Revenant (fiction)
Encyclopedia
In fantasy fiction, the term revenant usually means a sentient creature whose desire to fulfill a special goal allows it to return from the grave as a creature vaguely resembling an intelligent zombie. Another possibility is that a powerful wizard returns a dead hero
from the past to make him go on a quest that no living human would dare to undertake. Such a revenant may be just as intelligent as it was in life but its will is usually bound by the wizard who summons and controls it.
The dictionary definition of revenant, from Merriam-Webster
's Internet site is "one that returns after death or a long absence." In that the subject returns from death, one can easily see an association of the term with the undead in fantasy and horror fiction. On the other hand, unlike zombies, the revenant's "long absence" does imply a certain anachronism
in its eventual return.
The term often implies some underlying motive of revenge prompting the return.
Revenants exist primarily in role-playing game
s and horror fiction
.
In the video game Final Fantasy XI
, revenants appear as a powerful deformed spirit found in the depths of cave systems.
Commander Shepard (the protagonist of Mass Effect 1
and Mass Effect 2
) has a signature weapon, the M-76 Revenant Light Machine Gun. The Revenant's name is also a symbolic reference to Shepard, a soldier brought back to life by Cerberus to protect humanity.
The character of Eric in James O'Barr
's The Crow
is a revenant.
In Peter Straub
's Ghost Story, the female ghost is a revenant as declared by the protagonist. The revenant manifests itself throughout time and space at will and as different personalities to fulfill its mission of vengeance. In Ghost Story, the revenant manifests as Angie Maul, a young girl; and Anna Mostyn, an attractive young lady, to wreak havoc on the nephew of one of the original victims. Ann-Veronica Moore attacks the original victims and in life was known as Eva Galli.
In Laurell K. Hamilton
's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, revenants are animalistic vampires who were violently killed by a group of vampires (rather than being turned in the traditional 3-day period).
In the online game Ultima Online
, the revenant is a creature that can be summoned by a necromancer character to attack a specified target. It is also a creature that spawns occasionally in the dungeon Khaldun.
In the role-playing game
Dungeons and Dragons, the revenant
is a powerful undead
creature strongly resembling a zombie
, a far less powerful undead creature, at first glance.
In the online game City of Heroes
, references are made in one story to 'The Revenant Hero Project'. This program inspired the enemies called Paragon Protectors, who exist within the villain group of Crey Industries. This project consisted of the harvesting of DNA from deceased heroes and the recording of their memories and personalities from life. A new body would be grown using the supplied genetic material and implanted with the memories of the past person, albeit with some minor adjustments to make that person subservient to Crey. This is the culmination of years of Crey research into cloning and memory implantation; they intended to keep the hero population in check by creating heroes of their own. They are in their own way bringing the dead back to life for the fulfillment of a task.
Revenants also appear as hellish fiends in the classic first-person shooter
Doom II.
While never referred to as such, in the later Friday the 13th films, Jason Voorhees
fits the description of a revenant.
Scorpion
, from Mortal Kombat, qualified as a revenant. He returned from the dead prior to the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament
to avenge his death at the hands of the elder Sub-Zero
, who would become a revenant after Scorpion took his revenge.
In the Legacy of Kain
series, Raziel
served the purpose of a revenant. He was murdered by Kain
in the prologue of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
, but was subsequently brought back by the Elder God as a soul-devouring wraith to avenge himself, while simultaneously tasked to fulfill the designs of the God.
Caleb, the protagonist from the video game series Blood can also be considered a revenant.
EC Comics
, in particular with their horror series such as Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and The Haunt of Fear
, often made use of revenant-like characters as a plot device, and in a manner consistent with the theme of an individual coming back from the grave to fulfill a specific task. Example stories to exploit this theme include The Thing From The Grave! (Tales From The Crypt #22), None But The Lonely Heart (Tales From The Crypt #33), and 'Til Death (The Vault of Horror #27), among others.
Similarly, the Creepshow
character Nathan Grantham, a miserly old man who returns from the grave to seek revenge on the relatives who murdered him, can best be described as a revenant, although he is not given any specific title in his undead state during the course of the story. Creepshow is inspired directly by the various EC Comics horror series, being a tribute to them.
EC-inspired revenant characters also appear in the 2007 horror film Trick 'r Treat in the segment The School Bus Massacre Revisited. Though the undead children in the story appear to devour their victims like modern zombies, the retention of their personalities, urban legend surrounding their creation, and the displayed ability of one to speak directly to his killer mark them as revenants.
In the Girl Genius
milieu, Hive Engines create Revenants by infecting normal people with Slaver Wasps. They are then bound to obey any command given by The Other. While stories say the Heterodyne Brothers are able to 'cure' the Revenant (by sucking the slaver wasp out of the person), it is commonly assumed that it is impossible to actually cure a Revenant. There are several different types of Revenant, including one which acts perfectly normally until given a command.
In DC Comic's current Blackest Night story arc, the Black Lantern Corps
consists primarily of reanimated deceased superheroes and supervillains from the fictional universe of New Earth
in the DC Multiverse.
In Cinematix Studios action roleplaying game Revenant, the protagonist, Locke D'Averam, is brought back from the dead by the wizard Sardok in order to save the island of Ahkulion from a mysterious sect, known as the children of the change; and to save the daughter of feudal lord Tendrick, whom the cultists had kidnapped.
In the online game RuneScape
, revenants are the powerful undead spirits of warriors who died during the God Wars.
Revenants are some of the most powerful boss-level enemies in the role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins
. They are highly resistant to almost all attacks, can strike multiple characters at once and possess some semblance of telekinetic power. These revenants are described in-game as corpses possessed by powerful demons.
In Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
, revenants can be found at night.
In the second book in Brandon Mull's series Fablehaven
, a revenant guards an ancient magical item. It is described as a zombie-like creature with disheveled clothing and a nail sticking in its neck. In addition, it creates an intense irrational fear in all who approach it, and causes those whom it chokes to it to turn ghostly pale with white hair and in a zombie like state with no feeling. Removing the nail from its cures all those who are affected, and kills the revenant.
In the Warcraft
universe , revenants are minor elemental creatures who once served as foot soldiers for the malefic Old Gods when the world was young.
In the online game Pirates of the Caribbean Online
a Revenant is a type of ghost warship encountered during the game.
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
from the past to make him go on a quest that no living human would dare to undertake. Such a revenant may be just as intelligent as it was in life but its will is usually bound by the wizard who summons and controls it.
The dictionary definition of revenant, from Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster
Merriam–Webster, which was originally the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is an American company that publishes reference books, especially dictionaries that are descendants of Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language .Merriam-Webster Inc. has been a...
's Internet site is "one that returns after death or a long absence." In that the subject returns from death, one can easily see an association of the term with the undead in fantasy and horror fiction. On the other hand, unlike zombies, the revenant's "long absence" does imply a certain anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
in its eventual return.
The term often implies some underlying motive of revenge prompting the return.
Revenants exist primarily in role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s and horror fiction
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
.
Examples in fiction
In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Gray returns as Gandalf the White to help defeat the forces of evil.In the video game Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI
, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a MMORPG developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002...
, revenants appear as a powerful deformed spirit found in the depths of cave systems.
Commander Shepard (the protagonist of Mass Effect 1
Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
and Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
) has a signature weapon, the M-76 Revenant Light Machine Gun. The Revenant's name is also a symbolic reference to Shepard, a soldier brought back to life by Cerberus to protect humanity.
The character of Eric in James O'Barr
James O'Barr
James O'Barr is an American graphic artist, best known as the creator of the comic book series The Crow.-Personal life:O'Barr, an orphan, was raised in the foster care system...
's The Crow
The Crow
The Crow is a comic book series created by James O'Barr. The series was originally written by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a drunk driver. It was later published by Caliber Comics in 1989, becoming an underground success, and later adapted into a...
is a revenant.
In Peter Straub
Peter Straub
Peter Francis Straub is an American author and poet, most famous for his work in the horror genre. His horror fiction has received numerous literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award, placing him among the most-honored horror authors in...
's Ghost Story, the female ghost is a revenant as declared by the protagonist. The revenant manifests itself throughout time and space at will and as different personalities to fulfill its mission of vengeance. In Ghost Story, the revenant manifests as Angie Maul, a young girl; and Anna Mostyn, an attractive young lady, to wreak havoc on the nephew of one of the original victims. Ann-Veronica Moore attacks the original victims and in life was known as Eva Galli.
In Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell Kaye Hamilton is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is the author of two series of stories. Hamilton is known for her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake series, featuring a professional zombie raiser/supernatural consultant for the police as the protagonist in a world where...
's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, revenants are animalistic vampires who were violently killed by a group of vampires (rather than being turned in the traditional 3-day period).
In the online game Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
, the revenant is a creature that can be summoned by a necromancer character to attack a specified target. It is also a creature that spawns occasionally in the dungeon Khaldun.
In the role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Dungeons and Dragons, the revenant
Revenant (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the revenant is a type of fictional monster for player characters to encounter.-Publication history:The revenant first appeared in first edition in the original Fiend Folio ....
is a powerful undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
creature strongly resembling a zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
, a far less powerful undead creature, at first glance.
In the online game City of Heroes
City of Heroes
City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. The game was launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe on February 4, 2005 with English, German and French language...
, references are made in one story to 'The Revenant Hero Project'. This program inspired the enemies called Paragon Protectors, who exist within the villain group of Crey Industries. This project consisted of the harvesting of DNA from deceased heroes and the recording of their memories and personalities from life. A new body would be grown using the supplied genetic material and implanted with the memories of the past person, albeit with some minor adjustments to make that person subservient to Crey. This is the culmination of years of Crey research into cloning and memory implantation; they intended to keep the hero population in check by creating heroes of their own. They are in their own way bringing the dead back to life for the fulfillment of a task.
Revenants also appear as hellish fiends in the classic first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
Doom II.
While never referred to as such, in the later Friday the 13th films, Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
fits the description of a revenant.
Scorpion
Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)
Scorpion is a recurring player and boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He has been a playable character in all the games, with the exception of the original version of Mortal Kombat 3.-In video games:...
, from Mortal Kombat, qualified as a revenant. He returned from the dead prior to the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament
Mortal Kombat (video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 1992 fighting-game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. Released in the Fall of 1994, the Microsoft Windows 3.1x version was released by Activision Interactive. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat...
to avenge his death at the hands of the elder Sub-Zero
Noob Saibot
Noob Saibot is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He debuted as a hidden character in Mortal Kombat II , although the later game Mortal Kombat: Deception established his true identity as that of the original Sub-Zero, who was killed by his nemesis Scorpion after...
, who would become a revenant after Scorpion took his revenge.
In the Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain is a series of action-adventure video games developed initially by Silicon Knights in association with Crystal Dynamics. After a legal battle, Crystal Dynamics continued the series without Silicon Knights and Eidos Interactive became the publisher...
series, Raziel
Raziel (Legacy of Kain)
Raziel is a central character in Eidos Interactive's Legacy of Kain series of video games, the protagonist of the Soul Reaver story arc. Initially appearing in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the character was created by a team of storywriters at Crystal Dynamics, notably series director Amy Hennig,...
served the purpose of a revenant. He was murdered by Kain
Kain (Legacy of Kain)
Kain is a fictional character and the titular character that appears in the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Depending on the game and its viewpoint, Kain has been either the central protagonist, or an antagonist, but in all his depictions he is an anti-hero, interested only in his own goals...
in the prologue of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999 and for the Dreamcast in 2000. As the second game in the Legacy of Kain series, Soul Reaver is the sequel to...
, but was subsequently brought back by the Elder God as a soul-devouring wraith to avenge himself, while simultaneously tasked to fulfill the designs of the God.
Caleb, the protagonist from the video game series Blood can also be considered a revenant.
EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
, in particular with their horror series such as Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue...
, often made use of revenant-like characters as a plot device, and in a manner consistent with the theme of an individual coming back from the grave to fulfill a specific task. Example stories to exploit this theme include The Thing From The Grave! (Tales From The Crypt #22), None But The Lonely Heart (Tales From The Crypt #33), and 'Til Death (The Vault of Horror #27), among others.
Similarly, the Creepshow
Creepshow
Creepshow is a 1982 American horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The film's ensemble cast included Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, E.G...
character Nathan Grantham, a miserly old man who returns from the grave to seek revenge on the relatives who murdered him, can best be described as a revenant, although he is not given any specific title in his undead state during the course of the story. Creepshow is inspired directly by the various EC Comics horror series, being a tribute to them.
EC-inspired revenant characters also appear in the 2007 horror film Trick 'r Treat in the segment The School Bus Massacre Revisited. Though the undead children in the story appear to devour their victims like modern zombies, the retention of their personalities, urban legend surrounding their creation, and the displayed ability of one to speak directly to his killer mark them as revenants.
In the Girl Genius
Girl Genius
Girl Genius is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company, Studio Foglio LLC under the imprint Airship Entertainment...
milieu, Hive Engines create Revenants by infecting normal people with Slaver Wasps. They are then bound to obey any command given by The Other. While stories say the Heterodyne Brothers are able to 'cure' the Revenant (by sucking the slaver wasp out of the person), it is commonly assumed that it is impossible to actually cure a Revenant. There are several different types of Revenant, including one which acts perfectly normally until given a command.
In DC Comic's current Blackest Night story arc, the Black Lantern Corps
Black Lantern Corps
The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of revenants appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe.-Publication history:...
consists primarily of reanimated deceased superheroes and supervillains from the fictional universe of New Earth
New Earth
"New Earth" is the first episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 15 April 2006. It is a sequel to the first series episode "The End of the World", and brings back its villain who was thought to be destroyed, Lady Cassandra, as...
in the DC Multiverse.
In Cinematix Studios action roleplaying game Revenant, the protagonist, Locke D'Averam, is brought back from the dead by the wizard Sardok in order to save the island of Ahkulion from a mysterious sect, known as the children of the change; and to save the daughter of feudal lord Tendrick, whom the cultists had kidnapped.
In the online game RuneScape
RuneScape
RuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in January 2001 by Andrew and Paul Gower, and developed and published by Jagex Games Studio. It is a graphical browser game implemented on the client-side in Java, and incorporates 3D rendering...
, revenants are the powerful undead spirits of warriors who died during the God Wars.
Revenants are some of the most powerful boss-level enemies in the role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins is a single-player role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise...
. They are highly resistant to almost all attacks, can strike multiple characters at once and possess some semblance of telekinetic power. These revenants are described in-game as corpses possessed by powerful demons.
In Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness is an adventure game/role-playing video game hybrid. It is the fourth installment of the Quest for Glory computer game series by Sierra Entertainment.- Release :...
, revenants can be found at night.
In the second book in Brandon Mull's series Fablehaven
Fablehaven
Fablehaven is The New York Times best-selling children's literature fantasy series written by Brandon Mull. The book series, which includes Fablehaven, Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, and Fablehaven: Keys to...
, a revenant guards an ancient magical item. It is described as a zombie-like creature with disheveled clothing and a nail sticking in its neck. In addition, it creates an intense irrational fear in all who approach it, and causes those whom it chokes to it to turn ghostly pale with white hair and in a zombie like state with no feeling. Removing the nail from its cures all those who are affected, and kills the revenant.
In the Warcraft
Warcraft
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy game , developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Blizzard and Interplay Entertainment. The MS-DOS version was released in November 1994 and the Macintosh version in late 1996. Sales were fairly high, reviewers were mostly impressed, and the...
universe , revenants are minor elemental creatures who once served as foot soldiers for the malefic Old Gods when the world was young.
In the online game Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Pirates of the Caribbean Online, sometimes shortened to Pirates Online or POTCO, is a MMORPG , created by the Walt Disney Company. It is based on the film series and theme park attraction of the same name...
a Revenant is a type of ghost warship encountered during the game.