In Legacy of Kain: Defiance the Golden Ouroboros featured in a greater role and was again linked with Janos Audron.[Defiance] It could be observed briefly around the neck of Janbos's corpse in Find Vorador,[Defiance/8] but came into its own as a quest item with the revival of Janos in Battle Kain.[Defiance/12]
In the council chamber of the Vampire Citadel, sensing the opening of the outer chamber of the "innermost sanctum" of the citadel, Janos removed the Golden Ouroboros and gave the item to Raziel - revealing it as larger symbol depicting a snake eating its own tail. Raziel would only carry it for a short time, quickly taking the item to the "outer chamber" and using it to open the door to the Spirit Forge, where he was able to imbue the Spirit Reaver enhancement.[Defiance][Defiance/12][Defiance strategy guide]
Notes[]
The Golden Ouroboros in the inventory
In Legacy of Kain: Defiance, the Golden Ouroboros notably visually resembles (and is named after) the Ouroboros - a sign usually symbolizing an eternally repeating cycle, that is seen throughout Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance.[1][Soul Reaver 2][Defiance] The Golden Ouroboros is not a complete version of the symbol however, as the body of the snake is broken and fashioned into two spheres, presumably to fasten it to the wearer.[Defiance][Defiance/12]. When seen in Soul Reaver 2 the device seems to have a much simpler design, consisting of a plain gold band.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/8][Soul Reaver 2/9]
The Golden Ouroboros artifact is referred to as "cit_janos_key" in game files in Defiance, although several other identical variants exist for prop purposes, with the cutscene variant labelled as "cine_janos_key" and the object seen embedded in the door upon its activation labelled as "cit_janos_door". Another variant attached to the dead Janos is listed under the "dummyjanos" textures as "dummyjanos-0004".[Defiance]
Ouroboros at Wikipedia
