to keep the human soul in darkness and ignorance" and the hero's goal is "knowledge, enlightenment, and the exposure of the truth", helped to formulate Raziel's arc. Themes of despair, hope and illumination in the works of T. S. Eliot and James Joyce influenced the story. The developers also attempted to subvert the monomyth and other tropes within literature and gaming. Silicon Knights conceptualized Kain, a vampire antihero inspired by Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, as an atypical "gray" protagonist, neither good nor evil, despite being advised in 1993 that such a character would not appeal to gamers. Similarly, Hennig developed Raziel as a "self-righteous little twit" with villainy, seeking redemption and transcendence through knowledge, in contrast to an idealistic hero. Drawing from Joseph Campbell's ideas, she felt it would be interesting to see how players interpret morality in this context, and argued that "the only way a hero can ever succeed is by following his own path. As long as he's following a path laid out by someone else, ultimately he's going to fail". Defiance portrayed Kain and Raziel as Sophoclean Oedipus-like figures, "being railroaded by fate". Hennig said that "they are heroes because they refuse to submit, even when all the odds are stacked against them". Development During and after the completion of Dark Legions, Silicon Knights spent several months working on the design of Blood Omen without a particular platform in mind. Major inspirations behind the project included The Wheel of Time, Necroscope and Shakespeare's plays, while the concept of the Pillars of Nosgoth was derived from cover art for The Pillars of the Earth. Crystal Dynamics agreed to publish the game in 1993, and although there was indecision as to whether it should be produced for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer or the Sega Saturn, both parties settled on the PlayStation once Sony announced its impending launch. The game took over three years to develop, undergoing a substantial expansion mid-process which required Silicon Knights to increase its workforce—Crystal Dynamics sent several staff to assist them, including Amy Hennig and Seth Carus. Following "Herculean efforts", Blood Omen was released in late 1996. After its success, Silicon Knights contemplated creating a sequel in what they described as the Blood Omen series, but their relationship with Crystal Dynamics dissolved in 1997. Crystal Dynamics began developing Soul Reaver internally, and were acquired by Eidos Interactive during its production. In 1998, Silicon Knights filed