The Heart of Darkness

THE HEART OF DARKNESS IN BLOOD OMEN

The Heart of Darkness originally appeared in Blood Omen as a game-play device. It functioned as an 'extra life' collectable, so there were lots of them to be found; the first was in Kain's mausoleum. In the later games, the Heart of Darkness was given greater significance. It was established that there was only one - the hearts Kain collected and used in Blood Omen were symbolic representations of the relic, not the real thing.¹

In Blood Omen, Kain commented on the legends that surrounded the Heart of Darkness. It supposedly had the power to restore vampiric unlife, and it was "reputed to have been ripped from the chest of the greatest vampire to have ever existed": Janos Audron. According to the stories of Uschtenheim, the Sarafan were the ones who executed Janos, and he vowed vengeance upon them. He was said to have "screamed four score days and nights before he died".

THE HEART OF DARKNESS IN SOUL REAVER 2

In Soul Reaver 2, Raziel saw a stained glass mural demonizing Janos, depicting his execution. They eventually met in person, and Raziel confirmed that many of the old tales concerning Janos and the Heart of Darkness were false. To his horror, Raziel was present to watch the execution, powerless to stop his former, Sarafan self from committing the deed. The Sarafan Inquisitor Raziel hacked open Janos' chest, and pulled out his heart. The Uschtenheim villagers' account of the event was thoroughly disproved; Janos died relatively quickly and quietly, without any threats of revenge. The party of Sarafan Inquisitors fled from Janos' mountain retreat as it started to collapse around them, taking the Heart of Darkness with them. Raziel pursued the Sarafan, intent on returning the stolen Heart of Darkness to Janos, and reviving him with its power.

Raziel failed to reclaim the heart before the Reaver turned on him at the end of Soul Reaver 2. However, in Blood Omen 2, around nine hundred years later, the younger Kain found Janos alive within the Device, a prisoner of the Hylden. It was unclear when the event had occurred, but clearly someone - perhaps Raziel - had returned Janos' heart and restored him. No details were revealed in that game, but the following instalment, Defiance, filled in most of the gaps.

THE HEART OF DARKNESS IN DEFIANCE

In Defiance, Raziel was desperate to avert his terrible destiny: to become imprisoned inside the Reaver. He sought Vorador, the maker of the Reaver, and was surprised to see that Vorador had the body of Janos Audron within his estate. The corpse was still intact and free of decay five hundred years after his murder. Somewhere, the Heart of Darkness was still beating, but it had been hidden too well, and Vorador had been unable to find it himself. Raziel travelled to Avernus Cathedral, where the heart had been taken centuries earlier to keep it from falling into vampire hands. He hoped that by raising Janos, he could discover how to escape his fate.

In the Avernus catacombs, Raziel encountered Mortanius. In Blood Omen 2, the younger Kain had said Janos (as the Beast) was "a being whose existence was entwined with mine, far more than I could ever imagine." Mortanius' revelations affirmed this beyond all doubt. Raziel learned that the Necromancer had used the Heart of Darkness to resurrect the nobleman Kain as a vampire. Janos' heart was inside Kain and always had been, ever since he joined the ranks of the undead. To restore Janos, the heart would first have to be pulled out of Kain. Kain would have to die.

The inevitable confrontation between Kain and Raziel occurred later at Avernus Cathedral. Kain was adamant that the heart should remain undiscovered, despite having no idea where it was. Raziel was victorious in their fight. He thrust his claws into Kain's chest and wrenched the Heart of Darkness out. Kain was thrown through a portal by Raziel's telekinesis, but Raziel was sure that wherever his body was, Kain was certainly dead. Raziel returned to Vorador's Mansion and resurrected Janos with the heart - his "blood offering" for the answers he needed. Thus Janos was alive again, and his appearance in Blood Omen 2 was made possible.

Against the expectations of Raziel and Moebius, Kain continued to live even without the Heart of Darkness. Officially, his nature as the Scion of Balance allowed him to survive.¹ When he confronted Moebius at the Vampire Citadel, at the end of Defiance, the Time Streamer's staff no longer incapacitated him. Janos' heart was the only thing that had made him vulnerable to the staff's magic. Moebius was at Kain's mercy, but this time, there was nothing Kain wanted from him.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS

It is uncertain if the Heart of Darkness actually had the power to restore vampiric unlife, as we've never seen it used for that. In Janos' case, having it returned to him was no different from pulling a spear out of a vampire in Soul Reaver. His resurrection needed no additional magic to make sense. We do know that the heart had the power to create vampires, as it did with Kain, and this is some proof that it embodied the essence of the vampires' 'dark gift' as their enemies (the Circle, the Sarafan) thought. Whether Janos' heart was unique in this - or if any Ancient Vampire's heart would have done the job - remains unknown, although there is no real reason why Janos' should be special. His 'Reaver Guardian' status was honorary, not physical.