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One theory I’ve got on how the books portray Cain is that Cain intentionally wrote them for Amberley for her to enjoy after his inevitable death such that he tried to make them as lighthearted and comedic as possible to help her cope, because he clearly loves her. He’s just that good of a guy.
The man who thought he was the galaxy’s biggest pile of shit turning out to be one of the greatest individuals, morally and professionally, to have ever lived is so heartwarming.
@@TheCorrodedMan Telling his true lifestory in a comedic way doesn't mean he would be willing to lie to her about it, what's the point in doing so anyway? She already knew what he was really like and loved him anyway.
@@agentc7020 She doesn't know everything actually. She knew he cared, but Amberly didn't know how much he cared, like with him seeing illusions of her on Adumbria because he cared about her. She also doesn't know some details like where he came from. And sadly, in the end, while Cain DOES love her, the latest story Vainglorious reveals he still truly only trusts Jurgen.
@@ES21007 Different kinds of trust I believe, he does trust her with *most* stuff, but her being an inquisitor kind of puts her in a conflict of interests, she wrote one time that she was glad she never had to choose between the imperium and Cain because she likely would have chosen the imperium and he knew that, Cain trusts jurgen so completely because Jurgen is absolutely loyal to him and only him. In the end their love was a rough one sometimes but still love nonetheless, there is very few people Cain has tried his best to keep safe even at the potential cost of his own life and Amberly's one of those so while his trust in her might not have been absolute, I feel like he still would have done anything for her (even not taking into consideration that she is an inquisitor).
My favourite Cain moment is when they come across a Slaaneshi daemon that takes the form of who the perceiver most desires. To Cain the daemon looks like Amberley so he immediately pulls out his pistol and says, “Impersonating an Inquisitor is punishable by death!” and shoots it xD
yeah i will say, he did believe it 100% for a bit and lower his weapons, it was only when Jürgen returned from his trip and he saw her melt a PDF dude were he wakes up and becomes cool. although i love that book, honestly i prefer the stuff with beige trying to get him
Interestingly, what I like most about Cain is that when one of his soldiers had children, he would become the regiment's official nanny until the infant could be safely sent to Valhalla. Imagine Cain as a kindergarten teacher.
He insists he didn't enjoy dealing with 'little brats' while also mentioning he got picture books sent in and that he sent Jurgen out to "acquire" some soft toys for them to play with.
@@JamesTobiasStewart sounds like Cain. He claims to be heartless but damn. Will he bat for his soldiers to hell and back of earned. Ans that is why they also fight so hard for him. Hr challenged a chaos Warlord no less, to honour thr loss of a student of his. To 1v1 combat. And gave him his sash. No one saw this. This was to personally honour someone who earned his respect.
What I think I love about Cain most is that throughout all his novels, he constantly downplays himself and his achievements and just rewrites everything in the fashion of “I was just a coward trying to live”. But I think the amazing thing is, once you start to notice just how much Cain downplays everything and you start looking into what he does outside of his own personal sense of himself. He is the Hero of the Imperium that people see in him. From fighting a Hive Tyrant to a stand still. Discovering a Gene-cult (multiple times) and then defending them off multiple times until rescue arrives. He completely lead a resistance movement across one continent to another. He helped and was honoured by several Astartes - several who seemed to maybe see a bit more of Cain than he thinks but honour his courage and skill besides. He managed to unite 2 Valhallan regiments into a extremely flexible and working fighting unit and not only that, he actually pretty-much became the Gaunt of it too. He survived a necron tomb and not only defeated a ork horde on planet but heavily damaged/destroyed said tomb too. He’s uncovered several chaos cults and helped to stave off several tyranid, chaos and ork invasions from planets with not but a handful of other regiments and pdf. He’s fought greater deamons to a standstill and still not fallen an inch to the will of Chaos. He helped raise and teach a new generation of commissars in his own fashion leaving them a bit stand out from those outside his care. He’s one of the imperiums finest swordsmen who has not only matched but bested creatures and warriors who would be his superior. He is also a surprisingly good marksman who for all his “pish-posh” about having only standard if poor accuracy, can pick a small target off at quite the distance for a las pistol. He’s made friends with hundreds of people across the universe. He’s found a love and companionship in a Inquisitor. He’s managed to leave a legacy behind him which helps to inspire those around him and later reading on his exploits. And yeah while he prefers to avoid all danger, when he arrives at it, he faces it down each time and actually strives to protect those under him even sometimes at the cost to himself - tho he never admits such. Cain for all his small faults, is a Hero. And it’s sad that he never came to understand or appreciate that fact at his end, but his closest companion and even his lover seemed to understand him a bit more.
when you open up the Imperium's version of the DSM 5 and Look under the heading for "Imposter Syndrome" you'll find a full color picture of Cain looking at you and a big long list of all the excuses he comes up with to deny he's not actually a "hero" at all.
He fought a practice duel against an space marine, got a scratch in his armor and the space marine tells him he will leave the scratch there as a reminder to never undestimte his oponent He literlly humble a space marine in a duel
One of the funniest things about Caine is that when i was in the USMC, Caines books were up for review to be added to the recomended reading list for officers and enlisted leaders simply because his leadership solutions and his ability to turn any situation into a surviveable scenario
@@ImperialGuardsman2 I haven't, but if you were, were they actually actually accepted as part of recommended reading or rejected? Up for review to me means that they were thinking about it?
Honestly I think that Jurgen eventually does realise that Cain isnt as smart as everyone around him makes him out to be but he just doesnt care since he is the only person in this crapsack of a galaxy that treats him like an actual person and he just goes along with it
@@jamesflowers1295 Basically everyone wants to give him shit because he is a Blank, but Cain is in fact aware of this, so Cain understands at least that Jurgen is very very important, as Amberly eventually tells Cain as much(Jurgen is AFAIK unaware of his own nature) but yea...I mean...Jurgen literally got an inquisitor with a vested interest in his well being along with the greatest commissar there ever was, nobody ever gives him any shit outside of thinking he smells really bad :D For reference some people will outright want to murder a Blank, that is how unlikeable they are to humans with regular souls. Only reason Cain is still alive is in fact Jurgen tending towards carrying a chonky Melta gun whenever he expects trouble!
The whole thing with blanks is that they creep people out without even trying, so everybody either ignores them or hates them on sight. In the first chronological story, Cain actually went back to save Jurgen. I don’t think anybody had EVER done anything like that for him. And yeah, he actually seems to value and treat Jurgen like a human, and ignored his (many) flaws and quirks. Unsurprisingly Jurgen would’ve (and did) walk into hell for Cain.
@@jamesflowers1295 Memory serves, there's some mention of this, since Jurgen basically can get whatever he wants. Fortunately, he only has minor tastes. Porno slates, being the big one.
Cain is not so much a coward, as he is the owner of the galaxy’s entire supply of common sense. He’s also probably the only person in the entire setting that could charge into hand to hand combat with Khorne himself, survive and claim doing so was the cowardly option.
It was the cowardly option, behind him was Tzeench (who has future sight and warp powers), Slannesh (who even looking upon is worse than death) and Nurgle. (Getting near him would mean horrible death by disease even if you get away.) By contrast, Khorne is a purely physical threat who wants a good fight and so won't be going for the kill instantly, giving Cain a few more seconds of life at least. It just happened that the Emperor bailed him out in those seconds, likely because Cain dislikes 'emperor bothers' so when he started praying the big E realized this must be serious.
@@Sorain1 Khorne would want it to be an honourable duel too. And I wouldnt even be surprised if his being able to survive against khorne would be enough for khorne to kick him out of the warp and into the next battlefield just to see what will happen. Because wasting such good fighter material would indeed be a waste.
@@chriwehl7173 "At last, a worthy foe for my followers...you will not die here yet, Caiphas Cain. Your skull shall be taken as the final prize for a chosen's ascendance. NOW GO" (YEET)
Cain uses Jurgen as a human shield for paperwork and meeting people - but would not think of using him as a human shield in combat. I like to think that Jurgen has noticed this.
I feel like that is one of the reasons Jurgen has such unremitting loyalty to Cain. Cain is probably the only person he's ever known, to treat him as worthy of respect, the only person who would go out of his way to save Jurgen's life and likely the only person who has ever shown Jurgen anything resembling friendship.
I love how Cain’s go to quite for going head first into dangerous situations is most often “Almost certain Death is better than Certain Death” it’s his justification for doing dangerous things
@@TheAKgunner you overestimate how people would react to situations like that, normal people would hesistate, Cain just goes "damn that's rough, off to go to almost certainly die".
@@agentc7020 I know. I’m just saying that, when presented with the choice between certain death and almost certain death, people will choose the option with the best chance of survival.
@@TheAKgunnerand that’s why Commissar’s exist in the Imperium. Against a Greater Daemon you have a teeny tiny infinitesimal chance of surviving that fight. The commissar will just shoot you in the head and that’s that
His fighting skills are actually one of the few points where Cain admits that's he's way above average, being the best fencer in his graduating class at the schola and a very good shot with his laspistol. When he remarks that his instructors would gnash their teeth it's because he's picked up dirty tricks.
@@nationalsocialism3504 and he still believes at his heart he's the biggest faker in the Imperium. which is half the joke that makes up his character...
9:50 theres two very interesting things about Cain’s great relationship with the commanding officers - first, Cain downplays it but Amberley goes out of her way to explain how phenomenally rare it is.
It's kind of sad that Cain often doesn't realise that the way many in the Guard treat him is due to liking and respecting him, rather than his scarlet red sash.
@@somethinglikethat2176 oh he know thats why he treats them with respect cause those that dont die to "friendly fire" plus he knows what to say to keep up his front
@@somethinglikethat2176 He knows they like and respect him. A whole lot of his keeping face is trying to ensure exactly that so he can put a lot of volunteers between him and danger whilst avoiding the kind of "unfortunate enemy action" 5 miles from the front line that sometimes takes other commissars. What he doesn't realise, is that it does actually make him a good leader and valuable moral boost to nearby troops.
@@LurchTheBastard I am think that in his memoirs he is just joking about himself being a coward - maybe he feels uneasy with all that praise and thinks it is being undeserved due to the fact that he DOES feel fear. This is somewhat of a behaviour I find alike of a combat veteran, lying about himself "just doing papers in HQ" despite the fact he was doing anything but this and not in HQ but on the hottest places of frontline.
Regarding Cain's melee skills: The two World Eaters and the Hive Tyrant can at least partially be explained by Cain only dodging and distracting them so his allies could get a shot with heavy weapons. But the ork warboss (in _mega armour,_ even) he fought was 100% a one-on-one duel. No wounds or fatigue weakening him (not that either of those are likely to slow an ork down much), no melta blasts or autocannon barrages saving his ass, no psychic static from Jurgen canceling out the enemy's psychic powers or disturbing the hivemind at a critical moment. Just pure skill, a feint, and an extremely badass finishing move. And that was near the _start_ of his career. Also, his understanding of tactics and strategy (because a lack of these _gets you killed,_ and Cain isn't having any of that) was so complete that not only did Lord General Zyvan and similarly ranked officers ask for his advice...actual _space marines_ deferred to him on how to organize a defense. Okay, the one who did that was an Apothecary rather than a frontline officer but a.) he was still Astartes and b.) he was there with a small force of tactical marines.
An Eldar farseer: Cain must be an genius, look at him respond to ambushes that he somehow discovered! I think he might be a psyker! Caiphus Cain: *internally screams as he runs away from a horde of tyranids*
I want a Cain and Lamenters crossover adventure. Our boys in yellow just high fiving each other as they survived certain death while Cain is just weeping in the corner.
The Lamenters I think would be weeping, because for the first time in 200 years, one of their fireteams completed their mission; as a total success with no unexpected backfire, with all brothers alive and all their limbs intact. They would send a request for Cain to be attached to them going forward and said message would, of course, get lost before any higher up could even has a chance to say no.
I PRAY TO THE EMPEROR that its not solely focused on Space Marines. I want to see the Guard. Mechanics. Eldar. Orks. Hell, I'd be up for some sections being centered around Tyranid point of view. Just not more Space Marines only crap. Unless its the Salamanders. VULKAN LIVES *stomp stomp*.
@@UnderseaPumaKing the Tau would legitimately be a good choice, would be a lot easier to include on screen that Ork tech or Tyranid swarms. They would also work quite well to ease newer fans into grim dark by providing some contrast and at least a little respite from Smurfs and grimdark.
Bro isn't even selfish, he's just depressed as shit. Guy called an artillery strike on his own position, fought a daemon berserker, a psychic warlord, and a tyrannid master in 1v1s, and treats his guardsmen like human beings.
Two absolutely awesome things about Cain is that 1. He survived to retirement. Despite being a Commissar, despite being the go-to for suicidal missions, despite being an Inquisitor's toy, he Survived to Retirement. 2. He died Peacefully of Old Age and was buried with full military honours. What's better is that he seemingly died so many times that the Administratum got tired of changing his status between Alive and Killed in Action and they decided to just keep it as Alive regardless of what they are told. Because of that Cain is Still listed as Alive in the records despite being buried.
They are just going to hear "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!" from the backlines as Ciaphas *FUCKING* Cain comes in on a tank, no clue where he is. The Blood Angels and the Sisters of Battle immediately go "Cain has been reborn as an Imperial Saint! He must watch over the guardsman!" and you hear over his Vox "what? WHAT THE FUCK?!"
@@alexh3974 Makes me wonder if any Reclaimers were present for his funeral. Imagine being such an unrelenting badass that members of an Adeptus Astartes chapter attend your funeral.
@@HubiKoshi that would bring pretty epic if thr guard of honour was space marines. Suddenly you see a squad of marines marching two by two with a tech marine up front.
Some funny moments when a salnesh Deamon turned into things that soldiers love or beautiful people Cain said to the Deamon “impersonation of a inquistor is a crime” to which the Deamon was caught off guard and shot and Veil was a bit happy narration wise about that part another would be Cain dodging a bullet by accident by looking at his female soldiers butt
This comment alone will make me start reading Cain. Normally a plot armor main character that barely skates by alright feels kind of corny in the 40k universe but this sold it
@@oogskskfn still funny tho cause Cain literally was like "damn that's Thicc and nice even the said female soldier likes Cain's oggling when she notices it and literally saved Cain from few inches to sudden unexpected death
@@stalinsoulz7872 Doubly so, when said female soldier... Is the commander of the very regiment Cain's attached to, Col. Regina Kasteen. That's right, he's been ogling a woman who is technically his superior.
@Alexander Black not entirely correct. The commiserate are not part of the chain of command so she is not technically a superior officer. They function outside the CoC as enforcers of morale. The only real time they are given "rank" is in weird cases like the tanith first and only with ibram Gaunt.
I think what sold me on Cain was in the first story when forced to punish a member of the Vallahlan guard he was in charge of, he told him he understood the hot climate they were in was unbareable for someone native to a frozen wasteland. So instead of shooting a man for trying to keep cool by wearing only his boxers and a tanktop he asked he wear pants from now on and put him on latrine duty for a few months, and kept the regulation for their uniforms as at least boots, fatigue pants, and a tank top so they'd all avoid heat stroke. Sure it was for his own intrest to avoid having the troops let him die should it come to it, but he did at least try and treat the imperial guard who worked under him as people and wanted to keep moral up by making sure they were all happy as oposed to the usual laz gun for those who had complaints. He's the ideal boss really
Cain works on the same logic as the all guardsman party. Quality training, common sense and a self of self preservation, all characteristics that are desperately rare in the highest tiers of the setting. He is great, a tier of hero that makes a difference and that the common soldier can aspire towards.
my favorite bit abt Cain is how GW has artists purposefully draw him with a bolt pistol on the book covers (when in reality he prefers using a laspistol) because the cover art is meant to be a propagandistic portrayal of him.
Cain is one of the best characters in 40k! He is just a regular normal guy stuck in a literal hell among hells. He is exactly how we would act if we were in 40k. We're not heroes, we're cowards. And Cain is well an truly who we as fans would be if we were dropped into 40k.
Theory: Caiphas Cain only thinks he is a bad person because he has impostor syndrome on account of not wanting to die. He has been told his whole life that to want anything less than to die for the Emperor makes you less than human, so being just a little bit afraid of dying makes him think he is an irredeemable monster. Hence he always assumes the worst of his own actions, even if he is actually acting selflessly and with compassion to others.
Did you know that one time Sly Marbo was facing off against five orks at one time? He threw a grenade at them, killed them all, then the grenade exploded.
Tbh it's more the case of Ciaphas just downplaying his own deeds, because he's just a nice guy like that. In some books there are interjections written by his tsundere gf inquisitor, and she points out that he's a smart man, a capable commander and a swordsman bordering on peak of human capabilities (like, he's no Astartes, but he can win almost any duel he reasonably can expect to win, with someone of his own size and strength.)
He won fair and square against an Ork Warboss, and held his own against two Khorne Berserkers, that are basically melee specialists Space Marines. So yeah, Cain is insanely talented as a swordsman.
@@timothygrulke1308 So... He actually won that duel, and the Space Marine was a techmarine, with more than two arms... So yeah. The Marine was so impressed, that he decided to leave the dent Cain did in his armor, to remember him.
Cain: I pretend to care and be nice to my regiment only so they'll protect me and not shoot me in the back. Also Cain: Knows pretty much the entire regiment by name. Non sequitur, but Jurgen's melta is the mvp of the entire book series.
An Imperial officer is always require to carry a blank with you as an assistant to up the survival rate by 5%. The series also teach me how to differentiate between a normal space marine (Aquila Greeting) and a CogBoys Errand Marine (Cog Greeting)
I still like the theory that Amberly is really just a teenage girl in the Imperium and having read the Imperial propaganda about Cain, she has written all of these "memoirs" as self insert fanfiction
Eh, too much classified knowledge, even if it’s all made up stories, the mere mentioning of concepts that are purposely censored with great effort and success by the Imperium proves the theory wrong. Though it is canon that there are fanfics of Cain across the Imperium. Dude was the face the Imperial Guard of entire sectors of space and had countless books made about him and his campaigns and even a cult of, ironically enough, hardcore Emperor worshippers that annoyed him to no end. Also, being the total bro he was, he hated most of the holodramas and books written about him since they always left out Juergen.
My absolute favorite aspect of the Ciaphus Cain series is how all the artwork depicts him as a stoic, heroic boltpistol wielding statue of a man with a confident grin. I love his own thoughts about this depiction, how he hated that people kept trying to replace his beloved laspistol, which he admitted lacked firepower but would never give up because he was used to the weight and feel of the thing. The chainsword is the only part of the depiction which reflected reality, as even Amberley comments that he was strangely exceptional at close combat if for no other reason than he was so desperate to avoid being brutally murdered in melee. I love his character because, through Amberley's notes, we see that despite his internal feelings of cowardice and his attempts to coast through his duties, he actually performed his role as a commissar in a manner which few rarely achieve. He inspired loyalty, faith, and even love from those he served with. He provided key tactical insight and strategic foresight to those in command, and he most importantly didn't get his people killed due to overzealous fanaticism which is so common among those in his position. 40k stories are full of characters whose zeal outmatches their brains, and it's nice to see an inversion of the trope.
That is part a oddity. He is so good at close combat, because he not want to die. Because he trains so hard and regularly in close combat. Theirs books he did combat drills for a month straight, as had nothing but time to kill. With a chainswoed, aka the most challenging to finesse weapon theirnis for a human.
Part of me wonders if Cain keeps Jurgen around because having a blank around provides some assurance against getting his mind read by psykers, ergo protecting his reputation from his own constant internal panic. Also having never read the books I am now wondering if it's anything of a running gag for characters and groups normally written as getting their shit pushed in to actually turn out quite effective whenever Cain's around because Cain unwittingly has Huron Blackheart's ability to know when and where to best deploy the people he has to work with for their talents to have the most net positive effect. Like say having T'au allies provide cover fire and artillery support instead of just lettinh them end up in melee with something.
as far as I remember the books, Cain is a very good reader of Character and abuses of that to his advantage, but as he is out of the hierarchy of the Guard, his contributions to organization are limited.
He'd been working with Jurgen for a while before he finds out he's a blank. Despite looking like a nurgling that became entangled with a random collection of guards kit, Jurgen is probably as good as any soilder in the Guard.
As he was stuck way behind the enemy lines on an Ork infested world. He gathered the civilians and the local military people. Had logistics assigned to an incredible accountant, had convos with civvies thus learning key locations of stashes of weapons and food, and with his commissarial and heroic position elevated the military ranks of people who's competence levels were respective to their positions etc. Etc. And In another book when he was stuck in a tight spot had the ability to tell the people he was stuck with what to do and to actually WIN. HE'S AWESOME!!! I have All of his books with me and reading them is as fun as the first time it did. Really nice read
Cain originally had Jurgan (figurately) forced upon him by Cain's superior as a punishment masked as an award. (Cain was given an aide but he didn't get to choose who, his superior did, and the superior deliberately chose the least pleasant soldier to be around.) At first, Cain would have preferred a servant/employee who didn't stink but Cain quickly learned that Jurgan was both extremely loyal to him and made his life a lot easier. (Cain had employed Jurgan for a long time before he knew about Jurgan's blankness.) Jurgan did Cain's paperwork for him (Cain couldn't be bothered with paperwork and eventually that was a lot of paperwork), privately stole for Cain (Cain would say he wanted something, and Jurgan would mysteriously find a copy) no questions asked from either person and as Cain's career progressed, Jurgan could keep people who wanted to speak to Cain, away from him. Also Jurgan did tasks when necessary such as carrying heavy bags. So Jurgan was a bodyguard, valet and secretary... Also although on paper Jurgan was no longer a "soldier/guardsman," because he followed Cain into wars, there was little difference. Cain's life goal is to live as easy and safe life as possible, and Jurgan does a lot to help Cain maintain this. (If you are wondering why Cain is in the army when he wants a safe life, it is because he has never had a choice about his career. Also if Cain tried to "retire," he would be killed by his own side. A large aspect of his job (at first, at least), is to "violently remove" employees of the Imperial Guard who want to leave. Cain does what he can to avoid doing this.)
One thing that can't be understated is how he whips a regiment into shape. In one of the books, Colonel Kasteen berates the local guard that they are killing twice as many tyranids while taking only a third of their casualties. They're Vallhallans, the epitome of Soviet 'Drown them with our dead' strategies.
Cain has an excellent tactical mind and thinks and acts quickly. In many of the stories they act as a Sherlock and Watson to the Moriarty of whatever they are facing.
So this guy isn’t just a lucky coward, he is an extremely good leader who understands people and how to do well and be respected by them, as well as save face and lead. Also a bit of a badass too. Also get Kain some actual competent therapy so he can get over his imposter syndrome and he could conquer the universe
There's a Skaven like this in Age of Sigmar and he's always one of my favorite reads. There's also a segment in one of the last Felix and Gotrek books opens with a rando seeing Felix during battle and describing him as so fast, so strong, so amazing and then the book immediately backs up and describes the same thing from Felix's point of view and he embarrassed by how tired, slow and sloppy his sword work is. Felix routinely undersells himself though.
He's a coward, yet not a coward. He is pathetic, yet not in the slightest pathetic. Ciaphas Cain is a conundrum. He is thrown into the worst of situations, yet somehow always survives. Plot armor? Or maybe Emperor's grace upon him? As long as he's not fighting a force that the Emperor of Mankind can't handle, maybe he is defended? It would not be impossible to fathom, given that ol' Bale eye Yarrick had the ironic protection of the very Orcs he was fighting against because of how they believed him to be much, much stronger. So why can't Cain have the protection of the Emperor while Yarrick has the "protection" of the Orcs (as long as he's surrounded by, or fighting them)? Of course we know what has ultimately happened to Yarrick, but point still remains. I still find Cain an ironically admirable character. He is capable of befriending a Blank. Showing human decency in a world where many would just straight up kill them. Cain is a special case and that is why I think it possible there is some Emperor trickery involved... or rather would not be surprised if such was revealed.
Yes, a newly found favorite character of mine in the 40k universe. Don't know why it took me so long to start reading the Ciaphas Cain books....I've enjoyed each and every one so far. Moreover, Cain has introduced me to the Imperial Guard, a force that I have truly underestimated. But, let's all be honest to the true hero of these tales......my boy Jurgen!!
My favorite is "Caintstead" both BEFORE and AFTER lmfao and the fact that happened and Cain laughed about it and called it ridiculous when he found out 😂😆😂😆😂😆
The best part was when he learned the Holodrama they made of his campaign there didn’t include Jurgen, he was legitimately kinda pissed. Also even fairly early on his career when he thought Jurgen died to a genestealer attack, he went into shock for pretty much the only time every in the books. Despite this being very early on in his career and only being with Jurgen for a few short years at this point, he saw him as his closest friend and always assumed that when he finally died, it would’ve been back to back with Jurgen in some epic last stand.
Cain is the literal definition of a giga Chad. He’s the best mortal swordsman in the segmentum if not the galaxy, considering he is so skilled that even Space Marines find him a worthy melee opponent. The tech marine of the reclaimers chapter spent a long time sparring with him. He’s such a bad ass that even they knew of him well before they met him.
Part of me is somewhat convinced that Cain is possibly a latent psycher. This would potentially explain why Jurgen seems to smell way worse to his than anyone else (yes he has gotten used to the smell but people don’t complain about how bad Jurgen smells as much as Cain does), his seeming ability to convince most people to do what he wants, his ability to find his way underground, and his ridiculous string of good/bad luck in combat situations. (Though that could be because he isn’t “an emperor botherer” and Big E just gives him some help occasionally).
he's not. otherwise he would be awaken when come to contact with the Shadowlight (the macguffin of book 4-5-6) which can trigger power of latent psyker.
Cain actually became very close to Kasteen and Broklaw. After a while, it becomes normal for them to have either casual talks (when not in action) or planning the battlefield (when in action). It's to the point that he will, after a battle, invite them to lunch.
My favorite fun fact about Ciaphas Cain is that there is an order that Ciaphas Cain is always considered as in active duty no matter the circumstances of his presumed death. So even after having a ceremonial funeral with his body being layed to rest, he is still considered in active duty in all official documents.
Nice work! Love that you touched on Cain's dual nature as one of the settings biggest scardey cats and its bravest man. Cain was my second intro to the 40k world after Dawn of War and remains my biggest reason I've stuck with the setting. His stories remind me of how for all the huge battles and larger than life figures, there are still the small stories of this world to be told. Also, Cain's humor and sheer ridiculous adventures are amazingly entertaining. My 2 bits I love best about the books are: The number of Easter Eggs/Bonus Jokes the author adds. For example poking fun at Guant's Ghosts by have the classic "Who wants to lie forever" line be mocked as overly dramatic, propaganda movie dialogue. Second, the time the regiment leaves an awakening tomb world and blows the site from orbit. They use enough explosives the space ships feel it. Stupid, but classic 40k overkill.
Somewhere early March this year, someone was talking about WH40K movies and Henry Cavill. Another person posted a funny video about Ciaphas Cain (Emperor TTS) and said it would be amazing role for him. I liked the video and decided, for the first time, to check WH40K books. Started with Eisenhorn, then moved to Ciaphas Cain...today I finished Choose Your Enemies. If anyone ever saw me reading those books, they'd probably wonder what I'm grinning at the whole time. Such a great and fun read. Loved it and can't wait for the new one that's supposed to come out this year.
Cain's sense of just how ridiculous his life is is what makes his stories so tantalising. I'm desperately trying to find the 2nd and 3rd Omnibus in physical copy here in the UK. No luck thus far :(
fun fact during the dornian heresy timeline cadia siege at the lowest point cain manages to pull the forces of cadia together, only to die. then everyone on cadias complete faith in him brought him back as an imperial saint
General Jenit Sulla is my favorite character in all of 40K. She is constantly the answer I give when ever someone asks what character I wish was added to the table top. I don’t play IG, but I would buy a new army if GW were to add her to the next codex!
@@EthanPineapple being angry on the internet is not a substitute to social interaction. I don't listen to audiobooks myself, but that's because they just don't work for me, I can't concentrate on them, but you'll not see me shaming anyone who loves audiobooks, everyone has their preferences
Cain's cowardice and self-centeredness is a coping mechanism that he uses to maintain his sanity. If he were to acknowledge the likely reality that he has been imbued by the will and power of the Emperor, he would lose his mind.
I loved this, some how Ciaphis Cain is both a coward, bad ass, a good leader and a guy who’s in a relationship with a woman who can make him not exist. Great work man
That fact he actually retires is the thing that gets me in the end. Like dude was wanting to get out from the get go and by Sigmar he did. Might have taken him decades and more action than he ever wanted to sign up for but my dude was shagging nines and doing lines up until the end when he retired to live the rest of his comparatively short life in peace and quiet far far far far far away from the nearest hostile voring thing.
Cain: *Downplays all his actions as cowardice Me: "By the Emperor, the entire reason the Imperium exists is for humanity's self-preservation. It's okay."
Ciaphis Cain is a work study in the difference between internal thoughts and action. Yeah, he calls himself a coward, but his actions say very differently.
I had to nod so much during this video ^^ Sulla is a lot of fun as a side character and everytime Inquisitor Vail goes "Damn... unfortunately, I now have to use material from Sully, appologies in advance", it makes me grin.
The thing that defines Cain to me is how much of an unreliable narrator he is throughout his adventures. In-universe, this mainly stems from all the books being re-edited memoirs written literally centuries after the events, where he's looking back at his younger self with a mixture of self-deprecation and impostor syndrome. It's because of all of these layers that he's one of my favorite characters in all of fiction. If you ask me, Cain started out as a talented hustler who got his over-inflated reputation through more luck than skill, and even though he eventually grew into truly deserving all the praise he got, that initial discrepancy caused him to feel like he never deserved any of it, despite the countless genuinely heroic acts he performed over the decades. I like that kind of nuance in my heroes.
8:00 if I recall correctly while Cain was adequately wary of all the enemies of the empire he’d fought none induced pure terror in him quite like the Necrons
I started reading Ciaphas Cain's books about the same time this video was released. I finally finished the 3 omnibus today and you can bet I'm back here to watch it!
I think my favourite of the remarks Amberley puts into the books is in the more recent one (Vainglorious) (no spoilers, it's easily not plot-related out of context), is when he's remarking to himself "...because If you can't trust an Inquisitor, who CAN you trust?" Amberley's note is simply "Hah!"
I've never read Ciaphas Cain books but they are now on "to get" list. Personally characters like this are much more interesting than all powerful perfect heroes and to quote my father who was an senior lieutenant of a combat recognisance and diversion company - Bravery is not about not knowing fear, fear is an instinct that tells you something is wrong it keeps you alive. To be brave is to be afraid and to move on.
Cain has used a number of different weapons over the years. Las Pistol Chainsword Blot pistol Hell gun Tau plasma pistol Tyranids Ork shootas Null rod A rusty bayonet and flask of holy water Volcano And my personal favorite, a chair leg to kill a carnifix.
This really makes me wonder what a two-man operation between Ciaphas Cain and Sly Marbo would look like. I know it's not possible because they're in completely different parts of the Militarium (Militarum?), but I'd love to see how they act around each other and during the mission when both are quiet individuals for entirely different reasons...
The Ciaphas Cain books were the first Warhammer related books I read. I had a cousin who got me into it. I read the Ciaphas Cain books and was hooked! Compared to most every other Warhammer book, they seemed a bit more lighthearted and comedic at times. I read Gaunts Ghosts eventually. Gaunt's Ghosts books were equally amazing, but very much bitter sweet. They were an emotional roller coaster at times.
There is a time in "The greater good" that Cain says that it takes alot for him to get scared (or something similar) and amberly cuts it to laugh for a second.
It should also be mentioned that in a lot of records they omit Jurgen while in Cain's memoirs he always says how Jurgen plays a vital role in most things all of Jurgen merits goes to Cain's legend building.
I have to get a bit OCD and correct some people down thread. Caine never actually had sex with the Slaaneeshi witch who eventually became a full on demon. She was in the process of seducing Caine (and Caine *is* vulnerable to beautiful women) when she made the mistake of saying her Patron's name. This name (Slaaneesh) sent such a blast of primal terror through him that it broke her compulsion spells and he promptly shot her between the eyes. Then called in an artillery barrage to level that building.
About Cain's constant active status despite him dying of old age: Having experienced and taken part of military bureaucracy, at some point they just issued an order "don't list him dead till the body is recovered and a genetic scan is run". Then, after he settled, noone was informed of this order where he was, so after he died nobody even knew that this scan has to be run. The scribes back at Munitorum recieved a standard "deceased" report but no additional paperwork to go with it as requested by that order, at which point they were like "Okay, it is really obvious but it's happened before and I'm sick of fixing paperwork for that dude, so I'm just gonna write a formal reply to that and reference that order and keep him listed active - just one paper instead of dozens. And all by regulations." I wouldn't be surprised someone's also pocketing his wages.
He formed the murderous Valhallans into a Kill Team, went on a suicide mission with them, survived, and had to shoot the other survivors because they got tainted by Genestealers (but Cain and Jurgen got out clean).
This was too damn entertaining. I already liked Cain from what I'd heard in passing, but your storytelling is perfectly balanced between fact telling and bona-fide humor. Keep it up, Brother.
The notion of fighting skill is nice but I'd give an arm to have a wingman like Jergan on some days. Also the part where he made the two guard regiments bond until they shagged has to be the funniest thing in all of 40K. Slaanesh arguing if it should be happy or sad in the situation.
