The Late-Night Host Who Voiced a Character in ‘Halo 4’

The Halo video game franchise kicked off 24 years ago with the release of 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved—a second remake of which is expected to debut in 2026. Throughout the years, the original game has spawned several sequels and spin-offs, each containing easter eggs and voice cameos from various celebrities. Michelle Rodriguez, for example, provided the voice of a marine in Halo 2, and Ron Perlman and Keith David also played recurring characters in various entries. Halo 4 is of particular interest to comedy fans, however, because the creators of the 2012 sequel included the voices of a famous late-night host and his sidekick as a gag.

In a segment from his TBS talk show, Conan O’Brien sat down with two of the developers of Halo 4 to discuss the possibility of him being involved with the game in some capacity. How or why this conversation came to be in the first place is unclear. Conan, by his own admission, is not a video game fan, nor is he good at them. He goes on record during this initial meeting as saying that the last video game he was any good at was Pong, which, for context, was released in 1972.

This information doesn’t deter the Halo 4 team at all, nor does his suggestion that he voice a character while doing a Jay Leno impression. The “audition” process apparently goes well, and the developers decide to let Conan and his co-host, Andy Richter, record cameos for the upcoming game. In the recording booth, the duo starts improvising dialogue that, sadly, doesn’t seem to have made it into the final version. At one point, Conan says, “My father thinks I’m a coward. Well, I think he’s right,” to which Richter responds, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you were saying, I was peeing in my suit.”

The exchanges in the actual game aren’t quite as comedic. Conan and Richter’s part can be found during Mission 6, as Master Chief (played by you or whoever’s playing) is about to go to war. Their characters are standing in the corner of a spaceship hangar while you’re supposed to be getting ready to leave. But if you linger near them long enough, you can hear them engage in some critical small talk about the crates they’re standing near, potentially getting some area rugs for the hangar, and how stupid going to war with aliens is. And yes, you can kill them both if that tickles your fancy, because their existence in the game (or lack thereof) does not have any effect whatsoever on how the story unfolds.