Taniks, the Scarred

"Taniks has no House. He kneels before no banner, owes allegiance to no Kell."

- Variks, The Loyal.

Taniks, the Scarred is an infamous Fallen mercenary affiliated with no House, with the exception to those who pay him. He gained notoriety with the Last City for murdering Guardians including the Hunter Vanguard Andal Brask and built an undying reputation given his cyborg physiology, despite being believed to be dead on numerous occasions.

He is first seen working with the House of Wolves during the Wolf Rebellion and then resurrected as Taniks Perfected by the Devil Splicers during the SIVA Crisis. However, he is defeated in both renditions of The Shadow Thief strike. Later, the House of Salvation rebuilt his body inside the Deep Stone Crypt where he is deployed into battle by Atraks-1, but defeated as Taniks, the Abomination.

Early history
"A Kell cut off his arms. He built himself new ones. Then he killed the Kell with them."

- Does Not Bow

Taniks was once loyal to an unknown House, but docked into subservience by his Kell. He then built himself new prosthetic arms and killed his former Kell out of revenge. Taniks later renounced his pledge to any House and refused to adhere to their arbitrary customs and traditions.

Inspired by Sekris, Baron of Shanks, who prolonged his lifespan through cybernetics, Taniks was among a new generation of Fallen mercenaries who modelled their brutality and cybernetics after Sekris. Becoming a cyborg, he built a reputation among the Eliksni as an undying huntsman and infused his physical body with mixtures of technologies pilfered from legendary treasure troves. This continued to the extent where he was considered more machine than Fallen.

Battles with the City
"Taniks didn't announce himself. Didn't say a word. Just laughed a few times and tried like hell to kill us all... Which meant the boogeyman had a face—the boogeyman was REAL."

- Cayde-6.

During the early City Age and at least before Twilight Gap, the Fallen Houses placed large bounties of Glimmer and Ether on an infamous crew of Hunters, which included Andal Brask, Shiro-4, and Cayde-6. At the time, Taniks was widely regarded as a boogeyman amongst the Guardians who heard stories of the bannerless, Fallen mercenary killing off Lightbearers but were widely regarded as tall tales. Taniks, having sought to claim their bounties on the crew, would ambush Cayde, Shiro, Nian Ruo, and Lush during a cache run on the outskirts of the City. In a split second he quickly murdered Nian and destroyed Lush's Ghost before the outgunned Hunters could escape him and his Fallen crew. Andal was later informed of the incident by Cayde and Shiro and sought to kill Taniks out of revenge. Since then, Taniks would ambush the crew on several other occasions, arriving unannounced and laughed a few times before he tried to kill them. However, his attempts would backfire as the Hunters had fully prepared for him. One night, Andal and Cayde stayed up late drinking and decided to make a Vanguard Dare. They joked that whoever failed to kill Taniks would become the new Hunter Vanguard, while the winner lived the life of a free Hunter.

Cayde had the good luck of finding and killing Taniks first, forcing Andal kept his word. However, Taniks would not stay dead for long as his return prompted Cayde to seek out the mercenary yet again. The Exo Hunter would successfully kill Taniks a second time, unleashing lead into his chest, neck, gut and head. However, his crew would instead intervene and hauled him off before Cayde could finish the job.

At that point, Taniks' continued presence became a pain to the Last City, where Osiris and the Speaker appointed Saint-14, who was infamous amongst the Fallen, to find and kill the mercenary himself. Despite Andal becoming the new Hunter Vanguard, Cayde tried talking him out of his new position as the Dare was made in a compromised state but to no avail.

At the Battle of the Twilight Gap, Taniks became involved in the united front of Fallen Houses of Devils, Kings and Winter against the forces of the Last City. His presence was met with ridicule by Draksis the Kell of House Winter, whom called him self-serving scum and spat at his banner-less armor. However, he would become acquainted with the infamous Devil Baroness, Eramis, the Shipstealer, and formed a crew featuring them alongside Kridis and Phylaks as they followed her assault against the Guardians. Taniks fired thunderous blasts from his Scorch Cannon and created explosions of blood around him while laughing maniacally. However, the alliance ultimately failed their "Final Attempt" attack and retreated in defeat. Taniks had also took part in the Reef Wars, which Variks remembered many Awoken murdered at the mercenary's hands.

Taniks would eventually claim Andal's bounty by murdering the Hunter Vanguard in cold blood, forcing Cayde to replace his old friend in memory of him. Cayde would also kill Taniks a third time, avenging Andal in commemoration of his new position as Hunter Vanguard.

Prison breakout
"And still you wonder why I refuse my house-pledge. You could conquer the system, but you'd rather adhere to these arbitrary customs. Aksor belongs to Winter, and Eramis does not."

- Taniks, the Scarred.

At some point, Draksis, Winter Kell would reluctantly hire Taniks to break Aksor, Archon Priest free from the Prison of Elders, who was captured during the Reef Wars. Taniks at first recollected how the Winter Kell once scoffed at him but had to refrain himself from ripping out his arms and legs as he believed Draksis would seek his services later on.

While Taniks held payment above pride, he also sought payment in blood and battle that was worthy of his time. He took the job, but charged twice his usual price out of anger that he will miss the opportunity to free the fiercest of the Eliksni warriors such as Eramis, Pirsis and Calzar. He criticized Draksis for wanting to free the impotent Archon and insulted his Winter troops for being pathetic. He would clarify his reasons for remaining Houseless as he despised the Fallen Houses that were guided by arbitrary customs and argued that they could conquer the entire Solar System if they were to organize itself with the greatest of Fallen generals.

The Shadow Thief
"I remember Taniks from the Reef Wars. Many Awoken dead. Clever, clever creature."

- Variks, the Loyal

Hired by the House of Wolves to steal from the Hive, Taniks would lead the Wolf Fallen to plunder the Hellmouth. Variks, having tracked Taniks' movements during the Wolf Rebellion, would enlist the Guardian and his fireteam to kill him. Variks also warned them of the threat that Taniks posed as he did not see them as an enemy, but rather as “trophies” to collect their spoils from.

Taniks, relishing at the challenge of the Lightbearers, would briefly engage them at Dusk Warren before retreating via lift field into his Ketch. He then issued a challenge to them in the ways of the old and calls the fireteam out. Once aboard his Ketch in pursuit, the fireteam would find that Taniks had jammed their comms and called upon the Wolves in a frenzy to eliminate them. The Fallen could only impede their progress by sending waves of mobs upon the fireteam, including a Walker in the hanger bay.

With tremendous effort, the Guardians destroyed the Fallen Walker and wiped out their enemies before cornering Taniks as he insults them in his Eliksni language. He is eventually killed much to Variks' delight and rewards the team treasures from the Queen.

SIVA Perfected
"He talks. How is that possible?" "Maybe Taniks was more machine than we thought. He's not alive: perhaps he never was."

- Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey

During the aftermath of the SIVA Crisis, the leaderless Devil Splicers allied with Taniks' Crew and rebuilt the Fallen mercenary. Enhanced with SIVA, Taniks becomes Taniks Perfected and leads the Splicers and his crew with the attention to reclaim his old territory from the Hive. Variks quickly informs Ikora and Zavala of his return and the Vanguard enlist the Guardians who fought with Saladin to hunt him down.

On arrival, Zavala notes how the Splicers are experimenting on nearby Hive and asks the Guardians to end this quickly before another SIVA outbreak occurs. As they approach the Dusk Warrens, Taniks encounters them near the lift to his Ketch but is forced to retreat. Zavala is shocked that Taniks can talk since they believed the Splicers were only reanimating his body with SIVA. Ikora comments how Taniks may be more machine than Fallen and perhaps he was never alive to begin with. With his Ketch still intact, a jamming field disrupts the Vanguard communications.

After fighting through the Splicers, Hive and a Perfected Walker, the Guardians manage to corner Taniks by his command bridge. Taniks is armed with his signature Scorch Cannon which is modified to allow Shock and Void blasts. His SIVA abilities also generate an immunity shield where nearby SIVA crystals need to be destroyed to disable the shield. The Guardians prevent SIVA from restarting Taniks' mercenary operations and slew him.

Nightmare of Taniks
"Years ago, Taniks tore the Vanguard apart over a mere bounty. Andal Brask was murdered in cold blood, and the Hunter Vanguard was left without a leader. Taniks would ultimately die on the orders of Cayde-6."

- Eris Morn

Taniks would continue to haunt the Guardians as a Nightmare recreated by the Pyramids. Eris Morn would send the Guardians to hunt down the Nightmare of Taniks as its Essence of Isolation was essential to forge armor to suppress the Nightmares and breach the Pyramid. The Nightmare would be defeated by the Dusk Warrens after the Guardians breached into the Temple of Crota. However, his Nightmare would continue to plague the Guardians as it reappears in the Altars of Sorrow and Nightmare Hunts.

The Abomination
"There is evidence of Fallen giving themselves to technology... The mercenary Taniks is one example—more machine than Fallen now, an abomination in the eyes of traditional Fallen belief."

- A Blind Eye Towards Tomorrow.

Following the failed heist to steal the SIVA-infused Outbreak Perfected, Eramis would relive a dream of the Twilight Gap. She remembered how Taniks aided her crusade against the City but awakens when she sees her fellow allies evaporate into ash. She later forms the House of Salvation and at some point, they recover Taniks' body.

Her House established a stronghold on Europa and they secretly rebuilt Taniks in the Deep Stone Crypt, the secret birthplace of the Exo. Weeks after the defeat of Eramis, the Exo Stranger enlists a fireteam of Guardians to secure the Crypt from her followers before they could unleash a new army of Darkness-powered Fallen. After bypassing the Crypt Security, the Crypt AI notes that Clarity Control was breached by a single unregistered Exo and a single life form of unknown biology and were detected by the Crypt laboratory. There Atraks-1, Fallen Exo reawakens Taniks from his cryo suspension, who is immediately enraged at the sight of the Guardians. He begins bashing at the laboratory glass to no avail, so he crawls up the glass and leaves the lab.

Following the destruction of Atraks-1, the Crypt AI initiates its nuclear descent protocol to confine both parties aboard the Morning Star platform and deorbit it in an attempt to destroy the Crypt. Taniks (now known as Taniks, Reborn) is found hacking control of the Nuclear Contingency Chamber where they would commence a battle, which became further complicated by Taniks causing the nuclear cores to charge prematurely. As the station descended towards the Crypt, the Fallen engaged the Guardians as they attempted to dispose the charging cores and deactivate the nuclear protocol threatening to destroy Europa. Taniks himself would also fight the fireteam during the descent, to which he found himself temporarily stun locked by a Braytech augment on more than one occasion.



Having deactivated the nuclear protocol merely moments before orbital re-entry, the Guardians quickly retreated to shelter in the lower deck of the station. Taniks mercilessly pursues them while firing his Molten Welder only to be locked out of the blast doors seconds before collusion. He seemingly perished when the station collided onto the surface, but was found to have survived the impact near the entrance of the Crypt.

He re-emerges as Taniks, the Abomination; having grafted his lower body onto a Heavy Shank built out of the station's debris and nuclear cores. Facing the Guardians once more, Taniks goes on the offensive with his newfound Void abilities as well as the annihilating force of his nuclear armaments. However, the fireteam staggers the abominable Taniks long enough for them to collect and disarm his cores piece by piece to prevent his nuclear-fueled powers to wipe them in an instant. Enraged, the mercenary creates a massive Arc-fueled barrier to protect himself in, forcing the Guardians to enter as he was now vulnerable to their attacks. In his last moments, Taniks teleports around the crash site as he prepares for a final attack to wipe the fireteam, but would finally perish instead as he dies in a fiery nuclear blast, ending him seemingly for good.

Personality and traits
"He is a murderer...and very good at what he does."

- Variks, the Loyal.

Taniks was once born into the Fallen House system but quickly despised its traditions after experiencing the humiliating docking from his Kell. Like many others, he grew cold from the cruelty and became a bannerless renegade who followed the footsteps of Sekris. As a mercenary, he only served himself and sought the rewards of bounties to live a life free of Kell rule. He is absent of moral code or ethics, however, he occasionally will not place payment above his pride as he once refrained himself from attacking the Kell of Winter who insulted him.

Taniks is relentless in his effort to fulfill a contract and will employ any means necessary. He is motivated by challenge and a cunning tactician who once ambushed Cayde's crew by surprise. His notable achievements include orchestrating a breakout from the Prison of Elders and murdering the Hunter Vanguard Andal in cold blood. Although he sells his services to the highest bidder, Taniks is bloodthirsty and seeks payment in blood and was present in many battles such as the Twilight Gap, the Reef Wars and the Wolf Rebellion. He also considers the Guardians to be trophies to collect rather than enemies and loves the thrill of combat by challenging them in the ways of the old. Taniks would soon develop a grudge against the Guardian for constantly besting him in battle.

Among the Fallen, Taniks is a survivor who enhanced himself with technologies of the Fallen, Vex, and Human out of necessity. In the eyes of Fallen traditionalists, Taniks is viewed as an abomination and has gained a reputation of being an undying huntsman. Though a renegade, he is capable of praising his kind and recognizes the incredible feats of other esteemed warriors such as Pirsis, Peekis, Calzar, Drekthas and Eramis and holds them in high regard. He marveled at the prowess of Eramis and hates the customs that guide the Houses and chooses to be Houseless as he believes the Fallen could conquer the entire Solar System if they were to organize itself with the greatest of Fallen generals.

Taniks, the Scarred
Taniks can be found on the Moon leading a group of Wolf Pack to steal from the Dark. His Ketch, Kaliks-Syn is seen above the Temple of Crota and makes his first appearance near the Fallen lift in the Dusk Warrens. Taniks is supported by Wolf reinforcements who aid him to combat the Guardians. He is a Fallen commander armed with a Scorch Cannon and capable of unleashing devastating Solar blasts from any range and effectively holding down an area.

In addition, he will release Ultra Smash ground attack if Guardians get too close and is also able to teleport at long distances. After depleting a chunk of Taniks' health, he retreats to his Ketch and laughs as he challenges the Guardians to combat. Taniks can then be found in a room with a stationary Pilot Servitor and send more Wolf reinforcements.

He then retreats and summons a Wolf Walker to confront the Guardian and then later seen by the corridors of his Ketch. He is cornered by his command station and reappears with half his health depleted. Taniks continues to laugh maniacally as he teleports around the area while blasting projectiles from his signature cannon and recruits more Wolf reinforcements such as Wolf Captains and Noble Shanks. After defeating Taniks, he drops his Scorch Cannon which can be picked up by the Guardians and used to defeat the waves of Dregs who spawn trying to avenge Taniks.

Taniks Perfected
Taniks reappears as a Taniks Perfected, enhanced by SIVA and serves as the final boss The Shadow Thief revisited. Similar to the first Strike, Taniks confronts the Guardians with blasts from his cannon in the Dusk Warrens. He then will retreat to his Ketch after dealing damage against him.

Once in his Ketch, he will continue his barrage and while teleport around the arena to throw the player's aim off. He will once again retreat and summon a Perfected Walker in the next encounter. After battling through the Splicers, Hive and Walker, Taniks will reappear and lock down the hallway with his cannon to prevent Guardians from passing through.

In the final encounter, Taniks is armed with his signature Scorch Cannon which is modified to allow Shock and Void blasts and supported by waves of Splicer reinforcements. He also gains a special immunity shield where SIVA Nodes need to be destroyed to remove his shield. This shield will regenerate until he is finally killed.

Taniks, Reborn


After navigating through the Morning Star, Taniks can be found by the command deck of Rapture. If approached or shot, Taniks will begin the encounter and be immune to all damage.

Players are required to deposit nuclear cores into the correct boxes to disarm the Crypts nuclear protocol. By picking up the yellow Scanner augment from a Hacker Vandal, players can guide each other to the correct boxes as two will glow yellow.

To collect the nuclear cores, a red Operator augment is required and can be gained by defeating a Operator Vandal. Upon hearing the sound of an alarm, the player with the Operator augment is required to shoot a glowing red panel near one of the four nuclear cores terminals across the room. These can be found by the far left and right walls of the room and the other two by the left and right sides of the upper catwalk. Failure to shoot the panel in time will drop three nuclear cores instead of two.

The cores will emit a "Radiation" debuff that can become fatal if the number reaches 10. To prevent this, players are advised to coordinate their radiation levels by passing each other the cores. Failure to deposit the cores in time will also result in them exploding and eliminating the whole fireteam.

Taniks will attempt to suppress their progress by turning the deposit boxes offline. This requires players to pick up a blue Suppressor augment from the Suppressor Vandal and allow them to stun Taniks as he glows blue. Players with the augment need to stand beneath one of the three circular security drones in the room and need to stun him three times by moving to each drone. One is located in the middle, while the other two are elevated on a platform to the left and right.

Taniks will recruit reinforcements such as Overload Captains and Dark Council Guards to prevent the Guardians from depositing their cores and some players with an augment can become deactivated. This will require them to switch their augment with another player from a yellow augment terminal. After successfully depositing the cores six times, the Crypt AI will deactivate its nuclear protocol and open a hatch in the middle of the room. Players need to traverse the lower hallways of the Rapture to reach an escape pod before the orbital station crashes into Europa. Taniks will mercilessly follow the players and blast them with solar blasts from its Molten Welder. The escape room will close itself, trapping Taniks outside and the encounter will end when the orbital station crashes.

Taniks, the Abomination


After surviving the crash into Europa, players will be dazed from the impact as they return to the entrance of Deep Stone Crypt. The crash site, now called Restricted, is littered with the remains of the Morning Star and most notably a pile of debris with Taniks beneath.

By approaching or shooting the wreckage, Taniks will re-emerge as a powerful monstrosity merged with a Heavy Shank and now known as Taniks, the Abomination. He is capable of flight and immune to damage which allows him to relentlessly blast players with its Molten Welder and summons Fallen reinforcements in the form of Dark Council Guards and Vandals that have the Scanner, Suppressor and Operator augments.

After a short while, Taniks will position himself near one of the three major areas; the spawn area, a site with orange lighting, and another site with blue lighting. There Taniks will expose four nuclear cores from its Shank haul and unleash a purple wave attack called Turbulent Barrage. Players are required to shoot two to four nuclear cores to stop their attack. Failure to shoot the cores will result in instant death as Taniks will unleash his devastating Turbulent Detonation blast to everyone.

Similar to his Reborn encounter, players are required to deposit the nuclear cores into two of the six deposit bins located near the major areas. Each area has two deposit bins and inserting the cores in the wrong bins will lead to instant death. To prevent this, players are required to acquire the Scanner augment by defeating a Hacker Vandal spawning out the blue area. The Scanner can now guide their team to the correct deposit bins as they will glow yellow. It is advised that they number the bins from one to six either clockwise or anti-clockwise to the starting zone.

However, as players attempt to deposit their cores, Taniks will detain them in a red/purple sphere. This can result in death if players carrying the cores reach a radiation level of 10. To prevent this, players are required to eliminate an Operator Vandal located near the spawn area and pick up its Operator augment. The Operator can then free their teammates from entrapment by shooting the spheres from outside.

While approaching the deposit bins, Taniks is capable of turning them offline similar to the previous Descent encounter. Players with the Suppressor augment need to stun Taniks as he glows blue. To gain this, they are required to defeat a Suppressor Vandal located near the orange site. However, this time, there are three security drones located in blue, orange, and spawn areas, with nine drones total. The Suppressor needs to pass through three of the drones in any given area. If they suppress Taniks too quickly, a player with a augment such as an Operator can become deactivated. It is recommended for the Suppressor to slow down their gameplay and wait for Taniks to encase players twice before stunning Taniks a final third time. If any players were to have their Augments deactivated, they can transfer it to another player by going to one of the three augment terminals.



After depositing the four nuclear cores, Taniks will position himself to the middle of the crash site and release a blue Shock Field of swirling debris. Players need to carefully enter the field and position themselves within the two spheres, as standing too close will deal Arc damage, and too far will cause death from the rotating debris. During the damage phase, Taniks will send a gust of energy to push the fireteam out of the sphere, in which they must carefully re-enter his Shock Field to continue damaging Taniks.

If his health does not reach the final stand, Taniks will repeat the nuclear cores encounter until he reaches the final stand. Fireteams also have three damage phases until Taniks enrages.

Once Taniks reaches the final stand, he will teleport across the crash site appearing either by the spawn, blue or orange locations. Players need to continue their damage as he teleports around. If players fail to kill Taniks after five teleportations, he will instantly kill the group. After defeating Taniks, Guardians then can claim loot from the final chest and spend their Spoils of War on gear and weapons from the raid.

Trivia

 * Taniks' wears a red and orange cloak which displays a mysterious insignia. It is unknown if this belongs to his original House or is unique to Taniks himself. However, the insignia can also be seen in a building by Archer's Line.
 * The Cloak of Taniks and Does Not Bow Auto Rifle are two strike-exclusive items associated with Taniks.
 * According to the description of Does Not Bow, Taniks was punished by his Kell and docked; he subsequently built his first mechanical arms and took revenge.
 * Taniks is believed to have once been a member of an extinct Fallen House called the House of Scar.
 * He also leads his own group of loyal Fallen called Taniks' Crew. His crew would later ally with the Devil Splicers to resurrect him.
 * In his Perfected state, Taniks is colorless grey and has two thick arms that seem to be of biological origin. He is absent of SIVA features and has SIVA nanites fly around him. However, in gameplay, he sometimes appears in his original form.
 * His Perfected killcam displays the House of Wolves even though he is working with the Devil Splicers.
 * Taniks is the only known Fallen to have successfully killed a Vanguard authority of the Last City.
 * During the "Ace in the Hole" Exotic Quest, one of Cayde's Stashes has a message addressed to Taniks in the event that he killed him.
 * He is the first Strike boss to transition into a Raid boss. In his Reborn state, Taniks is given better lighting texture to make his prosthetic arms whiter in appearance rather than its usual gray.
 * The corpse of Taniks Abomination radiates nuclear energy which can be fatal if players stand near his body for too long. If they were to die from the radiation, Taniks will laugh at them, suggesting that the Fallen cyborg may still be alive after his defeat.
 * Taniks, The Abomination counts as a Heavy Shank kill for The Crow's bounties.
 * Upon completion of the Raid, players are rewarded with Taniks's armor fragment and can display his Helmet as a trophy in the campsite at Beyond.
 * The Shadow Thief Reborn soundtrack features occasional Darkness musical riffs. A popular community theory believes that Taniks was infused with Darkness to gift him his abilities, however, this has never been confirmed in-game.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * House of Wolves
 * The Taken King
 * Rise of Iron


 * Destiny 2
 * Curse of Osiris
 * Forsaken
 * Shadowkeep
 * Beyond Light