Robin Cain

> How do I put this...The mind is a powerful little thing, yeah? The power it holds within is that of a God creating reality and then wiping it over to start again. Each thought is the creation of your God.
>
> - Robin Cain

**Robin Cain** is the main protagonist and narrator of the novel *Black Fish*.

He is an enigmatic American man who finds himself on an island with a talking fish.

## Personality

Robin is best described as meticulous, blunt, reclusive, and most of all mentally ill and completely misanthropic. He is quite specific about the way he likes things done on the island and will become frustrated when they are not done his way, but overall he is a very docile person. However, this can be attributed to his island self whom possesses real world Robin's desired extroverted tendencies. Robin's real world self is implied to be remarkably quiet and reserved, unbecoming of his other self that he created on accident.

No matter who he's talking to, Robin talks formally and properly. This can often be misconstrued as sarcasm even when he is completely serious. Because of this, it's often remarked that holding a conversation with Robin is more difficult than it needs to be.

Robin is shown to be curious as to the secrets of the universe, often asking Gene and Callum Murphy their thoughts on life and death. Despite his grief and loneliness, he detests nihilistic thought and claims to not believe that life doesn't have meaning, preferring to create his own meaning through the Church of Unreality. However, this is possibly untrue as with his later actions.

It is often that Robin will refuse to answer certain questions about himself or his personal life, leading one to believe he is intensely private and reserved. This is further proven when in a conversation that he wants to leave, he repeats his previous statement even if it is a non-sequitur. It is that or he doesn't say anything at all. This implies Robin prefers to keep his emotions bottled up even at the expense of his mental health and relationships with other people. Despite his eccentricity, Robin is rarely, if ever, vulgar. Due to his refusal to show anger, he refrains from swearing throughout the novel.

Over the course of the novel, Robin is heavily implied to be suffering from severe depression and filled with grief over the death of his girlfriend Luana and that he's repressed these memories somewhat, using humor to cope with his situation.

## Appearance

Robin is disheveled in appearance, with medium wavy black hair and beige-colored skin, implying he is of mixed heritage. Under his eyes are heavy bags due to his stress and tendency to sleep late. As for his clothing, he has a black t-shirt and track jacket with track pants.

## Fate

Following a violent mental breakdown, Island Robin witnesses the death of Cal and the near-destruction of Havana. As he sits on the edge of the island, a thought-to-be-dead Gene opens his eyes and looks at him.

Meanwhile, Real World Robin survives his attempted suicide and crawls out of the river with a broken foot. He limps to his sister Nicki's house and knocks on her door, only to find out she isn't home. Then he leaves the property.

## Trivia

* Robin would be considered an unreliable narrator if not for the fact that what transpired in the novel is in fact *real* and not psychosis despite what he claims.

## Quotes

* *"My genius is astounding sometimes."*
* "*As I stand, I am Robin Cain, Pope of the Church of Unreality, acolyte of Lola the Light Goddess and Lord of Havana*."
* *"If you accept that you're crazy, then there's nothing to worry about."*
* *"To really believe that life doesn’t have a meaning is, in and of itself, pointless. Even if it inherently does have no meaning, why let it dominate you?"*
* *"We’re furthering science by the numbers, wouldn’t you say?"*
* *"How do I put this? The mind is a powerful little thing, yeah? The power it holds within is that of a God creating reality and then wiping it over to start again. Each thought is the creation of your God."*
* *"Let me put it into perspective. Which is worse? Never knowing what something feels like or never being able to feel it again?"*