Hylden Lord

"You thought yourself a king when in fact you were a pawn! You have served me well, Kain!"

- The Hylden Lord

The Hylden Lord is a major villain from the Legacy of Kain series, acting as the main villain in Blood Omen and Blood Omen 2.

Pre-Blood Omen era
The Hylden Lord was the leader of the Hylden, one of the three races that lived in Nosgoth, along with the Humans and the Ancients. Because the Hylden rejected the Wheel of Fate, which the Ancients adored, the Ancients started a war against the Hylden. The Hylden were defeated and trapped in the Demon Dimension. However, the Hylden placed a curse upon the Ancients, turning them into Vampires, unable to reproduce, thirsting for human blood and, worse of all, they became immortals.

Most of the vampires, unable to return to the Wheel of Fate and their god because of their immortality, went into madness and committed suicide. The vampires created the Pillars of Nosgoth in order to bind the Hylden, with a chosen guardian for each one of the pillars.

Blood Omen
Because the vampires were unable to reproduce, the pillar would chose humans as guardians instead, and the vampires had to look upon them and turn them into vampires to serve the pillars. The humans didn't accepted being turned into vampires, claiming the guardianship of the pillars for themselves. The guardians Mortanius and Moebius then started a vampire purge, creating the Sarafan Order to hunt down the vampires. Because the humans couldn't properly serve the pillars, the binding weakened, and this allowed the Hylden Lord, the leader of the Hylden, to project his soul upon the mortal world.

He possessed Mortanius and used him to destroy the Circle of Nine, destroying the pillars as well. He kills Ariel, guardian of the Pillar of Balance, which makes her lover Nupraptor, guardian of the Pillar of Mind, to become maddened, turning his magic against the Circle by corrupting all of the guardian's minds. Mortanius, during one of the few times where he could break free of the Hylden Lord's influence, ordered the assassination of the nobleman Kain, the new guardian of the Pillar of Balance, turning him into a vampire and setting him on a quest to kill all members of the Circle of Nine.

Kain, under the guidance of the ghost of Ariel, kills all guardians, except for Anacrothe and Mortanius himself. As he arrives at the pillars, he sees the two arguing and fighting shortly after, with Mortanius easily killing Anacrothe. Kain then proceeds to fight Mortanius, but when he is about to kill him, the Hylden Lord takes complete possession over him, mutating his body into a monstrous form. The Hylden Lord mocks Kain for being his pawn, who then fights the monster, vanquishing him for the time being.

Defiance
Raziel, having come to the Blood Omen era, talked with the Hylden Lord through the possessed Mortanius before he would go to the pillars to face Kain. After he is defeated by Kain, he possesses Janos Audron, an ancient vampire who had been recently resurrected by Raziel. He praises Raziel for providing him the host he needed to put his devious plans into action. Raziel fights him and defeats him, but he couldn't bring himself to kill Janos, thus allowing the Hylden Lord his ultimate triumph. He destroys Raziel physical body and flees to continue his plans.

Blood Omen 2
The Hylden Lord proceeds to open the Hylden Gate using Janos body, gathering an army to start a full invasion upon Nosgoth. He starts to gain influence over the humans by exploiting their fear over Kain and the vampires. He takes over the capital of Meridian and recreates the Sarafan Order to hunt down the vampires, placing himself as the Sarafan Lord. Two hundred years after Kain's decision at the pillars, the two faces each other in a fight outside of Meridian. He defeats Kain and claims for himself the Soul Reaver, Kain's sword.

Kain is presumed to be dead, so the Hylden Lord starts ruling Nosgoth as a dictator for another two hundred years. He unearths The Device, an ancient Hylden weapon intended to kill all the vampires and even humans in Nosgoth, and then places the body of Janos Audron to feed it with his power. During all this time, Kain was under a deep slumber until he awoke and started a quest to defeat the Sarafan Lord and reclaim the Soul Reaver. With the help of the Cabal, a resistance group, he destroys the Device and saves Janos Audron, proceeding to fight the Sarafan Lord.

He destroys the Hylden Gate with the help of Janos, but the Hylden Lord throws Janos through the gate, sealing him into the Demon Dimension. However, Janos interference allows Kain to recover the Soul Reaver, using it to defeat the Hylden Lord once and for all.