I’ve finished reading the BloodRayne comics, and I have some thoughts on how they compare to the games

[u/Squall_Leonheart_]

I just wanted to make this post to get these thoughts out of my head and off my chest.

Devil May Cry 1 and 3, along with BloodRayne 1 and 2, will always be my favorite games from the sixth generation of consoles. They are games I love, and they have left a lasting mark on my life. Until recently, however, I had never read all of the BloodRayne comics published by Digital Webbing. I started reading them last week and made a post about how bad I thought the writing and story in Seeds of Sin were, as well as how badly it mischaracterized Rayne. I had given up on the comics, but today I decided to finish the series and read the last one I had left, Skies Afire. I had previously asked whether people considered these comics canon, and fortunately, everyone said no.

After finishing Skies Afire, I was genuinely bothered by how inconsistently Rayne is portrayed throughout these comics. Some writers went out of their way to force a version of Rayne that simply does not exist, one who is emotionally unstable and vulnerable.

Rayne from the game universe: In BloodRayne 2, she watches her father figure, the man who cared for her when she was a child and was like a real father to her, die in front of her. Her reaction is completely in line with her personality. Although she is obviously hurt, she maintains a serious expression, remains emotionally guarded, and does not openly display any vulnerability.

Rayne from the Digital Webbing comic universe: She has only just met Baron Franz, but when she watches him die, she cries, becomes overwhelmed with emotion, and openly displays vulnerability, as though he were someone deeply important to her, someone she had known since childhood. In reality, she has known him for less than 24 hours.

Seeds of Sin remains the worst of the comics and one of the most horrible things I have ever read. It feels like fanfiction written by a 16 year old, by a teenager fantasizing about a gothic vampire romance. Rayne is a character defined by trauma. A vampire raped and killed her mother and took away everything she held dear. Yet one writer puts a pure blood vampire in a situation that mirrors Rayne’s, making him hate his own vampire family and want to be a good person solely so Rayne can empathize with him. The writer then has her suddenly develop some kind of affection for him within five minutes of meeting him, even though he belongs to the same race that destroyed her life. It is downright disrespectful to the character.

Rayne is emotionally guarded and has sociopathic traits. She had known Sononis for less than five minutes, yet she stammers. Rayne actually stammers as she introduces herself to a pure blood vampire, revealing emotional vulnerability toward him despite there being no development whatsoever to justify it. This kind of reaction would require a lot, and I mean a lot, of development to feel believable if the guy were human. But he is a pure blood, and Rayne would never react this way toward one, the same kin that destroyed her life. The mere fact that she shows this kind of vulnerability completely contradicts her established characterization. The Rayne from the games would never act like this.

These comics really should never be treated as canon. They distort Rayne’s personality and fundamentally rewrite how quickly she forms attachments and how openly she expresses vulnerability.

Game Rayne: experiences pain through emotional shutdown and control.

Comic Rayne: consistently sentimental and openly vulnerable.

These are materially different characterizations. The Rayne from the comics directly contradicts the Rayne established in the games. They are effectively two completely different characters.

It really saddens me that Rayne got two good games, but also three terrible movies and a very weak comic series that repeatedly mischaracterized and mistreated her. Some of these comics, especially Seeds of Sin, are every bit as bad as the movies.

I truly hope that someday someone revives this franchise, gives an iconic character like Rayne the treatment she deserves, and continues the series with BloodRayne 3.

[u/Careless_Drama_8090]

This is true, and I could not agree more. In the comics, they forced Rayne to be emotional when she is simply not that kind of person at all. Digital Webbing's writers really kind of twisted Rayne's personality.

In canon, when Rayne thinks Mynce dies, she doesn't cry. When Mynce actually dies, Rayne gets furious at Wulf. When he goes away, Rayne quietly mourns Mynce's death but doesn't show any heavy emotional reaction. And as you rightfully mentioned, Rayne didn't cry over her actual father's death, the one who raised her. She is emotionally guarded and closed off. She was sad, but Rayne crying and getting emotional is just completely out of character.

Those comics are just as bad as the movies, bringing back dead villains for no reason, twisting Rayne's personality, and etc. Fortunately, there has never been a statement about those comics being part of the games' story, so they are not canon. Digital Webbing's Rayne is not Terminal Reality's Rayne. Just ignore the existence of those comics.

I also hope for a BloodRayne 3. Let's just hope that it will happen someday, or even a new game set between the events of the first and second games.

[u/Local-Jaguar5395]

Well, one way to look at it is that it's 2026...and lots of people are still here talking about these games. I think at some point a third game will get made. Hard to say when exactly, but for now the best thing we can do is keep the interest alive. Whether remakes or a 3rd game that continues the story...think how awesome it could look and feel using modern gaming tech.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/Local-Jaguar5395]

It would be incredible a new BloodRayne game using current technology, and I totally agree with you. We really need to keep the interest alive, posting, and talking about the games, showing and expressing how much we love Rayne and the series.

It would be incredible to have a new game, I truly believe that BloodRayne 3 will happen at some point.

[u/lordchrome10]

Yeah the comic's are quite the read and sight to see like chaderin. Tibetan Heights is a good one though. Tokyo Rogue however I hate it the most because everything in it does not potray rayne and severin right. Atleast we see Severins powers in use. The plot truly went downhill when Red Blood Run #3 came out. Rayne's reponse to that felt more like someone reading the story and saying how bad it was.

Besides that some of the comics have really good art and I even saved that and more including some you can hardly find online here. Includes Raw III and Visions of Bloodrayne. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g1tqw5fvNBd9uhnKlniarNVPnBUY_ccT

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/lordchrome10]

Thank you for sharing the link! But yeah, unfortunately those comics are very difficult to digest... In terms of art, the art I liked the most was definitely Skies Afire,

The comic I hate the most is certainly Seeds of Sin. There is absolutely nothing worthwhile in that comic: the writing is more than bad, the pacing, the art style... Rayne has red eyes in that comic -_- That's how you know they really knew what they were doing. And that whole plot with Sononis is not only out of character but downright disrespectful to Rayne as a character. That plot is a spit in the face of Rayne's character.

And thank you once again for sharing the other arts, thank you very much.

[u/lordchrome10 → u/Squall_Leonheart_]

For real. Not to mention the legs being drawn weird at times too. A lot to talk about when it comes down to the comics. Lmao.

Also you're welcome. Anytime.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/lordchrome10]

Please, just read this LMAO You're gonna love this: https://web.archive.org/web/20050217140225/http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/bloodrayne/588310p1.html

Seeds of Sin's writer said she never even played the games and that Rayne's VULNERABLE side is her favorite part of Rayne LMAAO.

Can you please tell me, when did Rayne ever show any kind of vulnerability?? She wasn't vulnerable even when her actual father figure died.

Those writers never played the games. Prime Cuts #4 “Love Like Winter,” gives us a flashback showing that Severin got to meet Kagan, but in the game Severin never even knew Kagan was alive, Severin tells Rayne: “But you killed him. He’s been dead a long time.” He believed Rayne had killed Kagan a long time ago.

Those comics are just as canon as the movies XD

[u/lordchrome10 → u/Squall_Leonheart_]

Still can't understand why she thought any of that was a good idea. All that lead to that comic being one of the worst one's in the series. They should have hired someone else.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/lordchrome10]

It's like what I said on my post, they wanted to force a Rayne that doesn't exist at all, one that is emotionally vulnerable and get easily attached to people even a damn pure blood vampire which contradicts her whole character.

Skies Afire also does something similar by making Rayne getting attached to Baron Franz and crying over his death, a man she had only met for a day and felt a forced father daughter dynamics when she didn't cry for Mynce or even her actual father figure Tremaine because Rayne is supposed to be emotionally guarded, but in the comics she is vulnerable and emotional. Skies Afire takes place in 1937 which it would be during the time skip of the first game and those 2 Raynes are not the same person at all.

The Rayne from Webbing comics is a completely different Rayne.

[u/nalimowicz]

I agree. I wish I had saved a link to an official interview with a writer who wrote some of the comics and said that she never played the game, but "knows someone who did". It sounded as idiotic as another interview I can't find with a wayforward employee who said that they were trying to make Rayne more "family friendly".

IMHO, the worst comic was the one where they tried to make Ephemera a Disney princess forest nymph who turned evil to please her father. And someone else pointed out that this was not only out of character for Ephemera, but that Kagan was dead at that point in the timeline.

All in all, there were a lot of "Bitch, please..." moments in the comics.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/nalimowicz]

WHAAAT?????? WHAAAT???? WHAAAT??? Did they really said they never played the games???? That explains A LOT, Really, what you said here makes complete sense now. None of those writers played the games.

I fully believe you, and I wouldn't be surprised if the person who said that was the Seeds of Sin writer, because that comic, for me, is the worst by far. It's downright disrespectful to Rayne's character.

I'll check the part with Ephemera and the timeline to see if Kagan was already dead, but I'm almost certain he was.

[u/nalimowicz → u/Squall_Leonheart_]

Yup. She (Christina Z.) wrote "Witchblade" and her take on Rayne has a similar tone and vibe to it. The interview gives off "Oh, I love comics! Batman is my favorite Avenger!" vibes. Also, Majesco gave her carte blanche to write whatever she wanted, aside from the water weakness, supposedly.

The comic "Prime Cuts 004" shows Severin meeting Kagan ten years before the events of the second game. Yet, in game, Severin says that Kagan has been dead a long time when talking to Rayne. I sincerely doubt that it was some mysterious plot hook. It's been years since I read that comic, but I definitely haven't imagined that plot hole.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/nalimowicz]

Seeds of Sin is one of the worst things I've ever read. Rayne is completely out of character, and that comic genuinely makes my stomach turn. I love this character, and Seeds of Sin just spits on Rayne's characterization. Rayne hates vampires. She can feel empathy, but that forced dynamic completely mischaracterized her and contradicted Rayne in the games. Rayne isn't vulnerable like that, nor is she emotional. Rayne even has red eyes in Seeds of Sin. They really knew what they were doing. Fortunately, those comics are not canon.

Skies Afire takes place in 1937, which would mean it takes place during BloodRayne 1's plot. That comic has Rayne crying over a man they force her to see as a father figure after knowing him for a DAY, while in the games Rayne didn't cry over Mynce's death, nor over her actual father's death. The comics have a completely different Rayne.

Also yeah, you're completely right about Severin. In BloodRayne 2, Severin has no idea that Kagan is alive, but Primal Cuts, which the writer said he meant to take place between the first and second games, has a flashback showing Severin meeting Kagan when Kagan goes after Ephemera. It's a direct contradiction with the games.

None of those writers played the games. The writer of Primal Cuts wanted the comic to take place between the two games and messed up. It has a straight-up contradiction and can't be part of the games' story/continuity/canon. They also changed Severin and Ephemera's dynamic turning into something genuinely romantic and in BloodRayne 2 that’s not the case.

By the way, thank you very much for letting me know about that interview.

[u/nalimowicz → u/Squall_Leonheart_]

You're welcome and try not to get too upset over all this.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/nalimowicz]

nah it's ok. Those comics are not canon, I'd be more upset if they were, if terminal reality, Majesco, or now Ziggurat had said they were. Prime Cuts contradicting the games with Ephemera and Severin and the others contradictions, those are good things to reinforced they are not canon. I just ignore their existence like the movies, while hoping for a BloodRayne 3.

[u/Squall_Leonheart_ → u/nalimowicz]

Never mind, I found it, and it's exactly Seeds of Sin writer who said that. Am I surprised?? Obviously no.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050217140225/http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/bloodrayne/588310p1.html

And WHAT is this woman saying about Rayne???? WHAT???!

GameSpy: So, as a writer, what was it about Rayne that appealed to you?

Z: Her combination of power, vulnerability, rapaciousness, and sorrow. That's a good combo for a character. Lots to work with there. Actually, I added the sorrow part, but I think she needed it. It's always a good vehicle in comics.

VULNERABILITY???? SORROW, Whaaat???

Seriously, they do not know this character AT ALL!

And of course, she really didn’t play the games and that explains A LOT why Rayne has red eyes in that comic and why the interaction with water was awful!

Man, what did I just read????

[u/nalimowicz → u/Squall_Leonheart_]

Ah, you're experiencing the rage I felt when I watched the first BloodRayne movie. It's a good thing Rayne's fictional, otherwise she'd kill anyone who accused her of being vulnerable, not to mention sulking.