Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Encyclopedia
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (Kain the Vampire in Japan) is a cult top-down action-adventure game
developed by Silicon Knights
and published by Crystal Dynamics
. The game was first released in November 1996 for the PlayStation, and eventually ported to Microsoft Windows
in August 1997.
The game is focused on the brutal but charismatic protagonist
Kain
, and forms part of a saga
- the Legacy of Kain
series - with redemption as a central theme.
Blood Omen was praised for its high-quality voice acting
, moody atmosphere, and compelling storyline.
. The game camera is fixed in a bird's eye view
position and follows Kain as the character travels the world of Nosgoth. Gameplay is divided between outdoor exploration and visiting internal structures, including crypts, houses, castles, cathedrals and temples.
The game screen constantly displays three features, being the sun gauge, and health and magic meters respectively. The sun gauge monitors the passage of time via the use of icons (e.g. sun and moon), with the screen also becoming lighter or darker to accurately reflect the time. Certain doors, or "Moon Gates", possess a "time trigger" and only open when a full moon occurs. A full moon briefly occurs once every two hours of real time.
The health meter is a red blood vial that monitors Kain's current level of health. By finding small vials throughout the game it is possible to increase the size of the vial. The magic gauge is signified by a series of blue glyph
s, and by finding additional glyphs the gauge increases in length.
During the course of the game, the character Kain acquires a variety of abilities, weapons, armor, magic and items.
Kain acquires four additional forms, being "werewolf" (enhanced strength and speed), "bat" (instant travel to other locations such as Bat Beacons), "mist" (used to bypass solid objects and water) and "human peasant", later "nobleman" (to fool enemies and townspeople into talking to Kain).
Weapons include an iron sword, a mace, twin battle axes (called "Havoc" and "Malice"), the Flame Sword and the Soul Reaver, with each having benefits and drawbacks (e.g. the use of the battleaxes prevents the use of magic and items, while use of the Soul Reaver drains the magic gauge). During the course of the game certain weapons are required to enable progression to new areas. Five different types of armor can be found, being iron, bone, chaos, flesh and wraith respectively. Each suit of armor has its own distinctive advantages.
Magic can be used as either a spell or an item, with several of each being hidden throughout the game. There are 13 spells in total, being practical (e.g. "Light"), offensive ("Lightning") and on occasion functional (e.g. "Mind Control"), being necessary to allow game progression. Throughout the game numerous colored orbs can found that will replenish the character's magic levels. There are also ten items in total, which can be found in hidden "Spirit Forges". Like spells, these vary in effect, and include both offensive (e.g. "Flay") and support (e.g. "Heart of Darkness") options.
There are 100 "secrets" hidden in the game, which can be found when the character performs actions such as activating hidden switches, pressing buttons, entering Moon Gates or finding items such as Spirit Forges, but finding all of them won't change the ending(s).
, depicting the slaughter of several members of the Circle of Nine (eventually revealed to be the Guardians of the Pillars of Nosgoth) by the vampire
Vorador. The Sarafan (an order devoted to the extinction of vampires) warrior-priest Malek fails to prevent the killings, and is punished by surviving Circle member Mortanius by having his body destroyed and soul bound to a suit of armor for eternity.
Kain is introduced as a nobleman in the world of Nosgoth. Murdered by assassins
, Kain is offered new life and an opportunity for revenge as a vampire
by the necromancer
Mortanius. Although Kain quickly kills the assassins, Mortanius convinces Kain that they were mere pawns and that the real perpetrators can be found at the nine Pillars of Nosgoth, which protect Nosgoth from destruction. At the Pillars Kain finds the ghost of Ariel, the former Guardian of the Pillar of Balance. Ariel states the human guardians of the Pillars have become corrupted- which in turn corrupts the Pillars- and only by killing the Guardians and ending the Circle of Nine can the Pillars be restored.
Thinking the restoration of the Pillars will also cure his vampiric condition, Kain embarks on his quest, acquiring several new weapons (including the Soul Reaver blade) and magics and killing a number of human and monstrous foes that now wander Nosgoth. After killing several members of the Circle and escaping a disastrous encounter with Malek, Kain is directed by Moebius the Timestreamer to find the powerful but reclusive vampire Vorador.
Kain eventually finds Vorador, who warns Kain not to interfere in the affairs of mankind. Kain, however, persists, killing several more members of the Circle and also summoning Vorador to vanquish Malek in a decisive battle. Kain then learns that a being called "Nemesis", once known as William the Just is quickly conquering Nosgoth. After rescuing the daughter of King Otmar, Kain is chosen to lead Otmar's army against the forces of the Nemesis. Otmar's forces, however, are slaughtered, and Kain escapes using a time streaming device to travel fifty years into the past. Kain finds and kills the young King William (thereby preventing him from ever becoming the Nemesis) but creates an altered future in which the murder of William creates the Sarafan order and sparks a genocidal crusade against all vampires. Kain returns to the present and witnesses the execution of Vorador, discovering that he has been manipulated into changing history by Moebius, who is actually one of the Circle. Kain battles and kills Moebius, but is now the last of his kind.
Kain returns to the Pillars, where the two remaining guardians, Mortanius and Anacrothe the Alchemist argue over recent events and then battle to the death. Mortanius kills Anarcrothe and is then challenged by Kain. Mortanius transforms into a dark entity that reveals it was the mastermind behind the murder of Ariel and the ruin of the Pillars.
After defeating the entity, Kain learns that one final Pillar, the Pillar of Balance, remains and must be restored, and as the Guardian of Balance, only his sacrifice will make this possible. Kain chooses to save himself and the vampire race, allowing the Pillars to fall. Kain justifies his actions by claiming that vampires are gods that exist to rule mortals (players are also given the choice of restoring the pillar and sacrificing Kain).
, and was first considered for production under the working title The Pillars of Nosgoth in 1993. Silicon Knights attempted to create a strongly cerebral action role-playing game "where you had to use your head as well as your reflexes". The creative team focused on developing a cinematic and immersive storyline, narrative and atmosphere in an attempt to evolve the genre. Actual technical production was delayed in the absence of a suitable console; for approximately eight months, Silicon Knights worked on game design without a designated hardware platform.
In 1993, fellow game development studio Crystal Dynamics
agreed to publish the game, with an extended development period requiring Silicon Knights to double staff levels and Crystal Dynamics contributing several employees. The game was released for the PlayStation in late 1996 "after herculean efforts", and ported to personal computers in 1997. Work on a Sega Saturn version was also commenced after the initial release, but was eventually terminated.
In developing the character of Kain, Silicon Knights deliberately veered away from following the monomyth
despite being advised that a brooding anti-hero
would not appeal to gamers. Silicon Knights adopted the vision of a character whom everyone believes is evil, partially inspired by William Munny, the protagonist of Clint Eastwood
's Unforgiven
, as opposed to a stereotypical "totally kick-ass" protagonist.
The world of Nosgoth was created by using a combination of high fantasy
and vampire mythology as a template. Influenced by the Necroscope and The Wheel of Time
series, the creative team attempted to ensure no character fell into a simple "good" or "evil" typecast. Cover art for The Pillars of the Earth
served as inspiration for the Pillars of Nosgoth themselves. Content director Ken McCulloch, who co-wrote the storyline and the majority of in-game texts, was urged by marketers to use more accessible names late in the design process, with Mortanius and Hash'ak'gik considered "Names from Hell" that were difficult to get past the "marketing censor".
Simon Templeman
provided the voice of Kain, and prior to recording Dyack expressed concern that the actors would be unable to convey McCulloch's complex dialog. Dyack, however, stated their performances "blew him away", and commented that "after five minutes with Simon Templeman [...] we knew that there was no problem."
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
developed by Silicon Knights
Silicon Knights
Silicon Knights is a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company is headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario, Dyack's hometown....
and published by Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
. The game was first released in November 1996 for the PlayStation, and eventually ported to Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
in August 1997.
The game is focused on the brutal but charismatic protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Kain
Kain (Legacy of Kain)
Kain is a fictional character and the titular character that appears in the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Depending on the game and its viewpoint, Kain has been either the central protagonist, or an antagonist, but in all his depictions he is an anti-hero, interested only in his own goals...
, and forms part of a saga
Saga
Sagas, are stories in Old Norse about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, etc.Saga may also refer to:Business*Saga DAB radio, a British radio station*Saga Airlines, a Turkish airline*Saga Falabella, a department store chain in Peru...
- the Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain is a series of action-adventure video games developed initially by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics. After a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics continued the series without Silicon Knights and Eidos Interactive became the publisher...
series - with redemption as a central theme.
Blood Omen was praised for its high-quality voice acting
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
, moody atmosphere, and compelling storyline.
Gameplay
Blood Omen is a two-dimensional action-adventure gameAction-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
. The game camera is fixed in a bird's eye view
Bird's Eye View
"Bird's Eye View" is a single by Oakland Hip Hop group Zion I, released in 2005 on Live Up Records. The single was the first released from their third album True & Livin. The song, like Common's classic "I Used to Love H.E.R.", addresses the state of Hip Hop by comparing the culture to a woman. The...
position and follows Kain as the character travels the world of Nosgoth. Gameplay is divided between outdoor exploration and visiting internal structures, including crypts, houses, castles, cathedrals and temples.
The game screen constantly displays three features, being the sun gauge, and health and magic meters respectively. The sun gauge monitors the passage of time via the use of icons (e.g. sun and moon), with the screen also becoming lighter or darker to accurately reflect the time. Certain doors, or "Moon Gates", possess a "time trigger" and only open when a full moon occurs. A full moon briefly occurs once every two hours of real time.
The health meter is a red blood vial that monitors Kain's current level of health. By finding small vials throughout the game it is possible to increase the size of the vial. The magic gauge is signified by a series of blue glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
s, and by finding additional glyphs the gauge increases in length.
During the course of the game, the character Kain acquires a variety of abilities, weapons, armor, magic and items.
Kain acquires four additional forms, being "werewolf" (enhanced strength and speed), "bat" (instant travel to other locations such as Bat Beacons), "mist" (used to bypass solid objects and water) and "human peasant", later "nobleman" (to fool enemies and townspeople into talking to Kain).
Weapons include an iron sword, a mace, twin battle axes (called "Havoc" and "Malice"), the Flame Sword and the Soul Reaver, with each having benefits and drawbacks (e.g. the use of the battleaxes prevents the use of magic and items, while use of the Soul Reaver drains the magic gauge). During the course of the game certain weapons are required to enable progression to new areas. Five different types of armor can be found, being iron, bone, chaos, flesh and wraith respectively. Each suit of armor has its own distinctive advantages.
Magic can be used as either a spell or an item, with several of each being hidden throughout the game. There are 13 spells in total, being practical (e.g. "Light"), offensive ("Lightning") and on occasion functional (e.g. "Mind Control"), being necessary to allow game progression. Throughout the game numerous colored orbs can found that will replenish the character's magic levels. There are also ten items in total, which can be found in hidden "Spirit Forges". Like spells, these vary in effect, and include both offensive (e.g. "Flay") and support (e.g. "Heart of Darkness") options.
There are 100 "secrets" hidden in the game, which can be found when the character performs actions such as activating hidden switches, pressing buttons, entering Moon Gates or finding items such as Spirit Forges, but finding all of them won't change the ending(s).
Plot
The story begins with a prologuePrologue
A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance...
, depicting the slaughter of several members of the Circle of Nine (eventually revealed to be the Guardians of the Pillars of Nosgoth) by the vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
Vorador. The Sarafan (an order devoted to the extinction of vampires) warrior-priest Malek fails to prevent the killings, and is punished by surviving Circle member Mortanius by having his body destroyed and soul bound to a suit of armor for eternity.
Kain is introduced as a nobleman in the world of Nosgoth. Murdered by assassins
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, Kain is offered new life and an opportunity for revenge as a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
by the necromancer
Necromancy
Necromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
Mortanius. Although Kain quickly kills the assassins, Mortanius convinces Kain that they were mere pawns and that the real perpetrators can be found at the nine Pillars of Nosgoth, which protect Nosgoth from destruction. At the Pillars Kain finds the ghost of Ariel, the former Guardian of the Pillar of Balance. Ariel states the human guardians of the Pillars have become corrupted- which in turn corrupts the Pillars- and only by killing the Guardians and ending the Circle of Nine can the Pillars be restored.
Thinking the restoration of the Pillars will also cure his vampiric condition, Kain embarks on his quest, acquiring several new weapons (including the Soul Reaver blade) and magics and killing a number of human and monstrous foes that now wander Nosgoth. After killing several members of the Circle and escaping a disastrous encounter with Malek, Kain is directed by Moebius the Timestreamer to find the powerful but reclusive vampire Vorador.
Kain eventually finds Vorador, who warns Kain not to interfere in the affairs of mankind. Kain, however, persists, killing several more members of the Circle and also summoning Vorador to vanquish Malek in a decisive battle. Kain then learns that a being called "Nemesis", once known as William the Just is quickly conquering Nosgoth. After rescuing the daughter of King Otmar, Kain is chosen to lead Otmar's army against the forces of the Nemesis. Otmar's forces, however, are slaughtered, and Kain escapes using a time streaming device to travel fifty years into the past. Kain finds and kills the young King William (thereby preventing him from ever becoming the Nemesis) but creates an altered future in which the murder of William creates the Sarafan order and sparks a genocidal crusade against all vampires. Kain returns to the present and witnesses the execution of Vorador, discovering that he has been manipulated into changing history by Moebius, who is actually one of the Circle. Kain battles and kills Moebius, but is now the last of his kind.
Kain returns to the Pillars, where the two remaining guardians, Mortanius and Anacrothe the Alchemist argue over recent events and then battle to the death. Mortanius kills Anarcrothe and is then challenged by Kain. Mortanius transforms into a dark entity that reveals it was the mastermind behind the murder of Ariel and the ruin of the Pillars.
After defeating the entity, Kain learns that one final Pillar, the Pillar of Balance, remains and must be restored, and as the Guardian of Balance, only his sacrifice will make this possible. Kain chooses to save himself and the vampire race, allowing the Pillars to fall. Kain justifies his actions by claiming that vampires are gods that exist to rule mortals (players are also given the choice of restoring the pillar and sacrificing Kain).
Major characters
- KainKain (Legacy of Kain)Kain is a fictional character and the titular character that appears in the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Depending on the game and its viewpoint, Kain has been either the central protagonist, or an antagonist, but in all his depictions he is an anti-hero, interested only in his own goals...
– voiced by Simon TemplemanSimon TemplemanSimon Templeman is an English voice actor known for his role as Kain in the video game series "Legacy of Kain", and as Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir in Dragon Age: Origins. He is also known as Simon Templeton. He is married to character actress Rosalind Chao with whom he has a son and daughter.- Animated...
throughout series - Mortanius the Necromancer – voiced by Tony JayTony JayTony Jay was an English actor, voice actor and singer. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in animation, film and computer games. Jay's distinctive baritone voice often landed him villainous roles...
in Blood Omen - Ariel of the Balance – voiced by Anna GunnAnna GunnAnna Gunn is an American actress, best known for her roles as Assistant District Attorney Jean Ward on The Practice, Martha Bullock on Deadwood, and, currently, Skyler White on Breaking Bad. She appeared on Seinfeld in the episode "The Glasses" and on the first season of Murder One...
throughout the series - Oracle of Nosgoth (Moebius the Timestreamer) – voiced by Richard DoyleRichard Doyle (actor)Richard Doyle , sometimes credited as Richard Doyal, is an American actor and voice actor.- Early life :Richard Doyle was born in 1945 in Brockton, Massachusetts...
throughout the series - Vorador – voiced by Paul LukatherPaul Lukather-Television appearances:* Cheers* Cagney & Lacey* Starsky and Hutch* Cannon* Adam-12* Mannix* The Mod Squad* Mission: Impossible* Twelve O'Clock High* Perry Mason* Get Smart* The Fugitive...
throughout series - Nemesis – voiced by Tony Jay
Development
The concept of Blood Omen was conceived by Silicon Knights president Denis DyackDenis Dyack
Denis Dyack is the founder and president of Silicon Knights, a video game developer. He founded Silicon Knights in 1992 after publishing Cyber Empires in 1991. He has a Bachelor of Physical Education Degree from Brock University...
, and was first considered for production under the working title The Pillars of Nosgoth in 1993. Silicon Knights attempted to create a strongly cerebral action role-playing game "where you had to use your head as well as your reflexes". The creative team focused on developing a cinematic and immersive storyline, narrative and atmosphere in an attempt to evolve the genre. Actual technical production was delayed in the absence of a suitable console; for approximately eight months, Silicon Knights worked on game design without a designated hardware platform.
In 1993, fellow game development studio Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
agreed to publish the game, with an extended development period requiring Silicon Knights to double staff levels and Crystal Dynamics contributing several employees. The game was released for the PlayStation in late 1996 "after herculean efforts", and ported to personal computers in 1997. Work on a Sega Saturn version was also commenced after the initial release, but was eventually terminated.
In developing the character of Kain, Silicon Knights deliberately veered away from following the monomyth
Monomyth
Joseph Campbell's term monomyth, also referred to as the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces...
despite being advised that a brooding anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
would not appeal to gamers. Silicon Knights adopted the vision of a character whom everyone believes is evil, partially inspired by William Munny, the protagonist of Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's Unforgiven
Unforgiven
Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...
, as opposed to a stereotypical "totally kick-ass" protagonist.
The world of Nosgoth was created by using a combination of high fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
and vampire mythology as a template. Influenced by the Necroscope and The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time is a series of epic fantasy novels written by American author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name Robert Jordan. Originally planned as a six-book series, the length was increased by increments; at the time of Rigney's death, he expected it to be 12, but it will actually...
series, the creative team attempted to ensure no character fell into a simple "good" or "evil" typecast. Cover art for The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the Anarchy, between the time of the sinking of the White Ship and the...
served as inspiration for the Pillars of Nosgoth themselves. Content director Ken McCulloch, who co-wrote the storyline and the majority of in-game texts, was urged by marketers to use more accessible names late in the design process, with Mortanius and Hash'ak'gik considered "Names from Hell" that were difficult to get past the "marketing censor".
Simon Templeman
Simon Templeman
Simon Templeman is an English voice actor known for his role as Kain in the video game series "Legacy of Kain", and as Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir in Dragon Age: Origins. He is also known as Simon Templeton. He is married to character actress Rosalind Chao with whom he has a son and daughter.- Animated...
provided the voice of Kain, and prior to recording Dyack expressed concern that the actors would be unable to convey McCulloch's complex dialog. Dyack, however, stated their performances "blew him away", and commented that "after five minutes with Simon Templeman [...] we knew that there was no problem."