Kain Highwind

Kain Highwind is a character in Final Fantasy IV and a childhood friend of both Cecil Harvey and Rosa Farrell. He is the leader of the Dragon Knights of Baron.

Although Kain is best friends with Cecil, they are rivals in a sense, as they both are leaders of Baron's forces and are quite infatuated with Rosa. Orphaned at a young age, Kain decided to follow his stepfather's steps as a dragoon instead of choosing the path of the Dark Knight like the King of Baron wanted him to. He claims that being a dragoon makes him feel closer to his father. He has the same surname as Ricard Highwind, a character from Final Fantasy II who is also a dragoon. A minor character also named Kain appeared in Final Fantasy II as well, where he was the young adopted child of Ricard. This has spawned speculation as to whether the two Kains are the same, which is also aided by Kain having been said to be "following in his father's footsteps." A raft of the same name is in Kingdom Hearts, and Cid Highwind, a character from Final Fantasy VII who also has some Dragon Knight abilities.

Final Fantasy IV
In Final Fantasy IV, after Cecil returns from a mission in Mysidia, the King of Baron sends him and Kain on a mission to deliver the Carnelian Signet to Mist. Both Cecil and Kain notice an unusual air about the king. When the two reach Mist, the ring sets the entire town on fire. The summoner Rydia becomes angry and uses her summon magic to create an earthquake in her battle with the two heroes. Rydia soon warms up to Cecil, when they realize the king is trying to conquer the world, and destroyed Mist, thinking it was a threat. The earthquake, however, separated Cecil and Rydia from Kain (though it is up to the player whether Kain is hit by the earthquake or not, as he could be in the air thanks to his Jump ability).

Later, Cecil and Rydia, along with new friends Prince Edward Chris von Muir, Yang Fang Leiden, as well as Rosa, meet Kain again in the kingdom of Fabul. Kain, however, has sided with the King. Cecil will in fact fight him, only to be defeated. After Cecil is out of the way, Kain kidnaps Rosa and takes her to the Tower of Zot, where the new Red Wings commander Golbez waits. Cecil and the others vow to rescue her.

When Cecil and Yang reach the Tower of Zot (this time with Cid Pollendina and the sage Tellah by their sides, instead of Rydia and Edward), Tellah gives his life using the Meteor spell to kill Golbez. Though Golbez is not killed, he is severely wounded. It is then discovered that Kain was under the control of Golbez. Kain regains his normal consciousness and frees Rosa. Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Cid, and Yang then face off against Barbariccia, defeating her. He also reveals that he was somewhat conscious during his captive state, but wanted to keep Rosa near.

Kain remains with Cecil for quite awhile, trying to obtain the four Light and four Dark Crystals. However, before departing for the moon, Kain is re-taken control of by Zemus. Fusoya joins Cecil, and they defeat the Four Fiends inside the Giant of Babil. Kain then, once again, rejoins Cecil to defeat Zemus. He is also one of the few friends of Cecil not attending Cecil's wedding to Rosa. In the end he is seen at the peak of Mt. Ordeals with his hair blowing in the wind, vowing to become a great dragoon like his father. In the game's reissues and 3D remake, this is expanded on inside the extra dungeon, the Lunar Ruins.

Inside Kain's Trial, it is shown that after the outcome of the battle with Zeromus, Kain enters the same mirrored chamber atop Mount Ordeals that Cecil used to become a Paladin. There, he is put into a scenario where Cecil, Rosa, and himself are at Baron. Kain wakes up lying on the ground, remembering only that he has been attacked by an unknown person. Cecil finds him and tells him there has been a murder. The victim is discovered to have been killed by a lance, quite obviously used by Dragoons. But Kain is discounted as a suspect, because he too was seemingly attacked, and knocked out by this person.

Eventually, it is revealed that the dark side of Kain who was killing the citizens of Baron, and this opposite Kain tries to force the real one to kill Cecil, knowing that he is the one who stole Rosa away from him. From that point, Kain must make a choice to whether kill Cecil or not. If the player chooses to kill Cecil, Kain fails his trial and does not receive his best equipment. If he chooses to spare Cecil, a boss battle with Lunar Bahamut results. When Kain wins, he finally copes with the fact that he is not the object of Rosa's affection, and learns to move on.

Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-
At the end of Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-, Kain, who is still living on Mt. Ordeals hears a mysterious voice calling to him.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
He reappears in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years as the "Hooded Man" (謎の男, Nazo no Otoko), assisting Ceodore while hiding his real identity. He is impersonated by the incarnation of his negative emotions, Dark Kain, who wishes to kill Cecil and have Rosa for himself. Kain defeats his dark alter-ego and merges with him, causing Kain to become a Holy Dragoon. After helping his friends to destroy the True Moon, Kain returns to Baron to assume command of the Red Wings.

Other appearances
Kain has also been featured in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT as a playable character, as Tetsuya Nomura wished to add him. He is voiced by Kōichi Yamadera in Japanese and Liam O'Brien in English.

Etymology
Kain is named after the biblical character,, from the story of Cain and Abel. This was originally shown through his rivalry with Cecil and was mostly just speculation. It was solidified in the Game Boy Advance version's optional Lunar Ruins where the weapon called "Abel's Lance" can be obtained by completing Kain's trial.