The people of the many tribes living in the world of Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.
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The Nora
See The Nora character page here.The Carja
See The Carja character page here.
The Oseram
In General
- The Blacksmith: The Oseram are known for making the best armors and weapons.
- Busman's Vocabulary: A lot of their colloquialisms revolve around blacksmithing terms, like "By fire and spit." Petra Forgewoman especially runs with it.
- BFG: They are famous for their weapons and cannons which they used in the war against Jiran, where their cannons broke through castle defenses. Those cannons are reworked and improved upon by Petra and Aloy wields them against HADES and its mechanical force and it's the most powerful weapon in the game by far, capable of destroying multiple Deathbringers in short order.
- Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: Avad's Vanguard first led by Ersa, and then Erend, is entirely comprised of Oseram, and they are loyal and sworn to Avad.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Apparently they specialize in this; aside from weapons, their tinkering goes into torture devices that they use to punish their most hated enemies with slow, agonizing deaths. We aren't given any specifics and don't see much of it beyond Dervahl using a sonic device that paralyzes and causes extreme pain to pin down Ersa for days before she dies of her injuries. It's alluded to that Dervahl's fate will be just as bad, if not worse, once he's returned to the Claim.
- Dumb Muscle: Downplayed. Their warriors tend to be blunt and ignorant of social cues or other cultures, but most of them are still expert blacksmiths, some of them even engineers who can develop machine-like weapons, so don't call them unintelligent.
- Elemental Motifs: Fire and Metal. They are known to be expert blacksmiths which means they can use forges. They are allied with the Carja which are also fire-related. The Oseram are shown to be hard, strong, and quite destructive but can also be progressive, creative, and even passionate.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: They seem to be a blend of northern European cultures such as the Celts and Scandinavians. Also possibly a little Jewish, considering their dense bureaucracy, love of arguing, and certain Stay in the Kitchen tendencies.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Olin says that charging in head first through the doors arrows blazing is "Oseram style". Erend confirms this when the Vanguard say that their place is at the front of the line.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Oseram traditionalists are known for doing everything by the book, which includes lots of paperwork. Their official term for any important discussion is "argument", which says a lot about what they consider important. According to Erend, it takes weeks minimum for them to decide on anything at all. Oseram outside the Claim aren't like this, and we're given the impression that the reason many Oseram leave is to get away from this culture.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Although biologically human, the Oseram are basically dwarves in all but name. Their defining hobbies are smithing, drinking, arguing, and hitting things with hammers. And they're the best engineers and technicians in the known world, they pepper their speech with blacksmithing terms, their preferred weapons are warhammers and big-ass cannons, they have generally stocky builds, and their entire visual style looks exactly like what you'd expect from stereotypical dwarves in a work of fantasy.
- Proud Industrious Race: The Oseram are an entire tribe of Blacksmiths who are experts at repurposing Machine scrap and turning them into strong armor or impressive machines. Compared to the rest of the iron-age North American tribes, the Oseram are more like a pre-industrial society that are on the verge of rediscovering the steam engine, which makes them very popular as both mercenaries and weapons contractors (The Carja Sun-King's Praetorian Guard is even made up of crack Oseram warriors). In one quest in Zero Dawn, Aloy even helps an Oseram woman named Petra invent what is essentially a rapid-fire mortar cannon out of repurposed machine parts before the world has even reinvented gunpowder.
- Real Men Eat Meat: They're noted as having a diet that's heavy in meat and carbohydrates, which explains their tendency toward stoutness. One data point Aloy can find from an Oseram trader in Forbidden West is how hard it is to come up with something that the Utaru actually want to trade for, since they aren't interested in the meat, beer, or metal products that are the typical Oseram trade goods.
- Secular Hero: Whereas the Nora, the Carja (especially the Shadow Carja), and the Banuk are all very spiritual tribes, we don't get much insight at all into the beliefs of the Oseram. We know they have some form of funeral rites for the dead, and we know that they hold the forge to be sacred to some extent, but not much beyond that.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Apparently the Oseram of the Claim (their homeland) have this attitude; "Women know their place in the Claim" is advice the tribal elders gave one Oseram man Aloy meets. Outside the Claim, this is apparently much less of an issue, as multiple women have left with leadership or just getting away from these expectations as part of their motivation and many of them take advantage of the Carja-Oseram alliance and the free trade it promotes, to settle in the Sundom.
- Stout Strength: Oseram as a racial phenotype are characterized by being rather stocky in build and are known for brawling, metalworking, and being proficient warriors.
- Weapons of Their Trade: Oseram are most well known for being blacksmiths and tend to favor using two-handed warhammers as their melee weapon of choice.
Erend
See The Base Team
Ersa
Voiced by: Freya Parker (English)note
The captain of Avad's Vanguard and Erend's older sister.
- Almost Dead Guy: She survives just long enough to divulge Dervahl's goal to destroy Meridian before dying in her brother's arms.
- Badass in Distress: Played straight when she falls into Dervahl's trap.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: She's quite attractive even in her dying moments, but is clearly the worse for wear after being beaten and tortured.
- Beneath Notice: In the tie-in comics, she was captured and enslaved by the Mad Sun-King, where she did the most demeaning work without a word of complaint. Once her captors had lowered their guard around her, the facade made it easy for her to gather intelligence to take back to the Oseram when she escaped.
- The Captain: After the Red Raids, she became the Captain of the Oseram Vanguards and acting to maintain peace between her people and the Carja.
- Damsel out of Distress: She was captured during the Red Raids, but managed to escape being sacrificed and help overthrow the old Sun-King.
- Death Faked for You: Dervahl captures her alive and leaves another woman's corpse in her armor, disfigured beyond easy identification, all so he can keep her prisoner and slowly torture her to death.
- Didn't See That Coming: Dervahl had more wiles than she credited him for. While she knew perfectly well his "peace talk" was a trap, she didn't foresee him designing a machine that can paralyse any person not wearing special ear-plugs. She and her men didn't even get to lift their weapons.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Passes away in her brother's embrace.
- Go Out with a Smile: Dies like this to try to make sure Erend won't worry about her after she's gone.
- Hero of Another Story: The way Erend and Avad talk about her, it's clear that she'd had her fair share of adventures and stories to tell before the liberation of Meridian occurred. The liberation miniseries basically depicts her taking Aloy's place in the narrative, minus her abilities with ancient technology, being one of the only Oseram to survive the Sun Ring, arranging the alliance between Avad and her fellow Oseram that lead to the eventual liberation of the city, fought beside Avad's all the way through his father's forces, and actually struck the fatal blow against the Mad King herself.
- Informed Attribute: Other characters constantly mention how fierce she is of a fighter and how she's more capable at everything than her brother. All you ever actually see her do is die in her Erend's arms.
- Her competence is better shown in volume 2 of the Liberation miniseries. When she was captured by Carja slavers rescuing captives during the Red Raids because she stayed behind to let them escape she was sent to the Sun Ring, by that point a death sentence. On top of that, one of the kestrels who captured her ensured that she wouldn't have any weapons to defend herself after she nearly chocked him out using her manacles, further disadvantaging her. Despite this, armed with just a rock, her wits and her natural agility, she was able to kill two Kestrels and a Ravager alone, explicitly becoming the first Oseram to survive the sun ring. It's clear that her physical fighting skills were more than a match for Aloy's but unfortunately, she did not have her gifted understanding of machinery and the insight provided by a focus, leading to her being captured by Dervahl after he lured her into a trap and attacked her with a sound-based weapon that prevented her being able to move.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For a twisted sense of 'karma'. The Liberation miniseries reveals that when she turned on Dervahl, she did it because she'd learned that he was only going along with the Oseram's alliance with Avad for the chance to kill both the current and future Sun Kings at the same time, realising that his Revenge Before Reason tendencies had made him a liability to the Oseram and threatened to ignite further bloodshed against the Carja who were willing to stand with them against the Mad King. She tricked him into getting dumped into a pit and overseen by an Oseram who had lost several close friends as part of Dervahl's tactics during the Red Raids, aware the man wouldn't let Dervahl escape or be in any fit state to interfere with the liberation. When he did escape thanks to Korl, rather than recognising what he'd suffered was the consequences of his own decisions, Dervahl went out of his way to lure Ersa into a trap before he moved forward with his plans to blow Meridian to ashes just so he could paralyse her with his newly-developed weapon and spend some time 'returning the favour'.
- The Lost Lenore: Became this to Avad after her death. They had fallen in love, but were forced to keep their relationship a secret (at least for the time being) because the King being involved with not only an Oseram but a former slave would have been a scandal that could cripple his authority.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently the way she escaped capture by the Carja is an amazing story, but there's never an opportunity to tell it. It involved her befriending Avad while she was a slave in the Palace of the Sun, and that's about all the detail there is. The event are actually shown in-detail in the Liberation miniseries, revealing that Ersa was the first Oseram to survive the Sun Ring against a Ravager despite lacking any weapons, and was 'rewarded' for her astounding feat by being made a personal slave in the Sun Palace. She decided to use her new position to gather information on the Carja's tactics and troop movements, all the while plotting her escape once the time was right. She was explicitly aided in this by Avad, who noticed her spying because he paid attention to all the servants in the palace and actually aided her by assigning her to clean rooms with valuable documents inside them, before helping her flee the palace. After their increased success against the Carja, Avad was able to broker an alliance with the Oseram thanks to Ersa's aid, leading to the eventual liberation of Meridian.
- In Forbidden West Erend tells the tale on how Ersa escaped. Avad arranged for her to be escorted out dressed as a Carja noblewoman, but Ersa was so against the idea that she did it on one condition: That Avad dress up as well.
- Worf Had the Flu: Ersa was a badass fighter on par with Aloy in a close-range fight, and is often noted to be a better fighter than her brother. Unfortunately, Dervahl was well aware of that, and took advantage of Ersa's confidence in her fighting skills to lure her into a trap where he could paralyse her from a distance with his newly-developed weapon, never even giving her a fair chance at defending herself.
Olin
Voiced by: Joplin Sibtain (English)note
A mysterious scavenger who also possesses a Focus like Aloy.
- The Atoner: Is genuinely guilty about cooperating with the Eclipse, and if Aloy spares him, he swears to use his life to make up for his past misdeeds.
- Face Death with Dignity: If Aloy chooses to kill him, he'll face it calmly, saying he's ready to pay for the lives he's ruined. His only request is that Aloy not tell his family what he did.
- Go and Sin No More: If Aloy's merciful and spared his life, she can free his family and pretty much just tells him to do good with the life she's given him.
- I Have Your Wife: He only works for the Eclipse because they have his wife and son.
- The Mole: For the Eclipse, but against his will.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He inadvertently sets the plot into motion just by seeing and conversing with Aloy. Through his Focus, HADES is alerted to her very existence, which prompts the AI to order the Eclipse to kill her, leading to the massacre at the Proving, the attack on the Nora, and the beginning of Aloy's quest. That same action also gets Sylens' attention, leading him to start monitoring Aloy's progress.
- Trapped in Villainy: Olin is forced to work for the Eclipse because they are holding his family hostage.
Petra
Voiced by: Salli Saffioti (English)
A tough woman who runs an independent town built next to an old wrecking yard named Free Heap. She's building newer and more powerful cannons for Meridian.
- Amazon Chaser: It's made clear that she has a crush on Aloy, who is a skilled warrior. On the other hand, Aloy doesn't seem to recipocrate and ultimately only has eyes for one person.
- Back for the Finale: She shows up for the final battle, even if Aloy never met her.
- Butch Lesbian: She's tough, blunt, doesn't care about her appearance, and openly flirts with Aloy. She also mentions her many past love affairs with wandering Nora girls who come through Free Heap.
- Expy: Imagine Rosie the Riveter as an actual character complete with the can-do attitude of propaganda legend, and you have her.
- Emperor Scientist: She's the de-facto mayor and leader of Free Heap, an independent settlement, and she's also the main scientist and inventor, tasking many citizens and residents to get her parts for the weapons she uses to defend the town. Completing Chainscrape sidequests in Forbidden West has her taking up the role of leader in Chainscrape as well once Ulvund is removed.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Fairly subtle in the first game, as Oseram tend to dress in heavy leather layers with a loose undershirt (to better disperse sweat working in the forge), but it's especially noticeable in Forbidden West, as she wears an open shirt with a neckline that extends well below her work belt.
- Victory Is Boring: In Forbidden West, she shows up in the town of Chainscrape, saying that Free Heap is running smoothly since the Battle of Meridian and therefore she really didn't have anything to do, so she headed west in search of new problems.
- Wrench Wench: One of the reasons she left the Claim — women aren't allowed to work the forge or hold positions of power there.
Dervahl
Voiced by: Anthony Howell (English)note
A Oseram warlord who seeks the destruction of the Carja.
- Arc Villain: His threat is completely unrelated to Helis and HADES, except in the roundabout way where what caused HADES to be a threat also caused the machines to become deranged and Jiran to become obsessed with ritual slaughter and kill Dervahl's family, but his plot to assassinate Avad and destroy Meridian still drives several missions in the main plot.
- Big Bad Wannabe: While he is a competent threat to Meridian that must be stopped to finish the main quest, his plans pale in comparison to the danger posed by the Eclipse and the apocalypse HADES plans to bring about.
- Crazy-Prepared: Downplayed, but he's got a few layers to his plan, and brings a machine lure to summon Glinthawks to kill everyone just in case both his bomb was disabled and he was stopped from personally killing Avad, regardless of how unlikely that was.
- Cruel Mercy: His ultimate fate is to be extradited by order of the Sun King to the Oseram... who also consider him a dangerous public enemy. Many Oseram and those who know their customs know that the Oseram Ealdormen will take their time with him...
- Cycle of Hurting: You may be unfortunate enough to get stuck in a stun lock if you're in the wrong place when he starts letting fly with his tearblaster in the final confrontation.
- Genius Bruiser: He knows how to tinker with sonic weapons and bombs.
- He Who Fights Monsters: His lust for vengeance against Jiran consumed him to the point where he wanted to murder all Carja. Even years after Jiran's death and the end of the Red Raids, he still wants to burn Meridian to the ground and completely wipe out the Carja, even though the people currently living in Meridian are innocent of Jiran's cruelty and the current Sun-King is working tirelessly to make amends with the tribes his father harmed. His hatred is so intense that he considers the Oseram that fought to liberate Meridian alongside (then) Prince Avad instead of burn it to the ground to be traitors to his cause, and thus has earned stark enmity among his own people.
- Lone Wolf Boss: He manages to become the greatest threat to Meridian other than Eclipse, even though he's completely unaffiliated with them or the game's main plot.
- Misplaced Retribution: He wanted to kill Jiran to get revenge for the deaths of his wife and daughter, but Ersa switched from Dervahl's side to Avad's, and helped the latter kill Jiran instead. Now Dervahl wants revenge against Avad and Ersa for denying him his original revenge against Jiran, and for good measure he wants to wipe out all Carja for the crimes of their mad king, regardless of whether they willingly followed him or not.
- Not Good with Rejection: One of his reasons for killing Ersa is that after his wife died, Dervahl fell in love with Ersa, but she rejected him.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He originally planned on razing Meridian and butchering its people during the Red Raids until his plans was foiled by Ersa and Erend.
- Start of Darkness: The Mad Sun-King murdering his wife and daughter in reprisal for his particularly effective military resistance caused him to become obsessed with gaining vengeance on Jiran and the Carja, to the point where he's become a genocidal madman.
- Sore Loser: You can actually go and talk to him in his dungeon cell in Meridian after defeating him. Suffice to say, Dervahl is extremely salty about it, and has plenty of insults and taunts to lob your way before he gets tired and simply starts ignoring you.
- Tragic Keepsake: He has in his possession a phonograph player he invented, which has a recording of his wife and daughter who were taken and killed in the Red Raids.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Dervahl's wife and daughter were captured and sacrificed in the Red Raids and their deaths caused his absolute hatred towards the Carja. Including those who had no role in the Red Raids.
- You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Avad comments that it's a shameful waste that Dervahl's anger and grief has turned him into a monster, noting that his technical genius could have made him a great boon to society; the man figured out phonographs.
Korl
Voiced by: N/A
The main antagonist of the Liberation miniseries. An Oseram who used to work under Dervahl back during his days of fighting the Carja during the Red Raids. During the miniseries, Erend enlists Aloy's help to track him down after Dervahl's defeat to tie up loose ends and settle a personal score.
- Arc Villain: The main villain of the Liberation miniseries, which is explicitly set after Dervahl's failed attempt to destroy Meridian but before Aloy moved onto Maker's End. The plot of the present section of the issues even comes across like a side quest Aloy's doing for her friend's behest.
- The Brute: He's a big burly fighter and is shown chucking Carja solders about like sacks of flour in issue 1, demonstrating his physical might in conjunction with the chaos wrought amongst them by Dervahls' bombs. At the climax of the miniseries, he gets into a physical brawl with Erend and actually overpowers him in a fistfight, requiring Erend to trick him into getting hit by a Longleg's sonic boom to stun him long enough to gain the upper hand. That said, the events of the miniseries show that whilst he's not as smart as Dervahl, he's not dumb by any stretch.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Dervahl from Horizon Zero Dawn. Contrasting to Dervahl's Evil Genius, who uses weaponry he invented like his trademark Sonic Device made of Tearblasters, as well as Machine Lures, Korl serves more as The Brute, prioritising physical, brute strength over intelligence, being able to overpower the Vanguard member Erend in a fistfight, at one instance, with just his bare hands.
- Dumb Muscle: He was thought to be this when he was part of Dervahl's gang, following his orders unquestioningly, being happiest when inflicting violence against the Carja, and generally offering simple and straightforward options in solving their problems, but it turns out he was only this in comparison to Dervahl, and displays quite a few feats of cunning once Ersa cuts ties with him, feigning compliance with their alliance with Avad's Carta only to get the opportunity to loot Meridian in the chaos, before slipping away to free Dervahl before anyone notices, and setting traps and false trails to deter pursuers whilst he looks to sell his ill-gotten gains by the present.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- Korl successfully lures Aloy and Erend into a trap by heading to a nearby river to erase any tracks and leaving a machine lure to summon machines against any pursuers following him to the location, but ends up dropping an iron ingot he got from the Banuk trader he killed at the scene. When they've lost his trail, finding the piece of merchandise he killed over clues Erend into the fact that Korl will be looking for a trading post nearby to turn his stolen goods into shards, allowing them to catch up to him for the final fight.
- When Aloy and Erend catch up to him, his last-ditch effort to flee is using his remaining lure to summon more machines to the trading post to cause enough of a distraction so that he can escape. When he's successfully beating down Erend in a fist-fight during the chaos, Erend tricks him into standing still long enough to get hit with a wayward blast from one of the longlegs he summoned, allowing him to return the favour and pummel Korl into submission.
- It's Personal: Erend asks for Aloy's aid in finding him to avenge his sister's death, holding Korl personally responsible for the act despite Dervahl being the one that actually killed her, and several times letting his anger towards the man cloud his judgement. It turns out that Korl freed Dervahl from imprisonment after Ersa deposed him from power to unite the Osaram and Carja against Jiran, leaving him to be tortured by an Oseram whose friends and allies Dervahl's tactics had gotten killed fighting against the Red Raids. If not for Korl's interference, Dervahl's revenge, attempted bombing of Meridian and murder of Ersa would never have happened, and Erend is determined to make certain that he's punished despite his lack of direct agency in those events.
- Jerkass: The miniseries starts with Erend enlisting Aloy's aid to track him down after he murdered and robbed a Banuk trader, and he doesn't get any better from there. He's rude, abrasive and confrontational towards Ersa throughout the miniseries, at once point even accusing her of switching sides to the Carja and selling them out. It's shown that he only participated in the liberation of Meridian because he didn't want to be exiled or imprisoned like Dervahl and so he could take advantage of the chaos to loot the city's wealth.
- Noodle Incident: Erend staunchly blames Korl for Ersa's death, despite Dervahl actually being the one that did the deed, explaining said reasoning to Aloy in flashbacks to Ersa's role in the liberation of Meridian. It turns out that Korl freed Dervahl after Ersa and the Oseram loyal to her and accepting of the alliance with Avad ousted him from power and threw him into a pit to keep him out the way whilst they marched on Meridian as a united force, making him indirectly the reason why Dervahl was able to kill her by the present day.
- Number Two: He seems to fulfil a similar role in Dervahl's gang as Erend towards Ersa, letting somebody smarter and more capable than him handle the thinking and orders whilst he goes around hitting what his boss tells him to. He has far fewer scruples than Erend.
- Taking You with Me: Rather than get dragged back to face justice and punishment under the Ealdormen of Mainspring, Korl opts to pull out a bomb and blow himself — and both Aloy and Erend — to pieces, though only he perishes from the blast in the end.
Gildun
Voiced by: Donovan Patton (English)note
The Frozen Wilds DLC character, an enthusiastic Oseram delver that Aloy meets in the Greycatch Dam.
- Character Development: In Forbidden West, Aloy can run across a note he left behind outside of a cave, in which he concludes that the potential risk of the delve inside isn't worth the reward, noting that he's learned from the Nora girl who saved him in Banuk lands. Considering the next Oseram who went inside got caught in a Hair-Trigger Avalanche...
- I Just Want to Have Friends: After completing his side quest in Burning Shores, he reveals that there's one thing that gets him down; he's desperately lonely. Aloy tells him that while she might not always be able to be with him, she will always consider him her friend. She also gives him a Focus and introduces him to GAIA so that he'll never be without someone to talk to.
- Motor Mouth: Almost never shuts up.
- Nice Guy: He is nothing but cordial and grateful to Aloy, especially after she saved him from the dam and accompanied him on the delve. She seems to like him as well.
- No Sense of Personal Space: When he enthusiastically grabs Aloy's hands for a moment, she's visibly surprised.
- The Pollyanna: Nothing can dampen his good spirits, even the flooding of the dam he's stuck in.
Introduced in Forbidden West
Ulvund
The "Boss" of Chainscrape. He's the first major obstacle that Aloy faces on her journey to the Forbidden West. He's put a work stop on all of Chainscrape and is refusing to allow anything to move forward until the Bristlebacks that have appeared in the area have been dealt with.
- 0% Approval Rating: Absolutely no one in Chainscrape likes him. And none of them are sad to see him go after the Bristleback sidequest is completed and he's ousted from Chainscrape.
- Bad Boss: He regularly overworks and underpays his workers, and is not at all hesitant to subject them to dangerous working conditions if it means even a chance at making more Shards.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: He orders a work strike (which in term stalls the Embassy with the Carja) until the Bristleback issue is resolved. Naturally, this strike extends to the hunters.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The way that he acts and speaks brings to mind a corrupt union boss, constantly claiming to be looking out for the workers that they supposedly represent all while being more interested in lining their own pockets. Though the fact that he's got serious financial stakes in the mines, is attempting to bully the local government into ceding the land (and profit) to him, and he's been running operations too hard and too recklessly, he's also got strong shades of being a robber baron.
- False Flag Operation: Sort of. While he didn't unleash the Bristlebacks into the Daunt on purpose, he did take advantage of the situation and tried to point the finger at the Carja to stir up support so that the Carja could be pressured into signing over parts of the Daunt to him.
- Greed: His Fatal Flaw. He's willing to do just about anything for more money. If you complete the sidequests in The Daunt, it ends up biting him in the ass as his deceptions surrounding the Bristleback incursion are revealed and he's ousted from Chainscrape.
- Hypocrite: Repeatedly lambasts the Carja for sitting back and doing nothing while profiting off of Oseram labor while doing exactly that himself.
- Villainous Breakdown: While he's normally full of good things to say about Chainscrape and its people (he claims he practically founded the place!) he doesn't hesitate to call it a "forge-burnt slagheap" after he gets kicked out and replaced by Petra.
Milduf
A cook who works in the tavern in Chainscrape. He's a pretty nice guy, a little too nice for his own good, and is frequently abused and taken advantage of by Ulvund and his men.
- Extreme Doormat: Is easily bullied by Ulvund's men into giving them heavily discounted meals. His idea of defiance? He puts three pinches of salt into their meals instead of the recommended two.
- Nice Guy: He's probably too nice for his own good, frequently letting himself be taken advantage of because he can't stand up for himself.
- Poke the Poodle: When Aloy finally does convince him to stand up for himself, Milduf does so... by secretly adding things to the food his bullies buy from him. Doubles as a
Genius Bonus because more often than not, his "sabotage" attempts (adding "rotten fish juice" to a stew or salt to a sweet dish) are actually techniques modern cooks use to make food taste better. - Supreme Chef: Cooks amazing meals. A customer claims that he took some of Milduf's stew with him into the wilds and it kept him going for a week.
Morlund, Abadund, & Stemmur
Trio of self-described showmen who came from the Claim in search of "Embers", hologram recordings from the Old World, to use in their shows.
- The Heart: Stemmur and Abadund both comment that Morlund is this for their party, being the one who keeps them together.
- Minored In Ass Kicking: They may be showmen first and delvers second, but they do not shy away from the fight when the situation asks for it. They even help Aloy fight the Tideripper lurking at the bottom of the Golden Pagoda.
- Nice Guy: Morlund is genuinely nice, friendly and trusting, much to Abadund's annoyance.
- Only in It for the Money: Subverted. Abadund may seem like the resident bean-counter only interested in the profits at first, but his primary, honest motivation is seeing Morlund realize his dream. Just preferably without dying while doing so.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Stemmur hams up his theatrical narration in a way that makes you wonder where he found the thesaurus in his day and age.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Each of them represents different stages – Morlund is The Idealist who drives the party forward with his dream, Abadund is The Cynic who claims to balance Morlund's naivety, and Stemmur is holding the middle ground stuck between them both.
- The Storyteller: Stemmur is the Wordsmith who narrates all the shows the party presents. He quite often slips into his storyteller mode even in normal dialogue.
Delah and Boomer
Two sisters from the Claim who set up shop in Chainscrape designing prototype weapons.
- Affectionate Nickname: Like a lot of Oseram Aloy encounters, they both call her "Red".
- Black and Nerdy: Delah and Boomer are Black, highly intelligent, and love to tinker.
- Literal-Minded: Boomer sometimes takes what Delah says literally. When they had an argument and Delah said they would talk in the morning, Boomer interpreted it as Delah not wanting to talk to her until the morning. Boomer had an idea in the middle of the night and ran off to work on it. She didn't wake Delah up because it wasn't morning yet.
- Noodle Incident: Unspecified accidents involving Boomer's inventions led to them leaving the Claim and later Chainscrape.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: We never learn Boomer's real name.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Boomer loves making weapons that explode, and Aloy can get some prototype weapons from her.
- Trap Master: Boomer is unsurprisingly a lover of explosive traps. When searching for her with Delah, you find a former camp of hers that's got a few hostile machines in it... along with enough explosive traps set up that you can take most of them out simply by luring them into said traps.
Asera (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The leader of the Sons of Prometheus and Sylens' other associate.
- Big Bad: Of Call of the Mountain, which deals with her attempts to use the Lures Dervahl developed to finish his attempted attack on Meridian whilst Aloy was busy infiltrating Sunfall.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She's first introduced as a minor, but named part of Dervahl's group during the Liberation miniseries, having a reduced role in the narrative compared to him and Korl, but still recognisable as a distinctive character. Come Forbidden West she's one of the people fuelling Sylens' plans with the Tenakth Rebels in the main plot line, being the brains that allow Regalla and her people to have mastery over machines that provide such a distinctive advantage against Hekarro's forces.
- Daddy Issues: Her issues with men stem from having to deal with her sexist father, to the point that in her journal she states that she sees him in every man she's managed to surpass.
- Disney Villain Death: When the fight with the Fireclaw she summoned against Ryas set the abandoned Sun Ring on fire, the balcony she was standing on collapsed underneath her and left both of them handling over a sheer drop, Refusing Ryas' pleas to Take My Hand!, she choose instead to drop rather than allow a Shadow Carja to control anything about her life anymore. However, it turned out the fall wasn't fatal for her, though both of them certainly expected it to be.
- Dragon Their Feet: She directly worked alongside Dervahl to bring down Meridian and has taken over in his stead. Call of the Mountain reveals why it took so long for her and Aloy's paths to cross.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Sylens might have introduced her to the overrides, but not only was she the one who figured out a way to override machines indefinitely, but she's apparently also figured out a way to override a diverse array of machines without needing to enter a Cauldron.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Just like Dervahl, her deranged fixation on razing Meridian and slaughtering the Carja en masse in revenge for the Red Raids has made her into an even worse monster than the Mad Sun King.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: It's clear that she doesn't work with Sylens because she wants to, suspecting that he has an agenda of his own, but she puts up with him because of his expertise with Old World technology, namely the Corruptors and Deathbringers' override technology.
- Trap Master: The battle against her mostly involves circumventing all the traps she's placed.
- Worthy Opponent: Respects Aloy for her skill at killing most of her men and expresses regret that she has to kill her.
- Last Villain Stand: After Ryas thwarts her plan to use Tallnecks modified to emit Lure signals to cause a machine stampede straight through Meridian, he corners her in an abandoned Carta fort.Unable to enact her attack anymore, she uses her remaining Lures to summon a Fireclaw against him in the Fort's sun ring, and accepts dying afterwards under the belief that another will pick up her cause when the blaze from the fighting collapses the ring and apparently dropped her to her death.
Silga
A young tinker travelling in search of Old One messages.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Her brother died after she left the Claim. She doesn't regret leaving exactly, but she wishes she could have contacted him somehow- hence her fixation on Old One communications.
- Young Future Famous People: An in-universe example. It is strongly implied that in the future, she'll reinvent the telephone.
Runda
A salvage contractor in the Stillsands, one of several commissioned by Keruf to make armor.
- I Choose to Stay: After the competition, she returns to the Stillsands. Partly for game reasons, and partly because she has so many emotions tied to the place, and worked so hard to settle it, that leaving it would be like leaving a part of herself. Her caravaneers feel the same way.
- Trauma Conga Line: Almost everything that could go wrong on her quest did, from a sandstorm to a Sunwing carrying off gear. It's implied her caravan aren't far from death by the time Aloy finds them.
The Banuk
In General
- Animal Motif: Their costume designs call to mind elk and deer, especially the horn-like headdresses.
- The Beastmaster: The Banuk are able to tame and even "communicate" with machines; they refer to this communication as the "machine song". Banuk characters note that Aloy's ability to override machines is similar to, albeit much more advanced than, techniques Banuk shamans use to commune with the machines' "spirits".
- Challenge Seeker: One of their highest cultural values is overcoming challenges. Regardless of where you come from, if you strive to always improve yourself rather than sit in complacency, you'll earn their respect. It's one reason they live in such a hostile climate and hunt machines.
- Cool Helmet: Almost all of them wear headdresses made from machine armor. The higher the ranking, the more elaborate and bigger the headdress, and the shamans tend to have flowing cloths or wires in theirs.
- Cultured Badass: They create elaborate cliff paintings and pass down stories through oral tradition. Dyer NPCs can be heard complaining that the warriors are always demanding better colors for their clothing.
- A Day in the Limelight: The Frozen Wilds DLC takes place in Banuk lands and focuses more on their tribe.
- Elemental Motifs: Air. They mimic machine calls with wind instruments, live in elevated stormy regions, and place great importance on abstract, intellectual ideals.
- Exposed to the Elements: Banuk shamans wear extremely elaborate headgear, but no shirts, in spite of the cold weather they live in. Notably, they have glowing blue cords (not unlike the ones that appear on machines Aloy has overridden) sewn through the skin of their torso and arms. The practice can apparently be traced back to the founder of their tribe, but the explanation for her doing so is shrouded in mysticism.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Their fur-lined clothing, location in cold regions, and nomadic lifestyle resembles closely that of the Inuit
. - Grim Up North: The Banuk live to the north of the Sacred Lands, where the altitude is high, the air is thin, and the weather is perpetually cold. Banuk-patterned outfits even give additional cold resistance. Their homeland of Ban-Ur is located in the remains of the US states of Montana and Idaho and extends south through a region known as the Cut, which was once Yellowstone National Park.
- Honor Before Reason: To an almost suicidal degree. The Banuk refuse any real help from anyone, in a strange overzealous sense of bravado, best exemplified in the side quest "The Survivor" where Aloy tasks herself to find two missing hunters taking part in an initiation to join the White Teeth, which involves going up to a icier-than-usual and desolate area and surviving for four days and nights with only a spear and no supplies. Aloy takes up this task because the Banuk will not send someone to find them, as "the task is theirs (the hunters) alone". When Aloy makes it to the two, one has a broken leg and keeps passing out due to a fever, but stubbornly refuses any help from the healthy hunter, even though she will almost certainly die without the medical treatment or food that the healthy hunter brings. What makes it worse is that when Aloy and the healthy hunter find the injured one, she's surrounded by machines, including the DLC exclusive Scorcher.
- Hufflepuff House: They're the least plot-relevant tribe in the game to have any prominence; while there is one major character who is a member, he is an individualist through and through, and appears to have absolutely no concern for his tribe's culture or people. The DLC The Frozen Wilds gives them more focus, though it also raises the question of whether that one major character is actually a Banuk.
- Out of Focus: Sylens is the only Banuk character who appears in Forbidden West, and none of the merchants sell their armor.
- Savage Piercings: Banuk shamans frequently have blue machine tubing stitched into their skin.
Sylens
See his character page here.
Arnak
A legendary Banuk hunter who lived in exile from Ban-Ur for some time after being falsely accused of murdering the chieftain of his werak. He crafted the Banuk figures Aloy encounters on her journey, which he left as messages for his son Tektuk.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: He's never met, his story is only told through the figures he left behind.
- Walking the Earth: He spent his exile from Ban-Ur wandering the Carja Sundom and the Nora's Sacred Lands.
Brin
Voiced by: William Houston (English)note
- Addled Addict: His craving for machine fluids has long since crossed the line into self-destructiveness. It's clear from the outset that Brin's addiction has taken a serious toll on his mental and physical health, not to mention his social life, leaving him a wreck of a person that's bound to get himself killed rather sooner than later.
- Black Comedy: Brin is a very ill person who tells a lot of alarming things when recounting his visions, but his Large Ham delivery and Aloy's deadpan reaction to all his crazy make the whole encounter darkly funny.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Guy's clearly not running on all cylinders. Aloy is very much aware of it but indulges him anyway, mostly out of curiosity about what'll happen...
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: ... but also because his visions turn out to contain a disturbingly large kernel of truth.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: His behavior is very reminiscent of a hardcore junkie looking for his next fix, including the progression to harder substances when the last one no longer provides enough of a kick.
- In Forbidden West, Aloy can find a note next to two dead Oseram who encountered him and decided to try and imitate him by drinking machine blood like it was beer. Kind of like an inexperienced user who mistakenly overdoses their first time.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Banuk have all sorts of weird rituals involving machines, but drinking their "blood" is a line even they won't cross. Brin did, repeatedly, so they cast him out.
- The Faceless: The only parts of his face that aren't concealed by his enormous headdress during conversations are his chin and mouth, making it impossible to tell how he actually looks like unless you fiddle around with the free-aim camera, and even then there's not much more to see.
- Fetch Quest: Aloy's dealings with Brin revolve around bringing him fluids from increasingly dangerous machines, one after the other, and since these are quest items that don't drop before the quest is started, you'll find yourself leaving and returning to his hut a number of times.
- Foreshadowing: His sidequest can be started the moment Aloy enters Carja territory, which can result in Brin providing a lot of background information that the main story won't confirm until much later. Choice bits include facts like how the Derangement changed machine behavior, the origin and backstory of Corruptors and their ilk, and the Thunderjaw being a new design that was only recently conceived because the humans are hunting other machines.
- Junkie Prophet: The man gets his unaccountable insights though the post apocalyptic equivalent of drinking breaking fluid. One can only guess that they're alchohol based as an explanation for why he isn't already dead yet.
- Large Ham: As can be expected from a drug-addled shaman whose head is so high in the clouds it's a miracle the Glinthawks outside of his hut haven't smashed into it yet.
- Mad Oracle: His final vision puts him in this territory, much to Aloy's disconcertment.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: As ridiculous as gaining visions from drinking machine fluids sounds, all the things Brin sees are disturbingly accurate, especially since he has no way of knowing about them from other sources. It's ultimately left ambiguous if he just scored a series of lucky hits or if there's really something more complex going on.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Feeding on machine fluids doesn't provide Brin with sustenance, but gives him elaborate visions instead.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: His final vision scares him so much he refuses to tell Aloy what he saw, opting to make his way to the Forbidden West immediately instead and advising her to do the same. The few glimpses he reveals are indeed disconcerting and might even serve as a Sequel Hook of sorts.Brin: Ohhh. Yes. Jungle on fire. Machine-blue light dying out in the eddies of ashes. You, fallen, pale as snow-flash… eyes staring open. The Metal World, but not the one I sought! The future is a frightful dream, huntress!
- Too Dumb to Live: When Aloy meets Brin he's recovering from some grievous wounds inflicted on him by a Sawtooth during an unsuccessful hunt. Turns out Brin's lust for the Sawtooth's fluids was so overwhelming that he lept from hiding and bit the damn thing. Needless to say that a Sawtooth is much better at biting humans than the other way around. Aloy wastes no time lampshading how monumentally stupid this stunt was.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Aloy can't make head or tail of the nebulous ramblings he spews forth after imbibing machine fluids. The player, however, will discover more than a few truths in them, although it still requires a bit of interpretation and decyphering to get to the core of his visions.
Aratak
Voiced by: Richard Neil (English)
- An Ice Person: His trademark weapon is the Icerail, which sprays a cold mist that freezes machines.
- Back for the Finale: After the Into The Frozen Wilds is completed, Aratak shows up at Meridian to assist in the fight against Helis.
- Baritone of Strength: His voice is deep and commanding, as befits a powerful tribal chieftain.
- Big Brother Instinct: His refusal to let anyone near Thunder Drum is driven by his fierce protectiveness toward his sister, who suffered much during the Red Raids.
- The Big Guy: He is massive and towers over just about everyone in the Cut. He's also the only person who's strong enough to break down HEPHAESTUS' barriers in Thunder Drum.
- In one cutscene of The Frozen Wilds he manages to not only catch a falling Aloy one-handed, but throw her above his head. Dude is strong.
- Chainsaw Good: Subverted. The Icerail he's carrying looks like a pimped-out short spear with a chainsaw tip, but it's actually a ranged weapon meant to freeze enemies, not stab them.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He is initially distrustful of Aloy when she first arrives, and is understandably angry when she challenges him for his title of chieftain to get access to Thunder's Drum, but he comes to respect her over the course of the battle against HEPHAESTUS as they fight side by side, and the story ends with them being on much better terms than when they first met. He will even come to Meridian to help Aloy fight the Eclipse near the end of the main story line.
- For Your Own Good: He doesn't really have the right to keep Aloy away from Thunder's Drum note , but he tries anyway because he doesn't want her to die (like so many of its previous visitors did).
- Graceful Loser: Once the Hunting Challenge is completed, several of his supporters try to claim that the Frostclaw attack invalidated the results. He says that no, Aloy clearly won fair and square and he won't hear any talk saying otherwise.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He has a rough exterior, but genuinely means well. After seeing his sister get kidnapped in the Red Raids, then nearly die in the assault on Thunder's Drum, he insists on keeping her, and indeed his entire tribe, away from the mountain, regardless of their personal feelings on the matter.
- Heartbroken Badass: The death of his beloved sister Ourea deals him a devastating blow. Afterwards he takes quite a while to recover some semblance of his previously unshakable demeanor.
- Honor Before Reason: After leading a disastrous attack on Thunder's Drum that lead to his tribe's best warriors getting massacred by the Daemon's machines, his response is to go back and gather up his tribe's second-best warriors to attack it again because the Banuk way is to push through adversity.
- Made of Iron: He is said to have sustained 23 wounds during the Red Raids without complaint, and Ourea remarks that he once carried an injured man to safety even after being shot by three arrows.
- Oh, Crap!: He loses his cool exactly once, briefly, during the escape from the exploding Firebreak facility.Aratak: Great Banukai... [braces for impact]
- Serrated Blade of Pain: He's the only NPC to carry an Icerail, which actually comes up in a sidequest given by an Oseram smith who'd love to study it. You get one for Aloy after she wrests control of Aratak's werak from him.
Ourea
Voiced by: Necar Zadegan (English)
- Broken Bird: She was left deeply traumatized from her time as a prisoner of the Carja during Jiran's reign, who forced her to gather machines for the Sun-Ring, where innocents would be sacrificed en masse. She already struggled to connect with her fellow Banuk, but this didn't help.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When Aloy is overwhelmed trying to override HEPHAESTUS' control of Firebreak's core, Ourea picks up the spear and completes the override, but is electrocuted in the process.
- Ironic Death: Ourea expertly wields a Stormslinger, an electric-based weapon that can be charged that can deal more damage to enemies at the expense of being electrocuted if improperly used. She later dies after sacrificing herself by purging HEPHAESTUS out and freeing CYAN, before an electrical discharge caused by the former kills her for good.
- Old Soldier: While she is pushing old age and suffered from PTSD due to the Red Raids and the failed expedition to Firebreak and EPSILON, Ourea is still a capable shaman for her own people until her Heroic Sacrifice.
- Pals with Jesus: She is the best and Only Friend to CYAN, of whom she is convinced is a spirit that traces its origins back to the Blue Light that the Banuk venerate.
- Shock and Awe: Her weapon of choice is the Stormslinger, a rifle of sorts that fires charged bolts of electricity. Her Ironic Death is also this when she was electrocuted from the power surge that HEPHAESTUS caused after driving the rogue AI out with Aloy's spear towards the EPSILON machine cauldron.
Ikrie
Voiced by: Cherami Leigh
A Banuk huntress whom Aloy encounters in the far north of the Cut, where she's trying to save a friend, one who stubbornly refuses her aid.
- Ambiguously Gay: Her relationship with Mailen have all the markings of a romantic relationship that has fallen apart due to wanting different things. Ikrie also gets flirty with Aloy, though she's hardly the only one.
- An Ice Person: In addition to being a banuk who hangs out in the coldest areas of the map, Ikrie's combat style makes heavy use of freeze bombs. Her strategy consists of freezing machines with her sling, then peppering them with arrows while they're vulnerable.
- Faking the Dead: Because the White Teeth would refuse Mailen if they knew Ikrie helped her, and because she has had it with Banuk social customs, she asks Mailen and Aloy to lie and say that Ikrie died battling machines.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Well, tribe. Banuk are usually The Social Darwinist, believing surviving on your own without aid proves your strength, and the Werak Mailen is looking to join is even stricters about that. Ikrie is of the firm opinion that such thinking is a good way to get one killed.
- Smash Sisters: Her hunting trial is the only one in the game that's performed by both her and Aloy fighting back-to-back, with Ikrie freezing the machines to make the brittle, and Aloy using her limited supply of arrows to destroy them.
- Suffer the Slings: Ikrie favors the sling in combat, especially using freezing bombs.
- Youthful Freckles: Her age is never established, but she seems to be similarily aged to Aloy, and her face is covered in freckles.
Lauvuk
Voiced by: Jennifer Hale (English)note
The Keeper of Snowchants Hunting Grounds.- Action Girl: Back in her youth, she was part of a female only, powerful werak, the Thunder's Daughters. Although the werak disbanded in time, she's still badass enough to host hunting trials.
- Former Teen Rebel: The Thunder's Daughters were a rebellious bunch, and many of them either died a glorious death, or ended up in exile. Those that survived to grow old see it as a Fate Worse than Death.Lauvuk: To grow old. And find that all the rules and traditions you fought so hard against are still there. That's why I tell all the hunters I train to stay young.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Lauvuk bears a resemblance to Jennifer Hale.
Enjuk
Voiced by: Brian T Delaney (English)
A Banuk shaman who can be found in the ruins of the Yellowstone Visitor's Lodge, which he has restored as the Shrine of Lost Beasts. He watches recordings of now extinct native fauna, trying to make guesses as to how they would have been when they were alive. He asks Aloy to collect animal figurines that he needs to see more of the holoprojector's recordings.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Enjuk is clearly behaving as a zoologist or paleontologist, making guesses about the biology of animals, both living and extinct. Unfortunately, in the pre-industrial world he lives in, such sciences are considered an amusing hobby at best.
- Entertainingly Wrong:
- He makes a lot of logical assumptions about the animals in the world, both the extinct ones he watches in recordings and the ones that still exist, but without a deeper understanding of zoology, his guesses are mostly wrong. Among others, he figures that the deer could be a predator that uses its horns to hunt since it doesn't have teeth (though he acknowledges that it isn't built like a predator), he has a theory that foxes are red because they eat bloody red meat, and he thinks the cougar is a digger due to its sandy color.
- Amusingly, he believes that "Montana Recreations", the company that plastered their logo and name all over the lodge, is a person, and thinks they were a great scholar of the Old Ones. He fashions himself a student of the long dead scholar, and hopes to one day earn the name Enjuk Recreations.
Inatut
Voiced by: David Forseth (English)
A Banuk warrior who was accused of murdering a Carja outlander, a crime he insists that he didn't commit.
- Back for the Finale: If the player picks the Aggressive option, Aloy will advise him to leave the Banuk and follow his own path. If she does so, he'll join her for the final battle.
- Broken Pedestal: After being sentenced to almost certain death for a crime he didn't commit, being proven innocent by Aloy, and then told that he deserved the punishment anyway because he was a suspect, his faith in Banuk traditions and belief takes a hit. Depending on Aloy's advice, he may decide to abandon the Banuk entirely.
- Dumb Muscle: Self-described, this was his role in the Werak. Brawl those who challenge them, brawl for entertainment, brawl when he's told to. His chieftain even tells him that he shouldn't think so much.
- Hidden Depths: Despite being a self-described Dumb Muscle, he shows remarkable introspection when prompted, pondering the validity of the Banuk justice system.
- Mirror Character: A minor example since he's only present in one quest, but he shows parallels with Aloy in his story; He was abandoned and outcast by his tribe for reasons that were not his fault, returned to it and found it unfamiliar and hostile, and, depending on Aloy's choices, may make a similar journey to her down to Meridian.
- Miscarriage of Justice: A victim of this. It's not that there wasn't a reason to suspect him, he was framed. The issue was more that the werak absolutely refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing on their part, or even apologize.
Banukai
The mythical founder hero of the Banuk tribe. When her people were under attack by a mysterious "ravenous tribe", Banukai followed a star to the north. Finding a temple, she communed with the Blue Light that the Banuk worship, and it endowed her with its power over machines, though it burned her body to hold. Keeping her body together with machine cables, she carried the power back to her tribe and saved them by fighting alongside the machines. Her body ultimately wore out, but the Banuk honor her in their name and their shamans' tradition of weaving machine cables into their skin.
- Determinator: Even as the Blue Light burned her body from the inside, and she needed cables to keep it together, she kept going, determined to save her people.
- Folk Hero: Banukai is the cultural founder hero of the Banuk, and they revere her for her actions in saving them from their enemies.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While her story is phrased as a legend, a lot of its elements sound suspiciously like things you see happening in the game; The "Ravenous Tribe" could be either the Nora or the Tenakth, the "Blue Light" that gives power to machines but burns humans could be electricity, the "temple" where Banukai communed with the Light could be a Cauldron, and even her supposed power over machines is something Aloy herself learns to do through Overriding.
- Posthumous Character: Assuming she existed at all, she's long dead.
Aluki
A fiery young warrior who disagrees with her hosts' peaceful ways.
- Blood Knight: She is pleased when the Encampment's machines turn hostile again, as it means she can finally pursue her Enmity with an Object.
- Meaningful Name: The saluki is a hunting dog.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Subverted. Her chase of the Ravager that killed her friend was cut off quite ingloriously when it entered the zone of a pacifying signal. The Banuk there wouldn't let her kill it, but she didn't want to let it go either, so she stayed in the encampment...waiting."I can feel myself grow old."
The Utaru
In General
An agrarian tribe, living in the plains between the Carja and Tenakth lands. They were the first to be targeted by the Red Raids. Their homeland is called Plainsong, built upon the ruins of a radio telescope array.
- Arcadia: Plainsong is a peaceful farming community that incorporates much more living plants into its construction than other tribes' settlements do. This is because of their "land-gods," docile machines that do all the planting and harvesting for them. For centuries, the tribe lived in peace under their protection, but the Derangement made things start to go... off. It wasn't until recently, however, that the land-gods started sowing the Blight, actively making every problem worse.
- Ascended Extra: They had a very minor presence in Zero Dawn, but are much more involved in Forbidden West, which is partially set in their territory.
- Bizarrchitecture: Their capital is on a series of raised platforms built on top of the central cluster of a radio telescope array, all of which are covered in growing plants.
- Busman's Vocabulary: They speak of everything in terms of plants, seeds, and growth.
- Call to Agriculture: The only named tribe that doesn't have some sort of warrior tradition, instead living as peaceful farmers.
- Cargo Cult: While they primarily worship nature and the Earth itself, they also revere a group of eight Plowhorn machines as "land-gods."
- Cold Sniper: Averted. Their military tradition of stealth and assassinations comes from a desire to avoid violence, disturbing prey, and fighting with other humans as much as possible.
- Elemental Motifs: Earth and Plants. They revere eight Land-God Plowhorns who help make their fields fertile and also revere the cycle of life and death. Their buildings are made from plants and they carry seed pouches throughout their life. They are shown to be generous but passive to a fault, with many refusing to take action against the Derangement and the Blight, feeling that it's the end of the tribe.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Much of their clothing and headwear is a mix of the various ethnic groups of Africa, like the Zulu people.
- Hufflepuff House: Even moreso than the Banuk, who at least get center stage during a side mission and have a presence in the final battle. The most we see of the Utaru are a single speaking NPC, a few non-speaking NPCs dotted around the background and an occasional mention in the lore. Averted in Forbidden West, where Aloy can visit Plainsong and meet many Utaru.
- Immortality Immorality: Utaru strongly believe in this trope. If you live forever, you're denying existence to whatever would grow from your remains. Life is a finite resource that you're obligated to give back once you're done with it.
- Musical Theme Naming: Music plays a major role in their culture, and many things use musical terminology. For example, their leadership council is called the Chorus, and their gods are named after the notes of the solfege scale.
- Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: The picture that Zo paints of the Chorus, the ruling body of the tribe, depicts them as this.
- Odd Friendship: You would think that a peaceful agrarian tribe like the Utaru would be perennially terrorized by the neighboring martially-traditioned Tenakth. They indeed were in the past, but the two tribes had settled into an agreeable peace before the Red Raids, and became staunch allies during them.
- Teach Him Anger: In Forbidden West, it's noted that since their experience with the Red Raids, they have developed a much stronger warrior tradition. They're still a largely peaceful and nonaggressive people, but now they're much more willing and able to defend themselves from hostile outsiders.
- The Sacred Darkness: Due to their focus on agriculture, they see death as a natural and necessary part of life. Every Utaru carries a small container of seeds (usually strapped tightly to their chest) which their loved ones try to recover upon their deaths to plant, but are expected to take root and sprout on their own if it's not possible.
- Treetop Town: Sort of. Their capital, Plainsong, is built atop an ancient radio telescope array rather than trees, but contains the rope bridges and trappings one would typically expect.
- Virtuous Vegetarianism: They're the most peaceful of all the Tribes, and they're shown to have a diet that's almost completely vegetarian. They afford this on account to the bountiful fields around Plainsong tended by their Plowhorn "Land Gods". The Utaru food vendor only has a single item for sale that contains meat, and it's noted as being something they'll only eat in dire emergencies. One sidequest is kicked off by Utaru breaking tradition to hunt boars and supplement the food supply.
- We Have Become Complacent:
- The tribe is so isolated from other tribes that they lack any sort of defense against outsiders, and when the Carja arrived all they could do was try and appease them with gifts. It didn't work.
- In Forbidden West this is very much their fatal flaw. The Utaru grew surrounded by machines that planted food around them, and with a very naturally defensible home had very little in the way of adversity. Any challenge they faced (like Tenakth agression) was met by just bartering it away or counting on the innate security of Plainsong to just wait it out. When the Red Raids started, they were utterly defenseless, and many among them balked at the idea of having to fight the Carja. Time has not improved things, as many among the Utaru still balk at the idea of doing anything in the face of the Blight, Tenakth rebels, and the Derangement, even claiming that maybe it's just time for the tribe to die. This ultimately drives Zo to leave the tribe to help Aloy.
Zo
See The Base Team
Kue
A resident of Riverhymn north of Plainsong, and likely the Utaru's only "metalweaver".
- Bald of Authority: He's bald and taking charge of the motley bunch of green fighters he has available to defend Riverhymn.
- Cool Sword: Instead of the Utaru-traditional one-hand scythe, Kue opts for a more Tenakth-style machete for melee fighting.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has some facial cut scars. Enough to show he's been weathered by the war, but not enough to be disfiguring.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Lost his daughter to the Red Raids, which was the catalyst for him joining the rebellion.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Averted. Though he is a fellow veteran Utaru guerilla that followed Zo against the Carja Red Raiders, he has no regrets for what he did, and expresses disappointment that Zo is regretful.
- Sergeant Rock: He tells his recruits to their faces that they only survived a battle because Aloy helped them. (He is slightly warmer in private, and expresses the belief that they could succeed if they had decent armor.)
- Training the Peaceful Villagers: Received this and tries to give it. When he followed Zo on her guerilla campaign, the only real advantage that the group had against the Red Raiders was knowing the lay of the land, but this is all they needed for their actions to get the attention of the similarly Red Raid-beset Tenakth tribe's attention. They joined up and got some much-needed combat training from the Tenakth warriors, and Kue in particular learned some smithing from them. He tries to instill this in the Riverhymn residents to defend against Regalla's rebels.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: By Utaru standards, at least, he is the only blacksmith he knows of. The tribe's Tenakth allies taught him how to work metal. In reference to the basketweaving common in the tribe, he calls himself a "Metalweaver".
Jaxx
A "Veteran" from the Tenakth, from a time when the Utaru and Tenakth had trade agreements. He was a Tenakth warrior given to the Utaru to train them in martial ways for their own protection.
- The Caretaker: Becomes this to Korreh after the boy falls under his wing.
- Going Native: Though he is still adorned in Tenakth tribal markings, he wears Utaru garb and is more quiet and considerate like an Utaru tribesman, compared to the stereotypically brash Tenakth Blood Knight Sokorra.
- Training the Peaceful Villagers: His profession among the Utaru.
Fane
The dominant conservative voice in the Utaru Chorus.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: His strict adherence to Utaru tradition makes him complacent to the Utaru's looming demise as part of the natural cycle of life and death. As such, he would prefer letting his own people starve over trying to save them.
- Break the Haughty: He takes Kel's murder plot pretty hard, and is noticeably dispirited when Aloy meets him next.
- Due to the Dead: He deals with certain criminals' seed pouches, because no one else wants to.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite his conservative stance on the Chorus, he is appalled that his close ally Kel would resort to murdering a prospective new Chorus member to uphold the status quo. Once the evidence is incontrovertible, he pursues justice as quickly as possible.
- Heel–Face Turn: According to Zo, he is surprisingly receptive to her initial requests to have the Utaru join the fight against Nemesis.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: He is the loudest voice in the Chrous impeding Aloy's intent to enter the "Sacred Cave" (AKA Repair Bay TAU).
Kel
An elderly member of the Utaru Chorus.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Because of her murder plot, it is entirely likely that she would at the least be exiled (which is effectively a death sentence with her advanced age and emaciation due to the Red Blight famine). She instead kills herself by eating poison berries.
- Evil Old Folks: Kel has bitter words for anyone who challenges the status quo or the old ways, and resorts to plotting the murder of a prospective new Chorus member with disruptively progressive ideology.
- Evil Reactionary: While Fane is staunchly conservative, Kel is outright reactionary, willing to see the entire tribe die from the Red Blight famine as long as the old ways are upheld.
- Foil: To Fane. Her character is effectively there to demonstrate that there are lines Fane won't cross.
The Tenakth
See The Tenakth character page here.The Quen
In General
A foreign tribe from across the Pacific Ocean. They sent an expedition to North America to try and find answers to the declining ecosystem.
- Cargo Cult: After finding some Focuses, the Quen made them the center of their religion. They are rare, and only specially appointed Diviners have the privilege of wearing them and learning how they work. However, they have no way of knowing that the Focuses they possess are obsolete compared to Aloy's, and they have no way of interfacing with the more modern systems Zero Dawn used.
- The Chosen People: The Quen believe that they were chosen by the Old Ones above all others to further their Legacy of technological superiority and that all others are just uncultured savages.
- Elemental Motifs: Water. They are the first tribe in the franchise to use boats and they came from across the Pacific ocean. They mention some place called "the Great Delta" which could be their home and they are dealing with floods and storms. Their military mainly uses Navy-associated titles and ranks, such as Admiral, Commander, Sailor and Marine (Which in some countries is not an independent military branch). They also wear iridescent shells and coral in their armor. They are shown to be complex and willing to find ways to improve their empire but are also dangerous as they are shown to be authoritarian and expansionist, having conquered the nearby tribes in their homeland.
- The Empire: They used their advanced technology and tactics to conquer nearby tribes, and are mentioned to have an Emperor.
- Fantastic Racism: While the Quen are as racially diverse as the other tribes, they look down on the North American tribes as "barbarians" and "infidels".
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture:
- They are an Imperialistic society who travel across the ocean to North America under the belief that it holds a veritable gold-mine of valuable resources (in this case, data on Old One technology), only to suffer severe hardships both on the way there and when they find land, and views the local inhabitants as nothing more than uncivilized savages who do not know the "one true religion." Despite traveling across the Pacific Ocean instead of the Atlantic, that sounds an awful lot like English and Spanish colonials finding America in the late sixteenth century. Aloy meeting and helping them even reflects the story of Samoset, an Abenaki Native American man who (allegedly) greeted the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.
- They also have quite a few similarities to Imperial China, with their caste system and use of testing to determine role and merit. In fact, it's entirely possible they're from China, since they came from across the Pacific Ocean, mention a "Great Delta" that may be analogous to either the Yangtze or Pearl River Deltas, and their general aesthetic has distinct East Asian influences.
- Foil: To the Tenakth. They're snobs associated with a navy, whereas the Tenakth adopt a more savage visage and operate like an army. Their leader uses compliance to oppress, whereas Hekarro uses his marshals to implement justice and fair order. They have a reputation for being smug and high-tech, while in reality being quite backwards with technology. The Tenakth have a reputation for being bloodthirsty, while in reality are quite reasonable. The Quen wish to keep knowledge for themselves, whereas the Tenakth under Hekarro wish to share it.
- Future Imperfect: While every Tribal civilization present in the game has this to varying degrees, the Quen are just close enough that their misremembering of Old One history is that much more noticeable. Partly justified in that the Focuses the Quen have access to are outdated models that can't access data files past the mid-2050s.
- They revere Ted Faro for the role Faro Industries played during the Clawback Era, ignorant of his later sins in destroying the world. Their hard limit to pre-2050s knowledge also means that they don't know of Sobeck and Faro's schism and see Sobeck as a talented servant of Faro - much to Aloy's dismay.
- Many members of Far Zenith are revered as the founders of aspects of their culture, unaware that not only are they still alive, but that they are conspiring to destroy the planet all over again.
- Their hierarchy is very reminiscent of 21st century corporations. Departments of the government are referred to as "boards", with the Diviners being overseen by the "Board of Overseers", and the "Board of Compliance" serving as law enforcement (bordering on secret police). The head of the research expedition Aloy encounters has the ceremonial title of "Ceo" a clear play on CEO.
- Higher-Tech Species: Unlike the North American tribes, the Quen were able to find and use Focuses, which greatly advanced their technological advancement and intelligence, and they subsequently look down on other tribes as barbarians. However, it's subverted in that the Focuses they have access to are older models that were obsolete even in the age of the Old Ones, and the Focus Aloy possesses is the more advanced one.
- Hypocrite: The highest ideal of the Diviners is the search for truth. The primary purpose of the Overseers is to hide "certain truths that the people are not ready to hear." Some of the things Bohai says imply that the Overseers have a more accurate view of the past than their religion makes it seem (he doesn't seem all that surprised about Ted Faro turning out to be an asshole, for example), but the dogma had already been written when those things were discovered so they've been suppressing the knowledge.
- Irony:
- The Quen are far and away the most technologically advanced tribe shown to date because of the Focuses they found. The Focuses they do have, however, are obsolete compared to the ones Aloy and her companions use. Further irony resides in the fact that they're based in California, which is America's technological engine.
- The Quen consider knowledge of the Old Ones so sacred that only a select caste are allowed to study it, and even then it's limited. They hold Ted Faro as the greatest of the Old Ones, unaware that he was the one who erased almost all of their precious "Legacy".
- Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge: The Diviners are the ones who seek out the Legacy and sort through the data, while the Overseers are the ones who decide what to disseminate to the masses. No one else is allowed to understand how to use a Focus, not even the Imperial family. Partly this is because they are very rare.
- Odd Name Out: In contrast to many of the known tribes who adapted their own naming systems, the Quen are particularly unique for having a strange naming system that are considered non-tribal, with examples including Gerrit, Alva, Kristia, Elika, Bohai, Jomar, Kina, Otosu, Rheng and Rokomo, which were all names derived from extinct Old Ones cultures — Gerrit being Dutch, Alva being Swedish-sounding, Bohai being Chinese-sounding, Jomar being Portuguese-sounding, Rheng being Vietnamese-sounding, and so forth.
- Precursor Worship: While they are aware that the Old Ones were just humans from a technologically superior era, they rely on knowledge and data left behind so much that they practically worship them as though they were gods, Ted Faro, Elisabet Sobeck and the members of Far Zenith being such examples.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The Quen presence in North America is a reference to 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, specifically about a fleet from Ming Dynasty China (in which the Quen was based on) that visited North America and an encounter with the locals.
Alva
See The Base Team
Ceo
Voiced by: Drew Moerlein
"I am Faro, renewed. My essence is the same as his, across the years, across the generations. His soul is my soul. His will is my will. We are sundered in only one way. I need his final testaments. His deepest secrets. And now that the door is open, those secrets are within my grasp."
The leader of the Quen expedition who zealously worships Ted Faro.
- 0% Approval Rating: Absolutely no one respects Ceo's authority but has no choice unless they wanted to have an arrow between their eyes. After escaping Thebes, Bohai only spares Aloy and Alva because he is glad that Ceo is dead and there are more important things to do. It is also mentioned that the crew are much happier with Bohai in charge.
- A God Am I: He genuinely believes that he is the divine reincarnation of Ted Faro himself.
- Arc Villain: Effectively the villain of the "Faro's Tomb" mission.
- Bad Boss: Alva mentions that he would have you executed just for putting him in a bad mood. The expedition protocols laid out by Bohai include an insistence that he not be approached unless directly ordered to do so, and if they were then improper conduct, such as eye contact, would incur severe punishment.
- Broken Pedestal: Once he learns that Ted Faro lives on as... something that's doomed to live the rest of his eternal life bound to his own bunker's geothermal reactor, he doesn't take it well.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: As shown in his profile picture, Ceo's eyes are just a little too bright, along with his focused intensity upon Aloy as a reincarnated 'Elisabet Sobeck', and help sell the impression that there's something just off with him before the reveal of how delusional he actually is.
- Dramatic Irony: Everything that he says about Ted Faro and how great his 'past incarnation' was is this, as he genuinely believes that he's a spiritual Second Coming of the 'man that saved the world' unaware than he actually doomed it twice over. Aloy is fully aware of how incorrect he is, but due to the Undying Loyalty of his guards who have her and Alva at bow point, she can't correct him about his misconceptions. She does end up agreeing that he and Ted Faro are extremely similar, however, but he doesn't quite understand that she means that as an insult.
- Foreshadowing: While he appears to praise Aloy's connection to Elisabet, keen-eyed viewers will note that Quen rugs have the Faro Industries logo stitched in the middle, and the Ceo has it on his chest and back medallions (most visible when he turns away from the camera). This foreshadows that the Quen worship Ted Faro and not Elisabet, thanks to their outdated Focuses not being able to read any data after the Clawback, where Ted was at his most altruistic but before he caused the end of the world (inversely, Elizabet didn't leave Faro until after the Clawback).
- Hate Sink: He's a snobbish, narcissistic Royal Brat with a god-complex who believes himself to be the reincarnation of Ted Faro. He forces those lower than him on the social food-chain to play along with his delusions lest he has his entourage of trigger-happy guards kill them on the spot, tries to have Aloy and Alva killed anyway when he learns the Awful Truth of Faro's fate, and he dies after he sacrifices one of his own men to fruitlessly save his own skin. When Aloy and Alva escape Thebes' collapse, they try and fail to convince Bohai that he sacrificed himself to save them since such a thing would be completely out of character for him and the Quen expedition continues without him, Bohai and the rest of the Quen citizens more than happy to be rid of him. It's mentioned that at one time he seemed to have good intentions and a plan to save his people that, it just so happened, would also elevate him.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": We never learn his name, only his title as the Ceo.
- It's All About Me: If he is the reincarnation of Ted Faro, he's certainly got Ted's ego downpat.
- Karmic Death: When he discovers that the man he believes himself to be a spiritual reincarnation of is not only still alive, but a horrific monstrosity, he immediately decides to kill all witnesses to the Awful Truth, starting with Ted's disgusting form. This ends up triggering the Dead Man's Switch Ted installed in the Thebes bunker, causing it to collapse and flood with magma from the geothermal power source that runs it. As he flees the collapsing cavern, he attempts to climb up a gigantic statue of Ted towards the exit, shoving the soldier helping him to his death, only for it to break underneath him, leading to him slipping off. He manages to avoid falling into the magma by a stroke of luck... only for the statue's massive head to break off and crush him underneath the visage of the man he so admired.
- Meaningful Name: Or rather title. Ceo's designation as the leader of his group harkens to "CEO" (Chief Executive Officer) of a company, much like Ted Faro himself, the man he believes himself to be a reincarnation of.
- Precursor Worship: He's aware of the Old Ones and worships them. Unfortunately, the one he's identified with is Ted Faro of all people, believing he was the one who saved the world from the Faro Plague.
- Reincarnation: He claims to be the reincarnation of Ted Faro, who Aloy says he closely resembles. Physically he does bear some resemblance to Ted Faro, at least as he would have appeared in his youth, which lends to the possibility that he might be a descendent several times removed (as the Zero Dawn project secretly recorded the DNA engrams of as many people that lived in the Old World as possible to ensure genetic diversity). Given how the other Quen react to seeing Aloy’s face and their worship of the Old Ones, this is likely the reason he ended up in charge in the first place.
- Royal Blood: He is the cousin of the Emperor of the Quen. "Ceo" is more of a title than a name, given to those "who wields the legacy for the good of the Empire," according to Alva.
- Sanity Slippage: If Alva and Bohai are anything to go by, Ceo was always a Jerkass. However, it was only after the long and harrowing boat ride to the North American continent did he start killing his own traveling party over perceived slights and raving about his supposed divine right to rule the world.
- Villainous Breakdown: When he finds out that Ted Faro isn't actually dead and still lives on as an unspeakable horror, Ceo doesn't take it well and orders him men to burn Faro and all the witnesses.
Bohai
Voiced by: Jason Kelley
- Agony of the Feet: Downplayed and Played for Laughs but one of the first comments he makes about Thebes is the possibility of trying out a foot bath, so at the very least the man's on his feet most of the time.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: His moral compass doesn't point any further north than the Ceo's, but according to Alva, at least he won't execute you on a whim unlike the Ceo.
- Brutal Honesty: He practices this and appreciates such in answers Aloy gives, having no such patience for lies or deception. In fact, lying seems to be a Berserk Button of his. Ironically, he has to get somewhat 'creative' with the truth to appease Ceo, such as pointing out that 'Elisabet Sobek' would be capable of opening the sealed door to the Thebes bunker when they discover is was locked from the inside, even though it's a leap of faith to claim such a thing on her behalf. He turns out to be correct because it's Aloy, but the point still stands. It's implied that one of the reasons he's happy to brush off the Ceo's demise is that he no longer has to put up a pretence around him and can speak honestly again.
- Disproportionate Retribution: When he laid out the expedition protocols he included the insistence that anyone who found relics and didn't hand them over to him or a Diviner without questioning or hesitating would face capital punishment - them, and their next of kin back home.
- The Dragon: To the Ceo as his personal Overseer, but Bohai clearly has a dislike for him, while hiding it up until his death, clearly showing how much of a selfish prick he truly is; this led to Bohai taking the helm of the Quen expedition as its new leader.
- Enlightened Self-Interest: Alva describes Bohai as a guy who does what's best for himself, with everyone else benefiting being a perk. His assumption of control over the exploration party comes with him holding both Aloy and Alva at bowpoint after they barely survived the bunker's collapse and being quite willing to shoot them dead for possibly murdering the Ceo inside and trying to cover it up, despite his dislike of the man, until Aloy tells him the unflattering truth. Whilst he does support Aloy thereafter it's made clear that it's because she helped remove a troublesome influence over their expedition and made his life easier, and she can help them in searching for the 'legacy' they need to help their tribe— not because he's an actual ally of hers.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Albeit a unusually shady one.
- Yes-Man: Subverted. He seems like he's doing nothing but pandering to the Ceo's whims and encouraging his delusions, but he was just going along with it because he knew he'd be killed if he didn't. After the Ceo dies, he flips opinions immediately, even calling out Alva on a blatant Metaphorically True Motivational Lie because he knows the Ceo is too much of an insane, selfish prick to do what she described.
- You Are in Command Now: After the Ceo's death, he takes full command of the Quen expedition. Everybody considers him the best fit for the role, especially since he was already managing the practical aspects and logistics of their excursion anyway when the Ceo was around.
Seyka
Voiced by: Kylie Liya Page
- Action Girl: A fierce warrior and hunter equal to Aloy herself.
- Amazon Chaser: Quickly gets the hots for Aloy and is constantly impressed by her skills, ingenuity and courage.
- Birds of a Feather: This is why she and Aloy end up bonding so quickly. Their tribes shun them, go against the laws and customs of their tribes, have genius, non-combative sisters they're protective of, and are adventurous, warrior women who can't sit still and wait for other people to make things happen.
- Big Sister Instinct: Seyka's sister is among the missing people and she is hell-bent on getting her back. Seeing what Londra is planning worries her more.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: She is this to Ourea from The Frozen Wilds. Both act as the Deuteragonists of their respective DLCs and Aloy's companions during her visit to the Burning Shores and The Cut, but their goals, occupations, and even their appearance wildly differs from one to the other:
- Ourea is the Shaman of the Song's Edge Werak dedicated to save CYAN from the "Daemon" (HEPHAESTUS), while Seyka is a Quen marine who plans to save the rest of her crewmates and her sister Kina from Walter Londra.
- Ourea is an old woman with a bald head covered in her headdress and brown eyes, while Seyka is a young woman in her 20s with a long black hair tied in a ponytail.
- In terms of experience, Ourea is a weary, traumatised Old Soldier who is pushing to old age and is a by-the-book believer of her own tribe's tribal laws and customs, while Seyka is a young female marine in a better physical condition, who goes and rebels against both of them, even clashing against the State Sec Compliance.
- While Ourea has little to zero understanding of ancient technology and history, Seyka has a minor to moderate understanding with them as part of her heritage.
- Closet Key: Aloy becomes smitten with her almost immediately and acts like a blushing schoolgirl when she's around. Whether she acts upon those feelings and reciprocates them with Seyka is the player's choice.
- First Kiss: Potentially Aloy's first kiss if she says she wants to have a relationship with her.
- First Love: For Aloy. She makes Aloy feel all kinds of things she never did and act in ways she never has before. She is the only person Aloy quickly opens up to, the only one she's nervous around and the only one she ever is attracted to. Whereas with other friends, she is fine with heading out as soon as possible, Aloy finds it hard to say goodbye to Seyka even before Seyka asks her to be her girlfriend.
- Foil: She's essentially what Aloy would have been like if the Nora hadn't cast her out: intelligent, physically capable, willing to push the cultural boundaries of her people if it meant protecting them and is willing to kill for her loved ones. While Aloy tries to console her about being cast out by her tribe and that the greater good should be done in spite of them, Seyka retorts that having a place in her community was one of the primary motivations in protecting it.
- She also serves as one to Tilda, with Aloy being her Elizabet. Highly-capable, fierce, willing to work outside of her group to get things done and capable of romantically connecting with somebody who usually doesn't connect with anybody. The difference is that while Tilda was a possessive, manipulative narcissist, Seyka is a genuine person who has no interest in controlling Aloy or leading her on.
- Humble Hero: Like Aloy, Seyka doesn't talk big about herself, saying "there's not much to tell." Despite being a petty officer, she's considerably stepped up to the plate while her expedition is stuck at Fleet's End. Even her banishment doesn't keep Admiral Gerritt from praising her accomplishments.
- Love Interest: Asks Aloy if she wants her as her girlfriend at the finale of the final primary mission of Burning Shores. Aloy has the option of saying yes. If Aloy says no because she's not ready for it or because it's too much, she will admit that she still has feelings for Seyka, should the player visit Varl's grave afterwards.
- What the Hell, Hero?: During their journey together, Seyka suspects Aloy is keeping secrets from her about Londra and is not too happy about it and even compares her to her Quen higher-ups. Aloy eventually relents and tells her the truth about Londra and Nemesis and just as Aloy fears, Seyka suffers a Heroic BSoD when she learns that not only are her sister and tribe in danger but the whole world as well.
Admiral Gerrit
Voiced by: Mark Noble
- Berserk Button: Acting like a complete idiot in front of him will get you this. Rheng learns this the very hard way after he fails to report to him about the failed mission regarding the manifest that killed five people. When Rokomo, one of the Risk Specialists of the Compliance, pointed out the truth about the events that led up to Enki's death, in a time where the Fleet is still short of manpower, Gerrit chewed Rheng out for his stupidity and imprisoned him to the brig.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: To Teersa from Horizon Zero Dawn.
- Both are Reasonable Authority Figures, with Teersa being one of the High Matriarchs and Gerrit being the Navy Admiral of the Quen Navy. But while Teersa is friendly and always polite, Gerrit is a strict, indomitable ranking officer who will chew people out as he sees fit.
- They are accepting to an outcast of their own tribe. Teersa is very accepting to her, in spite of the circumstances, and was willing to break the taboo of her Tribe's laws. Gerrit, on the other hand, completely adheres to the laws of the Empire and especially the clauses; though he's also accepting to Seyka, an outcast of the Quen tribe, and with him and the rest of the Fleet's End heavily relying on her despite her very mavericky attitudes that often cause her to clash against the Compliance members.
- Hat of Authority: He has a prominent hat fitting as his station as a flag officer in the Quen navy.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He understands too well the dire straits his people are in, and has to come to rely heavily on Seyka's indomitable spirit and resourcefulness to get things done despite her maverick attitudes and clashes with Compliance. He's willing to overlook Seyka helping herself to the Focus of a fallen Diviner and also to Aloy's status as a "barbarian", since she offers aid to their welfare.
- Retirony: This was to be his last mission; his "swan song" as he quotes it. Instead though he is alive and well, the bleak state of his portion of the expedition crew in the Burning Shores leads him to believe it will be his epitaph.
Kina
Voiced by: Xanthe Huynh
- Mirror Character: Falls in love with a higher-tech foreigner, highly impresses that foreigner, is considered one of the most capable members of the Quen military, is searching for a new home and goes against the wishes of her people. Kina or Seyka?
- My God, What Have I Done?: After being snapped out of Londra's brainwashing, Kina went through this in her conversation with Aloy, contemplating how much she was mistaken to believe such a madman like him.
- Replacement Goldfish: In Londra's ultimate plan to find people to play the role of his old friends, Kina is chosen to play his late wife, Evelyn. In her "audition", she recited Evelyn's old play so well that Londra is touched as it reminded him of his wife.
Zeth
Voiced by: Dylan Saunders
- Brainwashed and Crazy: More on the "crazy" side. Even before he was brainwashed by Londra, Zeth was already noted for his violent, aggressive temper amongst his crew members; the brainwashing from the MSP only further exacerbated his noted trait.
- The Brute: While he uses the Specter Cannon as his go-to weapon for range attacks, he is also a bruiser capable of dishing out damaging melee attacks.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He was already known for his temper amongst his shipmates, but being brainwashed by the MSP only exacerbated it when he becomes fanatically devoted to Londra, who seemingly embraces his own villainous side.
- Co-Dragons: With Fedder. While Fedder is the left-hand of Walter Londra who is tasked on guarding the members of Londra's retinue, Replacement Goldfish substitutes of his 21st Century inner circle, including Kina, Zeth is Londra's right-hand man who acts as the enforcer of his own Devotees and is tasked to guard Starlight Rise and the cultists inside the ancient building.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Zeth contrasts to both The Dragons Erik Visser and Helis from Forbidden West and Zero Dawn, respectively.
- While both Zeth and Erik serve as The Dragon to the main villains, Zeth is different in many ways to Erik:
- Erik is the military commander of the Zeniths who is capable of dishing out an array of multiple attacks in a rapid-fire manner. Zeth, on the other hand, has much more simplistic attacks ranging from unleashing damaging melee attacks to his go-to Specter Gauntlet that fires homing rounds, but is also much tougher than Erik and can go into a state of permanent rage when his health dips down to a certain degree, where he takes less damage and deals more to Aloy.
- They also serve as the right-hands to the Big Bad. Erik serves as the right-hand of Gerard Bieri, who is a businessman, as well as a Psycho for Hire only cares for the killing; in contrast, Zeth is the right-hand of Londra, who is also a business magnate, but unlike Erik, Zeth is a Card-Carrying Villain who embraces his villainous side after being brainwashed by the MSP.
- While Erik fights by himself with no one on his side, Zeth has several Devotees who fight alongside him and are fought before him.
- Zeth also serves as a contrast to Helis, The Dragon to the Big Bad HADES in Zero Dawn and differs to him in many ways:
- While Helis is the commander of the Red Raids with a vicious, brutal personality and having a fanaticism to Jiran, Zeth is a member of the Quen's Eastern Expedition who is known for his vicious temper amongst his shipmates that even persisted before his brainwashing.
- Helis is a tall, pale-skinned muscular man with a dark hair and two deep cuts across his cheek and is inadequately armoured. Zeth, by contrast, is a slightly chubbier yet taller man with a brown hair tied in a ponytail and wears a lot of armour parts around him.
- Their weapons and their combat abilities also contrast. Helis is a Future Primitive warrior who uses a blast sling and a sword in combat, while Zeth is a Technologically Advanced Foe who uses a futuristic Specter Gauntlet and his raw strength that pales Helis' weaponry in comparison.
- Both are also extremely fanatical to the God figures they worship. Helis is fanatically devoted to Jiran, the Mad Sun-King of the Carja, while Zeth is fanatically devoted to Walter Londra, an affluent business magnate and a former member of Far Zenith.
- Like the contrast between HADES and HEPHAESTUS, as well as Eclipse and Far Zenith, their association to different parts in time differs. Helis is more associated with the past and hails from a tribe that is more so closely resembling a tribe from the old times, while Zeth associates heavily within the future, who is not only equipped with an advanced weaponry, but he also originates from a very advanced tribe.
- While both Zeth and Erik serve as The Dragon to the main villains, Zeth is different in many ways to Erik:
- Damage-Sponge Boss: Zeth is much tougher than Erik, being that he's capable of withstanding many of Aloy's bow attacks. Which makes up for his rather simple attacks.
- Technologically Advanced Foe: Zigzagged of a sort. While he's still a tribal who has an outdated understanding of ancient history, as with most Quen, Zeth is primarily equipped with a Specter Gauntlet, which is a very advanced weapon that makes bows and arrows pale in comparison.
Fedder
Voiced by: David Forseth
- Co-Dragons: With Zeth. While Zeth is the right-hand man of Londra, being in charge of guarding Starlight Rise and the rocket ship that would bring his devotees to escape Nemesis, Fedder serves as Londra's left-hand man, primarily in charge of logistics, as well as him being tasked to guard the potential members of Londra's retinue including Kina.
- Foil: Primarily to Zeth, as Fedder serves as Londra's left-hand man. Not only Aloy and Seyka's battle with him is much easier than fighting The Brute Zeth, he is also much weaker in combat, as it only took a few hits for Aloy to kill him. By contrast, he acts as The Smart Guy and The Strategist to Zeth, being one heavily in charge of the cult's logistics and guarding Londra's potential candidates for his retinue.
Rheng
Voiced by: Brian Kimmet
- Cassandra Truth: While he's correct that Theoa and Enki are conspiring, Rokomo's defense of the latter clears the two of suspicion.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Resh from Horizon Zero Dawn.
- Both are tribe members who have shown antagonism towards Aloy. Resh is a Nora Brave who has a deep-seated hatred towards Aloy due to her being a "motherless Outcast". Rheng, on the other hand, is openly bigoted towards the Nora by calling her a "barbarian" and in addition he constantly clashes with Seyka's maverick attitude, especially after she breaks the law and takes a Focus for herself.
- In terms of appearance, Resh is a middle-aged man in his 50s, whereas Rheng is an man in his early 30s.
- Both are The Neidermeyer though how it is portrayed is different to one another. Resh is an interim Nora War-Chief who is vastly incompetent and appropriately held in low regard. Rheng, on the other hand, is a member of the State Sec Compliance, who is not only hated by several Quen due to his lack of transparency and competence especially with the disastrous manifest retrieval along with his other Compliace members, but he's also feared by the rest of Fleet's End, given how Compliance are the black-hearted eyes and ears of the Empire.
- Drunk with Power: One of the collectibles shows Rheng planning to put charges against other fleet members, for reasons as petty as serving him a crab leg instead of a claw for dinner.
- Failed a Spot Check: Rheng sent Rokomo to spy on Enki without notifying Gerrit first, which is normally acceptable under Quen protocol. However, as Gerrit furiously points out, this is very much not the case in the midst of a crisis.
- Frame-Up: Rheng's attempt to arrest Theoa for conspiring with Enki is interrupted by Aloy and Rokomo: the latter's testimony of Enki's innocence convinces Gerrit that Rheng coached the witness in order to justify Theoa's arrest. In other words, Rheng got framed for framing someone.
- Hate Sink: Rheng is an unlikeable Smug Snake who constantly flaunts his authority and likes to put his weight against others to justify his occupation as being one; his attitude caused him to clash against Seyka a lot for her perceived treason.
- Irony: A snobby authority figure unwilling to tolerate violations in protocol (even pragmatic ones made in a crisis) is caught breaking protocol and thrown in jail.
- Jerkass: He is profoundly more bigoted towards Aloy, contemptuously calling her a barbarian, similarly to how Resh treated the outcast with disgust.
- Mirror Character: His rank and character arc draws several parallels to Ulvund. Both men are in positions of authority (although Ulvund's is unofficial) that they abuse to micromanage, and are forced to begrudingly allow Aloy passage when she arrives. They also get a dose of karma when they are caught doing the acts they accuse others of, and subsequently fall from grace.
