San'Shyuum are a species of aliens who hold leadership of the Covenant Empire, and serving as some of the more mysterious members of the empire. They appear to exert complete control over religious and political affairs, thus fulfilling the role as leaders. They enforce a misguided theology based on the false belief, that firing the Halo Array will start the Great Journey and transcend them to a god like status. Although physically frail and weak compared to the other species within the Covenant, they wield near absolute power throughout the Covenant. Before the formation of the Covenant, the Prophets had a war against the Sangheili and had Forerunner technology to support them in combat. At the end of their war, the two species formed the Covenant and made an oath: Prophets would act as religious leaders while the Elites would be in charge of military operations and act as their protectors.
