Kain Highwind
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| Kain Highwind | |
|---|---|
 Official artwork of Kain Highwind |
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| Game series | Final Fantasy series |
| First game | Final Fantasy IV |
| Designed by | Yoshitaka Amano |
| In-Universe Information | |
| Class/Job | Dragon Knight (Dragoon) |
| Special ability | Jump |
| Home | Baron |
| Age | 21 |
| Laterality | Left-Handed |
Kain Highwind (カイン・ハイウィンド Kain Haiwindo?, Cain Highwind in the original Japanese language version) is a fictional character in the Square Co., Ltd. RPG Final Fantasy IV. Childhood friend to both Cecil Harvey and Rosa Farrell, Kain is the leader of the Dragon Knights of Baron. Though Kain is best friends with Cecil, they are rivals in a sense, as they both are leaders of Baron's forces and are quite infatuated with Rosa. Orphaned at a young age, Kain decided to follow his stepfather's steps as a dragoon instead of choosing the path of the Dark Knight like the King of Baron wanted him to. He claims that being a dragoon makes him feel closer to his father. He has the same surname as Ricard Highwind, a character from Final Fantasy II who is also a dragoon. A minor character also named Kain appeared in Final Fantasy II as well, where he was the young adopted child of Ricard. This has spawned speculation as to whether the two Kain's are the same, which is also aided by Kain having been said to be "following in his father's footsteps." A raft of the same name is in Kingdom Hearts, and Cid Highwind, a character from Final Fantasy VII who also possesses some Dragon Knight abilities.
Kain is named after the biblical Cain from the story of Cain and Abel. This was originally shown through his rivalry with Cecil and was mostly just speculation. It was solidified in the Game Boy Advance version's optional Lunar Ruins where the weapon called "Abel's Lance" can be obtained by completing Kain's trial.
After Kain's best friend Cecil, the Dark Knight in command of Baron's Airship force known as the Red Wings, returns from a mission in Mysidia, he is given a mission to deliver the Bomb Ring to the summoner village of Mist. Both Cecil and Kain notice an unusual air about the king, and Kain goes with Cecil on his quest. When the two reach Mist, the ring sets the entire town on fire. The summoner Rydia becomes angry and uses her summon magic to create an earthquake in her battle with the two heroes. However, Rydia soon warms up to Cecil, when they realize the king is trying to conquer the world, and destroyed Mist, thinking it was a threat. The earthquake, however, separated Cecil and Rydia from Kain.
Later, Cecil and Rydia, along with new friends Prince Edward Chris von Muir, Yang Fang Leiden, as well as Rosa, meet Kain again in the kingdom of Fabul. Kain, however, has sided with the King. Cecil will in fact fight him, only to be defeated. After Cecil is out of the way, Kain kidnaps Rosa and takes her to the Tower of Zot, where the new Red Wings commander Golbez waits. Cecil and the others vow to rescue her.
When Cecil and Yang reach the Tower of Zot (this time with Cid Pollendina and the sage Tellah by their sides, instead of Rydia and Edward), Tellah gives his life using the Meteo (believed to be Meteor) spell to kill Golbez. Though Golbez isn't killed, he is severely wounded. It is then discovered that Kain was under the control of Golbez. Kain regains his normal consciousness and frees Rosa. Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Cid, and Yang then face off against the Elemental Lord of Wind Barbariccia (formerly Valvalis), defeating her.
Kain remains with Cecil for quite awhile, trying to obtain the four Light and four Dark Crystals. However, before departing for the moon, Kain is re-taken control of by the evil Zemus. It was Zemus, in fact, controlling Kain in the first place, not Golbez (Golbez was also controlled by Zemus). The Lunarian FuSoYa joins Cecil and they defeat the Four Fiends inside the Giant of Bab-il. Kain then, once again, rejoins Cecil to defeat the evil Zemus. He is also one of the few friends of Cecil not attending Cecil's wedding to Rosa. In the end he is seen at the peak of Mt. Ordeals with his hair blowing in the wind, vowing to become a great dragoon like his father. This is expanded on inside the extra dungeon of the GBA Remake, The Lunar Ruins.
Inside Kain's Trial, it's shown that after the outcome of the battle with Zeromus, Kain enters the same mirrored chamber atop Mount Ordeals that Cecil used to become a Paladin. There, he is put into a scenario where Cecil, Rosa, and himself are at Baron. Kain wakes up lying on the ground, remembering only that he has been attacked by an unknown person. Cecil finds him and tells him there has been a murder. The victim is discovered to have been killed by a lance, quite obviously used by Dragoons. But Kain is discounted as a suspect, because he too was seemingly attacked, and knocked out by this person.
Eventually, it is revealed that the dark side of Kain who was killing the citizens of Baron, and this opposite Kain tries to force the real one to kill Cecil, knowing that he is the one who stole Rosa away from him. From that point, Kain must make a choice to whether kill Cecil or not. If the player chooses to kill Cecil, Kain "fails" his trial and does not receive his best equipment. However, if he chooses to spare Cecil, a boss battle with Lunar Bahamut results. When Kain wins, he finally copes with the fact that he is not the object of Rosa's affection, and learns to move on.
[edit] Skills
[edit] Jump
Kain's Jump ability makes Kain leap into the air and off the screen for a few turns before performing a powerful falling strike on a single enemy. While Kain is airborne he cannot be targeted making him temporarily invincible to attacks but also unable to be restored by magic or items. Jump is also useful (but not necessary) for avoiding very powerful attacks capable of wiping out the entire party (most notably Odin's and Bahamuts), but it requires careful timing to do so.
The Jump ability is a recurring ability in the Final Fantasy series and is in most cases attributed to the Dragon Knight class. Kain's personal jump differs from the rest of the series' Dragoons' jumps in the sense that Kain approaches the enemy from behind and smoothly glides by the enemy when finishing his Jump, while the Dragoon character in FFV and FFVI approach from the top and come down spear first.
In the Game Boy Advance version of the game, by performing Kain's Lunar Trail 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. His ultimate weapon in this remake, Abel's Lance (another reference to the Biblical Cain), is considered to be one of the best weapons in the game. It randomly casts Tornado, reducing any enemy's HP to a few digits. This works on all bosses, even Zeromus, but can be reflected.
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