Moebius

Moebius the Time Streamer is a recurring antagonist who plays major roles in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. As a member of the Circle of Nine, he served as the Guardian of the Pillar of Time, and possessed a limited form of omniscience - a detailed foreknowledge of all past and future events in Nosgoth's time-stream. Moebius was capable of interacting consistently with others at chronologically-inconsistent times, and could travel between eras using various means.

Posing as the benign and charismatic Oracle of Nosgoth, Moebius abused his unique abilities even prior to the corruption of the Pillars, using them to satiate his profound hatred of the vampire race. His derision of vampires was fueled by his unflinching worship of the Elder God; he was a high-ranking supporter of the Sarafan, and an ally to its leaders, Malek and Raziel. Surviving the slaughter of the Circle at the hands of Vorador, he tricked Kain into assassinating the Nemesis with the Soul Reaver, therefore enabling a modern revival of the vampire purge in the form of Vampire hunters. Nevertheless, Kain slew Moebius, briefly repairing the Pillar of Time before refusing the sacrifice.

Moebius re-emerged as one of the most formidable foes encountered by Raziel and Kain in their later attempts to alter history further. Though exceedingly persuasive and devious, his powers were undermined by Raziel's free will, and he constantly attempted to goad the wraith into destroying Kain. In the end, Moebius's soul was devoured, permanently discontinuing his role as an active threat to the restoration of the Pillars of Nosgoth.

Tricks and Babble
"Answers indeed. I have them all if you have the questions. And what are the questions for these answers?"

- The Oracle

Ancient History
Upon the demise of his unknown predecessor (possibly the First Time Guardian), Moebius inherited curatorship of the Pillar of Time. As a human Guardian, he was born some time after the end of the Vampire-Hylden war, and along with the immortality gifted by his role, he was granted "control [over] time travel and its use in froecasting history", a "devious and conniving sorcerer", Moebius often exploited his powers to his own ends and would come to be considered 'untrustworthy'.

Alongside Mortanius and fellow human guardians, Moebius' youth was overshadowed by the decline of the Ancient Vampire race: having lost control of the Pillars due to the sterility imposed upon them by the Blood curse, they attempted to prolong their dying civilization by "turning" human members of the Circle of Nine into Vampires. They routinely adopted - and, when necessary, abducted - the human successors, planning to pass the curse to them as they came of age. Moebius was subjected to this custom - possibly separated from his family in the process - and was raised in the Vampire Citadel. As he matured, Moebius would begin to hear the voice of the Ancient Vampires deity - The Elder God (who had abandoned the ancients, after the effects of the Blood curse) and probably acting on his instructions, Moebius would form a bond with his peer and human Guardian of Death, Mortanius, and the two conspired with his fellow human Guardians to rebel against their vampire masters.

When Moebius and Mortanius came of age, they rejected the dark gift, and incited a bloody human rebellion, which further devastated the Ancient Vampire race. Moebius and his human allies attained full control of the Pillars, and Moebius reigned as the final Guardian of Time, serving up until the Pillars of Nosgoth eventual destruction, centuries later. Throughout his long life, Moebius would continue to faithfully serve the Elder God; though much like the Ancient Vampires before him, he would be unaware of its true appearance or agenda.

Nosgoth's early history
Many centuries later, Ancient Vampire history had receded altogether, with many humans seeing the vampires themselves as a "plague upon mankind". With an apparent rise in Vampire numbers, The Sarafan brotherhood was formed to combat the threat and Moebius, as one of the most senior of the circle was likely heavily involved in the decision of the circle to sponsor the Sarafan crusades, but to what extent Moebius was involved in the running of the Sarafan is unclear - He is however, amongst those in the circle who would seem likely to be most involved with the order, perhaps even 'setting the agenda' or leader of the order itself (he is shown to display authority over lead Sarafan Inquisitor Malek).

In the aftermath of the Sarafan's murder of Janos Audron, Moebius was present in the Sarafan Stronghold when Wraith Raziel and Vorador made their respective attacks on the Stronghold (actions which would result in the deaths of most of the leaders of the Sarafan brotherhood and the Circle of Guardians) and Moebius along with Sarafan Inquisitor Malek would confront Raziel in one of the Stronghold's antechambers, disabling the Wraith Blade with Moebius' Staff and forcing Raziel to use the vacant Reaver blade as a weapon. After ensuring that Raziel wielded the Reaver, Moebius and Malek escaped the chamber, diverting Raziel's progress through the stronghold and forcing him into battle with the highly trained Sarafan Inquisitors. Both Moebius and Malek (and Moebius' contemporary Mortanius, whose whereabouts during this event are unknown) would survive the attacks on the Stronghold.

Following Malek's disgrace and punishment (for failing to protect the circle), Moebius seemed to continue as an active leader of the Sarafan (indeed, along with the Elder God, he is the only significant character featured in Defiance's Nosgoth's early history; despite the survival of Malek and Mortanius and possible birth of new Guardians). Some years after the legendary attacks on the Sarafan Stronghold, Kain would return to the fortress to confront Moebius about the location of Raziel. Finding the Balance fragment of the Balance Emblem (which Kain suspected was left by Moebius for him to find), Kain was able to dispel the Blessed barriers blocking his path and make his way to the caves underneath the Stronghold, where he found Moebius, presumably discussing his plans with the Elder God, and awaiting the arrival of Kain.

Kain's first meeting with Moebius would not go well; Moebius was well aware of Kain's motivations and after paralyzing Kain with his staff, Moebius lectured Kain on his "messianic delusions" (as the Scion of Balance) and his ignorance of "Raziel's true nature". Moebius departed, assuring Kain he would "have to learn the truth for [him]self" and leaving him armed with the Reaver blade. Kain would continue to search out Moebius and after recovering theFlame Fragment of the Balance Emblem, Kain was able to reach the upper level of the tower of the Stronghold, where he was able confront Moebius again. This time Kain would use telekinesis to strip Moebius of his staff and keep the conversation on a "somewhat different footing". Moebius would congratulate Kain on his possession of the fragments of the Balance Emblem, but he would deride Kain's attempts at changing history as "pathetic", eventually confirming that, whilst Raziel had true free will, his likely actions would still lead to Kain's death. Moebius concluded that Raziel was presently "contained" but incredibly "dangerous" and offering 'proof' of this fact he gave Kain directions to the hidden Vampire Citadel. At some stage after Kain's assault on the stronghold, the Sarafan crusades would effectively cease, though they would remain a major inspiration to Moebius.

The Tragedy of William the Just
Centuries later, in the Pre-Blood Omen era, Moebius would set a trap for the fledgling Kain by manipulating (and supposedly changing the history of) young boy-king William the Just. Over several years, the "insidious designs" of the Time Streamer corrupted the "kind and fair" king into a sadistic tyrant known as "the Nemesis"; whose armies were supposedly destined to "lay waste" to Nosgoth. By the Blood Omen era, the Legions of the Nemesis stood on the brink of conquering Nosgoth.

During this time, Moebius acted as a "wise hermit" called 'the Oracle' and resided in the Oracle's Cave; dispensing 'benevolent' advice to pilgrims. Following the Corruption of the Pillars, Moebius would use this guise to predict "horrific events [and] exploiting them to his own ends". Thirty years after the corruption, it would be in the guise of 'the Oracle' that Kain would first meet Moebius. Kain had been unable to overcome Malek and sought the guidance of 'the Oracle' to help defeat him; Moebius gave Kain some enigmatic clues about King Ottmar and the Legions of the Nemesis, before telling him of Vorador's defeat of the Paladin in Nosgoth's early history and directing him to follow the Ignis Fatuus into the Swamp to locate Vorador's Mansion.

Later on in his quest, When Kain killed Dimension Guardian Azimuth, he found on her body one of Moebius's Time-streaming devices and after restoring the Pillar of Dimension, Kain turned his attention to Moebius himself. Advised by Ariel that he "needed to understand [Moebius'] machinations", Kain travelled to Willendorf and remembering the words of 'the Oracle', he set out on a side-quest to restore the Princess of Willendorf and rouse King Ottmar and his Army of Hope to defend Nosgoth against the Legions of the Nemesis, but in the fateful Battle of the Last Stand, the Army of Hope would be defeated, leaving Nosgoth at the mercy of The Nemesis. Kain was able to escape the battle when the Time Streaming Device activated, sending him fifty years backwards in time to the Pre-Blood Omen era.

Realizing the opportunity he was presented with, Kain traveled to the 'Land of the Nemesis', planning to assassinate William the Just before he could become the tyrant "The Nemesis". Succeeding in gaining access to William's Keep, Kain was able to overhear a conversation between Moebius and William; in which Moebius gave William some weapons and warned William the Just of a Vampire assassin. After Moebius left, Kain confronted William the Just and as Moebius had planned, both were armed with the Soul Reaver. The ensuing Soul Reaver Paradox allowed Kain to change history and kill William the Just (igniting the second timeline). Believing he had "thwarted" Moebius's plans, Kain returned to the Blood Omen era with a Time Streaming Device he found on William's corpse. But with unbeknownst to Kain, he had provided exactly the "catalyst" that Moebius' plans required.

Moebius' Mercenary Army
With Kain's murder of William the Just, the boy-king died a "martyred saint" and Kain was appropriately demonized as 'the vampire assassin". Exploiting the grief and vengeance of William's citizens, Moebius was able to create a new order dedicated to exterminating the Vampires, igniting a second great vampire purge; led by the Time Streamer himself - Vampire hunters. The order would come to use the former Sarafan Stronghold as a base and over a period of 'mere decades', the vampire purge would be successful enough to have eliminated the majority of Nosgoth's Vampire population.

It was in this capacity as leader of the Mercenary Army, that Wraith Raziel would 'first' meet Moebius. Traveling back in time from the Chronoplast in the Soul Reaver era, Raziel emerged from a Time Streaming Chamber in the Sarafan Stronghold in the Pre-Blood Omen era, twenty years after William the Just's death. Moebius claimed to had "snatched" Raziel out of the timestream, seemingly intending to aid Raziel in his pursuit of the elder Kain, but Raziel (who was aware of Moebius' reputation) was instantly suspicious of the Time Streamer and even more so when his Staff disabled the Wraith Blade. Nevertheless, Moebius encouraged Raziel to "re-embrace the essence of [his] humanity, and the nobility of [his] Sarafan heritage" and sent Raziel after Kain.

Shortly afterward, as Raziel explored the Sarafan Stronghold, he found William's chapel in the Sanctuary area of the Stronghold and discovered William the Just's broken Soul Reaver blade. As Raziel was 'leeched' by the Wraith Blade to restore the physical Reaver, Moebius was watching the process with "intense fascination" and Raziel turned on Moebius, threatening him with the conjoined blades. Moebius, supposedly appearing without his staff to "prove [his] good intentions" to Raziel, begged Raziel to "stay [his] hand"; realizing the potential consequences of a history-altering Soul Reaver Paradox removing him from this stage of history. Distrusting Moebius, Raziel was fully prepared to strike him down, but Moebius' desperate revelation that he was a servant of Raziel's creator, the Elder God, persuaded Raziel to stay his hand and continue his quest for Kain. Moebius was visually relieved as Raziel left the Sanctuary area.

After meeting Kain and Vorador and imbuing the Dark Reaver and Light Reaver (and reflecting with Vorador on the "unsettling" progress of the Mercenary Army), Raziel returned to William's chapel and discovered Kain waiting for him. Kain would explain to him the significance of the Soul Reaver Paradox; how two versions of the blade could meet and thus change history. Kain presented Raziel with William the Just's Reaver, forcing the Wraith Blade to manifest and as Raziel advanced on Kain with the conjoined blades he fought the 'pull' of history (and the Wraith Blade) and was able to divert the blades, sparing Kain and igniting the Third timeline. Apparently shocked by Raziel's sparing of the elder Kain and changing of history, Moebius arrived, once again without his staff. Raziel, relishing the 'distress' his actions had caused Moebius, threatened Moebius to activate a Time Streaming Chamber to send him back in time to Nosgoth's early history. When Raziel was transported however, Moebius' "cunning grin" suggested he had more deceptions planned and when he arrived Raziel found Moebius had sent him to the Post-Blood Omen era instead of the expected Nosgoth's early history.

The Triumph and Deaths of Moebius
The Vampire purges of Vampire hunters would continue into the Blood Omen era, leaving Vorador and the fledgeling Kain as some of the last vampires in Nosgoth. When Raziel traveled to the Blood Omen era in Defiance he visited Vorador's Mansion and in contrast to the populated mansion encountered by Kain shortly before in the First timeline, Raziel found the Mansion abandoned and desolate before the advance of Moebius Mercenary Army and Vorador himself apparently awaiting them. Raziel would leave to investigate Avernus and when he returned after murdering the elder Kain to recover the Heart of Darkness, he found the Mansion overrun with Mercenaries and Moebius waiting for him. Moebius gloated at Raziel's murder of Kain; revealing that to him (and the Elder God) the prophecies of Vampire and Hylden champion were irrelevant so long as Kain was dead; and relishing that he had manipulated Raziel into this course of action despite his free will. Moebius also confirmed that Vorador had been captured ("not without a considerable price in blood") and Moebius teleported away to see to his execution, aware that he himself was going to his own death.

As the fledgeling Kain returned from the Pre-Blood Omen era, after murdering William the Just and changing history, he found evidence of the changed timeline; assailed by Mercenaries, Kain followed screams and the scent of blood to a garrison south of Stahlberg where he found Vorador (the last of the eras vampires aside from Kain himself) guillotined before a blood-thirsty mob. Recognizing the leader of the mercenaries as 'the Oracle', Kain realized that Moebius had manipulated his quest all along to eliminate the vampire race. Moebius identified Kain to the mob as the last vampire left and they turned on him, but Kain was able to fight off the crowd and confront the Time Streamer himself. Moebius summoned enemies from "from the past, from the present and from ages yet to come" (including a probable illusion of a 'future Kain') to battle Kain, but eventually Kain was able to defeat Moebius. As Moebius lay injured he admitted to altering history to create The Nemesis and gave Kain a final prophecy of his future death before Kain (probably in reference to Vorador's death) beheaded Moebius and recovered Moebius' Hourglass; his pillar token (see Moebius (boss)). After his final confrontations with Mortanius and the Dark Entity, Kain was able to return Moebius' Hourglass to the Pillar of Time, temporarily restoring it. As Kain was presented with his fateful decision at the climax of Blood Omen, Moebius true cunning was revealed as Kain realized that to restore Nosgoth he would have to commit suicide and thus eliminate the Vampire race; recognizing the "game was rigged", Kain rejected the sacrifice, damning the the pillars to collapse.



For his centuries of loyalty and service to the Elder God (who had "power over life and death"), Moebius was resurrected in  Defiance, shortly after his death in Blood Omen and summoned to the Spirit Forge in the Vampire Citadel (recently made accessible by the efforts of Raziel to activate the forge). Moebius was confirming to the unseen Elder God, that the Hylden (recently 'released' by Raziel) would be "dealt with in time". However as he proceeded that their release was a "small price to pay for Kain's death", the elder Kain floated down behind Moebius and revealed that there was "a crack in [Moebius'] omniscience" -



Moebius had failed to foresee that Kain had in fact survived the confrontation with Raziel (minus the Heart of Darkness). With Moebius shocked at Kain's survival and that his staff no longer effected the Vampire. Kain would once again kill Moebius, unmoved by his claims of serving "one who has power over life and death".

With his death, Moebius' Soul arrived in the Spectral Realm and he continued to address the unseen Elder God asking him to "make use of your good servant"; not realizing that he had appeared directly in front of the Wraith Raziel, Moebius was impaled on the Wraith Blade Spirit Reaver before he finished the sentence. The Spirit Reaver cleansed Moebius' sight allowing him to see the Elder God for the first time and horrifying him with the revelation of what he had worshipped. Raziel consumed Moebius' Soul; sending him to feed the Elder God and his Wheel of Fate. Recognizing from Moebius' death that no-one had ever seen the Elder God and that he was "the true endeavor", whose unseen influence had caused "all of the conflict and strife throughout history", Raziel accepted his destiny, possessing Moebius' corpse and using it to return to the Material Realm and tricking Kain into impaling the apparently resurrected corpse. Raziel fully manifested and sacrificed himself to create the Soul Reaver, whilst simultaneously dispersing the Spirit Reaver into Kain to cleanse him of injury and corruption and enable him to see the Elder God.

Beyond Death
Despite being killed (twice) and returned to the Wheel of Fate, this would not be the last of Moebius in Nosgothic history. A century after the collapse of the pillars and Moebius' death, Raziel's emerged from a Time Streaming Chamber in the Sarafan Stronghold of the Post-Blood Omen era (following Moebius sending him to the wrong era) and a statue of Moebius depicting the execution of Vorador confirmed the era he now occupied. Shortly afterward, Raziel would meet the supposed "martyred spirit" of Moebius himself (though this 'spirit' has since been confirmed to have actually been an illusion, utilizing Time Travel). 'The Spirit' attempted to convince Raziel of Kain's culpability for the horrors of the demon infested Post-Blood Omen era, but Raziel saw through the Time Streamer's "disingenuous" argument and offered to test whether he was a spirit - through devouring his Soul. Moebius rejected the offer and vanished.

In the Post-Blood Omen era, four centuries after his death, there was a colossal statue of Moebius in the final outer courtyard of the 'timeless' Eternal Prison. The statue was originally in pieces on the floor of the courtyard, having apparently long collapsed, but during his battle with Magnus, Kain was able to utilize some of the time manipulation effects of the prison to rebuild the statue. After luring Magnus into charging at the statue and damaging the supporting staff, the statue collapsed onto Magnus, causing him significant damage and regaining his memory (see Magnus (boss)). The Moebius statue in the prison is unexplained, but it is possible that Moebius had a hand in the building of the 'timeless' prison or otherwise claimed it as Time Guardian.



Kain's "boasted exploits" of his past ensured that the legend of Moebius would live on into the Soul Reaver era. Investigating the Oracle's Cave searching for Kain, Raziel would uncover the Oracle's Chamber and as he entered he recounted the tale of Kain's first meeting with 'the Oracle' and how Moebius had subsequently manipulated Kain's journey. Commenting on rumours that "like Moebius himself", the caves were "a facade for a much larger, more elaborate complex" and using Constrict on the cauldron, Raziel was able to open the way to Moebius' secret complex - The Chronoplast, discovered by Kain centuries earlier. As he descended into the machinery of the Chronoplast, Raziel found a statue of the Time Streamer, which he noted " radiated a certain undeniable power". Continuing through the Chronoplast and observing some of its visions, Raziel finally confronted Kain in the main time streaming chamber and after battling him (see Kain (SR1 second encounter)) Kain activated the Chronoplast portal and lured Raziel back in time to the Pre-Blood Omen era. As Raziel passed through he was greeted by Moebius and no doubt Raziel's Soul Reaver era knowledge of Moebius' exploits led to his mistrust of the Time Streamer in their first meeting

Development


In all of his appearances, Moebius has been voiced by Richard Doyle. Cast photos included in Soul Reaver 2 depict Raziel voice actor Michael Bell playfully pretending to strangle Doyle, in reference to their two characters' adversarial relationship. Moebius is only one of only three characters, alongside Kain and Vorador, who has either appeared in person, or been mentioned and depicted, in all five Legacy of Kain games to date. He is neither present nor mentioned in Blood Omen 2, but is depicted in the form of a large statue in the Eternal Prison.

Personality
Even before the pillar of time was corrupted and the circle's decent into madness, Moebius was viewd by nearly everyone in the story as twisted and decietful, using his powers to manipulate history for his own personal gain. After the corruption Moebius became even more manipulative and decietful in his actions and also developed a cruel and slightly sadistic side to himself. Toying with the emotions and thoughts of others and enjoying it all the same. However, despite all of his bravado and cunning, whenever a plan of his failed to go according to plan he would become cowardly and bumbling seen in his final appearence in defiance with Kain as he emerged from the other side.

Powers
"Poor, deluded Raziel... did you somehow imagine you had the guile to change history on me? I’m the Time-Streamer – I knew your every intention before you did, you imbecile."

- Moebius

Moebius as the Guardian of the Pillar of Time had some basic magical abilities, he was able to shoot bolts of lightning from his hands and was able to teleport short distances. But by far his greatest strength lay in his limited omniscience and cunning. The Pillar had granted Moebius the ability to look through all aspects of the time stream and was able to manipulate the events he saw for his own personal gain. He was also a brilliant strategist and was able to plan moves ahead of his opponents and manipulate them even when they knew not to trust him. However, his omniscience was limited in some aspects as he was not able to see Raziels path through time since he was no longer bound to the Wheel of Fate, and he failed to forsee Kains return to kill him for the last time.

Etymology
Moebius' name is likely inspired by mathematician and theoretical astronomer Augustin Ferdinand Mobius, who has several geometrical and astronomical phenomena named after him (including a crater on the far side of the moon), Mobius is usually associated with the Mobius strip - a single surface that has only one (twisted) plane of geometry; typically the infinity sigil is presented as a Mobius strip. According to bonus features in the games, Moebius was known as "Bridenal" in the early development of the series.

Navigation
Moebius il Tessitore del Tempo