Sarafan Templars were an Sarafan variant enemy class that were featured in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. They were the most "accomplished soldiers" of the Sarafan classes seen in Defiance and were seen predominantly in Kain's early chapters at the Pillars of Nosgoth.
Profile[]
Sarafan Templars were troops of the Sarafan faction, encountered by Kain in Nosgoth's early history at the start of Defiance. Templars wielded large claymore-style swords and a uniform with metallic looking armor and maroon or red clothing underneath. The Templars were highly trained and skilled in combat and were the only one of the Sarafan ranks in Defiance that was able to block attacks. They were fairly resilient and had fairly powerful attacks but lacked any ranged or charging attacks - generally meaning they were of a lower immediate priority in combat than other Sarafan classes such as Inquisitors, Archers and Zealots; though their skill put the above Crusaders.[Defiance][Defiance/5][Defiance strategy guide]
The Templars were first encountered in the the fifth chapter of Defiance Reveal the Guardian Citadel as Kain explored the Pillars of Nosgoth in Nosgoth's early history. Templars were only found in this chapter or and locale as Kain's later excursions were to areas lacking Sarafan activity.[Defiance][Defiance/5][Defiance strategy guide]
Like many of the Sarafan classes in Defiance, Templars could be 'enhanced' by the spells of Sarafan Inquisitors.[Defiance][Defiance/3][Defiance/5][Defiance strategy guide][Defiance manual]
Notes[]
- Sarafan Templars are not named in game. They are however titled as such in Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide where they are classified and grouped along with other Sarafan enemy types.[Defiance strategy guide] The Sarafan Templars are labelled as "sarafanlarge" in game files and their weapons as "saralarge".[Defiance]
- The "Templars" title originates in the order of the Knights Templar - a real world Medieval military force originally formed to protect pilgrims during the crusades which eventually became a powerful and secretive force accused of conspiracies and corruption before their downfall. Additional sources revealed that the Defiance Sarafan were subject to a similar fate to the Knights Templar and were noted to have become overrun with "corruption, opulence and the slow degradation of their personal and public morals" in the latter years of the order.[1][Defiance strategy guide]
- Like many of the Defiance Sarafan ranks, the design and role of the Templar Sarafan does not match with the roles seen previous in Nosgoth's early history in Soul Reaver 2. Developer comments revealed that much of Kain's Defiance journey in Nosgoth's early history actually takes place 'some years' after the conclusion of Soul Reaver 2 and the ranks and organisation of the Sarafan may have changed in the interim.[Defiance][2] Ultimately the Templars fill in a role similar to the Sarafan Warrior Swordsmen of Soul Reaver 2 - although not featured in Defiance, this class was seen in the Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic set just before Kain entered the Stronghold.[Soul Reaver 2/7][Soul Reaver 2/9][Defiance comic] Interestingly the Sarafan Templars do somewhat match the Sarafan classes seen in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, with one variant class wielding a long sword - described as a katana - observed, although they all dressed in the purples shades associated with Malek.[Blood Omen]
- The Swords used by the Sarafan Templars are explicitly described in the Prima official guide as a Claymore. Notably the swords feature a prominent Sarafan symbol at the hilt of the blade and appear to be of the same design as the Sarafan Long Swords seen in Soul Reaver 2 which could be found in the hands of the Sarafan Warrior Swordsmen as well as some of the Sarafan commanders.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/7][Soul Reaver 2/9][Soul Reaver 2/Epilogue] Defiance also featured another weapon of a similar design in Malek's Sword - a more heavily worn, rusted and aged version of a Sarafan sword which was used as a puzzle artifact rather than a weapon.[Defiance][Defiance/1][Defiance/3][Defiance/5]
- Many of Defiance Sarafan units bear similar color schemes to the former Sarafan commanders.[Defiance][Defiance/1][Defiance/3][Defiance/5] The uniform of the Sarafan Templars is a similar color to those worn by the Sarafan lieutenant Raziel - who wore similarly maroon/red clothing underneath his armor and also used a Sarafan Sword.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/8][Soul Reaver 2/9] It is possible these colors were intended as a deliberate callback or the Sarafan using the martyred lieutenants as inspiration.[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/8][Soul Reaver 2/9] Raziel's red shade was also used for the Razelim banners in the events of Soul Reaver of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/2][Soul Reaver/3][Soul Reaver/6]
- Along with the other Sarafan designs in Defiance the Templars were designed with influences from the diverse sources such as Japanese martial arts and the Crusades.[2] A Sarafan crusader artwork on Daniel Cabuco's website bore this accompanying annotation which provided some background to the Defiance Sarafan design:
It supposed to be a few years after SR2, so I evolved the armor from Roman to Crusader style armor"
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Sarafan
- Sarafan crusaders
- Sarafan archers (Defiance)
- Sarafan zealots
- Sarafan inquisitors
- Sarafan warriors (swordsmen)
References[]
- ↑
Knights Templar at Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Sarafan Crusader Notes" on Daniel Cabuco's online portfolio (Archived Notes at 'Legacy of Kain Wiki: Sources')
