Meta

"A brute. Strong, unrelenting, fearless. He had no qualms when being asked to do the unpleasant, the morally questionable, because despite what many thought of him he knew he was, at his core, a soldier, and his actions inevitably served the greater good."

- The Counselor's description of Maine, before he became the Meta in Counseling

The Meta, formerly known as Agent Maine, was a rogue Freelancer agent with goals to obtain armor enhancements and artificial intelligence to increase his power. He became mute after a severe throat injury and could only speak through growls. He served as the main antagonist of the Recollections Trilogy and a main character turned antagonist in the Project Freelancer saga.

Overview
Before he was the Meta, Agent Maine was a brutal Freelancer who strived to become the best. When he was given the A.I. Sigma to communicate after losing his voice, Maine slowly fell under Sigma's influence and became a new person who betrayed Project Freelancer for two new goals: the acquisition of all armor enhancements and A.I. to become the most powerful being, and to reach 'Metastability', taking the name 'Meta' to represent his objective. His actions have threatened Project Freelancer, UNSC, the public, and the Reds and Blues.

Meta's intention to kill and steal enhancements from the other Freelancer Agents is somewhat comparable to Gabriel "Sylar" Gray's rampage from the popular American TV show "Heroes". There are traits similar to the Final Fantasy VII antagonist Jenova's effect, 'Reunion', in that the AIs seem to have a tendency to reunite with the original entity; in this case, Alpha.

Project Freelancer
The Meta was conscripted to Project Freelancer under the assigned codename: Agent Maine. Maine, along with Wyoming and York, later faced off against a new recruit to Project Freelancer, Agent Texas. Throughout the match, York attempts to coordinate their attacks against Tex, but both Maine and Wyoming refuse to listen to him and repeatedly attack Tex head-on, only to be immediately paralyzed every time. In the ninth round of combat, Wyoming and Maine switch their paralyzing paint ammunition with live pistol rounds. Together, they try to kill Tex, but both Freelancers are eventually immobilized.

Maine attacks again, ramming a column towards Tex. After Tex neutralizes him, Maine attempts a final attack by throwing a hand grenade at her, which Tex dodges, causing it to land next to York. Tex, in an attempt to save York, shoots York multiple times with the paralyzing paint, which absorbs part of the explosion by hardening his armor, and protects him from some of the fragmentation. Medics and the other Freelancers then rush to the battlefield, where a medic tries to assist Maine but he refuses the help by pushing the medic aside with his arm, saying, "Get off me!" in a deep, throaty voice.

Throat Injury
Maine is later seen in a briefing room with his fellow Freelancers for an upcoming mission to recover the "Sarcophagus". He is assigned to Team A with Wash, Carolina, and York, who are to infiltrate the building the Sarcophagus is being held in. During the mission, Maine, Wash, and Carolina investigate a large vault filled with alien weapons and vehicles, where Maine finds a Brute Shot and decides to keep it as his own weapon. Upon finding the Sarcophagus, Carolina, in an attempt to get the package off the roof, kicks Maine out a window and uses his weight to balance the Sarcophagus up to the roof to York. When the Package reaches the roof, Maine lands on a ledge of a parking garage and fights the soldiers down there with his newly acquired Brute Shot.

Maine then acquires a Warthog afterward and saves Carolina and York after they secure the package, following the building's destruction by the Mother of Invention. Team A then goes to an overpass in order to get a briefcase from Rhee Sebiel, which contains the contents to open the Sarcophagus. When Rhee drives under the overpass, Maine jumps on his car and kills him with his brute shot. Maine acquires the briefcase and gets into the Warthog with the rest of Team A. They are then pursued by several Insurrectionists where Maine is shot by a sniper. After he recovers, Maine joins Carolina in battling the enemies but is outmatched by the faster female opponent he engages.

Maine then switches opponents with Carolina, securing the briefcase on his back. He engages a Sleeveless Insurrection Soldier, where the two seemed evenly matched. After Carolina stabs the female trooper with the Brute Shot, the trooper throws her pistol to the Sleeveless soldier. The soldier then pins Maine down and shoots him in the throat nine times. Still capable of fighting despite his wounds, Maine picks up his Brute Shot and attempts to kill the two soldiers, but accidentally fires his Brute shot at the truck's rear, causing it to swerve. The truck then hits a car, sending them all flying off of it. Maine, unfortunately, gets hit by a truck and is knocked off the freeway.

Manipulated by Sigma
Long after his injuries are treated, Carolina gives Maine her assigned A.I., Sigma, in order for him to communicate with the other Freelancers. Upon getting acquainted with his new A.I., Maine attends a class on A.I. theory along with Freelancers South, Carolina, North, York, Washington, and Wyoming. Afterward, Maine, along with the other Freelancers, is sent on a mission to obtain C.T.'s armor at the Longshore Shipyards, where Maine is deployed in as a last resort by Wash after he throws a small transmitter, on which Maine lands in a pod directly. Upon seeing the Sleeveless Insurrectionist again, Sigma reminds Maine that the Insurrectionist was the one that shot him in the throat, and tells him to "sic 'em.", prompting Maine to attack.

After killing the soldier in one merciless punch, Maine proceeds to help Carolina with her own battle against the Demo Man and Girlie. During the fight, Maine slices off the Demo Man's robotic arm and shoots him into the ocean with his Brute Shot. He then defeats Girlie by dropping her down into the ocean as well. Unfortunately, the mission is left a failure, as Maine, North and South watch the Insurrectionist Leader's ship escape the Longshore Base. Following the mission, Maine is seen loading his brute shot inside a Freelancer locker room with Wyoming. Both of their A.I., Sigma and Gamma, converse with Carolina about the significance of Agent Texas and Omega. During their conversation with Carolina, Maine is seen to have an immediate pain in his head, suggesting that Sigma has some form of greater influence over him.

Maine is later seen in the medical observatory, receiving treatment for the headaches continuing to plague him, which is considered unusual by the other Freelancers as York states his headaches only lasted a few weeks. During Carolina's match with Tex, Maine observes the fight in a nearby observation canopy with the other Freelancers. When the Director bursts in and shouts "Allison!", due to his concern over Tex, all of the A.I. go rampant, sending everyone into severe pain and causing Maine to roar out in agony.

Becoming the Meta
Sometime after, Maine sharpens his Brute shot and loads up his armor, for unknown reasons, in the Freelancer locker room. After the Mother of Invention lands forcibly on a frozen planet, Maine takes advantage of Carolina's weakened state, who had fought against Tex, and steals her two A.I., Eta and Iota. Maine then proceeds to throw Carolina off of a cliff. Maine's A.I., Sigma, then follows up with the idea of gathering up all the necessary A.I. fragments in order to recreate the Alpha. Because of this, Maine, now known as the Meta, continued hunting down the remaining Freelancer agents in the field, stealing their A.I. and armor enhancements.

Over a period of time, Meta had killed four Freelancer agents, stripping them of their equipment and A.I. However, the multiple A.I. gathered in Meta's head began to deteriorate his mental status. Most of the priority one recovery signals Agent Washington received during this time were a result of Meta's actions. However, there was one signal that was not triggered by Maine: Agent New York, who was killed in action by Agent Wyoming. York's A.I. Delta was recovered by Washington, which prompted Maine to begin hunting down Washington. Maine killed Agent North Dakota, stealing his A.I. Theta and enhancement, both to benefit himself, and to bring Washington into his sights. Maine spared North's sister South Dakota however, simply knocking her unconscious after she put her brother in a position to be killed.

Washington, after faking South's death in order for her to help him fight Maine, whose identity was not yet known at that point, set out to a remote industrial area to wait for his attacker. When Maine began his attack, Washington implanted Delta into Agent South, but South turned on him, shooting him in the back in order to save herself. South addressed Meta directly, lying that she had placed a timed charge on Washington's body, and that he could either go after her or strip Wash of his enhancement and find them another day. Meta opted for the latter, and South escaped, now on the run from both Meta and Project Freelancer.

Rampage
Not long after this, a Pelican piloted by Agent Texas, crash landed in Freelancer Simulation Outpost 17-B. The Blues of the outpost quickly secured the ship's cargo and brought it back to their base, where Omega began to "infect" members of the team. The frequent infections eventually led to the deaths of all Blue team members, and the infection then befell the Red Team. Meta had tracked the ship to its crash site, and scavenged the Blue Base, acquiring cloaking from Agent Texas' body, and capturing the A.I. Gamma. Meta then attacked Red Base and acquired Omega and Tex herself, leaving only one survivor. Meta and his captured A.I. then scrawled a cryptic message on the walls of Red Base; "We are the Meta", establishing themselves as a single entity. In response, Recovery Agents Six and Nine were sent to investigate and document the carnage, but the Meta attacked the two agents and killed them.

The entire incident was brought to the attention of the Oversight Sub-Committee of the UNSC, who's Chairman launched a full investigation into Project Freelancer. A task force was sent to Outpost 17-B, and a fully recovered Agent Washington was tasked with gathering information from the soldiers in Omega's last known location; Blood Gulch, and also to stop the Meta by any means necessary. After manipulating a recorded radio transmission to trick Sarge into eliminating Washington and attacking South Dakota, Meta uses Wyoming's time distortion unit to escape from Wash. However, he is wounded in a battle with Agent Washington, Church, and Caboose when he attempted to kill South. Meta is later seen at Zanzibar attempting to recharge his power supplies. Although he is nearly defeated, the Reds interfere at the last minute, allowing Meta to acquire Delta.

Afterward, Meta attacks both Washington's team and the reassembled Reds. Washington eventually rips off a turret and chases him away after inflicting several wounds. Eventually, in Chapter 14, the Meta climbs on the back of a tank driven by the Reds, Blues, and Wash to infiltrate command. He then reveals himself at command, as a cloaked figure and the command soldiers attack him. Meta later follows Washington and Church and wounds the former, but it stopped from killing him as the Alpha (Church) jumps into his head. The Meta begins to de-stabilize due to the presence of Alpha in its head, but is spared when the EMP destroys all the A.I.

Fighting the Reds
At some point after the events of Reconstruction, the UNSC release the Meta (and later Washington) so he can capture the Epsilon A.I. by orders from the Chairman. Appearing at Blue Base, the Meta surprises Donut, who thinks that Meta is a new Blue sent to the base. Donut tries to move Tex's body, and assumes the Meta's attempts to shoot or melee kill him are just acts of helpfulness. As he has Donut at gunpoint, Simmons arrives with news of the wrecked Mongoose but runs off when he sees the Meta. The Meta chases Simmons across Valhalla, shooting at him with the Brute Shot.

Simmons warns Lopez about the imminent danger, so Lopez runs in the base to get weapons and Simmons gets the rocket launcher, as the Meta comes over the hill. Simmons fires at the Meta and misses, instead hitting the Mongoose. The Meta prepares to return fire on Simmons, but Lopez hits him with two shots from a Missile Pod, forcing him to retreat. The Meta attacks the Red base several times, eventually forcing the Reds to use all their ammunition. He later walks down the river after the Reds, while they attempt to start his jeep to escape. As he approaches them, Washington intervenes and tells the Meta to stand down. Wash then shoots Lopez and Donut and, now working with Wash, the two hold Simmons as their prisoner.

Pursuit of Epsilon
When Doc arrives at Valhalla, he is knocked out by Meta and taken prisoner along with Simmons. The Meta is next seen having problems with his armor enhancements, to which Washington advises he stop using ever since his A.I. were destroyed in the EMP, but the Meta is shown to still desire more. Later, as Wash confronts Sarge out in the canyon, the Meta is ordered to kill Doc and Simmons if Sarge gives Wash any trouble. Moments later, Meta sees an explosion out in the distance and, sensing trouble, charges Doc and Simmons, but not before Doc charges his medical scanner.

After Doc shoots the Meta, he suddenly slows down due to damage to his time distortion unit. As he slowly attempts to punch Doc, he eventually regains control, chases the fleeing Simmons, and destroys the Reds' Warthog. He becomes distracted by the arrival of Epsilon, who leads him away so that the Reds can escape. After the Reds escape with Epsilon in hand, Washington and the Meta interrogate Doc. After Doc explains that Simmons mentioned something about sand, Wash brings the Meta and Doc along to the desert, following a recovery beacon.

The group dig up C.T.'s body and suddenly find themselves surrounded by the Aliens. After the Aliens trick Wash and the Meta with a promise of a map, the two of them kill them. Meta is later ordered by Washington to search the camp for any clues of Epsilon. Although the Meta complains about doing so, he relents and goes down to the camp, where he finds the Epsilon unit. Afterward, Wash orders the Meta to modify the empty unit into a capture unit. Meta does so and the group successfully find a faint trail of the Reds and, soon after, hear a recovery beacon and prepare to leave and track it down.

Betrayal
The beacon leads the group to Sidewinder, where they see Epsilon unconscious on the ground. Unfortunately, they get caught in a trap of mines set up by Epsilon-Tex. The mines explode, destroying the Warthog, and sending Wash, Meta and Doc flying. As Wash begins to recover, Tex confronts him about the Director's location, but Wash claims not to know. Suddenly, Meta engages Tex in combat, in which Tex uses a chaingun to fight him off. The Meta runs for cover as she fires at him, where Wash, having fully recovered, attempts to use a spike in the capture unit to neutralize her; but fails and nearly loses it over a cliff.

As the fight ensues, Tex activates another detonator to cause the cliff itself to collapse. The Meta escapes by reclaiming his brute shot and stabs the ice with the blade to secure himself. He then engages Tex in melee and, despite Wash protests at the matter, grabs Tex and stabs her in the face with the capture unit, trapping her inside. While Wash tries to get Epsilon to cooperate, he asks the Meta to give him the memory unit, but the Meta, tempted by the chance to regain his lost power, instead attaches the unit to his back. Using Tex to monitor his equipment, the Meta turns invisible, melees Wash, and fires at Epsilon and Doc.

Wash tries to hold him, but Meta knocks him down and corners him. However, he soon trails off when he sees a damaged Pelican, operated by the Reds and Blues, flying rapidly towards them. During the landing, the others regroup towards the memory unit in the snow. When everyone leaves, Epsilon and Wash discuss Tex's origins. The surprised duo then see the unit rising out of the snow with the Meta still attached to it. The Meta attacks them and Wash battles with the Meta in close combat. After Meta incapacitates Wash, Sarge, Simmons, Grif, and Tucker suddenly return and begin their assault.

Death
The Meta activates a domed energy shield enhancement, deflecting all of their shots. Jumping high in the air, the Meta leaves his domed shield and attacks, slicing Simmons' rocket launcher as he lands. The Meta then proceeds to battle the four soldiers, dispatching all of their oncoming attacks. Grif, however, manages to grab Meta's brute shot during the fight. Eventually, Sarge begins to slowly approach the Meta while firing his shotgun. As the two get closer, the Meta knocks the shotgun out of Sarge's hand and chokes him. Sarge then connects the tow-hook of the Warthog, which was given to him by Washington earlier, to the Meta's chest plate while Grif and Simmons push the Warthog over the edge of the cliff.

Sarge disconnects the capture unit from Meta's back and the Meta is dragged down the cliff by the tow cable. The Meta flails wildly as he approaches the edge and, in one last effort, tries to kill Grif by grabbing his leg, intending to pull him down as well. Simmons grabs hold onto Grif, temporarily keeping him from falling, causing the Meta to lose his hold on the latter. The Meta then yells in fear and falls off the cliff into the waters below. It was later confirmed by Aiden Price that the Meta drowned due to the damage he sustained to his suit during the fight with the Reds and Blues.

Legacy
Much later, the Meta's helmet was placed inside a crate and put aboard a UNSC Ship containing the Reds and Blues. However, after the ship crashes on the planet Chorus, Locus retrieves the crate and delivers it to Chairman Hargrove aboard the Staff of Charon. The helmet was put to use by Malcolm Hargrove, whose studying of the Meta's enhancements led to the creation of new unique armor enhancements utilized by the Space Pirates, that did not require an A.I. to run properly. Additionally, Malcolm replicates the Meta's armor and its ability to use more than one enhancement but upgraded to the point where only one A.I is required. He would later use the theoretical armor as a bargaining chip to Locus and Felix if they completed their mission successfully.

While infiltrating the Staff of Charon, the Reds and Blues seize control of Hargrove's trophy room, where Tucker dons the Meta's upgraded Hephaestus armor and Epsilon fractures himself into the memories of the other AI fragments to effectively run the suit for their last stand against Hargrove's forces. After the crew emerges from the fight successful, thanks to Epsilon's sacrifice, Tucker abandons the armor, with it now useless and its current status unknown.

The confirmed A.I. that the Meta has acquired are:
As Agent Maine, the Meta received Sigma from Project Freelancer by Agent Carolina and later steals Eta and Iota from her, bringing his A.I. count to 3. Wash had said in Recovery One: Part Three that he had been assigned to the recovery of 5 different Freelancers, (York, North, and 3 others) the Meta having taken their armor enhancements and A.I., yet it's unknown which ones. After he took Omega, Gamma, and the original Tex from the ship he would have 7 at minimum, yet when taking Delta from Caboose only 6 were shown. Reconstruction: Chapter 19 shows the Meta at his peak having 8 A.I.'s before obtaining Alpha (though only 7 were shown), having 9 before the EMP went off.
 * Alpha just before the EMP goes off at Command
 * Gamma from the crashed Pelican
 * Delta from Caboose
 * Theta from Freelancer North Dakota
 * Omega from Freelancer Texas in the crashed Pelican
 * Sigma, Eta, and Iota from Carolina
 * Tex/Beta from crashed Pelican
 * Epsilon-Tex in the Capture Unit

Subsequent episodes showed that Eta and Iota were capable of 'merging' their holographic forms. It is likley this feature - unique to Eta and Iota - was added in order to explain the missing A.I.

After later gaining Epsilon-Tex in the capture unit, the total of confirmed A.I. he had "collected" through the series is 10 (albeit without the others).

The Meta's Symbol
The Meta's symbol, which is composed of Greek Letters, was originally created by Sigma - as shown in What's the "I" Stand For?; possibly from the names of all the existing A.I.s at that point in time, bar Alpha. From what was revealed in the episode, Sigma believed this combination of A.I.s would create "Metastability"; the point where an A.I. can, theoretically, be considered human. The computer displays the results to be unstable. The A.I. symbols Sigma used to create the "Meta" symbol consist of: Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Theta, Iota, Xi, Sigma himself, and Omega. This is different from the one seen at the end of the Reconstruction Trailer, in which Theta and Iota are replaced with Lambda and Tau in the formation of the Meta's symbol.

The Armor Enhancements the Meta has acquired are:

 * Enhanced Motion Tracker from Freelancer North Dakota
 * Active Camouflage and Super Strength from Freelancer Texas
 * Temporal Distortion unit from Freelancer Wyoming
 * Overshields
 * Domed Energy Shield
 * Adaptive Camouflage
 * BioScan
 * Voice Manipulator

During his rampage, the Meta took the armor enhancements of all of his victims, except Washington who he spared, in order to become the most powerful living being. However, after the activation of the EMP, the Meta was unable to use his armor enhancements correctly because he no longer had an A.I. to run them. When he and Wash were sent on a mission by the UNSC, he was given several of his previously lost enhancements to aid him in capturing Epsilon. After recovering Epsilon-Tex, he was able to operate his cloaking, overshields, super strength, and domed energy shield, and it is likely that the other enhancements were working as well. The Meta also had a voice manipulator, which allowed him to change portions of Wash's conversation with Command in order to get the Reds to come after the latter, Caboose, and Church in Reconstruction: Chapter 4.

Personality
Though he had some honorable qualities during his time as a Freelancer, including saving Carolina's life by taking a sniper round aimed at her spine, Meta was nevertheless aggressive, amoral and somewhat sociopathic. During his match with Tex, he, along with Wyoming had no qualms about killing her with live ammo. He was also extremely violent when angered. An example of this was when Sigma reminded him about the soldier who shot him in the throat. Maine was furious, eager to kill him for revenge.

Unlike Omega, who was brash and loud, Meta was stoic and a man of few words who let his actions speak for him. He said very little when he was capable of speaking and was very proud of his power. He was also not above taunting his enemies with his strength, such as when he allowed the Sleeveless Insurrectionist to deal the first blow, then catching it and sadistically twisted his arm, forcing the soldier to his knees and defeating him with a single punch. Complimenting his vicious nature, Meta's fighting style was very aggressive, relying on power, brute strength and wrestling attacks. However, this combat form was unrefined, and against more skilled fighters such as Tex, Meta was at a disadvantage.

Despite his somewhat brutish personality, Meta was very devious, manipulating the Reds into attacking the Blues and using Washington and South as pawns to obtain A.I. for his own possession. As the Meta, Maine had become a predator. Whether it was his own volition or the A.I.'s will to do so, he slaughtered everyone (including his former comrades) who got in his way. He was nothing short of a monster, willing to increase his power at the cost of countless lives. Even after losing all of his A.I., Meta only aided the Chairman and Washington in order to steal the missing A.I. from them to regain some of his power.

Due to Sigma's influence, the Meta pursued the A.I. fragments in an attempt to attain perfection, to become human, rather than attain more power. However, the true Meta was effectively destroyed after the EMP destroyed the A.I. fragments, leaving behind the broken shell of Agent Maine who only pursued power. His actions from that point on were described by Aidan Price as reckless and sporadic.

Relationships
Because the Meta doesn't speak and only seeks to improve himself, most characters are afraid of him and see him as a monster or enemy. He most likely sees these characters as simple obstacles; however, there are some exceptions.

Washington
Before he became the Meta, Maine and Washington were good friends. Wash has complimented Maine both on his skills and how the brute shot looked great on him. After Maine lost his ability to speak, Wash was soon able to understand his growls and snarls. After becoming the Meta, Washington began to track him down, seeing his victims, and soon became one of them, but unlike the others, the Meta spared Washington (twice). When Washington was about to use the EMP to finally stop him, the Meta intended to kill him.

By the end of Recreation, the two once again joined forces, but unlike their times in Project Freelancer, the two were shown to have difficulties working together and didn't trust one another. By the time they finally found Epsilon they were able to work together and capture Epsilon-Tex. However, with Epsilon-Tex captured, Meta used the A.I. and betrayed Wash, intending to kill him once and for all, but was stopped by the Reds and Blues.

Carolina
Agent Maine and Carolina were shown to care mutually for one another, as he saved her by taking a sniping round aimed at her spine to his chest and she cried out in distress when she witnessed him taking nine rounds to the throat. Carolina eventually gave her A.I. Sigma to him in order to have him communicate, which Sigma states both of them appreciated her action. After becoming the Meta, however, he betrayed her, stole her A.I., and attempted to kill her by throwing her of a cliff. Despite this, years later Carolina doesn't blame him, but herself and the Director as she gave Maine Sigma which turned him into the Meta. It should also be noted that Carolina never calls Maine "Meta". She even became furious with Epsilon when he commented on how she was becoming more like the Meta as she keeps searching for power and she angrily says "Don't you ever talk about Maine like you knew him" showing that she cared deeply for him.

Doc
Although Doc shares the similar opinion about the Meta being a monster like most characters, Doc spends more time with him then any other non-Freelancer. As his and Washington's hostage, Doc is shown to clearly annoy the Meta and even insult him at times, such as calling him and Wash "Bad cop and even worse cop." However, the Meta needed the medic in order for Doc to analyze him physically. Later on, Doc comments that seeing the Meta eat someone would be interesting. Eventually, the Meta betrayed Doc and Wash after the battle at Sidewinder.

Simmons
Simmons has faced the Meta throughout the Recollections and describes him as "the scariest fucking mute in the galaxy." The Meta sees Simmons as an enemy, like the other Reds and Blues, but targets him more so than the others. In Called Up, Meta abandons Donut to chase Simmons and in n+1, he tried to kill Simmons but the latter blocked his attack with his rocket launcher, which was sliced in half as a result. Simmons was partially responsible for his demise and prevented him from taking Grif down with him.

Grif
In his first encounter with Meta, Grif mistook him for a Zanzibar Red, attempting to enlist his help against Church, Washington, and Caboose. He is impressed when Meta lifts a Warthog, until Meta throws the Warthog, and a variety of other huge objects, right at him. Throughout the rest of the series, Grif is frightened by the Meta. He is still willing to help in the fight against him in n+1. Even before the fight, he yells "We're gonna fucking die!" showing his fear of the Meta. The Meta almost succeeds in dragging Grif off a cliff before his demise. Grif contributed to his death by pushing the car he was connected to off a cliff. Notably, Grif stole Meta's weapon, claiming it as his own and personally calls it the Grifshot.

Tucker
Besides fighting in n+1, there has been no other interaction between Tucker and the Meta. Though Tucker was partly responsible for his death as he stabbed him creating the holes in his suit that caused him to drown. He also takes the Meta's armor during the events of The End.

Sleeveless Insurrection Soldier
Despite the fact they only encountered each other twice, this Insurrectionist has affected the Meta greatly. During the operation to take the Sarcophagus, this soldier shot Maine nine times in the throat, causing the latter to lose his ability to speak. The Meta gladly took his revenge on him when they met again at the Longshore Shipyards. Although enemies, the Meta and this soldier have several similarities, as both are strong, quiet soldiers who are brutal in combat.

Sigma
Carolina had given Sigma to Maine after his injuries so that he could communicate. Since both were ambitious, the two seemingly got along and Sigma states both appreciate her action. However, Maine began to experience headaches from the A.I., who was trying to take control of Maine to retrieve all the other A.I. and armor enhancements. This ultimately caused him to become the Meta and go on a rampage. Although he lost Sigma due to the EMP, the Meta continued his actions in order to regain some of his power.

Serious Sustained Injuries
Throughout the series, the Meta has been injured in many ways and has survived countless times, with one exception. This trait is one of the reasons why some characters refer to the Meta as a monster or "thing" instead of a human being.

Season 9

 * A sniper round to the chest by an Insurrectionist
 * 9 magnum rounds to the throat by an Insurrectionist
 * Hit by a speeding truck during a high speed chase

Reconstruction

 * Sniper round to the foot by Church
 * Machine gun turret fire from Washington

Recreation

 * 2 missile pod shots from Lopez

Revelation

 * Explosion from Tex's land mines
 * Chest slashed by Tex
 * Stabbed in the back by Tex
 * Self-inflicted brute shot explosion
 * Slashed and stabbed in the chest by Washington
 * Stabbed through the chest with an energy sword by Tucker
 * 4 shotgun shells at point-blank range, courtesy of Sarge
 * Pulled off a cliff by a Warthog's winch, courtesy of the Reds, resulting in the Meta's death

Childlike Attitude
Despite being one of the most threatening characters in the series, the Meta's personality can be seen as childish at times. In Season 9, he is shown being rambunctious during the training match against Tex and refused to jump out of Charon Industry building in order to lift the Sarcophagus, even complaining it's "Too high." In Reconstruction, the Meta has the A.I.'s speak for him, several of which sounded like children, hinting at this trait further. It's most notably shown during Revelation, where he refused to pull Doc from the codpiece when he was embedded in a wall, seemingly disagreeing with Wash when he says that they both witnessed Epsilon in his monitor form, and refusing to leave a cave when he finds the empty storage unit which housed Epsilon.

Weaponry
The Meta is skilled with multiple weapons, but prefers to use his brute shot (known to Donut as the "Kick-Ass Broom") as his signature weapon, and has used its grenade launching abilities and blade to deadly effect. The Meta also wields a magnum pistol as a sidearm and has tried to kill Wash with it many times and used one to try and kill Tex during training in Introductions. In chapters 10 and 11 of Reconstruction, the Meta threw a Warthog and several other large objects at Grif and the Reds. The Meta, being as powerful as he is, could be considered a weapon himself.

Combat
The Meta is one of the series' most lethal Freelancers and characters overall. During his time as a Freelancer, Agent Maine possessed an impressive level of physical strength, durability, stamina, and athleticism. He fought through multiple Insurrectionists in The Sarcophagus, and fought evenly with an Insurrectionist soldier after a sniper rifle round to the chest during Spiral. Maine was also the only agent shown capable of moving (and fighting) after being hit by rounds of paralyzing paint, a testament to his amount of sheer brute strength. He even managed to disarm Tex while painted, and it required a headshot to completely paralyze him.

Maine has been revealed to be quite heavy, capable of counter-balancing the Sarcophagus, and smashing a Warthog's hood and sending the occupants flying by simply by landing on it. In his rematch with the Sleeveless Insurrectionist, he effortlessly defeated and killed the soldier with one punch. He is possibly the physically strongest and most resilient known Freelancer agent.

Shortly before the events of Recovery One, the Meta had killed four other Freelancers who were (according to Delta) better fighters than Wash. Later, when Wash confronted Meta at the Zanzibar power plant, despite Meta not being able to use its abilities due to insufficient power, Meta still managed to defeat Washington. The Meta is most likely (with its several armor enhancements) a more deadly and capable fighter than Tex. For example, when the Reds ask what he is, Church describes the Meta as being "like eight of her."

Durability and Strength
As stated, the Meta was once the muscle of his team during his time with the Freelancer. The Meta is also very durable, being able to survive around 10 Trip Mine explosions along with the subsequent explosion of a Warthog, both without taking an injury. He was capable of sustaining a few Chaingun rounds, getting physically beaten multiple times, receiving 5 knife related wounds, 2 embedded in the chest and back, a point blank explosion from his own Brute Shot, take 4 close range shotgun blasts, and even get Tucker's Energy Sword driven through his chest, all without any time to heal in between and still be able to move with his usual agility and strength without any sign of struggle despite these injuries (though some of these could be attributed to his armor enhancements).

Additionally, he is revealed to have incredible strength, as shown in Reconstruction Chapter 10 when he lifts a Warthog over his head and throws it at Grif with very little effort, and later is shown to have thrown much more at Grif. Whether this is due to one of the many armor enhancements the Meta had obtained at that point, or simply his own sheer brute strength is unknown. His strength was later shown at the end of Introductions, as he launched a large stone block at Tex with simply a punch. In Season 10, Maine was able to stop a Warthog in its tracks when it attempted to run him over and destroyed it by easily tearing its tow hooks off and kicking it back with no visible effort.

During the animated sequences in Season 9, Maine is noticeably more burly and broad shouldered than the other Freelancers. This is likely a testimate to his strength and endurance.

Kills
The Meta has killed numerous characters throughout the series.

Reception
The Meta recieved very positive reception from fans, as he has been praised as one of the best antagonists in the series by most of the community. Some consider that the Meta was a welcoming-type of villian who help developed the series in both tone and story.

Along with his popularity, the Meta has been compared to several other antagonist of different series, such as "Sylar" from the television series Heroes, and Jenova from Final Fantasy VII. The Meta is also very similar to the Predator species of the same named franchise directed by John McTiernan, in that both growl & roar, both can use highly advanced weapons, they both can turn invisible, both collect "trophies" from their victims (Meta takes the A.I. & armor enhancements while the Predators takes the skull & spine) and they also have the ability to record & alter voices. He also relates to Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th slasher film series due to the fact that they both are mute, merciless, they use some sort of blade and they have died from drowning.

Trivia

 * Meta speaks only three times in the series, with the first being in the episode Lifting the Veil, where he yells "Get off me!" at a medic. He speaks two more times in The Sarcophagus and in Spiral respectively.
 * The cause of the Meta's lack of speech is revealed in the episode Spiral, where he is shot in the throat by an Insurrectionist.
 * The Meta is one of the few characters to have his own theme music: "(When) Your Middle Name is Danger" by Trocadero. The music played for the Meta is the same music that is played in the Reconstruction Trailer and has been played in every chapter of Reconstruction the Meta has appeared in with the exception of Chapter 11.
 * The Meta first appears in Recovery One, but only his arm reloading a brute shot. (If a pause is timed just right, the Meta can be seen running across the screen.)
 * The Meta's armor changes more frequently than any other character in the series. In fact, the only armor permutation component to remain consistent throughout the series (barring the brief glimpse of him during Recovery One) is his EVA helmet.
 * Going along with the Meta's armor, the detail color also seems to change. In Reconstruction Chapter 4 while the Meta is using the voice changer, it can be seen that the detail color is blue, but later on changes to red.
 * As stated above, the Meta is the only character in Reconstruction that does not use Mark VI shoulders.
 * Barring characters that use the default Mark VI armor, the Meta is the only character from the Reconstruction series that can be recreated in Halo 3 without playing online matches. All that is needed to unlock all pieces of his armor is to complete the campaign on Normal (EVA helmet), beat The Ark on Legendary (EOD shoulder) and to get the Too Close to the Sun achievement (Scout chest plate). The CQB shoulder is unlocked from the start.
 * The Meta wears a Mark VI chest plate in Think You Know Someone.
 * In Revelation, the Meta's armor consists entirely of EVA armor except for his left shoulder, which is CQB.
 * Out of all the characters in the series, the Meta has the most shown/confirmed kills at 30+ kills.
 * Although the Meta did take North's Enhanced Motion Tracker in Recovery One, he's never shown using it.
 * Church refers to the Meta as "like eight of [Tex]." However, in Revelation, the Reds and Tucker were unable to land a blow on Tex, but were able to hit the Meta repeatedly. Tex also proved to be an equal fighter to both him and Wash, though the Meta did not have nearly as many AI at this time as he did when Church made this statement. Although the Meta's combat ability may rely less on his reflexes, but rather his inhuman endurance and stamina which allowed him to outlast and defeat Tex. This seems to be supported by the Counselor in Counseling, during which he states that "Agent Maine survived numerous injuries during his time with the Freelancers. Most would have been lethal had they been inflicted upon any other man."  and "had the Reds and Blues combated Agent Maine prior to the destruction of his A.I., it's possible events may have played out differently."
 * Ironically, Church's statement that the Meta is "like eight of her[Tex]," at the time was technically true since the Meta had captured 8 A.I. at the point, while Tex only had one (Omega).
 * Meta is seen without his helmet in the episode What's the "I" Stand For? (appearing to be bald), though Sigma obscures most of his face during the time. This makes him the seventh character in Red vs. Blue to have his face revealed on screen.
 * In the same episode, it is revealed that the name "Meta" derived from the term: Metastability, a level of rampancy in which an A.I. could be considered human. "Meta" can be translated as "turning point" (usually in life) and "constantly changing" in Latin. This relates to how Meta continued to change in identity, being that he could change armor color. It's later shown in Change of Plans that the Meta also has the symbol of metastability that Sigma made as a tattoo on the back of his head.
 * The Director refers to the Meta as the 'Prodigal Son' in chapter 19 of Reconstruction. The Prodigal Son is a character in the bible who recklessly wastes his inheritance but returns home in repentance as he is joyfully received by his family. This is an interesting comparison, as the Meta "wastes his inheritance" by killing Freelancers and stealing their A.I's; it can also be said that he returns home as he returns to Freelancer Headquarters in the final chapters of Reconstruction.
 * Also in line with Biblical references is the Meta's nature as a hive mind of AI and his writing "We are the Meta" in Valhalla. According the Gospel of Mark, Jesus of Nazareth encounters a possessed man who's demon identifies itself as "My name is Legion: for we are many." (Mark 5:9) implying that it is a collection of multiple entities possessing one body.
 * In Reconstruction: Chapter 19, it showed the Meta having 7 A.I. (Beta, Gamma, Delta, Sigma, Theta, Omega, and Eta) before obtaining Alpha. This is a major inconsistency, as he would have 8 A.I. at least, as he captures Iota also in Season 10.
 * Beginning from the episode Reunion, whenever the Meta is about to attack someone important, "Plagam Extremam infligere" ("Inflict the final blow" in Latin) can be heard chanting in the background. For example, it's heard when Meta attacks Epsilon-Tex, Rhee Sebiel, the Demo Man, and Carolina.
 * The Meta's death is likely poetic justice as it's very similar to Carolina's "death," his first victim when he became the Meta, as the two were both thrown off a cliff at Sidewinder and his death was caused by the Reds, who he originally used for his own benefit when tricking them to stop Washington in Reconstruction.
 * According to the Charon Industries T-Shirt in the Rooster Teeth Store, the Meta's re-purposed suit has been patented by the Chairman under the name "M374: Hephaestus Combat Suit". Fittingly, Hephaestus is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metals, fire and volcanoes; the former two referencing how the suit has been re-crafted to suit the Chairman's needs and how Sigma re-purposed Maine into a tool for his own needs, and the latter two referencing Sigma himself (as an entity resembling fire) and Charon, the ferryman who ferried people to Hades (hell), a place typically associated with fire in modern depictions.
 * "M374" is also a reference to the original owner of the armor, the Meta; the "374" being common accepted number replacements for the letters "E", "T" and "A" respectively.
 * It's shown in The Sarcophagus that Maine has a fear of heights. This is somewhat ironic considering he appears to be by far the tallest Freelancer shown in the past scenes of the Project Freelancer Saga. It's worthy to note he would eventually fall to his death and drown.
 * Coincidentally, Sarge is also afraid of heights due to his time spent as an ODST, and Doc later develops a fear of heights in The End thanks to the Reds and Blues' reckless flying skills; both are characters also voiced by Matt Hullum.
 * The Meta lost to Agent Carolina in the 64th episode of Screwattack's hit series Death Battle.
 * The Meta's enslavement to the A.I. fragments proved to be the main factor in his loss, as he was completely overwhelmed by the voices of the fragments; as well as his excessive use of his armor enhancements drained power; and Agent Carolina's armor enhancement and martial arts were able to counter that of The Meta's.