The Guardian

"All of the after-action reports I've shown you about the Taken War, the calm state of the system... we have this Guardian to thank. I've attached more details, if you want to read evaluations from the Vanguard. Just skim Cayde's. He's... not very biased, here."

- Grimoire description

Biography
Centuries after the collapse, a Ghost scouring the ruins outside of the old Cosmodrome finds its Guardian among the ancient remains and resurrects them just as a band of Fallen begin encroaching on their position. Ghost leads the Guardian through The Wall in search of a Jumpship before helping them return to The City. At the Tower the Guardian is acquainted with the merchants and Guardians who reside there. The Guardian then returns to the Cosmodrome in order to find a Warp Drive which will allow them to join the fight beyond Earth. After finding one in Fallen hands, the Guardian defeats the Devil's Archon and gains an audience with the Speaker who confides in them that the Darkness is returning. Wanting to help, the Guardian is tasked to join the other Guardians in pushing back the Darkness until a cure for the Traveler can be found.

The Guardian ventures back to the Cosmodrome at the request of the Speaker who wants to know what the Fallen are protecting in the old Skywatch, but after infiltrating the Lunar Complex, the Guardian quickly discovers the Hive locked within before confronting the Wizard Gotra.

Soon after, the Vanguard reports Fallen crews tearing into machines all over the Cosmodrome. Convinced they are not just looting, Ghost prompts the Guardian to investigate. The Guardian discovers the Warmind Rasputin survived the Collapse and is keeping the Fallen from accessing the Array. In an effort to raise this array, the Guardian tracks down access codes held by members of a lost Dead Orbit team. After fighting off the Hive, the Guardian reactivates the Array and Rasputin swiftly takes control, connecting with defense constructs across the system.

On the Moon, the Guardian picks up the trail of another Guardian who went dark searching for a way into the Hive Fortress. After hacking a Golden Age colony base, the Guardian travels to the Temple of Crota where they fight off Exiled Fallen as well as Hive forces led by Vurok, Eir Spawn. Unable to save the Guardian, Ghost recovers his Ghost's memories and learns that the Hive are raising an army to invade Earth.

In an attempt to uncover what the Hive are planning, the Guardian infiltrates the The World's Grave and kills Kranox, the Graven. The Guardian's Ghost then steals as much data as possible before the two return to warn the City. Returning to the Moon, the Guardian infiltrates the Hellmouth once more and claims the Sword of Crota. With its makers slain, the Sword shatters. While inside the Hellmouth, the Guardian follows a lead from the vanished Warlock Osiris, seeking the fabled Shrine of Oryx. After killing Frigoris, Exiled Baron and his Fallen crew, the Guardian defeats Sardok, Eye of Oryx and destroys the Shrine.

After successfully decrypting the information from the World's Grave alongside the Cryptarchs, the Speaker broadcasts an urgent transmission to all Guardians claiming that a Hive ritual is draining the Traveler's Light. The Guardian then returns once more to the Hive temple and after receiving a message from the Exo Stranger, inviting them to come find her if they are successful, kills the Siphon Witches, effectively preventing them from stealing any more of the Light.

Following the Stranger's coordinates, the Guardian finally travels to Venus where they are ambushed by the evil robots known as Vex. After defeating the Vex forces in the vicinity, the Guardian meets with the Exo Stranger, who tells them that they must find the Black Garden and rip out its heart in order for the Traveler to heal. Before the Guardian can ask anymore questions, the Exo Stranger is contacted by an unknown entity before dissolving. With the only ones who know the location of the Garden being the Awoken, the Guardian seeks an audience with the Queen of the Reef and is informed that they must obtain the eye of a Vex Gate Lord in order to infiltrate the Black Garden. The Queen then reminds the Guardian that they owe her in exchange for her information.

To find a Gate Lord, the Guardian travels to an old research station of the Ishtar Collective, and analyzes a Vex mind core, giving them vital intel on the nature of the Vex as well as the means with which to summon the Gate Lord. While at the Ishtar Academy, the Guardian kills Graliks, Winter Baron and secures an ancient Golden Age Archive for the Cryptarchs. Armed with this new intel, the Guardian reaches the Endless Steps, summoning and slaying Zydron, Gate Lord. Returning to the Reef, the Guardian brings the Gate Lord's head before the Queen, who gifts its eye to them in sympathy for their Traveler. Uldren then gives them the coordinates to the Black Garden including a way to repower the Gate Lord's dead eye.

On Mars, the Guardian infiltrates a Cabal survey post and secures their research into the Vex Spire. Along the way, the Guardian clears out the Cabal occupying the ruins of Freehold and explores what remains. Battling their way through a Cabal hardpoint, the Guardian reaches the Garden's Spire and kills Primus Sha'aul. While en route to the Garden, the Guardian also shuts down a series of Vex gates beneath the subway tunnels of Freehold, and discovers that the Vex are being summoned to protect the place where they were born. Succefully recharging Zydron's Eye, the Guardian is transported to the Black Garden.

Within the Black Garden, the Guardian confronts the Sol Progeny and defeats them, destroying the Black Heart in the process. Returned to Mars upon the Heart's destruction, the Guardian is summoned back to the Tower, where the Speaker gives a victory speech. Meanwhile, the Exo Stranger converses with the Guardian inside the Hangar and gifts them with her Rifle before leaving abruptly again. The Guardian then repowers their ship and takes off into orbit as they prepare for their next mission.

Return of Crota, Son of Oryx
Eris Morn, the last survivor of a fireteam who went to the Moon to stop the Hive god Crota, is looking for Guardians to help her. The Hive's return to Earth is but a prelude to the return of Crota, whom his followers are attempting to awaken. Eris sends the player into the Cosmodrome to stop the invaders, especially after they attempt to kill Rasputin. She then sends the player to stop the Hive's awakening ritual on the Moon. After eliminating Crota's generals, the player finishes off Crota himself in his netherworld, the Oversoul Throne, deep within the Hellmouth.

House of Wolves Rebellion
The Reef is embroiled in civil war as the House of Wolves, a Fallen house whom the Queen had conquered during the Reef Wars, are now in open rebellion. Their leader, Skolas, has declared himself the Kell of Kells and wishes to unite the Fallen under his banner. The Queen has summoned the Guardians to aid her in ending the rebellion, in return for the Reef's treasures. The player is aided by Petra Venj and Variks, The Loyal, with whom they search for Skolas and put a stop to his plans. After failing to seize control of the House of Devils and House of Kings, Skolas instead attempts to seize control of the Vault of Glass and the Vex technology within. The player finally captures him atop the Citadel, stopping him from summoning his entire House through time from the Vex's time portals. Skolas is sent back to the Prison of Elders, where he's finished off once and for all.

The Taken War
Oryx, the father of Crota, has come with his Hive fleet to avenge his fallen son. Using his terrible power, Oryx creates a new army called the Taken, and lays siege to the entire solar system. The Awoken fleet lead by Queen Mara Sov attempt to stop him before he can enter the Inner System, but they are utterly destroyed. He then starts Taking the Cabal stationed on Phobos who send out a distress signal, which catches the Vanguard's attention. Responding to the distress signal, the player is sent to investigate. Upon seeing the devastation, the player is confronted by a vision of Oryx, who tells the player that he is there to pay back humanity for his son's death. Realizing the threat that laid before them, Cayde-6 crafts a plan with the player to sneak aboard Oryx's Dreadnaught. Though they are successful, they cannot enter Oryx's inner sanctum until the player becomes Ascendant; Eris helps the player recover the last fragments of Crota's Soul, allowing entry into Oryx's chambers, where they duel. Though Oryx's physical form was defeated, he retreated even further into the ship, recovering his strength. Meanwhile, the Guardians work towards pushing the Taken out of the system. Once Oryx's lieutenants, the Court of Oryx, have been defeated the Guardians push deeper into the Dreadnaught to seek out Oryx within his Ascendant realm. There, he confronted the Fireteam of Guardians sent to kill him once and for all with his full might, even pulling them into a Darkness dimension. But in the end, using Light stolen from his pawns, Oryx was slain permanently.

Siva Crisis
The Fallen House of Devils, while looting ancient tombs from the Golden Age, accidentally unearth a self replicating nano-technology plague known as SIVA within the depths of the Old Cosmodrome. This plague mutates the Devils into powerful machine gods which collapsed The Wall in Old Russia, prompting Lord Saladin, the last of the Iron Lords, to leave his post as the Handler of the Iron Banner and personally lead the Guardians in a final stand against the plague, raising a new generation of Iron Lords to guard the Last City.

The Red War
The Guardian attempted to disorganize the enemy by disabling the Cabal command ship and though they succeeded in infiltrating the ship and in destroying the Shield generators, no reinforcements could make it, and they were confronted by Dominus Ghaul himself. There the Cabal Emperor activated the Light-restraining device upon the Traveler, encasing it in a force field. This act cut the Guardians off from the Traveler's Light, effectively crippling them. Ghaul savagely beat the weakened Guardian, even sending them off of his command ship along with their Ghost, plummeting to the devastated city below. Barely surviving the fall, the Guardian linked up with others, and with little choice, they evacuated the Last City.

Despite Ghaul's success in attacking the City, the Guardian refused to give up the fight, and after setting up a camp in the European Dead Zone, they sought out to gain new powers and began developing a counterattack against the Red Legion.

Gallery
 File:Lone.jpg|The Guardian looks over the landscape of Titan. 

List of appearances

 * Destiny Alpha
 * Destiny Beta
 * Destiny
 * The Dark Below
 * House of Wolves
 * The Taken King
 * April Update
 * Rise of Iron
 * The Dawning
 * Age of Triumph
 * Destiny 2 Beta
 * Destiny 2