Taniks, the Scarred

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

- Variks, The Loyal.

Taniks, the Scarred is a renegade Fallen mercenary with no House, but affiliated with the House that pays him.

He is first seen working for the House of Wolves during the Wolf Rebellion in The Shadow Thief Strike and later reappears in the Deep Stone Crypt Raid.

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. 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.

Vanguard Dare
"Taniks didn't announce himself. Didn't say a word. Just laughed a few times and tried like hell to kill us all. But we knew it was him. The stories matched the story, ya know? Which meant the boogeyman had a face—the boogeyman was REAL."

- Cayde-6 .

During the early City Age, Taniks sought to claim the bounty on an infamous crew of Hunters, including Andal Brask, Shiro-4, and Cayde-6. During a mission where Andal led to raid one supply cache while Cayde, Shiro, Nian Ruo, and Lush hit another, the Fallen mercenary ambushed Nian and Lush; murdering the former and destroying the latter's Ghost before they escaped. Even Osiris and the Speaker had brought in Saint-14, an infamous Guardian known amongst the Fallen, to find and kill the mercenary himself.

Despite their losses, Andal and the others decided to personally hunt down Taniks in retaliation. One night, Andal and Cayde stayed up late drinking and decided to make a Vanguard Dare, as the position of Hunter Vanguard had been empty for two years following Kauko Swiftriver's disappearance. They decided that whoever failed to kill Taniks would have to become the new Hunter Vanguard while the winner would live the life of a free Hunter. Taniks was killed twice by Cayde's hand; leading Andal to become the new Hunter Vanguard while Cayde continued to enjoy life as a free Hunter.

However, Taniks survived both his encounters with Cayde after his crew rebuilt him back from the dead. He then proceeded to murder Andal in cold blood, to which Cayde took up the mantle of Hunter Vanguard in memory of his fallen friend.

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.

Taniks would later be hired out by Draksis, Winter Kell of the House of Winter to break Aksor, Archon Priest out from the Prison of Elders. Taniks would take the job charging twice his usual price out of anger; having a missed opportunity to free the fiercest of the imprisoned Eliksni including Eramis, the Shipstealer.

Wolf Rebellion
"I remember Taniks from the Reef Wars. Many Awoken dead. Clever, clever creature."

- Variks, the Loyal

Hired by the House of Wolves, Taniks would lead the Wolf-born Fallen to plunder the Hellmouth before a fireteam of Guardians, sent by Variks, arrived to kill him. Taniks, relishing at the challenge of the Lightbearers, would briefly engage them before retreating aboard his Ketch. As the fireteam pursued the mercenary through his ship, Taniks calls upon the Wolves to unleash their military might and impede their progress by sending waves of Fallen, including a Walker upon them. With tremendous effort, the Guardians destroyed the Walker and wiped out their enemies before cornering Taniks as he issues orders and taunts the fireteam in Fallen dialect. He is eventually killed much to Variks' delight.

SIVA Perfected
During the aftermath of the SIVA Crisis, the Devil Splicers had rebuilt the Fallen mercenary into a SIVA-enhanced version titled Taniks Perfected.

Nightmare of Isolation
"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's infamy among the Guardians would carry on, as his form would be taken as a Nightmare that the Guardians would face in the newly discovered crimson fortress on the moon. The Nightmare of Taniks, the Scarred, representing the Essence of Isolation, would be hunted down by Guardians sent by Eris, as she needed the essence to forge armor needed to resist the Nightmares and breach the Pyramid.

Beyond Light
"There is evidence of Fallen giving themselves to technology. Becoming other—becoming more—as they marry their physical selves to enslaved mechanics. The mercenary Taniks is one example—more machine than Fallen now, an abomination in the eyes of traditional Fallen belief."

- Excerpt from "A Blind Eye Towards Tomorrow"

Five years after his demise, Taniks' corpse was recovered by the House of Salvation led by Eramis, Kell of Darkness. Having uncovered the Deep Stone Crypt during their tenure at Europa, Taniks was rebuilt utilizing resources found at the site. The deaths of Phylaks and Praksis would prompt Eramis to retaliate against The Guardian that killed them, ordering Atraks, the Wildcard to return to the Crypt and prepare Taniks' body as their biggest trump card against them.

Later, in an ongoing raid upon the Deep Stone Crypt, a fireteam of Guardians would discover to their horror that Atraks-1, Fallen Exo having reawakened Taniks yet again, who immediately begins angrily banging on a window in Clarity Control after spotting them. After Atraks-1 was killed, Taniks breached the control room of the Morning Star Station; an act that would prompt the Clovis-AI to activate the orbital station's nuclear descent protocol and decimate Europa upon impact. The team of Guardians managed to disarm the station's nuclear protocol just as the Morning Star descends to the surface, leaving Taniks to seemingly perish when the station broke apart upon reentry. At the crash site Restricted, However, Taniks survived the impact by merging himself with a Heavy Shank at the last minute, and re-emerges as a monstrous hybrid now dubbed Taniks, the Abomination once the fireteam goes to investigate a pile of rubble. Desperate to succeed where he had repeatedly failed years ago, Taniks puts up a last stand in the crash site, but is finally dismantled for good at the hands of the fireteam.

Trivia

 * Taniks' cloak is orange and features an insignia not belonging to any known House. Whether it belongs to the House Taniks originates from, or is unique to Taniks himself, is unknown. It is also a random strike-exclusive Legendary drop for the hunter.
 * Taniks' is one of three Fallen Ultras found with Scorch Cannons, the others being Skolas and Vosik.
 * Taniks is one of the only Fallen enemies to kill a high authority of the Last City.
 * He leads his own group of loyal Fallen called Taniks' Crew.
 * He is the first Strike Boss to become a Raid Boss.
 * Taniks is believed to have once been a member of an extinct Fallen house called the House of Scar.
 * According to the flavor text of the Legendary Auto Rifle Does Not Bow, Taniks was punished with docking by his Kell; subsequently he built his first mechanical arms and took revenge.
 * It is suspected that Taniks was infused with darkness from the statue in the crypt, for he used void and arc energy in the raid.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * House of Wolves
 * The Taken King
 * Rise of Iron
 * Destiny 2
 * Curse of Osiris
 * Forsaken
 * Shadowkeep
 * Beyond Light