David Cain (Prime Earth)

Orphan
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	David Cain
Main Alias	Orphan
Other Aliases	David Kane · Texas Dave
Relatives	Cassandra Cain (daughter)
Affiliation	Mother
Base Of Operations	Formerly Shanghai · Coast City
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Secret Identity
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Assassin
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Hair	Brown
Origin
Universe	Prime Earth
Creators	Kelley Puckett · Damion Scott
First Appearance	Batman & Robin Eternal #1 (December, 2015)
Appearance of Death	Batman & Robin Eternal #26 (May, 2016)

David Cain is the assassin Orphan. He is the father of Cassandra Cain and an enemy and former mentor of Batman.

History

David Cain is one of the world's deadliest assassins, trained from a young age in the art of killing. He has a long history with Batman, having been one of the many tutors who took part in Batman's martial arts training. David is also responsible for training his daughter Cassandra Cain to become a lethal combatant.

At some point, Cain began working as an operative of Mother, a figure who manipulates children to become ultimate weapons. As one of Mother's most trusted operatives, David would assassinate the parents of selected children, in order to bring them into Mother's operation. David and Mother both believed that the death of the children's parents make them stronger and rid their weakness, allowing them to be perfect soldiers.

After the birth of his daughter, Cassandra, David planned to make her the ultimate tribute to Mother. He forbid her to interact with anyone but him, and did not allow her to speak or even speak to her himself. David believed this would rewire her brain to develop a language based on body language. At this point, Mother began moving away from the old ways, and began employing a new variant of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin to use as a tool to simulate trauma to her child recruits. Believing there was no substitute for true distress, David exposed Cassandra to death by killing people in front of her over and over, until she became numb to the sight of death, in an attempt to show Mother that the old ways still work.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Cybernetic Enhancement: After his right arm was cut off by his daughter, Cassandra Cain, David obtained a replacement cybernetic arm.
  • Enhanced Strength: Due to his cybernetics, David possesses far greater strength than any normal human in his right arm.
  • Enhanced Durability: David's cybernetic arm is far more durable than a normal human arm, allowing him to block projectile weapons such as arrows, and remain unharmed.

Abilities

• Acrobatics
• Martial Arts: David Cain is one of the deadliest martial artists in the world, having trained his daughter, Cassandra Cain, and even Batman himself. His methods are brutal, focusing on creating perfect weapons.
• Surveillance
• Indomitable Will: Due to his training and mental discipline, David is able to resist certain mind control devices, such as Spyral's Hypnos.
• Peak Human Condition
• Pedagogy
• Tracking
• Weaponry: Cain is highly skilled with a variety of weaponry, including swords and knives.
  • Swordsmanship
  • Throwing: Cain is a deadly marksman and can hurl throwing knives with precision.

Notes

• When originally introduced in The New 52, David Cain no longer had prior history with Bruce Wayne before he became Batman, as his previous incarnation did. However, this was retconned in Batman Vol 3 122, where it was revealed that Cain was in fact one of Bruce Wayne's many martial arts mentors.
• David Cain was created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, first appearing in Batman #567. However, David Cain first appeared as part of Prime Earth continuity in Batman & Robin Eternal #1 by James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, and Tony S. Daniel.
  

Trivia

• Deathstroke suggested that he may have been trained by Cain in martial arts, or at least studied his fighting style.

Related

• 24 Appearances of David Cain (Prime Earth)
• 5 Images featuring David Cain (Prime Earth)
• 3 Quotations by or about David Cain (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: David Cain (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

Batgirl Villain(s) This character, team, or organization, has been primarily an enemy of Batgirl. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Batgirl Villains category."