Who Is Destiny 2's Xur And Where Did He Come From?

Xur is a hooded merchant in Destiny 2 who shows up on Friday afternoons with an assortment of goods. His inventory usually includes three exotic armor pieces and one exotic weapon. He's also offered players quests in the past. But who is Xur exactly? And where did this tentacle-faced being come from?

Answering this is going to be a bit tricky, so bear with us.

To better understand who Xur is, we'd also have to have a better understanding of the mysterious faction known as the Nine. In the Destiny universe, the Nine are "beings of pure thought, composed of galaxy-spanning and beyond streams of dark matter which developed cognition after being pulled into loops by the gravity of Sol and its planets." That is an ultra-confusing description, right? In essence: each of the Nine are an invisible, sentient space consciousness. And they're dependent on life existing in Sol — our solar system — or else they will cease to exist, too.

Now this is where Xur comes in.

Xur's title is "Agent of the Nine." And each week, he is sent to a location in Sol to outfit Guardians with gear, which he sells in exchange for Legendary Shards. Xur's transactions with Guardians are seen by the Nine as necessary investments, because the Guardians beat back threats and protect life in the system, and by protecting life, the Guardians are also protecting the Nine.

That's not to say the Nine haven't meddled in ways that have been antagonistic to the Guardians, too. But that's a topic for another day.

As for where Xur comes from? Well, we just don't know that right now. It's entirely possible that, as Destiny's story moves forward, we'll get more of Xur's backstory and learn a bit about who he was before he became the Agent of the Nine. Until then, all we know about Xur is that he interfaces with Guardians on behalf of the Nine and hasn't brought anything new in a really, really long time.