Clovis Bray had always been a mysterious character in Destiny lore since the story began. Players noticed he had a grimoire card and his name was displayed everywhere on Mars. He clearly was an important figure, but it wasn't until Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion that players understood his story.
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Clovis Bray's name was mentioned almost synonymously with the Golden Age and affected the history of Destiny as a renowned scientist that lived centuries ago. Clovis Bray's influence in the solar system comes close to the Traveler.
10 Clovis Bray and Clovis Bray II
The genius scientist whose name is written in glory and defines the advancement of humanity in the Golden Age is Clovis Bray, not Clovis Bray II. Clovis Bray is the grandfather of prominent characters Ana Bray and Elsie Bray, who happens to be the Exo Stranger.
Clovis Bray genetically modified the mitochondrial DNA of his son to achieve a better version. This lead Clovis Bray II to develop a neurodegenerative disorder that caused immense suffering. He then tried to make his son into an Exo during the early development of exobodies and failed. Clovis Bray II's mind didn't adapt to the metal frame of his new body. Clovis Bray II suffered even more and eventually died as he ripped through his new body.
9 The Clovis Curse
The disease Clovis Bray II had was named "Clovis Curse" by Clovis Bray I. Clovis Bray meddled with his genes which ended up forming this "curse." Clovis Bray determined that curse could pass down to his grandchildren and it did. Elsie Bray had the "Clovis Curse." The Clovis Bray Logbook lore details the many symptoms of the curse that cause suffering and eventually leads to death.
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He threatened Elsie saying, "I know your secret. Did you think you could keep it from me? Elisabeth, I keep track of every tiny change in your gene expression." He used her diseases as a way to get her on board with his Exo development plans on Europa.
8 Clovis Bray The Corporation
Clovis Bray and his descendants worked with him as he began his Exoscience corporation. His company name is plastered on the walls of his facilities on Mars and Europa since they were the hubs for his research. Some Crucible maps take place in those facilities as well.
Clovis Bray and his grandchildren were behind the development of Exos, SIVA, engrams, Rasputin, Warsats, Valkyrie, weapons, and ships. During the Warmind expansion, other weapons called Hades Flame and Aurora Knives were mentioned.
7 Clovis-1 and The Giant Exo AI Head
For The Lament exotic sword, players encountered a sentient Clovis Bray who was a giant AI head. His other copy was an Exo named Clovis-1 who is now known as Banshee-44. In RECOVERED MEMORY; HECTOR-6, Clovis AI explains how he created Clovis-1 to be "stripped down to your most basic emotional form."
When Elsie Bray was attempting to save Europa from the Vex, Clovis AI tried to convince Clovis-1 to stop her. Clovis-1 denied him and aided Elsie instead. His personality was the opposite of Clovis.
6 Manipulated Elsie Bray
The only person alive from the Bray family who remembers their past is Elsie Bray, the Exo Stranger. After her father died, she became involved in Clovis Bray's research only to become a "guinea pig" as she described. It was because of Clovis Bray that she became an Exo, even though at first she refused because of her distrust of her grandfather.
Also, Elsie worked closely with Clovis Bray and headed to Europa with him to find a solution for the Clovis Curse, but she was only being manipulated. During the Born in Darkness quest, she recalled how she and her sisters made a joint effort to expose the truth of Clovis Bray's narcissistic attitude and unethical work.
5 Clarity And Immortality
The K1 Artifact, an artifact of Darkness found on the Moon, intensified Bray's desire for immortality. It told him to go to Europa so he went to discover the purpose of "Clarity." The Darkness told him to build a Vex gate and so he did.
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After inviting the Vex to Europa, Clovis Bray harvested Vex milk and created a substance that would help him create the better functioning Exos. He concluded that Alkahest made of Vex Milk and Clarity gives Exos human consciousness and thought, something early Exos lacked. This was his path to eternal life.
4 He Was Tricked By The Vex
A discovery made by Elsie Bray in the Clovis Bray Logbook revealed that he at one point was being tricked by the Vex. "I tracked down Maya Sundaresh—the real Maya, not the Vex parasite in your bone marrow," she clarifies after discovering that their supposed co-worker was never an employee on Europa.
Maya Sundaresh was a researcher at the Ishtar Collective and her primary interest was the Vex. Her copy in the Vex network was being used maliciously. The Vex copy then tortured Clovis Bray to get him to reveal the secret behind his Clarity discoveries.
3 LUCA Last Universal Common Ancestor
"Become LUCA of future human thought" was listed as a project of his in the Clovis Bray Logbook lore. Clovis wanted to become LUCA, aka the Last Universal Common Ancestor.
He explained his reasoning referring to a single cell that lived in the ocean billions of years ago. "It was not the first life on Earth. But it was the only life whose descendants survived to the present." This means perfecting the exobodies and leaving behind flesh and bone was the way to become LUCA.
2 Obsession With Family Legacy
Time and time again, Clovis Bray has shown that he has an obsessive attitude with maintaining a legacy and perfecting his family. In the Born in Darkness quest in Beyond Light, Elsie Bray explains that "the old man didn't care about saving the world. He only cared about his precious legacy."
Elsie even noted that he recorded everything he did for the sake of his legacy. Repeatedly, players see this occurring. "Our legacy - that's all that matters," he openly admitted in the lore piece RECOVERED MEMORY; WEN-1 when Elsie was urging him to evacuate Europa when the Vex attacked pre-Collapse.
1 Antipathy Towards Humanity
Clovis Bray's lack of compassion towards humans explains why he wanted Exos to become a new race of people. In the lore piece RECOVERED MEMORY; WEN-1, Clovis said that humanity has no chance against the Vex. He also claimed that "the future is Exo" and that each human life lost is an Exo soldier gained.
All of this was said to Elsie when Clovis had become the AI already. Even in Beyond Light when Elsie mentions that she wants to use Stasis to save humanity, Clovis AI exclaimed that it should be used for the Bray legacy and not for humanity. Throughout his human and AI life, saving humanity was never a priority.
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