Legacy of Kain/Characters

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This is a list of characters and associated tropes from Legacy of Kain. Characters who span multiple installments and play important roles in the overarcing plot are listed under "Main Characters." Other characters are listed in the folder for the game they first appeared in.

Main Characters

Our hero, more or less...

Kain

"Given the choice; whether to rule a corrupt and failing Empire, or to challenge the fates for another throw, a better throw, against one's destiny...What was a king to do?"

Voiced by Simon Templeman

The titular character and the guy who the series revolves around. Not always the main protagonist though. Was killed as a nobleman and revived as a vampire, and when he came to revel in his new powers he decided to conquer the world.

  • A God Am I: Set himself up a God-Emperor.
  • Anti-Hero (Type V)/ Anti-Villain (Type III): He's trying to save the world from destruction and demonic invasion, but he's trying to save it so that his vampire brethren can return to their rightful place as rulers of the world, and so that he can return to his rightful place as ruler of the vampires. He loves the slaughter, is incredibly arrogant and self-righteous, and is fully aware that he acts like a cruel, heartless bastard. He's not without the capacity for mercy though, and there are still some lines he won't cross, leading to a noticeable lack of a Kick the Dog moment in the series—unless you count slaughtering innocent NPCs, everything he does is calculated to benefit him and help him achieve his goals. He's also a Well-Intentioned Extremist, as his ultimate vision of a vampire empire that controls the world is actually the way things are supposed to be.
    • Well, somewhat. Vampire rulers might be the natural order, but vampires aren't meant to be bloodsucking monsters and Kain is not supposed to be their King, since he is supposed to die in order for new Pillar Guardians to be born (so long as the Hylden threat is sorted out first). Also, his vampires are cursed and eventually degenerate into abominations, which isn't how things are supposed to be either.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil
  • Awesome Ego: Kain rivals Vegeta in terms of his arrogance and total unwillingness to accept that anyone is superior to him. And we love him for it.
  • Back from the Dead: Twice!
  • Badass
    • Badass Boast: Kain's self confidence is pretty much impossible to undermine. He treats any enemy like an insect that will soon be squished under his boot. Even if they are clearly a lot stronger then he is.
    • Badass Cape
    • Badass Long Hair
    • Like a Badass Out of Hell: Pseudo-invoking of Type II in Blood Omen, when he's shown trapped in a Hell dimension until Mortanius ropes him into service. Invokes a Type I in Defiance when he's banished to the dimension of the Hylden, which conveniently looks like the same place as he was sent in Blood Omen.
  • Battle Cry: "VAE VICTIS!" It's Latin for "Woe to the conquered/vanquished". In other words, the conquered have no rights. It should tell you everything you need to know about him.
  • Blood Knight: Has shades of this. He certainly seems to be enjoying himself when he shouts out his battle cry after impaling an opponent.
  • The Chessmaster: Very much so. Spending centuries with access to a time machine certainly helps him predict and plan the various results he wants, but even so, Kain is damn good at this.
  • The Chosen One: As Defiance reveals, Kain was prophesied to be the Scion of Balance, who would wield the Soul Reaver to destroy the Elder God and free Nosgoth from his control.
  • Cool Sword: Wields the material Soul Reaver (also known as just "The Reaver"), which encompasses the following:
    • Ancestral Weapon
    • Elemental Powers: Acquires them in Defiance with the Balance Emblem, though they're not as traditional as Raziel's: Fire, Dimension, Lightning, Time, and Spirit (The latter of which he acquires upon the Reaver absorbing Raziel's soul in the game's climax, transferring the Spirit element from the spectral Soul Reaver to the material version.)
    • Named Weapons
      • This one also applies to Havoc & Malice, the axes he dual wielded in the original Blood Omen.
    • Power Glows: Takes on an aura when fully charged in Defiance, the type of aura depending on the elemental power equipped. Fire, of course, makes it a Flaming Sword.
    • Reforged Blade
    • Sword of Plot Advancement
    • Soul Cutting Blade: Zigzagged. Represented in Blood Omen by dealing a One Hit KO to enemies as long as Kain has enough mana, except on bosses who just take a lot of damage. In Blood Omen 2 he only has access to the Soul Reaver for the final battle, but he does reave the villain's soul. And in Defiance the Reaver he wields is a past version of the sword that doesn't have this ability yet.
  • Cosmic Lottery Winner: It's a bit fuzzy on exactly why having his heart torn out and being banished to a Hell dimension doesn't kill him. There's been a Hand Wave about it having to do with his nature as the Scion of Balance, but that's it.
    • There's a discussion about this on the WMG page.
  • Cursed with Awesome: After he comes to terms with being a vampire Kain lives and breathes this trope. "Hé hé hé hé hé"
  • Dark Messiah: In Blood Omen 2 and Defiance.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Here are some examples.
    • "Poor William."
    • "I always was considered heartless."
    • "Alas, poor Nupraptor, I knew him well... well not really."
    • In banter with Marcus;

Marcus: You tried to murder me!
Kain: I seem to have failed.

  • Evil Laugh: Heard quite often during Blood Omen when he's swinging his sword around, and again in the canon ending.
  • Femme Fatalons: In Blood Omen 2—as do all the other more human-looking vampires in that game. It seems that vampires develop long, black claws prior to their hands (and feet) becoming cloven.
  • Genre Savvy: On many, many occasions. For example, when he notices a pair of Living Statue tomb guardians in Defiance who haven't yet moved, he remarks:

Kain: These statues were singularly inanimate.

  • Heroic BSOD: Has one at the end of Soul Reaver 2 when he realizes everything that he has planned and gambled on throughout the entire game has served the ends of his enemies.

"My god... the Hylden! We walked right into their trap...

  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gets to be behind both ends of the blade in different games. How he deals with Moebius in Defiance.
  • Large Ham: And how... which inevitably led to:
    • Ham-to-Ham Combat: Between him and Raziel at least twice in Soul Reaver. He also gets some hammy time with Moebius in 'Defiance.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's at his prettiest in Blood Omen 2.
  • Magic Knight
  • Magnificent Bastard: Arguably. He does get manipulated a lot, but since his enemies have the advantage of being The Omniscient, to even come close to fighting back against their machinations is quite an achievement.
  • Mega Manning: Absorbs power from his former lieutenants in Blood Omen 2.
  • Mercy Kill: Kain's pulled these off a few times. Though generally a sadist, he doesn't seem to have a taste for prolonged torture, preferring quick (if extremely painful and messy) deaths. Notably shown when he killed Nupraptor's servant girl in Blood Omen and Magnus in Blood Omen 2.
  • Mind Over Matter: As of Defiance, telekinesis seems to be the most-used power in his magical repertoire.
  • Multi Melee Master: Kain has demonstrated skilled use of a large variety of weapons; in Blood Omen he carried three different swords(one of which was on fire and the other was the Soul Reaver ), a mace, and a pair of axes. In Blood Omen 2 he used a variety of disposable, breakable weapons. However, he's never been shown using ranged weapons, only using magic at a distance; indeed, he admits to having fairly poor aim.
  • Name Of Kain: Duh
  • Noble Demon
  • Pet the Dog: Now and then Kain likes to remind players he isn't totally heartless—he was trying to make the future better by killing William the Just/The Nemesis, though it blew up in his face. He also seemed to have affection for Umah in Blood Omen 2, commenting she could have been his queen, in the same game there's also his final lines to Magnus after he performs a Mercy Kill on him. When he discovers a serving girl chained to a wall in Nupraptor's keep, he notes that her physical and mental scars would never heal, and that to drink her blood and kill her could only be a mercy. Then, of course, in Defiance he really has no intention of letting Raziel be drawn into the Soul Reaver--that shock and horror at the game's climax when he impales Raziel is genuine.
  • Psychotic Smirk: He unleashes an epic one shortly before killing Moebius for the second time.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Many of his outfits in the Blood Omen games, as well as his iconic image in the Soul Reaver games and Defiance, namely black leather pants and a red cape tied over his chest.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His very first act as a vampire.
    • The whole of Blood Omen 2.
  • Sociopathic Hero: Sure, he's saving the world, but in the meantime, Kain has absolutely no problems with slicing up anyone in his way, be they extra-dimensional demons, Sarafan knights, or just innocent civilians going down the wrong alley at night. That evil laugh mentioned above? Perhaps most terrifying when heard as he was about to feed... on helpless prisoners chained to walls who were begging him for help.
  • Spikes of Villainy: Sports them in Blood Omen 2, and with the Chaos Armor in Blood Omen.
  • The Fatalist: He's taking a huge gamble on his Plan, so he's spent centuries gazing into the time stream to decide the best way to go about executing it. Thus, he knows how a lot of things are meant to be.
  • White Haired Man
    • He's rather fabulous in Blood Omen 2, actually.
  • Villains Never Lie: Leaving aside the question of whether he is truly a "villain", this trope holds true with Kain. He tells ambiguous half-truths and makes vague hints, but the only time in an entire series full of Gambit Pileups (a lot of which he instigates) that he directly lies is when he promises mercy to a beaten Sebastian in Blood Omen 2, and even then, when his victim tells Kain openly that he doesn't believe him, Kain makes no attempt to perpetuate the falsehood, and freely admits that he intends to kill him.
      • Interestingly though in that situation, Kain had more or less killed Sebastian already. After Kain's offer of mercy and Sebastian's accusation of lying, Kain makes no further move to finish him off as he's already dying of the injuries sustained in the boss fight.
    • There have even been times when telling the truth has a very good chance of working against him, yet he's been truthful anyway. Admittedly, this is more a case of his Awesome Ego stopping him treating anyone has a true threat rather than a moral choice, but for whatever reason he remains very honest.
  • Villain Protagonist: The two Soul Reaver games which follow Raziel have Kain cast in a villainous light, while the Blood Omen games make him the main protagonist. That he easily fills both positions without differing in his characterization should tell you something.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Maintains the ability to transform into either a cloud of mist or a swarm of bats throughout the series (though the bat form does vanish during Blood Omen 2).
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: In the two Soul Reaver games and Defiance, and for the first part of Blood Omen 2.
Ladies and gentlemen, the poster boy for Unwitting Pawn!

Raziel

"This one thing I readily admit--I have been used by others time and again. But always I seem to stray from their path...What is it about me, Demon, that makes me such an unreliable instrument?"

Voiced by Michael Bell

The other protagonist of the series besides Kain, he was Kain's right-hand man until he grew wings before Kain and was killed for it. He was revived as a wraith to kill Kain and ended up becoming a Cosmic Plaything.

  • Amnesiac Dissonance: Between his Vampire and Sarafan lives.
  • And I Must Scream: First, he gets cast into the Lake of the Dead and burns for several centuries until the Elder God plucks him from the time stream, then between Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance he spends a few more centuries as the Elder God's prisoner. According to the Elder God this is the best he can do—Raziel's nature as his agent means he's physically incapable of dying, so he settles for keeping Raziel weak and immobilized. Raziel's fate to be drawn into the Soul Reaver may be considered this, the series doesn't make it clear if the "Raziel" spirit in the Reaver has full sentience or not.
    • It is implied that the "Raziel" spirit in the Reaver is not fully sentient, and is this way because he was dragged into it kicking and screaming, in the knowledge that he is doomed and everything he's strived for has only helped his enemies, in addition to the And I Must Scream nature of the prison. It is possible that Raziel's willing sacrifice with the knowledge that he is finally striking a definite blow against his nemesis will allow him to keep his sanity.
  • Anti-Hero (Type IV): He's fundamentally good, but is not above morally questionable acts depending on the circumstances. He's also willing to kill whoever he needs to that gets in his way, but unlike Kain who relishes combat Raziel takes no pleasure from it and stays his hand on occasion. However, Raziel is simply too naive and doesn't understand the true nature of Nosgoth's Gambit Pileup for most of the series. This leads to a habit of helping villains without realizing it, which in tandem with his initially selfish motivations (i.e. revenge), keeps him from being considered a true hero.
  • Badass: Though not quite as much as Kain.
  • Butt Monkey: On a cosmic level, prompting...
  • Cool Sword: Wields the spectral Soul Reaver to Kain's material Soul Reaver, which encompasses the following:
  • Deadpan Snarker: He definitely begins to pick up Kain's wit as the series goes on.

"Ah, my ancient 'benefactor'... And I dared to hope we had parted ways forever. Your silence was refreshing, while it lasted. No doubt you have a conveniently inexpressible reason for your presence here?"
"Oh no... every time you show up, something monumental and terrible happens. I don't think I have the stomach for it."

  • Deal with the Devil: His agreement to serve the Elder God in exchange for being revived. The other shoe finally drops in Defiance—let's just say that title is not a meaningless one.
  • Doomed Protagonist: Unless he wants to undo history with dozens of paradoxes, eventually Raziel has to merge with the Soul Reaver whether he wants to or not.
  • Faustian Rebellion
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom
  • Heroic BSOD: Has a brief one in Soul Reaver 2 when he discovers that it was his Sarafan self who murdered Janos, and and again when he discovers that the Soul Reaver is actually his own soul, sucked into the blade and trapped there for millennia.
  • Ham-to-Ham Combat: While decidedly less hammy than Kain, the two shared some hammy moments in Soul Reaver.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of Defiance.
  • Hunter of His Own Kind
  • Immune to Fate.
  • It's Personal
  • I Was Quite a Looker: While he doesn't dwell on it too much, Raziel does often lament his current visage is a big step down from how he looked in life. Of course, this might be less about how handsome he once was and more about the fact that he used to have a stomach and a mouth.
  • Knight Templar: Raziel has a natural urge to behave like this. His sarafan and vampire selves were exactly the same, only working for different sides. It's only after he becomes a soul eater that Raziel learns to see the others sides viewpoints.
  • Magic Knight: Not as much as Kain though—he was at the height of his magical prowess in Soul Reaver when he could find glyphs that gave him access to magic attacks. The Glyph system and the abilities Raziel got from them were dropped in the next game, and the only magical powers or equivalent that Raziel was left with were his telekinetic skills.
  • Mega Manning: As he kills his brothers he absorbs their souls and powers.
    • In Defiance, he unlocks new powers for the Reaver by feeding it the souls of former Pillar Guardians.
  • Michael Bell
  • Mysterious Past: Discovers it during the course of the series.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Killing Kain most prominently, not to mention giving the Sarafan access to Janos' lair to kill him, and reviving Janos later to give the Hylden Lord the vessel he needs for his plans.
  • Noble Demon
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: A majority of his quest during the games, though he develops other motives eventually. Goes on a smaller-scale one at the end of Soul Reaver 2 against the Sarafan when they kill Janos.
  • Spanner in the Works: By virtue of possibly being the one creature in all existence who can Screw Destiny. Double Subverted since this simultaneously makes him the guy who can ultimately screw with everyone else's evil manipluations, but at the same time makes him the one guy to be the subject of said evil manipulations as everyone but him realizes this. Ironically, despite this power, he is the character in the game most likely to angst about how he seems to have no control over his own fate and finds himself manipulated at every turn.
  • The Unchosen One: As Moebius and The Elder God point out to him in Defiance, despite Raziel's belief he's The Chosen One, that title belongs to Kain. Raziel isn't the savior of Nosgoth, he's the guy who can make it right/screw it up for the real thing.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Ho boy, where to start. Pretty much everything Raziel ever does up until his sacrifice at the end of Defiance helps further the plans of someone else.
  • Winged Humanoid: Didn't get to enjoy it though.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: By the time Defiance rolls around, Raziel has wizened up and realizes everyone is going to try and manipulate him for their own ends. However, when Kain tries to play it straight and tell Raziel the truth, Raziel assumes it's just more manipulations and refuses to trust him.*
  • Your Soul Is Mine: Raziel devours souls to sustain himself. In Soul Reaver 2 the Soul Reaver itself will devour the souls of enemies Raziel fights with it, ultimately leaving nothing for him to snack on for healing if he deals the final blow with the sword.

Moebius

"Poor, deluded Raziel... did you somehow imagine you had the guile to change history on me? I’m the Time-Streamer: I knew your every intention before you did, you imbecile."

Voiced by Richard Doyle

One of the Circle of Nine, he controls time and thus can travel though time and see the past and future. Wishes to exterminate all vampires and led the human rebellion against them originally. Arguably the main antagonist of the series until it's revealed he was just The Dragon to The Elder God.

  • Back from the Dead: Got revived in Defiance about ten minutes after he died during the events of Blood Omen. He got to enjoy his second chance for all of another ten minutes before he found out Kain had also invoked this trope.
  • Badass Long Robe
  • Bad Boss: When Raziel meets him in Soul Reaver 2, Moebius gives him permission to slay his vampire hunter servants on his way out of his lair. He could let them know Raziel is their ally, but nah.
  • Bald of Evil
  • Because Destiny Says So: He can see through time. It's kinda part of the package.
  • Big No: In Defiance when his spirit is Impaled with Extreme Prejudice by Raziel and he gets his first and last glimpse at the Elder God's true form.

Raziel: "Do you see it; the monster you served? Is this what you imagined when you worshipped it?"
Moebius: "Noooooooooooo!!!"

  • The Chessmaster: Plays a very mean game of Xanatos Speed Chess against Kain's Magnificent Bastard as the series progresses. And he seemingly won, up until the next trope was invoked anyway.
  • Didn't See That Coming: As Kain delights in pointing out, Moebius definitely didn't expect him to survive his battle with Raziel in Defiance. Doubly effective because not only is Moebius The Chessmaster, he can also see the future.
  • The Dragon
  • Kryptonite Factor: His staff can subdue vampires with a wave. Even Kain and Janos can't resist its powers.
    • Works in reverse too—though he has other powers he's definitely not a fighter, and he's pretty helpless if his staff doesn't work.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Twice. And his corpse a third time!
  • Magic Wand / Simple Staff
  • Manipulative Bastard: Oh yes. He has definite advantages in this regard (what with being The Omniscient time-streamer and all), but his ability to play Raziel, who is Immune to Fate, shows that his more conventional manipulative abilities are still pretty impressive.
  • Non-Linear Character: At any one point, the Moebius you're seeing could easily be the Moebius from another time period. He appears in Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance at times when he's technically supposed to be dead.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Invoked when Raziel first meets him. He doesn't buy it and Moebius quickly drops the act and laughs in his face. However he still hides his true role in the events of the series, and it isn't until Defiance that he lets everyone see just how powerful and in-control he really is.
  • Oh Crap: In Defiance, the look on his face when he realizes Kain is not dead and is right behind him is absolutely priceless. Were he not Impaled with Extreme Prejudice shortly afterward, he would have had to change his pants right then and there.
  • The Omniscient
    • Not So Omniscient After All: He can't see Raziel's future or what he'll do because his ability to Screw Destiny disrupts the time stream, and come the end of Defiance he doesn't foresee Kain's return either.

Kain: "Is there a crack in your omniscience after all, Moebius?"

Raziel: This blade has instilled fear in the heart of creatures much more… *finger pokes Moebius* sturdy than you.

  • This Cannot Be!: "This is impossible..."
  • Time Master
  • Unwitting Pawn: He was just the Elder God's tool with which to marginalize the vampires, once he's done that the Elder God has no problems letting him die.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: If we're to believe the murals Raziel finds, the humans were dominated by the vampires before Moebius led his rebellion, so for a while being a human in Nosgoth got a lot better thanks to him. He led that rebellion in the first place because he thought the Elder God was a genuine god, and believed his decree that vampires were a plague on Nosgoth that needed to be wiped out.

Raziel: "And if I told Moebius that he's worshiping a giant squid, do you think his faith will falter?"

The Elder God

"I am the origin of life...The devourer of death...I am the hub of the wheel, the purifying cycle to which all souls must be drawn!"

Voiced by Tony Jay

An ancient entity dwelling in Nosgoth's underground, he's the one who revived Raziel as a wraith. He's also the instigator of the war between the Ancients and the Hylden, and the one who told Moebius to exterminate the vampires, making him the main reason Nosgoth is a Crapsack World, and the Big Bad of the series

While fighting Kain: "Pathetic creature."

  • Wild Mass Guessing: An in-universe example—Raziel suggests the Elder God isn't a true god but just a powerful entity presenting himself as one, and also wonders if it was really the Elder God who revived him, or if it was another force that did it and the Elder God just took credit for it to win Raziel's allegiance. Both theories are entirely possible, but are neither confirmed or denied.

Ariel

"Rest...? A body is needed for sleep. Flesh and bones are required to recline. No, child, all I may do is watch, and remember, ceaselessly conscious as this wretched world’s history unfurls. Ghastly past, insufferable future, are they one and the same...? Am I always here?"

Voiced by Anna Gunn

Kain's predecessor as the Guardian of Balance in the Circle of Nine, her death sparked the circle's corruption and the events of the first game.

  • Fate Worse Than Death: Not only is she dead and unable to interact with the physical world, but thanks to Kain refusing the sacrifice, she's bound to the Pillars for all eternity.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In Defiance.
  • Morality Chain: Her death is what caused her lover Nupraptor to go insane and corrupt the Circle of Nine.
  • Spirit Advisor

Vorador

"Centuries of persecution have taught me well. Five hundred years ago, our race was nearly exterminated by the fanatical crusades of the Sarafan. And now the same sick drama unfolds again: in merely a decade, Moebius’s cutthroat citizen army has nearly accomplished what the Sarafan could not. Vampires meddling in the affairs of men... Look where it has brought us."

Voiced by Paul Lukather

A high-ranking Vampire and the first human to be "blessed" with the dark gift from the Ancients. He's the one who forged the Soul Reaver for Janos Audron, though he doesn't know its true purpose.

  • Bald of Awesome
  • Back from the Dead: They never fully explain why he's alive in Blood Omen 2: chronologically his death during the events of Blood Omen still happens, as Defiance takes the time to demonstrate. Defiance was supposed to explain it, with some cut content indicating Kain (present version) would have revived him, but it was left out.
    • Young!Kain's threat to Vorador near the end of Blood Omen 2 "Do you wish to return to the grave, old friend?" could imply that Kain as a fledgeling vampire somehow resurrected Vorador after dooming the pillars, or it might not, it's very ambiguous.
  • Badass Boast: Vorador gets one in Blood Omen when he meets Kain for the first time.

"After slaughtering six of the sheep, I defeated their pathetic little shepherd Malek..."

  • The Blacksmith: The maker of the Soul Reaver
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: His favorite hobby. His "pantry" is a specially designed torture chamber with acoustics that allow screams to reverberate for years after his victims are dead.
  • The Hedonist: Owns a ludicrously opulent mansion, and surrounds himself with concubines,
  • Jade-Colored Glasses: Earned them after the Sarafan vampire purges killed off Janos Audron and keeps them on for the rest of his life.
  • La Résistance: In Blood Omen 2.
  • Large Ham: Vorador gets in on the ham in Blood Omen.

"Call your dogs! They can feast on your corpses!"
"Whelp! As if you knew what eternity was. Grovel before your true master!"

Mortanius The Necromancer

"Strange, isn’t it Kain? That one cannot quite accept that which sustains him: you in your death and me in mine. But death cannot reign in a world without life... and soon you will find the quest ahead of you is yours and yours alone."

Voiced by Tony Jay (Blood Omen)/ Alistair Duncan (Defiance)

The Guardian of Death in the Circle of Nine, he's the one who revived Kain as a vampire. He's also the one who killed Ariel and caused the circle's corruption.

  • The Archmage: Mortanius was considered by most to be the most powerful magic wielder in Nosgoth at the time of the corruption of the Pillars.
  • The Atoner: Mortanius, having unwillingly murdered Ariel, spends most of the first game trying to repair the damage this has caused. It's also revealed that he's atoning for an even bigger misdeed- helping Moebius overthrow the vampires and removing the Pillars from vampire ownership- by his resurrection of Kain as the Scion of Balance
  • Batman Gambit: Once he figured out the Vampires were supposed to be the ones in charge and Moebius' rebellion was in error, he revived Kain since he knew Kain was supposed to be The Chosen One, and hoped for the best.
  • Big Bad: Of the first game.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Mortanius' Necromancy is a perfectly natural form of magic tied with the Pillar of Death; also, demonic possession aside, Mortanius himself is actually one of the nobler characters in the series.
  • Demonic Possession By the Hylden Lord
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: In Defiance, it's revealed that under his mask, he's mostly human in appearance except for his unhealthily pale skin- which would be an Undeathly Pallor if Mortanius hadn't still been alive at the time.
  • Expressive Mask: His skeletal "face," in the first game is actually a mask- a very convincing one at that.
  • Necromancer
  • The Other Darrin: Initially voiced by Tony Jay in Blood Omen, leading to some Wild Mass Guessing regarding the Elder God's identity when Jay went on to voice that character instead. His actor was changed in Defiance, to avoid confusion.
  • Prophet Eyes: Both his mask and his true self show blank white eyes.

Janos Audron

"Embrace your destiny, Raziel. You must reclaim the Reaver--it was forged for you and you alone...Without it, there is no hope."

The last Ancient Vampire and one of the highest-ranking of them, he is Vorador's sire and the one who commissioned the forging of the Soul Reaver. This also makes him the only person who understands its true purpose and thus the key to many mysteries. It was his heart, torn out and preserved as a dark relic by the Sarafan when they killed him, that revived Kain as a Vampire way back in Blood Omen.

Hash'ak'gik a.k.a. the Dark Entity, the Hylden Lord, and the Sarafan Lord

"Don't you see? My silencing of Ariel and its calculated repercussions is but the first act in my theater of Grand Guignol, of which you are the tragic hero. Play on, little vampire, play on..."

The main antagonist of the original game, he possessed Mortanius and murdered Ariel with the intent to destroy the Pillars of Nosgoth. In reality is a Hylden general (another title of his) that possesses people in Nosgoth to act through them and free the other Hylden from imprisonment.

  • Batman Gambit: As Kain realizes when he saves Raziel at the end of Soul Reaver 2, Hash was banking on Kain doing this so Raziel would eventually revive Janos, giving him the vessel he needed to open the gate to the Hylden realm.
  • Big Bad: In Blood Omen.
    • Hijacked by Ganon: Retroactively hijacks Blood Omen 2. Blood Omen 2 came out and named the villain "the Hylden General" aka the Sarafan Lord, but it wasn't until Defiance that it was revealed that he was the Dark Entity/Hash'ak'gik from the first game.
  • Body Surf
  • The Chessmaster
  • Demonic Possession
  • Evil Sounds Deep: All the different forms he uses have really deep voices, often with a Voice of the Legion effect too.
  • Fan Nickname: "Hash". Even writer Amy Hennig has used the term.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom
  • Hannibal Lecture: Gives a good one to Kain at the end of Blood Omen 2. Even though Kain follows with a Shut UP, Hannibal, it's not a particularly convincing one, and the player is left thinking that Kain was trying to avoid facing the fact that his enemy was right.
  • I Have Many Names: Though he's nice enough to share one with Turel, who also goes by "Hask'ak'gik".
  • Knight Templar: As far as the Hylden are concerned, as everything he's doing is to free them from their imprisonment and get revenge on the vampires. In the end he's justified in his actions as far as he's concerned.
    • It should be mentioned that the ancient vampires were the ones who started the war with his people, and then banished them to a hell dimension. His hatred for the vampires is very understandable, and were it not for the fact that he enjoys his Kick the Dog moments a bit too much and has no concern for Puny Humans he might even be considered a Hero Antagonist. At worst he is in Evil Versus Evil territory.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His victory over Raziel in Defiance weakens Raziel enough for the Elder God to reign Raziel in and trap him in his realm again, thereby setting the stage for Raziel to have his epiphany moment and grant Kain the empowered Soul Reaver.
  • The Omniscient: Possibly. He clearly knows a huge amount about time manipulation, and is able to play Kain, Raziel, and the Elder God to his own ends perfectly, which would make him a king among MagnificentBastards if he accomplished all this without some extensive foreknowledge.
  • The Man Behind the Man
  • Sealed Evil in a Can
  • Xanatos Gambit: Through Mortanius, it orchestrated the events of Blood Omen in the hopes of destroying the pillars. Specifically, the pillars would collapse if either the Scion of Balance remains corrupted, or if there are no vampires left to sustain the barrier between worlds. By ensuring that the last vampire in the world was a corrupted Scion of Balance, the pillars would fall either way. Glorious

Introduced in Blood Omen

Nupraptor The Mentalist

"Come, Kain... come share my pain..."

The Guardian of Mind in the Circle of Nine, Nupraptor went mad when he found that his lover Ariel had been murdered; with his psychic powers, he went about spreading his insanity to the rest of the Circle, kicking off the events of the first game.

Anarcrothe the Alchemist

"The Circle exists for us, we don’t exist for it! Our powers will save or damn Nosgoth at our whim!"

The Guardian of States in the Circle of Nine.

Azimuth the Planer

"Come to me my children! We shall ravage Nosgoth together!"

The Guardian of Dimension in the Circle of Nine.

Bane the Druid

"He is an affront to Nature itself! It is our duty to purify him!"

The Guardian of Nature in the Circle of Nine.

  • The Beast Master: According to Silicon Knight's biography, he can control the behaviour of animals.
  • Creating Life: His ability to influence animals and their biology made him one of the most integral proponents of the Dark Eden triad.
  • Druid
  • Elemental Powers
  • Kill It with Water: During the boss battle, he converts the ground into water, exploiting Kain's vampiric weakness.

Dejoule the Energist

"Burn, wretched vampire, burn!"

The Guardian of Energy in the Circle of Nine.

  • Battle Aura
  • Black Cloak: Until the boss battle, of course...
  • Helium Speech: For some reason.
  • Pure Energy
  • Walking Wasteland: according to both deleted lines and the Silicon Knights character biographies, Dejoule's powers have grown to the point that her presence can blister the skin and sterilize the cells of anybody standing too close to her- hence the reason why she wears an insulating cloak.

Malek The Paladin

"It is not often that a man sees his own corpse: it is a sobering experience. But I am far less interested in my own corpse than I am in yours..."

The Guardian of Conflict in the Circle of Nine, and the official bodyguard of the other members. After his failure to protect the Circle of Nine from Vorador's attack, Malek was punished by having his body destroyed and his soul bound to a suit of magical armour, condemning him to the post of Defender of the Nine for all eternity.

"I'll cut you from crotch to gizzard and feed what's left to your brides!"

  • Blade on a Stick
  • Church Militant
  • Dead Guy on Display: In the throne room of his fortress, he's left a rotting corpse "holding court." However, contrary to the quote, the body doesn't actually belong to Malek.
    • There's some confusion on that; there are two bodies in Blood Omen that are said to belong to Malek, one under Avernus where he was executed and one in his fortress. Both are identified as his in the strategy guide, and word of god has never cleared it up.
      • Well, the one under Avernus is just the skeleton. Possibly the one in his fortress is the rest of him.
  • The Dragon: Served as the Dragon to the Circle during their crusade against the vampires. Was dragon his feet during Vorador's assault on the circle Thanks to Moebius, and Kain was Genre Savvy enough to go after him early on.
  • Genius Bruiser: He might not be the most tactically-sound mind in the Circle, but he did manage to construct a number of machines built to recycle and fuse the souls of dead warriors into suits of armour.
  • Knight Templar
  • Last of His Kind: Last of the Sarafan priesthood by the time of Blood Omen.
  • Magic Knight
  • Say My Name: Most of the Circle Members he failed to save at the beginning of Blood Omen end up shouting Malek's name a lot. So Narmtastic that even Vorador laughed.

William the Just

A once virtuous king, he became corrupted and turned into the Nemesis, a tyrant bent on conquering Nosgoth. Kain travels back in time to kill him before this happened, an event that sparks the destruction of the Vampire race since oops, a Vampire just killed a young and kind king in cold blood.

Elzevir the Dollmaker

An accomplished toymaker and minor magician. During the backstory, he took part in a contest to produce a doll worthy of the Princess of Willendorf's birthday and won; as a reward, he requested a lock of the princess's hair- which he received. Shortly afterwards, the princess fell into a coma, and Elzevir ended up becoming one of Kain's targets in his mission to rally Willendorf against the Nemesis.

Introduced in Soul Reaver

Melchiah

"Do you not recognize me, brother? Am I so changed?"

One of Raziel's brothers, he was the last to be resurrected by Kain, and having the least of his power, still suffers from decay. Thus, on top of having to drink blood, he has to skin the corpses for hides to replace his own festering skin; by the time Raziel emerges from the Abyss, this practice has degenerated into incorporating entire bodies into his own, transforming Melchiah into a hulking mass of corpses and mangled organs. Even his fingers are actually severed limbs grafted onto the ends of his arms.

Zephon

"See how the humans’ weapon of destruction has become my home- indeed, my body. A cocoon of brick and granite from which to watch a pupating world..."

Another of Raziel's brothers, his offspring have mutated into arachnid-like creatures capable of climbing walls and wrapping their prey in cocoons for later meals. Zephon himself has grown more massive and more insectoid, to the point that he resembles a thinly-veiled version of the Alien Queen.

  • All Webbed Up: the Zephonim's victims generally end up like this.
  • Stationary Boss
  • Tennis Boss: Though not in the usual sense of direct deflecting—he spits out eggs that Raziel has to pick up, light on fire and throw back at him.
  • The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: "Will... instinct... reflex action... the insect mind finds little difference. I warn you, brother, as my stature has grown, so it is matched by my appetite..."
  • Womb Level: The uppermost levels of the Silenced Cathedral have become a part of his body.


Rahab

"You, of all of us, should respect the power bestowed by a limitation overcome."

One of Raziel's brothers, he and his brood have become aquatic creatures and overcame the vampire weakness to water. While his spawn are amphibious, Rahab himself has metamorphosed into a merman rather reminiscent of a shark.

  • Boss Arena Idiocy: A rather magnificent subversion—Rahab's territory is a flood abbey, and both his lair and the passage to it are also flooded. If Raziel couldn't shift to the Spectral Realm where water is insubstantial, he wouldn't even be able to get to Rahab's lair. And once you do get there, the only dry land are small pillars where he can easily knock you back into the water, forcing Raziel to shift back to the Spectral Realm.
    • Played straight in other ways though. If you have an aversion to sunlight, it might be considered unwise to make your lair in a room full of shatterable windows.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different
  • Puzzle Boss
  • The Power of the Sun: How Raziel kills him.

Dumah

"The centuries in limbo have honed my strength. Not even Kain is my equal."

One of Raziel's brothers, he is the second-strongest of them and declares even Kain isn't his equal. Ironically, his offspring were scattered and disorganized when he was finally defeated by an army of humans, and serve as the main Mooks of the game, easily killed in two or three hits.

  • Advancing Boss of Doom
  • The Juggernaut: Absolutely nothing in Raziel's armory can harm him.
  • Kill It with Fire: Due to the above, Raziel kills him by luring him into a giant furnace.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Raziel finds his body.
  • Only Mostly Dead: His killers didn't really kill him, they just trapped him in limbo by impaling his body. Removing the spears allows his soul to return to his body.
  • Overly Long Tongue: His offspring sport long tongues capable of draining the blood from victims.
  • Useless Useful Spell: The Constrict power Raziel gets for defeating him—there's a good reason why this is the one power Raziel doesn't retain in later games. It lets you bind enemies in place by running a circle around them, but to do this you're both letting the enemy attack you while you run, and you're relying on them letting you complete the binding in which case they're already holding still anyway. Its only practical purpose is to solve puzzles.

Turel

"Yes. I am changed. I have become a God. Greater than you ever were, Raziel. You were never a God. Greater even than Kain!"

The final brother and the strongest for sure, he has telekinetic abilities surpassing Kain's own. He was left out of Soul Reaver due to time constraints and came back for a surprise appearance in Defiance, where he had been pulled back in time to the Blood Omen era.

  • A God Am I: Considers himself one, since he has a cult dedicated to worshipping him.
  • Boss Arena Idiocy: The giant gongs- though this may have been the Cult's way of keeping him under control.
  • Demonic Possession: When Raziel encounters him in Defiance, he's under the control of the Hylden Lord.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: He sudden appearance was very out of left field.
  • Handicapped Badass: See Super Senses below.
  • Large and In Charge: Aside from the Elder God, Turel is probably the largest boss in the series.
  • Left Hanging: The exact means and reason of how and why he was pulled back in time to the Blood Omen era was going to be covered in a future game. Word of God has since explained it was Azimuth who pulled him back, using a time-streaming device of Moebius's. The intent was for him to be a host for the Hylden Lord, but he was too large and hard to control so they left him in the basement of Avernus and used him to invoke fear and reverence to the Hylden Lord among the humans.
  • Mind Over Matter
  • Super Senses: In just about every form except for sight - he's actually blind.
    • Maybe not completely blind; when Raziel is waving the glowing wraith blade in his face he seems to be reacting to it. If so, he can presumably see bright lights, but since he's kept underground in a gloomy pit his eyes are useless to all intents and purposes.
  • Wham! Line: When he first appears you probably have no idea who or what he is, you just know he recognizes Raziel somehow. And then Raziel mutters his name, and suddenly the scene takes an interesting turn.

Introduced in Blood Omen 2

Umah

A member of the Vampire resistance, she is Kain's contact and assists him when she can.

Faustus

One of Kain's former lieutenants, he switched sides in the backstory when he decided Kain would lose.

Marcus

One of Kain's former lieutenants, Kain apparently tried to kill him. Marcus claims it was because Kain feared his growing powers, but of course Kain denies this. However, Kain is uncharacteristically flattering and courteous when they meet, which suggests that Kain would rather avoid a fight. Considering how eager Kain is to flatten other enemies, Marcus could well be right.

Sebastian

Yet another of Kain's lieutenants, this one was more direct in his betrayal—he tipped off the Sarafan on how and when to ambush Kain's army.

Magnus

Kain's final lieutenant, he ran away before the climactic battle between Kain and the Sarafan. Or so Kain assumes. Actually Magnus snuck away to try and assassinate the Sarafan Lord, and was caught and thrown into an extra-dimensional prison. When Kain finds him he's lost his mind.

"I will divine from your entrails!"

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