Fallen

"We have butchers at our gates, four-armed and eager for slaughter."

- Fallen Grimoire entry

The Fallen are an alien species that fights against the remnants of the human race.

Overview
The Fallen are a nomadic race of pirates and scavengers descended from a once-great civilization. This is evidenced by their social organization into various Houses in the manner of nobility, the banners and flags of which are still flown like heraldry. The Fallen search the stars for artifacts of their lost civilization. They first arrived in the Solar System after the Collapse, arriving in their massive Ketches to loot and pillage humanity's former worlds, leaving grief and wreckage in their wake.

According to Variks, the Loyal, the Fallen once encountered the Traveler, or "Great Machine", before an event or entity called the "Whirlwind" (possibly the Darkness) destroyed their civilization. The Fallen eventually rediscovered the Traveler in the Solar System. The secretive House of Kings is believed to be manipulating a number of other Houses with the long-term goal of seizing the Traveler from the Guardians; this scheme may have precipitated the Battle of the Twilight Gap.

The Fallen are antagonistic toward the Cabal, Hive, and Vex, and are known to be in conflict with the latter two over territory and technology. They lack any type of established stronghold such as the Citadel or the Hellmouth, instead preferring to squat in ruins or inside their ketches.

Biology
Fallen have two pairs of arms and typically wear a helmet with what appears to be respirator devices. Through means either natural or artificial, the Fallen can regrow their arms if removed from their body. Their blood color is red. When killed, a Fallen's "soul" escapes it. They are a hardy species, and can survive in a wide range of environments without heavy armor or complex modifications to their physiology. They travel light, hit hard, and are gone before their enemies know it.

Fallen depend on a substance called ether to survive, which only servitors can produce. Servitors convert scavenged matter and energy, presented to them ritualistically by the Fallen, directly into ether via unknown processes.

Houses
Fallen society is divided into a number of Houses, none of which are known to maintain friendly relations with one another. Each House is ruled by a Kell, who acts as the political leader of a House and commands a Ketch. Prime Servitors are exalted as gods among the Fallen, inspiring fanatical devotion from the House to which they belong and providing a steady supply of vital ether and new minor servitors. Archons serve as both high priests and chief engineers of a House, mediating between the Kell and the Prime Servitor in addition to overseeing maintenance of the House's machines. Houses require all three to be fully stable; without a Kell a House becomes prone to infighting, without an Archon a House's Prime Servitor is vulnerable to attack, and without a Prime Servitor a House cannot produce new servitors for ether.

Below the upper echelon of House leadership are the Barons and Captains and the individual crews they command. Captains are Fallen who have managed to gather a following of a number of Vandals and Dregs, who serve as the Captain's crew, commanding respect through brute force. Most Captains swear fealty to a certain House, but some operate independently. A step above Captains in rank are the Barons, who possess a Skiff as well as lead a crew.

The majority of Fallen Houses consist of Vandals and Dregs. Vandals serve as both seasoned infantry and skilled workers. They aspire to become Captains and one day lead crews of their own. Dregs are the lowest class in Fallen society. Docked of their lower pair of arms in a ritual of humiliation and obedience, Dregs zealously fill the roles of shock troops and menial laborers in crews. The life expectancy of a Dreg is notoriously short, but those few who survive to be promoted to Vandals are permitted to regrow their arms.

Known Houses

 * House of Devils - Earth
 * House of Exile - Moon
 * House of Judgment - The Reef
 * House of Kings - Earth
 * House of Rain - Extinct, destroyed by the Whirlwind
 * House of Winter - Venus
 * House of Wolves - Unknown outer system worlds (formerly), Ceres (formerly), The Reef (formerly), Earth, Moon, Venus

History
According to old Fallen lore, the Fallen had lived on their homeworld under the guidance of the Great Machine, with the Houses living in unity and ether was plentiful. Then their world faced a cataclysm they call the Whirlwind, when they sky had been ripped away. The Houses began ripping each other apart, with House of Judgement unable to keep the peace. The Houses went to seek out the Light, to find the Great Machine again. They found it on Earth, but they also found that humanity and The City stood between them and their salvation. The goal of the battle of Twilight Gap was to capture the Traveler, but the Fallen were beaten back. Obsessed with the failiure of Twilight Gap and his enslavement to the Reef, Skolas claimed for himself the title of Kell of Kells in attempt to fulfill a prophecy by the long-dead House of Rain and gather the strength needed to crush the City once and for all.

Encountered

 * Aksor, Archon Priest
 * Beltrik, the Veiled
 * Conflux Watch
 * Draksis, Winter Kell
 * Drevis, Wolf Baroness
 * Elyksis, Wolf Rebel
 * Ether Runner
 * Frigoris, Exiled Baron
 * Grayliks, Winter Baron
 * Grayor, Wolf Assassin
 * Kaliks-12
 * Kaliks Reborn
 * Karrhis, Archon Rising
 * Loksis, Devil Claw
 * Mecher Orbiks-11
 * Minotaur Tracker
 * Naksis, Devil Baron
 * Paskin, King Baron
 * Peekis, the Disavowed
 * Phyksin, King Baron
 * Pirsis, Pallas-Bane
 * Rahn, Devil Captain
 * Riksis, Devil Archon
 * Saviks, Queenbreaker
 * Sepiks Prime
 * Simiks-3
 * Skolas, Kell of Kells
 * Skoriks, Archon-Slayer
 * Taniks, the Scarred
 * Variks, the Loyal
 * Vekis, King Baron
 * Veliniks, the Ravenous
 * Weksis, the Meek
 * Yavek, Wolf Baron

Mentioned only

 * Irxis, Wolf Baroness
 * Kaliks-4
 * Kaliks Prime
 * Parixas, the Howling
 * Simiks Prime
 * Skriviks, the Sharp-Eyed
 * Virixas, Kell of Wolves

Command Structure

 * Kell
 * Archon
 * Baron
 * Captain (Arc Shield)
 * Elder Captain
 * Noble Captain
 * Queenbreaker Captain
 * Reaver Captain
 * Scorch Captain
 * Silent Fang
 * Watch Captain
 * Wolf Captain
 * Wolves' Guard
 * Vandal
 * Elder Vandal
 * Kell's Guard
 * Queenbreaker Vandal
 * Reaver Vandal
 * Salvage Boss
 * Stealth Vandal
 * Stealth Elite Vandal
 * Wolf Stealth Vandal
 * Survey Boss
 * Twisted Claw
 * Wolf Vandal
 * Dreg
 * Dreg Lead Scout
 * Feral Dreg
 * Reaver Dreg
 * Wolf Scavenger

Armament

 * Scorch Cannon
 * Shock Blade
 * Shock Dagger
 * Shock Pistol
 * Shock Rifle
 * Shock Grenade
 * Wire Rifle
 * Shrapnel Launcher

Vehicles

 * Fallen Skiff
 * Ketch
 * Pike
 * Heavy Pike

Automata

 * Fallen Walker
 * Elite Devil Walker
 * Noble Devil Walker
 * Noble Iron Walker
 * Noble Winter Walker
 * Wolf Walker
 * Elder Wolf Walker
 * Servitor
 * Elder Servitor
 * Spy Servitor
 * Trawl Servitor
 * High Servitor
 * Wolf High Servitor
 * Wolf Servitor
 * Prime Servitor
 * Shank
 * Elder Pit Shank
 * Elite Shank
 * Exploder Shank
 * Noble Shank (Solar Shield)
 * Noble Pit Shank
 * Pit Shank
 * Reaver Shank
 * Repeater Shank
 * Sensor Shank
 * Surveillance Shank
 * Tracer Shank

Other

 * Glimmer Drill
 * Mesh generator

Alphabet
In addition to Fallen glyphs, Bungie has released a number of images with examples of Fallen writing, including a number of unique letter combinations.

Trivia

 * Their mechanized vehicle units carry overtones of Japanese mecha, and their ships appear like rusted futuristic submarines.


 * The Fallen have been seen to cooperate with both Cabal and Vex forces who are in fact enemies with one another as seen on Mars.

List of appearances

 * The Law Of The Jungle
 * Destiny
 * House of Wolves