Horizon Forbidden West: All New & Returning Tribes

Horizon Forbidden West features a larger map than its predecessor and sees new tribes introduced with this expansive territory, as well as returning tribes from Horizon Zero Dawn. Aloy’s exploration of the post-apocalyptic world continues in this Playstation exclusive as she must navigate a land ravaged by a deadly plague, hostile machine creatures, and other surviving humans. Set six months following the defeat of HADES, Horizon Forbidden West begins as Aloy sets off with a band of hunters to explore the Forbidden West and find the source of the lethal plague that troubles survivors.

[WARNING: Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West are below.]

Along with the expansive map, Horizon Forbidden West improves on its 2017 predecessor by boasting enhanced combat, exploration, and traversal mechanics. With the addition of underwater exploration, freeform climbing, and ultimate-like Valor Surges, Horizon Forbidden West promises an exciting, dynamic playthrough. Alongside searching for a way to reverse the planet’s degrading biosphere whilst surviving against dangerous animalistic machines, Aloy must navigate the diverse politics and cultures of the different tribes she encounters throughout the lands, and some are far more hospitable than others.

Nora is the first tribe encountered in Horizon Zero Dawn dwelling in small sedentary settlements in the mountains and forests of the easternmost Sacred Land. The Nora are one of the oldest known tribes in Horizon, functioning as a matriarchal oligarchy that worships a monotheistic deity, the All-Mother. Under the rule of the High Matriarch, the Nora lead simple lives that involve rituals like the Proving, and strong taboos against any technology and communication with outcasts. Horizon protagonist Aloy, voiced by Ashly Burch, was born into this tribe but as a child was mocked for being a “no-mother”. As Aloy comes to find out, the Nora’s firm isolationism and lack of contact with outsiders has led to them being labeled as “savages” by other tribes.

The Crafty Oseram Tribe Return In Horizon Forbidden West

The Oseram tribe returns in Horizon Forbidden West after playing a major part in the first game. Oseram is located in a northeastern territory known as The Claim, living in loosely-confederated clans across independent villages. This tribe is noted for its craftsmanship, metalworking, and technological prowess and consists of tinkerers, builders, and revelers.

These people scorn organized religion and operate within a highly patriarchal society in Horizon Forbidden West. In fact, they could not be more opposite from the technology-hating, isolated, matriarchal Nora. In Oseram, women are viewed as property, and women who wish to become soldiers must shave their heads.

The Carja Guard Their Borders In Horizon Forbidden West

The most powerful and indeed advanced tribe in Horizon Forbidden West is the Carja. Carja featured in Zero Dawn and some of the tribe’s familiar characters return in Horizon Forbidden West. Operating from the capital, Meridian, the Carja control a vast expanse of land known as the Sundom. This tribe worships the Sun as their patron deity, believing their monarch – the Sun King – to be the divine representation of the Sun. The celestial body forms a basis for the tribe’s government and religion, as well as being a catalyst for the tribe’s creation: founded centuries before the events of Zero Dawn by a Nora outcast, who was banished for his interest in sun observation learned from Leaves (books) of the Old Ones (humanity before 2066 AD).

Carja has a long and complicated tribal history in the Horizon series, the most well-documented by in-game scholars. “Forbidden West” was an epithet attributed to the lands west of the Sundom by the 7th Sun King, Basadid, after his brother and predecessor, Iriv, led expeditions into the uncharted western region, previously known as The Daunt, that never returned. In Horizon Forbidden West, the Carja guard their western border fearful of what lies beyond, including Horizon Forbidden West‘s animal-inspired machines and bloodthirsty humans.

The Utaru Tribe Play A Bigger Role In Horizon Forbidden West

The Utaru tribe resides in the Plainsong, a region of fertile plains in the Forbidden West. Aspects of Utaru featured briefly in Horizon Zero Dawn and return in Horizon Forbidden West as they contend with a red blight that poisons their fields and disrupts their farming. Previously, this land was attacked by Carja during the Red Raids under Sun King Jiran’s bloodthirsty reign, and the Utaru provided little resistance.

This pleasant agrarian tribe has two pillars of societal foci: plant life and song, and their world view revolves around the cycle of life and rebirth, the growth and death of plants. Their long history of agriculture is maintained by eight Plowhorn machines that tend to the land. These animalistic robots that are usually dangerous in the Horizon Zero Dawn story are revered as gods within the Utaru.

The Tenakth Tribe Feature Heavily In Horizon Forbidden West

Deeper into the Forbidden West, the Tenakth tribe is the ruling power. Tenakth has a strong warrior culture and its people are described as raiders and reavers with a bloodthirsty, aggressive reputation by the neighboring Carja. This is not an entirely false judgment, as Tenakth value strength and follow brutal rules; even rumors surrounding cannibalism within the tribe appear to be based on reality. The tribe is split into three clans in Horizon Forbidden West: the Sky, Desert, and Lowland clans that each dominate different lands known collectively as the Clan Lands.

After generations of bloodshed, the Tenakth clans have come to a fragile peace, and they play a major role in Horizon Forbidden West. Antagonist Regalla (Angela Bassett) leads a splinter group of Tenakth humans that have tamed the dangerous machines as war mounts. This subsequently threatens the already flimsy amity between the clans.

The expanded open world of Horizon Forbidden West allows for the cultures of new clans to be introduced and returning clans to be explored in more detail than in Zero Dawn. Horizon Forbidden West also introduces a final, never-before-seen clan: the Quen. Teased in the tribes trailer as strangers that search for secrets in the West, this new tribe hail from across the Pacific Ocean on an expedition to recover data to solve the ecology crises of their homeland. Players must negotiate Aloy’s interactions with these previously unseen survivors in order to save her own home, continent, and planet.

About The Author