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Bencarminedeath "Sarge?...I hurt."

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"No retreat, no surrender, no defeat."
—Onyx Guard motto.

The Onyx Guard is an elite special operations unit in the COG Army that serve directly under the head of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. They had operated at the sole discretion of the Chairman during the Locust War before vanishing into COG files and vaguely recalled memories, when the unit was transferred to Azura to help defend the people who were there and the resources the COG had on the island. Formed of loyal, battle hardened Gears, Onyx Guard had its own air wing, tank battalions and troop regiments that were capable of fighting on the frontlines and behind-enemy-lines. As such, they were not the only special operations unit in the COG Armed Forces, the other one being the 26 RTI Special Tactics Group.[1]

By the end of the the war as well as the Lambent Pandemic, the Onyx Guard had been mostly effectively wiped out, except for few survivors like Paul Dury and Jeremiah Keegan.[2] The Onyx Guard who later be restored as an elite unit in the newly restored COG who now operated at the sole discretion of the First Minister.

Unit History[]

Trained in the Onyx Guard Academy of Halvo Bay, they were a mysterious and deadly unit, The Onyx Guard tended to utilize predominantly black armor and equipment to symbolize their name, however they did carry the standard issue COG Armaments, i.e. the Lancer and Gnasher and utilized completely black King Ravens as transportation.

After Emergence Day and several years of waging war against the Locust, they were thought to have been wiped out alongside many other units.[3] In reality, they were relocated to Azura to protect the social elite and key scientists of the COG.[4] There, they were finally wiped out to the last man when the Locust invaded the island.

Locust War[]

Onyx Courthouse

The Onyx Guard fortifying the courthouse.

Destruction of Halvo Bay[]

During the Destruction of Halvo Bay six weeks after Emergence Day, the Onyx Guard, led by Colonel Ezra Loomis, played a vital role in the defense of the city alongside regular Gears. During the battle, the Halvo Bay Military Academy where the Onyx Guard was trained was taken by the Locust and all of the cadets were slaughtered. The Onyx Guard also fell while defending Onyx Point. Onyx Guard Cadet Sofia Hendrik served in Kilo Squad during the battle who encountered Black-Four in the Museum of Military Glory. Black-Four, derisive of the regular Gears and Sofia who they only saw as a cadet instead of a member of the guard, ordered the squad to defend the entranceway to the museum and later called them for help. Black-Four was eventually killed by General Karn and his forces along with all of the other Gears defending the museum.

After Kilo Squad went rogue and used the Lightmass Missile to destroy the Museum of Military Glory in an attempt to kill General Karn, the Onyx Guard guarded the courtroom during their court-martial with the Locust getting closer and closer as the trial went on. At one point, the Locust broke into the courtroom and killed several Onyx Guard before they were repelled. Before Loomis could announce his verdict, the Locust attacked in force, slaughtering many of the Gears while the rest fled. After the Battle of the Plaza, more Onyx Guard soldiers joined Loomis when he executed Karn and confronted Kilo Squad.[5]

In 17 A.E., a dead Onyx Guard was in Paduk's hideout behind a car with some people who committed suicide to avoid becoming Formers.[6]

IlimaOnyx

Onyx Guard's repelling from a King Raven to confront RAAM.

Evacuation of Ilima[]

During the Evacuation of Ilima in 9 A.E., the Locust attacked the city, led by General RAAM to gain a foothold for an attack on Ephyra. Upon learning of this, Chairman Richard Prescott ordered the Onyx Guard to deploy into the city to try and kill RAAM. After learning that the Onyx Guard was coming, Zeta-Six noted the strangeness of the Onyx Guard being sent in to help an evacuation.[7] Members of the Onyx Guard located RAAM and his bodyguards protecting a Tremor. Dozens of Onyx Guard Gears dropped in around RAAM from the surrounding buildings and a King Raven, including two in Silverbacks. However, they were all slaughtered by RAAM and his bodyguards, and were unable to prevent another Seeder from being summoned.[8] Other Onyx Guards engaged the Locust throughout the city.[9]

Fall of Ephyra[]

After learning of the Locust assault on Ephyra, Cpt. Paul Dury along with a team of Onyx Guards, went to Haldane Hall to pick up Professor Adam Fenix, when they arrived at the scene they found Adam buried in some rubble, Paul Dury ordered some of his men to retrieve him and ordered Jerge to inspect the house for any vital information regarding Adam's research and told him to make sure he checked the basement, which housed a secret laboratory. After the mission to Haldane Hall, Adam was injected with a sedative and taken to Azura.[10]

Lambent Pandemic[]

First Battle of Azura[]

The Onyx Guard were responsible for the defense of Azura during the Locust attack. Despite their best efforts, the remaining Onyx Guards were slaughtered, and the island fell to the control of the Locust. Some of the survivors were scattered.

Cpl. Rivera and Lowe, two Gears that took part in the defense of Azura, were assigned to protect Chairman Richard Prescott while on Vectes. Originally called the "Onyx Guard rejects" by Damon Baird,[11] , they later joined the Onyx Guard by the time of the attack. Rivera and Lowe were ordered to accompany Prescott as he fled the island in search of Colonel Victor Hoffman and help.[12]

EliteOnyxGuards

Rivera and Lowe, members of the Onyx Guard, escorting Chairman Prescott aboard the CNV Sovereign.

Attack on the Sovereign[]

Cpl. Rivera and Lowe arrived on the CNV Sovereign with Prescott just as the Lambent began to attack. As the attack intensified, they remained in Captain Quentin Michaelson's office with Prescott and Michaelson. The office itself eventually came under Lambent attack and though Delta Squad rescued Prescott, Michaelson, Rivera and Lowe were all killed.[13]

Swarm War[]

25 Years of Peace[]

The Onyx Guard was reinstated during the administration of First Minister Jinn, making up of surviving veteran members and new recruits.

JinnOnyx

Two members of the New Onyx Guard accompanying First Minister Jinn.

Battle of Old Ephyra[]

Two unnamed Onyx Guards accompanied First Minister Jinn shortly before the Swarm's attack on New Ephyra by invading through the ruins of Old Ephyra. The First Minister ordered them to arrest Kait Diaz in response to her refusal to use her connection to the Swarm to the COG's advantage. They were stopped by the members of Delta Squad. As the battle began, all of Delta pointedly shoved past the Onyx Guards, including JACK.

Several unnamed Onyx Guards later formed the last line of defense of New Ephyra alongside Clayton Carmine at the Railgun batteries and assisted Delta Squad in their fight against the Kraken. Every member of this Onyx Guard unit was wiped out by the Kraken's attack.

Known Members[]

Known Squads[]

Onyx Guard Personnel Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

Crimson Omen
Gearspedia has 118 images related to Onyx Guard.
  • In Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgment multiplayer, the male Onyx Guard is voiced by Brian Bloom.
  • In Gears of War: Judgment multiplayer, the female Onyx Guard is voiced by Courtenay Taylor.
  • In Gears of War 3's Beast mode, fifteen members of the Onyx Guard are led by Richard Prescott in the twelfth and final wave against the player-controlled Locust Horde.[14] In game, they are stronger than the regular Hero characters, taking an average of three shots from the Gnasher at close range to down. Once they are downed, they can only be killed using execution rules. On Insane difficulty, they will automatically revive if they are DBNO (down but not out) long enough. They can also use a Vulcan by themselves without a second person to hold the ammo box (strangely enough, whenever they are holding one, it does not have an ammo box).
  • The Stim-Gas Grenade and the Beacon Grenade are part of the powerful arsenal of the COG’s elite Onyx Guard unit.[15]
  • In The Art of Gears of War 3, the concept artwork of the Onyx Guard refers to them as Stealth Cog which was the temporary name for them during development of Gears of War 3.[16]
  • The design of the Onyx Guards is supposed to walk the line between noble soldier and frightening, authoritarian stormtrooper.[17]
  • In Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgement the Onyx Guard are shown to be very arrogant and aggressive in their behaviour, e.g. they push away members of Delta Squad after arriving with Chairman Prescott on the CNV Sovereign when they go to see Captain Michaelson. At the beginning of Act IV: 1. Homefront of Gears 5, in reference to the aforementioned scene, the members of Delta Team (including JACK) push away one Onyx Guard that accompanies First Minister Jinn to fight the invading Swarm.

Multiplayer[]

  • An anonymous Onyx Guard is one of three characters included in the Horde Command Pack for Gears of War 3.
  • In Horde and Beast modes, upgrading a Decoy fortification to its highest level creates an Onyx Guard armed with a Gnasher who will fight at your side against the Locust.
  • In Gears of War: Judgment, purchasing the VIP Pass gives you access to Onyx Guard and Female Onyx Guard in multiplayer.
  • In Gears 5 multiplayer both Vermelo and Casan have New COG Onyx Guard and Tactics Onyx Guard alternate skins that can be unlocked via the store.

References[]

Human and Surface Creatures
COG
Chairman · First Minister
DR-1 · Gears (Commando, Hivebuster, Medic, NCOG Marine, Onyx Guard, Sapper) · JACK (Geobot) · Shepherd (Command Bot, Deadeye) · Silverback (Mechanical Loader) · Tracker (Shock-Bots, Shock Tracker) · Watcher (Guardian, Sentinel)
UIR
Premier
Indies (Cosmonaut, UIR Elite, UIR Officer, Sandswept Trooper)
Surface Creatures
Ape · Armored Fish · Armored Shark · Beast of Pahanu · Cat · Chicken · Cattle · Crow · Dog · Goat · Horse · Iron Jaw · Kraken · Mawfish · Monkey · Pig · Rat · Rock Eel · Salmon · Sand Wasp · Scree-Mite · Serano Blowfish · Serano Cephalopod · Serano Lobster · Serano Shark · Tyran Steelpike · Unidentified Mammalian Carnivore · Wakaatu · Whale Fish · Whale
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