| “ | VAE VICTIS! (Woe to the conquered) | „ |
| ~ Kain |
| “ | Once I embraced my powers I realized that Vorador was correct. We are gods - dark gods and it is our duty to thin the herd. | „ |
| ~ Kain in Blood Omen |
| “ | Conscience...? You dare to speak to me of conscience? Only when you have felt the full gravity of choice should you dare question my judgment! Your life's span is a flicker compared to the mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanius first turned me from the light... To know that the fate of the world hangs dependent on the advisedness of my every deed -- can you even begin to conceive what action you would take, in my position? | „ |
| ~ Kain in Soul Reaver |
| “ | Let’s drop the moral posturing, shall we? We both know there’s no altruism in this pursuit. Your reckless indignation led you here – I counted on it. There’s no shame in it, Raziel – revenge is motivation enough. At least it’s honest. Hate me, but do it honestly | „ |
| ~ Kain in Soul Reaver 2 |
| “ | Given the choice - whether to rule rule a corrupt and failing empire, or to challenge the fates for another throw, a better throw, against destiny - what was a king to do? But, does one truly have a choice? One can only match, move by move, the machinations of fate, and thus, defy the tyrannous stars. | „ |
| ~ Kain in Defiance |
| “ | I knew what ominous hour this was in Nosgoth's history. For here was the event that had shaped my entire existence... I had cast my fate, refusing the sacrifice, damning the Pillars, and founding my doomed empire upon their ruins. I would raise the Sarafan priests to be my closest lieutenants, and would one day cast the strongest of them, my servant Raziel, into the abyss – dealing one last hand to play against Fate. But in the end, had it made any difference? Had I misread the signs, as Moebius told me? In my arrogance, had I missed my cast at destiny? | „ |
| ~ Kain in Defiance |
| “ | Now,at last,the masks had fallen away. The strings of the puppets had become visible, and the hands of the prime mover exposed. Most ironic of all was the last gift that Raziel had given me, more powerful than the sword that now held his soul, more acute even than the vision his sacrifice had accorded me - the first bitter taste of that terrible illusion: Hope | „ |
| ~ Kain in Defiance |
Summary
Kain is the eponymous character and main protagonist as well as even the antagonist of the Legacy of Kain franchise. A vampire antihero, Kain was inextricably tangled in plots to control the fate of his world, Nosgoth.The son of an aristocratic family, he lived the life of an ambitious young nobleman, never realizing his undiscovered destiny – to take his rightful place as Balance Guardian, and serve the Pillars of Nosgoth. During one fateful journey, Kain was cruelly assassinated and resurrected from the dead. His quest for vengeance led him on a torturous journey of self-discovery as his curse of vampirism took irrevocable hold on his soul.
Cunning and relentless, Kain battled the oppressive agents of fate that sought to destroy him. For centuries, he ruthlessly pursued a singular ambition: to restore the land of Nosgoth, and return it to vampire rule. Armed with the legendary Soul Reaver blade, and pursued by his fallen creation Raziel, he hoped to reclaim his true role as Scion of Balance from the wreckage of history
Powers and Abilities
Tier: 9-B. 9-A with weapons, At least 9-A with the Soul Reaver | 9-A. 9-A with Dark Gift. At least 9-A, likely 8-C with the Soul Reaver | At least 9-A. 8-C with the Reaver, likely higher with the Purified Soul Reaver
Key: End of Blood Omen | End of Blood Omen 2 | End of Defiance
Name: Kain
Origin: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Gender: Male
Age: 30 years old | 430 years old | Over 1530 years old
Classification: Vampire. Guardian of the Pillar of Balance, Scion of Balance
Powers and Abilities: Immortality (Types 1,2 3, 7, and 8. Kain was killed and revived as a vampire, giving him eternal life and immunity to diseases, Can live without a heart, Kain as the Scion of Balance is tied to the indestructible Pillars of Nosgoth, the physical manifestation of the divine entities of the world, being tied to the Pillars, only the Soul Reaver can kill him, because the Soul Reaver and the Pillars are specially connected), Regeneration (Low-Mid, A vampire's immortal flesh begins to close as soon as it is cleaved", likely higher. Can reform by tranforming into a swarm of bats. Stated that the only way to kill him is by using the Soul Reaver), Genius Intelligence, Social Influencing (Kain has an innately charming aura, to the extent that he was able to create a vampire army, have countless humans and vampires worship him as a God and not even question whether he was ever a man, and maintain the status of a godlike vampire since the start of time), Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Blood Manipulation & Absorption & Healing (As a vampire Kain can remove the blood of enemies to feed, Kain not only heals by drinking blood, but also gains physical strength and endurance), Transformation (Into a swarm of bats, werewolf, human, and mist), Flight (By transforming into a swarm of bats), Elemental Intangibility and Camouflage (By transforming into mist), Stealth Mastery, Weapon Mastery (Expert with all types of swords, and with axes, maces, and likely more. Able to effortlessly defeat entire groups of highly trained knights using the Reaver), Hand-to-hand combat, Magic including Blood Manipulation (Kain is able to use his own blood as a weapon, shooting a blood projectile that on impact with the enemy, attracts their blood to Kain's mouth, and also can remove the blood of all creatures in the area, killing them), Energy Projection (Can cast an energy bolt from his hands), Time Manipulation (Can make all enemies in the area far slower), Time Stop (Can temporally freeze one target in time), Rage Inducement (Can make enemies attack each other), Light Manipulation (Kain can create artificial light to illuminate a dark area for a limited time), Electricity Manipulation (By summoning lightning from the sky), Forcefield Creation & Attack Reflection (Repel makes Kain invulnerable for a period of time, and reflects magical spells, energy and physical projectiles to the attacker), Teleportation (To his grave), Death Manipulation, Soul Manipulation and Possession (Able to cast a projectile that on impact remove the soul from the target and tears a creatures's soul and takes over their body), Non-Physical Interaction (Able to see and destroy ghosts and shadows), Stun Inducement, Evolution (Rather than evolving slowly over time, vampires experience periods of accelerated metamorphosis, actually entering cocoon-like stages from which they emerge transformed. Developing new powers and abilities corresponding to their individual traits and increasing previous physical & magical capabilities) | With Artifacts: Resurrection & Healing (Via Heart of Darkness, if Kain is killed and has at least one heart he automatically revives instantly, he can also use the hearts to heal himself, the number of times Kain can resurrect is only limited by the hearts that he has), Homing Attack (Via Flay, cast a projectile that homed in on an enemy, then ripped the flesh from its bones), Compression Manipulation (via Implode. If these projectiles strike an enemy, their body rapidly compresses. The remains explode when the internal pressure becomes too great to be contained), Decompose Manipulation (via Font of Putrescence,These artefacts were homing projectiles that caused enemies to decompose upon contact. The pool left by their dissolved bodies acted as a trap, promising the same fate to anyone that stood in it). Unstoppable attack in area (via Pentaliche of Tarot, Tarot randomly picked how Kain's enemies would die. There were five different outcomes that could be dealt, and it killed all assailants who were in close proximity to Kain Resistance to Mind Manipulation, Transmutation & Life Manipulation and Soul Absorption/Manipulation (Resisted several strikes from the Wraith Blade and the Soul Reaver, both swords absorbs the soul of targets and can even remove souls) | All previous powers, Floating, Power Absorption (Can absorb the Dark Gift of other vampires and the powers of others creatures by drinking their blood), Statistics Amplification (Speed and damage), Telekinesis (After drinking the blood of The Seer, Kain improves his Telekinesis, and becomes able to manipulate objects and creatures at long distances and throw telekinetic projectiles), Pyrokinesis (Created a ring of fire that lifted an enemy in the air, and then set them aflame), Mind Control (Kain can control the minds of weak humans), Phasing | All previous powers, greatly improved by evolutions, Teleportation, Electricity Manipulation (Can project lightning from his hands), Surface Scaling & Natural Weaponry (Kain has fangs and claws that allow him to climb walls), Natural Armor (Due to its evolutions, Kain's skin hardened, giving him a natural armor, that protects him from the weapons damage), Resurrection & Power Bestowal (By breathing a portion of his soul into a corpse, that creature's soul is drawn back into the body and the creature is resurrected as a vampire, obtaining raw power and specific abilities from Kain in the process, he did this with 6 priest sarafan who became his lieutenants), Homing Attack (via Flay Elder Kain can make flay without artifacts).
Attack Potency: Wall level+. Small Building level with weapons (Stronger weapons yield that much), At least Small Building level with the Soul Reaver (Strongest of the weapons) | Small Building level (Should be comparable to Vorador). Small Building level+ with Immolate Dark Gift (Capable of partially destroying a statue), At least Small Building level+, likely Building level with the Soul Reaver | At least Small Building level+. Building level with the Reaver (With the Fragments), likely higher with the Purificated Soul Reaver (Was able to defeat the Elder God). All incarnations of the Soul reaver ignore conventional durability by attacking the soul; Blood Manipulation and some Spells ignore conventional durability
Speed: At least Subsonic (Can effortlessly dodge arrows). At least Subsonic+ with wolf form (Faster than before). At least Subsonic+ travel speed with bat form (Can travel across cities in a short timeframe). Possibly Massively Hypersonic+ attack speed (One of his spell is able to summon lightning from sky) | Subsonic+ possibly higher (Able to withstand a fight and block the strikes with the vampire Sebastia, that has a super-speed ability, this speed being far superior to average vampires), likely Transonic with Berserk Dark Gift | Massively Hypersonic+ reactions and combat speed (Able to easily defeat several Lightning Demons simultaneously, that can attack and move at real lightning speed, and can easily dodge the attack "Crack of Lightning" that is "As deadly and quickly as a sky bolt from the sky"). Higher with berserk. Higher by using Dimension and Time Fragments via teleportation and time manipulation
Lifting Strength: At least Class 100, likely Class K (Physically far stronger than Raziel)
Striking Strength: Wall level+, Small Building level with Spiked Mace | Small Building level, At least Small Building level+ with the Soul Reaver | At least Small Building level+, likely Building level with the Reaver and Soul Reaver
Durability: Wall level+ | Small Building level | At least Small Building level+, likely Building level (Tanked attacks from a bloodlusted Raziel)
Stamina: Extremely high, has killed hordes of Vampires Hunters without sights of tiredness, won a battle against an illusion of his future self, Kain as a Vampire does not need sleep, this is seen when he travels across the continent of Nosgoth on foot for weeks, while fighting hordes of enemies and never sleeps | Counting the previous, Kain survived being slashed by the Hylden Lord, with Gylph Magic which is "Deadly to Vampires" although, felt into a coma, and after awake he losses temporarily the majority of his abilities and his mind was fragmented. Even with that, Kain possess passive resistance to mind control | As an Elder, Kain is able to stand even after his heart was ripped out, and continued on to fight a horde of demons without issue. It has been established that he can "Easily defeat armies of foes". He is able to see through the Time Stream, allowing him to perceive infinite possibilities, a feat that would drive any mortal man mad.
Range: Standard melee range, extended melee with weapons, several meters with spells and Reaver powers.
Standard Equipment: The Reaver/The Soul Reaver
In Blood Omen:
Weapons:
- Iron Sword: Standard Kain's weapon.
- Spiked Maced: Can stun enemies and destroy several rocks of 2 meters in one strike.
- Axes: Called Havoc and Malice, these weapons can be used to chop up to 2 trees in one hit and make slashing combos. While wielded, the user can't use magic.
- Flame Sword: A burning sword, it turns the victims into ashes, preventing some kinds of undead and creatures to resurrect, regenerate or reassemble.
Armors:
- Iron Armor: Kain's standard armor,was a normal armor but was reforged with Hellfire by The Necromancer Mortanius.Give to kain high defense and fire protection.
- Bone Armor: It causes lower forms of undead to ignore the user.
- Chaos Armor: While wearing it, any damage inflicted to the user is reflected back to the attacker.
- Flesh Armor: It drains the blood of the enemies that are damaged by the user, feeding him.
- Wraith Armor: As armor that exists in both the Spectral and Material Realms, it divides the damage taken at cost of magic.
Artefacts:
- Flay: Flay artefacts were projectiles that homed in on an enemy, then ripped the flesh from its bones.Kain being Elder can make this ability the form passively,without artefacts.
- Implode: If these projectiles struck an enemy, their body rapidly compressed. The remains exploded when the internal pressure became too great to be contained.
- Slow Time: Slow Time artefacts worked like a spell. All enemies and creatures in the area moved at a quarter of their normal speed for a limited time.
- Font of Putrescence: These artefacts were homing projectiles that caused enemies to decompose upon contact. The pool left by their dissolved bodies acted as a trap, promising the same fate to anyone that stood in it.
- Pentaliche of Tarot: Tarot randomly picked how Kain's enemies would die. There were five different outcomes that could be dealt, and it killed all assailants who were in close proximity to Kain. From observation, it appeared that the five outcomes were as follows:
- Flay.
- Dissolve (Font of Putrescence).
- Implode.
- Explode into lots of tiny bits (like Flay, but with no skeleton left).
- Exploding dismemberment (bigger bits left than 4, like when the Soul Reaver was used).
- Anti-Toxin: If Kain became poisoned, Anti-Toxin was the cure. These artefacts were particularly useful around Dark Eden, where Kain was frequently poisoned by the mutant inhabitants.
- Energy Bank: These artefacts filled Kain's magic reserves for a while, but when their effect faded, Kain was left with no magical energy at all. Despite this disadvantage, the Energy Banks were valuable for use with the Soul Reaver. They ensured Kain had the magical energy needed for the sword to show its full potential.
- Heart of Darkness: The Heart of Darkness cards are representations of the relic, (from the true heart of Janos Audron), these cards have the same power as the original heart "restore vampiric unlife", the hearts serve as a resurrection for Kain, if he is killed, he instantly resurrects, giving him enough "life" to be able to fight, Kain can also use the hearts to heal himself and recover all his energy.
All the incarnations of Kain wield The Soul Reaver (Standard). EoD Kain use the Purified Soul Reaver with the Fragments.
Intelligence: Extraordinary Genius intellect and extremely wise, killed all of the Nosgoth guardians, dominated Nosgoth for 900 years. As a vampire, Kain's mind evolved beyond human levels, allowing him to process and understand the Time-Stream, a feat that would drive any normal human mad. The Time-Stream consists of: "The various weavings of time, wrapping, unfolding and refolding". Is an expert tactician and master of strategy, being able to conquer the continent of Nosgoth in only 100 years, with his liutenants, even when Nosgoth had killed all other vampires except him. Can orchestrate many events against his foes across multiple timelines that eventually end with his victory. Kain has thousands of years of experience, frequently makes long-term plans and has masterful insight into the possibilities of the future, while choosing the ones that do not harm him, or those he wants preserved.
Weaknesses: Like all vampires on Nosgoth, he is weak against water.
Notable Skills / Techniques:
Natural Vampire Abilities
- Vampire Regeneration: Vampires can regenerate wounds virtually instantly as "Physical wounds are fleeting - a vampire's immortal flesh begins to close as soon as it is cleaved.
- Absorbing Veins/Power Absorption: When Kain drinks the "Life-Force" or "Blood" of a powerful creature, he "absorbs their veins" and gains the "Dark Gift" (special power) of the creature. Vampires can normally only "absorb the veins" of other vampires, as only they possess "Dark Gifts", but Kain, by drinking the blood of the Seer (a Hylden), gained her telekinetic powers. Therefore, Kain can absorb powers of other races as well as vampires.
- Vampire Lore: Kain as all vampires gain physical strength, endurance and heals from drinking Blood.
- Blood Drinking: Kain, as with all Vampires of Nosgoth, have a limited telekinesis, allowing them attack enemies internally, damaging their insides or drawing their blood to fed, and can move objects at close distances.
Blood Omen 1 Powers
- Transformation: Kain can change his form into:
- Mist Form: With the form of Mist, Kain becomes intangible against physical attacks and projectiles, as well as magical/energy attacks (he is only intangible to magic and energy when purified and converted into Scion of Balance when the Mist form is upgraded). He also becomes immune to water and can pass through bars. It allows Kain to move faster than normal, and he can activate and deactivate the form instantly. Normally, Kain cannot attack in this form, but if he is in contact with natural mist, he can do so while maintaining his intangibility. He also can use this form to make "Stealth Kills"
- Bat Form: Kain can turn into a band of bats, allowing him to travel across large distances quickly. If the body of Kain suffers major damage, he decomposes and reforms into bats, regenerating instantly.
- Wolf Form: Kain can turn into a big black werewolf. In this form, he can move more quickly than normal, jump meters of distance, and can attack with his claws. The Werewolf form become much more powerful during full moon.
- Disguise Form/Beguile:
- Disguise Form: Changes Kain's appearance to that of a human, useful for infiltration and finding information. This ability doesn't allow Kain to attack.
- Beguile: Is an improved version of the previous spell, allowing Kain to attack while being used. This spell does not change the appearance of Kain, but manipulates the perception of others, making them see Kain as a different and living person.
- Repel: Creates an energy field that makes Kain invulnerable and reflects magical spells and physical projectiles.
- Soul Death: Cast a projectile that remove the soul from the target.
- Mind Control: With this spell, Kain can throw a magic projectile that allows him to replace a human's soul with his own, completely taking control of his victim's body and its actions. While possessing an enemy, Kain's soul-absent body is protected against all damage by a Repel barrier. The body possessed by Kain will immediately perish if it sustains enough damage or if the spell's grip was released, allowing him to regain control of his real body.
- Spirit Wrack: Could be considered an upgraded version of the Control Mind spell, because it allows Kain to fire a magical projectile that replaces any creature's soul with his own, taking full control of his victim's body. Like the Control Mind spell, while his soul is absent, Kain's body will be fully protected by a Repel-like barrier; and if he decides to release his grip from the possessed body or if it sustains enough damage, that body will inevitably perish.
- Blood Shower: Kain removes the blood of all the creatures in the area, killing them.
- Blood Gout: When used, it allows Kain to create a projectile from his own blood, which upon striking an enemy, drains their blood to feed Kain.
- Inspire Hate: Can inspire hate/rage among the enemies of the area, causing them to attack each other.
- Slow Time: All enemies and creatures in the area move at a quarter of their normal speed for a limited time.
- Incapacitate: Cast a projectile that freezes to the creature in time.
- Energy Bolt: This spell allows Kain to throw an energy projectile towards enemies in a straight-line course. The projectile can be used to activate switches located in unreachable places, and was able to explode armored human into pieces.
- Lightning: Summons thunderbolts from the sky, that fall at great speed and disintegrate enemies. This spell can only be used in open areas.
- Stun: Causes a mental shock, which leaves the victim stunned. Also work with ghosts.
- Light: Kain creates artificial light, allowing him to illuminate an entire area for several seconds, useful for avoiding traps and ambushes in dark places.
- Sanctuary: This spell enables him to teleport back to his grave from any place in Nosgoth. If Kain's health is very low, this spell also partially refills his blood vial when used.
Blood Omen 2 Powers
- Jump/Super Leap: Allows Kain to jump great distances.
- Floating: Allows Kain to silently land near enemies and strike undetected. The ability can also be used to slightly extend the range of Kain's jump.
- Statistics Amplification:
- Fury: Allows Kain make a much more powerful strike than normal, with his hands or a weapon.
- Berserk: It unleashes a flurry of fast and powerful strikes. Whether with his bare hands or a weapon, allows Kain to attack faster than normal.
- Charm: Charm is the ability to "subjugate [mortal] minds" and control their actions, as long as they are nearby.
- Phasing/Immaterial: Kain has a "Phasing" ability. When the Hylden Lord try to cut to Kain in two, the sword only went through him. Although Kain was incapacitated, it's because he was very young and was attacked with Glyph magic, which is deadly to vampires.
- Immolate: Creates a ring of fire that lifts the enemy in the air, and then sets them aflame.
Elder Kain Powers
- Soul Necromancy: Kain is able to divide his own soul into several fragments. These fragments united with the soul of a corpse can resurrect it. In addition to transforming it into a vampire, the person that Kain resurrects with this method gains much of Kain's raw powers and abilities. However, this process leaves him quite exhausted, needing to rest or consume blood to recover. Likewise, as many times as he does this, he will have to give a smaller and smaller portion of his soul, and therefore the resuscitated is less powerful. This was the ability that Kain used to revive the six Priest Sarafan, who would later become his six vampire lieutenants.
- Telekinesis: Kain can move objects by "sheer will alone":
- Kain, as with all Vampires of Nosgoth, can attack enemies internally, damaging their insides or drawing their blood, and can move objects to closer distances.
- After drinking the blood of the Seer, Kain's telekinesis was greatly improved:
- Now can manipulate objects from longer distances.
- Able to move heavier objects.
- Can make a telekinetic projectile, able to kill a normal human in one strike.
- As an Elder his telekinesis improved even more:
- Can keep people in the air and move them in all directions.
- A far stronger telekinetic projectile.
- Can manipulate and destroy big rocks, simply by moving his hand.
- Now has much more control, being able to disarm the enemy as well as hang them in the air.
- Can make tlekinetic explosions of low or high potency, able to be throwt tens of meters to the objective.
- Kinetic Shackles: Kain create chains of force that immobilize the enemy in the air, regardless of what Kain does.
- Kain, as with all Vampires of Nosgoth, can attack enemies internally, damaging their insides or drawing their blood, and can move objects to closer distances.
- Lightning Manipulation/Generation: Kain can cast 2 types (more 1 variation) of electric rays from his hands:
- Powerful short-range rays: This reaches 3 meters away, weakening, killing and/or immobilizing the target.
- Rays of long range: Kain uses this when the enemy is far away. He can control the direction and speed of the lightning, although this attack is a little less powerful than the short range Rays:
- Yellow: Is done with two hands, Kain controls its speed and movement.
- Violet: Is a little more powerful than yellow. Kain can control direction, but not speed.
These rays take time to charge, yellow takes 4 seconds to cast and violet takes 1.8 seconds.
- Teleportation: A normal teleportation that Kain can use for movement or for combat. The time to perform the technique varies, but is usually around 2 seconds. The method of performance also varies, sometimes having Kain close his hands, and other times using only his mind.
- Flay: Flay artifacts are projectiles that home in on an enemy, then rip the flesh from its bones. Kain as an Elder can make Flay without using artifacts
For the Reaver and Soul Reaver with Fragments:
- Balance Reaver: Causes a blast that damages all the surrounding enemies.
- Flame Reaver: Deals fire damage and cause its enemies to attack each other.
- Dimension Reaver: Allows the user to teleport, striking several enemies in an instant.
- Lightning Reaver: Manipulate Lightning.
- Time Reaver: Warps time, slowing down the movements of foes.
Notable Matchups
Notable Victories:
Notable Losses:
Inconclusive Matches: