The Tenno’s Forgotten Past

In Warframe, there is a very specific name used for our characters. Warframes are our suits, we are Operators. But, as a whole, we are called Tenno. Not only are we particularly strange, but we have vast amounts of powers. We are considered as saviors to some, terrorists and betrayers to others.

Most of the time though, we’re rampaging around, murdering thousands, all because of our greed. The Tenno are somewhat hypocritical and cause a lot of destruction. In fact, you could consider the Tenno as bad guys. Or at least nearly as bad as the bad guys. Frankly, it’s all a convoluted mess.

And it gets even more convoluted when you realize us Tenno are the ones who destroyed the Orokin. While the Tenno themselves don’t really remember that event, there is a whole lot of, well, forgotten stuff.

The Tenno society was completely forgotten.

When it comes to backstories, the Teno are by far the most complicated. There are no Tenno who remember killing the Orokin, those memories are locked away. And probably for good reason. In the Second Dream, we discover that we are more than just armoured, fleshy suits. In fact, we are essentially children. Extremely powerful beings who channel Void energy via our Warframes’ sword-steel skin.

Alongside this however, we are told of a colourful past. Not just a past of blood, but a past of curiosity as well. According to the long-abandoned Leverian, stories are told of various Warframes and their biggest escapades. We hear that Ash destroyed a cult of assassins and spared a pair of siblings and their father. In Ivara’s story, we see a Warframe fighting and adapting against a powerful enemy as part of a test. Nezha saved an army of children from certain death. And Yareli, well, she just ran away from a big mean slave guy.

But there is a culture buried among all of this. Tenno culture. The Tenno founded five different schools of combat. They built relays and dojos together. There is even a Tenno council that gives advice to other players (during loading screens, at least).

It’s all just… gone.

All that remains are vague descriptions.

Now, there is very little left of the Tenno culture. Sure, we are still violent monsters who defy gravity and physics. But the whole culture we had before the death of the Orokin was swept away. The last few traces are in the form of item descriptions. Small notes here and there, often forgotten. The Codex does give us a hint about the Tenno’s old cultures and ways, but these are fleeting and easily dismissed.

For example, a lot of armour and Syandanas have descriptions. And the Tenno-styled ones paint an interesting scene. There are cosmetics that mention ranks, hierarchies and various ceremonies. In the favour text for the Hecate Syandana, the text reads “Used for festive ceremonies, this Syandana was often worn during social gatherings.” What social gatherings though? Did Tenno regularly meet up before the fall of the Orokin? The Imperator Syandana has similarly curious text: “Before the fall, the Imperator Syandana was bestowed upon only the highest-ranking Orokin commanders.” But who are these Orokin commanders? No damn clue.

In fact, one of my favourite Syandanas is the Uru Syandana. It has a particularly curious description: “The Syandana is a traditional Tenno garment. This variation was often worn during the Tenno Absolution Ceremony.” What is an Absolution Ceremony? We’ll never find out.

None of this is ever really expanded upon.

All these items are just flavour text. They imply a deep, military culture bound in honour and servitude. But we have never received any more information about these things. Heck, all of those descriptions might not even be part of the Tenno’s lore. After all, the history of what Warframes and Tenno are has changed greatly over the years. These little pieces of flavour text aren’t really worth correcting, since they’re so small and fleeting.

However, there is one place which will always carry some kind of old Tenno culture. While Clan Dojos can differ wildly in both looks and Tenno, the base dojo is a powerful callback to our old Tenno culture. Dojos and Relays are the only places where Tenno meet up in numbers, and will always be a reminder of our past.

In the mean time though, it would be nice if we could expand our knowledge of Tenno culture. Because a warrior class consisting of brain-fuddled children could have a vast amount of lore, all just waiting to be discovered.

Or it’ll all just be retconned. You never really know with Warframe.