The Carja, as well as the splinter faction The Carja in Shadow, are one of the many tribes living in the world of Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.
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In General
- All Hail the Great God Mickey!: Their religion springs from concepts found hundreds of years ago in a long-gone textbook about the sun. Apart from the sun being utterly essential to life, everything they might have learned from it has become unrecognizably altered.
- Animal Motifs: The Carja dress sense tends to look very bird-like, with feather-like armor plates especially around their headpieces. Their ranks are also bird-themed (Hawk, Thrush, Kestrel). Might have something to do with birds being closer to the sun.
- The Chosen People: Not unlike the Nora's own belief, Carja theology holds that the Carja occupy a special place under the Sun, as its anointed people. However, unlike the Nora, the Carja also believe that since the Sun shines on all tribes and peoples, the Carja are still obligated to help them when they can.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Traditional punishments and "trials" always involve being staked out in the hot sun for days. Avad has instated a prison program that he hopes will rehabilitate criminals instead.
- Culture Chop Suey: While their buildings take from Babylonian and Mediterranian architecture, their outfits vary greatly according to the occupation and social status, ranging from Aztec, Roman, Middle Eastern and even Asian styles of clothing.
- Custom Uniform of Sexy: A number of Carja clothing ensembles for women involve a bare midriff; most notably the Carja Blazon available for garb to Aloy. Some men's outfits also have a (partially) covered top and a bare belly, most notably Sun-King Avad.
- Determinator: The Carja's story began with them being thrown out of their original tribe because they wouldn't give up on "heresy" (reading). Then they wandered through foreign lands, being killed in all sorts of horrible ways, into a desert territory no-one else wanted. But they didn't give up, and they kept believing in Araman's leadership, even though they were the opposite of the wealthy empire they would one day become. For this reason, Carja culture strongly emphasizes faith and fighting impossible battles. Even when those impossible battles involve a Deathbringer and a horde of machines showing up on their doorstep.
- Divine Right of Kings: The line of Sun-Kings draw their authority from the divine patronage of the Sun itself, and are believed to serve as its speakers. It is believed that the sun would go out if the rightful Sun-King was murdered, which Avad's supporters see as evidence that Jiran was illegitimate.
- Elemental Motifs: Fire and Light, just like the Sun they worship. They wear red, white and gold clothing and they live in the mesa. They are shown to be welcoming and quite eccentric, but they can also be dangerous and zealous.
- Fantastic Racism: Many high-society Carja have a rather low opinion of most other tribes in the setting, placing the Nora, Banuk, and Tenakth as different flavors of Barbarian Tribe with different disparaging stereotypes. The fact that the Carja have a long, bloody history of waging war on them — the Red Raids being a fresh example — certainly doesn't help. Those who hold these views genuinely will often act condescending to Aloy even as she solves their problems for them.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Their imperialism, reliance on maize as a staple crop, location in a tropical jungle, worship of a solar deity, and history of raiding their neighbors for slaves all draw from the Aztec Empire. Indeed, the Red Raids being due to the Mad Sun-King's belief that the Sun needs constant blood sacrifices draws directly from their religion. Some of their headdresses are even directly based on those worn by Aztec Jaguar Warriors. This is further emphasized the story of the founding of the Sundom: the original Carja wandered into the valley where Araman, the first Sun King, spotted a Glinthawk roosting atop The Spire reflecting the light of the sun, and followed the shadow of the Spire to a mesa where he would found Meridian. Aztec legend recalls that the capital city of Tenochtitlan was built on a swamp near the site of a eagle eating a snake atop a cactus, fulfilling an ancient Mexica prophecy. The Sun Rings where their sacrifices are conducted, however, are distinctly Roman and there's a notable absence of step-pyramid temples.
- Gladiator Games: The Carja under the reign of the Mad Sun-King had the Sun Ring where men are pitted against machines. The Shadow Carja and the Eclipse continue the tradition at the Citadel. After Aloy is captured by Helis, she is thrown into the Sun Ring.
- God-Emperor: The Sun-King is seen as both the patriarch of their people as well as The Chosen One by the Sun. Many of the more religious Carja state that the Mad Sun-King Jiran was not genuine because a true Sun-King's murder would lead to the Sun disappearing.
- Guyliner: Both men and women usually have some kind of eye makeup, fancier in the case if higher-class characters.
- The Magnificent: Carja have a tradition of using epithets describing notable traits of theirs, though it's unclear if this is self-chosen or given by their tribesmen. They are also occasionally ironic or derogatory. Examples include Blameless Marad, who serves as The Mole and managed to avoid suspicion; Mournful Namman, a sun-priest dedicated to atonement and reconciliation for the Red Raids; and Well-Traveled Aram, a scholar who documented the tribes of the world. Epithets are also not unique, as both Palas and Vuadis share the title of Studious. The Sun-King is unique in that every Sun-King uses the epithet Radiant.
- The Sacred Darkness:
- While Sun-Carja much prefer sun to shadow, their scripture also prescribes a certain reverence for it. They see night and day as life and death, that the night of the Old Ones led to their dawn and that eventually their day will end as well. The Sun and Shadow are the two halves of nature and to deny one is to deny both.
- In Forbidden West, a group of peaceful "Shadow Carja" appear. In this case, the title does not indicate allegiance with the terrorists of the same name, but that the group identifies more with sadness and solemnity than the bombastic triumphalism of orthodox Carja religion. Notably, their origin is quite similar to that of all Carja's ancestors (who were also a group of struggling refugees); it's just that their beliefs are oriented differently.
- Stay in the Kitchen: The Carja are a very patriarchal society; they discourage women from fighting and prevent them from fighting in the army, and the handful we meet in game who are capable warriors are noted as being exceptions who've had to break through the ceiling. This helps explain why they think the matriarchal Nora are so strange. Sun-King Avad is trying to change things, starting with lifting certain laws and having a foreign woman be the head of his armed forces, but it's not as easy as that.
- Stern Sun Worshippers: The Carja are a highly nationalistic and patriarchal tribe of sun-worshippers who, under their previous Sun-King, practiced mass slavery and Human Sacrifice before La Résistance (including many heroic Carja and the crown prince) overthrew the government and started improving things.
- Succession Crisis: Caught up in one when Aloy goes to the Sundom; The previous king, Jiran, had his oldest son executed for rebellion, and was himself killed by his second son. That son, Avad, is now Sun-King, but loyalists of the old king are supporting the rival claim of Itamen, Jiran's youngest son.
- Tautological Templar: You can never be wrong as long as your actions are blessed by the Sun. Or are at least claimed to be. On the other hand, if you're shown to be clearly and obviously wrong, you're clearly not being blessed by the Sun. This latter argument is used by Avad's supporters as proof that his father was no longer a true Sun-King, since the murder of a truly blessed Sun-King would plunge the world into darkness.
- Theme Naming: Generally speaking, men's names end in a consonant and womens' names end in a vowel or a vowel sound, but there are exceptions.
- The Theocracy: Downplayed, but present, with priests being one of the highest-ranking people and the premise of the ruler being "chosen of the Sun".
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Many of the men walk around with partially bare chests and bared backs.
Sun-Kings
The Carja are ruled by Sun-Kings, who rule from Meridian and are believed to be the speaker for the Sun, interpreting its will and serving as head of the sun-priests. There have been 14 Sun-Kings since the founding of Meridian by the Radiant Araman. In order they are;
Araman, Amavad, Sadahin, Juwadan, Zavarad, Iriv, Basadid, Khuvadin, Ranan, Nahasis, Marzid, Hivas, Jiran, and Avad. In addition, Itamen was a contender to Avad supported by the Shadow-Carja. For tropes on Avad, Jiran, and Itamen, see their folders below.
- The Conqueror: Sadahin's claim to fame was that he expanded the Sundom (and coined the term) across much of what Aloy sees in the game. Zavarad expanded it further, specifically the lands around Daybrink. Iriv attempted this, but died in the Forbidden West shortly after conquering the Daunt. Khuvadin tried to conquer in the other direction, but never got past where Daytower lies today, driven back by the Nora.
- Conscription: Hivas declared that every family with a capable son in the Sundom would have to give him over to serve in the military.
- Death by Irony: Marzid, who was known as an artist in life and used his reign to sponsor artistic pursuits, eventually died from the poisonous fumes inhaled while painting.
- Facial Horror: Radiant Ranan received so much damage to his face while fighting Tenakth that he wore his helmet from that day on to hide it.
- Founder of the Kingdom: Araman's claim to fame is that he discovered ancient texts describing the importance of the sun. After it was declared heresy by the proto-Nora, he led his followers westward, eventually discovering the Spire and founding Meridian where its shadow fell.
- Frontline General: Ranan led his forces against Tenakth invaders personally, resulting in him being scarred in battle.
- The Good King: Most of the Sun-Kings seem to have been decent enough rulers, with the occasional bad egg. It's worth noting however that the only source about them is from in-universe Carja texts, so they might be biased. Special mention to Amavad, who focused his policies on feeding his people, overseeing the creation of the Royal Maizelands, and Juwadan, who opened trade with other tribes and even shared Carja writing with them.
- Heir Club for Men: According to Irid, there have been no female Sun-Kings (or Queens) because Carja religion considers the sun masculine, so naturally its speaker must be too. That said, it's unclear if this is official doctrine, as we don't know about any female members of the line of succession.
- Legendary Weapon: In Forbidden West, Aloy can acquire Iriv's Downfall, the bow of the Radiant Iriv, taken by Tenakth after his failed attempt at conquering the forbidden west.
- The Magnificent: All Sun-Kings are known by the title Radiant, though they do seem to have individual titles based on their deeds in live too;
- Araman is, unsurprisingly, the Founder.
- Amavad, who expanded Carja agriculture, is known as the Bounteous.
- Sadahin, who expanded the Carja territories and coined the term Sundom, is called the Far-Seeing.
- Juwadan, who opened up trade with other tribes and shared the art of writing with them, is called Generous.
- Zavarad, who further expanded the Sundom, is known as the Pilgrim.
- Iriv is notably called simply the Bold. Given that he disappeared on an expedition into Tenakth territories, this may not be a wholly positive title.
- Basadid, who made it forbidden to go into the west like his late brother, is called the Prudent.
- Khuvadin tried to go into the east but failed, and is known as the Returner, another neutral-to-negative title.
- Ranan, who fought Tenakth and wore a blazon helmet to hide his injuries, is called the Firebird.
- Nahasis does not appear to have a title, but is called a hunter.
- Marzid, a great patron of the arts, is called the Illuminated.
- Hivas and Jiran don't have titles.
- Avad is called the Liberator.
- The Philosopher King: Marzid was known as an artist, and famously turned Sunfall from a small border fort into a cultural hub of the Sundom.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Marzid was an artist and patron of the arts, expanding the Sundom's cultural capital. His older brother Hivas, who succeeded him, was more of a military man who spent his reign expanding the Carja's military might.
- White Man's Burden: Not literally white, since the Carja are of many different skincolours, but the Radiant Khuvadin attempted to "bring civilization" to the Nora Sacred Lands. They did not appreciate the attempt.
Avad
Voiced by: Josh Keaton (English)note
The current and 14th Sun-King, with an agenda of progress, apology, and reconciliation in the wake of his father and predecessor's terrible reign.
- Abdicate the Throne: In Forbidden West he reveals to Aloy that he intends to do this once Itamen comes of age, as he's resigned himself to the fact that he's likely not going to get married and produce an heir. He looks forward to the possibility of exploring the world once free of the crown.
- Amazon Chaser: Avad is quite attracted to strong, capable women. He admits that he fell in love with Ersa while she was helping him overthrow his father, and later on, he admits he has a crush on Aloy after she saves him from Dervahl. Aloy's pretty quick to set him straight.
- This is still a problem for him come Forbidden West, where he's clearly still in love with Aloy to the point where he admits it's sabotaged several of Marad's attempts at Arranged Marriage with noble women because he "keeps trying to turn them into someone they're not." To his credit he's more interested in Aloy for who she is rather than as a replacement for Ersa, earnestly wanting to get to know her better. He's understanding of Aloy being focused on her mission, but clearly isn't planning on dropping the torch he's carrying for her any time soon.
- Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: His elite guards are of the Oseram tribe, as their alliance with him during his insurrection was the foundation of his liberation army. If he sends one of them as an escort for an envoy, it's of utmost importance to Avad.
- The Chains of Commanding: He lives in an equivalent of the Age of Exploration, a time of unprecedented innovation, cultural exchange, and expansion. But he is the king, so he has to stay at home, grilling explorers for details and explaining to fat cats why racism is wrong.
- Cool Sword: His scimitar looks unlike any other melee weapon in the game. In fact, its sleek high-tech appearance wouldn't have been out of place in the Old World, if swords had still played a role in military doctrine back then.
- Did Not Get the Girl: He's clearly not over Aloy by the time they meet again in Forbidden West.
- Did They or Didn't They?: Although he explains the Carja nobles wouldn't accept their king taking an Oseram woman for a wife, it's kept purposefully ambiguous what kind of relationship Avad and Ersa really had. It's brought up by enough characters to warrant the question, and depending on choices Aloy can bring this up to his face, at which point he backs down, greatly flustered. The Collector's Edition hardback states that they were intimate, but they apparently kept it hidden enough that Ersa's brother and coworker is uncertain Avad was even her type.
- Disguised in Drag: In Forbidden West, Erend tells Aloy the story of how Avad got Ersa out of the palace after she was enslaved, by disguising her as a Carja noblewoman. She apparently insisted that the only way she would wear such a disguise was if Avad did as well. According to Erand, Avad pulled it off better than Esra.
- Fantastic Honorifics: "Your Luminance" or "Your Radiance."
- Foil: To Aloy. Setting aside their social standings (Avad being a king, and Aloy a Brave), both are simultaneously reviled and revered by factions within their tribes, such as the Shadow Carja hating Avad and the conservative Nora ostracizing Aloy. Both are placed on pedestals that neither are comfortable with, but accept the burdens it entails (royalty obligation for Avad is obvious, while Aloy's Chronic Hero Syndrome has her accepting quests regardless of the situation).
- God-Emperor: The Carja worship the Sun God and view the Sun King as something of a living embodiment of the Sun's will. Avad personally downplays the trope as much as he can, not wanting to incite the same fanaticism that his father did.
- The Good King: Tries his best to rule as a wise and honorable king.
- The Kingslayer: His insurrection against his fanatical and despotic father succeeded. However, even captive, Jiran absolutely refused to abdicate. In anguish, Avad carried out the only option he had left to truly end his father's mad reign... or at least that's the official story. In actuality, Ersa took Avad's sword and ran Jiran through with it, sparing him the hard choice of needing to commit Patricide to end the conflict, and spreading the official story as a Motivational Lie to enable Avad a smooth transition to power.
- Martial Pacifist: Avad never had the stomach for conquest and prefers peace and diplomacy, qualities made all the more apparent when you compare him to his father. With that said, one must not forget that he was able to stage a successful coup and was the one to kill him when his father's reign went too far. Even when it turns out that he ultimately wasn't the one who struck the fatal blow against him, that's more an indication of the compassion that makes him The Good King— he was able to cut his way at the forefront of the fighting through Jiran's elite guards with Ersa at his side and shows zero hesitation and potentially talking his father's former champion Helis on in combat during the game's climax.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Pragmatic Oseram warrior Ersa and softspoken makeup-wearing gentleman Avad were close, with
Word of God even confirming these qualities are pretty much what attracted them to one another. They first met when Avad noticed Ersa's mistreatment at the hands of his fellow Carja as a slave in the sun palace, being forced to pull up thorny plants from the gardens with her bare hands, and tore up his royal garments as bandages for her bleeding wounds. - My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: His status of a prince allowed him to go from speaking out against the former practices to successfully organizing a coup.
- Nice Guy: Avad is a truly good and decent man, up to the point of commenting on What a Senseless Waste of Human Life Dervahl's inevitable and politically necessary death is since if he hadn't let himself be consumed by hate, he could have used his genius for good, despite the fact that Dervahl killed the woman he loved and very nearly killed him, as well. He comes off as genuine and sensitive enough that it's a little strange to think of him killing his father; it must have taken a lot of doing, and the official recount says that he did the deed "in anguish". The Liberation miniseries reveals that the dissonance is there for a reason — Avad actually didn't kill his father, Ersa did with his sword when Avad hesitated at making a killing stroke himself. The official narrative is a Motivational Lie to enable Avad to make a smooth transition to rule correctly in his father's place as well as being Metaphorically True, as Avad was indeed deeply distraught at his father's passing, even if it was deserved.
- The Collector's Edition guide states that this is also his biggest flaw. Avad can make hard choices but not ruthless ones, like wiping out the insurgent Shadow Carja.
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- Patricide: Had good reasons for killing his father after the whole "human sacrifices to placate the sun god" thing, and the fact that his father killed his older brother for calling for an end to the Red Raids and would absolutely have killed Avad had he had a chance. However, even in the end, Avad was such a Nice Guy that he hesitated at making a fatal blow... so Ersa stepped in to do it in his place.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Seeking to reform and redeem the Carja's atrocious role in the Red Raids. His first decree is outlawing slavery and reestablishing peaceful relations between the tribes. Much to the dismay of many, he's very adamant on giving people a second chance, which often means the more pragmatically-minded of his allies see fit to step in and do what's necessary when dealing when absolute monsters, aware Avad wouldn't condone it, but also that said Forgiveness is also one of his best qualities as king.
- Replacement Goldfish: His only real moral failing in the game is when he tries to recruit Aloy into his court to stand-in for Ersa, something she'll call him out on and he'll later apologize for. During Forbidden West, while he's still clearly in love with her, he's shown to have grown out of expecting her to replace Ersa, indicating he seeks to spend more time getting to know Aloy personally.
- Silk Hiding Steel: A rare male example. Avad is a softspoken diplomat who champions nothing but peaceful solutions, but he once led a successful rebellion and personally killed the previous king. Except not exactly. He did manage to fight his way through his father's forces and reach him, but actually hesitated at committing Patricide, no matter how deserving, leading Ersa to take his sword and do the deed herself. The narrative that Avad put him down was a Motivational Lie to make it easier for him to assume his father's place as The Good King and to allow Avad a stronger bargaining position to instigate peace talks with the tribes that the Carja had wronged in the raids.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Usually he's pretty composed, but he fumbles his words and stammers a bit while asking Aloy to stay in the city. And then there's the relieved hug he gives a random soldier after the final battle.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Just like Nil, Avad's Carja armor/robe is rather revealing in the chest department.
- Walking the Earth: In Forbidden West, he states that he plans on doing this after he abdicates once Itamen comes of age, still a decade or so off. But nevertheless, he's looking forward to adventure - with the not so subtle indication that he's holding out hope that he may be adventuring alongside Aloy.
- Warrior Prince: In game he's more of a Non-Action Guy, but he did directly participate in the assault on Meridian to overthrow his father. During the climax, he wields a sword and seems fully prepared to fight Helis himself before Aloy tells him to go rally the city guard and leave Helis to her. Ultimately, him failing to actually kill his father was more out of compassion towards his deranged parent, rather than any cowardice on his behalf.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: He planned to sneak Ersa out of the Meridian by disguising her as a Carja noblewoman. This did not sit well with her, so she insisted that she would only do it if he did the same thing. Long story short, the guy has good follow through — and he allegedly looked fabulous.
Jiran
The 13th Sun-King, father of Avad, and notoriously known as the Mad Sun King for committing the Red Raids.
- 13 Is Unlucky: Was the 13th Sun-King and infamous for being a bloodthirsty tyrant.
- Archnemesis Dad: To Avad, before being killed by him. Or rather, the ex-slave Oseram that might have become Avad's lover.
- Asshole Victim: Was killed by his own son Avad's Lancer. Though given the atrocities he committed, it's safe to say no one misses him.
- The Caligula: He enslaved other tribes, conducted Human Sacrifice, carried out gruesome executions on people in the Sun Ring — including his eldest son.
- Chemically-Induced Insanity: Possibly. Mournful Namman mentions that the red robes worn by sun-priests are dyed by cinnabar, which contains mercury, a toxic metal that can cause insanity. As Sun King, Jiran would've been around a lot of the stuff, which may explain his growing insanity over time. Doesn't explain why he's the only Sun King affected, though, but it's mentioned that his uncle, the Radiant Marzid, died of sickness induced by toxic paints.
- Evil Is Petty: His belief in Carja supremacy extended to having plants from the Utaru removed from the gardens, since he believed it would "taint" his "pure" Carja gardens.
- Evil Overlord: Promoted Carja expansionism and slavery during his lifetime. Endorsed the belief that the strong looked down upon the weak. He later believed that human sacrifices would stop the recent rise of machine aggression.
- Fantastic Racism: While the game focuses more on his religious beliefs, the tie-in comic shows that he was a blatant Carja-supremacist who thought the other tribes "tainted" and impure.
- A God Am I: Unlike Avad, he really took the idea of being the embodiment of the Sun God's will to heart.
- Laser-Guided Karma: His brutal attacks upon other tribes for sacrifices to the gods and ordering the death of his eldest son both come back to spell his doom, as Avad ultimately escaped Meridian and formed an alliance with the Oseram to overthrow his insane father, which they were eager to agree to after all his senseless brutality. With Avad's aid, many of the disgruntled members of the Carja who disagreed with the Mad King's orders, soldier and civilian alike, turned on Jiran's loyalists, enabling their alliance to storm Meridian and Jiran to meet his deserved end at the hands of his own son. Or at least that's the official story. In reality, Jiran met his end at a different form of karma — the Oseram who survived his Sun-Ring and whom he mockingly spared out of sadistic amusement as a slave in the Sun Palace was the one to finally end him, sparing his son the pain of committing Patricide. Avad was only able to forge his alliance with the Oseram thanks to Ersa vouching for his good nature — if Jiran hadn't tried to Make an Example of Them by sparing Ersa for a humiliating fate, he wouldn't have been overthrown.
- Offing the Offspring: He murdered his eldest son for standing up to him, and ordered Avad's death when he fled. Luckily, Avad was able to rebel and kill him first.
- Pet the Dog: According to one of Helis's logs, after the death of his wife and child in childbirth, Jiran granted them an honor normally only reserved for Carja heroes and kings, by burying them in the royal crypts. The gesture was enough to move Helis out of his self-pity (and pretty much any pity at all).
- Posthumous Character: Already dead by the time of the story. Not that anyone mourns his death anyway.
- Predecessor Villain: He's dead long before Aloy could ever meet him in present-day, but he once ruled the Carja, abducted, enslaved and sacrificed people from other tribes in his Red Raids, and overall spread terror throughout the land. The post-bellum fallout from this is the backdrop for the regional political situation in both games.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Not in the games at all due to being a Posthumous Character, but the Red Raids and their aftermath shaped pretty much all inter-tribal relations for the region, making him arguably the most influential NPC of the present day era, with the only real challenger for the title being Sylens.
- Unperson: Jiran's name is not included from the lines of Sun-Kings in Carja Priests' chants for good reason, as he was an Evil Overlord.
- Villainous Legacy: Though dead by the present day, his influence hangs over the setting. The Red Raids he orchestrated caused much distrust between Carja and the neighboring tribes, and his fanatical, former champion, Helis, is still active, forming Eclipse and the Shadow Carja, and forging an alliance with HADES, all to continue his dead king's dogma.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The stated reason for all the Red Raids was because he believed that the Derangement of the machines was divine punishment, and the only way to end it and save the kingdom was by appeasing the Sun through Human Sacrifice.
Blameless Marad
Voiced by: William Houston (English)note
King Avad's adviser, inherited from his father.
- Deadpan Snarker: One of the few people who can gently mock Aloy and get away with it.
- Dissonant Serenity: He speaks with a very calm and soothing voice, but he knows way too many secrets about Meridian, its citizens, and its enemies while still remaining calm the entire time.
- Evil Chancellor: Discussed and Subverted. He's a somewhat shady character who previously served as chancellor to Avad's deranged, tyrannical father Jiran, leading Aloy to suspect that he's one of these. Marad notes that this is a common perception among newcomers to the court, and Avad is quick to clarify that Marad spent the entirety of his service to Jiran undermining his authority and aiding the rebellion, hence his epithet of "Blameless".
- The Good Chancellor: He is always there for Avad to do whatever he can to help the Sundom.
- Ironic Nickname: His epithet of "Blameless" comes from how he was able to consistently manipulate Jiran into never suspecting he was The Mole for Avad.
- Mentor Archetype: Downplayed example, but as Avad's currently highest advisor, he qualifies.
- Mole in Charge: The principal source of his sobriquet of "Blameless". He was this for Avad to the Mad Sun King as the chief advisor.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: He served the old king, then served the same king to his enemies, and yet nothing could be traced to his actions, thus rendering him 'blameless'. The more you think about it, the more you realize that summary describes a very dangerous person.
- Non-Answer: He is quite slippery in replying without actually answering questions, much to Aloy's annoyance.Blameless Marad: I don't care for "sure" or "certain." I prefer "likely" or "probably." How many Oseram are clever enough for this ruse? Capable of building the weapon you described? Who hate Ersa so? More than one? Not likely. Dervahl? Quite probably.
Aloy: Even if people think he's dead?
Blameless Marad: That is surely another reason to be suspicious of certain words. - Perpetual Smiler: He's rarely if ever seen unhappy. It may simply be his diplomatic training, but it might also be relief at getting to serve Avad rather than his bloodthirsty father.
- The Smart Guy: One of the cleverest people in the entire game, cleverer even than Aloy herself in many respects.
- The Spymaster: He describes himself as a "good listener" who listens to helpful voices in the Sundom and beyond. According to the collector's edition guide, he trained Vanasha.
- The Starscream: He's a heroic subversion - he hated Jiran, and happily played The Mole on behalf of his son during the rebellion. Now, he's a loyal adviser to Avad.
Nil
Voiced by: Alex Lanipekun (English)note
A wandering Carja warrior who loves to kill bandits.
- The Ace: He's made a name for himself in the Forbidden West as Red Teeth, the mysterious masked machine racer that never loses a race.
- Baritone of Strength: Nil has one of the deeper voices in the series and he's a terrifying predator to his enemies.
- Big Damn Heroes: If you don't kill him, Nil will appear in Meridian to aid in the final battle. His behavior suggests that he's temporarily restrained his bloodlust to defend Aloy, or at least convinced himself that machine demons will be more interesting than normal machines. And, of course, there are plenty of flesh-and-blood Eclipse mooks that qualify for his homicidal discretion.
- Blood Knight: He kills for the thrill. Killing random people causes outrage, killing animals when he doesn't need the meat causes complaint, and killing machines is just not fun at all. But killing bandits in a savage world? He's often praised. He's thus become something of a Vigilante Man. This is even what endears him to the machine races and all the risk of death that comes with them.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: He thinks the term "war crimes" strange because he sees the logic that all wars are a crime to someone.
- Combat Sadomasochist: If told to not participate in one instance of wiping out a bandit camp, he will note that he repeatedly pricked his finger on an arrow as he watches Aloy clean house so he can feel as if he's part of the action.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: Sports grayish-blue eyes, reflecting how dangerous and bloodythirsty he is to his enemies. In Forbidden West they're even more emphasized due to him having black face paint around his eyes.
- Cutting Off the Branches: Should Aloy happen to take part in the machine races dotted around the Forbidden West, she'll meet the mysterious, masked Red Teeth - a Tenakth racer who has never once lost a race. Aloy's prize for defeating him in the final race is that he must remove his mask... revealing none other than Nil, disguised so as to survive in the Clan Lands and having taken up the highly violent Tenakth-style racing as a replacement for killing to satiate his thrill-seeking. By extension, this proves that Aloy canonically chose not to enter a duel to the death with him.
- The Dreaded: He's apparently got a reputation among the Carja. If he comes to the final battle, you can find him beforehand with two Carja soldiers nearby loudly speculating on his identity. One will wonder if he fought in a particular battle, then the other will point out that that battle had no survivors.Nil: Well, I don't like to boast...
Carja Soldier: Sun keep the shadows from me! - Duel to the Death: After clearing out all the bandit camps, Nil will ask Aloy to meet him alone. There he earnestly asks her if she wants to fight to the death. He doesn't attack if she refuses, he's just disappointed.
- Everyone Has Standards: Surprisingly enough, he thinks the rules of engagement are important.
- Face Death with Dignity: If you opt to fight him in a Duel to the Death, he's calm in his final moments, even as he admits he thought the match would've gone in his favor.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: His creepy remarks can be quite funny — precisely because of the creepiness. Even funnier is Aloy's reaction to them.
- I Call It "Vera": Calls his bow "The Voice of our Teeth". He seems somewhat surprised that Aloy hasn't named hers. He draws the line at naming his knife, though.
- In Love with Your Carnage: A more subdued example, but he genuinely admires Aloy for her skill in wiping out bandit camps.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Subverted. By all accounts, he probably enjoys violence in place of sex. Aloy even seems to rationalise his proposal for a Duel to the Death as his twisted version of a love confession, and may turn him down accordingly.
- Just Following Orders: "I don't make decisions. Let's say, the rules of engagement suited me. But rules are important. A structure...a cage. Otherwise... you know of those places — lonely places where people were, now just a hole cut in the world? Chances are, I was there before."
- Malevolent Masked Men: Downplayed in that he acts pretty much the same either as the bandit hunter Nil or the masked racer Red Teeth.
- Meaningful Name: "Nil", zero, or nothingness. Appropriate for a totally cold-blooded killer who leaves nothing but corpses in his wake. The warden at Sunstone Rock implies it's not his original name.
- Moral Sociopathy: He freely admits that he lives for the moment of ending human lives and expresses no regret or remorse if his companions die. However, he does evidence a fairly strong sense of rules-of-engagement based right and wrong, and focuses on killing bandits because no one "civilized" objects to eliminating those who "give honest killers a bad name". Janeva describes him as having an old-fashioned kind of honor, tolerable at best, but in his own way trustworthy.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: He might assist Aloy, sort of, and even become something like a partner to her, also sort of, but Aloy makes no secret of finding him extremely creepy.
- No Place for Me There: After the Battle for the Alight, he grew restless in Meridian after it attained peace. Thus, he left for the Forbidden West and joined the machine racers as Red Teeth.
- Perpetual Smiler: Almost always sports a smirk on his face, even when talking about morbid topics.
- Reformed Criminal: As punishment for his crimes, Nil spent two years of rehabilitation at Sunstone Rock. It seems to have done little to curb his bloodlust, but at least he has learned target discretion and only targets bandits and other such murderous outlaws.
- Serial-Killer Killer: He's a psychopath to be sure, but he found a useful outlet for his need to kill: bandit hunting.
- Smiting Evil Feels Good: He started killing bandits because they were all he could kill without being hunted himself. But after years of doing so, he's found an entirely new enjoyment in killing those who kill for no reason at all.
- Sociopathic Soldier: A former Carja soldier, Nil committed many crimes under the 13th Sun King, which he freely admitted to when Avad launched an investigation into the atrocities committed during the war. If you beat him as Red Teeth, he'll even flat out admit that he remembers the Red Raids fondly.
- This Is the Part Where...: If you agree to duel and kill him, he'll say, "I should say, "I always knew it would end this way, since we first met." But if I'm honest... I thought I could take you."
- Thrill Seeker: Whether hunting bandits or doing dangerous machine races, Nil ultimately wants the thrill more than anything else for his satisfaction.
- Tribal Face Paint: Reveals to be wearing Tenakth face paint when he's not donning his "Red Teeth" mask in Forbidden West.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His "armor" takes the form of an open vest that shows off his chest and abdomen. His "armor" as Red Teeth does away with any conventional upper body wear entirely.
Balahn
Voiced by: Alex Wyndham (English)
The captain of Daytower, the most Eastern stronghold of the Carja on the border to the Nora lands.
- A Father to His Men: Freely admits he's not that keen on sending his own men into Nora territory to search for a missing patrol unit, as the Nora don’t respond well to Carja getting too close to the Sacred Land – for Aloy, who's a Nora herself, it’s not a risk to go there.
- Martial Pacifist: Fought to free Meridian of Jiran's reign alongside Ersa and Erend, but he's glad that Avad established peace and that relationships between Carja and Nora are slowly improving.
- Mr. Exposition: Offers Aloy some valuable information on the Carja realm and the current Sun King.
- My Greatest Failure: If Aloy talks to him after completing her quest for Nakoa, he will express regret at misjudging Zaid, his second-in-command, and relying on the latter's word regarding his innocence about the slave trade. With Zaid's crimes uncovered, Balahn vows to have them fully investigated this time, and asks Aloy to offer his apology to Nakoa.
- Not So Above It All: His usually very serious demeanor shows a few cracks, such as when he calls his soldier "lunkhead" when letting him off the hook about a minor lapse on duty, and when he makes a light-hearted jab at Oseram bickering a lot.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Averted; he scolds his soldier Walid for not addressing Aloy directly, demanding his men respect the Nora who come to Daytower the same they would respect a Carja.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He sealed off Daytower in an attempt to protect the region westward from it from corrupted machines entering, although his success was temporary.
- Rugged Scar: Has one on the right side of his jaw, hinting at his past in the war.
- Undying Loyalty: Toward Avad, for whom he has a great deal of admiration.
Ranaman
Voiced by: Ronan Summers (English)note
A disinherited nobleman's son.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: His pompous and selfish nature would fit in with the aristocratic character if not for the fact that his family is known for kindness and generosity that resulted in him being disowned.
- Black Sheep: He is the only member in his family that is not so kind and generous, the result being he was disowned by his father.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He gets killed by a machine that he had summoned to kill Aloy.
- Karma Houdini: If Aloy returns directly to him after fighting the machines instead of talking to his sister, the quest will complete, and his sister will be nowhere to be seen. Presumably, he successfully killed her and took the estate.
- Too Dumb to Live: First he sends a warrior out to clear the house from machines. Then he betrays said warrior and expects to kill her by calling for more machines. He does that while holding the device that summons the machines, machines he has no control over, which predictably gets him killed first.
Zaid
Voiced by: Lewis Macleod (English)note
Captain Balahn's second-in-command and former participant of the Red Raids.
- Arc Villain: Of the Nakoa questline.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The first time Aloy meets him personally, he acts like a polite soldier suffering from a case of Mistaken Identity, not the terrifying war criminal stories are told of. Turns out, all the stories about him are true and he's even running a slavery ring on the side.
- Blatant Lies: He claims that his role in the Red Raids was wildly exaggerated; Nakoa doesn't believe it for a second and Aloy too doesn't completely buy the story, leading her to continue her investigation.
- Confess to a Lesser Crime: Sort of. He doesn't deny that he was involved in the Red Raids, but he claims that the stories of him being an outright war criminal are wildly exaggerated.
- Foil: He and Helis were both terrors in the Red Raids, killing people and capturing others to send to die in the Sun-Ring, but Zaid stayed with the Sun-Carja and Helis was loyal to Jiran and went to the Shadow. Zaid mutilated people, retains a keen interest in capturing them for his own ends, and is skilled at dissembling and misdirection, wheras Helis is more of a zealot thug.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Zaid gets killed by Nakoa for killing her father.
- Number Two: Balahn's second in command.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: The reveal that he's leading a slavery ring on the side is treated with a deserved amount of revulsion.
- You Killed My Father: He murdered — and apparently mutilated — Nakoa's father during the Red Raids while she hid and saw the whole thing. It takes years for her to get her revenge, but with Aloy's help she's finally able to avenge her father's death.
Janeva
Voiced by: Laila Pyne (English)note
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Janeva's voice actor is female and Aloy initially believes the Warden to be a woman, but Janeva cuts Aloy off when she asks about it, vehemently saying "No. I'm not one of your sisters. No woman can wear Carja armor". Janeva also mentions becoming a soldier and breaking the arms of soldiers who inquired too closely about their gender. The soldiers around the prison, Janeva included, wear much more concealing armor than most Carja. All of this implies that they're either a Sweet Polly Oliver, a trans man, or nonbinary. (For what it's worth, Janeva's English voice actor, Laila Pyne, identifies as a cisgender woman).
- Back for the Finale: Avad offered any prisoners willing to fight for Meridian their freedom and they all accepted, so Janeva and all his guards took them there.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: A cheek scar pulls Janeva's mouth into a constant, sardonic-looking half smile.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: A morally inverted version. Avad saw that Janeva, a member of his honor guard, thought all criminals were the same once, so made his soldier the Warden of Sunstone Rock as an education. Janeva doesn't like treating criminals 'softly', but toes the line the Sun-King sets and is harsh-but-fair rather than abusive.
- Prisoner's Work: When Aloy goes to Sunstone Rock the prison is in lockdown just after a violent escape, but there are crop fields around it, and a prisoner wistfully asks when they'll be let out to work on the farms again. Before the final battle, Janeva also boasts that all their dawn drills have helped their pre-battle discipline.
- Wardens Are Evil: Prefers the 'old way' of punishing criminals, leaving them buried to the neck in the hot sun. They're also openly dubious about the concept of people being rehabilitated, and ask Aloy to hunt down and kill some escapees instead of bringing them back because they'd already had their chance. However, Janeva is still loyal to Avad, and is cautiously positive when Aloy brings up Nil and his stay in the prison.
Mournful Namman
Voiced by: Simon Manyonda
- The Atoner: He feels that his red robes are stained with the blood of the Red Raids, and wishes to atone for his predecessors' crimes.
- Back for the Finale: While he doesn't fight during the final battle, he can be found praying on-site afterwards.
- Good Shepherd: He's a kindly holy man who wishes to help people mourn their dead.
Well-Traveled Aram
An unseen Carja scholar who traveled the world in order to document the Carja's neighbouring tribes sometime during Avad's reign. His documentations are somewhat lacking in accuracy.
- Content Warnings: Amusingly, his Rumours of the Tenakth includes him warning the reader that he's about to get into gruesome details of the Tenakth's supposed cannibalism.
- Entertainingly Wrong: As a result of his biases and cowardice, his notes on the various tribes are mostly to entirely wrong:
- His notes on the Nora are especially egregious, as he never actually entered the Sacred Lands and instead based his "research" on hearsay and gossip at Hunter's Gathering. He is under the impression that Nora are violent savages who shoot flaming arrows at any outsiders who enter their territory. He is aware that the Nora are matriarchal, but seems to take this to mean that men are oppressed, thinking that male hunters are rare and only able to gain favour through a blood-sport known as the Proving. He also synchronizes All-Mother with the Moon, suggesting that Nora are moon worshippers. Finally, he proposes that Nora are forbidden from eating meat except during "strange, feminine rites beneath the Moon", based on a rumour that Nora eat bark and roots.
- His notes on the Tenakth take various facts wildly exaggerate them. He accurately explains that the Tenakth do not actually eat human flesh as is often rumoured, but consider the tradition of drinking blood as ritual closeness to be even worse, suggesting even that Tenakth tattoos are made from human blood, and that they use human bones in their armour. He also claims that Tenakth steal children to raise them as their own.
- His so-called guides to Ban-Ur and the Claim are less inaccurate, since he actually went there, but made up of mostly complaining about how uncivilized they are compared to Meridian.
- Fantastic Racism: His commentary makes it obvious that he is extremely biased and prejudiced against other tribes. He describes the Nora and Tenakth as violent savages, finds the Banuk way of life distasteful and primitive, and concludes that there is nothing of worth to Oseram culture other than shouting, drinking, and fighting. An account from an Oseram also claims that he called them the slur "forge-dirt".
- Fish out of Water: He had a hard time fitting in with the Banuk in Ban-Ur, being more used to living in the comfort of Meridian than the Banuk's rugged survivalism. He was surprised at having to kill and skin his food himself, and accidentally disrespected their traditions by salvaging a machine before the shaman could do the proper rites.
- The Ghost: Aloy never meets him, though she can find and read his writings.
- Ironic Nickname: Downplayed. Aram was genuinely well-traveled for his day, having visited both the Claim and Ban-Ur. However, he never dared to venture further than the Daunt to the west and Hunter's Gathering to the east. An Oseram account calls him "Not-so-well-traveled Aram
- Jerkass: Every account of him, both from himself and from others, paint him as a racist asshole who's far less important than he thinks he is.
- Miles Gloriosus: He frequently talks up his courage and bravery, but it's obvious that he's a rather cowardly sort who never dared to venture to places with bad relations to the Carja. He also claims to have done a few hunting trials, but it took him three days to kill a single rabbit.
- Race Fetish: He ends his account of the Nora by describing them as "stragely alluring".
- Self-Serving Memory: In his account of the Tenakth, he claims that he boldly attempted to leave Barren Light and enter the Forbidden West, but was stopped by the kestrels stationed there who did not want to expose him to the great danger. In Forbidden West, a letter from an Oseram delver recounts how Aram actually just bragged about being the greatest scholar in the world, was told a few rumours about the Tenakth, and was offered the chance to pass through but refused out of fear.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He seems to think of himself as a great scholar uncovering the mysteries of the world, "a jewel of the Sun-dom", when he is actually a biased racist who's research is all based on hearsay. Avad, a king busy with a civil war, has done more to study other tribes than Aram.
- Unreliable Expositor: His writings are the best source about the Tenakth in the first game, but going by his writings on the Nora it's wildly inaccurate. Sure enough, the second game shows how wrong he was.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: His guide to the Claim ends with him being drawn into an Oseram celebration and waking up the next morning in a cart arriving in Pitchcliff, arms sore from armwrestling.
Introduced in Forbidden West
Fashav the Unyielding
Avad's cousin. He joined the Red Raids in the hopes of reigning in the worst of the abuse of the Mad Sun-King's men, but was captured by The Tenakth.
- Going Native: After winning a trial by combat, he became an enforcer for the Tenakth Chief, and now considers himself both Carja and Tenakth, trying to bring peace between both Tribes.
- Internal Reformist: He joined the Red Raids in an attempt to curb their worst atrocities. This apparently was a complete failure.Fashav: The things I saw...
- Hero of Another Story: If Aloy's curious she can hear him recount how he went from a Carja prince to a Tenakth Marshall. Most Tenakth settlements of any size also have one of his journal entries sitting around, recounting his thoughts on the region, various characters Aloy herself meets, and the disputes he helped settle.
- Meaningful Appearance: He has tattoos on one half on his body and no tattoos on the other half, signifying being Tenakth and Carja. He states that he plans to have the other half tattooed with symbols of peace between Carta and Tenakth to contrast against the half that carries symbols of his martial success, but Regalla's attack puts an end to that, despite his best efforts.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Fashav has been a captive of the Tenakth for many years but is able to survive by becoming one of them. Just as when he can finally return to his homeland, he is killed by rebels when he is near the border gates.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's only in the game for a very short time, but in that time, he gives Aloy a token of passage that allows her to safely enter the Forbidden West. He is also the one who advises Aloy to seek allies in her quest, as he knows that what she's about to face can't be handled alone.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He's killed off almost immediately after being introduced.
- You Shall Not Pass!: He was captured following a last stand covering the retreat of fellow Carja.
Studious Vuadis
The sun-priest in charge of the Emissary between the Carja and the Tenakth.
- Asshole Victim: After treating everyone around him like crap, including the person who guaranteed him safe passage through the Daunt, it's hard to feel bad for him getting killed by Regalla's troops.
- Dirty Coward: The moment Regalla sends the Emissary to hell, the first thing he does is beg the Barren Light soldiers to open the gates.
- Hate Sink: His officious and obnoxious demeanor quickly gets on everyone's nerves, and he turns out to be a spineless and treacherous coward.
- Insistent Terminology: He only answers to "Studious Vuadis" and nothing else.
- It's All About Me: While being in charge of smoothing over relations between civilizations is an important job, he makes it seem like taking the job makes him the new Sun-King.
Javad the Willing
Voiced by: Mike Shapiro
The Carja magistrate in The Daunt.- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Javad is interrupted in his thanking Aloy for running Ulvund out of town... by finding his lucky Machine Strike game piece amongst the (probably mostly ill-gotten) belongings Ulvund left behind.
- Badass Bureaucrat: He has the Sundom's goals at heart in the region: reconstruction of the border fortress of Barren Light, and the welfare of the people in the region. As soon as he has the damning evidence in hand about Ulvund's illegal activities (namely that his unauthorized blast mining in an unstable closed mine is the principal cause of the Brisleback incursion into the Daunt), he is quick to nail Ulvund to the wall and put the much more comptent Petra in charge of the town of Chainscrape. Probably alluded to in his sobriquet "The Willing".
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: But beforehand, he is constantly harangued by Ulvund with his "concession decree", which would basically sign over the region to the Oseram, all only for the pursuit of Ulvund's scheming. He holds fast, despite the ceaseless frustration that Ulvund's limited-success rabble-rousing causes him.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Bears a strong resemblance
◊ to his voice actor, Mike Shapiro. - Reasonable Authority Figure: Is absolutely aware of the problems that Ulvund's defacto control over The Daunt is causing, and once Aloy is able to prove with evidence how Ulvund's illegal blast mining precipitated the current Bristleback crisis he immediately steps into action to remove Ulvund and place someone else in charge.
Introduced in Horizon Call of the Mountain
Ryas
Voiced by: Mark Allan Stewart
He serves as the playable character of Horizon: Call of the Mountain.
- Ascended Extra: He's a mentioned character in Forbidden West before becoming the playable character of his own game.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Aloy from the previous two games. Unlike Aloy who is a genetic clone created from a Cradle facility, Ryas was born biologically by his parents and has a brother named Urid. Also while they have a combat prowess with bow and arrows, they also have a contrast with their approach to the Old Ones knowledge: While Aloy has moderate to high understanding of Old World knowledge due to being the clone of Elisabet Sobeck and is an Action Girl with Jack of All Stats, Ryas is solely a Future Primitive Barbarian Hero with no understanding of Old World knowledge.
- The Faceless: Ryas' face was not shown throughout the whole game.
- Red Baron: "Itamen's Shadow".
- Small Role, Big Impact: As his title above, Ryas is responsible for capturing Itamen prior to the events of the story under his father's orders. Due to this, he's behind Itamen's imprisonment at the hands of Bahavas and the other Shadow Carja Sun-Priests.
The Hunter's Lodge
In General
A Meridian-based hunting organization that test up-and-coming hunters and compete in taking down the mightiest machines. Before the reign of Sun King Avad, the Hunter's Lodge was only open to men of noble Carja blood. Now, however, anyone, regardless of status or gender, can become a member. Junior members of the Lodge are called Thrushes, and are mentored by a senior member of the Lodge, known as a Hawk. Out of the Hawks, there is the Sunhawk, who is the leader. A Hawk can become a Sunhawk if they kill the largest or most dangerous machines and bring their trophy back to the Lodge. A Thrush becomes a Hawk when their mentor Hawk is killed.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The only way to attain the rank of Sunhawk is unseating the current incumbent, and the only way to do that is slaying the most dangerous machine the world currently knows.
- Bling-Bling-BANG!: The Lodge's special weapons look like some of their major components are forged from solid gold.
- Challenge Seeker: Being a member of the Lodge offers no tangible benefits aside from access to their special weapons if you're really good, so anyone who joins them is either in it for the challenge, or a Glory Hound. Or both. This is reflected in gameplay since the 15 Hunting Grounds trials are the closest thing to in-game challenges the game has.
- Classical Hunter: A whole organization of them. At least that's how they see themselves.
- Displaced Origin: Pretty much every tribe is a part of the Hunter's Lodge, though which tribe founded the lodge depends on who you ask. The Carja say the Carja founded it, the Banuk say the Banuk were the first and so on.
- Egomaniac Hunter: What most members really are. They don't hunt dangerous machines for resources or to protect anyone. They only do it for the thrill, the glory and their own ego.
- Gender Is No Object: It shouldn't be any longer, but it was until a few years before the events of the game. The fact that Avad forced the Lodge to accept women into their ranks, as well as everyone else who wants to join, is rubbing a lot of conservative elements in Meridian the wrong way. If you complete the Lodge quest line, Meridian citizen on the streets can often be heard expressing astonishment at the fact that a woman is now leading the Lodge, with various undertones implying either approval or disdain. This is finally the case after Talanah becomes the next Sunhawk.
- Hired Guns: They will occasionally accept paid contract work if the target is a dangerous machine and there's glory to be gained in hunting it down.
- Klingon Promotion: The only way for a Thrush to become a Hawk is through the death of the Hawk that sponsored them. Although murdering your way to the top is not how it's supposed to be done, it's hinted that it isn't unheard of, either.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: During the reign of the Sun King Jiran, members of the Hunter's Lodge spoke out against the Red Raids and sacrifices, and were thrown into the Sun Ring to fight against machines. From dawn til dusk, the members of the Lodge fought against the machines until Sun King Jiran sent two Behemoths into the Sun Ring. However, the Behemoths started to attack members of the audience, and the remaining members of the Hunter's Lodge sacrificed themselves to save as many people as they could. This event became known as the Massacre of the Sun Ring.
- Theme Naming: Their rank system consists entirely of bird names: rookies are Fledglings, apprentices are Thrushes, full members/veterans are Hawks, and the leader is the Sunhawk. Similarly, the three trial medals you can win are named after solar phases of sorts: Half Sun (bronze), Full Sun (silver) and Blazing Sun (gold).
- Timed Mission: All their Hunting Ground challenges are a race against the clock. Getting a Half Sun is no big deal (20 minutes), but a Full Sun already shaves this down to about a quarter of that, and a Blazing Sun medal requires beating the challenge in 1-3 minutes, depending on the specific task.
Talanah Khane Padish
Voiced by: Freya Parker (English)note
The first female Hawk of the Hunter's Lodge. Both her father and brother were members of the Lodge, being of noble Carja blood. After the deaths of her father and brother at the Massacre of the Sun Ring, she strove to become a Sunhawk and let her family's sacrifice be known.
- Animal Nemesis: More of a machine nemesis; Redmaw, a legendary Thunderjaw, killed Talanah's mentor. Talanah wants to hunt down Redmaw not only to avenge her mentor's death, but also to unseat Ahsis from the Sunhawk's position.
- Ascended Extra: Is the protagonist of 2020's The Sunhawk comic miniseries that takes place shortly after the first game's final battle.
- Back for the Finale: She's the most prominent of the optionally recruited characters, and is one of three people who accompany Aloy when she finally fights Hades (the other two being Erend and Varl, who are not optional companions).
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling: A successful example herself, being the first female Sunhawk, more importantly she made it easier to join for social groups outside her own. Outlanders and non-Carja who previously existed on sufference at best.
- Commonality Connection: Talanah takes Aloy on as her Thrush because they're both female hunters who find Sunhawk Ahsis's reactionary misogyny and racism offensive and want to stick it to him.
- Curse Cut Short: In her very first conversation with Aloy.Aloy: Ahsis...what's his story?Talanah: He's the Sunhawk of the Lodge. The highest-ranking assho— Sorry, member.
- Determinator: Talanah won't let anything stop her; not being the first woman in a hunting fraternity, not a Jerkass club leader who insults her and attempts to cripple the competition, and definitely not the large variety of robot dinosaurs bristling with weapons.
- Due to the Dead: Part of her motivation to supplant Ahsis as Sunhawk is anger at his refusing to honor the memories of the Hawks who died in the Sun Ring, and the first thing she does after achieving her goals is to hold a long-overdue memorial to them.
- Had to Be Sharp: Being the first woman to break the glass ceiling of the Hunter's Lodge meant that when someone tells Talanah "No, you can't do that;" she'll say "Watch me."
- Internal Reformist: Once she's Sunhawk codifying Gender Is No Object is her first order of business with the concomitant opening of the roles to all tribes and all social statuses. The problem is Victory Is Boring.
- Magical Asian: Thankfully averted. Talanah is more of Aloy's hunting partner, though Talanah has more experience than Aloy in hunting some of the bigger machines, In fact, the only time Talanah mentors Aloy is to give her tips on machines Aloy can hunt for trophies (and experience) to gain prestige in the Hunter's Lodge.
- Lady of War: Zigzagged. Talanah was raised as a member of a noble Carja family, and so knows how to navigate the complex social spheres of both Meridian and the Hunter's Lodge. However, her forge-ahead attitude means that she spends much less of her time being "proper" and more time hunting down machines.
- Rescue Romance: With fellow Carja Amadis Beit Raveesh who nursed her back to health from a near Mutual Kill with an Apex Clawstrider.
- Replacement Goldfish: Doesn't want to be in this situation even if she loves the guy in question, especially after finding out the other woman isn't quite dead but has Gone Native among the Tenakth.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Has Aloy take down three Sawtooths, two Ravagers, a Stalker, and loads of Glinthawks before she even agrees to sponsor Aloy as her Thrush.
- Ship Tease: In Forbidden West:
- Aloy has a very wistful reaction when examining the token Talanah leaves behind after the completion of her quest. It's noteably stronger than the way Aloy reacts to the absence of anyone else.
- Take a look at Aloy's face when Talanah mentions her romance with Amadis. Disappointment doesn't even begin to describe it.
- Smash Sisters: Both she and Aloy bond over hunting and hunting techniques but find their true connection through their shared backgrounds and issues with their cultures.
- True Companions:
- If Aloy becomes her Thrush she'll return the favor by assisting her in the final battle. "Hawk and Thrush, together" is all that needs to be said.
- Aloy returns the favor in Forbidden West, taking time out of her quest to save the world to help Talanah find a missing friend.
- Victory Is Boring: She's still plenty committed to the Hunter's Lodge and its reform, but in Forbidden West Talanah jumps at the chance to make a trip out west in search of a missing Lodge member.
- You Killed My Father: To Ahsis; though it's more 'you-watched-my-father-die-and-used-his-death-to-benefit-yourself-and-now-you're-refusing-to-even-acknowledge-the-Massacre-at-the-Sun-Ring-and-I'm-gonna-take-you-down' than anything else.
Sunhawk Ahsis
Voiced by: Ako Mitchell (English)note
The current Sunhawk of the Hunter's Lodge.
- Asshole Victim: He is unceremoniously smashed into a rocky outcrop by a sweep of Redmaw's tail. Given his abrasive personality, ruthlessness and his earlier attempt to have Talanah murdered by hired thugs, no one cares.
- Death by Irony: It's implied he sat back and watched while Redmaw killed Talanah's father, allowing him to become Sunhawk. Redmaw then smashes him while Aloy and Talanah watch his stupid attempt at fighting it alone.
- Glory Hound: He alone wants to obtain the glory of slaying Redmaw, to the point where he sends killers after Talanah so he can take the beast on single-handedly.
- Hate Sink: For the Hunter's Lodge quests. He's not an active antagonist until the final mission, but he's still a condescending elitist prick who treats Aloy and Talanah with nothing but contempt and refuses to acknowledge the sacrifices of Hunters in the Sun Ring.
- Ignored Epiphany: With his last words before he dies it looks like he might have had a moral breakthrough and realized his failings. Instead it turns out he realized he should've let Talanah fight Redmaw first to soften the beast up for him.
- It's All About Me: He only cares about his own glory and keeping his position as the Sunhawk. He refuses to acknowledge that hunters sacrificed their lives in the Sun Ring to save their fellows, since he only gained his position through their deaths while he sat and did nothing. He even tries to have Talanah killed to make sure he gets the glory of killing Redmaw, not her.
- Jerkass: He makes no secret that he hates Aloy and Talanah, and has to be threatened by Talanah into making Aloy a member of the Lodge even though she meets every requirement.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: One might think he's going to have a Redemption Equals Death moment, but nope. His only regret is that he wasn't more ruthless and cunning in his glory-seeking.
- Karmic Death: Sends assassins to kill Talanah and leaves his Thrush behind so he alone can have the glory of killing Redmaw. Instead, Redmaw kills him by using its tail to swat him like a fly.
- Kick the Dog: In addition to being racist, sexist, cheater, murderer and an all around unpleasant guy, he has declared that members of the Lodge are not allowed to speak about the Sun-Ring Massacre that killed many heroic hawks of the Lodge, seemingly so that he can claim more honor than them.
- No Dead Body Poops: Hilariously, the Hunter's Lodge adds insult to injury at his death by mentioning in the official record of Redmaw's defeat how Ahsis's bowels failed after his death.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He's prejudiced against women, low-borns, and people from foreign tribes, yet Avad's edict means he's forced to accept them all into the Lodge. Since Aloy is all three, he's straightforward with his burning hatred for her.
Nora Keeper
- Defector from Decadence: He doesn't believe in the High Matriarchs' rules and that his people's isolation doesn't help considering how much he had seen on his travels.
Ligan
Voiced By: Bill Roberts
An elderly Carja Hawk of the Lodge who has retired from hunting due to his old age, now serving as an administrator and advisor for new thrushes.
- Cool Old Guy: While he's initially a bit skeptic to Aloy's skills as a hunter, he's open to her joining the Lodge, and happily accepts her when she proves her skill.
- Mr. Exposition: He's the one Aloy turns to when she needs history lessons or advice about the Hunter's Lodge.
- My Greatest Failure: Downplayed in that he's not that torn up about it, but he laments that he hadn't brought concealed weapons with him to the Sun-Ring Massacre, meaning that he was forced to stand aside while his fellow hawks fought and died.
- Retired Badass: He's a retired machine hunter who survived hunting during the Derangement, making it clear that he is this even though he's never seen in action.
- You Remind Me of X: He privately tells Aloy that Ardik, a Banuk who joined the Lodge at the same time as her, reminds him of himself when he was younger. This causes him to slightly favor Ardik over Aloy, though he recognizes her as the better hunter when she proves herself.
The Carja in Shadow/The Eclipse
Shadow Carja Kestrel and Soldier
Eclipse Cultists
Carja who were loyal to the Mad Sun-King and are currently based in Sunfall. The Eclipse is a cult comprised of Shadow Carja soldiers fanatical to the cause and seek to resurrect and control long-dead machines to one day retake Meridian from Sun-King Avad. In General
- Always Chaotic Evil:
- Averted with the Shadow Carja - the game makes clear that there are plenty of Shadow Carja citizens, even some Shadow Carja soldiers, who're good and decent people. They just happened to pick the wrong side or had the misfortune of already living in territory that the Shadow Carja would come to control. Some appear in Forbidden West as refugees. Their intentions are completely peaceful, but they don't recognize Avad as Sun-King, feeling strongly that murder is not a legitimate means of succession.
- The Eclipse is all evil with a few conscripts, but then, it is a cult. You can tell the difference because if Aloy ventures into a Shadow Carja outpost the soldiers will say colder, ruder things to her than the generally indifferent Sun Carja in similar outposts. If she ventures into an Eclipse outpost they immediately start to shoot at her.
- Dark Is Evil: Carja respect The Sacred Darkness, and after the revolution in Meridian Jiran's loyalists took that darkness and embraced it. Believing that the death of the Sun-King led to a spiritual night, nearly everything about them has a darkness motif. From their ranks comes the cult of the Eclipse, who definitely run this way. Shadow Carja wear black clothes and armor, but also include the color purple. The Eclipse wear bullet casings and red and black, and are the primary human enemies of the game. They also control the pitch-black Corruptors and Deathbringers, as well as corrupted machines.
- "Darkness von Gothick" Name: Erend's Vanguard mocks their name "Eclipse" for too obviously trying to sound scary.
- Dying Town: Sunfall was once the Sun-King's summer palace, and its inside is still beautiful and well-built, but this is a desert, and its prosperity was dependent on imported food and supplies. The settlement is surrounded by a tent city of impoverished refugees and commoners, far more ragged than Sun Carja commoners, who get to watch most of what resources the Shadow Carja have get taken by the wealthy. Opinions closer to Meridian are that Avad pities them too much and that's why there's an uneasy truce at the start of the game.
- Establishing Character Moment: Eclipse shows to everyone that they are not so friendly when they attack the Proving and kill almost everyone (mostly kids in their teens) for being witnesses.
- Hollywood Satanism: From the context of Carja's state religion, they are this; while the Carja worship the sun and see it as the Big Good, the Eclipse prefer to worship its diametric opposite, the Buried Shadow (who they think is HADES) and seek to destroy the Sun Carja (and the rest of humanity along with them).
- Machine Worship: The Eclipse worship HADES, whose status as an AI was known to Sylens when he founded Eclipse. Sylens and HADES conned them into thinking that this corrupt AI was the "Buried Shadow" of their religion, with HADES even going so far as to recite lines from their scripture to play the part.
- Religion of Evil: The Eclipse is serving what they believe is the Buried Shadow, or as Helis calls it, the Sun-In-Shadow. They come to believe that HADES is the Buried Shadow, and are conned into thinking that helping him bring about the end times, will led to a spiritual renewal, i.e. sometimes the shadow can do what the sun cannot, in this case retake holy Meridian from the Sun Carja.
- The Remnant: They are the leftovers of the Carja that followed the Mad Sun King after Avad's accession.
- Even more so by the end of the game. If the player has followed one of the more major side quests then by the time the credits roll the Shadow Carja's de facto leaders are dead, their de jure leader has defected, most of their best have died in various Eclipse operations and much of their remaining resources have been squandered on the Eclipse's failed plan. At this point any chance they ever had of retaking their former power is basically gone.
- This is made even more apparent in Forbidden West, where it turns out that various Eclipse members escaped to the titular lands led by Vezreh, the brains behind the Eclipse after Sylens was forced out. There, they desperately try to start over from scratch using captured Utaru as slaves to build their new empire and to dig up Old One bombs to use against the other tribes. Once Aloy catches wind of them, any remaining traces of the Eclipse get buried with Vezreh in his failed Taking You with Me moment.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Eclipse remnants that escaped to the Forbidden West use Utaru as slaves for their base.
- Take Over the World: The main goal of the Eclipse after taking back Meridian and killing Avad is to go back to conquering everything around them.
Helis
Voiced by: Crispin Freeman (English)note
A former champion of the Mad Sun-King and leader of the Eclipse.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Potentially. The Compassionate dialogue option in Aloy's final confrontation with him has her express sorrow at his fate, talking about how his belief in fate has led him into butchery and madness at the hands of HADES without ever realising how much of a pawn he was. She allows him to look at the sun one last time before killing him quickly and cleanly, then squeezes her eyes shut as she walks away. Of course, you can also take the Aggressive dialogue option if you prefer.
- Amazon Chaser: He loved his late wife for her fortitude and strength, suggesting he has a thing for strong women, and he becomes more obsessed with Aloy as she keeps interfering in Eclipse's plans.
- Arch-Enemy: To Aloy. He earns her burning hatred pretty quickly for killing Rost, and she eventually becomes the subject of his obsession after her repeated interference in Eclipse plans.
- Arrow Catch: In his introductory cutscene, he deflects an arrow using his bracer during his fight with Rost. He does the same thing in his boss fight at the end of the game, deflecting arrows you shoot at him.
- Ax-Crazy: Rationality and stability are not his strongest traits.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He thinks himself the most important being in the world, and he props himself up as the true threat the rest of the tribes must answer to, but as the plot goes on it becomes increasingly clear that, although his armies are dangerous and he himself is a powerful and brutal man, he's a pawn whose ambitions are meaningless in the face of the much more important (and world-threatening) ancient forces which he stumbled upon. At one point, Aloy and Sylens basically ignore him in favor of pursuing answers about Zero Dawn - and while he lays siege to the place where they need to go, it's explicitly for reasons that are ignorant of its true significance.
- The Champion: He was literally known as the Mad Sun-King's Champion, and even after his master's death he continues to carry on his king's work.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: His pale blue-gray eyes seen from up close just add to how alarming his appearance is. Aloy describes them as "dead eyes".
- Damage-Sponge Boss: He can take a lot of damage when you finally fight him; he's not as tough as the bigger machines, but he's quite tough for a human.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: If you choose the Compassionate dialogue option before killing him, he seems shocked and appalled.
- The Dragon: Was formerly this to the Mad Sun-King, and even though he's now the leader of the Eclipse, he's still merely taking orders from HADES.
- The Dreaded: He is widely feared due to the Red Raids, especially by the Oseram. He is known as The Terror of the Sun and Stacker of Corpses.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He had a wife once. She died in childbirth, along with their child, something that actually broke Helis for a time.
- Evil Mentor: Tries to be one to Itamen, the Mad Sun-King's youngest son, whom Helis sees as the true Sun-King instead of Avad. Luckily for the rest of the world, Itamen has no taste for the Shadow Carja's cruelty, and Aloy can even free Itamen and his mother from their Gilded Cage and return them to Avad's protection.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He's the main human antagonist and has the deepest human voice in the game.
- Face Death with Dignity: If you choose the empathetic option, he'll be outraged that Aloy pities him, but when she tells him to turn his face toward the sun, he'll do so calmly before she delivers the final blow. Not really the case with the other options.
- The Fatalist: He believes that he has a great destiny, and even though he failed to kill Aloy at first, that only happened because he wasn't destined to kill her at that time. Everything that followed was meant to be.
- The Fundamentalist: He is a fanatical believer of Carja faith, particularly the Mad Sun-King's version. Aloy calls him a murderer who just uses religion to justify his bloodlust.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: His introduction cutscene shows him deflecting incoming arrows with his bracers. He does the very same thing with Aloy's arrows if you attempt to shoot him during his Boss Battle. He can't do this with other projectiles, though, like Blast Sling sticky bombs for instance. He's also as vulnerable to electrical stunning as any other human, which will allow arrows to hit while he convulses.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Helis is often shown simply punching his enemies to death with his armored but otherwise bare fists.
- The Heavy: While he does answer to HADES, as the leader of the Eclipse it is he who drives the plot in the story. Had he and his men never invaded the Proving and killed Rost, the Nora would have never made Aloy a Seeker, and she would never have gone on her groundbreaking journey.
- Idiot Ball: Pro tip, Helis: if you want to make a show of your buddies executing a defenseless person in your arena, don't put the that person's weapons and armor on a platform above said arena, and don't have her fight a Bullfight Boss when said platform's supports are inside said arena. He can be slightly excused since he didn't design the arena, but choosing a Behemoth as her method of execution, despite being a grand spectacle, just allows Aloy to use the machine's brute strength to her advantage.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After his boss fight, Aloy finishes him off by gutting him with her spear.
- Insane Troll Logic: His delusion is that sun and shadow being equally powerful, or equally real, means they're the same thing.
- Ironic Echo: He tells Aloy to turn her face towards the sun before attempting to execute her at the beginning of the game. At the end of the game Aloy echoes it back at him in his last moment. Depending on your dialogue choice she either does this out of pity and sincere respect for his faith - and even waits until he does turn his face to stab him - or as a angry taunt after stabbing him.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: While Aloy fights HADES because it's a threat to all life on earth, she has no relation to it beyond that (though HADES certainly knows and fears her). She hates Helis because he killed Rost, the only parent she's ever known.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: If you choose the logical option, Aloy will tell him he'll die then HADES will be next. Helis will begin ranting that the Buried Shadow will save him right as Aloy runs him through with her spear.
- Kill It with Fire: He wields a Sling with fire bombs in the final battle. For the sake of free movement, it's best to keep him from firing too many, either through close combat or distant attacks.
- Large and in Charge: He's a big guy, noticeably larger and more muscular than pretty much anyone else in the game. He's so large that when Aloy finds his armor in his tent in the Eclipse main base, she immediately deduces that its size means it can only be his.
- Madness Mantra: He often insists on his main motivation as "Two halves joined to one cause: Shadow to Sun, Dark to Light, Night to Day." Another phrase he uses repeatedly is "In this, I have become an instrument of prophecy."
- Meaningful Name: Helis is only one letter short of Helios, the Ancient Greek god of the sun. Considering the origins of the Carja faith, chances are its equivalent to today's biblical names like Michael or Gabriel, which in turn might be one of the reasons Helis sees himself as The Chosen One. His name is also fairly close to "Hell", an underworld conceptually related to Hades, the name of the A.I. he serves.
- The Mourning After: When his wife and child died during childbirth, he fell into this. The Sun King did him a great kindness by having them interred in an honourable burial ground for warriors, which ultimately snapped him out of it.
- My Greatest Failure: Defied; he tells Aloy that for a long time he obsessed over his failure to kill her when they first met - he could have cut her throat deeper before Rost interfered - and as she disrupts Eclipse operations time and again, up to and including helping their Sun King escape and killing their high priest, he becomes fixated on why he didn't just kill her when he had the chance, before finally coming to the realization that he was meant to fail then so that she could cause those problems and he could capture her and sacrifice her as an example in the Sun Ring later. Recall, rationality isn't his strong suit.
- Neck Lift: Of Aloy, one-handed, during their first meeting.
- No-Sell: Aloy tries to shoulder tackle him when they first meet. Unfortunately, what works against skinny Mooks doesn't work against a 240-pound man of linebacker proportions, and she just bounces off him. This applies in the game as well, as he's able to shrug off arrows in the head, exploding barrels and Deathbringer gun bullets.
- Prefers Rocks to Pillows: In an audio log recounting his wedding night, Helis remarks on how uncomfortable he was in the comfy bed and pleasant surroundings and could only sleep by leaving the window open and sleeping on the floor. When he woke, his wife was lying beside him, which only cemented his love for her.
- Psycho Knife Nut: If he doesn't feel like letting his fists do the talking, the only actual weapon he ever uses is his dagger, and he's a bloodthirsty maniac.
- Psycho Supporter: He is a psychopathic, bloodthirsty maniac, but he remains completely loyal to the Mad Sun-King and fully believes in his brutal ideology.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the leader of the Eclipse and a legitimately deadly fighter (though Rost is able to match him blow-for-blow), and has a ton of health when you finally fight him (so much so that, depending on difficulty, he can actually survive having a Deathbringer gun emptied into him).
- Red Baron: During the Red Raids he was known as "The Terror of the Sun" among the Carja and as "The Stacker of Corpses" among the Oseram. These days most people just call him by his given name.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: Deep voice aside, he's generally very calm and collected when speaking, only raising his voice when addressing the crowd at the Sun Ring and losing his composure when Aloy defeats him.
- This Cannot Be!: His reactions to his defeat by Aloy."Impossible. I am chosen. This was not meant to be!"
- Undying Loyalty: All his allegiance is with the Mad Sun-King, even long after the King's death. His logs reveal that this is likely due to Jiran granting his wife and child burial in the royal tomb, an honor usually reserved for royalty and great heroes.
- Unwitting Pawn: HADES tricks him into thinking that he's the Buried Shadow of the Carja religion, and he's completely duped by the ancient AI into unknowingly helping along the apocalypse just so the Shadow Carja can reclaim Meridian. In its way, it's almost pitiful how entirely Helis is taken in.Aloy: You've gone from serving an insane, homicidal Sun King to an insane, homicidal machine. You're moving down in the world, not up!
- Villainous Breakdown: Suffers a temporary one when Aloy survives her intended sacrifice in the Sun Ring, from felling the Behemoth through to her successful escape, going from the calm speaker to his progressively more anxious "Kill her!" commands to his bellow of "Traitor!" as Sylens effects his rescue of Aloy from the Sun Ring. He's recovered by the next time you see him, though.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: In his twisted ideology, Helis believes himself to be the Chosen One and a hero, and HADES to be the shadow of the Sun he worships: a god who will bestow on him the destiny of taking over Meridian and controlling the Derangement of the Machines. He couldn't be more wrong — it's more or less a coincidence that his aims and HADES currently align, and he's ultimately a puppet for a far wider-scoped threat that's actually part of the Derangement itself.
Bahavas
Voiced by: Anthony Howell (English)note
The High Priest of the Shadow Carja, Bahavas also acts as the regent for the child king Itamen.
- Arc Villain: Serving as the main villain of his own questline.
- Evil Chancellor: In reality, Bahavas uses Itamen as a puppet, and keeps him and Queen Nasadi imprisoned in all but name.
- Evil Power Vacuum: His death leaves one in the Shadow Carja's priesthood, which is the opening Vanasha needs to get Itamen and Nasadi out of Sunfall and into Meridian.
- Hate Sink: The smug figurehead of a Religion of Evil who holds a child king hostage and routinely has his own weak and elderly people killed just to weed out weakness. Bahavas has no redeeming features whatsoever and his end at the hands of Uthid, the man he sentenced to death, is both swift and satisfying to behold.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He falsely accuses Uthid of treason when he discovers Bahavas' secret cullings. However, his pursuit of Uthid is what ultimately leads to his own death.
- Minor Major Character: He's the de facto leader of the political faction causing most of the trouble in the main plot, but he's barely involved in Aloy's story, letting Helis run the Eclipse and do the legwork while he stays at Sunfall.
- Social Darwinist: He arranges for assassins to secretly murder old and sick citizens living under Shadow Carja rule, especially the ones in the refugee camp, in an effort to weed out the weak.
- The Unfought: You don't actually fight him himself, just the three guards he brings. When they're gone, he's killed without a struggle in a cutscene by Uthid.
- Would Hurt a Child: He doesn't hesitate to plan on killing Itamen to take over the throne as a warning message for Uthid's betrayal.
Itamen
Voiced by: Sam Lavignino (English)
The youngest son of the Mad Sun-King and a child puppet king set-up by the Shadow Carja.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: Uthid explains that even though Itamen is a child, he's innocent and pure; not deranged like the old Sun-King or guilty of patricide like the new one, and that's why Uthid himself, a comparatively kind and honorable Carja, went to Sunfall. However, this make him easy to control by the true rulers of the Shadow Carja.
- Cheerful Child: Once he and his mother are free of the Shadow Carja. When Aloy meets up with him again in Forbidden West, he is rambunctious and eagerly asks Aloy if she'll teach him to fight, clearly holding her in some degree of awe.
- Children Are Innocent: Even though raised by Helis to be like his father, Itamen shows no sign of his dad's madness and is terrified by the brutality of the Shadow Carja. Mainly all he wants is to be near his mother, like any child that age.
- Defector from Decadence: Ultimately decides to defect to the Carja in order to escape his imprisonment in all but name. Out the door with him goes his mother, the dowager queen, and the last spurious claim of legitimacy as the "true Carja" that the Carja in Shadow have.
- Gilded Cage: He's got a nice home as part of being king, but it's not like he's got any choice in the matter - much less any inkling of power or any idea of what to do with it.
- Puppet King: The Shadow Carja use Itamen as their idol to control their followers.
Uthid
Voiced by: Nigel Barber (English)note
A decorated Shadow Carja soldier who found himself on the wrong side of the splinter faction's corrupt leadership.
- Awesome by Analysis: Upon meeting Aloy, he remarks that she looks like a hunter but gives orders like a soldier, which is a better assessment than the ones made by 95% of the people she encounters. He also notes that her persuasive style makes her sound like Blameless Marad, which is not only also very accurate, but also suggests that Uthid has been smart enough to get close enough to Marad to observe him.
- Chest of Medals: He has a sash full of what appear to be medals.
- Defector from Decadence: Automatically became one after turning over a serial killer. The killer was instantly exonerated by High Priest Bahavas, who was actually the mastermind behind the killings and attempted to kill Uthid. Bahavas's people did kill Uthid's men, which grieves Uthid. After being given an offer of an advisory position to King Avad and having seen the corruption at the core of the Shadow Carja, he readily jumps ship.
- He Knows Too Much: When he found out that Bahavas was behind the culling he was investigating, Bahavas had his men killed and tried to kill him too, offering a bounty on his head after he escaped.
- Knight in Shining Armor: While he may wear dark-colored armor, he's a champion of the common people, a seeker of justice to the downtrodden, and his greatest flaw is being too loyal a soldier to his corrupt masters.
- The Last Dance: His quest has him luring every hunter after him in a chance to at least go out in a blaze of glory. Aloy instead makes him realize he'd do much better damage to the Shadow Carja living instead of dying. Not only do he and Aloy take down every bounty hunter sent after him, but he manages to kill High Priest Bahavas.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: He did not agree with the Red Raids in any capacity, but he and his men did as ordered in service to Sunfall. It's not until after "peacetime" comes and things are still no better that he finally realizes the depth of rot and corruption plaguing his homeland.
- Nice to the Waiter: Fed orphans out of his own rations and punished soldiers who abused the refugees.
- Samurai: Not only does his armor makes him look like one, so do his sense of honor and duty to his master (whether he agrees with their actions or not).
- Ship Tease: If you talk to him before the final assault on Meridian, he'll start to complain about Vanasha's incessant teasing, but then admits he's actually come to like it (implying he feels the same toward her, and they've been spending a lot of time together since Aloy last saw them).
- This continues into Forbidden West, if Aloy talks to Uthid and Vanasha before leaving Meridian, Vanasha jokes that Uthid turned down the opportunity to be ruler of Sunfall so he could stay closer to her. Uthid looks embarrassed but doesn't outright deny it.
Vanasha
Voiced by: Lara Rossi (English)note
- Action Girl: Is very eager to take on Shadow Carja agents that are trying to prevent her from saving Nasadi and Itamen.
- Amazonian Beauty: She gets at least one man to help her with her scheme by using her looks, and she shows up dressed for battle in a fanservice-y outfit very like the clothes male Carja wear, that shows off an impressive six-pack.
- Ambiguously Bi: She flirts with both Aloy and Uthid, though whether she has genuine interest in either of them or is just messing with them is vague. By Forbidden West, she indicates that she is genuinely interested in Uthid but doesn't believe things could realistically work out between them.
- Beware the Silly Ones: She's flirtatious and never seems to take anything seriously, but she did manage to infiltrate the Shadow Carja and orchestra several missions to safely escort Uthid, Itamen, and his mother safely to Meridian. Some remarks also imply she is absolutely capable of fighting off Shadow Carja agents by herself, and she shows up for the final battle.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied. When she talks with Aloy before the final fight with the Shadow Carja, she reveals her utter loathing of the Shadow Carja, and the remark of feeling "their whips on [her] back," hinting that she may have been one of their slaves.
- Double Entendre: Lays a big one on Uthid early in Forbidden West, to Uthid's embarrassment and Aloy's discomfiture.Uthid: You can try to hide it, but inside, you're as soft as a silk pillow.Vanahsa: Oh, you have no idea.Uthid: Huh? Oh dear.Aloy: Uh, we were talking about Itamen?
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Pretends to be outraged when Avad gives Aloy the credit for freeing Itamen after two years of undercover work, but she's obviously joking.
- Friend to All Children: She's shown handing out food to impoverished children on Queen Nasadi's behalf, and she's very fond and protective of Itamen.
- Heroic Build: Though they're both relatively slender, whereas Aloy is toned ab-wise, Vanasha is outright ripped, with a visible six-pack.
- Hidden Depths: Beneath that jokey nature lies a woman who is genuinely willing to fight and die for her cause, and to kill the people who tortured her when she was young.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Looks like her voice actress, Lara Rossi.
- Lady-In-Waiting: She isn't of noble blood but she is the handmaiden for Queen Nasadi.
- The Mole: Vanasha is a spy for the Carja government and organizes Itamen's extraction. She says she's been working undercover for two years.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: After Aloy saves Uthid from the bounty hunters, Vanasha arrives and states that she helped by completely eliminating another band of bounty hunters on her own — Aloy met them, Nora outcasts who claim they'll kill Nora for free — to prevent them from joining the fight.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the endgame, if she's there she briefly drops her usual teasing playful tone to tell Aloy that this enemy is the one behind turning Sunfall and the Sun Ring into torture-filled bloodbaths, and she hates them.
- Ship Tease: With Uthid. He implies he has this with her if you speak to him before the final assault on Meridian.
- Shown more explicitly in Forbidden West, in which Aloy has the option to speak to them both together before leaving Meridian and witnesses Vanasha taking great joy in teasing and flirting with him.
- The Tease: She has a lot of fun making vaguely flirtatious comments to Uthid to get under his skin. He acts annoyed towards her, but seems at peace with their "relationship." She is similarly flirty when interacting with Aloy, affectionately referring to her as "little huntress".
- You Have Failed Me: Played for laughs. When Huadiv (who got hurt trying to complete his mission, but admittedly failed in it) asks if he's still getting paid, Vanasha hisses that he'll be lucky if she lets him live.
Introduced in Forbidden West
Vezreh (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The leader of the remaining Eclipse members in the Forbidden West.
- BFG: He attacks Aloy from afar using the Ravager's cannon.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He has massive ambitions to build an empire and bend all other civilizations to his will with the bombs he has uncovered. Unfortunately for him, there are much greater threats at work, and Aloy puts the kebash on his plans while they're still in their infancy, ending him and finishing the Eclipse for good.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: The area you fight him and the Ravager in has plenty of acid canisters lying around, which you can pick up to craft more acid ammo or blow up as an improvised bomb.
- Dragon Ascendant: Brutally Played With. Vezreh is the new leader of the Eclipse remnants and seemingly wants to revive the cult's plans six months after their defeat in Meridian. However, his relatively minor threats are overshadowed by bigger ones including the rebels, Far Zenith and HEPHAESTUS. He's also defeated by Aloy, the hero behind the Eclipse's defeat, thus putting an end to the Eclipse.
- New Era Speech: He has a pre-recorded one on loop at the dig site in Shadow's Reach about how he'll make himself the Sun-King of the world after finishing what Helis started. Aloy suspects he does this just to hear the sound of his own voice.
- Taking You with Me: After Aloy deals with him and the Ravager he sics on her, he blows up his lair in one final attempt to kill her. The only person who dies in the explosion is him.
