Kain Highwind/Dissidia (PSP)

Unreleased

Kain Highwind is one of the new characters introduced in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. He specializes in high-speed aerial combat, fighting with his lance and Jump, along with a variety of other Dragoon abilities and wind spells. His EX Mode causes him to transform into a Holy Dragoon, just as in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and allows him to use the iconic Dragoon ability Lancet.

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. As a Holy Dragoon his design is based on Akira Oguro's artwork, where his armor is bright blue and white. His helmet is also removed, revealing his face and long, blond hair. Kain's first alternate outfit is based on Dark Kain from Final Fantasy IV Advance and The After Years. He has scaled armor colored red and blue with more draconian features, and he has a forked spear. His EX Mode in this form is more faithful to his Holy Dragoon art, giving him a winged headpiece with various draconian wings on his armor. His third outfit is his appearance as the Hooded Man from The After Years. Kain wears a blue outfit with a brown cape and a wide belt. His EX Mode in this form is identical to detailings to his Dark Kain EX Mode, but colored purple.

Kain's currently unnamed Manikin version is colored dark blue with silvery accents, reflecting that of Cecil and Golbez's Manikins.

Story
Kain has been summoned by Cosmos to fight in the new conflict. Screenshots have shown him speaking to Lightning, who expresses confusion over why they have been called. He is also seen in a screenshot, showing Vaan talking to him. Kain then confronts Golbez who reveals to him the true nature of the war between Cosmos and Chaos, advised by the villain to seek the truth for himself. Later the two find Bartz injured, and when Lightning approaches him he implies it was Kain who attacked him. Lightning narrowly dodges Kain's lance as he attacks her from behind afterward.

At another point, now traveling alone, Kain meets with Exdeath, who conjures several Manikins of Kain to attack him.

Battle
Kain is described as a Tactical Striker, able to cancel and connect aerial Bravery combos while jumping over terrain. Pressing Triangle cancels his post-attack animation, allowing him to charge in on an opponent to use a close range combo. 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, Kain can send them in that direction. Depending on the move used, and what direction Kain sends the opponent with its last strike, it can lead to Chase or deal Wall Rush damage.

EX Mode
Pride of Dragoon WgOs1w8gQ1k Kain's EX Mode is based on his Holy Dragoon transformation from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. He removes his helmet and his armor turns blue and white. While in EX Mode, he gains the special attack Lancet, an HP attack which restores HP to Kain equal to the HP damage the enemy takes.

Kain's EX Burst is Pride of Dragoon. Upon initiating it, Kain launches himself into the air at high-speed. In order to increase the altitude of his jump, the player must repeatedly tap a specific button which changes every few seconds. If successfully executed, Kain reaches the peak of his jump above the clouds, with the two moons filling the night sky behind him. He then performs a series of acrobatic flips and twists before rocketing back down to drive his lance through the foe, trailing behind a beam of light which continues to pierce his foe's body while he poses in the foreground.

Allusions

 * The pose that Kain adopts upon successfully executing his EX Burst is his iconic pose from Amano's original artwork, which has also been used for several of his official illustrations.
 * At the start of a fight, Kain enacts a pose similar to the one seen in another of his official illustrations.
 * Kain's victory pose is the same as his victory pose in the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV.
 * Kain's Spiral Blow and Sky Grinder are based on two of his Band Abilities from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, performed together with Golbez and Cecil respectively.
 * Since he attacked Bartz and Lightning, this could be a reference to his original role in Final Fantasy IV, when he was being controlled by Golbez.
 * His Aerial HP attack, Gungnir, was a weapon he had when he rejoins the party for the last time during the final moments of Final Fantasy IV. It may also be a reference to Odin's attack of the same name, where he throws his spear at opponents.
 * Celestial Shooter and Crash Dive are both enemy attacks featured in Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi.
 * Although he can't use magic in the original game, in Dissidia Kain is able to cast Cyclone. This is a reference to Barbariccia.

Trivia

 * Kain was originally considered to appear in the original Dissidia, but was ultimately left out. Tetsuya Nomura however, stated if the game were to get a sequel, Kain was sure to be in it. In an interview about Dissidia 012, Nomura said his only request for director Mitsunori Takahashi was to include Kain. He was nevertheless rumored to make an appearance in the original Dissidia according to a fake scan supposedly taken from Famitsu magazine.
 * Nomura originally drew Kain facing on an angle, but re-drew him to face to the side to be entirely in-line with his original Yoshitaka Amano artwork, which he feels is an iconic image. This original art showed Kain's eyes, but when the other staff members told him Kain would take off his helmet for his EX Mode, Nomura redrew Kain with his eyes covered.
 * According to some game developers, some player testers have found him overpowered, while others acknowledged his fighting style difficult to get used to.

Kain Highwind/Dissidia