Oryx, the Taken King

Oryx, the Taken King is the God-King of the Hive and master of the Taken. Said to have been born from the Darkness itself, Oryx is believed to be the source of the Hive's terrible power. Oryx is also the father of the dreaded Crota, who slew thousands of Guardians during the Great Disaster. Enraged at the death of his son, Oryx has traveled to the Solar System seeking revenge.

Biography
Oryx, the Taken King traces his 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.

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 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.

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 appears to be able to take multiple forms, with his first being that of a shadowy echo of himself, bearing superficial resemblance to a Wizard, apparently seen most often outside of the Dreadnaught. Within the Dreadnaught his appearance is less ethereal and more physical, possibly his true form, which is a bipedal demonic-looking entity with horns, wings, and a large sword, with the robes of a Wizard as well as the heavy armoring of a Knight.

Relations

 * Osmium King, father
 * Xivu Arath, sister
 * Savathûn, sister
 * Crota, son
 * Alak-Hul, the Darkblade, foster son
 * Ir Halak, Deathsinger, daughter
 * Ir Anûk, Deathsinger, daughter

Gameplay
Outside of the Dreadnaught, Oryx appears as a shadow known as the "Echo of Oryx." Oryx himself appears as the final boss in King's Fall, the raid included with The Taken King.

Quotes

 * "LIGHT! Give your will to me!"
 * "Infection! Your Light dies here!"
 * "YOU TOOK MY SON!"
 * "I will take them ALL!"
 * "And you...will die...TO ME!"

Trivia
The description of Oryx's coming is reminiscent of the Darkness's arrival in the Solar system. This could imply some sort of connection, as Oryx was said to have been born from The Darkness.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * House of Wolves (expansion)
 * The Taken King