Nezarec is one of the most powerful disciples of The Witness and can manipulate his enemies by using their fears and nightmares.
From being a mystery that first appeared in the lore of the Warlock exotic headpiece, Nezarec’s Sin, to becoming the final raid boss of the Root of Nightmares raid, here is everything we know about Nezarec.
Origin
Little is known about the disciples of The Witness, and Nezarec, in particular, is infamous for being one of the most mysterious characters in Destiny, but that was until he appeared in the Lightfall campaign. Though his actual origins are unknown, Nezarec was responsible for leading The Witness’s Dark Fleet during the collapse of Earth. There he was betrayed and murdered by Savathun as she took away the Veil to Neptune.
After the Traveler repelled the Dark Fleet, the pyramid ship of Nezarec crashed on the surface of the moon. Even though he was dead, his psychic abilities were so strong that the presence of his body on the Moon made the entire Moon infested with Nightmares and spirits.
Later different houses of Fallen salvaged the pyramid ship on the moon. Attracted by the power, they cut down his body into several pieces, and the leader of each house took a piece. These pieces were immensely powerful. Over time, they were transferred from one generation to the next and were spread all across the solar system.
Season of Plunder
Vanguard learned about Eramis hiring different Fallen pirate crews to scavenge relics all across the solar system. Knowing that Eramis is working on The Witness’s command and whatever these relics are can not be good, the guardians try to hunt them down before Eramis can get her hands over them.
Vanguard defeated various Fallen pirate crews and gathered over 8 relics from all over the Solar System. Later Mithrax revealed that these relics are parts of Nezarec and recalled how the body of Nezarec was plundered and distributed among the Fallen crews.
These pieces of Nezarec were then liquified into tea and were given to Osiris, who was still asleep after Savathun left her body. This tea awoke Osiris, who then told us how he gained access to Savathun’s memory and revealed the hidden city on Neptune that contains something The Witness wants, thereby setting the events for the Lightfall campaign.
Root of Nightmares
The Witness Fleet came for the Traveler during the start of Lightfall. The Traveler cast a light beam on The Witness’ ship to stop him. This terraforming beam of light terraformed the Witness ship by the growth of flora and also hit the disembodied head of Nezarec. This head was the only piece of Nezarec that Eramis could recover for the Witness. Thus, Nezarec was alive again, this time infused with light.
Nezarec used the old psychic power he had to manipulate the Cloud Ark Network on Neomuna, giving the citizens of Neomuna nightmares and making them hear voices. This led to the vanguard ultimately investigating the pyramid of The Witness in the Root of Nightmares raid.
When the fire team of guardians enters the Witness’ ship, they are greeted by Nezarec, who is found to be in a sarcophagus that contains his head, with the rest of his body growing. Nezarec here tells the fireteam that he caused all the disruption in the Cloud Ark network so that the vanguard could interfere and free him from his sarcophagus.
The fire team faced the Shadow Legion of the Cabal on the Pyramid. The conflict between the guardians and the Shadow Legion generated Paracausal energy. Nezarec used this energy to rebuild his body, and when the fire team finally came face to face with Nezarec, he was completely reborn. This time a creature of both light and dark.
Since he was reborn, he only had a modicum of his old powers, and being reborn in the light, the darkness inside him caused conflict, making Nezarec weak. The fireteam used this conflict and used their Paracausal abilities to defeat Nezarec one for all. When Nezarec dies, he whispers that his memory will never extinguish even though he has died. His nightmares will keep his memory alive all over the universe.
Personality
Nezarec was a truly powerful Disciple of The Witness who had extremely strong psychic abilities. He used these psychic abilities to torment people by giving them nightmares and feeding on their fears. This earned him the title of The Final God of Pain. Nezarec was feared and worshipped by civilizations, including Psions and a cult of Humans.
Even when he was killed by Savathun, his influence remained all over the universe. His nightmares terrorized entire planets. His followers used different techniques and methods to inflict pain and fear as a way to carry his legacy and worship him. Nezarec is undoubtedly one of the most powerful enemies we have ever faced, and even though he is dead, his nightmares and memory will persist across the Destiny universe.