Taken
| The Taken | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Classification | Darkness-corrupted beings (not a species) |
| Homeworld | None; drawn from many species |
| Leadership | Oryx (the first); later Savathûn, Xivu Arath, and the Witness |
| Allegiance | The Darkness; bound to whoever Took them |
| Subgroups | Corrupted Hive, Vex, Cabal, and Fallen |
| First appearance | Destiny: The Taken King (2015) |
The Taken are not a species of their own. They are individual Hive, Vex, Cabal, Fallen, and even Awoken who have been "Taken": ripped out of reality and into the Darkness, then returned stripped of their will and bound to a master. What comes back keeps the shape of the creature it was, but it is remade as an obedient, paracausal slave with new and dangerous powers.
The power to Take was first wielded by Oryx, the Taken King, who used it to build a personal army that obeys without question. Since his death the same power has passed to other hands, and the Taken have served several masters across the Sol System.
What the Taken Are
A Taken creature is a hollowed-out version of its former self. Taken are pale and blackened at once, wreathed in smoke and lit by a harsh white glow, and a bright orb usually hides the face. They twitch and shiver, their voices warped into shrieks. Whatever they once were, the Taking strips away their free will and replaces it with absolute loyalty to the one who Took them.
In exchange, the Taking grants powers their living counterparts never had. A Taken unit may shield its allies, teleport, fire homing projectiles, or raise bubbles of immunity. Where the Taken gather, a corrupting shadow called Blight tends to spread, forming spheres that protect nearby Taken, deny ground, and serve as doorways back to the Darkness.
The Power to Take
Oryx gained the power to Take long ago by killing the Worm God Akka and recording its secrets on the Tablets of Ruin. He used it as the ultimate expression of the Sword Logic, turning his defeated enemies into weapons against their own kind.
Much later lore revealed a deeper source: the power ultimately came from the Witness, which granted only a limited form of it to servants like Oryx. The Witness commands Taking on a far greater scale than any Hive god, moving whole armies, and even worlds, between realities.
Masters of the Taken
- Oryx: the originator, who raised the first Taken army.
- Savathûn: could not Take on her own, so she used the Taken Vex mind Quria to study the power and create her own Taken.
- Xivu Arath: inherited the leaderless Taken after Quria's destruction and makes new ones through long rituals.
- The Witness: the greatest wielder, whose Taken in the Pale Heart carry orange eyes.
- Riven: the Taken Ahamkara who, at her height, commanded the Taken throughout the Dreaming City.
History
The Taken War
When Guardians killed his son Crota, Oryx brought his ship the Dreadnaught into the Sol System and unleashed the Taken across its worlds, Taking Fallen, Vex, Cabal, and his own Hive alike. Guardians boarded the Dreadnaught and killed Oryx in the raid King's Fall, but the Taken did not die with him. His leaderless army lingered, waiting for a new hand, and the prince Malok briefly tried to claim it.
The Dreaming City
Oryx had also Taken Riven, the last Ahamkara, who later served Savathûn. During Forsaken, Guardians killed Riven in the raid Last Wish, but her dying wish locked the Dreaming City into a three-week curse driven by the Hive Wizard Dûl Incaru. The Taken have held the Dreaming City as a stronghold ever since.
Service to the Witness
After Quria's destruction the Taken passed to Xivu Arath, and later to the Witness itself. During The Final Shape, Witness-commanded Taken fought in the Pale Heart alongside the Dread and the Hive, until the Witness was undone and the Taken were left without a master once more.
Combatants
Taken units behave very differently from their living forms, and each gains a new power when Taken.
- From the Hive
- Taken Thrall: rushers that teleport short distances.
- Taken Acolyte: deploy Acolyte's Eye turrets and fire arcing shots that hit over cover.
- Taken Knight: pour out a wall of fire and teleport to reposition.
- Taken Wizard: Void-shielded casters that summon Shadow Thralls.
- Taken Ogre: fire a knockback eye-blast that builds in speed.
- From the Vex
- Taken Goblin: project an immunity shield onto a nearby ally.
- Taken Hobgoblin: fire a homing retaliation shot whenever they are hit.
- Taken Minotaur: stay cloaked until shot enough.
- Taken Hydra: durable bosses that can summon more Taken.
- From the Fallen
- Taken Vandal: raise a protective sphere and snipe from within it.
- Taken Captain: hurl blinding orbs of Darkness and blink away.
- Chimera: Taken Servitors that fire Void blasts and seekers.
- From the Cabal
- Taken Psion: split into full-health copies if not killed fast.
- Taken Phalanx: fire shield blasts that shove Guardians back.
- Taken Centurion: Arc-shielded, teleporting commanders that launch homing Axion Darts.
Notable Taken
- Oryx, the Taken King: the originator and master of the Taken.
- Riven of a Thousand Voices: the last Ahamkara, Taken within the Dreaming City.
- Quria, Blade Transform: the Vex mind through which Savathûn learned to Take.
- Malok, Pride of Oryx: a Taken Hive prince who tried to seize Oryx's throne.
- The corrupted Techeuns (Kalli, Shuro Chi, and Sedia): Awoken witches Taken by Oryx, later freed.
Fighting the Taken
Destroy Blight spheres to lift the "Shadow Touched" effect, which kills your sprint, double jump, and recovery. Taken Captains blind and teleport, so deal with them early. Taken Psions split into copies if left alive, so focus them down. Taken Goblins shield an ally with full immunity, so kill the Goblin first; Taken Hobgoblins punish every hit with a homing shot; and Taken Centurions throw Axion Darts that round corners, which you can shoot to detonate safely.
Trivia
- The Taken are the first faction in Destiny that does not attack other factions; they fight only for their master.
- Per Asher Mir, Taking the Vex is risky, because the radiolaria can convert anything it touches, even the Taken.
- Concept art shows Taken units Taking other enemies, something never seen in the game.