Some even believed that the Humans were equal to them - a considerable step for a Sangheili - or any member of the Covenant - to make. These Sangheili seemed to believe that Humans, although physically weak, at least compared to themselves, were brave and even honorable.
After a period of time, however, some seasoned Sangheili veterans began to question the refusal of the San'Shyuum to even consider accepting the Humans into the Covenant, even though the San'Shyuum insisted that the Humans were "unclean beings" that must be eliminated from the galaxy. When the San'Shyuum declared war on a previously unknown species called "Humans," the Sangheili followed their lead without question. They were a race that also worshipped the Forerunners as gods, but had utilized Forerunner technology for their own needs, believing that the technology had been left behind by the gods as gifts for their children. In 938 BCE they encountered the San'Shyuum (who would later be known as "Prophets" by humans). They revered the objects these "gods" had left, and considered tampering with them a heresy beyond any other. The Sangheili home world, Sanghelios, had at one point been visited by or had been in contact with the mysterious Forerunners. They were originally one of the founding races of the Covenant, but their entire species later led the breakaway faction known as the Covenant Separatists and sided with the humans to fight their old allies due to the fact that the Prophets of Truth and Mercy had ordered the genocide of the entire Sangheili race. They are reptilian in appearance, and stand two to three feet taller than an average man. The Sangheili, known as Elites by humans, are some of the most prestigious and, well, elite units in the Covenant and other factions' forces.