![]() ![]() Kain once played a role in ignoring the issue thanks to his relative quality of living, and in doing so, became victim to the exact same system of inequality. Kain exists in a world which disregards the plight of its most vulnerable, where the most powerful entities freely wreak havoc upon the weak. What kind of world must one live in, and what sort of systems must one be exposed to in order to become who they are. It’s an exploration of how one develops morality. ‘Blood Omen’ isn’t just about the revenge fantasy and subsequent power fantasy which plays out on its surface. The only thing we really know about Kain, the human, is that he was the type of person who saw it reasonable to sacrifice his humanity in order to seek revenge on those who murdered him, and I think that’s intentional. But was this tepid morality the result of his curse or an extension of beliefs he’s held throughout his life. ![]() You’re more likely to avoid combat with mindless beasts than you are with a knight who we presume to have thoughts and feelings, simply because the knight has more use to us.Īnd so, the biggest question I personally have is, “When did Kain become like this?” Is this disdain toward human life the result of Kain’s vampirism? Or was he always like this? I mean, obviously he wasn’t a murderous sorcerer who fed on human blood before he became a vampire. That means, especially in later areas, human lives are a rare and crucial commodity which must be devoured. Their blood is tainted and can result in loss of health or poisoning. Interestingly, you later can be punished for consuming blood, but only the blood of monsters or the undead. You drink blood to fill your health bar so that you can continue killing. There’s no morality system at play to tinker with based on playstyle. There’s no missable ending or quests linked to your actions. There’s not even a punishment to these killings. They’re as much a resource as hearts in Zelda or mushrooms in Mario. There’s no guilt or shame in using the innocents. The people around Kain are commodities to discard once they fulfill his specific needs. This can sometimes be enemy knights or brigands who will attack you, but more often than not, you will be consuming the blood of innocents, as they are far more easy to extract from. Regardless, Kain refills his health by drinking the blood of those around him. While I didn’t personally have an issue with this, as it’s slow enough to not actually be all too noticeable, I can see where it could create undesired stress to a player. One of the more potentially controversial pieces of design is that Kain is always slowly losing his health. Kain’s recklessness with human life is made apparent through many of the gameplay mechanics. It is a deeply misguided and emotionally immature way of bringing about legitimate structural change. Why, then, is Kain the one who is tasked with dismantling such a system? His blind hatred toward those who killed him is merely being leveled at anyone who could have possibly contributed to his death. It’s why he viewed his killing as a reprehensible act of cold-blooded murder, when it was likely done because his murderers needed his money to feed themselves. ![]() It’s abundantly clear that Kain simply doesn’t even understand his role in contributing to the oppression of these people. He chooses to judge people based on their socioeconomic status and makes no effort to assist them in their suffering. Kain, for his entire life, has been contributing to systemic oppression of the unfortunate. These are views he continues to hold following his loss of humanity, the only difference being he now sees himself as an abomination as well. He deems them lowly people who lack intelligence and basic hygiene. From future narrations, we can tell that Kain hates peasantry. Needless to say, this is odd, isn’t it? The human, Kain, is a nobleman, birthed into wealth and without any known empathy for those less fortunate than he is. I don’t want to delve too deeply into the rest of the story, as it’s pretty complex, and I’d likely do a poor job of hitting on all the important details while spoiling everything. ![]()
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