Kurtis Trent

General CVG character
name=Kurtis Trent


caption=Kurtis Trent in "The Angel of Darkness".
firstgame= ""
series="Tomb Raider" series
creator=Murti Schofield
artist=
voiceactor=Eric Loren
japanactor=
motionactor=
date of birth=June 26, 1972
blood type=
marital status=
relatives=Father:
status=Unknown
gender=Male
height=
weight=
race/ethnicity=American
occupation=Lux Veritatis

Kurtis Trent is a fictional character from the 2003 video game "". He was voiced by Eric Loren. Kurtis has the distinction of being the first playable character outside of Lara Croft in the "Tomb Raider" series. In the previous game, "Tomb Raider Chronicles", he was featured in the concept art in a special features gallery for "The Angel of Darkness", which was still in development at the time.

Following a comment made in an interview by Adrian Smith, there was a period of time after the release of "Angel of Darkness" in which rumors floated around that Kurtis would star in his own spinoff game entitled "Demon Hunter". [cite web|url = http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/tng/kurtis.html|title = Introducing Kurtis Trent|accessdate = 2008-08-09] [cite web|url = http://www.tombraiderforums.com/archive/index.php/t-43737.html|title = Kurtis Trent: Demon Hunter ???|accessdate = 2008-08-09] However, following the mixed reception of "Angel of Darkness", Eidos canceled the planned "AoD" trilogy and any plans for Trent's spinoff were consequently scrapped. [cite web|url = http://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=131332|title = Kurtis Trent's own game?|accessdate = 2008-08-09]

Fictional character biography

Kurtis Trent, ex-Legionnaire and adventurer, was trained by his father Konstantin as a Lux Veritatis initiate, an ancient order that was ruthlessly hunted down by Pieter Van Eckhardt and the Cabal. At sixteen, Kurtis underwent the most intense stage of his Lux Veritatis initiation. Three years later, he disappeared and joined the Foreign Legion, changing his surname to Trent. He stayed hidden within the Legion for five years but was constantly assaulted by bizarre events linked to the occult, which earned him the nickname "Demon Hunter."

In 1996, Kurtis left the Foreign Legion and began freelancing with a variety of mercenary and semi-legal agencies under the direction of Marten Gunderson. He collected word from his father, but never saw him alive again, as Konstantin was murdered by Eckhardt. Spurred on by his death, Kurtis received two talismanic items, the Periapt Shards and the terrifying Chirugai blade - a discus-like glaive made of Ferilium. He then embarked on a mission to overthrow Eckhardt.

Trent crossed paths several times with Lara Croft, and they joined forces in Prague to combat the Cabal and Eckhardt. He was badly wounded while fighting a mutated form of one of Eckhardt's scientists. His fate is officially unknown, as a sequel to "Angel of Darkness" was never produced. However, as Eidos initially planned to continue the Angel of Darkness story into two more games it is a safe bet that he survived. [cite web|url = http://www.kteb.net/articles/adrian-smith-talks-tr7-tr8/
title = Adrian Smith Talks TR7 & TR8|accessdate = 2008-08-09]

Original biography

While the above history is the published version of Kurtis Trent's history, his creator and the writer of "Angel of Darkness" Murti Schofield revealed in August 2008 the original biography he had scripted for the character which was, ultimately, never used. Having floated around fan circles as a 'fan biography', it was confirmed as the actual one. [cite web|url = http://www.kteb.net/kurtis/biography/ |title = Original Biography of Kurtis Trent on KTEB.netdubious] Merged with the official given biography by Core Design and excluding statistic content such as blood type etc, it is as follows:

TIMELINE

1954 – Kurtis’ grandfather Gerhardt Heissturm is hunted down and killed by Eckhardt and the Cabal. Kurtis’ father Konstantin, age 21, inherits his father’s Lux Veritatis role as Adept. From this point on Konstantin is a target for the Cabal’s murderous attacks trying to totally eradicate the Lux Veritatis. There are only a few surviving Lux Veritatis Adepts and these wage a constant war with Eckhardt and the Cabal. The world at large knows nothing of this ‘Shadow War’ fought in the dark corners of history.

1966 – Konstantin, age 33, meets an American Navajo Indian specialist on Shamanism and the Way of the Warrior, Marie Cornel, on a lecture tour of Europe. Her father was one of the U.S. Marines officers who worked with the Navajo Code Talkers during WW II, which explains her area of specialist expertise. She gets caught in the crossfire of a Cabal assault against Konstantin but proves to have unexpected innate powers that enable the attack to be defeated. Konstantin and Marie Cornel develop a sexual relationship. She returns to the States. She is 25 years old.

1969 – On a Lux Veritatis mission against the Cabal’s forces Konstantin arrives in the US. He looks up Marie Cornel. Whilst visiting the Anasazi ruins of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico they get attacked and have to wipe out a contingent of Cabal agents. Shortly after that Konstantin and Marie get secretly married in a desert tribal ceremony. For the next few years they move back and forth between the States and Europe.

1972 – Konstantin takes Marie to a secure Lux Veritatis bolthole beneath the Utah Salt Flats and Kurtis is born on 26th June. As soon as they can travel Kurtis and his mother go into hiding whilst Konstantin makes return trips to Europe to help in the ‘Shadow War’.

1975 – The whole family return to Europe. Kurtis is 3 years old. They move around a variety of Lux Veritatis safe houses in ancient stronghold sites throughout Europe and the Middle East. There are many close calls with forces of the Cabal and Kurtis begins to learn about life lived on the run from a dreadful pursuing darkness.

1976 – Kurtis and his mother spend a year in Scotland in hiding whilst Konstantin fends off a particularly vicious campaign to wipe out the last elders of the Lux Veritatis. This battle centres on the underground cities of Anatolia in central Turkey where Eckhardt appears to be holed up. But it is an elaborate trap. Only six LV Adepts and Konstantin survive the brutal ambush.

1988 – Kurtis, age 16, undergoes the most intense stages of his Lux Veritatis initiation under the remaining six Adepts. His father is absent for several years on covert missions for the Lux Veritatis.

1991 – At age 19 Kurtis rebels and runs away to join the Foreign Legion. He wants no part of the ‘Shadow War’ which has devastated so many lives and left only three of the Adepts besides his father alive—if his father is still alive.

He changes his family name and tries to stay hidden within the Legion for five years, just long enough to qualify for French citizenship. He is repeatedly assaulted by bizarre occult eruptions from the shadow worlds. Weirdness dogs him wherever he goes. He can’t shake the grim legacy of his family’s brutal history. He gets nicknamed ‘Demon Hunter’ within the Legion.

1996 – Kurtis leaves the Legion after too many inexplicable events. They usually involve grisly casualties and thus can never appear on official Legion records. He begins freelancing with a variety of mercenary and semi-legal agencies. Word reaches him that his father is still alive but they are unable to reconcile the differences between them. He never sees his father alive again.

2001 – Konstantin is finally cornered and murdered by the Black Alchemist Pieter Van Eckhardt and members of his Cabal. Kurtis’ mother Marie is in the States at the time. Konstantin is betrayed and tricked into thinking that Marie is in mortal danger. The isolated LV adept gets separated from two vital talismans, the Periapt Shards, that were his only real defence. Kurtis finally gets his wake up call on being told of his father’s slaughter when he receives these two talismanic items from his mother. He goes after Eckhardt hell bent on vengeance.

Kurtis also inherits a Lux Veritatis Blade—the Chirugai. This terrifying discus like weapon was forged generations ago from meteorite alloy and like most Lux Veritatis secrets can only be properly used and controlled by someone trained to it. Kurtis is now the only direct line living LV initiate.

2002 – Kurtis crosses paths with Lara Croft in Paris and they team up in Prague to combat the Cabal and Eckhardt.

References