Since Halo: Reach has come out, people have wondered what exactly these rare, golden Ranger Elites actually are meant for, and quite simply, what they do. BOB is the strongest Elite in the campaign, and killing him yields rewards. Killing a BOB gives you a unique medal on Bungie.net called Seek and Destroy. The description of this medal tells you to quite simply, "wipe them out."
These Elites are hidden throughout every single campaign mission. Exodus and New Alexandria have no walking BOBs found yet, but instead they do have many unique locations for Banshee BOBs. Banshee BOBs can be hijacked only on New Alexandria after activating the Pelican and Phantom Easter Egg switch. When you jack a Banshee BOB, or destroy one, no enemy comes out of them. They are registered as Banshee BOBs and do count as a BOB kill but instead you don't get a medal for killing them. This is proved through the weekly challenge on the 19th of January which told us to kill the BOB in a Banshee flying fast and low on New Alexandria. Click here for proof and challenge information
"Walking" BOBs have unique spawns on every campaign mission, and some even spawn behind you for a few seconds as you progress through some of the missions. BOBs don't stay around for long, they disappear in thin air if you don't kill them quick enough or you wait too long to engage them. They are very strong, and on Legendary they can take multiple Laser blasts and get sniped over five times without even dying. They are not to be taken lightly. They are unique in their coloring and they tend to flee from every and all battles.
BOBs have many rumors surrounding them. Some say they are simply a reference Easter Egg to the BOBs from Marathon. Some say that they, when killed in certain order, unlock the infamous "BOB" Helmet. Some say that they do something, we just don't know what yet. Either way, killing BOBs is challenging, and hunting them down, is pretty fun. They appear on all difficulties, though some only appear on Legendary. The BOB helmet origin started when IGN visited 343 and pictures of the helmet below appeared.
The helmet seen above was seen in Bungies armory on July 7th, 2011 while they were livestreaming Bungie vs The World. Any previous theories of it not being on the disc are all false. Bungie wasn't playing on any different Xboxs than anyone else and they had the same Halo: Reach disc we do, except they can unlock any armor as they please do to them being the creators of the game.
For those of you who want to search for BOBs, or just want some extra fun in the campaign, the following videos, which aren't mine, will aid you in doing so. Keep an eye on this page as it will be updated frequently with more BOB information and more BOB locations!
