Destiny 2 is a shooter game in a made-up world. Players become Guardians, protectors of humanity with cool powers and weapons. Complete missions, explore planets and join multiplayer fun. Earn loot, level up and enjoy all sorts of updates and expansions. New stories keep popping up in this vast universe. It’s a wild ride!

Meet the characters from Destiny 2

The Guardian

The Guardian is the spine of the whole Destiny 2 mythos, equal parts stubborn hero and glorified space janitor. They swing between near-mythic competence and “oh no did I just die again” moments, and honestly that’s why they’re lovable. Protective, adaptable, and annoyingly resourceful — they’ll pick up any dropped weapon and turn it into a new favorite, sometimes overnight. Also they have, like, a thing for dramatic pauses and staring at ruins; it’s probably symbolic, or maybe they just like the view.

Cayde-6

Cayde-6 is the charming chaos engine of Destiny 2, a joke-telling, hand cannon-wielding rascal who somehow makes everything more fun. He’s laid-back, reckless, and allergic to a normal plan, but also terrifyingly competent when you least expect it. He talks like he knows a hundred secrets (and probably does), yet he also sometimes acts like a kid in a candy store and can’t keep a secret for five minutes. Also he collects… I want to say mismatched socks? No wait, maybe exotic grenades; either way it’s delightfully chaotic.

Zavala

Zavala is the rigid-hearted Titan Vanguard who holds the line when everything else is falling apart. Unwavering, dutiful, and paper-stiff in public, but secretly he carries the weight of everyone’s bad decisions like a mountain. He’s the “order and discipline” guy who will lecture you about protocol and then quietly make the hardest personal sacrifice, probably while wearing very sensible boots. Also sometimes he is a morale vacuum and sometimes he’s a hugging teddy bear — depends on the patch, fan theory, or mood.

Ikora Rey

Ikora Rey is the brilliant, slightly enigmatic Warlock Vanguard who mixes academic-level brilliance with low-key sass. She can read an ancient text and perform an experimental super move before breakfast, and she will absolutely call you out if your arcane metaphors are off. Profound, aloof, and unexpectedly warm when it matters, and yes she probably has a hidden stash of tea and existential quotes. Also, she might be emotionally unreadable or secretly writing fanfiction about the Traveler; I can’t confirm either, but both are true in different timelines.

Xur

Xur is the mysterious weekend vendor who shows up like clockwork with weird cosmic flea market goods and answers fewer questions than a sphinx. He’s charmingly shady, totally indifferent to your drama, and also somehow the best place to blow your glimmer on questionable armor. Nobody really knows if he’s a friend, a neutral third party, or possibly a being who collects regrets as a hobby — and that’s peak Xur energy. He always smells like incense and questionable motives, and yes, he loves oddly specific exclamation points in the shop interface.

Shaxx

Lord Shaxx is the war-laughing gladiator-turned-coach who treats every Crucible match like an Olympic final and screams in a way that’s oddly motivational. Big, boisterous, hyper-competitive, and probably has very strong opinions about elbow placement in team fights. He’s all about honor, spectacle, and making sure everyone gets punched the right amount — surprisingly nurturing if your definition includes battlefield yelling. Also he might have a tea cozy with “forged in glory” embroidered on it, I think, or that was fan art — either way, iconic.

The Traveler

The Traveler is this gigantic, inscrutable, floating ball of Good Intent that booked it into our solar system and then promptly became both guardian and giant plot device. It radiates Light and vibes and basically fuels all the Guardian power-ups, but also sits around being cryptic and occasionally gets moody (and by moody I mean almost being taken over by Darkness, yikes). It feels maternal and otherworldly at the same time — imagine a very patient, enormous, celestial parent with a terrible poker face. People worship it, argue about it, and write long essays on its posture, which is both hilarious and accurate. Also, it inexplicably seems to enjoy dramatic pauses in the sky and probably likes organ music.

Mara Sov

Mara Sov is the enigmatic Queen of the Awoken — elegant, chilly, and like a chessmaster who plays three games at once and hums while doing it. She’s regal and inscrutable, prone to poetic threats and impossible plans that somehow almost always work, or at least keep you guessing. Ruthless when needed, fiercely loyal to her people, and also maybe hoards weird hats or ceremonial feathers, I can’t remember which. She’s the kind of ruler who smiles like a blade and tells you a bedtime story that doubles as a prophecy.

Osiris

Osiris is the obsessive, brilliant ex-Warlock (maybe more ex than he lets on) who treats time like a Rubik’s cube and people like test subjects. He’s brilliant, tragic, and perpetually distracted by one more paradox to untangle, plus he has opinions on every simulation ever and will share them whether you asked or not. Charismatic in a very niche, slightly haunted way — part sage, part mad professor, part coach with a lot of unresolved feelings. Also he probably wears sandals in the Vex networks or maybe that’s just an aesthetic choice fans made up; either way it’s iconic.

Dominus Ghaul

Dominus Ghaul is the massive, grim militaristic villain with a personal vendetta against the Traveler and zero patience for metaphors. Relentless, brutal, and obsessively disciplined, he believes in strength through order and will absolutely steamroll anything in his path if it makes him feel stronger. There’s an intense, desperate charisma to him — like, he’s not just evil for fun, he has this tragic insecurity that’s almost weirdly sympathetic sometimes (don’t tell the Vanguard I said that). He also has an intimidating helmet and screams a lot, which honestly makes him unforgettable.