I'm not gonna mis-use the word rouge-like, but so far we have that you're in a dungeon, there will be perma-death, and character creation, and as you go through the dungeon you'll meet new iconic/special characters with special properties and characteristics you can't get from creating your own and once you die (not when, cause you will) you can either upgrade your character to an iconic or equip your next generation with the kick ass gear that you found on your ancestors past journeys. (I'll include most of the commanders and some prevalent bungie community members as iconic characters)

You could have a place named Canem Cave (actually Cave Canem) which can mean beware of the dog in latin, so you could have a dog boss.

.....i would prefer to be a character that you must battle to unlock

We can make that possible :)