Kain Highwind/Dissidia (PSP)

Kain Highwind is a warrior of Cosmos and one of the new characters introduced in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. He is the third representative of Final Fantasy IV. He was a Dragoon that served alongside his best friend Cecil in Baron, but Golbez took control of him and used Kain to attack his friend and obtain the crystals. In time, Kain resisted Golbez's control and redeemed himself. He specializes in high-speed aerial combat, fighting with his lance and Jump, along with a variety of other Dragoon abilities and wind spells.

In the game's story mode, his opposing villain is Exdeath.

Attire
Kain's outfits are based on Yoshitaka Amano's design for Final Fantasy IV and Akira Oguro's designs for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. He wears dark purple armor with a dragon motif, featuring a helmet that covers his eyes, accented with a variety of elaborate patterns and designs in blue and white. In EX Mode his armor becomes a lighter color as in his Final Fantasy IV sprite, also removing his helmet to reveal his face and long, blond hair.

Kain's first alternate outfit, "Noir Dragoon", is based on Dark Kain as he appears in Final Fantasy IV Advance and The After Years. He has scaled red and blue armor with more draconic features, and wields a forked spear. His EX Mode is his Holy Dragoon form, giving him a winged headpiece and armor.

Kain's second alternate outfit "Light Seeker" is his artwork as "the Hooded Man" from The After Years. Kain wears blue garments with a brown, tattered cape and a wide belt. His Holy Dragoon form is identical to the EX Mode for his second outfit, but colored purple.

Kain's manikin, Delusory Dragoon, is colored dark blue with silvery accents, reflecting that of Cecil's and Golbez's manikins.

Story
During Prologus, Kain joins a conversation between Lightning and Jecht about the Warrior of Light. Lightning does not see eye to eye with the Warrior, and Kain puts forward the idea that her arrogance may not live up to her strength, before suggesting that she works with the Warrior to witness his prowess. After the Warrior separates from Lightning, she and Jecht ask Kain if he thinks they are capable; he tells them that he would not be here if they disappointed him.

After receiving his dormant crystal, Kain receives a visit from Golbez who divulges on the war's cycle of death and rebirth; in order for the revival to work their memories of the last war and their original home worlds must be erased. Golbez mentions Kain fell in the previous cycle, but still retains memories of their own world, and that he will recover more with every battle he wins. Cecil enters and attacks Golbez, who teleports away. Before rejoining the others, Kain asks Cecil if he recalls anything about their world, to which Cecil responds he can only vaguely remember Kain. Kain informs the Warrior of Light of what he learned and the two reach the agreement they should defeat the other warriors of Cosmos before the manikins do, who are the only ones that can permanently kill the warriors summoned by Cosmos and Chaos. Kain proceeds to defeat and kidnap Bartz, which alerts the attention of the Chaos faction when he tries to take Lightning out as well. However, he ended up sparing her due to the Chaos faction being alerted, not willing to risk giving away his allies location by fighting and defeating her.

After knocking Firion out, Exdeath asks Kain to disclose the whereabouts of the warriors of Cosmos, and turns a group of Delusory Dragoons on him when he refuses, with Kain emerging triumphant. After taking out Zidane, he intervenes in Tifa's fight with Ultimecia and protects her. Despite Tifa's joy at Kain's arrival, Ultimecia gloats about Kain's treachery and he flees with Zidane. By the time she finds him, Kain begins to suffer the toll of his fight as he tells Tifa to leave, but when she offers him her last Potion to Kain out of trust, he tells her the truth about the cycle. While Tifa remains positive, Kain asserts he cannot guarantee she will survive the path she has chosen.

After they reunite with Laguna, Yuna, Lightning, and Vaan, Exdeath and Golbez appear to tell them the number of manikins in the surrounding area is low. Kain catches onto the fact that the manikins are heading towards Cosmos, and stays behind to fight Exdeath while the other five hurry to her aid. Kain defeats manikins of the warriors he kidnapped, and finally Exdeath, which was partially due to Golbez's interference. Golbez expresses gratitude to Kain, as his actions have given him a chance to stop the cycle and save Cecil. He tells him he will not make it back alive if he leaves, but Kain resigns himself to his fate. Despite his injuries, Kain joins the other five in their stand against the manikins at the Empyreal Paradox, where they eventually succumb to them and lose their power. Kain sheds his light and fades away.

Confessions of the Creator
After the player defeats the Southern Lufenia Gateway to access the northern continents, Kain can be found wandering near Gulg Volcano Ring, provided he is not currently in the player's party. When spoken to he simply mutters "prepare yourself". As the world of Confessions of the Creator is a hypothetical nightmare world where the cycles of war kept going and Feral Chaos killed all summoned warriors, this Kain is likely a spectre of the Kain of this alternate world. He vanishes when the player advances past the Mirage Sandsea to the Lands of Discord.

Official Quests
Kain is the main focus of "Kain's Quest 012: A Dragoon's Betrayal". After failing to defeat Lightning, Kain abandons his plans to put her to sleep with Exdeath pursuing him. Encountering Ultimecia who questions his actions and his alliance with Golbez, Kain defeats her and sends her into retreat, then meets Squall. Kain defeats Squall and puts him to sleep, and has a brief encounter with Tidus, who asks if Jecht is on Kain's list of targets. Kain continues on after this to Ultimecia's Castle where he senses another warrior nearby, leading into Tifa finding him and the defeated Zidane at the area soon after.

In "Cecil's Quest 012: A Re-encounter With a Close Friend", Cecil recovers his memories of him and Kain serving in Baron's military together, and Kain is pleased his friend remembers him. The two duel to commemorate the occasion, Kain telling Cecil that in time further memories will become clear.

Battle
Kain is described as a Tactical Striker, fighting using attacks that let him dash and leap through the air with ease. Pressing after using one of his melee Bravery attacks causes him to dash towards the opponent quickly, allowing him to continue his assault while they are still staggering from the first attack. However, this requires strict timing, which varies depending on which attack knocks them away and which attack the player uses next. Kain can also choose the orientation of where the final blow of his aerial attacks will send the opponent by tilting the analog stick up, down, or keeping it stationary, alternatively leading to Wall Rush or a Chase Sequence. His HP attacks are effective at both close and long ranges and are versatile across many altitudes. A downside to his battle style is that he lacks long range attacks, and his attacks are a bit slow making them easy for a prepared player to anticipate. His list of attacks is also comparitively small.

Boss
Kain is the final boss during Chapter 1 of Lightning's Treachery of the Gods storyline

EX Mode
 Dragoon's Pride G2WKvdRhsME Kain's EX Mode is Holy Strength. Kain removes his helmet as seen in Final Fantasy IV's ending, and his armor turns white and turquoise blue. While in EX Mode, he gains the special attack "Lancet", activated by holding R and. The attack strikes from directly below the opponent and has a small charge time, but restores Kain's HP equal to the HP damage it inflicts and quickly restores Kain's Bravery to its base value. Kain is able to move while using Lancet, and like his melee attacks the player can press after using it to dash towards the opponent, even if Lancet does not hit them.

Kain's EX Burst is Dragoon's Pride. Kain launches himself into the air at high-speed, and the player must repeatedly tap a specific button to fill a power meter, the button changing twice as the meter fills. If successfully executed, Kain reaches the peak of his jump above the clouds with the two moons in the sky behind him, and flips several times to leap down and drive his lance through his opponent, leaving a beam of light that consumes them in an explosion while he poses in the foreground in a manner similar to the cover artwork on Final Fantasy IV. Failing to fill the meter results in Kain not reaching the peak of his jump and doing less damage.

Equipment
Kain can equip Swords, Daggers, Greatswords, Katanas, Spears, Shields, Gauntlets, Large Shields, Helms, Light Armor, and Heavy Armor.

Allusions

 * The pose Kain adopts upon successfully executing his EX Burst is his iconic pose from Amano's original artwork, which has also been used in several illustrations.
 * At the start of a fight, Kain enacts the same pose from another of Amano's drawings.
 * Kain's victory pose is the same one he assumes in Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS.
 * Kain's Spiral Blow and Sky Rave (also known as Sky Grinder) are based on his Band abilities from The After Years, performed together with Golbez and Cecil respectively.
 * Kain's attack on the other warriors of Cosmos reflects his role from Final Fantasy IV when Golbez was mind controlling him.
 * Kain's Aerial HP attack, Gungnir, is the weapon he was equipped with when he joined the party for the last time in Final Fantasy IV. It is also a reference to Odin's attack, where he throws his spear at opponents.
 * Although he cannot use magic in Final Fantasy IV, Kain is able to cast Cyclone in Dissidia. This may reference his ultimate weapon in Final Fantasy IV Advance, Abel's Lance, which randomly casts Tornado. This could also reference his connection to Barbariccia.
 * When facing Jecht, Kain asks "Confident in aerial combat?", which references his dialogue before entering battle with Barbariccia at the Tower of Zot.
 * Upon initiating his EX Burst, Kain says "Let me ease your pain." This paraphrases his line after defeating Cecil at Fabul: "Let me ease your suffering."
 * When Kain faces himself in a fight, his dialogue alludes to the battles with his dark side in The After Years.
 * Kain's exclusive weapon, "Holy Dragon Spear", alludes to the Dragoon Lance he acquires in The After Years; "Black Dragon Spear" references Dark Kain. Abel's Lance was his ultimate weapon in Final Fantasy IV Advance, while the "Highwind" is based on his surname.
 * Upon reaching level 100, a secret voice clip is unlocked in the PP catalog of Kain saying "I've returned to my senses!", his retort to Barbariccia after she accuses him of treachery. He randomly says when initiating his EX Burst.
 * When Lightning tells Kain "I wanna see you fight harder than you ever have", he replies, "Then you've nothing to fear," his response to Cecil when he tells Kain he will be counting on him.
 * When facing the Onion Knight as Kain, the former will remark "Can you catch birds with that jump?" This references Kain's Whyt mini game in Final Fantasy IV for the DS, where the player must tap the touch screen to knock birds out of his path while jumping. It may also be a nod to Garuda, a boss in Final Fantasy III that is a humanoid bird that is difficult to defeat without the Dragoon's Jump ability.

Trivia

 * Kain was originally considered to appear in the original Dissidia, but was left out. Tetsuya Nomura stated that if there was a sequel, Kain was sure to appear. In an Dissidia 012 interview, Nomura said his only request to director Mitsunori Takahashi was to include Kain. Before Dissidia 012 was announced, a fake Famitsu scan stated Kain would appear in the original Dissidia as DLC.
 * Kain was alluded to in the original Dissidia in one of Benjamin's quests for Mognet, if the player tells him to travel to Mount Ordeals to find a dragoon dressed in blue.
 * Nomura originally drew Kain facing at an angle, but re-drew him to face to the side to be entirely in-line with Amano's artwork, which he felt was an iconic image. The original artwork revealed Kain's eyes, but when the staff told him that Kain would take off his helmet during EX Mode, Nomura redrew his face.
 * According to some Dissidia 012's developers, some play testers found Kain overpowered, while others acknowledged his fighting style difficult to adapt to. Consquently, the developers decided the true answer was somewhere in-between and considered him adequately balanced.
 * When Kain finishes his EX Burst, he holds his lance right-handed, but when it is over, it is in his left hand. Yuna's staff behaves in a similar manner, appearing in her left hand during her EX Burst and then switching to her right afterwards. This is so the characters enact their poses from their artwork.
 * Kain's EX Burst deals the fewest hits of any, amounting to only three.
 * Abel's Lance originally belonged to Firion. Firion's version was renamed to "Rebellion Army" in Dissidia 012.
 * When Kain uses Gungnir in battle, he yells "Lance of the Covenant!", a reference to Norse mythology. Gungnir was a spear given to Odin by Loki as a bribe for shaving off Sif's golden hair. This sealed a divine agreement between them, as a covenant is an agreement between gods, or a god and mortal.

Kain Highwind/Dissidia