Hive (Destiny)

The Hive are a mysterious species of ancient origin that currently occupy the moon of the planet Earth. Their origins on the planet of Fundament was revealed through the hive god Oryx via his Books of Sorrow. The Hive have encountered and destroyed thousands of species since leaving their world in an effort to satisfy the hunger of the worm gods that give them their power.

Biology & Appearance
The Hive come in many forms but their general appearance is one that instills terror in to many. Individual creatures can be hundreds if not thousands of years old, however many thousands more continue to be born and bred in the depths of their worlds, evidenced by the pupae attached to the walls and ceilings of their moon fortress. They are sequential hermaphrodites who are all born biologically female as thralls, but as they age and grow in power, they gain the ability to metamorphosize into "morphs" that may be male or female. They are symbiotes with another species, the "worms", which may be infant forms of the infamous dragon-like amkhara.

Typical examples of Hive come in the following forms:

Thrall

The bottom of the hierarchy of Hive, thrall harken back to ancient human myths of demons or zombies. They gather tribute to their leaders by using their twisted, deformed bodies directly against an enemy. Sharp claws are used to tear through flesh and armour in close combat and therefore the thrall will rarely been seen alone but rather in a swarm. They are the youngest Hive caste, with all other Hive being those who have proven themselves above all the rest and allowed to molt into acolytes.

The cursed thrall is the bottom most of these, only able to completely sacrifice itself to harm the living. Identified by a green glow and arms fused to its body, it's only attack is self destruction and killing those in its vicinity.

Acolyte

Hive acolytes are the backbone of the species, employing ancient energy weapons to attack their foes. More intelligent that the thrall, an acolyte also enjoys the privilege of light armour formed by its own hardening skin in addition to offensive weaponry.

Knight

The Hive knight is the heavy armour of the species. Countless battles have caused its extremities to harden in to a thick armour. Their size allows them to handle heavy weapons such as large swords or artillery like cannons. These are also the lowest of the hive able to wield dark magic in the form of an almost impenetrable force shield.

Knights that prove themselves in battle can go on to be some of the most powerful servants of the hive gods.

Ogre

Hive ogres are abominations of dark rituals and centuries of transformation. Able to deal and receive huge amounts of damage, ogres can often be considered an army of their own. If not by the force of their immense fists, ogres can deal damage by unleashing a stream of void energy towards victims, decimating them almost instantly.

Given enough time, the ogre can also go on to become some of the most potent adversaries an enemy of the hive will face.

Wizard

The scientists and engineers of the hive world, the wizard employs ancient dark arts to further hive plans. Even the lowest of these can employ a shield of pure energy, unleash a torrent of arc fire at an enemy or shroud itself in a vale of poison and darkness. Despite the masculine title, wizards are actually an exclusively female morph, and in fact serve similarly to insect queens, gestating the thralls either asexually or with the assistance of males who have proven themselves.

Hive leadership

Exalted and ascendant hive often come from the battalions below them having demonstrated an uncanny ability to spread pain, suffering and destruction.

At the very top echelon are the hive gods. These are often in commune with the deep themselves and are not bound by the rules of this universe when within it. While the demise of some of these gods has been observed, this is only attainable when attacking them within their own dimensions and often only by attacking them with specific artifacts or tactics.

Culture
In ancient times, the hive were a delicate species that often lived only a short life. Before leaving their home planet of the Fundament, three of them made a deal with another species known only as the worms. The worms would channel the power of the darkness to them, allowing them to exist indefinitely but at the same time tethering them to the eternal conquest against the light, therein becoming the hive.

Each layer in the hive hierarchy is required to gather tribute to their immediate leadership through the suffering and destruction of other life. This in turn feeds the layer above until finally reaching the ascendant hive and eventually the worms they serve.

Their ultimate purpose is to achieve the universe's final, perfect state in which nothing exists but the darkness.

Technology
The Hive have been shown to make use of technology from small, short range energy weapons through to entire armadas of interstellar ships, most notably the Dreadnought belonging to Oryx, The Taken King.

All technology observed so far appears to be a fusion of known materials with arcane magics tapping into the energies of Solar, Arc and Void.

History
It is not known exactly how or when the hive came to reside on the moon other than some time after the Collapse of humanity. It is known that the race has been moving across the universe for thousands of years, destroying any species they come across in pursuit of their ultimate goal.

Oryx, The Taken King, was one of the original three hive that made a deal with the worms alongside his sisters, Savathun and Xivu Arath. His arrival in the Sol System to avenge the death of his son, Crota, resulted in the discovery of the Books of Sorrow. These chapters described the history of the species as they left their homeworld and spread across the universe.

With the death of Oryx at the hands of the Guardians of Earth, the only known hive gods known to remain at his sisters and possibly another of his offspring known only as Nokris.

Behind the Scenes
During its panel at GDC 2013, Bungie stated that the Hive is designed to "capture a feeling of undead royalty." At the time of the Destiny reveal, Bungie had not yet named the species. As a result, until March 2013 these characters were publicly known only by the nickname "Space Zombies."