The fourth game in the Legacy of Kain series, developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive, and released in 2002. It is set between Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, but set in an Alternate Timeline created by the events of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2.
Set 400 years after the events of Blood Omen, Kain awakes in Meridian, Nosgoth's industrial capital city. He remembers very little, and is lacking much of his former power. He is greeted by a vampire called Umah, who informs Kain that he has been asleep for two hundred years.
Two hundred years before, Kain's conquest of Nosgoth had been opposed by an army of vampire hunters called the Sarafan Order. The Sarafan Order destroyed Kain's army, and Kain himself was defeated in combat by their leader, the Sarafan Lord who then claimed the Soul Reaver from Kain. In the years since, the Sarafan have imposed harsh martial law on Nosgoth's human population, and started an industrial revolution. Employing 'Glyph magic'—a new kind of magic, deadly to vampires—they have hunted the remaining vampires to near extinction: as a result, several vampires have agreed to serve the Sarafan out of self-preservation. Umah is a member of the Cabal; an underground resistance movement formed of vampires and working to undermine the Sarafan at every turn. The Cabal hopes that Kain will destroy the Sarafan Lord, and the traitorous vampires that protect him.
Kain sets out to get his revenge, reclaim the Soul Reaver sword from the Sarafan Lord, and continue his ascent to power.
Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain contains examples of the following tropes:
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: Kain's claws seem to be able to cut through plate armor with ease.
- Advanced Ancient Acropolis: The Hylden use one of these as their staging ground for the conquest of Nosgoth. It is technologically advanced but somewhat decayed from the centuries of abandonment.
- Alternate Dimension: The Demon Realm, where the Hylden were banished.
- Alternate Timeline: The game is set in one, created by the events of Soul Reaver 2.
- Amnesiac Hero: Kain's long hibernation has affected his memory.
- And Show It to You: One of the stealth kills involves Kain tearing the heart of an enemy through the chest from behind and dropping it in front of the terrified and dying victim.
- Ancient Conspiracy: The Sarafan Order is a front led by a member of an ancient advanced race which is using it to its own ends.
- Bittersweet Ending: With an emphasis on bitter. The Sarafan Lord is dead, the Hylden Gate is closed, cutting off their connection to Nosgoth, and Kain reclaims the Soul Reaver and is back on track to conquer the land. But Umah is killed by Kain after she betrays him and steals the Nexus Stone (with it being implied that he was developing feelings for her), Janos is lost to the Hylden's dimension, and Vorador's fate is uncertain.
- BFS: Sarafan Knights and Glyph Knights use huge bladed weapons, with the former's weapon being a cross between a sword and an axe.
- Blood-Stained Glass Windows - One of the boss fights takes place at Meridian Cathedral.
- Breakable Weapons: Every obtainable enemy weapon will break eventually. The only permanent weapons are Kain's claws and the Soul Reaver.
- Citadel City: Meridian, the capital of Nosgoth is half-city half-fortress with a militarized government and high-security.
- City Guards: Made up of the lower echelons of the Sarafan.
- Darker and Edgier: Being a sequel to Blood Omen rather than Soul Reaver, you get to fully indulge in the slaughter of Kain's enemies and civilians alike, with nastier deaths for your foes than anything Raziel dealt out.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Eternal Prison guards and demons would qualify.
- Eye Scream: The Eternal Prison's human prisoners' eyes have been stitched shut. Fittingly, they're called "eyeless wretches."
- For Your Own Good: The supposed rationale behind the Eternal Prison.
- Ghost Town: Midway through the game Kain comes across a small industrial town in the wilderness. Its population however is only recently gone...
- Great Offscreen War: Kain learns that the Ancient Vampires and Hylden warred in Nosgoth's ancient past.
- Groin Attack: Lifting a person and holding a Spiked club/handaxe and attacking will cause Kain to swing said weapon up right into their groins, and remember Kain is a very strong vampire...
- Hannibal Lecture: The Sarafan Lord gives a good one to Kain at the end, 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 he touched, hence why everyone around Kain kept betraying him. Even though Kain follows with a Shut Up, Hannibal!, 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.
- Hellhole Prison: The Eternal Prison - a nightmarish place where time and space are distorted, the hallways are teeming with giant spiders and ghosts, the wardens are time-bending eldritch abominations, and the human prisoners are all blinded and insane.
- The prison itself houses "Those who have transgressed the laws of the gods and man, and so created a dangerous imbalance within themselves, contemplate the wrong that they have done, through peaceful, uninterrupted meditation, until they have regained the balance of their true, perfect inner nature.". Said "meditation" involves being crushed by giant boulders, burned alive, solitary confinement and seemingly endless wandering throughout the prison.
- Hotter and Sexier: The character designs
◊ are much more fanservicy◊ here, with more Stripperific outfits and curvaceous women than the rest of the series, which prior to this, limited itself to Walking Shirtless Scenes from Kain and his lieutenants. - Invisibility: The "Mist" Dark Gift renders Kain invisible, but can only be used in foggy areas.
- Invisible Jerkass: Depending on your wishes, you can decapitate, punch a heart out or stab unsuspecting enemies through their heads while invisible.
- In a Single Bound: The "Jump" Dark Gift enables this.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Kain can do this literally with enemies that are crawling away dying.
- La Résistance: The Cabal, a vampire resistance dedicated to undermining the Sarafan.
- Living Weapon: The Mass appears to be organic, resembling a giant multi-story medusae.
- Lost Superweapon: The Mass - a Hylden mind-weapon that can kill every sentient creature in Nosgoth, sans the Hylden of course.
- Love-Interest Traitor: Umah, for whom Kain seemed to be developing some sort of emotion betrays him out of fear that his rule will be no different than that of the Sarafan.
- Magitek: The 'Glyph Magic', used to power various machinery across Meridian and Nosgoth.
- It is also the basis of the Hylden civilization and technology.
- Mind Manipulation: The "Charm" Dark Gift enables Kain to control a weak-willed human for a short distance.
- Multi-Melee Master: Kain can use a variety of weapons in the game, from swords to clubs to staves.
- Natural Weapon: The Hylden Warriors seem to have blade-like bones protruding from their arms that they use as weapons.
- Our Demons Are Different: Demons appear as mostly insectoid beings with a dash of undeadness.
- People Farms: Within the Device compound Kain can see containers with some sort of creatures inside, used to feed the Mass.
- Planet England: Nosgoth is implied to be a country with a capitol here, while in all other games it is implied to be the name of the whole world.
- Playing with Fire: The "Immolate" Dark Gift sets enemies on fire.
- Precursors: Not one, but TWO ancient races ruled Nosgoth in the past, the Hylden and the Ancient Vampires. In-game dialogue suggests that the Hylden supplied the Humans with their society and early development while the Vampires were revered as gods.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: The Berserk Dark Gift enables Kain to let loose a rapid flurry of blows with either his bare claws or whatever weapon he's holding.
- Revision: Vorador being alive in this game/timeline, a massive one concerning the series's story. It is as of yet still unexplained, but a throwaway line by Kain near the end of the game ("Do you so wish to return to the grave, old friend?") implies that Vorador's death in Blood Omen still occurred, but someone or something resurrected him.
- A throwaway line in the first Soul Reaver Implies that vampires can survive anything short of their bodies being completely destroyed and their souls going into the wheel of fate, as long as those 2 things do not happen, a vampire can recover given any amount of time.
- Run or Die: Both Vorador and Umah give Kain this advice in regards to the Sarafan Lord early on in the game. When he infiltrates the Sarafan Keep, Vorador flat-out tells Kain to hide from the Sarafan Lord should he appear, and to run should he be spotted.
- Steampunk: The game has heavy elements of this, though the main power source is magic so it would be closer to Magitech Punk.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Neither Kain nor Vorador trust one another, and Vorador makes it clear when they reunite at Sanctuary that they're allies only by necessity.
- The City: Meridian, the capital of Nosgoth, where roughly half of the game takes place.
- The City Narrows: The game begins in the slums of Meridian which are teeming with gangsters and are generally decrepit and old.
- The Smuggler's Den qualifies even more, being the eponymous 'den' for smugglers, thieves and street thugs.
- The Order: The Sarafan Order — a militarized organisation which is dedicated to the protection of the Nosgoth's human population against the vampiric menace. In the 200 years since Kain's defeat they've become tyrannical totalitarian organisation that for all intentions and purposes functions as the government of Meridian, if not the whole of Nosgoth.
- They are also a tool used by the Hylden Lord to covertly further the plans of Hylden.
- The Magic Versus Technology War: Subtly hinted. The Hylden appear to be a technology/magitek oriented society, while the Vampires mostly use spells and various supernatural abilities.
- Victor Gains Loser's Powers: Every time Kain kills a vampire boss, he "absorbs" their veins and gains their Dark Gift.
- Video Game Caring Potential: Amazingly, it is possible to be "nice" in a few moments which mostly involve saving civilians from thugs. Not killing anyone that doesn't attack you also counts given Kain's personality.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: Considering who the protagonist is, the player can do cruel acts in spades.
- The Worf Effect: A Sarafan knight (one of the most powerful enemies Kain has faced so far, short of a boss) is quickly killed by a Lesser demon a few times in the canyons.
- Wretched Hive: Smuggler's Den - where thieves, robbers and smugglers (and Sarafan!) gather to conduct their shady dealings.
