History Characters / DestinyTheDarkness

* BigBad: The ultimate antagonist of Destiny's ''Saga of Light and Dark,'' specifically taking the role from the end of ''the Witch Queen'' onward. Referred to as ''The Darkness'' from Day One of Destiny, years before its true nature was discovered, it is the ancient enemy of The Traveler and the architect of the First Collapse. After the Traveler makes its survival apparent, the Witness directs its forces to return to Sol, becoming the direct main antagonist from the end of ''The Witch Queen'' onward. Devs eventually confirmed it to be this for the universe as a whole, calling it "the most powerful enemy in ''Destiny.''" Further highlighted in ''Lightfall'', where it is revealed that the Darkness as a force is not sentient or sapient - every quote attributed to the Darkness in the lore either belongs to the Winnower that the Darkness originated from, or the Witness itself.

* EmptyShell: In the present day, it feels absolutely nothing watching complex life in the universe, and due to it seeing the Final Shape as an obligation likewise feels similarly empty going about its actions. If it is the Winnower, its idea of an ideal world being subverted for billions of years makes this all the more apparent. The only sign of complicated emotions it's ever shown to feel are an implied rage at Savathun for interrupting their plans in Years 3 and 4. This is further reinforced in Mara Sov's entry in "Inspiral", where she described the Witness as possessing "rage enough to burn the stars themselves to cinders" within it.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Responsible for Clovis Bray's ultimate descent into madness and the existence of Exos. It is present for the Deep Stone Crypt Raid, but is not fought or confronted in any meaningful way (if it even can be confronted). Its likeness is also present in all of the Pyramid ships shown thus far, meaning it likely has a ''major'' role in the hierarchy of the Black Fleet.

* AmbiguousSituation: ''The Witch Queen'' upends much of what we know about the Darkness as an entity. Primarily, [[spoiler:regarding its very nature as a supposedly sentient entity. The Witness is their own being and it's confirmed they were the one who engineered the rise of the Hive in Fundament. This raises several question: in any lore book in which someone communicates with the Darkness, was it truly the Darkness conversing? Was it actually the Witness? How much of a distinction is there? How many of the things supposedly done by the Darkness were actually done by the Darkness, and how many were done by the Witness using the powers of the Darkness?]] ''Lightfall'' lore ''Inspiral'' then [[spoiler:all but confirms the Darkness is not at all sentient and clarifies pretty much everything the Darkness has supposedly done is indeed the Witness acting as if the paracausal force is sentient and carrying out a singular purpose. It is not made clear if this means that the ''Unveiling'' lore as an allegorical tale about the origins of Light and Darkness is a complete fabrication, or if ''the Winnower'' in the tale is meant to be the Witness]].

* BigBad: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. The Darkness was touted as the main antagonist of Destiny for years, with certain lore even giving it a playfully malicious personality that could give Old Scratch a run for his money. The ''Unveiling'' lore book even establishes it and the Light's conflict as primordial, older than the universe itself and many of the enemies of the Last City have pledged themselves to it. However, ''Shadowkeep'' has Mara implying there is a distinction between "the Darkness" and the Voice in the Darkness. ''Season of Arrivals'' subsequently show the entity responsible for the Collapse and what various people have been calling "the Darkness" is actually the Black Fleet, and ''The Witch Queen'' finally establishes that the Fleet's master, the Witness, as the true BigBad and TheHeavy of the series. The Darkness is just a different form of cosmic power than the Light.

* TheChessmaster: Certain Grimoire entries imply the Darkness has been manipulating the Traveler from afar in its eons f pursuit; chasing it along a path of its choosing and determining which young civilizations the Traveler would lend its aid to. It is not known if this is true, and if it is why the Darkness would do this, but the reason is probably not good for the Traveler, humanity or any race blessed by the Light.

** ''Lightfall'' Lore ''Inspiral'' might have [[spoiler:subverted this. The Darkness isn't so much a SentientCosmicForce or any form of entity, as much as it is a BackgroundMagicField which exists for all beings who can perceive and tap into it as a source of paracausal power]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: Lore entries build it up as the ultimate force behind the villainy of the Vex and Hive, the despair of the Fallen, the transformation of the Scorn, and the division of the Cabal. That being said, the story slowly reveals the Darkness might not in fact be responsible for the aforementioned things; as the Black Fleet led by the Witness are the direct cause. Savathun even puts the Darkness's status as this into question with some of her "Two Lies, Two Truths" games, though the truth of her statements are suspect. ''Lightfall'' then [[spoiler:heavily implies it is not even sentient enough to ''be'' an entity, much less a villain]].
* HiddenAgendaVillain: It's not clear why it does what it does, or why it hates the Traveler so much. Some lore entries suggest it may be deliberately herding the Traveler to certain races for its own purposes. The Books of Sorrow and ''Unveiling'' indicate that it may want to remake everything by its own standards. Another indicates that its only purpose is war, and that everything is little more than a justification. [[spoiler: ''Inspiral'' reveals the Darkness isn't even sentient enough to have an agenda in the first place.]]

* RedHerring: Towards the end of ''Light and Darkness'' saga of Destiny storyline, and with TheReveal the Witness caused the Collapse, it's heavily implied [[spoiler:the Darkness not only isn't evil, it isn't even ''sentient'', with the Witness using it as a source of its power]]. This is further elaborated on in the Dexter Road allegory in ''Inspiral'', a book about the many forms the Darkness takes. [[spoiler:It specifically reveals that Darkness and the universe in general, is purposeless, does not think and does not give answers when those in it cry out for meaning... leaving a Wanderer, all but stated to be the Witness, to use this intrinsic lack of meaning or design in the universe to convince people to join it on the path to the Dexter Road, a metaphor for the Final Shape, through means such as force, suggestion and leading them to believe purpose can only be found in the Dexter Road. Most striking of all is that one of the ways the Wanderer uses to gain control over others... is by acting as though the Wind itself, which the allegory already acknowledges does not think nor speak, is telling you to walk the path of the Dexter Road. The Witness has crafted an elaborate lie -- one that may even extend to the ''Unveiling'' lore book itself, given that the Qugu and Ecumene use the Darkness in ways directly opposed to the Witness's beliefs -- that the Darkness supports and exists only for the sake of pursuing the Final Shape.]]

** This is later both reaffirmed and rendered moot in subsequent playthroughs of "Presage": [[spoiler:the Loyalists research on the Scorn discovered that all the Darkness within the universe was fundamentally connected to an intelligence they dubbed "the Entity", who is almost certainly the Witness]].

** Come ''Lightfall'', and this is [[spoiler:subverted by the lore entry ''Inspiral'' - the Darkness ''is not sapient'', just being a force that exists. While there is still some ambiguity as to whether the Witness and ''the Winnower'' are separate, the book's revelations regarding the history of Darkness and allegories regarding its lack of will or voice means that they are ''not'' Darkness itself, adding to the piles of mystery about the entity]].

* StrawNihilist: Defied. Unveiling has it bluntly state the view that "all life increases entropy" is a "tired little gotcha" peddled by {{Straw Hypocrite}}s who pretend to prefer no existence to a flawed one, and are just outright ''boring'' to it. As it explains to Oryx, it sees the fundamental struggle of life as beautiful and worth it in and of itself. The fact that the Witness and Rhulk have the initial appearance of these by contrast is what calls their loyalty to the Darkness into question, though given that they at least have ''some'' metric of worth to see in mortals, it just makes things even more confusing.

** The Veil's thoroughly passive nature brings to mind the Flower Game from the allegorical tale of ''the Gardener'' and ''the Winnower'' told of in the lore book ''Unveiling''; "the only play allowed is the initial arrangement of the flowers". It matches the Veil's stance of doing nothing and also parallels how ''the Gardener''/Traveller broke the rule of the game by intervening with the flowers and blessing civilizations. The sole flaw in the allegory being, unlike the tale, the Veil doesn't appear to care about the Traveller's actions, or indeed, about anything at all.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Or at a minimum, Ambiguously [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Blue and Orange in the morality spectrum]]. The Veil is definitely a neutral party in the conflicts between Light and Dark, given it has done essentially nothing in the eons the universe has existed. However, what can be inferred from its action, or lack thereof, is quite telling: when the race which would become the Witness brought it to the Traveller in an effort to carve the pale heart open and completely subjugate its Light, the Traveller ran... while the Veil has ''absolutely no issue'' with this happening, even though doing so would reshape the universe itself and potentially end it completely. This paints the Veil as apathetic to the notion of the universe being reshaped by the Witness, as well as bringing the possibility that it might, in fact, be ''counting'' on the chance a mortal race will find it, learn about the Darkness, and use it against the Traveler.

* ItCanThink: The fact the Veil has done absolutely nothing in the eons it has existed might make it seem the Veil is mindless -- but make no mistake, like the Traveller, it is most certainly sentient. When Maya first observed it and questioned in her mind what it is, she heard ''her own voice'' reply, "the Veil", as if it responded to her question.

* WalkingSpoiler: Just knowing the Veil exists at all is the plot of ''Lightfall'', where the Witness seeks to use it to begin the Final Shape. Then the fact it is the Darkness counterpart to the Traveler, and implied to be ''completely apathetic'' to the ongoing conflict between Light and Darkness, is a ''massive'' spoiler for the entirety of the franchise.

** It's known the Witness is its own person. What is left ambiguous at first, however, is ''how much'' agency goes into their actions, and whether or not its goals are even the Darkness's, assuming such a distinction even exists, at all, seeing how [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail Savathun mentions]] that, like the Black Fleet, it is ''not'' the Darkness as the force of nature. Savathun says it's either TheManBehindTheMan to the Darkness or just someone who received the brunt of its power. ''Lightfall'', at least, ends the ambiguity regarding the distinction between the Witness and the Darkness - namely, that the Darkness isn't actually an intelligent entity, and that anything attributed to the Darkness was actually done by the Witness. ''Season of the Deep'' further clarifies that the Witness is a conglomerate of the first race blessed by the Traveler, granted its power by ''the Veil'', and ''everything'' humanity associates with the Darkness as the enemy of humanity is a result of the Witness's dogged need for a purpose the Traveler wouldn't grant it.

* BigBad: The ultimate antagonist of Destiny's ''Saga of Light and Dark,'' specifically taking the role from the end of ''the Witch Queen'' onward. Referred to as ''The Darkness'' from Day One of Destiny, years before its true nature was discovered, it is the ancient enemy of The Traveler and the architect of the First Collapse. After the Traveler makes its survival apparent, the Witness directs its forces to return to Sol, becoming the direct main antagonist from the end of ''The Witch Queen'' onward. Devs eventually confirmed it to be this for the universe as a whole, calling it "the most powerful enemy in ''Destiny.''" Further highlighted in ''Lightfall'', where it is revealed that the Darkness as a force is not sentient or sapient - every quote attributed to the Darkness in the lore actually belongs to the Witness.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Witness seems to genuinely believe that the people of the Sol System are suffering under the Traveler and seeks to bring "salvation" to them, much like the Darkness itself. If it is also ''the Winnower'', then they also see their crusade as nature running its course and part of a cold, emotionless "[[TheSocialDarwinist collective obligation]]" discussed in Vow of the Disciple. Unsurprisingly, the civilization whom the Witness once was also suffered from the same problem: they ''could not'' go on without purpose after living in a harsh planet where living alone was a struggle, and upon discovering the Veil and its Darkness, they considered the fact universe lacked an intrinsic meaning and existence had no greater purpose to be ''a crime'' they [[MeaningfulName witnessed]], and must be corrected at any cost. This is further muddied by the Collector's Edition for ''The Final Shape'' revealing that the Witness selectively deleted [[SelfServingMemory any memories that would imply the path that it undertakes is wrong]], making it ambiguous if it really has incomprehensible morality or just wants to prove itself right.

* AmbiguousSituation: The reason for the faction's full might not being dispersed before ''The Final Shape'' has yet to be explained. The same can be said for their nature: are they a full race of beings assimilated by the Witness, or are they some variant of clone on the whole like the Subjagator class is and the Tormentors are implied to be?

* FinalBoss: Of vanilla ''Destiny,'' waiting at the center of the Black Garden. Only after extinguishing it can the Traveler begin healing, and killing it is the first of many seemingly impossible tasks the Young Wolf will be assigned.

The last living Lubraean who was picked up by the Witness and became one of their most loyal Disciples, and the leader of the Scorn offensive into Savathun's Throne World.

The last living Lubrean who was picked up by the Witness and became one of their most loyal Disciples, and the leader of the Scorn offensive into Savathun's Throne World.

An alien who was picked up by the Witness and became one of their most loyal Disciples, and the leader of the Scorn offensive into Savathun's Throne World.