—Cain to Marth in Shadow Dragon
Cain is a playable character from the Archanea Series of Fire Emblem. Alongside his boon companion Abel, Cain is a cavalier of Altea who is also known under the alias of The Bull.
According to Takayashiki Hideo's novel adaptation of Mystery of the Emblem, Cain is 24 years old. [1]
Profile
War of Shadows
Prior to the fall of Altea Castle in the Prologue of Shadow Dragon, Cain fought under the banner of King Cornelius, who led the charge of the resistance against the betrayal of Gra. After King Cornelius tragically fell in battle, Cain was assigned the task of delivering his final words to Prince Marth. While enduring several wounds that he had sustained during the battle, Cain promptly rushed off in the direction of Altea Castle.
Cain succeeds in reuniting with Marth at the end of Prologue II of Shadow Dragon, just after Marth escapes from Altea Castle with Abel, Frey and Jagen. In the following chapter, after hastily brushing aside Marth's concern over his wounds, Cain delivers the late king's final words, which are as follows: "Tell my son that I leave the future of Altea and our continent in his hands. He must rise now where I have fallen. As Falchion’s rightful heir, he has been born into greatness… Now… he must be great." Should Cain be selected to act as the decoy of Marth in Prologue IV, he will thus not be available to assist his liege in bringing the War of Darkness to an end. Canonically, Cain is not selected to be the decoy, and after the War of Shadows concludes, he devotes his time towards instructing young recruits in warfare.
War of Heroes
Chronologically, Cain returns in Prologue III of New Mystery of the Emblem, where he is observed to have become quite proficient at being an instructor of newly-inducted recruits of the Altean Army, taking charge of the practical training of the 7th Platoon, then comprising of the Avatar, Luke, Roderick and Ryan. Cain then proceeds to test their mettle against the might of several allies of the previous war in the ensuing chapters of the Prologue, and if the player fulfills the necessary requirements, he will personally challenge them in Prologue VII.
Shortly before Marth sets out to fulfill his covenant with Emperor Hardin in Chapter 1 of Mystery of the Emblem and its remake, Cain is entrusted the task of defending Altea Castle. After Altea Castle falls to the combined might of Gra and Aurelis at the end of Chapter 4, Cain manages to escape, reuniting with Marth at Chiasmir Bridge in Chapter 8. He will thereafter aid Marth in bringing the War of Heroes to a conclusion, whereupon he is promoted to assume the command of the Altean Knights following Jagen's death.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE
He appears as the Mirage partner of Touma Akagi. A “Cavalier” from another world who has lost his memories. Since he and Touma are kindred spirits, he’s a good big brother figure for Touma. In combat, he transforms into a lance to lend Touma his power.
Personality
Like a majority of the cast appearing in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, Cain's character is not very well developed. Nevertheless, it is possible to deduce several points about his personality based on the few interactions that he has. Similar to many other knight characters in the aforementioned games, Cain is passionately loyal to the liege that he serves, willing to overlook his personal welfare in order to fulfill his duties. This is especially evidenced through his firmly sticking to the final task assigned to him by the late King Cornelius, in spite of the grievous wounds that he had sustained in battle.
Despite this, Cain has also revealed signs of being emotional, a fact that is depicted through his ardent, yet sorrowful, outburst in Prologue III, where he vows to avenge the deaths of his king and fellow comrades. Through this outburst, it can also be determined that Cain views his role as a knight of Altea with immense pride, as he deems his sole survival amongst his beloved comrades to be a representation of cowardice and disgrace.
Cain's devotion to Altea is one that transcends his representing the country on the battlefield; following the end of the War of Darkness, he devotes his life towards honing future generations of Altea's knights to secure the country's defense.
In-Game
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Recruitment
| Name | Class | Chapter | Affiliation | Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cain | Cavalier | 1 | Altea | Automatically from the start. |
Base Stats
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cavalier | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Wlv | Mov |
| 1 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
| Sword Lance | Iron Lance Iron Sword | ||||||||
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Wlv | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 30% | 60% | 60% | 50% | 60% | 20% | 0% |
Promotion
| Item Required | Promoted Class |
|---|
| Knight Crest |  Paladin
|
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Recruitment
Base Stats
Growth Rates
Promotion Gains
| Item Required | Promoted Class | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Knight Crest
|
 Paladin
| ||||||
| 1 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +6 | Varies | +1 |
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Recruitment
| Name | Class | Chapter | Affiliation | Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cain | Cavalier | Prologue III | Altea | Automatically from the start. |
Base Stats
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cavalier | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov |
| 1 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
 Sword - D Lance - E |  Iron Lance Iron Sword | ||||||||
Promotion Gains
| Item Required | Promoted Class | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Master Seal
|
 Paladin
| |||||||
| 1 | +4 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | +1 | +6 | +1 |
| Weapon Levels | ||||||||
| Lance +30
| ||||||||
Class Sets
| Base Classes | Promoted Classes |
|---|---|
-
|
|
Growth Rates
- Default
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75% | 35% | 0% | 50% | 50% | 40% | 20% | 0% |
- Reclassing Options
Support Relationships
- Supports
| Character | Initial points | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Abel | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| Catria | 0 | 5 | 11 | 35 |
| Est | 0 | 4 | 6 | 25 |
Supported by
| Character | Initial points | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Marth | 0 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Catria | 0 | 5 | 11 | 35 |
| Abel | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| Est | 0 | 5 | 7 | 35 |
- To increase support levels, characters must participate in chapters together
- One support point is gained for each chapter they both participate in
- Support levels that require 35 chapters cannot be reached normally
- Characters must be within a three tile radius of each other to receive support bonuses
Bonuses per level:
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Recruitment
| Name | Class | Chapter | Affiliation | Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cain | Cavalier | Prologue 8 | Altea | Automatically from the start, if the first option was chosen in Prologue 6. |
Base Stats
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cavalier | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov |
| 9 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 9 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
| Sword - CLance - D |  Javelin Steel Sword | ||||||||
Promotion Gains
| Item Required | Promoted Class | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Master Seal
|
 Paladin
| |||||||
| 1 | +4 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | +1 | +6 | +1 |
| Weapon Levels | ||||||||
| Lance +30
| ||||||||
Class Sets
| Base Classes | Promoted Classes |
|---|---|
-
|
|
Growth Rates
- Default
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 40% | 0% | 70% | 70% | 70% | 35% | 5% |
- Reclassing Options
Support Relationships
- Supports
| Character | Conversations | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Catria | None | 5 | 10 | - |
| Abel | None | 3 | 6 | 10 |
Supported by
| Character | Conversations | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| The Avatar | 1, 2, 3 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| Marth | None | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| Abel | 1,2,3 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
- To increase support levels, characters must participate in chapters together
- One support point is gained for each chapter they both participate in
- A hyphen (-) indicates the support level cannot be reached
- Characters must be within a three tile radius of each other to receive support bonuses
Bonuses per level:
Support Conversations
| Number | Importance | Name | Chapters Needed | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 172 | * | Cain and the Avatar 1 | 3 | - |
| 173 | * | Cain and the Avatar 2 | 6 | - |
| 174 | * | Cain and the Avatar 3 | 10 |  Strength Bond
|
- To obtain the conversations, characters must participate in chapters together
- The requirements for unlocking support conversations are separate from the support bonus system
Overall
Whether or not the player decides to use Cain, Abel or both depends on both personal preference and the actual title that they appear in. Both are very useful and preferred in games that are generally considered to have a poor roster of characters. While their differences sometimes vary, certain common points hold true across all games; Abel excels in Strength, while Cain excels in Luck.
In Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Abel has more balanced growths compared to Cain, sporting a higher strength growth, despite slightly lower growths in HP, Skill, and Speed. With the exception of Luck, Abel's base stats are all equal to, or higher than Cain's. He is preferred in this game by many players for his well-rounded stats and superior strength growth, which proves to to be more useful than the slight skill and speed growth lead that Cain possesses.
In Book 1 of Mystery of the Emblem, Abel and Cain's growths are nearly identical to before, aside from a significant decrease to Cain's HP growth (from 90% to 60%), one of the three superior growths defining Cain in the first game. Notably, both start out with bases that contradict their respective growths, setting the precedent for the Cain and Abel archetypes of future titles. Cain starts out with higher Strength but lower Skill and Speed, while Abel starts out with less Strength but more Skill and Speed. They end up very similarly in Book 1, largely because their growths balance out their bases, and despite their stats eventually going in different directions, they still perform very well regardless.
Yet in Book 2, the differences between the two are far more noticeable: Cain joins as a cavalier early into the game (Chapter 8), while Abel is recruited as a pre-promoted paladin much later (Chapter 15). This gives the player far more time to use Cain than Abel; when Cain is trained to the same level that Abel appears as (Level 1 Paladin), Cain will often have superior stats in every area. Cain regains his higher HP growth advantage, where it is increased to 90%. If fully trained, both Cain and Abel can easily cap Strength, Skill, Speed, and even Defense with a little help from the Starsphere (due to the rather low cap of 20 in Mystery of the Emblem). However, on average, Cain will cap 52 HP and 20 Luck, compared to Abel's usual maximum of 41 HP and 13 Luck.
In Shadow Dragon, Cain and Abel are similar to their appearance in Book 1 of Mystery of the Emblem. Both start out somewhat alike, with Cain slightly stronger but less swift and skilled, and Abel's bases the opposite. In this game, Cain and Abel actually have identical Speed and Skill growths, but instead have different Weapon Ranks - Cain can use Steel Swords from the start, while Abel can use Javelins from the start. Abel is commonly placed higher (if only slightly) on Shadow Dragon tier lists due to his higher strength growth, which is on par with hard hitters like Barst.
In New Mystery of the Emblem, the differences separating the two are once more made distinct. For the first time, their Defence growths do not match, with Abel's 40% growth being slightly higher than Cain's 35% growth; oddly enough, Abel has a higher HP growth than Cain (100% to 90%), swapping the HP discrepancy of the two characters. Abel upholds his reputation of being more balanced, while Cain supersedes him in Skill and Speed (70% to Abel's 60%). This game being a remake of Book Two of Mystery of the Emblem, Abel once again joins later while Cain is recruited much earlier. In the end, Cain proves to be the more reliable character. Abel's growths, while arguably better, are nevertheless hindered by his later arrival and the high amount of cavaliers recruited by the player.
Overall, in all games that Abel and Cain appear in, they prove to be valuable members of the army, being shining jewels among the sea of mediocre or bad characters.
Fire Emblem Heroes
- The Bull
- Altean cavalier known for his recklessness. Rode with Abel in service of Marth. Appears in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.
Base Stats
Rarity:
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Bull | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 16/17/18 35/38/41 | 6/7/8 25/28/31 | 4/5/6 25/28/31 | 6/7/8 21/24/27 | 4/5/6 15/18/21 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Steel Sword |  Sword | ||||
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Bull | |||||
| Group | |||||
| Cavalry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 16/17/18 36/39/42 | 7/8/9 27/30/33 | 4/5/6 26/29/32 | 7/8/9 23/26/29 | 4/5/6 16/19/22 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
Brave Sword Buckler | Sword | ||||
Skills
Weapon
| Name | Prerequisite | Might | Range | Effects | SP Cost | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Sword
|
- | 6 | 1 | - | 50 | - | - |
| Steel Sword
|
- | 8 | 1 | - | 100 | 
|
- |
| Brave Sword
|
- | 5 | 1 | Spd -5. Attack twice when initiating attack. | 200 | 
|
|
| Brave Sword+
|
Brave Sword
|
8 | 1 | Spd -5. Attack twice when initiating combat. | 300 | 
|
|
Special
| Name | Prerequisite | Effects | Charge Cost | SP Cost | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckler
|
- | Reduces damage inflicted by attacks from adjacent foes by 30%. | 3 | 100 |
|
|
| Escutcheon
|
Buckler
|
Reduces damage inflicted by attacks from adjacent does by 30%. | 2 | 200 | - |
|
Passive
| Name | Prerequisite | Effects | SP Cost | Unlocked | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wings of Mercy 1
|
- | Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤30%. | 60 | - | B |
 Wings of Mercy 2
|
Wings of Mercy 1
|
Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤40%. | 120 |
|
B |
 Wings of Mercy 3
|
Wings of Mercy 2
|
Enables unit to warp adjacent to any ally with HP ≤50%. | 240 |
|
B |
 Threaten Atk 1
|
- | Inflicts Atk -3 on foes 2 spaces through its next actions at the start of each turn. | 50 |
|
C |
 Threaten Atk 2
|
Threaten Atk 1
|
Inflicts Atk -4 on foes 2 spaces through its next actions at the start of each turn. | 100 |
|
C |
 Threaten Atk 3
|
Threaten Atk 2
|
Inflicts Atk -5 on foes 2 spaces through its next actions at the start of each turn. | 200 |
|
C |
Possible Endings
Shadow Dragon
- King's Voice
- "Cain remained in Altea to instruct younger knights in the ways of war. He was a shining example; never did he neglect his training."
New Mystery of the Emblem
- Altea's Blade
- "Following Jagen's death, Cain became the commander of the Altean Knights."
Quotes
Shadow Dragon
—Cain's death quote
Fire Emblem Heroes
Non-Canon Appearances
Anime
In the Fire Emblem anime, Cain serves an almost identical role to that which is portrayed in the games. His personality, as implied in Shadow Dragon, is notably more hot-headed than that of his partner Abel's. This is most evident when he brings up the troubles of Princess Nyna and the Kingdom of Archanea, where he fervently argues the following:
—Cain in the anime
Gordin is in strong agreement with this plan, but it is quashed by Jagen, who believes that Marth still needs people to protect him. Later, Cain is seen during the attack on Talys when he kills a pirate. As the pirate dies, he tosses a child into the air. Abel catches it in the nick of time, before resignedly remarking that he cannot believe that he is still picking up Cain's messes "after all these years".
Cain and Abel are obviously very good friends in the anime, despite Abel being seemingly unwilling to support Cain's argument about Nyna. They are rarely seen apart in the anime and even have a toast to friendship as they oversee Gordin discussing his archery skills with Draug. In Episode 2, Cain and Abel travel to Galder in the guise of travellers, which allows them to slaughter unsuspecting pirates patrolling the town; this leads to Marth's liberation of Galder.
Manga
Cain's importance in the manga is far more important than in the anime and even the game itself. He is portrayed as a young knight who is strictly loyal to his country, but mostly to Prince Marth. He is often teased by Abel and Julian, but still gets along with everybody well nevertheless.
After the victory over Doluna at Aurelis' secondary Castle, Ogma gets Cain drunk; he wakes up the next morning with a huge hangover. For this reason, Abel takes his patrol shift and ends up meeting Est.
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Cain is illustrated in the trading card game with the following cards:
Etymology
Cain's name comes from the biblical story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis. Cain became jealous that God favored Abel's sacrifice more, and therefore killed him and was cast out of God's favor. In Mystery of the Emblem, this is slightly reversed: Abel falls out of Altea's favor for treason, although this does not involve Cain.
Trivia
- Cain is mentioned along with Abel in the C support conversation shared between Stahl and Sully in Fire Emblem Awakening, where his title as the "Bull" is assumed by Sully, a character that is modeled after his archetype.
- He is also mentioned in Frederick's supports with Marth in Warriors, in which Marth describes him, Abel and Jagen as his retainers.
Gallery
- See main article: Cain (Shadow Dragon)/Gallery.