Cain

**Cain** is a fictional character in comic books published by the American company DC Comics. He first appeared in *House of Mystery* #175 (August 1968), but his first appearance in *Swamp Thing* comics was in *Swamp Thing* Vol. 2, #33 (February 1985). He was created by Bob Haney, Jack Sparling and Joe Orlando.

## History

### Overview

The Bible lists that many thousands of years ago, the first man born of Adam and Eve, who was known as Cain, killed his younger brother Abel. This was the first murder in human history, and because he had introduced such an abominable idea to mankind, Cain was cursed to wander the Earth forever with a mark on his forehead.

### Dreaming

Abel, on the other hand, was brought into the Dreaming, the realm representing imagination, where he became a storyteller and was given the House of Secrets to live in, as the immortal Dream, Prince of Stories, knew that the tale of Abel's death would be told and re-told for many centuries to come. As one of the few residents of the Dreaming back in those early days, Abel grew lonely, and so Dream fashioned a version of Cain to live next door in the House of Mystery. Of course, being next door to his brother reminded this Cain of why he'd murdered him in the first place, and thus he killed Abel again, except this time Abel came back, and so this Cain resolved to kill him again and again, ad nauseum.

In 1916, Dream was forcibly removed from his realm by the occultist Roderick Burgess, and held prisoner until 1989. During this time, the Dreaming fell apart, though Cain and Abel continued to amuse themselves by telling stories while acting as caretakers of the mysterious House of Mystery and House of Secrets respectively (these houses appear to exist simultaneously both in the dreaming and adjacent to a graveyard in Kentucky). For a short time, Cain resided instead at the "House of Weirdness" in California, where he befriended the superhero Blue Devil; the woman Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, briefly took Cain's place as caretaker of the House of Mystery, but he eventually returned to his customary abode. When Dream finally escaped his prison, Cain and Abel nursed him back to health.

Sometime later, Dream sought to rescue his former lover Nada from Hell, to which he'd condemned her centuries ago after she spurned his affections. Cain was sent ahead as an envoy to give Lucifer fair warning that Dream would be entering his realm and possibly invading it. Cain had been chosen as the messenger, as the mark upon his forehead would prevent him from being killed. Still, Lucifer and his minions subjected Cain to rough treatment, and the first murderer would later leave the realm deeply shaken by his experiences. The House of Mystery then mysteriously moved locations to an interdimensional crossroads; Cain spent several months hunting for it, but eventually resumed his tenancy.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Decelerated Aging:** Cain has not aged in thousands of years. He is not technically immortal and can be killed, but as a dream-creature, his master the Sandman can resurrect him at will.
* **Mark of Cain:** Anyone stupid enough to cause damage to Cain will be instantaneously harmed seven times by unusual disasters.

### Weaknesses

* **Mental Illness:** Cain is periodically gripped with the overpowering urge to murder his brother, Abel.

## In other media

*Main article: Cain and Abel In other media*