These characters have varying degrees of importance to the story, but just don't have enough to justify giving them their own chapter spots. Some will have larger or smaller information or stories to their sections, but I will be saving the individual chapter bios for main characters who will be showing up in this AU regularly.

(Sorry for the format; this site doesn't like me doing this like a bullet list.)

I own nothing except my AU. The characters of Horizon Zero Dawn and the sequel game Horizon Forbidden West belong to Guerilla Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Mathijs de Jonge.

~Gayle "Gaia" Gardner~

Elisabet's best friend and former second-in-command at Miriam Tech.

-Currently the CEO as of Elisabet's will reading.

She wanted to raise the girls herself, but Lis asked her not to so to prevent them from being overwhelmed by their mom's shadow and reputation. She didn't think it fair to put that kind of pressure on two children, and asked her to keep quiet and maintain distance until they were old enough to understand.

-As of learning of their mother's identity, she has since reached out and become good friends with both. She loves telling the girls stories about their mom and who she was.

~Teersa~

Adoption Services/Orphanage head matron

Knows who the girls' mom is, but doesn't blame Elisabet and trusts that she had a good reason for giving the girls up. Gives Aloy as much love as she can.

-Beta was adopted by Tilda almost as soon as she was available. Teersa was out that day and Lansra was in charge, so she felt no need to inform her of the details. Teersa was furious though when she learned that Lansra had separated the girls on the petty technicality that they hadn't had the paperwork fill out for both to go to Rost. By the time she tracked down the information on the paperwork Tilda had changed and submitted for the adoption, she found nothing but dead ends and false trails. She was forced to believe that she would never see Elisabet's younger daughter again.

Considers Aloy an honorary granddaughter, since she has no living grandparents to speak of, and keeps in contact with her.

-Ever since Beta reunited with Aloy, Teersa has done all that she can to try and make up for what happened to Beta by not being there to stop Lansra. Beta has learned not to blame Teersa, but she's still cautious around new people.

~Lansra and Jezza~

Background matrons

Lansra hates Aloy because she looks so much like Elisabet and she can guess she's her mom, but she doesn't know the reason she gave her up. She despises parents who have shallow reasons to give up their child, but with Aloy it was a combination of her identical appearance, no explanation from Teersa, and the girl's curiosity causing disruptions until she left. (Hatred by association)

Jezza didn't interact with Aloy as much as the other two so she doesn't have as strong an opinion of her, but instead gave her the same care she would give to any child when they did meet.

~Valarie "Vala" Brave~

Probationary firefighter

Varl's younger sister and Aloy's best friend from childhood.

-Backed her up when the other kids would be mean and comforted her when she got upset about her unknown mom.

-She was the one to get Aloy interested in things like parkour and mountaineering. They try and go on at least two hikes a year, and have recently extended the invitation to the other girls for a yearly retreat trip.

-She was walking home with her as moral support for the argument with Rost when they were attacked. She was severely injured, but made a full recovery in time.

Varl has called her Vala as a shorthand since she was little, so it's just what she mainly goes by.

~Petra Forge~

Mechanic and owner of Forge Works

Old drinking friend of Erend

Her family was very old-fashioned, and didn't think a woman should be anything more than a housewife. She rejected that notion and set out on her own, effectively disowning them.

-She hasn't spoken to them since and feels no inclination to reach out.

-Since she left, she chose a different first and last name. She won't answer to the old ones, even if no one else who knows her knew them.

By herself, she got Masters in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, trained for 3 years in CAD Design, and opened her own shop. She runs a tight, efficient ship and takes no crap from anyone.

-The last client who tried to falsify a shoddy repair job complaint that she personally saw to, she punched in the face, tossed out the door, and told to never come back. Anytime this happens, rare as it is, she calls other shops to warn them of the person in question.

~-She may run a business, but she's not hurting for work. All her clients trust her to be honest and fair about what's wrong and to not upsell or overcharge them.

-Her employees love her and enjoy watching her tear into the poor fools who question her work. She swears she's seen them grab snacks before like it's a show.

~Nil~

Formerly: Soldier (Unknown rank and branch)

Currently: MMA fighter/vigilante, Confidential informant

-Not a superhero; just hates criminals and is too good at not getting caught. No one even knows his real name or has had a good look at him since he first appeared. He calls himself "Nil" because he is nothing.

He met Aloy when he was tracking a gang of serial muggers. She had been herded into an alley and was surrounded. He was about to step in when she revealed she had lured the crooks into a trap before picking up a long, broken pipe and beating them easily. He's been fascinated by her ever since and keeps asking her for a spar. She's unsure what he wants and has so far declined.

-Nothing more than that. He's so straightforward and honest about his intentions you could draw edges with him. Doesn't mean he's a nice person.

~Talia "Talanah" Padish~

Environmental Sciences/Conservation Sciences dual major graduate and close friend of Aloy's

Youngest Senior Park Ranger in history

-She met Aloy when she was camping out and they bonded over mutual interests. Talanah had been assigned to find, subdue, and tag the most elusive and dangerous bear in the park called Redmaw to transport him to a more secluded region, but she was being hindered by the current senior ranger Ahsis. Her talents and skills threatened his position, as she was far better than him, and he wanted her gone. So he assigned her with the most difficult task available, and only allowed her minimal equipment. He reasoned that "If you're as good as you say, catching Redmaw should be easy for you." Since he held her job in his hands and would do anything to get rid of her, she had no choice but to accept. After listening to Talanah's story, Aloy offered to help her track the bear. Talanah wanted to refuse, but Ahsis had given her a deadline of two weeks to complete the task and she was running out of time. With Aloy's help, she managed to follow Redmaw's trail to a hidden cave. After masking their scents, they began to set snares and drugged food to lure him out. While they waited, they quietly shared stories about hunting screwups. Finally, they caught the bear and tagged him before clipping some distinctive red fur and snapping a picture as proof for Ahsis. Talanah and Aloy then parted ways with the promise to stay in touch as she returned to the rangers lodge.

~-She arrived in the middle of a department inspection by Inspector Ligen who, upon learning that Ahsis had sent a much younger and lower ranked ranger out to complete such a difficult task, turned on him and began to rail at him about how reckless and irresponsible his actions were. He promised his actions would be brought before his superiors. When Talanah asked what made catching Redmaw so dangerous, Ligen explained that the bear had been attacked by hunters who snuck in illegally for his unique red fur many times in the past, and had developed an intense hatred for humans. When he was left alone, he could avoid humans easily, like a red ghost. But every so often some young hunter would get it in his head that he could catch the infamous red bear and would sneak in to try. For the past ten years, Redmaw had either critically injured or killed every hunter who had come after him, and every ranger who had tried to find and tag him for relocation never came close unless he found them first. It came to the point his name Redmaw was known more for his bloody mouth than his blood red fur. Even though she managed to do the impossible and tag the angry beast, Ahsis shouldn't have sent her out on a task that should have only been done by the senior ranger. As such, he was certain Ahsis was going to lose his job, but he would be putting in a recommendation for Talanah to be considered for the role instead as she seemed to be more competent. Talanah admitted she had help tracking the bear from someone who had been camping nearby. Ahsis tried to use this to discredit her, but Ligen argued that because he hindered Talanah so much for a task that should have had back up from the rest of the rangers that it was only fair she acquired outside help, though he wished she hadn't needed to involve a civilian. When he asked who helped her, she said her name was Aloy. Ligen asked if she had braided, flaming red hair and green eyes, and when she nodded he smirked and said, "Looks like there was an unfair advantage here after all." Ahsis' started to smirk again before he said, "For Redmaw, that is."

~-Talanah later learned from Aloy that she had apparently placed first in every hunting competition in the state, and even some international ones, by consistently taking down her prey the fastest of any competitor. She was considered a bowhunting and tracking prodigy, having even completed the Nora Proving and Ban-Ur Hunts, which are considered the most brutal, difficult hunts in the world; seasoned hunters train for decades before trying those. When asked how old she was when she competed in those, she looked away and mumbled "Eighteen and nineteen." She didn't like boasting about it because it drew more attention than she was comfortable with, and because the Nora Proving was the last hunt her guardian Rost had wanted her to do solo before he was killed, so she has mixed feelings attached to the memory.

-They maintain contact, but have trouble meeting up due to living in different cities. They try to have at least one regular hunt together, but recently Aloy has extended an invitation to join her and Vala on their yearly girls hiking and camping trip they go on.

Her nickname comes from her tendency to reply "Nah!" when she disagrees with a course of action.

She has a crush on a man named Amadis, but he pines for a former love and she has issues with being second choice. So, for now, she's focusing on her career and putting romance on the back burner.

~Avad Solera~

City Mayor

His father was the former mayor, but he was removed from office and imprisoned primarily on charges of abuse of power.

-It was also discovered that he was backing the Eclipse gang, which also added organized crime to his list of charges.

He was secretly in a relationship with Erend's sister Ersa, and was devastated when she was killed.

-Aloy reminds him a lot of her, but his deputy mayor Marad has advised him that trying to pursue anything with her so soon after Ersa's death would be unwise; he could end up projecting onto her, ruining any kind of relationship.