Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness

Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness is the first of the Disciples: extraordinarily powerful Darkness-wielding entities who collectively follow and do the bidding of The Witness. Hailing from the planet Lubrae, he played a prominent role in the creation of the Hive by subjugating the Worms into servitude of the Witness and then facilitating their production in Savathûn's Throne World, all while keeping tabs on the Witch Queen herself from his own Pyramid.

After Savathûn's rebirth in the Light, he was imprisoned within his own Pyramid by a curse of Light placed by the Witch Queen. However, Rhulk would retaliate by bringing the Scorn into her throne world and subsequently taking command of them. He also serves as the final boss of the Vow of the Disciple Raid where he would meet his demise at the hands of Guardians.

Early Life
Rhulk was born on the planet Lubrae, a civilization that had been blessed by the Traveler but fell into a military dictatorship after it left. When The Witness arrived, the planet was already fracturing as one of its moons was being destroyed. Rhulk would be betrayed by his family, as they began to follow the dictatorship they originally despised, and he fell into an existential crisis. When The Witness arrived on the collapsing planet, it took in the troubled warrior and made him into one of its Disciples, possibly the first.

Fundament
Rhulk would later serve as the Witness’ instrument in subjugating the Worm Gods, forcing them to serve the aims of the Darkness. He swam into the depths of Fundament, meeting the Leviathan on the way and grievously injuring it by removing one of its ribs. Upon finding the Worm Gods at the core of the planet, he created a strain of miniature versions of the Worms, their so-called "larvae", which could be implanted into a host. He then left the Worm Gods to be found by the proto-Hive, abducting their sixth member and mother, Xita, the Nurturing Worm in order to use her to breed more Worm larvae.

Savathûn's Throne World
At some point Rhulk was ordered to station his Pyramid in Savathûn's Throne World, assisting Savathûn, the Witch Queen in the production of Worms for her brood. After her claim of light, he would be trapped within the Sunken Pyramid, blocked off from the rest of the realm thanks to her usage of the Wellspring. After Savathûn’s defeat by the hands of The Guardian, who was attempting to free the Traveler, along with numerous raids on the Wellspring by both the Guardians and the Scorn, the spell that once trapped Rhulk would begin to fade. Eventually the spell would break as the Guardians attempted to investigate the sunken Pyramid and were greeted by the Disciple, who invited the fireteam to enter. The Guardians were opposed by both Scorn and Taken forces marshalled by Rhulk, as they journeyed through the Pyramid, encountering Rhulk's vast collection of museum artifacts, including the rib he took from the Leviathan of Fundament, and The Caretaker, a Scorn Abomination Rhulk had infused with Worm larvae to grant it incredible power. After they reached him, he would see no use in them anymore and sought to eliminate them, resulting in a climactic battle. Though it was not an easy task, they would finally bring down and kill the Disciple.

As he died, Rhulk's body was contorted into what appeared to be a gnarled, leafless tree. The significance of this transformation is yet unknown.

Personality and Traits
Rhulk seems to be completely devoted to the Witness and despises the Guardians for the usage of Darkness. He is mildly egotistical, thinking he is above all who oppose him and even taunts the Guardians while fighting them. It seems that while in the Pyramid, he befriended the worm familiars and the Worm God, being the one who would have to create the worms for Savathün’s brood. He seems to like experimenting with the worm familiars as well, as in the Acquisition section of the raid, you can see frozen Scorn in containers with worms attached to them. These experiments may have failed.

Trivia

 * Rhulk's memories are the source the Glaive weapon class, as the Enigma was crafted by the Relic on Mars from an ancient fragment of a Glaive associated with Rhulk.
 * If one looks closely at Rhulk's six glowing "eyes", one can see that his top left eye is a symbol resembling that of the astrological symbol for Eris, while his middle-left eye resembles the split-circle symbol seen on the attire of both Elsie and Ana Bray. The remainder of his eyes resemble eight-pointed starbursts. The significance of these symbols in this context is unknown.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * The Witch Queen