Ghosts were an enemy class encountered in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain where they appeared as a ghostly female figure floating above the ground dressed in white and red. They were among the rarest classes in the game and were only encountered in one map area in the Inspire Hate Dungeon beneath Coorhagen.
Profile
The Ghost area in the retail game
Ghosts were fairly low level enemies encountered by Kain in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. They were seen only in the chapter The Hunt for Malek as Kain reached his former hometown Coorhagen and explored the Inspire Hate Dungeon. Appearing as ladies clothed in a faded white and maroon dress, the ghosts were relatively weak enemies with 8 health and 7 attack power, attacking by lunging forward and 'hugging' enemies to cause damage which drained from the magic energy meter.[1]
As suggested by their naming, ghosts were Specters, existing only in the Ghost state. As with other enemies in the ghost state, their attacks caused Kain to lose Magic energy and when damaged they produced blue Blue blood which could be fed upon to restore magic energy. Unlike other ghost-state enemies, the ghosts were not only never seen in a 'living' condition, but also bore a unique character model which lacked feet and gave a floating appearance.[1]
Background
The Ghost graveyard surrounding the Energy Bolt Dungeon in the alpha
Although only appearing in one area in the final game Ghosts were originally intended to be more numerous and more appropriately positioned in the game world and early versions of the game have them appear in more locations than the final game. Notably the Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain alpha features the ghosts in a small graveyard surrounding the early version of the Energy Bolt Dungeon. Interestingly the area where Ghosts appear in the retail game is not present in the alpha - perhaps indicating it and other parts of the Inspire Hate Dungeon were only added when other areas featuring the enemy were removed.[2]
Notes
- Few enemy classes are directly named in Blood Omen and even supplementary sources can be vague on the matter. Ghosts are named as such in the official guide Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain: Official Game Secrets and fan recreation Blood Omnicide also uses the same moniker.[1]. In game files the sprites relating to the class are referred to as "char0167".
- Ghosts seem to be named for the real world folklore of undead spirits.[3] Such figures are fairly common in the Legacy of Kain series with a number of characters and figures able to survive beyond apparent death. Perhaps most similar - including in naming - is the ghost enemy state: a mechanism in Blood Omen whereby enemies killed by Kain would actively respawn upon reentry of an area as transparent entities with blue Blood. Other similar entities included Specters such as Ariel and wraiths such as Raziel.
- Ghosts have a notably similar appearance to Wenches, perhaps suggesting that the class was originally designed as a ghostly 'dead' version of them. Given the similar explanation of the Ghost enemy state it's possible that the ghost class originated as a prototype before a transparent respawn for enemies was settled on rather than a unique appearance.
Gallery
See also
- This article is about the Blood Omen enemy class directly named as 'ghosts'. For the state whereby dead enemies respawned as ghostly figures with blue blood, see Ghosts (enemy state). For the creature family in general, see Specters.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Template:Icon-Omnicide Enemies - Evil Spirits at the Blood Omnicide site Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Omnicide" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "Omnicide" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ File:Wiki-Icon-TLW.pngAlpha and Beta Versions (BO1) at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln).
- ↑ Template:Icon-Wikipedia Ghost at the Wikipedia
