history of jackals

Once, the Kig-yar culture was centered around rival clans sailing across Eayn's seas as pirates, raiding the encampments and settlements of rival clans. As the distances between the clans diminished, so too did the differences, and a united Kig-yar race reached out to the stars in spacecraft, beginning to populate small asteroids around Chu'ot. Some of these saw opportunity, and became pirates once more, raiding merchant ships. These were apparently the Kig-yar's only effective response to the overwhelming Covenant military juggernaut when they arrived in their home-system in 1342. The war between the two factions culminated around sieges of redoubts on the asteroids surrounding their world. Eventually, in order to survive, they accepted Letters of Marque: commissions from the Ministry of Tranquility to engage in the services of the Covenant, though often this was merely used as an excuse to continue raiding. The Kig-yar spent much of this time preying on the ships of the Covenant's enemies, such as the humans.

Though they theoretically stand as equals of the Unggoy, the Kig-yar are actually in an elevated position, as most of the other races ignore the Unggoy, while the Kig-yar are purposefully cruel to them to reassure themselves of their own superiority. This reached a boiling point in 2462, when some Kig-yar attempted to poison recreational narcotics the Unggoy enjoyed which would have left the Unggoy sterile, in retaliation for the Unggoy encroaching on their habitats and displacing Kig-yar nests. Although a junior staffer in the Ministry of Concert found evidence of this, the High Council failed to properly investigate the incident, culminating in the Unggoy Rebellion.

Kig-yar have little status in the Covenant hierarchy and are subservient to all but the Unggoy. Although they technically stand as equals with the Grunts, the reality is that Jackals are usually in an elevated position, while the other races consider the Grunts beneath notice. The Jackals are often purposefully cruel to them in order to assure themselves of their own superiority. The Jackals are not represented on the High Council but are instead vetted by the Ministry of Concert. However, unlike the other castes, the Kig-yar do not vocally complain about their position but instead have selected to siphon off resources to their brothers. Whether the Covenant leadership was aware of this is currently unknown.

The ranking authorities in Covenant society have been known to let Kig-yar eat prisoners alive, perhaps indicating that the Jackals are much more bloodthirsty and cruel than is typically seen in combat. This probability is supported by the vicious screeches, squawks, and squalls that Jackals make in combat, and the UNSC remark stating that Jackals are "too bloodthirsty" to really be called snipers. The Jackals are despised by most Sangheili for their devious nature.