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In General
- Adorably Precocious Child: Tenakth youngsters have exactly the same lines as their adult counterparts, expounding gravely on politics or military tradition whenever Aloy greets them. The voice actors are different, this is how just how Tenakth kids are socialized to act.
- All Hail the Great God Mickey!: The entirety of Tenakth culture is borne out of the barely functional remains of a privately funded interactive war museum focusing on a rebel paratrooper outfit from a regional civil war. Everything from the individual clan colors from the spiky row patterns prevalent in architecture and clothing to their reverence for flight comes from a series of half-broken holographic exhibits and remains of war planes on display. Even some hairstyles for african/black tribesmen are evocative of JTF-10 imagery: men like the Desert Clan Chaplain Jetakka have a hairstyle reminiscent of military side caps, and women have diagonal fin-shaped hairstyles similar to the tail fins of the cargo planes that JTF-10 paratroopers leapt out of.
- Alphabetical Theme Naming: All Tenakth names have double letters in them.
- Ascended Extra: They had an extremely minor presence in Zero Dawn, but play a much larger role in Forbidden West, which is set primarily in their territory. Among other things, it reveals most of what was "known" about the Tenakth in Zero Dawn was learned from a single prisoner from a remote clan or highly exaggerated rumours. Just like any other tribe, they have lows and highs.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: In general, and also through specific Klingon Promotion circumstances. Commanders of individual clans typically are deposed with their death (as shown in Forbidden West in the Desert Clan's politics), and Marshals are appointed after a good showing in a trial by combat the tribe calls a Kulrut.
- Barbarian Tribe: The Tenakth are described as aggressive raiders who value strength above all else. Forbidden West reveals that they were targeted by the Red Raids, but alone out of all the tribes, the Tenakth won against the Carja and successfully pushed them out of the west.
- Buried Alive: The Tenakth don't appreciate Oseram delvers digging up Old One ruins in their territory, and will subject any captured delvers to this fate; as they say, delvers spend their lives in the dust, and so that is where they leave them.
- Bury Your Disabled: They believe in this as a culture. It's mentioned that they execute those who can't fight (or rather, make them fight a machine to prove they can, which leads to the same result). Aloy meets a blind Tenakth whose sister is smuggling him away to avoid this fate. Even Kotallo, one of their best warriors and a Marshal, is looked down upon when he loses an arm.
- Cargo Cult: On two levels:
- They venerate "The Ten," actually JTF-10, a human squad of elite soldiers, thanks to some poorly-functioning holographic displays in their capital (a former military museum dedicated to JTF-10). They're particularly taken with JTF-10's proficiency with aircraft and paratrooper drops, which they call "The Wings of the Ten."
- Their current chief, Hekarro, happened to be in the right place at the right time (When one of GAIA's subroutines installed itself on the museum mainframe after she self-destructed) to see a holographic recording of an old world soldier making an impassioned speech about human unity in the face of a robotic threat. This recording inspired Hekarro to pursue his current goal of uniting the disparate Tenakth clans and seeking peace with other tribes, even the hated Carja.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Many Tenakth characters are color-coded to show what clan or group they’re in. The colors are based upon the hues present in the heavily degraded "Visions", hologram exhibits in an old-world museum that is now their Sacred Grove about the exploits of The Ten in each of the sub-regions that the three clans occupy in the tribe's territory.
- Hekarro and his Marshals: blue, yellow, and white
- Sky Clan: fuchsia, black, sky blue and pale grey
- Desert Clan: Yellow, red, and black
- Lowland Clan: turquoise, azure, white and red
- Regalla and her rebels: red, green, and black
- Dangerous Deserter: Many in the tribe consider the Rebels to be this. One overheard banter amongst filler NPCs is a man who is shocked and appalled to learn his father is a Rebel, and that the man killed all his squadmates when deserting. In an inversion of the trope, Chaplain Dekka's grandson, Kavvoh, deserts the Rebels when he sees that, for all their talk about taking the fight to the Carja, all the Rebels are really doing is killing their own kinsmen. The Gauntlet Runners, machine-riding racers, are also "inverse deserters", having absconded from the Rebels with their machine mounts after realizing the same.
- Elemental Motifs: Air. They revere the Ten due to how they use aircraft during their fights and their capital is the ruins of a military aircraft museum. Hekarro and his marshals wear blue, yellow, and white clothing, which is related to the sky. They are shown to be able to adapt to their surroundings and eventually stop warring at the beginning of the Derangement. They were first shown to be loud and dangerous but once you get to know them, they can be very progressive and are great allies.
- Elite Agents Above the Law: "Marshals" are a new group on top of the existing clan structure who take their orders directly from the Chief. This means that a Marshal can do anything (though they aren't protected from the usual Tenakth way of resolving problems), including helping a foreign mercenary blow up the wall of a rebellious village.
- Exposed to the Elements: The Tenakth don't wear a lot of clothes in most of their outfits- many of their male outfits leave them mostly or completely barechested and the female versions just add a small wrap across the breasts and shoulders. This is fine for the Lowland Clan that lives in a tropical rainforest, but the Desert Clan is regularly exposed to vicious sandstorms that would realistically scour their skin off (Aloy says as much if she gets caught in such a storm). And the Sky Clan lives in mountains that are high enough to have year-round snow.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Possibly the more warrior-focused aspects Aztecs judging by their weaponry and parts of their dress with the focus on colorful tattoos (compared to the sun-focused Carja), as well a bit of Polynesia with the tattooing method of using a mallet to help ink the skin.
- Flower from the Mountaintop: Low-ranking members of the Sky Clan can become warriors if they pick one of these flowers from a steep, freezing mountain. It's an even harder test than it sounds, but Sky authorities genuinely honor the outcome.
- Gladiator Games: A heroic version. Unlike with the Carja's Sun-Ring, Tenakth gladiators choose to fight, for no one but their own selves, and are rewarded with elite arms that can't be bought any other way. (They do need to pay upfront for the labor of herding machines into the Arena, though.) A special tournament, called the Kulrut, is used to vet applicants to Chief Hekkaro's cadre of Marshals.
- Hidden Depths: The beginning of Forbidden West paints a picture of the Tenakth as a bloodthirsty, barbarous band of savages, and the hostile marshals that are the first Tenakth Aloy meets would initially seem to confirm it. Of course, these are all stories from Carja whose main experience with the Tenakth was as enemy combatants in the Red Raids. Once Aloy begins to travel within their territory, she finds that in general they do love violence but she also meets no shortage of soft-spoken, introspective Tenakth.
- Honorable Warrior's Death: Tenakth rarely see old age due to all the fighting they partake in and most Tenakth would prefer it that way. Their Bury Your Disabled traditions are predicated on the idea that if they can't live by the sword, they'll at least die under it.
- Hufflepuff House: Much like the Utaru, only one named Tenakth NPC is present in Zero Dawn and the tribe isn't mentioned often. Forbidden West ends this.
- I'm a Humanitarian: The other tribes believe the Tenakth practice cannibalism. While they did have a custom of drinking the blood of their dead before Hekarro became their chief, believing it allows the deceased's stories to live on through the survivors, they have never eaten human flesh. The practice of tasting blood has fallen out of favour except among very remote and old-fashioned clans.
- Meaningful Name: In addition to being named after "The Ten" - the elite human task force JTF-10, the word Tenakth also sounds quite similar to the word "Tenacious/Tenacity", which means being determined, firm, and persistent, something that abtly describes the hat of the Tenakth people quite well.
- They're based on the American military. What is a way to make soldiers stand at attention? Ten-hut!
- Never Learned to Read: Somewhere along the way since they left their Cradle facility, they lost writing; the closest thing they have is inking their own deeds onto their skin. As Hekarro puts it, "our memories die with our flesh." This is one of the reasons he wants to ally with the Carja. If they can teach his people how to read and write, then their histories will survive even though the ancient hologram projectors are almost dead.
- Odd Friendship: With the Utaru tribe. Despite being very warlike, the Tenakth have a beneficial peace with their peaceful agrarian neighbors, exchanging people and supplies. During the Red Raids, the Utaru tribesmen who wished to take up arms against the Carja found steadfast allies in the similarly beset Tenakth.
- One Riot, One Ranger: Hekarro's Marshals are the most elite of the Tenakth soldiers, and are agents of Hekarro's law and will, acting as mediators, problem solvers, and lawmen. They forsake clan loyalties and pledge loyalty to the tribe as a whole, discarding their clan colors for Chief Hekarro's blue/white/yellow livery. They typically operate separately from each other, but may gather for special missions (such as their opening rear attack in the razing of Barren Light during the Red Raids) or to represent the whole tribe when dealing with the Carja. Hekarro was inspired to create this elite cadre by a holo-exhibit in what is now the tribe's Grove of Memories. At the very moment he conquered it, you see, GAIA self-destructed and AETHER fled to the Grove, triggering the exhibit's blip.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: They are very much an entire tribe of these, mostly thanks to them settling in an Old One military museum and battlefield, giving them access to museum exhibits and relics of a military nature which shaped their founding warrior ideology. They're so intent on this that even small children are assigned squads, non-warriors are looked on with disdain, and they expect to kill any of their own disabled in combat. When asked if his people do anything to relax, one Marshall says they play Strike and hone their tactical thinking.
- Real Men Eat Meat: Or rather, Real Warriors Eat Meat. The cook in Salt Bite notes with annoyance that most Tenakth think that that they should eat nothing but meat and she's got trouble convincing them to eat something with eggs in it, much less vegetables. She's trying to get them to broaden their diets for better health. Given that most Tenakth meals Aloy can buy include grains and vegetables, an insistence on only meat might just be regional to Salt Bite.
- Serious Business: They are very proud of the "Machine Strike" game they invented. If Aloy defeats the current grandmaster, many Tenakth NPCs will comment on it.
- Soldier vs. Warrior: Interestingly, they portray both sides of this in one tribe. As a primitive tribe in a dangerous world, they respect strength and often have duels to determine leadership. However, since they based their culture on a military museum, they have a more regimented command structure than most other tribes. Soldiers who are too eager are kept in check by their squad leader, and the most important ideals of their culture are duty and following orders.
- The Social Darwinist: In the words of the one Tenakth with a speaking role in Zero Dawn: "The strong take from the weak and grow stronger through it". And they really take everything - the victim's possessions, their children, their blood... Forbidden West expands on this. They do have a strong Might Makes Right outlook on the world, and combat is often the way they settle disputes to the point where they have little use for non-fighters, but they also have a firm sense of honor and discipline, and one of Hekarro's goals is to create a codified set of laws across the tribe.
- Undying Loyalty: The culture is surprisingly social, with a lot of focus on working in groups and obeying one's commander. Hekarro is respected for being charismatic enough to recruit the woman who would slay Regalla as much as he would've been for doing the deed himself.Yarra: (about a rescued child) His parents will be happy to have him back. His squad, too.
- War Is Glorious: The Tenakth are first and foremost a tribe of warriors who revel in combat, be that against people or machines. Some of those who joined Regalla's rebellion, especially among the youth, did so in hopes of earning glory against the Carja.
- War Is Hell: ...that being said, a number of rebels defected from Regalla's side once they saw the lengths she was willing to go against her own tribe. For most of the older generations, the Clan Wars represent nothing but senseless violence that claimed both friends and family.
- Warrior Poet: On the topic of honor, if nothing else, they can talk extensively. After the Kulrut, Aloy laments that she doesn't think they'll ever stop calling her things like "Flame of the Desert" or "Conqueror of Regalla".
- We ARE Struggling Together: Though the Tenakth share a common culture, society, and set of customs, they were not fully united, unlike the other tribes. Rather, they're divided into three clans, which have historically fought amongst themselves, until they were all united under Hekarro as the first chief in the war against the Carja. However, with the war since ended, that unity is become rather precarious, and it's indicated that Hekarro is keeping them in line through a combination of respect, and sheer force of will.
Hekarro
Voiced by: Geno Segers (English)
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Due to the Tenakth's warrior culture, obviously only the strongest and most capable of them would wind up leading them. Indeed, Hekarro was responsible for ending centuries of war within a single generation, was commander of the Lowland Clan before his ascension, and bested the formidable Regalla in a duel to the death.
- Baritone of Strength: He's the chief of a tribe of Proud Warrior Race Guys where Asskicking Leads to Leadership and has the deep, booming voice to match.
- Cruel Mercy: Subverted; everyone, including Regalla, assumes that Hekarro sparing her after their duel was this, but he claims to Aloy that it was an act of genuine mercy towards a soldier who had been loyal to him for so many years.
- Foil: To Avad as the primary tribal authority figure in the game. Avad is a young, slight, unassuming man whose appearance belies his capability as a warrior. Hekarro is an older, imposing man with a commanding presence whose fearsome air belies his cultured outlook. Both men claimed their positions through violence; Avad overthrowing his father, Hekarro forcibly uniting the three clans, but while Avad reveals that he hopes to abdicate the throne when Itamen comes of age, Hekarro fiercely defends his grip on power, firmly believing he alone can hold the Tenakth together for the time being. Just as Avad ultimately couldn't bring himself to kill his own father, leaving Ersa to do it and give Avad the credit, Hekarro ultimately couldn't bring himself to kill Regalla, with his mercy being misconstrued by her and the people as humiliation. Whereas Avad is unfailingly polite and humble in his requests for help from Aloy, Hekarro boldly demands her assistance before giving her what she wants, and dares her to try and take it from him if she'd rather not do his dirty work. Aloy earns Hekarro's respect and appreciation, whereas Avad is clearly hopelessly in love with her. Both men are ultimately reformists with hopes of a lasting peace between their peoples.
- The Good King: He's not above using violence to enforce his rule (as is the way of his tribe), but he has only their best interests at heart, looking to forge a unity among three clans who've spent generations at war, make a lasting peace, and give his people written language. His leadership has seen a rise in Tenakth life expectancy, the abandonment of more brutal customs, and a unity among his people unlike anything in recent memory.
- Hat of Authority: His headdress is impressive.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Geno Segers provides the face and voice of Hekarro.
- Large and in Charge: Hekarro is, to put it bluntly, huge: a full head taller and nearly twice as wide as Aloy, so thickly muscled it looks like he bench-presses Bristlebacks for exercise.
- My Greatest Failure: His choice to spare Regalla after she unsucessfully challenged him for the tribe's leadership.
- Pet the Dog: Tenakth normally kill disabled warriors, but he made an exception for Kotallo, who lost his arm at Barren Light, and makes clear that even if he can't fight anymore he still has worth.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite the deep enmity between the Tenakth and Carja due to the Red Raids, Hekarro understands that Avad represents a massive shift in the regime, and it would benefit both tribes to have peaceful relations.
- He also recognized that while the Tenakth had the strength to drive the Carja out of their territory, even out of the Daunt, pushing any further into the Sundom would stretch his forces out too far and be too costly in lives.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: When he conquered the Grove, AETHER entered it and triggered a hologram of Faraday's Rousing Speech to her subordinates against the federal government's machines. He took this as a sign that the machines would grow more dangerous and the Tenakth needed to unite against them rather than fight each other. Soon after, HEPHAESTUS started the Derangement, seemingly proving his "vision" right.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Before he became chief, Hekarro was once a ruthless commander who shed a lot of blood during the clan wars. It took him listening to Faraday's hologram to turn him into a benevolent ruler.
Regalla
Voiced by: Angela Bassett (English)
The leader of the rebel Tenakth faction who starts a civil war against Hekarro's rule.
- Big Bad Ensemble:
- While both Gerard and Tilda are the main threats to Aloy, Regalla is still a major threat to the Tenakth and Hekarro.
- Downplayed on the example above as she's actually one of the two secondary antagonists alongside Erik Visser that Aloy has to deal with before the real confrontation with the game's Big Bad Duumvirates Gerard and Tilda.
- Big Bad Wannabe: At the end of the day, she's by far the weakest of the main antagonists, she's completely unaware of how irrelevant she is in the grand scheme of things, and is doomed to fail no matter what. Regalla and her rebels are a localized threat against the Tenakth, and prove to be more of an annoyance to Aloy, who's more focused on dealing with the more global dangers posed by Far Zenith, HEPHAESTUS, and NEMESIS. More than that, Regalla is being used as an Unwitting Pawn for Sylens' schemes, and towards the end of Forbidden West is swiftly defeated by Aloy simply so that she can get Hekarro's full support in the fight against the real enemy.
- Blood Knight: She is a warrior through and through, and is not afraid to strike right at the heart of her enemy. Aloy, finding out about her Freudian Excuse, can ask if she wants vengeance on the Carja and be told no. Regalla wants devastation, to kill every last Carja and all those who associate with them. If Aloy decides to spare her life, Regalla only agrees to go along with her assault on Far Zenith because it would be a glorious battle and more honorable death.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Dervahl. Both have the same hatred over Jiran's Red Raids, but their motivations and the causes of their villainy are a contrast. Dervahl's Revenge motivation solely started due to the deaths of his daughter and his wife from the Sun-Ring. Regalla's vengeance was catalysed by the deaths of her younger brothers after they were burnt alive by Jiran. Dervahl, while a Gadgeteer Genius who uses technologies he invented like the Sonic Device, as well as machine lures, in order to gain advantage against his opponents, is a warrior with combat experience, but he has limited understanding of ancient technology. Regalla is a battle-hardened warrior with years of actual combat and battle experience in line with her Tenakth heritage, but also having some understanding of ancient technology thanks to Sylens. Both also wanted to kill Avad and commit genocide against the Carja, albeit for different reasons. Dervahl wants to bomb Meridian with piles of Blaze bombs stored inside a warehouse, to turn the capital ablaze and kill Avad. Regalla and Asera strikes a deal with Sylens, plans an invasion to the Memorial Grove to usurp Hekarro and subsequently use her army of rebels and overridden machines to invade Meridian unaware that she was being used by Sylens as fodders for the attack of the Zenith base. While Dervahl remained unrepentant after being defeated by Aloy, complete with gloating, Regalla's defeat was portrayed in a more sympathetic light as her death scene at the end with the Tenakth honouring including Hekarro showed that they honoured her despite the atrocious acts she committed.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Once Aloy defeats her for the final time, she has the option of sparing Regalla, who subsequently will join her party. Downplayed, as it's made clear that Regalla isn't fully accepting of the alliance, nor does Aloy forgive her for her actions, but Aloy needs a strong warrior like her to help push through Far Zenith's forces and makes it clear that Regalla will be in the thick of the fighting where it's most dangerous, which she accepts as a suitable death when neither Hekarro or Aloy will strike her down after besting her.
- Determinator: No matter how many setbacks she suffers, she never backs down from her goal of overthrowing Hekarro and reigniting conflict with the Carja, despite the multiple reasons why such a fight would be pointless in the end. She gives Aloy a beast of a fight during her final assault on Hekarro's faction and has quite the lengthy health bar to cut through, including a fight that has multiple stages to it, powering through all of Aloy's attacks no matter how hard she's hit. This pairs nastily with her Death Seeker tendencies— because the way of the Tenakth demands her defeat end with her life being forfeit, Regalla remains Defiant to the End even after she loses her duels with both Aloy and Hekarro, and makes it clear to them that she will keep fighting and keeping her conflict going strong unless they kill her, accepting no other outcome. Even if Aloy choses to spare her, she's only accepting of it after a compromise that Aloy will be sending her on what is effectively a suicide mission against Far Zenith, seeing such a death as a worthy ending if neither Aloy or Hekarro will grant her one. She's glum and bitter when Aloy talks to her in the Base. While there's little doubt that if she'd survived the Final Battle she would have continued her vendetta against the Carja and "weak" Tenakth, she also says that having been defeated and spared twice, few would follow her now.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Regalla is more of an obstacle to Aloy than an outright threat, her waging war on the fellow Tenakth and later the Carja paling in comparison to the global threat HEPHAESTUS and Far Zenith pose. Aloy only helps fight off Regalla in return for help from her allies in other matters, Aloy fending off her forces in the Tenakth capital to gain access to AETHER.
- Doomed by Canon: The player can decide if she dies after her boss fight, though she dies either way during the events of the story. If Aloy decides she's too dangerous to live, Kotallo runs her through mid-monologue and the player gets her sharpshot bow. If Aloy spares her and enlist her in their battle against Far Zenith, she dies fighting Specters at the Zenith's Base during the climax.
- Evil Virtues: As a paragon of the Tenakth she's prepared to face certain death without faltering, and even if her idea of honor is harsh and somewhat specific - she did turn on Hekarro, but out of the belief that he had broken from true Tenakth virtues - if she actually promises something she is absolutely trustworthy on that point. If she's spared, several characters question Aloy's wisdom in asking her to go to the Base armed and without an escort. Regalla does indeed go and causes Aloy no further trouble beyond being sharp-tongued.
- Face Death with Dignity: If Aloy kills her, she accepts her death calmly and tells Aloy to claim her prize, and if she is spared, she goes down fighting a horde of Specters.
- Freudian Excuse: It's revealed later on that the reason for her hatred of Carja is due to losing her loved ones to them in the Red Raids. She mentions finding her brother and his squad by their screams after the Carja made an example of them. This is why she will never accept the peace Hekarro wants to forge with them.
- Heroic Sacrifice: If she is spared, Regalla will sacrifice herself in the final battle to hold off an army of Specters, even telling Aloy "Go!"
- Killed Mid-Sentence: If you choose to kill her, her last words will be "Then claim your—!" just before Kotallo runs her through.
- Knight Templar Big Sister: The Carja burned her younger brothers alive, and in turn, she wants to burn the entire Sundom to the ground along with anyone who stands in her way.
- Meaningful Name: Regal-la. She maintains a certain grand dignity and sense of importance, rather like Hekarro.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: She was a Marshal (it's implied the High Marshal), an elite Tenakth soldier who was an enforcer of Chief Hekarro's law, and irreconciliable differences and a lack of understanding of Hekarro's act of mercy after she challenged him and lost led to her creating her rebel faction. In fact, it's because she's the paragon of a tribe of Proud Warrior Race Guys that she rebelled— Hekarro's desire to better the Tenakth have lead to him adopting methods that she find disagreeable to their very way of life and the blood owed them by the Carja, and since she couldn't overcome him in a Duel to the Death, she's enacting her rebellion to overthrow him through a Civil War in order to enact the 'true' Tenakth way, even if it is short-sighted and ultimately pointless.
- Revenge Before Reason: She hates the Carja so much that she tries multiple times to overthrow her leader, creating a Civil War amongst the Tenakth. It also never occurs to her to question just who was providing her with machines or what exactly she was agreeing to in return. If Aloy asks her, she finds it irrelevant. Sylens' plan was that she and all three Tenakth tribes would be used as cannon fodder against Far Zenith's more advanced forces - she knows she would have had to move against the Zeniths but doesn't seem to regard them as a major threat.
- Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder: After besting Regalla herself, Aloy may choose to spare the rebel leader to be applied as this in the planned storming of the Zenith base. True to form, she goes down fighting to detain Specter drone pursuers of Aloy's party.
- Tranquil Fury: After being denied death a second time after Aloy defeats her and being press-ganged into being part of the Zenith base assault, you can almost feel the denied vengeful rage radiating off of her like heat as she calmly talks of her motivations to Aloy in the base before the assault.
- Unwitting Pawn: She doesn't care in the slightest what was in it for Sylens to teach her and her rebels how to override machines, blissfully unaware that he was planning on using her and her Tenakth soldiers as cannon-fodder against the Zeniths.
- Villain Cred: Despite a strong general dislike of outlanders, Regalla saw her same hatred for the Carja reflected in Asera of the Oseram, so had no problem allying with her to get a supply of overriden machines.
- Villain Respect: Although she says she's wished she could see Aloy's bones bleaching in the desert, in the same breath she thinks it's fitting to fight by side with the one who "flew on the Wings of the Ten."
Kotallo
See The Base Team
Ivvira
Voiced by: Michelle Asante
One of the newly minted Tenakth Marshals at the Kulrut held to replenish the cadre's numbers after the Embassy Massacre.- Boisterous Bruiser: Regards fighting machines with Aloy as great fun.
- Mauve Shirt: She's the only one of the new batch of Marshals that was named and characterized in any prominent way.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: When she takes part in the Kulrut, she wears the colors of the Lowland Clan. Once she's deployed as a Marshal, she wears Hekarro's colors much like Kotallo does.
Azurekka the Enduring
Voiced by: Becky Bonar
One of the oldest Tenakth alive. She's trained many warriors, and if Aloy can gain all of the marks from the three Melee Pits, she can as well.
- Broken Ace: She's one of the best combatants in the tribe, which has cemented her as a legend amongst her people. But she has, in her own words, endured alone, outliving her kin and her squad.
- Cool Old Lady: She's elderly and nothing but polite and encouraging to Aloy.
- Old Master: She's trained many Tenakth, including Hekarro, and remains a skilled warrior into her twilight years. Only Regalla was turned away, as the Enduring sensed Regalla was too filled with rage to accept their teachings.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Lost all her children and grandchildren to the Clan Wars before Hekkaro managed to bring them to an end.
- Optional Boss: Challenging the Enduring is entirely optional.
- Samus Is a Girl: She's only ever called the Enduring, making it a mild surprise when Azurekka is revealed.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Having outlived all of her loved ones, she became a recluse in the mountains because being around others reminded her of what she lost.
The Gauntlet Runners
A group of defected rebels who now spend their days racing machines.
- Commonality Connection: They're standoffish at first, but warm up to Aloy once she joins a race.
- Everyone Has Standards: When they joined Regalla, they thought they were going to fight the Carja who had slaughtered their people. Then she ordered them to kill other Tenakth, and they were so horrified they left that same night.
- Street Punk: A non-musical example. The group's antisocial, adrenaline-driven aesthetic and ideals are clearly inspired by the genre.
- True Companions: They all left Regalla's army together, and are perfectly content having only each other for company.
Sky Clan
Tekotteh
The chief of the Sky Clan, who has bad blood with Kotallo.
- 0% Approval Rating: Because of of the way he treated his people Tekotteh is not really popular. As such, people are actually glad when Aloy destroys the Bulwark since it also hurts their commander's pride and force him to submit to Aloy and Hekarro's demands.
- Broken Pedestal: He adopted Kotallo in the past but when he became a war hero during the Red Raids, Tekotteh fears that Kotallo will usurp him and thus, sent him to be a Marshall. Since then, Kotallo lost respect for his adopted father as he has no wish to replace him.
- Dirty Coward: He covets Hekarro's position as chief of the Tenakth, but rather than challenge him for it he chooses to hide in his Clan's capital, which is high on a mountain and protected by a large wall while Hekarro and Regalla fight and weaken each other. Kotallo notes with disgust how it's completely anathema to the Tenakth way.
- Exact Words: He tells Aloy that the Sky Clan won't answer Hekarro's summons so long as the Bulwark stands. Naturally, she finds a way to use that against him by locating a hidden weak point and causing a portion of the Bulwark to collapse. He's grudgingly forced to fall into line once that happens.
- General Failure: His entire "strategy" for dealing with Regalla's rebels is to hunker down behind the Bulwark. Aloy quickly proves how stupid this is by destroying the wall, which means that the rebels could likely have also done so in a fight but even if they couldn't, the Bulwark only has one way in or out and doesn't appear to have extensive stockpiles of supplies so it would be very vulnerable to siege.
- The Starscream: Not only does he disrespects Hekarro, Tekotteh also wishes to usurp him as chief but lack the courage to challenge him directly.
Wekatta
A Sky Clan instructor who is overseeing potential soldiers as they make their climb to the top of a mountain. Aloy meets her in a sidequest to find some missing recruits.
- A Mother to Her Men: She clearly cares about the potential troops under her command.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Even if she doubts Penttoh's ability to succeed in the trial, she's still willing to allow him to make the attempt, and welcomes him as a soldier when he returns with the bloom without reservation.
- Trans Tribulations: In an optional dialogue selection discussing Penttoh, she mentions that she doesn't like the word "crazy" being used to describe people, because people thought that she was "crazy" when she decided to "start wearing women's armor."
Desert Clan
Jetakka
Voiced by: Tim Russ
A "chaplain" hailing from the settlement of Arrowhand, who brings Aloy's attention to the water problems of the Desert Clan.- Excellent Judge of Character: He understands that Drakka and Yarra are, for all their faults, acting in what they feel are the clan's best interests. He's also quick to recognize Aloy as an ally and enlist her help in resolving the water crisis.
- Old Soldier: Those who outlast their youth in the tribe often become "Chaplains", advisors made wise from age to the commanders of each clan or to the chief of the whole tribe. Jetakka is this for the Desert Clan.
- Only Sane Man: He attempts to serve as the mediator between Drakka and Yarra, calling out the former for his recklessness and the latter for her paranoia. When the tensions between the two boil over, he's the only one to recognize (or care) that the conflict could escalate into a massacre.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While his power in the clan is mostly that of an advisor, he still carries a great deal of sway.
Drakka
Voiced by: Giacomo Gianniotti
A young, hotheaded warrior from the Arrowhand settlement. He is unhappy with the current leadership of the Desert Clan.- Ambiguously Evil: The Desert Clan's water crisis was caused by one of Drakka's men, Ukktah, breaking the ancient pump that controls flow to the clan's main source of water. Yarra believes it was deliberate sabotage on Drakka's orders; Drakka claims he didn't know about the pump beyond it being a possible alternate water course. The true nature of Drakka's involvement is left open to interpretation, although Aloy leans towards Drakka's side of the story.
- The Chains of Commanding: If he defeats Yarra, and becomes the new commander of the Desert Clan, he realizes just how much responsibility that entails, to the point he can't make the difference he originally wanted. Fortunately, it's indicated he takes these lessons to heart, and works to improve himself.
- Duel to the Death: At the end of a three part questline, Drakka challenges Yarra for command of the Desert Clan. Aloy can side with him or with Yarra, and whoever Aloy sides with will kill the other as neither want to repeat the mistake Hekarro made with Regalla.
- A Father to His Men: Though his desire for glory can make his statements seem dubious, Drakka's main beef with Commander Yarra is that she is failing to provide for her people, keeps secrets from them, and doesn't properly appreciate their sacrifices. A journal entry left behind in Arrowhand by Marshal Fashav shows that Drakka has had this sentiment for a while; where a contention Fashav was to mediate was between Drakka and another Desert clanner over getting better salvage for trade versus the sacrifice in manpower it'd entail. Fashav agreed with Drakka, reasoning that extra rations that would be procured are pointless if less soldiers are there to make use of them on account of losses.
- Skewed Priorities: Downplayed. While kept in check by his sense of responsibility, Drakka's ambitions are partially fuelled by desire for personal glory. This is most obvious in his handling of the missing Desert Clan child, as he seems more focused on the popularity boost he'll get than the child's safety (to his credit, he does make sure the child gets home safe).
Yarra
The Commander of the Desert Clan, residing in Scalding Spear.
- The Chains of Commanding: Yarra is an experienced commander of the Desert Clan and she is aware that her pragmatic solution to the water crisis threatening the tribe (strictly ration what little water stocks they have left and send out scouts to find alternative water sources, meanwhile keeping the extent of the crisis quiet to prevent the Desert Clan from imploding due to infighting) will cost lives, but it is the only way that she sees to allow the tribe as a whole to survive. Unfortunately, it is this brutally pragmatic attitude that Drakka interprets as being uncaring towards the lives lost as a result of her orders, though Yarra scoffs at the notion that Drakka would have acted any differently to the water crisis if he was in charge.
- Duel to the Death: At the end of a three-part questline, Drakka challenges Yarra for command of the Desert Clan. Aloy can side with him or with Yarra, and whoever Aloy sides with will kill the other and vice versa as neither want to repeat the mistake Hekarro made with Regalla.
- Iron Lady: A no-nonsense, stoic woman who rules her clan with an iron fist.
- Never Mess with Granny: Tenakth gain power through prowess in battle, and she is visibly aged but fully capable of kicking ass.
Lowland Clan
Dekka
Voiced by: Kathleen Garrett (English)
A Chaplain of the Lowland Clan studying the "Visions" in the Memorial Grove.- Cool Old Lady: Dekka is nothing but welcoming when Aloy first arrives at the Memorial Grove and becomes one of her most steadfast allies among the Tenakth.
- Ink-Suit Actor: She was modeled after her voice actress.
- Never Mess with Granny: She's an Old Soldier with plenty of scars to show for her experience, and she can still kick plenty of ass despite her age.
- Old Soldier: Like all Tenakth Chaplains, Dekka is an old and experienced warrior.
- Outliving One's Offspring: She's buried all her children, and all her grandchildren save for one.
- Taking the Veil: After losing her family, she went to the Memorial Grove and became a Chaplain studying the "Visions", as she found it was the only thing that brought her peace.
- Thicker Than Water: Her grandson joined Regalla's rebellion, and she goes to great lengths to try and find him and talk sense into him.
Garrokah
An elderly Tenakth soldier losing himself to madness.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the midst of an episode, Garrokah stabs his daughter Fenirra, which would have killed her had she not been found and treated. He is horrified when Aloy informs him what happened.
- Old Soldier: One of the few elderly Tenakth encountered who isn't a Chaplain.
- Sanity Slippage: His predicament is a heartbreakingly realistic depiction of senile dementia.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Downplayed; Garrokah lost his entire squad in an ambush during the Clan Wars, and relives the event during one of his episodes.
- Reluctant Psycho: Garrokah is aware of his condition and clearly unsettled by it. Given that he lives in an ableist culture that treats madness with execution, it's understandable.
- Truth in Television: Garrokah's daughter notes that he most frequently goes off in the night, which matches the phenomenon of sundowning often seen in dementia patients.
