Hive

"That shiver you feel up your spine is truth. There are nightmares rising from the shadows, and they hunger for our dying hope."

- Grimoire entry

The Hive is one of the races encountered among the ruins of humanity's Golden Age. They are one of the few races that serve the Darkness directly.

Overview
The Hive are an "impossibly ancient" race that has kept themselves alive through a pact with the Worm Gods. The Hive delve deep into a planetoid, unheeding of the damage they do in the process, crafting linked caverns and gothic-looking columns. Their underground spaces are like a dungeon that has only recently been pulled up from too long underwater. They are able to manipulate the physical world in ways humanity can only begin to imagine, and have witnessed the Darkness consume countless worlds in the past.

The Hive are not an enemy military so much as rising force. They base their entire existence around the extermination of other forms of life, especially those that follow the way of Light and the Traveler, and approach their task with religious fervor. To the Hive, killing and conquest are not merely acts of war, but of worship.

At the time of the game they have burrowed deep into the Moon, staying there for centuries while growing stronger. The Guardian's Ghost states that he believed the Hive to be contained on the Moon for centuries, but the player first encounters them in Old Russia underneath the Skywatch, where the Fallen have attempted to seal them away. The Guardians eventually discover that this is just the beginning; the Hive have been building an army and intend to invade Earth en masse.

Fundament
"The Fundament is very large. We are the smallest things in it. If you don’t understand something, it will probably kill you. My teacher Taox says this is why we have such short lives. So we can breed and adapt quickly."

- Xi Ro

The Hive trace their origins to a gas giant named Fundament. Long ago, the proto-Hive crashed their homeworld into Fundament, ostensibly to hide from something unknown. The shards of this homeworld became a number of continents that floated upon a sea called the Fundament Ocean within a layer of the gas giant's atmosphere, and the proto-Hive eventually built a meager civilization upon them and forgot their old history. In addition to the proto-Hive, Fundament was home to hundreds of other intelligent species, and Fundament's 52 moons were inhabited by a spacefaring species called the Ammonites who were overseen by the Traveler.

Life was quick and harsh for the proto-Hive. Their natural lifespan rarely exceeded ten Fundament-years, though females who ate "mother jelly" became able to spawn and live longer. In terms of environmental hazards, Fundament was almost inhospitable. The Fundament Ocean was toxic, the skies were eternally stormy, the rain poisonous and sometimes corrosive, lightning had enough power to vaporize anyone it struck, "living clouds" called Stormjoys would prey on the populace, and the proto-Hive frequently warred with each other.

The progenitors of the contemporary Hive were Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash, the three daughters of the Osmium King who ruled the continent called the Osmium Court. When the Osmium King was ten years old, he fell to madness, fearing an event called the Syzygy wherein Fundament's 52 moons would align and create a massive tidal wave, the God-Wave, that would destroy Fundament's civilizations. Taox, a sterile mother who served as the teacher to the King's daughters, feared the King's daughters were too weak to succeed the King and invited a rival kingdom, the Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court, to invade the Osmium Court, kill the royal family, and allow Taox to rule the Osmium Court as their regent. The Helium Drinkers invaded and slew the Osmium King, but the three sisters, two years old at the time, escaped on a ship and vowed to take their revenge against the Helium King and Taox.

After a year of traveling the sea, the sisters salvaged an ancient, high-tech ship they called "the needle" from the Shvubi Maelstrom. Xi Ro wanted to sell it at the Kaharn Atoll, a gathering place of Fundament's many species, in order to raise enough money to hire a mercenary army, but Aurash wanted to take command of the ship. Sathona sided with Aurash, goaded on by a worm that their father had kept; the worm had washed up on the Osmium Court's shores and was seemingly dead, but Sathona could hear it speak. The sisters spent the next two years reactivating the ship, until Aurash decided to use it to fulfill its intended purpose: she wanted to dive to Fundament's core in the hopes of learning a secret that would prevent the Syzygy.

As they descended, the sisters encountered a vast creature called the Leviathan, a disciple of the Traveler. The Leviathan warned the sisters against proceeding further, telling them that they faced a choice between the Sky and the Deep, the Light and the Darkness, the way of life and the way of death. The sisters rejected the Leviathan, unable to accept that allowing their people to suffer was the better way, and instead decided to follow the worm Sathona had saved, which urged them to continue diving.

The Pact
"We want to help you, Princes. We offer to each of you a bargain... a symbiosis."

- Yul

Deep within the Fundament Ocean, the sisters encountered the Worms, who drew their power from the Darkness itself: Yul, the Honest Worm, and Eir, Xol, Ur, and Akka, the Virtuous Worms. The Worm Gods claimed that they had lived and grown in Fundament's depths for millions of years, trapped by the Leviathan and the Traveler. They had called many species to Fundament, hoping one would be tenacious enough to find them. They offered Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash immortality if they would allow themselves to be hosts for the Worms' larvae, with the caveat that if the sisters ceased to obey their natures (Xi Ro's desire to test her strength, Sathona's cunning, Aurash's inquisitiveness), their Worms would consume them. Furthermore, the stronger the sisters became, the greater their Worms' appetites would be.

The sisters accepted the pact. Xi Ro took the knight morph and became Xivu Arath; Sathona took the mother morph and became Savathûn; and Aurash took the king morph and became Auryx, the king of the Hive. Over the following years, the siblings (Auryx had transformed into a male) returned to their people and spread the Worms among them, creating the Hive and enabling them to liberate the Osmium Court, then drive Taox and the other species of Fundament to Kaharn Atoll, and finally to build spaceships and break free of Fundament. Since then they have waged war upon the rest of the universe, having exterminated other races such as the Ammonites, the Ecumene, the Dakaua, the Harmony, the Qugu, and the Taishibethi.

Campaign of Destruction
"We need champions. Crusaders. Help us save the universe. Help us exterminate that which would destroy all hope. You are oathbound to this task, by the covenant of the worm."

- Worm Gods

As Auryx and his sisters forced an ultimatum on the remaining proto-Hive to accept the worms or perish, Auryx turned his attention to Fundament's moons, and the Ammonites there who had allied with the Traveler and gave asylum to Taox. Initially he was willing to negotiate with the Ammonites, but his sister Savathûn, under pressure from the Worms, killed Auryx as punishment. Rather than dying, Auryx's soul instead passed to his Ascendant realm, or throne world, where his soul resided until he returned to the mortal realm. Rebuked, Auryx purged what sympathy and goodwill he had left, becoming a merciless tyrant. He and his sisters warred with and killed one another on a regular basis after the defeat of the Ammonites, as part of their worship of the Sword-Logic and their attempt to become the sharpest blades in the universe, heading to their Ascendant realms when defeated. Their war of revenge against Taox had transformed into a campaign of genocide, when they slew the Ammonites and other interstellar civilizations to feed their worms. The lords of the Hive also established their Ascendant realms, with Auryx naming his the High War.

During the war with the Ecumene, Auryx came to realize that the Worm had deceived him and his sisters: their Worms appetites were growing past their ability to feed with death. Meeting with his sisters in his ascendant realm, surrounded by their servants (some of which despised them for showing weakness) they despaired over their dilemma. When his sisters offered their power to help Auryx find a way to save them, Auryx killed them, then used that power to confront his patron god Akka, the Worm of Secrets. He killed Akka so that he may steal its ability to call upon the Deep and created the Tablets of Ruin, which gave him the power to Take. His transformation complete, Auryx was now Oryx, the Taken King. During the subsequent war with the Ecumene, Oryx revived Xivu Arath in an act of war, and revived Savathûn in an act of cunning. He then decreed the tithe system: each Hive would kill their enemies, take some to feed their own worm, and tithe the rest to their superior. Thralls would tithe to Acolytes, Acolytes would tithe to Knights or Wizards, the Knights and Wizards would tithe to the Ascendant Hive, those who commanded legions of warriors and earned the right to enter the Hive gods' Ascendant realms. All of this violence would eventually reach Oryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath, allowing their worms to feed on violence while continuing to invoke their inner natures.

Fearing that he was becoming a nihilist, Oryx eventually decided to sire his own spawn. The results of this was Crota, Son of Oryx, and the Deathsinger twins, Ir Anûk and Ir Halak. One day, the Deathsingers were refining their Deathsongs and came up with the idea of the Oversoul. Intrigued, Oryx commanded Crota to watch his sisters, so that he might learn something. However, while Oryx was off studying the Deep, Crota was deceived by Savathûn into using his Cleaver to cut a portal in the High War, allowing the Vex to enter. For one hundred years the children of Oryx waged war with the Vex, which quickly deduced the Sword-Logic and worship of the Deep as key to attaining power in the High War. However, while the Hive were able to overpower the Vex, they were unable to push them out, as they lost too much of their power when entering the Vex conflux. The situation become so severe that the Worm Eir Itself demanded that Oryx return and end the war. Quickly returning to the High War, Oryx used his powers to take the Vex and clear his throne world. Angered at his son's imperfection, Oryx threw Crota into the Vex gate network, decreeing that he return "victorious or die forgotten". At first, Crota resented his father for his seeming abandonment, but after time came to understand his father and built temples to Oryx and the Deep, eventually becoming a vital link in Oryx's tithe of death and achieving godhood himself. However, Oryx recognized that the threat of the Vex invading his throne world could not happen again, so he moved the High War into a mighty Dreadnaught scrimshawed from the remains of Akka.

During the Hive's campaign against the Harmony and the Vex, Quria, Blade Transform presented Oryx with a simulation of his former self, Aurash. Oryx looked upon the simulation with amusement, while Aurash looked upon Oryx in horror, demanding to know what he had done to her sisters and her people. In the end, Oryx slew Quria, and presented the Vex corpse and its simulation to Savathûn. When she asked him what proof they had that what they were doing was right, Oryx simply replied that the Hive's existence was proof enough in their convictions to live eternal by the Sword-Logic. Following the war with the Harmony, Savathûn decided that her fleets would enter the black hole that the Harmony lived around, claiming that they would become stronger for it, while Xivu Arath took her fleets away from Oryx's as she felt he constrained her too much.

The Taken War
"Their leaders belong to you. The rest await extermination." "No. Gather them. I will take them all..."

- Ecthar and Oryx

The exact nature of Oryx was once unknown to the Guardians, but the name Oryx appeared often enough in Hive rituals that it could not be ignored. Shrines dedicated to Oryx, used by the Hive to communicate with Oryx across the universe, were known to exist throughout the Solar System. Osiris studied the Hive extensively and foretold that the Spawn of Crota would one day pave the way for Oryx's coming by "snuffing out the worlds of Light". Members of the Blood of Oryx Hive sect are thought to be the direct servants of Oryx himself, though it is speculated that he is the master of all other Hive sects as well.

After learning of the death of his son, Crota, Oryx personally traveled to the Solar System aboard his Dreadnaught, accompanied by a Hive fleet and his Taken army. Oryx's forces first attacked Cabal bases on Phobos and Mars. Cabal detachments were devastated within hours, with the Sand Eaters suffering a catastrophic 58% casualties, while the Blind Legion and the Dust Giants lost 35% and 39% of their numbers respectively. The Vanguard discovered Oryx's presence after sending a Guardian to Phobos to investigate a Cabal distress signal, by which time Taken covens began appearing on multiple worlds, ushering in the Taken War.

Oryx's physical form was killed when the Guardian breached his altar and attacked him, but like all Hive Gods, this was only a temporary setback. His soul retreated into his throne realm, located deep within the Dreadnaught. Meanwhile, his Taken, led by his Echoes, continued to harass the system. Once the blights had been removed, the Guardians turned their attention on Oryx and his champions. By overthrowing the Court of Oryx by killing his minions, they were able to invade Oryx's throne realm. After killing his closest allies like the Warpriest and Golgoroth, including his own daughters, Oryx reappeared to fight the Guardians once more, this time willing himself into his true form, a giant version of his physical self. Here he attempted to pull the Guardians into the Darkness and possess them, but they were able to use Oryx's own captured Light against him. By slaying his light-eater Ogres and then detonating the Light they left behind, Oryx was slain for good.

However, Oryx's Ravenous Heart remained. Eris used his heart to construct a weapon, the Touch of Malice. According to the Books of Sorrow, Oryx intended this as his final means of maintaining his immortality.

SIVA Crisis
"This is worst-case scenario. The Splicers aren't in a territorial war with the Hive; they're experimenting on them."

- Ghost

Following a year after the Taken War and the death of their god-King, the Hive on Earth still appear to be organized but hunkered down in their nests, and have recently gone into conflict with the SIVA-augmented Fallen Devil Splicers in the Plaguelands. Soon enough, the ambitions of the Splicers, led by Kovik, Splicer Priest, extend to experiment on not only themselves but the Hive as well, whether to control them as a slave army or to weaponize their mysterious biology. Furious, the Hive begin an all-out war with the Splicers. Through the efforts of the Guardians (not out of pity), the Fallen's efforts to control or weaponize the Hive were thwarted and Kovik was killed.

Culture
The Hive have a glyph-based writing system.

The Hive have great hatred for the Light, and to them, the eternal struggle between light and dark is not only a war, it is a crusade; all Light must be devoured so Darkness can reclaim the universe. They have even attempted to attack the Traveler directly, through a ritual in which they drained its light through a fragment that they captured in the Chamber of Night. The Hive have a complex religious system based around profane rituals and the worship of a pantheon of dark gods. These gods exist on "a higher plane of misery" and are always hungry for the suffering of others. The Hive Gods live in the Ascendant realm, locked outside of physical reality, not unlike the Vex realms locked out of time. These realms house the god's Oversoul, which protects them from permanent death should their bodies be destroyed. The Hive have sacrificial altars, which Warlocks have attempted to study to no avail. Sacrifice plays an important part in the Hive religion, as after the weakening of Crota's army, the Hive attempted direct contact with Oryx by sacrificing the two Forsaken Ogres. They also sacrifice lesser Hive souls in order to become Ascendant.

When the Hive first invaded the Moon, they were led by the god-knight Crota, who wielded the Sword of Crota to slay thousands of Guardians and steal their light. He has since disappeared, but the Hive, particularly the Spawn of Crota, await his return. But above him is Oryx, Crota's father; more than a mere deity, he is the King of the Hive and the central figure of their culture, and through his shrines he maintains contact with his force spread across the universe. Crota's return and conquest of Earth is crucial to Oryx's arrival, which is why the Hive are so bent on Earth's destruction. Other deities include the greater Worm Gods Eir, Ur, Xol, and Yul. Like Crota, they have disciples named after them.

Sword-Logic
"Ah, Oryx, how do we explain it to them? The world is not built on the laws they love [...] but in the cold hard self-verifying truth of that one ultimate arbiter, the only judge, the power that is its own metric and its own source—existence, at any cost. Strip away the lies and truces and delaying tactics they call ‘civilization’ and this is what remains, this beautiful shape."

- The Darkness

The Hive religion is not based on any sort of morality; in fact, they see morality and the "false hope of comfort" as an abomination of the living. Instead, Sword-Logic forms the basis of the Hive's belief system. In short, it can be described as a survival-of-the-fittest ideology taken to an incredible extreme. It is not enough to merely defeat enemies, but also to consume their power. All power must be taken by force, not received as a gift. That is why the Hive's swords are so deadly to Guardians; they create a bridge in which the wielder saps the power of the victim. This also extends to sacrifice, as Hive become ascendant by consuming the souls of lesser Hive. The Hive's lust for power is a direct reflection of their Worm Gods' insatiable hunger for Light, and that the Hive must always be powerful, or else they themselves will be consumed. Even if they wanted to, the Hive can't stop killing or else they will perish. The Sword-Logic determines the right to rule, as anyone who can depose the current King is rightfully the new King of the Hive. Anyone who cannot defend themselves, whether it be a person, or a civilization, does not deserve to live and is fit to be obliterated. This is how the Hive intend to "liberate" the universe from its false hope, and the existence of the Hive themselves is proof enough in their belief.

The Ascendant Realm is ruled in totality by the Sword-Logic; when Crota accidentally allowed the Vex into his realm, they learned the Sword-Logic from him and adapted it to their own functions, learning to worship and bootstrap themselves into divinity, striving to become the most powerful beings in the universe. At the time however, they were unable to fully comprehend the role that the worms and the acausal Darkness played. While the Sword-Logic helped the Guardians in defeating Crota when they stole his sword and used it against him, they broke the Sword-Logic when they recovered and uncorrupted the Light found in the Dreadnaught's cellar, and used it against Oryx, then refusing to take up the mantle as the new Taken King.

Pantheon
In descending order of importance, the Gods of the Hive are:

1. The Formless One, the power behind the Hive Gods

2. The Worm Gods, who give the Hive their immortality in exchange for a tithe of Light
 * Akka, the Worm of Secrets
 * Eir
 * Ur
 * Xol
 * Yul, the Honest Worm

3. Oryx, the Taken King, God-King of the Hive
 * Savathûn, Witch-Queen
 * Xivu Arath, God of War

4. Crota, Son of Oryx, crown prince to the Osmium Throne.


 * 5. Nokris; unknown Hive God.

Gods like Oryx and Crota are capable of being killed in physical reality without truly dying. So long as their souls are preserved in the Ascendant Realm, they can reemerge in the physical realm at a later time. If they are killed in their respective Ascendant Realm, however, their death will be permanent. However, under certain circumstances, Hive gods can be reborn even if killed in the Ascendant plane.

Biology
Members of the Hive are pale, sinewy and vaguely humanoid, with varying levels of musculature and armor. All castes lack visible eyes, although some have been seen with glowing patterns that resemble eyes. The ancient armor many of them wear has fused with their skin, becoming part of it. When they are killed, they ignite in a shower of dust and embers. Exposure to Light causes Hive pain.

Several varieties of Hive exist, each representing different stages of growth. Hive are born as spawn, and eventually grow into Thrall. Thralls that survive into maturity become Acolytes. Acolytes who have proven themselves can become Knights, who in turn may become Princes leading their own broods. Wizards are the reproductive females of the Hive; they become fertile by consuming mother jelly, and can reproduce with or without a mate. Ogres, meanwhile, appear to be not a stage of growth in the Hive life cycle, but a mutation brought upon Thrall by Wizard rituals.

Hive are born from pupae, much like colonial insects, and they feed on worms that they swallow whole. Hive show traits of sequential hermaphroditism; all are born biologically female, and gain the ability to metamorphosize into male forms and back again as they reach adulthood.

Sects

 * Hidden Swarm—main force, located on Earth
 * Blood of Oryx—servants of Oryx, located on the Dreadnaught
 * Spawn of Crota—servants of Crota, located on the Moon and Earth
 * The Silent Brood—wardens of the Dreadnaught's dungeons and overseers of Alak-Hul, the Darkblade
 * Cult of the Worm—an obscure sect that took hold in the Prison of Elders
 * Venom of Oryx—a almost completely unknown sect found only during the quest mission The First Firewall, they may be a task force sent by Oryx to gain control of or destroy Rasputin
 * The Scarlet Brood—a sect that was revealed in the official Destiny guide but has yet to appear in game

Leadership

 * Crota, Son of Oryx
 * Oryx, the Taken King

Major Characters

 * Alak-Hul, the Darkblade
 * Alzok Däl
 * Balwûr
 * Ecthar, Sword of Oryx
 * Eyes of Crota
 * Hand of Crota
 * Heart of Crota
 * Golgoroth
 * Gornuk Däl
 * Gulrot, Unclean
 * The Infantile
 * Ir Anûk, Deathsinger
 * Ir Halak, Deathsinger
 * Ir Yût, the Deathsinger
 * Kranox, the Graven
 * Krughor
 * Lokaar
 * Malgor, the Forsaken
 * Mengoor
 * Might of Crota
 * Omnigul, Will of Crota
 * Phogoth, the Untamed
 * Sardok, Eye of Oryx
 * Sardon, Fist of Crota
 * Swarm Princes
 * Banuk, Ur Prince
 * Dakoor, Yul Prince
 * Garok, Xol Prince
 * Merok, Eir Prince
 * Telthor, Unborn
 * Thalnok, Fanatic of Crota
 * Thogar, the Forsaken
 * Urzok, the Hated
 * Urrox, Flame Prince
 * Vorlog
 * Warpriest
 * Wretched Knight
 * Xyor, the Unwed
 * Zyrok Däl

Minor Characters

 * Blade of the Monarch
 * Blahgrish
 * Celebrant of Oryx
 * Gotra, Eir Spawn
 * Hagrist, Blade's Edge
 * Kandorak
 * Mormu, Xol Spawn
 * Nengalish
 * Nokris
 * Protector of the Will
 * Rakta, the Mournful
 * Siphon Witch
 * Servile Ogre
 * The Sullied Ogre
 * Ultra Knight
 * Verok
 * Vurok, Eir Spawn
 * Warden's Knight
 * Adleg, Warden of Oryx
 * Heolster, Warden of Oryx
 * Thracu, Warden of Oryx
 * Yathbor

Command Structure

 * Thrall—berserker pawns that rush into battles in groups and tear their targets apart with a pair of claws.
 * Ascendant Thrall
 * Blind Thrall—immune to all attacks
 * Chosen Thrall
 * Cursed Thrall
 * Dredge Exploder—Major
 * Hallowed Thrall
 * Servant of the Hand—only found in Old Russia
 * Acolyte—commonly encountered foot soldiers that utilize cover and distance to defeat their enemies and armed with either a Shredder (common) or Boomer (very rare).
 * Acolyte of Balwûr
 * Anointed Acolyte
 * Ascendant Acolyte
 * Adept
 * Eyes of Crota
 * Chosen Acolyte
 * Hallowed Acolyte
 * Knight—elite forward heavy infantry of the Hive. Most commonly armed with a Boomer, but can also be seen with either a Cleaver or Shredder.
 * Anointed Knight (Arc-shield)
 * Ascendant Knight
 * Blade of the Pit
 * Breaker Knight
 * Brood Enforcer
 * Chosen Knight
 * Hallowed Knight
 * Blade of Crota
 * Swordbearer
 * Gatekeeper (Knight)
 * Light-Eater Knight—King's Fall Hard mode
 * Wizard—the source of all Hive birth and can support them with dark magic. Equipped with a Solar shield.
 * Ascendant Wizard
 * Brood Mother
 * Deathsinger
 * Hallowed Wizard
 * Hollow Wizard
 * Profane Wizard
 * Rite Wizard
 * Siphon Witch
 * Watcher of Crota
 * Waker of Crota
 * Ogre—mutated Thrall turned into mobile siege engines of the Hive; have devastating ranged and melee attacks.
 * Anointed Ogre
 * Ascendant Ogre
 * Hallowed Ogre
 * Marked Ogre
 * Utterance Ogre
 * Voracious Ogre

Weaponry

 * Shredder
 * Boomer
 * Cleaver
 * Sword of Crota
 * Willbreaker

Vehicles

 * Dreadnaught
 * Hive warship
 * Tombship
 * Chosen Tombship
 * Seeder Ship

Structure

 * Shrieker
 * Ascendant Shrieker
 * Chosen Shrieker

Trivia

 * Prior to their name being officially announced at the 2013 GDC, they were referred to as "evil space zombies".
 * The Hive and the Taken are the first races to work together.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * The Taken King