Deckard Cain

Last updated
Deckard Cain
Diablo character
DeckardCain.jpg
Deckard Cain as he appears in a cinematic cutscene from Diablo III
First appearance Diablo (1997)
Created by Blizzard Entertainment
Voiced by Michael Gough
In-universe information
HomeTristram

Deckard Cain is a fictional character who appears in the Diablo video game franchise by Blizzard Entertainment. Within the series, Cain is a prominent non player character who acts as an advisor and guide to the player character of the first three games, and represents the wise old man archetype who provides most of the in-game lore. Cain is the last surviving descendant of the original members of the Horadrim, an ancient order of magicians charged with trapping the series' primary antagonists within enchanted crystals and guarding them thereafter. Cain has appeared in series related media, and appears as a playable hero in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game Heroes of the Storm . The character is originally named after the winning entry of a fan contest organized by Blizzard and PC Gamer , and is voiced by Michael Gough for all media.

Contents

Cain has received a mostly positive reception, and is considered by several commentators to be an iconic character originating from the Diablo series.

Creation and development

Cain is named after the son of a fan of video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment; his full legal name is Deckard Cain Elder, with his first name taken from Harrison Ford's character in the movie Blade Runner , and his middle name is his mother's maiden name. [1] This was the result of a promotional contest jointly run between Blizzard and PC Gamer in the mid-1990's, which gave fans an opportunity to have their name referenced in the then-upcoming Diablo , and the winning entry was to be drawn by random pick. [1] [2] Deckard Elder's father decided to submit a postcard with his son's full legal name as he felt that it was unique. [1] The Elder family later received a letter personally written by Diablo producer Bill Roper to congratulate their winning entry, as well as a bundle of gift prizes which included a copy of the game and assorted merchandise. [2] [1]

On April 1, 2009, Blizzard announced a new character class for Diablo III called the Archivist, which was soon revealed as an April Fool's Day hoax. [3] [4] According to a post uploaded on Blizzard's official Diablo Facebook account the following year, the original concept of the joke was to create a character archetype based on Deckard Cain, a frail and elderly character unsuited for physical combat. Cain's character model for Diablo III was reskinned and repurposed for the gameplay reveal trailer and website assets. [5] Another prank by Blizzard Entertainment for April Fool's Day the following year involved the false advertisement of a Deckard Cain GPS voice pack for sale as merchandise. [6]

Hero designer for Heroes of the Storm Nathan LaMusga said that Cain has been discussed as a potential addition to Heroes of the Storm by the developmental team for a long time, but the team struggled to design him as a fun and engaging playable character. LaMusga was of he view that he is "one of the hardest heroes to think of design". [7] Lead Hero Designer of Heroes of the Storm Matt Viller noted that about a year before the character's 2018 debut, his team started to take the idea of Cain as a hero seriously as he is a "very iconic character" who is closely associated with the Diablo series, though they faced some challenges in trying to make the character "fun and interesting" to play. [6] They experimented with abilities that incorporate paper-based material like books and scrolls, and decided to shift the focus away from his physical traits into a backline support archetype with abilities such as repetitive usage of healing potions and shooting "Horadric Cubes" which slow the movements of enemy characters. [8] The developers also reintroduced an ability called "Lorenado", which was originally demonstrated by the Archivist in video footage of the 2009 April Fool's Day prank. [4]

Appearances

Diablo series

In Diablo, Cain first appears in Tristram as the town's elder, where he remains for the entirety of the game. He is encountered standing next to a fountain in the middle of town, where he provides advice, spread gossip, and identifies items for a small fee. He eventually reveals to the player character that his ancestor, Jered Cain, is a leader of the Horadrim Order who personally led the party that pursued and captured series antagonist Diablo. The Horadrim imprisoned Diablo and his brothers, the Prime Evils, within enchanted crystals known as Soulstones.

In Diablo II, he is rescued from a gibbet next to the same fountain in Tristram, and travels as a constant companion of the player character for the remainder of the game. If he was rescued by the player, he offers his service to identify magical items free of charge as a token of his gratitude, but otherwise charges a fee if the player does not retrieve him from Tristram and Cain is rescued by the Rogue Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye instead.

Cain returns as a supporting character in Diablo III, which takes place twenty years after the second game, and is assisted by his ward Leah. Cain gives written and voice narration for a vast number of lore items found in Diablo III. In the game's storyline, he is rescued from the ruins of Tristram's Cathedral after falling into its depths as a result of a "fallen star" impacting the Cathedral in the opening cinematic, and directs most of the major quests of Act I. By the end of Act I, Cain is fatally wounded by the witch Maghda and her Dark Coven, who seek the "fallen star", later revealed to be the fallen archangel Tyrael. Cain's last act before dying is to use his Horadric magic to reforge Tyrael's broken sword, recovered by the player character, and determines that it is angelic in origin. At the cinematic leading into Act II, Cain is cremated on a pyre in the graveyard outside the cathedral. The player character's early quests in Act II involve hunting down Maghda and slaying her as retribution for Cain's death.

Cain appears in the 2022 title Diablo Immortal , a prequel set years before the events of Diablo III.

During Act 3 of Diablo IV, the non-player character Meshif refers to Lorath, an ally of the player character, as Deckard Cain for reasons unknown.

Heroes of the Storm

Cain is designed as a support hero with good healing, area denial and debuffing abilities, but has weak points when it comes to mobility. Cain can provide reciprocal benefits to other team characters; he receives improved defense abilities when he remains in close proximity to allied characters as a passive ability, and can help facilitate hit point recovery in return by throwing healing potions. The character's "heroic" abilities include the "Lorenado", which sends out a swirling, damaging tome that knocks away enemies, and "Stay Awhile and Listen", which references the character's famous catchphrase and puts all enemy characters within Cain's immediate vicinity to sleep briefly. [9]

Other appearances

Cain appears in the video game Overwatch as the PA announcer for the Diablo zone of Blizzard World, a virtual theme park filled with attractions and references inspired by various Blizzard-developed intellectual properties. Michael Chu, the lead writer of Overwatch said the opportunity to record Deckard Cain's voice actor again was a highlight of the project for him. [10]

Cain has appeared in a number of media outside of the video games which are set in the Diablo series' universe. Cain's backstory and family history is explored in Diablo: The Order which was published on the same day as the worldwide release of Diablo III. Cain is featured in supplemental products published between 1999 and 2001 by Wizards of the Coast as part of the tabletop role playing game adaptation of the Diablo series. The character is also listed as the credited "author" for the 2012 sourcebook Diablo III: Book of Cain.

Reception and legacy

The character has received a positive reception, and is a popular character with players and video game journalists such as Tom Senior from PC Gamer. [11] IGN ranked Cain as the 9th best Blizzard character of all time, praising the character as an "everlasting icon of nostalgia" and for having "one of the most quotable lines in all of Blizzard’s infinitely quotable universes". [12] Joey Davidson from TechnoBuffalo opined that Cain is "one of the gaming industry's most iconic characters" and that any player who "spent even a blip of time with Diablo knows exactly who Cain is and where to find him". [2] Joey Thurmond from Game Informer expressed a fondness for Cain and other "wise, scholarly characters in fantasy stories" like him, such as Gandalf or Paarthurnax from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . [13] Earnest Cavalli from The Escapist noted that Cain is one of the "most famous cryptic old men" in video games and that prior to the release of Diablo III, he was the series' only true recurring character. [1] Devin Rigotti from Red Bull praised the character as a great video game character to get stuck on an island with. He suggested that Cain is "probably the greatest source of lore that exists in gaming" and that it would be great to "stay a while and listen". [14] On the other hand, Steven Asarch from Newsweek detested Cain's "boring, dragging diatribe about the Nephalem and demons" and wanted to never hear his dialogue again. He compared Cain's behavior to that of Navi in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , and claimed that he resented the in-game guide in both games more than any foe he faced. [8]

Deckard Cain was a highly requested character for inclusion into Heroes of the Storm. [1] [15] Gergo Vas from Kotaku acknowledged the character's popularity and described him as a "well known unique character" who does not fit into the archetypal "epic fantasy/sci-fi hero” category, and that gameplay mechanics involving such a character would be amusing though problematic to balance. [15] Dominic Tarason from Rock, Paper and Shotgun said Cain's HotS incarnation has some pretty hilarious heroic abilities. [9] Thurmond considered Cain to be a curious yet exciting addition to the game's roster. He suggested that while the wizened scholar may lack speed and be of little use when prevented from utilizing his abilities, his role as a melee support character makes him an invaluable asset to protect with his healing and stat-altering abilities, and to sustain his teammates in battle. [13]

Tarason commented that for most other games in the genre, entirely non-combat and pure support characters like Cain are not very viable. [16] Tarason noted that a solution presented by Heroes of the Storm is by letting individual players be part of their entire team's shared level progression. As a result, most sources have praised Cain's primary role as providing support and buff and heal and slowing the enemy team down instead of confronting enemies head on to be highly valuable. [17] Wesley Yin-Poole from Eurogamer said making Cain a less combat-oriented character has given Blizzard the opportunity to adopt a tongue-in-cheek approach with his dialogue and skills, and regarded some of his abilities to be "nice nods" in relation to the series' lore. He noted that while fans are used to seeing a wizened and elderly Cain who has some difficulty with mobility and that he is capable of casting the occasional helpful spell, the manner Blizzard has designed and interpreted the character's abilities in combat makes him an effective contender while at the same time preserving the original essence of the character. [18] Ali Jones from PCGamesN noted that some series fans have also expressed a preference to see Cain paired with a minor character named Neeve in a romantic relationship. [19]

Elements from the first Diablo game, including Cain's in-universe role, heavily influenced the 2018 isometric hack and slash game Book of Demons . One character featured in the game, known as the Sage, identifies cards and writes lore entries for the in-game bestiary. In his review of Book of Demons, Shaun M Jooste from Air Entertainment commented that the Sage's voice was so close to Cain's, he was almost certain that they are both voiced by the same voice actor. [20]

Related Research Articles

<i>Diablo II</i> 2000 video game

Diablo II is an action role-playing hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and macOS. The game, with its dark fantasy and horror themes, was conceptualized and designed by David Brevik and Erich Schaefer, who, with Max Schaefer, acted as project leads on the game. The producers were Matthew Householder and Bill Roper. The game was developed over a three-year period, with a crunch time of a year and a half.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Player character</span> Character controlled by a game player

A player character is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character.

<i>Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos</i> 2002 video game

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, after Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, the third game set in the Warcraft fictional universe, and the first to be rendered in three dimensions. An expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, was released in July 2003. Warcraft III is set several years after the events of Warcraft II, and tells the story of the Burning Legion's attempt to conquer the fictional world of Azeroth with the help of an army of the Undead, led by fallen paladin Arthas Menethil. It chronicles the combined efforts of the Human Alliance, Orcish Horde, and Night Elves to stop them before they can corrupt the World Tree.

An action role-playing game is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cow level</span> Hidden level in the video game Diablo II

The secret cow level, or simply the cow level, is a level featured in the action role-playing hack and slash video game series Diablo, developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It first appears as postgame content in 2000's Diablo II, where it is officially known as the "Moo Moo Farm". Players may access the level after collecting a special combination of items to conjure a portal leading to the level. The player character is confronted upon arrival by a large horde of armed anthropomorphic cows led by a boss character called the "Cow King".

<i>Diablo</i> (series) Video game franchise

Diablo is an action role-playing dungeon crawler video game series developed by Blizzard North and continued by Blizzard Entertainment after the North studio shut down in 2005. The series is made up of four core games: Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo III, and Diablo IV. Expansions include the third-party published Hellfire, which follows the first game; Lord of Destruction, published by Blizzard and released after the second game; and Reaper of Souls, which follows the third game. Additional content is provided through story elements explored in other media forms.

<i>Diablo: Hellfire</i> 1997 video game

Hellfire, often called Diablo: Hellfire, is an expansion pack for the video game Diablo, developed by Synergistic Software, a Sierra division, and published by Sierra On-Line in 1997. Despite the objections of Blizzard Entertainment, the Hellfire expansion was produced, permitted by Davidson & Associates, their parent company at the time. Blizzard North, who was developing the sequel Diablo II, thus imposed numerous restrictions upon Synergistic Software's development of Hellfire.

<i>Diablo</i> (video game) 1997 action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North

Diablo is an action role-playing video game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment in January 1997, and is the first installment in the video game series of the same name.

<i>Diablo III</i> 2012 action role-playing video game

Diablo III is a 2012 online-only hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the Diablo franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2014, and Nintendo Switch in November 2018. Set 20 years after the events of Diablo II, players control one of seven character classes – Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor, or Wizard – and are tasked with defeating Diablo.

Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that improve over the course of a game and which contribute to the team's overall strategy. The typical objective is for each team to destroy their opponents' main structure, located at the opposite corner of the battlefield. In some MOBA games, the objective can be defeating every player on the enemy team. Players are assisted by computer-controlled units that periodically spawn in groups and march forward along set paths toward their enemy's base, which is heavily guarded by defensive structures. This type of multiplayer online video games originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy, though MOBA players usually do not construct buildings or units. Moreover, there are examples of MOBA games that are not considered real-time strategy games, such as Smite (2014), and Paragon. The genre is seen as a fusion of real-time strategy, role-playing and action games.

<i>Heroes of the Storm</i> 2015 video game

Heroes of the Storm is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Announced at BlizzCon 2010, it was released on June 2, 2015 for macOS and Windows. The game features various characters from Blizzard's franchises as playable heroes, as well as different battlegrounds based on Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and Overwatch universes.

<i>Diablo III: Reaper of Souls</i> Expansion pack for the action role-playing video game Diablo III

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is an expansion pack for the action role-playing video game Diablo III. It was revealed at Gamescom 2013. It was released for the PC and Mac versions of Diablo III on March 25, 2014. The expansion pack content was released as part of the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition version for consoles on August 19 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. That edition expanded the base Diablo III game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and brought the game for the first time to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthas Menethil</span> Fictional character

Arthas Menethil is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment. He was once a paladin of the Silver Hand and the crown prince of Lordaeron, but he was corrupted by the cursed blade Frostmourne in a bid to save his people. He later became the Lich King, one of the most prominent antagonists in Warcraft lore. Arthas also appears as a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm. The critical reception of the character has been mostly positive.

Tracer is a character who appears in Overwatch, a franchise centered around first-person hero shooter video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Tracer was first seen in the 2014 Overwatch Cinematic Trailer short. She was introduced as a playable character in an April 2016 update for the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm, nearly a month prior to the release of the first Overwatch game. She appeared again in Overwatch 2, a 2022 sequel to the original game.

The Overwatch franchise, a series of first-person shooter games developed by Blizzard Entertainment consists of 39 playable characters across both games. The original 2016 game, Overwatch, featured 32 playable characters known as heroes and a number of supporting characters as part of the game's narrative, which is told through animated media and digital comics outside of the game. Its sequel, Overwatch 2, was released in October 2022 and replaced Overwatch. The sequel builds upon the same hero roster and added more characters, currently consisting of 39 heroes. However, as Overwatch 2 had been developed to be a faster game with five-versus-five teams rather than six-versus-six, several of the characters had tweaks or major rebuilds within Overwatch 2, as well as different character designs.

Hanzo (<i>Overwatch</i>) Fictional character in Overwatch

Hanzo Shimada is a playable character appearing in the 2016 video game Overwatch, a first-person shooter video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Outside of Overwatch, Hanzo also appears in related media, which includes animated shorts and webcomics, as well as a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online game Heroes of the Storm. He appeared again in Overwatch 2, a 2022 sequel to the original game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doomfist</span> Fictional character in the 2016 video game Overwatch

Doomfist, full name Akande Ogundimu, is a character who first appears in the 2016 video game Overwatch, a Blizzard Entertainment–developed first-person shooter. His design is based on a powerful, cybernetic gauntlet. As an offensive, brawler-style character, he uses close-range attacks: a charged punch and slam. Doomfist was released in late July 2017 as the title's 25th hero of the franchise, and the fourth introduced after the game's launch.

Brigitte (<i>Overwatch</i>) Fictional player character in the 2016 video game Overwatch

Brigitte Lindholm is a fictional player character who appears in the 2016 video game Overwatch—a first-person shooter developed by Blizzard Entertainment—and related animations and literary media. Although Overwatch was released in 2016, Brigitte was introduced as a playable support character in a March 2018 update for the game. Prior to her video game debut, she first appeared in Dragon Slayer, an issue of the Overwatch digital comic series.

<i>Diablo IV</i> 2023 video game

Diablo IV is a 2023 online-only action role-playing dungeon crawling game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth main installment in the Diablo series. Announced at BlizzCon 2019, the game was released on June 5, 2023 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S, and Microsoft Windows. Players create a character from one of five playable classes—Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, or Sorcerer—and use their skills to complete quests through combat.

<i>Overwatch</i> Multimedia franchise

Overwatch is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Overwatch was released in 2016, and Overwatch 2 was released in 2022. Both games feature hero-based combat between two teams of players vying over various objectives, along with other traditional gameplay modes.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Earnest "Nex" Cavalli (December 20, 2011). "Meet The Real Deckard Cain". The Escapist. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Joey Davidson (December 19, 2011). "Ever Wonder Who Diablo's Deckard Cain was Named After?". TechnoBuffalo. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  3. ↑ Alice O'Connor (April 1, 2009). "April Fools Brings New Diablo 3 Class 'Unveil'". Shacknews . Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Stephanie Chan (April 5, 2018). "Deckard Cain will soon stay awhile and put enemies to sleep in Heroes of the Storm". VentureBeat . Archived from the original on June 14, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Diablo Reveals Secret of the Archivist". DiabloII.net. May 12, 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Thorsen, Tor (April 1, 2010). "April Fools' Day 2010 roundup". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  7. ↑ Philip Kollar (November 9, 2016). "Heroes of the Storm dev issues a challenge to fans: Share your Deckard Cain designs". Polygon . Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Steven Asarch (April 12, 2018). "'Heroes of The Storm' To Add Deckard Cain To Roster, But Why?". Newsweek . Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Bo Moore (April 6, 2018). "Deckard Cain puts enemies to sleep in Heroes of the Storm by reading them Diablo lore". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  10. ↑ Dustin Bailey (November 8, 2017). "Deckard Cain is back for Overwatch's Blizzard World and it's "one of the highlights"". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Tom Senior". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Top 25 Best Blizzard Characters". IGN. November 3, 2017. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  13. 1 2 Joey Thurmond (Apr 5, 2018). "Diablo's Deckard Cain Is Ready To School His Peers In Heroes Of The Storm". Gameinformer. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  14. ↑ Devin 'Hellbird' Rigotti (May 12, 2020). "Let's say you were trapped on a desert island, which isn't necessarily a desert in this case, and you had to be stuck with one video game character, which one would it be?". Red Bull . Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Gergo Vas (February 26, 2016). "If Diablo's Deckard Cain Were In Heroes Of The Storm". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  16. ↑ Dominic Tarason (April 5, 2018). "Deckard Cain slowly shuffles into Heroes of The Storm". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  17. ↑ Wesley Yin-Poole (April 6, 2018). "Diablo's Deckard Cain is coming to Heroes of the Storm". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  18. ↑ Michael McWhertor (April 5, 2018). "Diablo's Deckard Cain will be playable in Heroes of the Storm". Polygon . Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  19. ↑ Ali Jones (May 1, 2018). "Heroes of the Storm's characters "find Deckard Cain attractive on a whole new level"". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  20. ↑ Shaun M Jooste (December 13, 2018). "The Book Of Demons – PC Review". Air Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.