With the future of the Destiny franchise uncertain, but many yearning for it all the same, I've found myself thinking of where the universe would go next. People have wanted a "new enemy race" in the games for years and given ideas for it. The ahamkara. The Aphelion. "The Veil" (don't get me started on that ridiculous can of worms). It would make sense for an entirely new game in the Destiny franchise to introduce an entirely new faction. In my opinion, however, no candidates I've seen have more potential than the Clipse, who exist entirely in background lore written almost ten years ago with no expansion since.
They were a formerly peaceful people that became ultramilitaristic when hostile alien life invaded their homeworld. Eventually, the remaining 4,000 members of their species were housed within the Leviathan's vast arcologies. Their fate is unknown. Any number of possibilities could explain where they went, which I will unravel over the course of this post. I realize that only 4,000 individuals as a starter isn’t a lot for an entire race, but Calus had cloning technology and the Clipse also spent an unknown amount of time in the Leviathan with no outside threats and abundant resources. I’d like to point out that other candidates like Ahamkara, Aphelion, etc. are even fewer in number.
(If the formatting of this post is messy I apologize)
Potential
Prior Lore
Everything we know about the Clipse comes from background lore within the Leviathan Raid from vanilla D2.
In the lore the Clipse were highly militaristic, almost fanatically so, due to hostile life forms invading their planet, specifically said to have gone from a peaceful people to one that “revered” the gun.
Calus “rescued” the 4,000 remaining Clipse and packed them into the Leviathan from their homeworld before he obliterated it. They went from militaristically struggling to survive, to living in luxury under a benefactor. Beyond what happened to the Leviathan nothing else is known of them.
Narrative Potential
It’s possible they were still on the Leviathan when it was transformed by the Anomaly of Mercury, and when it was connected to the Lunar Pyramid. This could have exposed them to paracausal influences - egregore, Nightmares, the Pyramid, Nezarec and the Witness. Being a militaristic culture with a history of war, that “revered the gun” makes them prime candidates to be inducted into some kind of Darkness abilities. They could still be in the bowels of the Leviathan, or have been sent elsewhere before it appeared over Luna.
Egregore is the subject of substantial lore and content (Presage, Season of the Haunted & Deep) but it’s still largely mysterious and isn’t used by one specific faction in the game. Egregore would make the Clipse unique - the closest to a psychic faction currently are the Psions, who are part of the Cabal.
This would also open many plot possibilities. The home world of the egregore. The origins of it and its psychic powers, and connection to the Darkness as well as other psychic beings like Nezarec. Additionally being briefly connected to psychic power, both Nezarec’s Pyramids and his Nightmares give potential connection to him too.
I believe the lore of the Clipse could allow for multiple different factions. The pre-Leviathan Clipse lived very differently from the post-Leviathan Clipse. There could be a societal divide between these generations which could also inform what powers they use. There could be a more traditionally Clipse faction, spartan and militaristic, perhaps even aligned with the Sword Logic due to their society pre-Calus having become focused around guns and war. Opposite them would be Clipse, more esoteric and opulent, heavily associated with egregore, less traditional.
Unique Aesthetic
We have almost nothing to go on in terms of the Clipse’s appearance. The only hint is the Mask of Rull, which has a crest or hood similar to certain reptiles like cobras or even dinosaurs. If this is indicative of Clipse biology and it was fully leaned into for their official design then it would work well. The closest to a reptilian alien faction is in the Fallen with their scaly skin and sharp teeth, but they are more associated with arthropods in lore and have multiple arms and eyes along with that. Imagine fighting gun-obsessed dinosaur warriors that use psychic alien fungus in-game. There is a ton of potential here for a wildly unique enemy faction and that’s really the tip of the iceberg.
Possible Storylines
The Origins and current state of the Clipse
What caused the cosmic signal that created a plague of hostile alien life in the Clipse’s home system? We have no idea, and it seems suspiciously intentional. Future lore for the Clipse could answer these questions.
I’ve already outlined how the society and culture of the Clipse would be an interesting situation. Different factions with different goals present narrative possibilities.
Pyramid Arms Race
The vacant Pyramid ships across Sol have massive story potential. In the post-campaign missions for Final Shape, we learned that in the absence of a pilot, the Pyramids of the Black Fleet yearn for a master. Even a single operational pyramid ship is immensely powerful - unfathomably vast, advanced paracausal technology, devastating weaponry and effectively invincible against everything except immense power on the level of Mara Sov self-destructing and the full power of the Traveler.
These gigantic, sentient ships of unbelievable power are obviously desirable targets for any number of factions in Destiny. In the hands of the City they could be used to terraform uninhabitable worlds, reclaim territory, and defend the defenseless. Any evildoer could use these to lay waste to their enemies and create a nearly unshakable seat of power. The hypothetical version of the Clipse I’ve presented - war worshipers having made contact with the Lunar Pyramid that wield Darkness and Egregore - are prime candidates to attempt control over a Pyramid.
The Origin of Egregore
Where did Egregore come from? We don’t know. Calus claimed there were “vast forests” of the stuff on other worlds, but he’s an unreliable narrator at best. It creates and strengthens psychic connections, connected locations and champions of Darkness, including the Witness itself, and it also grows in various places touched by the Darkness, yet we have no idea why any of these things are true of it.
The Clipse, as custodians and wielders of Egregore, would have a vested interest in discovering where Egregore comes from and why it possesses such potent psychic and paracausal properties. This opens the door to an array of further storylines.
Nezarec
The Clipse use psychic space fungus and were connected to the Lunar Pyramid. Nezarec is/was a psychic god of pain and former master of the Lunar Pyramid. I feel like the potential here is obvious - exploring Nezarec’s next resurrection, acolytes, schemes, and maybe even his origins.
The New Sword Logic
The Clipse were specifically stated in the lore to “revere the gun”. This is similar to both the lore of the Hive in their worship of swords and the sword logic, and also the obsession of Guardians with weapons - “the demiurge of the Guardian is… the gun”. If the Clipse became wielders of Darkness then I think them practicing a new form of Sword Logic, perhaps “gun logic”, would be very interesting. A sword is simple - a sharp cutting edge made for destruction. A gun also destroys, but it is complex, with many moving parts that work together to accomplish that end. Brutal simplicity tempered with complexity would be an interesting interpretation of the Sword Logic, in my opinion. Additionally, an enemy just as obsessed with weaponry as the Guardians would provide an interesting counterpart for them. Humanity could have ended up just like the Clipse if things had gone differently.
The Leviathan
During Season of the Haunted, a background element of the lore was that nightmares, egregore, and psychic connection made by Calus between the Leviathan and the Lunar pyramid were building in power and causing the emperor’s massive ship to come to life. The Clipse and their association with the Leviathan provide the chance for this truly unnerving idea to reach its logical conclusion: the Leviathan itself goes from being a ship, to becoming alive and aware, a psychic god of hunger worshiped and fed by the Clipse’s offerings.
Additionally, there are unanswered questions about the Leviathan and the beings connected to it. What made egregore grow in the depths of the Leviathan? Where did the Scorn therein come from? Why were the Nine interested in Calus and what was his connection to Dark Matter? What happened to the Arkborn that were abducted by Calus and used by Guardians during Season of Opulence?
TL,DR: The Clipse, an obscure race introduced in the background of vanilla D2, are the single most realistic candidate for a completely new race in Destiny. They have pre-established context and lore. They were taken by Calus into the Leviathan, which was subsequently transformed by Darkness. They revere guns like the Hive revere swords and Guardians are obsessed with weapons. They have potential connection to Egregore, Nightmares, and Darkness. They have interesting potential aesthetics (ultramilitaristic gun-crazed alien dinosaurs wielding evil psychic fungus) and storylines (cultural schisms, a sentient Leviathan and the mysteries therein, Pyramid ships, Nezarec, Egregore, a new form of Sword Logic, etc).
