Seriously, play the games or watch the cutscenes, cause the games are literal GOLD ♥
I RP in 1st person, but I accept everyone, no matter what their writing style is, and have about 12 years experience.
Kain is the eponymous character and main protagonist of the Legacy of Kain franchise. He was a playable character in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Blood Omen 2, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance, and made appearances throughout the series.
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.
Appearances throughout history. (Though his most recent design is what I will be using.)
As a young human in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Kain is black-haired and fair-skinned, lithe but well-built, and garbed in white Iron Armor with gold trimmings, a red hauberk, red gloves and brown boots. In Legacy of Kain: Defiance, he is similarly portrayed, wearing white plate mail with an accompanying helmet and red, regal finery. On becoming a fledgling vampire, his hair, skin and flesh are visibly transformed by Mortanius's coruscating magic; his armor becomes black, his living skin becomes dead flesh, his hair turns white and his eyes turn yellow. His chiropteran form resembles vampire bats, and his lupine form is black-furred, bulky and hunched, with red eyes.
Blood Omen 2 features a slightly older Kain, midway between his original appearance and his Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver depiction. By this point, Kain's face is more elongated, and his ears and canine teeth are distinctively pointed. His skin is muscled and hardened, with a desaturated gray/white pallor, and his hands - though still five-fingered - are evolving into the tridactyl claws he will possess in the future. His default costume is bare-chested, and consists of bronze metallic boots with straps, black, leathery trousers with a stylized red and black skirted garment, a pauldroned bracer covering his right arm, and a bronze bracer on his left with a red sleeve.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver's Elder Kain is similarly clothed, with studded, black leather trousers, studded black metal gauntlets with short sleeves, a shoulder-harness, and a red tabard emblazoned with his symbol in white, clasped to the harness with two golden medallions (on the front and back). He wears greaves instead of boots, exposing his highly-evolved didactyl claws in place of feet, and his tridactyl claws in place of hands. His face is aged and sallow-cheeked, and the bones of his forehead and ears have risen upward into a crown-like shape; on his left ear, he wears Vorador's Signet Ring. His skin is chitinous and layered: "the 'designs' upon his chest are merely the thousands of years of vampiric unlife and slow evolution showing upon his body making it more hard, rigid and scaly". In response to debate as to whether Elder Kain is green or not, Daniel Cabuco established that "Kain is not green, he's actually a tan/gold color. His evolutionary path was influenced by his arrogance, thus the crown and golden tone of his skin. It also protects him from damage, sunlight, etc".
A feature which remained constant in Kain's appearance from his debut until Legacy of Kain: Defiance is the impalement scar he sustained from his assassination as a human in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The scar was added to Elder Kain's model sheet by Daniel Cabuco during Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver's development, and was deliberately repositioned: "like most scars, it moved down his body a little over the milennia. It's also a symbol of his tainted nature. Because of that all of Kain's gifts and creations will eventually fall to dust". It is absent from some artwork of the younger Kain's chest in Blood Omen 2, but is seen in most of his renders; the scar can also be seen on his back, "but it tends to align with the design of the back muscle lines, so it's not easy to make out". It was ultimately healed when the wraith-blade dispersed into Kain during Raziel's sacrifice at the conclusion of Legacy of Kain: Defiance, as "a visual representation of the physical and spiritual healing and purity that Raziel confers".
Though the Elder Kain represents the eldest and latest incarnation of the character, Amy Hennig has stated that he has not necessarily reached the peak of his evolution, and could continue to be redesigned: "Kain continues to evolve, like all vampires". However, contrary to the Scion of Balance mural in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, she confirmed that he will not grow wings - "that's an evolutionary development unique to Raziel and his descendants".
According to Daniel Cabuco, Kain's height is: "Kain is 7 feet tall."
"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 is described as a cunning and relentless individual, characterized by his heroism, ambition, nobility and fatalism, who grows from wisely arrogant to arrogantly wise over the centuries. Frequently regarded as "a petty noble" in life and youth, he initially shuns vampirism and seeks to uncover a cure - "reluctant to live the horror of an existence blighted by a thirst for human blood". Over the course of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, though, he grows to embrace his curse and the ideals of Vorador - his father figure - and also becomes a misanthrope; expressing disgust and a "growing disaffection for humankind" and the Circle of Nine's machinations. Hastily accepting Mortanius's offer of revenge, and desperate to prevent his vampiric nature from consuming him, Kain fell into the role of an "unwilling pawn", failing to forge his own path.
Having been wronged time and time again, he strives to escape manipulation, engendering his desire to conquer all of Nosgoth for his own - a quest that he eventually prevails in. His fatalism and lust for power is fueled by Nupraptor's curse; as the corrupt Balance Guardian, Kain realizes that "never again could [he] give Nosgoth back her innocence". However, though he possesses an obvious relish for bloodshed and brutality, he is anything but stupid: the true cunning and subtlety of his actions are only revealed to those smart enough to see past his endless deceptions. Although Raziel initially perceives his own execution at Kain's hands as the result of jealousy, Kain later reveals that his supposed hatred of Raziel was a complex ruse, part of his "cast at destiny" - a "quest for knowledge and freedom". Only through Raziel's rebirth as a creature with free will could Kain further his attempts to change history, and revise their respective fates.
As a young vampire, Kain is cynical, and initially apathetic about saving Nosgoth. Following his refusal to sacrifice himself, though, he is internally burdened by his conscience, shouldering a "mass of doubt and regret" in the knowledge that "the fate of the world hangs dependent on the advisedness of [his] every deed". This is balanced by his prevalent sense of irony and dark humor; he raises the corpses of his Sarafan enemies to unwittingly serve as his trusted lieutenants, believing that "one must keep his friends close and his enemies even closer". Even so, Kain frequently shows strong hints of compassion for his sons and others; throughout Legacy of Kain: Defiance, he does everything within his power to secure a resolution that he and Raziel "both can live with", and is distraught and resistant at Raziel's ultimate sacrifice in his name.
Though Kain possesses numerous character flaws, he appreciates honesty to a fault, and - except when working covertly in Blood Omen 2 - has never consciously lied to another individual throughout the Legacy of Kain series, only telling half or partial truths when necessary. As a monarch, he values loyalty, and despises insubordination, arguing that "cowards and traitors deserve no second thoughts, only their complete annihilation". While his apparent lack of diplomacy seems to stem from his short and violent temper, in reality it is a carefully cultivated tool. Above all else, Kain's ultimate agenda - to return the Pillars to the vampires and ensure Nosgoth's restoration to glory - are partially moral and benevolent at the very least, but he realizes his goal may be beyond his reach. Only when purified - with "the hands of the prime mover exposed" - does he receive "the first bitter taste" of hope.
Immortality and Regeneration: Kain like the rest of vampires, cannot die for natural causes and wounds will heal almost instantly. Even among Vampires, Kain is a special case as only the Soul Reaver blade can kill him. (As revealed in Defiance.)
Superhuman strength: Kain as a vampire has superhuman strength which was upgraded over time with power ups he has collected and potentially with age. He could inflict major damage on humans easily and throw them some distance effortlessly and was able to move massive objects similarly easily.
Superhuman speed: As with other Vampires, Kain is able to move faster than other mortals and can dodge arrows effortlessly.
Basic Telekinesis: Kain like every vampire started with a basic telekinesis, being able to drain the blood of enemies through his throat, on his travels through Nosgoth he acquired more powerful spells to enhance this.
Resistances/immunities: Kain - possibly thanks to being a Balance Guardian, by collecting power ups in his youth and his Evolution - overcame almost all his vampiric weaknesses and showed other resistances: By drinking from the Blood Fountains that were in Nosgoth, he became immune to rainwater and snow. He was immune to the effects of the Dark Eden energy dome, which in Kain's own words: "expanded, absorbing and recreating, consuming life and leaving behind only a twisted parody". In Blood Omen 2, Kain resisted Marcus's mind control with little effort, however Kain could not prevent Marcus from reading his mind for a few moments. In that same combat he proved to be immune to the frequency of sound that weakens vampires. The Elder Kain's skin not only hardened, but also made him immune to the sun's rays that weakened him. Finally, Kain could only be killed with the Soul Reaver and he prove to be resistant to the power of soul absorption of the blade.
According to Daniel Cabuco, Kain retained the vast majority of powers of Blood Omen, in his elder version and indicates that he probably did not use them again because they weren't needed:
"Kain, in his hundreds of years of evolution, didn't feel he needed subtle spells anymore. Who needs flay when you have a Soul Reaver that can blast their skeleton out of their body, then efficiently consume their blood and souls. He hasn't had a need to sneak into a place for a hundreds of years. (He had lieutenants for that kind of grunt work if needed) Think about all that you learned 10 years ago that you don't use because you basically grew past needing it. Now multiply that by 100 (ie 1000 years)". "Kain had lightning and a teleportation ability, which for gameplay purposes in Defiance, we turned into the mist form. Kain had a whole host of spells from Blood Omen that I wanted to kind of re-do for the next game (flay for example). It's thought that he didn't really need many of the spells though, since he was so tough (and had the Soul Reaver)".
When quizzed on the powers of the Scion of Balance, artist Daniel Cabuco intimated that Kain's abilities as the purified Scion of Balance could encompass the powers of the rest of the Circle of Nine, although to a lesser extent than the original Guardians: "The Scion of Balance balances on a greater scale, balancing the world's entities and the Pillar's place in it. Purified and empowered with the Soul Reaver, he can use the powers of all the guardians to accomplish this goal, though to a lesser extent than the pure circle members. (Including pruning the Elder God's influence.. one sliced tentacle at a time if need be)". Cabuco also suggested his preference was that Kain may also inherit Raziel's abilities, but this would likely not be developed in future games for gameplay purposes: "I would like to think Raziel passed all his gifts to Kain, like seeing the Elder God, shifting to Spectral, etc. But that would all really be contingent on the next game's needs. It's the hardest thing to have a character start in a sequel with all the abilities and upgrades of the previous game, then having to turn that off". Such potential abilities are yet to be seen in game and thus their canonicity may be considered dubious and may rely on implementation from future developers.
