Shaxx

Shaxx
Biographical information
Homeworld:	Earth
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Guardian Vanguard
Rank:	Crucible Handler
Class:	Titan (Striker)
Notable info:	Hero of Twilight Gap Master Swordsmith

"What the forge does to your Light must be respected, and feared. That path is not for everyone.[...] That forge breaks the brittle. And it bends the weak. But the strong, the strong walk away steeled and tempered. Unbreakable."

— Lord Shaxx

Lord Shaxx is the manager of the Crucible and a vendor for Crucible-related items. He is found in the Tower near the Vanguard. However, in Destiny 2 he is located in the Courtyard, behind the vaults. He is assisted in his duties by Arcite 99-40, the Crucible Quartermaster. He does not serve as a vendor in Destiny 2. Lord Shaxx also serves as the announcer in the Crucible, with the exception of the monthly Iron Banner tournament, which is hosted by Lord Saladin.

Biography

Defender of the Last City

Shaxx's past is largely unknown but during the first years of the City Age he traveled to the famous camp that would eventually become The Last City, helping to build the city alongside people such as a younger Speaker and Zavala. Shaxx also fought alongside Zavala and Lord Saladin Forge during the Battle of Six Fronts and participated in the construction of the Last City's Wall and the Towers. He and Zavala became students of Saladin, although they did not join the Iron Lords.

Shaxx later fought in the Battle of the Twilight Gap, leading the counterattack that routed the Fallen from the City's walls. The loss of so many Guardians in the battle caused Shaxx to fear that the Last City could not withstand another full-scale assault. He decided that he would mentor young Guardians in the Crucible in order to ensure the next generation of Guardians would be forged into the best warriors possible and would only return to the war outside of the City once his task was accomplished. The battle also resulted in a falling out between Shaxx and his mentor Saladin and Commander Zavala. Others have attempted to get the three Titans to sort out their differences after the battle, but their stubborn nature prevented those efforts from working. Due to their disputes, Shaxx has little to do with Saladin's Iron Banner event, despite having been given oversight of the matches.

In the meantime, he deploys squads of Redjacks assisted by Guardians to claim new Crucible and SRL sites.

Shaxx is also highly cautious and tactical but equally fierce when it comes to dealing with the Last City's enemies, more so than most would admit. An example being the aftermath of the Battle of Burning Lake, the first battle with the Hive. Knowing the need to know more about their foes to develop countermeasures against the Hive Knights Light-stealing swords, Shaxx boldly entered the Consensus Hall to get them to call off the invasion to reclaim the Moon, believing the City isn't prepared to face such forces. Despite his fierce protests and attempts to convince Zalava of the danger, his pleas were discarded. The resulting battle to reclaim the Moon ended in complete failure, eventually coming to be referred to as the Great Disaster, as thousands of Guardians perished at the hands of Crota, Son of Oryx and his spawn. How Shaxx reacted to this is unknown but no doubt he was saddened at the deaths of so many Guardians but became more determined to prepare the Guardians to face such evil.

The Crucible handler was also present during the schism between the infamous exile, Osiris, and his former teacher, the Speaker. While Shaxx didn't have an opinion on Osiris at the time, he grew irritated that his "messages" began to spread and cause strife among the Guardians and the City itself. Shaxx even had to personally break up a few fights before they got of hand.

Master of the Crucible

As the head of the Crucible, Shaxx often had to deal with the politics of the City's Consensus and weapons foundries. He was approached by Modris Wyndham and Sya Droysen, two representatives of Tex Mechanica who wanted him to fix Crucible fights to make their weapons look good. Pretending to consider their offer, he asked them to meet him in a abandoned district of the City. However, he instead had Arcite 99-60 contact them with a message declaring that they were not the first to try and subvert the integrity of the Crucible and that he did not care if the Consensus did not believe their actions illegal. Shaxx then had them presented a choice: either ten Titans could crash through their factory on "business", or Tex Mechanica could find a way to make up their mistake up to him.

While talking with Cayde-6 about the greatest Titans who had ever lived, Shaxx expressed his belief that Saint-14 was dead. Cayde noted they had no idea what the former Titan Vanguard's status was, but Shaxx doubted that the Exo had simply disappeared. They then discussed Saint's eccentric nature, which Shaxx believed was his strength, although Cayde mocked Saint's claim that he had seen the future and saw a Guardian savior who would one day arrive. Shaxx stated that belief was a hell of thing, and the left to watch a Crucible match that a new recruit from Old Russia that he had his eye on was debuting in.

Around the time of Crota's defeat, rumors abounded in the Tower regarding Shaxx's connections to Osiris, which caused the Speaker to launch a formal investigation. Shaxx was outraged by this, and sent a letter to the Speaker declaring that he followed no one and found most ideologies espoused by Guardians like Osiris or Ulan-Tan to be flawed, but that he did think that Osiris' belief that the minds and bodies of Guardians could be sharpened like one sharpens a sword correct, and that the results in the Crucible spoke for themselves.

During The Dawning, Cayde-6 conned him into loosening up to mingle with the City's children after Shaxx failed to outrun his Golden Gun in a bet, a feat that Shaxx grudgingly accepted once he started training two kids in the ways of the Crucible. He was vindicated when one of those kids discreetly hit Cayde with a ball. On the way back to the Tower, he once again bet that he could beat the Golden Gun, and Cayde happily accepted.

Lord Shaxx is also an expert on swordplay, and plays a critical component in aiding Guardians in crafting their own swords in The Taken King. His interest in swords began with the battle of Burning Lake, where the Guardians first fought the Hive and learned of their Sword-Logic the hard way, with Crota, Son of Oryx slaughtering countless Guardians with his fabled blade. He'd taken it upon himself to learn of how to reverse-engineer the Hive's swords to make them into weapons of light.

The Red War

"If the Red Legion want war, give them war!"

— Shaxx.

During the invasion of the Last City, Lord Shaxx aided in the evacuation of civilians in the Tower and gave Guardians access to his personal armory to fend off the Red Legion. Upon the fall of the Last City, an enraged Lord Shaxx retaliated by hijacking some of the Cabal's capital ships and converted them into Crucible arenas. Even though he couldn't coordinate the Crucible from the Last City, Shaxx refuses to close it down and so for a time, he organizes new matches from The Farm.

He was a part of the strike team led by Zavala to free the Traveler from Cabal hands, but was separated along with Arcite 99-40 and other Guardians from Zavala and Suraya Hawthorne when the Cabal blocked their path with an Energy barrier.

Once the Last City was liberated from the Red Legion and the Traveler awakened, Shaxx moves from the Farm and once again organizes Crucible matches from the Last City in the new Tower.

Quotes

Destiny 1

• "That Hunter's got a big mouth. Guess he can back it up though."
• "Would love to get Zavala back in the Crucible. Teach the new breed how it's done."
• "Warlocks might be thinkers, but most I know can hold their own."
• "The Darkness might as well come right in and take the place if that's all we've got."
• "You think you can fight Fallen without training? They'll put your head on the spike."
• "Something bad's going down on the Moon."
• "You want to take on the Cabal? You've got to train, or they'll stomp you flat."
• "New Monarchy will have to wait."
• "Future War Cult's getting antsy. They must be preparing for something."
• "Ikora's gift from the Light is like few I've ever seen."
• "Dead Orbit's not in charge of the Crucible. I am."
• "You want the Crucible? I am the Crucible."
• "Cayde ran through the Crucible like as if it was a game...Sly Exo."
• "Let them burn in your Light"—when going on a 10-kill streak
• "I abhor sitting here while others fight my battles. But I wouldn't have missed that match for anything."—when going on a 10-kill streak.
• "Your strategy is working, keep it up"—when your team's points are significantly larger than the opponents
• "I would tear out a Vex heart with my teeth, I would sear the Cabal with my burning light, challenge the Kells to personal combat and scatter them. I- I've been watching too many Crucible matches."
• "Your spirit is unrivaled. Show me more!"
• "Enough! This battle was one-sided! You've obliterated them! Love it!"—when invoking the Mercy Rule in the Crucible.
• "Do you like it better when Lord Saladin oversees these matches? Do I look like I care? Get back in there!"
• "Your legend grows."
• "This is amazing!"- When going on a 5-kill streak.
• "Fight forever Guardian!"
• "Get back out there."
• "Wipe. Them. Out."
• "Look at them fall!"
• "I can't believe what I'm seeing!"
• "I'm not gonna tell you how I lost the horn; you couldn't handle it."
• "I will tell you how I lost my horn, but it doesn't live up to slaying Oryx."
• "Securing the Crest is vital. Good work."
• "Heh. You're crushing them. Send them home crying."
• "I say take the Crest; you take all the Crests."

Destiny 2

• "Ikora would be proud of you, Warlock!" - when getting a five-kill streak as a Warlock
• "Fought like a Titan of the First Pillar!" - when getting a five-kill streak as a Titan
• "Hunters like you blaze a path for the rest of us!" - when getting a five-kill streak as a Hunter
• "YYEESS!" - when shutting down a Guardian using their Super with your own
• "Who says Warlocks are better with books than with guns? OK... it was me. But I was lying. Rage is an excellent motivator."
• "I don't even know who to be angry at!" - When tied in overtime
• "What? Where's my catharsis? Boo! Boooooooo!" - When tied in overtime
• "That can't be right. Really?" - When tied in overtime
• "Was that all of them? THAT WAS ALL OF THEM?" - when getting a "Leave None Standing" medal
• "Stop it! You're SCARING THEM!" - when getting a "Leave None Standing" medal in close quarters

Personality and Traits

Bold, proud and fierce are the words that could best define Lord Shaxx. Next to Zavala, Shaxx is a perfect exemplar of the Titan Guardian. The Crucible handler is completely dedicated to the mission in preparing the Guardians for whatever force the Darkness brings, acting as a tough but encouraging mentor to them. He praises those who perform admirably or put up a decent fight while being harsh to those who fall short, normally berating them to do better. Despite this, Shaxx doesn't see a match lost as failure but as a lesson to learn from, as he explained to the children he trained during the Dawning. In addition, Shaxx normally looks for ways to create new challenges in the Crucible, either in new maps or match types, as he doesn't want the Guardians to grow complacent to the regular matches.

Shaxx takes his responsibilities in the Crucible very seriously but is aware of how most look upon the Crucible as a glorified arena and how the Consensus factions and Weapons Foundries use it to further their agendas. For this reason, he is uncompromising on how he runs it, refusing to let others try to influence it or even cheat. For example, when Tex Mechanica sought to bribe him to make their weapons look better, an unimpressed Shaxx threatened to send squads of Titans on the representatives unless they changed their offer. Another reason he's distrustful of the Consensus is how they launched the mission to reclaim the moon from the Hive, despite his loud protests on learning more about their enemies, resulted in nothing but the slaughter of countless Guardians.

In addition, Shaxx doesn't have a high opinion on the philosophies and religions that have taken form in the City. In his opinion, he is no "follower" of anything but the forging of better Guardians. Shaxx believes that thanatology is just an excuse for insomnia, that Ahamkaras are for cheaters, the Acataleptic belief that the Darkness is incomprehensible to be pessimistic nihilism, and its opposite—the Osirian position that the Darkness must be understood—to be misanthropic narcissism.

Lord Shaxx also possess a nearly unbreakable will, as he simply refuses to give up on any obstacle, whether it is in battle or researching a difficult weapon like the Swords. Even when the Last City fell and Zavala began to lose faith, Shaxx never faltered in their chances in defeating the Red Legion and reclaiming the Last City.

At times, Shaxx can be prideful, as he refuses to back down from a challenge and rarely accepts defeat, even from Cayde-6, which led to him losing a bet. Even so, he honors his end of a bet, as Shaxx agreed, albeit grudgingly, to train a few children in a game of dodge ball, in a manner similar to the Crucible. In addition, his falling out with Saladin left both refusing to apologize for what divided them. Regardless, he has worked with Saladin in operating the Iron Banner.

While most of the other individuals in the Tower have respect for at least one class of Guardian, Lord Shaxx respects them all, normally finding the best qualities in each and never favoring one over the others.

Gameplay

Destiny 2

Shaxx serves as the Crucible Overseer. Turn in Crucible Tokens earned during player-vs-player combat to receive Crucible armour and weapons.

Faction Armour

• Titan - Phoenix Strife Type 0 set
• Hunter - Swordflight 4.1 set
• Warlock - Ankaa Seeker IV set

Faction Weapons

• Does Not Compute
• Better Devils
• Martyr's Make
• Last Perdition
• Retrofuturist
• Steel Sybil Z-14
• Gentleman Vagabond
• Critical Sass
• Play of the Game

Trivia

• Shaxx will get angry if the player's team is far behind on points in Control.
• Apparently, Lord Shaxx does not really care for the Festival of the Lost and its obligation for him to give Guardians candy, in his own words he says "This is ridiculous". Possibly, he believes Guardians should focus more on fighting the Darkness and less on festivities.
  • That being said, he wore a Tiger Man mask for the 2015 Festival.
• In contrast to the Festival, he respects the racing tournaments of the SRL, the Crimson Days tournaments and the heroes who partake in it.
• During the Destiny 2 cinematic trailer featuring Zavala, during the scenes with the founding of the Last City, Shaxx can be seen in the background with his helmet bearing both horns. How he lost the other horn is unknown.
• During the Destiny 2 mission Homecoming, while defending civilians, Lord Shaxx wields the exotic sword Raze-Lighter.
• According to Lord Saladin, Lord Shaxx is very shy. Though, this could just be Saladin jesting.
• A popular saying has spread amongst the inhabitants of the Tower: "It isn't over till Shaxx sings". Shaxx himself has taken the saying to heart, repeating the line to Crucible participants, but adding "And I never sing."
• If a Guardian is victorious in the Crucible, Shaxx sometimes admits that he regards them as his favorite Guardian, claiming, "You fight like an animal!"

List of appearances

• Destiny (First appearance)
  • The Taken King
• Destiny 2