Wraith Blade

The Wraith Blade is the spiritual form of the Soul Reaver, and is essentially the soul of Raziel, still trapped in the form of the Soul Reaver blade. It is also referred to as the Reaver and is depicted as a flaming sword in murals. It is the symbiotic weapon of the wraith Raziel after his battle with Kain in Soul Reaver at the Sanctuary of the Clans. It can be imbued with elemental enhancements attuned to it much like Raziel himself can absorb souls to receive enhancements.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
In Soul Reaver, Raziel and Kain met and battled at the Sanctuary of the Clans. At the end of this battle, Kain overcomes Raziel and shatters the Soul Reaver blade over him, liberating the Soul-devouring spirit within the blade from it's corporeal prison and returning the blade to its true form, a wraith blade; The Blade was initially destroyed because of a paradox - The Reaver could not devour its own (Raziel's) soul. weakened after his battle with Kain, Raziel was forced to return to the Spectral Realm, where he found the Wraith Blade which binded itself to him becoming his symbiotic weapon.

During the events of the game, the blade can only manifest in the Material Realm when Raziel's health is full and it will maintain his health unless he is injured, where the blade will then retreat to the Spectral Plane. In order to retrieve the Reaver, Raziel would have to shift planes and then be at full health to use the portals or just feed on some spiritual energy (from a willing or defenseless human). Raziel used the blade to unlock the outer entrance to the Silenced Cathedral and it became of great use to him, even being modified to fire 'Reaver Bolts ' with the Telekinetic Force Projectile ability; also in Soul Reaver, the wraith blade could be endowed with the element of fire after earning the 'swimming' ability and finding the enhancement within Rahab's territory.

Soul Reaver 2
In Soul Reaver 2, the Wraith Blade took on a new significance; firstly Moebius' Staff demonstrated the power to disable the wraith blade, then shortly after arriving in the Pre-Blood Omen era, in the chapel of the Sarafan Stronghold, Raziel found the earlier physical version of the blade that was wielded by William in the Battle with Kain and broken from that battle. The wraith blade was able to manifest itself and leeched Raziel's energy to restore the blade. From this point on Raziel was able to manifest the blade at will, but it had become a "sentient parasite competing for control".that would turn it's hunger on Raziel if it became over aroused. Raziel threatened Moebius with the conjoined blades but ended up sparing him, due to revelations about Moebius' service of The Elder God(unknowingly narrowly avoiding a Soul Reaver Paradox .) From then on the Reaver blade becomes vital to the story.

Raziel was able to use the wraith blade to unlock a large door in a passageway hidden behind the Pillars of Nosgoth, which was decorated with an image of the similar looking Ancient Vampires; this door led to the Subterranean Pillars Chamber and Raziel's first glimpses of Murals of Vampire history. All around the Soul Reaver blade was inscribed with reverence as was the images of the vampire champion; which given his ownership of the wraith blade and vaguely Ancient Vampire appearance seemed to apply to Raziel himself.

Entering the Termogent Forest Swamp, Raziel was able to uncover the Dark Forge and imbue the wraith blade with elemental darkness - forging the (temporary) Dark Reaver. He was then able to use the Dark Reaver's abilities to return to the enter the Light Forge in the Great Southern Lake and completing its puzzle, gain the (temporary) Light Reaver, which enabled him to activate the Light Crystals and re-enter the Sarafan Stronghold. Soon after Raziel encountered the physical Reaver again as Kain picked it up and gave it to Raziel, forcing the wraith blade to manifest. Here the wraith blade was able to exert it's will once again, forcing Raziel's hand to advance on Kain another Soul Reaver Paradox. Raziel was able to fight the will of the wraith blade and divert the blade by inches, changing history. Following this change, Raziel abandoned the Physical Reaver and used the wraith blade to force Moebius to send him backwards in time, but he was tricked and sent forward instead.

In the future, Raziel was able to find the Air Forge underneath Janos Audron's aerie and forge the (temporary) Air Reaver, then use it to blast open the cracked doorway to an abandoned Time Streaming Chamber in the Termogent Forest. He used it to return to Nosgoth's early history and to enter Janos Audron's aerie and finding the mountain hollow, he proceeded to use the Dark, Light and Air Reavers to negociate the Mountain to reach Janos' Balcony, but did not manifest the Reaver when he met Janos. Janos offered Raziel the (Blood) Reaver, but curiously Raziel experienced none of the usual displacement associated with the Soul Reaver Paradox. When the Sarafan attacked, Janos Teleported Raziel to the nearby Fire Forge, where Raziel was able to gain the (temporary) Fire Reaver and return to Janos' chamber to discover his human self and his brothers murder Janos and steal both the Heart of Darkness and The (Blood) Reaver.

Raziel chased the Sarafan back to the stronghold and once again met Moebius, along with Malek, in a room with the (Blood) Reaver, with Moebius' Staff disabling the Wraith Blade, Raziel was forced to use the (Blood) Reaver as a weapon. Diverted a different route through the Stronghold, Raziel killed the major Sarafan Inquisitors and after killing his human self, the Wraith Blade manifested and for the first time since they were bound, it left Raziel, instead embracing its former self. The Wraith Blade turned the (Blood) Reaver on Raziel and impaled him with it, it was then that Raziel realised the truth about the Wraith Blade - that it was his future self and that was why there had been no sense of displacement when he met the Reaver in Janos' Aerie; it was empty and not a Soul Reaver Paradox. But even as Kain saved from his fate Raziel, in the Spectral Realm, realised that as the Wraith Blade was still present, Kain has merely postponed his destiny.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance
In Defiance (now in the Blood Omen era) the Wraith Blade again played a crucial role, not least because Kain had picked up the original Reaver blade that would become Raziel's prison; with Raziel carrying the only weapon that could kill Kain (as hinted from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver) - the Wraith Blade, their rivalry was taken to a new level.

Raziel began Defiance in The Elder's Lair, with the Wraith Blade and The Elder God taunting him about his destiny over it. When Raziel escapes and finds a way to manifest himself in the Material Realm(through Possession (Defiance)) he finds himself in the Cemetery, where some much older ruins catch his attention, and he is able to use them to teleport to the sealed chambers within the Vampire Citadel which contained various forges - the cemetary teleporters lead him to theLight and Dark forges, where he is able to imbue the Wraith Blade and regain more permanent versions of the Light and Dark Reavers in turn. He is able to use these enhancements to escape the cemetary.

In hidden chambers near the Pillars of Nosgoth, he was able to permanently imbue the Wraith Blade with The Fire Reaver by absorbing the souls of the original Conflict and Nature guardians in the sealedFire Forge, this enabled him to proceed to the Pillars and after learning of Vorador's involvement with the (Blood) Reaver Blade's creation, ask Ariel about his whereabouts. To enter the way to Vorador's mansion, he had to find another chamber that warped him to the sealed Air Forge and absorbing the souls of the Mind and Dimension Guardians gained the permanent Air Reaver, which enabled him to continue.

At Vorador's Mansion he was able to teleport to the sealed Water Forge and after consuming the souls of the States and Death Guardians is able to gain the Water Reaver, which along with the Fire Reaver, enabled him to enter the vault at the end of Vorador's garden where the vampire has hidden himself. After his discussion with Vorador, Raziel heads to Avernus where he discovers the Cathedral built on ruins that warp him to the Earth Forge, where taking in the souls of the Time and Energy Guardians, gains the Earth Reaver and is able to use it to enter the Avernus Catacombs and find out many secrets, particularly regarding the two champions prophecy both he and Kain have observed.

When Raziel returns to the Cathedral, he is armed with the Wraith Blade for his confrontation with Kain, and the supposed champions battle. It is confirmed that the Wraith Blade is the only weapon that could kill Kain. During the battle Raziel begins to be absorbed into the (Blood) Reaver and in desperation, he rips out Kain's Heart - the Heart of Darkness( not using the Wraith Blade.) He returns to Vorador's Mansion and reinserting the Heart into Janos, the Wraith Blade is what ultimately brings Janos back. When Raziel demands answers of Janos, he is able to use the Wraith Blade to illustrate to Janos the amount he has misunderstood the prophecies. Amazed, Janos sends Raziel to the final forge in the Vampire Citadel, the Spirit Forge, where he fights off the Elder God's interference and uses all of the elemental enhancements to activate the forge and absorb the souls of all the Balance Guardians (represented by Ariel) and gain the purifying Spirit Reaver.

The Spirit Reaver demonstrates itself as an all-powerful and devastating weapon, but it is unable to save Janos from the Possession of the Hylden Lord, who steals Janos body as part of a Hylden conspiracy. Returned to the Elder God in the Spirit Forge, Raziel realises the truth (that he is both champions and Kain is a different messianic role in the prophecies -The Scion of Balance.) When Kain returns, killing a resurrected Moebius, Raziel repeats the act with the wraith blade and realises one of the side effects of the 'purifying' Spirit Reaver is to purify sight. Soon afterward Raziel possesses Moebius corpse and sacrifices himself to become trapped in the Reaver Blade, however at the same time he disperses the purifying Spirit Reaver into Kain, cleansing him of the Corruption that had plagued him since birth and allowing him for the first time to see the true enemy - The Elder God- as well as providing him with the Scion of Balance's prophecied weapon - The Soul Reaver- that is capable of harming him.

Enhancements
Throughout Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance it has been possible for Raziel to imbue the Wraith Blade with a series of different 'elemental' enhancements; most were cut from the Soul Reaver but in sucessive games, more of the planned Reaver list was completed.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Though only the Fire Reaver made it into the finished game a series of other Reaver enhancements (related to the methods of killing vampires in that game) were planned but cut before release. Each enhancement would have been gained from small specialized forge (like the Fire Forge in the finished release) and once enhanced the elemental affinity could be regained by exposing the Reaver to the appropriate element.

Reaver enhancements

 * Spectral Reaver (unmentioned)
 * Material Reaver (unmentioned)
 * Fire Reaver

Cut enhancements

 * Water Reaver
 * Stone Reaver
 * Sound Reaver
 * Sunlight Reaver
 * Spirit Reaver
 * Ariel Reaver
 * Amplified Reaver

Soul Reaver 2
The enhancements included for Soul Reaver 2 were based on more traditional elements than those used in Soul Reaver. As before each enhancement had a (large and complicated) individual forge that could be used to imbue the enhancement and once forged, the element could be re-imbued at Reaver fonts throughout Nosgoth. Once again several Reaver enhancements were planned but not included in the final game, with their respective forges removed (though ruins of the Spirit Forge remain).

Reaver enhancements

 * Spectral Reaver (unmentioned)
 * Material Reaver (unmentioned)
 * Dark Reaver
 * Light Reaver
 * Air Reaver
 * Fire Reaver

Cut enhancements

 * Water Reaver
 * Earth Reaver
 * Spirit Reaver

Legacy of Kain: Defiance
In Defiance the Reavers list from previous games was finally completed. Each was imbued at a specific forge in the Vampire Citadel and once forged could be selected again at any time.

Reaver enhancements

 * Spectral Reaver (default Spectral Realm manifestation)
 * Material Reaver (default Material Realm manifestation)
 * Light Reaver (blinds enemies, operates crystal oriented devices)
 * Dark Reaver (makes Raziel invisible, can create matter from darkness)
 * Fire Reaver (burns enemies)
 * Air Reaver (launches shockwave)
 * Water Reaver (can turn water into ice and vice-versa)
 * Earth Reaver (grants Raziel control over his own weight, used to create earth brigdes)
 * Spirit Reaver (the only Reaver attuned to the Balance element, can also manifest in the spectral realm)