Sarevok

Sarevok Anchev is a prominent fictional character in the Baldur's Gate series of Dungeons & Dragons computer role-playing games, created by Bioware. He appears in both games of the series, though in much varied roles. He was the chief villain in Baldur's Gate, he had a small cameo in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn before he finally became a joinable non-player character in the final chapter of the series, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. Kevin Michael Richardson provided the voice of Sarevok. He also appears in the novelizations of the series by Philip Athans.

Biography
Sarevok was raised as an urchin in the streets, until he was adopted as Sarevok Anchev by his foster father Reiltar Anchev, the leader of the merchant house the Iron Throne. When he was just a child, Reiltar had Sarevok's mother strangled in front of him as punishment for unfaithfulness, an event which has had a significant impact on him. Under the ruthless tutelege of the Iron Throne, Sarevok studied the art of intimidation and the cruelest and most brutal styles of combat in order to become a Deathbringer, a powerful warrior possessing the abilities to paralyze an opponent in mêlée battle through fear alone, as well as killing the most powerful of opponents in a single, massive blow.

Sarevok is a Bhaalspawn, a child of the dead god Bhaal, a consequence following the cataclysmic Time of Troubles. It is because of this that Sarevok plotted, through violence, politics and manipulation, to start a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn, causing enough carnage and bloodshed to transform him into the new god of murder. Aditionally, he had his foster father, Rieltar Anchev, gorrotted by doppelgangers, revenge that he felt was appropriate for the murder of his mother.

Powers and Abilities


In his first appearance in Baldur's Gate, Sarevok is a massive, heavily armored figure, standing about 7-feet tall and wearing heavily spiked, black plate armor. He fights with a large 2-handed greatsword, and his strength is so great that he is able to wield this heavy weapon one-handed, and he can cleave in half soldiers wearing plate armor with a single blow. He is also strong enough to explode a wooden door with a single punch or kick, as seen in the game's opening movie.

Sarevok's sword and armor are both heavily enchanted, artifacts of Bhaal which draw much of their power from his own Bhaalspawn essence. Besides providing him with physical protection, Sarevok's distinctive armor also appears to resist magic, protecting Sarevok from most magical energies. Sarevok's sword is known as the Sword of Chaos, and it carries an enchantment of epic proportions (a severely weakened version of the sword appears in Baldur's Gate II, having lost most of its power after Sarevok's death).

Despite his enormous strength, Sarevok is no mere mindless brute. Charismatic and intelligent, he masterminded a highly efficient scheme to seize control of the Iron Throne and the city of Baldur's Gate, and was able to draw to him many loyal acolytes who either followed him as a leader or even worshipped him as the new Lord of Murder.

Following his death at the hands of the main protagonist, Sarevok lost his Bhaal-essence and the powers that came with it. Upon being resurrected by the main character in Throne of Bhaal, Sarevok notes that his trademark sword and armor did not resurrect with him, and that he would probably be unable to use them anyway without his original Bhaal-essence to power them. His sword however is available at the beginning of Shadows of Amn and if the protagonist passes it to Sarevok, he recognizes the weapon. Sarevok says that he won't be able to return the weapon to its prime, since he is not a Bhaalspawn anymore, however he imbues it with additional properties.

Even without his Bhaalspawn powers, Sarevok is an extremely formidable warrior (being considered by many the most powerful joinable NPC fighter in the entire series, which also includes Korgan Bloodaxe and Minsc). He is also able to use his Deathbringer training to occasionally inflict massive damage to opponents, a critical hit-style attack known as a "Deathbringer Assault".

Ascension mod
BioWare game designer David Gaider's semi-official game modification Ascension, among other enhancements, develops and clarifies Sarevok's persona in Throne of Bhaal, from unfinished material cut before the retail release of the game. Please see the Baldur's Gate series main article for information on this and other modifications.



Special quotes

 * "I will be the last! And you will go first... Heh hehehehe"
 * "Heh, I do not fear death...do you?"
 * "Killing is our father's work; embrace it as I have!"
 * ''"You are indeed family. No other could have lived to oppose me in person. Of course it will not matter in the end. Ultimately I will prevail, and a new era will be born unto the realms.
 * "You remind me of myself...before I was slaughtered and cast into the Abyss."
 * ''"Death comes for you! Feel its icy breath!"'
 * "A shame the manner of this man's death prevents us from restoring him to life - my interrogations could have brought us much information!"
 * "I live! Flesh and blood and bone! I AM ALIVE! HAHAHAHAHA! I swore I would scratch and crawl my way back into the world of the living, and I have DONE IT!"
 * "Ah, yes. Stoke that infernal wrath of yours. I can feel the anger within you, boiling like a pit of sulphur in the crevices of your heart. You feel it, do you not? The taint that surrounds your soul like a serpent, squeezing it, spreading its venom... that taint, that wrath exists in all of the children of Bhaal, but few know how to use it."'
 * "I can teach you how to use your wrath. You can control the taint, direct it, summon it at will. You can become the Slayer at will and become the weapon of murder that you were meant to be! So think of me. Think of how I destroyed your precious Gorion, how I plundered the lives of your Candlekeep. Summon your rage, stir the depths of your black heart! Summon wrath. Summon wrath and become it, for if you cannot, then you are not worthy of Bhaal's blood. It should have been I. It should have been I! ATTACK ME, WORM, IF YOU DARE!!!"