Ciaphas Cain/Characters: Difference between revisions

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Note that the article contains '''unmarked spoilers'''. Even the name of one of the folders is a notable spoiler for one of the books. <!-- Inquisitor Amberly Vail's Crew, to be more precise%% -->

* [[Cyborg]] -- Cain has two augmetic fingers; in ''Caves of Ice'' he mentions that they're the only parts of his body that don't feel cold when he's out in the freezing arctic wind.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Best exemplified in ''The Traitor's Hand'', where he never once lets a "'''[[Large Ham|BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!]]'''" pass unmocked.

* [[Destructive Saviour]] -- Cain has favored this approach on at least five distinct separate occasions. Granted, all of them crossed the [[Godzilla Threshold]]. In his own words, no machinery can cost as much as a life of a single soldier (especially if the soldier in question is him).

** In ''Caves of Ice'', he blows up the very promethium refinery his regiment was sent to defend {{spoiler|in order to destroy the Necron tomb and active Warp portal located beneath it}}.

* [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]] -- He was initially introduced as a [[Bumbling Sidekick]], but rapidly became an elite (if still immensely dirty) soldier who sticks with Cain for practically his entire, insanely dangerous, career. Although Cain is actually a fantastic warrior and leader, Jurgen saves his life as many times (if not more) than Cain saves his and Cain is under no illusions that Jurgen (as a blank) is more valuable to Amberley than he is.

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]] -- In ''The Emperor's Finest'' Cain has Jurgen take a shot at a fuel tank too far for him to hit himself. Jurgen has to try a few times, but then it's revealed he was actually aiming for ''the release valve'' assuming that was what Cain meant.

* [[Literal Minded]]

* [[Loners Are Freaks]] -- In Jurgen's case, though, it's the freakishness which causes the social isolation. Most other people find blanks to be subtly unsettling and thus look down on them with contempt. The fact that Cain still treats Jurgen like a human being ought to is yet another sign that some readers use to claim that Cain has [[Hidden Depths|hidden strength of character]].

* [[Sidekick]] -- Even if every history about Cain's adventures but his own leaves him out entirely. A fact which Cain reputedly hated, as evidenced by his disdain for the [[Shout-Out|holodrama]] ''[[Hogan's Heroes|Cain's Heroes]]'', about his adventures in ''Death Or Glory'', which left Jurgen and several other vital characters out completely.

** [[Sidekick Ex Machina]] -- The "Jurgen ex machina" is notorious among fans of [[Ciaphas Cain]]; he's almost always what allows Ciaphas to execute the killing blow. When he doesn't simply pull his melta and do it himself.

* [[The Stoic]]

* [[Too Dumb to Fool]]

A sergeant in the Valhallan 597th, Penlan is noted for being very accident prone, leading to her nickname "Jinxie".

 

* [[Dojikko]]

* [[Eating the Eye Candy]]: In ''The Traitor's Hand'' she was almost jealous of a picture of Slaaneshi artwork in a sexual position she thought impossible. Cain assured her it wasn't possible, and that even if it was it would be against regulations.

* [[Sergeant Rock]]

 

* [[Lawful Stupid]]: See Beije's above mention for the info.

* [[Serious Business]]: Everything he does.

 

=== Adeptus Mechanicus ===

 

* [[Big Bad]]: Of ''Duty Calls''.

* [[State Sec]]

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: How Radical Xanthians are usually portrayed. Killian doesn't come off so well, though.