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This is a list of characters in the ''Legacy of Kain'' series of video games, created and produced by game developers Crystal Dynamics and Silicon Knights. The franchise, which comprises five action-adventure games—''Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'' (1996), ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' (1999), ''Soul Reaver 2'' (2001), ''Blood Omen 2'' (2002), and ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' (2003)—takes place in the fantasy land of Nosgoth, and follows the protagonist, Kain, a vampire destined to preserve the balance of the world. He and Raziel, the series' secondary playable character, are supported by a variety of non-player characters and bosses. Inspired by the literary style of playwright William Shakespeare, Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack and writer Ken McCulloch made an effort to subvert ideas of moral absolutism when conceiving ''Blood Omen: Legacy of Kains main cast, feeling that the video game industry lacked a story addressing issues of good and evil, propaganda, and fate. Crystal Dynamics' Amy Hennig, who directed subsequent games, continued this trend in the sequels, aiming to avoid two-dimensional, uncomplicated characters. She felt it ideal to ensure that each one was given depth, flaws and realistic motives corresponding to their belief systems. ''Legacy of Kains roles were voiced by a range of veteran film, television and theater actors. Both protagonists received positive critical and user reception, being regarded by publications as memorable and complex antiheroes. Though individual coverage of the series' supporting characters was less extensive, commentators praised their collective story, motivations and visual design as compelling and well-conceived, and attributed acclaim to the ensemble voice cast as a whole. ==Concept and creation== When devising ''Blood Omens characters in 1993, director Denis Dyack, writer Ken McCulloch, and the Silicon Knights team were heavily inspired by Clint Eastwood's 1992 Western film, ''Unforgiven''. Dyack appreciated its moral ambiguity: he said that "this movie was more about people then anything else. This movie was the ultimate definition of gray. There were no real "good guys" or "bad guys". Everyone had a good side and everyone had a bad side and every action had a price. I knew instantly that after seeing this movie that our industry needed a game that addressed these issues". Vampire mythology and William Shakespeare's plays affected the characters' and plot's development—Dyack noted that "when he wrote a play he targeted his story at several levels. For the drunken commoners in the front rows he would insert dirty jokes to keep them entertained but for the aristocracy in the balconies he would write very cerebral metaphors. For Silicon Knights the gore is our dirty jokes, but for those who want more there is a real story behind Kain () We tried to address morals, evil and good, propaganda and fate in ways that have never been explored in a computer game before".〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=psxnation.com )〕 Novels such as the ''Necroscope'' books, ''The Wheel of Time'' series, and the Elric of Melniboné saga influenced Dyack's team.〔〔 Silicon Knights received warnings that their main character, Kain, would not prove popular with players: "in 1993 an anti-hero was not the norm in action adventures, especially when you consider that a developer outside of Japan was creating it". However, producer Lyle Hall of Crystal Dynamics was highly impressed by "this unbelievable character and () epic story", and both companies reached an agreement to publish the first ''Legacy of Kain'' game. Following a legal dispute with Silicon Knights, Crystal Dynamics obtained the rights to continue the series, and they developed successive ''Legacy of Kain'' titles with publisher Eidos Interactive. Amy Hennig, the director and writer of sequels ''Soul Reaver'', ''Soul Reaver 2'', and ''Defiance'', explained her philosophy: "in my opinion, characters painted as 'true villains' just aren't interesting. They're too two-dimensional; no one is ever really so uncomplicated. Everyone always has their motives for what they're doing - everybody believes they're doing the right thing within their belief system". Thematic inspiration came from ideas in Gnosticism, and the works of Joseph Campbell, T. S. Eliot, and James Joyce. Taking cues from the style established in ''Blood Omen'', Hennig wrote florid and Elizabethan dialogue for the cast, motivated by the plays ''A Man for All Seasons'', ''Becket'', and ''The Lion in Winter''.〔〔 The dynamic between Kain and new character Raziel gave the plot a focus. Hennig said, "as in any conflict-driven story, the crisis that develops is that ultimately someone is going to have to change, to reach an epiphany. So we need to look at who is the steadfast character that's going to alter the protagonist's perception of reality. When you look at it this way - when you make the 'villain' the steadfast character and the 'hero' the character who has to have the epiphany, it exposes the inadequacy of these terms".〔 A separate team within Crystal Dynamics concurrently developed ''Blood Omen 2''. Its producer, Sam Newman, commented on their approach: "I think it's fair to say that none of the vampires in the Legacy of Kain universe are like those of other popular fiction. They're not monsters trapped in the ordinary cycle of sleeping in coffins by day and hunting down virgins at night. Like all good characters they have goals, relationships, strengths and flaws". During ''Blood Omens production, McCulloch clashed with marketing and user experience teams on the subject of character names. He recounted that the "marketing censor" forced him to create more accessible, less flavorful monikers. For example, the characters of Anarcrothe, Ariel, Azimuth, Bane, Malek, and Moebius—members of the antagonistic Circle of Nine, who collectively act as the game's boss enemies—were, at first, called "Nauzhinger", "Adonathiel", "Hericus", "Orzach", "Guillaume", and "Bridenal" respectively, and supporting character Vorador was named "Infernum" at one point. Classically trained actors were recruited to voice the roles, and, in spite of initial apprehensions, their delivery "blew (and McCulloch ) away". According to Dyack, Simon Templeman (Kain) "and the other actors went through the script like it was a casual talk at a coffee table".〔 Crystal Dynamics utilized the same cast in their sequels, and they reprised their roles and voiced new characters under the auspices of voice director Gordon Hunt and casting director Kris Zimmerman. The directors pioneered techniques in which the actors recorded their dialogue together rather than in isolation, a method which later influenced the performance capture process used in Naughty Dog's ''Uncharted'' series.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Legacy of Kain characters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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