Taken

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"The process is simple: an aperture opens, like a jaw, and swallows a living thing. It passes into — another place. Later, it returns. What returns is... I try to use the word ‘shadow’ but Eris hisses at me [...] insists that these Taken are more real, somehow. She uses words like inhabited, exalted, rendered final... [...] My Hidden tell me that the Taken shine with seething, negative light. As if the universe is curling up around them. As if they radiate some pathology that decays into our world as nothingness... The Taken serve Oryx. But I think those jaws lead elsewhere."
— Ikora Rey
Taken
TakenArmy.jpg
Overview

Goals:

Serve Oryx, the Hive, and the Darkness
Claim as many worlds as possible
Avenge Crota

At war with:

The City
The Reef
Cabal
Fallen
Vex

Distinctions:

Enslaved and corrupted version of other races
Violent twitching movements
Blackened bodies burn with an ethereal, bluish-white 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.

Overview

"IMPERATIVE CORRUPTED. SEEK LIGHT. DESTROY LIGHT. OBEY THE COLLECTIVE MIND, OBEY THE #$422*! ORYX. OBEY ORYX."
— Recovered from Simulation Core of Corrupted Minotaur

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; on the Moon, in select Story missions and certain Patrol activites.[2][3]

While all Taken are completely enslaved to Oryx's will, more powerful Taken retain a degree of independent thought and initiative. After Oryx's defeat, the Taken Knight Malok, Pride of Oryx, attempted to seize the vacant throne for himself. Other Taken, such as Noru'usk, Servant of Oryx, have aspirations to ascend while many, like Keksis, the Betrayed, are lost and leaderless.

The process of Taking has been described by some as a blight or open aperture ripping the individual out of this realm, and returning them infused with the power of the Darkness, and in effect transforming the victim into an animate vessel of the wielder's power.[4]

History

The power to create the Taken is an ability granted by the Darkness and wielded only by Oryx, the most powerful of the Hive pantheon.

He first gained the ability to Take when he was still Auryx. Seeking for a power that would help him defeat the Ecumene, he killed his two sisters to gain an audience with Akka the Worm god of Secrets. After slaying it, Auryx stole the secrets from its flesh and wrote them upon a set of tablets he named the Tablets of Ruin. After speaking to the Deep directly, he returned, mantled as Oryx, the Taken King.[5]

With this new power Oryx waged war upon the Ecumene and defeated them utterly over a period of one thousand, one hundred and forty years, in the process conjuring back his two sisters in the same way he had killed them.[6][7]

During the Golden Amputation Oryx Took the Emperor Raven and assured the defeat of the Taishibethi[8] When the Vex invaded his Ascendant Realm Oryx Took and turned them against one another, eventually expelling the cybernetic machines from his domain.[9] Later, aboard the Nicha Thought-ship Oryx encountered and Took Quria, Blade Transform[10], the Vex mind which had orchestrated the organized invasion of his Throne, and later gifted it to his sister Savathûn as a present.[11]

Oryx is the only known entity to date to have possessed the power to Take.

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. They armed with Solar Wire Rifles and Arc Shrapnel Launchers.
    • Consumed Vandal
    • Devoured Vandal
  • Taken Captain—sends out moving balls of Darkness to blind Guardians and are armed with Arc-damage Shrapnel Launcher or Arc Blades are used and Solar-shielded.
    • Tortured Captain

Hive

  • Taken Thrall—ability to teleport short distances in an instant, and do Solar-damage with their melee.
    • Consumed Thrall
    • Devoured Thrall
      • Shadow Thrall—a shadowy imitation of a Thrall summoned by Taken Wizards, and do Solar-damage with their melee.
        • Devoured Shadow Thrall
  • Taken Acolyte—deploys Acolyte's Eye turrets and are armed with Arc Shredders.
    • Devoured Acolyte
  • Taken Wizard—can summon Shadow Thralls. They fire Solar Darkness Blasts, and are Void-shielded. In certain cases they can use "Necromantic Gaze", firing three Solar projectiles much faster than their usual Darkness blasts
    • Tortured Wizard
  • Taken Knight—fires explosive, lingering Solar jets in a wave for area denial, teleports short distances to evade attacks. They are armed with Void Boomers, which fire 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.

Vex

  • Taken Goblin—when in close proximity to an ally, they can generate an invincible shield for it. Armed with either a Void Slap Rifle or a Solar Torch Hammer.
    • Consumed Goblin
    • Tortured Goblin
  • Taken Hobgoblin—fires a fast-moving, Shrieker-like projectile when struck in self-defense. Equipped with a Void Line Rifle.
    • Devoured Hobgoblin
    • Tortured Hobgoblin
  • Taken Minotaur—always cloaked unless shot at enough. Equipped with a Solar Torch Hammer.
    • Tortured Minotaur
  • Taken Hydra—keeps its Void Aeon Maul but loses ordinary Hydras' semicircular shields. If a Guardian gets to close it will detonate, much like The Undying Mind.

Cabal

  • Taken Psion—has the ability to multiply itself, splitting and creating another Taken Psion with full health and wield an Arc Slug Rifle. Taken Psions fire their Slug Rifles very rapidly.
    • Consumed Psion
  • Taken Phalanx—Can fire Arc blasts from their shield that can push Guardians, much like the physical shields themselves, and are armed with an Arc Slug Rifle.
    • Devoured Phalanx
  • Taken Centurion—has an Arc-shield, can teleport short distances, and is armed with a Void Projection Rifle. Fires slower moving Axion Darts, much like the Voidwalker's Axion bolt, that tracks targets and deals Void-damage—these 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 energy at enemies, and detonates in an Arc blast when destroyed. They survive the death the their summoner.

Named Taken

Trivia

  • Based on Grimoire analysis it can be assumed that the victim willingly chooses to be enslaved[13], with those that resist presumably obliterated.

Gallery

List of appearances

References

  1. ^ Planet Destiny: The Taken King Trailer Analysis
  2. ^ Eurogamer: The Taken King is the Expansion Destiny has been waiting for
  3. ^ Planet Destiny: Sleeper Stimulant Gameplay & Perks
  4. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: The Taken
  5. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow - star by star by star
  6. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow - Carved in Ruin
  7. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow - Eat the Sky
  8. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow -a golden amputation
  9. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow - An Emperor For All Outcomes
  10. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow - End of Failed Timeline
  11. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Books of Sorrow - strict proof eternal
  12. ^ Youtube: Official Destiny: The Taken King ViDoc
  13. ^ Bungie (2015/9/15), Destiny: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, Grimoire: Taken Champions

v • d • e
 
Hive
Infantry
Hive sects
Arsenal
Technology
Spaceships
Strongholds
Religious
Consumables
Materials

v • d • e
 
Taken
Infantry
Weapons
Masters
Miscellaneous
Strongholds

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