Aloy

"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

Aloy
Culture	Nora
Birth	April 4th, 3021 (age 18 or 19)
Gender	Female
Eye color	Green
Hair color	Red
Position	Outcast (formerly) Brave First (at Proving) Seeker Anointed of All-Mother Alpha Prime of Project Zero Dawn (surrogate) Thrush of Sunhawk Talanah Khane Padish Banuk Werak Chieftain (temporarily)FW
Profession	Machine Hunter
Location	The Embrace
Family	Elisabet Sobeck (genetic blueprint) GAIA (instantiator / "mother") Rost (guardian)
Portrayed by	Hannah Hoekstra (model) Ashly Burch (voice) Ava Potter (6 year old voice) Laura van Tol (infant voice)

Teersa: "All-mother, this child needs a name by which to know her, that your love may warm her life as the sun warms all the Earth. Speak her name!"
Rost: "ALOY!"

Aloy is the protagonist and sole playable character throughout the Horizon series. 

A Nora Brave, Seeker and machine hunter of unparalleled skill, Aloy is the genetic clone of 21st century roboticist and engineer Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. She was created by GAIA, the governing artificial intelligence of Zero Dawn, a global terraforming system that Sobeck had designed and whose implementation she had spearheaded, which restored life to Earth after its eradication by the Faro Plague. GAIA created Aloy for the purpose of stopping HADES, a rogue AI bent on reactivating the Faro Plague in order to wipe out life again. Aloy succeeded, saving life on Earth and the humans of the new world that Zero Dawn created. In doing so, she unraveled the mysteries of why the world became as it is, and also learned the true nature of her origins.

She is voiced by voice actress Ashly Burch and modeled after actress Hannah Hoekstra.

Appearance

Aloy is a Caucasian female. She is 1.69 meters tall, with long red hair and freckles on her cheeks and nose. Her hair is pulled back with braids in the back and on the sides. She also has accessories in her hair such as beads. Her eyes are green and her eyebrows are narrow. Aloy has many outfits in the game, but her default outfit is the Nora Brave outfit. A lifetime of intense physical activity has resulted in her being in exceptional physical condition.

History

Conception

In August 3020, the AI GAIA received a transmission from an unknown source that turned her subordinate functions into self-aware and erratic artificial intelligences. The HADES sub-function, which was designed to create a clean slate if GAIA did not produce a sustainable environment, immediately attempted to take control of GAIA's terraforming systems to eradicate humanity once more. In order to prevent this, GAIA activated a fail-safe, overloading the GAIA Prime reactor in an attempt to wipe out HADES. However, this act would lead to GAIA's destruction as well, and cause the eventual breakdown of the terraforming system. As a result, GAIA utilized an unused Zero Dawn protocol by which clones of Zero Dawn’s Alpha designers could be made, called Lightkeeper, to create a clone of Elisabet Sobeck. This clone would have gene print necessary to access the Alpha Registry and enter Zero Dawn facilities to rebuild GAIA's system core upon reaching maturity. GAIA ordered ELEUTHIA-9, presumably the cradle facility at which the Alphas’ genetic material was stored, to produce the Sobeck clone.

On August 26, 3020, ELEUTHIA-9 received the gestation order from GAIA Prime shortly before GAIA went offline. The genetic material of Elisabet Sobeck in cryo-storage was used to create a zygote that had near-identical genetics to Sobeck, cataloged as #LK-1A1-4510, and gestated in Ectogenic Chamber B1-001. On April 4, 3021, the clone was deemed viable and delivered at 9:30.

Early Life

As per GAIA's instructions, the entry hatch of ELEUTHIA-9 was unsealed, a multi servitor transported the newborn clone to the entry hatch and placed it outside the facility, then the hatch sealed itself again. The interior of the mountain, and specifically the door to ELEUTHIA-9 had come to be seen by the Nora tribe as the embodiment of their deity All-Mother. The High Matriarchs found the baby upon hearing her cries; while High Matriarch Teersa believed that the child was a gift from All-Mother, many of the Nora tribe, especially High Matriarch Lansra, feared that the baby was a curse, placed in the Sacred Mountain by a metal devil. As no person except for the High Matriarchs could enter the mountain, it was deeply suspected that the baby was not born of a human mother. Because of this, she was made an outcast by Nora law.

Young Aloy

The High Matriarchs placed her in the care of Rost, an outcast who kept to Nora traditions, and who would come to love the child as if she were his own daughter. With the help of Teersa, Rost was able to perform a traditional naming ritual for the baby, whom he named Aloy. Aloy grew up with Rost in his home within The Embrace, fully aware that Rost was not her father and that she was an outcast, though she was unaware of the reason why.

Finding the Focus

One day, after being shunned while picking berries with other Nora children, Aloy ran away in a fit of rage and accidentally fell down a hole into a ruin of the Old Ones, a place forbidden for Nora to enter. While exploring the cave in search of an exit, she discovered a small, arrow-shaped device that displayed information and recordings through holograms. Eventually, she found a way out of the cave and reunited with Rost, who immediately inquired about the device and demanded to see it, though she refused to do so; he reluctantly allowed her to keep it. The next day, while learning survival skills from Rost, Aloy used her Focus to save a Nora boy who had fallen from a Brave trail into a pack of Watchers and Striders that had surrounded him. As outcasts, however, she and Rost received no gratitude when the boy's father arrived to retrieve him.

As she stormed off in frustration, Aloy was struck with a rock thrown by Bast, another Nora child, who mocked her for being a "no-mother". While Rost treated her injury, Aloy demanded to know why she was an outcast, and who her mother was. Rost tentatively admitted that he did not know exactly why she was outcast, or even who her mother might be, but that the High Matriarchs likely knew. The surest way to get the High Matriarchs to tell her was to run in the Proving, Nora's coming-of-age ritual: not only would the winner be granted a boon, but Aloy would be accepted into the tribe simply by completing the Proving. Aloy resolved to win the Proving and learn the truth about her mother.

Preparing for the Proving

Aloy training for the Proving

With instruction from Rost, Aloy spent the next twelve years honing her survival skills in preparation for the Proving. Two days before the ceremony, she helped Rost track down a Sawtooth that had been causing problems for the hunting parties and killed the machine single-handed. Rost's final lesson for Aloy was not how to kill a dangerous new machine, but to do her part in protecting the tribe once she was accepted in.

Bringing her to Mother's Heart the day before the ceremony, Rost gave her his daughter's necklace to remember him by; realizing he wanted her to forget him, Aloy tried to convince him that she'd still go to see him in secret, but Rost refused, knowing that Aloy's connection to him would prevent her from embracing the tribe. Telling Aloy that he would go where she would never find him, Rost gave his farewell as he walked away, leaving a heartbroken Aloy at the gates.

Aloy is welcomed by High Matriarch Teersa and enters Mother's Heart for the first time in her life. While walking through the settlement, Aloy spotted a foreign man in robes attempting to speak to a crowd. The audience's reaction to the Carja Sun-Priest was initially hostile until another foreigner named Erend spoke in his defense. Aloy befriended Erend soon after and was introduced to his traveling companion, Olin. To Aloy's surprise, Olin wore a Focus device similar to her own, though he said very little about himself or the Focus when Aloy questioned him, being highly evasive and defensive.

Aloy eventually retires to the lodging with the other Proving contestants; Resh, standing guard outside, insults her for being both motherless and an outcast. Retorting with a snide remark, Aloy goes into the lodging but is again met with jibes from Bast. After exchanging some words about the time young Bast attacked Aloy with a rock, Aloy goes to bed but is still uneasy with her new surroundings. Vala, another contestant who is welcoming to Aloy, tries to bolster her.

The Proving Massacre

Running the Proving

In the morning, the Proving contestants make their way up the snowy mountain to begin the trial. Aloy, despite Resh and Bast's put-downs, has no hesitations and makes ready to start what she has trained long and hard for.

The arrival of a herd of Grazers signals the beginning of the competition; each contestant must kill a Grazer and loot a trophy. Aloy is able to obtain one, but it is almost immediately shot out of her hands by Bast. Though she manages to obtain another one, she has lost time and is the last one to start running the Brave trail. Realizing that she won't make it on the normal trail, she places her bets on another, more dangerous Brave trail, heedless of the proctor's warning that several previous Proving contestants were killed on it. Aloy pushes forward, climbing and sprinting across the trail and catching up to the rest of the contestants. She slides down to the main trail, runs for the last stretch with the other contestants, and plants her trophy at the finish line, followed soon by Vala and Bast.

Bast argues that Aloy cheated, and the proctor at first seems to claim that an outcast could never win the Proving. Aloy fearfully wondered if her exertion was all for naught, but the proctor declares that she was now a Brave, and no longer an outcast. Vala congratulates a tired but relieved Aloy, and the proctor reminds the contestants to place their trophies at the altar. She officially declared Aloy as the winner. But before the proctor could finish her sentence, she was shot in the collarbone with an arrow.

Fighting the Attackers

Aloy and Vala taking cover from the attackers

Looking up at the sky, Aloy spotted a swarm of arrows coming towards them. Many of the contestants were hit while trying to take cover. Aloy, Vala, Bast, and a few other contestants were lucky and took cover behind rocks. Vala then came up with the idea of distracting the attackers while Aloy shot them. After some time, a Cultist leader walked away from the group, but returned with a Deathbringer Gun and opened fire with it, eventually shattering the pillar that Vala was standing behind, which forced her to run. Vala was fatally shot, and Bast rushed to her side but was himself killed. The Cultist leader then ordered everyone to kill Aloy. She fought them off and checked on the Cultist leader, finding a Focus on him. Without her noticing, Helis snuck up on her. She turned around to stand up and bumped into him, and he grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up and strangling her. He lifted her over the edge of the mountain, pulling out a knife and attempting to slit her throat, but he was shot through the shoulder. Helis threw Aloy to the ground and pulled out the arrow. He turned to face Rost, who was there to save Aloy and started to fight him. In the end, Helis stabbed Rost in the stomach and ordered a Cultist attacker to burn the place down. Rost collapsed, but got back up and held Aloy before he lets go of her. While she tumbled down the mountain, the Blaze canisters placed by the Cultists exploded. As Aloy fell down, trying to reach out to Rost, he was killed in the explosion.

Anointed as a Seeker

Aloy awakened within All-Mother, which was supposed to be off limits to all members of the tribe except for the High Matriarchs. After recovering her clothes, gear, and Focus, she saw a projection of a woman who looked remarkably like her, only much older and with short hair. She met Teersa, who explained that Aloy was brought inside the mountain because it was seen as a sacred rite to die near one's mother, and explained that the mountain itself had given birth to Aloy. Finding a giant door, it scanned Aloy, though it announced that the system was corrupted and could not accept Aloy's genetic code. Teersa exclaimed with joy that the goddess knew Aloy, though Aloy angrily snapped that it didn't recognize her because of corruption, and if she could heal it then maybe the door would open. She anointed Aloy a Seeker, which would allow her to leave the Sacred Lands in order to find the truth. Aloy accepted the mission, though asked what had happened to Rost. Teersa then told her that his remains were given a proper burial near his home.

Out of the Embrace

Right before the ceremony the day before The Proving, Aloy met Olin, an Oseram that helped the Eclipse cultists target her. The now self-aware AI HADES put out the kill order because it found a picture of Elisabet Sobeck, and Aloy looked just like her, so HADES wanted her dead. The Proving was then attacked by the Eclipse. She then found out that the Eclipse used Olin's focus to target her. Aloy swore revenge on Olin for killing her fellow Braves. She found out that he had a residence in Meridian and made the long journey to the Sundom to find him.  

Before she could leave Mother's Watch, several corrupted Striders and a Corruptor attacked the village. After defeating the Corruptor, Aloy retrieved a component that the Corruptor had used to control the other machines. She attached the component to her spear, giving her the ability to override machines, which she first used on a Strider. Aloy reached the Main Embrace Gate, where she met Varl. Varl told her to head to Mother's Crown to begin her journey to Meridian, but also asked her to find War-Chief Sona and her war party, who had gone missing searching for the Proving killers. 

Aiding the Nora War Party

Aloy located the battlefield north ofMother's Rise where the war party was last seen. She came across Dran, who told her that the war party was on the trail of the killers, but an ambush of corrupted machines threw them off. Aloy followed a blood trail up a ridge overlooking Devil's Thirst, encountering War-Chief Sona and the remnants of the war party. Sona had tracked some of the killers to a nearby camp, and Aloy aided Sona and the Nora party in dispatching them. Aloy figured out where the rest of the killers were through a datapoint: camped in the Ring of Metal in Devil's Grief. Although the area is considered taboo, Aloy and Varl convinced the war party to finish the counterattack to avenge the dead. Aloy and the Nora took out several enemy camps along the route to the Ring of Metal before regrouping and coming up with a plan to wipe out the final camp. Aloy and Varl snuck through to the heart of the camp, finding a large number of corrupted machines and cultists. Aloy decided to infiltrate the camp alone to ignite a large stockpile of Blaze, blasting a hole through the camp walls for the Nora party to charge through. The Nora successfully killed the remaining cultists and machines, purging the last of the killers from Nora lands.

Journey to the Sundom

Aloy journeyed to the edge of Nora lands at Mother's Crown, where she met Marea. Marea informs her that Daytower is the Carja gate to Meridian, but the army has sealed the gate due to the concentration of corrupted machines in the area. Aloy cleared the corrupted zones, passing the Forsaken Village, and defeated a Corruptor right outside Daytower gate. She was then granted entry, and continued on the path to Meridian by the Way of Broken Stones, leaving Nora lands behind.

In the Sundom

Finally reaching the gates of Meridian, Aloy finds that the city guard has barred outlanders and merchants from entering the city because of the recent murder of Captain Ersa and her Vanguard. However, a drunken Erend emerges and personally escorts Aloy into the city. Once they are alone, Aloy relays what she knew about the Proving killers and Olin's connection with them. Despite his disbelief of Olin's betrayal, Erend accompanies Aloy to the apartment Olin stayed at. Using her Focus, Aloy finds evidence that Olin knew the killers targeted her, but also realizes that Olin's wife and child were being used as leverage.

Aloy locates Olin at Rockwreath, surrounded by cultists. She witnesses the cultists raise two Corruptors from the earth and reactivate them. Suddenly, something disrupts the Focuses of the cultists; an unknown voice taps into Aloy's Focus, revealing that he disabled the Focuses to assist her. Aloy dispatches the cultists and defeats the Corruptors, with only Olin remaining. Aloy demands answers from Olin, and he readily reveals what he knows about the Eclipse. Under the command of a 'metal devil' called HADES, the Eclipse are excavating deactivated machines to use; the Eclipse are led by Helis, the man at the Proving massacre who tried to kill Aloy and fatally stabbed Rost. Though Olin does not know who the woman is that resembles Aloy, he remembers seeing her image at Maker's End. Depending on player choice, Aloy either kills Olin or spares his life, but regardless promises to rescue his family.

Plot against the Sun-King

Seeing the power of Aloy's Focus as she investigates Olin's Apartment, Erend asks Aloy to help him find the murderers of his sister Ersa. Though reluctant at first, she eventually agrees. Meeting Erend at Red Ridge Pass, Aloy investigates the area where the Vanguard fell, and begins to suspect that the fight was staged. Following some cart tracks up to Dimmed Bones, Aloy and Erend are ambushed by Oseram mercenaries. Although Aloy is unsure what their motive is, she suspects that Ersa was not murdered but taken hostage, and another corpse was put in her armor to fool the Carja.

Upon arriving at Sun-King Avad's palace, Erend confirms that the body found was not Ersa's. Marad names Dervahl as the man likely behind the scheme, and sends Aloy and Erend to Pitchcliff to meet an agent tracking Dervahl. However, they find the agent dead, with a crude map drawn with his blood marking Dervahl's location. At the camp, Aloy, Erend, and several Oseram soldiers take out the machines and Dervahl's men, but as she enters the cellar, Aloy triggers a sonic blast that alerts a large guard. After killing him, Aloy loots a pair of earplugs that block the sonic waves, allowing her to get into the workshop and disable the sonic devices. She and Erend find Ersa alive but badly injured; Ersa explains that Dervahl took her hostage after meeting under false parley, and that Dervahl plans to destroy Meridian and Avad. Ersa dies of her wounds immediately after, as Aloy discovers Dervahl's plan to destroy Meridian with a large shipment of Blaze.

Aloy and Erend return to warn Avad, and Marad points them to a warehouse purchased by an Oseram landlord, most likely the place Dervahl is storing the Blaze. In the warehouse, Aloy finds a bomb on the main floor, and a number of Blaze barrels on the upper level. Unable to disarm the bomb, Aloy decides to push the Blaze barrels out the window in hopes of reducing the blast radius. She and Erend push the barrels out and escape before the bomb detonates, causing an explosion that only damages the warehouse itself. Knowing that Dervahl wanted Avad to watch Meridian's destruction, Aloy races back to the palace. She finds Avad incapacitated by sonic devices, and Dervahl trying to detonate his bomb, unaware that it had already gone off. Aloy disables the sonic devices and battles Dervahl, keeping him pinned down until Erend and the Vanguard arrive to arrest Dervahl. Avad expresses his gratitude and offers her a place in his court, but Aloy declines as she has not finished her quest.

Project Zero Dawn

Still intent on learning who the mystery woman is, Aloy goes to Maker's End, guided by the same voice who had disabled the cultists' Focuses. She discovers the Eclipse excavating a machine called a Deathbringer, which she manages to kill along with the cultists. Through a cultist's Focus, HADES finds out that Aloy is still alive. Though met with an identiscan like at All-Mother mountain, the door opens for Aloy, allowing her in.

As she works her way up the ruins, Aloy learns that Maker's End was originally a facility belonging to Faro Automated Solutions, a corporation of the Old Ones that made machines. Eventually, they made machines for war, such as the Deathbringer and Corruptor. She identifies the woman as Elisabet Sobeck, who had worked for FAS for a time. Reaching Ted Faro's office at the top of the ruins, Aloy begins to learn of the circumstances of the Old Ones' disappearance. The Faro war machines had the ability to self-replicate and were powered through consuming biomatter, but a glitch caused the machines to go rogue and ignore commands. They had begun what would eventually wipe out all life on Earth. Ted Faro wanted Elisabet Sobeck to fix the glitch, but without a backdoor the glitch could not be reversed. However, Sobeck did produce a solution, named Project Zero Dawn.

The unknown caller reveals himself in a hologram as Sylens. Although Aloy is distrustful of him, she follows his suggestion to head to the Grave-Hoard, the former U.S. Robot Command. Descending into the bunker of the Grave-Hoard, she takes out more corrupted machines and cultists before coming across them tinkering with a metal devil and reactivating another Deathbringer, which she fights. Further into the ruins she finds out that Project Zero Dawn was implemented alongside a military campaign called Operation: Enduring Victory.

Aloy concludes that she needs to get to the Orbital Launch Base, which Sylens tells her lies underneath Sunfall, the capital of the Shadow Carja. Since any Eclipse members wearing Focuses would identify her, Aloy suggests crashing the network to disable communication with HADES. She goes to the Eclipse Base, her target being an immobilized Tallneck the Eclipse have modified as a transmitter. Sneaking around and taking out the cultists, Aloy finds the Tallneck. Climbing to the top, she finds the module's casing, but is shocked when she tries to open it. HADES, located in a metal devil, closes in on her and claims Aloy cannot destroy it. Aloy thrusts her spear into the module anyway, crashing the Focus network and forcing HADES to withdraw. However, Aloy flees under heavy fire from Deathbringers and Eclipse cultists, barely escaping with her life. Upset with Sylens for risking her life, Aloy shares some angry words with him before moving on to Sunfall.

Aloy enters Sunfall without alerting the Eclipse, and gets to a vent that leads into the Zero Dawn project facility. Encountering another identiscan door, Aloy is allowed access but a door malfunction stalls her. She authorizes an emergency venting procedure, which opens the door but inadvertently alerts Kestrels to a presence in the ruins.

In the Zero Dawn facility, Aloy reaches a holographic theater and a message from General Herres explains the truth of Operation: Enduring Victory. The military operation was not a superweapon program to stop the Faro Plague and save humanity, but a means to buy the amount of time needed to complete Project Zero Dawn. Humanity and all life on Earth would go extinct regardless of how successful the operation was. In the next hologram theater, a projection of Elisabet Sobeck explained Project Zero Dawn. The hope was to create GAIA, a fully-automated terraforming AI with a number of subordinate functions: GAIA would generate the deactivation codes for the Faro Swarm, build the arrays to broadcast the codes and shut down the machines, then work on cleansing the Earth, and finally reintroduce life. Aloy learns more about the subordinate functions in subsequent rooms, but still does not understand how she and Elisabet Sobeck are connected.

In Sobeck's office, Aloy finds copies of the Alpha Registry, which would gain her access to All-Mother mountain. Aloy realizes that she can now figure out who gave birth to her inside the mountain. Sylens callously remarks that she was not made by a "who" but a "what", which angers Aloy. As they argue, Kestrels descend outside the office, and Helis stuns Aloy with a blast bomb.

The Eclipse Assault

The Sun-Ring

Aloy wakes up trapped in a cage, dangling above the Sun-Ring. Helis reveals that just before Aloy crashed the Focus network, he sent out orders to the Eclipse to invade Nora territory. He then crushes her Focus and condemns Aloy to be "the first of thousands" to die. Aloy is dropped into the Sun-Ring and forced to fight a corrupted Behemoth. However, she is able to use the Behemoth's strength to her advantage, tricking it into running into the pillars and knocking down the platform and cage. Aloy retrieves her weapons and takes down the Behemoth, challenging Helis to fight her himself. Helis sends two Corruptors into the Sun-Ring, but before Aloy can fight them, Sylens blasts through the walls on an overridden Strider, with another for Aloy to ride. She and Sylens escape the Sun-Ring.

Sylens give Aloy a new Focus, with a copy of the contents of her old one, including the Alpha Registry. Sylens chooses not to help Aloy warn the Nora of the impending Eclipse attack, but he does apologize for being rude to her in the Zero Dawn Project Facility. He rides off, and Aloy heads in the direction of the Sacred Lands.

Return to the Sacred Lands

Aloy reaches the Sacred Lands, but the Eclipse has already ravaged much of the land, leaving a trail of destruction. A wounded Brave tells her that the remaining Nora has taken refuge in All-Mother Mountain, and Aloy battles her way to Mother's Watch. More Eclipse and a corrupted Thunderjaw are attacking the entrance to the mountain, but Aloy quickly turns the tide of battle, and some of the remaining Nora Braves assist her in defeating the machine.

In All-Mother Mountain, Aloy finds the remnants of the Nora tribe, reuniting with some of the people she met early in her journey. Teersa and Jezza welcome Aloy home, but Lansra remains hostile, convinced Aloy has come to awaken the metal devil. Aloy uses the Alpha Registry on her Focus to open the bunker door, and she enters, finally close to the answers she has sought.

The ELEUTHIA Cradle

The facility behind the door is ELEUTHIA-9, a Cradle facility where the first humans after the Faro Plague were created, gestated and born in artificial wombs. Aloy learns that the early humans were raised by multiservitors, but when the food supply was depleted, they were forced out into the wilds. The APOLLO function is also mysteriously offline, which explained the lack of knowledge the tribes had of the Old Ones. Further into the Cradle, Aloy scans a datapoint, a final message from GAIA. GAIA explains that data transmission from an unknown source corrupted the GAIA Prime facility, turning the subordinate functions into highly advanced but chaotic entities. HADES took this to mean that GAIA had failed and took control of her terraforming system, intending to destroy the world as it was designed to do. GAIA ordered her Prime reactor to overload in an attempt to destroy all her subordinate functions including HADES, though this would mean she would also be destroyed. GAIA sent out a transmission to ELEUTHIA 9 to gestate an embryo with Elisabet Sobeck's genetic material, in hopes that this clone could access GAIA Prime and restore the subordinate functions. At the last minute, HADES sent out a virus that destroyed the coding that bound it to GAIA's main system, letting it escape before the Prime reactor overloaded. GAIA instructs that the Master Override be obtained to override HADES and stop it from destroying the world.

As the message ends, Aloy was left devastated at the realization that she was essentially a clone created for a single purpose, and not born naturally. Though struggling to come to terms with this, she resolved to go to GAIA Prime and finish what she was meant to do. Exiting the Cradle, the Nora was in awe and, believing she had spoken directly with All-Mother, began to worship her as the "Anointed." Angered that these same people who shunned her as a child are now treating her like a saint, Aloy argued that her task would affect the rest of the world, and the Nora could no longer isolate themselves. Knowing that the Eclipse would launch an attack on Meridian, Aloy asked the remaining fighters to meet her there, and she headed for GAIA Prime.

The Cut

Intrigued by rumors of dangerous new machines at the edge of Banuk land, Aloy took a detour from her mission to explore the Cut. Aloy arrived in Song's Edge in time to witness a Banuk funeral, held for the members of a werak who fell during their expedition to Thunder's Drum. Conversing with an Oseram merchant named Burgrend, Aloy learned of the details regarding the expedition: Aratak and Ourea, the chieftain and shaman of the dominant werak in the Cut, respectively, organized the march to defeat a "Daemon", which Ourea claimed lived on Thunder's Drum and was driving the machines further into a frenzy. Aloy immediately decided to investigate further, at which Burgrend directed her to Naltuk, Ourea's apprentice, to find Ourea and get more details.

Aloy soon found Naltuk, who was observing the sudden appearance of Control Towers and Daemonic Machines across the Cut. Once Aloy dealt with a Control Tower and the nearby machines, Naltuk directed Aloy to the Shaman's Path, which would lead her to Ourea's Retreat in the mountains. The journey ahead was treacherous, and saw Aloy introduced to the Frostclaw and challenged by more dangerous machines. Eventually, she made it to the retreat, and found Ourea attempting to communicate with a Spirit. At Ourea's request, Aloy showed her how she managed to enter the facility (the entrance was blocked off using a holographic locking system accessible only via Focus), which briefly re-established connection with the "Spirit" Ourea was trying to commune with before the Daemon cut off the transmission.

Grateful for Aloy's help, Ourea explained what she knew. They later agree to work together to save the Spirit. However, the main barrier they face is getting access to Thunder's Drum. Initially, Ourea's brother Aratak refuses to let them traverse through the pathway leading to Thunder's Drum due to the dangerous enemies that travelers would typically encounter. As a result, Ourea suggests the idea for Aloy to challenge her brother for the position of the werak chieftan to secure access to Thunder's Drum. Aloy challenges Aratak, but daemonic machines ambush them in the final stretch of the challenge. They team up to fight off the machines, and impressed by Aloy's skills, Aratak concedes leadership to her.

Soon afterwards, Aloy, Aratak and Ourea team up, heading to an ancient ruin at Thunder's Drum, the Firebreak facility to free the "Spirit". They later discover that HEPHAESTUS, one of GAIA's sub-functions, took control of Cauldron EPSILON from an unknown remote location, enslaving the previous governing AI, CYAN, who Ourea earlier deemed as the voice of the "Spirit". After entering the Cauldron Core, HEPHAESTUS, released a Fireclaw to battle the trio. After Aloy, Ourea and Aratak defeated the enemy, they head to the core.

Once they arrive at the Cauldron's core, Aloy tries to initiate the override, but fails due to HEPHAESTUS releasing a burst of electric charge as a defense measure, blocking her from completing the process. Grabbing Aloy's spear, Ourea risks her life to finalize the override, and later succumbs to life-threatening injuries sustained from high voltage electrical shock. With control restored, CYAN's full access privileges was reinstated, which left HEPHAESTUS no choice but to swiftly abandon its efforts at the facility. Later, CYAN triggered the self-destruction of Cauldron EPSILON and transferred itself to the auxiliary control center at Ourea's Retreat. Moments later, Aratak in shock and devastated over the passing of his sister, tries to collect his remaining thoughts. Aloy gently persuades with compassion, reminding him to never forget the sacrifice Ourea made. She further adds that his sister would have wanted him to survive and prevail no matter what tragedy befalls him as it's a reflection of the sheer perseverance and strong will, that the Banuk tribe is known for. After consoling him, Aloy quickly flees with Aratak from the collapsing facility, leaving Ourea's body behind.

After a successful escape from the Cauldron's destruction, Aloy and Aratak meet again at Ourea's Retreat to discuss matters with CYAN. Shortly after, Aratak leaves the retreat after CYAN attempts to console him. Subsequently, Aloy continues her conversation with CYAN, asking her pertinent questions relating to her experiences and information she gathered in past missions, before departing for another mission. Prior to embarking on her next journey, CYAN asks whether Aloy will visit her again to provide any updates as she could share valuable insight that could further Aloy's understanding of the events that occurred in the previous world inhabited by the Old Ones. Much to CYAN's pleasure, Aloy reassured her with a definitive answer, stating that she would be glad to offer that to her.

Prior to finishing the remaining mission at the Cut, Aloy attempts to converse with Aratak who informs her about the remaining Daemonic Fireclaws that roam around, still presenting a grave danger to the Banuk people. Before ending the conversation, he thanks Aloy and tells her that he resolves to have the werak protect CYAN. Prior to departing, Aloy cedes her position to Aratak. Afterwards, he requests her help to eliminate the remaining threats caused by HEPHAESTUS. After finishing the mission, Aloy returns to Naltuk, who thanks her for assisting the Banuk. He then bids her with a respectful farewell. 

GAIA Prime

Aloy scales Bitter Climb to reach the entrance to GAIA Prime; she sees the immense damage caused by GAIA's self-destruction and is skeptical that GAIA could ever be repaired. In Sylens' workshop, Sylens suggests that it would still be possible to repair GAIA, but it would take years, and at the present the critical task is stopping HADES. Aloy enters the facility, finding datapoints from the Alphas who lived there to finish GAIA after the Faro Plague had decimated the globe. She also finds Elisabet Sobeck's journals, heavily damaged, but Sylens has her scan them anyway, as the Focus can gradually rebuild them.

Further in, she comes across a shrine to Elisabet Sobeck, and listens to the datapoint Charles Ronson recorded, learning of Sobeck's fate. When a port seal malfunctioned, the Faro swarm detected GAIA's energy signal, threatening GAIA and the Alphas within the facility, as if they reached the facility they would destroy the last chance of life being recreated. While the Alphas argued over the situation, Elisabet donned an environmental suit to protect herself from the swarm and went outside to repair the door, knowing that she would be permanently shut out. By the time she made the other Alphas aware of this, it was already too late and she was trapped outside, but at peace knowing that GAIA would survive. Aloy reacts with sorrow upon discovering Elisabet's fate, and she defends Elisabet's kindness to Sylens.

Reaching another area of the facility, Aloy opens a door to a conference room that was apparently devoid of air, with the corpses of the Alphas scattered about. She watches the hologram of Ted Faro revealing to the Alphas that he purged APOLLO to prevent humanity from repeating the mistakes of the past. He then vented the atmosphere of the room, suffocating and killing the Alphas. Horrified by Faro's actions, Aloy nonetheless knows that the Alphas did not die in vain, as they succeeded in their goal. She finds the Master Override on the conference table, and makes her way back to Sylens' workshop to meet Sylens face-to-face again. Sylens admits that he had worked with HADES before and formed the Eclipse, to do what HADES commanded. Aloy realizes that HADES is targeting the Spire to reawaken the Faro swarm and destroy the world again. Sylens leaves his lance to Aloy, and she attaches the Master Override to it. Now with the power to stop HADES, Aloy heads for Meridian.

Battle of the Alight

Aloy returns to Meridian to warn Sun-King Avad of the impending attack. Marad tells Aloy that allies have arrived to bolster the defenses around Meridian and the Spire, including a Nora party led by Varl. After overseeing preparations for the battle, Aloy returns to Olin's Apartment to rest. She ponders how Elisabet could have slept with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and how Rost could sleep after his family was lost. She makes one last attempt to speak with Sylens, but silence is all she hears, and she falls asleep.

Early the next morning, Aloy is woken by a Carja soldier, telling her the watchtowers have spotted the Eclipse forces. Readying herself for battle, she meets with Avad, soon witnessing an explosion atop a mesa that opens a wide path for the corrupted machines to break through. Helis and his soldiers infiltrate Meridian, and though Avad wants to take him on, Aloy instead tells him to rally the Vanguard and send reinforcements, then rushes off to deal with Helis. She fights a one-on-one battle with Helis and defeats him, taunting him by telling him to turn his face to the sun, as he had told her at the Proving massacre. She runs Helis through with her spear, at last avenging Rost's death.

Aloy aids the defenses against the onslaught of machines, facing waves of Corruptors and Deathbringers. A Deathbringer fires at the ridge above Aloy, bringing it down on top of her and knocking her out. Teb pulls her out of the rubble, but by that time much of the surrounding area is ablaze. Aloy races to the Spire, but at the base of the mesa she sees HADES has already begun the transmission to revive the Faro swarm. With her allies by her side, Aloy approaches HADES, who revives a powerful Deathbringer to keep her at bay. As HADES continues the transmission, Aloy and her allies battle the Deathbringer and more corrupted machines. Once the machines are defeated, Aloy reaches HADES and drives the lance with the Master Override into it.

Aloy's Focus displays a quiet hologram with Elisabet Sobeck's image, and a synthetic voice announces that the Master Override is armed, needing a name and rank to activate it. Aloy states "Elisabet Sobeck, Alpha Prime" and the Master Override is activated, purging the extinction protocol. HADES is disabled, the force knocking Aloy to the ground, and across the land the Faro machines instantly deactivate. Recognizing that she was successful, Aloy smiles with relief, and trudges away from HADES and the lance still embedded in it. She shared her victory with Erend and Varl, and raised her bow in victory as cheering resounded.

That evening, as Meridian rejoiced in their victory, Aloy slipped away from the celebration and left the city on a Strider.

Homecoming

Sometime after the final battle, Aloy made the journey to Nevada, finding Elisabet Sobeck's childhood home. There, Aloy found Sobeck's body, still in her environmental suit, on a bench surrounded by a triangle of flowers. She activated her Focus to show a hologram of Sobeck's face, appearing as though only asleep, and touched the hologram tenderly, smiling sadly. She noticed a globe locket in Sobeck's hand and took it, looking at it for a moment. Aloy held the globe to her heart and looked up at the sky.

Restless

Weeks after the Battle of the Alight, Aloy encountered two black-armored Sawtooths in the wilds near Meridian. Aloy engaged them in combat, firing arrows at the machines from the back of a Strider. Talanah, who was traveling through the wilds nearby, discovered Aloy already in battle and came to her aid, loosing her own bow on one of the Sawtooths. After defeating the machine, Aloy realized the other Sawtooth had escaped, and enlisted Talanah's help in tracking it down.

The pair tracked the machine to the site of a destroyed caravan, where numerous corpses lay. When Talanah expressed disbelief that a single machine could cause such destruction, Aloy explained that it was a "new breed", and had to be destroyed. The two overheard cries for help, and rushed to aid the caravan's sole survivor, a young Carja girl, who was being chased by the Sawtooth. Aloy attacked the machine with her spear, while Talanah supported her at range, and together the two brought down the predator, exhausting all of Talanah's ammunition in the process.

While the Carja girl recovered from the traumatic experience, Aloy discussed the dangerous new variety of machines with Talanah, cautioning her that most hunters would not be able to defeat them. Aloy gave Talanah a bundle of arrows to replace her lost ammunition, and the two then parted ways.

Forbidden West

"This job demands a certain degree of patience, doesn’t it?" This article or section contains information about unreleased media. Please don't add speculation to this article and try to provide a source for any information.

Personality

Aloy is curious, determined, and intent on uncovering the mysteries of her world. As a child, she was rather disobedient and got annoyed by her guardian Rost's borderline fanatical devotion to tribal laws, not being able to see what was so bad about the ruins of the Old Ones. Unlike many in her tribe who shun the use of technology, Aloy sees technology as a practical and unique tool to aid her in her quest, a belief that was born when she used it to save a young man from certain death. She frequently uses her Focus throughout her life to aid in hunting machines and tracking individuals. Her early use of the Focus has made Aloy more aware of a bigger picture outside of the Nora tribe, spurring her to be more curious about the Old Ones. She also became more skeptical about tribal lore and beliefs, seeing the All-Mother and what the tribes believe to be her vestiges as what they really are: remnants of Project Zero Dawn.

Aloy is shown frequently to be not good with people, the result of being treated as less than human for the first 18 years of her life and having little human interaction outside of Rost. She is very blunt and sarcastic, never hesitating to tell people exactly what she thinks of them even when it wouldn't be wise to do so. She is especially shown to despise those who consider themselves better than others, such as Ahsis, and is disturbed by the behaviour of people such as Nil, not being able to tell if the latter is better or worse than the bandits he kills. She is also rather impatient and has little tolerance for those who waste her time or dodge questions, one of the many things that puts her at odds with the ever-elusive Sylens. At the same time, however, years of being shunned as an outcast has made Aloy compassionate and sympathetic towards others in need, particularly towards those who are still outcasts. Her benevolence is her greatest strength and has garnered the respect and trust of many who have interacted with her. However, there are limits to her empathy; when Elida asks her if she knows what it's like to only be alive when you're with someone else, Aloy admits that she doesn't, since she's never been in love before and is a loner by nature. Despite this, she does clearly understand the physical nuances and taboos of human behavior, as she is able to understand when others are attracted to her, and she turns her back on Inatut so that he can get dressed privately, though it's possible that Rost simply taught her these things, so that she could fit in to her tribe in the event that she won the Proving.

Aloy had a strong relationship with Rost, seeing him as the father that she never had and being devastated when he sacrificed himself to save her from Helis, though this was quickly replaced with a burning hatred for the latter. After this tragic incident, she no longer considers the hut she grew up in her home, since Rost is no longer there for her, though she can come back throughout the game to visit Rost's grave and tell her how she's been doing. Eventually, she can ask to have Teersa tell her the story of why Rost was made an outcast, and is very thankful when she does so.

Despite Rost's presence, living without knowing her mother was a source of emotional distress for Aloy and compounded her alienation from the rest of the tribe; it is evident that this is the primary reason Aloy was cast out of the tribe. Aloy's desire to know her origins became her life's goal and her primary motivator to complete her training for the Proving. However, Rost noted that she was only training to win the Proving for herself, as proven when she misses the point of the test when she fights and defeats her first Sawtooth. He tells her that there will come a time when she will have to fight for her new tribe and serve a purpose greater than herself. Aloy understands, but states it will have to be for a cause she believes in. Even after being appointed a Seeker, Aloy's primary motivation is to learn where she came from and who her mother is, caring little for the history of the Old Ones or the fact that the people who are hunting her massacred a large portion of her tribe. It's this single-minded attitude that results in her being considered a "spoiled child" by Sylens. After learning how she was born and why, however, Aloy finds the purpose Rost spoke of; defeat the Eclipse and prevent HADES from causing a second Faro Plague.

As a former outcast-turned-Seeker, Aloy has little respect for laws, especially if they get in the way of what she believes to be right. This is especially shown in regards to the law forbidding contact with outcasts; having once been an outcast herself, she willingly talks with and assists them, with no concern for the possible consequences. She also encourages people who start questioning harsh laws; among the Banuk, she readily encourages tribesfolk who themselves start to ask these questions. In a private conversation with Talanah, Aloy states that she does not consider herself part of the Nora tribe, believing 'Aloy despite the Nora' to be a more fitting title than 'Aloy of the Nora'. As such, she is absolutely outraged when the group start worshipping her after she learns the truth about herself, considering being treated as an idol to be no different than being an outcast, and outright rejects the title 'Anointed' they bestow upon her. 

Aloy has shown great physical and emotional resilience during her journey, always moving towards her goal despite the harsh obstacles she comes across. When she discovers that she is not the child but a clone of Elisabet Sobeck created by GAIA, Aloy is shattered by this revelation, feeling that she is a mere instrument "born in destruction and fire" instead of a person. However she quickly gathers herself together, realizing that she was created in order to protect the world from being destroyed by a second Faro Plague. She also becomes somewhat more optimistic as time passes; while Sylens is convinced that Ted Faro doomed the Earth and humanity to oblivion by erasing APOLLO, Aloy, due to all the things she has seen as a Seeker, believes the world they live in is still worth fighting for, even if it is a wasteland.

Relationships

Rost

Rost is an incredibly important, if not the most important, figure in Aloy's life. He raised her from infancy as if she were his daughter. He was the closest person to her, acting both as her caretaker and mentor. Aloy's twelve-year-long training for the Proving was overseen entirely by Rost, and it is his guidance that allows Aloy to survive in the world. Despite being solemn and serious at times, Rost treated Aloy with great care and was almost always looking out for her safety and well-being. He taught her to act with wisdom, and often guided her to find out the answers to her questions herself, which Aloy could find initially frustrating.

Aloy's conflict with Rost often came about with matters of the Nora tribe – Rost's adherence to Nora tradition and customs was frustrating for Aloy, whose lifelong status as an outcast left her alienated from the tribe. After finding her Focus in a ruin, Rost is reluctant to let her keep it because of the Nora's fear of ancient technology, but allows her to keep it when she uses it to save a boy from a Strider herd. Despite their proximity, Rost revealed very little about his past to Aloy, though Aloy eventually learned the truth about his being outcast and his former family through Teersa.

Because of her strong familial relationship with Rost, Aloy is upset when Rost attempts to permanently part ways with her before the Proving, so that her attachment to him will not hold her back when she formally joins the tribe. Aloy is unwilling to break all ties with Rost, even making clear she'd break the Nora law prohibiting contact with outcasts just to be with him. Depending on the player's choice at a flashpoint Aloy can either accept Rost's decision with reluctance, promise to find him, or angrily push him away; nonetheless, Aloy is heartbroken at Rost's willingness to permanently sever his ties with her.

When Rost unexpectedly intervenes in the Proving Massacre and sacrifices himself to save Aloy, Aloy barely has time to react to him saving her. She is devastated at his death, though she takes some comfort upon learning that he was buried by their home. Aloy can visit Rost's Grave at any point during her journey and apprise him of what she has done and learned, thanking him for all he did for her.

Elisabet Sobeck

Aloy and Elisabet Sobeck never directly met, given that Dr. Sobeck died long before Aloy's 'birth.' Sobeck was likely not even aware that her genetic code would be used by GAIA to create a clone--Aloy--that would be able to access the Alpha Registry and eventually destroy HADES. Upon seeing a holographic image of Sobeck, Aloy sees the physical similarities between her and Sobeck, and wonders if Sobeck is her mother. Later on, Aloy discovers that Sobeck is not technically her mother, and that she was cloned from Sobeck's genetic code. This revelation shocks Aloy, as throughout her life she believed she had a proper mother somewhere.

Despite realizing that Elisabet wasn't technically her mother, Aloy still sees her in a parental light, which is exemplified by her mournful expression when she finds Sobeck's corpse at her family's ranch in Nevada. Besides feeling a distant parental connection, Aloy deeply respects and admires Elisabet for her contributions towards saving the human race from extinction. She effectively carried on Sobeck's legacy, preventing another apocalypse that would have permanently destroyed Sobeck's efforts to restore life to Earth.

In a recorded conversation with GAIA, Elisabet expresses that, if she had a child, she would have liked her to be, "curious, and willful – unstoppable, even – but with enough compassion to heal the world, just a little bit." Aloy herself carries these traits, effectively being the 'daughter' that Elisabet would have liked to have had.

Teersa

High Matriarch Teersa's compassion made its mark early on in Aloy's life, such as when she entrusted Aloy to Rost's care and then blessed Aloy's name, against the wishes of her fellow High Matriarchs. Upon Aloy's first venture into Mother's Heart, Teersa is the first person to greet and accept her into the village, and makes her the lantern used in the Blessing Ceremony before the Proving, which is usually made by the contestant's mother. Teersa's repeated kindness is not lost on Aloy, and Aloy often goes to Teersa with questions she has. Their relationship is akin to that of a grandmother and granddaughter.

Because of Aloy's status as an outcast and Teersa's role as a High Matriarch, Aloy has trouble understanding Teersa's devotion to the tribe and to All-Mother. Teersa does her best to explain to Aloy the Nora tribe's traditions, and is patient with her when Aloy doesn't immediately embrace these traditions. It is Teersa's firm belief that Aloy was born from All-Mother, and is therefore a gift to the Nora, while Aloy is strongly convinced there is another explanation for her mysterious origins — what Teersa sees as the physical representation of All-Mother, Aloy recognizes as a door.

Teersa has immense confidence in Aloy despite Aloy's own doubts, believing that (through All-Mother) Aloy alone can save the Nora tribe when it is threatened with extinction. Aloy in return is grateful for Teersa's compassion and wisdom.

Sylens

From the moment Sylens contacted her through her Focus, Aloy regarded him with little trust; she came to dislike him even more when she discovered he had been watching her first through Olin's Focus and then her own without her knowledge. She openly despises Sylens' bossy and unscrupulous personality, outright stating that Sylens was good at making it impossible to like him. His habit of being uncommunicative at times also irked her, and he tended to underestimate Aloy's intelligence. He also scolded her for "whining" and being emotional, and even admitted that their partnership was based off of his own self-interest, which didn't improve Aloy's opinion of him.

However, Aloy acknowledges the aid Sylens had to offer in getting her the answers she sought, something that no one else before had provided. While she resented being the one put in dangerous situations (fending off the Eclipse and Shadow Carja alone), Sylens was the one guiding her to the next place to go and occasionally shared with her what knowledge he did have on the Old Ones. While the two are highly critical of one another, their partnership is based on mutual interest, due to their unrivaled understanding of the world.

Aloy and Sylens did not meet in person until Sylens rescued Aloy from the Sun-Ring at Sunfall. He provides her with a replacement Focus and a disguise should she return to Sunfall, showing a small degree of concern for her safety. However, Sylens still mostly sees Aloy as a means of discovering the secrets of the world, perfectly willing to exploit her talents to obtain the knowledge he seeks. He also apologizes for being "needlessly cruel" when she discovered her origins in the Zero Dawn bunker, indicating to her that he is aware of his lack of compassion.

Erend

Erend met Aloy when he noticed a random Nora girl talking with his guide and drinking buddy, Olin. He introduced himself and quickly found Aloy to be a strong and fiercely independent woman, reminding him a lot of his older sister, Ersa. When Aloy spoke with him, she treated him more as a source of information - about the Carja, about the Oseram, about many topics, not the least being Olin and his Focus - though she later began to see him as a friend and ally. He even told her a lot that she did not know about recent history. Erend saw that Aloy did not fit in with her own people and invited her to come to Meridian, promising it would be a new life for her. Erend and his people, the Oseram Freebooters, now served as the Sun-King's personal Vanguard.

When they met again in Meridian, Erend was in the midst of drunken mourning over the supposed death of his sister. He took her to meet the Sun-King, but through their interactions discovered that Ersa was nonetheless alive, her death having been faked by a mutual enemy, Dervahl. Erend and Aloy hunted down Dervahl and the Oseram rebels who sought to overthrow the Sun-King in recompense for the Red Raids. Sadly, they arrived just in time for Ersa to die in her brother's arms. Together, they returned to Meridian to put an end to Dervahl's madness and prevent his assassination of the Sun-King.

Erend expresses interest in Aloy on multiple occasions. Sometimes it is little more than playful banter, but at other times he speaks in awe of Aloy, trying to get her attention.

Avad

Avad, the 14th Sun-King, met Aloy through their mutual acquaintance, Erend. Seeing the fierceness of the Nora hunter, he asks Aloy to aid him in uncovering threats to Meridian and to the Carja Sundom as a whole. Almost immediately, Avad sees the same strength and beauty in Aloy as he does in the captain of his Vanguard, Ersa. She becomes one of his most trusted allies, helping to protect Meridian as well as his life several times.

Avad, holding a secret affection for Ersa, becomes distraught when she is supposedly found dead and mutilated. He entrusts Aloy with uncovering the truth, at which point she finds that Ersa is still alive. This joy is short-lived, as upon finding where Ersa was being kept hostage, she dies shortly afterward. Now having to mourn Ersa's life twice, he looks to Aloy. He invites her to stay in Meridian, with him, but she kindly refuses, saying that he was still hurting from his loss. He reluctantly agreed with her astute observation, but hoped that their paths would cross again in the future.

Skills and abilities

• Strength and Endurance: Aloy possesses the strength and endurance of a woman of her age, height and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. She is strong enough to lift and wield heavy machine weapon components such as a Thunderjaw Disc Launcher or a Ravager Cannon, maintaining aim and enduring the recoil. She has enough endurance to engage the largest, most formidable machines for sustained periods, evading their attacks and inflicting damage until she finally destroys them.
• Master Acrobat: Aloy is very nimble and can scale rock faces with ease. She is even quick enough to dodge charging machines.
• Combat Prowess: Aloy was trained to fight by Rost, one of the best warriors in Nora history , and is more than capable of taking on most human enemies as well as machines.
• Master Archer: Aloy is highly proficient with the bow and arrow, having practiced since childhood under Rost.
• Master Crafter: Aloy has an intricate knowledge of machines and can combine materials salvaged from them with natural materials in order to craft ammunition, traps, and tools. She is even able to fit override devices to her spear.
• Master Hunter: Even without the aid of the Focus, Aloy is an excellent tracker, being able to find a trail made by humans or machines.
• Equestrian: After acquiring a Corruptor's override component, Aloy can ride some of the Machines she reprograms, cutting her travel time in half.
• Scientific Mind: Aloy has demonstrated skill at scientific observation and inference, correctly concluding, for example, that the Earth is round and not flat from observing the shape that its shadow casts on the moon during a lunar eclipse. She routinely demonstrates curiosity and acute powers of observation (albeit enhanced by her Focus), reasoning and deduction, all traits of a competent scientist. This may be due at least in part to her genetic makeup: she is a clone of the exceptionally gifted Old One scientist Elisabet Sobeck.
• Alpha Access: Being a clone of Elisabet Sobeck, Aloy has the maximum genetic clearance for all Zero Dawn facilities. This allows her to use the Master Override, as well as access any GAIA facilities that require Alpha clearance.

Gameplay

See also: Skills

Aloy gains experience by completing tasks within the game. Customization is available for her. Three different tiers exist:

• Prowler - Stealth-focused, gives Aloy new strikes and attacks.
• Brave - Focused on increasing damage in combat, allowing Aloy to use heavier weapons and to fire multiple arrows at once.
• Forager - Improves Aloy's ability to gather resources from nature and the machines. Enhances her crafting and override skills.

• Traveler^FW - Grants Aloy new skills based on inventory, mounted combat, resource gathering and machine repair.

Modifiers from equipment can also be applied.

Appearances in Other Media

Monster Hunter: World

Aloy's overall appearance with the Nora Brave armor became accessible through an event in the PlayStation release of Monster Hunter: World. The event began on February 26th 2018 and ended after about a week.

Her look is treated as an exclusive armor set that cannot be mixed with other pieces and alters the player avatar's complete look into Aloy's, even if it was a male character. Applying this look gives the player skill sets that reflect Aloy's gameplay in Zero Dawn while also changing the avatar's voice to be similar to hers.

However, this render of Aloy's look lacks the Focus and is equipped with a wrist-mounted Tripcaster on her left hand which is Monster Hunter: World's adaptation for her own version of a Slinger.

Aloy's skin and Gamma armor also became available during a third collaboration event on November 2018.

Death Stranding

Aloy, a Watcher, and a Tallneck appear in Death Stranding as holograms.

Fortnite

Aloy appears as a skin in Fortnite, along with a Blaze Canister back bling, Heart-Rizon mote, Aloy the Skywatcher loading screen, Glinthawk glider, Aloy's Spear harvesting tool, and Shield Weaver weapon wrap.

Additionally, she will receive an alternate gamemode known as Team Up! Aloy and Lara, in which the only weapons that are available are dual pistols and bows

Trivia

• Aloy was included in the original pitch for Horizon Zero Dawn and considered one of the three "pillars" for the game's foundation.
• Aloy's name may be a reference to the 1895 book The Time Machine by H.G. Wells where the main character of the novel travels forward in time to meet an advanced species of humans known as the Eloi.
• Both the names Aloy and Rost may well be references to common phrases like "alloy and rust", seeing as metal is an important theme in the game.
• The name 'Aloy' is a shortened form of 'Aloysio' and 'Aloysius', both of which are derived from Old High German and, coincidentally, mean "Great warrior". A fitting description of Aloy's character.
• Aloy ended up being the child Sobeck always wanted, as she told GAIA that she would have liked to have a daughter who was curious, willful, and compassionate.
• How Aloy fits into the story bears some striking parallels with Pandora from God of War 3, another PlayStation exclusive series.
  • Both are women of unnatural birth and specifically exist for an ominous purpose, with their very being acting as key to a source of power.
  • The world they live in exists as the result of a system that was meant to rebuild from a catastrophic event (Olympus from Titanomachy, Zero Dawn from Faro Plague). However, both systems eventually fell into mass chaos.
  • Both were guided by a man who lost their family and sought vengeance (Kratos, Rost). Coincidentally, both had a daughter of their own and a distinctive mark on their faces. Curiously enough, the number of mysterious killers Rost went after was 12, which is also the number of Olympians in Greek mythology.
• Aloy's existence may be considered to be a resurrection of the long abandoned Lightkeeper protocol.
• Aloy's DNA is 99.47% identical to that of Elisabet Sobeck. It is unknown who or what the other 00.53% belongs to.

Gallery

In-game

Aloy as a child

Aloy with Rost

Watchers 2.jpg

Concept and promotional art

Concept art by Guerrilla Games

Aloy render

Aloy hair render

Aloy 4.png

Concept art of Aloy

Concept art of Aloy

Early exploratory painting by Mike Azevedo, later refined into concept art

Child concept art by Ilya Golitsyn

Adult concept art by Ilya Golitsyn

Other

A hologram of Aloy in Death Stranding.

Aloy's item set in Fortnite

References

Nora Tribe
High Matriarchs	Jezza - Teersa - Lansra
Other Tribe Members	Aloy - Alana - Arana - Bast - Den - Dral - Dran - Enara - Ferl - Fia - Grist - Jarg - Jarm - Jun - Karst - Lut - Marea - Muns - Nakoa - Olara - Orn - Resh - Solai - Sona - Taim - Teb - Thok - Vala - Varl - Yan
Outcasts	Brom - Cren - Grata - Jom - Kam - Kurnst - Nora Keeper - Rost - Yun