Colonel

"Ah, who needs the Light when you've got a fine feathered friend by your side!"

- Cayde-6 commenting on Colonel's successful distraction.

Colonel was once an ordinary chicken stationed at The Farm until Cayde found her and subsequently named her Colonel. Colonel was vital to Cayde's team, as she was able to distract the Cabal long enough for Cayde to sneak up on and assassinate them. Colonel managed to survive the liberation of the Last City and was returned to the Farm. During The Dawning 2017, Cayde gave her a cape and a horn to make her more like him and he often visited the Farm during his spare time to talk to, feed, and pet Colonel along with the other chicken residents of the farm until his murder at the hands of Uldren Sov. Following this event, Colonel was relocated to the new Tower, taking up residence at Cayde's former workstation in the Hangar. The Colonel was named amongst Cayde's possessions in his will. While repairing the Ace of Spades, The Guardian comes across a message meant for Suraya Hawthorne in the (extremely unlikely) event that she does kill Cayde, she would gain ownership of Colonel. As of Lightfall, she is still in the hangar, with another chicken roaming around the Cayde-6 memorial being mistaken by players as the Colonel.

Almost two years after Cayde's death, Saint-14 anointed the chicken as "Pigeon Lord".

Trivia

 * Colonel is paid homage by the emote "Poultry Petting" in Forsaken, where the player creates a red projection of a chicken and pets it in a similar way to how Cayde-6 pets Colonel during the opening cinematic of the campaign mission Chosen.
 * According to Cayde in the Ace in the Hole mission, she only eats sesame seed muesli, and drinks purified spring water with a sprig of parsley.
 * The chicken's name might be a subtle reference to either the founder and mascot of the restaurant chain KFC, or a certain line from the satirical science fiction film Spaceballs.
 * Masks depicting the visage of the Colonel were distributed by Amanda Holliday and Eva Levante during the Festival of the Lost in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
 * In Cayde's Stash in the wall of the Cosmodrome, he had a framed picture of the Colonel amidst his belongings.
 * Cayde's iconic hand cannon, the Ace of Spades, can be outfitted with the Salute to the Colonel Weapon Ornament. This ornament was first made available through Etched Engrams and the Feathered Friend bundle, and now is only available through the Eververse. The ornament changed Ace's white stripes to look like wings, as well as replaced the full spade with a chicken, and the outlined spade with an egg. The hammer of the weapon was also shaped like a chicken's head.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Forsaken
 * Season of the Worthy
 * Season of Arrivals
 * Season of the Haunted
 * Season of the Seraph
 * Lightfall