Taken Knight

"You are a Knight. Ancient warrior elite. Dreadful backbone of the Hive. You have scarred entire worlds. [...] You fear death. Even as you visit nothingness on your foes, even as you gather tribute from your acolytes, you know that one day your strength will be outmatched. And your centuries of slaughter will end. [...] You betray the sword logic. You compromise the totality of your violence. Why protect your ground when you could take the enemy's? You need to make your guard into a weapon. There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [no more fear]. Take up the knife. Hide no more. Take your new shape."

- Grimoire description

The Taken Knight is a type of Taken Hive.

Gameplay
Taken Knights have lost the ability to create a Darkness Wall, but have gained a fiery Solar breath, which travels in and arc for a surprisingly long range and leaves flaming pools of fire on impact. They have also gained the ability to teleport short distances, which they use to evade attacks. They are commonly armed with a Void damage Boomer, which, unlike the Hive version, does not suffer from gravitational drop and its projectiles travel much faster, making it harder to evade long-range fire. However, their arsenal is much less varied, only rarely using Arc Shredders, and with only specific variants using Cleavers. Knight remain formidable foes that require high damage to be taken down.

Known Taken Knights

 * Aarta
 * Adleg, Warden of Oryx
 * Agra, the Stalwart
 * Agrax, the Rotted
 * An Ragaar, Son of Xivu Arath
 * Ashorc, Temple Claimant
 * Bab'dotek, the Abhorrent
 * Bakken, the Relentless
 * Balvog, Shield of Oryx
 * Cra'adug
 * Dakkadi
 * Darnu, Horn of Oryx
 * Dolos, the Datamine
 * Dumuz-Nuna
 * Dumuzod
 * Gornith
 * Gurroth
 * Ir Arok, Tongue of Quria
 * Kalboh, the Unclaimed
 * Kilulu
 * Krathoor
 * Malok, Pride of Oryx
 * Mishkara
 * Morgath, Lore-Keeper
 * Orm Duluz, Bound to Sedia
 * Orm Vashyx
 * Pandrok, Pillar of Nothing
 * Saturn Survivor
 * Sulk'oth, Taken of Xivu Arath
 * Sorvox, Taken by the Voices
 * Stirok, Banner of Oryx
 * Sylok, the Defiled
 * Syrok, Word of Oryx
 * Tir Balok, Daughter of Xivu Arath
 * Tsugoth, Gauntlet of Oryx
 * Ur Haraak, Disciple of Quria
 * Urlot, the Trampler
 * Urzok, Aspect of Hate
 * Varghul, Fragment of Oryx
 * Whisper of Oryx
 * Xarthra
 * Xavan, Daughter of Xivu Arath
 * Yamaat, Ascendant Sentinel
 * Yateth, Taken Stain

Variants

 * Blighted Knight
 * Blightguard
 * Consumed Knight
 * Devoured Knight
 * Disciple's Compass
 * Disciple's Hourglass
 * Emissary of Savathûn
 * Knight Echo
 * Labyrinth Architect
 * Lost Knight
 * Might of Riven
 * Primeval Knight
 * Prismatic Taken Knight
 * Ravagers of Xivu Arath
 * Ravenous Taken Knight-Common Elite variant
 * Servant of the Plague
 * Servile Knight
 * Taken Blade Brother
 * Taken Disruptor Knight
 * Taken Executioner
 * Taken Howler
 * The Anathema
 * Tortured Knight
 * Taken Polarizer

Trivia

 * Unusually, they are not armed with Cleavers, modified or otherwise, like their non-Taken counterparts or Grimoire card (which features an "un-Taken" Cleaver). This could be a stylistic choice or for gameplay reasons. Lorewise, this ties into with the Ascendant Sword Grimoire card, which reads:
 * "A Shredder or a Boomer is a powerful weapon, but it kills acyclically. You see? It sends out harm and it takes nothing back. The bolt passes away into nothing. A sword, though, a sword is like a bridge, a crossing-point. The sword binds wielder to victim. It binds life to death. And when the binding is done—the sword remembers. When the Boomer's fire has burnt away into axion and neutrino scatter, the sword goes on, hungrier and sharper."
 * As of Forsaken and Season of Arrivals, there are now Taken Knights seen with Cleavers.
 * According to The Sword Logic (also known as "The Killing Logic") the one who kills proves their right to survive over their defeated enemy, and gains power from that act. Upon being Taken the Knight loses the ability to feed their worm and grow that power; instead, all of that goes to the Taker, Oryx, who receives it directly instead of through the hierarchy of Thrall > Acolyte > Knight/Wizard > Ascendant Hive > Hive God.
 * This is both a punishment and an honor, as the Knight is forced to serve against his will, unable to think or act idependently from Oryx's will; on the other hand, it is a sort of apotheosis, the perfection of the Hive way of life: the perfect warrior, the Final True Shape.
 * Taken Knights were formerly named Ripper during production of The Taken King.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * The Taken King
 * Destiny 2
 * Forsaken
 * Season of the Drifter
 * Season of Opulence
 * Season of Arrivals
 * Season of the Splicer
 * Season of the Lost
 * The Witch Queen
 * Season of Plunder