Human revenants

"It seemed my method of entering the physical realm was not altogether original. But where had these beings come from?"

―Raziel^[src]

Human Revenants were a Revenant enemy variant encountered in Legacy of Kain: Defiance and the most basic of the Revenant enemy classes. Created by Hylden Souls entering the Material Realm through the Possession of a Human Corpse, Human Revenants were commonly encountered Raziel's chapters in the Blood Omen era at the Cemetery and Pillars of Nosgoth.

Profile[]

Human Revenants were the most basic of the Revenant classes encountered by Raziel in Defiance. They were created when a Hylden soul crossed over from the Demon Realm into the Material Realm and Possessed the corpse of a deceased human. They could then rise from the grave to attack those above.^[Defiance]^{[Defiance strategy guide]}

Humans Revenants
Human Revenant
Humans Revenants 2
Human Revenant 2
Humans Revenants 3
Humans Revenants 4

Revenants were first encountered in the chapter Find the Path to the Pillars as Raziel explored the Cemetery in the Blood Omen era. Denied the Planar portals necessary for Shifting into the Material Realm, Raziel sound found that he could use Burial sites to possess the corpses within. Soon after he discovered that his new method of crossing realms was not altogether unique as he was confronted by a group of Human Revenants raised from the corpses interred in the Cemetery. Thereafter Human Revenants frequently confronted Raziel - predominantly through the human controlled areas of Nosgoth. They were only encountered in the Material Realm and frequenly used Combat barriers to corner their prey.^[Defiance]^[Defiance/4]^[Defiance/6]^[Defiance/8]^{[Defiance/10]}^{[Defiance/12]}^{[Defiance strategy guide]}

Two variants of human revenants were encountered in game. A more decayed version consisted of a flayed corpse with exposed and decomposing tissues and skeletal remains - all of which had rotted into a brown shade with small tufts of hair and skin still visible. A second variant was less decayed and still bore skin, clothes and thinning hair from life - although its appearance was still somewhat decomposed, pale, lifeless and zombie-like. Both variants usually had green eyes indicating Hylden possession and could appear either unarmed or wielding bladed weapons. Notably the decayed version was seen more often as the game progressed, with few of the clothed version seen outside of the Cemetery.^[Defiance]

Abilities[]

Grave Spit - When beyond melee range Human Revenants can attack using 'Grave Spit' — a low damage - straight firing projectile of green 'Hylden energy' which is literally spat at Kain or Raziel.^[Defiance]^{[Defiance strategy guide]}

Notes[]

The Revenant classes were not explicitly named in game, however the overarching "Revenant" distinction was mentioned in manuals, scripts and the official guide - with the guide explicitly defining the different classes and naming the "Human Revenant" class.^[Defiance]^[Defiance/4]^{[Defiance manual]}^{[Defiance strategy guide]} Scripts refer to the class as "Revenants" in stage directions, but label the individual speakers as "Hylden".^[Defiance] Game files label the clothed variant as "revenant_a" and the rotting variant as "revenant_c".^[Defiance]
- The abilities of the Human Revenant are identified in Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide - which explicitly lists the "Grave Spit" title.^{[Defiance strategy guide]}
- Revenants are named after the Revenants of European folklore - animated corpses which returned from death to haunt the living.^[1]

A Hylden soul after the defeat of a Revenant

As with other Revenant classes, when defeated the Human Revenants will leave behind a Hylden soul.
Although Raziel is confined to the use of specific Burial sites to revive himself, Revenants are able to manifest and control corpses in several areas that do not contain these sites. Conversely they are often not seen in areas with burial sites.^[Defiance]
Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide gives further backgrounds to the Revenants suggesting that most of the Revenants are "ancient corpses... buried from long forgotten battles". It also suggests that the Human Revenants are most common due to the "proliferation of human corpses over the era".^{[Defiance strategy guide]}
The Human Revenants are the only one of the Revenant classes to have more than one variant present. The Vampire revenants, Hylden revenants - and the related Possessed classes the Possessed and the Transformed - all feature only one sub-class.^[Defiance]

BO2-Enemy-Hylden-Variants-Large — Various Hylden concepts from Blood Omen 2 including a potential Revenant

Blood Omen 2 concepts posted by Blood Omen 2 developer Steve Ross appear to show five different Hylden castes planned for that title, where only two appeared in the final game. One caste depicts a skeletal figure emerging from a portal and could suggest an early design that eventually became the Defiance Revenant ^[2]
The background of the Human Revenants suggests that they would technically be classified as a form of Undead creature. Revenants however do not share the Black blood typically associated with the undead, instead having regular Red blood.^[Defiance]