History Literature / CiaphasCain

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Ciaphas is The Commissar Who Doesn't Shoot His Men Very Often, for good reason (see BadBoss above).
** There is a lot more to a Commissar's job than executing his own men. It is pointed out by Vail that Cain is extremely good at his actual job and he did get his pick of regiments after he graduated, which probably means he probably did fairly well during training. It is one of the few areas where Cain actually admits he is quite good at.
*** Cain was actually ''assigned'' to his first regiment, the 12th Valhallan, rather than being given free choice. However, the only reason he was assigned to it was because the Department Munitorium administrator in charge of placement owed Cain money from a gambling debt, so Cain was able to pull the strings and get himself assigned to the regiment he felt was least likely to get him killed.

* PurpleProse: The excerpts from Sulla's books, which Vail apologizes for each time she has to add them and makes rude comments about her writing ability.

* LampshadeHanging: Most of Inquisitor Vail's commentary is either this or additional backstory. Things brought up by fans are sometimes directly referenced in the introductions as being from her "Inquisitorial colleagues".

* LegallyDead: Cain had been declared legally dead many times (most prominently in ''Death or Glory'') to the point where it was ''inverted'' - there is a specific edict that prevents bureaucrats from calling him legally dead, so now he forever remains in active service even though he'd been buried with military honours.

* PunnyName: All over the place. Several planets, including the ice worlds Simia Orichalchae and Nusquam Fundumentibus (respectively, pseudo-Latin for Brass Monkey and Arse end of Nowhere), as well as Sodallagain, a planet with apparently nothing of interest. In ''Cain's Last Stand'', there's Orelius's ship, the ''Lucre Foedus''... quite appropriate for a Rogue Trader. A lot of the {{Shout Out}}s also feature these; see the entry below.
** The Planetary Governor of Deepwater is named Landon Hoy.
* PurpleProse: The excerpts from Sulla's books, which Vail apologizes for each time she has to add them.

** Attempted by an orc in ''Death or Glory'', didn't work because he's an orc and Felicia just stepped out of his way (on a mecha, that is)

** Played straight in the original short story ''Fight or Flight'', which ends with Colonel Mostrue assigning the odorous Gunner Jurgen to Cain as his personal aide, obviously intended as a practical joke at Cain's expense. Jurgen goes on to not only be a more than able aide to Cain, but also turns out to be a blank whose powers save Cain's life countless times. Cain himself lampshades the fact that even heroes of the Imperium like himself are a dime a dozen compared to a blank like Jurgen.

* [[RugbyIsSlaughter Scrumball Is Slaughter]] – Cain was a keen Scrumball player at the Schola Progenium and states that the only team that could regularly beat the Commissarial cadets was the Sisters of Battle cadets, not because they were better players, but because they seemed to be under the impression that the aim of the game was to hospitalise the entire opposing team.

* ShrugOfGod: Sandy Mitchell says he doesn't know whether Cain is the DirtyCoward he claims to be, or selling himself short.

** It's mentioned in ''Cain's Last Stand'', though that Valhalla is a Justified case; All of the inhabitants live near the equator, and "Gone North" (their equivalent of "Gone South" or, "Gone Ploin shaped") arises from the fact that the Northern part of the planet (and the southern part, Amberly is quick to point out) is a place you ''really'' do not want to go.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Cain is practically a walking one. For the rare situations where he himself isn't enough, there's Jurgen and his peculiar talents. Between the two of them there is practically nothing they don't bring to a gear-grinding halt.
** The trope is mentioned by name, even.

** It is hinted that Cain's own official memoirs fall under this trope, much like Flashman's.

** In ''Traitor's Hand'', an overeager young soldier cries "Come on, men! [[GauntsGhosts Do you want to live forever?]]" before charging a tank. Cain, upon hearing this, groans about what a vapid and totally unrealistic cliche it is. He's also amazed when it seems to inspire his companions rather than causing them to run the frak away.

* TanksButNoTanks: In ''Duty Calls'', A news report claims Cain used a tank to stop what was essentially the Hindenburg on steroids from crashing into a city. In reality, he used a Chimera (an APC).

** ''The Traitor's Hand'', once as a quotation, once by Beije...see MaliciousSlander.

** Jurgen's meltagun

* WomanScorned: Taken to extremes in a manner only the [=40K=] universe could in the third novel.

Seven novels and five short stories have so far been published: ''For The Emperor'', ''Caves of Ice'', ''The Traitor's Hand'', ''Death Or Glory'', ''Duty Calls'', ''Cain's Last Stand'' and ''The Emperor's Finest''. (An eighth novel, ''The Last Ditch'', is due out February 2012.) The first three novels and the first three short stories have been reprinted in an omnibus edition (the page picture), while the second three books and last two short stories form a second omnibus, ''Defender of the Imperium''. Finally, there is an audio drama, ''[[http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Dead-in-the-Water.html Dead in the Water]]''.

* PunnyName: All over the place. Several planets, including the ice worlds Simia Orichalchae and Nusquam Fundumentibus (respectively, pseudo-Latin for Brass Monkey and Without Arses), as well as Sodallagain, a planet with apparently nothing of interest. In ''Cain's Last Stand'', there's Orelius's ship, the ''Lucre Foedus''... quite appropriate for a Rogue Trader. A lot of the {{Shout Out}}s also feature these; see the entry below.

That is, ''if'' you believe him. The author himself has stated [[ShrugOfGod that he doesn't know]] whether Cain is the DirtyCoward he presents himself as, or [[UnreliableNarrator doesn't give himself enough credit]].

* CoversAlwaysLie: Boy, do they; the cover artist deliberately presents Cain in the overblown style of the [[ContemptibleCover propaganda posters]] the character so often ends up on. Thus, the laspistol-wielding, cover-seeking Cain is depicted boldly leading his men, and even [[GunsAkimbo dual-wielding]] [[ReallyBigGun bolt pistols]] [[AtopAMountainOfCorpses while he stands on a pile of enemy dead]]. Also, none of the covers include the red sash Commissars wear as part of their uniform, and which is a minor plot point in ''Cain's Last Stand''. Cain is also depicted as being hugely muscled, although given his daily chainsword practice regimen and feats with the weapon in-story this isn't that much of a stretch.

* {{Cricket}}: Grasshopper. Apparently named because of the huge leaps players have to take. Rules completely arcane to those not native to the world where it's born, and games last insanely long, especially if it's rainy.

** Cain and a few other characters mistakingly thinking that any ship used by Space Marines is called a Battle Barge, as opposed to a distinct class.

** In ''Caves of Ice'', Scrivener Quintus, in his idiosyncratic minutes of a meeting to assess the Ork threat on the refinery, offhandedly mentions that Broklaw fired his bolt pistol into the air to call the meeting to order. Later on, [[spoiler:when Cain arrives after learning of the Necrons, he gets freaked out at the large blast hole in the ceiling, which Broklaw refers to like an inside joke.]]

** In fact, it's strongly suggested that it's specifically BECAUSE of their love for each other that they make it through all of the various horrors they face.

* CaptainErsatz: {{Flashman}} [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!!!]]

** Warmaster Varan is in many ways an Ersatz of AdolfHitler, right down to the mustache, arm gestures, and speeches. Granted, he's an insecure, [[spoiler:[[StupidJetpackHitler psychically-empowered mutant]]]] Ersatz, although this isn't revealed until late in the book. Amusingly, none of the Imperial forces are terribly impressed by his rhetoric, and Varan depends heavily upon [[spoiler: his psychic ability to enthrall anyone he can speak with or has a line of sight to.]]

* CassandraTruth: Cain does it ''to himself'' in ''Cain's Last Stand'', continuously reassuring himself (despite recurring nightmares and overwhelming ''lack'' of evidence) that [[spoiler: there are no Necrons on Perlia. Guess who shows up at the very end?]]

** When Cain and a small squad go into [[spoiler:the Necron tombs to destroy the warp portal]] in ''Caves Of Ice'', they get confronted by [[spoiler:pariahs]] and FreakOut, Cain and Jurgen are unaffected -- because, of course, the fear effect is psychic.
*** Actually the effect is caused by a more extreme form of Jurgen's abilities; the two have an aquired immunity after long exposure.
* ChekhovsGunman: Inquisitor Vail, in the first book, is introduced to Cain ''incognito'' at the governor's palace. He doesn't discover her true identity until later in the book. The reader, however, should know who she is since her name and Ordos are revealed in the introduction.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Even Cain is horrified in ''Duty Calls'' by the realization that Killian abandoned children to a Tyranid attack.
** To a different degree of "innocent", given the setting. Amberly recalls a book from her childhood where she always liked the pictures of burning heretics, and children are taught songs like this:
--> "The tracks on the Land Raider crush the heretics, crush the heretics, crush the heretics. The tracks on the Land Raider crush the heretics all day long..."

* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: The ultra-religious Tallarns, or at least Asmar and Beije, in ''The Traitor's Hand'', call it ''blasphemy'' that Cain had his dropship land on part of a monastery because he was in a hurry to get there to save them. The part in question was the ''vegetable garden''. Then they don't even help fix it.

* ContinuityNod: A small blink and you'll miss it one in ''Duty Calls''. When riding in a limousine, Cain notices a small cabinet made of nalwood, and comments that it was probably worth more than the aircraft he rode in on. This is because nalwood only comes from [[GauntsGhosts Tanith, which was destroyed by Chaos,]] and so is very rare and expensive.

* WeaponOfChoice: Jurgen's meltagun; Cain's chainsword and laspistol. In the first book, Cain declines to replace his familiar laspistol with a more powerful hellpistol because he's afraid that the extra weight would throw off his aim. on all of the covers, meant to represent propaganda posters, Cain is always given a bolt pistol.

* WeaponOfChoice: Jurgen's meltagun; Cain's chainsword and laspistol. In the first book, Cain declines to replace his familiar laspistol with a more powerful hellpistol because he's afraid that the extra weight would throw off his aim.

* IKnowWhatWeCanDoCut: At the climax of ''Cain's Last Stand''. Cain tells them what they can do, tells us that they opposed it, but does not tell the reader until he actually does it: [[spoiler:he calls up Varan and proposes a meeting to discuss surrender terms]].

** That, and he knows he can't simply resign his commission with the commassariat. If he were to attempt it, they would shoot him, and not even a planetary governor would be able to stop them.

* ButtMonkey: Penlan, aka "Jinxie". It hasn't killed her yet. She's even been promoted. Addtionally, she's rather popular with the Regiment as it's believed that all the bad luck in her squad gets attracted to her and leaves everyone else alone.

* NiceHat: As a commisar, he gets a one as part of his uniform.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: Attempted by one of the other Schola teachers in ''Cain's Last Stand''. It works, destroying the ram and the ship it hit, but it didn't destroy the ship they had hoped to.

* BigBeautifulWoman: Mira is described as having inherited a slight tendency toward weight from her father. She apparently carries that [[BuxomIsBetter weight]] [[CurvesInAllTheRightPlaces quite]] [[BabyGotBack well]].

** Cain is of the opinion that this is the case with Mira. Amberley [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the {{irony}} of that sentiment.

* NoOntologicalInertia: Averted, and specifically discussed in ''Cain's Last Stand''. [[spoiler:The people Varan controlled remain warped even after his death. Cain observes it would have been easier if they had been freed -- "but this wasn't some comforting fairy tale..."]]. In one rather extreme case, Varan's personal shuttle pilot was found dead after the final battle. He had been ordered by (the now deceased) Varan to wait for his return. The pilot took these orders literally and ''starved to death waiting for Varan''.
* NoTimeToThink: During the WireDilemma, he is forced to guess because all the wires are the same color.

* NoExceptYes: Cain doesn't "charge the enemy". He "retreats forwards".

** An out-of-universe example occurs when a tyranid fleet is said to be pursued by Imperials until it escapes in the Warp. Tyranids ''can't'' go in the warp, it's one of the main reasons humanity can still access FTL travel.

* HeroicSacrifice: Techpriest Killian saving Cain in ''Echoes of the Tomb''.
** Cain clearly views the destruction of his escape pod during a landing the passengers survived as this, gushing about the autopilots great valor.
* HeroicSociopath: [[ColdSniper Maxim Sorel]], who ends up stabbing a man to death in a brawl simply "because he didn't see any reason not to". Following the court-martial for the above infraction he is sentenced to death by taking on a suicide mission alongside Cain. This does not stop Sorel saving Cain's life and makes him [[spoiler:one of two convicts out of the original five who do not go rogue or get subverted by the enemy.]]

* BoardingSchool: Cain makes the Schola Progenium seem less like a badass MilitarySchool and more like ''TomBrownsSchooldays'', complete with [[RugbyIsSlaughter “scrumball practice”]].

* PercussiveMaintenance: Apparently the most reliable way to fix the resolution on a hololith. If you're particularly good at it, it may mean you have a religious (i.e., [[AveMachina techpriest]]) vocation.