The Drifter's Ghost

The Drifter's Ghost
Biographical information
Homeworld:	Earth
Species:	Ghost
Gender:	Unspecified (referred to with it/its)
Political and military information
Affiliation:	The Drifter

The Drifter's Ghost is the nameless Ghost partnered to the Drifter. Though it typically keeps itself hidden, it is distinguishable by its red eye, inability to speak and a shell reinforced by the innards of five dead ghosts. This appearance is the result of extensive modifications it underwent during the Red War that granted it access into spectrums of Light beyond any other Guardians know of, and even into spectrums beyond the Light and into the Darkness, which lead to the creation of Motes of Dark, Gambit and The Derelict.

Biography

"For the breadth of my formative years, I had one goal: find my—well, we all have our own word for them—my chosen. And every moment thereafter was dedicated to keeping him alive, whether he liked it or not. They were turbulent times, before the Last City. Before humanity found hope for the future. I was prepared to kill for it. Die for it."

— A Ghost of the Dark Age

The Ghost raised the man who would eventually be known as the Drifter during the Dark Age, and immediately found him intractable. When it advised him to head towards a nearby settlement where they would find allies, the Drifter began running in the opposite direction and was promptly run over by a vehicle piloted by a Risen raider. The Ghost rammed through the Risen's skull, killing him, before reviving the Drifter and again advising him to join with its friends in the settlement. When the Drifter again went in the opposite direction, his Ghost had no choice but to follow.

Refusing to give either himself or his Ghost a name, the Drifter continued to reject his Ghost's advice and assistance even if doing so harmed him. His Ghost respected his wishes in that regard, and would allow him to die if his stubbornness killed him, though it would always bring him back afterward.

Eventually, the Drifter settled in a village called Eaton, adopting the name Germaine and attempting to live as a normal person. "Germaine" would indirectly bring food to the hungry village by scouting for game with his Ghost and then secretly driving it in for his friend Judson to catch. However, on one scouting mission, the Ghost "got carried away" and was detected by a Warlord, the Red Man, leading him and his forces into an ambush by a contingent of Iron Lords under Lord Dryden. The ensuing battle razed Eaton and left Drifter the village's sole survivor. His Ghost recorded the disaster from above. In the aftermath, at the Drifter's request, his Ghost found him a spade to bury the bodies with. The Ghost reprimanded him for "[playing] house with refugees" and wasting his potential, but was ignored.

Later, the Ghost kept the Drifter from freezing to death when he climbed Felwinter Peak to personally condemn Dryden (the battle's only survivor, and whose misconduct and violation of several Iron Lord taboos were directly responsible for the disaster) before Lord Felwinter. It provided its records of Eaton's destruction to Felwinter's own Ghost.

Centuries later, Drifter was asked by Osiris to check his creation: the Sundial. Drifter arrived on Mercury, and the Ghost scanned each of the spires, before projecting a hologram of statistics for Drifter, who came to the conclusion that the Sundial would work.

List of appearances

• Destiny 2: Forsaken (First mentioned)
  • Season of the Drifter (Mentioned only)
  • Season of Dawn (Mentioned only)
  • Season of Arrivals (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Deep (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Witch (Mentioned only)
• The Hidden Dossier (Mentioned only)