Murder? Don't talk to me about murder! I invented murder! 
- — Cain src
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.
Although Cain is by nature a character that exists more in thought than in reality, Final Crisis: Revelations establishes that the concept of Cain was based on ages-old supervillain Vandal Savage.
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.
Cain and Abel, Circa 1970
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, while the House of Mystery appointed the woman Elvira to be caretaker in his stead, 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. More recently, the House of Mystery has mysteriously moved locations to an interdimensional crossroads; Cain spent several months hunting for it, but has now resumed his tenancy.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Decelerated Aging
- Mark of Cain: Anyone stupid enough to cause damage in Cain will be instantaneously harmed 7 times by unusual disasters.
Abilities
Notes
- This character or object is an adaptation of Cain, a character or object in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 271 Appearances of Cain (New Earth)
- 9 Images featuring Cain (New Earth)
- 34 Quotations by or about Cain (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Cain (New Earth)
Footnotes