Caleb

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Caleb was once the supreme commander of a cult called 'The Cabal', followers of the forgotten demon Tchernobog. Known as a merciless gunfighter in the late 19th century American West, Caleb joined the Cabal in 1871 after meeting Ophelia Price, a woman whose husband and son may have been murdered by the members of the Cabal; it is implied that she later became Caleb's lover. Together they rose to the highest circle of the dark cult, 'The Chosen', until all four members of The Chosen were betrayed and killed by Tchernobog for unspecified failures. Several years later, Caleb rises from his grave, seeking answers and vengeance. Caleb's backstory is not delineated in the game itself, only on the Monolith website and a readme text document. The sequel, *Blood II: The Chosen*, retroactively dates the game to the year 1928. In the game, Caleb battles through human members of the Cabal and creatures fighting for Tchernobog, using a large arsenal of weapons ranging from the standard to the bizarre, including a flare gun, voodoo doll, and an aerosol canister that can be used as a flamethrower.

In Their Own Story

In search of the gargoyle Cheogh, one of Tchernobog's minions, Caleb moves to the rail yard and station, where he boards the northbound 'Phantom Express'. He fights off the undead which swarm the train, finally stopping the train by blowing up the locomotive. Emerging from the wreckage, cutting through swarms of Cabal loyalists and other creatures, Caleb enters the 'Great Temple'. A teleporter in the temple leads Caleb to Cheogh's altar, where he finds Ophelia crucified, and he fights and slays Cheogh. Caleb finishes by lighting up Ophelia's funeral pyre to cremate her body. Caleb heads to the Arctic north on a large icebound wooden sailing ship. He disembarks at a lumber mill the Cabal has transformed into a crude human remains processing area. He makes his way into a mine in search of the mother spider Shial's lair. Navigating the Cabal infested tunnels, Caleb finds a dark stony cavern where he defeats Shial, crushing her with a stomp of his boot. He then rips out and consumes the heart of the webbed corpse of Gabriel, another of the betrayed Chosen, thus gaining the power of his fallen comrade. Cerberus is promoted to Tchernobog's second in command. Caleb moves across an industrial facility, entering a nearby dam control installation located near Cerberus' cavern, then blows up the dam with explosives. The resulting flood makes Cerberus' hideout accessible. Caleb kills Cerberus, and upon finding no trace of Ishmael, fills Cerberus' stomach with bundles of TNT, and blows up the corpse. Caleb heads for the 'Hall of the Epiphany' where Tchernobog is waiting. There, before facing him, Caleb learns why 'The Chosen' were cast down: Tchernobog knew Caleb would return to him, killing anyone he ran into to take his revenge and thus gaining immense power, something Tchernobog wants for himself. Caleb battles and destroys the demon. One of Tchernobog's followers approaches Caleb and declares him their new leader. Caleb shoots him and leaves the Hall of Epiphany.

Reader's Guide

In single-player mode, the player takes the role of Caleb in his quest for revenge against his former master by navigating levels in episodes, looking for an exit, until the boss level. Caleb's gameplay is similar to other classic FPS games like Doom: the player must activate switches or seek keys to go through the levels; some larger maps contain up to six different keys. Features include teleporters, traps such as crushing blocks, explosive barrels, lava pits, jumping puzzles, and combination lock doors. Caleb is one of the earliest FPS characters to feature alternate or secondary attack modes for his weapons. His arsenal includes a flare gun, voodoo doll, and an aerosol canister that can be used as a flamethrower. He also has access to a power-up known as 'Guns Akimbo', which allows him to dual wield certain weapons temporarily. Blood also has 'super secret' areas which contain rewards for discovering them. Enemies include human members of the Cabal and creatures fighting for the demon Tchernobog. Enemies can use objects in the environment for cover. The game also features a lesser class of enemies (bats, rats, eels, possessed hands, etc.) often referred to as 'nuisance enemies' that are not considered threats individually, but can be deadly in large numbers. In multiplayer, Caleb appears in deathmatch mode known in Blood as 'Bloodbath', and cooperative play. A feature of Bloodbath is 'The Voice', an audio comment heard upon each frag, that punctuates the death of an opponent often in gory and irreverent terms. 'The Voice' is that of Jace Hall, who was CEO of Monolith Productions at the time.

Did You Know?

• Caleb's backstory is not told in the game itself, only on the Monolith website and a readme text document.
• Caleb joined the Cabal in 1871 after meeting Ophelia Price, whose husband and son may have been murdered by Cabal members.
• The sequel Blood II: The Chosen retroactively dates the original game to the year 1928.
• Caleb consumes the heart of Gabriel, another betrayed Chosen, to gain his power.
• The 'Voice' heard in Bloodbath multiplayer mode is that of Jace Hall, CEO of Monolith Productions at the time.