Oryx (Destiny)
Oryx is a video game character who features in Destiny.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Aurash was the daughter of the Osmium King and a member of a species that resided on the gas giant Fundament where her people lived a harsh existence amidst floating continents that were shards of their shattered homeworld. In that time, she was the daughter of her continents ruler alongside her sisters Xi Ro and Sathona where they lived at the Osmium Court. They came to be the final brood of their father as he came to reach the old age of 10 years old when he suffered from senility madness. He came to fear an event called the Syzygy which was when Fundament's 52 moons would align where it would create a massive tidal wave that would destroy all civilisations on the planet. During this time, a sterile mother named Taox came to serve as a teacher to the King's daughters but she feared that the royal heirs would prove too weak to succeed the Osmium King. She came to secretly entreat the Helium Drinkers where she planned for the rival kingdom of the Helium Court to invade the land. This would see the royal family being killed and Taox being appointed as regent of the Osmium Court. At the appointed time, the Helium Drinkers staged their attack where they came to kill the Osmium King but Auras and her sisters who were all 2 years old at the time managed to escape on a ship where they vowed to return to get their revenge.
Deep within the ocean, they encountered the Worm Gods who were servants of a greater power known as the Destiny. These entities had lived and grown in the depths of Fundament for millions of years after being trapped there by the Leviathan who was a servant of the Traveler. In that time, they had called many races to Fundament to free them but none had succeeded until Aurash and her sisters. The Worm Gods offered the sisters their larvae stating that it would grant them incredible power that they could use to seek their revenge. In exchange, they had to obey their respective natures forever or be consumed by the larvae. The sisters agreed with Aurash obeying her nature of never stopping her exploration. After ingesting the worms, Aurash transformed into the king morph of her kind and became the male Auryx. Auyx and his sisters then sought to claim back the home of their father thus beginning their war against Taox. It was during this time that the Worms discovered that the cause of the giant wave that the Osmium King was a new 'moon' in the sky that was the Traveler.
As Auryx and his sisters forced an ultimatum on the remaining proto-Hive to accept the worms or perish, Auryx turned his attention to Fundament's moons, and the Ammonites there who had allied with the Traveler and gave asylum to Taox. Initially, he was willing to negotiate with the Ammonites, but his sister Savathûn, under pressure from the Worms, killed Auryx as punishment. Rather than dying, Auryx's soul instead passed to his Ascendant Realm, or throne world, where his soul resided until he returned to the mortal realm. Rebuked, Auryx purged what sympathy and goodwill he had left, becoming a merciless tyrant. He and his sisters warred with and killed one another on a regular basis after the defeat of the Ammonites, as part of their worship of the Sword-Logic and their attempt to become the sharpest blades in the universe, heading to their Ascendant realms when defeated. Their war of revenge against Taox had transformed into a campaign of genocide, when they slew the Ammonites and other interstellar civilizations to feed their worms. The lords of the Hive also established their Ascendant realms, with Auryx naming his the High War.
During the war with the Ecumene, Auryx came to realize that the Worm had deceived him and his sisters: their Worms appetites were growing past their ability to feed with death. Meeting with his sisters in his ascendant realm, surrounded by their servants they despaired over their dilemma. After dying, Auryx came to discover the sword space where he established his throne world. For the next 20,000 years, Auryx and his sisters battled one another where they killed each other in order to practice dying. This had he effect of making them better fighters as they came to expose each others weaknesses. However, as they grew stronger, the worms grew even hungrier with the three siblings fearing that they would be consumed by the larvae. To find a solution, he killed his sisters in order to gain the necessary knowledge to stave off true death. From their deaths, he learnt that the secret lay with Akka, the Worm of Secrets and used this knowledge to steal it from the Worm God thus communicating with the Deep. With this power, he created the Tablets of Ruin where he gained the ability to take life whereupon he became Oryx, the Taken King.
During the subsequent war with the Ecumene, Oryx revived Xivu Arath in an act of war, and revived Savathûn in an act of cunning. He then decreed the tithe system: each Hive would kill their enemies, take some to feed their own worm, and tithe the rest to their superior. Thralls would tithe to Acolytes, Acolytes would tithe to Knights or Wizards, the Knights and Wizards would tithe to the Ascendant Hive, those who commanded legions of warriors and earned the right to enter the Hive gods' Ascendant realms. All of this violence would eventually reach Oryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath, allowing their worms to feed on violence while continuing to invoke their inner natures. After destroying the Taishibethi, Oryx managed to commune directly with the Deep itself using his Tablets of Ruin. It explained to Oryx that the Sword Logic was not death for the sake of death, but to create the Final Shape, the ultimate form of life that would be able to survive anything in the universe. This led to his communion directly with the Voice in the Darkness which was a paracausal entity called the Witness. However, while he was speaking to the Deep, Savathûn and Xivu Arath conspired to maroon him in its realm, cut off his flow of tribute, and steal his Tablets. Wandering within the Deep, and fearing that he was becoming a nihilist, Oryx eventually decided to sire his own spawn. After fighting his way back into realspace and defeating his sisters, he came to have his own children that included Crota, Son of Oryx, and the Deathsinger twins, Ir Anûk and Ir Halak.
Unknown to most, Oryx had another son named Nokris who was physically weak in comparison to his father. Nokris came to hone his mind where he learned powerful magics and hoarded knowledge causing Oryx to disfavored him. Ultimately, Nokris sought to prove himself by speaking to the Worm Gods the same way his father had done. Most of the Worm Gods rejected Nokris but the disfavored son of Oryx managed to forge a pact with Xol, Will of the Thousands. This led to him trading his heart for some of Xol's power and thus learning the secret of necromancy. Oryx soon learned about his son's activities and was utterly furious as Nokris's actions were sacrilege due to necromancy being a heretical violation of the Sword Logic. For his crimes, the King of the Hive exiled his offspring and removed all references of his disowned child from the World's Grave, the Books of Sorrow and most of his own memories. Only a statue remained as the only reference to his forgotten son.
One day, the Deathsingers were refining their Deathsongs and came up with the idea of the Oversoul. Intrigued, Oryx commanded Crota to watch his sisters, so that he might learn something. However, while Oryx was off studying the Deep, Crota was deceived by Savathûn into using his Cleaver to cut a portal in the High War, allowing the Vex to enter. For one hundred years the children of Oryx waged war with the Vex, who quickly deduced the Sword-Logic and worship of the Deep as key to attaining power in the High War. However, while the Hive were able to overpower the Vex, they were unable to push them out, as they lost too much of their power when entering the Vex conflux. The situation become so severe that the Worm Eir Itself demanded that Oryx return and end the war. Quickly returning to the High War, Oryx used his powers to take the Vex and clear his throne world. Angered at his son's imperfection, Oryx threw Crota into the Vex gate network, decreeing that he "come home victorious or die forgotten". At first, Crota resented his father for his seeming abandonment, but after time came to understand his father and built temples to Oryx and the Deep, eventually becoming a vital link in Oryx's tithe of death and achieving godhood himself. However, Oryx recognized that the threat of the Vex invading his throne world could not happen again, so he moved the High War into a mighty Dreadnaught scrimshawed from the remains of Akka.
Taken King
Many years later, Oryx came to learn of the demise of his son Crota who perished in a battle against the Guardians. Thus, he decided to avenge his offspring and took his Dreadnaught to the Sol System where he was accompanied by his Hive fleet and Taken army. Upon entering the system, it headed to Earth when it was passing by the rings of Sturn when they were ambushed by the Reefborn forces of the Awoken which were headed by Queen Mara Sov and her brother Prince Uldren Sov. An intense battle was waged between the two sides that at first seemed equally matched but Mara Sov used her power with that of her Techeuns to summon the Harbingers. These were weapons of incredible yet mysterious power that were sent flying into the Hive fleet destroying many of their ships but failing to annihilate the Dreadnaught. In response, Oryx activated his Oversoul unleashing a wave of energy that destroyed the Awoken fleet and left a hole within Saturn's rings. Though these challengers were defeated, Oryx's campaign had stalled and he decided to leave the Dreadnaught in its current position whilst he dispatched his Taken armies against the inhabitants of the Sol System. After the battle, Oryx's essence was responsible for Taking the remaining Awoken Techeuns from the battle. In addition, he managed to seep into the Dreaming City that was inadvertently opened for him. This resulted in a Taken corruption that manifested in that space where it began to warp the Awoken city situated in-between their reality and the Ascendant Plane. It eventually came to reach Riven who was the last of the wish-granting Ahamkara that had been hidden away by Mara Sov. Oryx came to offer to Take Riven with the Ahamkara eager to try to bargain with the Taken King and agreed to any terms so longa as he wished for them.
Meanwhile, the Taken armies continued their onslaught on the Solar System where they attacked a Cabal base on Phobos and Mars. Within hours, the entire Cabal detachment was decimated with the Sand Eaters legion suffering from a catastrophic 58% casualty rate. Similarly, the Blind Legion and Dust Giants lost a respective 35% and 39% of their forces with a distress signal being sent by them. This was picked up by the Vanguard of the Last City on Earth who dispatched a Guardian to investigate the matter. This led to the first encounter with Oryx's forces by the Lightbearers whereupon Taken forces began to appear on multiple worlds in the Solar System this leading to the start of the Taken War. During the conflict, the Guardians fought back where they confronted the Taken King in his own sanctum and nearly defeated him. However, Oryx use the power to Take on himself to warp himself into the Ascendant Plane where he dispatched his Echoes to lead his Taken in continued attacks on the Solar System. This necessitated the Guardians battling this onslaught and destroying the blights created by them. Once remove, the Guardians were able to direct their attention back to Oryx where they targeted his Hive and Taken champions. This resulted in overthrowing the Court of Oryx where many of the Taken King's minions were slain allowing for a deeper strike into the Dreadnaught itself. In this time, Oryx's daughters, his Warpriest and even Golgoroth were all slain leading to the Taken King being confronted by the Guardians again. For this confrontation, he used the Taken power to become a gigantic Ascendant and attempted to pull the Guardians into the Darkness itself. However, they were able to use Oryx's own captured Light against him and by slaying is light-eater Ogres they were able to detonate the Light they left behind thus rupturing the blight in the Taken King's chest which brought about his final defeat.
Legacy
His lifeless calcified body was left adrift in Saturn's orbit where all that remained in it was Oryx's Ravenous Heart. Eris Mon came to use it to construct the Touch of Malice but in an act of irony this was used as Oryx's final means in maintaining his Ascendant immortality. Oryx's death left the Hive and Taken leaderless within the Sol system though they remained a threat to the Guardians leading to continued battles against them. Around this time, several Hive looked to ascend and claim the vacant throne left by the Taken King with these including Alak-Hul and Malok though they were killed by the Guardians. Noru'usk also looked to become the new leader of the Hive after escaping from the Prison of Elders but was killed by a Guardian fireteam. By the time of the Red War, the Taken continued to haunt the System, primarily on Earth and Io, and it appeared hat Oryx's sister Savathûn had not only taken command of Hive broods on Titan but was also attempting to seize control of the Taken. After the end of the Red War and the reawakening of the Traveler, the Worm God Xol awakened to destroy the Warmind core of Rasputin. Leading Xol's army was Oryx's lost and disowned son, Nokris but like his brother and father he would fail against the Guardians and Xol followed shortly after. However, it turned out both Xol and Nokris would find a way to cheat death, the former by transforming into the Whisper of the Worm using the Anthem Anatheme in a similar vein to Oryx, and the latter thanks to Xol's power and his own knowledge of necromancy. Another contender for his vacant throne was his granddaughter Hashladûn who would seek to use the energies of the Pyramid found beneath Luna's surface to regain the Hive's advantage against the Guardians and avenge their fallen lineage. Taking command of the Hidden Swarm, she came to construct the massive red fortress of the Scarlet Keep and utilizing forbidden Hive magics, the daughters of Crota managed to control the Nightmares and protect themselves against the Pyramid's energies. Further, Hashladûn and her sisters conceived a plot to recreate the fallen Oryx; a necessary violation of the Sword Logic since the Taken King was never succeeded by his conquerors. However, Hashladûn would be destroyed by the Guardians that fell her father and grandfather, before her plot could reach fruition. Later on, his son Nokris would continuously pull the Guardian between the physical and Ascendant realm, and eventually challenge them to a duel in the court of Savathûn.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Oryx showed many characteristics common with the Hive namely possessing three eyes, crooked teeth, three fingers and a chitinous skin. The most notable distinction though was his large moth-like wings along with colossal horns on his head. Originally, Oryx was known as Aurash and had been female until she changed genders As a young male, he first went by the name of Auryx that meant Long Thought whereupon his delving into the Darkness led to him being known as the First Navigator. After learning the power of Taking, he was transformed into Oryx, the Taken King and a noted conqueror. His campaigns led to him being known by many titles including Destroyer of Light and Taker of Will. He also referred to as the King of Shapes and as the King of Bone.
He later felt glad upon learning that the universe ran on death and that such knowledge was beautiful. His driving mentality was the Sword Logic which was basically survival of the fittest on a larger scale.
According to him, his will meant that he had to conquer all. The Drifter considered him to be the scariest Hive he could think of among their kind.
Originally, as Aurash, she was the daughter of the Osmium King where she had two sisters named Xi Ro and Sathona that were the final brood of their sire.
It was shown that Oryx cared for his son Crota to the point that he sought revenge for his death. He had queried about his child and claimed that he could feel his absence in him.
Another child of his was Nokris who came to be a disfavored son of the Taken King.
Powers and abilities
As a Krill, Oryx was once part of the proto-Hive race where he had the many traits of their kind. This included the ability to change gender and adopting a different morph such as the king morph.
After forging a pact with the Worm Gods, Aurash came to be host to the worms. These were said to had granted him power over his flesh. The creatures gave Oryx and the rest of the Hive greater power. However, if Oryx went against his nature namely his inquisitiveness then the worms would consume him.
Later on, he came to learn to use an Oversoul that were tautological and autonomous thanatospheres which was used to house his soul allowing him to survive death. Thus, he was able to hide his death from his true self granting him a resilience beyond mere immortality.
A power Oryx was came to command was the ability to turn living beings into one of his Taken. The process involved forming an aperture that swallowed the person and took them into another place in the Ascendant Plane. Once there, they came to be warped and brought back where they became shadow-like beings. It was said that their bodies radiated a negative light that seemingly decayed the world around them into nothingness.
The power of the Darkness allowed Oryx to create a Taken projection of himself called the Echo of Oryx. He was able to project this version of himself remotely to distant locations allowing him to personally take part in events far away. This allowed him to assume command of his Taken armies that were waging battles in far off campaigns. Among the most powerful versions of these projections was the Shade of Oryx.
He was the author of the Books of Sorrow that detailed the entirety of the Hive's long history. His own studies of the 'Deep' led to him carving the Worm God Akka to pieces and the secrets he gained were written on the Tablets of Ruin.
Among the Hive, he commanded a sect of warriors that served as his direct servants who were known as the Blood of Oryx. The most powerful champions in his army would stand among the Court of Oryx that was also known as the High War. It was established as a killing ground and a school of the sword logic that had been learnt from the Worm Gods. Once a world was ravaged by the Hive, Oryx would open the gates and unleash his Court upon the weary and battle-scarred victims with this being an effective tool to instil fear in his enemies.
Oryx came to construct a massive vessel called the Dreadnaught that was built before the formation of the Earth. It was made from the hide of Akka who was one of the Worm Gods of the Hive. The Taken King came to move his throneworld to within the ship to protect it from enemies.
Notes
- Oryx was created by Bungie Studios and featured in the setting of Destiny.
Appearances
- Destiny:
- Destiny 2:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
