Headless One

Headless One
Biographical information
Species:	Human (formerly) Exo (formerly) Guardian (formerly) Hive
Type:	Knight
Rank:	Ultra
Mission:	Haunted Sector
Combat information
Weapon(s):	Splinter Solar Mortar
Abilities:	High Durability Rapid Movement Teleport Melee Darkness Barrier Cloud of Darkness Drop Pumpkin Charge

The Headless Ones are a group of mysterious entities resembling Hive Knights with carved pumpkins for heads.

Overview

From the neck down, Headless Ones resemble Hive Darkblades, but instead of a head they sport what appears to be a pumpkin carved into a three-eyed smiling Jack-O-Lantern, wreathed in purple flame.

The origins and true nature of the Headless Ones remains unknown; various sources have suggested they may be the products of Hive necromancy, or perhaps Guardians or Fallen that fell to the temptations of the Witness.

History

Festival of the Lost - Initial Reports

The Headless Ones first came to the attention of the Vanguard during the Festival of the Lost one year after the events surrounding the House of Salvation on Europa. An unnamed Hidden agent who had been recording Vex activity near Europa's Cadmus Ridge witnessed what appeared to be a Hive Knight with a head resembling a pumpkin wreathed in purple flames, with a carved three-eyed smiling face resembling a traditional Jack-O-Lantern. The Hidden agent subsequently submitted themselves for psychiatric evaluation and seemed to be the subject of much ridicule afterwards thanks to this encounter. Despite this, they held steadfast to their beliefs, causing their membership within the Hidden to be revoked.

Glint later met with the former Hidden agent in a bar to interview them, hoping to obtain more information about the supposed creatures.. Upon Glint referring to them as "Headless Ones", the drunken agent was incensed, and declared that he definitely saw a being with a "big, smiling pumpkin head".

Egged on by this encounter, Glint continued his investigations of the Headless Ones across the system. Eris Morn rejected their existence, claiming that she would certainly know about such a being if they existed. A Techeun said they might know something, but weren't sure what a pumpkin was. A Cryptarch unveiled a skin magazine showing "veneration" of pumpkins in the Golden Age. Ikora Rey let on that Cayde-6 had made fantastical claims about his battles with Headless Ones, of which she was sure there was some truth to as Cayde didn't lie, only "embellish".

In a further discussion with Glint, the aforementioned Techeun, Ylaia, surmised that pumpkins must hold ceremonial power for humans, and speculated that Nokris, the heretical Hive Wizard, may have used them in conjunction with slain humans on the Moon to give birth to the Headless Ones through necromancy.

Glint moved on to interviewing more subjects in his quest for paranormal truth. Failsafe revealed that the Headless Ones had been living in caves near the Exodus Black for "centuries", describing them as her "neighbors" and "the absolute worst", and speculated that they had remained hidden in order to avoid the Guardians.. After playing a game of checkers with Glint and preemptively ending it in a tantrum, Failsafe claimed that she knew of the origins of the Headless Ones, but would only provide the information if Glint came back for another visit. She subsequently claimed that the Headless Ones had been created by a Hive necromancer who had ripped the concept of the Headless Ones from the Human subconscious.

Mithrax also speculated about the origins of the Headless Ones, having heard about them in the past; he suggested that they may have been borne of Hive experiments, or were Guardians who had turned to the Darkness. He also recounted a report by a fellow Eliksni named Klyfiks, whom he considered to be an "idiot".

Glint was not dissuaded by the Kell's dismissive assessment of Klyfiks' story, and moved on to find Klyfiks to interview him. Klyfiks' account corroborated Failsafe's claim that the Headless Ones had been living on Nessus; he said that he had encountered them fighting with the Vex over the remains of the Exodus Black, and was confronted by a Headless One after attempting to hide within some rubble.. Despite this close encounter, the Headless One did not attack Klyfiks, who lived to tell the tale.

Finally, Glint visited Eva Levante in the tower, who thanked him for his investigations. Eva brushed off the existence of the Headless Ones as tall tales, but Glint countered that he and the Guardian were close to proving their existence.

Festival of the Lost - Two Years Post-Europa Sighting

With the advent of the next Festival of the Lost, Eido was roped by Glint into the investigation into the Headless Ones. Exercising her powers as a Scribe, she sought to trawl the system and speak with as many figures as possible to gather information on the Headless Ones.

At first, Eido investigated their possible origins in an Eliksni folk tale concerning a Captain named Phyzann of the House of Dusk, who slew many Cabal before being betrayed by a Dreg. As they lay dying, they heard the call of a Voice in the Darkness, which resurrected them as a Headless One. She went on to ask the Drifter about Phyzann, who claimed they had been a clumsy and cowardly fool; likewise, her father Mithrax, who had personal experience with Phyzann, dismissed them as an incompetent buffoon. She also spoke to Spider, who dismissed the storied tales of Phyzann as propaganda and not worth her time.

Undeterred, Eido followed stories of a missing group of Cabal called the Legion Lost, who had supposedly roamed Earth until they were caught in a battle against a Headless One within a cave they claimed as their own. The Headless One allegedly beheaded each member of the Legion Lost and turned them into more Headless Ones. Eido spoke with Caiatl to check if any tales of Headless Ones might exist amongst the Cabal, but Caiatl could only offer stories of Cabal who were said to have breathed fire, walked through fire or eaten fire; the Empress attempted to bolster the spirit of the deflated Eido, saying she knew of Cabal with heads on fire, but not continuously.

Eido next turned to a Psion for more information, who responded by telepathically communicating everything they knew of them, in the process revealing that they feared the beings. The information provided corroborated previous reports of the Headless Ones' physical description and other phenomena associated with them.

Eido afterwards sought consultation with a Cryptarch, seeking information on a bag of confetti (weighed at 13.2 kilograms) that Guardians claimed had been ejected from defeated Headless Ones. She also spoke with Saladin, who entertained the claims of the Headless Ones' existence until he learned the tale originated from Glint, upon which he immediately dismissed the idea.

Eido then attempted to draw her own conclusions on the origins of Headless Ones. She didn't believe them to be of Hive origin, and she had begun to become skeptical of Glint's beliefs. She surmised that they could be sentient pumpkins, tied to the mysterious ritual of the "Hall Between". A Cryptarch named Matsuo assisted with Eido's work, uncovering a Golden Age report that appeared to record humanity's first encounter with Headless Ones, identifying a man named Ichabod Crane as the first person to meet one.

Despite there being no scientific evidence for her theory, Eido continued to speculate along these lines, believing that pumpkins served as a powerful go-between for humanity and the spirit world. She accepted that Glint had proven the existence of Headless Ones, but debate remained as to their origins.

Gameplay

The Headless Ones are an exclusive enemy that appear in the Haunted Sectors activity during Festival of the Lost. They act as enforcers and protectors to the overseers of their Lost Sectors.

To face one of the Headless Ones, the players must complete one of their summoning rituals which will spawn in a random area around the Lost Sector. These rituals have a set timer; if they are not completed, the players will miss an opportunity to kill one of the Headless Ones. Whether or not the Guardian is near the ritual or on top of it, as the Headless One spawns the players will be flung back from the ritual.

Unlike other Knights, the Headless Ones have two new abilities. These include the Darkness Barrier in which instead of summoning a single Wall of Darkness, they summon three to add better coverage from incoming fire. They also summon Clouds of Darkness, which were an ability exclusive to Hive Wizards, and can lob Solar Mortar grenades.

If summoned during the boss phase of a Haunted Sector, they will drop Pumpkin Charges upon death, which can damage the shield surrounding the boss.

Trivia

• While various origins of the Headless Ones contradict one another, there is further evidence from more reliable sources like the Techeuns, stating that they are resurrected Hive Knights made by Nokris in his studies of human culture like the fall holliday, Halloween, which Eido would later mispronounce as the Hall Between.
• The Headless Ones are the third enemy that does not attack any other enemy faction. The first being the Proxies from Curse of Osiris, and the second being the Wrathborn from Season of the Hunt.

Gallery

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List of appearances

• Destiny 2: Season of the Lost (First appearance)
  • Season of Plunder
  • Season of the Witch
  • Episode: Revenant