Legacy of Kain: Defiance Designer Diary #2

By Richard Lemarchand
Senior Game Designer

When project director Amy Hennig and the team at Crystal Dynamics set out to create Soul Reaver in 1997, one of the first seeds of inspiration came from a little-known character in a weird silent movie from 1920 called The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.

The film is one of the most famous examples of German Expressionism--a filmmaking movement that wanted to break away from the sober and theatrical conventions of the day to make surreal, dreamlike entertainment. This is not unlike the goals of the Soul Reaver team! The haunted, sunken look of the central character Cesare--a cadaverous, sleepwalking mystery man--provided some early visual inspiration for Raziel.

The haunted, sunken look of a central character from a weird silent movie called The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari provided some early visual inspiration for Raziel.

Additionally, it's no coincidence that there's a similarity between the warped and slanted sets in Caligari and the dizzily twisted aspects of Soul Reaver's Spectral Plane. Vampire fans will be interested to know that Caligari was a big influence on the infamous bloodsucker movie Nosferatu and continues to inspire Hollywood filmmakers to this day.

Over the course of many dozens of concept sketches, Raziel's form began to take shape. His blue color was inspired by Hindu tradition. His broken wings were meant to emphasize his tragic character and his nature as a "fallen angel." His name comes from rabbinical lore, with Raziel meaning "Secret of God." This is quite appropriate, since Raziel's destiny is hijacked by an ancient deity looking for an agent to do his dirty work.

Having gotten an idea of what the character was and what he looked like, we needed some history for him. Amy and some of the other team members had recently completed work on Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. That game concluded with Kain, the antihero, being faced with the choice either to sacrifice himself and save the world of Nosgoth or damn Nosgoth and become its king. The latter seemed like a cooler premise for a new game, and so, assuming that Kain had chosen the throne of a ruined world, the idea of a group of vampiric henchmen came up.

To quote Amy Hennig:

"Raziel was once first among Kain's vampire lieutenants but was condemned to the Abyss for an apparent transgression against his master. He evolved beyond Kain, developing a pair of leathery wings. Kain tore the wings from Raziel's back, and ordered his fellow lieutenants to throw his broken body into the vortex at the center of the Lake of the Dead.

The descent into the watery maelstrom should have destroyed him, but instead Raziel was transformed. Resurrected by a mysterious ancient god in the depths of the Abyss, Raziel emerged to wreak his vengeance upon Kain and his former brethren--no longer as a vampire but now as a reaper of souls."

Raziel's name comes from rabbinical lore and means "Secret of God."

Now that we had the seed of a story, we needed some motivation for Raziel. This would start to give us a framework for the level progression and would occasionally inspire game mechanics. It would also move Raziel forward through the plot. Amy again:

"In the beginning, Raziel was driven only by rage and a lust for vengeance. As his quest deepened, he realized that Kain had not destroyed him out of jealousy but as part of some greater plan. Kain's goals are still a mystery, and Raziel resents playing his pawn.

Ultimately, Raziel realizes that he has been used time and again, manipulated by all the players around him, like Kain, his creator; the Elder God, who resurrected him; Moebius, the devious Time Streamer; and even the ancient vampire Janos Audron, his hoped-for mentor.

While his hatred for Kain still remains, Raziel is now driven by only one motivation--to throw off the shackles of Fate and the machinations of his enemies; to exert his own free will; and to determine his own destiny."