Forum:Saphix

"The Darkness showed me the Light, but the Vex showed me salvation"

- Saphix

Saphix was a former Guardian and the first to retain his consciousness after being infected with radiolaria. He is also one of many Guardians that were able to control the powers of the Darkness. He is currently leading the Oxian Almighty.

Resurrection
"Imagine sleeping for a little while, and then that slumber is interrupted. Not only are you awake, you are impaled and you don’t know why you exist."

- Saphix recalling his resurrection

During a Ghost’s journey to resurrect a Guardian, it stumbled upon a corpse impaled by a pole. It was able to revive the corpse, but it was frightened to be resurrected and more frightened to be impaled. Ignoring the Ghost’s attempts to calm him down, the newborn Guardian ripped himself in half, killing him.

After that dilemma, the Guardian immediately walked toward a nearby puddle, and touched it. It created a negative reaction, as the liquid started to consume the Guardian, but slowly enough so that the Ghost doesn’t pay attention. The Guardian began to ask questions to the Ghost, some of which involved the giant orb in the sky. The Ghost replied by calling it the Traveller, and was the cause of his resurrection. The Guardian, now more confused, sought to get under the orb to gain its attention and ask questions.

During that journey, the Guardian would ask many questions to the Ghost, and would sometimes have to be told to be quiet by the Ghost. Unfortunately, the Guardian was starting to ask many questions that were about the Traveller and it’s opposite. The Ghost had to scan him for any mental problems, but instead was met with a lot of radiolaria inside his body. The Ghost was able to get rid of the radiolaria, but the Guardian wasn’t happy, as he wanted more “juice”. Strangely, the Guardian still asked questions, only at a smaller rate.

The Traveller and Ideals
When the lonesome Guardian and his Ghost arrived under the Traveller, they were able to see a small settlement that took place there. He was invited by the Speaker, and asked if he could talk to the Traveller. While disappointed when told he couldn’t, he was intrigued when the Speaker said that he spoke for the Traveller. The Guardian than asked why the Traveller didn’t desire to talk. The Speaker said that it was attacked by the Darkness, and in its dying breath drove away the Darkness and created the ghosts. Although satisfied, the Guardian asked again why he was chosen to be resurrected. The Speaker said he did not know, but he assured him that the Traveller knew what it was doing.

Later, the Guardian was packing his supplies for a mission. When his Ghost asked what was the mission, the Guardian said that it was a journey to find the Darkness. The Ghost went livid, telling the Guardian that he was resurrected to destroy the Darkness. The Guardian shot back, telling the Ghost that he didn’t know anything that was happening and desired to find the Darkness to find answers. Against his Ghost objections, the Guardian was still determined to find the Darkness, but not before calling himself a new name. That new name would be Saphix.

The Darkness and Salvation
"Saphix was focused on finding the Darkness, to show him the answers, but instead found an untouched power long ago"

- Eris Morn recalling the tales of Saphix

As Saphix moved on to find the Darkness, he realized that the Darkness wouldn’t be on Earth, and asked his Ghost to show him where a Jumpship was. His Ghost refused to, but was afraid when Saphix grabbed a knife and aimed it at the Ghost, not hesitating to kill it. Saphix was able to find a jumpship and leave, but his Ghost would not talk to him for a while.

During their trip, Saphix sensed an unknown energy source on a Moon of Jupiter, and decided to head there. He would later find out it would be Europa, and would be one of the first to attain the element of the Darkness. When they reached Europa, Saphix was able to locate a hidden Pyramid in the icy landscapes. There, he would traverse inside it, attempting to gain its attention. He was disappointed when the Pyramid was not inhabited, and decided to take a closer journey inside the Pyramid.

Later on, Saphix was able to find a smaller Pyramid in the core of the ship. Touching it, he felt peaceful and satisfied. This was the moment when Saphix would use the ability of Stasis to his own desires. His Ghost warned him that the other Guardians would not be happy, but Saphix shrugged it off, saying that he had no desire to return to the Last City. He took his leave, and went out of the Pyramid, and out of the icy moon called Europa.

Capture and Infection
"This was the day I was reborn. The day I became stronger."

- Saphix recalling his infection

After retrieving his new powers, he returned to Earth and commenced a raid on a small settlement. With his ferociousness and bloodlust, Saphix killed almost everyone in the small village, and left a large ice structure as a sign. While his Ghost noticed that Saphix became more unstable, he did not acknowledge it, nor did he help when Saphix was injured. He would then depart to Mercury, a Machine World. His presence would attract the attention of the Vex, and they sought out a plan to capture him. Due to his Ghost’s ignorance and Saphix’s mental instability, he would be captured by the Vex.

Saphix would be the subject to multiple tests for Guardians, including the process of injecting radiolaria into the dark Guardian. The Sol Divisive would call him a demigod of the Darkness, while the Vex collective that captured him called him a mere guinea pig. In all of these incidents, Saphix would retain his consciousness, and would instead grow more stronger from the radiolaria. However, the radiolaria in his body began to turn his arms into mechanical limbs, which would later have the Vex watching Saphix coughing violently. Saphix, now gaining some benefits from the radiolaria, such as increased intelligence, would use his Ghost as a constant healing factor for him by ripping it apart and using its parts to control the radiolaria. This would result in the Darkness containing and changing the radiolaria, turning it into a darker form of the substance. With the infection crisis solved, Saphix would plan his escape.

In a turn of events, Saphix found out that he could control the nearby Vex by focusing the Darkness to manipulate the radiolaria. He would master this ability to the point where he wouldn’t need to focus to control the Vex. Saphix would then escape, taking a few Goblins and Minotaurs as his defense while taking out the Mind that planned his capture. After this predicament, the nearby Vex stopped attacking him and followed his orders, as they viewed him as a stronger Mind, effectively breaking out of the Pattern. With this done, Saphix would instead stay and expand his new territory and army, planning a massive attack...

The Infinite Forest
"Did you think it was the right thing to let it go? It wouldn’t have mattered. It’s only a mere echo of the actual threat."

- Sagira and Osiris talking about Saphix and his Mouth

Prior to the attack, Osiris was focusing on slowing the Vex collective from taking complete control over the Infinite Forest. While his reflections were exploring the many simulations, some of them reported a strange collective of Vex attacking the Collective and taking control of the simulations. Osiris was intrigued, as the only other Collective that attacked other Vex were the Sol Divisive. He was then communicated by the Mouth of Saphix, and addressed itself as responsible for the recent events revolving around both Osiris’ and the Collective’s loss of their simulations. When asked of it’s purpose, it replied with a search for salvation. Osiris then asked if it had a grasp of the Darkness. It acknowledged it, but did not fully answer his question. Osiris then asked for a reason of taking the simulations. It merely replied with a question on his goals. Osiris was able to leave, but was asked by Sagira if he should’ve killed it. He replied that the Mouth was merely an echo for the true threat, and continued on his exploits.

As Saphix took more control over the simulations, it was attacked by a simulation of Dendron, Root Mind. He destroyed it with a number of Cyclops, but salvaged the remains for a project. By the time he returned to his own simulation, he was attacked by Panoptes, and through the use of his Stasis abilities, overwhelmed Panoptes its sheer power and wit. This led Saphix to believe that he wasn’t safe and so desired the need to leave.

Time of Stasis
During this part of Saphix’s life, he realized he could not win against Panoptes without causing a large disturbance. Calculating a solution, he encased himself in a Vex time loop created from the remains of a simulated Dendron. He hid himself inside a cave of Mercury, and remained so for decades. It was only with the intervention of a Guardian that freed Saphix. Saphix would then bring thinking for his return, and for the future of the Last City.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Unlike other Guardians, Saphix is able to use the powers of the Darkness to his own desire. Unlike others that embraced the Darkness, Saphix has mastered and embraced the Darkness, and can attack at a surprisingly fast rate. He specializes in using this power for unorthodox and sometimes brutal methods, going so far as to force them to remain conscious as he experimented on them. Those who faced him in battle have experienced frequent pain in the mental plane, disorienting them and ending with a deadly kill. He can also be incredibly agile, climbing to the top of Felwinter Peak in a span of 90 seconds. Along with this he leads an entire coup of Vex known as the Oxian Almighty.

While Saphix lost his connection to the Light, he still has traces of it inside his body left by his Ghost’s remains, however it does not seem to function the way other Risen use their Light. Although with the exponentially increasing amount of Darkness lurking within him, it is unclear if Saphix is truly acting on his own will. This left a strange phenomenon to occur, where the Light and Dark seemingly combine.

Arsenal
When he’s not using the Darkness, Saphix attains the use of a Temptation’s Hook in order to launch frequent and dangerous attacks. Saphix is fond of swords and daggers, often seen examining various blades.

With the addition of the radiolaria infection, Saphix is also able to use the Slap Rifle and the Torch Hammer. With a limb of the Vex, Saphix’s strength doubled, enabling him to destroy an object with the mass of a truck.

Other Stasis hunters maintain the use of frozen kamas in order to unleash devastating attacks with precision. Saphix uses this to create large shards and sharp gauntlets of cold. Using this he can both launch these shards while overwhelming the enemy with fatal hits.

Trivia

 * Saphix played the recorder once. It did not end well.
 * Saphix is sometimes seen watching the simulations of the Infinite Forest, and rarely being seen manipulating them.
 * Saphix loves eating Jello.
 * The House of Eon mention Saphix as the “Bearer of the Darkness”.
 * Saphix is not known by many due to his absence, but he has interacted with Eris Morn once.