The Melchahim

In Soul Reaver, the Melchahim were one of the five vampire clans. They lingered around the Necropolis - the territory of their ancestor and collective sire, Melchiah. They were the second type of vampire Raziel encountered after his return from the Abyss.

Melchiah was the least powerful of Kain's lieutenants. As Raziel said, "his soul could not sustain the flesh, which retained much of its previous human frailty." His offspring had inherited this weakness. The Melchahim were little more than walking corpses, resembling zombies more than vampires. Their fragile skin and flesh decayed. It was said that they stole the skins of their human victims, constantly using them to replace their own¹, and 'help hold their own rotting carcasses together'.²

Exiting his own, former territory, and entering Melchiah's, Raziel saw "these flayed wracks of flesh" for the first time. He watched as they killed a human villager and "gnawed upon their victim's carcass like dogs". When Raziel finally recognized the ghoulish Melchahim as Melchiah's descendants, he questioned whether the clan had resorted to raiding the graves of the Necropolis, recruiting fledglings from the long-buried and desiccated remains.

The Melchahim burrowed underground for lengthy periods of time to pupate and evolve.¹ Small patches of disturbed earth indicated the presence of hidden Melchahim vampires. The adults of the clan had a habit of diving and tunnelling underground in order to ambush their prey. They could travel very quickly this way. The Melchahim would descend into the earth in one place, and re-emerge some distance away. Additionally, the adults had green flesh; perhaps this was a sign of their bodies' prolonged and advanced decay.