History Characters / DropAStone

* TokenGoodTeammate: Between Nosgoth being a CrapsackWorld and the series running on BlackAndGrayMorality, Janos is probably the only character that is truly "good" through and through. He has no hidden agenda, he doesn't manipulate anyone, he has no selfish or self-serving motivation or goal, doesn't hold any grudges against humans for their actions, whenever he's on screen he's polite and affable, and he plays it straight when Raziel demands answers from him. It says something that in a series where most recurring characters are varying degrees of {{Magnificent Bastard}}s, Janos ''is not''.

[[folder: The Builder]]

A Hylden Kain finds in the [[HellholePrison Eternal Prison]], that built the Device the [[BigBad Hylden Lord]] attempts to use to destroy all non-Hylden life on Nosgoth.

* TheAtoner: Is apparently aiding Kain to atone for his role in creating [[PhlebotinumBomb the Device]].
* HeelFaceTurn: Implied to have had one while in the Eternal Prison.
* LastOfHisKind: Based of his appearance, it is likely he is the last of the non-corrupted Hyldens- until Kain kills him.

* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He is subtly different from the other Hylden- a possible indication that he wasn't corrupted like the rest.
* MercyKill: Requests this of Kain- and his request is granted.
* MyGreatestFailure: Creating the Device.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Like the Seer, he is a Hylden opposed to their plan of conquering Nosgoth and exterminating or enslaving the other races.

[[folder:Sarah]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lokkain_7167.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Click the note to see Young Kain. [[note]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lokkain2_2257.png[[/note]]]]

!!Introduced in ''Blood Omen''

[[folder:Nupraptor The Mentalist]]
->"Come, Kain... come share my pain..."

-> Voiced by Richard Doyle

The Guardian of Mind in the Circle of Nine, Nupraptor went mad when he found that his lover Ariel had been murdered; with his psychic powers, he went about spreading his insanity to the rest of the Circle, kicking off the events of the first game.

* TheEmpath: According to the Silicon Knights FAQ, Nupraptor is "hypersensitive to peoples' emotions and thoughts" and was more than a little unstable due to this – even before Ariel's death.
* EyeScream: During his FreakOut, he ends up sewing his eyes and lips shut.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: His lover's death drove him insane.
%%* MyBrainIsBig
* OffWithHisHead: His eventual fate.
-->'''Kain:''' "[[AlasPoorYorick Alas poor Nupraptor, I knew him well]][[DeadpanSnarker ... Well, not really.]]"
* PsychicPowers: Including MindOverMatter, {{Telepathy}}, and VillainTeleportation
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: After Ariel was murdered, Nupraptor realized that only another member of the Circle of Nine could have committed the deed. Having no idea ''which'' of the Circle was the murderer, Nupraptor decided that none of the Guardians could be trusted and [[RevengeThroughCorruption punished all of them with the curse of insanity]]. [[HereditaryCurse The curse would also be passed on to any future Guardians chosen by the Pillars]], as exemplified by Kain. Nupraptor has selfishly doomed Nosgoth by corrupting the Guardians in his efforts to avenge Ariel's murder.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He's the very first member of the Circle that Kain kills, but it was his psychic attack on his fellow Guardians, as well as Kain, that instigated the Pillars' corruption.
** Since Nupraptor's madness still affected Kain after the Pillars' corruption, elements of that madness were passed on to his vampiric sons Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon and Melchiah. As the centuries passed, that madness eventually manifested in the monstrous devolution of these vampires, in both body and mind. Any vampires that claim Kain as a progenitor, no matter how many generations apart, can be expected to be at least slightly insane, thanks to Nupraptor.
* TragicVillain: He went insane after his girlfriend's death. Then said girlfriend sends a vampire to put him down.

[[folder:Anarcrothe the Alchemist]]
->"The Circle exists for us, we don't exist for it! Our powers will save or damn Nosgoth at our whim!"

-> Voiced by Neil Ross

The Guardian of States in the Circle of Nine.

----

* DirtyCoward: He flees rather than face Kain, despite summoning Malek and having two other members of the Circle present to back him up. Then again, considering how that fight ended, perhaps discretion was the better part of valour.
%%* EvilSorcerer
%%* GoodScarsEvilScars
* InsaneTrollLogic: His WithUsOrAgainstUs speech is undercut by him being the last Circle member standing other than his opponent himself. Mortanius and Kain had done such a thorough job in purging the Circle that it's a bit bold of him to assume there's still a group left for him to speak on behalf of. Then again, [[JustifiedTrope he ''is'' insane]].
* ItsAllAboutMe: Just look at the quote.
* TheUnfought: The only member of the Circle besides Malek not killed by Kain, instead he makes a VillainExitStageLeft and is later killed by Mortanius.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Azimuth the Planer]]
->"Come to me my children! We shall ravage Nosgoth together!"

-> Voiced by Creator/AnnaGunn

The Guardian of Dimension in the Circle of Nine.

----

* BaldOfEvil: She has no hair and is evil.
* ChekhovsGunman: Turns out in ''Defiance'' [[spoiler:she was the one who pulled Turel from the future to serve as a host for the Hylden.]]
* EnemySummoner: After her corruption, she has started summoning demons to burn Avernus down. Her main way of battle is to summon more of them against Kain.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The ruler of Avernus, but by the time of Blood Omen, it is burning to the ground thanks to the demons she has been summoning.
* LargeHam: "You wear those trinkets well, Kain. But I DO belieeeeeve that they would look betterrr on mmmmeeeeeuuuurh!"
* ThirdEye: Her Pillar token is this. It allowed her to see into other realms.
* TeleportSpam. When she's not summoning a demon or two, she's zooming away from Kain.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bane the Druid]]
->"He is an affront to Nature itself! It is our duty to purify him!"

-> Voiced by Paul Lukather

The Guardian of Nature in the Circle of Nine.

----

* TheBeastmaster: According to Silicon Knight's biography, he can control the behaviour of animals.
* CreatingLife: His ability to influence animals and their biology made him one of the most integral proponents of the Dark Eden triad.
* {{Druid}}: As noted by his epithet, he's a Druid.
%%* ElementalPowers
* KillItWithWater: During the boss battle, he converts the ground into water, exploiting Kain's vampiric weakness.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dejoule the Energist]]
->"Burn, wretched vampire, burn!"

-> Voiced by Creator/AnnaGunn

The Guardian of Energy in the Circle of Nine.

----

%%* BattleAura
* BlackCloak: Until the boss battle, of course...
%%* HeliumSpeech
* MeaningfulName: As joule is the unit used to measure energy.
%%* PureEnergy
* WalkingWasteland: According to both deleted lines and the Silicon Knights character biographies, Dejoule's powers have grown to the point that her presence can blister the skin and sterilize the cells of anybody standing too close to her- hence the reason why she wears an insulating cloak.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Malek The Paladin]]
-> "It is not often that a man sees his own corpse: it is a sobering experience. But I am far less interested in my own corpse than I am in ''yours..." ''

-> Voiced by Neil Ross (Blood Omen)

The Guardian of Conflict in the Circle of Nine, and the official bodyguard of the other members. After his failure to protect the Circle of Nine from Vorador's attack, Malek was punished by having his body destroyed and his soul bound to a suit of magical armour, condemning him to the post of Defender of the Nine for all eternity. In ''Soul Reaver 2'', it is discovered he only failed to protect the rest of the Circle because Moebius ''stopped'' him from doing so; given that Moebius went on to be one of the people who sentenced him to eternal imprisonment within the armour, this makes him quite TheWoobie.

----

* AnimatedArmor: His soul was sealed into a suit of armor.
* AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Was cruelly manipulated by Moebius the entire time. Granted, he was a ChurchMilitant KnightTemplar already, but his fate and the reasons for it push him into this territory, as he was only ever trying to do his duty and became an UnwittingPawn as a result.]]
* ArchEnemy: To Vorador, and on a more one sided note, to Kain. With the exception of Moebius, Kain never held a grudge like he held a grudge against Malek, defacing his (never used) tomb centuries after his death. This is likely because Malek is the ''only'' foe Kain faces in the series that he was never able to personally defeat. For his part, Malek's hatred was too firmly rooted on Vorador to care that much for Kain.
* BadassBoast:
-->''"I'll cut you from crotch to gizzard and feed what's left to your brides!"''
* BladeOnAStick: Resembles a Naginata, which justifies the WeaponTwirling.
%%* ChurchMilitant
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: In the throne room of his fortress, he's left a rotting corpse "holding court." However, it's ambiguous if the body is actually Malek's or not.
* TheDragon: Served as the Dragon to the Circle during their crusade against the vampires. Was [[DragonTheirFeet dragon his feet]] during Vorador's assault on the Circle [[spoiler: thanks to Moebius]], and Kain was smart enough to go after him early on.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: As a human he was already a strong warrior that could fight against vampires on his own, even Vorador (though he still lost). As AnimatedArmor, he could reassemble himself if damaged, making him the only antagonist Kain couldn't defeat.
* FateWorseThanDeath: For his failure to save the Circle from Vorador, his soul was ripped from his body and fused to his armor, leaving him with no purpose but to serve the Circle for eternity.
* {{Foil}}: His back story is similar to Raziel.
* GeniusBruiser: He might not be the most tactically-sound mind in the Circle, but he did manage to construct a number of machines built to recycle and fuse the souls of dead warriors into suits of armour.
* TheHedonist: [[spoiler: Before ''Soul Reaver 2'' established that this was due to Mobius' manipulation]] ''Blood Omen'' had contained some subtle hints that Malek was late to defend the Circle because he was busy carousing. Being turned into a fleshless suit of AnimatedArmor knocked it out of him anyway.
* HopelessBossFight: Kain cannot kill him personally because Malek simply reassembles himself, and eventually creates an AdvancingWallOfDoom. All you can do is keep up the attack long enough for the exit to appear.
%%* KnightTemplar
* LastOfHisKind: Last of the Sarafan priesthood by the time of ''Blood Omen''.
%%* MagicKnight
* RevengeBeforeReason: He lets Kain chase after Bane and Dejoule so he can focus on Vorador, just for the chance at personal vengeance. Granted, Vorador was the greater threat.
* SayMyName: Most of the Circle Members he failed to save at the beginning of Blood Omen end up shouting Malek's name a lot. So [[{{Narm}} Narmtastic]] that even Vorador laughed.
* WeaponTwirling: Likes this trope a lot. He does this every time he attacks Kain, presumably combining a more powerful blow with IntimidationDemonstration.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:William the Just]]

-> Voiced by Creator/TonyJay

A once virtuous king, he became corrupted and turned into the Nemesis, a tyrant bent on conquering Nosgoth. Kain travels back in time to kill him before this happened, an event that sparks the destruction of the Vampire race since [[NiceJobBreakingItHero oops, a Vampire just killed a young and kind king in cold blood]].

----

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: After turning evil he was a brutal tyrant. Not terribly popular, as you can imagine.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: When Kain faces him at least. He's one of the strongest bosses in the game.
* DamageSpongeBoss: It takes a ton of hits even from the Soul Reaver to take him down, but doesn't have any attacks beyond basic sword swings.
* DontCreateAMartyr: Kain falls victim to this trope – [[spoiler:by killing the Nemesis before he became evil, Moebius rallies the humans into exterminating the vampires out of vengeance for William.]]
* EvilOldFolks: Considering the 50-year gap between being the boy-king able to wield the Soul Reaver against Kain and becoming the Nemesis, we can infer that by the time he had conquered Nosgoth, he had to have been in his 60s/70s.
* FaceHeelTurn: He was a kind king at first, but turned evil later in life. Kain realises that Moebius himself was responsible for this.
* TheGoodKing: He started out as this.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You don't want a guy called ''the Nemesis'' descending on your village.
%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* SpikesOfVillainy: His armies, along with their creepy red armor. The Nemesis himself is extra-spiky.
** Later games retconned this to a [[SomethingAboutARose rose theme]] when he was still William the Just.
* TinTyrant: Post FaceHeelTurn.
* VocalDissonance: One of the few characters who shouldn't have been voiced by Tony Jay. As the Nemesis, perhaps, but not the polite, unsure boy we see.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He doesn't show up in any other games after Blood Omen, but him being a ripple in the time stream impacts Raziel's decision to kill Kain.
* UnwittingPawn: In the cutscene where he kills Moebius, Kain accuses the Timestreamer of having gone back in time first and actually transformed William into the Nemesis to begin with, and Moebius confirms it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:King Ottmar]]

-> Voiced by Neil Ross

Ruler of Willendorf, the kingdom that opposed the Nemesis. After Kain retrieves his daughter's soul, he rallies his people against the Nemesis's army.

----

* AnimalMotifs: He's called the Mighty Lion of Willendorf, and this is reflected in his weaponry and banners.
* CarryABigStick: He wields a mace shaped like a lion's head.
* TheGoodKing: He just needs to get his motivation back.
* RousingSpeech: "The scourge of Nosgoth is upon us, friends! We shall die today as heroes, lest we live tomorrow as slaves! Ready thine arms! FOR NOSGOTH!"
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He is never seen again in the series after Kain goes back in time to kill William the Just.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Elzevir the Dollmaker]]

-> Voiced by Neil Ross

An accomplished toymaker and minor magician. During the backstory, he took part in a contest to produce a doll worthy of the Princess of Willendorf's birthday and won; as a reward, he requested a lock of the princess's hair- which he received. Shortly afterwards, the princess fell into a coma, and Elzevir ended up becoming one of Kain's targets in his mission to rally Willendorf against the Nemesis.

----

* AnimateInanimateObject: Specialises in animating his dolls and turning them into warriors.
* Ephebophile: Heavily implied to be why he was so interesting to the princess.
* PsychopathicManChild: "You shall ''not'' have it! '''''Mine, mine, mine!'''''"
* SympatheticMagic: Another specialty of his.
* WickedToymaker: He imprisoned the soul of King Ottmar's daughter with a doll he made. When Kain crashes his workshop, he goes up against Elzevir's creations.
* YouDoNOTWantToKnow: It's probably for the best that we never find out just ''what'' he wanted with the princess' soul, though we get a pretty clear idea. Even Kain seems pretty creeped out by it.
[[/folder]]

!!Introduced in ''Soul Reaver''

[[folder:Melchiah]]
->"Do you not recognize me, brother? Am I so changed?"


[[folder:Zephon]]
->"See how the humans' weapon of destruction has become my home – indeed, my ''body.'' A cocoon of brick and granite from which to watch a pupating world..."

-> Voiced by Creator/TonyJay

Another of Raziel's brothers, his offspring have mutated into arachnid-like creatures capable of climbing walls and wrapping their prey in cocoons for later meals. Zephon himself has grown more massive and more insectoid, to the point that he resembles a thinly-veiled version of the [[Film/{{Aliens}} Alien Queen]].

----

* AllWebbedUp: the Zephonim's victims generally end up like this.
* DirtyCoward: Raziel accuses him and his Clan of being this, as they hide in the shadows to prey on vulnerable, unsuspecting victims without a fight.
* StationaryBoss: He's attached to the wall, so he doesn't move during his boss fight.
* TennisBoss: Though not in the usual sense of direct deflecting--he spits out eggs that Raziel has to pick up, [[KillItWithFire light on fire]] and throw back at him.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody:
--> "Will... instinct... reflex action... the insect mind finds little difference. I warn you, brother, as my stature has grown, so it is matched by my appetite..."
* WombLevel: The uppermost levels of the Silenced Cathedral have become a part of his body.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rahab]]
->"You, of all of us, should respect the power bestowed by a limitation overcome."

-> Voiced by Neil Ross

One of Raziel's brothers, he and his brood have become aquatic creatures and overcame the vampire weakness to water. While his spawn are amphibious, Rahab himself has metamorphosed into a merman rather reminiscent of a shark.

----

* BossArenaIdiocy: A rather magnificent subversion--Rahab's territory is a flooded abbey, and both his lair and the passage to it are also flooded. If Raziel couldn't shift to the Spectral Realm where water is insubstantial, he wouldn't even be able to ''get'' to Rahab's lair. And once you do get there, the only dry land are small pillars where he can easily knock you back into the water, forcing Raziel to shift back to the Spectral Realm. Played straight in other ways though. If you have an aversion to sunlight, it might be considered unwise to make your lair in a room full of shatterable windows.
* FamousLastWords: "'''I AM UNNNDOOOOONNNE!'''"
* IgnoredEpiphany: Raziel reveals to him that they were members of the Sarafan as humans; Rahab doesn't care, declaring that Kain "saved them from themselves."
* MeaningfulName: In Jewish tradition, Rahab is the name of a sea demon.
* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: He's a vampire evolved/devolved into a shark-man.
* PuzzleBoss: Raziel has to shatter the windows of his lair to let in sunlight to harm him.
* ThePowerOfTheSun: How Raziel kills him.
* RemovedAchillesHeel: He and his brood have overcome the vampire weakness to water, at the cost of having no tolerance to sunlight whatsoever.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Kain. He warns Raziel to watch his tongue when he insults their creator, and does not care that he was once a Sarafan vampire hunter, feeling that Kain saved him. Kain even told him that he would perish against Raziel, and he went to his fate willingly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dumah]]
->"The centuries in limbo have honed my strength. Not even Kain is my equal."

-> Voiced by Simon Templeman

One of Raziel's brothers, and along with Turel one of the two who actually threw Raziel into the Abyss. By the time he is encounted, he has been impaled, trapping his soul in limbo. The centuries like this have transformed him into a wraith, able to exist and act in both realms at once and making him stronger than ever. Ironically, his offspring were scattered and disorganized when he was finally defeated by an army of humans, and serve as the main Mooks of the game, easily killed in two or three hits.

----

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: Even shifting into the Spectral Realm doesn't grant an escape, because he can move through both realms now.
* CameBackStrong: Like all vampires, his spirit evolved into a Wraith upon his physical death, and again like all vampires resurrecting him brings this Wraith-spirit back into his body and carries soul-sucking powers along with it; unlike every other such vampire other than Raziel however, Dumah can also enter the Spectral Realm.
* TheJuggernaut: Absolutely nothing in Raziel's armory can harm him.
* KillItWithFire: Due to the above, Raziel kills him by luring him into a giant furnace.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: How Raziel finds his body.
* MeaningfulName: Dumah is the angel of "the stillness/silence of death", reflecting Dumah's trapping in limbo due to his impalement.
* NotSoDifferent: In a way to Raziel, as both died and came back as powerful, nigh-unkillable Wraith-vampires.
* OnlyMostlyDead: His killers didn't really kill him, they just trapped him in limbo by impaling his body. Removing the spears allows his soul to return to his body.
* OverlyLongTongue: His offspring sport long tongues capable of draining the blood from victims.
* SmugSnake: It's mentioned that Dumah's [[HoistByHisOwnPetard own arrogance]] was what let the humans stake him in the first place. After being revived, he claims that the time spent in Limbo have honed his strength to the point that he is now more powerful than Kain himself.
* TheStarscream: Implied, as he claims that not even Kain is his equal now after his return from limbo, suggesting that if he defeated Raziel then he would have went on to try and supplant his old master.
* UselessUsefulSpell: The Constrict power Raziel gets for defeating him--there's a good reason why this is the one power Raziel ''doesn't'' retain in later games. It lets you bind enemies in place by running a circle around them, but to do this you're both letting the enemy attack you while you run, and you're relying on them letting you complete the binding in which case they're already holding still anyway. Its only practical purpose is to solve puzzles.
* TheUsualAdversaries: Not Dumah himself, but his vampire offspring serve this purpose. Since he was destroyed, his clan scattered throughout Nosgoth and are thus the most common enemies Raziel fights; they can be found not just in Dumah's old territory, but also in Raziel's, as well as around Kain's fortress and near the Sarafan stronghold, and other miscellaneous encounters. In fact, in and near Dumah's haunt is more or less the ''last'' place you run into them.
* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: Believing himself invincible, Dumah was caught unawares by a human assault, his clan decimated and Dumah himself speared to his throne and left OnlyMostlyDead for centuries.
[[/folder]]










[[folder: The Builder]]

A Hylden Kain finds in the [[HellholePrison Eternal Prison]], that built the Device the [[BigBad Hylden Lord]] attempts to use to destroy all non-Hylden life on Nosgoth.

----

* TheAtoner: Is apparently aiding Kain to atone for his role in creating [[PhlebotinumBomb the Device]].
* HeelFaceTurn: Implied to have had one while in the Eternal Prison.
* LastOfHisKind: Based of his appearance, it is likely he is the last of the non-corrupted Hyldens- until Kain kills him.
* ReluctantMadScientist: Or just possibly a regular MadScientist who came to regret his actions.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He is subtly different from the other Hylden- a possible indication that he wasn't corrupted like the rest.
* MercyKill: Requests this of Kain- and his request is granted.
* MyGreatestFailure: Creating the Device.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Like the Seer, he is a Hylden opposed to their plan of conquering Nosgoth and exterminating or enslaving the other races.
[[/folder]]

* AlmostDeadGuy: In ''Soul Reaver 2'' he manages to pull this off after ''having his heart torn out''.

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Raziel's quest to revive him and get some answers out of him is his driving motivation in ''Defiance''.]]
* BeatStillMyHeart: [[spoiler:Almost invoked word for word in ''Soul Reaver 2'']].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Despite being kind and affable, Janos can and ''will'' kick ass if it's required of him. He would prefer not to, though.
* BigGood: In Soul Reaver 2 he seems to be the only person Raziel looks up to. Janos was originally a tenth guardian of the Circle and protector of the Soul Reaver, whose power binded the demons away in the Demon Realm [[spoiler: His true nature in revealed in the next two games where we find out Janos worships the Elder God and took a part in sealing the Hlyden away, who didn't worship the Elder God and they went mad.]]
* BlueIsHeroic: He has blue skin, and is arguably the most unambiguously heroic character in the series.
* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:In ''Blood Omen 2'', he's deformed and devolved from powering The Device.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: He's mentioned in a grand total of two lines in ''Blood Omen'', but isn't introduced as a character until ''Soul Reaver 2''.
* CosmicPlaything: He worshipped an EldritchAbomination that desires the death of all vampires, got murdered by Sarafan [[spoiler: and was brought back thanks to the manipulation of the Hylden to serve in their plans to wipe out humans and vampires alike. And as of the unaltered time, his final fate is to get chucked into the Hylden dimension.]]
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:What happens to him in ''Defiance'', and kick-starts the events of ''Blood Omen 2''. With the Pillars of Nosgoth corrupted by Kain refusing the sacrifice to purify them, the Hylden seal cracks wide enough for the Hylden Lord to seize Janos as a vessel.]]
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:His ultimate fate, as of ''Blood Omen 2''; Thrown through the Hylden Gate into the Demon Dimension.]]
* GoodWingsEvilWings: He has black feathered wings.
* HumansAreFlawed: His thoughts on humans. As vampires prey on humans, and also kidnapped the humans chosen by the Pillars to turn into vampires, he understands why humans see vampires as monsters.

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5sRGWOl44Y The gorgeous piece of music/ambience that plays in his mountain retreat]] in ''Soul Reaver 2'' is briefly reprised in ''Defiance'' when [[spoiler:Raziel brings him BackFromTheDead]].
* MrExposition: Though pretty much every character in the series can qualify for this (it's a very dialogue-heavy series), Janos deserves special mention as this is his purpose in-game. Raziel goes through hell to seek him out [[spoiler:and later to restore his heart and bring him back to life]] just so that Janos can tell him what the heck is going on. When watching a cutscene featuring Janos, be prepared for a ''very'' long history lesson.
** Lampshaded rather hilariously by Michael Bell (Raziel's voice actor) in the outtake videos for ''Defiance''.
--->'''Bell:''' Oh good. You have the big chunk. You have the big exposition. Thank you! Thank you for giving him the exposition!
--->'''Auberjonois:''' [turns script page] ''*gasp*'' ... I'd like to talk to my agent.
* NoPronunciationGuide: It's ''yaw''-nohs.
* NoShirtLongJacket: His chest is bare under his robes.

[[folder:Hash'ak'gik]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lokhash_7086.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Click the note to see how he looks later in the series. ''Massive'' spoiler warning. [[note]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/loksarafan_6888.png[[/note]]]]
->"Don't you see? My silencing of Ariel and its calculated repercussions is but the first act in my theater of Grand Guignol, of which you are the tragic hero. Play on, little vampire, play on..."

-> Voiced by Creator/EarlBoen

The main antagonist of the original game, he possessed Mortanius and murdered Ariel with the intent to destroy the Pillars of Nosgoth. His existence was revisited in later games, revealing he was a much more important character than Kain suspected at the time, and his plans were not limited to just the Circle.

* ArchEnemy: To Kain, mostly by virtue of being [[spoiler:the BigBad of both ''Blood Omen'' games, as well as the mastermind behind Kain's assassination and the corruption of the Circle that forced Kain into his SadisticChoice.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The apparent leader of the Hylden and the strongest of their ranks, and was also the strongest among [[spoiler:the Sarafan.]]
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:As Kain realizes when he saves Raziel at the end of ''Soul Reaver 2'', Hash was banking on Kain doing this so Raziel would eventually revive Janos, giving him the vessel he needed to open the gate to the Hylden realm]].
* BigBad: In ''Blood Omen'' [[spoiler: and ''Blood Omen 2''.]]
* BigBadEnsemble: With Moebius [[spoiler:and by proxy the Elder God]]. Most of the conflicts Kain and Raziel face throughout the series trace back to one of them, and while we never see them come into conflict during the games, the backstory establishes that the two are enemies and are directly opposed to each other. The end of ''Defiance'' has Moebius addressing that now that [[spoiler:Kain and Raziel have been dealt with, it's time to turn attention to the Hylden]].
* BodySurf: [[spoiler:He's possessed Mortanius, Janos, and has likely used other vessels when needed.]]
* BreakingSpeech: [[spoiler:Gives a good one to Kain at the end of ''Blood Omen 2'', ridiculing him as a man that got far more power than he ever should have and still couldn't be satisfied with it and endlessly craved more while destroying everything touched, hence why everyone around Kain kept betraying him. Even though Kain follows with a ShutUpHannibal, it's not a particularly convincing one, and the player is left thinking that Kain was trying to avoid facing the fact that his enemy was right.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [Apparent] GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere in ''Blood Omen''... then ''Blood Omen 2'' and ''Defiance'' came around and revealed he was playing a much larger gambit than he showed in the first game.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:Orchestrates the events of ''Blood Omen'' with the intent of collapsing the Pillars, and it worked.]] See also BatmanGambit above.
* DemonicPossession: His main method of action is to control others, since he can't manifest in Nosgoth directly (or at least, not permanently).
* EvilIsBigger: In both ''Blood Omen'' and [[spoiler: ''Blood Omen 2'']] he's much larger than Kain.
* EvilSoundsDeep: All the different forms he uses have ''really'' deep voices, often with a VoiceOfTheLegion effect too.
* GeniusBruiser: He's not only a powerful warrior in combat, but also a brilliant manipulator.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: In ''Blood Omen'', there's almost no foreshadowing (only a secret altar beneath Avernus Cathedral with his name and appearance) to his existence and very little explanation as to what he even is.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: A signature trait of those he controls.
* HijackedByGanon: Retroactively hijacks [[spoiler:''Blood Omen 2''. ''Blood Omen 2'' came out and named the villain "the Hylden General" aka the Sarafan Lord, but it wasn't until ''Defiance'' that it was revealed that he was the Dark Entity / Hash'ak'gik from the first game.]]
* IHaveManyNames: [[spoiler:Hash'ak'gik, the Hylden Lord, the Sarafan Lord, the Hylden General, the Unspoken.]] Though he's nice enough to share one with [[spoiler:Turel]], who also goes by "Hash'ak'gik".
* LargeAndInCharge: [[spoiler:As the Sarafan Lord, to his human and Hylden servants, though some of the demons serving him are bigger than he is.]]
* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler:The war between the Ancients and the Hylden was started by the former, and only because the Hylden refused to submit to the Elder God's control. Hash is entirely justified in wanting to wipe the vampires out and free his people. He could be an outright HeroAntagonist except that, much like Kain, he has no regard for any humans caught up in his plans]].
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:To Mortanius in ''Blood Omen'', and the Sarafan in ''Blood Omen 2''.]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:His victory over Raziel in ''Defiance'' weakens Raziel enough for the Elder God to reign Raziel in and trap him in his realm again, thereby setting the stage for Raziel to have his epiphany moment and grant Kain the empowered Soul Reaver.]]
* NotSoDifferent:
** In ''Blood Omen 2'' [[spoiler:the rule of the Sarafan under him is just as bad as the rule of Kain's empire in ''Soul Reaver'', and worse when one realizes he planned on wiping out the humans. Noted by Umah, who asks outright how Kain's empire will be any different from the Sarafan, and by Hash himself]].
** [[spoiler: With regards to Janos, they both feel their race was in the right with the war and the acts they committed, Hash'ak'gik feeling the vampires deserved their curse for starting the war and Janos feeling the Hylden deserved to suffer for what the curse did the vampires and what it drove them to do to the humans.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:His EvilPlan in ''Blood Omen 2'' had him planning to use a superweapon wipe every remaining vampire and human.]]
* TheOmniscient: Possibly, since he seems to exist outside the boundaries of the normal spacetime-continuum. He clearly knows a huge amount about time travel, and is able to manipulate Kain and Raziel to his own ends across centuries backwards and forwards. If he doesn't have some way of seeing through time, he's a king among {{Magnificent Bastard}}s for pulling it all off in a linear timeframe.
* PunyHumans: [[spoiler:His thoughts on humans are never made clear besides not caring if he wipes them out to wipe the vampires, but if he actually has the same disgust for them that the rest of the Hylden who appear in ''Blood Omen 2'' do or is indifferent to them in unknown.]]
* SatanicArchetype: Is the highest [[spoiler:([[http://www.dcabdesign.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=592 at least shown]])]] leader of the demonic/fallen angel-like [[spoiler: Hylden]], commands actual in-universe demons, possesses demonically looking forms [[spoiler: (including his actual one)]], demonically possessed others, as well corrupted and manipulated countless people for his goals. His guise as the seeming savior of humanity [[spoiler: the Sarafan Lord]], could even be seen as a direct reference to Satan being described in the ''Second Epistle to the Corinthians'' to masquerade as an angel of light.
* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:Along with the rest of the Hylden.]]
* TautologicalTemplar: [[spoiler:Insists that he, and by proxy the rest of the Hylden, are on the side of "justice" with their actions, including the curse on the vampires, even the part of it that drove them to prey on humans.]]
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Blood Omen 2'', he gives a speech about how the Hylden deserve vengeance for their banishment [[note]]Janos [[ShutUpHannibal responds that the Hylden had no right to curse the vampires and drive them to feed on human blood]], but doesn't actually have a rebuttle to the injustice the vampires inflicted on the Hylden[[/note]], and sums up Kain's desire to rule the world as "The youthful craving of a petty noble, who has gained too much power--''but never enough!''" Kain's weak ShutUpHannibal just demonstrates that the Hylden Lord wasn't too far off the mark.]] See also BreakingSpeech above.
* WalkingSpoiler: His influence in the plotlines of later games is a big plot twist. [[spoiler:He's the leader of the Hylden that are prominent in the plots of ''Blood Omen 2'' and ''Defiance'', and his plot in ''Blood Omen'' was just one step in a more elaborate plan to free his people from their prison.]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: [[spoiler: During his final battle with Kain at the end of ''Blood Omen 2'', he and Kain are at a stalemate with Kain holding the Nexus Stone keeps him him being harmed by the Soul Reaver, but he doesn't need to kill Kain because as long as the gateway is open he can just stall for time and let the rest of the Hylden pass through it. He didn't count on [[VillainousValour Kain having the guts to throw the Nexus Stone into the gateway]] and seal it, leaving himself vulnerable to the Soul Reaver but keeping the Hylden from entering Nosgoth.]]
* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Through Mortanius, it orchestrated the events of ''Blood Omen'' in the hopes of destroying the pillars. Specifically, the pillars would collapse if either the Scion of Balance remains corrupted, or if there are no vampires left to sustain the barrier between worlds. By ensuring that the corrupted Scion of Balance was also the last vampire in the world, the pillars would fall regardless of whether Kain lived or died.]]

!!Introduced in ''Blood Omen''

[[folder:Nupraptor The Mentalist]]
->"Come, Kain... come share my pain..."

-> Voiced by Richard Doyle

The Guardian of Mind in the Circle of Nine, Nupraptor went mad when he found that his lover Ariel had been murdered; with his psychic powers, he went about spreading his insanity to the rest of the Circle, kicking off the events of the first game.

* TheEmpath: According to the Silicon Knights FAQ, Nupraptor is "hypersensitive to peoples' emotions and thoughts" and was more than a little unstable due to this – even before Ariel's death.
* EyeScream: During his FreakOut, he ends up sewing his eyes and lips shut.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: His lover's death drove him insane.
%%* MyBrainIsBig
* OffWithHisHead: His eventual fate.
-->'''Kain:''' "[[AlasPoorYorick Alas poor Nupraptor, I knew him well]][[DeadpanSnarker ... Well, not really.]]"
* PsychicPowers: Including MindOverMatter, {{Telepathy}}, and VillainTeleportation
* PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery: After Ariel was murdered, Nupraptor realized that only another member of the Circle of Nine could have committed the deed. Having no idea ''which'' of the Circle was the murderer, Nupraptor decided that none of the Guardians could be trusted and [[RevengeThroughCorruption punished all of them with the curse of insanity]]. [[HereditaryCurse The curse would also be passed on to any future Guardians chosen by the Pillars]], as exemplified by Kain. Nupraptor has selfishly doomed Nosgoth by corrupting the Guardians in his efforts to avenge Ariel's murder.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He's the very first member of the Circle that Kain kills, but it was his psychic attack on his fellow Guardians, as well as Kain, that instigated the Pillars' corruption.
** Since Nupraptor's madness still affected Kain after the Pillars' corruption, elements of that madness were passed on to his vampiric sons Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon and Melchiah. As the centuries passed, that madness eventually manifested in the monstrous devolution of these vampires, in both body and mind. Any vampires that claim Kain as a progenitor, no matter how many generations apart, can be expected to be at least slightly insane, thanks to Nupraptor.
* TragicVillain: He went insane after his girlfriend's death. Then said girlfriend sends a vampire to put him down.

[[folder:Anarcrothe the Alchemist]]
->"The Circle exists for us, we don't exist for it! Our powers will save or damn Nosgoth at our whim!"

-> Voiced by Neil Ross

The Guardian of States in the Circle of Nine.

* DirtyCoward: He flees rather than face Kain, despite summoning Malek and having two other members of the Circle present to back him up. Then again, considering how that fight ended, perhaps discretion was the better part of valour.
%%* EvilSorcerer
%%* GoodScarsEvilScars
* InsaneTrollLogic: His WithUsOrAgainstUs speech is undercut by him being the last Circle member standing other than his opponent himself. Mortanius and Kain had done such a thorough job in purging the Circle that it's a bit bold of him to assume there's still a group left for him to speak on behalf of. Then again, [[JustifiedTrope he ''is'' insane]].
* ItsAllAboutMe: Just look at the quote.
* TheUnfought: The only member of the Circle besides Malek not killed by Kain, instead he makes a VillainExitStageLeft and is later killed by Mortanius.

[[folder:Azimuth the Planer]]
->"Come to me my children! We shall ravage Nosgoth together!"

-> Voiced by Creator/AnnaGunn

The Guardian of Dimension in the Circle of Nine.

* BaldOfEvil: She has no hair and is evil.
* ChekhovsGunman: Turns out in ''Defiance'' [[spoiler:she was the one who pulled Turel from the future to serve as a host for the Hylden.]]
* EnemySummoner: After her corruption, she has started summoning demons to burn Avernus down. Her main way of battle is to summon more of them against Kain.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: The ruler of Avernus, but by the time of Blood Omen, it is burning to the ground thanks to the demons she has been summoning.
* LargeHam: "You wear those trinkets well, Kain. But I DO belieeeeeve that they would look betterrr on mmmmeeeeeuuuurh!"
* ThirdEye: Her Pillar token is this. It allowed her to see into other realms.
* TeleportSpam. When she's not summoning a demon or two, she's zooming away from Kain.

[[folder:Bane the Druid]]
->"He is an affront to Nature itself! It is our duty to purify him!"

-> Voiced by Paul Lukather

The Guardian of Nature in the Circle of Nine.

* TheBeastmaster: According to Silicon Knight's biography, he can control the behaviour of animals.
* CreatingLife: His ability to influence animals and their biology made him one of the most integral proponents of the Dark Eden triad.
* {{Druid}}: As noted by his epithet, he's a Druid.
%%* ElementalPowers
* KillItWithWater: During the boss battle, he converts the ground into water, exploiting Kain's vampiric weakness.

[[folder:Dejoule the Energist]]
->"Burn, wretched vampire, burn!"

-> Voiced by Creator/AnnaGunn

The Guardian of Energy in the Circle of Nine.

%%* BattleAura
* BlackCloak: Until the boss battle, of course...
%%* HeliumSpeech
* MeaningfulName: As joule is the unit used to measure energy.
%%* PureEnergy
* WalkingWasteland: According to both deleted lines and the Silicon Knights character biographies, Dejoule's powers have grown to the point that her presence can blister the skin and sterilize the cells of anybody standing too close to her- hence the reason why she wears an insulating cloak.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Malek The Paladin]]
-> "It is not often that a man sees his own corpse: it is a sobering experience. But I am far less interested in my own corpse than I am in ''yours..." ''

-> Voiced by Neil Ross (Blood Omen)

The Guardian of Conflict in the Circle of Nine, and the official bodyguard of the other members. After his failure to protect the Circle of Nine from Vorador's attack, Malek was punished by having his body destroyed and his soul bound to a suit of magical armour, condemning him to the post of Defender of the Nine for all eternity. In ''Soul Reaver 2'', it is discovered he only failed to protect the rest of the Circle because Moebius ''stopped'' him from doing so; given that Moebius went on to be one of the people who sentenced him to eternal imprisonment within the armour, this makes him quite TheWoobie.

----