Hive: Difference between revisions

The '''Hive''' is one of the races encountered among the ruins of [[Human|humanity's]] [[Golden Age]]. They are one of the few races that serve the [[Darkness]] directly and are encountered on the [[Moon]] where they have built the [[Hellmouth]] and also certain regions on [[Earth]] as well.{{citation needed}}

The Hive are an "impossibly ancient" race born from a pact with the [[Worm|Worm Gods]]. Hive structures delve deep into wherever they lay claim to, unheeding of the damage done in the process, crafting linked caverns and gothicesque columns; these underground spaces resemble a dungeon recently pulled up after an extended period underwater.<ref name = "GIJ2014">[http://www.gameinformer.com/games/destiny/b/playstation4/archive/2014/04/04/a-player-39-s-journey.aspx?PostPageIndex=4 '''Game Informer January 2014''', ''page 55'']</ref> They are able to manipulate the physical world in ways humanity can only begin to imagine,<ref>[http://www.destinythegame.com/au/en/game/enemies/hive '''Bungie''': ''Hive'']</ref> and have witnessed the [[Darkness]] consume countless worlds in the past.<ref name = "Destiny">'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard</ref>

The Hive are not an enemy military so much as rising force.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-6-12)''', ''Destiny: Alpha PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Acolyte|Acolyte]]''</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eAbpZfqE8r4 '''YouTube''': ''Official Destiny Gameplay Trailer: The Moon'']</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvIZUrB92fI '''Youtube''': ''Destiny Gameplay Walkthrough - Alpha Part 1'']</ref> The Guardians eventually discover that this is just the beginning; the Hive have been building an army and intend to invade Earth en masse.<ref name = "Beta">'''Bungie (2014-7-17)''', ''Destiny: Beta PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard</ref>

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 [[Ammonite]]s who were overseen by the [[Traveler]].<ref name="Curiosity">[http://db.destinytracker.com/grimoire/enemies/darkness/calcified-fragments-curiosity '''Destiny Tracker''' - ''Grimoire: Calcified Fragments: Curiosity'']</ref><ref name="Shadows">[http://db.destinytracker.com/grimoire/enemies/books-of-sorrow '''Destiny Tracker''' - ''Grimoire: Books of Sorrow'']</ref>

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 [[Stormjoy|Stormjoys]] would prey on the populace, and the proto-Hive frequently warred with each other.<ref name="Shadows"/>

The progenitors of the contemporary Hive were [[Xivu Arath|Xi Ro]], [[Savathûn|Sathona]], and [[Oryx|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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

Deep within the Fundament Ocean, the sisters encountered the [[Worm]]s, 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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

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.<ref name="Shadows"/> Since then they have waged war upon the rest of the universe, having exterminated other races such as the [[Ammonite]]s, the [[Ecumene]], the [[Dakaua]], the [[Harmony]], the [[Qugu]], and the [[Taishibethi]].

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 [[Ammonite]]s 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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

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 [[Darkness|the Deep]] and created the Tablets of Ruin, which gave him the power to [[Taken|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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

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, Deathsinger|Ir Anûk]] and [[Ir Halak, Deathsinger|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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

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.<ref name="Shadows"/>

Out of revenge, the [[Warlock]] [[Eriana-3]] led five other Guardians in an attempt to kill Crota, but Crota managed to evade permanent death by escaping his [[Ascendant Realm]] with the Hive capturing his soul in order to be placed in a crystal in the real world.<ref>Bungie (2014-9-9), Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Activities#Crota's_End|Crota's End]]</ref><ref name="Crota">Bungie (2014-9-9), Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Crota,_Son_of_Oryx|Crota, Son of Oryx]]</ref>  Only one of the Guardians, [[Eris Morn]], survived to tell the tale. Crota's sect also plays a major role in his attempted revival which threatened the whole [[City]] of the possibility of a full-scale Hive invasion. The crystal tethering his soul in the [[Chamber of Night]] would be destroyed, banishing him from the physical world and thereby preventing the invasion. Crota himself was not truly destroyed until another team of six Guardians confronted him in the [[Oversoul Throne]], entered from the deepest pit of the [[Hellmouth]]; where he is finally killed permanently.<ref name = "Dark Below">Bungie (2014-12-9), Destiny: The Dark Below, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard</ref>

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. [[Shrine of Oryx|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]]".<ref>'''Bungie (2015-2-26)''', ''Destiny'', Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Spawn of Crota|Spawn of Crota]]</ref> 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.<ref name="Grimoire">'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Blood of Oryx|Blood of Oryx]]''</ref><ref name = "PD">[http://planetdestiny.com/taken-king-analysis/ '''Planet Destiny''': The Taken King Trailer Analysis]</ref>

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.<ref name = "KotakuKing">[http://kotaku.com/leak-destinys-new-expansion-is-the-taken-king-out-sep-1709972043 '''Kotaku''' - ''Leak: Destiny's New Expansion Is The Taken King, Out September 15'']</ref><ref name = "PD">[http://planetdestiny.com/taken-king-analysis/ '''Planet Destiny''': The Taken King Trailer Analysis]</ref> 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.{{citation needed}}

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 [[Echo of Oryx|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.{{citation needed}}

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.{{citation needed}}

Apart from a glyph-based writing system.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 3, Activision Blizzard, [[Silken Codex]]''</ref> 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.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Crota,_Son_of_Oryx|Crota, Son of Oryx]]''</ref> 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.<ref name="Planetview">[https://www.destinyplanetview.com/en/home '''Destiny Planet View''']</ref> 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 [[The Forsaken|two Forsaken Ogres]]. <ref>'''Bungie (2014-12-9)''', ''Destiny: The Dark Below, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#The_Forsaken|The Forsaken]]''</ref> 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<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Blades_of_Crota|Blades of Crota]]''</ref>. He has since disappeared, but the Hive, particularly the [[Spawn of Crota]], await his return.<ref name = "Spawn Crota">'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Spawn_of_Crota|Spawn of Crota]]''</ref> 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,<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Blood_of_Oryx|Blood of Oryx]]''</ref> and through his shrines he maintains contact with his force spread across the universe.<ref name = "Destiny"/> 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.<ref name = "Spawn Crota"/> Other deities include the greater Worm Gods Eir, Ur, Xol, and Yul. Like Crota, they have disciples named after them.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Ghost_Fragment:_Hive_4|Ghost Fragment: Hive 4]]''</ref>

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.{{citation needed}}

Several varieties or "morphs" 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.{{citation needed}}

Hive are born from pupae, much like colonial insects, and they feed on worms that they swallow whole.<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies#Ghost_Fragment:_Hive_2|Ghost Fragment: Hive 2]]''</ref> Hive are capable of [[wikipedia:sequential hermaphroditism|sequential hermaphroditism]]; Oryx, born the female Aurash, became the male Auryx after assuming the unique "king morph",<ref>'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]: PlayStation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XV:_Born_As_Prey|XV: Born As Prey]]''</ref> while Knights are capable of either sex.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/Books_of_Sorrow#XII:_Out_of_the_Deep|XII: Out of the Deep]]''</ref><ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] Playstation 4, Activision Blizzard, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire/Enemies/The_Taken#Mengoor_and_Cra.27adug|Mengoor and Cra'adug]]''</ref>

*The Hive and the Taken are the first races to work together within the ''Destiny'' series.{{citation needed}}