The action role-playing game Avowed features four companions who will accompany the player on their journey through the Living Lands: Kai, Giatta, Yatzli, and Marius. Of the four, Kai is the first one players meet and will become a stalwart brother-in-arms who supports the Envoy on their journey. However, Kai is more than just Avowed’s tank; he is a many-layered character with a complex past that informs his present decisions and regrets.
Game Rant spoke to Avowed game director Carrie Patel—who also served as Kai’s writer—about the character’s development process. Kai’s identity as a “Rauataian ex-mercenary with a checkered past and some hidden warmth” was set from the beginning, but as Avowed developed, his backstory was expanded, his humor and kindness were emphasized, and the writing team worked to create vulnerable moments to show that Kai was more than a token friendly jokester archetype. The result is a steadfast ally that players can build a close bond with, but also someone who is still shaped and affected by the “heartache and regret” he experienced in the past.
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Kai Overview: A Good-Humored Former Soldier
Kai is a member of the coastal aumaua race who the Envoy meets in the town of Paradis, a port city in the Living Lands. Once, Kai was a soldier in the Rauataian Navy but chose to desert after his experiences fighting in the Deadfire Archipelago. Kai’s specific reasons for abandoning the Navy have not yet been revealed. Before meeting the Envoy, he worked as a mercenary for six years. He is described as one of the only friendly faces the player encounters in the hostile Living Lands. Kai is voiced by Brandon Keener, who is best known for his role as Garrus Vakarian in the Mass Effect series.
In battle, Kai is primarily a physical combatant, relying on his speed, strength, and years of combat experience. He is a tank who can take hits for his allies, taunt enemies into focusing on him, and get back up with partial health after being knocked down. Kai also uses fire-based abilities both on the battlefield and while exploring Avowed‘s Living Lands, where he can burn down obstacles at the Envoy’s request.
Kai Is Affable But Burdened By His Past
On the surface, Kai is a jokester who gets along well with his fellow party members and is always there to support the Envoy in Avowed, but he is so much more than the “class clown” of the party. Patel elaborates on this when discussing the character’s development throughout Avowed’s writing process:
I wanted to make sure that his backstory and his life outside the player’s party informed his character and developed his investment in his adventure with the player. His affability and humor emerged in the writing as both a means to make him good company for players (particularly in the early game, when he’s an early and consistent presence) and as a means to mask his vulnerabilities.
Players can get to know Kai better by talking to him in camp and bringing him along on their journey. As the game’s first companion, he is present for much of Avowed’s story and will play a key role as the Envoy travels deeper into the Living Lands and investigates Avowed‘s deadly dreamscourge. Throughout Avowed, Kai will be both a stalwart friend who supports the Envoy in battle and a complex figure who they can learn more about should they take the time to delve into his past and uncover the regret and heartbreak the development team hints he carries deep within himself.
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios