Wrathborn

"Xivu Arath is their patron. War is their only desire, and enemies their only need."

— Savathûn, the Witch Queen, posing as Osiris

The Wrathborn are an army of corrupted Hive, Fallen and Cabal created using the Cryptoliths to serve Xivu Arath, God of War. They made their debut in Season of the Hunt.

History

Following the arrival of the Black Fleet and the sudden disappearance of the Witch Queen, Xivu Arath sought to establish a foothold in the Sol System in her sister's absence with the aid of her High Celebrant. Acting as her envoy, the Celebrant summoned Hive structures known as Cryptoliths from the Ascendant Realm across the system to deploy an army of Wrathborn from across dimensions and corrupt a new army from the forces of the Fallen, Cabal, and renegade Hive.

They were majorly rampant across the Tangled Shore and the Dreaming City in tandem with the events on Europa. Their threat was challenged by Guardians working with Crow, "Osiris" and the Spider to draw them out of the Cryptoliths and hunt them down. The High Celebrant was ultimately caught and eliminated in a final hunt by the Guardians and the Crow, driving back the Hive God's advance upon the Sol System for a brief period.

Later, they would be deployed to the Dreaming City by Xivu Arath who was seeking retaliation against her sister, who was held captive by the Awoken. Large numbers of Wrathborn along with forces of Taken and Scorn would form a collective assault on the City through the Ley Lines and the Ascendant Realm, seeking to capture Savathûn.

A year later, Xivu Arath would again use them to attack Rasputin's vaults across the System. A majority of the Wrathborn used in these assaults were created from the surviving remains of the House of Salvation that, along with some members being brought back as Scorn, to punish Eramis, Kell of Darkness for her repeated failures in Sol.

After the reappearance of Titan, after the moon was previously Taken by The Witness. Commander Zavala alongside The Guardian, Saladin Forge, and Saint-14 would arrive on The Rig after receiving a distress signal from Deputy Commander Sloane. They would successfully defeat the forces of Xivu Arath and meet up with Sloane, who was now partially Taken after almost being claimed by the will of the God of War, but was saved by an ancient enemy of the Witness known as Ahsa, who she established a connection with. The Guardian would work with Sloane to strengthen their connection to learn more about the Witness, hunting and defeating the Wrathborn Servitor, J4W-S, Wrath-Hunter Servitor.

Shortly after the Skirmish of Titan, the forces of Xivu Arath would invade the Court of Savathûn in an attempt to take control of the Witch Queen's Spire. The Guardians would successfully defeat the God of War's forces to maintain control of the Spire. The Wrathborn would then be sent to take control of the Altars of Summoning and kill the test subjects within to tithe to Xivu Arath. However, they would be stopped by the Guardian would enter the Altar and defeat the two talons, and would be confronted by the Leviathan-Eater, Bane of the Ammonites who would test their strength before retreating. Despite this defeat, the Wrathborn would continue to fight for supremacy over the Spire.

Biology

Wrathborn are mindless, enraged versions of their former selves, attacking former allies as readily as enemies. They are marked by a sickly green-glowing miasma that hovers around their heads and a trail of noxious soulfire that they leave behind and can be used to track them. They are given increased strength and resilience by the Hive magic of the Cryptoliths, making them an obedient army of monstrosities in service of the Hive god herself. They are also able to traverse across dimensions utilizing the Cryptoliths as conduits into the Ascendant Realm and must be drawn out with a Lure built by The Crow.

According to Savathûn (who was posing as Osiris at the time), the Wrathborn are perverted by Xivu Arath's magic beyond recognition that they are neither considered Hive, Fallen nor Cabal.^[1]^[2] One of the first Wrathborn Cabal was shown to have mutated abnormally given time; with its Severus cleavers fused to its hands and bladed tendril mutations growing out of its back and stomach.^[3] An Eliksni Wrathborn was transformed by a Cryptolith to have her docked arms regrown, Ether thickly glowing and her skin splitting as her muscles expanded beyond her body's confines as it underwent constant molting and regrowth.^[4] They also aid in the creation of more Cryptoliths by planting their own grown tendrils into a shrine of black twisted spines, which are kept grown with the bodies of victims impaled upon their apex of crowns.^[5] Under Xivu Arath's influence, the Wrathborn are mentally stripped of everything beyond an innate desire to kill before their bodies are remade by the Cryptoliths into the monstrosities they are now.^[4]

Additionally, Savathûn (while posing as Osiris) also made note of the roles Wrathborn Fallen and Cabal had. Fallen Wrathborn, with their mobility, serve greatly for reconnaissance.^[6] The size and strength of the Cabal made them prime candidates for Throne Guards or beasts of conquest for Knights to feed upon.^[7] Psions corrupted by the Cryptolith would be brought into Wizard courts to serve as psychic lodestones for ceremonial dives into the Deep.^[6]

Notable members

Leadership

Wrathborn Hive

Wrathborn Fallen

Unique forces

Fallen

Shank variants

Vandal variants

Captain variants

Servitor variants

Brig variants

Wrathborn Brig

Hive

Thrall variants

Cursed Thrall

Wizard variants

Knight variants

Ogre variants

Trivia

Dregs from the House of Salvation appear in the Wrathborn's ranks during the Coup de Grâce mission, indicating their corruption by the Cryptoliths prior to Season of the Seraph.
Similar to how some among the Hive would beg to be Taken^[8], some of Xivu's Hive would offer themselves to become Wrathborn.^[9]
It seems that many members have been involved in the wars with the various species in the universe, including the Cabal, the Dakaua and the Ammonites.
While Cabal Wrathborn have been mentioned in the lore, they have yet to appear in gameplay.
While they are not classified as Wrathborn, many of the Fallen enemies encountered in Salvage, Deep Dive and Savathûn's Spire are heavily similar. Both were driven to madness to become servants of Xivu Arath, though the Fallen of Titan were made so by the Moon being taken by the Witness rather than by a Cryptolith.