Prototype Action Figures - The Library - Legacy of Kain: The Lost Worlds

Prototype Action Figures

Blue Box Interactive released five Legacy of Kain action figures in the years between Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance (see Retail Action Figures). The box art for the first figures and several online sources depicted prototypes of these figures, two figures which were never released, and two more which were released in different forms.

Action figure prototypes are sculpted and painted by hand. Once a design is finalized a method of mass-producing it is developed using molds and automated (or at least machine-assisted) painting. Prototype figures are therefore usually much more detailed than the retail release, and can differ significantly from the final product.

BBI's two unreleased figures were of Dumah. One image depicts him as a vampire Lieutenant, as he appears in the opening FMV of Soul Reaver. Another is nearly identical (including the armour), but his skin is human and not vampiric. It is not currently known if this was supposed to tie into Soul Reaver 2 or simply a design error.

The box art also includes the vampire Lieutenant Raziel figure which was eventually released on a card like the lower-cost versions of Kain and Raziel. One of the photos features two accessories which were not included with this figure - a shield and a warhammer. Like the sword the retail figure does include, these were designed by BBI and not based on official material from Crystal Dynamics. It seems likely that they were intended for a cancelled boxed version of the Lieutenant Raziel figure, as the boxed Kain and Raziel figures feature additional accessories not present in their carded versions.

The final prototype advertised on the packaging of the early figures is the "Spectral World Raziel" figure - which would eventually become the limited edition Raziel released at the 2003 Comic-Con. The photo only displays the top of the figure, and the only visible difference from the original Raziel figure is the inclusion of the spectral version of the Soul Reaver.

At least two other intermediate prototypes preceeded the Comic-Con Raziel figure. An official photograph from the figure's announcement is of a prototype made from a translucent material, and features the Fire Reaver as an accessory.

An apparent second prototype was auctioned on eBay in April of 2004. This figure was nearly identical to the final Comic-Con Raziel, but included the Fire Reaver of the translucent prototype and its outer box appeared to be that of the original Raziel figure (although the transparent inner packaging was fitted to the Comic-Con figure). The seller did not realize it was at all unusual, and when asked explained that it had been obtained at an estate sale. The fate of this prototype is unknown.