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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.
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A group of traveling tribe members
A tribe refers to a society of families or communities who share distinct cultural ties, usually inhabiting a defined territory or region. Human societies in the Horizon series are referred to as tribes.
The cultures, economies, religions, and governments of these tribes vary widely. While some tribes are small and humble, others are bigger, wealthier, and have more complex systems of government and militaries. Some tribes rule large swaths of land, akin to a nation, while others rule smaller areas of land.
History[]
Following the events of the Faro Plague, all biological life, including humanity, was eradicated. Foreseeing this unavoidable extinction, part of Project Zero Dawn involved the eventual repopulation of Earth, with the ELEUTHIA subordinate function in charge of this. Human and animal zygotes were stored cryogenically in Cradle facilities, with the APOLLO subordinate function meant to educate them on humanity's past once the new humans reached kindergarten age. However, Ted Faro's purging of the APOLLO function left the new humans without any knowledge of the former civilization or how to survive outside of the Cradles. When the food supplies in the Cradles were eventually depleted, the new humans were forced out despite lacking the knowledge necessary to survive in a world now dominated by machines.
The loss of the APOLLO function resulted in the loss of millennia of technological advancement and knowledge, leaving the new humans devoid of any understanding of the previous civilizations. However, humanity did learn how to survive and thrive, and by the start of the fourth millennium, unique societies referred to as tribes were formed in various areas across the world.
Tribes[]
Nora[]
The Nora.
The Nora are the direct descendants of the people released from ELEUTHIA-9, remaining in the lands surrounding the cradle, dubbing them the Sacred Lands, and over the generations, came to see the door to the facility as a goddess named All-Mother.
Carja[]
The Carja.
Breaking off from the Nora centuries ago, the Carja are descendants of Araman and the people who followed him after he discovered books in an Old World ruin, one which he called the Leaves of the Old Ones. Driven out by their fellow tribespeople who saw the Leaves as a curse, they made their way west, settling in the lands that would come to be known as the Sundom.[1]
Shadow Carja[]
The Shadow Carja.
The Carja-in-Shadow, or more commonly known as the Shadow Carja, splintered off from the rest of the Carja as a result of Prince Avad's apparent murder of Sun-King Jiran, taking the monarchy for himself. As Jiran announced that Itamen would succeed him as Sun-King, those who remained faithful to Jiran escaped to Sunfall with the now Sun-King Itamen, dividing the tribe in two, with the Shadow Carja being significantly smaller in population.
After the fall of most their leaders and soldiers during the Battle of the Alight, the majority of Shadow Carja have reintegrated with the Carja or broke into smaller groups and wandered on to find a new way of life, effectively putting an end to the splinter tribe.
Banuk[]
Banukai and her followers, also descendants of people born in ELEUTHIA-9,[2] headed north of the facility to escape the Ravenous Tribe. Once she fell defending her people, the surviving members named their tribe in her honor.[3]
According to a Banuk story, the White Teeth werak were the first to find and settle in Ban-Ur while searching for a homeland, but became trapped against a glacier by a snowstorm for four days and nights. Once the snowstorm cleared, they followed a Tallneck to the land they named Ban-Ur.[4]
Oseram[]
The Oseram.
While it's unknown how the Oseram came to be, it is known that they are also descended from the people born within ELEUTHIA-9.[2] They settled in the land northwest of their cradle of origin, known as the Claim.
Utaru[]
While it's unknown how the Utaru came to be, it is known that they are also descended from the people born within ELEUTHIA-9.[2] The first Utaru came from the east to the lands that they would name Plainsong, discovering it from the top of the Promontory.
Tenakth[]
While it's unknown how the Tenakth came to be, it is known that they are also descended from the people born within ELEUTHIA-9.[2] The first Tenakth claimed the Memorial Grove as their own, forming their culture and society around the Visions in the ruins. splitting into three clans: the Desert Clan, the Lowland Clan, and the Sky Clan.
Quen[]
Unlike the other main tribes, the Quen are the only tribe that aren't descended from the people born within ELEUTHIA-9, living somewhere west of the Great Ocean (the New World name for the Pacific Ocean). Their society formed around the discovery of Focuses early in their history, allowing them to advance much faster than the tribes in what was once north America.
Other tribes[]
Sylens mentions that they live in a world of vanished tribes.[5]
The Ravenous Tribe[]
The Ravenous Tribe were a group of people who were cannibalizing Banukai's people, but the former was eventually defeated by the latter with the help of machines.[3] They appear to be extinct by the time of Horizon Zero Dawn.
Tribe south of the Sundom[]
An unknown tribe living south of the Sundom has been documented by the Carja: noted as living south of the Carja in Article 7 the Sun-Faith.[6] Masarad is also noted to have fought "plains raiders" in the southern Sundom,[7] which may have been members of this tribe.
Tribes in Brin's visions[]
After receiving a vision from drinking Thunderjaw Blood, Brain mentioned that he saw hunters of many tribes gone and yet to come.[8]
Tribes in the Great Delta[]
Alva mentions that tribes other than the Quen live in the Great Delta, and that they wish harm upon the Quen.[9]
Supposed tribes in the Forbidden West[]
Historically, the Forbidden West has been a mysterious land to the Carja, having vague reports of four tribes living there delivered by people who returned from the Forbidden West, telling Considerate Udain about what they encountered before dying from their injuries.[10] However, no sign of these tribes listed below can be found in Horizon Forbidden West. Interestingly, none of these tribes appear be the two confirmed tribes in the Forbidden West: the Utaru and Tenakth.
The tribes reported include:
- A tribe made up of drinkers of machine blood, with their lips and tongues stained and their teeth replaced with metal.[10] Brin notes that this tribe appears to have disappeared without a trace.[8]
- A tribe made up of youths as pale as ash, all wearing the same faces, who hunt silently and tirelessly in the night.[10]
- A tribe, seen only from afar, whose folk busied themselves digging deep pits in the sand only to fill them in again for unknowable reasons.[10]
- A tribe seen on the waters of the Great Ocean, riding thin dark boats.[10][note 1]
Trivia[]
- While Far Zenith are not a tribe in the conventional sense, they are referred to as a tribe by Zo.[11]
References[]
- ↑ Founding Of Meridian
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Horizon GAIA Cast | Episode 4 - Exploring the Tribes, 2:58
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 As heard in Banukai's story.
- ↑ Dialogue with Ikrie during The Survivor.
- ↑ Dialogue with Sylens during The Mountain That Fell.
- ↑ The Sun Faith
- ↑ Captains and Capers
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dialogue with Brin during Acquired Taste.
- ↑ Dialogue with Alva during Seeds of the Past.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 The Forbidden West
- ↑ Dialogue with Zo in the Base.
Notes[]
- ↑ This tribe is definitely not the Quen, as these reports were read by Fashav as a child, noted in the datapoint he left in Tide's Reach, dating the reports of this tribe long before the Quen arrived.