Legacy of Kain | Raziel's Vampire Days
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- Опубліковано 8 січ 2023
- Fans of the Legacy of Kain series have long speculated about Raziel’s unlife during the rise of Kain’s Empire. In this video, we examine Raziel's vampire days.
This video contains spoilers for Legacy of Kain Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2 & Defiance which was made by Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics.
The wonderful thumbnail art is Raziel by Philiera
www.deviantart.com/philiera/a...
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
Huge thanks to these amazing artists. Credited as below. Please show them your support.
The Nobleman Kain by Patrick Johnson
the_hylden.artstation.com/projects/5lzBP
Vampire Raziel by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/a3l60
Sarafan High Inquisitor Raziel by SpectralJin
www.deviantart.com/spectralji...
Blood Omen by Lokasnor
www.deviantart.com/loksanor/a...
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Kain is deified by Infernauta
www.deviantart.com/infernauta...
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Lt. Raziel by SpectralJin
www.deviantart.com/spectralji...
Undead Servant by jameszapata
www.deviantart.com/jameszapat...
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
Rahab by madnessdemon
www.deviantart.com/madnessdem...
Raziel the Vampire & his brethren by JLazarusEB
www.deviantart.com/jlazaruseb...
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Last council by madnessdemon
www.deviantart.com/madnessdem...
Dumah by SpectralJin
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Dumah by madnessdemon
www.deviantart.com/madnessdem...
Raziel by Philiera
www.deviantart.com/philiera/a...
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Dumah by Philiera
www.deviantart.com/philiera/a...
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A weakness overcome by SpectralJin
www.deviantart.com/spectralji...
The Vampire Rahab by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/qVOXe
Rahab by Philiera
www.deviantart.com/philiera/a...
Zephon by Philiera
www.deviantart.com/philiera/a...
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
Hunger/Veiled Zephonim by SpectralJin
www.deviantart.com/spectralji...
Zephon by SpectralJin
www.deviantart.com/spectralji...
Melchiah by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/BGmBz
Raziel without wings by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/a3l60
Vampire Raziel - Reveal of the Wings by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/a3l60
Elder Kain with the Soul Reaver by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/4Le5l
Raziel snarling wings relaxed by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/a3l60
Kain's Lament by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/9KmYN
Vampire Dark Ages : Ventrue Throne room by Silberius
www.deviantart.com/silberius/...
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Vampire Queen by Jeleynai
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Vampire lord by JimHatama
www.deviantart.com/jimhatama/...
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
Rasiel by ArchiaOryix
www.deviantart.com/archiaoryi...
Elder Kain Grimace by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/4Le5l
Vampire Raziel close on the face by Patrick Johnson
www.artstation.com/artwork/a3l60
Certain Cutscenes are from the Soul Reaver HD Remaster which was created by the talented RainaAudron. Download the SR1 HD Fan Remaster here:
www.sr1hdremaster.com/download
Certain Cinematics which depict the Vampire Raziel were created using gameplay from Elden Ring by FromSoftware
All other artwork are official promotional, comic and concept art created for the series by the team at Crystal Dynamics
Music:
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Soundtrack - composed by Kurt Harland & Jim Hedges
Soul Reaver 2 Soundtrack by Kurt Harland Jim Hedges - Ігри
I see a few people commenting on this video, pointing out that Kain was never really angry or jealous at Raziel for evolving before him. Yes, I agree completely and I'm fully aware of this! As a matter of fact, I've mentioned it before a few times in previous LOK videos. This is also why I used the word "supposedly" at 17:10. I just didn't think I'd have to spell it out again here, but I see now that perhaps I should have clarified that point 😂. Anyway, with this video, I wanted to convey the story as if it was from Raziel's perspective and explain why he thought Kain sentenced him to abyss. At the time, Raziel is under the impression that by entering the state of change prior to Kain, he has committed an act of transgression and blasphemy against him, when in fact Kain didn't care and knew that he had to execute Raziel in order to create a being of free will, exempt from the wheel of fate.
Literally a "please hold onto any comments till after the presentation" moment. 🤦♂️. At least they enjoy the game and aren't picking fights.
I'm convinced that the reason why Kain wasn't able to turn living humans into vampires, the way Janos and Vorador did, was because Kain himself was turned using necromancy by Mortanius.
But then how did Kain's lieutenants turn their clans? Can't all have been necromancy, right?
That would make a lot of sense
@@tuckernutter It is possible. Remember the original narrative featured a Priestess and a cult that worshipped Kain. Willingly offering sacrifices to him would increase their ranks very quickly.
@@tuckernutter If Kain wasn't able to do it, then it's very likely Raziel and the others couldn't either. Given that Kain's vampires saw themselves as rulers, then I assume they didn't go around raising each human they killed. A lot of thought had to go into carefully choosing who was deserving of the gift. Perhaps each clan would round up the corpses of those they deemed worthy, and then Kain would host a massive ceremony to raise all of them. At least that's how I imagine it would work using necromancy.
Yeah I often wondered if that was the case too, I wonder was it also simply that vorador never showed him how to do it the more traditional way.
Raziel's monologue at the beginning of Soul Reaver (along with the most kick-ass music ever.) is THE GREATEST video game opening of all time.
Information Society
The info society track goes so hard. Industrial crusade music. Always hypes me up.
Man and the writing and voice acting are like cake and frosting
Human Raziel: irredeemable asshole
Undead Raziel: vampiric asshole
Ghoul Raziel: noble soul
He literally had to become undead twice to become a good person lol
And then gets turned into a sword asshole and eats the souls of creatures it slashes and stabs
To be perfectly honest, he was still the same "vampiric asshole" until his final moments. Only his final sacrifice was truly noble.
His existence as a wraith was first a force of pure vengeance, then cluelessly bouncing around being manipulated by everyone and their pets. He was entirely self-serving and taking refuge in a shroud of righteousness, but in the end he was in it for himself, no noble goals, first it was kill Kian, then figure out what the hell is going on, then get the hell out of dodge out of the Reaver's way.
Only in his final moments did he commit to a truly selfless and noble act.
Raziel was always a self-righteous asshole, no matter what species he becomes lol.
@@lukejones7164 well so was kain to many extents heh. But yeah
@@usern4metak3ns At least Kain admitted it 😆, Raziel was an irrational hypocrite until he saw his human self kill Janos.
It wasn't that Kain was angered by Raziel's evolution but rather because that was the sign he was waiting for to begin his real gambit against fate. He knew what Raziel would become and what he had been. It was his only foil to the wheel, to introduce Raziel as an entity free of it.
Exactly that, Kain knew the moment Raziel had his wings was when he was ready to become the Wraith from the visions he saw in Mobius' Time Chamber
But you don't know that until much later in the series.
This is what was intended by Amy later. However in the original cut ending you kill all the vampires with a sun device. It's funny if you watch a cutscenes compilation kain gets gradually less Darth Palpatine as the games go on 😁
Uh actually kain killed raziel because of a "prophecy"- which was a manipulation via the giant tentacle monster only seen in the spirit world- trying to edge on raziel to kill kain- but raziel saw through the bullshit and became the soul reaver- was epic on all fronts.
@@ceruleansunrise8261 Still not jealousy.
In the original script, the entire thing is Kain's grandiose and bombastic way of committing suicide. As he explains in the Chronoplast - free will is an illusion, and death apparently is not in the cards for him, so he's screwed unless he has a third, immune to destiny party to dupe into to do it for him.
Few have the stamina for eternity and you could probably make a case for him low key conceding to Ariel that he fucked up, if the line about his guilty conscience at the pillars is anything to go by. Hell, dialogue pre-recorded for the original script made before the cuts, literally has Kain, Raziel and Ariel in the same room, both of them for once agreeing a egging Raziel to kill Kain, lmao.
After finally understanding the complex web that makes up the story. I felt a little bad for Kain. having knowledge of what will happen and being in this constant loop until his metaphorical coin finally lands on its edge. To see Raziel with his wings and almost instantly knowing what has to happen..at least in the end Raziel was still his right hand.
Yeah, especially when you see the shock on Kain's face in the opening cutscene when Raziel first reveals his wings. That shocked face quickly turns grim as Kain understands the time has come to make his gambit.
@@strictlyfantasy it's insane how so many small details early on in the game really come to light after you've fully understood the story. The meeting at the pillars is still my favorite scene! So much information is laid out before the player...we just didn't know haha anyway, absolutely love the videos! A pleasant surprise anytime they drop 🦇
Also how Raziel wasn't a hypocrite. How in the end he chose integrity over self preservation and going into the sword knowing that this was his role to save Nosgoth.
@@sethsword9680And this time, it was a rational informed choice as opposed to his earlier impulsive decisions
They really need to revive this series with new comic books, tv series, or movies - LOK is so underrated 🖤🫀🖤
It's such a shame we never get more lore in Nosgoth, it had a massive potential.
That’s why we need a prequel game about the six lieutenants during their vampire years.
@@animechic420 so much potential
I agree we should get a prequel for this game series was epic an like a
mature whisky all of them sit in my gaming library and play them regular and enjoy them just like the day of release
Surely they can’t leave this series on the shelf, story and voice cast destroy all of todays games to bits
@@animechic420 That would work. As long as they don't try to touch the main narrative.
After Defiance, I've always looked at the intro to Soul Reaver differently. His response to Raziel's evolution wasn't one of jealousy but the actions of a man who knew the time to challenge fate had arrived, and you can see in Kain's face before he tells the vampires to "cast him in" that it's not an easy thing for Kain. Was it intentional? Unlikely, I doubt they had planned the series that far (especially looking at the development of Soul Reaver) but it fits so well now that I think they must have looked back at this intro while crafting the rest of the series.
You're right. It probably wasn't intentional given all the extra content they had to cut before Soul Reaver 1 was released. However, I love how they depicted Kain's facial expressions in the opening cutscene to the point where you can look at it retroactively and see that maybe this is not the face of a vampire who is filled with jealousy and rage but one with self doubt at the prospect of executing his favourite "son". It's like he's questioning himself whether or not he's doing the right thing but hardens his heart and goes through with it anyway because in the end what choice did he really have.
Kain couldn't bear to watch while the 2 brothers who threw raziel in obviously wanted to see him burn.
Maybe but at the same time Raziel asks Kain later in the game “was it hard for you to cast me into the abyss” & Kain replies saying “no” lol
I'm pretty sure it was intentional. Main knew what was coming because of the time streaming devices.
All the nuance was surely not planned out, but pretending jealousy to motivate Raziel's outrage and vengeance sounds easily plausible.
Why else have the Famously sadistic Kain grimace when executing a traitor?
Also remember Kain's reaction when the Reaver broke? That whole conversation was from someone with a few steps planned ahead. :)
I see his face as doubt, self loathing, and he looks away, not in distaste, but he can't look his son in the eye with guilt
Kain was not MAD that Raziel evolved before him. Soul reaver was being narrarated by raziel, during a time when he knew nothing and only wanted to kill kain. Kain could already fly since Blood omen 1. Rahab was the only one that evolved before him. Kain wasn't mad at all, in his mind he was saying "FINALLY, took him long enough". Kain was waiting for the wings to appear then knew what he had to do from there. He'd been looking at thousands and thousands of timelines all leading to no life on nosgoth and him dying of thirst. (Elder god wasn't reincarnating souls, he was a parasite who was unleashed the moment the pillars fell. It grows over time because its just eating all the souls (life) on nosgoth. Eventually all life would end) Then Kain realized it was having 2 soul reavers in the same time period that allowed him to make COMPLETELY NEW paths, then he made his real plan.
In Melchiah's video, we saw how he and his children behaved more like zombies than vampires... looking at this vampirism through necromancy, it feels like all vampires in Kain's empire are like zombies, or like the Phyrexians in the Magic: the Gathering series, where every person they slay ends up added to their ranks.
If you look at it from the humans perspective it's pretty nightmarish.
One single vampire left in the world managed to raise an army of them and everyone they sent to kill the vampires, became one of them. It really is like a zombie apocalypse but if the zombies were not mondless, animalistic hoardes but thinking, intelligent creatures who could think and strategize and build structures and fight like a human.
How does necromancy give you that view over the original method of turning one into a vampire? Necromancy is much more complicated than merely biting someone.
@@mackenziepenny1335 Ig cause it's harder to go for a bite in bite or smth, bit easier to just gather up enemy bodies and ritual them
@Alex-cq1zr I'd love to comment back, but that was 11 months ago idk what my point was lol.
The music as raziel is going out to meet Kain is etched in my brain. So good.
When I'll be able to get rich one day , I will do everything I can to revive the series and make it as big as god of war 🙌
i dont want this series to end
Fingers cross they remake it and if those games are successful, then maybe we can finally get a proper conclusion to the series.
@@strictlyfantasy can't imagine lok without tony jay's voice
@@meesteranonymous8177 Neither can I. That's why they should use the exisiting voice files for the Elder God when they remake it.
@@strictlyfantasy wanna hear something scary ?
*"wE'Ve dEcIDEd to REmaKe tHe gAme TaIlOrEd tO A mODerNe aUdiEnCe !"*
@@strictlyfantasy If Amy Hennig ain't on board who basically wrote this entire thing you can rest assured it will be epic garbage. She is the best of the best for a reason. Mark my words. If Amy Hennig is not on board RUNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And thusly, by a stroke of a button, my heart was set in a ablaze of white-hot fire by the lore of Raziel. Rekindled memories of ages past, succumbed to the ires of time. Thought forgotten but lies in wait. But yet they lived. I salute you, lore master.
Torille.
Beautiful use of Elden Ring as a placeholder for a fleshed-out backstory of lieutenant-era Raziel, and I love how you went ahead and lent your voice to an unvoiced character (all the while managing to sound like an official character from the games). Your best video yet. Keep the fire of this series burning for us, until the legacy is revived!
I've often wondered what Raziel and his brethren were up to during the dawn of Kain's Empire.. great video!!
The plot of Blood Omen 3 would have to be Kain's conquest of Nosgoth and they could give us Defiance 2 where Kain tries to restore Balance to Nosgoth.
Defiance 2, where you could summon out raziel, or imbue yourself with his essence to change move/skill set. I would also love for Kain to refer to himself as "us/we" like he did during his last conversation with the eldar god.
A human Raziel game would be sweet as, gosh the legacy of Kain games blew my 19 year old mind in 1999 when soul reaver came out, and I absolutely love and proudly own the original Blood omen, this series inspired my long art career doing Fantasy Art, I sincerely hope by the Elder gods we get a new Legacy of Kain game before another Decade passes us by, absolutely fantastic video! Love your deep dives into anything legacy of Kain, take care till the next one 😎
I got Blood Omen recently too, such good gameplay IMO!
Let's not forget, as driven as they were by their self-righteous beliefs, the original sarafain were only able to gain an advantage over the most powerful vampires due to moebius' anti-vampire staff. True, they were formidable warriors who, no doubt could easily handle newly turned fledglings by themselves, needed the staff of moebius to deal with the likes of Janos Audron. They were nothing short of cowardly bullies, made worse by the fact they used religious fervour as a cloak of legitimacy.
I think Raziel's story is so powerful because it highlights not only the freedom but also the pain and the pitfalls that come with genuine choice. Raziel has free will but that means he has to be an island. He can never fully trust or put his faith in any one faction and he has to own his many many mistakes on his way to discovering the truth. It also highlights the limitations of free will as at the end of the series Raziel learns enough to know that through a combination of fate and his own actions up to that point his choices really do come down to one horrific fate. It's still a fate of his own choosing in the end but given his other option at that point it wasn't much of a choice at all in the end.
I remember reading Ursula le Guin's Earthsea series. The main character Ged outlines that when you are young there are so many roads and branching paths one can take that it seems confusing and overwhelming. However over time your choices interact with the world around you to the point where your options narrow until there is only one path and one thing you MUST do.
In life that might be the career you dedicate yourself to or for the less fortunate among us it might be the cause or the people you end up sacrificing your life or your future to protect. At the end of the day you get one shot at life and that is both the beauty and the harshness of it.
A remake of legacy of kain would be huge. Instant success. I've had so many ideas of how a new installment can go forward. And your idea is awesome it goes with what I have in mind. Great minds think alike
I just can't get over how hard the intro of soul reaver is. The opening strains of ozar midrashim on top of the ten ton phrase "Kain is deified"
4:20
i just gotta say this, that art piece of Kane, Raziel and the other clan leaders doing their own "last supper" scenario with the soul reaver on the table is hilarious and poetic irony given vampiric nature and the nature of the soul reaver. Genius!
It would be cool to play as a vampire raziel in a prequel to soul reaver. Good video strictly fantasy.
I would love to see a prequel during the Empire's days and see Raziel, his brothers and all the clans in their glory days but alas this will never happen now. This and a Vorador game would make excellent spin offs.
Hell yeah!
Why do you say it will never happen? They're bringing the series back, aren't they? Or did they scrap it?
Don't be so sure.
@@Zentz29 What's the point of bringing it back when none of the original people who worked on the games? Without the original writers, voices actors etc etc. I'm afraid it will flop badly should it ever return.
@@georgehouliaras7239
Yeah, when I first saw and signed the petition to bring it back I was instantly worried about stuff like that. I don't know anything about the staff and whatnot that they are going to use though
@@Zentz29 Exactly. I would love the Legacy of Kain to return and conclude the story but I don't think modern day developers can pull this anymore.
I get a big chuckle out of using Elden Ring for Raziel.
The entire Soul Reaver trilogy would make one helluva Netflix series from the beginning to the end...if they follow the comic series.
This series of videos are pure treasure, I love to hear about the profile of every Kain's lieutenants.
It has been almost 20 years, still searching and learning clues about this fantastic story.
Finally. No news on legacy of kain officially but I still get these videos on the lore. Yay.
Only at first did I think that Kain had Raziel executed out of jealousy, but as the game went on, I was convinced that Kain - having an awareness of the manipulation of time and fates, realized that Raziel was the third option he was searching for to break the double jeopardy that was his life.
I always thought Kain "killed" Raziel because he knew using the time streaming chambers the Wraith Raziel would become, would be after he had wings and saw Raziel's wings growing as the trigger for Kain's plan to subvert the Hyldan to begin.
This franchise deserves a renaissance. Although I fear that the story writing, the eloquent dialogues and wit that make LOK so great is too high a standard for modern game studios?
Get back Amy Hennig......definitely the brains and driving factor to the entire Soul Reaver story.
What a phenomenal series LoK is. I wish we had more, or i could forget and play them all new again
Man I really hope that Legacy of Kain survey that was circulating is a sign that this will be remade or remastered.
I love the theory, that the Kain who throws Raziel into the Abyss is either the future Kain who already knows about wraith Raziel, or he is the Kain from this period of time who was advised by a timetraveling future Kain, to do this
since Kain is no stranger to timetravel, he would understand why a future version of him comes and asks to throw his first born son into the abyss, he also probably already has aspirations to cure Nosgoth, seeing how the planet is at the end of its life
Its an interesting thought but the only entity shown to be a be to be in its own presence from different time periods is the Reaver (with Raziel's soul eventually being imprisoned in the blade) and could be the reason it can induce paradoxes. I believe that Kain got his foreknowledge by viewing the future from the Oracle Caves and, later on, directly traveling to different ages to piece together the conspiracy.
Its not entirely clear if there is a hard rule preventing two Kains from being in the same place or not but it never occurred as far as I recall. The exception to everything I just said though is Raziel meeting his human self. But even though they share the same soul (having been recalled from the underworld) they are fundamentally two different people who do not share memories.
Idk. Soul Reaver is an incredible series but there are minor gaps in its narrative as to how events u folded and why that one has to overlook to truly enjoy the series. Amy Hennig is a brilliant worldbuilder but its obvious that the story was built up as she went along. All in all, it came together extremely well. If LoK and SR are ever remade those gaps can be fixed properly.
Can we appreciate just how cool his wings were i never seen such a cooler and original looking wing design
I always thought of it as, kain was never angry with Raziel about evolving earlier, it was simply that he had already interacted with the time streaming device and knew what Raziel was ' destined' to become. The wings were an affirmation of this and naturally angered one who was so bent on breaking free from the wheel. But without his favourite son going into the abyss, his plan for subverting destiny could not be played out. Essentially, Raziels revelation of his wings was like a kick to kains balls saying " This is where it starts".
I was 10 years old when I played soul reaver, I'm now 31 so I could be misremembering things but so far as i can remember; Kains words were " when I first stole into this chamber, centuries ago" Centuries ago is a broad term and doesn't really tell us when Kain first encountered the chamber. That makes it hard to imagine what kind of foreknowledge he had during raziels lifetime.
I wish they would bring this game back on a modern platform. I loved it as a kid.
I'm always amaxed at how well they fleshed out Raziel's previous personality and that of the lieutenants purely through dialogue after the fact, even when the Raziel we're introduced to after his fall is quite different.
I'd love a remake. Best voice work ever. This is what made me get into reading and enhancing my vocabulary.
I love your content I click so fast when I see a strictly fantasy LOK video. You go so in depth and draw together amazing concepts.
This video also provided a rather gut-wrenching 'fridge horror' realization. When Rahab came out as semi-acquatic, then there must have been nothing but pride for him exhibited by Kain. I'm imagining not only special territories and favours but also much feasting and celebrations to congratulate Rahab and his clan. The rest of the brothers (and the clans) must have been burning with jealousy, lol.
Raziel must have expected exactly the same reception. Special territories, favours, missions, congratulations and feasts. Which makes it all the more gut-wrenching to watch that happy, proud moment turn into blood and agony.
Amazing work as always. Huzzah!
One thing I've always been curious about. It's said rahab constantly submerged himself in water bracing the pain in an effort to guide his transformation to give himself the gift that he felt would give him the most attention. He proved this method worked as he indeed gained the ability to swim. Do you think the others guided their gifts too? And if not which gifts do you think they would of guided themselves to have.
Interesting! I always thought Kain easily turned humans into Vampires because he had Janos Audron's (Elder Vamp) heart, which had the ability to restore Vampiric un-life and he was somehow able to project its powers.
You should cover the Sarafan history
Great video. Of all the eras of Nosgoth, the one I want to explore the most is after Kain condemned the Pillars and raised up the clans. The empire-building, the court intrigues, the war with humanity, and even their final victory and how the vampires enjoyed the spoils of domination. I think it is a great shame that we don't see more of this period, from Kain refusing the sacrifice to Raziel's execution. I'm not sure how this period of time would be best explored, either as a game, a book or something else, but this period is by far my most favorite to speculate about.
I've always wanted to know the difference between Kain's necromantic vampires and the earlier vampires as sired from the Ancients. Was death a part of the process before Kain's time? It would seem not, if human Pillar Guardians had to be killed to turn them into vampires they they would get replaced as Guardians in becoming vampires (Kain was exempt from this technicality because the system was already broken by Nupraptor before Kain died). Perhaps in the earlier days vampirism was spread more like a blood infection as in other vampire media and the ignorant humans mentioned in SR1's manual _used_ to be correct until the rise of 'necromantic' vampires.
Yes. Siring vampires in the eras of Janos and Vorador was very different to the method Kain used to create his armies in the pre-Soul Reaver time. The original turning of living humans into vampires was likely similar to how it is depicted in traditional vampire media. It seems using Necromancy to raise vampires only took place after Kain was raised by Mortanius. Once Kain discovered he couldn't create vampires in the traditional way, Kain likely took a page out of Mortanius' book and came up with this new method by leaning more into snaring souls from the underworld.
I always had interpreted that line from the manual as more like a correction of human misinformation. Instead of saying that the souls of the dead are reanimated into corpses, more like vampires are corruptions of the soul not of blood.
But more official clarification is always welcomed
The Ancients sired humans into vampires by sharing with them the Curse of the Hylden, as the Ancients are not vampires, the curse itself is vampirism: the bloodthyrst, the inmortality and sterility. Kain's vampirism resided in the cursed heart of darkness, maybe that's why every lieutenant raised was weaker than the last, as the power of the heart (lol) was supposed to instill un-life to just one corpse: his.
That would explain why the vampire armies degenerated in the monster of SR1, as they are mere zombies with the Curse of the Hylden in them. Unable to die and mutated by the dark magic. Maybe even the Hylden didn't know what would happen after centuries of the curse, as I take it they likely thought the Ancients would commit suicide as a whole rather than be separated of their god.
Edit: Now that I think about, they could very well pass the curse by having humans drink their cursed blood or eat their cursed flesh, so.... yeah.
Yeah I think it was likely done through biting but i would speculate that it was more likely that the vampire had to bite the human and drain it almost completely of its human blood and then replacing the humans blood with vampire blood otherwise kain wouldn't have needed vorador to create vampires if it was done through a simple bite. And maybe only an an ancient vampire could perform this process.
I've always thought that original vamps could breed regularly like humans but they lost that at the same time they received the blood curse.
I might have missed it but is their ever explicit detail about voradors creation? Could he have a "heart of darkness" or other vamp body part implant that transferred the abilities and blood curse?
BRING LoK BACK!!! THE WORLD NEEDS THESE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!! SUCH INCREDIBLE GAMES!!
The story of this video should be it's own series of games, where we get to know them all as humans in the first game, then along the way they are turned one by one. The second game then takes place over the course of the vampire years leading up to Raziel's transformation. THAT is what I'd want from next games in the series.
Raziel seemed to have some fondness for Melchiah, as he was most impacted by his death. I wonder if it was that he truly cared for the youngest/weakest sibling more than he cared to admit?
They need to make another game and this is exactly where they need to start. Raziel's awakening, building Kain’s Empire and ending with the intro of Soul Reaver.
I just binge watched your whole Legacy of Kain series. These were incredible. Your deep love and passion for this series is evident in the care and time you put into your videos. It’s such a challenge to find those who still remember, let alone played these fantastic games. With the re-release of classics like chrono cross, dark alliance 1 and 2, and bloodrayne 1 and 2 I have a small amount of hope for this series as well as legend of lagoon and legend of legaia 1 and 2. I hope you’ll continue posting, because I’ll be there to witness your impressive content.
Hey SF. I'll take this chance that you just uploaded the video to tell you that I love your content and specially the LoK stuff. Keep up the good work, buddy!
To see raziel and brothers as vampires would be a great game! You got some great ideas!
Im always so excited when another LOK video gets uploaded! I love this lore so much, so thanks for making these.
Dude I was just watching your other videos on LOK this morning, impeccable timing
I thought Kain punished Raziel not because he evolved first, but because he'd become the image Kain grew to fear from the depictions in the catacombs. Kain's actions weren't a punishment as much as a means to turn the wheel of fate so to speak. Merely pushing the gas pedal.
I thought the same now we know the entire story
The opening of Defiance makes it clear that Kain never hated Raziel, never feared him, never was jealous.
Taken with the ending of SR1 where Kain says he looked through time to see the various futures possible we can infer that when Raziel entered his metamorphosis stage Kain knew that the time was drawing nigh.
He had to have seen Wraith Raziel and known that one, very slim, possible future, involved Kain setting the world right with the help of Raziel.
When his firstborn son showed off his wings Kain was like "Okay. This is it. This is the moment that I have been waiting for".
You can even see a flicker of doubt cross Kain's face before giving the order to throw Raziel in.
"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?"
Bear in mind, the narrative is entirely from Raziel's perspective in Soul Reaver 1. It was his presumption as to why he cast into the abyss.
The Elder God uses those murals to convince Raziel that Kain is a corrupted despot instead of an intelligent planner. According to the Elder God, Kain and Raziel are fated to fight, with only one of them surviving and creating the future, but none of it was true. Kain changes fate.
@@xeanthomas5231 facts💯
I legit can't stop watching these videos for inspiration for writing and campaigns
I've often wondered about the dynamics between the brothers and the clans during the 'Golden Age' of their kind. This video really helped put together what those relationships and dynamics might have been like. I really enjoyed how you highlighted the smaller domestic and petty dealings between clans and brothers, and also the more important high stakes political maneuvering that must have been present at all times. I completely agree that it would be a FASCINATING addition to the franchise to check out how Kain's empire rose to glory, through a Golden Era, and then to a time of decadence, decay, in-fighting and power struggles.
I always thought Kain flipped out on Raziel because he resembled the Hylden after Kain had seen the schemes of the Hylden in the time streaming chamber.
I'd love to read a book (or multiple) from Amy Hennig, charting the ascension of the Clans. Also covering their fall from grace. How each Lieutenant (aside from Raziel) ended up where they did.
I would throw SO MUCH money at that
I’d like to think that Kain made Raziel the most powerful on accident because he was the first time Kain had tried the proccess (Kain at this stage in his life wouldn’t want his subordinates to be close to his level)
I like that you dug up this priceless gem. Its always feels good to have nostalgic feelings and memories.
I hope we get both a prequel during Kains reign of Nosgoth and a conclusion to wrap up the story where he eventually restores Nosgoth. But hey, a remaster of Blood Omen and Soul Reaver are a start to bring in new fans.
The opening remains so awesome, oh man, thanks for the video👍👍!
I'd love to see a game where it starts off as Human Sarafan Raziel!
So, I take it that you like to play as the bad guy then.
OH wow...I remember reading that comic since I was such a huge fan of the Legacy of Kain series...sadly it got lost over the years and I wish I still had it.
15 plus years after the last game and we're still trying to piece the puzzle pieces in Amy's universe together. It was one hell of a ride for those lucky enough to experience it.
Wraith Raziel saw that souls are hunted and consumed in the spectral plane by the lifeforms there, if not the Elder God. Human Raziel died the same day Vorador attacked the circle, which led to the pillars selecting new Guardians at birth, including Ariel, who died as an adult which led to Kain's birth and selection as a pillar guardian and he died when he was 30yo, so Raziel and the other Sarafan were dead for at least 50 years. It's highly unlikely Raziel's original human soul survived in the spectral realm for 50 years.
The intro to Soul Reaver has to be among the best in video game history, period. It’s what made me fall in love with narrative driven games. Soul Reaver 1+2 and Defiance are one masterpiece.
thanks for
awesome content and lore man awaiting your next video keep it up 💚🙏
Thanks for making this video. I had so much love for this series! Remakes would be loved 🥰
i dont think kain was "pissed" at raziel, he had seen raziels execution in the chronoplast and what it lead to, when raziel is cast into the abyss, kains face looked more regretful than angry. the guilt was from raziels point of view, questioning why he was cast out
Kain was never jealous, his look of disbelief was that of denial of prophecy. Kain knew that once Raziel grew wings, it would be time to sacrifice him and set the ball rolling.
To understand the Nosgoth lore, you have to play in order: Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Kain was unaware that Mortanis had The Heart of Darkness hidden inside him and that originally LOK Blood Omen had 2 actual endings. 1st ending had Kain sacrifice himself and Nosgoth was healed and the Pillars of Nosgoth was restored narrated by Ariel. 2nd ending has Kain narrating stating what Vorador told him that humans are cattle and it was time to thin the herd as he sits on the throne of the torn down remains of the Pillars. Kain found out that he was the Zion of Balance and he was corrupted from his birth which Kain explains to Raziel in Soul Reaver 2 that the moment Ariel screams in her death and Kains 1st cry of being born the Balance Pillar was corrupted by Nupraptor and cursed the pillars . Ariel was corrupted as a wandering spirit exploiting Kain to restore the pillars. Moebius tricked Kain to go back in time to Kill William the Just before he became The Nemesis which started the vampire massacre in the present. Kain saw through Morbius's Time Portals that Raziel was the key of Freewill, but he had to understand what he was truly meant to be which was and always has been Kain's Soul Reaver!!! There is talks among EIDOS that they need to return to certain game IP's and Crystal Dynamics collapsed. Legacy of Kain series was mentioned and 2026 will be the 30th Anniversary of LOK Blood Omen. What better way to celebrate is update a new version of the 1st game LOK Blood Omen. Tomb Raider Anniversary got an update. It would be wonderful to play through the game in an open 3D world of Nosgoth and input in all of the game secrets and locations as the story unfolds. The original game had over 100+ hours of game play with audio dialogue and cut scenes even for a PS1 game!!! It can be done now and still make it in time for release in 2026 but EIDOS needs to make this happen!!!! There is much to tell but if you know the lore you can always catch up on it by playing all the games!!!
Vampire Days sounds like a great album.
I'm always excited to see a new video from you about Nosgoth. Thank you!
You have the best UA-cam channel on Legacy of Kain
I absolutely love these series and you nailed so much info
Legacy of Kain -lore is to me most interesting there is. I love how much there is to the story and twists to each character. I love this series. Also Medievil was one of my first games that I loved and I have still my ps1 -copy. Anyway, there is something special about already dead characters that come beyond grave to fuck shit up, that is so awesome! Raziel, Sir Daniel Fortesque, Alucard (Castlevania - SotN) and the chosen undead in Dark Souls. All great games!
Sori paska englanti. Finnish guy here. Love your channel, KEEP IT UP!
I wish they would remake the full series , loved the games
marvelous video dude, congrats
It would be really interesting to get a game, or even a movie, that covers Raziel's time from his resurrection as a vampire to the moment of his execution. Of course, you would have to make sure not to make Raziel too humane and hero-like, and reference the future events as little as possible. The less Raziel knows about Soul Reaver's events or the deformed versions of his brothers beforehand, the better.
I was not aware that the process that Kain used to sire new vampires was different from Vorador or Jano's. What were the differences? I've always found it somewhat obscure how vampires reproduced in the franchise
As far as I understand, Kain used part of his life force to draw back the souls of his sons to their mostly-intact corpses and empowered them to rise again (much like raising a zombie with necromancy.) Raziel and his brothers would then do the same process to raise their own clans. In that way, every vampire by the time of Soul Reaver 1 was (distantly) connected to Kain, who was indeed their Creator and Progenitor
Interesting sidenote: Back in the days of LoK and SR, the internet was absolutely nothing like it is today and data about upcoming games or sequels, etc, they were basically non existent. So I played LoK in 96 and was always waiting for a LoK part 2 which never came out. While at my friends home years later I noticed he was playing SR, which I had never heard of, but he was at a section where the narrator was discussing the "Time Streamer". It was then that I learned SR was the sequel to LoK and the rest is history as SR became a favorite series.
Pretty crazy to think how far the internet has come now that there are no games released without pre knowledge and comments by fans are usually a gold mine about finding out more games or movies or (especially) anime I may enjoy. Long story short, man the internet has come a long way from the AOL chat days.
Kain didn't execute Raziel because of jealousy. He knew the coming events through Mobius and knew that the only way to fully power the Soul Reaver was to fuse Raziel with the reaver. Raziel growing wings was the first step in events that would lead to Kain destroying the Elder God. This was why there was regret in Kain's voice when he ordered Raziel cast into the abyss. He knew what was coming and what had to be done.
Raziel’s relationship with his brothers
Turel: Very close and he got along with Raziel until he and Dumah threw him into the Abyss under Kain’s orders without hesitation.
Dumah: Very close as well and Raziel called him a proud warrior in life,
They enjoy sparring and they got along as well until he and Turel threw him into the Abyss under Kain’s orders without hesitation too.
Rahab: Raziel and Rahab’s brotherhood relationship is fine and they got along.
Zephon: Bad blood and they don’t get along because Zephon is a spineless coward.
Melchiah: Raziel felt very sorry for his younger brother because of his gift.
Firstly, thank you for this video. It's been quite some time since I've been down the rabbit hole of the Legacy of Kain series. Secondly, I would absolutely love the chance to revisit these games, their world, characters and lore in a more modern take - the mere thought about playing Soul Reaver as the developers first intended it gives me chills of excitement! - and given how mind-boggingly detailed and well-crafted the story was back then I have every reason to believe it would be quite the something. Bioshock often gets mentioned for it's play on free will (and rightfully so), but it's got nothing on a series of games that transcends time, fate, death and rebirth in order to challenge the notion of free will, choice and breaking away from the dichotomous outcome of any given moment. It was, and is, a masterclass of storytelling and philosophical engagement that I've yet to see any other game come close to achieving. As all vampires after the first Blood Omen game stem from Kain, infused with his soul (either directly, as his lieutenants, or indirectly through them), it's no wonder they share a knack for the conspiratorial drama described to fend off the boredom of the vampiric courts - imagine being Kain, knowing all along what must transpire and for how long he has to pretend and wear a mask just to be given an opportunity to land that coin on its edge, still not knowing if it will grant him the desired outcome. The patience and resolve of that man is the stuff of legends.
You never fail to deliver amazing videos!!! I admire your ability to put out videos filled with in-depth information about a game that is old and has hard to access information.
Dude you´re amazing. Although there are no sequels / remakes / remasters to this series since years you somehow managed to revive this in it´s core with you lore videos, at least for me. Keep this up please.
Always love watching these videos, keep up the awesome work!
A TV series about the this era of the vampire Raziel would be great too.
An animated TV show similar to Netflix's Castlevania, would be nothing short of FUCKING AWESOME!
It's a disservice to mankind not giving these series a conclusion past Defiance esp while Templeman (Kain) and Bell (Raziel) are still alive to give them their epic voices. Smh, this franchise has arguably one of the most beautiful stories in gaming best yet that it's so old serves as a testament to the brilliance of its creators.
Something I wanna point out is when Raziel comes back and meets Kain again for the first time he defy's Kain and says of the balance guardian's failure to sacrifice himself "I would choose integrity"
Raziel in the end, did choose integrity.
He died to become one with the Soul Reaver and give Kain the ability to confront The Elder God.
Another great video, it would be so nice to see Kains mental state over the years that lead him to know he had to restore the land
I absolutely love your videos bro. One of most well written video games ever created and your videos due it justice ✊🏾
I love how when you come back to the opening scene after the later games it gives that little pause kain does before ordering raziel cast in more context. I imagine kain sitting there for a moment realising he is about to damn his favourite son to this but it's all for the greater good.
I view kains betrayal as him knowing everything from hopping through time and whatnot. When he saw that Raziel evolved wings he knew what had to be done. That casting Raziel into the abyss would set into motion the events that would eventually allow Kain to succeed his plans.
The lieutenants took kain's actions as a way to be rid of raziel's clan. So they went on a murder spree.
That being said, I am not heavily familiar with the lore, never having played soul reaver 2. Just blood omen, soul reaver 1, and defiance.
At the time for me, Soul Reaver was the best game I've ever played. It had everything... character's, game play and storyline. I would absolutely love to see this game or a version of it on the PS5. Not sure if a God Of War style would be possible, but if not that I'd probably be just as excited for a version of it on next-gen consoles.
What I would love to see how the world starts to return its beauty after kain fought the elder god and have the game leading up to kain killing him for good and sees the curse finally be lifted from the land caused by the elder god. Kain would have to travel through time and kill him in the first time line he appeared in before the vampiers raised the pillars and find a way to find him and kill the elder god before the pillars are raised. That might be a good final conquest for kain as he finally frees him self from the curse of vampire history is rewritten to where the kain in his former human self takes Ariels place as she steps down for her love and is not murdered.
Well, unless Kain is able to gain the ability to withstand the acidic-like burning that water brings like Raziel and Rahab before him, killing the elder god would never happen. The elder god has most of his physical form under water and is therefore beyond any real danger that Kain and his Soul Reaver could inflict.
@@user-fh6mc9du5n have you not played defiance where kain fights the elder god?
@@busterswordguy5844 Yes I have. The fight doesn't end with the elder god's demise. Instead Kain merely defeats the part of the elder god that inhabited the room containing the Spirit Forge. As shown in the 3 games where Raziel was present, the elder god was shown either in the spectral realm where water was indivisible from air and thus only visible to Raziel. Or, on the rare occasions when Raziel encountered the elder god in the chamber below the Pillars Of Nosgoth, it was always with Raziel above the water and the elder god beneath it. So as I stated in my original post, Kain wouldn't be able to truly destroy the elder god unless his vulnerability to the acidic touch of water was overcame.
Lol been binge watching your vids about LOK all day and here u are, releasing another great vid and about Raziel no less!!
Keep up the great work, got yourself another newly pledged vampire in the subs ;)