History YMMV / CiaphasCain

* IronWoobie: Issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain has enough trust issues and paranoia to disturb [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], and self esteem so low that on a scale of 1-10 his probably has to be measured in the negative. He goes through his entire life, (Close to 200 years due to Juvenat treatments!) convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, unable to ever credit that he's a remotely decent person or feel good for doing the right thing, to say nothing of the ''billions'' of lives he saves, and terrified to trust anyone with his thoughts, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. The closest he ever comes is when, at their second meeting, Amberly gently implies that she isn't fooled by his facade and suggests that he could try being himself. He practically shits his pants thinking that she's a psyker and is going to have him killed, and he never actually takes her into his confidence even after a century of romance. That's just outright ''sad.''

* IronWoobie: Obviously, issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain has more than enough trust issues and paranoia to disturb [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], and self esteem so low that on a scale of 1-10, his probably has to be measured using negative numbers. He goes through his entire life, (Close to 200 years due to Juvenat treatments!) convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, unable to ever credit that he's a remotely good person or feel good for doing the right thing, to say nothing of the ''billions'' of lives he's saved, and terrified to trust anyone with his thoughts, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. The closest he ever comes is when, at their second meeting, Amberly gently implies that she isn't fooled by his facade and that he shouldn't be so afraid of showing his true self. He practically shits his pants thinking that she's a psyker and is going to have him killed, and he never actually takes her into his confidence even after a century of romance. That's just outright ''sad.''

* IronWoobie: Obviously, issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain has more than enough trust issues and paranoia to disturb [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], and self esteem so low that on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) his probably has to be measured using negative numbers. He seemingly goes through his entire life, (Close to 200 years due to Juvenat treatments!) convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, unable to believe he's ever a good person or feel good that he did the right thing, to say nothing of the ''billions'' of lives he's saved, and terrified to trust anyone with himself, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. The closest he ever comes is when, at their second meeting, Amberly gently implies that she isn't fooled by his facade and that he shouldn't be so afraid of showing his true self. He practically shits his pants thinking that she's a psyker and is going to have him killed, and he never actually takes her into his confidence even after a century of romance. That's just outright ''sad.''

* IronWoobie: Obviously, issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain has more than enough trust issues and paranoia to disturb [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], and self esteem so low that on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) his probably has to be measured using negative numbers. He seemingly goes through his entire life, (Close to 200 years due to Juvenat treatments!) convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, unable to believe he's ever a good person or feel good that he did the right thing, not to mention the billions of lives he's saved, and terrified to trust anyone with himself, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. The closest he ever comes is when, at their second meeting, Amberly gently implies that she isn't fooled by his facade and that he shouldn't be so afraid of showing his true self. He practically shits his pants thinking that she's a psyker and is going to have him killed, and he never actually takes her into his confidence even after a century of romane. That's just outright ''sad.''

* IronWoobie: Obviously, issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain has more than enough trust issues and paranoia to disturb [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], and self esteem so low that on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) his probably has to be measured using negative numbers. He seemingly goes through his entire life, (Close to 200 years due to Juvenat treatments!) convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, unable to believe he's ever a good person or feel good that he did the right thing, and terrified to trust anyone with himself, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. He never actually takes Amberly into his confidence, even after a century of romance. That's just outright ''sad.''

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Amberley can be seen as enjoying Cain for his abilities and occasional company, but some lines make her look like a ClingyJealousGirl, notably when she mentions she'd have found out if Cain was really trying to seduce women he met.

* IronWoobie: Obviously, issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain still seemingly goes through his entire life, convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, and terrified to trust anyone with himself, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. He never actually takes Amberly into his confidence, even after a century of romance. That's just outright ''sad.''

* AccidentalInnuendo: In "For the Emperor" Cain concludes a pre-battle briefing with the line "The harder and faster you go in, the better." This causes Sulla (of all people) to whisper something inaudible to her neighbour (presumably something along the lines of "ThatsWhatSheSaid") and giggle, prompting Cain to glare at her.

* AccidentalInnuendo: In "For the Emperor" Cain concludes a pre-battle briefing with the line "The harder and faster you go in, the better." This causes Sulla (of all people) to whisper something inaudible to her neighbour (presumably something along the lines of "ThatsWhatSheSaid") and giggle, prompting Cain to glare at her.

* HeroicWillpower: What Cain calls his 'survival instinct' looks uncommonly like this when it enables him to throw off Chaos influences or brings him to his feet chainsword humming when death seems inevitable.

* MemeticMutation: One of the few memes originating from Wiki/TVTropes: it has become tradition to write '''[[FakeUltimateHero HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]]''' after Cain's name whenever he appears on another page.
* TearJerker: Cain giving his sash to [[spoiler:the mortally wounded Donal in ''Cain's Last Stand'']].

** Cain is a DirtyCoward, a LovableCoward, the SoCalledCoward, or went through those steps along the way towards his retirement.

* IronWoobie: Obviously, issues of self-esteem are the least of humanity's worries in the Warhammer 40K universe, but Cain still seemingly goes through his entire life, convinced that no one could or should care for him personally, unable to connect with people on any meaningful level, and terrified to trust anyone with himself, lest he be shot for cowardice and deceit. He never actually takes Amberly into his confidence, even after a century of romance. ''[[CaptainObvious That's sad.]]''

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Amberley can be seen as enjoying Cain for his abilities and occasional company, but some lines make her look like a ClingyJealousgirl, notably when she mentions she'd have found out if Cain was really trying to seduce women he met.

* TearJerker: Cain giving his sash to [[spoiler:the mortally wounded Donal in ''Cain's Last Stand'']].
* HeroicWillpower: What Cain calls his 'survival instinct' looks uncommonly like this when it enables him to throw off Chaos influences or brings him to his feet chainsword humming when death seems inevitable.

* HeroicWill: What Cain calls his 'survival instinct' looks uncommonly like this when it enables him to throw off Chaos influences or brings him to his feet chainsword humming when death seems inevitable.

* TearJerker: Cain giving his sash to [[spoiler:the mortally wounded Donal in ''Cain's Last Stand'']].

*** Sadly, as of the most recent Codex update, this portrayal of the Necrons is [[{{Retcon}} no longer canon.]]

* BadassDecay -- Averted:

* FunnyAneurysmMoment -- If you read in continuity order; an InternalHomage in publication order. In ''Death or Glory'', Jurgen is [[HardHead mostly uninjured by a blow to the head]], and Cain says, "It would probably take a bolter shell to crack that thick skull of his." In ''For the Emperor'', Jurgen's skull is fractured near-fatally by...a bolter shell that glances off his helmet.
* GeniusBonus -- Overlaps a lot with the {{Shout Out}}s on the main page.

* MemeticMutation: One of the few memes originating from TVTropes: it has become tradition to write '''[[FakeUltimateHero HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]]''' after Cain's name whenever he appears on another page.
* TearJerker -- Cain giving his sash to [[spoiler:the mortally wounded Donal in ''Cain's Last Stand'']].

* FetishFuel -- Two major instances.
** In ''Death or Glory'', one of the members of Cain's small cobbled-together refugee convoy is a female member of the [[AveMachina Adeptus Mechanicus]] who has a [[ArtificialLimbs mechadendrite]] that attaches to the base of her spine... in other words, an artificial prehensile tail. This is lampshaded by one of Vail's footnotes, wondering just how he knew where it was attached.
--->''"How Cain discovered this we can only speculate; perhaps it came up in the course of a casual conversation. Or not."''
** Several online 40K fetishes [[IKnewIt are made canon]] by ''Cain's Last Stand'', namely that there are female commissars and that Sisters of Battle are not required to be celibate. Of course, that particular Sister wasn't the most chaste of the lot, being the kind to sit down, drink and gamble with Cain and those two navy guys. So, while they're not required to be celibate, finding a particularly open-minded Sister will be be a task for the ages, and Emperor help you if you proposition a Sister within earshot of a Redemptionist. Amberley justifies the female commissars by noting that, while rare, female-only Imperial Guard regiments do exist, and most would not take very kindly to a male commissar in their ranks.
*** Technically, female commissars were already canon since Games Workshop has made models for them before. ''Cain's Last Stand'' just calls attention to the fact they exist, even if it has been about a decade since a model has been released of one.

* MissedMomentOfAwesome -- In the third book Malden used the line, "A mineral dredger. I was not aware they had those. But then again, no one tells the Adepta Astra Telepathica anything." How in the world did Malden not follow this with "What do they think I am, psychic?"

* MemeticMutation -- '''COMMISSAR CIAPHAS CAIN, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!'''. Yell it yourself, you know you want to.

** Several online 40K fetishes [[IKnewIt are made canon]] by ''Cain's Last Stand'', namely that there are female Commissars and that Sisters of Battle are not required to be celibate. Of course, that particular Sister wasn't the most chaste of the lot, being the kind to sit down, drink and gamble with Cain and those two navy guys. So, while they're not required to be celibate, finding a particularly open-minded Sister will be be a task for the ages, and Emperor help you if you proposition a Sister within earshot of a Redemptionist. Amberley justifies the female commissars by noting that, while rare, female-only Imperial Guard regiments do exist, and most would not take very kindly to a male commissar in their ranks.