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"Their charms were almost visible through the gauze of their clothing. Yet beauty such as theirs delivered only death. For these were Vorador's pets, nothing more than beasts, slave to his will and the easy prey he provided. Vampires, all of them, held in thrall by one stronger still."
―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]

Brides, also known as Vorador's Brides or simply Female Vampires, were a group of Vampires seen in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain as enemies. They effectively served as concubines of Vorador and were primarily encountered in Vorador's Mansion in the titular chapter, although they could also be encountered in the preceding dungeons of the Termogent Forest.

Profile[]

Brides were an enemy classification introduced and appearing solely in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. They were unique enemies found in Vorador's Mansion and the surrounding areas of the Termogent Forest and were effectively servants, guards and companions of the Vampire Vorador. They were one of the few examples of Second generation vampires seen in the games.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

Generally the brides were scantily clad, being dressed in variations of revealing clothing, offering little in terms of protection, however their vampiric abilities and endurance made up for any potential weaknesses.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][1]

The brides were first encountered as Kain explored the Termogent Forest in the chapter "Vorador's Mansion", where he could come across Leaper Vampires while exploring the Flame Sword Dungeon. Thereafter he could encounter them and other vampires and he progressed through the main level of Vorador's Mansion. They were not encountered again outside of the confines of the swamp, but they were mentioned by Malek in his confrontation with Vorador in the chapter "Threaten the Circle".[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen/7][Blood Omen strategy guide]

Despite the same eras being visited in later games, the brides are nowhere to be seen around the Swamp or Vorador's Mansion and Vorador is generally encountered alone.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/3][Defiance][Defiance/8][Defiance/13]

Classes[]

Vorador's Brides come in three distinct variations. The below summarises the various sub classes:

char0059 (Vanishing Vampire Brides)[]

Vanishing Vampire Brides were a class of second generation Vampires encountered as the 'brides' of Vorador in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. They were exclusively encountered in Vorador's Mansion and were first found around the Chaos Armor.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

The Vanishing Vampire Brides were dark skinned and had black hair. They wore a silver bikini and loincloth, and they were particularly distinctive for their use of teleportation to attack. These Vampires were fairly hardy enemies with 25 health points. They attacked using a combination of slaps and homing electrical projectiles. Their attacks were only of mildly powerful with an attack power of 10 points - however the homing projectiles could prove a nuisance when combined with their ability to teleport.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

The class was not seen in further areas or timelines and were not featured in later titles.

 

char0060 (Leaper Vampires)[]

Leaper Vampires were a class of second generation Vampires encountered as the 'brides' of Vorador in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Leaper Vampires could first be encountered in the Flame Sword Keep within the Termogent Forest, but were later encountered in Vorador's Mansion.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

The Leaper Vampires were pale skinned and had orange-ginger hair. They wore a pale green loincloth along with a black bikini which extended to cover one arm completely, while a black banding was wrapped around the other. They were particularly distinctive for their use of a quick 'leaping' attack whereby they stretched forward and grasped at enemies, allowing them to quickly cover a large distance. The Leaper Vampires were fairly hardy enemies with 25 health points. They attacked using a lunging attack, covering a long distance in a short time and dealing 20 attack points. They were also able to shoot homing projectiles.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][1]

The class was not seen in further areas or timelines and were not featured in later titles.

 

char0061 (Mist Vampires)[]

Mist Vampires were a class of second generation Vampires encountered as the 'brides' of Vorador in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. They were exclusively encountered in Vorador's Mansion.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][1]

The Mist Vampires were most often encountered in the mist form where they appeared as a cloudy blue humanoid silhouette - much like Kain's Mist Form. When they manifested in human form they were shown to have pale skin and red hair. They wore a dark red and black bikini and loincloth with a series of dark red trim pieces down the arms and legs. The Mist Vampires were distinctive for their use of Mist Form which they used to ambush prey - generally remaining in mist form and only emerging to attack with a close range red projectile.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

Like their fellow brides, the Mist Vampires were fairly hardy enemies with 25 health points, however they employed a unique trick: they would use Mist Form to avoid attack, emerging to deliver a powerful projectile causing 23 damage.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][1]

The class was not seen in further areas or timelines and were not featured in later titles.

 

Behind the scenes[]

Vorador's Brides bear several obvious similarities to the Brides of Dracula featured in Bram Stoker's Dracula and its numerous adaptions - being seductive female concubines of a powerful male vampire that resides in a secluded castle location.[2][3]

Several lines of cut dialogue exist for the Brides which do not appear to be used in the final game or any of the known preliminary builds, but are present in game files. These include the following lines which are explicitly attributed to "Brides".[Blood Omen][4]

"Be quick! Before Prince Vorador finds him! He is ours for the feasting!"
―Bride — Listen (file info)[src]
"Oh, come, love. Give us a little taste."
―Bride — Listen (file info)[src]
"The blood of our own. 'Tis there anything sweeter?"
―Bride — Listen (file info)[src]
Vamp011

Kain's brides - cut content from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Several other lines are present with similar styles and delivery are present, but the discovery of official scripts revealed that these lines are explicitly attributed to "Succubi" in Blood Omen scripts. No Succubi class appears in the final game and it may be that they were an earlier idea for the brides, a different sub-class, or that their similarity to the brides was the reason for their removal. The succubi lines are described as "sensual/sexy female voices - husky with desire and lust. Each line should be said by a different voice". The lines include the following quotes:[Blood Omen][4]

"Do I not please you, my lord? Come, taste of my flesh..."
―Succubus — Listen (file info)[src]
"I can sense your lust, warrior. Take of me what you will."
―Succubus — Listen (file info)[src]
"Such a beautiful body. Oh the pleasures the undead can bring..."
―Succubus — Listen (file info)[src]
The final line is accompanied by the description "succubus, on being turned down by Kain":[4]
"You fool. Hell hath no fury..."
―Succubus — Listen (file info)[src]
Main article: Succubi (Blood Omen)

Although the concept of Brides is not seen in further titles, a similar class was intended to appear in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver as the concubines of Kain, however they never made it beyond the concept phase and were only visible in concept arts by artist Arnold Ayala which were presented in his portfolio.[5][6][7]

Main article: Kain's brides

Notes[]

"Never! I’ll hack you from crotch to gizzard and feed what’s left of you to your brides ..."
―Malek[src]
  • The names "Vorador's Brides" or simply "Brides" are referenced in dialogue, the original NPC dialogue scripts and developer comments, while "Female Vampires" as a general alternative can be found in the official guide Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain—Official Game Secrets.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/7][4][8][Blood Omen strategy guide] The names of the specific classes as "Leaper Vampire" and "Vanishing Vampire Bride" also originate in the official guide, but the 'Mist Vampire' class is not officially named.[Blood Omen strategy guide]
    • In game files the sprites relating to the classes are referred to as "char0059" (Vanishing Vampire Brides), "char0060" (Leaper Vampires) and "char0061" (Mist Vampires). Other internal classifications refer to them as "bride 1" (vanishing), "bride 2" (leaper) and "bride 3"(mist).[Blood Omen]
    • Some fan guides and speculation have historically linked the Werewolves seen in Blood Omen to the brides, suggesting that they too were a type of vampire,[9] but this possibility was refuted by developer Chris Bruno who elaborated: "I remember this creature, if you kill it it turns to a human form right? I remember one for sure in Vorador's mansion that I always thought was a werewolf. The only other vampires in Vorador's mansion were his Brides. Hope this helps".[8]
  • Descriptions of the brides by Kain and Malek notably suggest that they were 'feral' to some extent and were considered 'pets' of Vorador - potentially implying they lacked independent thought and were driven solely by their bloodthirst. Whether this is truly the case, or to what extent this is the result of their vampirism or the deliberate actions and influence of Vorador is unclear.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen/7]
  • The Mist Form used by the Mist Vampires appears functionally identical to Kain's own Mist Form as it is used in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain[Blood Omen]
  • Apart from Vorador himself, the Brides are one of the few examples of living second generation vampires seen in the series - despite that generation apparently being the dominant branch of Vampire ancestry in Nosgoth for thousands of years. Attempts were made to depict this generation in two different eras of Soul Reaver 2, however both attempts ended up cut from the game and the hidden presence of the cut female vampire was the only indication to make it into the final game. Bonus materials and beta versions of Soul Reaver 2 illuminated the other individuals planned to appear.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][Soul Reaver 2/Cut content]
    • Defiance's version of Vorador's Mansion is notably absent of Vampires, despite Raziel remarking about Vorador once holding court over a private kingdom. With later games taking place in timelines alongside the crusades of Moebius's Vampire Hunters, it's perhaps implied that the other vampires have already fled or been taken captive by the Vampire hunters before the final capture of Vorador and the elimination of the second generation vampires.[Defiance][Defiance/9]
  • The Term 'Bride' is one of the labels found in the Prestige listings, where it is a relatively low ranking. It is unclear if this was deliberately related to the Brides as the team freely admit that "it was late at night when we came up with these...".[Blood Omen][17][18]

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Icon Blood OmnicideEnemies - Undead at the Blood Omnicide site (archived)
  2. Icon WikipediaDracula at Wikipedia
  3. Icon WikipediaBrides of Dracula at Wikipedia
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Icon The Lost Worlds Blood Omen Scripts at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
  5. Template:Icon-FacebookDid anyone happen to draw a connection between the Summoner class and the female vampire concepts from SR1? If so, feel free to slam this post with a bunch of Slowpoke memes. at Facebook (by Daniel Cabuco)
  6. Template:Icon-FacebookAnother very interesting enemy that I would have liked to see, unfortunately, did not happen of simple sketches. Female vampires could apparently become some kind of hound, it is speculated that they would be close to the zephonim.. at Nosgothic Realm Facebook Group (by Alejandro Jean Garcia/Daniel Cabuco)
  7. Soul Reaver character concept art at Dogma5150's Blog (aka Arnold Ayala's portfolio)
  8. 8.0 8.1 Eidos Interactive Chris@Crystal's Greatest Hits at the Eidos Forums/Square Enix Forums (Archive) (by Unknown/Chris Bruno)
  9. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - Enemy Tactics Guide at GameFAQs (by thewaynemanor)
  10. Icon The Lost Worlds My Visit to Crystal Dynamics at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
  11. Icon The Lost Worlds Raziel Witnesses a Vampire Slaying at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
  12. Icon The Lost Worlds Vampires (Soul Reaver 2) at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
  13. Eidos Interactive Chris@Crystal's Greatest Hits at the Eidos Forums (by Divine Shadow)
  14. Icon DCabDesign Weaponry and other questions at DCabDesign (by BazL), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco)
  15. Icon The Lost Worlds Locate the Female Vampire in Soul Reaver 2 at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
  16. Icon Soul Reaver 2 Soul Reaver 2 (Jul 17, 2001 prototype)
  17. Icon Dark Chronicle The Blood Omen Prestige List at Dark Chronicle
  18. Miscellaneous Questions & Answers at the Blood Omen Plot FAQ

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