The Grunt Rebellion (Movie)

The Grunt Rebellion was a large-scale revolt by the Grunts against the Covenant Empire in 2462 in the Halo films.

History
When the Infusion Incident occured with the growing Grunt population placing pressure on the Jackals, with whom they shared their habitats. The overwhelming Grunt population forced many of the Jackals to relocate, killing many of their eggs and forcing the Jackal birth rate to decline.

In effort to exact revenge, some of the Jackals poisoned the Grunt's infusion resources, recreational narcotics used in the Grunts' portable methane supplies. This made the contaminated males sterile, escalating the conflict between the two species. After the Prophets failed to respond to this, due to the Ministry of Concert rejecting a junior staffer's request to investigate the matter further, it escalated into a short but aggressive conflict, forcing the High Council to instate an Arbiter. The conflict ended only when the Grunt homeworld, Balaho, was almost completely glassed by a Covenant fleet.

The war showed that, when motivated, the Grunts could be vicious, determined and competent fighters. Following their warrior tradition, the Elites who had defeated the uprising forgave the surviving Grunt fighters, trained them, gave them better equipment and allowed them access to weapons. The Elites also integrated the Grunts into formerly Elite-only units, elevating them from unarmed cannon fodder to true infantry forces. However, the war kept the Grunts in a lowly position within the Covenant.