One of the toughest foes (and eventually allies) of the game series, Elites are a highly intelligent, deeply spiritual species, equally competent as warriors and as communicators, and a core constituent of the Covenant alliance. Known as "Sangheili" in the fictitious Covenant language, they originate from the planet Sanghelios. They are approximately tall, long-limbed, and muscular, generally with deep blue or purple skin and large, dorsoventrally lengthened heads. The Elites initially had simple mouths, which later developed into pairs of split mandibles substituting for the lower jaws. Bungie concept artist Shi Kai Wang noted that project lead Jason Jones had, at one point, been insistent on giving the Elites a tail. While Wang thought it made the aliens look too animalistic, the idea was eventually dropped due to practical considerations, including where the tail would go when the Elites were driving vehicles. "At one point, we considered just having the Elites tuck their tails forward, between their legs," Wang noted, "But abandoned that... for obvious reasons." According to Paul Russel, when Bungie was bought by Microsoft and "Halo" was turned into an Xbox launch title, Microsoft took issue with the design of the Elites, as they felt that the Elites had a resemblance to cats that might alienate Japanese consumers.