The Fire Reaver (Soul Reaver)

The Fire Reaver
Items article
The Fire Reaver in Soul Reaver.
Introduced in	Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)
Appearance(s)	Soul Reaver

The Fire Reaver was a temporary elemental enhancement for the Wraith Blade. Of unclear origin, it was wielded by Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

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The Fire Reaver was a temporary and entirely optional Wraith Blade enhancement seen in Soul Reaver. It could be discovered by Raziel in the Fire Forge nearby the Rahabim Pupating grounds beneath the Drowned Abbey. Once baptized in the flames of the forge, the Wraith Blade was imbued with elemental Fire, creating the Fire Reaver.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver manual (UK)][Soul Reaver manual (US)][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]}

The Fire Reaver enhancement itself manifested as an orange colored wraith blade. It was more powerful than the ordinary Material Wraith Blade, with the Fire Reaver able to stun enemies with a single strike and burning them to death with its finishing moves. The Reaver bolts of the Fire Reaver were also likely to cause enemies to ignite and burn to death within a couple of shots. The upgrade was only temporary and would be lost upon entering the Spectral Realm or Bodies of Water, or by being damaged by enemies, however it could be re-imbued again at any time by passing it through fire sources (typically bonfires) in the Material Realm^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver manual (UK)][Soul Reaver manual (US)][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]}.

The Fire Reaver did not carry over to Soul Reaver 2, where a similar Fire Reaver enhancement was the last gained of the wraith blade enhancements of that game^{[Soul Reaver 2]}. A more permanent Fire Reaver enhancement would be featured in Legacy of Kain: Defiance^[Defiance].

Behind the scenes

The alpha version of the Fire forge

The Fire Reaver was the only one of the eight Reavers enhancements planned for inclusion in the original Soul Reaver 'story', that made it into the finished game.

As the only Wraith blade enhancement to appear in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the Fire Reaver also demonstrates the only explicitly demonstrated re-imbuing of a wraith blade enhancement (by passing the blade through fire). The other deleted enhancements are believed to have similar re-forging properties.

The alpha Fire Reaver

The Fire Reaver was present in the Soul Reaver alphas publicized in 2020. Here rather than the orange-red shades in later versions the blade is a light blue-cyan color. The forge for the blade was located in a different position, being found in Raziel's clan territory rather than the Drowned Abbey. The blade could burn enemies with one strike or projectile. The cyan color of the Reaver suggests that the RGB color values were unintentionally mixed up during development - correcting this makes the Fire Reaver an orange shade. A similar color mix up apparently occurs with the Water Reaver.

The Red beta Fire Reaver

In beta versions of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver the Fire Reaver was a much deeper shade of red, though it is orange in the final version. It is possible that the Fire Reaver became an orange shade when the similarly colored Stone and Ariel Reavers were removed.

Notes

Soul Reaver's Fire Reaver Shrine

The PC Fire Reaver

SR1 Fire Reaver Projectile effects

• The Fire Reaver has an unusual property: It can be used to activate the corresponding Fire Glyph altar. The only blade with a similar property is the alpha version of the Sound Reaver which can activate the Sound Glyph altar in place of the usual gong stick.

• The Fire Reaver was the only one of the eight Reavers enhancements planned for inclusion in the original Soul Reaver 'story', that made it into the finished game.
• In early versions of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver the Fire Reaver was a much deeper shade of red, though it is orange in the final version. It is possible that the Fire Reaver became an orange shade when the similarly colored Stone and Ariel Reavers were removed.
• As the only Wraith blade enhancement to appear in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the Fire Reaver also demonstrates the only explicitly demonstrated re-imbuing of a wraith blade enhancement (by passing the blade through fire). The other deleted enhancements are believed to have similar re-forging properties.
• The Fire Reaver is the only one of all the Reaver enhancements to appear in every game in the Soul Reaver arc. A temporary Fire Reaver of Ancient vampire origin would be featured in Soul Reaver 2, initially gained at a larger puzzle orientated Fire Forge and re-imbued from fire associated Reaver fonts^{[Soul Reaver 2]}. A more permanent enhancement would feature in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, this time gained from a Fire Forge within the Vampire Citadel ^[Defiance].

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This article is about The Fire Reaver enhancement seen in Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver. For the enhancement seen in Soul Reaver 2, see Fire Reaver (Soul Reaver 2). For the enhancement seen in Defiance, see Fire Reaver (Defiance).