Elder God

The Elder God is a video game character in the Legacy of Kain series, voiced throughout the series by Tony Jay. Although not named in-game, the title of Elder God is given in the manual of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and a variety of other sources. The Elder God's role in Soul Reaver is that of an ally to the game's protagonist Raziel, but subsequent games in the series portray the Elder God in a less beneficent light. The Elder God is the final boss of Legacy of Kain: Defiance, and arguably the main antagonist of the series overall.

The Elder God is first depicted in Soul Reaver as the entity that revives the main character Raziel after his execution by Kain. It claims to preside over the Wheel of Fate, a cycle of birth, death and rebirth to which all souls are drawn. Vampires, being immortal, are exempt from this cycle and the Elder God seeks to destroy them in order to free their souls. The Elder God bids Raziel to take revenge against his destroyers and guides Raziel in locating them. The events of Soul Reaver 2 take place at a earlier point chronologically in the series, but the Elder God, being present in all times, recognizes Raziel and chastises his refusal to kill Kain.

In Legacy of Kain: Defiance the Elder God continues to exhort Raziel to serve him. Over the course of the game it is revealed that the Elder God was worshiped by the Ancient Vampires, and it encouraged the Ancients to wage war with the Hylden, who did not share their faith. When the Hylden afflicted the Ancients with blood-thirst, sterility and immortality, the Elder God abandoned them, eventually orchestrating the rebellion of the humans against the Vampires by manipulating Moebius. The final battle in Defiance ends with Kain defeating but not killing the Elder God, who warns Kain he is immortal and will return.