Who are the Starborn in Starfield?

Warning: Due to the subject material of this article, there are heavy Starfield spoilers. Do not continue if you don’t want to know about the Starborn, the main story, or the NG+ of Starfield.

Around the midpoint of the story missions in Starfield, you will encounter a mysterious new enemy called the Starborn. You will first encounter them in a strange alien-like ship after obtaining an Artifact, where the Starborn will claim you are unworthy to possess the Artifacts and demand you hand them over. Throughout the rest of the story missions in Starfield, you will continuously encounter the Starborn. Also, even while exploring or doing side missions, you can still encounter Level 30 Starborn enemies throughout the galaxy. With all the mystery around them, you may be wondering who are the Starborn in Starfield?

In a nutshell, the Starborn are entities from another universe that have already claimed all of the Artifacts in their universe and reached Unity. Upon reaching Unity, they were reborn as a Starborn in your universe. This loop actually continues repeatedly, even into New Game Plus. At the end of the story missions, the player has the opportunity to claim Unity and sacrifice themself to become reborn as a Starborn as well.

Who are the Emissary and the Hunter?

Eventually, you will meet both the Emissary and the Hunter, two prolific Starborn. This is where things can get a bit interesting. Each character is also seeking out the Artifacts for different reasons.

As it turns out, the Hunter is actually Keeper Aquilus from another universe. In his universe, he obtained all the Artifacts and achieved Unity which caused him to ascend as a Starborn and be reborn in our universe.

Both have come to your universe to try and collect all the Artifacts for their own reasons. Eventually, the player will have the option to side with one of them or neither of them, as you make your own journey towards Unity.