Cain

**Cain** is a major protagonist in the *Divine Comedy*.

He is the infamous "Father of Murder" and the illegitimate son of Eve and Satan thus making him the half brother of Abel. However, despite what many believe, Cain is more of a tragic figure than an outright villain as his background and true nature led him to develop a visceral fear of death which set off a sequence of events that led up to the downfall of mankind.

## History

### Background

Cain is the illegitimate son of Satan and Eve and the half brother of Abel. Contrary to what is told in the bible, Cain never really hated his brother but truly loved and cared for him whereas Abel returned such affection making the brothers inseparable. However, whereas Abel was cherished and favored by Adam Cain would only be met with looks of disdain and contempt from his "father" likely indicating that Adam knew Cain wasn't really his son. This created a strained rift of sorts with his family even though both his mother and brother loved him.

However, what made Cain truly stand out was the fact that unlike his siblings, Cain's growth rate was faster than humanly possible which again relates his half-breed nature to being a child of a fallen angel. Cain himself was unaware of it, dismissing it as a puberty phase, but it was not until he met Lucifer that the stage was set. Lucifer appeared before Cain, sympathetic to his plight in regards to his frustrations over not living up to his father's expectations or God's for that matter. When Cain explained his situation to Lucifer, the Morningstar revealed to him that the reason for his rapid growth and superhuman attributes is because he is not exactly human but rather a son of a fallen angel which shocked Cain.

Lucier claims that his accelerating growth would only have him be the first among the assembly line of death's door. Cain did not understand what 'death' is but when Lucifer showed him by opening a rift that led to Hades and explaining that this is where souls will go when they leave this place upon death Cain became viscerally afraid of death. Overcome with anxiety and desperation, Cain begs Lucifer to help him keep death away but Lucifer cannot, ominously retorting that "she comes for everyone eventually" before vanishing.

### First Murder

As time went on, Cain's thoughts over death's shadow looming over him began to take its toll on his mentality which only worsened when he realized that this fate would also befall his family. This led to several arguments between him and his brother with the latter trying to ease Cain's fears and worries that death isn't something to fear but to embrace after living a life that you value but this did not help Cain as his condition will not even give him a long life to value. His fear of death was so great that he decided that he would need to kill his family before death's shadow that surrounds them does first in order to "liberate" them from this fear.

Cain returns to Abel who was prepared to make amends with him after one of their arguments but before he could, Cain took Abel to a remote location where they would have their "discussion" in private. What follows is considered by many to be among the greatest betrayals; Cain stabbed Abel to death to "release" him from death's ring. However, Cain, in his sheer horror, realized the enormity of what he had done and quickly hid his brother's body then ran from the scene. He was confronted by God who, angered by what he had done, punished him by cursing Cain with immortality through a Mark. Cain was at first elated rather than scared until God explains that this is no gift but something that will teach him a lesson in the value of life.

### Later Exploits

As centuries pass, Cain would indulge in his immortality and lived out his eternal days going about his business. However, Cain's view of this "gift" eventually made him see that it really was a curse. Whenever Cain would be fatally wounded or injured it would only fuel his "flight or fight" response, turning him into a primal and savage killer that brutally mutilates his opponents twice as much as they attempted on him. In addition, while the Mark prevented Cain from dying, his loved ones were not spared as he would only grow to outlive his family and moreover, Cain would also come to realize that he would not join his family in any afterlife either and instead would have to live out the rest of his days on Earth. Even worse, his descendants developed his innate fear of death and would perform heinous and sinful acts just to prolong their inevitable demise, forsaking traces of their humanity and will.

Like many immortal beings that walked the Earth, he had witnessed empires rise and fall, civilizations flourish and fade, monarchies dethroned, and has engaged in many wars. The actions of his descendants would also lead to the fabled Great Flood, of course Cain survived but only to witness humanity not learning from their lesson and fall into further darkness and sin. Cain reached his breaking point and decided to "get away from everyone and everything" while also forsaking any relationships as he fears that his children would only be infected with his "putrid" genes no matter what he does to correct their course. He also did not want to be responsible for the death of another family member as the Mark would fuel his lust for killing so much he would inadvertently murder one of his loved ones again. He built a house on a land that would come to be known as Bermuda Falls and also built a farm as a tribute to his brother and mother. The people of Bermuda Falls all speak stories of Cain as that one grumpy farmer that bothers no one as long as no one bothers him.

Despite avoiding any potential relationship, Cain had a fling with a woman named Meredith who "understood him better than anyone" in his own words. They would eventually marry and settle in his farm but tragedy never escaped Cain as Meredith would die during childbirth. Her death destroyed Cain, leaving their twin children, named Eli and Edith, in his care. His wife's death coupled with being haunted by nightmares of his misdeeds made him a stern, cold, yet overprotective father to the twins but this certainly did not stop him from loving them unconditionally and would do his best to educate them into being good people while keep them out of harm's way, especially out of death's shadow as it waits in the distance for him.

## Trivia

* He is based on the same Biblical figure in the *Book of Genesis* within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. However, God was not pleased and favored Abel's offering over Cain's. Out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother, for which he was punished by God with the curse and mark of Cain.
	+ Cain being the son of Satan and Eve is derived from Jewish tradition, where Eve was subject to adultery having been seduced by either Sammael, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, or the devil himself.
* Cain's theme song would be "Decadence" by Disturbed.
* Cain and Abel are polar opposites in many ways.
	+ Cain was an adult while Abel was a child.
	+ Cain was harsh reality while Abel was innocent naivety.
	+ Cain is distant and closed off while Abel was social and outgoing.
	+ Cain is a farmer while Abel was a shepherd.
* Cain actually knows about I.M.P. and considers them to be amateurs since he is the "father of murder".
* He is a high-profile target of Mastema who waits for the day to personally kill him.