Kain Highwind

Commander Kain Highwind of the Baron Dragoons is a playable character in Final Fantasy IV. He is a Dragoon from the kingdom of Baron, and is Cecil Harvey's childhood friend. He also has feelings for Rosa Joanna Farrell, but he hides them so they don't hinder his relationship with either of the two: Rosa in turn has feelings for Cecil.

Childhood
Kain was born in Baron to the Commander of the Dragoons, Richard Highwind. His father was particularly active, but died suddenly one day while Kain was still young, sprouting rumors that he may have been assassinated. In The After Years, Kain recounts that he used to hate his father for how strict he was to him. Kain was then raised with Cecil by the King of Baron. Kain was not too fond of Cecil at first, since Cecil was treated like a son by the king. It was often Rosa who would stop the two of them from fighting. The three eventually became friends, and Kain became Cecil's rival and developed romantic feelings for Rosa, although she and Cecil were likewise enamored.

The king wanted Kain to become a Dark Knight like Cecil was, but Kain wished to follow in his father's footsteps down the path of the Dragoon in order to defend the castle. Kain cared for his father's dragon, who grew weak but still faithfully awaited his master's return. The Dragoons were on the verge of disbanding after Kain's father's death, but reformed when they saw the devotion of both the dragon and Kain. Kain was eventually appointed the Commander of the Dragoons. The fate of the dragon is unspecified, but it does not appear in any version of Final Fantasy IV.

Betrayal
As Final Fantasy IV begins, Kain tries to defend Cecil after Cecil was discharged from the command of the Red Wings. Cecil is ordered to deliver a ring to the village of Mist, and slay the Eidolon Mist Dragon in the Misty Valley that blocks the way. Kain is ordered to accompany him. The next morning, Cecil and Kain depart for Mist. They pass through the Mist Cave, a cave shrouded in mist and dispatch the Mist Dragon. When they arrive at the village, the ring they were supposed to deliver activates, and bombs are summoned to burn the village. Cecil and Kain find a little girl and her dead mother, the summoner who conjured the Mist Dragon and died when the Eidolon was slain. While Cecil and Kain discuss the fact that they must have defeated the Mist Dragon and thus accidentally killed her mother, the girl blames them for the death of her mother. Cecil and Kain offer to take her to safety after pledging not to follow anymore orders from the king, but she doesn't listen. She summons Titan and causes an earthquake that sparks an avalanche, which separates Mist from the rest of the valley. After this event, Kain's whereabouts were unknown. It is assumed, however, that he returned to Baron, where the mage Golbez was named new Lord Captain of the Red Wings. Kain was appointed Golbez's second-in-command, although it is unknown if he did this of his own will or if he was already manipulated. Either way, Kain eventually became subjected to Golbez's mind control. During an attack on Fabul to seize their Crystal, Kain enters and battles Cecil, knocking him down. However, before he can deliver the finishing blow, Rosa enters and Kain hesitates when she calls out to him. Golbez arrives and kidnaps Rosa, and Kain takes the Crystal and leaves Cecil alive.

Golbez's Servant
After this event, Kain is assigned to guard Rosa in the Tower of Zot, a task he does faithfully in order to remain near Rosa and keep her safe from any harm one of Golbez's other minions would inflict upon her. He requests Golbez give him another chance to defeat Cecil, but Golbez refuses and sends one of his Archfiends instead - Scarmiglione. When the second Archfiend Cagnazzo, who was impersonating the King of Baron, is slain, Golbez has already stolen the airship fleet. As Golbez ponders retrieving the last Crystal, Kain suggests they exchange Rosa for it after having Cecil get it for them. Golbez agrees, and Kain delivers Cecil the ultimatum - deliver them the Earth Crystal, or Rosa perishes.

Cecil follows through on the deal and is taken to the Tower of Zot by Kain. At the summit, Golbez decides not to exchange the Crystal for Rosa. As a result, Tellah attacks Golbez out of vengeance for his daughter Anna, and casts Meteor on him. This Meteor not only weakens Golbez, but also released Kain from Golbez's control. Kain then rejoins Cecil's party, and accompanies him to rescue Rosa. He reveals his secret love for Rosa here, and apologizes. However, Rosa forgives him and invites him to fight alongside them, to which Kain agrees. However, Barbariccia, the Archfiend of Air and a seeming rival of Kain, attacks and has to be defeated before they can escape the tower. Rosa casts the Teleport spell and the party is warped to Cecil's room in Baron.

A Second Betrayal
Cecil's party is worried, as Golbez now possesses all four Crystals. However, Kain speaks of the Dark Crystals, which are hidden in the Underworld. These Crystals had only been rumored to exist, but Golbez knows of these rumors. Kain then explained that Golbez needs the Crystals to open "the way to The Moon." Cecil decides that his party has to head underground to protect the remaining Crystals. Kain shows Cecil the Key of Magma, which could be used to enter the Underworld. The party eventually enters the underground and reunites with Rydia following a confrontation with Golbez, where he is defeated but escapes with a Crystal, leaving only one remaining. With the remaining Crystal sealed, the party attempts to invade the Tower of Babil to take back the other Crystals, an attempt that ultimately fails when it is revealed the final Archfiend Rubicante has moved them to the upper world. They return to the surface and with the help of Edge, the Ninja prince of Eblan, they climb the tower and defeat Rubicante. However, a booby trap leads them back underground, where they steal a Red Wing airship that Edge christens the Falcon.

The party heads for the Cavern containing the final Crystal and open the sealed door. They retrieve the Crystal and return to the surface, but Golbez calls out to Kain, who becomes possessed by Golbez once again. Kain steals the Crystal and flees. With all eight Crystals, the Tower of Babil is activated and the Giant of Babil is summoned. After a journey to the moon, Cecil and his allies destroy the giant, and the Lunarian Fusoya reveals Golbez as Cecil's brother, under the control of Zemus. Kain is again freed from Golbez's control and allies with Cecil to take revenge on Zemus.

Future Guilt
The party heads back to The Moon, and make their way to the Lunar Subterrane. During the journey below, Kain's thoughts can be seen in the DS version - though Zemus is trying once again to take control of Kain's mind, he overcomes it and makes it to core. There the party finds Fusoya and Golbez fighting Zemus. They defeat him, but they cannot defeat the manifestation of Zemus's hatred, Zeromus. Eventually, Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Rosa, and Edge defeat Zeromus themselves and return to Earth. In the Advance release of the game, Kain, along with several other characters, undergoes a “Lunar Trial”, but his is much more character based than the other characters. Unlike the other trials, Kain is forced to enter his trial room alone. Kain awakens alone in Baron to find out that the town has been plagued by a series of murders from an assailant jumping from roof to roof, wielding a lance. Agreeing to help Cecil and the guards investigate, Kain is plagued nightly by mysterious dreams, and keeps finding a lance soaked in blood lying in his room. Cecil and the guards lead the investigation, and even Rosa is attacked. Eventually, Kain is apprehended for the attacks, but he unmasks the true culprit shortly after.

The next night, Kain leaves his room during the night and follows Cecil to the Devil's Road room, where he finds a mirrored chamber with Cecil unconscious and Rosa tied up. A cloaked figure, the true assailant, emerges from the mirrors and tells Kain that it is the embodiment of his dark desires, and urges him to fulfill them and kill Cecil. The player can then decide if Kain kills Cecil or not; if the player chooses to kill him, it results in a game over. Refusing, the figure casts off its cloak to reveal itself as Kain’s dark doppelganger, which later transforms into Lunar Bahamut. Kain defeats Lunar Bahamut and acquires his ultimate weapon, Abel's Lance, as his prize. As Kain returns to his allies, Cecil tells him no time has passed since he entered the door to the trial, and asks Kain what was behind the door. Kain replies, "nothing".

In the credits, Kain is one of the only characters not to attend Cecil and Rosa's wedding. He feels tremendous guilt about his unintentional acts of treachery and blames his own weaknesses. Instead, he climbs Mount Ordeals to undergo a spiritual trial similar to what Cecil went through when he became a Paladin, with the hope of becoming a great Dragoon worthy of his father's legacy. No one hears from him again for some time. An interesting fact is that in the DS version, on the first playthrough of the game, you'll see the back of Kain's head without his helmet, but on the two times you can play over the game, more and more of his head is revealed.

Redemption


In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, when the Mysterious Girl attacks the Blue Planet, Porom leaves for Mount Ordeals to find Kain, who eventually betrays her by taking the Water Crystal and giving it to the Mysterious Girl to willingly offer his services to her. Acting as her enforcer, Kain makes his way to Fabul leading the Red Wings, battling Yang before leaving escaped with the Wind Crystal.

In truth, however, the Kain that has been stealing crystals for the Mysterious Girl is only his dark side. The true Kain is actually the Hooded Man who rescues Ceodore from the assault on the Red Wings and travels with him back to Baron through the Devil's Road with the help of Porom. There, they find that the people of Baron, including Cecil (the one who called Kain a "stray beggar"), are actually monsters in disguise and they flee through the Mist Cave. Later, Ceodore and Kain reunite with Rosa, Cid and Edward inside the Baron Castle, where Kain encounters his dark side and defeats him, becoming a Holy Dragoon as a result. It's revealed in the final tale in a conversation between him and Golbez that the Lunarians at Mount Ordeals gave him his power, which would mean the voice that turned him into a Holy Dragoon was Kluya. He continues to fight alongside Cecil and Ceodore during the rest of the game, using his new powers to combine his strength with theirs.

After defeating the Creator with the rest of the party, Kain returns home to Baron. He leaves the ranks of the Dragoons to join the Red Wings, and goes with Ceodore to help the boy attain his own Proof of Knighthood.

Final Fantasy IV
Kain's physical stats are heavily weighted. He can equip all spears, axes, shields, helmets, armor, gloves, and most swords and rings. He is unable to use any kind of magic, and has 0 MP, but one can use a Soma Drop on Kain to give him MP, though he has no way of using it, except being a reservoir for one's Black Mage Osmose. In the DS version he gains MP, but has the lowest growth rate in the final party due to an inability to naturally make use of it outside of Augments. In the Gameboy Advance release, his ultimate weapon is Abel's Lance.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Kain joins the party at the beginning of the game and is capable of wearing light and heavy equipment. He can also wield Swords, Spears, Axes, Knives and Shields. After the fight against his dark side, Kain gains access to use the Jump command and also White Magic but he will not learn any new spells as he levels up.

As the Hooded Man, Kain has overall, high stats in the physical department and because of the lack of abilities, he would have to work as a physical attacker. All the stats of Kain as a Holy Dragoon would depend of the ones that he had as the Hooded Man. For example, if Kain was at level 30, Kain as a Holy Dragoon would have the stats of the Holy Dragoon at that level. His HP and MP, however, remain at whatever value they had when he was the Hooded Man.

Kain's ultimate weapon is no longer the Holy Lance, though it is still one of his best spears. He can also use the Ragnarok and Ultima Weapon.

Final Fantasy IV
Kain's special ability is Jump, which allows him to deal extra damage via an aerial attack. While Kain is airborne, he avoids attacks.

In the Game Boy Advance version of the game, by performing Kain's Lunar Trial and defeating Lunar Bahamut, Kain receives the Dragoon Gauntlets, which gives him Double Jump. This allows him to do double damage and also come back down in 1/4 the normal time. This makes it very easy for Kain to do 9999 damage in a few seconds.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
When he first appears as the Hooded Man, he has no abilities, but regains the ability to use Jump during his fight against "Kain?". After becoming a Holy Dragoon, he gains the ability to cast White Magic, and can use the following spells:

He can also use the following Band abilities:


 * Cross Slash: Hooded Man (Fight) + Ceodore (Fight)
 * Cross Slash Prime: Kain (Fight) + Ceodore (Fight)
 * Saint Dive: Kain (Jump) + Rosa (White Magic)
 * Sky Grinder: Cecil (Fight) + Kain (Jump)
 * Mirage Dive: Edge (Fight) + Kain (Jump)
 * Aiming Trust: Kain (Jump) + Cid (Analyze)
 * Spiral Blow: Kain + Golbez (Event)
 * Double Jump: Kain + Ceodore (Event)
 * Trinity Crusade: Kain (Jump) + Cecil (Fight) + Rosa (White Magic)
 * Effect Form: Cecil (White Magic) + Kain (White Magic) + Rosa (Blessing)
 * Final Fantasy: Cecil (Fight) + Rosa (White Magic) + Kain (Jump) + Rydia (Black Magic) + Edge (Throw)
 * Vibra Prime: Cecil (Fight) + Ceodore (Fight) + Rosa (Aim) + Cid (Fight) + Kain (Fight)

Musical Themes
Kain's theme is called Disbelief, alternatively called Suspicion or Kain's Betrayal. It plays whenever Kain backstabs the party under Golbez's command. Alternatively Cry In Sorrow plays in his Lunar Trial and whenever he rejoins the party.

Etymology
Cain was the brother of Abel in the Torah and the Bible's book of Genesis. Cain became the first murderer by killing his brother out of jealousy stemming from the fact that God chose Abel's gift over that of Cain. Kain's name, thus, might be a reference to the events that happened between him and his adoptive brother, Cecil. It is from this etymology that the name of Kain's ultimate weapon is drawn.

In the English localization of the DS version, Kain is, just as . However, in the Japanese version his name is spelled カイン (Kain) in kana, which is closer to the name's pronunciation in and to the  form קַיִן Qáyin. However, the Japanese manual lists his name written in Roman alphabet as "Cain" which would suggest the English pronunciation.

In the Spanish localization for the GBA, the character's name is Caín, which is also the name of the Biblical character in Spanish translations. However, it is changed to Kain in the DS version, to be consistent with the English voice acting.

The Highwind surname is a traditional name for Dragoon class characters that started with Ricard Highwind in Final Fantasy II.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord
Kain's dark side appears as one of the monsters that can be summoned by Mira when purchased as an extra download content. He takes on his appearance from The After Years.

Virtual World
Users in Square-Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Kain Highwind.

Lord of Vermilion II
Kain will appear as a card and summonable creature in the upcoming sequel to Lord of Vermilion, along with other characters from Final Fantasy IV as part of a special cross promotion.

Trivia

 * Kain's Lance, a common spear in later installments of the series, is named after him.
 * Kain's father Richard is likely a reference to Final Fantasy II, as there was a Dragoon with the name Ricard Highwind. This connection is strengthened in the DS version, where Kain states his father died fighting an evil empire. Additionally, in Final Fantasy II, Ricard adopts a young boy after his father was killed by the Empire's attack; beginning with the Dawn of Souls remake, this boy is named Kain. However, in The After Years, Kain mentions he was roughly Ceodore's age when his father was killed. As Ceodore is seventeen, this would make it unlikely that the two Kains are actually the same character, as the Kain seen in Final Fantasy II is much younger.
 * In Final Fantasy IX, there is a character named Kain Highwind.
 * The original Final Fantasy IV logo features an illustration of Kain, holding his lance in his right hand, drawn by Yoshitaka Amano. Kain's DS model and his The After artwork also depict him as right-handed. He wields the lance in his left hand in cutscenes and his victory pose in the DS release, however, and equips them to his left hand in The After. Officially, Kain is considered left-handed.
 * In Final Fantasy V, when Bartz is the Dragoon job he wears armor very similar to Kain's, only with a different shade of blue and a mask covering the lower part of his face. Kain's eyes are red whereas Bartz's are blue.
 * Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Kain was considered as a candidate to appear in Dissidia Final Fantasy, either as a secret character or the antagonist representing Final Fantasy IV. He was ultimately excluded, but Tetsuya Nomura has said he personally wanted Kain in the game, and if Dissidia ever has a sequel, Kain is guaranteed to be in it. As a subtle nod to Kain, one of Cecil's attacks as a Paladin in Dissidia is named Saint's Fall (Saint Dive), and his Dark Knight form can use Dark Fall, which heavily resembles the classic Dragoon Jump.
 * Even though Kain cannot cast any form of magic in Final Fantasy IV, hacking the original Super NES version of the game will reveal that Kain has a two-frame animated sprite for casting spells, as all other characters who can cast spells have. In a prototype screenshot of the game, Kain is seen with a White Magic command in battle.
 * In Final Fantasy IV, Kain's armor is light blue. However, in The After Years, Kain's normal Dragoon armor is dark blue, and his Holy Dragoon armor is a lighter blue closer to his original color.