Halo 5: That mysterious character is not Cortana

The mysterious blue-visored character featured opposite Master Chief in the recently released image for Halo 5: Guardians is not Cortana or Sarah Palmer, a Spartan soldier from Halo 4 and Halo: Spartan Assault. Executive producer for the Halo series at developer 343 Industries, Josh Holmes, wrote on Twitter today that this person is actually an entirely new male character.

"For everyone speculating about the mysterious Spartan in Halo 5: Guardians, he’s not Palmer (or Cortana!). He’s a NEW character," Holmes wrote.

Who could it be? Holmes didn't say. Halo 5: Guardians was only just announced today, and apart from some technical and high-level details, 343 Industries isn't saying much about it.

The single (non-concept art) image released so far for Halo 5: Guardians gives fans of the series a lot to think about. Why is Master Chief featured on the bottom, with the new character up top? Is Microsoft in some way trying to tell us something by positioning the characters that way?

It's too early to know for sure, but Microsoft says it will talk about something Halo-related during its E3 2014 press conference on Monday, June 9. Halo 5: Guardians launches fall 2015 exclusively for Xbox One.