Kain (Legacy of Kain)

"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 plains 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! That is why, when I must sacrifice my children to the void, I can do so with a clear heart."

- Kain to Raziel

Kain is a vampire that set out to defy fate and the main protagonist of the Legacy of Kain series.

Transformation
Kain was born into an aristocratic family and came to serve the court of the Lion Throne. But one night when he was thirty, he was journeying and unable to find a room in any tavern. Kain was ambushed on the road by bandits and killed by an assassin, ending up in the Underworld. He was offered a chance for revenge by a necromancer, Mortanius, and, desperate and not thinking, Kain accepted, being revived as a vampire. Though hungry and weak, he hunted and slaughtered down his assassins and fed on their blood. However Mortanius informed Kain that the assassins were tools of someone else and he headed to the Pillars of Nosgoth, hoping for a cure to his vampirism.

Upon arriving, Kain met the ghost of Ariel, former Guardian of the Pillar of Balance, who told him that there was no cure for death, only release. She also told him if he wanted to obtain peace, he had to destroy the Guardians of the Pillars, who were corrupting Nosgoth. Ariel explained that the guardians of the pillars had been driven mad by Nupraptor, Ariel’s former lover, so they now ran rampant through the land. While Kain didn’t care about what happened to Nosgoth, he went after the Guardians, but not before Ariel warned him to “beware the Unspoken”.

Hunting the Guardians
Kain first went after Nupraptor, mastering his new magical abilities and noting the decay of Nosgoth, and managed to hunt down and kill the Mind Guardian. Kain brought Nupraptor’s head back to the Pillar of the Mind, temporarily restoring it. His next target was Malek, the Conflict Guardian, and went through Coorhagen as it was consumed by Plague. Kain managed to reach Malek, but was unable to deal with his holy magic attacks, and knew he needed help, following Ariel’s advice to seek wisdom from the Oracle of Nosgoth. However when Kain found the Oracle, he was unable to deal with his cryptic advice and demanded answers. The Oracle finally told the vampire that his path was with Vorador, a vampire that defeated Malek many years in the past. Kain found Vorador in his home in the Termogent Forest and while Kain found him to be decadent and boorish, Vorador grew fond of him. He told Kain not to get involved in the affairs of humans and gave him the Signet Ring so he could summon Vorador if he needed help. Kain became more intent on finding a cure for vampirism and set out to find more of the Guardians, coming across Anarcrothe, Guardian of States, Bane, Guardian of Nature, and DeJoule, Guardian of Energy.

The trio planned to twist the world and Kain attacked them, but Anarcrothe summoned Malek to fight, before teleporting away, while Bane and DeJoule ran off. However Kain summoned Vorador, who killed Malek and Kain managed to slay Bane and DeJoule, restoring three more Pillars. The vampire went after Azimuth, Guardian of Dimension, and headed to the city she presided over, Avernus. Upon arriving, Kain found the city overrun by demons, but he was not horrified by the bloodshed, instead it only increased his hunger for blood. However when Kain reached the Avernus Cathedral, he managed to find the legendary sword, the Soul Reaver. With this weapon in hand, Kain was able to kill Azimuth with one strike, but before restoring the Temple of Dimension, he took a time-streaming device from her. Ariel sent her towards the Legions of the Nemesis, a brutal army that was conquering the land. Choosing to ignore Vorador’s advice to stay out of human affairs, Kain decided that he needed to understand the “machinations” of Moebius, Guardian of Time.

By drinking blood from the tomb of one of King Ottmar’s ancestors, Kain became able to take on the appearance of a nobleman. He managed to get an audience with King Ottmar, where he learned that to make the king mobilize his army against the Legion of Nemesis, he needed to get back the soul of Ottmar’s daughter from Elzevir the Dollmaker. Kain succeeded, killing Elzevir, and Ottmar marched against the Legions of Nemesis with his Army of Last Hope. However the Nemesis armies managed to kill Ottmar in battle and route the Army of Last Hope.

Journey to the Past and Final Decision
Out of options, Kain used his only means of escaping, the time-streaming device, which sent him fifty years into the past, when Nemesis, leader of the Legion of Nemesis, was only the kind boy-king, William the Just. Seeing Moebius rallying William’s people, Kain realized he could slaughter the boy-king now to prevent Nemesis from ever threatening Nosgoth. Upon infiltrating William’s castle, Kain heard Moebius warning William about the vampire and gave him weapons before he left. When Kain confronted the boy-king, he found that William too was armed with the Soul Reaver, but managed to kill him, breaking his opponent’s sword.

However this resulted in a paradox, creating a new timeline and Kain fed on William’s blood as the king’s guards showed up. Using a second time-streaming device, the vampire returned to the present, but felt something was off. Kain quickly realized what that was: with the death of their beloved king William, the people of Nosgoth became consumed with a desire to wipe out vampires. Kain arrived just as the last vampire left, Vorador, was executed by a mob led by Moebius. He realized that the Guardian of Time had been the Oracle and had manipulated him from the beginning. Kain fought Moebius’ mercenaries and took on the Guardian himself, who admitted that he’d altered the past. However he told Kain that he would eventually meet his end, but the vampire replied that he was already dead, before killing Moebius. Mortanius congratulated Kain, before brining him to the Pillars, where Mortanius, who was the Guardian of Death, faced Anarcrothe. The Guardian of State told Kain that Mortanius had brought about his death so he could turn him into a vampire, before setting him on the Guardians.

Mortanius replied that their destruction was the only way to save Nosgoth and killed Anarcrothe, before Kain faced him. The vampire managed to take Mortanius down, but warned him that his death would leave one more to take. The Guardian of Death was transformed into the “Unspoken” Ariel had warned Kain about, the Dark Entity who’d killed Ariel and brought about the Pillar’s corruption. The vampire was able to defeat the creature, restoring the eighth pillar, and Ariel revealed the truth. Kain was one of the Guardians, Guardian of Balance, having been born as such upon Ariel’s death. Due to his being corrupted by Nupraptor as well, Kain had to die to restore the pillars. Thus he was left with a final decision, sacrifice himself to save Nosgoth, but ensure the vampire’s extinction, or live on to ensure his kind’s survival, but dooming the land. However Kain was enraged at being manipulated and refused, embracing his curse of vampirism and causing the Pillars to collapse. He decided that Vorador had been correct in calling the vampires dark gods and turned the Pillar of Balance into the throne of his new empire. Kain began working to claim Nosgoth as his own, but realized that eventually the land would become corrupted.

Turning on Raziel
Five hundred years later, Kain fully began his takeover of Nosgoth, discovering a means of raising vampires, and decided that he needed to gain a group of lieutenants. Due to his hatred of the Sarafan Order, Kain decide to indulge himself in a private joke and went to the Tomb of the Sarafan. He breathed portions of his soul energy into the corpses of six Sarafan commanders, reviving them as fledgling vampires, oblivious of their Sarafan origins. These lieutenants, Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon, and Melchiah, formed their own vampire clans to create a new generation of vampires. Within a century, the vampires had complete control of Nosgoth, using human slaves to create the Sanctuary of the Clans, the throne room of Kain’s empire around the fallen Pillars. The vampires also created the Smokestack, an enormous chimney that channeled smoke to block out the sun.

Kain's history became legends and he was worshipped as a god by cults of humans. Soon very few knew that the vampire emperor had ever been a mortal. As the centuries passed, Kain and his vampires went through an evolutionary hibernation and gained new abilities. Every time this occurred, Kain would be the first to gain a new gift from this evolution and his lieutenants would follow. But one day, Raziel surpassed Kain by developing a set of bat-like wings. Apparently enraged at his “son” evolving before him, Kain tore the bones out of Raziel’s wings and had him thrown into the Lake of the Dead, an enormous whirlpool of water (which burned vampires like acid). After this, Kain withdrew from life in Nosgoth, only making himself known if he felt it necessary.

He took little interest in the affairs of his vampire brood, who continually devolved and grew monstrous over time. Kain grew convinced that his empire was corrupt and failing, but he decided that if his rule was to continue, he had to restore the Pillars. As part of this goal, Kain was awaiting Raziel’s return and indeed he did, five hundred years later, resurrected as a wraith by the Elder God and full of rage against his former master.

Leading Raziel to the Past
Raziel found that Kain had apparently wiped out his clan and left the land in ruins. The wraith fought and killed the devolved Melchiah, allowing him to enter the Sanctuary of the Clans, where he found Kain waiting for him. Raziel told his former master that his act of genocide was unforgivable, only for Kain to reply that he could destroy what he had made. He went on to say that only when Raziel felt the full gravity of choice should he question his judgment. Raziel replied that he would’ve chosen integrity, but Kain just laughed and told his former lieutenant to witness the end of an age. He declared that his empire and Raziel had outlasted their usefulness and fought the wraith, managing to bring down him with a lightning attack.

Kain struck him with the Soul Reaver, only for it to shatter on impact, due to being unable to consume its own soul, a fact that Kain was aware of. Strangely satisfied, he disappeared, saying that he and Raziel were a step closer to their destinies. Raziel was encouraged by the Elder God and Ariel to destroy Kain and he set out to do so, becoming even more determined upon learning he was once one of the Sarafan. After killing the rest of his former fellow lieutenants, Raziel found Kain in the Chronoplast, a powerful time-streaming device. His former master said he expected Raziel to arrive sooner and explained that he’d come to the Chronoplast long ago, long before Raziel’s execution, and been shown Nosgoth’s past and future. Kain had learned forbidden truths that he couldn’t have even contained as a mortal and now believed free will to be nothing but an illusion, with everyone doing as fate had written. Kain now realized what Moebius had meant by his prediction, that all was predestined.

As he spoke, he activated the Chronoplast and Raziel engaged him again, only to be easily fought off. Raziel again condemned what Kain had done, but he asked who was better to serve him than those who had passion beyond good and evil. Kain then stated that the Sarafan had had the same objectives as the vampires, before passing through the portal of the Chronoplast into the past with Raziel in pursuit. Kain traveled to the Pillars of Nosgoth, uncorrupted in this time and sure that his former lieutenant would come after him.

Resisting Fate
Kain warned Raziel not to trust Moebius in the moments before his human birth, and told him to stay out of the Guardian of Time’s manipulations. Moebius had taken Raziel out of the time stream and conspired with him to kill Kain. Though the wraith distrusted Moebius, he was eager to slay Kain and restore balance to Nosgoth. Kain said that he had seen the beginning and the end of their story and the tale was crude and ill-conceived, so he wanted to rewrite the ending. Kain told Raziel about the corruption and collapse of the Pillars and told Raziel to watch as the Pillars cracked and corroded following Ariel’s death. Kain noted that the repercussions of Ariel’s death were well calculated. Raziel accused Kain of being cowardly when it came to the final sacrifice, but he questioned his former lieutenant’s morality, saying he’d been counting on Raziel's reckless anger. Kain then surprised Raizel by revealing that he wished for the Pillars’ revival as well, saying that they had belonged to vampires.

Because Raziel possessed free will, Kain wanted to manipulate him into causing more paradoxes so as to unbalance the timeline and take back his original destiny. Kain said this was his was his final hope of avoiding the fate Moebius had made for him, before disappearing. When Raziel returned to the Sarafan Stronghold after obtaining the Light Reaver and discovered the fresh corpse of a vampire hunter, he knew Kain was nearby. Raziel found his former master standing before William the Just’s sarcophagus with the Soul Reaver laid upon it. Kain told Raziel that everything was decided here and explained that history was irredeemable, telling him of the Reaver-convergence. He gave Raziel the material Soul Reaver and revealed that he had known Moebius was right, that he was destined to die there at Raziel’s hands.

His former lieutenant knew he had the power to kill Kain, but did not wish to, when the pull of history took hold, forcing him to attack his former master. Kain told Raziel to fight it, saying this moment did not have to be an ending, but a prelude, and the wraith was just able to avoid killing him. As a result, history was derailed, forming a new timeline, and Kain said he was sure they could claim their intended destinies, as well as that he could become the Balance Guardian and restore the Pillars. Raziel stalked away, angry at being congratulated by Kain, and his former master told him to finds his own truths, saying there was much more for him to unearth, if he had the heart and will to find it.

Rewriting History
Kain and Raziel would have their next encounter after another jump through time, to a century after the collapse of the Pillars. They met before Janos Audron’s home and Kain confirmed that Janos Audron was a key part of Raziel’s destiny. However he also warned his former lieutenant that they were both in severe danger from both history and their enemies. However Kain was still unsure who was behind everything and warned Raziel to have caution. Kain headed back to a very early point in Nosgoth’s history at the time of the deaths of Raziel and his fellow lieutenants for a final drastic alteration in time. He watched as Raziel’s destiny came to be when he killed his former human self and his human brethren.

Raziel found his soul being drawn into the Soul Reaver, realizing that he was to become the soul-devouring entity that the blade contained. Kain approached and told him not to fight, then, with a great effort, he pulled the sword free from Raziel, postponing his fate and changing history once more. Kain told him he was free to reclaim his true destiny, but as the time stream was warped, Kain watched in horror as new memories were born and realized he may have made a mistake. As history settled, he realized that in his attempts restore Raziel’s future, he’d fallen right into a trap by the Hylden, a race that had been at war with the vampires in the ancient past and had been banished to the Demon Realm. Kain warned Raziel not to revive Janos Audron, but it was for naught as Raziel sank back into the Spectral Realm. Determined to stop Janos’ resurrection, Kain took up the Soul Reaver and left.

Fall and Awakening
In the timeline created by the paradox Kain caused, he had moved to take over Nosgoth after the collapse of the Pillars, but lacked the ability to create vampires. Kain had allied himself with the strangely revived Vorador who created a new generation of vampires to serve as an army. However their movement eventually generated a powerful revived Sarafan Order to resist them. Kain led his army in a war against the Sarafan for two centuries, taking over much of southern Nosgoth. But in the battle of Meridian, Kain was betrayed by Sebastian, his lieutenant, which allowed the Sarafan Lord to defeat him. Knocked of a cliff to his apparent death and having lost the Soul Reaver, Kain was left unconscious, barely alive.

Agents of Vorador recovered Kain and kept him alive, while the Sarafan Order drastically cut down the vampires, leaving only a small resistance called the Cabal. Finally, after two hundred years, the Cabal revived Kain, not trusting him, but needing his aid. He awoke in a tower in Meridan with many of his memories and abilities lost to him and met Umah, a lieutenant of the Cabal. Though not trusting the Cabal, Kain’s desire for revenge on the Sarafan Lord and the vampires who served him lead to him agreeing to help.

Fighting the Sarafan
Umah brought Kain through the city, retraining him, but they were separated by a Sarafan ward gate. Though Kain considered doing things on his own, he decided that he preferred seeking out the answers offered in the Cabal’s sanctuary. As Kain headed there through the Smuggler’s Den, he was followed by Faustus, a former member of his army that joined the Sarafan. The traitor confronted Kain, but was slain and he continued on, coming across Sebastian as he was messily slaughtering humans in a feeding session. Kain failed to recognize his former lieutenant, who ran off. After finally finding the sanctuary, Kain discovered Vorador was the Cabal’s leader and the two made it clear that they didn’t trust each other, but they needed each other’s help.

However an injured vampire showed up, saying that Umah had been captured. Kain agreed to infiltrate the Sarafan Keep, needing information Umah had obtained, and went to find the Bishop of Meridian, who knew a way into the fortress. However Kain had a run in with Marcus, another vampire who’d joined the Sarafan, and the traitor attempted to control Kain’s mind, but he was able to resist, though Marcus succeeded in learning what his goal was and set out to kill the bishop. Kain chased after the traitor and fought him at the Meridian Cathedral, stunning him using the bells, before killing him and saving the bishop. With his help, Kain breached the Sarafan Keep and freed Umah, but as they escaped, they were confronted by the Sarafan Lord wielding the Soul Reaver. Kain was eager to fight his old enemy, but Umah teleported them back to the Cabal’s sanctuary. Kain admitted that the Sarafan Lord was stronger than he’d expected. Umah told him about the Nexus Stone, which the Sarafan Lord had used to nullify the Soul Reaver’s power in their battle. Now knowing what had brought about his defeat, Kain set out to steal the Nexus Stone from the Industrial Quarter, where he had another encounter with Sebastian.

This time, Kain recognized the traitor and they fought for the Nexus Stone, a fight Kain won. He offered to spare Sebastian, but he refused his mercy and warned him of a device under Meridian that would ensure the Sarafan Lord’s victory. Somewhat disappointed by his treachery, Kain took the Nexus Stone and sought out the Seer for information on the Device. She said that she knew him better than he did, but though she was reluctant to aid Kain, she sensed the strength of his determination. The Seer let the vampire drink her blood, then teleported him to the Device, where he came across a monstrous beast that was imprisoned, but the monster showed that it admired Kain by reputation. It helped him bring about the Device’s destruction by telling him of the its Builder. Kain found the Builder in the Eternal Prison and drank his blood, becoming able to destroy the weapon. As he journeyed through the Device's location, he was attacked by a mutilated and insane vampire, who Kain was forced to fight.

After striking him down, Kain realized that this vampire was Magnus, the greatest of his former army, whom he’d believed had betrayed him. Magnus, his memory restored, revealed that he’d tried and failed to assassinate the Sarafan Lord before the Battle of Meridan. Kain then granted his champion the relief of death. As he went further into the Device, he found the Mass, a bizarre creature that was used to power the weapon. Kain poisoned the creature, ensuring its destruction and found that the monster from before, freed at last, had taken its true form, revealing itself as Janos Audron.

Defeating the Hylden Lord
Janos explained that the Sarafan Lord was a leader of the Hylden and when Kain allowed the Pillars to collapse, the Hylden Lord was able to enter the Material Realm to attempt to take over Nosgoth. Kain returned to the Cabal where Janos and Vorador to prepare a final attack on the Hylden City, while Kain and Umah worked on deactivating the City’s shield. Kain was displeased at having to work with Umah, fearing a betrayal, and this fear proved to be well placed. Umah, afraid of what Kain would reap with his ambition, stole the Nexus Stone from him to destroy the Sarafan Lord herself. Enraged and thinking that Umah was a Sarafan spy, Kain pursued her and found her fatally wounded by Sarafan Knights.

However he refused to help her, taking the Nexus Stone, and made Umah acknowledge him as the ruler of Nosgoth, before killing her. But Kain lamented having to do this, saying Umah could’ve been his queen. After arriving at the Hylden City, he confronted the Hylden Lord and surprised him by showing he had the Nexus Stone, deactivating the Shield Generator, allowing Janos and Vorador to teleport in. Kain accused Vorador of turning Umah against him, but the Hylden Lord took the opportunity to blast Janos and Vorador with a magical attack. Kain progressed on his own to the Hylden Gate, where he faced the Hylden Lord, who complimented his determination. Kain then accused him of making Umah a traitor, but the Hylden denied this and the vampire engaged him, refusing to believe his words. When Kain failed to force the Hylden Lord back into the Demon Realm, he threw the Nexus Stone into the gate. This brought about the destruction of the Hylden invaders, but losing him any protection against the Soul Reaver.

As the Hylden Gate collapsed around them, Kain and the Hylden Lord continued to fight and the vampire managed to knock the sword out of his enemy’s hands. Janos teleported in and engaged the Hylden Lord, only to be cast into the gate.

However Kain was able to obtain the Soul Reaver and with his old blade in hand, he struck down the Hylden Lord. He walked away as the gate exploded, reflecting on Umah’s betrayal and his plans for an empire. Like previous timelines, Kain revived deceased Sarafan warriors as his lieutenants and built a vampiric empire in Nosgoth. He came to believe that he was the Scion of Balance, prophesized to restore order and balance. In his pursuit of a third option for his destiny, Kain did save Raziel from entering the Reaver, but in the new timeline, he sought to stop Raziel from reviving Janos Audron, feeling it would bring about an unwanted conclusion to their fates.

Searching for Raziel
Unable to find Raziel at his current point in time, Kain headed to the Sarafan Stronghold a few years after the deaths of human Raziel and his companions.

There he hoped to find Moebius and force answers from him. While inside, Kain found the Balance Emblem and finally discovered Moebius, who managed to disable his powers with his staff. The Guardian of Time said he was still as arrogant as he had always been and called Kain’s belief in the Scion of Balance “messianic delusions”, before leaving. However the vampire would not give up and managed to obtain the flame fragment of the Balance Emblem, following Moebius. This time, Kain managed to use telekinesis to take Moebius’ staff and force information out of him. The Guardian of Time called his manipulation of history pathetic and said he’d written his own death sentence, since Raziel would kill him whether fate forced him or not. Kain eventually forced Moebius to tell him that west of the Pillars, he would find a testament written on stone, though he was doubtful of the truth of this statement.

Kain found his way to the Pillars, discovering the Dimension Fragment, and followed Moebius’ directions. He came upon a vista overlooking a lake and with the Balance Emblem, parted the mists over the water to reveal the hidden Vampire Citadel. Inside Kain found a mural showed two champions that would determine the fate of Nosgoth, one a champion of the vampires, the other a champion for the Hylden. The mural’s outcome was clear, that the vampire hero would be defeated. As Kain continued to search the Citadel, he found an image of the revolution of the human Guardians, showing that Moebius had lead the revolution against the ancient vampires. Kain noted that he now understood the Guardian of Time’s hatred for him, he was the first vampire Guardian in centuries and he knew the significance of Kain’s arrival or the vampire had reminded him of all he’d forsaken.

After obtaining the Lightning fragment, he headed to the Citadel’s inner chamber, which revealed new truths to Kain. As he looked upon a mural of the Wheel of Fate, the vampire heard a disembodied voice that claimed to be the Oracle of his ancestors. It confirmed Kain’s fears, that Raziel had found Janos’ body in the past and was seeking the Heart of Darkness. A portal appeared and the voice offered to take Kain to the time of the wraith’s arrival. Though Kain knew that this Oracle wasn’t to be trusted, he decided that he needed its help, fearing what Raziel might do.

Fulfilling Destiny
Kain arrived at Avernus Cathedral and found Raziel, who had also learned of the prophecy of the vampire and Hylden champion. Under the influence of Turel’s soul, which he’d just devoured, Raziel believed himself to be the Hylden’s champion. Afraid of his destiny to be trapped in the Soul Reaver, Raziel engaged Kain, successfully wounding him and they began grappling with each other. Raziel’s soul began draining through Kain into the Soul Reaver, much to both their surprises. The vampire didn’t want to imprison Raziel within the blade, but the wraith angrily drove his claw into Kain’s chest, ripping out the Heart of Darkness. Kain was stunned by his pain and shocked that he’d possessed Janos’ heart all along, unable to prevent being blasted telekinetically through a dimensional rift, apparently dead. But Kain still lived and awoke in the Demon Realm, where he was haunted by the Hylden and assaulted by the demons.

He managed to fight his way to a portal and emerged in the Avernus Catacombs. Drawn by the pull of a Spirit Forge, Kain returned to the Vampire Citadel, where he came across Moebius, resurrected from the battle with Kain’s past self. The Guardian of Time was shocked that the vampire survived and he was immune to his staff. Kain replied that he was always considered heartless and killed Moebius again, casting him into the Spectral Realm. As Kain examined his staff, the Guardian of Time’s body rose up and the vampire impaled it with the Soul Reaver as it transformed, but to his shock, the body became Raziel. His former lieutenant restated his loyalty to Kain and gave himself up to the Soul Reaver.

As Raziel’s soul was drained into the sword, he sent the Wraith Blade into Kain’s body, cleansing him of the Pillars’ corruption and showing him their true enemy, the so-called "oracle" of the vampires, in truth the Elder God. Raziel said that he was not Kain’s enemy or destroyer, but he was his right hand like before, his sword. His soul then drained into the blade completely, completing the Soul Reaver. Faced by the Elder God, Kain fought the monstrosity as the Spirit Forge collapsed and managed to defeat the false god, but not destroy it. When the Elder God threatened Kain as he teleported away, he just told it to burrow deep. Looking out on Nosgoth, with his enemy and goal clear to him, he reflected on Raziel’s sacrifice and the gifts it gave, the Soul Reaver, his new vision, and how it had finally given him hope.

Personality
Kain is cunning, ambitious, and determined with a sense of wise arrogance, as well as great bloodthirstiness. While at first he sought to free himself of his vampirism, he now embraces his vampiric side, as well as a growing sense of hatred for humans. Kain is determined to escape the constant manipulations he has faced and take Nosgoth for himself. He also possesses a sense of fatalism that came from Nupraptor’s curse, which is also responsible for his desire for power. Kain has stated that as the corrupted Balance Guardian, he can never truly restore Nosgoth to its old self. His actions usually have subtle and cunning intentions behind them, but few are intelligent enough to see these hidden goals. The best example is when Kain executed Raziel, which seemed like an act of jealousy, needing him to be reborn as a being with free will so he could change history and their fates. While Kain was once cynical and had little to no care for saving Nosgoth, after his decision, he constantly feels the burden on his conscience, knowing that the world is dependent on his actions.

Kain balances this with a sense of dark humor and irony, as seen from his use of former Sarafan warriors to create his vampire lieutenants. However he seems to have some sense of compassion for his “sons”, doing everything he can to secure a resolution to his and Raziel’s fates where they both survive. Also despite Kain’s flaws, he has an appreciation for honesty and has rarely ever consciously lied to some one else, at most telling only half-truths. He values loyalty and believes traitors should be destroyed without a second thought. Kain makes little use of diplomacy, which seems to be a result of his anger, but it is actually a tool. His ultimate goal of giving the Pillars back to the vampires and restore Nosgoth is a well-meaning one, but Kain acknowledges such a thing may be beyond his reach. Only after Raziel purified him did he finally gain a sense of hope.

Powers
Kain’s nature as a vampire grants him superhuman strength, speed, and regeneration, as well as skill in magic. He possesses sharp claws and telekinetic powers, along with various magical abilities known as Dark Gifts. After his defeat by the Sarafan Lord, Kain lost many of his previous abilities, but with time, he gained new Dark Gifts from other vampires. His Dark Gifts include the ability to assume an intangible and invisible mist form when near mist, long distance jumping, the power to control the minds of the weak-willed, even higher speed, and pyrokinetic powers, as well as enhanced telekinesis from the Hylden Seer.

After defeating the Hylden Lord, Kain spent the years refining his powers, now sporting the power to teleport, the ability to fire lightning bolts, and the power to change into a swarm of bats to travel around. Kain also has even strong telekinetic powers and became able to change into his mist form without mist nearby. He is also able to undergo any evolutionary sleep where he emerges with some new, less human adaption each time. Kain's primary weapon is the Soul Reaver, a powerful sword that drains the souls of those it slays.

Trivia

 * Kain has been greatly praised by both video game critics and players, frequently making it on to top video game villains lists for his portrayal as an antagonist in Soul Reaver and high on many other lists such as #2 on 1UP.com’s Top 5 Video Game characters named Kain/Kane and #2 on Joystick Division’s Top 10 Vampires in Video Game History.
 * Kain seemed to undergo no change during the years after Raziel’s demise despite the devolution of the other vampires of his empire. Kain and Raziel’s ability to remain human maybe due to their possessing the largest portions of Kain’s soul. However Kain may have used time travel to arrive at the time of Raziel’s return.
 * Kain was originally going to die in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, but this cut due to time and budget restraints.
 * Kain’s preferred method of killing his victims, impaling them with the Soul Reaver, is similar to the method used by Vlad Tepes Dracula.