Xol, Will of the Thousands

"Xol yearned for nurture. It did so amongst the thousands."

Xol, Will of the Thousands was one of the five Worm Gods, ancient beings second only to the Darkness itself in the hierarchy of the Hive pantheon. He was worshipped by the High Priest Nokris, Herald of Xol and the Grasp of Nokris prior to his death and defection, and is the main antagonist of the Warmind expansion.

The Ancient Past
"And Xol felt [fear/cunning], for it knew that Yul would in time turn its teeth to Xol."

- Nokris's record of Xol's history

Xol was one of the five Worm Gods trapped beneath Fundament by the Leviathan, and helped orchestrate the rise of Oryx, the Taken King, Savathûn, the Witch-Queen, and Xivu Arath, God of War, and the corruption of the Hive precursor race. After Oryx slew Akka, the Worm of Secrets, Xol began to fear that Yul, the Honest Worm would eventually turn against him to gain the strength needed to withstand Oryx. Making a pact with Oryx's estranged son, Nokris, the two fled their families and sought a new world to rule.

At some point either before or after Nokris's excommunication, Xol created the Ogre Golgoroth to challenge Oryx. However, his kin, Eir, intervened to remake the beast into an even more monstrous and powerful shape to serve Oryx instead and protect the Tablets of Ruin.

The Collapse
"Do you pledge yourself to me? Will you accept my unholy power?" "Yes, my lord. And together, we will take the stars."

- Xol and Nokris make the pact

After Nokris' excommunication by Oryx, Nokris and Xol departed from the rest of the Hive and set out to find a new world to rule. Nokris chose Mars in the Sol system, and arrived there with Xol and the Grasp of Nokris during the Collapse. Xol and Nokris engaged with the Warmind Rasputin and became trapped under the Hellas Basin of Mars, before being reawakened by multiple Warsat impacts in the region and the Traveler's reawakening centuries later.

Warmind
"Rasputin was not the only thing to awaken on Mars."

- Vanguard Commander Zavala

Upon reawakening, Xol and his worshippers, the Grasp of Nokris, sought to gain control of Mars by destroying the Warmind Rasputin. Their plans were interrupted by the intervention of the Guardian, who defeated Nokris and attempted to execute a plan by Commander Zavala to lure Xol into a trap with a Light-filled shard of the Traveler. Xol appeared before the Guardian and assaulted them telepathically, rendering them unconscious. The Guardian recovered shortly thereafter, however.

As Xol set about destroying Rasputin's neural network, he was pursued by the Guardian to the vicinity of Rasputin's central core, where he trapped the Guardian on a platform and engaged them in battle, using his jaws, bulk and paracausal abilities to attempt to destroy his foe. Ultimately, Xol was defeated by the Guardian using a super-charged Valkyrie javelin provided by Rasputin, leaving the Grasp of Nokris without their patron to worship and reducing the remainder of the Worm God pantheon from four to three.

Legacy
"I've been hearing my Gambit regulars talkin' about some wild energy spikes over on Io. The Taken are real aggressive in that region. Seems to me like there's something out there they're tryin'a protect."

- The Drifter

As with other Worm Gods, however, Xol's death was not his ending. Drawing power from the Sword Logic upon his defeat at the hands of the Guardian, Xol transcended physical death and communed with the Taken infesting the Jovian moon Io, resurrecting three former enemies of humanity as his Taken champions. His presence caused a spike in Taken activity on Io according to the Drifter, as Guardians reported a Taken anomaly found beneath the planet's surface where all three of his champions were there to test them. Once the Guardian proved themselves worthy of a host to feed upon, Xol invoked the Anthem Anatheme and transformed into the Whisper of the Worm as a weapon to feed off of the Guardian's kills.

Nokris, Xol's former high priest and the namesake of his followers, survived his encounter with the Guardians but became dejected after learning the Worm God had abandoned him for his killers. Despite the many traces of Xol's influence remaining on Mars, Nokris used a scrap of his Worm-hide as a catalyst to craft his own Ascendant gate from the grave-corpse legions of his risen brood. His actions to deceiving the Guardians would earn him a place in his aunt Savathûn's court as her supplicant.

Gameplay
Xol was the final boss of the Will of the Thousands mission and of Warmind. He was encountered after he destroys the bridge to Rasputin's core. His primary attack consisted of shooting fire blasts out of his mouth, which was also his critical spot, and if approached, he reared his head back before lashing out viciously, instantly swallowing the player in one hit. Damage against Xol was reduced significantly until the Valkyrie is summoned by Ana Bray where it could then be used to pierce Xol's hide to do much more damage and if struck in the eye, briefly stun him. Occasionally, Xol retreated under the platform and would come up on a random side of the platform, charge, and would crush whatever is in his way. Along with that, he was able to cover the ground in Void energy that would briefly burn away at Guardians' shields before launching the player upwards. In addition, whenever he retreats, Xol would summon Hive reinforcements. He summons more reinforcements as his health reaches zero, distracting the player from attacking and overwhelming them, and will also be immune as he retreats. Once Xol reached nearly zero health, he'd move to the front center of the arena with a loud roar and summon more Hive. At this point he'd use his abilities nearly constantly until he his killed.

Gallery
 Xol1.jpg Xol3.jpg Xol2.jpg 

Trivia

 * Xol was the first Worm God the Guardians encountered.
 * Xol bears a resemblance to the Gravemind from Bungie's previous game series Halo, as well as the Graboids from the Tremors film series.
 * Xol is suggested to be the weakest of the five Worm Gods through the lore tabs of armor received at the end of the campaign, as he feared Yul would target him first.
 * Xol also stated in those tabs that he sees himself in Nokris, possibly because they were both the weakest in their respective families.
 * In the first mission of the expansion, Ice and Shadow, Xol could be seen slithering in the background.
 * It appears that Xol is also able to shapeshift as Toland mentions that he was not in his most powerful form when confronting the Guardian.
 * When Xol died, it was possible for Xol's body fall onto and kill you.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * The Taken King
 * Destiny 2
 * Warmind
 * Forsaken
 * Shadowkeep
 * Season of Arrivals
 * Season of the Chosen
 * The Witch Queen