Spirit Realm (Legacy of Kain)

The Spectral Realm (a.k.a. the Spirit world) is a fictional plane of existence from the Legacy of Kain series. The Spectral Realm has appeared in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Lost souls, wraiths (Raziel in particular) and some demons inhabit this alternate plane of existence. It is the opposite of the Material Realm, where living entities such as humans and vampires dwell. Objects and terrain are vastly altered from their physical counterpart in the Spectral Realm. Water has no mass or buoyancy, doors and gates are impossible to open or grasp (though some spirits have the ability to phase through them), and death does not occur, though one may weaken if not fed enough souls. Souls can also be consumed and trapped by wraiths and archons such as Raziel, but this merely cycles the souls back into the Elder God's 'Wheel of Fate', the inexorable cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Certain creatures are unique to the Spectral Realm, such as Sluagh, the lost souls of the underworld, Archons, soul-devouring beasts, and the Tentacles, vile plant-like appendages which may or may not be part of the same species as the Elder God itself. Some creatures, such as Raziel, demons, the Elder God and the evolved Vampire Melchiah, can dwell in both the Material and Spectral realms. Vampires of the six clans which originated from Kain and his sons will malform into Vampire Wraiths if neither their corpses nor souls are destroyed upon their death, but if 'revived' will return to the Material Realm, stronger than before. Dumah and Morlock are prime examples of this.

Raziel begins his quest in the Spectral Realm, after being cast into the Abyss and destroyed. He awakens as a resurrected wraith in the Underworld, a region of the Spectral Realm which has no physical counterpart. After becoming adjusted to his new form, Raziel is told by the Elder God about his role in the affairs of Nosgoth and what he must do to set the balance of nature back in motion. He soon harnesses the ability to pass between the Spectral Realm and Physical Realm at certain 'planar conduits' with ease. This gameplay feature is required to solve certain puzzles. For example, a pathway May Be blocked in the Material Realm, but in the Spectral Realm it may twist shape and become easy to traverse.

The Spectral Realm is first seen in Blood Omen, during Kain's first meeting with Mortanius. While this version of the Spectral Realm is infernal with blood red tones, thus more in lines with a concept of Hell or indeed the Demon Dimension as opposed to the blue-tinted reflection of reality explored by Raziel, it is possible that this variant is simply a depiction of what the Spectral Realm looks like in the eyes of a tortured soul (such as Kain, who was not a native to the Spectral Realm such as a wraith, but a lost soul at the time). It is also possible that this scene merely occurred in another section of the Spectral Realm.

The Spirit Realm is not to be confused with the Demon Dimension to which the Hylden were banished, which may or may not be Hell. This dimension is first seen in Defiance, when Kain is briefly banished there by Raziel.

It is possible that the two above are one and the same.

Other notes

• Despite some scenes which were cut from the original plan for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, it is apparent that Kain cannot travel between both realms. This is further supported by a glitch which can be exploited at the doorway before the last encounter with Kain, wherein the player can view the game's last scene in the Spectral rather than Material realm. During the Spectral variant, Kain is invisible to the player, and a nearby Vampire Wraith will proceed to drain Raziel's health throughout the scene until it is depleted, resulting in the game crashing.

• A similar glitch can be exploited during Legacy of Kain: Defiance, though it is not game-breaking and may be intentional. Upon defeating Turel in the Avernus Catacombs, the player can briefly avoid the scene with Mortanius by jumping from the pit's climbable wall to the nearby ritual circle. Here, Raziel can shift, and approach Mortanius's antechamber to trigger the scene in Spectral. In contrast to the previous glitch, Mortanius is entirely visible throughout the scene and takes on the bluish hues of the Spectral Realm. This glitch may be intentional, because as revealed in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain it appears that Mortanius is capable of shifting between realms (though this scene may have simply been a vision experienced by Kain). However, as he is neither as powerful a creature as the Elder God nor a being of the Spectral Realm, it seems strange that Mortanius is capable of initiating dialogue with Raziel.

pl:Spirytyczne Królestwo (Legacy of Kain)