The Destiny franchise has had its fair share of problems, but those issues did not stop millions of players from falling in love with the series' gameplay, characters, and lore. Like other MMOs, Destiny and its sequel take players to various locations, where they are forced to battle several enemy factions. Each of these factions is dangerous, but the Hive are on a completely different level.
The Hive are an ancient race of aliens who worship the Darkness. Every member of the species has a parasitic worm inside their body that grants them power and immortality, and they can only feed them by continuously killing. There are literally billions of Hive in the universe, but only a small handful possess the kind of power that can kill multiple Guardians at once. Some of these Hive are so strong that they are considered to be Gods.
Updated March 24, 2022 by George Voutiritsas: The Witch Queen is Destiny 2's latest season, and its campaign focuses on Savathûn, the Hive God of cunning and deception. Her throne world is massive, and as players explore it, they learn that the Hive were lied to from the very beginning. The Darkness tricked Savathûn and her sisters into creating the Hive that players know today, and it became a race filled with terrifying and powerful beings. This list has already identified several of the Hive's strongest members, many of whom are considered gods, but when a race has lived as long as the Hive has, there are plenty of other high-ranking individuals who deserve recognition.
14 Hashladûn Commanded The Hidden Swarm On The Moon
Shadowkeep was a surprisingly big expansion, and it focused on the Hidden Swarm Hive brood on the moon. Hashladûn was one of the brood's champions, and was an Ascendant Hive Wizard that players defeated at the end of The Scarlet Keep Strike.
Hashladûn was the eldest daughter of Crota and Omnigul. She was an abnormally strong Thrall when she was younger, which is why Crota decided to have her ritually mutilated. He sent a hundred Thrall, ten Knights, and an Ogre after her, and she defeated them all. She survived the ritual and went to serve in Oryx's court.
13 Dûl Incaru Commands The Taken Forces In The Dreaming City
At some point, Bungie will be placing all of Forsaken's content into the vault. Before that happens, players should try to complete the Shattered Throne dungeon in order to defeat Dûl Incaru before she disappears. Dûl Incaru is an Ascendant Hive Wizard and one of Savathûn's daughters, and she took control of Queen Mara Sov's throne world.
Dûl Incaru is responsible for the Taken curse that is still plaguing the Dreaming City, and her goal is to find a key to a pocket universe that created the Awoken race. Time flows differently in said universe, and she and her mother wanted to use the time dilation to obtain a massive amount of tributes for their worms.
12 Omnigul Was The Leader Of Crota's Armies
Omnigul's infamous screech punctured the eardrums of many Destiny veterans when the Dark Below DLC launched in 2014. She was an Ascendant Hive Wizard and Crota's mate. He held her in high regard, as she was the one who led his armies.
Omnigul was there when Eris Morn's fireteam raided the moon's Hellmouth, and she personally killed the Hunter, Sai Mota, at the World's Grave. When Crota fell, she attempted to bring him back through a ritual, but she was stopped at the end of the Will of Crota Strike set in the Cosmodrome.
11 Zulmak Was A Contender For Oryx's Throne
Zulmak was the final boss of Shadowkeep's Pit of Heresy Dungeon, and he was a powerful Hive Knight who was reanimated by Hashladûn and her sisters. He became a Nightmare hybrid, and wielded a massive sword. He could also generate and control fire.
At the time of his first death, Zulmak had made a name for himself by fighting in gladiatorial combat in the Pit. He wished to Ascend in order to become a Hive Prince, and it got to the point that Crota considered him to be a possble contender to Oryx's throne.
10 Nokris Could Use Powerful Magic
Compared to other expansions, Warmind wasn't that good, but it did introduce players to Nokris, the estranged son of Oryx. Nokris may have been a Hive God, but compared to his brother and father, he wasn't physically strong, which is why he resorted to learning magic and hoarding knowledge.
While trying to impress his father, Nokris met with the Worm God, Xol, who agreed to teach him necromancy. This gave Nokris a great deal of power, but his father considered him to be a heretic because his magic violated the Hive's belief of survival of the fittest, so he disowned him and sent him into exile.
9 The High Celebrant of Xivu Arath Could Withstand Osiris' Light
Xivu Arath wanted to consolidate her power in the solar system once Savathûn went into hiding, and she sent her Celebrant to create an army of corrupted Wrathborn. The Celebrant was an Ascendant Knight, and it was the main villain of Forsaken's Season of the Hunt.
Osiris is considered to be one of the strongest Guardians in history, and when he stumbled across the Celebrant and a number of Hive nobility on the moon, he unleashed his Light and obliterated everyone. The Celebrant survived though, and it went on to cause Sagira's death.
8 Ir Halak & Ir Anûk Created & Mastered The Deathsong
Oryx's sons have received a great deal of attention throughout the series, but what new players may not know is that the Taken King also had twin daughters. Ir Halak and Ir Anûk started out as a single larvae, but Oryx cut it in half to see if it would survive, and both halves ended up surviving.
Oryx praised his daughters for their cunning and intellect, and Ir Halak was especially favored. This is because she created the Deathsong, which Wizards use to corrupt, kill, and destroy those who hear it.
7 Golgoroth Was Specifically Created To Kill Oryx
Forsaken did a lot of things right, including its raid, which pitted players against a massive Taken Ogre. Morgeth may have been strong, but even he wouldn't be a match for the mighty Golgoroth, who became one of Oryx's strongest champions.
Xol created Golgoroth for one reason: to devour Oryx and his family, but another Worm God intervened. Once Golgoroth was on Oryx's side, the Taken King placed one of the Tablets of Ruin into the Ogre's flesh in order to deter Crota from taking it.
6 Malok Was A Prime Candidate To Take Orxy's Vacant Throne
Oryx's demise created a major power vacuum within the Hive, and one of the leading candidates to replace him was his nephew, Malok. This former Hive Prince was Savathûn's son, and he selfishly took tribute that was meant for Oryx.
As punishment, Malok was taken and forced to pledge loyalty to his uncle, but Oryx allowed him to maintain some of his free will. Unlike other Taken, Malok was able to control and empower Taken Blights, which was an ability that only Oryx had previously been capable of.
5 Alak-Hul Was Powerful Enough To Become King Of The Hive
The Darkblades are extremely powerful Knights, and Alak-Hul was arguably the strongest of them all. He wielded a massive axe, which he used to kill the Titan Vell Tarlowe, who was part of the fireteam that tried to assassinate Crota in the Hellmouth. Alak-Hul was like a son to Oryx, but the Darkblade attempted to usurp him.
This rebellion failed, and Oryx had Alak-Hul imprisoned aboard the Dreadnaught, where he attempted to consolidate power after his captor's death. Eris Morn was the one who ordered Alak-Hul's execution because he had the ability to replace Oryx as the King of the Hive. It turns out that Alak-Hul was worthy enough to be resurrected by a Ghost, and with his new life, he became the very first Lightblade. He is once again the final boss of his own Strike, except this time, he does not die because his Ghost manages to escape.
4 Crota Slew Thousands Of Guardians On The Moon
One of the best things about Shadowkeep was that the expansion introduced new players to some of the original game's villains, including Crota. This Hive Prince is so powerful, that there are only three other beings amongst the Hive pantheon who are stronger.
At one point in time, Oryx threw Crota into the Vex network, where he fought and conquered for centuries, but his greatest achievement came when the Guardians attempted to reclaim the moon from the Hive. This is known as the Great Disaster, as thousands of Guardians were killed during the operation, and most of them were cut down by Crota and his light-eating sword.
3 Savathûn's Power Comes From Her Mind
Destiny's next major expansion, The Witch Queen, will focus entirely on Oryx's older sister, Savathûn. Like her brother, Savathûn is one of the original three Hive, which means that she has lived for millions of years. Over that time, she has amassed true God-like power.
Savathûn's goal is to understand the secrets of the universe, and she gains even more power when she deceives and confuses those who attempt to understand her schemes. She became the first Hive to be resurrected by the Traveler, and in the final mission of the Witch Queen's campaign, she was able to unleash a barrage of empowered Guardian Supers.
2 Xivu Arath Is The Hive's God Of War
Xivu Arath is the youngest of the three siblings, but in terms of sheer physical strength, she is the strongest. She is responsible for the downfall of countless civilizations, and she has spent the last year or so marshaling her forces to try and take control of the entire Hive brood.
As the Hive's God of War, Xivu Arath wishes to become the mightiest warrior in the universe, and her influence is so great, that it is present wherever there is some sort of armed conflict.
1 Oryx Killed A Worm God By Himself
In terms of overall power, no Hive has ever been as strong as Oryx, and to this day, he is still one of the franchise's toughest final raid bosses. Oryx grew to be so powerful, that even his sisters did not want to be around him out of fear for their own lives, and until his death, he was the only being outside of the Worm Gods who knew how to Take.
During the war with the Ecumene, Oryx sought out greater power, and after killing both of his sisters, he faced off against the Worm God Akka. Oryx killed the God and took the power to Take for himself, becoming the Taken King. In doing so, he decimated the Ecumene civilization that had nearly defeated the Hive. It was during this slaughter, that he resurrected both Xivu Arath and Savathûn.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S