Characters / Destiny The Guardians

Main Character Index | Active Guardians (Historical Guardians | Guardian Classes | Uldren Sov/The Crow and Glint) | The Tower | The Reef | The Fallen (House of Devils) | The Cabal | The Vex | The Darkness (The Hive | The Taken | The Scorn) | Other Characters and EntitiesThis page details both your playable character and the Guardians still in active service.

Beware of unmarked spoilers.

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Guardians

The Guardians of the Last City

Voiced by: Matthew Mercer (Human Male), Crispin Freeman (Awoken Male), Peter Jessop (Exo Male), Susan Eisenberg (Human Female), Grey DeLisle (credited as Grey Griffin; Awoken Female), Cree Summer (Exo Female)

"The Guardians who lead the way will save humanity — and become legend."

Sometime in the distant past of Destiny, the arrival of the Traveler marked a rapid rise of technological expansion, and thus a new Golden Age began for the human race. Within decades, humans were able to colonize and populate many of the planets within the Solar System, and even go beyond. However, this would not last, for some unknown force managed to transform much of what was gained into ruin, and the human race had to return to the Last City on Earth or face extinction.

Hundreds of years after the cataclysm, the human race is equipped once more with the technological arsenal that the Traveler provides. A chosen few among the many left on the planet have been deemed Guardians (Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans), which are bestowed with magic-like powers to strengthen their forces. On Earth or across the solar system, the human race is once more ready to take back what is rightfully theirs.

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• Ace Pilot: Considering that every Guardian has a Jumpship, this should be expected. This comes into the fore when your Guardian tries to infiltrate Oryx's dreadnought to take out the Wave-Motion Gun.
• The Ageless: There has never been an instance of a Guardian weakening or dying of old age, with even the oldest among their number still remaining in their physical and mental prime despite having been alive for centuries.
• Action Girl: Female Guardians, naturally.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's never stated why Guardians are resurrected without their memories. There are numerous theories, but no one has figured out the exact answer. The Final Shape finally answers this - the first race to wield the Light eventually underwent a schism in which one faction, which would eventually fuse into the Witness, suggested using their powers to selectively cut off any memories that would prove the Witness wrong. The Traveler learned from this and completely erased the memories of everyone they resurrected so that they would always be open to new possibilities.
• Attack Its Weak Point: There's only one real weak point in any Guardian: their Ghost. If the Ghost is captured, destroyed, or has its Light stolen, the Guardian cannot be resurrected. Trying to take a Guardian's Ghost is considered justification for use of lethal force. Also, anything that directly targets the Guardian's own Light, such as Crota's Sword, can permanently kill a Guardian. The Cabal notes that unless the ghost is exposed, that Guardians are more or less unstoppable to Cabal and nothing short of an orbital bombardment is sufficient from destroying a Guardian and its ghost conventionally.
• Back from the Brink: At the end of the main campaign of Destiny 2. The Guardians were depowered and nearly wiped out, and many were killed without their Ghosts or the ability to resurrect. Two entire Titan orders were destroyed, and many other Guardians were slain in other battles, most notably on Titan. But despite these losses, the City managed to push back and retake their home and the Guardians restored their powers.
• Back from the Dead: This is the primary method by which you get recruited as a Guardian — a Ghost identifies a Light-compatible corpse somewhere in the human-held solar system, and then revives it as a new servant for the Traveler. Some Guardians appear to have got their Ghosts differently (Ikora Rey, for example, was apparently alive during the Golden Age, when no Ghosts existed, and yet shows none of the signs of the usual memory loss brought about by reanimation, or Shin Malphur, who inherited his Ghost and the Last Word from his mentor Jaren Ward), but that's how things normally go.
• Beware the Silly Ones: The Guardians as a whole have built a reputation for being goofballs off (and on) the battlefield. But do not let their silliness fool you. Each and every one of their number is a deadly warrior, fueled by untold supernatural power and with an unfathomable body count behind each and every one of them. If you give them cause to, they will declare war on you, and you will lose.
• Badass Army: Despite their many quirks and relatively small size overall, they are the best fighting force in the Solar System bar none (and one of the best in the universe as a whole), each one of their number capable of routing entire armies and slaying eldritch gods on their own.
• Badass Biker: Their preferred method of covering ground quickly are their Sparrows, pulling crazy stunts on them even the heat of battle.
• Berserk Button: Do not, under ANY circumstances, try and attack a Guardian's Ghost. It will end poorly for you.
• Brought Down to Badass: Every Guardian went through this after being stripped of their powers following the sacking of the Last City by the Cabal Red Legion; they may not have space-magic or the ability to resurrect themselves after death anymore, but they're all still highly capable soldiers and warriors with potentially centuries of experience behind them. And any Guardians willing to make the pilgrimage to the European Dead Zone will find that the shards of the Traveler that landed there are more than capable of re-powering them, making this a temporary state of being.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Guardians are humanity's greatest warriors and last hope of survival. Cabal field reports also show that they enjoy dancing and doing stunts on their Sparrows after combat, and the Owl Sector reports mentions that the Guardians' "heads are cooked by the Light" and that they're often dancing for no reason in the Tower plaza. Cayde-6 also complains that Guardians are constantly standing on his table. Folds into What the Hell, Player?, as it is indicative of how people actually play the game.
• Came Back Strong: Whatever they were, it's unlikely they were as powerful as they are now.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Guardians have a strange obsession with growing more powerful, gathering materials and tools, and growing via new experiences and rewards. Essentially, they behave like your typical MMO Player Character. In Forsaken, one lore tab discusses an Awoken Guardian who once lived in the Reef and was revived and then captured and brought back by Uldren.
  And Savin was most of all greedy — not in the grasping manner of the petty, but in an enormous, all-consuming way, for he desired materials and experiences that would temper him into a better Guardian, and he was always experimenting with his strange powers in foolish ways that left him briefly dead, seeking "a new Super ability" or "some way to make my grenades faster." He grew tired of performing trivial tasks about the Reef, complaining that the dangerous repairs he made were endless and boring, and that he wanted to move on to new worlds. He leapt into space, repeatedly and without reason, as if his death were no more traumatic than a hop off a curb.
• Combat Medic: Any Guardian with an Exotic armor piece that enables fast revival (both for themselves and other Guardians) can be seen as this...however, this better fits a Defender Titan that isn't rolling "Weapons of Light".
• Cool Bike: The Sparrow counts. It's got no weapons, and it's not well-armored, but it is still capable of Car Fu. Some Guardians can use it to ram some helpless victim, or park it in the middle of a crowd to shoot it as an improvised explosive.
• Cool Ship: The Jumpship is probably what one would consider a heavy fighter.
• Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Generally, Guardians don't have to worry about death other than for the time it takes for their Ghosts to resurrect them. As long as they have an intact and functional Ghost they'll be fine. The few moments where this is averted are generally Played for Drama, especially after the Cabal Red Legion cuts off access to the light during their attack on the City. According to Zavala, hundreds of Guardians died permanently trying to defend the City from the Cabal, and the loss of their Ghosts in the process made a huge blow to morale across the system.
  • While death is temporary for Guardians, the experience is still painful and unpleasant, and being brought back won't necessarily cure whatever killed them. The Drifter mentions how in the days immediately after the Collapse, where he was one of the first Guardians, he repeatedly starved to death only to be brought back by his Ghost while still on the brink of starvation.
• The Dreaded: The Guardians are feared among all of their enemies in the system, and for good reason. A single Guardian can fell dozens of foes, and a small team of them can slaughter entire armies and defeat the mightiest weapons and depopulate entire pantheons of gods wielding literal dark magical powers. They're so terrifying that the Guardians even frighten the emotionless Vex. Failsafe says that the Vex term for Guardians translates into "those who wield what we cannot predict."
• Dark Is Not Evil: As of Beyond Light, the Guardians are gifted with Stasis by the Darkness. Yet, despite the occasional incident, they’re still just as dedicated to protecting the Last City even with their newfound dark powers.
• Double Jump: All three classes are able to perform this with the actual mechanism of doing so depending on the class.
• Due to the Dead: It wasn't made explicitly clear at first but the Iron Banner is a partly a memorial event to honor the Iron Lords who have died a long time ago. It's an occasion so serious that Lord Shaxx and Lord Saladin put aside their differences and work together to hold it. (Of course it helps that the Speaker and the City's leaders essentially ordered them to.)
• Fallen Hero: It's rare, but sometimes this happens to unfortunate Guardians. One such example would be Dredgen Yor, who fell to the Darkness and was also the bearer of Thorn, a cursed and Obviously Evil revolver. The other would be Kabr, the Legionless, who became obsessed with the Vex and was 'consumed' by the Vault of Glass. Early Guardians during the Dark Age, however, were as often brutal and selfish warlords as they were heroic protectors, until the Iron Lords put an end to that.
  • In an alternate timeline, according to the Exo Stranger, almost every Guardian would give in to the temptations of the Darkness, ultimately leading to a second Collapse.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Downplayed by the amount of gunplay on all sides, but this is essentially the main classes, in order of Titan, Warlock, Hunter.
• Friendly Rivalry: Some of the item descriptions imply that the Hunters and Warlocks are this for each other. Also, the way Ikora and Cayde riff on each other implies this. It's never insulting, more just innocent ribbing.

  Cayde: Ikora, if you tell me this is another one of your practical jokes... well, it kills me to say it, but I'd be really impressed.
  Ikora: Impressing you, Cayde, is the easiest thing I'll do all day.

• Functional Magic: Thanks to the influence of the Traveler, the Guardians are able to harness ethereal powers.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Beyond having their resurrection mechanics tied into their powers, lore books and items descriptions show that the Guardians really do act like players would - they obsess over loot, put far more time than is necessary into appearances, and according to Cayde, they really do stand on his table.
• Glass Cannon: Compared with their enemies, Guardians are very fragile, with even the mighty Titans being relatively easy to kill. This is balanced out by the fact that Guardians carry weapons and powers that do incredible amounts of damage per shot. This is especially noticeable if you sit back and watch enemy factions fight; a battle between the Vex and Fallen or the Cabal and Hive will be a long, drawn-out slugfest, with weapons that would kill a Guardian in seconds bouncing off enemy armor and shields... but when you step in, you'll often tear through both sides. This is especially jarring when they're commonly using what amounts to salvaged Kalashnikovs, bolt-action rifles, and other haphazard kitbashes versus cutting edge alien armor and barrier tech.
• Humanoid Abomination: To put it bluntly, Guardians are resurrected corpses imbued with alien energy by the servants of a dead or dying god, dying is such an annoyance to them that some of them disarm mines by stepping on them, or shoot themselves in the head For Science! and record their experiences, and they can channel bizarre energy at a moment's notice, warping gravity with a thought.
• Humans Are Cthulhu: Look at it from the perspective of the Cabal or Fallen — they're smaller than you, they use powerful weaponry that looks like tech you moved past a long time ago, their technology is inscrutable... and death often seems like a minor annoyance to them. They can break the laws of physics on a whim, and gravity seems to ignore them more often than not. The Fallen even explicitly call the Guardians "ghouls", and say that they're sent out "to murder our Primes, starve our ether, and leave our young to die gasping".
• Implacable Man: Guardians possess a Healing Factor, so they can shrug off punishment severe enough to undoubtably maim or kill normal human beings so long as they don’t take too much in a short amount of time, and while it’s technically possible to kill a Guardian, their Ghost will ensure that it only sticks for half a minute at best or several seconds at worst. The only way to render Guardians vulnerable to a true death is to kill their Ghost, which is easier said than done due to the sheer protectiveness their Guardian has over them, as well as the fact that Ghosts tend to hide during firefights to make themselves less of an easy target. In all, if you have a Guardian hunting you, the only way you’ll be able to survive is either getting lucky, or carpet-bombing the area they’re in until it’s entirely levelled.
• Latex Space Suit: All Guardians start out with variants of the same basic tight-fitting environmentally-sealed suit, with some class-specific accessories.^note (Titans have helmets and a breastplate, Hunters have masks and scarves, Warlocks have helmets and coats.) Later gear diverges, but all still maintain tight-fitting sealed undersuits beneath whatever else they have.
• Limit Break: All Guardians unlock their Super Abilities once their Subclass has reached level 4. What they do, vary on both your main class and subclass chosen.
• Loss of Identity: Guardians have very little memory of who they were before a Ghost resurrected them. They may recall bits and pieces, and Exo Guardians in particular have fragments of who they once were (with Ana Bray and Cayde-6 being the best at remembering who they were). There's an entire order of Guardians, the Thanatonauts, who try to recover memories of their past by killing themselves and having their Ghosts revive them, and in the process pulling bits of memory from who they once were.
  • A lore fragment from Forsaken reveals that Eris Morn is naturally (or as close as anything Guardian-related comes to being natural) recovering her memories since her Ghost was destroyed. She claims that it happens to all former Guardians in such circumstances, which suggests that the Traveller might want its Chosen to be blank slates...
• Mage Marksman: All Guardians qualify, to varying degrees courtesy of the Traveller's influence. Warlocks are just most upfront about the "Mage" part.
• Magic Knight: Along with Mage Marksman above, they can also qualify as this, especially if they are packing a sword. Some of their Supers can also edge them into this territory at times if it involves creating a melee weapon out of Light before going to town on their targets. Examples being Titans using Burning Maul, Hammer Of Sol or Sentinel Shield, Hunters using Arc Staff and to a lesser degree Spectral Blades, and Warlocks using Daybreak.
• Magitek: Most Guardian equipment is fairly conventional, if advanced, technology. However, many of the more precious and rare examples are those which have built-in channels for the Guardian's own Light. As it is worn and fought in, the adaptive nature of the Light gradually improves it, building its legend and becoming powerful in ways that transcend the mundane.
• Mildly Military: The Guardians have a very loose command structure, at best. In fact, most of the Guardians' organization and activities are built around the idea that most of the Guardians are too independently minded to be effectively commanded and that many are driven by the need for loot, personal advancement, and facing greater challenges.
  • The Vanguard is ostensibly the Guardians' leadership, but they don't actually do much in the way of commanding the Guardians unless there's a major battle ongoing, such as the Battle of Twilight Gap or the abortive assault on the Moon. Instead, the Vanguard and other Tower officials tend to find high-value targets and organize missions, then point any available Guardians in the immediate area at the target in question and let them deal with it. A lot of the time, Guardians are enticed to go after a particular target specifically because the Vanguard is offering a nice bounty on that enemy or information.
  • In order to claim strategically valuable areas, Lord Shaxx figured out a clever way to ensure that there's always Guardians around to hold that ground: by having Crucible matches take place there. Several strategic sites, from Fallen bases to Cabal outposts to a foothold in the Black Garden itself are all protected by the Guardians who are constantly duking it out over those sites. Similarly, the Queen realized that the easiest way to get extra Guardian muscle in the Reef to help fight the House of Wolves was to simply open up the Prison of Elders as an arena, and Guardians poured in to fight for loot and glory.
  • The use of the various currencies and faction reputations is pretty much explicitly said to be incentives to get Guardians to do whatever needs to be done. Vanguard marks, for example, are specifically awarded for doing missions and tasks that the Vanguard need doing, and are specifically there to ensure that the most useful Guardians get access to the best equipment. Other factions, as well as the Crucible and the Queen, reward Guardians for doing what they want with gear as well.
  • The Speaker outright compares the Guardians to knights-errant in Osiris's Grimoire card. The Guardians ultimate duty is to protect humanity and fight the Darkness, but that statement is so open to interpretation that this allows them to proceed how they want. The Speaker does expect them to guide refugees they find out in the wild back to the City and focus on immediate threats to the City like the Fallen and the Hive, but as long as they take those priorities as foremost, the Speaker doesn't care how they achieve those goals.
  • In the Destiny 2 trailer, after failing to get any of the Guardians fired up with his... lackluster speech, Cayde manages to get the Guardians cheering by promising them "A ton of loot!"
  • Ghaul calls the Guardians out on their lack of discipline and how they only hold the Wall, accusing them of not being brave, but rather simply not having a fear of death, unlike the grimly stoic and highly-disciplined Cabal.
  • The entire point behind the Crucible is to train the Guardians in deadly warfare with the most dangerous enemies that they can fight: each other. Since Guardians are unreliable at best, with only Titans being anything close to a conventional military, no one expects them to do things like training. Instead, Shaxx arranged Crucible matches as live-fire combat training and set them up as public spectacles with gear rewards and glory to ensure that Guardians will always be fighting to keep themselves sharp.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: While the majority of Guardians are warriors dedicated to the protection of the City through various means, there are numerous cases of renegade Guardians, such as Dredgen Yor and his Shadows, as well as a rumored colony of pacifist Guardians that Lady Efrideet lived among for a time. Many Warlocks spend more time researching than fighting, only rarely venturing into the field.
• One-Man Army: Oftentimes Guardians will find themselves battling hordes of enemies alone. Even if you play alone without ever joining up with other Guardians, your character will singlehandedly kill thousands of enemies over the course of the story campaign. To hammer it home, one late-game mission has you assaulting the Cabal at the heart of their military strength in the Exclusion Zone, complete with multiple ambushes by hordes of Cabal soldiers, and you can singlehandedly shoot your way through all of them.
  • Exemplified in Strikes and Raids. In the former, a small team of Guardians go up against terribly powerful enemies and slaughter their way through small armies of their defenders. In the latter, a small force of at most six Guardians (and in extreme cases, one superbly well-armed and badass Guardian) go up against colossal opponents and massive bosses in the heart of their power. The Crota's End Raid has you charging into the home of, challenging, and slaying a god of the Hive who personally killed thousands of Guardians in a single battle. King's fall then has you take on the aforementioned god's father in his throne world and put a permanent end to him as well.
• Our Liches Are Different: To put it simply, a Guardian is made when a Ghost finds a corpse (normally skeletonized by that point) that is capable of holding the Traveler's Light, and then resurrects them to fight for the Last City. Their Ghosts are also their Soul Jar, and the only way to effectively kill a Guardian is to destroy their Ghost (no lean feat given how small a target they are and how viciously Guardians protect them) or to drain the Light from them (relics like Crota's Sword are capable of this). Destiny 2 shows that the Light isn't keeping the Guardians alive either, unlike classical depictions of liches, as Dominus Ghaul cutting off their access only crippled them by removing their powers and ability to resurrect.
• Out of Continues: So long as a Guardian's Ghost is alive and has access to the Light, a Guardian can indefinitely bounce back from all manner of death. If their Light is suppressed, or the Ghost is destroyed, there is a very real risk of being Killed Off for Real if they aren't careful.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Regardless of what their enemies throw at them, soldiers, snipers, tanks, warships, they will all end up as twisted wreckage when all is said and done. And that’s what they can do with just average firearms/swords. When they start using their Supers, people encounter things like giant lasers of death, exploding fire hammers, and a downpour of molten knives, at which point the situation for most goes from “unsalvageable” to “oh god oh god run for your lives”.
• The Paladin: What most modern Guardians are, although only Titans look the part. The resurrected, Light-empowered people who were first resurrected by Ghosts immediately after the Collapse were a different matter, being a mix between noble heroes like the Iron Lords and tyrannical warlords and thugs abusing their powers.
• The Purge: Following their de-powering after getting cut off from the Traveler by the Cabal Red Legion, the Cabal made it a point to murder any Guardian they came across. Unlike typical Cabal strategy for killing Guardians via Orbital Bombardment, a few bullets will do since the Ghosts can't resurrect their Guardians without the light. After fleeing the City, you come across an encampment of dead Guardians without their Ghosts, showing how real the threat of death is now after taking your Resurrective Immortality for granted.
• Rage Quit: Without targeting their Ghosts or using exotic weaponry, the only real way to stop a Guardian is to frustrate them into giving up. Early in the Iron Lords' campaigns, they could only defeat the various warlords and their Light-blessed thugs in battle by digging into strong defensive positions and exchanging fire until the warlords finally just gave up and retreated.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Cayde-6 explicitly calls them this during the reveal trailer for Destiny 2.

  Cayde-6: Ok, so... you're all a buncha dirty misfits, but you're all that's left, so you'll have to do.

• Reality Warper: Comes with using such a paracasual power as Light, but a specific example is when Failsafe observes the Last Wish Raid team defeat Morgeth, stating that 37 different laws of physics were defied in that encounter alone.
• Red Baron: They get several nicknames over the course of the games such as "Crota's End" after Saint-14 sees them accomplishing this through Vex technology, though their official titles are the Young Wolf (if players completed the Rise of Iron campaign and imported their character to Destiny 2) and the Hero of the Red War for having freed the Traveler and defeating Ghaul and his Red Legion.
• Redshirt Army: The majority of the Guardians aren't actually anywhere near as powerful as the player characters. In fact, some tend to fall to enemies that the player would easily defeat. Quest descriptions indicate that the player is exceptional and as strong — if not moreso — than many of the legendary Guardians of the past. Most of the less-powerful Guardians tend to do missions that are more limited, like patrolling the wilderness, maintaining patrol beacon networks, manning the Wall defenses, reconnoitering enemy positions, policing the City, or doing research, while the more powerful ones (i.e. player Guardians) conduct high-risk missions, strikes, and raids.
• Resurrective Immortality: Guardians seem to constantly come back from the dead, provided that their Ghost is still functioning. This point is driven home on the very first Moon Story Mission, where a Guardian is completely dead with his Ghost missing.
  • The lore has other instances of Guardians permanently dying, often against the Hive and their Light-draining powers. Petra Venj's Grimoire card says that she was disgraced after she ordered an airstrike on a Fallen position that was being attacked by Guardians. The Guardians and their Ghosts were destroyed by her bombs, and the City was justifiably outraged.
  • The Vex can kill Guardians permanently by trapping them in area where their link to the Traveler is cut off, like the Vault of Glass or the Black Garden. Once those Guardians are trapped, the Vex can either leave them there (in the case of Praedyth) or just keep throwing units at them until their Light is fully expended (in the case of Tevis Larson). Toland's journal backs this up, where he says that certain interdimensional places, like the Hive gods' sword-spaces and Oryx's Dreadnaught, will cut off the link to the Traveler, leaving Guardians as "dying suns."
  • At one point during the City Age, there was a violent civil war between Guardians backing two different sides vying for control of the City. Once the faction that would form the current Consensus was victorious, the only thing they could do with the Guardians who backed the losers was exile them, since they couldn't kill them and didn't want to destroy the irreplaceable Ghosts.
• Screw Destiny: Explicit in the final stage of the Vault of Glass raid, where you're fighting a Vex war machine that comes from multiple timelines where the Vex have achieved total victory. Once you gain the massive buff that lets you do tremendous damage and gain near-instant cooldowns, you get a new message: "Guardians make their own fate." As it turns out, Guardians, in general, tend to screw with Vex predictions and prophecies due to their paracausal nature.
  • The Vex are believed to be trying to weaponize this aspect of the Guardians. Every timeline they've created always ends in the same result, where they are consumed by the Darkness, and they want to find a way out of this end. The Guardians' Light, and it's paracausal effects, gives them the ability to defy Vex predictive models and may grant them a way to escape their otherwise inevitable destruction or enslavement to the Darkness.^note For example, it's heavily implied that the Vex's Dark Future seen in Curse Of Osiris comes about because Panoptes successfully kidnaps Sagira and uses her light to destroy both the Light and the Darkness. This is thankfully averted by the Young Wolf and Osiris destroying Panoptes.
• Skewed Priorities: While it's their duty to defend the traveler and the last city, everyone knows that the surest way to get a Guardian's help is the promise of loot. Played for laughs in the "Rally the Troops" trailer where despite utterly failing to inspire anyone Cayde is able to motive them with the mere promise of loot.
• The Sleepless: Implied by the flavor text of an item from Destiny 2.
• Theme Naming: All subclass fragments are named after an object or sound relating to their element.
  • Arc Fragments are referred to as Sparks.
  • Solar Fragments are known as Embers.
  • Stasis Fragments are denoted as Whispers.
  • Strand Fragments are named Threads.
  • Void Fragments are called Echoes.
• Training from Hell: To Shaxx training Guardians is all about team or single combat with live ammunition and full use of super powers, there is no holding back in the crucible and unless it's a complete annihilation of the other team Shaxx will tell Guardians to show no mercy even to new Guardians. Justified in that Guardian numbers are slim as it is and that if new Guardians cannot survive and thrive in the crucible then they have no hope against the Darkness itself where there is actual stakes.
• Transhuman Treachery: Early Guardians weren't the heroic figures that they are today. Most of them were brutal warlords who were drunk on their own Light and power and their immortality. It wasn't until the Iron Lords came around and started either convincing or killing the warlords (via destroying their Ghosts) that the Guardians as we know them started to appear.
• Tron Lines: Any Guardian equipped with gear that has a Chroma will have them.
• Your Normal Is Our Taboo: It is generally a taboo subject among Guardians to search out information about one's past before their rebirth, both because this can cause issues with loyalties and to prevent Guardians who should be protecting the City from wasting time on a likely-fruitless search for their pasts, as most clues on their history would have been lost in the Collapse anyway. That doesn't stop the Thanatonauts from searching for clues in their pasts through suicide and resurrection, and some Guardians, such as Cayde-6 and Ana Bray, do still have connections to their pasts and try to remember what they can.

Classes

See the Guardian Classes page.

Player Character

The Guardian / "The Young Wolf"

"The Young Wolf"

Voiced by: Matthew Mercer (Human Male), Crispin Freeman (Awoken Male), Peter Jessop (Exo Male), Susan Eisenberg (Human Female), Grey DeLisle (credited as Grey Griffin; Awoken Female), Cree Summer (Exo Female)

The player Guardian, revived by their Ghost on the outskirts of the Cosmodrome in Old Russia. While they start as a new Guardian, they quickly find themselves thrust into the heart of the Last City's struggle for survival against the Darkness.

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• The Assimilator: The Whisper of the Worm binds the Young Wolf to the Sword Logic after they finish pressing through a series of bizarre resurrective shenanigans brought on by Xol, making them this by definition. Gameplay-wise, though, considering how late in their career this happens, there's only one weapon that pays any respect to this new revelation, that being the Whisper of the Worm itself. In this case, the Young Wolf is assimilating the strength of the Taken inside the Grove of Ulan-Tan and feeding the Whisper of the Worm (which some believe is a vessel for an actual worm, running on bloodshed).
• Back from the Dead: You start the game being raised from the dead by your Ghost after being dead for who knows how long.
• Brought Down to Badass: In the second mission of Destiny 2, once Ghost manages to heal them, the Young Wolf is still able to kill dozens of Cabal War Beasts and a couple of Cabal soldiers, and then defeat several groups of Fallen scavengers. The fact that Ghost can continue to heal them as they take damage in combat (if they can stay out of enemy fire long enough) even though he can no longer resurrect them helps with this considerably.
• The Chosen One: In Destiny 2, the Young Wolf is the only Guardian who gets the vision that takes them to the European Dead Zone and the lost Traveler shard. It's implied that this is less because they were chosen beforehand, but because they're the most powerful Guardian in their time and thus the best bet the Traveler has to empower with a limited amount of Light that the shard possesses and defeat Ghaul. The Perfect Paradox's lore reveals that this is also the case for all of the first game, their coming prophesized by Saint-14 after he glimpsed the future through Vex tech.
• Deadpan Snarker: They seem to be this at times in story mode of Destiny 1. The sequel averts this however, with the Young Wolf rarely speaking and remaining relatively stoic throughout the entire game.
• Dark Is Not Evil: In Beyond Light, The Darkness gifts them with Stasis superpowers after they commune with it. However, despite this their occupation as protectors of humanity remains completely unchanged. Or at least, it does in this timeline. The Stranger recounts her story and reveals that all Guardians turned to Darkness in her timeline, spurring her to come to 'ours' to set things right.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The player character Guardians effectively end up taking down legendary opponents so powerful that they slew entire armies by themselves.
  • The culmination to main story campaign has you destroy the heart of the Black Garden, something so incomprehensible that the Vex's reaction to it was to worship it.
  • The base game's raid, "The Vault of Glass", has you taking down Atheon, the Axis Mind of the titular Vault who's in charge of developing a future where Vex supremacy is a rule of physics and can wipe their enemies from existence, a la Ret-Gone.
  • In The Dark Below, the raid "Crota's End" culminates in you killing Crota, who singlehandedly slew hundreds of Guardians in the last war for the Moon, is worshiped as a god by his spawn, and resides in a parallel dimension if your trip down the Hellmouth is any indication.
  • The Taken King one-ups them all with "King's Fall" by having you take on Oryx, Crota's father and the literal God-King of the Hive. Crota's personal universe? Oryx made that.
  • Rise of Iron features "Wrath of the Machine", where you face the worst of the Devil Splicer's creations, braving lethal amounts of SIVA corruption, and culminates with taking on Aksis, the machine god that is the mind behind SIVA's rampage.
  • Initially the fight against Dominus Ghaul looked like this, since you're trying to kill a Cabal Dominus who is the only antagonistic being empowered by the Light you've ever faced and can use all three forms of the Light at once, but it winds up getting subverted. After killing Ghaul in the fight he resurrects himself as a massive being made of pure Light, mocking the Traveler as he declares himself a god. Then the Traveler wakes up, breaks the cage Ghaul put on it, and proves that sometimes it takes Cthulhu to punch out Cthulhu.
  • Curse of Osiris ends with you taking on Panoptes, the Axis Mind that transformed Mercury and is in control of the Infinite Forest, with the Raid Lair pitting you against Argos, the single largest Hydra faced yet and the very core of Nessus.
  • Warmind has you take out Nokris, another of Oryx's children, and Xol, one of the Worm Gods worshipped by the Hive, preventing a plot to eliminate the powerful Warmind Rasputin in the process. Sure, it turned out to be a fake Xol, but points for trying.
  • In Forsaken, you face down not just the very last Ahamkara but a Taken Ahamkara as well as Queen Mara Sov's Taken Techeuns (Takeuns?), and all of the fights you will face in the Dreaming City are part of a "Groundhog Day" Loop orchestrated by whomever set up the events of the expansion. Confirmed to be the handiwork of Savathûn, as of Season of the Lost. Or she's claiming she did it anyway.
  • Next on the checklist? Savathûn, the Witch Queen herself. Granted, the Young Wolf has to go through a lot of hoops to weaken her ever since she became the first-ever Hive Guardian and you throw off her A-game by pissing her off by revealing how she was deceived by the forces of Darkness, and that her supposed clever ploy to "take" the Light of the Traveler was actually freely given, as was the plan the whole time. Savathûn's Villainous Breakdown leaves her open to be defeated by the Young Wolf, leaving only Xivu Arath and whatever relatives of the Taken King are left^note However, since Savathûn 'is'' a Hive Guardian now, there's always the possibility she will come back since her Ghost Immaru is still running around.
  • Shortly after that, they add Rhulk, the First Disciple, a direct servant of the Darkness to the list of Cthulhus that they have punched out.
  • And then, Lightfall adds two more disciples to that list - Emperor Calus and Nezarec. It is worth noting however, that aside from Calus, all disciples they have slain gave not only been in fireteams, but in raids which require them using advanced mechanics to render their enemies vulnerable - reversing the Upended in Rhulk's case, and countering Nezarec with the Essence's light/darkness.
• The Dreaded: All Guardians are this to the Fallen, but The Young Wolf is probably their greatest enemy, especially by the time Rise of Iron rolls around. The destruction of Sepiks Prime in particular made them the House of Devil's worst nightmare and public enemy #1.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Two whole years after forging Outbreak Prime, we learn that it wasn't destroyed in the attack on the old Tower; in fact, it's still capable of producing new nanites. Twenty months of disuse doesn't play nice with the City at all, causing the Cryptarch vaults to enter quarantine from its evolution into Outbreak Perfected, and nearly restarting the SIVA Crisis after Eramis's Fallen learn about this and go to steal it. Had Mithrax not intervened, the Young Wolf's own creation might have started another war.
• Fallen Hero: In an alternate timeline, according to the Exo Stranger, the Young Wolf was among the many Guardians who gave in to the temptations of the Darkness.
• The Ghost: Pardoning the pun, if the player doesn't import a save from Destiny 1 into 2 then they play as a different Guardian and the Young Wolf goes unmentioned though their exploits are spoken of.
• Heroic Mime: In Destiny 2, the player rarely speaks, with Ghost handling all of the dialogue with other characters. It gets lampshaded on Nessus, where the player's Guardian gets annoyed at Ghost for cutting them off when replying to Cayde-6. Finally subverted after the first mission of the Forsaken expansion (and beyond), which has the Young Wolf, not their Ghost but the PC themselves, swearing vengeance on Uldren Sov, because now...
• It's Personal: After Uldren shoots Cayde after disabling his Ghost, it becomes clear that this is what motivates the player to begin hunting down the Scorn and Uldren.
• Living Legend: In three years over which the first game takes place, they become the most famous Guardian in the Tower and the one responsible for ushering in the Age of Triumph. They're no less prolific in the second game either.
  • During the first game's base questlines, while your Guardian is leveling up, your mentor will mention how exceptional you are compared to other Guardians, and Cayde will even say that some of the other Hunters don't believe you're real. Zavala explicitly says you're a legend that other Guardians are aspiring to match.
  • Your legend is so great that you're specifically tapped by Zavala to investigate the Cabal fleetbase on Phobos. Cayde personally selects you to lead the assault on the Dreadnaught, and the Vanguard have your Guardian spearhead each stage of the Taken War, culminating in you destroying the Echoes of Oryx on Venus, Mars, and Earth. Later, Zavala has you serve as the first response when Saladin calls for aid to protect the Iron Temple.
  • By the time of Destiny 2, your Guardian has become such a big deal that Holliday calls you "that Guardian (Zavala) won't shut up about." You're personally called up and pulled off the defense of the City to attack Dominus Ghaul's command ship. Passing by Lord Shaxx, he even calls you 'Saladin's Young Wolf.'
  • Whether you played a certain raid, questline, etc, or not the Player Guardian was canonically a member of the team that solved the problem. Which makes the lore a little messy to say the least.
• Made of Iron: Even without Light, the Young Wolf survives getting dumped off the side of Ghaul's command ship, albeit being critically injured and taking two days to wake up again.
• Naïve Newcomer: Given so many other Guardians have been carrying on the fight beforehand, it's interesting to note your character came out of proverbial nowhere.
• No Name Given: Given the memory loss that normally occurs when a Guardian is first resurrected, your character has no name and never picks one.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: After being called "Guardian" for the entire base game and all the expansions, Rise of Iron finally gives the player character a title: they are dubbed "The Young Wolf" by Lord Saladin when they become the first new Iron Lord. If one imports a Destiny 1 save into Destiny 2, characters will continue to address them as such on occasion, though "Guardian" is still used regardless most of the time.
  • Before the player character was resurrected, Saint-14 called them "Crota's End."
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Normally the Guardian is helpful and polite, and friendly if snarky to their Ghost (and in the case of the sequel, almost completely mute). Come Forsaken, where you're so bloodthirsty in your rampage against the Scorn in vengeance for Cayde that your Ghost is starting to worry about you and wish you'd go back to your old self.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Played with. The gender, and even the race, of the Guardian has no effect on gameplay. All it does is change your appearance, voice, and dance animation. However, there are some instances in Destiny 2 where your race does affect some dialogue choices, such as playing as an Exo and going to Europa, where an Exo facility is located.
• The Quiet One: The main character is barely a step up from a Heroic Mime, having a mere handful of spoken lines throughout the story. This is upgraded to Heroic Mime from The Dark Below and through to Destiny 2, where he or she doesn't even speak in cutscenes. A rare line by Ghost duing the "Cayde's Stash" mission in The Taken King expansion has him comment on how quiet the player is, and that they have a form of "neural symbiosis" that lets Ghost understand your thoughts.
  • This is averted ever so slightly in Forsaken when they tell Zavala and Ikora that they've got dibs on killing Uldren Sov. If the looks on both of their faces is anything to go by then the Young Wolf speaking has them both realizing just how murderously serious they are.
• Red Baron: "Hivebane", "The Young Wolf", "Hero of the Red War," Crota's End. They're also called the Guardian of Guardians by Calus according to the lore of Zenith of Your Kind.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Goes on one against the Scorn in retribution for them and Uldren Sov killing Cayde, slaughtering them so viciously that you start to make your Ghost very worried, and cause mental breakdowns in the Scorn Barons as you relentlessly hunt them across the system.
• These Hands Have Killed: Upon killing their first Ghost in The Witch Queen.
• Tranquil Fury: After Uldren kills Cayde-6, the Young Wolf proceeds to spend the rest of Forsaken in this state, only relenting when they and Petra finally corner and shoot him dead for his crimes.
  Young Wolf: You won’t have to. Uldren Sov...is mine.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In regards to their relationship with Uldren. In Forsaken, the Young Wolf was hellbent on killing Uldren and literally tore apart the Tangled Shore to get to him and murder him in retaliation for his murder of Cayde-6. In Season of the Hunt, after working with the Crow for the duration of the Season, they tell Spider to release him when the Spider offers the Young Wolf a reward for all their hard work. When a baffled Crow, who knows they know are aware of his past, asks why they asked for his release, the Young Wolf gives a simple response:
  Young Wolf: Because...you're a Guardian.
• What the Hell, Hero?: The events of "Beyond Light" have resulted in them using the Darkness in the form of stasis, which a few of their fellow Guardians react negatively. Zavala understands their fight fire with fire mentality but after the defeat of Kridis he wants to banned the use of stasis altogether; Shaw in a radio chatter is mad at the rogue Guardians for being reckless, but admits he should be more sympathetic due to the current situation; Saladin is furious that the player would resort to using Darkness in the first place and outright threatens that he'll kill them if they become corrupted.
• World's Strongest Man: In addition to being a Living Legend, they are repeatedly stated by other characters to be one of the most capable Guardians around. The player is explictly more powerful, lore-wise, than most other Guardians in large part due to being the Chosen One and also because the whole "Being a real person" thing means the universe works differently for us than it does for characters within the game.

Your Ghost

Ghost

Voiced by: Peter Dinklage (Destiny Year One), Nolan North (Destiny Year Two-Present)

Eyes up, Guardian! It worked, you're alive! You don't know how long I've been looking for you. I'm a Ghost. Actually, now I'm your Ghost. And you... well, you've been dead a long time, so you're going to see a lot of things you won't understand.

The player character's Ghost, a robotic drone that resurrects them in the Cosmodrome in Russia and accompanies them throughout their journeys.

For general information on all Ghosts, see the Tower page.

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• A Dog Named "Dog": By virtue of being the player character's, he's only ever called "Ghost", as opposed to the named ghosts other characters possess.
• Beware the Nice Ones: In The Witch-Queen, he is adamant in the belief that the Lucent Brood's Ghosts deserved to be destroyed to a point that can only be described as ruthless.
• Butt-Monkey: He gets talked down by just anybody, gets physically abused a couple of times during Strikes, and is often locked out of the loop during a conversation. Oh, and he lives in your backpack.
• Cannot Spit It Out: The flavor text for The Thin Line notes that one of the many things he wants to say to you but can’t work up the nerve to is “I love you”.
• Deadpan Snarker: In the earlier parts of the game Ghost is less snarky and more expository. By the later expansions, he's turned the snark all the way up and is engaging in full banter with other characters.
  Ghost: (To Variks) You want him alive? What happened to "Kill them baaaaaaaaack?"
• Demoted to Extra: In The House of Wolves and The Dark Below expansions, Ghost has has no lines to speak, mostly because of the change in voice actors leading up to The Taken King.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Unlike other Ghosts like Sagira, your Ghost is not very fond of being called "Little Light".
  Ghost: Can't we stay here with all of the murderous robots?
  Guardian: No... Little Light.
  Ghost: Don't do that.
• Exposition Fairy: Floats by your side and offers commentary, often being the one to tell you something about the world around you and where you should go next.
• Extreme Doormat: He’s such a Nice Guy and likes you so much he can’t even bring himself to criticize you or object to your decisions. He’s clearly intensely uncomfortable with your behavior during the Forsaken questline, but just can’t work up the nerve to really say anything. The Drifter explicitly calls him out on this, wondering how he can be so spineless compared to his Guardian.
• Fairy Companion: While strictly speaking he's a mechanical Piece of God, he fits the gameplay role, being a small sidekick who does things like unlock doors and provide exposition to the main character.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: To say he's unable to understand why the Player is using Darkness in the first place is an understatement. Most of the time he's extremely worried about your well being and whether you're going doing the right thing using Stasis. It's not without merit considering what happended to Dredgen Yor, the Kentarch 3, and in an alternate timeline you did become corrupted.
• Grand Theft Me: Sagira, Ghost of the infamous Warlock Osiris, pulls this on your Ghost during your first excursion into the Infinite Forest.
  • Starting with Shadowkeep, the Darkness loves to hijack his shell as a convienient mouthpiece in order to speak to you directly when in the presence of of the Pyramids.
• Hidden Depths: For all his sweethearted Motor Mouth tendencies, the flavor text for The Line makes it clear he’s got a lot of emotional baggage pent up, especially after Cayde-6 dies and the Young Wolf goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Motor Mouth: The player's Ghost is relatively talkative compared with most other characters, with only Sagira being comparably chatty.
• Nice Guy: Your Ghost in particular is pretty friendly towards those who are on your side (even if he becomes frustrated with them sometimes) and expresses sadness for those who have suffered, such as Failsafe.
• Non-Action Guy: Ghosts aren’t combat-oriented anyways, but even by their standards he doesn’t really like danger.
• Non-Human Sidekick: To the player Guardian.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Normally Extreme Doormat and Nice Guy Ghost spends much of The Witch-Queen far angrier than he's ever been in respect to the existence of Hive Ghosts, especially once his suspicions are confirmed that each and every one of them joined the Lucent Brood of their own will, and demonstrates a merciless streak never before seen in him in his insistence that they deserve to be destroyed for betraying humanity and The Traveler.
• Our Angels Are Different: Functionally, he's a little robot space angel created to help humanity and carry out the divine will of a big robot space God.
• Pieces of God: He is one, as each Ghost is a fragment of the Traveler, formed and detached with the last of its strength, and each one carries a fragment of the Traveler's intelligence and power. Your Ghost admits that he doesn't know why he was made or what the Traveler itself even is, or how he knew you were "his" Guardian.
• Robot Buddy: His main role is to serve as your assistant, helping with data access, scanning objects, and unlocking doors. When the Ghost's shell is properly upgraded, it can use various support functions, such as seeking out resource nodes or increase the energy or glimmer you gain from defeating enemies.
• Soul Jar: He effectively serves as yours, until the Traveler's Light is cut off in Destiny 2, as he can resurrect you and heal you.
• Tempting Fate: Has a really bad habit of this:
  • During the Devil's Lair strike, the Ghost is trying to hack a security laser. After getting through the first layer, Ghost notes that the system is wired to something, but before he can say it, the alarm goes off, alerting more Fallen.
  • In the Summoning Pits strike, when the fireteam reaches Phogoth, Ghost notes that at least the Ogre is chained up. Moments after saying this, Phogoth rips his chains off and begins attacking directly. Ghost decides to shut up for the rest of the mission after that.
  • After easily hacking some Cabal locks, Ghost tries hacking a console. When it asks for an access key, Ghost replies that DOS is more complicated. Immediately after saying this, Ghost accidentally triggers a failsafe. Which in Cabal terms is alert several heavily armed squads to your location.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: At the beginning of the sixth cycle of the Dreaming City's curse, Ghost, growing weary of seeing our Guardian and the Awoken fight what amounts to a Hopeless War, vents his frustration at the then-unreachable Mara Sov, accusing her of withholding secrets and never answering questions while her people are suffering from the curse, then decrying her as a terrible ruler who's too wrapped up in her own affairs. Unfortunately for him, the Queen did listen to his rant, and returns the favour by violently lashing back at him during the sixth throne visit.
• This Cannot Be!: The Ghost's reaction upon seeing the resurrected Uldren Sov, accompanied by a Ghost no less, is stunned disbelief.
  Ghost: Impossible...
• Undying Loyalty: A trait that Ghost shares with the majority of other ghosts is that for better or worse he'll stick to his Guardian(you) no matter what, this ranges from exploring dangerous locales like the Moon or Venus to consorting with essentially enemy factions (Emperor Calus or at the time hostile Mara Sov).
  • Deconstructed by the time of Forsaken, as its increasingly pointed out that he’s so loyal to you he can’t even bring himself to object to bad decisions or behavior; despite obviously being very uncomfortable with the Young Wolf’s vicious revenge against the Scorn, he never so much as complains, nor makes any serious attempt to dissuade you from doing it.
  • This is lampshaded repeatedly in "Beyond Light". He's always by your side, even if you're using Darkness for the greater good despite being extremely leery about the process.
• Vocal Dissonance: In the introduction to Destiny 2, Ghost's voice is unexpectedly deeper and stronger and not mechanically filtered as he talks about how he met the player Guardian. As the scene progresses, and he finds the Guardian, it shifts to his higher-pitched, mechanically-filtered voice.
  • When the Darkness takes control of Ghost during the final mission of Shadowkeep, his voice is much deeper like before, but is now far more ominous with a touch of Creepy Monotone.

The Vanguard

The commanders of each Guardian class, the Vanguard report directly to the Speaker and coordinate Guardian operations.

Commander Zavala

Commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard

Voiced by: Lance Reddick (Destiny to Destiny 2: Lightfall), Keith David (Destiny 2: The Final Shape onward)

"Despite it all, here we are."

An Awoken Titan who serves as Commander of the Vanguard and leader of the City's standing forces, he mentors Titans who come to him. Once mentored by Lord Saladin Forge, Zavala has lived since the Dark Age and seen some of best and worst from all who live within the Sol System. His duty to defend the Last City from all threats takes constant priority in Zavala's mind.

His Ghost is Targe.

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• Action Survivor: Unlike the Young Wolf, Zavala didn't appear to naturally take to weapons when he was first resurrected by his Ghost, and was apparently just a long-dead pilot in a crashed spacecraft. He fought and died countless times while roaming the world before he found the Traveler, fashioning his own weapons and eventually acquiring old, discarded Golden Age weaponry, gradually transitioning into the mighty commander of the Vanguard seen in the games.
• An Arm and a Leg: In "The Dark Future" lore book detailing the Exo Stranger's Alternate Timeline. When Elsie-2 and Ana find him at the ruined remains of the Last City, they find him stripped of his light and missing a leg.
• The Apprentice: Although he never joined the Iron Lords, in his younger days Zavala was mentored and trained by Saladin at the Iron Temple.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Zavala is an unquestioned master of both the Striker and Defender Titan classes. Before the City was even built, he was fighting the Fallen and unleashing devastating examples of the Fist of Havoc on the invaders. When the Cabal invade the City in Destiny 2, he throws up a Ward of Dawn that withstands a direct bombardment from the Cabal fleet which is smashing the Wall and the Tower all around them.
• Bald of Authority: Zavala is a bald, well respected Vanguard commander who leads the City's standing forces and is portrayed as a Reasonable Authority Figure, acknowledging and rewarding the Guardians who complete missions for the Vanguard.
• Bearer of Bad News: When Sloane returns in Season of the Deep, Zavala has to fill her in on all that has happened to the City in the years she has been gone, including the loss of Amanda.
• Been There, Shaped History: Being Really 700 Years Old, he came to the City when it was just a conglomeration of tents, and he helped with the construction and expansion efforts of the City throughout the years while fighting in major battles like Six Fronts and Twilight Gap.
• Big Good: Shares this role with Ikora and Cayde following the Speaker's death during the Red War. He struggles with this role, as while he is an excellent strategist and warrior, Zavala has difficulty inspiring Guardians the same way Cayde or even Ikora can.
• Broken Pedestal: When the Traveler awoke at the end of the Red War, Zavala believed it to be a sign of a new Golden Age for humanity and was sure that it would protect them. By Season of Arrivals and the invasion of Pyramids across the solar system without any reaction from the Traveler, it is clear he no longer has any faith in it and has a growing anger about its seeming apathy. By The Witch Queen expansion, it's revealed Savathûn never stole the Light but in fact was blessed to be a Guardian by the Traveler after being Killed Off for Real which, finally has Zavala snap and scream his frustrations at his fellow Vanguard and the Traveler over the sheer absurdity of it and has borderline lost all faith in the Traveler.
• Brought Down to Badass: Even being drained of his Light, Zavala is still a deadly warrior. During the final battle in Destiny 2 to retake the City, he wrestles with a Cabal soldier twice his size, wrenches the gun in its hands around to shoot it in the head, and uses the same weapon — which is as long as he is tall — to shoot another Cabal.
• Celebrity Endorsement: Has a bunch of snacks endorsed under his name. Obviously something he doesn't want to have others know, as Cayde had to go find Ikora in order to unlock the entries for said snacks in the Vanguard database.^note The entries only unlock with majority approval from the three of them.
• The Comically Serious: In general, Zavala's seriousness gets played for humor when compared to all the not-so-serious characters around him (Cayde, Ikora, your Ghost, etc.).
  • His reactions to Eris Morn are pretty hilarious.
  Zavala: (in response to a ball of Taken energy suddenly appearing and disappearing) What the hell was that?
  Eris: Fingertips on the surface of my mind...!
  Zavala: Yes... uh, thank you for your input, Eris.
• Commanding Coolness: A Titan with the bearing of a professional military officer and campaign ribbons on his armor who is in overall command of the City's standing forces.
• Crisis of Faith: By Season of Arrivals, Zavala is very clearly starting to suffer one towards the Traveler, growing angered and conflicted over its continued inaction.
• Cultured Badass: Is intimately familiar with poetry and philosophy, such as the works of Sun Tzu and Matsuo Bashō.
• A Day in the Limelight: While he is involved in most expansions and seasons in some capacity, Season of the Haunted dived into his past and motivations far more than any prior season had.
• Deadpan Snarker: During one Strike, your Ghost will wonder if he'd be more useful if he had all the armaments and robotic drones that Rasputin has. Zavala just says, "Yes."
• Despair Event Horizon: He very nearly crosses it when the Traveler is lost to the Cabal, even more so when the Hive show up to attack the Guardians' attempt to rally on Titan (he actually states that trying to regroup on Titan was a mistake), and again when Cayde-6 is killed by Uldren, to the point that he considers completely pulling back to the City in order to prevent any more dead Guardians. As of Season Of Arrivals, with the Darkness closing in on humanity and the Traveler's further inaction, it seems he's finally begun to truly pass this point.
  • In the past after the death of his son, he fell into such a depression he tried to kill his own Ghost.
• Due to the Dead: He ensures that every Titan who falls under his command is given a burial at the Wall.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: He holds this view in regard to Stasis. At first he sanctions its use as they need something to help them overcome Eramis and the House of Salvation. That being said, he knows it can potentially lead Guardians towards the Darkness' temptations and cautions using it wisely. He eventually forbids its usage further after Kridis is put down. Not that it stops the Guardians from continuing to use Stasis, though.
• Family of Choice: With Ikora, Cayde, and Amanda. The four of them are all extremely close and actively refer to each other as their family, with Zavala being particularly close to Amanda, who he has known since she arrived in the city as a child refugee and became his ward. As an adult Amanda often serves as both a daughter figure and confidant to Zavala.
• Four-Star Badass: As Vanguard Commander, he is in full command of the City's defenses and is no slouch in combat, having earned his way to leadership of the Titans.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: A heroic version. The Destiny 2 trailer shows his first days as a Guardian. From stumbling out of a crashed ship, fighting and being killed by Fallen repeatedly, to becoming a force to be reckoned with he's come a long way.
• Frontline General: Although he is often coordinating operations across the system from the Last City, whenever the City is directly threatened, Zavala will be the first on the wall to defend it. He also joins Guardians on missions occasionally, including an assault with Ana on The Almighty.
• Giver of Lame Names: When ordering a Strike on Nessus with the intent of stopping a Fallen assault on Failsafe's main reactor, Zavala names the operation "Piccolo". Your Ghost and Cayde-6 can't help but snark behind his back. When he thinks the operation has gone downhill due to being cut off from the chatter, Zavala starts a rescue operation called "Oboe"; sure, it keeps its theme with the previous op, but both are a terrible fit for dead serious missions. The strike "Lake of Shadows", reveals through alternate dialogue that Zavala goes along with whatever the strike name generator gives out.
• Grief-Induced Split: He and his wife Safiya went their separate ways after Hakim's death, with Zavala blaming himself while she put her own grief into travelling to help others.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Suffered one in the past following his son Hakim's death, falling into despair over his failure and even attempting to murder Targe due to his loss of faith in the Light.
  • Having been present when the City was just a large camp of survivors and even personally helping to build the Wall, he understandably takes the City's fall in Destiny 2 extremely hard. Just to twist the knife further, his efforts to rally surviving Guardians on one of Saturn's moons ends in failure as the Hive overrun it, followed shortly by Fallen scavengers. Feeling guilty of so many losses, Zavala briefly lapses into questioning the Guardians' existence without Light. Fortunately, thanks to the Young Wolf's return spelling a glimmer of hope and Zavala's own determination, he quickly gets back on his feet and formulates a plan to strike back at Ghaul.
• Hidden Depths: Season of the Haunted gives shines a little more light on Zavala's background. As noted below, he fell in love with a Lightless Human woman they adopted a son, Hakim, and he left the Iron Lords to be with them, to the point of trying to find a way to give up the Light. After his son was killed in Fallen attack, Safiya and Zavala drifted apart, she remarried, and had a new family, and Zavala has spent literal generations trying to atone. He also knits.
• Immortals Fear Death: The Red War and Cayde's murder give Zavala a nasty reminder that Guardians are very much killable, causing him to become extremely over-cautious and withdrawn, refusing to make first moves against enemy forces for fear of getting Guardians killed.
• Irony: A bit of Situational mixed with a bit of Cosmic. Zavala has a personal belief that Guardians should never look into their past lives, and that the only thing that matters is what they do as a Guardian, not what they've done before in a past life that they can't remember. The irony arises from the fact that he is an Awoken, and many Awoken Guardians find a kinship towards the Reef and are even referred to as 'Cousin' by the Reef's Awoken natives. Despite his race, Zavala does not believe in any personal connection to the race with which he shares lineage, and even refers to them as an entity and race distinct from himself, such as when the Vanguard is consulting Eris about how to combat Oryx's Dreadnaught, and Zavala chimes in, "Without ending up like The Awoken."
• Knight in Sour Armor: The Titan Subquest dialogue hints that his long years in charge of the Vanguard (and millions of lives) have worn him down to the no-nonsense commander we see today.
  Zavala: Before I stepped into my role with the Vanguard, I was... much more spirited. Those days seem far gone now. The dream of the City is all I have left. Every morning, I wake and turn to see that the Walls still stand, and I allow myself a smile.
• Man of the City: The protection of the Last City has been his driving motivation for centuries. The city and its people are his number one priority, even over the Traveler, and he has made it a point to know every facet of the City's defenses and inspects them all himself.
• Mayfly–December Romance: The lore tab for the "Forbidden Memory" exotic ship briefly details a relationship he once held with a lightless woman. It comes back up in Season of the Haunted, where we learn her name, Safiyah, when a Nightmare of her begins to haunt him.
• Mildly Military: Yes and no. He's nominally in command of a force that is, but he's the only Guardian seen so far that takes things seriously and sees fighting the various aliens the same way a military would.
• Nice to the Waiter: Even when the waiter is questionably sapient — Kadi 55-30, the Beleaguered Bureaucrat Tower postmaster, refers to him as a 'kind man'. Furthermore, he never discounts the importance of Lightless defenders of the Last City, and knows the name of every soldier who patrols the City's walls, a task that become considerably more difficult as it expanded.
• Offered the Crown: Of a hypothetical crown; Executor Hideo's dialogue says that he'd make Zavala New Monarchy's candidate for king, but Zavala is uninterested, saying Earth had enough kings during the Dark Age after the Collapse.
• Older Than They Look: As a Destiny 2 trailer reveals, Zavala stumbled upon the nascent City when it was just a collection of tents.
• Only Sane Man: The Taken King marks him as this in his interactions with both Cayde and Eris, along with his exasperated sigh to "Fireteam The-Bad-Guys-Don't-Care-What-We-Call-Ourselves-Do-They?". It's become a common joke that he's exasperated with how hard it is to keep Guardians under control, although at other times it is played more seriously as he struggles to coordinate millions of immortal paracausal beings into defending what remains of humanity.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His adopted son Hakim was killed in a Fallen raid on their village during the Dark Age. Amanda Holliday, who was his ward when she was younger, is killed saving civilians from Shadow Legion captivity.
• Really 700 Years Old: He's been around since the City was just a tribal village, after wandering the wilderness for who knows how long.
• Real Men Wear Pink: One of the Tower announcements suggests he teaches a crochet course to other Titans. In one of Owl Sector's records on the Vanguard, both Ikora and Cayde mention Zavala being incredibly fond of poetry.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • As Vanguard commander, he oversees a lot of operations. However, he's quick to recognize the feats of the Guardians, handing out reward packages to players who level up their reputation with the Vanguard. And he also congratulates you after securing a landing zone on Oryx's Dreadnought despite it being done behind his back.
  • He also is willing to give The Young Wolf a lot of leeway in their decisions after all the stuff they've done for the City. After the opening mission of Forsaken, Zavala won't authorize or provide any support for any kind of operation to bring down Uldren and the Barons in fear of starting a war against the Reef, but he also has no qualms with just letting The Young Wolf handle the problem on their own, even if he knows killing Uldren will have consequences regardless of how many bridges the prince has burned by that point. He admits that he'd prefer to try and convince them to not go, but he says it would just be just pointless and insulting to the both of them, as he knows The Young Wolf is dead-set on putting Uldren in the ground.
• Rousing Speech: In Destiny 2's "Rally the Troops" trailer, he gathers the Guardians and makes a speech about how the City is lost despite the Guardians' best efforts against the Cabal, and makes it clear that they have to stand united against the enemy. His speech hilariously contrasts with Cayde's, getting instant cheers from the masses whereas Cayde has to add in "There will be a ton of loot!" to achieve a similar effect.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Starting to show signs of this as of Forsaken. He'd already been through a hell of a lot over the course of his second life, but the losses in the Red War and the death of Cayde hit him on a deep level, causing him to become much more risk-averse and prone to keeping Guardians sealed up in the City.
• Ship Tease: Very subtly, with Empress Caiatl, after the two start working together following the alliance between the Last City and Cabal.
• Straight Man: Serves as this to Cayde-6 and, to a lesser extent, Ikora Rey.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Is forced to weigh his options at the beginning of Forsaken after Cayde dies, specifically, as much as he wants to go out and avenge his comrade, he also believes that pursuing Uldren will risk starting a war with the Reef. And at the time, the Guardians already have their hands full trying to keep the Prison of Elders contained. He ultimately refuses to authorize any kind of operation, but he decides to just step aside, let The Young Wolf go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and let them sort the problem out on their own. It works out pretty well, and Zavala even admits that, were the circumstances different, he would've gladly killed Uldren himself.
• Tragic Keepsake: The knitting needles he uses to crochet were given to him by Safiyah when she left him after their son's death. Zavala has kept them close in the centuries since.
• Warrior Poet: Fond of poetry, with his Grimoire card featuring a small excerpt from his battle notes referencing famed Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Zavala is angry when he finds Ana Bray is alive, accusing her of putting her past ahead of the good of the Last City and noting that they could have used her help during the Red War. However, a lot of this is also him being personally hurt by her Faking the Dead, as despite their differences of opinion they were very close friends and he mourned her for decades.
  • Zavala also expresses disapproval of the use of Stasis, fearing it will lead into corruption of the Guardians. Given what transpired in the Exo Stranger's Bad Future, he has a right to be wary.
  • He's not exactly thrilled that the Young Wolf, Ikora and Osiris hid that Crow was once Uldren Sov from him, although he understands why they did it.
• What You Are in the Dark: Comes up during Destiny 2's Season of the Lost. With Savathûn imprisoned in the Dreaming City, Empress Caiatl of the Cabal sends a Psion emissary with a telepathic message, an offer to destroy the Dreaming City with the Cabal's weaponry, to remove the Witch-Queen as a threat at the cost of the remaining Reefborn Awoken. Zavala says "No." The Psion commits suicide, and all its Legionary comrade knew is that Zavala received the message; the Legionary knew nothing of the contents of the message, and returned to Caiatl to deliver Zavala's response.

Cayde- 6

Cayde-6, Hunter Vanguard

Voiced by: Nathan Fillion (Destiny, Destiny 2 Year One, Destiny 2: The Final Shape), Nolan North (Destiny 2: Forsaken)

"I've got to get out of this Tower and back out there."

An Exo who loves the open frontier, the loss of the Vanguard Dare with his predecessor Andal Brask has resulted in him being stuck behind the Vanguard table in the Tower, where he coordinates the intelligence efforts of City agents in the field and outfits Hunters who visit him.

His Ghost is Sundance.

---

• The Ahnold: How he parodies the Cabal Shield Brothers' ultimatum during the Strike of the same name, taking on a brutish tone to "translate" the brothers' intent in English.
  Cayde-6: Give us the Primus or we blow the ship.
• Amnesia Missed a Spot: Initially played straight, but subverted in Destiny 2. A lot of Cayde's important memories that would normally be lost to regular reboots, including his mysterious past, have survived all six of his reboots. However, the Was Once a Man portion of this is implied to be a shared memory across all Exos in the second game (the Aurora Snow III's mention of an icy planet is most likely Europa, where Cayde became an Exo.) He also admits in one of his journals that his attempts to write to his son, Ace, were an effort to try to remember anything about his past, since he can't recall anything about Ace save that documents he had on him when he was reborn as a Guardian said he had a biological son.
• An Arm and a Leg: Cayde's arm is blown off while working on a Vex transmat device during the final push to reclaim the Last City from Ghaul. At some point, his opposite leg is also blown off at the knee. Being an Exo, both are easily fixable and replaceable — a point Cayde morbidly jokes about.
• Arch-Enemy: He really hates Taniks the Scarred. Prior to the latter's death, they were in a nasty Cycle of Revenge where Cayde would try to kill Taniks and Taniks would kill a friend of Cayde's. This culminated in Taniks murdering Andal Brask, causing Cayde to lose the Vanguard Dare and leading to his Desk Jockey predicament. Put simply, there's a lot of bad blood between the two.
• Back from the Dead: Returns in The Final Shape, having been recreated by the Light^note Cayde possesses another, damaged Ace of Spades even though the Player Character canonically owns the one he was supposed to have died with, and both Ace and Cayde himself passively emanate the same Light effects as several items and cosmetics explicitly repaired by the Traveler's Light or themed after the process through unknown means for an unknown purpose.
• Badass Cape: His Hunter cloak is a replica of his friend Andal Brask's cloak. Wearing the cloak of a dead comrade is a pretty big deal among Hunters.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: A good deal of his incidental quotes in the first game are about him wanting to find a way out of his Vanguard duties in the Tower and get back into the field. Come Destiny 2, he got his wish in the worst way possible. The game even lampshades it when you have to bail him out of trouble.
  "A crashed colony ship, an interspecies war... Cayde-6 got that adventure he wanted. Go save him from it."
• Berserk Button: Taniks the Scarred. Understandable as Taniks murdered Andal Brask, Cayde's best friend and the previous Hunter Vangaurd. In the lorebook Most Loyal, Variks off-handed mentions him and immediately regrets it.
  Don't you EVER mention the name Taniks around me, got it? Not unless you want to lose your last two real arms.
• Big "OMG!": Once the Ghost not only has to speak on behalf of the player again but continues to ask why he got stuck in the Vex portal system:
  Oh my cotton socks! Did you not hear what I just said?!
• Blatant Lies: Cayde's Lucky Pants do not have an illegally-modified holster. They're just really lucky.
• Breakout Character: In Vanilla Destiny, Cayde was little more than a glorified merchant and questgiver. He ends his tenure in Destiny 2 as the star of his own expansion, having played a major supporting role in nearly every major story event in between and the face of the franchise.
• Call-Back: If you play a Nightstalker and use Shadowshot during the opening mission in Destiny 2: Forsaken, Cayde comments that, "You're making Tevis proud." This is a pretty heartfelt Call-Back to the mission in the original Destiny, where you unlock the Nightstalker subclass by tracking down Tevis and claiming his Dusk Bow when you find him dead.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: It's easy to regard him as this, but then he goes on a Wiki Walk through the Vanguard databases, going from looking up his public image to wondering if the City was ever invaded by horse people to going down to fetch Ikora to unlock the data on various foodstuffs endorsed by Zavala.
• Crazy-Prepared: It obviously took a lot of time, effort and forethought for Cayde-6 to hide 10 secret caches deep in Hive territory on the moon Titan, each addressed to one of the people he deemed most likely to have killed him and therefore inherited his gear; included among these his fellow Vanguards and the Young Wolf. Under what circumstances would one of his friends and allies have killed him? Cayde doesn't speculate, but promises he doesn't hold a grudge.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Unlike Zavala and Ikora, Cayde-6 almost seems like a complete idiot. He frequently gets himself into unnecessary trouble, and his lack of hesitation often gets mocked by others for his lack of intelligence. However, it's because of his unorthodox methods and tactics that he's the Vanguard representative of the Hunters.
• Dead Man Writing: During the Forsaken Exotic Quest to unlock the Ace of Spades as your own weapon, you go and find a bunch of Cayde's secret caches on Titan. Cayde left all of his personal belongings to whatever killed him, so in the caches you find voice recordings intended for different people who might've killed him, including Eris Morn, Petra Venj, Taniks the Scarred, Zavala, Ikora, and even yourself.
• Deadpan Snarker: He teases Warlock players about getting lost in the library of (their) minds on occasion and some of his patrol dialogue is a lighter version of this. In The Taken King he turns the snark up to eleven.
• Death by Irony: Uldren kills Cayde with his own Ace of Spades. The ace of spades card is also known as "the death card".
• Defiant to the End: Beaten down, surrounded by enemies, and facing his final death, Uldren asks if he has any last words. Cayde leans into the barrel of his own gun and gives the Prince one last sarcastic jab:

  Cayde-6: How's your sister?

• Desk Jockey: Much to his displeasure, but he fulfills it out of a strong sense of duty. Well, sort of — he likes to figure out ways to get out of it. At least one mission involves the Young Wolf and Devrim Kay "doing his chores" concerning setting up the patrol network in Destiny 2, and after one strike in that game he considers pawning off his paperwork on Hawthorne.
• Determinator: Cayde doesn't stop, yield, or slow down in the face of any opposition. When the other members of the Vanguard became uncertain or despairing after losing the City, Cayde instead immediately went out and started finding a way to hit back at Ghaul. Unfortunately, this is deconstructed as well, because Cayde's determination to carry out his plans means he often gets into trouble, such as messing with the Vex teleporter network without concern for the dangers and thus getting trapped in a teleportation loop.
• Dissonant Serenity: Remains very casual even while the Red Legion is reducing the Last City to ashes, to the point where he's seen taking pot-shots at nearby Cabal while maintaining a casual stroll.
• Distressed Dude: Gets trapped in a teleport loop while exploring Nessus, one of the full machine planets of the Vex. This is something not even the Cabal could succumb to, which Failsafe, the on-board AI of the ship Exodus Black, chides him for.
• Enemy Mine: One of the Grimoire cards dealing with the Fallen is Cayde reminiscing about when he and a female Baron from the House of Exiles fought together against a massive Hive swarm on the Moon. He ended up killing her when she threw her last shock pistol at his feet after he ran out of ammo and she attempted to stab him when he picked it up. The Baron was badly wounded by that point and few Hive were left, leaving Cayde to wonder exactly what her intentions really were.
  Cayde-6: To this day I wonder if she hated me, or wanted to make me kill her, or just felt she should spare me the choice. (Beat) I did kill a few Thrall with that pistol.
• Expy: As Nathan Fillion voices him, the majority of the playerbase has likened Cayde to Capt. Mal Reynolds in an Exo's body. Imperturbably smart-assed, undeniably skilled at his job, and despite illusions to the contrary, unapologetically Papa Wolf when his people or close friends are in danger or have permanently died.
• Fatal Flaw: Asher Mir believes Pride is this for him, and claims this is why he was killed in the beginning of Forsaken, as he might not have gotten killed had he not rushed to try and cut off Uldren and the Barons' escape from the Prison of Elders by himself.
• Friendly Sniper: Implied to be this before he had to leave the front line. Hunters are the sniper class, and Cayde is still very friendly despite going embittered and stir-crazy about his (self-imposed) confinement.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While the rest of the Vanguard reaffirm their friendship with him, the majority of new friendly characters in Destiny 2 (Hawthorne, Devrim, Failsafe, probably Asher) are all varying flavors of annoyed with Cayde. This does not stop most of them from mourning him in some way when he is Killed Off for Real, and Ikora admits that he was the only person she knew she actually had a healthy relationship with — despite their bantering and jabs at each other, they were firm friends.
• The Gambling Addict: Cayde just cannot pass up on a bet, and seems a bit obsessed with gambling as a concept in general. In fact, his gambling addiction may be the reason he's an Exo to begin with; he believes he volunteered to become one for Braytech in order to pay off debts he owed.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Cayde is often seen fan-firing the Ace of Spades, a feature not present on either usable version of the gun.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: His attempt at trying to engage in the practices of the Thanatonauts. He tries it once and immediately regrets it, because the memory that chose to come back was when he encountered the Darkness itself up close and personal. After a while, Cayde starts begging for his Ghost to revive him.
• Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die: His speech in the "Rally the Troops" trailer. In contrast to Zavala, he's self-important and uninspiring, only getting the other guardians to cheer by promising "a ton of loot."
• Hand Cannon: Uses one, the Ace of Spades, which he had replicated to serve as the Hunter-exclusive Exotic for The Taken King. He puts it to good use against the Red Legion in the "Last Call" teaser. He can be seen still wielding it during the attack on the Tower at the beginning of Destiny 2 and during the breakout at the Prison of Elders at the start of the Forsaken expansion. It should speak as to how iconic it is to him that it's the form his Golden Gun takes.
• The Heart: For all of his snarking and goofy antics, Cayde is able to get almost anyone to rally behind his Determinator attitude, is a good friend to pretty much everyone in the Tower (Ikora even says working with him was the healthiest relationship she has ever had), and an invaluable ally among the Vanguard. His subsequent death puts everyone, even the normally irritable Asher Mir, into a somber mood.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: A tragic example. Prince Uldren shoots Cayde with the Ace of Spades, his own revolver. On a larger level, Cayde's death only comes about because of his own arrogance and recklessness; he rushes way ahead of Petra and the Young Wolf, leaving him alone and surrounded by Uldren, the Barons, and dozens of Scorn mooks.
• Idiot Ball: Cayde's normally pretty smart, but most of his sub-plot in Destiny 2 revolves around rescuing him from stasis in the Vex network after they catch him engaging in theft on Nessus. Fits the trope description since Failsafe implies that Cayde's little stunt was statistically dumber than most of the stuff the Cabal pull, and we all know what Cayde thinks of them.
• Indy Ploy: Most of Cayde's tactics involve first figuring out how to get somewhere that should be impossible to get to (i.e. getting a Guardian onto the Dreadnaught past its main weapon, or acquiring a teleporter that will put him close to Ghaul), and then figuring things out from there.
• It's All About Me: Played for Laughs in the "Rally The Troops" trailer:
  Cayde-6: So, everything is gone. Your stuff, my stuff. Most importantly: MY STUFF.
• Killed Off for Real: Killed by Prince Uldren in the teaser trailer for the Forsaken expansion. Word of God initially confirmed that he wasn't coming back, though his apparent resurrection and reappearance in the teaser for The Final Shape seems to have thrown a wrench in this.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The Vex eventually catch him stealing from them on Nessus and trap him. When Failsafe compares him to the Red Legion, whose impact on the planet was far more destructive, she asserts that Cayde would have to be painfully stupid for this to happen.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: It's been suggested that the real meaning of the "Rally the Troops" teaser is that Zavala's speech is talking to the in-universe Guardians and players who pay close attention to the story, while Cayde's speech is talking to the playerbase itself, especially those who are very hungry for unique loot, and those who have Cayde as their favorite character (which is a lot, to say the least.)
• Living Emotional Crutch: The Witch Queen speculates his adoration by the Guardians was in fact this trope in action, suggesting they universally rely on Deadpan Snarker-type characters to remain functional. This eventually proves problematic since not only has he been dead for a few years by this point, but the only other characters with personalities akin to his are emphatically not on the side of good, namely Savathûn and the Darkness; Ikora even lampshades this in a fit of self-loathing by saying that if she were to write a defense of Light (over Stasis), they'd just throw it out and say Cayde would have endorsed Stasis in a heartbeat.
• Loss of Identity: He doesn't remember much of his past, and uses a combination of journals and playing card codes to denote bits and pieces of his memories. Cayde only knew he had a son named Ace because he found a journal page on his body post-resurrection that mentioned him.
• Lovable Rogue: As befitting the mentor of the 'Han Solo' class, he's the Tower's resident troublemaker and class clown, with an irreverent attitude and a smartmouthed quip for every situation and a rather... direct approach to problem-solving.
• Loving a Shadow: In the final entry of The Man They Called Cayde, he reveals that the personalities of his wife and son he described are lies. He knows nothing about them except they existed, and constructed false memories of them to cherish as a way to keep sane and on the side of good.
• Lucky Seven: Averted, which is rather ironic given the use of seven as Bungie's Creator Thumbprint. Cayde actually believed the number to be distinctly unlucky, even hinting that he may have had more resets than his "-6" suffix suggested but still kept the number because of his fear of the number 7. In a lore entry written towards a rebooted version of himself ("All-In"), he writes:
  "I stop counting at six, no higher. Ya hear me? No. Higher. Think there's just something about the number 7 that gives me the heebie-jeebies - unlucky, overrated, I don't know, just a number with bad mojo in my book. So, if you've got a 7 in tow, or above, someone's changed the game. Someone's not playing nice. Might wanna do something about that."
• Mission Control: For much of The Taken King's main story.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Cayde's such a charismatic and likable person that it's quite easy to forget his many character flaws; he's an arrogant, reckless, and easily irritated gambling addict who constantly shirks his duties, often plays fast and loose with the law, and can be downright ruthless towards those who wrong him. When the Young Wolf is hesitating to kill the already-defeated Uldren, both Uldren and Petra rather openly acknowledge that Cayde would've probably just murdered him in cold blood if he were there.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Failsafe had successfully evaded detection from the numerous unfriendly forces on Nessus until Cayde found her and started fooling around with Vex technology. Her sarcastic side stats he blew her cover and its all his fault when the Fallen attempt to shut her down and scavenge her mainframe in one mission.
• No Hero to His Valet: Inverted. Your Ghost implies that Cayde's Ghost is the only one who doesn't get exasperated with him.
  Ghost: He's not so bad.
  Failsafe: How?
  Ghost: I-uh-um... well, his Ghost loves him!
• Playing Card Motifs: He describes the fragmented bits of his memory as being like a deck of playing cards, which are re-shuffled every time he's rebooted. Cayde has developed a system for sorting through them, associating the symbols with different types of memories.
  • He named his pistol "The Ace of Spades", and his son was named Ace.
  • On a much darker note, the ace of spades is also known as "the death card". Uldren uses Cayde's Ace of Spades to put him down for good.
• Plucky Comic Relief: He's considerably less straight-laced and more humorous and witty when compared to the other Vanguards and the other Guardians as a whole. Probably contributes to his status as The Friend Nobody Likes.
• Rousing Speech: Subverted. Cayde tries to give one in the "Rally the Troops" tailer, but between offhandedly insulting the Guardians, playing himself up, and caring more about his own gear than the Last City burning down around them, it falls completely flat. Then he tries to lift everyone's spirits by talking about all the loot they'll find. Naturally, since he's talking to Guardians, it works.
• Sad Clown: Cayde's sense of humor tends to mask some underlying pain and loss. He only became a member of the Vanguard because a close friend of his was killed, and his constant acting-out is because of his going stir-crazy from being cooped up in the Tower for so long. Furthermore, his journal indicates he experienced some immensely traumatic events, including what seems like a direct encounter with the Darkness itself, which only he can ever really remember. Another part of him that appears to have stuck with him is his wife and son from his human years. One can find a letter intended for his boy promising that he'll track both of them down. Considering he's a Guardian who's functionally immortal and an Exo that's been rebooted a fair number of times it's anyone's guess if he succeeded or for how long it lasted if he did...
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Realizing that they don't have time to come up with a battle plan or rally enough forces to break into Oryx's Dreadnought, Cayde sends the Player off to infiltrate the ship without any official authorization. Lo and behold, by the time Zavala and Ikora find out, the Player has already set up a beacon for a landing zone. After the Last City is sacked, Cayde refuses to wait around for a plan, instead running off to find a way to kill Ghaul directly. It doesn't really work out this time, though, and he gets trapped in a stasis field by the Vex for his trouble. And even if he had been successful, it still wouldn't have stopped the Almighty from destroying the sun.
• Skewed Priorities: What does Cayde do when the Last City is invaded by the Cabal? Go to a nearly destroyed bar to get a drink and chat with a Frame while the Guardians launch a counter-attack.
  Zavala: Cayde! Any day now!
  Cayde: Sheesh, a guy gets one drink.
• Strolling Through the Chaos: At the end of the "Last Call" teaser, Cayde casually strolls out of the destroyed bar and calmly fires away at nearby Cabal.
• Take Up My Sword: Part of his last request to the Young Wolf as recorded in the audio log left for them in one of his stashes asks that they take care of the Ace of Spades and to use it well.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He and Eris do not like each other at all. Cayde thinks she is creepy and does not trust her fully, while Eris finds Cayde annoying and that is before he ends up using her ship to get the Guardian onboard Oryx's dreadnaught, which ends up getting it destroyed.
  Cayde-6: Eris knows a thing or two. But she's crazy.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Spicy ramen, as he casually mentions during the "Last Call" teaser.
• Tranquil Fury: The Player Hunter's mission to find an MIA Tevis as part of the Nightstalker initiation leads to his corpse. Just like that, the normal joker he is takes its leave as he recounts his time with Tevis before giving you one simple order.
  Cayde-6: Take 'em out, Guardian. Make them pay.
• Unusual Pets for Unusual People: In Destiny 2, he took a liking to a chicken he found on Earth, who he then named Colonel.
• Violence Really Is the Answer:
  • In-universe, this is why the Cryptarch is now more generous with engrams — Cayde "asked him to decode" a sack of doorknobs.
  • His solution to dealing with Taken infestations is to shoot them until they are all gone rather than find another way to cleanse them like your Ghost suggests. Best exemplified during the mission to bring down the power source for the Dreadnaught's main weapon:
    Cayde: Okay, hold on. Eris is going on about "breaking the necrotic..." Ahh, just shoot it!
  • "Remember, at the end of the day, bullets are the answer to every question."
  Eris Morn: The Taken are not bound by terrestrial constraints!
  Cayde-6: I bet they'll be constrained by terrestrial bullets.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Compares his relationship with Zavala as that of the Cabal Shield Brothers, only that the latter have less yelling to do away with. He and Ikora also frequently snipe at each other but are also very close.
  • He also has this relationship with the Young Wolf, Cayde is the only one to express annoyance at the fact that their Ghost does all the talking for them, and the Young Wolf is not extempt from Cayde's jokes, that being said he also makes it quite clear to Zavala and Ikora that he considers the Young Wolf his favorite Guardian and when he dies, his death is the only thing that makes the Young Wolf speak, and break their stoic act, going on in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge
• Was Once a Man: Cayde was once a human soldier, with a wife and son named Ace, who worked for Clovis Bray. He volunteered for the Exo program on Europa in order to pay off his debt to the company. For some reason, he still remembers this despite having been rebooted six times and being resurrected as a Guardian, although it could also be the result of a shared memory Exos in general possess.

Ikora Rey

Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard

Voiced by: Gina Torres (2014-2021), Mara Junot (2021-)

"I assure you, the things they say about me aren't... all true."

A one-time lone wandering Guardian, Ikora returned from the wild with her knowledge heavily tempered by practical experience and her temperament extremely even. Her esteem among several different Warlock schools made her the logical choice to represent them among the Vanguard.

Her Ghost is Ophiuchus.

---

• Aloof Ally: Formerly: after her early career as a Guardian was filled with arguments with more experienced Warlocks due to her outspoken nature, Ikora repeatedly volunteered for long-term reconnaissance missions across the inner planets and would spend most of her time in the wilderness to avoid her comrades. When she eventually returned to the Tower, she found herself one of the most respected Warlocks due to her long experience in the field.
• The Archmage: The highest representative of all the Warlock schools and serving as their mouthpiece and will on the Vanguard, the upper command of the City's defensive forces.
• Badass Bookworm: When she was a young Guardian, Ikora made a name for herself not only for her intense debates on numerous topics, but also in the Crucible for her skill in battle. Her reputation as a deadly scholar was secured by the long periods of time she spent on her own in the wilderness seeking foes and knowledge. Cayde even hints that she handed Shaxx his ass a few times in the crucible.
• Bald Mystic: Technically, it's just a very close-cropped haircut, but the visual effect is the same, making her look appropriately alien and mystical for her job.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Normally the most even-tempered of the Vanguard. But the Cabal's attack on the City, culminating with the abduction of the Speaker, pushes her too far.
  Ikora: Red Legion, you will take no more from us, and you will find no mercy in me!! [Proceeds to jump into the air, Nova Bomb a Cabal gunship's starboard thruster and ride it down as it crashes into the City]
• Big Damn Heroes: During the finale of Season of the Splicer she saves Mithrax and Saint-14 as they stare down the invading Vex incursion in the Eliksni Quarter, along with Zavala and Amanda Holiday.
• The Bus Came Back: Although not a minor character by any means, Ikora's presence diminished after the events of the Curse of Osiris and Forsaken expansions and made a brief appearance at the start of Shadowkeep. That being said, she was the focus character of Season of the Undying and helps coordinate with the House of Light during Season of the Splicer, and takes a starring role in The Witch Queen.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not nearly to the same extent as Cayde, but she gets a few good lines off, with Zavala mostly serving as their Straight Man.
• The Dreaded: In the Crucible. Nobody could beat her. No one. Not even Lord Shaxx.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Despite being seen as a career Void Warlock, her first calling was as an Arclight. However, she was so strong as an Arclock that she feared she wasn't capable of controlling the raw power she had, and so chose Void as a medium option. Which says a lot, because even as a Voidlock she can annihilate most enemies in a straight fight.
• Immortals Fear Death: After losing her light, she finds herself in this trope and lamenting the inaction it leads her to.
  Ikora: This is my fault! I could have stopped this. [...] I am more than just my Light! I could have tried! I should have tried. But...after all these years dying, being reborn, dying again...the Traveler has left me with one life, and I am afraid to lose it.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Believes the Guardians have grossly oversimplified the concept of power level into a one-dimensional numeric value. As a reminder, this is precisely how the game itself measures Power, implying that in-universe it's a social construct.
• My Greatest Failure: Ikora is horrified that she failed to recognize her mentor Osiris had been replaced by Savathûn and had granted the Hive God of Deception access to all of the Hidden's files while also putting her in a position of power to manipulate all of the Last City's leadership. Zavala notes that he hasn't seen Ikora that dejected since the Red War stripped them of the Light.
• Noticing the Fourth Wall: The Collector's Edition book for The Witch Queen implies in a throwaway line that she is aware of the concept of the Anathematic Arc, and that the Ahamkara might be using it to escape into a higher realm that governs the world of Destiny. Though dubiously canon, a hidden entry in "Truth to Power" which originally referenced this concept practically spells out that the Anathematic Arc is in fact what this universe calls the fourth wall.
• Not So Stoic: When you reunite with her after the fall of the City in Destiny 2, she confides in how, for all of her wisdom, the loss of the Traveler's Light has left her confused and terrified, and that, for the first time in centuries, she is now afraid of actually dying. After the main storyline of Forsaken, she also confesses that she considered her relationship with Cayde to be the only healthy relationship she had, for various reasons.
• Older Than They Look: She had a shotgun during the Golden Age, so she must be much older than she looks, probably in her hundreds.
• Power of the Void: Her 'primary' subclass of choice is Voidwalker, and she might be the most adept Voidwalker since Toland the Shattered.
• Precision F-Strike: Ikora is generally a very soft-spoken, eloquent woman who never gives the impression of someone who cusses, ever. Even during the Red War, after losing her Light and facing mortality for the first time in ages, she never says anything that could even be considered a cuss. The fact that Cayde's death rattles her enough to say this should tell you how much he really meant to her.
  Ikora: We will mount the head of that son of a bitch on his precious throne.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: When Eris comes to the Tower warning of Crota's return, Ikora is the only one who initially takes her seriously and works to convince the other Vanguards. She also unofficially supports the Young Wolf in Forsaken after Cayde's death when Zavala is afraid of starting a war with the Reef. She understands Zavala's position, but can't in good conscience let Uldren get away with what he's done.
• Retired Badass: No longer goes on missions due to her position in the Vanguard, but when she was in the field she was a highly skilled Guardian who survived on her own for months or years at a time. Cayde also mentions that she was quite the Guardian during Crucible matches back then. One exotic in Destiny 2 expands upon this. She did beat Shaxx, yes. But what wasn't mentioned is that she's the only Guardian to ever do so.
  Cayde-6: Guardian, you remind of, well, Ikora in her Crucible days.
  Ikora: That was a lifetime ago.
  Cayde-6: I'm sure Shaxx hasn't forgotten. He still has trouble sitting.
• Secret-Keeper: Knew that Crow was a resurrected Uldren, but hid that from Zavala out of respect for the new man that Crow was.
• Shock and Awe: The "Rally The Troops" trailer from Destiny 2 shows her using Thunderstrike on a Cabal Phalanx during the fall of the City.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Armed with the Exotic Shotgun, Invective, which she put to great use in her pre-Vanguard days. Even without it, she's usually seen wielding a Deadpan Delivery in Destiny 2, when she bothers using a gun at all.
• The Spymaster: In addition to leading the Warlocks in deciphering lore, Ikora also oversees the Hidden, a group of Guardians tasked with penetrating enemy strongholds for intelligence gathering.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Cayde, as the two frequently trade insults but are extremely close.
• We Used to Be Friends: With her Ghost Ophiuchus, who spent centuries trying to get her to take things seriously. By the time Ikora was, their relationship was too strained for her to listen to him and their arguments ended in Ikora not speaking to him for sixty-one years. Only after Ikora's ordeals during the Red War and reunion with Osiris does she change enough to speak with him once more and try to mend their broken friendship.
• World's Best Warrior: Collector’s Edition material for The Witch Queen includes a statistical analysis of Ikora’s powers by Chalco Yong, which Ikora cautions against reading too much into because what being a powerful Guardian entails is too complicated to measure reliably on a linear scale. Said analysis begins by saying Ikora is a five-sigma Guardian, one of the strongest Guardians to ever live: not quite one of a kind, but one in 3.5 million.

Active Guardians

Guardians still known to be active by the Tower. While most Guardians report to the Vanguard, some have banded together in groups outside the Tower's jurisdiction, while others walk a solitary path.

Titans

Lord Shaxx

Lord Shaxx, Crucible Handler

Voiced by: Lennie James

"Earn your honor, Guardian."

A veteran of the battle of the Twilight Gap, Shaxx's experiences there convinced him that the City was too unprepared to repel a direct attack should the Traveler's protection falter. Thus, he created the Crucible, a series of tournaments and battles that pit Guardians against one another in combat that they may be sharpened by the experience.

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• A Father to His Men: Shaxx is really hard on the other Guardians during training, but outside of it, he's very personable. This even extended to his time as a Warlord; he genuinely sought to protect the people within his territory, and even Felwinter noted that his charges looked weary, but well fed and warm.
• The Atoner: Back in the Dark Age, Shaxx used to be a Warlord, one of a number of corrupt Risen who used their gifts to establish petty kingdoms on post-apocalyptic Earth where normal humans were forced to pay tribute or else. Eventually, he saw the error of his ways and joined up with the Iron Lords to put a stop to the other Warlords. In the present, Shaxx seems to feel that his personality didn't really change all that much, just his circumstances.
• Big "YES!": Should you shut an enemy Guardian's Super with your own Super in Destiny 2, Shaxx will drop all other commentaries and scream "YYEESS" on top of his lungs.
• Blood Knight: While this is true of most Titans, it's especially true for Shaxx given that he's the one that organizes fights, and can get a little too into the violence. His love for organizing Crucible Matches extends to him turning almost every strategic location he sees into a battle arena, up to and including the Black Garden.
• Boisterous Bruiser: He loves a good fight and gets really excited during Crucible matches.
• Combat Commentator: Comments on the Guardians' matches as the continue. Doing good? He'll commend your bravery. Failing miserably? He'll demand that you fight back at once. Winning? He'll indulge in the carnage...
• Cultured Badass: He is familiar with the works of Shakespeare to the point that he can recite the entirety of The Tempest by heart.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Lord Shaxx takes it upon himself to train new Guardians in the crucible. Every firefight is a lesson to be learned to him. Whenever Guardians thrive, he tells them to push themselves even harder, rarely congratulating players, and when a Guardian loses, he takes that loss as his own as well. Considering what's at risk, he's trying to ensure that new Guardians will be prepared for the battles to come, where a permanent true death is a very real and scary possibility.
• The Faceless: Due to being Never Bareheaded and always wearing a full helmet.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: One of the horns on his helmet has been broken off somehow.
• Genius Bruiser: Lore tidbits reveal that one upon a time Mara Sov once used Riven to summon Shaxx into her bedroom while he was in the middle of a conversation. She handed him a copy of Shakespeare's The Tempest and told him to get reading. His response was to tell her that no one tells him what to do, incinerated the book with Striker lightning, declared that he can recite The Tempest by heart, and did so on the spot.
• Hero of Another Story: During the Battle of the Twilight Gap, Shaxx led a counterattack against the Fallen that drove them back from the Wall of the City.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: He's fascinated with the Hive's swords, and eventually decides Guardians need swords too. A quest in The Taken King has him help you forge one for yourself, and another has you reforge it into an even stronger blade. Destiny 2 shows him actually wielding Raze-Lighter during the siege of the Last City.
• Hot-Blooded: Shaxx is passion incarnate. Even when he’s not howling with exultant joy watching a Crucible fight, the sheer spirit in everything he does can be literally heard across the Tower.
• I Am the Noun: One of his idle dialogues has him, the Crucible's founder, come out with this gem, further reinforced by Arcite 99-40's own idle chatter:
  Shaxx: You want the Crucible? I am the Crucible.
  Arcite-99-40: You want the Crucible? Shaxx is the Crucible.
• Ignored Expert: The Razelighter grimoire card; revealed that Shaxx attempted to stop the Consensus from retaking the moon. At least until they understood the sword logic that the Hive abide by. Of what we know of that mission; thousands of guardians permanently died to Crota's sword alone.
• In Love with Your Carnage: If your team is winning, he'll throw some rather interesting dialogue your way.
  Shaxx: Hahaha! The Crucible is no place for mercy!
  Shaxx: You're crushing them, Guardian! Send them home crying!
  Shaxx: I can't believe what I'm seeing! Phenomenal!
  Shaxx: (Upon a 10-kill streak) ''FIIIIGHT FOREVER, GUARDIAN!!!! HAHA!!
• Large Ham: In and out of the Crucible, Shaxx is a man of passion. He alternatively gets really excited if you do well in the Crucible, or will be somewhat less emphatic (but still emphatic) if you lose, urging the player to try again and redeem themselves. Even when he recounts tales of his past, he'll use a bombastic approach to it.
• Lightning Bruiser: The "Remembrance" prologue to Destiny 2's Season of the Worthy showed that Shaxx was fast as well as powerful, being able to rapidly decapitate Iron Lord Felwinter on at least two separate occasions.
• Major Injury Underreaction: A grimiore entry has Zavala and Eris commenting on Shaxx sitting with and mourning a dying Ahamkara. The Ahamkara then explodes, blinding Zavala and Eris and leaving Shaxx, still sitting, in the newly-formed crater covered in green fire. All he does is to shush Zavala and Eris.
• Mysterious Past: Not much is known about his background. The lore on the Arbalest implies that he might have been a Warlord back during the Dark Age, before throwing in with Saladin and his crew. He apparently doesn't feel like he's changed much since then though, just his situation.
  • Destiny 2's Season of Dawn confirms that Shaxx was a Warlord. Saint-14 refers to him as "Warlord Shaxx" when they meet again. Later, the "Remembrance" prologue to the Season of the Worthy shed some light on how the Iron Lords (specifically, Felwinter) convinced him to join their cause, though not their number.
• Never Bareheaded: Never seen without his helmet. Even in the lore. Even when having a romantic interlude, "the helmet stayed on."
• No Indoor Voice: In Destiny 2, his idle dialogue can be heard from several feet away, even if you try to muffle it by going into your inventory screen.
  Shaxx: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T CONCENTRATE WHEN I'M YELLING? RELAX!
• Noodle Incident: His helmet used to have both horns. But we never find out how he lost one. A Destiny 2 trailer reveals when Zavala first came to the City (which is a long, long time ago), Shaxx had both of them. By the time the How We Got Here cuts to a Fallen invasion of the City, he's lost the one.
  Shaxx: I'm not gonna tell you how I lost the horn. You couldn't handle it.
  Shaxx: I would tell you how I lost the horn, but it doesn't live up to slaying Oryx!
  • In Season of Dawn, the "War Stories" lore entry of The Pigeon and the Phoenix seems to confirm it was broken off by the Fallen during the Battle of Six Fronts.
    Saint-14: I did not die. Elriq provided wonderful cover fi—
    Shaxx: I DON'T BELIEVE YOU.
    Saint-14: Is that because you died, Shaxx? I heard the Fallen broke your horn.
    Shaxx: Where did you hear that?
• Not So Stoic: Shaxx speaks in a subdued tone of harshness or bloodthirst, but it's not rare for him to let it slip.
  Shaxx: (Upon killing a player in the middle of igniting your rift) "Oh my! They almost ignited your rift!"
• Properly Paranoid: Shaxx reaction to the tech mites showing up as part of the Owl Sector Alternate Reality Game is to demand it be removed. Seeing as the logs detailing human experiments are showing disturbing results, the implications say he has a reason to be upset.
• Really 700 Years Old: Just like Zavala, Shaxx was around at the beginning of the City.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: His blood knight tendencies aside, after a match Shaxx behaves in a very fatherly sort of way praising a Guardian when they win in the Crucible or encouraging them to get back on their feet and not give up when they lose. He's also the one who makes the final call on changes made to the Crucible's systems despite Zavala's attempts to regulate it as well. For example when the SUROS Regime was running amok in the first game and it was finally nerfed? The event is referenced on the MIDA Multi-Tool in Destiny 2 where Shaxx makes it clear to Zavala that he absolutely will not revert the change to the SUROS firmware settings in the Crucible saying they were "preposterously inflated". And he won't take the Red Death engrams away either.
• Refuge in Audacity: Shaxx makes it a policy to find the most secure and important locations of the City's enemies and turn them into Crucible arenas. It doesn't matter if it's a Cabal base, a Fallen hideout, a Vex facility, the heart of the Black Garden, or Oryx's own personal chambers. The more an enemy treasures it, the more likely Shaxx is to take it for the Crucible, much to everyone's shock. After the World Eater raid saw it's world first clear in Destiny 2 Shaxx immediately arrived to make a Crucible arena out of it, represented by Bungie having the map go live after the kill was made. Though, Calus probably doesn't mind since he he's got a front-row seat to the carnage.
  • This is taken further when aside from the standard Mercury arena, he also claimed two arenas in the Infinite Forest — specifically, the simulation of past Mercury, and the Bad Future, even though it's basically unnecessary since Osiris runs the place now ever since Panoptes got destroyed. This guy is not subtle about giving the Vex the middle finger.
• Retired Monster: During the Season of the Splicer, when he confronts Mithrax in the Tower (as detailed in the lore tab of the Survivor's Epitaph), he admits that he had half a thought of throwing the Light Kell over the railing as revenge for all the human casualties caused by the Fallen over the years, but stops himself from doing so because of the memory of his time as a Warlord; back then, Shaxx killed three human scavengers with his bare hands for stealing food during a time of famine, and no matter how much he tried to convince himself of his righteousness or his followers tried to paint a legend to bury the barbarism, it's an experience that perpetually haunts him. The encounter ends with Mithrax realizing that he and Shaxx are not so different, and that mercy is the answer to the choices that led them to each other, despite both having a lifetime of experience telling them otherwise.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: A couple of foundry representatives tried to bribe him to set up fixed Crucible matches. At their arranged clandestine meet, he told them exactly where they could shove their money, then turned around and blackmailed them into sponsoring Guardians as they fight by threatening to expose their efforts and ruin their foundry's reputation.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The cause of his and Saladin's current tense relationship. When Saladin called for a strategic retreat after feeling the City was about to fall into Fallen hands during the battle fo Twilight Gap, Shaxx and his fireteam disobeyed orders and advanced towards the Wall to make a stand there. They ended up victorious and were hailed as heroes, but their flagrant insubordination caused a rift to form between Shaxx and Saladin following the battle.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Why are there so many Red Death pulse rifles and Crimson hand cannons if the Vanguard wants both eradicated? Because Shaxx said so, while chewing out Zavala for trying to scrutinize the MIDA rifles and un-nerf the SUROS Regime, even. In the same rant to Zavala, Shaxx also says that Zavala has no say in anything related to MIDA, and created that regulation on the fly after Lakshmi decided that it turns out MIDA is from an alternate universe.
• Suddenly Shouting: See Large Ham. If the player gets enough kills in a row, it results in a bombastic "SEVENTH COLUMN!!". Then there's earning a 10-kill streak, resulting him in just outright screaming in complete joy: "FIIIIGHT FOREVER, GUARDIAN!!!!"
• Super-Strength: Par for the course with Titans, but one lore entry still makes it quite clear that he decapitated Lord Felwinter with a single strike on multiple occasions.
• We Used to Be Friends: He was once close allies with Lord Saladin, but ever since the Battle of the Twilight Gap their relationship has been frosty at best for reasons revealed in the Sunbreaker version of "The Shard" mission: During the battle, things started going south for the Guardians, causing Zavala and Saladin to declare it a loss and order a full retreat. Shaxx angrily refused to follow orders and instead led five other Guardians in defending the Six Fronts. They managed to turn the tide of the battle, but Shaxx's insubordination led to a nasty falling out between him and Saladin.

Lord Saladin Forge

Lord Saladin Forge, Iron Banner Rep

Voiced by: Keith Ferguson

"Under the Iron Banner, only the strong will survive."

A Titan who was Vanguard Commander during the Battle of the Twilight Gap, Saladin Forge is the last of the Iron Lords, a legendary fireteam from the early days of the City. Once the mentor Commander Zavala, his successor in the Vanguard, and Lord Shaxx, Saladin is now the handler of the Iron Banner, a Crucible event held to honor his fallen comrades. He originally appeared during the Iron Banner limited time event, before becoming a permanent fixture in Felwinter Peak after the release of Rise of Iron.

His Ghost is Isirah.

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• Affectionate Nickname: During the opening missions of Rise of Iron Saladin uses the standard Guardian moniker when talking about the player; but as you finish more missions for him he begins to call you Young Wolf. This is a sign that he has decided to induct you into the Iron Lords.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: After the events of Season of the Risen puts him on Caiatl's War Council, he starts as a Bracus, the lowest rank in the Cabal's hierarchy. After winning six Rites of Proving, which included one occasion of defeating another member of said War Council in one blow, he gets promoted to Valus, the third highest rank in the Cabal hierarchy. He manages this within about three days of being in Caiatl's service.
• Badass Boast: A third of his dialogue is remorse over the deaths of the Iron Lords. The other two thirds are statements about how he'll take down anything that comes at the City, or encouragements to the Guardians to prove how badass they are.
  "So many seek to destroy us. The Devil Splicers. The Taken. Let them come. They face Saladin Forge renewed."
  "Your Light is a Dragon, Guardian. Feed it."
  "What next? The Cabal on Mars? The Vex across time? I'll crush them all."
• Badass Cape: Gets to wear one in Rise of Iron. Why does he get to buck tradition and wear a cape while being a Titan? Bungie regards him as the most Badass character in the game. And that's an accomplishment.
• Black Dude Dies First: Inverted. The Rise of Iron trailer confirms his race as such, and he's the last surviving member of the original Iron Lords. Well, until Efrideet returns, anyway.
• Bling of War: Much of the armor offered by the Iron Banner is plated with silver and gold (or at least has metamaterial shaders mimicking such) engraved with a Animal Motifs of Savage Wolves. Saladin himself models some of the Titan gear they can offer.
• Break the Haughty: During his time with the original Iron Lords; Saladin genuinely believed themselves to be invincible as long as they had the Traveler's Light. However he didn't realize that immortality is not the same thing as invulnerability; a lesson he learned the hard way when the Iron Lords died a true death when fighting against SIVA.
  • Seems to be zig-zagged if his behavior in Season of the Chosen is any indication. During Iron Banner, he presents an image of a stalwart, honorable teacher encouraging Guardians to grow from their training... but when he speaks of species like the Cabal, it's absolutely dripping with arrogance and malice.
  • Played straight in Season of the Splicer; once the armistice was in place, Saladin’s vitriol towards the idea ended up destroying his reputation among the newer Lights, to the point where there were plausible conspiracy theories going around about him being the one who attempted to assassinate Zavala. Saladin was Zavala’s mentor, and viewed him like a son. The idea that he would attempt to murder one of his only friends for disagreeing with him is noted to cause his voice to quaver.
• Blood Knight: Despite being more subtle with this side of himself than Shaxx, he’s equally battle-hungry, as some of his Combat Commentator lines during a particularly successful Iron Banner match show with him near-gleeful if the player is cutting down their opponents. However, this begins to become deconstructed during Season Of The Chosen, where he starts to show an incredibly sinister side, advocating war and outright genocide against the Cabal remnants despite Empress Caiatl peacefully seeking ( and eventually establishing) an armistice with them.
• Broken Ace: Being among the first generation of Guardians to have been born, he is very much the best of the best. Yet behind that image of invincibility is a man ridden with the guilt of being unable to save his comrades from sacrificing themselves for their mistakes.
• Broken Pedestal: In Season of the Splicer, Osiris actually Savathûn tells him that his reputation has taken a hit from many Guardians, both young and old. First from how he was nowhere to be seen during the Red War, then during Season of the Chosen, he was openly against a ceasefire with the Cabal, and many Guardians have accused him of being responsible for the assassination attempt on Zavala’s life during the negotiations with Empress Caiatl. He doesn't take it well. Which is exactly why Savathûn, posing as Osiris, said this, in an effort to isolate Zavala from a trusted ally in Saladin, raising the question of whether the younger Guardians even believed the theory.
• Combat Commentator: Becomes one for Destiny 2's Iron Banner events, replacing Shaxx.
• Commuting on a Bus: Ever since Rise of Iron, the only times he's ever shown in up Destiny 2 is to host Iron Banner, and that's it. He only started actually becoming relevant in the story sometime during Beyond Light, and gets off the bus in Season of the Chosen and Season of the Risen.
  • This gets lampshaded and deconstructed when Crow hits him with the Armor-Piercing Question of "And where were you during the Red War?"
• Dare to Be Badass: The entire point of the Iron Banner is to get Guardians to try harder, fight better, and outdo themselves, and Saladin gives plenty of inspiration to that effect when approached.
• Day in the Limelight: The Rise of Iron expansion focuses on Lord Saladin and the history of the Iron Lords. He takes an active role again in Season of the Chosen and Season of the Risen.
• The Dragon Slayer: During the Great Hunt, Guardians tended to make a last wish before killing an Ahamkara. Saladin wished to fight a dragon and caused a massive wyrm to be created. Why did he do that? Because he thought being a knight wasn't good enough and wanted to be a dragon slayer.
• Everyone Has Standards: As much of an open advocate for aggressive action against mankind's enemies as he's become, even he's taken aback by the Future War Cult's actions against the Eliksni refugees in Season of the Splicer, warning Zavala that they can't be trusted anymore after they nearly incite a lynch mob.
  • Despite butting heads with Crow, he is also appalled by the way that the Hunter was treated before making his way to the Tower, to the point that he chooses to not reply to Crow's harsh comments toward him during Season of the Chosen.
• The Faceless: Prior to Rise of Iron, he was Never Bareheaded. He drops the helmet once SIVA rears its head again.
• Fantastic Racism: Starts to show serious signs of this in Season of the Chosen. While it's not on the level of mocking and actually attacking the enemies of humanity, a lot of his dialogue indicates he has a very low opinion of them to say the least. Particularly the Cabal and Fallen. He's even more racist toward the Lucent Hive, seeing them as abominations (even for Hive) because they have the Light.
• Fast Ball Special: Lady Efrideet once threw him at a Fallen Walker so he could destroy it with Fists of Havoc, saving the settlement it was threatening. He doesn't like to mention the story, though. In Destiny 2, Shaxx claims that this happened from twenty miles (thirty two kilometers) up, too. Though given 20 miles is in the stratosphere, it's debatable if this is accurate.
• Foil: He becomes one with Crow. Saladin is an old, bitter, Macho Masochism-obsessed Old Master who advocates destroying the enemies of humanity utterly; Crow is a relatively new Guardian who actually spent time with species like the Fallen and Cabal, and so he's come to see them as more than just enemies to slaughter. Naturally, Crow and Saladin grate against each other.
• Four-Star Badass: Back when he was Vanguard Commander during the Battle of the Twilight Gap.
• Frontline General: While the leader of the Iron Lords he is still willing to do Vanguard grunt work; asking if any Vanguard fireteams need his help when he has free time. As Valus of the Imperial Cabal's Iron Legion, Saladin continues this and has earned the respect of his soldiers through fighting alongside them.
• General Ripper: Season of the Chosen has him frequently advocating for crushing and destroying the Cabal in all-out war, instead of restrained tactical operations sanctioned by Zavala. This has the unfortunate effect of souring his relationship with the Guardians to the point that they believe he was the one who orchestrated the assassination attempt on Zavala's life during Season of the Chosen when it was really a renegade group of Psions.
• Grumpy Old Man: Periodically complains about how everyone else is doing things these days throughout the second game. Which is rich coming from a person who did nothing during the Red War; Crow even aggressively presses him on the matter, and he suddenly shies away.
• Hypocrite: He talks a big game of honor and brotherhood, but when it's concerning literally anything opposing humanity, the mask breaks and reveals he wants to destroy anything that dares to even look at mankind funny. This gets multiple people alarmed and concerned.
• Incendiary Exponent: The titular Iron Banner is literally an big round iron banner that also happens to be on fire.
• Irony: During Season of the Chosen, Saladin was the biggest advocate for war against the Cabal and would not entertain the idea of peaceful negotiations, come Season of the Risen he starts to respect them and their sense of honor. Finally, in order to save Crow, he offers up his life in exchange and Caital makes him a member of her War Council. He ended up serving the very thing he once hated.
• It's Personal:
  • With Rasputin, who unleashed SIVA on the Iron Lords when they tried to claim it, killing them in the process. Any time Saladin mentions Rasputin, his voice gets noticeably harsher. Datamined dialogue from Destiny 2 has Saladin claiming that if he were still part of the Vanguard, he'd probably be sending Guardians to try and eliminate Rasputin.
  • Season of the Chosen indicates that he feels this way towards just about every alien species that opposes humanity. Cabal, Fallen, Hive, it doesn't matter - Saladin wants them to be ground to dust for the crime of hurting humanity.
  • The lore entry for Forge's Pledge makes it clear that Saladin is... unhappy with Savathûn, for pretending to be Osiris. Or more accurately, pissed off beyond mortal imagination.
    Forge's Pledge: And you will never be safe from Iron Lord Saladin Forge.
• The Last of His Kind: The sole remaining Iron Lord, save for Lady Efrideet (who is technically retired from the Iron Lords). At the end of the main story for Rise of Iron you formally join him as an Iron Lord averting this trope.
• Kick the Dog: After Zavala nearly avoids being assassinated thanks to Crow's intervention, Saladin demands Zavala to go to all-out war with Caiatl. When the Titan Vanguard refuses, Saladin spitefully tells Zavala that the next time they kill someone the Guardians care about, it will be on Zavala's shoulders.
• Macho Masochism: A big believer that one needs to endure suffering to understand triumph. This could have something to do with the Iron Lords' demise at the hands of SIVA.
  Saladin: We were touched by the Light. I... I didn't even know someone with the Traveler's gift could die... until they did.
  • This gets deconstructed as of Season of the Chosen, as his lust for battle and Darwinist mindset grates against pretty much everyone. It's made clear that he's the only one that actually wants to see the enemies of humanity destroyed instead of simply defeating them, a fact that Zavala, Amanda, Osiris, and Crow are quick to notice and call out. Lore entries for Season of the Risen also show this was, in part, the work of his Ghost Isirah.
• Meaningful Name: He's named after the leader of the Saracens during the Crusades.
• The Mentor: He's the mentor of Commander Zavala and Lord Shaxx. While he's still on good terms with Zavala, his relationship with Shaxx has been frosty since the Twilight Gap.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: During Season of the Risen, Saladin tells Crow a story from his early years as a Guardian. He happened upon a village that was being raided by bandits and encountered a thief who was working for them. The thief was a little girl, who he chose to let go in favor of wiping out the bandits instead. When he returned to the village some years later, the little girl he spared had become the bandits' new leader and destroyed the village.
• Noble Wolves: Has three of them following him in the Rise of Iron trailer. Again, because Bungie says he's that Badass.
• Not So Above It All: Lord Saladin's Combat Commentator dialogue in Destiny 2's Iron Banner shows... a surprising amount of humorous dialogue from him.
  Lord Saladin: (achieving the "We Ran Out of Medals" medal) "DIE! DIE! DIE! (cough) Sorry. I've been watching too many Iron Banner matches. What time is it? Shaxx. SHAXX!! Are you there? Can you get me a water? Stop yelling, it's just a question! I'M NOT OLD!"
• Old Master: Though how old he is exactly is hard to determine given he does not show his face and the fact that he is a guardian complicates the issue, but he was old enough to have trained Zavala and Shaxx and is still spry enough to comfortably wear his heavy armor. Then again, Guardians don't seem to physically age...
• Old Soldier: The Iron Lords were among the first generation of Guardians.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Ikora comments on him storming by as glowing tech mites began infecting Guardians (as part of the Owl Sector), demanding to know what the mites are. The first thing she notes is that he is really on edge. Considering his prior experiences with SIVA, this fear is not unfounded.
• Perma-Stubble: Sports this when his face is revealed in the Rise of Iron trailer.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: He did absolutely nothing during the Red War out of fear of dying, in comparison to Efrideet who actually broke her oath of pacifism to rip through hundreds of Cabal using just her Spear. Crow starts getting suspicious about him during Season of the Chosen, and further mocks him when he's unable to actually explain why he of all people didn't stand up and fight with everyone else. Saladin doesn't actually answer the question Crow asks, implying the Brutal Honesty of it sent him into Stunned Silence.
• Pet the Dog: Downplayed. He informs Zavala about Future War Cult and Lakshmi-2's actions toward the House of Light Eliksni not because he actually cares about them, but because they cannot afford to lose one of the only leads they have to finding out how to break free from the Vex simulation.
  • The lore for the Riiswalker shotgun states that while he won’t allow the Eliksni to actively fight in the Iron Banner, he will allow them to indirectly participate by making weapons to reward the Guardians with. Plus, the fact that Saladin turns down any attempts to get involved with the fighting is a moment in itself considering the Eliksni don’t have the usual safety net if things turn sour for them.
  • The lore for the Iron Forerunner gear also reveals one toward Crow; the reason he didn't reply to Crow's barbs during Season of the Chosen is that he's aware of what Crow went through between his resurrection and that time. Even when he's furious with Crow for his remarks, he chooses to let it go on account of the cruelties visited on the Hunter by his fellow Guardians and the Spider.
• Platonic Life-Partners: He and Jolder were the closest of the Iron Lords, which makes her sacrifice that much more painful for him. Throughout Rise of Iron's story, Lord Saladin is fixated on her memory. He is finally able to find peace when you destroy SIVA's replication chamber, as well as return Jolder's helmet to him.
• Samurai: The armor you get from him in Destiny 2's Iron Banner has this motif, though it's more pronounced in the Season 4 update.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Pulls this twice in the story and at very pivotal moments. Which calls into question his honor and bravery.
  • During the Battle of Twilight Gap he was the one who had called the signal for an emergency retreat, preferring to leave the city to burn rather than risk any more lives. It was only due to the efforts Lord Shaxx and his fireteam that the Last City still stands to this day.
  • During the Red War he is noticeably absent during the final battle to retake the Last City, citing to Osiris that he couldn't afford to risk any more sacrifices after the SIVA outbreak caused by Rasputin. Crow is quick to remind Saladin of his absence, something the Iron Lord has no rebuttal against.
• The Social Darwinist: He apparently subscribes to this mindset. A lot of his dialogue during Iron Banner talks about making Guardians stronger and better through competition, but it's only when Empress Caiatl arrives in the system that he starts bluntly talking about crushing them under humanity's heel.
• Tragic Keepsake: Saladin's weapon, aside from his axe, is the Jolder's Hammer, a replica of Jolder's original machine gun. After you defeat the Remnants of the Iron Lords and destroy the SIVA replicator, the player gives Saladin Jolder's helmet which is placed in the Iron Temple, where he remarks that one day he will see them again.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: He really starts to grow rude and cruel starting in Beyond Light, where he flatout threatens to kill the Young Wolf if they become corrupted by Stasis, and he constantly complains about Zavala and co. not destroying the Cabal when their backs are against the wall.
• War Hawk: When Empress Caiatl arrives in the solar system, Saladin is frustrated that Zavala has only authroized limited strikes and the elimination of enemy officers to prevent an all-out war from starting. Saladin believes that only by completely eliminating the Cabal in war will they be safe from their threat ever again. Notably, he's literally the only one who flat out opposes the armistice, while everyone else is onboard with it, or at least cautiously wary. This is why some Guardians believe he's the one who tried to have Zavala killed.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He is not pleased to hear that the Young Wolf has Stasis, and even threatens to kill them should they become corrupted. This is in stark contrast to Zavala who pleads with the Young Wolf to not let Stasis corrupt them, out of genuine concern for their sake.
  • In Season of the Chosen he becomes the recipient of many of these. Osiris just neutrally asks if he thinks he's above the Vanguard's authority, while Crow savagely roasts him on his absence during the Red War.
• Worthy Opponent: Do well enough during an Iron Banner match, and Saladin will claim he wants to fight you someday:
  Saladin: I'd like to test myself against a Titan like you.

Isirah

Saladin's Ghost, she is a stern and pragmatic being whose influence had a significant impact on the Titan.

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• Good Is Not Nice: While she is a Ghost aligned with heroic Guardian, Isirah is rude and advocates for strict enforcement of laws like the death penalty for stealing or attacking an Iron Lord, being dismissive of circumstance or the idea of change.
• Jerkass: She is dismissive of the plight of a starving village being stolen from, believing it to be a waste of time to help when she and Saladin were in the region to investigate a Golden Age signal. Isirah was also extremely unsympathetic towards Fera and criticizes Saladin not executing her immediately as "procrastinating".
• No Name Given: When she first appeared in Rise of Iron she had no lines and was not identified. It would not be until Season of the Risen that her name was given and her personality established in lore entries.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Refuses to heal or help Saladin in situations she believes he can work his own way out of, reasoning that pain is the only way he will learn to stand without her aid should he ever need to.
• Would Hurt a Child: She advocated that Saladin kill Fera, reasoning that she was a thief and that is the standard punishment for such a crime, even if she had been coerced into it by a Warlord.

Sloane

Deputy-Commander Sloane

Voiced by: Cissy Jones

A veteran Titan and the field commander overseeing operations on Saturn's moon, Titan. She acts as Zavala's vice-commander when the latter attempts to rally Guardians on the moon's surface. Sloane is paired with the Ghost Síocháin.

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• A Mother to Her Men: During the Strike "Savathûn's Song", she tasks you with the rescue of a fireteam that got stranded by the Hive, but also orders you to make it back alive.
• Badass Boast: From Sloane, in the lore for the auto rifle, Duty Bound: "Due respect, Commander? I was there when the Hive found us on Earth. I was there when we stopped them on Titan. And I'll be there when we wipe them out."
• The Bus Came Back: After the conclusion of Red War campaign and Season of Arrivals, Sloane vanished (along with the entirety of Titan). She finally makes a return as one of the focus characters in Season of the Deep.
• Godzilla Threshold: After the Witness stole Titan, Io, and Mercury, Sloane spent the years between Shadowkeep and Lightfall battling Taken forces via run and gun tactics. At some point, in order to stay ahead of them, she imbibed herself with Taken corruption. Doing so let her "listen in" on enemy chatter, but at the same time, it also left her mind open to vicious assaults by Xivu Arath. The only reason she hasn't become fully Taken by the time Zavala, the Drifter, and the Young Wolf find her is thanks to the bond between her and Ahsa.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Crown-Splitter was originally hers, and a civilian saved it from being sold off along with many of Sloane's other belongings from her apartment after she went missing. Zavala returns it to her upon her return to the City, and wielding it again helps Sloane feel more like her own self.
• I Choose to Stay: Confident that the Pyramids are not the end for the consumed planets, Sloane refuses to evacuate in the Exodus quest and gears up to face them head-on.
• Not So Above It All: She more or less agrees with Zavala's disapproval of how you went after Uldren. Although she's significantly more understanding, she reiterates to you how such things can be risky. That being said...
  Sloane: *looks around* ... Just tell me you got him.
• Number Two: To Zavala, as her job as Deputy-Commander for the Titan Vanguard makes her his primary advisor and field commander. In the aftermath of the Last City's fall, her arrival causes Zavala to relax for the first time.
• Old Soldier: She briefly mentions that she participated in every battlefield in the Solar system; Mars, Venus, the Hive Dreadnaught, you name it. She also muses that she had been fighting the Hive far longer than she cared to admit. Considering that Guardians are extremely hard to kill permanently unless they're exceedingly careless or are very specifically lured into some kind of trap, this may hint that Sloane is a really old soldier.
• Put on a Bus: It's uncertain whether she yet lives after Titan's abduction by the Darkness. The last thing we see of her is Sloane strapping herself into an experimental suit of Golden Age Powered Armour and preparing to throw down with anyone unlucky enough to be caught in isolation with her. She gets off the buss in Season of the Deep.
• Shoulders of Doom: If you thought Zavala's were impressive... Sloane's shoulder pads could make a Space Marine feel a little inadequate. Bonus points for the purity seals on said shoulder pads, too.
• Touched by Vorlons: Because her Light was suppressed by the Powered Armor she found during the Arrival, Sloane is now vulnerable to being Taken due to no longer being considered undead. Season of the Deep shows she has at least partially succumbed to this.

Ouros

Ouros

"A Sunbreaker does not answer to any but the will of the Light. Welcome, Guardian. Wield not power but the fury of fire."

The Third Empyreal Magistrate of the Sunbreakers, and the Titan who guides you towards the path of the Sunbreaker.

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• Dare to Be Badass: As you acquire the Sunbreaker's ability for the first time, she asks you this:
  "Can you bring Light to where only the Darkness survives?"
• The Exile: She and the other Sunbreakers do not live in the Last City due to a dispute they had with Zavala after he angrily rejected the terms of a deal Osiris tried to broker between their mercenary company and the Vanguard.
• Last Stand: In Destiny 2, she and the remaining Sunbreakers defend Mercury to the death when the Red Legion invades and brings in their sun-destroying weapon, the Almighty. Without their Light, the Sunbreakers all die in the battle.
• Living Legend: Your Ghost points out word for word that she's a legend and one of the most powerful Titans alive, and even complies to her with a respectful "Yes, ma'am".
• The Voice: You do not meet her directly on Mercury, but instead her voice compels you to activate the forge and harness the power of the Sunbreaker.

Holborn

Holborn

"Well, any servant of the Light is welcome among us. We are Holborn's Host, and I'm Holborn. The City's hand on Mars."

A Titan who commands Holborn's Host, an elite unit of Guardians who fought at the Twilight Gap and are responsible for searching Mars for any sign of a surviving Warmind.

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• All There in the Manual: All information about Holborn comes from Grimoire cards and item texts.
• Cool Old Guy: Judging by his dialogue in the "Ghost Fragment: Titan" card and being described as "genial" in the text for Holborn's Host Mark, Holborn is a laid back and friendly Guardian who leads one of the best units of the Vanguard.
• The Ghost: Grimoire cards suggest he is still alive and investigating Mars with his unit, but he has yet to actually appear.
• The Leader: Of Holborn's Host.
• Long-Lived: Even for immortal Guardians he is considered old.

Enoch Bast

Enoch Bast

A Titan who is best friends with fellow Sparrow Racing League member Marcus Ren.

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• Always Second Best: To Marcus in the SRL, to the point he considered selling his racing Sparrow and going back to patrols full-time. However, a surprise win against Marcus restored his faith in his racing skills.
• Big Damn Heroes: Tackles a Centurion chocking the life out of Marcus during the Fall of the Last City and then carries his friend to safety after beating the Centurion to death.
• Brought Down to Badass: Losing access to the Light during the Red War still left Bast a hulking Titan able to win a fistfight with a Cabal Centurian.

Saint- 14

Saint-14, Hero of Six Fronts

Voiced by: Brian T. Delaney

An Exo Titan and early Guardian who served as the first Titan Vanguard. He led a crusade against the Fallen after the Battle of Six Fronts, and later disappeared while searching for Osiris on Mercury. Original owner of the Helm of Saint-14.

He is the main focus of Season of Dawn in Destiny 2, where Osiris sends you on a quest to undo Saint-14's demise in the Infinite Forest.

His Ghost is Geppetto.

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• The Ace: he is widely considered the greatest Titan in the history of the Guardians, and for good reason.
  Saint-14: They call me the greatest Titan that ever lived.
• Achievements in Ignorance: A minor one, but in the "Igneous Hammer" lore tab, Saint enters Ikora's hidden library by accident, which surprises her. Said library is only accesible via transmat and the only ones who know about it are her Hidden agents.
• Aliens Are Bastards: Saint-14 saw the worst alien life had to offer in the days following his resurrection, and those experiences left him with this opinion; he believed that the Darkness was an armada of invading aliens who were rejected by the Traveler for their sins, and hated the Fallen to a downright terrifying degree. He gets better in Season Of The Splicer, where he comes to accept the House Of Light as citizens of the City and no longer despises the whole of the Eliksni race, but he still affirms that he'll never forgive the old Fallen Houses for the atrocities that they committed.
• Always Someone Better: The Young Wolf is this to him, though unlike other examples he sees them as a source of inspiration as they not only saved him from the House of Rain and the Vex but gave him the push he needed when he was at his lowest point.
  Saint-14: Since the day I met you, I swore I would make it my duty to follow your example. I'm still trying.
• Back from the Dead: In Season of Dawn, the Young Wolf travels through time and saves him from the Vex Mind that was designed to kill him, seeking assistance in order to stop the Red Legion on Mercury.
• Battle Trophy: Of a sort. The purple ribbons that adorn his armor and ship are mementos given to him by people that he has saved over the ages.
• Beware the Nice Ones: The Proportionality lore tab reveals that he personally killed Savathun ten times in quick succession while trapping her under his Ward of Dawn after the Witch Queen was revived per her deal with the Vanguard, all as payback for having to watch her possess Osiris while he could only watch helplessly from the sidelines.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Right up there with Shaxx when it comes to enjoying a fight. In Season of Dawn's "Corridors of Time, Part 2" mission, he exults in the Guardian's wholesale slaughter of the Descendant Vex, and then decides to spend a few more years in the Infinite Forest to take the long way around to escape.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The greatest Titan to ever live, and lover of all birds that call the City home. Apparently Amanda gave him an actual sparrow for the Dawning.
• Combat Commentator: Takes over the role for Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris.
• Cool Helmet: The Helm of Saint-14. The unique perk blinds enemies who walk into a Titan's Ward of Dawn.
• Cool Ship: His personal jumpship, the Gray Pigeon, also decorated with his signature trailing purple ribbons.
• Despair Event Horizon: His first off-world mission pushed him dangerously close to this, with him nearly dying horribly at the hands of the House of Rain after failing to save numerous people from the Fallen. Then a certain Guardian and Ghost appeared, telling him of the bright future ahead and all the great deeds he would accomplish, all while granting him a beautiful shotgun. Saint's faith in the world was restored and he went on to be the greatest Titan of all time.
• The Dreaded:
  • To the Vex. While Guardians as a whole are alien to the Vex due to their tendency to operate outside their perceptions of time, they're shown to have outright feared Saint, to the point that they spent centuries handcrafted a one of a kind, impossible to recreate Axis Mind for the sole purpose of killing him for good.
  • The Fallen actually regard him as an almost demonic figure. This causes some awkwardness when the House of Light settles in the Last City.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Downplayed in that Saint isn't particularly unintelligent and is just stuck in the Good Old Ways of Titan mannerisms (that, and his perspective was born from his experience-fueled prejudices at the time, rather than from being truly stupid or foolish), but he ultimately had the correct assessment of what the Black Fleet and the Witness are all along: aliens rejected by the Traveler for their sins.
• Family of Choice: Of a sort. During the finale of Season of the Splicer, when Lakshmi opens a Vex portal in the Eliksni Quarter, he goes to help Mithrax. The latter tells him to help the people of the Last City, only for Saint to tell him the Eliksni are his people, showing that he has come to accept the Fallen as those he wants to protect alongside the people of the Last City.
• Fantastic Racism: Even by the standards of other Guardians, he really hated the Fallen and started a crusade against them. Given that he personally witnessed Fallen Dregs eating children, this shouldn't be so surprising. This hatred even extended to all alien life, as he believed the Darkness to be a bunch of aliens rejected by the Traveler for being decadent. As you might expect, Saint has some difficulties working with Mithrax during Season of the Splicer.
• Freudian Excuse: He harbored hatred for the Fallen and alien life in general, but only because he lived through the early days following the Collapse, during which he witnessed the absolute worst the Fallen had to offer and watched the people he tried to protect die at their hands.
• Friend to All Children: He loves interacting with the City's children, giving them rides on his shoulders, and only "charging" them a song. It's to the point where he's visibly hurt when an Eliksni child runs away from him in fear.
• Friend to All Living Things: Specifically, pigeons. He can be seen feeding a flock of them at the Tower, and one of his random lines of dialogue has him instructing the Young Wolf on how to hold a bird.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: After he breaks out of the Infinite Forest, he kills a Descendant Minotaur by headbutting it. When his normal headbutts aren't enough, he grabs a dead Vex Goblin, wraps it around the Minotaur, and uses the Goblin's corpse for additional leverage.
• Horrible Judge of Character: His recommendation is what convinced the Speaker to appoint Osiris as Vanguard Commander. This may have been a poor choice. Downplayed in Curse of Osiris, his ship's log has a letter written to Osiris before his death. Telling him the reason he recommended Osiris as Vanguard Commander was to focus his attentions onto protecting the City, not to stroke his ego - it's clear he knew Osiris was an Insufferable Genius, but thought that the acclaim wouldn't go to his already large head.
• Lethal Chef: Zigzagged. "The Pigeon Provides", a Dawning 2021 exclusive quest, has him and the Young Wolf making baked goods for the Eliksni in the Tower. Saint carefully measures the ingredients, but he's impatient to get it done and thinks hotter flames will bake the Kellsdough more quickly. Amanda has to bust out a fire extinguisher when smoke starts to fill the hangar and, at one point, Saint puts up a Ward of Dawn to keep him and the Young Wolf from being eaten by the rapidly rising Kellsdough.
  His desperate cries of "More sugar!" will echo in your mind for weeks to come.
• The Lost Lenore: To Osiris, who dedicated much of his time in the Infinite Forest to trying to prevent his demise. He finally succeeds with your help.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Learning from Mithrax exactly how he is seen by the Eliksni clearly takes him aback and makes him realize he was being just as monstrous as the Fallen he fought. Mithrax relates a story to The Guardian of how, after hearing of his reputation among the Eliksni, Saint-14 tried to wave to an Eliksni child who happened to wander into his path, only for the child to run away in fear, deeply hurting Saint.
• One-Man Army: After the Fallen were beaten back at Twilight Gap, he chose to set out to singlehandedly drive the Houses of Devils, Winter, and Kings from the lands surrounding the City. He succeeded.
  • Taken to an even greater degree in Curse of Osiris, where the lore tab of his shotgun describes himself spending centuries killing Vex on Mercury before being stripped of his powers. Then going on to kill even more. When you enter his tomb in the infinite forest, Ghost notes that there are thousands of Vex corpses, and it seems to be the reason he got a more proper burial from the Vex.
• Playing with Fire: Lore released prior to Season of Dawn reveals he also used Solar Light in the past, and even threw in with the Sunbreakers for a time.
• Purple Is Powerful: His armor is a cold steel gray with contrasting purple warpaint (and some purple ribbons), his helm's vertical visor is a bright purple, and he's a prominent Defender / Sentinel, which uses the purple-colored Void energy.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He assisted the Sunbreakers in building the Forge on Mercury, during a time where he would've been an influential member of the Vanguard, if not Commander.
• Religious Bruiser: His faith in the Traveler is strong, and so is his trust in the Speaker, whom he calls "Father" (even though they're not really related). He's disappointed that his "Brother", Osiris, has dissenting opinions.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After the Fallen killed everyone he swore to protect, a pissed off Saint-14 proceeds to go on a warpath spanning decades to centuries. He was so terrifying to his Fallen victims that anyone who survived the countless bloodbaths left in his wake immortalised him in Eliksni folklore as "The Saint", a terrifying bogeyman-esque figure that scared countless of their generations even hundreds of years later.
• Seers: Stared into the future using Vex technology and used his observations to prophesize the coming of a Guardian who would shoot through the ranks, get Crota off the moon, and pretty much solve any crisis thrown at the City. Sound familiar?
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Saint-14 went through a lot in his long and fabled career, and the horrors he witnessed and people he couldn't save weighed heavily on his mind. He was very close to crossing the Despair Event Horizon, until a certain time-traveling Guardian gave him the inspiration he needed to fight on.
• Shock and Awe: When forcefully trying to set Osiris on the right path, Saint-14 uses Striker abilities.
• Spikes of Villainy: Inverted. He's a heroic character through and through, and his first appearance in person shows his armor without spikes. Later, he gains some after following the Young Wolf's example.
• Stable Time Loop: The Perfect Paradox's Lore tab reveals that you originally created the Shotgun, then went back in time and gave it to Saint-14, so that you could later find it on his body in the Infinite Forest, and reforge it at the Lighthouse. We actually see this play out during Season Of Dawn.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In Season of the Splicer, when he is part of the Mission Control with Mithrax, an Eliksni Kell. He is not at all happy about this, and while Saint bites it back during an Override, the instant it's over he will happily yell his grievances with Fallen at Mithrax. He eventually abandons this mindset after learning how terrifying the Eliksni see him, even calling Mithrax his friend.
  • Of all the Guardians, he is understandably the most tense and adverse to the alliance the Vanguard has made with Savathun against the Witness after everything she did to Osiris. A lore entry in "Season of the Witch" shows him challenging and repeatedly killing Savathun not just out of revenge for what she put his lover through, but to vent his own anger and grief over what happened.
• Tragic Bigot:
  • Saint was resurrected in the early days following the Collapse, when the violently desperate Fallen first arrived in our solar system. In that time, he witnessed and experienced the absolute worst that Eliksni can sink to, while also losing many of the innocent people he tried to protect from their wrath. Those experiences left him with a deeply hateful view of Fallen and aliens in general, seeing them as soulless monsters rejected by the Traveler for their sins. When you meet him during Season Of Dawn, your Ghost tries to tell him that not all Eliksni are evil, but Saint barely even seems to register the comment, too shell-shocked from nearly being torn apart by the House of Rain on Mercury.
  • In Season of the Splicer, he doesn't like Mithrax and his House settling in the Last City, but he is also fully aware they have no reason to betray humanity, and they need Mithrax's powers as a Sacred Splicer. So while he often harshly criticizes Mithrax, he tries to keep an open mind. Learning that he's essentially the Eliksni equivalent of the Boogeyman who terrifies hatchlings really hits Saint hard, causing him to let go of his hatred for the Eliksni and vow to protect the House of Light as he would the rest of the City. When the Vex attack the Last City through the portal Lakshmi opened, Saint helps Mithrax defend the House of Light, telling Mithrax "You are my people!".
• Troll: If he sees another Titan wearing the "Helm of Saint-14", he suggests that they go confuse Zavala together. Another idle dialogue has him planning a prank on Lord Shaxx.
• Use Your Head: Reportedly caved in Solkis (Kell of the House of Devils)' skull by head butting it, earning his epitaph "the Kellbreaker". In "The Accolade" lore, an old human survivor of the Dark Age is found by Saint, who headbutted several Fallen to rescue her. When the Guardian rescues him from the Infinite Forest by opening the gateway for him, Saint headbutts a Descendent Vex Minotaur to death to finish his escape.
• Worthy Opponent: The Vex appear to have respected him, seeing as they built a tomb for him within the Infinite Forest after they finally managed to drain his Light and kill him.

Siegfried

Siegfried

The first Titan to join the Praxic Order, Siegfried is a steadfast opponent of the Darkness and those who seek to use or exploit it. His Ghost is Ogden.

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• Dynamic Entry: During a battle against Caiatl's forces in the Cosmodrome, Amanda Holliday flies over the battlefield and launches Siegfried from her jumpship, turning his Fist of Havoc into a mounumentally fast arc missile aimed right at the Cabal's frontlines.
• The Fundamentalist: As expected of a member of the Praxic Order, He believes that any contact with the Darkness makes a Guardian a traitor to the Vanguard. This includes Eris, whom he denounces as a traitor straight to Petra's face.
• Shock and Awe: He is a Striker and makes very effective use of his arc abilities in combat.

Hunters

Eris Morn

Eris Morn, Crota's Bane / Bane of the Swarm, Hive God of Vengeance

Voiced by: Morla Gorrondona

"I am Eris... the last. I have seen what the Hive call a god."

A Lightless Hunter and member of Ikora Rey's network of spies and informants known as The Hidden, who became trapped in the Hellmouth for many years after her fireteam attempted to assassinate Crota and was wiped out. The trauma of watching her friends die and being forced to survive within the Hive catacombs has left deep and lasting scars upon her mind and body. Ironically, this experience has made her one of the foremost experts on the Hive. Her Ghost was Brya.

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• Affectionate Nickname: The Drifter takes to calling her Moondust, on account of bringing a whole lot of it with her on her robe whenever she visits his ship, while Eris calls him "Rat", which was initially an actual jab but has become an Insult of Endearment.
• Aloof Ally: Not entirely by choice: the time she spent hiding among the Hive has led to many of her fellow Guardians shunning her, for fear of her being corrupted by the Darkness. Still, there's the matter of her plotting with the Queen of the Reef and her brother in complete secrecy, even if it's to secure allies against the Hive. Not to mention, she knew Osiris was alive during his exile and was in contact with him, but chose to not alert the Vanguard to this.
• Ambiguously Human: Even before getting into the Hive augmentations it was up in the air for a long time if Eris was Awoken or human with pretty even amounts of evidence backing either side. She could be a very pale human or a not particularly pale Awoken. Her use of "Cousin" when referring to Asher Mir ultimately indicates she's a City Awoken.
• And I Must Scream: She had to survive alone in the darkest depths of the Hellmouth for years, not only surrounded by Hive at every turn but also having lost her eyes. As was just said, she remained down there for years before she got out of there, and since it's never really specified when she made the wish that gave her Acolyte eyes, we don't know how much longer she remained down there... which also means that it's fully possible that it took her years to escape even with her newfound eyes.
• And Then What?: In the House of Wolves, Crota is confirmed to be dead, leaving Eris having achieved her purpose. However, what will she do now that the Monster of Luna is gone? The answer is simple: kill Oryx. And once Oryx is finally ended, she realizes that she cannot protect the City by hiding within its walls and sets out into the vast darkness beyond to fight the next enemy.
• An Ice Person Gains the ability to use Stasis in Beyond Light.
• Bad Powers, Good People: She utilizes Hive rituals and magic, empowered by an Ahamkara wish, wields Darkness powered Stasis abilities, and even turns herself into a new Hive God, but through it all Eris has remained committed to protecting humanity and defeating the Hive and their patrons.
• Beyond the Impossible: Her gambit to defeat Xivu Arath without actually giving into her ways is revealed at the end of the season; not to become stronger than her at all but to become stronger than Savathun instead, so that when Eris Morn has her resurrected by Immaru, she can exploit the Sword Logic to its fullest by slaying Savathun herself by pulling a deceit greater than that of the Hive God known for lies, whom also hasn't ever been felled by another Hive before, meaning her potential power to obtain from killing Savathun is infinitely greater than trying to challenge Xivu Arath. The end result? Eris Morn becomes the single most powerful Hive to ever exist to the point of being the Top God briefly, which allows her to dictate the laws of the Hive with but a whim, and by so doing, Eris just wills Xivu Arath and her followers immortality away instantly before sacrificing her power as a Hive God, thereby forcing a hard Nerf across the entire Hive as a process as her ultimate revenge.
• Blind Seer: She lost her eyes while in the Hellmouth, replacing them with Hive cybernetics. She wears a blindfold over them, but the Sickly Green Glow of the Extra Eyes shines through it. True to the trope, she perceives things that others cannot.
• Body Horror: Her Hive God transformation is as grotesque as you'd imagine, with spikes erupting from her body as her bones warp and her skin turns to chitin.
• Brought Down to Badass: Losing her Ghost left Eris without immortality and Light-based powers, but she is still a highly skilled combatant with centuries of experience whose study of Hive magic and acquisition of Stasis powers leaves her as a formidable foe to fight.
• Cassandra Truth: Most assume that the only reason she raves on and on about Crota coming back is because her time on the moon snapped her mind completely, but she knows better, and has called in experienced Guardians like you to help her prove it and save humanity. While she may not be getting through to the Speaker, Commander Zavala, and Cayde-6, Ikora Rey believes that the threat of Crota's return is genuine, frequently seeking Eris's advice on the Hive.
• Childhood Friends: Fenchurch Everis' research into Eris' actual pre-Guardian life reveals a photo from her childhood of her and "VIP #1786", an unamed person who presumably also wound up a Guardian. An echoed sentiment in both Fenchurch's research and a letter Eris wrote to a "Cousin" strongly imply it was Asher.
• Comically Serious: Naturally, when sharing scenes with Cayde. She has made no secret that she wants to end his snarking and jokes by smashing his head in.
• Complexity Addiction: The Guardians would probably find her explanations of the Hive more useful if she didn't seem to insist on giving it through confusing rants that can often be simplified into "shoot this" or "go there".
• Creepy Good: She has the looks and mannerisms of a human-shaped Hive Wizard, and it's obvious that her time in the Hellmouth has taken an enormous toll on her mind and body, but she's still a devoted ally to the Traveler and the Vanguard.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Creepy black robes covered in Hive runes and other ritual markings, a sickly green glow coming from her three eyes, and a very disturbing way of speaking all make Eris a disturbing figure to be around and causes a great deal of mistrust from her allies, but she has been steadfast in fighting for the City and stopping the evils of the Hive.
• Determinator: Lived for years in the subterranean tunnels of the Moon after the raid gone wrong, surviving by "using the shadows as the Hive do". Not days, nor weeks, nor months — years.
• Devil in Plain Sight: Just look at her. Most Guardians put up with her due to her extensive knowledge of the Hive, but Cayde-6 openly states his mistrust of her. She was double-agent for Osiris and Queen Mara Sov, but both turned out to have the City's best interests at heart and were conspiring on ways to protect it from future threats.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Appears to be a result of both not getting much sunlight in the Hellmouth, and of her obvious ill-health.
• Extra Eyes: She appears to have replaced her original eyes with a set of Hive replacements, giving her the iconic three glowing lights under her bandages. This was due to a wish on an Ahamkara bone she was carrying, which traded her eyesight for knowledge of the Hive that allowed her to escape their tunnels.
• Eye Scream: Given the three glowing Hive eyes under her bandage, plus the black substance leaking from there, Eris probably lost her eyes in the Hellmouth. She is also very fixated on getting the eyes of the Forsaken. The eyes were actually taken by an Ahamkara as part of a bargain to escape the Hive.
• Fallen Hero: According to the Exo Stranger, Eris would always fall to the Darkness in every iteration of the timeline. Her bond with the Young Wolf and dealing with her trauma might be the key difference maker for this timeline's Eris.
• Gibbering Genius: A lot of what she has to say is genuinely useful, but she seems incapable of putting her thoughts into a sentence that doesn't border on impossible-to-understand nonsense. When your Guardian needs to disable the cannon on Oryx's dreadnought, Eris tries to give some absurd and confusing explanation involving "necrotic bonds" only for Cayde to tell you to just shoot it, which turns out to be exactly what you need to do.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: When she first returned to the Tower only Ikora trusted her, with most of the other Vanguard leaders viewing her with suspicion and hostility after learning of how she survived the Hellmouth and her knowledge of Hive rituals and the Darkness.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Zig-zagged. The Tower's premier anti-Hive agent looks a great deal like a human disciple of their Religion of Evil herself, but she seems to be firmly on the side of the Traveler and Guardians. However, her voice actor describes her as having an "odd reverence" for them and she's scheming with both the Reef royalty and Osiris behind the backs of the Vanguard, so she may be bordering this trope.
  • In previous versions of the timeline however, this would eventually be played straight.
• Horror Hunger: In her Hive God form, she has an endless craving for the usual Hive death tithes.
• It's Personal: Crota "took everything" from her. She wants revenge.
• Kill the God: Her greatest desire is to kill the Hive gods. With Crota dead, she moved on to the biggest and baddest of the Hive pantheon: Oryx. And when he fell, she surreptitiously took a piece of his sword for her own, providing the basis for the first Exotic swords in D1. Since then, she has moved on to the rest of the pantheon, with Savathûn and Xivu Arath in her sights, the latter of which is coming to a head in Season of the Witch.
• Large Ham: It appears that self-restraint and volume control were amongst the many, many things the Hellmouth took from her.
• Meaningful Name: Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. "Morn" sounds a lot like "mourn", which is fitting considering her teammates, but it's also part of "morning", when light returns from darkness.
• Mental Health Recovery Arc: Shadowkeep is one of these with the Guardian stopping by every week to help Eris recover from the resurgent unalleviated trauma of losing her fireteam in the Hellmouth. Season of Arrivals showed the effects as her self-esteem was higher, shown by putting the effort in to cook for herself, now that she has respect from the majority of Guardians, Zavala willing to listen to her, and both the Guardian and Ikora making it clear that they care about her.
• The Mole: She was secretly sending reports on the Tower to Osiris, and a "Queen", later revealed to be Mara Sov, Queen of the Awoken. However, this was all part of a Benevolent Conspiracy to prepare the Sol System for future battles against the Hive gods.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hey, Eris, your need to take revenge on Crota? It may not have been a good idea, as it got the attention of someone even worse. And he didn't come alone. Eris tasks you with gathering the materials necessary to create the Touch Of Malice, an Exotic Scout Rifle perfect for killing Oryx with. The Grimoire indicates she was actually manipulated into creating a Soul Jar for Oryx, one that would shape its wielder into his successor.
• Non-Standard Character Design: With her robes, untraditional hood, and general mysticism one could be forgiven for thinking she's a Warlock instead of a Hunter. She's technically neither as her Ghost was destroyed and her status as a Guardian is tenuous at best.
• Only Sane Woman: Granted, "sane" is a bit of a stretch given what's become of her, but in a world of wisecracking Ghosts and dancing Guardians, she's the only one who understands the gravity of the situation and just how dangerous The Darkness is. At least, if you ask her.
• The Power of Hate: Openly admits that it's most of what still keeps her going.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: The Lunar Pyramid creates Nightmares, phantoms of emotions based on people that the victim has associated with traumatic memories (for most people) or enemies that have been defeated prior (in the Young Wolf's case). In Season of the Haunted, we see both Crow and Zavala be nearly incapacitated by the heckling of one Nightmare each over the course of one season, and Ikora is forced to step away from the entire operation by one interaction with hers. Eris has five that she has dealt with since Shadowkeep, and despite being able to perform a severance ritual to get rid of them, just chooses not to.
• Revenge Before Reason: She sends your Guardian into Crota's personal realm to kill him permanently for the sake of her revenge, despite the fact she should've probably known that this would attract Oryx's attention, given her in-depth knowledge of the Hive.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: She spent months crawling out of the Hellmouth without a Ghost after seeing her closest friends slaughtered. It shows.
• Ship Tease: With the Drifter as they start working closely together after the arrival of the Black Fleet. They bond over their mutual interest in Darkness lore, traumatic pasts, and how their goals and motives are often misunderstood or distrusted by others.
• Shock and Awe: Specified in the lore tabs of the Great Hunt set from the Dreaming City raid that she was a Bladedancer before her incident in the Hellmouth. She hasn't been seen wielding Light since.
• Sickly Green Glow: Her magic produces this, underlining how badly her time in the Hellmouth has warped her.
• Sole Survivor: She and five others descended into the Hellmouth. Only she came back out.
• Tranquil Fury: Ever since the day she lost her Light and her Fireteam to Crota and his servants, she's remained calm and almost completely emotionless, but behind her nigh-unflinching stoicism lies a bottomless wellspring of anger, directed tirelessly towards seeing the Hive and their Gods pay in an ocean of blood for their transgressions.
• Tears of Blood: Or something black and tarry-looking, anyways.
• True Companions: With the Crota fireteam sans Toland, who was only recruited due to his knowledge of the Hive and was not fully trusted by Eris and the others. The loss of all of them haunts Eris terribly.
• You Are What You Hate: Despite her hate for the Hive, she seems to have adopted some of their traits and powers, likely out of necessity and survival.

Ana Bray

Anastasia "Ana" Bray, Voice of Rasputin

Voiced by: Jamie Chung (Warmind), Erika Ishii (Season of the Worthy onward)

A former member of the Bray family in her previous life — the founders of the Golden Age Clovis Bray corporation — now a Hunter. When she became Risen, she had her personal effects on her, including an ID Card for Clovis Brey with the name 'Anastasia Bray' on it, and a picture of herself, allowing her to be one of the few Guardians who knows of their past. Ana Bray was a major player at the Battle for Twilight Gap, where her Golden Gun was said to leave wells of light where her shots landed. She used the Battle to fake her own death and go into hiding, so she could research her previous life and find out more about Rasputin on Mars without Vanguard authority looming over her.

Her Ghost is Jinju.

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• Adoption Angst: The Mysterious Logbook reveals that Ana was actually adopted into the Bray family rather than being born into it... a fact which earned her the resentment of her adoptive grandfather Clovis Bray I, who scorned her for not being of Bray genetic stock. However, the Exo Stranger reveals in Beyond Light that this was a lie, and she actaully is a true Bray, though one born from her father's "infidelity". It was for this reason, and to try and avoid her following in her grandfather's inhumane experiments, that her sister Elsie and her mother told her she was adopted.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: In the Legacy lore entry, Ana learns just how deeply her pre-resurrection self was involved Clovis Bray's very morally objectionable Exo project. She doesn't take it well.
• Badass Bookworm: Ana is extremely intelligent, and in her former life was a scientist connected to the Warmind project. After being reborn as a Guardian, she proved so powerful that during the Battle of Twilight Gap she left permanent pools of Light wherever she fired her Golden Gun.
• Battle Couple: During the last few years of her search for Rasputin's location, she and her girlfriend Camrin went into the field together to uncover hidden Bray sites that held clues to the Warmind's location.
• Bastard Angst: Although she believes she is just adopted, she was actually born from her father's "infidelity", and her mother and sister, Elsie, merely told her she was adopted to hide that she was an illegitimate child, and also to try and protect her from her father's and grandfather legacy of "genetic cruelty".
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Overlapping with Broken Pedestal. As the story progresses, Ana (and the player) is learning more and more about her Pre-Guardian life just as she wanted... and a lot of what she's learning about herself and her Big, Screwed-Up Family is not as happy and heroic as she clearly expected it to be.
• The Corruptible: Elsie was worried that Ana was this, seeing a lot of similarities between her and their grandfather. In the prior timelines Elsie has lived through, Ana has become corrupted by the Darkness in many of them for various reasons. Preventing this is one of Elsie's main goals in each life she lives.
• Cyborg: Through implants using Braytech.
• Electronic Eyes: Giving her a personalized heads-up display even with her helmet off (which, of course, is the norm for Destiny NPCs). When active, they produce glowing red circular circuit patterns in her irises.
• The Exile: A self-imposed example. In true Hunter fashion, Ana Bray left the City after the Battle of Twilight Gap and refused to return, even avoiding contact with other Guardians. The main reason for this was because she sought out the truth about her life before she was resurrected, which is a taboo subject among Guardians.
• Faking the Dead: In order to go along with her self-imposed exile, Ana faked her death at the Battle of Twilight Gap. It wasn't until decades later when Zavala discovered that she was still alive.
  Ana: At Twilight Gap that Fallen gave me the opening I needed...to let the world believe Guardian Ana Bray was dead...So that Doctor Anastasia Bray could finally do what needed to be done.
• The Gunslinger: While she uses the Polaris Lance and 18 Kelvins as her primary loadout, Ana's skill with the Golden Gun is well-known, to the point that other Guardians sometimes refer to her as "Gunslinger".
• Heroic BSoD: Lapses into one when Rasputin is curb-stomped by the Pyramids, and only snaps out of it when Jinju yells at her to help them save as much of Rasputin as they can.
• Identity Amnesia: Much like other Guardians, Ana had no idea who she was when she was revived. Unlike other Guardians, she actively sought out her past, helped by the fact that she had an ID badge on her when she was resurrected.
• Irony: For all her reverence for her past life and the Bray family, the Mysterious Logbook makes clear that Pre-Guardian Ana was actually The Unfavorite of the family, scorned by Clovis Bray I for being adopted and thus disrupting his careful engineering of his family.
• Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge: Ana started out as a seeker of forbidden knowledge—namely her past and everything to do with Rasputin—but by the time she discovered Rasputin on Mars she became the de facto keeper of both the Warmind and its knowledge.
• Long-Lost Relative: Assuming the strong hints that the Exo Stranger is Elsie Bray are correct, she and Ana are sisters. This was finally confirmed in Beyond Light
• Mayfly–December Romance: She is in a relationship with Camrin Dumuzi, an agent of the Owl Sector. Ana is at the very least a few hundred years older than her and is effectively immortal.
• One-Tract Mind: Ana is very singleminded, almost obsessive in her focus on Rasputin and Braytech, to the point of rejecting offers to become the new Hunter Vanguard because she sees working on Rasputin as more important than anything else. Nearly every conversation and interaction the player has with her involves Rasputin in some way, shape, or form.
• Refusal of the Call: More than a few people think she'd make a good Hunter Vanguard after Cayde's death including Zavala trying his darndest to convince her to take the job. She's so far turned it down in favor of Rasputin related work she sees as more important and where she's essential.
• Renaissance Man: On top being a psycholinguist expert, many of her lessons when teaching Rasputin were shown as her performing it for Rasputin herself, including playing the violin, painting art and performing Hamlet.
• Spanner in the Works: Deviating from Clovis' agenda by introducing Rasputin to art, literature and philosophy resulted in the warmind gaining independent thought and coming to see the true value of humanity, and as a result locking out Clovis from his protocols, ultimately preventing Clovis from using Rasputin to destroy the Traveler.
• Stripped to the Bone: The imagery paired with Rasputin's cutscene shows that Ana's body was left in this state in the aftermath of the Collapse's shockwave, prior to being revived by her Ghost.
• Sue Donym: Uses "Stasya Pak" as an alias while in the City when everybody thought she was dead. Stasya, as in Anastasia.
• The Unfavorite: The Mysterious Logbook reveals that Ana was this to her grandfather Clovis Bray I before the Collapse. He resented her for being adopted, which he saw as a disruption of the careful engineering he performed on himself and his family. Though, he only believed she was adopted.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Has been on the receiving and giving ends of this a few times.
  • Zavala chews her out upon learning she is alive, accusing her of abandoning the Last City to go chasing her past and risking waking up a potentially homicidal Warmind.
  • Ana was not pleased by Elsie revealing herself to her after centuries of hiding, accusing her of leaving Ana in the dark and chasing answers when she could have come to her at any point and revealed them, saving Ana decades of trouble. She eventually forgives her and comes to understand why Elsie hid from her for so long.

Shiro-4

Shiro-4, Vanguard Scout

Voiced by: Uncredited ^*Shiro-4 is one of two major characters in Destiny whose voice actor is not revealed by Bungie, the other being Oryx

An Exo Hunter who is one of the Vanguard's most trusted scouts, Shiro-4 was once a member of a notorious Fireteam alongside Andal Brask and Cayde-6, and serves as a major Hunter connection to the Vanguard. Shiro-4 specializes in the Fallen, combating their threat across Earth, Luna, and Venus. He is sent by the Vanguard to assist Lord Saladin at Felwinter's Peak in combating the Devil Splicers and SIVA.

His Ghost is Suzume.

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• Foil: To his former mentor, Cayde-6. Both are Exo Hunters and stalked in the same Fireteam, but unlike Cayde, Shiro is no-nonsense and wastes little time joking around outside of occasional sarcasm. He also relies heavily on intel, while Cayde's known for his precise intuition.
• Hero of Another Story: He hasn't made an appearance since Rise of Iron, but the occasional lore reference has made it clear that Shiro is still busy offscreen having his own adventures.
• In the Hood: As is typical for hunters he wears a cloak with his hood up. His cloak is made from the torn banners of several Fallen houses.
• Mission Control: Oversees the campaign against the Devil Splicers alongside Saladin. He also assigns all of the patrol missions in the Plaguelands.
• Refusal of the Call: After Cayde's death he has joined the majority of Hunters in stating absolutely no interest in taking being the next Hunter Vanguard. His Ghost on the other hand...
• Shock and Awe: He sports a chestpiece that bears striking similarity to the Lucky Raspberry, indicating that he's either an Arcstrider or Bladedancer.

Tevis Larsen

Tevis Larsen

One of the few Nightstalkers left in present time, and an old acquaintance of Cayde-6. After learning about the Black Garden, Tevis begins seeking a way into it.

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• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Described as such by Cayde.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He has given up on the Traveller, but still fights the forces of the Darkness and decides to investigate the Black Garden.
• Last Stand: Cut off from his Ghost and stranded in the Black Garden, Tevis knows he has no chance at resurrection and is faced by a massive horde of Vex. The Guardian finds dozens of dead Vex around his body, with his Nightstalker Bow still filled with the last of his Light.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: After briefly speaking with him over the radio, the Guardian finds him dead by the time you reach his location.

Lady Efrideet

Lady Efrideet, Iron Banner Rep

Voiced by: Riva Di Paola

The youngest of the Iron Lords, Efrideet is a Hunter and the only other surviving member of the fireteam alongside Lord Saladin. After spending years studying with a group of other Guardians new ways in which to utilize Light, she returns to assist her former comrade in holding the Iron Banner Tournaments.

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• Action Girl: As a first-generation Guardian, Efrideet has accomplished incredible feats of physical strength, enough to incite awe from Shaxx whenever the latter reminisces about the old stories of Twilight Gap.
• Badass Pacifist: While the exact kind isn't specified, she is stated to have traveled to the outer system and spent many years with a group of these.
• Establishing Character Moment: What does she do in her first appearance? Joke about how there isn't a statue for her while standing confidently before Saladin.
• Genki Girl: She's surprisingly upbeat for everything she's been through. All her dialogue in Rise of Iron had a bit of mirth and perkiness to it.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Don't let her slender figure and status as a Hunter, a class that's not known for brute force, fool you; her Grimoire entry mentions she once threw Saladin into a Fallen Walker like a javelin.
• Neutral No Longer: As detailed in the Season 2 Cosmo Shell: During the Red War, Efrideet takes up a sniper's nest in the Last City, killing 216 Cabal with 199 bullets, and was present when the Vanguard retook the City and the Traveler reawakened.
• Older Than They Look: You don't see her face, but her voice and behavior wouldn't suggest her being among the first generation of Guardians.
• One Hit Poly Kill: She sniped 216 Cabal with only 199 bullets, so some of them had to be this trope.
• Put on a Bus: Left Earth once more after the Red War, returning to her hidden community.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: According to Bungie, "she's seen some shit".
• Uncertain Doom: She had no artifact listed, and Bungie implied that she may not be dead. Her survival was confirmed with her appearance in Rise of Iron, with Saladin noting that he had always hoped she would still be alive centuries after they parted ways.

Shin Malphur

Shin Malphur, the Man with the Golden Gun

Voiced by: Crispin Freeman

A "renegade" Hunter who was never raised from the dead by a Ghost, but instead inherited the Ghost of his mentor Jaren Ward. A former resident of Palamon, he was the one to eventually put an end to the infamous Dredgen Yor. Nowadays, he's dedicated himself to hunting down the Shadows of Yor.

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• The Ace: Hands down one of the greatest and most powerful Gunslingers of all time. He can't be outdrawn in a duel, all of the Shadows are terrified of crossing him, and as seen with Callum, his Golden Gun is potent enough to leave a shadow outline of the man's body, something that nuclear weapons are capable of doing. For emphasis, the Golden Gun that most Gunslingers pull out of the sky? They're shaped after the image of his Golden Gun, which is just The Last Word charged with Solar Light, as opposed to a revolver pulled from the sky, like most Hunters do.
• Actually, I Am Him: The Season of the Drifter reveals that he founded the Shadows of Yor, with Zyre Orsa and Dredgen Vale being false identities to conceal his true nature. He remains as virtuous as he was before, however, since this is all part of a gamble to amass a group of Guardians able to wield both the Light and the Darkness to humanity's benefit, as well as hunting down those who would fall into the temptations of the Darkness.
• Badass Normal: Even before inheriting Jaren's ghost, Shin was already quite skilled and even joined his mentor in attempting to hunt down Dredgen Yor.
• Big Damn Heroes: Shin reveals to the player Guardian that the reason the Last Word appeared to the player during the quest The Conversation is not because he dropped it off, but rather because the Last Word itself will appear on the behalf of any Guardian that needs it's help and calls upon it. That's right, the Last Word itself wants to help, and appears right in the Young Wolf's hands to stop the Hive gunsmith from completing the Thorn.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Several times. His biological parents were killed by Fallen, his adoptive father died when Dredgen Yor razed Palamon to the ground, and then Jaren was murdered by Yor.
• The Dreaded: If there's one person the Shadows of Yor fear above all else, it's the Man with the Golden Gun.
• Hand Cannon: Carries the Last Word, a Tex Mechanica Hand Cannon imbued with Shin's Light. The cannon is so in-tune with the Light, that it's form is one of the three that most Gunslingers summon when using the Golden Gun ^note The other two being Hawkmoon/Eyasluna and The First Curse. Shin also notes to the Young Wolf that only Gunslingers can unlock The Last Word's full potential.
  Shin: Few can light its fire, but any reborn of the Light can call its name.
• Hidden Depths: Despite his experience with fallen guardians, his plans regarding the Shadows of Yor show that he does believe that the guardians can wield the power of the Darkness without being corrupted, as he only wants to weed out the worst elements within the group. He ends up vindciated in Beyond Light, where Young Wolf manages to harness the power of Stasis without being corrupted.
• Ironic Echo: "Yours, not mine." Jaren Ward's Post-Mortem One-Liner to the Magistrate of Palamon in reference to his weapon, now echoed by the man facing down Jaren's killer while wielding the same weapon.
• Knight Templar: He admits that, especially in his younger days, he only saw things in black or white, swiftly dealing out justice to those who fell to corruption and temptation and never thinking about the consequences of his actions. He writes to the Young Wolf that not only have they made him realize that his core belief is all wrong, he now sees in them, for the first time ever, a bit of gray.
• The Mentor: He sends letters to the Young Wolf in order to help them learn to control their anger and offering insight on how they can better themselves to be the hero that others view them as.
• Mysterious Protector: Has taken this role for us, The Young Wolf. During our work with the Drifter finding Enkaar, a Hive weaponmaster trying to create a new Weapon of Sorrow, Shin was aiding us from the shadows, and his offering of The Last Word, a weapon imbued and extremely in-tune with the Light, is what allowed us to chase the weaponmaster and outgun him without our Light being corrupted, as Weapons of Sorrow tend to have that effect.
• Passing the Torch: In "Nothing Ends", he writes to you that you must become the guiding light, showing the rest of the Guardians how to use both Light and Dark. Having passed on the Last Word to you, he also tells you that he intends to leave the stage, as it is now your legend.
  From this moment on, my closest allies and I will be gone. Our job is done. And, despite appearances, our purest intent was never as simple and mundane as to rile and endanger, though such tactics were needed. No, our task was always to find those, like yourself, who could further the meaning of what it means to be a Guardian and to push you forward in ways never before considered or allowed.
• Pragmatic Hero / Shut Up, Hannibal!: Rather than sit and listen to Dredgen Yor's final evil speech, he whipped out the Golden Gun and shot him dead mid-sentence.
• Red Baron: Is known as "The Man with the Golden Gun."
• The Reveal: The 'For Every Rose, a Thorn' lore card reveals that Shin Malphur has an alter ego in the form of Zyre Orsa, AKA Dredgen Vale. See Xanatos Gambit below.
• Secret Test of Character: A lot of his dialogue within the past two expansions implies that he's putting the Young Wolf through an indirect version of this, witnessing their behavior from the sidelines and judging whether or not their intentions are true. True to the nature of the trope, he only reveals that he founded the Shadows of Yor and is Dredgen Vale after determining that they have earned the right to know.
• Take Up My Sword: He wields The Last Word, which previously belonged to the Guardian Jaren Ward, who was both friend and father figure to the young Shin. When Dredgen Yor killed Jaren, Shin inherited both the weapon and his Ghost.
  • He in turn leaves The Last Word to the Young Wolf, trusting and believing in them to continue to be a force of good. It's worth noting that this isn't permanent or limiting on Malphur himself; such is his Light that, if he needs it, he can summon The Last Word back to his side, but because The Last Word is so powerful in the Light, him allowing us to summon it while chasing Enkaar is one of the only things that could have kept us from being corrupted by the Darkness.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With the Drifter, which he reiterates to Shaxx several times in his observations that he doesn't trust him at all. Despite the numerous risks, he still sees it as necessary if it means that Gambit manages to pay off in drawing the Shadows of Yor back out of hiding.
• Vigilante Man: If he ever spots a Guardian playing around with Dark powers, he'll do everything in his power to take them down; not capture, but outright execution. He takes it upon himself to chase down and kill the Shadows of Yor, even if some of the suspected Dredgens are a far cry from the threat posed by their founder, Dredgen Yor. The Drifter, who's one of the most morally grey characters in the story thanks to his wealth of experience and personal history, dislikes this absolute way of thinking, and even Aunor Mahal would rather detain and try to rehabilitate the would-be Dredgens.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Prior to the Red War, he gave Ikora an earful about how the Vanguard weren't taking the Shadows of Yor seriously enough as an emerging threat.
  • His letters to the Young Wolf are a downplayed example, where he not only asks them to consider the consequences of their more recent actions, but to also think about what they can do to have better control and to continue to be a hero.
• Xanatos Gambit: His identity and position as Dredgen Vale. He reinvigorated a movement that drew out Guardians that would follow Yor's teachings to a T instead of seeking balance. By building an organization with the intent of wielding Light and Darkness together, he draws any potential new Yors to the forefront so that he can gun them down. His encounter with Callum Sol, AKA Dredgen Cull, was a plan by them both to eliminate a bunch of these Darkness-worshiping Guardians in one swoop, with Cull being a Sacrificial Lamb.

Marcus Ren

Marcus Ren

A highly skilled Hunter and Sparrow pilot, Marcus is one of the stars of the Sparrow Racing League. His Ghost, Didi, is a rather spry individual who has done some... interesting accomplishments over the past years.

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• Ace Custom: Didi uses the Fast Lane shell, a translucent-red shell with prongs that was the first to use the Speed Demon^note All Sparrows have instant summon and reload your weapons when you ride perk. Marcus also designed the Mimesis Drive, a red Sparrow that similarly applies the same Red Ones Go Faster principle.
• Badass Driver: One of the most accomplished Sparrow racers in the world, is considered to be nigh-unbeatable, and is a talented engineer when it comes to making Sparrows. He's also a skilled enough Hunter that Cayde speculates that Marcus is probably the only Hunter (aside from the Young Wolf) capable of actually killing the aforementioned Hunter Vanguard permanently. And as it happens, that position is now unfilled as of Forsaken...
• Blue Is Heroic: Didi changes her shell out for the electric blue Citrine Sway Shell in the events leading up to The Final Shape.
• The Ghost: Has yet to show up in-game, but appears quite frequently in the lore. Much like every other Hunter capable enough to fulfil the Vanguard role, Marcus likely fled the Tower before Zavala and Ikora could caucus them to select a new Hunter Vanguard.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Built the Fr0st-EE5 and St0mp-EE5 boots, and like his colleague Cron, he's obssessed with cramming just about any sort of technology into a Sparrow. Judging by the fact that Eververse sells them, they worked.
• Giftedly Bad: Didi is an absolutely atrocious playwright.
• Mundane Utility: While it's nowhere near Cron-8's level of inventing practical NLS drives for terrestrial use just to win Sparrow races, Marcus has a habit of digging up new technologies and then immediately using them to build new Sparrows.
• Red Ones Go Faster: Both Marcus and Didi are a fan of this trope; while Didi's shell is an Ace Custom with a translucent red color, Marcus was apparently once seen unable to be convinced by Enoch Bast that painting a certain Sparrow red (likely the Mimesis Drive) wouldn't actually increase the speed of the vehicle. By the time of The Final Shape, however, both of them seem to have abandoned this idea, as Marcus's autograph for the Young Wolf has a hand-drawn rainbow next to it, while Didi portrays herself with the blue Citrine Sway Shell.
• Self-Insert Fic: Didi is the author of a play recounting the Young Wolf's history during the Taken War, start to finish... except she's the Young Wolf, and Marcus is Ghost. Needless to say, Zavala finds it a humongous insult to both yourself and the art of papier-mâché, your Ghost is horrified, Tyra Karn's Ghost realizes that Didi sucks at writing, and Shaxx is left wondering why the dialogue is so sexually charged. Its name... is "Oryx the Nightmare Daddy".
• Toxic Friend Influence: Downplayed. Marcus is definitely a genuine Nice Guy and isn't a criminal by any means, but he keeps implicating his friend Boaz in some rather strange experiments that'd at least raise an eyebrow from the Vanguard. Boaz, while understandably horrified, begrudgingly complies through a mix of bribery and guilt-tripping.

Micah- 10

Micah-10, Protector of Ghosts

An Exo Hunter who helped protect caravans of Ghosts looking for Guardians during the early City Age, being chased by the disillusioned rogue Lightbearer Cyrell in the process. She later joined the Six Coyotes fireteam.

Beyond Light reveals that she was born Micah Abram, the daughter of two Clovis Bray scientists working for the Exo project. She wrote a series of letters to the Traveler talking about her life on Eventide and asking it some questions about its nature.

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• A Day in the Limelight: The entirety of the nine-page lorebook "Your Friend, Micah Abram" is dedicated to a look into her pre-resurrection life; beforehand, Micah had a grand total of one lore page where she was the main focus, and three appearances in other lore tabs/pages where someone else was the main focus.
• Ambiguous Gender Identity: While Micah the Exo is female and Micah the human is male, it's unclear if she ever actually identified as transgender, considering Clovis had a habit of experimenting with Exos by rewriting their minds and physiology without consent (meaning as an Exo, Micah could have simply been reprogrammed into believing she was always female regardless of previous gender identity.)
• Amnesiac Resonance: As a result of becoming an Exo, Micah dreams of a tower and countless battles fought beneath it often. Every hundred or so iterations, she encounters a man who gives her some advice about dreams - advice that is almost exactly the same as what little Micah Abram was told centuries ago.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Was turned into an Exo somewhere down the line after writing about how amazing they are in her letters to the Traveler.
• Children Are Innocent: Her letters from her pre-resurrection life indicated that she barely understood why, in her eyes, people feared something as cool as the Exo project, unaware that Clovis Bray was committing severe human rights violations making them. She also didn't understand why her father, a psychologist, was being assigned to work with the Exos, believing them to be Just a Machine.
• Connected All Along: It's heavily implied Cayde nearly shot Micah for trespassing when she was a child.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: As a ten-year-old girl, Micah dreamed of reaching for a distant point in space as an Exo, not unlike Lord Colovance's theory that the Light is blasting a signal into deep space meant to be followed. While it's unknown what led to her becoming an Exo, it's pretty blatant Foreshadowing of the confirmation that the book is about her in particular and not someone else named Micah.
• Gender-Blender Name: "Micah" is usually not a feminine name. Notably, when her father Wesley-3's corpse is found, his last words mention having a son, implying that Micah is transgender.
• Mama Bear: Threatened to rip Cyrell's throat out if he ever attempted to bring his Ghost-killing crusade near her again after the caravan lost him in Australis.
• Party Scattering: Experienced this for a while due to her Ghosts finding Guardians faster than she could anticipate, which she admitted depressed her slightly.
• Security Blanket: Had a collection of nine plush penguins, some of which she kept on more dangerous journeys. After the Collapse, they were scattered across the Rathmore Chaos, some locked behind Vex security and frozen into the ice.
• Wham Line: The Legacy's Oath Greaves have Micah-10 being given some advice that is taken almost word-for-word from "Your Friend, Micah Abram," confirming that Micah Abram sharing her first name is not a coincidence.
  Legacy's Oath Greaves: "Dreams are messages from deep inside your mind," he [Micah's Dad] reminds her, "Until you figure out the message, the dream will repeat."
  "Your Friend, Micah Abram": At first I was mad, but he [Dad] reminded me that dreams are messages from deep inside our minds. Until we figure out the message, the dream repeats. So, hopefully, I'll get to finish it tonight.

Shaw Han

Shaw Han, Vanguard Operative

A Hunter whose team was killed in Old Russia's Cosmodrome. Shaw decided to stay there and coordinate Vanguard operations in the region, due to it being a major source of resurrected Lightbearers.

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• Custom Uniform: Played with. Shaw's outfit uses Hunter gear that can be equipped by any Hunter, despite the fact that he's a named and voiced NPC.
• Foreshadowing: The fact that the Umbral Flames Stasis Fragment quest features him objecting to the use of Stasis as its Flavor Text hints at the reveal that he's the third character to demonstrate special abilities with the Golden Gun, after Cayde^note the original user of Blade Barrage and Ana Bray^note who left permanent wells of Light wherever she shot her Golden Gun.
• The Generic Guy: For a Guardian, that is. He's fairly plain and unremarkable, both in personality and appearance.
• Hidden Depths: His armor choice is a big hint to his past. Despite saying he's never been to the Dreaming City, he wears Strides of the Great Hunt, part of an armor set that was originally given by the Reef to Guardians participating in the Great Ahamkara Hunt. His Young Ahamkara Spine only lends further credence to him being a Great Hunt veteran.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Despite being The Generic Guy, Shaw has access to an unnamed version of Golden Gun that gives its power to every firearm near him (think the offensive powers of a Well of Radianace), turning even the Redjacks into an unstoppable army of molten death.
• Mission Control: Plays this role for the "A Guardian Rises" quest chain after it was updated for the Beyond Light expansion. He's also the destination vendor for the Cosmodrome in Destiny 2.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Wears the Young Ahamkara Spine exotic guantlets.
• Sole Survivor: The only member of his fireteam to survive an encounter with Navôta, and that's only because the Young Wolf rescues him before Navôta could finish draining his light.

The Crow and Glint (unmarked spoilers)

The Crow, Freelance Lightbearer

The Crow, in Season of the Hunt

Post Season of the Hunt

Voiced by: Brendon O'Neil

"They call me...the Crow. My boss wants to see you."

Following his demise at the end of Forsaken, Uldren Sov's body was found by a Ghost named Glint (nicknamed Pulled Pork by several Guardians met along his journeys) and was revived into becoming a Lightbearer. Unfortunately, Uldren's history as the Arc Villain of Forsaken has not been forgotten, and he's been ostracized from the tower. He now works as The Spider's chief officer, and is the focus character of Season of the Hunt.

For more information on Crow and Glint, click here.

Katabasis

Katabasis

Former owner of the Dead Man's Tale scout rifle and had ties to Emperor Calus. He vanishes shortly after the disappearance of Mars, but manages to contact the player months later with the promise of giving the Dead Man's Tale for freeing him. His Ghost was Gilgamesh.

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• Ace Custom: The Dead Man's Tale itself, a lever-action scout rifle and a commission from Tex Mechanica. It's a powerful weapon, being fantastic at drilling weakpoints, especially if it rolls with Vorpal Weapon. According to Zavala, it's of questionable legality, but the Vanguard has no authority over it since it isn't registered to any of their databases. It also seems that Tex Mechanica threw in a custom wood-and-brass branded shell for his Ghost as well.
• All There in the Manual: Presage proper doesn't delve into his life very much, but the Captain's Log lorebook goes into great detail of what working for Calus was like, as well as what he got up to on the Glykon before he died.
• Bling of War: Rides a copy of the Emperor's Chosen jumpship, a worn Vector model adorned with large jewels and gilded accessories. You can find it parked in morbidly-decent condition during Presage, which goes through the Glykon's hangar at one point.
• Bloodless Carnage: It's not certain if he was a human, an Awoken, or an Exo, but either way, by the time you find him strung up by whatever that plant material is, you might notice the startling lack of blood coming off of him. Even with how those strings are gouging through his body in very obvious ways.
• Body Horror: At the end of Presage, he's discovered suspended in the air by the strange growths aboard the Glykon, and is now more Alien Kudzu than whichever race he was previously.
• Character Death: He's already dead by the time you find him, with his history being described in the lorebook associated with Presage.
• Dirty Coward: During the Red War, he abandoned both the City and his Ghost in order to survive, something Gilgamesh holds against him to the end.
• Flashy Protagonists, Bland Extras: Variant. Katabasis has a mission dedicated to rescuing him alongside a lorebook regarding his exploits, but he's dead by the time you reach him, and his appearance under the Body Horror shows he's wearing plain Hunter armor instead of something visually distinctive. The only thing truly unique about him is Dead Man's Tale and the shell Gilgamesh has.
• Late to the Tragedy: The mission to rescue him ends with discovering he's already dead, suspended by odd, fleshy growths. It's not completely worthless, though, as his rifle is still available to retrieve.
• Reused Character Design: Sorta. Studying his corpse on the Glykon shows he's wearing normal Rare-tier Hunter armor that any Hunter can get, making him look like another player character.
• Robbing the Dead: You take the Dead Man's Tale from his deformed corpse after killing the Locus of Communion. To be fair, he did offer it up in his distress signal.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Downplayed. You're sent on a mission to rescue him that involves lots of puzzle-solving and throwing down with a huge pile of very angry Scorn, only to find out that the Darkness has already left him dead for at least a while now. At least the Dead Man's Tale is still up for grabs like he promised.

Warlocks

Osiris

Osiris, Warden of the Infinite Forest

Osiris and his Ghost, Sagira

Voiced by: R. Hamilton Wright (Destiny), Oded Fehr (Destiny 2)

"Perhaps what drives a Warlock to madness is truth."

A renowned Warlock and former Vanguard Commander who became an expert on both the Hive and the Vex, with the ultimate goal of understanding the Darkness itself. His quest for knowledge led to a cult of personality developing around him, with many other Guardians choosing to follow his ideals rather than the ideals of the Tower. This ideological division led to his exile and ultimate disappearance. He is still remembered by the Disciples of Osiris, who seek Guardians to compete in the Trials of Osiris.

His role in the game and his relation with Ikora is expanded upon in the first DLC for Destiny 2, Curse of Osiris, with his relationship with fellow Vanguard veteran Saint-14 being expanded on in Season of Dawn.

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• Accidental Truth: When contacted by the Awoken about what they should do with the worsening Taken curse and incursion of Xivu Arath's soldiers in the Dreaming City, he mentions that only the Vex should be capable of such subterfuge. However, there are no Vex in the city. There are also no Vex in the city. Quria, who is a Vex, is holding the place in a time loop from the outside to (presumably) allow Savathûn's troops infinite time to get what they need. Osiris's reply also gives more credibility to Medusa, who claims that Quria is not defecting from the Taken as it keeps insisting.
• Actor Allusion: He is not the first Egyptian-themed character played by Oded Fehr.
• Admiring the Abomination: He and Sagira once stumbled upon a copy of the Hive's Book of Sorrows and read it. Sagira is understandably creeped out; Osiris, on the other hand, found it enlightening.
• Ambiguous Situation: Much of Osiris' demeanor and actions throughout the Seasons of Beyond Light up until Season of the Lost makes it ambiguous whether it was all Savathûn with hints of Osiris leaking through, or if it was him, but dancing to Savathûn's tune while involuntarily acting as her meat suit.
• Ancient Egypt: Besides his name being the same as the Egyptian God of the Dead, this is a definite theme with the armor available in the Trials of Osiris, with the Warlock hood being modeled on Anubis, the Titan helm being modeled on Horus and the Hunter helmet on Ra.
• And I Must Scream: He fades in and out of consciousness while possessed by Savathûn, desperately crying out for anyone to notice that he has been taken over.
• Angrish: When fiddling with the contraption that presumably opens his rifts in time and failing to do so, he spouts a volley of incomprehensible gibberish in a tone that implies he's frustrated.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: His hood is actually a modified Dawn Chorus, as Lightfall reveals. It ditches the cicada motifs for a phoenix, making it this trope for both himself as a Dawnblade and the hood itself due to its ability to double Daybreak damage and triple Scorch damage. Additionally, it also has green lights in the same shade as Strand when used by the Young Wolf for seemingly no reason except to invoke this trope again for the element.
• Bald Mystic: A bald guy who's also one of the most powerful warlocks in the game.
• Cassandra Truth: In Season of the Seraph, he tells the Vanguard of his experience while under Savathûn's control, including things he managed to gleam from within her own mind. Among other things is information about something Savathûn was pursuing in Neptune. To Osiris' frustration, the Vanguard dismisses these claims as their investigations found nothing. The lore tabs for the seasonal armor show him under watch by Aunor on Ikora's orders, believing him to be compromised and possibly still suffering from Savathûn's control.
• De-power: Is subjected to this shortly before Season of the Hunt begins due to Sagira being destroyed in a Hive ritual. Seems to be getting some of his mojo back with Season of Defiance however, as he's shown to be experimenting with the power of Strand alongside the Young Wolf.
• Even the Subtitler Is Stumped: His flurry of frustrated, incoherent babbling in the opening cinematic is translated as "Cursing in an alien language."
• The Exile: He was exiled for "coming too close to understanding the Vex". A lot of the Trials of Osiris gear has a "Noun of the Exile" Theme Naming. Apparently, the Disciples of Osiris are still a little pissed off with the Speaker over it.
• The Extremist Was Right: After his exile various events he predicted came true, causing the Speaker to seriously regret exiling him.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Implied to be why he was exiled, though it doesn't appear to have been to the extent of Toland's madness. His Grimoire Card indicates he was starting to ask a lot of uncomfortable questions about the relationship between Guardians and Ghosts and the Traveler.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Was known to be an extremely powerful Warlock capable of performing astonishing feats with the six main Warlock supers to the point where "Immolant" demonstrates him capable of alternating between the different subclasses and Attunements at once, on top of his many other unique abilities. Now, as the result of an exploration of the Dreadnaught Gone Horribly Wrong, he is forced to stay within the confines of the Last City as a knowledgable, but frail old man with no Light due to Sagira's death.
• Insufferable Genius: Ikora says he never understood that being a Warlock meant more than being the smartest person in the room.
• Irony: Insists he belongs out in the wild when asked to return from exile by Ikora, something that comes back to bite him years later when Sagira dies and he has to be confined to the Tower as a result.
• It's All About Me: To quote Sagira:
  Sagira: Osiris has adapted some of the technology of the Forest to his own purposes. We're going to run into his Reflections. They're copies—of himself. Made so he can explore multiple pathways at once. And yes, I am aware that it makes Osiris seem like an egomaniac. But don't worry. He is.
• Meat Puppet: He was possessed and controlled by Savathûn shortly after he lost his Light.
• Mood-Swinger: During Lightfall, he moodswings hard over the course of the campaign. Initially he starts out extremely aggressive and even Suddenly Shouting a couple of times, constantly pushing for the Guardian to charge in and take the direct route, and to master Strand as fast as they can despite the stress it places on them. He starts to mellow out again towards the end though.
• My Greatest Failure: Sagira assures it isn't his fault, but Osiris blames himself specifically for Saint-14's death in the Infinite Forest.
• Nay-Theist: The Fall of Osiris reveals that he blames the Traveler for humanity's current state, citing that all the alien races trying to kill off humanity came here to kill or capture it. The fact that others started to agree with him is what led to his eventual falling out with The Speaker.
• Never Found the Body: The Speaker has sent out dozens of Ghosts looking for any sign of Osiris. The Ghosts come back saying alternately that he's dead, that he's managed to penetrate the Vex conflux network, etc. No one has any idea if he's alive. A Grimoire card shows that not only is he alive, but Eris is in contact with him. An Adventure in Destiny 2 reveals that he has indeed infiltrated the Vex conflux network. The player character's Ghost immediately notes that the Vanguard has to be told. Curse Of Osiris reveal that he's spent the decades exploring a massive Vex machine inside Mercury called the Infinite Forest that can simulate alternate realities, trying to learn about it, the Vex, and the information it reveals about the universe at large.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Osiris splits some of the difference between Warlock and Hunter fashions, having a cloth hood and a lot of cloth floating off of his robes like a Hunter cloak.
• Old Soldier: He's very old, even by Guardian standards. But an old fart, he is most certainly not, and your Ghost outright calls him the most powerful Guardian to ever live.
• Playing with Fire: He is a Dawnblade Warlock, as he shows off during the Curse of Osiris reveal trailer.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: How the Speaker used to view him. The Disciples maintain that it's the other way around. The Speaker is beginning to worry that they may be right. Although given that he's working with Eris Morn and Mara Sov to manipulate the Guardians into taking the fight to the Hive, maybe the Speaker was on to something.
• Stop Worshipping Me: He always had a dim view of the cult that formed around him, but the Fall of Osiris comic shows that he decided that entertaining his "followers" was a massive waste of time, and that he is a scientist, not a prophet. His followers... Don't see it that way, and basically trying to advertise his teachings is one of the things that eventually lead to the Speaker exiling him. Unfortunately, said cult lives on, and its members are, well, crazed fanboys who are more like priests than scientists. Even Ikora calls them out on it.
• Took a Level in Kindness: The loss of his light, possession by Savathûn and the resulting year-long coma he got put in due to said possession have all given him a more introspective look on life, his own mortality and how he treats those close to him. The first radio message in Season of the Seraph has him lamenting to Ana about his dismissive attitude towards Saint at times when he was offered tea during his studies. He then goes on to say that while your accomplishments will outlast you, the people around you might not, and that when you finally decide to pay attention to the world around you and how much it's changed, you'll lament the absence of even the smallest act of kindness like a cup of tea.
• Transformation of the Possessed: When using him as a Meat Puppet, Savathûn has to actively gorge herself on deception to not turn him into a form more similar to her true one. She relaxes in Season of the Lost, causing him to become a giant hybrid of himself and a Wizard.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His Grimoire card implies that he was the one who inspired Kabr's disastrous expedition into the Vault of Glass, and may have inspired others to do the same. This was before the Speaker and the Vanguard knew what the Vex were working on in there.
• Time Master: In the opening cinematic for Curse of Osiris, the first thing he does is casually freeze time in the middle of a simulation of the Vault of Glass while traversing the Infinite Forest.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: If this exchange is any indication, Saint-14 is the one Guardian who is capable of making him loosen up. It later turns out they are far more than just best buds.
• Wild Card: Subverted. In promotional materials and in the trailer for the Curse of Osiris expansion, Ikora claims seeking his assistance is a huge gamble given his dangerous past and unpredictable goals. In the game itself, Osiris (while full of himself and incredibly haughty) is otherwise an ally to the Guardians and to the Vanguard in general.
• Will Not Be a Victim: Osiris may be depowered, but like hell he's letting that stop him. He even protests that the others are treating him like a frail old man in one of the comm exchanges you can listen to in Lightfall, and reflects that he must seem very ungrateful from an outsider's perspective.

Tyra Karn

Tyra Karn, Cryptarch

Voiced by: Page Leong

"We have many mysteries in need of attention."

An Awoken Warlock who served the Iron Lords as an archivist. Following the death of most of the Iron Lords, Tyra went on to help found the Cryptarch order while focusing on her own historical research and study. With SIVA reemerging, Tyra answered Lord Salidin's call to return to Felwinter Peak and assist him in rebuilding the Iron Lords. During the Red War she relocated to the Farm and assisted the Guardian's efforts to rebuild following the attack on the Last City.

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• Face Death with Dignity: She makes an offhand comment that the Shard of the Traveler casts a serene beauty over the forest, and that if she must finally meet her end, she would be satisfied at the Farm.
• Facial Markings: Wears white facial paint.
• Have We Met?: She asks this of the player character the first time you meet her in Destiny 2. In her words, losing her Light has left her "disoriented," and she apologizes for not recognizing you if you did meet her back in Rise of Iron.
• Jumped at the Call: When she heard of Saladin reviving the Iron Lords and the return of SIVA, Tyra dropped everything and joined him at Felwinter Peak to combat the threat.
• Long-Lived: Like Saladin she had been around since the immediate aftermath of the Collapse, making her one of the oldest Guardians on record.
• Mystical White Hair: She is a scholarly Warlock and has white hair that is not due to her age.

Asher Mir

Asher Mir, Fragmented Researcher

Voiced by: Darryl Kurylo

"Ah, Assistant! You are just in time to join my dimensional anomaly crew!"

A Warlock who was attacked by Brakion, the Genesis Mind on Io. After Brakion mechanized his arm and Ghost, the resulting corruption drove him into a coma.

At the onset of the Red War, Mir unexpectedly wakes up from his coma and heads to Io to fight for the Guardians, beginning to research the remnants of the Taken in the process, and eventually seeks revenge for what Brakion did to him and his fireteam.

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• Alien Blood: He tells Eris Morn in one of his transmissions that he cut his finger and found himself bleeding Vex radiolaria fluid.
• Artificial Limbs: His right arm is a Vex construct that was forcibly converted by the Mind Brakion in the Pyramidion conversion facility.
• Ascended Extra: One of the main characters at Io in Destiny 2. In the first game, he was a minor character in the Grimoire.
• Bavarian Fire Drill: The lore for Vexcalibur reveals he escaped into the Nexus from Io and halted his transformation by simply shouting down the Vex network in its command format until it obeyed his demands.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Obviously, his Insufferable Genius personality makes him crave validation for his research. He ends up Dying Alone in the Nexus wishing he really, really wasn't proven right about the Final Shape.
• Berserk Button: Staring at his arm or talking about it makes him go from irate to utterly incensed, which only makes sense, considering how that arm was forced on him.
• Beyond the Impossible: Let's recount everything he's done since Season of Arrivals: he locked himself in the Pyramidion that gave him his Fictional Disability to begin with, disappeared with the rest of Io when the Darkness took it, clawed his way out of the moon long enough to send a drone to Earth, found Neomuna on his own, escaped Io permanently to take residence there, and kept his transformation at bay while surrounded by the Vex from every corner. Keep in mind that all of these feats either required extraordinary power or ended in disaster the last time someone attempted anything near their level.
• The Bus Came Back: Lightfall and Season of Defiance confirm Asher has somehow managed to halt his conversion, and is sending cryptic messages to Neomuna and the Queensguard from the Nexus.
• Childhood Friends: It's all but stated that he and Eris Morn knew each other since childhood, and found that out somehow after being rezzed.
• Fictional Disability: His partial conversion by Brakion has had number of side effects, including Vex radiolaran fluid seeping into his blood and rendering his right arm useless as its constantly curled up against his side. The loss of his Ghost also keeps him under the threat of a permanent end should he be killed even after the Traveler freed itself from the Cabal's cage, and he's well aware that his condition is killing him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: His struggle in the Nexus to get his research on the Black Fleet and the Veil to Earth ends up killing him for good when the last of his findings requires him to allow the Vex to take him at last.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: His integration into the Nexus is so flawless that even though he's still conscious and retains his original body, not even Mithrax or Neomuna's authorities are able to identify him as an anomaly. The only thing that seems to convince him to show himself to the outside world are places where the Nexus bleeds into reality, such as Override, Partition, and //node.ovrd.AVALON//.
• I Choose to Stay: With the Darkness coming for the Pyramidion and its untapped knowledge, Asher refuses to evacuate, and instead subjects himself to Uncertain Doom by locking himself in the Pyramidion and sending the radiolarian lake crashing down upon him.
• Insufferable Genius: Utterly full of his own intelligence, to the point that he doesn't even consider the possibility that he might be confused by something.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though he can tire out Ikora Rey with his attitude, he's friendly to Eris and to the people around him, and he eventually admits to the Young Wolf that without their assistance he would be hopelessly behind in his research. However, when it comes to Zavala, the Dumb Muscle tendencies of Titans have made him develop a burning hatred for him ever since the plan to destroy the Almighty was revealed. He also emphasises with the circumstances of Cayde's death in Forsaken, noting that Asher himself paid a price for his curiosity and self-interest in the Pyramidion. When he notes that the player Guardian has their sights set on vengeance, he also warns them to keep in mind that every action has an equal an opposite reaction, and that the Guardian should be prepared to pay the inevitable price for their Roaring Rampage of Revenge, as their actions will have consequences, a sentiment echoed by Zavala later on. He also still remembers the player after he is fully converted to a Vex machine, traveling to Earth during the Last City Override to observe the invasion force and confirming his identity by saying "ASSISTANT" in Morse code.
• Mad Scientist: Conducts a range of rather morally-questionable research projects, and at one point while researching the Taken he prefaces the plan by quickly saying that he is most certainly not doing anything morally questionable or dangerous in any way.
• Malicious Misnaming: Because he really dislikes Zavala, Asher has taken to calling him "Vuvuzela".
• Not So Above It All: For all that he criticizes Zavala for his "guns blazing" approach to the Red War, Asher's not above "shooting first, asking questions later." During the Season of Arrivals, the first thing he does when the Pyramid arrives at Io is to try to shoot it. When that doesn't work, he builds a bigger gun. When that doesn't work, he finally investigates why it doesn't work.
  Man of science though he was, the first thing Asher Mir did was shoot the damned thing.
• Odd Friendship: All the friends he has or has had (Eris Morn and the two hunters he went into the Pyramidion with) have been Hunters, the class with a shtick of being the opposite and rivals of stuffy academic warlocks like Asher. It's probably the fact that Asher is very much a field researcher who's more than willing to get his hands dirty testing his theories that led his Hunter teammates to respect him more than the average Warlock.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Apparently, he thinks Dead Orbit has the right idea.
• Remote Body: The Harpy from Season of the Splicer initially suggested to be a fully-converted Asher is revealed to be a drone in Lightfall, as his original body still exists in the Nexus.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Has a tendency to throw out incredibly complicated terms that confuse nearly everyone he's talking to. Ikora even gets exasperated and suggests he should hire a translator.
  Asher: You should now be entering a Hilbert space, if the Taken have not misaligned the Pyramidion’s base geometric intuitions.
  Your Ghost: Gesundheit.
  Asher: I did not sneeze, you fool. It is an infinite dimensional functional space, the Vex often- oh, why am I wasting my breath!
• Stockholm Syndrome: As much as he hates the Vex for what they did to him, he admits that he also finds a strange sense of "affection" for them.
  Do you ever feel any affection for the creatures that changed you? I confess this weakness myself. In the shadow of the Pyramidion, I have sometimes felt a kind of craven admiration for the illimitable superior beings that suffuse my body. I can feel them move through my veins with purpose, magnetized to the intent of the Minds that have come to machinoform Echo Mesa. I have a sense of their desires. They have changed since I fell. And so, I am—if nothing else—a new variable in whatever grand equation compels them.
• Uncertain Doom: After the Exodus quest, Asher locks himself in the Pyramidion and commands the radiolarian lake to bring itself down on him. Though radiolaria exposure had already killed Kabr and is slowly killing Asher himself, what this turn of events actually means is as of writing unexplained. Season of the Splicer confirms that while he's been turned into a Harpy, enough of his consciousness remains to recognize the player, not attack on sight, and continue observing and researching things as he's always done. Lightfall and Season of the Defiance confirm his survival and reveal the Harpy to be a Remote Body; he's been hiding out on Neomuna for an unknown period of time.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: His arm and Ghost were mechanized by Brakion. It's gradually killing him, by way of turning his body more Vex-like, and his Ghost already being compromised means he doesn't have a fallback option if he dies from it.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: A sentiment echoed in reports from Fenchurch and a letter from Eris paint him as a very happy and energetic child. Something both of them remark as finding unthinkable looking at him now.
• Your Days Are Numbered: The Vex technology in his arm is slowly eating away at the rest of his body. With his Ghost already transformed and Vex radiolaria already inside his blood, Asher knows that it will eventually kill him unless he can find a way to reverse it.

Taeko- 3

Taeko-3

A member of one of Sloane's investigation teams in the New Pacific Arcology and a Praxic Warlock of the same order as the late Eriana-3. Following the disappearance of multiple fireteams in the Arcology, she soon becomes a rescue target during the strike "Savathûn's Song". Also the co-creator of the Exotic sniper rifle Zen Meteor.

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• Ascended Extra: She was briefly mentioned in the Zen Meteor's description in the first Destiny.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She deliberately lets herself be harvested by the Hive in order to lure the giant Shrieker known as Savathûn's Song, allowing your fireteam to eliminate it while it's vulnerable.
• Honor Before Reason: Being from an order of Warlocks that value bravery and self-sacrifice, Taeko shrugs off your fireteam's rescue attempt and tells you she's coming to rescue you instead, and doesn't like it when Ghost tells her to lie low while you're trying to reach her.
• Sole Survivor: During the strike, she is on the run from the Hive after having witnessed her fireteam being picked off successively, with her best friend having their light ripped out and funneled into a crystal of Void Light.
• Tragic One-Shot Character: With her entire fireteam dead and no means to escape, she decides to forfeit her life and give you a chance to stop the Hive's cruel machinations.

Fenchurch Everis

Fenchurch Everis

An Awoken Warlock who is also the Honorary Uncle of Tess Everis, Fenchurch has taken to exploring the solar system after being forbidden from the Tower for a "jest" that angered Commander Zavala, and provides his "niece" Tess with many of her wares.

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• A Day in the Limelight: Fenchurch oversees the majority of Revision Zero's catalyst quest, following the Young Wolf after a log connecting its creator Hakke to Clovis Bray and Clarity Control is discovered.
• Cool Old Guy: A seemingly fairly old Guardian and a lovable Gentleman Adventurer who spends his days exploring and getting into wacky misadventures.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He and his Ghost Neville might be an upbeat duo that stumble into goofy hijinks from time to time, but make no mistake, the man is an accomplished Hidden agent of Ikora's.
• Gender-Blender Name: Fenchurch as a first name was first used by Douglas Adams for a woman in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• Gentleman Adventurer: Describes himself as a "Gentlemanly Guardian".
• Hero of Another Story: He's off having his own misadventures throughout the solar system, and hasn't been seen in-game yet.
• Honorary Uncle: When he was raised from the dead by his Ghost, he was holding a silver coin with Tess Everis' energy signature, so a young Tess assumed that she was his uncle. Like other Guardians Fenchurch has no memory of his previous life, so he decided to adopt the Everis name.
• Master of Disguise: He once masqueraded a Fallen Captain. No, really.
• Noodle Incident: How he got exiled from the Tower. Fenchurch asks Tess that Zavala be reminded that it was "merely a jest".
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: He played a prank of some sort that landed him in serious hot water with Zavala and has never been able to live it down, hence why he's been kicked out of the Tower.

Aunor Mahal

Aunor Mahal

"You want my professional opinion? Ideas are powerful things, and the Drifter has too many. Board that travesty he calls a ship and throw him out an airlock, before the City sees another Dark Age."

A Warlock who is a zealous member of the Praxic Order, and secretly a member of Ikora's Hidden. It's her that you side with if you choose to side with the Vanguard in the Season 6 Allegience Quest.

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• Arbitrary Skepticism: She suspects the Young Wolf of being involved in Cayde's death, in spite of the total lack of evidence to suggest that. However, she drops the matter quickly after a brief check of the footage.
• Foil: Set up as one to both Shin Malphur and Shayura.
  • Aunor and Shin are both willing to work outside official Vanguard juristiction to do what they believe is right. However, whereas Shin encourages Guardians to take up the Darkness before executing the ones he deems unworthy or incapable of safely wielding it, Aunor actively prevents him from murdering two renegade Guardians, and refuses to give up on the possibility of their redemption despite their use of the Darkness. Even when Aunor has grown increasingly cynical about corrupted Guardians, she never turns murderous like Malphur did long ago.
  • Shayura and Aunor both despise the Darkness and Stasis, and are willing to go to extreme measures to fight against them. However, Shayura attacks noncombatants and innocent Guardians (whose sole crime was associating with the Darkness or Stasis) as well as permanently killing them, while Aunor is charged with taking down Dark Guardians driven insane from Stasis' influence and always brings them in alive.
• Hypocrite: The Drifter considers her one, saying that she's just as violent and destructive as she claims he and his followers are. However, this point rings hollow in light of the fact that 1) Aunor has never permanently killed another Guardian at any point, unlike the Drifter and his associates (such as Malphur), and 2) he actively twists the truth about Aunor's rescue attempt of her Ghost, tricking many Guardians (including this wiki) into believing she "blew up a city block" for no reason.
  • She also essentially goes behind the Vanguard's and The Consensus's backs to launch an investigation into The Drifter in spite of being explicitly ordered by the Vanguard to leave him alone.
• Knight in Sour Armor: While Aunor is ultimately a heroic figure working as a faithful agent of the Hidden, she's grown increasingly cynical and doubtful as Stasis drives more and more Guardians insane. While she continues to bring them in alive, she bitterly notes that all she's doing is giving them a chance to kill her first.
• Pet the Dog: Despite her clear dislike of him, she acknowledges the Drifter's assistance in retrieving her kidnapped Ghost, the merits of his continued presence in the Tower, and is perfectly civil with him in person.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: If the Young Wolf works with her to investigate the Drifter, she'll conclude that the Vanguard was right with their decision to let him go about his business. She still plans to keep an eye on him, but accepts that for now at least he is not a threat.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In spite of being reminded by the Vanguard that The Drifter is welcome in the City as a Guardian and a being willing to fight to defend the city, and that he hasn't broken any laws or gotten anyone killed (that they know of), she decides to recruit the Young Wolf to go behind their backs and investigate The Drifter.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Defied. Unlike the Drifter, Shin Malphur, or Shayura, Aunor is well aware of the dangers of extremism, and pointedly refuses to permanently kill any Guardian or Ghost, believing in their potential redemption.

Shayura

Shayura

A competitor in the Trials of Osiris traumatized by the Red War, later driven to villainous levels of insanity by the existence of Stasis and the influence of Savathûn.

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• Ambiguous Situation: Does Shayura actually feel any guilt beyond letting Aisha and Reed down? The Season of the Haunted armor shows she has a recurring vision of committing a mass shooting where the victims are all of her previous marks... but the way it's worded, it's not clear if it's a nightmare or a solemn affirmation. By the way, said vision is also attached to the piece whose Flavor Text reveals she denigrated to trophy-hunting her victims.
• Ax-Crazy: A combination of pre-existing psychological trauma, her aversion to both Stasis and the Darkness as a whole, and the tender care of Savathûn, disguised as Osiris has twisted her into a violent fanatic willing to murder anybody she thinks is connected to the two, regardless of whether or not they’re actually using it or are losing control of themselves. Even fellow guardians and innocent civilians are not safe from her wrath.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Becomes convinced that anything even tangentially related to the Darkness is an evil that needs to be snuffed out. Thankfully, the emergence of the Lucent Hive seriously shakes her zealous belief in this mindset.
• Canon Character All Along: Season of the Deep implies she may be the Warlock from the box art for Destiny 1 and the ending cinematic for Season of the Seraph, given that armor choices for named characters tend to remain constant.
• Fantastic Racism: Subverted. While she ignores the armistices against the Cabal and Eliksni set in place by the Vanguard during Year 4 in favor of her own agenda, she doesn't attack Eliksni because they're Eliksni, but rather House of Salvation refugees due to their association with Eramis.
• Hidden Depths: Before Savathûn, Shayura was wracked with guilt and remorse for her violent breakdown in the Trials, and sought psychological help from the Warlock Vanguard (with the gentle encouragement of Aisha and Reed-7). Unfortunately, she got Savathûn instead.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: Before her breakdown and rampage, Shayura and her fireteam were some of the best of the best in the Crucible, frequently partaking in the Trials of Osiris and winning prizes and weapons for their skill on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, her skill was just as effective in killing Guardians for good.
• Knight Templar: Will kill anyone and anything even remotely connected to Stasis, up to and including innocent, powerless civilians.
• Never My Fault: Raves about how pure her mind is as she mows down innocent people and Guardians in broad daylight while calling them agents of Darkness. The Pyrrhic Ascent Warlock set also contains more of her ramblings as Flavor Text juxtaposed with lore that chronicles her fall from grace.
• Morality Chain: Shayura considers her fireteam (or former fireteam) to be her family, and even in the worst of her madness she never goes after them, despite Aisha's use of Stasis making her a clear target. In the end, it's her fireteam's support that convinces her to lay down her sword and surrender to the Vanguard.
• Sanity Slippage: Already on edge from fighting in the Red War, losing her Light, being trapped in old London with an immortal Hive Knight, and losing Sloane to the Darkness, the existence of Stasis as the Traveler reformed ended up convincing Shayura that her overwhelming hatred of the Darkness were in fact the path of righteousness, turning her into an active threat to the Vanguard.
• Shadow Archetype: She's practically a dark mirror of Aunor. Aunor also wishes to dissuade Guardians from the Darkness, but instead of murdering suspected traitors on the spot, she prefers to go about it legally and give them a chance to redeem themselves. Shayura, by contrast, will hunt you down if she ever suspects you're an agent of the Darkness, and she will even kill innocent non-combatants that catch her ire.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: After murdering a member of the House of Light and getting ready to finish off a Hunter that came with them, he tells her she's just as bad as "the Dredgen" and Malphur. Her only response is "I killed an agent of the Darkness. They come in many forms."
• Villainous Breakdown: Not entirely, but the mere existence of the Lucent Hive severely shakes her faith in the Traveler and her crusade against the Darkness.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Just as she is finally recovering through therapy, Reed-7 is killed by the Witness, and the morally-ambiguous Cult of Osiris begin looking to establish a connection with her for unknown reasons.
• You Are What You Hate: Noted in-universe to be comparable to Dredgen Yor's crusade, exactly the kind of person she hates.

Moss- 2

A freshly-resurrected Warlock, and the owner of the original TM-Moss Warlock armor. His Ghost is No-Name, who possesses the peculiar ability to fuse his mind to Moss whenever he's in trouble.

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• Badass Bookworm: No-Name has all the faculties of a Ghost and is deceptively competent whenever he's using Moss's body. When a Minotaur strikes Moss down with a Torch Hammer, No-Name out-maneuvers it with Nova Warp long enough to destroy it and heal Moss's wounds.
• Cowboy: His armor is modelled after a stereotypical wild west hero, complete with gallon hat.
• Fusion Dance: It would be less accurate to say No-Name can possess Moss than it is to say they're a two-in-one Guardian.
• Only in It for the Money: Albeit not entirely of his own will. His fireteam signed him up onto a difficult mission so that they could get him what would become the TM-Moss armor, reasoning that if he ever ran into serious trouble, No-Name could just bail him out.

Shadows of Yor

A band of Guardians who seek to follow the path of Dredgen Yor by wielding replicas of Thorn, but without becoming corrupted by the Darkness that turned the once heroic Titan into the infamous monster.

Dredgen Vale

Dredgen Vale / Zyre Orsa

"The others misunderstand. We are the Weapons of Sorrow – living and free. The hated heroes of this broken age."

A Hunter who founded the Shadows alongside his friend Teben Grey to study and emulate Dredgen Yor.

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• Blood Knight: Other Guardians note that in Supremacy matches in the Crucible, Vale is not even bothering to pick up the crests of the Guardians he defeats and is solely focused on killing.
• Dark Is Not Evil: What he hopes the Shadows of Yor will be. However, signs of corruption are already appearing among them. Which is exactly what he wants, so he can stamp out the corruption.
• The Reveal: The 'For Every Rose, a Thorn' lore card reveals that Dredgen Vale is actually Shin Malphur in disguise.

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Dredgen Bane

Dredgen Bane / Teben Grey

"But we go now upon an old path. One we seek to make our own. And should we fail, may the Light avenge all those we make to suffer."

The other founder of the Shadows of Yor.

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• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He hopes that using Thorn will result in the Shadows of Yor giving an edge to the Guardians, but is well aware that they may end up becoming monsters.

Callum Sol

Dredgen Cull / Callum Sol

A former Shadow of Yor that was hunted down by Shin Malphur. He is an important figure in building and unlocking Malfeasance, a weapon said to be the ultimate embodiment of the Shadows' goals.His Ghost was Paola.

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• Deader than Dead: Killing his own Ghost already insured that he wasn't coming back, but Shin reminds everyone just what happens to a body when it's hit by the Golden Gun.
• Eye Scream: He subjects his own Ghost to this by stabbing her with a dagger made from a Thorn spike.
• Good All Along: He and Shin staged the whole affair, even acquiring a dead ghost to deck out with his real one's shell and specifically recording the conversation that the Young Wolf and the Drifter hear.
• Ironic Death: His plight was supposedly brought about from dark corruption. The only physical trace left of him is an item that becomes Malfeasance, which appears to not be corrupted.
• It's Personal: Callum stole something from the Drifter, which wasn't destroyed after Shin burned him into the rock that eventually fell into the area of The Corrupted strike. It is an important key item in building Malfeasance, a weapon thought to be the ultimate harmony of Light and Darkness.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tries to pull this on Shin, claiming that they both sometimes do the wrong thing for the right reasons. Invoked solely for authenticity.
• Sacrificial Lamb: He and Shin Malphur were in cahoots. Dredgen Cull's actions specifically drew out a bunch of Darkness worshiping Guardians who needed to be slain, and Malphur was able to kill them at one of Cull's gatherings. To maintain the illusion, Malphur had to kill Callum as well, something Callum knew about and was perfectly at peace with.

Others

Mithrax's Fireteam

Mithrax's Fireteam

Two Guardians, a Warlock and a Hunter, that Mithrax the Forsaken forms a fireteam with after the events of "Enemy of My Enemy".

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• The Ghost: To date, they currently only exist in the lore tabs of a few exotic weapons.
• No Name Given: In the lore entries that feature them, they are simply referred to as "The Hunter" and "The Warlock".
• Noodle Incident: In the lore tab for Compass Rose, the Hunter and Warlock's relationship with Mithrax has become strained following an unknown incident on Europa. Although the incident isn't elorabated on, it's implied that the Guardians have taken up using Stasis as when the Warlock touches her companion's shotgun, her touch leaves behind an ice-rimmed mark on the barrel, likely the cause for the group's separation.
• Present Company Excluded: The Hunter expresses skepticism when hearing about the Wolves' alliance with the Reef, wondering how anyone could trust those that once tried to kill them, then invokes this to Mithrax; the big guy takes it in stride.
• True Companions: The Hunter would much rather go into the Zero Hour mission as Mithrax's backup, not entirely trusting of the Young Wolf and wary of the plan in general. The Warlock, while also worried, understands that from Mithrax's point of view, it has to be him if he's going to prove himself to the city.

Cyrell

Cyrell, the Ghost Hunter

A rogue Lightbearer who was maddened into slaying Ghosts that were yet to find their Guardians after doubting the ulterior motives of the Traveler. His Ghost was Strain, although they are not properly paired outside of his current state of resurrection.

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Tropes exclusive to Cyrell:

• Cruel Mercy:
  • Leaves Strain for dead in the Reef as a mercy while searching for an Awoken that could tell him the answer to a question he never told Strain.
  • Cyrell considers his crusade against the Ghosts this, believing that by killing them, he was sparing more dead people from becoming subservient Super Soldiers unaware of a true purpose.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • Cyrell is this to the Drifter. Both are classless Lightbearers that are wary of the Light and why it was resurrecting humanity, and dislike Ghosts. However, while Drifter kept his eccentricities regarding the latter to his own Ghost (at the latter's consent), Cyrell took his anger out on other Ghosts, destroying them in the process.
  • Alternatively, he's the Halo reference from The Taken King if he had a few screws loose and lashed out instead of staying put.
• Noble Demon: Could not bring himself to commit suicide or kill Strain, calling it cowardly.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: His behavior ultimately traces back to him questioning just why the Ghosts and Guardians were made to fight a war, a question no one's properly been able to answer throughout the series but which has been a recurring source of theories about the Traveler's nature.

Tropes exclusive to Strain:

• Didn't Think This Through: Believes this is why he resurrected Cyrell, being too blinded by confidence and impatience in looking for a Guardian to properly think his decision over.
• The Exile: At Cyrell's request, Strain trapped himself in a region of the Reef where the Light's presence is extremely weak if not non-existent.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He severely regrets resurrecting Cyrell, knowing that if he took even a second longer to scan his corpse, he would have understood the man's troubles and left him alone.

Past Guardians

See the Historical Guardians page.

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