Kain is a character and the main protagonist and title character of the Legacy of Kain video game series. First introduced in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain in 1996, he was created by Denis Dyack and Silicon Knights, and has appeared in all subsequent Legacy of Kain games under the direction of developer Crystal Dynamics. Between games, he serves as either the central playable character, or as an antagonist, but in all his depictions he has consistently been described as an antihero.
Clint Eastwood's character in Unforgiven inspired the moral ambiguity represented in Kain's portrayal.
The story of Oedipus significantly influenced Kain's development in later games (in a Sophoclean rather than Freudian sense).
Legacy of Kain is a series of dark fantasy action-adventure video games primarily developed by Crystal Dynamics and formerly published by Eidos Interactive. The first title, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, was created by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics, but, after a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics retained the rights to the game's intellectual property, and continued its story with four sequels. To date, five games comprise the series, all initially developed for video game consoles and later ported to Microsoft Windows. Focusing on the eponymous character of Kain, a vampire antihero, each title features action, exploration and puzzle-solving, with some role-playing game elements.
Series director Amy Hennig described the Pillars of Nosgoth (above: in concept art, center: in Blood Omen, below: in Defiance) as "the mythological and geographical hub" of the five games.
Raziel (left) and Kain (right) as they appear in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Both are armed with the Soul Reaver sword.
Vampire mythology was a central source behind the production of the series, as were gnosticism, ancient literature and Joseph Campbell's works.
