not made to be worn.”

Unfortunately, Weinberg’s tragic tale did not end there. It ends…in Blood. “Days later, I read online that people were unscrewing the bottom of the helmet casing to remove the game case slot so that it could be worn,” Weinberg went on. “Hilariously, after attempting to do so myself, I realized that my head was in fact Too Big to be Master Chief. But… However, I had a small dog. Shadow was 12 years old Havanese and truly loved me. Stupidly, I tried anyway, and while I don’t have any pictures, I do still have a discolored scar on my left hand to remind me of this whole affair.” (Weinberg included photos of the scar and the helmet, both of which he apparently still has.)

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  Photo: Nic Weinberg
  

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  Photo: Nic Weinberg
  

Memes come and go so fast nowadays that it’s hard to imagine a promotional helmet becoming the subject of so much discussion in 2021. But I am still curious about what would happen if. Halo Infinite had reintroduced this concept — except, this time, the helmet would be purposefully made for cats. (I asked Microsoft about the decision behind the cat helmet’s creation, but I did not receive any details.)

Given how much my own cat hates wearing the bow tie that I bought for him, I don’t think this is actually a good idea. However, it might have signalled the beginning of something. Halo Infinite’s attempt to bottle up the feeling of a simpler time — and more importantly, it would have resulted in some very good pictures.