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Tainted by his vampiric "gift," Kain rejects his duty as the scion of balance and chooses to lead an empire of vampires in the dying land of Nosgoth.
Kain's saga
*Spoiler Warning*
Role as Scion of Balance
Kain is often referred to as the Scion of Balance in the series. This term implies that he will return the pillars to Vampire Guardianship. This separates him from all the other balance guardians who were merely born to serve their tenure as a Pillar Guardians.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Kain as he appears in Blood Omen
Kain as he appears in Blood Omen
We are introduced to a young and ambitious Kain in Blood Omen. Destined to be the Scion of Balance, in normal life he was an arrogant nobleman in King Ottmar's court. While on a mission, he was ambushed and assassinated in a plot to destroy the Circle of Nine. Enraged and lost in the spectral realm, he blindly accepted an offer by the necromancer Mortanius to avenge his death. Upon resurrection, he realized that he had been betrayed and was reborn as a vampire. Later on, we find out that Kain was resurrected using Janos Audron's "Heart of Darkness".
Seeking a cure for his vampire curse, he visits the Pillars of Nosgoth. There, the ghost of the Balance Guardian Ariel tells him that his fate is tied to the Pillars and that he must kill all the Pillar Guardians to free it of the corruption. During his quest, Kain comes across Moebius The Timestreamer(posing to be the Oracle) who warns him about the impending invasion from the north by the armies of the Nemesis,once a king known as William the Just. After this meeting, Kain meets Vorador who acts like a mentor to him. Vorador tries to teach him to embrace his dark gift and stay away from the humans but Kain refuses to listen and continues with his mission. He faces the other Pillar Guardians,including Malek in Dark Eden. Kain summons Vordaor to deal with Malek and kills the other Guardian's himself. After this, he ventures into Avernus Cathedral where he finds the infamous sword, Soul Reaver. He also comes across a time streaming device which he uses to travel 50 years back in time. With Moebius's advice still ringin inside his head, he decides to change history by killing the young king William before he became the Nemesis. On facing William, he finds out that both of them were armed with the Soul Reaver. Kain shatters William's blade and murders the boy king before he can ravage Nosgoth.
On returning to his own timeline, Kain finds out that he had been tricked by Moebius who used William's death to ignite a genocidal crusade against the vampires. William died as a martyr saint and Kain becomes the author of his own species extinction. Following Vorador's public execution, Kain was the last surviving vampire in all Nosgoth. For his betrayal, Kain killed Moebius and returned to the Pillars. While hiding there, he found Mortanius in argument with Anacrothe over the Pillar's purpose. After the argument turned into a fight, Mortanius turns into a demonic entity and kills Anacrothe. Kain emerged from the shadows and threatens him that he too must die if the Pillars are to be restored. To his surprise, the demon informs him that it was the plan all along and Kain acted like a willing pawn. It is also revealed that both Mortanius and Ariel hide the fact about Kain's true identity as the Pillar Guardian of Balance. Kain kills the possessed Mortanius and finds that Moebius's plan had worked. Kain was left with only 2 choices - to kill himself and end the vampire race to save Nosgoth, or refuse the sacrifice and rule a doomed empire as its king. Either of these choices denied Kain the chance to fulfill his destiny as the Scion of Balance (and return the pillars to Vampire Guardianship).
The canon ending shows Kain refusing the sacrifice and embracing his dark gift. Most of the later games in the series revolve around Kain trying to find a 3rd path out of this dilemma created by Moebius.
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 
Kain feeding in Blood Omen 2
Kain feeding in Blood Omen 2
In Blood Omen 2, we find out that Kain refused the sacrifice and lead an army with the intent of conquering all Nosgoth. But his conquest failed as he was betrayed by his own lieutenants and defeated by the Sarafan Lord at Meridian. After the defeat, he was left unconscious for two centuries as he recovered from his wounds. Upon waking up, he finds out thats surprisingly, he still has friends in this world. Umah, an operative of Vorador's vampire clan - The Cabal helps Kain in regaining his powers and in his quest to establish a vampire rule over Nosgoth. (Vorador's presence in this timeline was supposed to be explained in Defiance but it never made it into the game. It was possibly due to the paradox created at the end of Soul Reaver 2. It is also possible that Kain resurrecteed Vorador). As he regains his former strength, Kain kills his former lieutenants.He also frees his greatest warrior at the time, Magnus who was horribly deformed and living out a pitiful existence. During the course of the game, Umah tries to betray Kain by delivering him to the Sarafan but Kain sees through her betrayal and murders her.
On his adventures, one of the Sarafan's captive creatures tells Kain that the Sarafan Lord is not human at all and is infact a Hylden. Later in the game, he finds an entity known just as the “Mass” - used to power a Hylden device.Kain destroys this mass and discovers that it was the ancient vampire, Janos Audron who had devolved into that state upon centuries of imprisonment. Janos tells Kain about the history between the Ancients and the Hylden, how the Hylden affected the once noble Ancients with a predatory bloodthirst and turned them into vampires. He informs Kain about how his refusal to sacrifice himself shattered the pillars, which were used as a prison to hold the Hylden back in the demon realm. Once a few of the Hylden broke through, they created a device to sustain themselves in this realm and Kain must destroy this device to sever the connection and banish the Hylden once again. It dawns on Kain that all the events leading upto now - Ariel's assassination, his resurrection as a vampire and damning of the pillars were expertly orchestrated.
Armed with this information, Kain assaults the Hylden city and faces the Hylden posing as the Sarafan lord. During this battle, Janos Audron intervenes to help Kain but is swept aside and banished to the demon realm. Enraged, Kain destroys the device and kills the Hylden lord. He reclaims the Soul Reaver and goes on to conquer all of Nosgoth.
Kain on his throne
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Set about a thousand year after the events of Blood Omen 2, Soul Reaver shows a very different Kain. He is now the ruler of a failing empire and has raised six of the Sarafan warrior priests as his vampire lieutenants, Raziel being the strongest of them all. Kain and his lieutenants have created various clans, which occupy all of Nosgoth. Kain's empire has pushed humanity to the brink of extinction and has made Nosgoth almost lifeless.
The game shows that Kain has evolved over the last millennium.And so have his lieutenants. But when Raziel develops wings before him, Kain casts him into the Abyss. The apparent reason at the time was jealously but as we find out in later games, Kain knew about Raziel's true destiny and sought to change his own fate by using Raziel as his pawn. After Raziel returned as a wraith, Kain knowingly took the decision of attacking him with the Soul Reaver,thus destroying the physical blade. This left a wraith version of the blade in the spectral realm which Raziel picked up. This wraith blade coiled itself around Raziel's arm, becoming his symbiotic weapon.
Raziel discovers the truth about his origins (as a Sarafan priest) and seeks vengeance for the unlife Kain forced upon him. After murdering all his former brothers, Raziel purses Kain into the chronoplast chamber, where he is told that “their futures are predestined” and that “free will is an illusion”. Kain questions the Sarafan crusade's true purpose and tells Raziel before escaping that this is not how or when it all ends. The ending implies that Kain has been using the timestreaming chambers for a few centuries, to visit Nosgoth's past and future. This gives us an insight into the game he is playing.
Kain escaping through the time portal
Kain escaping through the time portal
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Soul Reaver 2 follows right where the last game left off. Kain goes into Nosgoth's past, some 30 years before the events of Blood Omen. He meets Raziel at the Pillars, right at the monumental moment when Ariel is murdered and the Pillars are corrupted as a young Kain is born. Kain was destined to be the Scion of Balance, the one who would restore balance by bringing the pillars back under vampire guardianship. But Moebius's plan had denied him the chance to do so.Calling their tale crude and ill-conceived, Kain tells Raziel about the choice he had to make as a young vampire, comparing it to the two sides of a coin. Kain was hoping that someday that coin would land on its edge. He hoped to resolve his and Nosgoth's dilemma with a third option and Raziel was the key. He urged Raziel to discover these secrets for himself.
Later on, Raziel and Kain meet again – this time at the tomb of William the Just inside the Sarafan Keep, where the Soul Reaver is stored. Kain continues with his rants on fatalism and informs Raziel how they were supposed to meet here at this time. He retells the tale of his youth, about how he was coerced by Moebius to go back in time and slay the young king. Kain reveals how Moebius made sure both him and William were armed with the Soul Reaver at the time of their confrontation. The presence of two Reavers at the same time and space created a paradox, strong enough to divert the course of history and lead to the crusade against the vampires. He then hands Raziel the Reaver, and soon it overcomes Raziel as he is propelled towards Kain. Kain tells Raziel that he is destined to kill him here, at this time. Raziel exercises his free will and refuses to go through with the murder thus altering the course of history.
Kain follows Raziel to a hundred years into Nosgoth's future and informs him that Janos Audron holds the answer to his destiny. Raziel then travels five hundred years into Nosgoth's past, at the time of the Sarafan Crusades. Janos reveals that Raziel is the prophesied hero who is destined to be the savior of the vampire race. He believes that the Soul Reaver was created to be wielded by Raziel (this is the destiny that Kain had intended for Raziel). At this moment, Janos is ambushed and slain by Raziel's Sarafan self. They slay the ancient vampire and claim his heart, christening it the “Heart of Darkness” and take the Soul Reaver with them (This heart would later be used to resurrect Kain).Overcome with a sense of self loathing, the wraith Raziel renounces his Sarafan self and embraces the role Janos had set out for him. He pursues the Sarafan into their keep, there he finds the Soul Reaver inside the stronghold and uses it to slay his former brethren – leaving behind corpses for Kain to resurrect later on as his lieutenants, including Raziel's own human self.
In the game's tragic ending, the wraith blade leaves Raziel's arm to join its physical twin and the conjoined blades turn on their wielder. A revelation dawns on him – the Reaver was never meant to be a soul stealing weapon, the soul devouring entity trapped inside the sword was Raziel himself (This was the reason the Reaver shattered when Kain tried to strike him down previously). As his soul hovered both inside and outside the blade, Kain pulls the blade out to save Raziel from his doom. This action created a paradox and changes the course of history and is responsible for the events in Blood Omen 2. With his new memories, Kain realizes how they had walked right into the Hylden's trap and warns Raziel of the future as the wraith slips away into the spectral realm.
Legacy of Kain: Defiance
The game picks up from the ending of Soul Reaver 2 as Kain is searching for Raziel after saving him from the Soul Reaver. He infiltrates the Sarafan Stronghold to question Moebius, who guides him to the old Vampire Citadel near the Pillars. While there, he finds various murals portraying the Hylden and Vampire heroes locked in a duel. This leads him to believe that he is destined to be the vampire hero while Raziel is his Hylder counterpart. However, in reality, Raziel represents both the champions due to his free will.
As Kain explored the Vampire Citadel, he found murals depicting the Ancients praying to a god (who was actually the Elder God himself). This worship was the reason of the conflict between the Hylden and the Ancients. The Ancients were possibly manipulated by the Elder to wage war on the Hyldens (as the Hyldens didn't believe in the Elder God philosophy). When the Hyldens cursed the Ancients and turned them into vampires, they liberated them from the wheel of fate by making them immortal. This trapped their souls in their bodies. Displeased by these turn of events and deprived of his precious souls, the Elder God turned away from the vampires and manipulated the humans to revolt against the vampires. He used Moebius as his agent to incite the war between humans and vampires.
While at the Citadel, the Elder God posing as the Oracle, teleports Kain 500 years in the future to Raziel, who is in search of the Heart of Darkness inside Avernus Cathedral. Kain travels to Avernus to seek out the wraith. On meeting him. Kain tries to reason with Raziel and reveals that he is the only being in Nosgoth who truly has free will. Kain warns him that Janos cannot be raised since great harm will come of it. But Raziel doesn't heed his advice and in his blind rage (possibly due to the Hylden's influence) tears the “Heart of Darkness” out of Kain. Having claimed what he needed, he banishes Kain to the demon realm, believing him to be dead.
Kain as he appears in Defiance
Kain, however, is still alive and comes across the demonic Hylden race while in the demon dimension. (In the game, no apparent reason is given as to why Kain is still alive, the common theory is that he lives because he is the Scion of Balance and that the heart of darkness still beats somewhere). He fights his way back to the Vampire Citadel to seek answers, only to find Moebius there. He slays the Timestreamer one last time - for all eternity. While in the spectral realm, Raziel finishes the job by releasing Moebius's soul to the “Wheel of Fate”.When Raziel impaled Moebius, the Timestreamer finally saw the God he worshipped so dearly. On realizing his true destiny, Raziel reanimates his corpse. As a reflex reaction ,Kain leaps forward to impale him with the Reaver. As Raziel completes his transformation, Kain realizes his mistake and tries to take the Reaver out but Raziel refuses to let go. He reveals how his soul is fated to end up imprisoned inside the Reaver. As Raziel gives in, he tells Kain" I'm not your enemy, not your destroyer.I'm, as before, your right hand - your sword, ". This act of sacrifice purifies the Soul Reaver and allows Kain to finally see the Elder God, the true enemy of the vampires all along. 
Kain as he appears in Defiance
Armed with the purified Soul Reaver, Kain defeats the giant squid like creature and leaves it buried underneath the ancient Citadel. In the epilogue, he reflects upon Raziel's sacrifice and how in a final act of redemption, he left Kain a gift far greater than the sword that now held his soul – “the first bitter taste of that terrible illusion - hope”.
Appearance
In most games, Kain is portrayed as being green skinned with large vampiric fangs and a long, silver-blonde mane. He starts out with normal 5 fingers which turn into 3 birdlike claws over the millennium. His skin is almost stone like and is impenetrable to normal attacks. He usually wears the wraith armor he acquired in Avernus Cathedral during the first game and carries around the Soul Reaver on his back. Kain wears his clan's symbol with pride over his right shoulder in bright red colors.
Characteristics
Kain is known for his arrogance and clear disregard for authority throughout the series. He has a short temper and is easily displeased. A theme which runs strong in all his dialog is fatalism and rants about free will. Kain is destined to be the Scion of Balance and thinks of himself as a God. But unlike many other traditional arrogant characters, Kain is very wise and posses a good foresight when it comes to important events. Though betrayed early on in his vampire life, Kain has matured over the following centuries and has become quite manipulative himself. He is known for bending the truth to suit his arguments but he never lies. He is a bit like Obi-Wan from the Star Wars movies in this regard.
Powers
Kain unleashing the Soul Reaver
In addition to all these powers, Kain wields the Soul Reaver which can be imbued with various elemental powers of its own.
Quotes
- Vae Victus -- suffering to the conquered. Ironic that now I was the one suffering. Not anything as pedestrian as physical pain. Rather the cruel jab of impotent anger -- the hunger for revenge. I didn't care if I was in Heaven or Hell -- all I wanted was to kill my assassins. Sometimes you get what you wish for. The Necromancer Mortanius offered me a chance for vengeance. And like a fool, I jumped at his offer without considering the cost.Nothing is free, not even revenge.
- Eternity is relentless, Raziel. When I first stole into this chamber, centuries ago, I did not fathom the true power of knowledge. To know the future, Raziel... to see its paths and streams tracing out into the infinite... As a man, I could never have contained such forbidden truths... But each of us is so much more than we once were... Gazing out across the planes of possibility, do you not feel with all your soul how we have become like gods? And as such, are we not indivisible? As long as a single one of us stands, we are legion...
Our futures are predestined - Moebius foretold mine a millennium ago. We each play out the parts fate has written for us. We are compelled ineluctably down pre-ordained paths. Free will is an illusion.
- Raziel: I understand only this Kain, that you and Moebius have impelled me to this moment, simply means that i can trust neither of you. I don't know who's pulling the strings, bit it no longer matters, because I'm cutting them. I set my own course from here.
Kain: If only it were that simple.
Raziel: Your fatalism is tiresome, Kain.
Kain: And profoundly ingrained, Raziel. You must understand, our presence here doesn't alter history. You and i meet here because we are compelled to, we have always met here. History is irredeemable. Drop a stone into a rushing river, the current simply courses around it and flows on as if the obstruction were never there. You and I are pebbles, Raziel, and have even less hope of disrupting the time-stream. The continuum of history is simply too strong, too resilient.
- 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? But does one even truly have a choice? One can only match, move by move, the machinations of fate... and thus defy the tyrannous stars.
- Elder God: You cannot destroy me, Kain - I am the Engine of Life itself. The Wheel will turn... The plague of your kind will be purged from this world... And on that inevitable day, your wretched, stagnant soul will finally be mine.
Kain: In the meantime, you'd best burrow deep.
- Most ironic of all was the last gift that Raziel had given me, more powerful than the sword that now held his soul, more acute even than the vision his sacrifice had accorded me - the first bitter taste of that terrible illusion: Hope.
Kain games
Edit
| Name | Platforms | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Legacy of Kain: Defiance (Special Edition) released on Feb. 4, 2004 |
PC | Crystal Dynamics, Inc. |
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Legacy of Kain: Defiance released on Nov. 11, 2003 |
PC, PS2, XBOX | Crystal Dynamics, Inc. |
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Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 |
GC, PC, PS2, XBOX | Crystal Dynamics, Inc. |
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Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 |
PC, PS2 | Crystal Dynamics, Inc. |
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Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver released on Aug. 16, 1999 |
PS1, PC, DC | Crystal Dynamics, Inc. |
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Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain released on Nov. 7, 1996 |
PS1, PC | Silicon Knights, Inc. |
Screenshots & Art
| Character Name: | Kain |
| Real Name: | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Birthday: | |
| Appears in: | 6 games |
| First appearance: | Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain |
| Aliases |
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