Legacy of Kain | Mortanius - A Character Study

strange isn't it came that one cannot quite accept that which sustains him you in your death and me in mine but death cannot reign in a world without life and soon you will find the quest ahead of you is yours and yours alone I can assist you no longer one of my favorite character arcs in fiction is that of the atona someone who commits a reprehensible act and then sits out on a personal journey to make things right it's gratifying to see a character try to make amends for the harm they've caused after realizing the error of their ways in the legacy of Cain series I'd argue mortaneous The Necromancer most embodies this theme of atonement mortanius's history traces back to the early days of nosgoff during a time when the world was ruled by an ancient winged race while exploring the vampire Citadel Kane discovered a mural depicting the ancient vampires struggling to maintain the Integrity of the pillars they created these beings now curse with sterility found in adopted human successes to replenish the ranks of their fallen Guardians mortonius was one of many children brought into the fold after the pillar of death had chosen him as its Guardian however not all human children elected to come will mainly and some were abducted from their families and compelled to turn into vampires when they came of age it is unknown whether or not maultaneous was taken by force but undoubtedly he harbored ill feelings towards the vampires and disapproved of their Methods at any rate the mural unveiled several significant truths it revealed that martanius was one of the most ancient members of the circle serving the pillar of death for some two and a half thousand years before the main events of blood Omen won that he rejected The Dark Gift of vampirism and renounced the teachings of the Ancients and that he alongside his fellow Guardian Mobius led a brutal Rebellion against his former Masters together mortonius and Mobius started a war that toppled entire Bloodlines and ultimately brought the ancient vampire Society to its knees it is said that martanius's Arcane Powers had grown over the centuries making him arguably the most powerful sorcerer in all of nosgoff as the deaf Guardian his powers granted him dominion over the grave he could summon a diverse range of Undead creatures including zombies skeletons and shadowy specters to do his bidding and he was also capable of Shifting between the material and spectral planes in blood Omen he was seen with Kane and what can be described as a hellish fire and brimstone landscape which is essentially an early imagining of the underworld in defiance it's possible for Raziel to approach motanius and have a conversation with him in the spectral realm confirming to us that necromancer's ability to shift and exist between both Realms with ease despite his vast magic martanius was a man who tried to act in the world's best interests his character biography in Silicon Knight's complete guide to Legacy of Kane States his immense power was tempered with mercy and judgment while his role required him to maintain balance between life and death he often assumed the position of judge jury and executioner in the aftermath of vorador's Infamous assault on the circle mortenius personally passed judgment on Malik he punished the disgrace serif fan for failing to protect his fellow Guardians stripping Malik's Spirit from his body infusing it to his armor it was his magic that seized the seraphen's soul and reduced his body to a skeleton however I don't think mortenius ever realized mobius's part and delaying Malik during the slaughter in sentencing Malik maartenius genuinely believed he gave the seraphane a punishment befitting his crime he was convinced Malik's vanity led to the deaths of the others in actuality it was the time streamer's deceptions which perverted mortanius's desire for justice and Malik was left to shoulder all of the blame it's interesting to note that motanius was the only Guardian absent during vorador's attack his whereabouts remain unaccounted for and following the release of Soul River 2 director Amy Hennig hinted that there may be more to his absence than meets the eye indeed whatever martanius was up to during this pivotal scene was Kept Secret and the writers may have been saving this plot point for a significant reveal later on had the series continued when fashioning a name for the Necromancer the developers seem to have taken inspiration from the Latin word mortalitatus meaning mortality in English which fits well with the character's title as guardian of death before blood omen's release several marketers urged for more accessible and less fanciful names and while several other NPC's designations were altered the writers stood their ground on calling him mortaneous and the name made it into the final product unlike his name martanius's design underwent several key changes since his first appearance in blood Omen 1 he has a distinct bony look his face is thin and skull-like and his midsection appears to expose his rib cage apparently silicon Knights originally intended that the toils of his magical practices with the dead had morphed him into little more than the skin and bone husk whose fragility belies his true power in Legacy of Kane's fifth entry Defiance his deathly image is mostly toned down his skull-like face was reworked into a mask which the character could summon or dismiss with magic when removing the mask his real face is shown to have typical human skin which is thin and a bit withered as a result of his Advanced age but not skeletal his flesh-like body in rib cage were also remade into clothing giving him an unquestionably human appearance to go with his dark slick here and soul patch beard in discussing his redesign lead artist Daniel kabuko said that the original appearance of the character gave people the impression that motanius might be some kind of rafe this would have only muddled The Narrative after introducing actual wraiths to the story like rosiel in order to address this issue the artists behind Defiance changed him to be more in line with the circle the death mask was a useful tool to explain watanius's appearance in blood Omen while making sure audiences understood that he was essentially human in creating the death mask the team also tied it back to the original vampires as the murals and voradels mention and showed this ancient race had used something similar cut dialogue from blood Omen tells us that mortanius's motives were also revised over the course of the first game's development as many of us know his mind was not always his own he was possessed by a dark entity who forced him into murdering Ariel which in turn led to her love in the prep tours Corruption of the pillars in the canonical storyline responsibility for Ariel's murder doesn't rest with mortaneous but the dark entity who controlled him mortanius was in conflict with his healed and possessors and there's no indication he resented in a prep tour and Ariel's romance yet at one point Ariel's murder was supposed to be a deliberate act with mortaneous claiming full responsibility for the deed in a deleted scene with The Alchemist Anna Croft mortenius was originally meant to admit to having killed Ariel of his own accord claiming her Reckless Love on the prep tour as justification for what he did you you are the circle traitor no Hannah croth I am its savior the circle was damned before my Deeds at the onset I blamed Ariel she was the balance of the circle she a new practice with their love threatened us all with their Union how could there be balance yes I killed her but new practice Vengeance for me it was both blessing and curse his pain split my soul into part of me shared his anguish a grief so Fierce it would destroy the world and yet the other found revelation for the first time through the haze of Madness I saw truth the problem did not lie in one of us it lay in us all we are relics our friend remnants of an heir are long gone seeking to play gods in a world that no longer needs us our Death Shall resurrect the world this dialogue was changed and the argument between motaneus and anacroft played out very differently in blood omen's retail version you'll betrayed us you had Cain killed and turned him into a monster you set him upon us it had to be not peraptor's Insanity poisoned all of our minds the circle had failed at its sworn duties it had to be destroyed held our duties idiot a circle exists for us we don't exist for it our powers will save or damn not God at our whim stand with us then I shall die thank you foreign [Music] if the circle is to be destroyed you have to die as well Necromancer I admire your cunning but you will not Escape your fate nay I will embrace it but my deaths will leave one more to take Prince ring finish me what I like about this scene is how it sheds light on the reasons for more tanius's actions up until this point all we really know about the Necromancer is that he had a hand in resurrecting Kane as a vampire and guided him to purge the circle of its deranged Guardians in most of his interactions with Kane mortanius claimed the young vampire would have his revenge first against his assassins and then their masters as it turns out Kane's assassins were secretly hired by mortanius himself I think it's quite telling that among all of the corrupted Guardians only Mauritania stood up for what's right he alone acknowledged his responsibilities as a member of the circle and fulfilled his duty to Apprentice Kane while the rest of his comrades fell victim to nutraptor's Madness with some choosing to wreak havoc across the land mortenius acted righteously despite the corruption that infected his mind undefinance he confesses he's atoning for much more than just his role in Ariel's death in his early years he championed Humanity's dominion over the pillars and the seraphants rise to power although his Rebellion may have come from a place of noble intentions he regarded the vampire's passing of the blood curse as a Despicable act and there's a good chance his decision to overthrow them was influenced by desire to protect Humanity against a perceived evil as time passed martanius's loyalties wavered and he elected to compromise his Integrity for the sake of power in the history preceding blood Omen both he and Lady azimath Unearthed an ancient evil beneath evanesque intrigued by the forces which dwelled their mortanius lowered his defenses and was seduced away from serving the pillars he invited malevolent forces to infiltrate and subvert the circle without understanding their true nature through his creation and servitude of the hashai geek cult he had made himself vulnerable to position having unwillingly murdered Ariel while under the hilden's control mortenius came to Fathom his sworn duties and appreciate the gravity of the situation Nation he realized that hilden's plans to topple the pillars would cause an imbalance of catastrophic proportions from that moment on he despised them and began to sympathize with his old vampire Masters he finally understood that the blood curse was a necessary evil as humans are easily corrupted maartenius then spent the next 30 years trying to repair the damage he'd done and did all he could to return the pillars to vampire ownership in blood Omen he was voiced by Tony J however the role was later recast with Alistair Duncan providing The Voice work for the Necromancer in defiance director Amy Hennig stated that the use of a new actor was to avoid confusion prior to the release of defiance fans were already circulating theories of a possible connection between the elder god and mortanius since they both initially shared the same voice actor henig wanted to dispel their idea and make it clear that these two two characters were entirely separate individuals while Tony J's voice is phenomenal it's easily recognized and the intention was not to have the elder god and mortaneous sound the same thus Alistair Duncan stepped into the role and delivered a captivating performance come to me my Undead son make history pillars the stage is set for the grand finale you will have your vengeance Martinez so you have come out into the open at last The Binding must be fragile indeed but you will find you are too late what am I too late for this time no no not now you are too late for the victory you sought I have beaten you after all you have mistaken my identity have I you forget who schooled me in the ancient prophecies this vessel speaks truly you are indeed overdue but it no longer matters in the least with or without you we will prevail so I finally meet the unspoken and here it is nestled in the heart of the circle itself ironic Poetic Justice to topple the foundations of the pillars from within we shall have our revenge in full measure and for all time ah this one has little strength left one must not break him your kind does not like to lose I seek the Heart of Darkness ah now you think of that but as I told you you are too late the heart has served its function I have used it to set prophecy in motion I created the champion foretold by my masters who is destined to be your Destroyer the sign of balance will save nosgoth the pillars will return to vampire guardianship as intended and your race will be cast down forever came you use the Heart of Darkness to create Cain how else I refuse it fast to believe the ancient myths I thought the vampires were simply a plague upon mankind the pestilence we had to control but they were right and we were wrong to overthrow them Mobius and I we didn't understand what it was the pillars were holding back I have made my atonement I will continue to make it to the end which will be soon now but I know Cain will set it right he will restore balance and none too soon my enemy is growing stronger mortenia submitted that he and Mobius were at fault for rebelling against the ancient vampires it appears he was not aware that the time streamer was acting under orders from the elder god in fact I imagine he had no idea the elder god orchestrated their revolt and had probably assumed mobius's motives for betraying the vampires aligned with his in the end martanius's Act of atonement was to create the sign of balance using Heart of Darkness he believed the Scion whom he thought was also the vampire hero would destroy the hilden's champion and ensure they were banished forever much like giannos Aldrin maartenius's interpretation of the ancient prophecies was incorrect Kane was not the vampire hero that role belonged to Raziel who was both Champions all along nevertheless despite his flawed understanding of the prophecies mortanius had succeeded in creating Kane the sign of balance who was destined to play a fundamental role in Saving nosgoff check and mate this deed will redeem first me and then all nuskov it must it [Music] this one grows weak but we will soon have a stronger vessel the long-awaited are approaches I must finish it now by the end of Islam life maultanius was portrayed as an Earnest man bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders seeking to atone for his crimes he willingly embraced his impending death ensuring first that the rest of the circle fell before perishing at Kane's hands really it's rather remarkable how mortaneous resisted both the hilden's influence and the practice mental poisoning while remaining steadfast and sincere in his desire to heal the land it must have taken incredible willpower to struggle against such powerful forces yet even with the odds stacked against him mortanius resolved to do the right thing his character is proof that no matter one's past actions it's always possible to change for the better even in a Dark Twisted world like nosgoff but I'm eager to hear your thoughts on mortenius what do you think about his Redemption Arc let me know as always leave a like if you enjoyed the video and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already I have a large collection of legacy of cane content here on YouTube so consider checking those videos out as well it's always awesome to see so much interest in the series have a great day everyone peace foreign [Music]

Channel: Strictly Fantasy

Views: 61,595

Keywords: Legacy of Kain, Legacy of Kain Blood Omen, Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, Legacy of Kain Defiance, Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, Defiance, Kain, Raziel, Mortanius, Mortanius The Necromancer, Elder God, Moebius, Ariel, Pillar of Death, Nosgoth, The Hylden, Dark Entity, Anarcrothe, Pillars of Nosgoth, The Circle of Nine, Necromancer, Death Guardian, Avernus Cathedral, Hylden champion, Vampire champion, Ancient Vampires, Tony Jay, Alastair Duncan, Malek, Vorador, Strictly Fantasy

Id: 9dhNaoOd4S0

Length: 20min 47sec (1247 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 25 2022