Reaper Archons were an enemy class encountered in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Part of the Archon creature family, the Reaper Archons were native to the Spectral Realm and could be encountered throughout Nosgoth in the Spectral Realm as Raziel explored the Blood Omen era.
Profile
Reaper Archons were a class of the Archons creature family encountered by Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance and the first Archons encountered by Raziel.
Reaper Archons were shark-like predators native to the Spectral Realm that fed on Souls and were capable of flying through the air with Swimming-like motions. They were encountered only by Raziel in the Spectral Realm and were particularly dangerous for their ability to swoop down and attack Raziel with their claws - often this was combined with their trademark Draining Leash ability - opening a wound through which they could draw further energy in a glowing tether until the link was broken through attacking force or retreating to a distance.
Reaper archons were first encountered at the end of the chapter Escape from the Elder God Chamber as Raziel explored the Cemetery in the Blood Omen era and discovered several Souls attempting to escape that were swiftly consumed by the Archons - which were subsequently identified as fellow Soul devouring agents of the Elder God.
Abilities
Notes
- The Archons are only identified by their overall creature family in manuals, scripts and dialogue. The inidividual classes are identified and subdivived as Reaper Archons and Dreadnaught archons in Prima's Official Strategy Guide - Legacy of Kain: Defiance.
thumb
- The Reaper Archons, the Dreadnaught archons and the Tentacles enemy class share a common theme - all being identified as agents of the Elder God. This label could also apply to Raziel, Moebius, Janos Audron, Ancient Vampires in general and the Ancient, primitive cult.
- Like other Spectral fauna, the Archons are actually only found where they are required as enemies. Attempts to enter the Spectral Realm in Kain's chapters through Debug menus or the like will include few Spectral effects and no Spectral enemies.
- The Archons original appearance in Escape from the Elder God Chamber is more significant it initially appears with the Souls attempting to ascend towards a bright light representing another plane of existance - potentially Heaven - before being consumed by the Archons. Although not clear in the final scene the original intent is cleare in artwork and the original scripts.
- Although it is only explicitly listed as an ability in Defiance, the Draining Leash ability bears a remarkable resemblance to the unnamed ability used by Spectral entities such as Vampire wraiths, Revived vampires and the revived Dumah to drain Raziel's health in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - both are used by species and individuals that have adapted to the Spectral Realm and learnt to consume souls or soul energy, both require an initial wound to be opened, both consist of a similar blue/purple band and both form a 'leash' of sort that can be broken by distance or damage. Arguably Draining Leash may be considered to be the same ability with updated visuals. Another ability that is highly related is Constricting, which again uses a similar spectral band and may have been directly developed from the vampire wraith ability.
Gallery
