Kane (series)

Kane is a fantasy Anti-Hero or Villain Protagonist appearing in a series of novels and short stories by Karl Edward Wagner.

Not to be confused with Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane. Or Charles Foster Kane. Or the WWE's Kane. Or the Messiah.


 * Action Girl: Teres in Bloodstone.
 * Asshole Victim: Ionor in Raven's Eyrie (in an attempt to mitigate a Moral Event Horizon by Kane).
 * Anti-Hero: Kane and some of his companions.
 * Black and Gray Morality.
 * Cain and Abel: Kane is based on Cain from The Bible. Kane was one of the first humans, created by a mad god. Kane was cursed for disobeying the god and killing his brother Abel.
 * The Chick: M'Cori in Darkness Weaves.
 * Cursed with Awesome: Kane is "cursed" with immortality and the ability to heal all wounds. Fortunately, he rarely angsts. He mostly just kicks butt.
 * Eldritch Abomination: The Scylredi in Darkness Weaves, the titular Bloodstone and others.
 * Evil Versus Evil: Kane is often pitted against villains even worse than him.
 * God Is Dead: According to Kane in At First Just Ghostly: "There was a god. I killed him."
 * Kill'Em All: In some stories, almost all named characters die and only Kane survives.
 * Knight Templar: Gaethaa from Cold Light.
 * Left for Dead: in Darkness Weaves.
 * Lost Technology: The Scylredi technology in Darkness Weaves.
 * Made of Iron: Kane can take immense amounts of punishment and still fight on.
 * Magic From Technology: It is suggested that all magic is like this.
 * Precursors: The Scylredi, Krelran and other unnamed "elder races" in Darkness Weaves and Bloodstone.
 * Prophecies Are Always Right: Subverted in Darkness Weaves:
 * Religion of Evil: The cult of Sataki in Dark Crusade.
 * Squick: Kane having sex with Efrel in Darkness Weaves.
 * Villain Protagonist: Kane.
 * The Untwist: In Dark Crusade, the evil god's dark prophet has amassed an army of fanatics. They march to face a vastly superior force of well-armed, well-trained knights and soldiers. The knights are naturally confident that they will easily defeat this rabble.