 One of the strongest and toughest foes and allies of the game , Elites ( who are from Sanghelios ) are called Sangheili in the fictitious Covenant language . They stand around 8 ft 0 in ( 2 @.@ 44 m ) and feature recharging personal shields . The Elites initially had simple mouths , which developed into pairs of split mandibles substituting for the lower jaws . Bungie concept artist Shi Kai Wang noted that project lead Jason Jones had , at one point , been insistent on giving the Elites a tail . While Wang thought it made the aliens look too animalistic , the idea was eventually dropped due to practical considerations , including where the tail would go when the Elites were driving vehicles . " At one point , we considered just having the Elites tuck their tails forward , between their legs , " Wang noted , " But [ we ] abandoned that ... for obvious reasons . " According to Paul Russel , when Bungie was bought by Microsoft and Halo was turned into an Xbox launch title , Microsoft took issue with the design of the Elites , as they felt that the Elites had a resemblance to cats that might alienate Japanese consumers . 
