The Unknown Male Vampire was a minor cut character originally planned to have featured in Soul Reaver 2. The cutscene featuring him was removed and he is never mentioned or referenced in game, rendering his status in the Legacy of Kain continuity dubious.
During the development of Soul Reaver 2, there was some debate among the crew about how to portray the Vampires in earlier eras, prior to the rise of Kain's progeny and his empire in the Soul Reaver era. Early designs were known to have featured a cinematic in the Pre-Blood Omen era at the Shrine in which Raziel observed an unnamed Female vampire being attacked and killed by a group of Vampire hunters who then proceeded to attack Raziel. The cinematic was removed after it was felt that it did not fit in well with the rest of the game, turning audience sympathies too quickly and dialogue from the cutscene was also deemed imperfect.[1][2][3][4][5]
The early history vampire pair in concept art in Bonus materials
Some of the crew subsequently attempted to introduce a similar cinematic in a Vampire village above the Swamp - again with the vampires showing mistrust of Raziel. This sequence also ended up cut for similar reasons, and in the final release of Soul Reaver 2 - despite hints in manuals and guides - Janos Audron and Vorador were the only members of previous vampire generations seen alive, although concepts for other vampires could be found in Bonus materials.[Soul Reaver 2][1][3] The only hint of their presence left in the retail game was artwork in Bonus materials and some traces of the initial female vampire.[Soul Reaver 2]
Soul Reaver 2 Beta - Vampire Cutscenes
The cutscenes featuring the vampire
In 2021 the exposure of the Soul Reaver 2 beta made the cutscenes featuring the vampires available to the public for the first time and revealed that in fact all four of the earlier vampire designs had apparently made it into earlier versions of the game. Here the female and malePre-Blood Omen era vampires were encountered together along the path between the lake and the pillars and later on once Raziel reached the swamp in Nosgoth's early history he could encounter a second pair of vampires - a male and female - surveying Sarafan kills. Like the first pair these vampires demonstrated their mistrust and suspicion of Raziel and retreated before he approached. As Raziel progressed to the next area he ran into a Sarafan camp - presumably implying that the pair had met an unfortunate fate with the vampire hunters.[6]
Beyond his appearance, little is known of the history or personality of the male vampire: he was given no back-story, his dialogue consists of a single line expressing distrust of Raziel, and he remained unnamed during the production of Soul Reaver 2.[Soul Reaver 2][4][Soul Reaver 2/Cut content] As the cutscene featuring him was removed and he is never mentioned or referenced in-game, his status in the Legacy of Kain continuity is dubious. Unlike the Pre-Blood Omen era female vampire the artwork of this vampire in Bonus materials is all that remains in the retail version and no trace of the vampire, his model or his dialogue is left in game files.[Soul Reaver 2]
Notes[]
No name has yet been definitively established for the male vampire. The "Early History Vampire (Male)" label is entirely conjectural to help classify this individual. In game files he is labelled as "evampm".[Soul Reaver 2]
The Male vampire notable has slightly different clothing than that seen in the concept art. This is most noticeable in the collar which is white in concepts but brown in the game model.[Soul Reaver 2][6]
The Unknown Male Vampire is played by Richard Doyle - who usually provides the voice of Moebius.[6]
Gallery[]
Kory Heinzen second generation Vampire concept art in Soul Reaver 2 bonus materials
Vampires (Soul Reaver 2) at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln).
