Wraith Raziel

It was a great honor to bring Raziel (or wraith Raziel), one of the dual protagonists in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, to life for the remaster! It’s been quite the journey as a fan working on him and the rest of the characters for the game! For his model, it all started more than a decade ago and has come a long way on the road to get here.

Before even making the models, I started out modding textures for the original LoK: Defiance, trying to alter characters like Kain and Raziel, to look more like the ones seen in the Soul Reaver 1 and 2 intros. This path would start me into making my own models in 3D, so this is quite the full circle journey for me. I would first make human Raziel, then evolved Lieutenant vampire Raziel, before tackling his ruined wraith form seen here. My goal back then in 2015 when was to not only recreate the model seen in renders and in the SR1 and 2 cinematics by GlyphX, but to also ensure that each version of him could come from the other – that you could see the thru-line of this evolution. The wraith form of Raziel had a lot of proportional changes, which is one one hand a style choice, more so it’s the warping of the Spectral Realm where he wakes up in that is the reason for this. I also intended to do more with that to further make it accurate, but first I wanted to see what he would end up being if just sticking, mostly, to his vampire form’s proportions. So, back then the eyes weren’t as wide and triangle-shaped like Spawn’s, the forearms weren’t as large and long, etc. The one major change with Raziel growing his wings that is revealed when in this form is his double spine. There is a sort of bowing split that happens from the base of his neck down the middle of his back, where the spine has become doubled to support the additional wing structure, then it merges into one down by his tailbone. This is a fascinating design choice that is unique to Raziel’s character and one that was, unfortunately, altered in the original Defiance to be just one spine again.

When working his model for a fan project years back, I did some alterations to my model’s proportions and left it as that. I uploaded images of him here in 2017. It would not be until being tasked to bring him into this remaster of Legacy of Kain: Defiance that I would really, fully, tackle those proportional changes. Now, he truly is as close as possible to the GlyphX and the high resolution renders from the previous titles while still keeping the enhanced detail that I added: a more defined rib cage, the underside of his chest cavity hollowed out where, from his esophagus to his stomach, the water melted him from the inside out, exploring the gaps in his back where the bones of his wings were torn right out of his body, the ruined muscle and tendrils all that is left there – all of this just adding to the story of Raziel’s fall. Unlike my Kain and Ariel models were I’d have to alter them to the Defiance rig to the point it might be a little off to what the intended proportions are in areas, Raziel actually stays pretty true. The one issue with him in Defiance is the rig’s default bind pose and joint orientation. It’s an odd bind pose and rigging the wings becomes a unique challenge.

The original model stuck very closely to human muscle anatomy. I would do the same when sculpting him. In addition to medical images of muscle and bone anatomy, I would use references from the awesome practical effects of Hellraiser 1 and 2 by Bob Keen and the special effects team that were used to help me visualize what a skinned human would look like in real lighting and that fleshy feel to it. It’s funny that those images of Uncle Frank and Julia from those movies are still some of the best references for that out there. Movies made in the 80’s! Like with Kain, I was thrilled to see him brought into the game, all animations working, and in the new lighting and atmosphere the team has made possible. Now, his eyes glow continuously with emissive maps, showing the power of his internal, burning soul. The wraith blade coil on his arm can be turned on, like in Soul Reaver 2, and it lights up softly all around it.

Seeing this brought to life, as a fan, is so incredible and brings me such joy. I hope that all fans can experience this and it will do the same for you! And it doesn’t stop with this Raziel, as our team has brought so many iterations of Raziel to life in new skins. My contribution is the aforementioned Lieutenant vampire Raziel skin. Playing as his vampire form before the fall, it’s quite an awesome experience. As a creator, and a fan, I am overwhelmed by this all and what we’ve achieved.