Kain (Legacy of Kain)

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Kain is a main character in the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Throughout the series, he has been voiced by Simon Templeman. Kain often shouts "Vae victis!" (translated as "Woe to the conquered!") whilst inflicting severe punishment upon his enemies, a phrase which was borrowed from the Celtic chieftain Brennus, who conquered Rome in the 4th century BC. At the beginning of the Legacy of Kain series, Kain is portrayed as a dark vampire brought back from the dead to fulfill his desire for revenge and as such makes an anti-hero. However, he later attempts to save Nosgoth, by defying his fate and returning the Pillars to the Vampires. During the first game, it is discovered that Kain is the Guardian of the Pillar of Balance and the successor to Ariel, and much later that he is destined to become the Scion of Balance.

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Centuries before Kain's birth, Nosgoth was protected by The Circle of Nine, a group of sorcerers sworn to serve and protect the sacred Pillars of Nosgoth, nine ancient edifices which towered over the world, preserving harmony and life throughout the world. However, the Circle was infiltrated by dark forces, and the Guardian of the Pillar of Balance, Ariel, was cruelly murdered. Upon learning of her assassination, her lover, Nupraptor, the Guardian of the Pillar of the Mind, propelled his despair and anguish throughout the Circle. In their madness, the remaining Guardians turned their powers to dark purposes and abandoning the Pillars to stand as silent, decaying sentries. Born in the city of Coorhagen in central Nosgoth, Kain lived the privileged life of a nobleman, unaware that he had been marked from birth as Ariel's successor, the next Guardian of the Pillar of Balance. It is implied that the ambitious but directionless noble served in the Army of Hope under King Ottmar for a number of years until his fateful journey west. After stopping off at a country inn, he was ambushed by brigands and murdered, impaled on his assassin's sword. In the Spectral Realm, Kain was plucked from the brink of oblivion by Mortanius the Necromancer, still transfixed by his murderer's sword. Tormented by searing pain and a thirst for vengeance, Kain recklessly accepted the Necromancer's offer of revenge. Heedless of the spiritual cost, his soul returned to his dead body, and he rose from his tomb to discover that he had been resurrected as a Vampire. Departing his mausoleum, Kain quickly tracked down his assassins and exacted his bloody revenge. With his vengeance and hunger sated, he sought only a cure for the vampiric curse that afflicted him. Guided by Mortanius and the spectre of Ariel (now bound helplessly to the decaying Pillars she once served), Kain hunted down each of the Pillar Guardians who were now poisoning Nosgoth. Only with their deaths could the Pillars be healed, and only by restoring Balance to the land would Kain apparently be released from his vampiric curse. Originally reluctant to live the horror of an existence blighted by a thirst for human blood, Kain soon adapted to his state of undeath and discovered, within his darkened soul, a growing disaffection for humankind as he embraced his newfound immortality. Furthering his quest, Kain slew the corrupted Guardian Nupraptor at Ariel's behest, proceeding through his plague-stricken hometown of Coorhagen and northward to the abode of the vampire Vorador. Vorador advised Kain to steer clear from the troubles of humanity, granting the young vampire a ring capable of summoning him to his side. Kain journeyed to the plaguelands of Dark Eden, encountering the Guardians DeJoule, Bane, Anacrothe and Malek. Summoning Vorador to deal with Malek, Kain pursued Bane and DeJoule, though Anacrothe escaped. With three more Guardians disposed of, Kain departed to southern Nosgoth. During his journey, he found and claimed the Soul Reaver, an ancient, enigmatic blade endowed with a ravenous soul. Within the heart of Avernus Cathedral, he destroyed the Guardian of the Pillar of Dimension, Azimuth, and also stumbled across a time-streaming device created by Moebius, the Guardian of the Pillar of Time. Against the counsel of the ancient vampire Vorador, Kain journeyed to the city of Willendorf in the hopes of vanquishing the Legions of the Nemesis, a crazed conqueror from the north. Caught in a bloody battle between King Ottmar's Army of Hope and the ruthlessly advancing armies of the Nemesis, Kain watched on as Ottmar was slain by the Legions. As the tide of the battle turned, Kain used his only means of escape, the time-streaming device, which swept him nearly 50 years back into Nosgoth's past. Hoping to alter the course of Nosgoth's history, Kain assassinated the young King William the Just, who would become the diabolic tyrant known as the Nemesis. Coincidentally, both warriors were armed with the Soul Reaver, Kain's sword being the exact same blade in its future incarnation. After breaking William's Reaver and sating himself on his victim's blood, Kain returned to the present, only to discover that his murder of the beloved boy-king had ignited a genocidal war against vampires, led by the Time Streamer Moebius himself. Upon his return, Kain witnessed the future that he had wrought, and the final, triumphant act of Moebius's cold-blooded mob. Vorador, the last of the era's vampires, was guillotined before his eyes and his head held aloft for a cheering, bloodthirsty crowd, leaving Kain the sole surviving vampire in Nosgoth. Whether indifferent or not towards Vorador's death, Kain nonetheless proceeded to confront and behead Moebius before being called back to the Pillars of Nosgoth by Mortanius. Watching on as the Necromancer attacked and killed Anacrothe at the Pillars, Kain was riled into destroying Mortanius, who was in actuality the Guardian of the Pillar of Death. As his quest brought him full-circle, with eight of the nine Pillars restored, Kain confronted the destiny that Mortanius and Ariel had hidden from him: that he was the Guardian of Balance, and that only by sacrificing himself could he restore the Pillars. Ariel presented him with a final, climactic decision - sacrifice himself to heal the land, but ensure the extinction of the vampires; or refuse the sacrifice, and seal the world's corruption. Revolted by the machinations of the human sorcerers and alienated from his former humanity, Kain chose the latter path - opting to rule the world in its damnation rather than commit himself to oblivion. This apocalyptic act completed the Pillars' destruction. The mighty columns toppled as Kain sealed their ruinous fate, and damned Ariel to ceaselessly haunt the dilapidated Pillars she once served. Until the Balance is restored, she would never be released. Kain concluded his quest with the epiphany that Vorador was right, that vampirism is not a curse, but a blessing, and that vampires are dark gods, whose duty it is to thin the human herd. But the Pillars, Kain ultimately realized, were more than just a human edifice. The health of the Pillars was tied inextricably into the health of the land. With the Pillars left unrestored, corruption seeped slowly into the land like a poison, turning his empire into an irredeemable wasteland.

Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain

The young Kain as he appeared in Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain.

After the fall of the pillars, Kain raised an army of vampires with the help of Vorador, intent on taking all of Nosgoth for himself and declaring himself absolute ruler. (How Vorador is alive at this point is unknown, but it is speculated that the events of BO2 were created as a result of the paradox in Soul Reaver 2, possibly negating Vorador's execution.) Kain's campaign ran unchecked until his siege of Nosgoth's capital city Meridian. There, his army is scattered and he himself is struck a mortal wound by the Sarafan Lord, the general of Meridian's forces and leader of the Holy Order of the Sarafan, an order dedicated to the destruction of all vampires. During the battle, Kain's legendary Soul Reaver proves incapable of hitting the Sarafan Lord. Kain is left for dead. Kain reawakens two centuries later, shadowy bits of memories about his army razing the land on their path to victory teasing the former vampire lord. Kain remembers he had been betrayed by members of his own legion, who have joined with the Sarafan Lord as his underlings since the failed final siege. Kain has friends in his new world, however. The Vampire Cabal, a resistance group against the ruling Sarafan, has sent an operative named Umah to assist Kain and persuade him to help the Cabal defeat the Sarafan Lord. She quickly fills him in on the recent history, in turn, he vows vengeance upon those responsible for his fall, and ultimately to deliver the Sarafan Lord’s head on a pike. Through his journey to regain his strength and power, he meets up with familiar faces. One is Vorador, the leader of the Cabal and Kain's erstwhile mentor. Within the Cabal are both humans and vampires trying to defeat the Sarafan Lord's plans of world domination. The plot runs much thicker, as Kain will eventually discover. Along his path, Kain meets and ultimately defeats the legionnaires (Sebastian, Marcus, and Faustus) that betrayed him long ago. Kain also discovers that the Sarafan Lord was not even a human but a Hylden, the enemy of the Ancients (those later cursed to become the first vampires), and his intent was to raze Nosgoth of all life so that his own race may attempt to colonize it once again. He discovers what happened to his finest warrior and prime lieutenant, Magnus, who had his mind destroyed and left to rot in the Eternal Prison, where all dangerous enemies of the Sarafan are kept. Kain also meets the 'first' vampire Janos Audron, who explains the history of the Ancients and the Hylden and their ages-long perpetual struggle for Nosgoth. Audron explains the Ancients repelled the Hylden and banished them into a chaotic realm referred to in the games as the Demon Dimension. Exacting vengeance, the Hylden cursed the Ancients with vampirism, forcing them to feed on the humans they loved and protected, and immortality. Across the ocean within the Hylden City, a base of operations made by the Hylden in their guises as high-ranking Sarafan knights and the mysterious Glyph Wrights, Kain meets the Sarafan Lord in a final battle that closes the portal between Nosgoth and their realm, shutting out the Hylden and ending their deadly plot. Janos is thrown into the Hylden's chaotic prison realm in this conflict, and is presumed to be trapped there for eternity. Kain's enemy defeated, he resumes his quest to subjugate Nosgoth under his flag.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Kain refused the sacrifice and Nosgoth was condemned to damnation. Kain built his empire in the land of Nosgoth and kept the ruined Pillar of Balance as his seat of throne. Kain raised 6 lieutenants from the fallen bodies of sanctified Sarafan warrior priests, with which to rule his empire. At one point in his reign, his first born lieutenant, Raziel had inexplicably evolved wings surpassing Kain's own evolution. In an apparent act of jealousy, Kain ripped the wings from Raziel's back and ordered his execution. Raziel was dragged to a cliff by his brothers, the Lieutenants Turel and Dumah, and at Kain's order, was thrown over the edge into the Lake of the Dead - a deep and raging natural whirlpool. Raziel returned to the Material Realm and infiltrates Kain's former stronghold to encounter Kain at the fallen pillars. During the following battle, a strange paradox occurred when the Soul Reaver, a soul consuming blade, struck Raziel, who was also a soul reaver himself. The blade shattered, and the spirit within attached itself to Raziel as a symbiotic spectral weapon. Kain seemed strangely pleased with the event, and escapes. After Raziel slays all his brothers but Turel (who is mysteriously absent), he turns his attention back to Kain. Raziel makes his way deep into the mountains and finds Kain in the Timestreaming Chamber of Moebius. Kain, through a series of riddles, hints that there is more at stake than Raziel could possibly imagine and that he thinks Raziel is the key to his dilemma (explained in Soul Reaver 2). Kain activates the time streaming device to Nosgoth's past and jumps through, with Raziel hot on his heels.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2

Raziel fights his way out of the stronghold, and is shocked to see Nosgoth as a green paradise, and not the wasteland he remembered. He confronts Kain at the pillars, where Kain reveals his agenda to Raziel, explaining that he was cheated out of his true destiny. Kain explained that he brought Raziel to the past to try and find a third option to his dilemma, where he would not have to choose between his own death and the damnation of Nosgoth. Once again, Kain escapes. Eventually, Raziel tracked down Kain in the Cathedral where Kain was tricked into killing King William The Just. Kain explains that he cannot simply accept his destiny to die and bring balance to Nosgoth, because there is a flaw in history, that if destiny is set in stone, "how can anyone explain what happened in this very room"? King William was destined to become the evil tyrant The Nemesis, but, history was changed when Kain came back in time and slew the king, thus Kain deduced that the "variable" that allowed this was the Soul Reaver. Both Kain and William were armed with the Soul Reaver (Kain with the "present" version, and King William with the "past" version). When the blades crossed, it created enough force to change history. Kain then notes that it was Moebius that made sure they both had Soul Reavers. Raziel picks up the Soul Reaver sword on King Williams tomb. Suddenly without warning, the Soul Reaver attached to Raziel unleashed itself and tried to kill Kain by itself. Raziel resisted and eventually managed to subdue the Soul Reaver. Violent ripples go through time, as history is changed. Kain explains that by refusing to kill him there, Raziel had altered a small part of history. Later, Raziel meets with his past-self, a Sarafan priest, and murders him using the Soul Reaver. The Reaver, with all other enemies slain, then turns on Raziel. Kain arrives just after the Reaver impales Raziel, and pulls it out, saving him. As history meant for Raziel to go into the Reaver, the timeline is modified to accommodate the change; as such, Kain's mind suddenly recalls new things, and as Raziel slips back into the Spectral Realm, Kain enigmatically warns that Janos Audron must not be revived.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance

After Kain prevented Raziel from being consumed by the Reaver and history reordered itself, Kain found himself alone in the Sarafan Stronghold. After an indefinite period of time, Kain breached the Stronghold's defenses and tracked down the Time Streamer Moebius, who, after some harsh banter, eventually directed Kain to the place where his destiny lay - the Vampire Citadel in the Lake of Tears. Meanwhile, Raziel spent 500 years in the lair of the Elder God, refusing to serve the dark deity out of fear that he would still end up imprisoned in the Soul Reaver. After outwitting the Elder God and reaching the surface world, Raziel learned how to enhance the Spectral Reaver using elemental forges, the latter five forges coincidentally imbued with the souls of the original Circle of Nine. Continuing on his journey, Raziel encountered numerous murals depicting a cataclysmic battle between two champions - one a Vampire, the other a Hylden. Raziel was led to believe that he himself was the Vampire champion. Encountering the same murals in a different period of time, Kain was under the impression that he, not Raziel, was the prophesied hero of the Vampires, and that Raziel was, in fact, the destined champion of the Hylden race. After assembling an artifact known as the Balance Emblem, Kain stole into a secure chamber within the Vampire Citadel and was confronted by the Elder God, who posed as the Oracle of the Ancient Vampires. The disguised Elder opened a portal to Raziel's time period, and Kain reluctantly passed through. Travelling to Avernus Cathedral, Kain met Raziel in the main chapel. Attempting to convince Raziel not to raise Janos Audron out of fear for the wraith's grim destiny, Kain engaged in battle with his prodigal son. However, the tables turned as Raziel was slowly drawn into the Reaver after dealing Kain a fatal blow. Enraged, Raziel drove his claws deep into the Vampire's chest, ripping out his heart. Astonished, Kain backed away from Raziel, who blasted him into a dimensional rift using telekinesis. The rift closed, leaving Raziel with the impression that Kain was dead. Kain later awoke, inexplicably alive, in the Demon Realm, a dark dimension wherein the Hylden had been banished following their defeat by the Ancient Vampires. Slowly recovering, Kain was able to fight his way out of the Demon Realm, making his way back to the Vampire Citadel. Returning to the Oracle's chamber, he made his way to the Spirit Forge, where he found Moebius, who was reporting to the Elder God at the time. Believing that Kain was dead at last, Moebius was shocked when Kain appeared to him, and even more shocked to discover that his powers had no effect on the Vampire now that he had no heart. Kain confronted and killed the shocked Moebius. The Time Streamer's ghost entered the Spectral Realm, to be greeted by Raziel, who had earlier been trapped by the Elder God. After reaving Moebius's soul, destroying him once and for all, Raziel manifested himself through the Guardian's corpse, entering the Material Realm. Unsurprised to see Moebius's dead body acting of its own accord, Kain impaled the Time Streamer with the Reaver, only to see the body finish its transformation into Raziel's physical self. Kain, shocked by what he had done, attempted to free Raziel from the blade, but Raziel finally submitted to his fate and entered the sword willingly. As his last act, Raziel merged the complete and purified wraith blade, empowered with the souls of both the nine Guardians and the six Vampire Lieutenants, with Kain's soul, restoring the Vampire. The purification united Kain's soul again, healing his gaping wound and curing him of the corruption which had affected him since Nupraptor's telekinetic assault. Finally able to see the Elder God, Kain proceeded to fight the ancient deity in single combat. With the true Soul Reaver in his possession, Kain was able to defeat the Elder God, but was unable to kill him. After their battle, Kain turned a deaf ear to the Elder God's threats and returned to the council chamber above the Citadel's subterranean confines, where he looked out across the Lake of Tears to behold the fallen Pillars of Nosgoth. As he gazed out, Kain realized that Raziel had given him one last chance to heal the wounded lands of Nosgoth, making a remark about the last gift that Raziel had given him. He regarded Raziel's tragic sacrifice as "the first, bitter taste of that terrible illusion...hope."

Kain's evolution

It perhaps interesting to note Kain's physical form during his existence. In life, he appears as a dark-haired man of Northern European/Germanic appearance to match his environment (a gothic setting further evidenced by the place names, in the first game at least). After transformation to a Vampire, He becomes white-blond, with pale flesh. As the series progresses, his hair becomes white and his flesh takes upon a greenish cast. As he evolves further his physique becomes heavier set, and his hands and feet become tridactyl, and powerfully clawed. Whilst this seems to prevent him wearing boots, he has no apparent trouble wielding the Soul Reaver, or using his hands for anything else - The same can be said for Raziel and the other lieutenants at the beginning of "Soul Reaver" (game 2, chapter 3). However, at this point, Raziel states that he has served Kain for a millennium. As he appears before the throne to present his wings, he explains that Kain, becoming more "divine" would periodically endure some change, with these "gifts" manifesting themselves later in the Six Brothers. Raziel is punished for surpassing Kain (we are led to believe - later revealed as a plot device). In the further millennium that Raziel is at the bottom of the Lake of the Dead, he returns to find that his own Clan have been exterminated, and the other five have evolved along specific lines, the clan leaders being the most extreme examples. Dumah, for instance, is a Juggernaut many times human size, and Rahab resembles a 'Mer-Shark'. Kain himself, however, has certainly become more muscular, more nosferatal, and can command powers which might qualify as Magic, but his physical appearance has not evolved as Raziel claimed, in at least two millennia, and he appears little different throughout the series as he does at the start of Game 2, Chapter 3, when Raziel describes the supposed evolutions; powerful though Kain is, there is no evidence of the extreme physical changes, not to mention the diversity of form, the other Clan leaders undergo. This is because Kain was created using the heart of Darkness and thus Blood of Janos Audron to transform him into a vampire making him of the Audron bloodline along with Vorador, who has a similar appearance, whereas Kain's Clan leaders were turned when Kain stole their souls from the underworld.

See also

• List of Legacy of Kain characters