Taken

Taken
Overview
Goals:	Serve Oryx, Hive, and the Darkness, Claim as many worlds as possible, Avenge Crota
At war with:	The Last City, The Reef, Cabal, Fallen, Vex
Distinctions:	Enslaved and corrupted version of other races; Violent twitching movements; Bodies burn with an ethereal flame; Mere presence causes blurry vision
Average lifespan:	Indefinite
Notable individual(s):	Syrok, Word of Oryx; Baxx, Hand of Oryx; Ta'aun, Hand of Oryx; Malok, Pride of Oryx

The Taken are the personal army of Oryx, the Taken King. The Taken are formed from the ranks of the other enemy races in the game; they are ripped out of our dimension and then sent back, wholly possessed by the Darkness and have been twisted and corrupted, mind and body, by Oryx's power. Taken are unwaveringly loyal to Oryx, and will turn on their former allies without hesitation. Even powerful enemies such as Vex Axis Minds or Cabal commanders are incapable of resisting this change; furthermore, the Taken are viral enough that Praedyth directly states to the Guardian that in one timeline (presumably one where Oryx's presence on Venus was not removed), they were able to overrun the Vex and drive them to extermination or perhaps even nigh-extinction, an outcome once thought to be impossible. More frightening is that although only Oryx can produce new Taken and they are tied to his power, any existing Taken will not simply dissipate with Oryx's defeat; according to Eris Morn, the Taken stagnate and decay without a master, but will linger indefinitely until they are thoroughly exterminated.

Taken versions of enemies have radically different behaviors from their standard counterparts, including new abilities designed to counter Guardian abilities. Groups of Taken can be mixed with members of different species,^[1] and can appear on Earth, Venus, and Mars in most activities.^[2]^[3] Taken will also appear on the Moon, but only during select Story missions and not during Patrol.

Taken Enemies

Fallen

Taken Vandal - Summons a spherical shield similar to Ward of Dawn. This shield heals enemies inside and allows them to shoot out but not in. Armed with Solar Wire Rifles and Arc Shrapnel Launchers.
- Consumed Vandal
- Devoured Vandal
Taken Captain - Sends out moving balls of Darkness to blind Guardians. Arc damage shrapnel launcher or Arc swords are used and Solar Shielded.

Hive

Taken Thrall - Ability to teleport short distances in an instant. Does solar damage.
- Shadow Thrall - A shadowy imitation of a Thrall summoned by Taken Wizards. Does Solar damage.
Taken Acolyte - Deploys Acolyte's Eye turrets. Does arc damage with their shredders.
Taken Wizard - Can summon Shadow Thralls. Does Solar Damage, has a void shield.
- Tortured Wizard
Taken Knight - Fires explosive, lingering solar jets in a wave for area denial, teleports short distances to evade attacks. Does void damage with their boomer. Their boomer fires bolts with higher velocity and do not suffer gravitational drop.
- Tortured Knight
Taken Ogre - Does arc damage with both its eye blast and ground slam.
- Light-Eater Ogre^{[citation needed]}

Vex

Taken Goblin - When in close proximity to an ally, they can generate an invincible shield for it. Otherwise they fire Solar blasts.
Taken Hobgoblin - Fires a Shrieker-like fast-moving projectile when struck. Fires a void Line Rifle.
- Devoured Hobgoblin
Taken Minotaur - Always cloaked. Fires solar Torch Hammer.
- Tortured Minotaur

Cabal

Taken Psion - Has the ability to multiply itself, splitting and creating another Taken Psion with full health. Does arc damage with their slug rifle. Taken Psions fire their slug rifles very rapidly.
Taken Phalanx - Can fire arc blasts from their shield that can push guardians, much like the physical shields themselves. Armed with an arc slug rifle.
- Devoured Phalanx
Taken Centurion - Has an Arc Shield. Teleport short distances. Armed with an Arc Projection Rifle. Fires slower moving Axion Darts, much like the Voidwalker's Axion bolt, that tracks targets and deals Arc damage. They can reach enemies around corners easily and can be shot and detonated to avoid damage.
- Tortured Centurion

Unique

Taken Blight - A sphere of darkness that can appear procedurally in the world. The blight can summon Taken ambushes, which can include named characters that drop runes.
Acolyte's Eye - A stationary unit deployed by Taken Acolytes. It is an orb of Darkness energy that fires Arc shots at enemies, and detonates in an Arc blast when destroyed.