In the winter of 2023, a wave of excitement rippled through the Destiny 2 community. Bungie had just dropped a trailer that peeled back the curtain on Neomuna, the gleaming cyberpunk city hidden in Neptune's atmosphere. For a game that had spent years building up the Last City as humanity's sole refuge, this was a stunner—and it wasn't just the neon skyline that turned heads. Tucked into a corner of the frame, a familiar little shape flitted past, and lore hunters everywhere practically did a double take. That floating fish was back.
For two long years, that spectral fish had been one of Destiny 2's most delicious unsolved threads. It first appeared in the Beyond Light expansion, swimming around the Exo Stranger—later confirmed to be Elisabeth Bray—like some kind of space-dwelling koi. At the time, the community latched onto a tantalizing theory: maybe this was a new Darkness-based Ghost, a mirror to the Traveler's agents that would accompany practitioners of the dark. It made perfect sense, at least on paper. The Exo Stranger had always been a bit of a wildcard, and with the Darkness creeping closer, a shadowy companion felt almost inevitable.
But then the rug got pulled. The Darkness Ghosts turned out to be nothing more than regular Ghosts who had a bone to pick with Guardians using Stasis. No dramatic new entity. No alternate form. Just the same little shells with an attitude. After that, the floating fish vanished without a trace—not in game, not in cutscenes, not even when players chatted up the Exo Stranger. The whole thing became a classic Bungie move: dangle a mystery, let it simmer, and leave fans scratching their heads for years. Even after The Witch Queen shipped, the fish stayed missing. It was a real head-scratcher.
Then came the Lightfall trailer. If viewers skipped to the 26-second mark, the penny finally dropped. The fish weren't some elusive new Ghost at all. They were advanced living constructs floating through the air of Neomuna—part of the city's ambient life, as natural there as pigeons in a park. The reveal was almost understated. These creatures weren't game-defining characters, nor were they a new class of companions. Instead, they were a piece of environmental storytelling that Bungie had planted back in Beyond Light and let bloom two years later. For the lore community, it was like finding the missing piece of a puzzle that had been hiding in plain sight.
The same trailer packed more than just fish lore. It gave Guardians their first real taste of Strand, the new Darkness subclass, with grappling shots that let players swing across Neomuna's skyscrapers. The footage looked a lot like Spider-Man web-slinging, which naturally set the internet on fire. Bungie was quick to pump the brakes. Game director Joe Blackburn clarified that Strand grappling would have a base cooldown, preventing Guardians from becoming full-time web-slingers. But there was a catch: certain sections of Neomuna would do away with the cooldown entirely, offering brief windows where players could let loose and feel like superheroes. The community's reaction was mixed—some were thrilled, others skeptical—but everyone agreed the traversal looked slick.
To recap the fish saga:
| Event | What Happened |
|---|---|
| Beyond Light (2020) | A floating fish appears near the Exo Stranger, sparking Ghost theories. |
| Darkness Ghost clarification | Regular Ghosts are revealed to be the only "Darkness Ghosts," leaving the fish unexplained. |
| The Witch Queen (2022) | No sign of the fish, no mention, no closure. |
| Lightfall trailer (2023) | The fish returns at the 26-second mark, revealed as a living construct in Neomuna. |
Lightfall itself landed on February 28, 2023. By 2026, Neomuna has become a familiar stomping ground for Guardians, and Strand has evolved through multiple sandbox updates. But for many players, the floating fish remains one of the most satisfying long-game teases Bungie ever pulled off. It wasn't a major character or a new mechanic—it was just a quiet reward for paying attention. And in a live-service game often driven by loot and power levels, that kind of storytelling felt like a breath of fresh air.
Looking back, the fish's journey from cryptic cutscene cameo to full environmental reveal is a masterclass in patience. It reminds players that in Destiny 2, not every thread gets tied up immediately. Some secrets simmer for years, waiting for the right moment to surface. The Neomuna trailer didn't just show off a new destination—it closed a loop that began in the frozen wastes of Europa. For the lore hunters who never stopped asking "what's with that fish?," the answer was finally out there, swimming in the neon glow of Neptune.
That's the story. No smoke and mirrors, just a little fish that turned out to be a whole lot more—or at least a well-crafted tease. And honestly? That's about as Destiny as it gets. 🐟✨
Details are provided by HowLongToBeat, and they help frame how Destiny 2’s Neomuna era lands for different playstyles: story-focused players can prioritize Lightfall’s campaign beats (and the environmental reveals like the Neomuna “fish” constructs), while completionists often sink far more time into post-campaign pursuits such as Strand unlock steps, exploration, and ongoing seasonal objectives that extend the overall time investment well beyond the main narrative.