So, from what we know, the Awoken were created in the collapse. Whatever happened to them, they were once human. I think they were created by the wake of the cataclysmic melee between the Darkness and the Traveler--the Traveler and Darkness's violent interaction created some wave of change that overtook them, "awakening" them. We only know if humans trying to escape the collapse were made into Awoken, and that most of them live in the Reef. From a quote from the Awoken Grimoire Card: [i]"Others sing a song of light and dark. We have transcended such unimaginative limitations.[/i] This connects somewhat to my theory above. What if Reef Awoken they are neutral in the struggle between light and dark? Perhaps "Awoken" refers to the fact that they see the whole eternal picture, and not just one side of the debate--woken up to a cosmic truth. Also, what do we know of their physiology? Their skin is blue/purple in color, their eyes glow, and their skin also seems to sparkle with some sort of residual energy. But, what advantages does that entail? Perhaps the Awoken can see better in low light, or can detect fluxes in light and dark.