This page details the species of ever-expanding machines that have relative power over time and space and, like the Hive, similarly invade the Solar system for dominion.

The Vex

"Living metal, incomprehensible force."

A linked-mind species of liquid radiolarian fluids inhabiting mechanical bodies which lurk in vast complexes and ruins throughout the Solar System. While they are most commonly encountered on Mars and Venus, they have also claimed and transformed Mercury into one of their "machine worlds" and have subjected 7066 Nessus to the same fate and are in the process of converting the Jovian moon Io. They have a terrifying mastery of time and reality-manipulation.

Beware of unmarked spoilers.

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In General

Achilles' Heel: Even aside from their overall weakness to paracausality, the Taken appear to especially pose a threat to the Vex - every time they have come into conflict, it's never gone well for the Vex, always requiring Guardians come in and deal with the Taken, lest they infect the entire Network. The Vex themselves seem to begrudgingly realize this, and multiple times they've deliberately opened their network to the Guardians entirely to get the Taken off their back.
Acid-Trip Dimension: As revealed in Season of the Splicer, the actual physical manifestation of their network as an extraspatial dimension is a massive, predominately green-and-purple liminal space filled with geometric shapes and Tron Lines. Coupled with the platforming-heavy cognitive spaces of the Oppressive Minds, it's no wonder observation can mess with one's head after a while.
Alien Blood: Played With. Killing Vex by shooting their abdomens will cause them to explode in a splatter of milky white fluid. The fluid itself is actually their natural form.
Alternate Timeline: The Vault of Glass serves as a meeting point for multiple universes and timelines that the Vex work in, allowing them to manipulate events and patterns and experiment with the flow of time. The interior of the Vex gate network is an alternate universe akin to the Hive ascendant realms, only where time flows much faster than in our universe. A few minutes outside can end up being an entire decade inside. There are hints that the Vex gate network is also non-linear, allowing one to enter and exit it at different points in time on the end of the normal universe.
Always Chaotic Evil: The Vex are the only faction from base Destiny to have absolutely zero sympathetic members - the Fallen and Cabal both have honorable members and eventually make Heel Race Turns in Destiny 2, the Hive have sympathetic reasons for being as monsterous as they are, and even the Taken and the Scorn have the excuse of being corrupted by the Darkness in irrecoverable ways. The Vex, by contrast, have no sympathetic members, motives, or history, and just want to assimilate everything. Justified in that the Vex are a single mind with multiple different personalities spread across their millions of bodies - they are effectively one person, so they have no room for variation.
Ambiguous Situation: The Collector's Edition of The Final Shape throws a massive wrench into the alleged origins of the Vex. "Unveiling" originally claimed they were a byproduct of the clash between Light and Darkness that created the universe, but "Entelechy" frequently makes reference to "glass minds" the Witness's former species used to see the future, glass bringing to mind Atheon and the Vault of Glass. Coupled with the fact that the Sol Divisive somehow remember the fall of the Witness's government/the Consensus, it raises a number of possibilities as to what's really going on: were the glass minds Vex all along, and the Consensus just didn't know it yet? Is "Unveiling" even more of a lie by the Penitent to make themselves look more important than they really are? Or is the question irrelevant because of the "pattern" and the Vex's ability to Time Travel?
Arch-Enemy: While it's difficult to say if something like the Vex can truly have an archnemesis, the Exo Stranger reserves a particular hatred toward them and, according to Praedyth, she shows up in every Vex timeline trying to stop them. Saint-14 was also a deadly enemy of the Vex, and he spent literally centuries fighting them, to the point that they had to create a specialized, unique Axis Mind solely to kill him.
The Assimilator: All Vex technology is, in one way or another, a component in their efforts to assimilate the universe into their endless patterns and constructs. They convert both entire planets as well as living creatures into their massive machines and complexes, and one facility on Io, the Pyramidion, is built specifically to convert living beings into Vex. They're so focused on conversion and assimilating things into more of themselves that even simple exposure to the radiolarian fluids in their mind cores can begin turning someone into a Vex construct. There are some suggestions that the robotic bodies of the Vex were each once a living being converted by the assimilating mind-fluid.
- According to the Unveiling lore book, the Vex are actually a remnant of the initial conflict between the Light and Darkness, as a surviving pattern of possibility that had crushed all other forms of potential life before the universe began. This "vexing" pattern escaped the battle between Light and Dark and managed to survive in the universe that was created, and continues its basic pattern of absorbing all other life and creating its own unique pattern just as it did before the universe existed.
Attack Its Weak Point: Unlike most of the humanoid creatures in the game, the basic Vex's weak spot is the glowing light in its abdomen. Blowing its head off just makes them more aggressive. That being said though, they're still easier to deal with while headless.
Belief Makes You Stupid: According to the "Aspect" lorebook, the Vex subscribe to this ideology and specifically make a mockery of the Warlock Pujari for his writings. They are also aware his name means "priest" in Hindi and use that against him, and he is later declared dead at their hands.
Bizarre Alien Biology: The Radiolarian Fluid, or "Vex Milk," that marks a Vex unit's weak point and floods the worlds they have overtaken, is what the Vex actually are — vast colonies of protozoa in a nutrient soup, who can network to form calculation engines. Individual Radiolarians can be likened to individual brain cells, making Vex worlds literal planet-sized brains.
Black Box: Lightfall implies them not being able to understand paracausality is a two-way street, with the Darkness itself unable to fully comprehend their nature. Nezarec can even be overheard genuinely pondering how the hell they actually work in the context of their interactions with the Darkness on Neomuna.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: The primary motivation of the Vex, as put by Praedyth:
"The Vex have no hope; no imagination, no drive, no fear. All they have is the pattern. Everything must fit. If it can be made to fit, good! If not... it gets cut away."
- The concept of adhering to their pattern is an explanation for a lot of their behaviors. For example, the Vex are not an aggressive force, and tend to completely ignore the Guardians or other creatures in the system, while they're traveling about... up until the moment they get too close to whatever buildings the Vex are working on, at which point every Vex in the area violently falls upon them to destroy whatever is intruding on their patterns.
- In Destiny 2, the Vex on Nessus seem focused less on construction and more on endless experimentation, on both Fallen and humans. The Vex on Io, meanwhile, seem more interested in studying the planet and human society, attempting to steal information from Rasputin's bunker so they can use data on human art, literature, and culture against them.
- One questline on Nessus indicates that the Vex don't understand human emotions and concepts, including concepts such as loss and grief. During the questline, the Vex create a "friendly" Harpy that leads the Young Wolf and Failsafe through a series of "tests" against Vex that appear to be studying concepts like empathy with the intent of testing human and AI emotions, and ends with the Vex leading Failsafe to the remains and last recordings of her captain and observing her reaction.
- In The Curse of Osiris, Sagira mentions that the Vex prize unique data above anything else, which is why they appear to attempt to capture living beings and artificial intelligences that they encounter. They go to great lengths to grab and then preserve unique information, which is why they keep Failsafe and Sagira alive within their networks and why they try to capture Guardians, humans, and Fallen when they can to study them.
- In the same expansion, a corrupted transmission implies that not only is the Exo Stranger wrong to call them evil, their extremely hostile response to paracausality is even simpler than just dealing with something they can't predict. They do it because they want to live; nothing more, nothing less.
- Vex behavioral patterns, particularly their obsession with simulation and assimilation, is close to the behavior one would expect of a single-celled lifeform that simply consumes and reproduces exponentially, and at some point developed capacity for intelligence. They lack the biological drives of larger multi-cellular lifeforms, so while they are able to perform complex calculations and build advanced technology, they lack any concept of emotion, ambition, art, culture, or other drives that define the structure of social, multi-cellular life. They have the basic drive to eat, reproduce, and expand, but extended to an incredibly intelligent Hive Mind lifeform. This is also the reason why they are obsessed with unique data and creating simulations of other lifeforms; they physically cannot comprehend the motivations, drives, and mindsets of multi-cellular life. The closest they get to it is blindly imitating the behaviors of multi-cellular life like mimicking religious behaviors of the Hive and constructing art-like structures in important places.
Berserk Button: The Vex have an intense fascination for unique data, and interfering with that data, whether it be test results from an experiment or releasing a living being from their prisons, does the closest thing that there is to angering them.
Cannon Fodder: Goblins serve this role, although they become much more deadly during the Vault Of Glass, and on Heroic difficulties.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The special ending to the "Paradox" story mission, as well as some Grimoire cards, indicate that the Vex are keeping humanity around because Guardians and the Traveler are paracausal and can defy their predictive models — and that they are a possible key to averting the Vex's ultimate destruction at the hands of the Darkness.
Cargo Cult: The Vex, an already advanced and incomprehensible race of robots, came across the Black Heart — a fragment of the Darkness even more advanced and incomprehensible they they were. The Sol Divisive saw no other option than to worship it. The Vex also adopted Hive practices of worship in an attempt to access the paracausal abilities associated with the Darkness and the Worm Gods.
Clockwork Creature: The Vex constructs are mostly mechanical, save for the radiolarian fluid driving each machine. This gets inverted as you delve deeper into their lore and especially when the Guardians arrive on Nessus, where entire oceans and rivers of Vex liquid life can be found.
Cold Sniper: Hobgoblins, their dedicated sniper platforms. When you're an inscrutable alien cyborg, 'cold' comes with the territory.
Cunning Linguist: Averted. When they try to test and study Failsafe's reaction to finding the corpses of the Exodus Black's crew, they try to speak English in order to announce their intention. It's sloppier than you'd expect from a race of hyper intelligent robots who can easily run a simulation of the entire universe.
Cyborg: Like the Daleks of Doctor Who, their bodies are mechanical shells around a heavily-integrated organic core.
Determinator: The Vex will slowly, gradually, and inexorably press on until they and their patterns are the only thing that exists in the universe, and they will never stop until they achieve this end goal, even going so far as to rewrite physics to make their existence a law of the universe. When the universe was created, they survived the battle between the Light and Darkness by sheer ferocious determination, going from being an abstract pattern of simulated life to an organic life form in the new universe.
Do Androids Dream?: Nobody's really sure if they have any semblance of individuality on their own. Even the Darkness and its agents don't seem to have a clear answer, despite their corruption clearly enabling certain Vex to deviate from the others. This comes to a head in Lightfall, where Nezarec has to ask himself this question even as the Vex network is quite literally falling apart in front of him due to the Taken getting inside. It should be noted that Taking normally requires a living host and Your Heart's Desire to work.
Dyson Sphere: The Vex are known to have built several of these around giant stars in their ancient history, such as around the Forge Star/2082 Volantis, the part of the Vex Network Clovis Bray I visited to discover radiolarian fluid. It's unclear whether or not they're used for habitation, but their primary function is continuously rejuvenating the stars they're constructed around. The Vex have been able to extract useful heavy metals from their cores for billions of years as a result.
Elite Mooks: Minotaurs, who serve as field commanders, and Hydras, who serve as major processing nods, are guarded by rotating shields.
Enemy Mine: In rare cases, the Vex are willing to stand aside and let the Guardians pass into their facilities without attacking them, usually in response to an even greater threat that they themselves cannot deal with.
Eviler than Thou: According to the Exo Stranger, they are an "evil so dark they despise other evil."
Evil Is Not a Toy: Eramis and Lahksmi-2 thought they could control the Vex through commanding their portals. They were very wrong.
Flat Character: The Vex can be defined solely by their goal of making their supremacy a law of reality. And literally everything they do feeds into this goal. They don't deviate whatsoever from it, and lack much in the way of depth in the regard. The only possible exceptions would be the Sol Divisive, who are considered pariahs for their worship of the Darkness, and the Consecrated and Sanctified Minds, whose much more otherworldly appearances indicate something going on with them.
Foil: To the Hive - while both are Time Abyss races who serve the Darkness, their natures veer toward opposite extremes on the Science Fantasy scale. The Vex are planktonic entities who use robotic shells to interact with the world, rely on highly advanced technology, and are for all intents a purpose a singular mind spread across many bodies. The Hive, meanwhile, are undead-esque alien Wizards from Outer Space who use a mix of Black Magic and Organic Technology to enhance themselves, and are split into multiple courts and broods, with each individual being capable of free thinking. Hive heavily favor melee combat while the Vex fight from a distance. Finally, while the entirety of the Hive worship the Darkness and regard Savathun as a traitor for betraying it, only the Sol Divisive Vex Collective worship the Darkness and are regarded as The Heretic by the rest of their kin for doing so.
Garden of Evil: The Black Garden, the Vex's home. Whether it's its homeworld or home dimension is not certain. It's literally a garden with plant growth overtaking the standard Vex architecture. At the center of the Black Garden is the Black Heart, which may be part of the Darkness and is worshiped by the Sol Divisive Vex.
Grenade Launcher: Torch Hammers, the iconic weapons of the Minotaurs, which fire explosive bolts of Void energy. They're the Vex's most dangerous hand-held weapons, and are used in a (massively) upscaled version by the Gate Lords as well.
The Heavy: The Darkness may be the Greater-Scope Villain, but these guys are the primary villains of the release-day PvE content — the main storyline is built towards shutting down the source of their power, the Black Garden's Heart, and the end-game raid that provides the toughest, highest-level challenge in the game, the Vault of Glass, is a dive into their 'underworld', the heart of their stronghold on Venus. They gradually lose this as the story progresses, though, with said role being supplanted by the Hive and Tkane until Season of Arrivals, where the Darkness finally makes a direct move on the Solar System.
The Heretic: The Sol Divisive are considered pariahs among the Vex for engaging in active worship of the Darkness.
Hive Mind: After analyzing Vex remains and their minds, Ghost concludes that every unit is a part of a singular mind. The Grimoire indicates the whole race is one gigantic cross-temporal computer system, and on Nessus the Guardians encounter entire lakes, rivers and cisterns filled to the brim with Vex radiolarian fluid that serves as massive computing systems.
Hostile Terraforming: They've already done it to Mercury, turning the once-flourishing garden world (it was the Traveler's idea, just roll with it) into an enormous, lifeless machine, the interior of which is a colossal simulation environment where the Vex calculate infinite possibilities. It's your job to stop them doing it to Venus and Mars as well.
- In Destiny 2, the Vex are also responsible for turning 7066 Nessus (a small Centaur planetoid) into another machine world. This small planetoid is almost entirely a Vex machine, although its surface features its own cultivated ecosystem unlike anything on Earth. In fact, the Vex plan to do this to the entire universe, spreading their "patterns" and slowly assimilating all matter to create a universe of nothing but Vex and Vex-cultivated life.
Humans Are Cthulhu: All the other races see Guardians as this to a certain extent given their nature, but the Vex particularly are trying to figure out why Guardians are as unpredictable and inscrutable as they are. During a mission on Nessus, Failsafe states that the best translation of what Vex call Guardians is "those that wield what we cannot predict", in reference to the Light. Considering predicting the future is essentially how the Vex see everything, something they can't predict would be suitably eldritch to them.
Humongous Mecha: Gate Lords are at least twenty feet tall, and Axis Minds, the Sol Progeny, and Atheon being even larger.
Immortality Seeker: Exaggerated. They're already immortal by most conventional definitions, thanks to their non-linear relationship with time, imperishable metal bodies, and endlessly-reproducing cognitive liquid, so what's next? In the Vault of Glass, they are trying to turn their continued existence into a fundamental law of the universe. The special ending to the "Paradox" story mission indicates that they are doing this because they will ultimately be destroyed by the Darkness at some distant point in the future and are trying to find a way to escape it.
Implacable Man: Defeat is never anything other than a temporary setback for these machines.
- Due to being a machine race that has a single consciousness spread through millions of units across time and space, destroying the combat drones they send against you doesn't really do much to hurt the Vex in general. Even destroying their Axis Minds only briefly slows them down, and they will dispatch other Axis Minds to replace the destroyed ones by pulling a different version through time.
- Strategically, the Vex are willing to engage in wars of attrition in which they endlessly send slow-moving units forward to constantly wear down enemy lines, such as in their war with the Cabal on Mars. Since they don't care about individual losses, and damaged units can be replaced by pulling them through different points in time to replace lost machines, they can afford to trade casualties endlessly.
- They also sought to make their continued existence a law of reality through their experimentation in the Vault of Glass, but thankfully this did not come to pass.
- Calus muses that most of the Vex you've faced since the start of your journey are mere engineers and construction workers, and that he looks forward to the day they send actual warriors.
Keystone Army: Axis Minds form the heart of various Vex activities, as they contain all of the data needed to achieve a particular goal and serve as the coordinating effort for all other Vex in a region. This allows other Vex units to focus on particular tasks while the Mind manages the overall objectives, greatly enhancing overall efficiency. Unfortunately for the Vex, it also means that if an Axis Mind is destroyed, it can cripple ongoing projects, but the Vex consider this trade-off worthwhile, and even if an Axis Mind is lost, it can be recovered by another Axis Mind eventually.
Language Equals Thought: They don't have true semiotics or symbolic terms in intra-radiolaria communication, every concept is simply directly transferred or simulated. This indicates their incredible practicality, prizing of accurate data, and complete lack of creativity or imagination.
Large and in Charge: Justified. Bigger Vex have more room in their chassis for more processing power, so they're trusted with more important and complex jobs and with directing smaller, simpler units.
Light Is Not Good: Weirdly, the Vex have elements of this considering their link to the Darkness; many Vex are themed after religious concepts (Fanatic Goblins, Angel Hydras), their teleportation is signified by bright lights and gates appearing in the sky.,and areas they've taken over, besides the softly glowing white mind fluid, are covered in prairie-like plant life.
Little Green Man in a Can: The Vex, its bipedal members in particular, are basically Destiny's own take on this trope; colonies of microscopic, hyperintelligent protozoa piloting mechanical shells.
Mad Scientist: The Vex are conducting countless experiments with horrifyingly-powerful technologies to remake the universe, as well as convert the world around them into more Vex structures and machines. The Vault of Glass on Venus was used by the Vex to research time and reality-warping weaponry and to serve as a conflux of multiple Vex time-streams. Nessus and Io show more mundane research facilities, including prisons where the Vex captured humans and Fallen to experiment on them, as well as a facility designed to transform living creatures into Vex.
Mecha-Mooks: Vex are one of the most commonly-encountered enemies in the game after you advance to Venus, at least for the main game up to the Vault of Glass, and while they take a backseat to Oryx in The Taken King and the Fallen Splicers in Rise of Iron, every expansion features Strikes where your goal is to prevent the Vex from recovering from the temporary setbacks you've inflicted on them in the main game and the Vault of Glass raid, and in the process you'll be fighting near-endless legions of their constructs.
Mechanical Abomination: Time-traveling cyborgs with a Hive Mind that plans to alter reality across multiple timelines to ensure their supremacy. Only the Hive, who are actually backed by direct agents of the Darkness, get to be more eldritch than the Vex out of the four main hostile races.
Mechanical Lifeforms: They're basically colonies of zooplankton piloting robotic shells. In addition, there's a distinctly organic element to a lot of their construction and landscapes. While there's a lot of squared, artificial shapes and right angles in their architecture, the Vex seem to cultivate organic life over these structures, particularly on Venus and in the Black Garden. 7066 Nessus, which was completely terraformed by the Vex, is covered by an alien ecosystem.
Mighty Glacier: Vex troops tend to be amongst the slowest enemies in the game, with none of the flashy manoeuvres or sophisticated battlefield tactics of the other factions (although some of their more advanced units do make up for it with a bit of Teleport Spam). They compensate with impressive firepower, thick armour and shields, and hard-to-hit weak points.
Mind Virus: Vex thought processes are infectious. Simply being in proximity to Vex technology can cause altered thinking and bizarre hallucinations. It's described as "entheogenic".
Mundane Utility: Vex technology is built for versatility, and anything that can hurt you (i.e., most of their stuff you encounter) likely has a non-military purpose as well. Often, in fact, the civilian use is the more important one. Minotaurs, their hulking shock-troopers, are also their architects and construction workers, and are bigger than the average model so that they can contain the processing power necessary to conceptualise the insanely complicated Vex architecture. Cyclopes, massive, immobile gun-turrets, are navigation beacons that coordinate the Vex's omnipresent space/time teleportation. With the exception of artillery pieces like the Minotaur's Torch Hammer, all of their weapons are terminals designed for receiving energy transmissions from elsewhere in space and time and projecting them a short distance, making them powerful communication and construction tools when they're not turned to the lethal setting and spewing plasma bolts all over the place.
Non-Linear Character: The Vex as a whole, due to their Time Master ability taken to its logical extreme. In fact, according to the Darkness the Vex existed before time itself and thus don't view it in the same way that anyone else does.
Not So Omniscient After All: According to a series of recordings found in the Vault of Glass made by Praeydeth, the Vex aren't able to simulate the actions of Guardians. Also, just because they can see a future doesn't mean they know how to stop it from taking place; even with all their powers You Can't Fight Fate. Destiny 2 confirms this, with Failsafe saying that the Vex term for Guardians being translated to "those who wield what we cannot predict." The source of their omniscience is revealed in Curse of Osiris: namely, that the Vex use a combination of their vast computational and physical resources and immensely accelerated timespan within their networks to simply "brute-force" simulate events by creating copies of living beings and testing their actions.
Obliviously Evil: According to Sagira, Osiris, and some item flavor text, the Vex don't want to kill anyone, and all they want is to ensure their supremacy and eternal existence. Unfortunately, death is the inevitable side effect of anything the Vex do with organics to research them, assimilate their worlds, or otherwise ensure their supremacy. This extends back to their origins, as they were originally a potential pattern of life form that subsumed and crushed all other potential life in all of the Light's experiments. Their process of killing everything else was just what they did.
Omnicidal Maniac: The Vex's ultimate endgoal is ensuring permanent supremacy. Like the Hive, the Vex came to the conclusion that the only way to ensure permanent domination of the universe was to destroy everything else. This latter conclusion came after studying the Darkness and the Hive gods and determining that actively worshipping them would be the most effective way to harness their power. However, while the Hive worship through wanton slaughter, the Vex conduct their worship though large-scale conversion of their environment.
- The Vex on Nessus seem less focused on violence, to the point that rather than attack humans and Fallen relentlessly, they instead conduct experiments on them... though those experiments tend to result in their test subjects' deaths. They also appear to be more merciful toward artificial intelligences, as during one adventure they capture Failsafe instead of destroying her and in another they attempt to recruit Ghost to their side.
- Osiris explains that the end goal of the Vex is ensuring total, absolute Vex supremacy in the universe. They don't necessarily want to kill everyone else out of any kind of malicious intent, but the process by which they establish absolute control over the universe will inevitably end in all other life being destroyed and assimilated into the Vex.
Reality Warper: They're quite good at it, and working on getting better. Apart from all the time-travel stuff, the Vault of Glass is a development lab for 'ontological weaponry', which essentially decides whether the target exists or not, and that's one of the less extreme applications of the tech. The primary goal of the Vault and the Axis Mind at the heart of its operations is to hack reality, turning the dominion of the Vex over the universe into a literal law of physics. Erasing enemy soldiers from existence is just a step on the developmental path to permanently establishing their own existence.
- Reality-warping for the Vex seems to be limited to the interior of their megastructures, at least at their "current" technology level. However, within those structures are mind-bogglingly complex systems that allow them to easily simulate entire planets, environments, and people. Coupled with the accelerated time that exists within their networks, and the Vex are able to use their reality-manipulation to "brute-force" simulate scenarios and events by simply making complete, flesh-and-blood copies of living beings and environments and running them through thousands of scenarios every minute.
The Reveal: The lore book Inspiral from Root of Nightmares raid which follows Lightfall's campaign, as well as details about the Veil from post-campaign heavily imply the Vex as a race was a creation of the Witness. The post-campaign reveals the Black Heart which the Sol Divisive Vex worshipped was in reality a failed attempt to imitate the Veil, and the Veil itself was in the Witness's possession for a long, long time before Nezarec lost it to Savathun during the Collapse; meaning, the only way the Vex could have acquired data about the Veil to attempt imitating it is if the Witness shared data to them at one point, and that means the Vex had contact with the Witness outside of their awareness (as the Vex doesn't have any records of encountering the Darkness prior to the events detailed in the Books of Sorrow)... which is logically only possible if the Witness gave it to them prior to their creation. One excerpt in Inspiral stops short of outright confirming that the Witness planted "a seed" which would then become the Vex.
anomaly Zero = infinite|witness; archive data retrieved. Zero = infinite|witness == (a seed was planted here.) Recorded referent: "Black|Heart"
- Revelations from Season of the Deep reinforce this. The true origins of the Witness and the Black Fleet confirm that the contents of Unveiling (which include the origin of the Vex) are a bunch of lies or at most allegories, while simultaneously confirming the people who would become the Witness were also the first race who laid claim to the Veil. In other words, there is no possibility for the Vex to have had data about the Veil before the Witness.
Robot Religion: In the heart of the Black Garden is part of an unfathomable entity that the Vex could not understand, and some chose to worship, simply because it was the most logical course of action that they could determine.
- In the Grimoire entries some in the City suspect it's because the Darkness is so powerful and complex that they hold it in religious awe, but the opposing view is that they worship it for the same reason the Hive do: Religion is Magic and it works. According to the Books of Sorrow, the latter seems to be the reality. Crota accidentally let the Vex into Oryx's sword-space, where they began to analyze Hive magic-tech and the entities the Hive worshipped as gods. The Vex Axis Mind formed to analyze the Hive determined that the most effective way to access the same power as the Hive did was to enact "religious behaviors" to win the Deep's favor. And it worked.
- In the alternate version of the "Paradox" story mission ^note Praedyth's Ghost recordings indicate that while the Vex do worship the Darkness, they also fear it because every single iteration of the universe that they have simulated and existed through ends the same way: with them being consumed by the Darkness at some point or another. Everything that they're doing, including worshipping the Darkness, is a desperate attempt to escape this end.
- While the Vex are outwardly a cold and logical species, nearly every structure they build also has the feeling of a temple or shrine in some respects, with many buildings having statues of Minotaurs or other Axis Minds in reverent poses overlooking objects and devices. The exact purpose of these structures is unclear, but we know from the final mission in Destiny 1's story that such statues could be the housing for the entities the Vex worship.
- Lore entries from Destiny 2's Season of the Undying indicate that of all the subtypes, only the Sol Divisive Vex actively worship the Darkness, which both ostracizes them from other Vex subtypes and seems to grant them some unique powers and favor with the Darkness itself.
Sinister Geometry: Their architecture is eerily, elegantly simple, comprised of massive and sometimes gravity-defying arrangements of stone cuboids with the odd circle thrown in for good measure. It manages to look ancient, inhuman, and incredibly advanced all at once.
Sniper Rifle: Line Rifles, the Hobgoblins' standard weapons, which use the Vex's 'slap' technology to call in enormously powerful beams of energy from elsewhere in space and time. They also make for a handy communications device.
Starfish Aliens:
- While the Vex outwardly appear to be robotic in nature, the core of their intelligence is in the radiolarian fluid that resides in their torsos. These mind-cores are organic in nature, and are akin to a protozoa or other liquid, single-celled lifeforms, effectively making the Vex a liquid lifeform that pilots the various Vex machines. By itself the individual mind-core of each of the Vex don't seem to be self-aware, instead performing programmed functions, but when connecting to the greater Vex intelligence, their cognitive ability across the vast network is staggeringly powerful. Nessus, which is the first truly "Vex" world (rather than simply being a complex the Vex built into another world) contains enormous rivers and cisterns filled the Vex radiolarian fluid, giving one an idea of what a planet completely claimed by the Vex would look like.
- Another theory is that the Vex themselves aren't the radiolarian fluid, but rather, the fluid is a the leftover biological remains of organic beings that were converted by the Vex into a robotic form. In this theory, the individual machines and the radiolarian fluid are both part of the Vex, and every Vex construct you fight and kill at some point Was Once a Man.
- Book: Unveiling is an allegorical tale told by the Darkness that indicates the radiolaria lifeform that we see in-game was originally a more abstract life form: a sort of self-determining pattern in a "garden" of possibilities being cultivated by the Light and Darkness which always crushed all other possible life forms. When the Light and Darkness turned on each other, the chaos of their conflict gave rise to countless universes, and the living pattern that would become the Vex escaped in the destruction and took root in the "saline meltwater" of early comets, and used that water to create the radiolaria that they are now.
Super-Intelligence: To the point where they almost qualify as The Omniscient, and the ways in which they fail to do so are very plot-important. Their Ghost Fragment cards show a research team realizing that the Vex platform they've captured is perfectly simulating their actions within a virtual-reality environment, leading them to freak out over the possibility that they themselves might be in a similarly perfect Vex simulation without realizing it.
- Not only is it simulating their actions, it's also running a simulation of its own actions, down to its simulated self running simulations of the research team, along with a simulation-within-a-simulation of itself, which is also running a simulation of the research team, along with a simulation-within-a-simulation-within-a-simulation of itself, which is also... In the end, 227 recursions were discovered. It's not clear if its the individual platform doing this, or if it's still somehow connected to the greater Vex network.
- Part of the power of the Vex network comes from them using the Year Inside, Hour Outside nature of their gate network; since time passes so much faster inside, they can run vastly more complex simulations compared to those in the normal universe.
Teleport Spam: Minotaurs have rapid-fire versions of the standard Vex teleporters that let them jump around like they're on a bad Internet connection. If you actually are on a bad Internet connection, this can get very unpleasant and confusing.
Theme Naming: Mythological creatures are the basis for the names of their units.
- Most Axis Minds have the suffix -theon or -ion, both pronounced "EE-awn," or just end in -on at the very least. A handful of very ancient minds like Quria, Panoptes and Argos are exceptions to the trend.
Time Abyss: Insofar as things like "age" apply to time-travelling robots. According to the Darkness, they may be in fact the first life forms to ever exist, predating even time itself.
Time and Relative Dimensions in Space: Also used for long distance travel.
Time Crash: Normal humans who end up on Vex worlds for extended periods, like the Exodus Black crew, often find themselves stuck in acausal temporal loops and other forms of nonlinear time. This appears to be a result of interacting with the Vex gate network, which connects to a reality where time flows differently.
Time Master: The Vex manipulate events and probabilities within time to create the effects they desire. They don't appear to control time in and of itself, but their gate network links to a reality where time moves differently compared with the normal world, which allows them to move between different timelines as they please. Their lack of absolute temporal manipulation is a weakness that the Guardians exploit; for all their power the Vex still expend vast resources and have to take some periods of linear time to achieve their goals, giving the Guardians an opportunity to eliminate Axis Minds and disrupt their operations before they can alter events.
Time Travel: Vex sneer at things like "linear progression of time". Their units are drawn from different timelines, in realities either still in the distant past or eons into the future, through their Gates. Even their weapons operate by grabbing energy from an arbitrary point in space-time and firing it at a target, and they can restore damaged or dead Minds by pulling them from timelines where they are still intact. The Gates connect to "realms outside of time", which the Vex use to move back and forth through timelines. Still, as noted in Time Master, they don't actually manipulate time itself, and paracausal forces such as the Light seems to interfere with their ability to pull this off.
Ultimate Life Form: According to the Darkness' account of how the universe began, it is heavily implied the Vex are the so-called "Final Shape/Pattern" in realities without the intervention of the Light or the Darkness. Meaning that, if Light and Darkness didn't become Laws of reality within the Destiny universe as we know it, the Vex would eventually become the last and only race in existence after defeating all other life.
Ungrateful Bastard: After the alternate ending of the Daily Heroic version of the Paradox mission, Praedyth says that in spite of the you defeating the Taken and saving them from annihilation, the Vex will not spare you or the City or even thank you. They quite literally lack the ability to think in terms of appreciation or thanks.
Uniformity Exception: As Destiny 2 nears its conclusion, the Vex stand out for being the only Darkness-aligned faction to lack a Disciple related to them - the Hive, and by extension, the Taken were influenced by Rhulk, the Fallen were driven to their worst extremes by Nezarec, making him patron to the Scorn as well, and Calus would end up joing the ranks of the Disciples during Season of the Haunted and eventually give rise to the Shadow Legion. By contrast, the Vex just showed up one day and messed around with the Hive, leading the Sol Divisive to worship the Darkness. Lightfall, specifically lore assoicated with Root of Nightmares, and Season of the Deep, heavily imply this is because the Vex are a direct creation of the Witness and thus do not need a patron.
The Virus: Direct contact with the radiolarian fluid in a Vex mind-core is incredibly dangerous and can infect the Guardian who does so. It apparently did this with Kabr, whose warnings from the Vault of Glass say that he "drank" the Vex and that he was no longer Kabr anymore. Various Vault of Glass raid weapons and equipment make mention that they use the actual Vex radiolarian cells as interfaces, and that they can alter the Guardian who uses them. Asher Mir, the Warlock researcher found on Io, has been partially transformed by the Vex, gaining a mechanical arm, and states that he feels the Vex Hive Mind intruding into his own from time to time (which is also how he's able to detect the construction activities Vex tend to perform on Io). If a Guardian steps into a Vex liquid pool on Nessus, they will also start taking damage over time as the radiolarian liquids start directly eating away at their armor and skin.
Was Once a Man: People exposed to the Vex mind-fluid are slowly transformed into Vex themselves. It's unclear as to whether they are broken down entirely into the mind-fluid or if their bodies are converted into a robotic Vex shape and the mind-fluid is just a remnant of what the previous entity once was.
We Have Reserves: The Vex don't care about losses, since they can just replace destroyed machines with more machines, including the exact same copy of that machine pulled from a different point in time. Even killing Gate Lords or Axis Minds won't bother them very much, and stopping a project is only a temporary setback for a species whose concept of time and causality is so fluid.
The World Tree: The Infinite Forest invokes this idea, with countless trillions of branches of possibility stemming from Panoptes, the central Axis Mind controlling Mercury. Each possibility is its own simulated universe, which the Vex study to determine the future and how to arrive at their end goals. At one point the player encounters a "map" of the Infinite Forest which resembles a massive tree of branching light.
Worthy Opponent: As strange, cold, and inscrutable as the Vex are, they do show proper respect of (and fear towards) Guardians, in particular Saint-14, who they built a elaborate and respectful tomb for after finally managing to kill him.
Year Inside, Hour Outside: Time passes extremely quickly inside the Vex gate network; during one adventure on Nessus, Failsafe ends up trapped in the network for a decade while only a few minutes pass outside, and the player's first foray into the Infinite Forest on Mercury takes about half an hour, but Ikora remarks that you left only seconds ago.
Your Head Asplode: What happens when you headshot them. Also, it pisses them off.

Classes

Goblin

"All their joints turning together. Moving together. Towards you."

The most basic form of Vex units, Goblins are construction drones that are common in all Vex structures.

Cranial Processing Unit: Like Hobgoblins, the large and obvious "head" of the Goblin isn't vital to its survival, and destroying it will simply send the Goblin into an aggressive rage. That being said however, this still makes them easier to deal with in that they won't be teleporting anymore without their heads.
Mecha-Mooks: The most commonly-encountered Vex, and will often swarm invaders into their buildings in great numbers.
Mundane Utility: The Slap Rifle that the Goblins carry serves not only as a weapon, but also as a transmitter, construction tool, network repeated, navigation beacon, and more. The Goblin itself primarily works as a basic construction unit when it isn't fighting off enemy incursions.
Power Palms: They have this built into their arms, which they use if you engage them in melee.
Teleport Spam: They can teleport over short distances, which they use to rapidly close with distant targets.

Hobgoblin

"The air by my cheek twanged twice, stinking of ozone, before I saw it."

Hobgoblins are Vex units deployed like snipers, and when attacked they will try to enter an emergency stasis mode to keep themselves intact while other Vex engage the attacker.

Arm Cannon: Their larger arm effectively serves as a portable Grenade Launcher; judging by how long it takes for those grenades to detonate, it's apparent that they mainly use their launchers to flush you out of cover.
Cranial Processing Unit: Like Goblins, shooting off their heads doesn't stop them, it just gets them mad. Unlike Goblins, though, a decapitated Hobgoblin is less dangerous, as it will try to close in on it's opponents and make it easier to kill. They also lose their ability to enter stasis without their heads.
Cold Sniper: Being emotionless, mechanical intelligences and with bodies of metal, this comes naturally to a Hobgoblin.
Deflector Shields: Damaging a Barrier Hobgoblin enough will make it put up an impenetrable force field. While it's up, the Hobgoblin will regenerate health and be completely unable to be damaged. Only an Anti-Barrier shot will break it and stun the Hobgoblin temporarily.
Mundane Utility: Outside of combat, Hobgoblins serve as mobile communications and data transmission systems.
Nigh-Invulnerability: When they enter stasis, they cannot be harmed by anything. Fortunately, it ends quickly, but unfortunately, Hobgoblins usually have other Vex around to cover them. And if you close in on them while their stasis field is up, their shields will shave bits of your shield off.
Power Palms: Like Goblins, they will use this if you engage them in melee.

Harpy

"It swam back and forth through the air, spinning, the single red eye looking — I realized — for me."

Mobile, airborne scouting units that patrol around Vex ruins for threats. when a Harpy encounters an enemy, they have to unfold and deploy their weaponry to engage.

Action Bomb: Suicide bomber variants, known as Supplicants, are stationed in extremely important Vex complexes, like the Vault of Glass and the Black Garden.
Airborne Mook: Unlike the slow-moving units elsewhere in the Vex arsenal, the Harpies are very fast and maneuverable and are often used to flank enemy positions.
Army Scout: Their main purpose is to patrol Vex ruins and find threats.
Beam Spam: Though it takes them a second to set up, once a Harpy is in position they can lay down a lot of fire upon a position.
Fragile Speedster: They have the lowest health of any Vex unit, but make up for it with their mobility and firepower.
Starfish Robots: One of the more alien-looking units of the Vex, alongside the Hydras.

Minotaur

"I thought it was at a safe distance. I was wrong."

Command units for a local Vex network, Minotaurs are massive, powerful platforms with heavy weapons and shielding which operate like tanks and long-range support artillery.

Cranial Processing Unit: Like Goblins and Hobgoblins, you can shoot off their heads. In addition to enraging them, they are still easier to deal with in that they lose their Deflector Shields and their ability to Teleport Spam without their heads.
Deflector Shields: They carry shields to further augment their high health, but are vulnerable to Void damage.
Giant Mook: Minotaurs tower over other Vex, as well as Guardians.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Get in melee range with a Minotaur, and they can use their large claw hands to try and stab you.
Large and in Charge: At least as far as being "in charge" can go with the Vex. Minotaurs store plans and information for complex construction projects and direct other Vex to handle construction projects, as well as serving as the protectors of the most vital parts of those constructs. They are also a popular choice for Axis Minds and Gate Lords to use as their chassis.
Lightning Bruiser: They can move decently fast with their Teleport Spam, and they're quite sturdy, alongside being capable of dealing immense damage if not stopped.
- Overload Minotaurs also fit the bill. Fast, strong, teleporting everywhere and regularly regenerating health while barely flinching from attacks, alongside the usual traits of a Minotaur. The only thing that will temporarily stop them in their tracks proper is a shot from an Anti-Overload weapon.
Mundane Utility: Aside from being large and powerful Vex combat machines, the Minotaurs are their primary architects and engineers.
Stuff Blowing Up: Minotaurs typically carry the Torch Hammer, a heavy Vex cannon and Grenade Launcher loaded with strange matter particles and firing explosive blasts. Unlike other Vex weapons, the Torch Hammer doesn't seem to have any Mundane Utility, and is solely a combat weapon.
Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Minotaurs are large and armored because they are server towers used to process architectural data.
Teleport Spam: Minotaurs like to use their teleportation in rapid succession to close with and assault enemies in hand-to-hand combat.

Hydra

"Our shots dissolved in the translucent matrix around it, useless."

A slow, mobile fortress, Hydras are often the hubs of the networked Vex intelligence, receiving and transmitting information from other Vex units, and are surrounded by barrier shields which deflect incoming fire, while they return it in equal measure.

Deflector Shields: They have large barrier shields surrounding their bodies that rotate around to block incoming fire. Unlike Minotaur shields, these cannot be depleted and an attacker has to either move around them or wait for them to move away.
- Hydra barriers in Destiny 2 are now segmented into thirds like that of the Undying Mind, allowing more chances to shoot at the Hydra, but less time to do so.
- Anti-Barrier weapons and weapon mods in Shadowkeep are capable of piercing their shields.
Mighty Glacier: Hydras move very slowly, but between their shields and their massive health pools, they can take a beating.
Mundane Utility: While often deployed to protect central locations and passages, Hydras also serve as communications hubs and command systems, and are often the chassis used to house various Axis Minds.
Stuff Blowing Up: Like Minotaurs, they carry Torch Hammers which they use to ruthlessly bombard threats that come into sight.

Fanatic

A Vex unit that debuted in the Vault of Glass, these are Goblin frames with their head and left arm missing.

Action Bomb: While they're still capable of shooting you, their main purpose is as a suicide bomber. That being said, upon death, they're as dangerous to the other Vex as they are to you.
An Arm and a Leg: They're missing their left arm...though to be fair, they're not exactly in tip-top form.
Bloody Murder: After they explode, they leave behind a pool of Vex Milk that deals damage for as long as you stand in them.
Zerg Rush: They sometimes show up in fairly large numbers.

Wyvern

A highly resilient Vex unit first encountered on Europa, the Wyvern acts as a mobile weapons platform and enforcer for the weaker Goblins.

Airborne Mook: Downplayed, as the Wyvern spends most of its time on the ground, but will change into a Harpy-like form when initiating its aerial slam attack.
Armless Biped: The Wyvern doesn't have arms, instead sporting fan-like appendages that can project an energy shield on its sides. Being a robot, it doesn't need arms since it has a built-in Warp Lance and aerial slam attack.
Ground Pound: Can do this to fling you away and potentially kill you by having you slam into a wall with enough force.
Hybrid Monster: It looks like what happens if you took a Minotaur's torso off and replaced it with a supercharged Harpy.
Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Downplayed. While you can certainly just pound it with all the firepower you can muster and kill it just with that, it'll be much easier to down if you either go behind and hit its weakpoint, or hit it hard enough to expose said weakpoint in the front.
Large and in Charge: Often accompanied by a bunch of Goblins, Hobgoblins, and/or Harpies.
Mighty Glacier: Moreso than Minotaurs. In addition to having good health and damage, they have large "wings" at their sides that produce energy shields to prevent damage. They only take damage from the front or behind, and always move at a steady stride instead of rushing at you when damaged.
Ominous Walk: One of the few Vex units that never breaks the slow stride they start with, even when critically damaged.
Shield-Bearing Mook: Sport a pair around their bodies. Interestingly, it only protects their sides while leaving their front vulnerable.
Shotguns Are Just Better: Wyverns are armed with warp lances: void energy weapons where the projectiles disperse more over distance. It takes two hits or less up close for a warp lance to kill a player, and will still do significant damage to players even after spreading out at longer ranges.

Axis Minds

Zydron

Zydron, Gate Lord

"The intelligence we call Zydron seems to exist in a liminal state, stretched between gates in the Vex network. It manifests as a physical being only when called."

A Vex Gate Lord that administers over the Vex gate network on Venus. The player Guardian must kill it in order to recover the parts it uses to access the network and enter the Vault of Glass.

Decapitation Presentation: The player Guardian brings its head to the Reef, shocking the Queen, the Master of Crows, and the Fallen guards.
Dead Person Impersonation: Strange example, as the player's Ghost says that they can get into the Black Garden by fooling the Garden's security systems into thinking that the player Guardian is Zydron.
Gate Guardian: Protects a large Vex gate at the Endless Steps on Venus.
Honor Before Reason: Though whether or not Zydron can consciously do this is debatable due to being a robot, Eris Morn considers it and the Gate Lords to be a textbook case of the trope, seeking to defend their lands at any cost despite the true horrors laying beyond and the overwhelmingly unfavorable odds when battling Guardians.
Humongous Mecha: Gate Lords are, in your Ghost's words, 'three stories tall', and Zydron doesn't disappoint.
King Mook: It's a super-Minotaur, roughly the size of Valus Ta'aurc.
Leitmotif: "Eye of the Gate Lord" in the first game, and "Servitude" in the second game. Interestingly, the latter seems to be based not on Zydron itself, but what Eris thinks of the Gate Lords, defending some of the Vex's most powerful structures out of an impressive Undying Loyalty to the Collective.
Time Master: Like other Gate Lords, Zydron's job is to protect and administrate Vex time gates, controlling the movement of information and matter between different points in time. It only physically manifests when something comes along that threatens the gate network. Like, say, you.

Sol Progeny

The Sol Progeny

"The Vex, for all their voracious intelligence, could not understand or decipher what they found. They searched through all available reactions, and they settled on the course with the greatest payoff... to worship this power, and to remake themselves in its image."

A trio of Vex units at the center of the Black Garden.

Demonic Possession: Rather than living beings like most Vex, they're empty Gate Lord chassis that serve as vessels for the Darkness.
Final Boss: For the main storyline.
Grenade Launcher: They use modified, oversized Torch Hammers, optimised for rate of fire, per-shot damage, or a little of both.
Humongous Mecha: As is standard for any Vex using the Gate Lord chassis.
King Mook: They're oversized Minotaurs roughly the same size as Zydron, representing (in turn) the Sol Divisive, Precursor, and Descendant subtypes.
Person of Mass Destruction: The Grimoire card for "The Black Garden" mission indicates that the Sol Progeny were to be the ones to use the weapons being developed in the Vault of Glass.

Sekrion

The Nexus Mind, Sekrion

"The Vanguard's intelligence sources now believe, with good confidence, that Sekrion oversees the expansion of the Vex network through the crust of Venus."

One of the Vex's most powerful platforms on Venus and the boss of the Nexus Strike, Sekrion oversees the slow Hostile Terraforming of the planet. It resides deep inside an Ishtar Academy dig site, far below the earth.

And Then John Was a Zombie: Its revamped strike can feature it being Taken becoming the Subverted Mind.
Flunky Boss: By far, one of the easiest to deal with, when it comes to it summoning help. When you first get to it, it's guarded by five Minotaurs, and after you've pissed it off well enough, it'll summon Goblins and Hobgoblins to rat you out from any hiding spot.
King Mook: An oversized, overpowered Hydra, identical in almost every way to its smaller brethren.
Mighty Glacier: Hydras can't teleport like other Vex units can, and Sekrion is no exception. It makes up for it with a steady hail of antimatter doom at anyone who looks at it funny.
Shielded Core Boss: A well-done example of this trope. The shield doesn't get smaller the more you hit it, but the shield only covers 50% of the boss, and moves around in a circular movement. To defeat it, you just have to get it to aim at you, when its shield is behind it, and shoot its face. A lot.
Took a Level in Badass: Most notably out the revamped strikes from vanilla, both versions of its strike feature mechanics from the Vault of Glass; the Vex version Marks Guardians by the Void, steadily taking away their vision unless they cleanse themselves, and the Taken version periodically becoming invincible a la the Templar and requiring you to use the Aegis to take down its shield.

Templar

The Templar

"Fragmentary glimpses and scattered reports suggest a Hydra of impossible capabilities — a creature out of time."

One of the bosses of the Vault Of Glass raid. It summons Fanatic Vexes to kamikaze, Harpies to gun you down, and Oracles to Mark you for Negation. One of the toughest bosses in the game. It's a much tougher and larger Hydra, but compared to even Sekrion, it remembered to get a shield that covers it completely.

Black Magic: Of the Curse kind. Caused by its Oracles and Fanatics, and inflicts a One-Hit Kill if you don't get rid of it. It can be "Cleansed" with the Relic.
King Mook: It's a super-Hydra with an upgraded shield and some nasty One-Hit Kill bonus attacks.
Disney Villain Death: It's possible to inflict one on the Templar with well placed Area of Effect attacks, due to the fact the A.I. Is programmed to retreat from such attacks and there are chasms on three sides of the arena you fight it in.
Marathon Boss: The Templar's boss fight is a multi-phase one where Guardians have to defend objectives for a number of cycles, destroy a certain type of enemy or risk a Total Party Wipe, then take on the Templar itself, all while trying to avoid getting into contact with Vex enemies that set you up for the Templar's One-Hit Kill. Take more than eight minutes to defeat it when it spawns, and even more enemies will appear to overwhelm you.
Time Master: It's speculated in the Grimiore entries that the Templar's "Ritual of Negation" doesn't kill you. Instead, it erases you from time outside of the Vault of Glass, and if your whole fireteam is negated, then the effect extends to the realm outside of the Vault.

Gorgons

The Gorgons

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gorgongrimoirecard.jpg

"Like the Oracles and the Templar, the Gorgons reputedly possess the ability to define what is and is not real. Whatever they perceive becomes subject to erasure at their will. Until a countermeasure can be found, Guardians must avoid their gaze at all costs — or reply to any detection with immediate, overwhelming force."

Nine (or thirteen if you're playing hard mode) specialized Harpies within their respective maze that patrol around it, searching for things that are and are not real.

Made of Iron: They're just Harpy variants, and yet they can take so much punishment that just killing one requires the entire raid team to demolish it with everything they've got. And of course there's the risk of ANOTHER Gorgon spotting the team while they're busy trying to destroy the one that caught them first.
One-Hit Kill: Get a Gorgon to look at you and your fireteam gets wiped unless you destroy it. That will make the rest harder to kill, however.
Ret-Gone: If the team gets spotted by a Gorgon, it will quickly begin the process of erasing them from existence. They literally have the ability to decide what does and does not exist, and will happily use that ability if you have the misfortune of being detected by them.
Stealth-Based Mission: Getting past the Gorgons is essential in reaching the Glass Throne.
Underground Monkey: Variants of Harpies found only within the Vault of Glass.
Unexpected Gameplay Change: The Gorgons' maze is the only time in Destiny where you're forced to sneak around enemies and not engage them at all.

Past/Future Vex

The Sol Primeval/Precursors and Sol Imminent/Descendant Vex

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vexprecursorsgrimoirecard.jpg

The Precursors

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vexdescendantsgrimoirecard_2.jpg

The Descendants

Those who delve deep into the Vault of Glass have seen time itself torn asunder. Awestruck Ghosts report encounters with ancient Vex, their casings built long before the age of humanity. It would be easy to assume these Vex are the ancestors of those we face today — but with the Vex it is never so simple.

~Precursor Grimoire

Survivors of the Vault of Glass report sightings of ancient Vex — ancient in the sense that they have endured for eons. Convergent analysis from multiple Ghosts suggests that these Vex exist in our future. If the Vex exist in our future — or in a possible future — should we take this as evidence that their defeat is impractical or unattainable? The Guardian Vanguard is quick to point out that time travel remains a mystery, and that the continued existence of the Vex is not remotely a sure indication of humanity's extinction.

~Descendant Grimoire

Two programmings of Vex units that exist in the past and future, respectively. They make their first appearance in the final part of the Vault of Glass, while the Precursors make their second appearance as a part of The Undying Mind strike.

Elite Mook: Precursors and Descendants never appear as regular enemies, only as Majors. This matters little inside the Vault of Glass due to them being little more than defense mechanisms against the raiding party for brief moments, but during the Undying Mind strike, there is a chance an entire swarm will trap you inside a choke point with them.
Light Is Not Good: The Precursors' frame coloring are a mix of white and gold with blue monitors...while they are still the time travelling radiolaria-piloted robots that want to erase us from time we know and love.
Non-Linear Character: The Vex are masters of bending time to their will. These guys appearing alone stands out for their control of time itself.
You Don't Look Like You: The Descendants have changed appearance in Curse of Osiris, putting emphasis on mottled blue and green, previously the trademark colors of the Virgo Prohibition and Sol Progeny respectively. The Precursors have gotten a similar update as well, with their colors becoming darker.
Used Future: The Descendants look substantially more aged and weathered compared to present and past Vex.

Atheon

Atheon, Time's Conflux

"To speak of Atheon is to accept certain limitations. We are ill-equipped to understand an entity that defies simple causality. Let us accept these limitations and proceed."

The final boss of the Vault Of Glass and the Vex Axis Mind speculated to regulate the Vex conflux system across time.

Alternate Timeline: Most of Atheon's Grimoire card describes multiple realities and timelines. Which, if you believe the card's speculation, means that Atheon isn't bound by time and can freely move between timelines, fighting Guardians who dare descend into the Vault.
Disney Villain Death: It used to be possible to inflict one on it if your team took advantage of the fact that the A.I. is programmed to walk away from any Area of Effect attacks, like Titan Shock Grenade with Aftershocks, by surrounding it with them so the only way to retreat was off the platform it stands on. Bungee eventually patched in "baby bumpers" around its platform to prevent this from happening.
Final Boss: The final boss of the Vault of Glass as well as of the base game pre-DLC, Atheon's fight is more complicated than regular Strike bosses, requiring team coordination to get through rather than survival tactics.
Flunky Boss: Oh so much. And to add onto that, there's a boss who always appears when you first enter a portal. Yes, they put a boss within a boss.
Grandfather Paradox: The grimoire description debates over whether Atheon created the Vault of Glass or the Vault created Atheon. Whatever it is, the Vex's space-time alteration powers are so otherworldly that both answers are trivial.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The recommended, canonical way to kill it is by turning its ontological technology against it with the assistance of Kabr's Aegis, the relic the long-dead Guardian created to tap into the power of the Vault of Glass. Basically, you temporarily hijack its Reality Warper capabilities, literally increasing the probability of its defeat. In-game, this is represented by the Time's Vengeance buff, which removes your ability cooldowns and vastly increases your damage output.
King Mook: Essentially a massive Vex Minotaur with numerous extra aesthetics and a couple of nasty new abilities.
Light Is Not Good: Its frame is bright silver and it emits bright blue light. It is also the Vex equivalent of a Mad Scientist, in charge of researching ontological warfare.
Mad Scientist: Essentially the guiding subroutine of the Vex Hive Mind's designated mad science department. The stuff Atheon is researching (and has already developed) is the absolute epitome of deranged ambition.
Marathon Boss: Can take about 8 to 10 minutes to beat, varying on how well you and your team does. And that is if you manage to not die.
Meaningful Name: Atheon can be read to mean "that which does not believe in time".
Mythical Motifs: Atheon is particularly minotaur-like, even compared to other Vex minotaurs, as it lives in the center of a labyrinth and has a prominent set of horns.
Puzzle Boss: Atheon can be normally damaged at the start of the fight, sure, but then it'll periodically send half your fireteam into another dimension, something which will doom you all unless you work together to bring the team back together and be rewarded with a massive damage boost to whittle down its health.
Reality Warper: The Axis Mind in charge of Vex research into reality-warping. Its innovations include time travel, 'ontological weaponry' that erases enemies from existence, and the grand project to turn Vex supremacy into a law of reality.
Time Master: Like many of the Vex listed above, Atheon has a certain mastery over time. Its mastery of time far exceeds that of the rest of the Vex, however, being able to send not just other Vex, but Guardians back or forwards or perhaps even sideways through time.
Time-Limit Boss: When you've gathered the Relic for the 5th time, you'll be warned that it is about to be enraged. Continue with the fight without managing to kill it and it'll summon enough minions to overwhelm you and your fireteam.
Word-Salad Horror: It's final recorded thoughts: "PASSION AND PARADOX. \ AID THE VISION. \ SIMPLICITY REQUIRES COMPLEXITY. \ RESENT THE JOKE. \ GLIMPSE THE CHASM."

Qodron

Qodron, Gate Lord

"It is no prisoner. It is here with purpose."

Of all those jailed within the Prison of Elders, Qodron is unique in that it is not truly a prisoner. Rather, it's exactly where it wants to be. Qodron is on a mission to ensure its own glorious future, and that mission requires the death of a certain Guardian who will someday enter the Prison in search of the Reef's riches.

Cardboard Prison: Trying to lock up a Vex would be an exercise in futility, given their teleportation/time travel capabilities. Qodron's only there because it wants to be there.
Glory Seeker: It went to the Prison of Elders to ensure its own glorious future.
Humongous Mecha: A Gate Lord just like Zydron. However, Qodron appears to be wreathed in black smoke. Just like the Sol Progeny when possessed by the Black Heart, which raises some disturbing implications.
It's Personal: Qodron is in the Prison to kill you, specifically, because of how much the Player Character Guardian has ruined the Vex's plans.
Russian Reversal: To quote its Grimoire card:
Qodron is not the prisoner here. You are, Guardian.
Time Master: Qodron's abilities manifest as small "bubbles" similar to the detainment fields found in the Vault of Glass when fighting the Templar. Unlike the Templar's, however, Qodron's will deal direct damage to you and prevent you from firing at it, whereas the Templar's only accomplish the latter and can only kill you if you shoot a rocket at them.

Theosyion

Theosyion, the Restorative Mind

"Restorative Minds are of the Weavers, carrying the means to undo any Mind's undoing."

The boss of the Echo Chamber Strike, Theosyion is an Axis Mind charged with undoing the death of Sekrion, which it intends to do by summoning Sekrion into the present.

Beam Spam: We're talking about four supersized Linear Rifles shooting at you nonstop.
Death Glare: Actually weaponizes it with an ability called Medusa's Stare, you have a few seconds to get behind cover or else you'll be taking massive damage.
King Mook: It's a giant Vex Harpy.
Make Wrong What Once Went Right: It intends to pull Sekrion from the past into the present, effectively undoing its death.
No Ontological Inertia: Destroying Theosyion will apparently undo everything that it has done.
Puzzle Boss: Players need to transport an arc core around the area in order to make Theosyion vulnerable to damage.

Seditious Mind

A Taken Hydra, having been captured and imprisoned in the Prison of Elders.

Death from Above: Can conjure up a cloud of darkness that can damage you by standing in it. Stay in when it explodes, and you die.

Protheon

Protheon, Modular Mind

A Vex Mind hidden on Nessus and the boss of "The Inverted Spire" Strike.

Ground Punch: Its second stage will slam the platform with its fist, forcing solar energy through it.
Keystone Army: It is considered the keystone for all the Vex on Nessus; the Strike to eliminate it is specifically to prevent the Cabal from capturing it and the technology of the Inverted Spire, lest they use Vex weapons and technology against the City.
Meaningful Name: Its name resembles "protean," meaning "changeable." Appropriately, during the fight with Protheon, it will change configurations, shifting from using Void to Solar to Arc. (See Multi-Stage Battle below.)
Multi-Stage Battle: After depleting a third of its health, it'll teleport the floor away causing you to fall to another level.
Off with His Head!: Once on the final stage of the fight, you knock its head off and cause it to go berserk.
Sealed Evil in a Can: The chamber in which Protheon is held was buried and inaccessible until the Cabal mining operations Dug Too Deep and awakened it.

Brakion

Brakion, Genesis Mind/Variant Stalker Brakion, Repurposed Mind

A giant Hobgoblin and resident of the Pyramidion stationed on Io. Brakion has the notable ability to mechanize Guardians who cross its path, as Asher Mir found out the hard way.

Ever since that incident, Brakion has become the sworn enemy of Asher. It is eventually killed during the Pyramidion strike, but the Nexus recreates it five years later and sends it to Earth upon learning of Asher's survival. Its rebuilt form is the last boss of the //node.ovrd.AVALON// mission, rewarding Vexcalibur.

And I Must Scream: Following Asher's death, Brakion is now trapped in an eternal loop of being deleted and backed up again within AVALON, as its only defined objective was to locate him at all costs.
Archenemy: Asher Mir considers it his, because it was the Mind that converted him and killed his fireteam. After Asher's survival of the events of Season of Arrivals is confirmed, it is rebuilt specifically to hunt him down.
Back from the Dead: Returns in Season of Defiance pursuing Asher's manipulations of the Vex network following the confirmation of his survival in Lightfall.
Barrier Warrior: Puts up a forcefield it can shoot through as its health lowers. To disable it, Guardians must capture two sync plates near the corner of the map where Brakion is hiding. In //node.ovrd.AVALON//, it also guards the Vexcalibur exotic glaive, a master key for the Vex's security and which is also focused around generating Void overshields.
Brick Joke: In the Pyramidion Strike, Asher goes on about a radiolarian lake that doesn't seem to exist in the present day. Five years later, //node.ovrd.AVALON// places Brakion's new arena at the center of said lake. In fact, that region of the Nexus has dozens in a perfect array.
Came Back Strong: Brakion Took a Level in Badass several times over when it was resurrected to hunt down Asher Mir - when faced in //node.ovrd.AVALON//, it has a new cycle shield mechanic, increased backup, and resistance to supers.
Cold Sniper: Being a Vex Axis Mind in a giant Hobgoblin chassis, this is to be expected. Its sniper beam is not only extremely accurate, but can one-shot most Guardians if they're not careful or geared for strong defense.
Damage-Sponge Boss: Takes far more punishment as the Repurposed Mind in //node.ovrd.AVALON//.
Hero Killer: Buys the Vex enough time to finally kill Asher for good, though not before he sends all of their research on the Black Fleet and the Veil to Earth.
Ironic Hell: It is implied AVALON was engineered by Asher to serve as one for Brakion after his death, as the constant deathloop it faces resembles that of the defective Goblins encountered throughout the area, Specimens Mu, Iota, and Gamma. The irony comes in the fact that Brakion is doing exactly what it was programmed to do, yet now fares no better than literal rejects and deviants.
Meaningful Name: Vrachiónas is a Greek word for "Arm." Appropriate name for the Vex who converted Asher Mir's arm into Vex.
Resistant to Magic: Its rebuilt form takes half damage from all abilities, to the point where a Well of Radiance weakens weapon damage instead of improving it.
Turns Red: As is to be expected with all Vex when they lose their head. Being a strike boss, this automatically happens to Brakion at low health.
Off with His Head!: Like Protheon, its head falls off at low health and goes berserk.

Tekton

Tekton, Constructive Mind

A Hydra Axis Mind that was trying to pump... something into Io.

Marathon Boss: It has in inordinate amount of health for an Axis Mind, and as such it can take a massive beating before it goes down.
Meaningful Name: Tektonikos translates in Ancient Greek to "pertaining to build," appropriate for the 'Constructive Mind.' Also, as Tekton is pumping something into Io's surface, it causes tremors, so the name could also apply to "tectonics."
No-Sell: Twice during the Adventure centering on it does it gain an impenetrable shield. First time you simply need to wait for it to go away and then chase it down, second time you need to destroy two Cyclopes' to drop the shield again.

Khartion

Khartion, Archival Mind

A Vex Mind guarding the map of the Infinite Forest.

King Mook: A giant Minotaur.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: Teleports in when the Player is near the map, only to immediately get detroyed by Valus Thuun.

Dendron

Dendron, Root Mind

A Vex mind tasked with protecting Panoptes source code. Was the vanguard for the assimilation of Mercury, hence the name, though not the leader of the effort. After the events of Curse of Osiris, Osiris tries to use its remains to control the Infinite Forest, only for the Root Mind to break away from his control and attempt to take over Mercury, requiring you to destroy it again in the "A Garden World" strike.

Evil Is Not a Toy: Osiris thought he could control a simulation of Dendron to help him further his research in the Infinite Forest. He didn't expect the Root Mind's replica to break free from his control, negate all of his and Sagira's efforts to destroy the Spire it was on, and try to take Panoptes' place in governing the Infinite Forest.
Flunky Boss: Many Goblins and Hobgoblins come to its aid as you whittle down Dendron's health, and that's not even counting the Minotaurs on standby that activate at set health thresholds.
King Mook: It's a massive Cyclops, though it can rotate around its boss arena thanks to the rails tracks, unlike the regular Cyclops who are stationary. It only stops moving to put a barrier around itself and let its flunkies overwhelm you, resuming its course should you slay the shielded Minotaurs. It also shoots a Void laser beam most of the time instead of a large explosive blast, though it can also launch a miniature black hole. Dendron's color scheme also makes it the earliest known Cyclops to be part of the Sol Primeval class of Vex.
Meaningful Name: "Dendron" means "tree" in Greek. The Root Mind oversees the creation of the Infinite Forest on Mercury.
We Can Rebuild Him: After the Young Wolf destroys it the first time, Osiris co-opts the remains in his attempts to control the Infinite Forest. Naturally, Dendron proceeds to try and take over Mercury in Panoptes' place, prompting Osiris to call for your help again.

Hasapiko and Pagouri

Hasapiko, Pagouri, Beloved by Calus

Two Minds, a Minotaur and Hydra, that command the Vex within the Leviathan's Menagerie.

Flunky Boss: Pagouri fields a large assortment of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Cyclops and Minotaurs while shielded, and deploys Harpy Seekers when caught outside its barrier. Hasapiko's hordes are less pronounced since it only summons a few waves of Fanatics at a time, with some Hobgoblins appearing on the balconies and a trio of Hydras only coming in once Hasapiko's health is low.
Meaningful Name: The hasapiko is a Greek folk dance. Hasapiko is fought in the Menagerie's Theatre.
One-Hit Kill: Hasapiko summons Deletion Fields that will instantly kill any Guardian they touch, forcing fireteams to keep moving during the damage phase. The only way to tank it through is by blocking with a sword.
Puzzle Boss: Both are normally invulnerable and require special mechanics to open up their damage phase:
- Hasapiko's invulnerability shield can only be damaged by using its "Firewall" Harpies against it, which is to say destroying them and then shooting at Hasapiko while standing in the pool they leave behind.
- Pagouri must be lured out of its barrier by capturing sync plates.

Zeteon

Zeteon, Redemptive Mind

A leader of a patrol squadron on the Moon who holds the final key to one of the Black Garden's biggest mysteries with the Guardians who have visited it.

Meaningful Name:
- It is called the Redemptive Mind, and its death is what allows the Young Wolf to safely extract Divinity from the Garden and bring closure to Lisbon-13's immense regret over the deaths of the Kentarch 3.
- "Zeteo" is a Greek verb that can mean "challenge," "dispute," "question," or "seek honestly." More specifically, it refers to the act of seeking alternative ideas and solutions; the Divinity quest started by Zeteon's death is about the Young Wolf searching out a more refined approach to safely remove Divinity from the Black Garden without succumbing to Darkness or the Vex.
Small Role, Big Impact: Stumbles out of the Moon's entrance to the Garden and is killed immediately upon arrival, but is essential in finally resolving the story of the Kentarch 3 and giving Lisbon-13 closure.

Agioktis

Agioktis, Martyr Mind

A giant Descendant Hobgoblin the Vex created to steal Saint-14's Light in the Infinite Forest.

Archenemy: Of Saint-14. The Vex specifically constructed Agioktis to steal Saint-14's Light— a process that took centuries— since they were otherwise unable to stop him. Agioktis is also notable for being one of the few bosses you do not personally finish off; Saint-14 does the deed instead while the Mind is distracted trying to stop your meddling.
Flunky Boss: It continually summons Descendant Vex to keep up the pressure during its boss fight, including giant Shackled Minotaurs.
Hero Killer: In the original timeline, Agioktis succeeded in mortally injuring and killing Saint-14. Thanks to the Young Wolf and Osiris, it failed and was killed instead.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Agioktis' attempt to kill the Young Wolf ends up getting it killed at the hands of Saint-14, the very Guardian it was supposed to kill.
It Only Works Once: Saint-14 explains that it cost the Vex everything just to create Agioktis, so once it is destroyed, it's impossible for them to re-create it.
King Mook: Agiotktis is the perfect spitting image of Brakion, which is to say an oversized Hobgoblin with a massive line rifle on one hand and a Void flamethrower on the other. That said, it's considerably stronger and beefier than the Genesis Mind, boasting 4 health sections and occasionally sending out Harpy Seekers normally used by Argos, Crotheon, Pagouri and the reborn Undying Mind.
Meaningful Name: Agioktis translates from Greek to "Saint".
Only I Can Kill Him: It was specifically created to drain and kill Saint-14, who was tearing the Vex a new one.
Remote Body: If you play its boss fight with a fireteam, then occasionally Hydras also called "Agioktis, Martyr Mind" will spawn when dealing with the Shackled Minotaurs, implying this trope.
Trap Master: After the first damage phase of its boss fight, it places proximity traps in the arena, which trigger a Harpy Seeker missile to fly at the Guardian, catching them in detainment if they hit. And after the last Shackled Minotaur falls, it immediately traps the Guardian in a Vex cage.

Belmon

Belmon, Transcendant Mind

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_1_861.jpg

An ancient, oversized Hydra awakened when Eramis rebooted a Vex gate in the Glassway in an attempt to continue Clovis Bray I's research and production of Exos.

Bait-and-Switch Boss: Before Belmon spawns, a smaller Transcendant Hydra appears, giving the assumption that the Glassway's boss is just a regular Hydra. Then Belmon appears for real after a short delay and dwarfs the Transcendant Hydra.
The Transcendant Hydra appears
Belmon, Transcendant Mind also appears
Dual Boss: Destroying Belmon is not enough to finish the strike, as you also have to get rid of the Transcendant Hydra. Once both are destroyed, all remaining enemies despawn and the strike is complete.
Dug Too Deep: Belmon is the main enemy in an invasion force that Eramis accidentally unleashed when she rebooted the Glassway's systems to plunder the (regular) Vex within, while ignoring Variks's repeated warnings that she's biting off more than she can chew. Of course, like the last person to try this, she doesn't care as long as it fits her agenda.
King Mook: A giant Hydra, resembling a downscaled version of Argos but lacking the latter's unique abilities.
Leitmotif: "Reboot."
Tag Team: Belmon and the Transcendant Hydra initially appear together, but switch in and out once both have their health down to two thirds. They reappear together along with reinforcements on the final third of their health bar.

Subjugated Minds

Tacitas, Portunos, and Thesmotae, Subjugated Minds

Three Vex Minds encountered in the deepest layers of the Vex simulation space collectively known as the Nexus, the Subjugated Minds contain access to heavily encrypted data vital for thwarting the Endless Night.

Existing with the fundamental core of Vex programming and logic, they are able to weaponize database computing and programming to manipulate their surroundings by uploading encryption algorithms and security programs.

Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: Their arena is set within the Nexus, which is already rather trippy with its liberal use of solid cool colors and Tron Lines. Activating the sequence to delete them from existence only makes things more interesting as the Nexus literally Turns Red and starts falling apart once the fireteam gets to to work on hacking the area.
Cessation of Existence: As the Subjugated Minds are fought in the Nexus, the physical manifestation of the Vex's computer systems, status messages pop up throughout the fight that indicate they are not simply scrapped when their health drops to zero. Rather, they are deleted entirely from the Vex collective.
Flunky Boss: Through the nature of the Nexus, they can use encryption algorithms and security programs to send in elite Vex, shielding themselves in the process. The way this happens varies between each mind:
- Tacitas summons Scytales and Soterians without any extra changes to the arena, lowering their shield when the data spike dropped by a Scytale is deposited.
- Portunos reroutes the hacking subroutines of the fireteam, dumping them in a separate room and deploying a Scytale and Mooks there. The team has to not only kill the Scytale and take its data spike, but also destroy cubes to redo the splice and return them to the arena.
- Thesmotae teleports to another third of its arena, which is walled off. Killing a Scytale and depositing its data spike allows the cube maintaining the wall to be broken, lowering it.
Hell Is That Noise: They emit a shrill blast of white noise whenever they upload a new program to the Nexus or rewrite the coding of their environment.
Hacking Minigame: Technically, their fights and by extension all of Override serve as one, as it's explicitly mentioned that the splices performed by Mithrax that send you into the Nexus are in fact directly interacting with the baseline of the Vex computer systems to destabilize and shut them down.
Hollywood Hacking: Averted. Despite being represented with gunshots and physical altercations, hacking the Nexus to erase the Subjugated Minds from existence is done through the more realistic "hacking" method of obtaining administrator identities (the data spikes) from data breaches (dead Scytales and other marked Vex), and then using them in input points to manually shut down defenses, as Expunge reveals.
Improbable Weapon User: Their Scytale defense systems are pretty good at giving Guardians a hard time, an impressive feat considering they are essentially fighting them with raw encryption.
King Mook: Tacitas is a giant Wyvern, Portunos is a giant Minotaur, and Thesmotae is a giant Hydra.
Meaningful Name:
- "Tacitas" is derived from the Latin word for "silent," which in turn created the English word "taciturn."
- A "scytale" is an early form of encryption used in ancient Greece. Fitting, as the Scytale Champions are essentially pure encryption algorithms given physical form.
- The Soterian program is named for the Greek goddess of salvation Soteria, which is appropriate since it spawns an Elite Mook as a bodyguard when a Subjugated Mind uploads it.
Summon Magic: For a given definition of "magic." The Subjugated Minds can upload the Soterian program to the local region of the Nexus, which summons a Minotaur of the same name when executed.

Oppressive Minds

Fantis, Dikhast and Dimio, Oppressive Minds

Even deeper within the Nexus lies these Vex minds maintaining their iron grip on the Endless Night. Destroying them and decoupling the connections they have made in their cognitive space slowly but surely begins to heal reality back on Earth.

Almighty Janitor: In case Calus's aside about the Vex in Sol being worker frames wasn't clear enough, Osiris mentions that Tartarus is a glorified garbage dump for all of their failed projects. Meaning that Dimio, the Oppressive Mind controlling the region, has a role that effectively amounts to "head janitor," yet is more than capable of handling Guardians in a fight.
Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: Fought in the heart of the Nexus much like the Subjugated Minds, with all the Scenery Porn of the Acid-Trip Dimension further elevated by the platforming required to reach them. When resurrected, everything in the Nexus instead turns a Gloomy Gray from the Taken's influence.
Back from the Dead: Quria programs new copies of them in the Corrupted versions of Expunge, labelling them as "Reborn."
Boss-Arena Idiocy:
- Their cognitive spaces contain security exploits that generate gravity cannons and platforms around their arena and the platforming sequence to reach them, allowing for Dungeon Bypasses. Some of these are placed near the boss, for added insult to injury.
- Additionally, Oracle-like constructs (which Mithrax explains as being crystallized fragments of their minds) can be shot down to raise walls in Fantis's arena for cover.
- In Dikhast's fight, the fence surrounding it and the authenticator to deposit Vex passcodes never surrounds it fully, and can be vaulted over anyways with minimal effort. In a more straightforward case, the fact that the authenticator is anywhere near it at all is pretty much the main reason it goes down like a ton of bricks so quickly.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Once revived by Quria, it tampers with their programming to make them violently subservient to it and ignorant of the surrounding Taken (already responsible for at least one Bad Future caused by them reaching critical Vex operations) without actually Taking them.
Cessation of Existence: As with the Subjugated Minds beneath them, defeat for them in the Nexus means total deletion from the Vex collective. Luckily for them, Quria backs up its data.
Flunky Boss: Like the Subjugated Minds, they can throw up shields that can only be lowered by killing marked Vex and using the data spike dropped by them to shut it off.
Gloomy Gray: Their arena and cognitive space turns to this after Quria restores them from their initial deletions.
Hacking Minigame: Expunge is similar in nature to Override as a means of hacking into the Vex network to delete a target Mind, but has more of a focus on platforming instead of gunplay. However, Expunge makes the hacking nature more blatant as areas such as the beginning of Labyrinth use location "callouts" and status messages reminiscent of a developer console, even printing errors when you mess up.
Hollywood Hacking: Like with Override, Expunge and the fights against the Oppressive Minds avert this with their heavy references to the use of traditional data breaches to pose as Vex and manually shut down their defenses.
King Mook: Fantis is a giant Minotaur, Dikhast is a giant Cyclops, and Dimio is a giant Hydra.

Aesop

Aesop, the Sovereign

A Vex Axis mind from Neomuni folklore, notable for being the only known non-Darkness infected Vex mind with individuality and ambition. It attempted to court the populace's favor and become their leader in exchange for getting the other Vex to stand down.

Ambiguous Situation: As it is only spoken of in a folktale, it's left ambiguous if Aesop actually exists. However, considering something is seriously wrong with the Neptunian sector of the Nexus, there's a non-zero chance it or something else like it is running around inside.
Ambition Is Evil: Has its own motivations separate from the other Vex, and comes off as a pompous, baby-munching asshole for it.
Eats Babies: Upon being turned down by the Neomuni long enough, it went into the CloudArk and deleted the brain scans of every single child inside, erasing them from existence.
Evil Is Petty: Showed up demanding that the Neomunans make it their ruler, then murdered all their children out of spite when they said no.
It Can Think: Has heightened intelligence compared to other Vex, being able to think and scheme as an individual while also talking in plain English.

Planet Cores

Panoptes

Panoptes, Infinite Mind

The Vex mind in command of the Infinite Forest.

Arc Villain: Panoptes is the main antagonist of Curse of Osiris, wrestling control of the Infinite Forest from the titular Warlock and seeking to implant a Bad Future ruled by the Vex.
The Corrupter: Panoptes is the reason why Mercury became the Infinite Forest.
Flunky Boss: While it is a large threat to the City and the creator of the Bad Future, its actual combat capabilities are mostly limited to summoning legions of simulations, with the exception of a Templar-like Ret-Gone ability.
Genius Loci: Panoptes is Mercury by the time the players encounter it, as the entire planet is mostly just an enormous processing system intended to ensure Vex supremacy with Panoptes as the central Axis Mind directing it.
King Mook: Averted, for once. It's a mishmash of a Gate Lord and a Hydra, with wings and a pyramidal head. The only other Vex known to share a similar model is Quria, Blade Transform.
Meaningful Name: It's the mind running all the simulations in the Infinite Forest, and its name is Greek for "all-seeing."
Reality Warper: Created with the mission of creating a Bad Future where the Vex are in charge of everything, using a planet-sized prediction engine in the form of Mercury. Much like the Templar, it can also erase individuals from reality inside the Infinite Forest.
Super Prototype: As seemingly being the first Hydra AND Gate Lord Panoptes functions as this to later models as they all draw some inspiration from it. Its design even evokes a combination of the two classes. Helps that it was the first Vex in our system to infect Mercury.

Argos

Argos, Planetary Core

A massive Hydra that serves as the core of Nessus that wound up being sucked up into the Leviathan. It is the only boss of the "Eater of Worlds" Raid Lair

Barrier Change Boss: Argos periodically changes the elements displayed on the 3 orbs required to break its barrier open. If you are successful in squeezing in an additional damage phase, the order of elements successively rotates between Arc, Void and Solar, then back to Arc. If Argos pulls a Total Party Wipe before then, the elements reset randomly.
Damage-Sponge Boss: Your fireteam has to be well coordinated with your weapons and charged craniums to even empty a third of its health bar in one damage phase. Attempting to stop its Total Party Wipe attack also requires a concentrated effort on a pair of really beefy body parts.
Flunky Boss: Whatever direction it is facing (subsequently the same side you have to disable its shield on) is crowded with Harpies, and all three shrines housing the fires necessary to charge the Vex craniums are prone to visits from Goblins and Minotaurs. Then there's the exploding Harpies that Argos summons as an attempt to disrupt your fireteam once its barrier is broken.
King Mook: Easily the largest Hydra and the largest Vex seen yet, Argos is about three to four times bigger than the next largest Ultra Hydra, and has the massive health of a raid boss to back it up.
Puzzle Boss: Argos interestingly takes some elements from Rise of Iron's Aksis, requiring elemental charges to break its barrier and proceed to a damage phase (albeit one easily disrupted by numerous factors like the large number of enemy mobs, or Argos's own devastating attacks), before recovering and attempting to wipe your fireteam with a single attack (though in this case, you have to stop it from doing so a la Oryx).
Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Calus is concerned that Argos (along with many other Vex) getting swallowed by the Leviathan might cause complications for the sapient ship, so he orders his Loyalist forces to stand down and let your fireteam deal with the Vex.
Total Party Wipe: Gravity Smasher, which it attempts to use whenever you break its shield (or if you take too long in doing so). The first 3-4 times, it will sprout glowing weak points that you can shoot to interrupt the attack. If you take too long and let it become enraged, however, then the attack can't be stopped.

Characters / Destiny: The Vex

The Vex

Classes

Goblin

Hobgoblin

Harpy

Minotaur

Hydra

Fanatic

Wyvern

Axis Minds

Zydron, Gate Lord

The Sol Progeny

The Nexus Mind, Sekrion

The Templar

The Gorgons

The Sol Primeval/Precursors and Sol Imminent/Descendant Vex

Atheon, Time's Conflux

Qodron, Gate Lord

Theosyion, the Restorative Mind

Seditious Mind

Protheon, Modular Mind

Brakion, Genesis Mind/Variant Stalker Brakion, Repurposed Mind

Tekton, Constructive Mind

Khartion, Archival Mind

Dendron, Root Mind

Hasapiko, Pagouri, Beloved by Calus

Zeteon, Redemptive Mind

Agioktis, Martyr Mind

Belmon, Transcendant Mind

Tacitas, Portunos, and Thesmotae, Subjugated Minds

Fantis, Dikhast and Dimio, Oppressive Minds

Aesop, the Sovereign

Planet Cores

Panoptes, Infinite Mind

Argos, Planetary Core

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Index

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Characters / Destiny: The Vex

Edit Locked

The Vex

Classes

Goblin

Hobgoblin

Harpy

Minotaur

Hydra

Fanatic

Wyvern

Axis Minds

Zydron, Gate Lord

The Sol Progeny

The Nexus Mind, Sekrion

The Templar

The Gorgons

The Sol Primeval/Precursors and Sol Imminent/Descendant Vex

Atheon, Time's Conflux

Qodron, Gate Lord

Theosyion, the Restorative Mind

Seditious Mind

Protheon, Modular Mind

Brakion, Genesis Mind/Variant Stalker Brakion, Repurposed Mind

Tekton, Constructive Mind

Khartion, Archival Mind

Dendron, Root Mind

Hasapiko, Pagouri, Beloved by Calus

Zeteon, Redemptive Mind

Agioktis, Martyr Mind

Belmon, Transcendant Mind

Tacitas, Portunos, and Thesmotae, Subjugated Minds

Fantis, Dikhast and Dimio, Oppressive Minds

Aesop, the Sovereign

Planet Cores

Panoptes, Infinite Mind

Argos, Planetary Core

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Index

Next