Irmok

Irmok
Characters article
Irmok in Blood Omen.
Introduced in	Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996)
Appearance(s)	Blood Omen

Irmok the Mad was a minor character who appeared only in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. A self-professed "outsider", he could be found in a secluded corner of Steinchencröe during the events of Blood Omen, and imparted a piece of cryptic advice to Kain regarding the Disguise Form if encountered.

Profile

"This lunatic was delighted to see me. Perhaps his madness would reveal a greater truth..."

―Kain — Listen (file info)

Irmok was in Steinchencröe during the Blood Omen era. At any time after his first visit to the Pillars of Nosgoth, Kain could happen upon him, garbed in a brown robe and madly stirring some manner of broth, in a north-west alcove in the town. He wasn't afraid of Kain – they were both shunned by other people as outsiders.^{[Blood Omen/3]}

Irmok professed that other people would also talk to Kain so long as he knew "how to look". He most likely meant that Kain had to change his appearance so that he wasn't obviously a vampire. Kain was soon able to follow through on this advice; he obtained the Disguise Form from a gypsy camp south of Vasserbünde, which enabled him to assume the visage of a human villager.^{[Blood Omen/3]}

"The bastards in Steinchencröe shun me as Nosgoth shuns them! I know what it means to be an outsider, vampire. I fear you not, but remember this – there are others who will speak to you, so long as you know how to look."

―Irmok — Listen (file info)

Behind the scenes

The name "Irmok the Mad" is not given at any point in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Despite the lunatic's status as a unique voiced character, he is omitted from the game's credits, and Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain—Official Game Secrets refers to him only as the "old man in Steinchencröe".^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen strategy guide]} The "Irmok" name is instead sourced from the game's official dialogue scripts, hosted at The Lost Worlds as of 2012.^{[Blood Omen/Cut content]}

A second line of dialogue for Irmok was written and recorded, but unimplemented in the game. It read: "kill me now or leave me be – let destiny take its course"...^{[Blood Omen/Cut content]} However, unlike most of the other non-combative, non-player characters in the game, Irmok is entirely static, and is permanently invulnerable to Kain's attacks. Given that it is impossible to harm him with any offensive abilities, the line as recorded may have been viewed as misleading, and thus excised.^{[Blood Omen]}

Notes

• There is some commonality between the characters of Irmok and Moebius in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain: both are elderly mystics seen stirring pots and associated with the concept of destiny.^{[Blood Omen]} In one line of excised dialogue, Kain was to remark: "the toothless old man sat stirring his meager broth. How could this flatulent old fool be the advisor to kings and conquerors, the lauded Oracle of Nosgoth"?^{[Blood Omen/Cut content]} In the game, however, Moebius (the Oracle) is never seen stirring broth: Irmok, meanwhile, stirs broth intently.^{[Blood Omen]} It may be, therefore, that Irmok originated as an earlier character sprite for Moebius, and was repurposed as an NPC in his own right.

Gallery

See also

• Irmok the Mad at Dark Chronicle (by Ardeth Silvereni).