Scaling walls

"Consuming Zephon’s apostate soul has bestowed on you a new gift. Like his vampire spawn, you are able to scale certain walls which are otherwise impassable - but only in the physical realm. In the spirit world, these insubstantial edifices will not support you."

- Elder God

Scaling Walls, also known as Wall Crawling or Climbing, was as ability featured in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Originally the ability was gained after the death of Zephon in Soul Reaver and allowed Raziel to climb Scalable walls.

Role
Climbing was first featured as an earned ability in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and apparently originally developed by the evolution of the vampire Zephon in the Soul Reaver era. As the gifts of evolution were eventually passed to the descending Vampire Clans, so the insectoid vampires of the Zephonim inherited the ability to stick to and climb vertical surfaces, frequently using the ability to hunt prey. When Raziel traveled to the Silenced Cathedral in Chapter 5 of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, he was frequently assaulted by Adult and Fledgling Zephonim using the wall-crawling ability to approach undetected and escape from damage. When Raziel reached Zephon's lair near the top of the Cathedral, he found that Zephon himself had become a part of the Cathedral and was largely immobile. confronting Zephon, Raziel was able to defeat him and consume his soulgaining the climbing ability for himself. Unlike the Zephonim vampires, Raziel could not use the ability indiscriminately - he was only able to climb specially textured Scalable walls and only whilst in the Material Realm. Raziel would continue to use the ability throughout Soul Reaver, initially using it to climb beyond the Sanctuary of the Clans and find his way to the Tomb of the Sarafan.

Climbing was retained as an innate ability in Soul Reaver 2 and could be used at any time by Raziel, again allowing Raziel to scale specially textured vertical surfaces and reach higher levels. As before, Climbing was only available in the Material Realm and would be aborted if Raziel Shifted or was struck by an enemy or projectile, causing Raziel to drop to the floor below.

Climbing was again featured in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, this time as a common ability used by both Raziel and Kain. As in previous titles, horizontally lined Scalable walls could be climbed simply by jumping towards them, though the process would be aborted if struck. There were several minor changes to the ability however, with Raziel now able to use it in the Spectral Realm as well as the Material Realm; both could also kick-jump off the walls to propel themselves away to higher platforms behind them.

Appearances

 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
 * Soul Reaver 2
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance