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The Devil's favorite demon.

"To all those people who call me inhuman... who call me a freak, who call me a monster... I want to prove them right.

THAT'S GOTTA BE... THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!

Glenn Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967) is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler, teacher, and politician trained by Ray Candy who is best known for a stint in WWE under the name Kane. He is one of WWE's longest-tenured superstars, with the gimmick having debuted in 1997 (and having worked for WWE a number of times prior to the Kane gimmick); in Kayfabe, Kane is the half-brother of The Undertaker, with Kane's father being Undertaker's former manager Paul Bearer (the "Brothers of Destruction" shared the same mother). He was originally thought to be dead, due to a fire started by the Undertaker that also claimed the lives of his parents, before Paul Bearer brought him back. Since their initial feud, Kane and Undertaker have both teamed up and feuded again several times.

Over his long, long career, Jacobs has wrestled as a shoot style wrestler (he is a Malenko Wrestling School alumni; they occasionally sent some of their wrestlers to shoot style promotion, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara-Gumi), a mad bomber (the Unabomber was A Thing at the time), a depraved dentist, and a replacement Diesel after the original jumped ship to WCW. Currently, he is most famous for wrestling as a maimed, masked slasher villain; in 2003, he went sans fards (and bald), revealing his supposed injuries from the fire were more like mental scars. Audience reaction to the makeover was mixed. In late 2011, he started wearing a mask again, but that ship had sailed, so in 2013 he switched to his "Citizen Kane" attire, symbolizing his cynical new alliance with The Authority.

Kane's kayfabe history is a little... convoluted... so you can check out this special two part column on 411mania that does its best to cover Kane's kayfabe history (it even works Glenn Jacobs' gimmicks prior to Kane into the kayfabe) up to 2013.

In August 2018, Jacobs was elected Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, adding to the long list of professions of the Big Red Machine. He was reelected in 2022.


"FROM HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE COME KANE'S TROPES!"

  • Aborted Arc: The most confusing of all the myriad examples in Kane's career was that of the Imposter Kane, a mysterious figure wearing Kane's original costume who frequently interfered in his matches and even defeated Kane in a PPV match. The Fake Kane was played up as a man of mystery from Kane's past and possibly his next Arch-Enemy, but the angle provoked minimal fan reaction, so the Fake Kane was simply discarded without his identity ever revealed, and the whole thing is something of a Big Lipped Alligator Moment now. Fans were largely disappointed that when Kane stripped the mask off Imposter Kane at the abrupt end of the storyline, he didn't put it on. The guy in the gimmick, Drew Hankinson, would be repackaged as Festus of Jesse and Festus, then became Luke Gallows of CM Punk's Straight Edge Society and later left the company. After a stint in the indies and in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Hankinson has since rejoined WWE where he is most often associated with his former Bullet Club stablemates Karl Anderson and AJ Styles.
    • His feud with Edge over Lita was discontinued and effectively retconned once Matt Hardy returned and WWE could no longer keep it kayfabe. But nowadays it seems to have gone back to being considered canon, most likely due to the fact that Matt has long since been blackballed from the companynote 
    • The Katie Vick story was cut short, which was rather a mercy killing (for Jacobs and for fans).
    • His 2010 feud with The Undertaker was promptly forgotten so that Undertaker could fight Triple H at Wrestlemania.
  • Acceptable Breaks from Reality: Kane and the Undertaker's gimmicks have usually been laced with various elements of the supernatural, with both men using Offscreen Teleportation, Playing with Fire, even sometimes Came Back Wrong. This makes absolutely no sense at all and tends to become even more prominent when they feud, but generally it's just accepted as part of the show.
  • Action Politician: Competed in several WWE matches during his campaign for Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, and even after winning the election. He even won
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Apparently AJ does, at least.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: An ongoing theme with Kane's character is his desire for a female companion and family. Perhaps the first hint of emotion Kane ever showed was his concern for Chyna after accidentally injuring her in 1999. Later he went so far as to blackmail Lita to bear his child and marry him, then harassed Kelly Kelly, and then stalked Eve Torres during his feud with Cena in order to get Cena to give in to the hate.
    • Ironically, when A.J. Lee actually shows interest in him, he's completely befuddled as to what's going on. Though this might be a little bit of Genre Savvy kicking in; it's possible he suspects her of Obfuscating Insanity and is trying to figure out what her game is.
    • In Kane's own words, "I'm a monster. I wear a mask. My only source of pleasure is eviscerating people. And even I find you mentally unstable." Although, in all fairness, he also said he "Doesn't do relationships," which clearly isn't true. Additionally, he seemed to veer into "It's not you, it's me" territory when telling AJ "This may come as a shock to you, but I'm not exactly boyfriend material."
    • The infamous Katie Vick angle also had its roots in this, with Triple H claiming that Kane snapped into a murderous rage when Katie rejected him.
  • Almighty Janitor: One of the best men in the business, but often jobs for other wrestlers.
  • Amplifier Artifact/Split Personality: The mask seems to be played like this in 2013-2014. During his tenure with The Authority, he appears to be able to take up and discard the mask at will. His masked self is much more brutal and dangerous, although his suit-wearing 'corporate' side is nothing to take lightly, and seems to be much more reasoned.
  • And Now You Must Marry Me: He once forced Lita to marry him, after Matt Hardy lost a match that stipulated she would marry Kane if Hardy lost. It later became Rape Is Love briefly until, in a case of Real Life Writes the Plot, she dumped Kane for Edge and it became an Aborted Arc when Matt Hardy returned.
  • Apologetic Attacker: Was very apologetic that he was attacking Josh Mathews, while doing it, on the August 31 episode of Smackdown. He had previously, as part of his anger management, apologized to him for the attack at SummerSlam. Then he had a bad match with Alberto Del Rio...
  • Arch-Enemy: The Undertaker and Triple H most notably.
    • Edge is another good contender. If not for his short lived tenure, Gene Snitsky would also qualify. What makes these four stand out is that while Kane is capable of making any feud he's in personal for his enemy, these guys made it personal for Kane. For reference? Lower down on the page, under Unnecessary Roughness? Electro-torturing Shane'o'Mac's testicles was in no way personal for Kane. He just did that for kicks.
    • What about Pete Rose?
    • The Shield, an animosity shared with his tag-team partner, are one of his newest arch enemies. Even after he joined The Authority. He and The Shield still don't get along. This proved to be a problem later, as a combination of this personal animosity and Loose Lips eventually cost The Authority The Shield's loyalty.
    • As Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, Bret Hart.note 
    • As Unabomb in SMW, The Rock 'n' Roll Express
    • Braun Strowman in late 2017.
  • The Artifact: Like Undertaker, Kane is one of the last remaining remnants of a past era in WWE history - in Kane's case, it's the brutality of the Attitude Era and the gimmicks of the Cartoony Era of the WWF in which The Undertaker has his roots.
    • He became an artifact as soon as Undertaker dropped his Deadman gimmick and his kayfabe and became a biker. However he was lucky enough to eventually find his niche even after that, though to do so Badass Decay ensued.
    • Kane's MASK also qualifies as an artifact due to the fact that he wore it well past the end of the more cartoonish era of the 80s and early 90s, and the end of the Attitude Era. He has worn a number of different masks with mostly variations on a singular design that were reconstructed to make them more comfortable for Kane to wear, until his 2003 mask which was a large departure from what was then the standard design for his masks' look. (It was ultimately the fact that the mask was a source of discomfort that he was finally unmasked in 2003) His most recent mask is actually one worn by the Undertaker when he was recovering from a cracked orbital socket, repainted red to match Kane's gimmick and the colors associated with him. Which means the mask he currently wears is something of a Mythology Gag for anyone who noticed it.
    • In one instance, the girl didn't even have to exist — that being the infamous "Katie Vick." See the Aborted Arc entry for the background.
    • Kane's right eye, the one with the blue contact lens. In his first RAW appearance, Paul Bearer claimed that Kane was "missing an eye", implying that he was either blind in that eye or that it was a glass eye.
  • Anti-Hero: Assumed to be a Nominal Hero as a face given the nature of his character... but careful examination will show that he's more often an Unscrupulous Hero that gradually slides to Pragmatic Anti Hero the longer he stays a face - which inevitably causes some level of Badass Decay before he goes on another murderous rampage.
  • As Himself: Kane made his return on the September 16th episode of WWE Raw, but using his real name Glenn Jacobs, Mayor of Knox County. Jacobs used his mayoral power to give R-Truth a tour of Nayland Stadium, but upon arriving, Jacobs revealed a referee and pinned R-Truth to capture the 24/7 Champion as Mayor Glenn Jacobs.
  • Ash Face: During his first six years in the WWE, the "Big Red Monster" never appeared in public with any part of his body other than his left arm uncovered; the story was that he'd gotten caught in a fire started in his parents' funeral parlor and had barely survived, and his burns were too horrific for the sight of "normal" humans. In 2003, however, he was finally forced to remove his trademark red-and-black mask - and revealed, instead of grotesquely pitted features, a comically mild-looking Ash Face. (It was made even funnier by the Raw commentators speculating on how ugly and deformed Kane would look.)
  • Ax-Crazy: Kane is so psychotically deranged, that even he himself has admitted that he has no idea whatsoever why he enjoys assaulting Pete Rose at every given opportunity (see Continuity Cavalcade below).
  • Badass Bookworm: Jacobs earned a BA in English Literature from Northeast Missouri State University and has been frequently remarked by his fellow wrestlers to be an extremely intelligent man with a voracious appetite for reading, to the point where Steve Austin once joked on his podcast that Jacobs "must've read every damn book on the planet." He proved this when he appeared as Kane on The Weakest Link and won, and quite handily, at that
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Orson Welles ain't got sh*t on this.
    • Made it very clear in reminding a disgruntled Randy Orton that while Kane may be Triple H's new "director of operations" and wear a suit and tie, he has no problem handling matter the old-fashioned way. He's arguably more fearsome in a way because his "director of operations" role gives him onscreen booking power and a variety of minions at his disposal, as well as the ability to book himself into matches if none of the above works or he wants his villainy to have a more personal touch. Oh, and he exhibits the same bad temper and sociopathy.
  • Badass Teacher: A downplayed example as he holds a teaching degree, but isn't a teacher per se. He also runs a pro wrestling school with Tom Prichard, but leaves most of the training to Prichard as he has a lot of other things to do as mayor of Knox County.
  • Bald of Evil: After unmasking in 2003. Immediately after unmasking.
    • Averted with his 'Corporate' appearance as seen in the above picture, where he stops shaving it and goes with Villainous Widow's Peak instead.
  • Bash Brothers: Kane and the Undertaker have fought together as a tag team, calling themselves the Brothers of Destruction. Also with The Big Show
    • As Unabomb, with Al Snow in SMW.
    • A WWF Magazine article touted that the tag team of Kane and Mankind was the most dominant tag team since Andre the Giant and Haku.
    WWF Magazine: One feels no pain while the other feeds on it like an addict on a morphine drip.
  • Bastard Bastard: As Undertaker's evil, resentful half-brother, Kane is this (at least when he's a heel).
  • Bait the Dog: When he crashes Edge and Lita's wedding, he makes sure to not harm the elderly priest... until the end, when he Tombstones the priest in a fit of rage while Lita and Edge watch in horror.
  • Became Their Own Antithesis: In the Attitude Era, he was an Anti-Hero who opposed the McMahon-Helmsley Regime alongside The Rock, Chris Jericho, and The Undertaker. In the 2010s, Kane joined The Authority, becoming "Corporate Kane" and acting as a minion to Triple H and Stephanie, turning into the sort of corporate heel that he had once opposed as a face.
  • The Berserker: Fueled by Unstoppable Rage, Kane went absolutely POSTAL after his unmasking in 2003. For a while after, he quickly and relentlessly brutalized any opponent unlucky enough to face him, in a manner that made many of his matches before unmasking look TAME.
  • Berserk Button: Kane has started feuds over the smallest things, such as when he got spilled coffee on him by Chris Jericho. May 19th qualifies as well.note 
    • In general, not doing anything to make him angry is a wise move.
    • In real life, don't mention Isaac Yankem to him. He hung up on an interviewer for it.
    • And as of 2018, insulting The Undertaker and his legacy is a serious no-no, as he Chokeslammed John Cena for doing just that.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: Initially.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Though he's younger than Taker, he can be very protective of him, whether he's saving him or defending his honor.
    • Though his arm was severely damaged by Power Trip, Kane still came down to the ring to save Taker when the duo ganged up on him & hit him with a sledgehammer.
    • During Summerslam 98, Taker is having a brutal match with Austin. Kane comes down to ringside to help Taker, but the latter ordered him to go back.
    • As noted above, when John Cena insults Undertaker's legacy & manhood, Kane promptly came down to deliver a brutal chokeslam.
    • Triple H attacked Taker backstage, tipping over his bike while he was still on it, causing his leg to be trapped under said bike. HHH threatened to end Taker with a chair but retreated when he saw Kane charging after him. Kane then tried to help Taker, asking if he was all right & moving the bike from his leg. But then Big Show attacked.
    • A small moment occurs when a vengeful Taker is waiting on HHH in the parking lot to repay him for the above assault. Kane came out to ask what Taker was doing and when Taker made it clear he wanted HHH, Kane straightened his glove & told Taker he'd wait with him. But again, Taker sends him inside.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: AJ Lee planted one on him on the June 11, 2012 episode of Raw. The following Sunday at No Way Out, he would return the favor.
  • Big Guy, Little Guy: He's been famously part of such tag teams or at least teamed up with smaller and swifter guys, notably; X-Pac, The Hurricane, Rob Van Dam and Daniel Bryan. Pretty much any team he's been on except with Fake Razor Ramon, Taker and Big Show.
  • Big Little Brother: Is a few inches taller than Undertaker.
  • Big "NO!": Kane's reaction to Paul Bearer's 2010 return. Although, not all was as it seemed...
  • Bridal Carry:
    • Kane did this to Chyna after accidentally burning her, in quite possibly the tenderest moment of his career.
    • Years later he did this to AJ, picking her up after she took a nasty bump. His intentions were... unclear.
  • The Brute/The Big Guy: Depending on his alignment.
  • Bullying a Dragon/Wrong Genre Savvy: Sure, Kane's a monster in his own right, but his constant threats against The Shield reeked of this. First of all, the Shield's a three-man group - but not just ANY three-man group... a three-man group whose members have individually and collectively beaten down just about the entire top end of the WWE roster at one point or another. Among other things, they pinned John Cena during a weekly television match and put The Undertaker through the announce table, which was the last anyone heard of him for the better part of a year. Hell, Kane himself had been on the wrong end of a couple of beatdowns from them. They don't scare easily, and are even harder to control. And yet Kane didn't seem to remember any of the above when he spent about a week or two constantly mashing The Shield's collective buttons. Thus, when they turned and beat the crap out of him on the 3/17/2014 RAW, it wasn't exactly shocking.
  • Bunny Ears Teacher: Was once a high-school English teacher, has his degree in education, and once said he'd probably be teaching if he weren't a wrestler. Not to mention his political blogging. And the whole, you know, mayor thing.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: During his "Anger Management" segment with Daniel Bryan, the way Kane recounted his indiscretions with various co-workers, family members, and significant others sounded more like he was telling his life story than what made him angry.
    • But, given Kane's history, they would seem to be the same thing.
  • But Not Too Foreign: His parents are American, he is Spanish-born.
  • Cain and Abel/Sibling Rivalry: Kane's rivalry with Undertaker.
  • Canon Discontinuity: What's an "Isaac Yankem, D.D.S?" Nor was he the Fake Diesel. Nor was he the Christmas Creature in Memphis (didn't stop Jerry Lawler from making a snide reference to it once, and a more lighthearted allusion to it a few years later).
  • Captain Ersatz: Prior to the Kane gimmick, Glenn Jacobs played a fake Diesel in a really drawn out Take That! to WCW. It tanked, and, after both guys left following the 1997 Royal Rumble, was never mentioned again.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Kane frequently refers to himself as a "monster", a "demon" (even "The Devil's Favorite Demon"), "mentally unstable", and "evil".
  • Catchphrase: As part of Team Hell No with Daniel Bryan: "I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!!!"
  • Celebrity Resemblance: Glenn Morshower, when unmasked and not acting particularly demonic.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: In his prime, Glenn Jacobs had a deadlift of 900 pounds.
    • Back in the day, he was able to get the Big Show up for a tombstone.
    • In fact, Big Show considers Kane to be one of the three strongest men he's been in the ring with, along side Mark Henry and John Cena.
  • Clue of Few Words: In the first half of 2006, the big mystery for WWE was why Kane went nuts whenever he heard "May 19th". Kane would later reveal that this was the date of the fire that turned him into what he is. note .
  • Cool Mask: Debuted this way in 1997, before being forced to unmask in 2003. As part of finding his inner monster again he re-masked in 2011. This lasted until 2013 when he unmasked as part of the The Authority anglenote . As of April 2014, he's wearing the mask again.
  • The Comically Serious: Is rather good at this when he's not playing a monster heel - sometimes mixed with a dash of Deadpan Snarker.
  • Composite Character: The 2012 re-masking of Kane seems to land somewhere at the midway point between his two main era-specific personalities: the intelligence and propensity for Breaking Speeches from the unmasked Kane combined with the violence and unpredictability from his mid-90s masked incarnation.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Most of Kane's strikes target the throat/windpipe. Also, on more than one occasion of an opponent trying to come off the top rope, Kane simply kicks the ropes, and whoever happens to be on the turnbuckle at the time loses their footing... and usually lands very painfully. Given that his primary finisher is the chokeslam... there's a certain sense of psychology involved.
  • Complexity Addiction: In contrast to his no-nonsense (if sadistic) in-ring style, Kane has been both the architect and victim of some of the most ridiculous and convoluted schemes in the history of the company, mostly either as a result of him being an Ax-Crazy psycho with a Hair-Trigger Temper or an attempt to exploit it, examples ranging from his own lengthy campaign of vengeance against the man who took out The Undertaker... only to admit in the end that he did it himself; on the flip-side, the infamous Katie Vick angle where D-X attempted to convince him and the fans that he had murdered a woman which got dropped after crossing the line one too many times.
  • Continuity Cavalcade: Kane gives a delightful speech about his past while in an anger management class on the 8/27/12 edition of Raw. Hilarity Ensues.
    "I grew up locked in a basement, suffering severe psychological and emotional scarring when my brother set my parents on fire. From there, I shifted around among a series of mental institutions until I was grown, at which point I buried my brother alive... twice. Since then, I've set a couple of people on fire and abducted various co-workers. Oh, and I, uh, once electrocuted a man's testicles. Years ago, I had a girlfriend named Katie but let's just say that didn't turn out too well. My real father is a guy named Paul Bearer, who I recently trapped in a meat locker. I've been married, divorced, broke up my ex-wife's wedding and Tombstoned the priest. And, for reasons never quite explained, I have an unhealthy obsession with torturing Pete Rose."
  • Continuity Snarl: Kane's entire backstory, which eventually resulted in a novel that painstakingly attempted to reconcile all of it.
    • This failed. Spectacularly, as next to nothing of this backstory made any sense whatsoever nor was it referenced within WWE's on-air continuity, and contained a few snarls of its own, such as placing Kane and Taker in the midwest, when their parents (or in this case Kane and Taker's mother, as they have different fathers in the storyline) are supposedly buried on LONG ISLAND.
  • The Corrupter: Kane played this role to John Cena during their 2012 feud. By brutalizing Cena and his friends, he is trying to force Cena to give into his rage and hatred.
    • And it seems to be working; Cena was about to clock Ryder in the face on the 2/13/12 RAW after accidentally kissing Eve Torres due to trying to save her from Kane taking her away in an ambulance.
  • Costume Copycat: Of his original gear, resulting in the odd booking of Kane VS Kane at a Vengeance PPV.
    • The Undertaker has also worn the original Kane outfit in an effort to fool McMahon, and on an earlier occasion Kane fooled "Stone Cold" Steve Austin by dressing as the Ministry-era Undertaker, but with his mask on.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: He's the (not quite) Dead Little (Half-)Brother of The Undertaker. That says it all... sort of.
  • Darker and Edgier: Arguably the angle he's going for after his re-transformation into "The Demon" in mid-2014. He's used the Tombstone Piledriver more than he ever had for years prior (and used THREE on Daniel Bryan during one segment on an episode of Raw), and he returned to his old M.O. of kicking ass at completely unexpected times for petty reasons (or none at all).
  • The Dead Can Dance: From the August 26, 2002 episode of Raw: The Kaneroonie.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Whenever he does have a funny moment, it's almost always delivered with a dry, stoic monotone.
  • Death from Above: The setup for Kane's chokeslam usually involves a top-rope flying clothesline. Kane is seven feet tall and over 300 pounds.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: Inverted, as - unlike Undertaker - Kane practically exists to be defeated.
  • Depraved Dentist: As Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS
  • Discontinuity Nod: Katie Vick is brought up every once in a while, even by Kane himself.
  • Doomy Dooms of Doom: Was known as Doomsday in the USWA.
  • The Dragon: Kane was used this way while a member of The Corporation, which he had been forced to join in order to avoid being sent to a mental institution.
  • Driven to Madness: Good job Stone Cold! (To be fair, this is Kane we're talking about. It wouldn't have taken much.)
  • Dumbass No More: For the first year or two, Kane was portrayed as somewhat gullible and naive, frequently being used and betrayed by everyone from Paul Bearer and Undertaker, to the Corporation and finally X-Pac and Tori; on top of this, he barely spoke and was often insulted for his supposed lack of intellect even by his allies. He gradually became more cynical and devious during the year 2000 as well as more articulate, and afterwards-particularly after his unmasking- was generally portrayed as a very dangerous Genius Bruiser who would play nightmarish mind games with his opponents knew how to fight intelligently, eventually even becoming Corporate Kane and being trusted with high-level administration duties.
  • Enemy Mine: Had been working mostly as a heel in late 2010-early 2011, but teamed up with The Big Show to face the growing threat of The Corre.
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas:
    • He loved his mom deeply, and his feud with Undertaker is him wanting to avenge her death.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The entire reason for Kane's feud with Undertaker is that he blames him for the death of their parents.
  • Evil Counterpart: The gimmick started as a way to provide the ultimate credible threat to the Undertaker's face persona; a monster heel who looked and wrestled like the Undertaker, but was driven by sociopathic rage.
  • Evil Is Petty: During his feud with John Cena in the New Tens, he repeatedly victimised Zack Ryder and Zack's girlfriend Eve Torres simply because they were friends with Cena.
  • Evil Laugh: Is amazing at this.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: As a heel definitely.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Even when he's a face, Kane is at his best, a Noble Demon, so his feuds against heels tend to be this.
  • Expy:
    • His character, before he began to speak on his own, had shades of Jason Voorhees. An angry, less-than-talkative, masked giant who kicks whatever ass is in front of him and is known to sit straight up when it looks like he's down and out. Basically, give Jason fire-based abilities and make him a wrestler; now you've got Kane.
      • Additionally, Kane is probably (it hasn't been confirmed officially) named after the Biblical character Cain, but it may be less than coincidence that the man who may be Jason Voorhees' most well-known portrayer is named Kane Hodder.
    • Also to Halloween. As stated above: an angry, less-than-talkative masked giant who kicks whatever ass is in front of him and is known to sit straight up when he is down and out, but with the added touch of being an unstoppable supernatural force that really wants to destroy his sibling. This was taken a step further in an article for RAW Magazine that talked about Kane before his debut that used an actual picture of Michael Myers from the movies, likely since it wasn't clear what Kane was going to look like when he actually debuted.
      • Jim Cornette has claimed that he created the character of Kane (before he was "super heroed") and based the character on Michael Myers.
  • Facepalm Of Doom: Does this to John Cena recently.
  • Face, Nod, Action: In pretty much every battle royale he's ever been in, Kane and the other biggest man in the match will lay everyone else out, square off against each other, nod, and throw down one on one. Whether or not he wins depends on who has more Popularity Power.
  • Fashionable Asymmetry: His original attire (as Kane) was sleeveless in the left.
  • Fatal Flaw: His inability to control his temper, especially as Corporate Kane. His constant antagonism of The Shield actually cost Triple H the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
  • Finishing Move: Like his half-brother, Kane's chief finishers are the Chokeslam and the Tombstone Piledriver. In this regard, Kane actually has something of a one-up on The Undertaker in the fact that, at Kane's physical peak, he was capable of using only one arm to execute a Chokeslam.
    • He's had a couple others over the years. During the days of the Brothers of Destruction, Undertaker tried to teach Kane the Last Ride, and Kane just couldn't figure it out. He did adapt a deliberately sloppy falling powerbomb into a sort of cradle as a finisher for a bit, though - this move was immortalized in the WWE Smackdown vs Raw series as the "Kane Powerbomb."
    • As Isaac Yankem D.D.S, the DDS. It was just a DDT.
  • Fire and Brimstone Hell: In the gimmick's early years, when he would make his way out, Jim Ross would say, "Fire and brimstone personified," "from the depths of Hell, comes Kane," "Through Hell fire and brimstone it's Kane!" or words along those lines.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: Twice, both in 2000.
  • For the Evulz: Sometimes his heel turns have seemingly no impetus at all. And there's no strict reason why he has to be quite as violent and sadistic as he is most of the time.
  • Foregone Conclusion: It was pretty easy to guess who would win that first Inferno Match, given that Kane's (then) full-body costume could be padded and insulated to protect him from the flames (whereas the Undertaker's comparably skimpy ring gear would have left him seriously injured had he tried the same stunt).
  • Freaky Is Cool: WWE marketed a "FREAKS RULE" T-shirt for a time.
  • Freudian Excuse: Initially, his violent psychosis was portrayed as the result of his parent's tragic deaths and his own disfigurement. As years went by and some of these elements were retconned (again and again), this has kind of diminished, and these days he's just sort of a dick on his own terms.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: The Unfavorite son of a Death Valley mortician to psychotic Wrestling Monster with demonic powers.
  • Gambit Roulette: Retcon into having everything he's done up to mid-2010 an Indy Ploy version of this, all part of a revenge plan for over 10 years.
  • Genius Bruiser: He holds a teaching degree in real life, and has said that he'd be a teacher if he weren't a wrestler. The ability to be well-spoken allows him to be a rare 7-footer who can handily carry a long promo on his own with the best of them. He even managed to win a special WWE edition of the Weakest Link.
  • Genre Savvy: See All Love Is Unrequited. Kane decided he wanted nothing to do with AJ Lee which may point to an awareness that anytime he's involved himself with one of the Divas, it hasn't ended well. Of course, the fact that AJ's totally out of her gourd probably had a lot to do with it, too.
  • The Giant: Though he subverts a lot of the tropes, namely being actually able to wrestle and having charisma, he really is a charismatic performer with a gimmick beyond Squash Match and No-Sell, although that was how the gimmick was played in its first few months. It is hard to come up with another 7-footer in wrestling history with equal mic skills as Kane; this may be in part because he is a Genius Bruiser in real life.
    • Really the only other Wrestler on the same level as him is The Undertaker, and on good days, The Big Show.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: His character and the way he's booked tend to make him this. As a heel in particular, he'll often show up completely without warning and either attack everyone in sight, or go after someone specific, only making his intentions known after the fact. He started his feud with John Cena like this (especially glaring, as the guy who had put him out of action was right there in the ring). And then on SmackDown 3/2/12 he started a feud with Randy Orton in the exact same way.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Double subverted. He's not nearly the loose cannon one would think, especially in his Corporate guise where he puts up with a lot of crap from a lot of people. But his tendency to internalize all of his anger means that it will usually be a minor provocation that finally sets him off - and when it does, you don't want to be anywhere in the neighborhood.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: Must be nearing the record of flipping between face and heel in a career, if he doesn't hold it already. It's to the point where he switches multiple times a year, often without even building to it.
    • This has reached ludicrous levels as of March 2011, he did nothing to turn face... but gets cheered by the fans because not only is he teaming with The Big Show, but he is fighting The Corre.
    • The 7/22/11 SmackDown pretty much sums it up. Before his Street Fight with Randy Orton, Kane cuts a promo talking about how he is disturbed by his showing glimpses of humanity in the past few months and that he was going to exorcise it out of him against Orton. Sounds like a heel turn, right? Well, after Orton triumphs in a half-hour-long Street Fight, Kane offers his hand out of respect. Surely, Kane's gonna use the opportunity to get a post-match drop on Orton, right? Nope, he actually shakes his hand in a sportsmanlike manner with no turn to be found, before being ambushed by Mark Henry, another man familiar with the face/heel door.
  • Hell Is That Noise: The intro Leitmotif to his most recent entrance theme features an echoing groan that can only be described as the wailing of tortured souls.
  • Hidden Depths: Both in and out of character. As Kane, there's absolutely no way anyone would have guessed that the silent, masked giant who debuted at 1997's Bad Blood would go on to become one of WWE's best mic workers, and then eventually transform into an articulate, suit-wearing, Director of Operations underneath Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Out of character, it's downplayed— no one has ever accused Glenn Jacobs of being a dummy, but he not only has a degree in English literature from before his pro wrestling career, but has gone on to become active in politics, was the last wrestler standing during a WWE-themed episode of The Weakest Link, and makes a damn good weatherman.
  • Horrifying the Horror: Kane usually stares unblinking, with a menacing gaze, into the eyes of wrestlers such as The Undertaker, Bray Wyatt, etc. But in 2009, Kane faced The Boogeyman, and was visibly disturbed during the latter's entrance.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl:
    • Here's a picture of Glenn and his wife Crystal.
    • Also, in character, his brief Ship Tease with A.J. Lee, who was one of the smallest, if not the smallest, ladies on the roster at the time.
  • Humans Are Bastards: His feud with John Cena is centered around him teaching Cena this lesson, and how he should come to embrace The Power of Hate.
  • Humanity Is Infectious: Felt he became too human in 2011 and thought by beating Randy Orton, he would exorcise his humanity. Only he lost to Orton and then was taken out by Mark Henry for a number of months. He now wants a rematch with Orton at the grandest stage of them all to get a closure on that particular subject.
  • I'M THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!!
  • I Have No Son!: Paul Bearer has disowned Kane for the most part, siding against him at WrestleMania XX; when he returned in September 2010 prior to Hell in a Cell, he sided with Undertaker again. This, however, did not last. Maybe he sees Kane as his son after all.
    Son? You're no son of mine!
  • Implacable Man
  • Improbable Hairstyle: Between his unmasking and remasking, he would shave the front of his head bald, while retaining some buzzed short hair in the back, probably since his character was supposed to be a burn victim who had some hair burnt off.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: He can dish out and take grievous amounts of punishment. Throughout his career, he's been written into some of the worst angles in recent WWE history. Katie Vick comes to mind.
    • Then there was the time he had to drive his car into the side of a tractor trailer.
    • To illustrate this, Kane holds the dubious distinction of having "won" The Wrestling Observer Newsletter "Worst Feud of the Year" award more than anyone else, at seven timesnote . To put that in perspective, the next most wins on that list is Hulk Hogan, with three.
  • Jack of All Stats: One of the prime reasons he's so well respected in the wrestling community is his wealth of skills in different areas. In the ring, he has the look of a power wrestler (read: he's huge), and even at his advanced age, may be one of the strongest guys on the WWE roster (see Charles Atlas Superpower). But he's also extremely agile for his size, still uses a top-rope diving clothesline as a signature move to this day, and can also be a striker and dip into Garbage Wrestler when a brawl is required. In terms of his promo skills, he's been a Large Ham and he's been the Voiceless. He can be deadly serious, comic, The Comically Serious, or anything in between.
  • Kill It with Fire: The Inferno match, Kane's signature match where the only way to beat your opponent is to set them on fire.
    • Either he tried to do this to someone, or someone tried to do it to him in his original backstory.
  • Large Ham: Kane's unmasked years made it clear that whatever his characterization at any given time, Glenn Jacobs does not do subtlety. Of course, when your basic gimmick/character is an insane giant monster with the ability to control fire, what else would you expect?
  • Law of Chromatic Superiority: Has red motifs. If that's not enough, look at his "Big" Red Barons below.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In most backstage skits, the wrestlers will never acknowledge that the camera man is right in front of them filming them, even if they're discussing top secret plans. Kane is the exception, usually giving a knowing glare to the camera at the end of the skits.
    • He now does most of his promos without an interviewer, backstage in a dark, moodily-lit area and talking directly to the audience.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Has edged into something of a comedy character in backstage skits with Daniel Bryan. Can still kick your ass six ways to Sunday.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Especially when you compare to other giants, Kane has a top rope move, has done an enzuigiri, and has an awesome ring exit where he uses the ropes to flip himself over, pretty impressive for such a big guy, he's even added a low angle dropkick, to his repertoire. Keep in mind all of that is in his arsenal while past 50, being in terrific shape for a wrestler that size and that age (compared to The Undertaker, who by his mid-40s couldn't even work a half-time schedule, while Kane worked a full year-round load until his political aspirations got in the way).
  • List of Transgressions While in anger management, Kane goes into one of these.
  • Louis Cypher: Gives off heavy vibes of this as Corporate Kane.
  • Made of Iron: Good ol' Koncussion Kane.
  • Malevolent Masked Man: Zig-Zagged this trope throughout his career. Debuted playing it straight, averted it for a while, then straight once again.
  • Manly Tears: After Edge abducted Paul Bearer, and Kane searched backstage for him in vain. Poor guy.
  • Mask Power: Kane's "Veil of Fire" mask which he first wore in his return at the end of 2011 has been portrayed as somehow motivating or activating his demonic rage ever since he first took it back off to be Corporate Kane.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
  • Military Brat: In Real Life; Jacobs was born in the Madrid area to a U.S. Air Force family stationed there.
  • Mirror Match: At Vengeance 2006 against an impostor who dressed like the masked Kane (the impostor later showed up in WWE as Festus, real name Drew Hankinson, later Luke Gallows of CM Punk's Straight Edge Society, later DOC of Aces And Eights in TNA). It became an Aborted Arc.
  • Motive Rant: Gave one after burying Undertaker alive in 2003, and putting Undertaker in a vegetative state in 2010. Though they're considered two of his best promos.
  • Moveset Clone: Being kayfabe brothers, Kane and The Undertaker are of the same basic build and use a lot of the same moves. This was especially true during the late 90's when Kane was pretty much Undertaker with a mask and fire fetish.
  • Mundane Made Awesome/Mundane Utility: Kane's a hit at BBQ's.
  • Name of Cain
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Kane, Unibomb, Doomsday.
  • New Job as the Plot Demands: Kane has gone through a lot of gimmicks. Lampshaded in article by Kayfabe News, an Onion-style website about Professional Wrestling, when Glenn Jacobs was elected mayor of Knox County, titled, "Necrophiliac-Pyromaniac-Former-Dentist-Turned-Corporate Executive Becomes Mayor".
    “Adding another accomplishment to his already lengthy resume – which includes arson, torture, kidnapping, dentistry, and corporate ladder-climbing – demonic sports-entertainer Kane yesterday became mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.”
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Picking on The Shield, who were probably about a hair's breadth away from splitting up for good, has really come back to bite Kane in the ass.
  • Noble Demon: Usually as a Face.
  • No-Sell: Possibly the only man in wrestling history to no-sell a kiss. AJ leapt onto him and started going to town, and Kane, in response, stood there, motionless, even as she kissed him. Once she was done he said Screw This, I'm Outta Here, tagged in Daniel Bryan, and left the ring calmly without saying a word.
    • He also plays this straight, with his most famous routine involving him getting beaten to the point of laying down... then calmly sitting back up and giving a Death Glare to his opponent, all but saying "Ding-ding, Round Two."
  • Not So Above It All:
    • Kane can also be hilarious beneath his reputation as "The Devil's Favorite Demon" and "The Big Red Machine", such as the time when he imitates Hulk Hogan's speech mannerisms:
      Kane: And y'know something brothers!? Whether it's the millions... (AND MILLIONS!) and millions of Rock fans, or 20,000 Hulkamaniacs, or 20,000 screaming Kane-nites! The question is brothers, what you gonna do... Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, X-Pac! What you gonna do when Hulk Hogan, and the Rock, and the BIG. RED. MACHINE. RUN. WILD. ON. YOUUUUUU!? WHAT YOU GONNA DOOOOOO!?
    • Or the time when he reacts to a hot woman kissing him:
      Kane: What can I say, chicks dig the mask!
    • Or the time when he told Booker T that the audience are in RAW for the "Kane-a-roonie":
      Kane: These people didn't come here tonight, just to see the Spin-a-roonie. They came here, to see the Kane-a-roonie!
    • Or the time when he told A.J. Lee, Daniel Bryan, and Dr. Shelby that he's going to Disneyland:
      Kane: Do I have anything to say!? I'm going to Disneyland!!
  • Oh, Crap!: When that big stage pyro goes off, Kane's coming to the ring - and whenever this happens, he is usually not a happy man.
  • Ominous Pipe Organ: Kane's instrumental themes all started with this.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: If Kane's a heel and comes down to the ring to kick some ass, never, ever assume that you're safe because you're a heel like him. You will regret it.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: During his time as "Corporate Kane," many a superstar made it a point to remind Kane that he was a monster before he traded his mask for a suit.
  • Our Demons Are Different: They're big sadistic monsters that are related to zombies.
    • A book put out years ago by George Napolitano claims Undertaker was half human and half vampire.
  • Out of the Inferno: Kane was alleged to have started - and survived - the funeral home fire that killed his and Undertaker's parents, though this resulted in his face being radically scarred (or so he thought). He also managed to survive getting set on fire in the first-ever Inferno Match.
  • Parts Unknown:
    • While The Undertaker is generally billed from Death Valley, where Kane is supposed to be "from" has never been acknowledged, as only his weight and name, along with whatever his Tag Team/Power Stable affiliation may be at the time and any titles he is holding at a given time, are ever announced. His profile on WWE's website doesn't even list a "hometown" for him.
    • As Unabomb in SMW he was billed from "The Land of the Giants."
    • As Doomsday in Jerry Lawler's USWA in Memphis, he was billed from "The Wastelands."
  • Pet the Dog: Who would've thought the Big Red Machine would help a little boy win at a claw machine?
  • Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: He was originally intended to have this, being scarred by the fire that killed his family, but the makeup didn't work out when the mask came off, so now he just has the psychological ones.
  • Pivotal Wake-up: Like The Undertaker, Kane would sometimes perform a vampire-like sit up to regain more momentum as well as intimidate his opponent
  • Playing with Fire: His ring pyro is amazing. Not only does half the arena light up in flames during the initial entrance, he lights up the four turnbuckles on the ring, too.
  • Plot Hole: Paul Bearer claiming to be Kane's "father" created the first problem in Kane's backstory. Paul originally claimed that he first met Kane when he went to work at Kane and Taker's family's funeral home. The only way for all of that to be true would have been if Paul hadn't been told by the mother that he had a "son," and they never resolved that part.
  • Popularity Power: Despite not being as popular as Undertaker, Kane remains respected amongst fans, likely due in part to his association with Undertaker (and, in some circles, because of his "company man" image - in that he takes the crappiest angles and runs with them, without complaint, for the good of WWE).
    • Also due to the fact that it's hard to find a nicer wrestler outside the ring, and that he does not seem to have an ego in an ego-centric business. Like Shawn Michaels, he's stated he preferred the world title be held by younger guys who would carry the company in the future than a veteran like himself, who was already firmly entrenched in the company and fanbase (although his loyalty and popularity was finally rewarded with a world title run in the second half of 2010).
    • When Kane cashed in the Money In The Bank briefcase against World Champion Rey Mysterio (one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster), he got a largely positive response to his title win. It was Kane's first major title win since his one-day WWE Title reign in 1998 (twelve years earlier).
  • The Power of Hate: His new gimmick in late 2011.
  • Power Stable:
  • Psycho for Hire: A fairly common tactic for heels, especially heel GM's, is to put Kane in a match against whoever their Face enemy is (Triple H, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho have all done this), or threaten to put the Face's girlfriend in a match with Kane if they don't comply with their demands (both Eric Bischoff and John Laurinaitis have pulled this one). Kane doesn't do it out of any sense of loyalty to the heel in the storyline, or even for his paycheck; he does it because he's bored (it's usually when he doesn't have a feud of his own going on) and wants to hurt someone. Though more than a few of these guys have found that trying to treat Kane as their own personal attack dog can come back to bite them in the ass.
  • Quizzical Tilt: Kane commonly did this while mute and wearing a mask. Ever since AJ Lee entered his picture, he's been known to do this a few times in response to some of her more questionable actions. According to Glenn Jacobs, it came from seeing his dog do it in his personal life, during the early stages of the Kane gimmick.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Puppies and Rainbows HELL NO! Except when puppies are there for snacking.
  • Recurring Riff:
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: The defining color scheme throughout his entire career.
  • Red Baron: The Big Red Machine / Monster and, recently, The Devil's Favorite Demon.
  • Red Filter of Doom:
    • His entrance, in which the lights in the arena go red. Notably, when he first debuted the lights would stay red for the entirety of his matches. Sometimes when he's backstage he's still accompanied by red lighting.
    • When he remasked in 2014, his promos all had the red lighting remain on, until he was interrupted by someone. The lighting even follows him if, for example, he's on the stage during a promo, and someone else in the ring, as seen in this promo with Roman Reigns.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni:
    • The Red to The Undertaker's Blue, which matches their Color Motif.
    • When he was paired with The Big Show he played a stoic Blue to Show's Boisterous Bruiser Red.
    • Blue Oni to Daniel Bryan's Red as well. While Daniel Bryan has a Hair-Trigger Temper that can be set off at a moment's notice, Kane's anger is a bit more of a focused slow burn, which, if anything, makes him even more dangerous.
  • Redemption Demotion: He was never quite as threatening as a face. While his initial face run as Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds was still threatening and believable on some level, as time went on he progressively got defanged, to the point where he could tag team with The Hurricane and actually fit right in.
    • Although he arguably had his strongest push (prior to his 2010 title run) while he was a babyface in 2002; he held the Intercontinental and Tag Team titles simultaneously, winning the latter in a Fatal Four-Way Tornado Tag TLC match... without a partner (The Hurricane had been attacked backstage before the match). Then the Katie Vick angle happened, and well...
  • Retcon: Kane's backstory has been rewritten multiple times. Most notable was the reveal that he was never really disfigured at all. Although this created several plot holes in and of itself, it also solved the "plot hole" of his diminishing ring gear and Suddenly Speaking.
    • As a result, it's probably easiest if you go by the character's original premise, Undertaker's insane younger brother who supposedly died in a fire but actually survived and came back for revenge, with other acts of mayhem and destruction along the way.
    • Kane's marriage to Lita was technically retconned due to the whole Matt Hardy / Lita / Edge triangle storyline. They've recently removed it from Canon Discontinuity, probably because Matt's been released and blackballed from the company.
  • Running Gag: His "obsession with torturing" Cincinnati Reds baseball great Pete Rose:
    • Rose was the surprisenote  special guest ring announcer for the UT-Kane match at WrestleMania XIV, which was held in Boston, MA. Rose went heel on the crowd, ripping on the Boston Red Sox, making sure to work in a Bill Buckner reference.note  Kane and Paul Bearer came down to no introduction and Kane Tombstoned Rose.
    • The following year, WM was in Philadelphia. However, before the Kane vs. Triple H match, Kane was attacked by the San Diego Chicken, an advertising mascot most associated with baseball's San Diego Padres. Kane unmasked the chicken, found Rose, and Tombstoned him again.
    • The following year, WM was in Anaheim, CA. Kane and Rikishi d. X-Pac and "Road Dogg" Jesse Jammes. After the match, Rose, appropriately, tried attacking Kane with a bat. He failed, of course. Kane chokeslammed Rose and Rikishi gave him the Stinkface, which Jim Ross compared to Rose's treatment by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.note 
    • Rose then guest hosted the March 22, 2010 episode of RAW, which was before WrestleMania XXVI. As his first order of business, he set up a match between Shawn Michaels and Kane, which Michaels won. Later in the night, Rose then bragged about finally getting his revenge on Kane to Christian backstage. Then as he was walking into his dressing room...
    • Katie Vick. It's been a decade and people still bring it up from time to time.
  • Self-Immolation: In the first promo he ever cut in the gimmick, on the June 22, 1998 Raw, he threatened to do this if he didn't beat WWE World Heavyweight Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the title in the First Blood Match at King of the Ring 1998.note 
  • Slasher Smile: If he's a heel, you might be more screwed if he's wearing one of these than if he's scowling.
  • Sociopathic Hero
  • Softspoken Sadist: Especially by comparison to the deep, rumbling growl of his onscreen brother, Kane's voice is a dissonantly smooth, even tenor.
  • Stalker with a Crush: During the storyline where he forced Lita to marry him and give birth to his child.
  • The Stoic/The Quiet One: He's become more like this after his re-masking in late 2011. Also when he was mute when he first debuted.
  • Straight Man: To Daniel Bryan. No, seriously. Bryan is that over the top.
  • Suddenly Speaking: He debuted as mute, later was able to talk through a voice box, and later still was able to use his voice without any trouble at all.
  • Tag Team: He's a surprisingly accomplished Tag Team wrestler with 12 championships (13 counting his time as Unabomb) with various partners. Far exceeding the number of singles titles he's won throughout his career.
    • (as Unabomb in SMW): The Dynamic Duo, w/Al Snow
    • (as Kane): The Brothers of Destruction, w/The Undertaker; Team Hell No, w/Daniel Bryan. He also had successful team ups with The Big Show, Mankind, The Hurricane, X-Pac, and Rob Van Dam.
  • Tiered by Name: Ever since relinquishing his mask (the first time) to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H and becoming "Director of Operations" within The Authority, the people around him, in kayfabe and out of it, have taken to referring to the suit-and-tie version of the character as "Corporate Kane," and the mask-wearing version as "'The Demon' Kane." Unsurprisingly, "'The Demon' Kane" is much more capable and willing to kick ass (but this doesn't mean that "Corporate Kane" can't hold his own at the same time), and is far less stable and controllable.
  • Tragic Monster: The character had some elements of this after his debut, as it seems he was driven to evil by his tragic childhood, his disfigurement, and perhaps most importantly, the manipulation of Paul Bearer. His inaugural face turn played this angle up even more.
  • Unnecessary Roughness: Kane seemingly loves this trope, and is usually on the giving end of said Roughness. One time, he handcuffed Shane McMahon to a ring post, trapped him against the ring using the ring steps, and electrocuted Shane's testicles with a car battery. Guys, you can whimper now.
    • He's used a rather subdued, but brutal method of incapacitating John Cena in their 2012 feud; he holds his hand over Cena's mouth and nose, suffocating him. While it doesn't look to bad to the untrained eye, for those that recognize it as an actual method of murder can find it somewhat disturbing.
      • The first time or two, they used some Hollywood FX to have John coughing up blood the first time or two it happened. Apparently that was a bit too realistic and there were enough complaints that the fake blood (but not the hold) was dropped afterwards.
  • Unstoppable Rage: After unmasking, he would channel his anger into his matches, where he would swiftly beat opponents to jelly. He even seemed more resilient than before.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Kayfabe-wise, Kane sent Matt Hardy to the hospital and terrorized Lita in a forced marriage, eventually leading her into the arms of Edge. Having lost his girlfriend through no fault of his own, Matt kinda lost his shit — and more importantly lost any solid job security he had within WWE. After leaving the company and going through sordid times in and out of TNA along with his brother, finding love for real in Reby Sky and having a son with her, winning and losing world championship gold and falling out with Jeff over his methods, he eventually discovered his BROKEN brilliance. Had Kane not forced his way between Matt and Lita, Edge wouldn't have had his opening, and the path to becoming wrestling's most popular madman in 2016 would've never opened for Matt, although he introduced that gimmick outside of WWE.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Ended up in the middle of the CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan feud because each of them has used Kane's Hair-Trigger Temper to do damage against the other. Eventually Kane caught onto it and beat the hell out of both of them, temporarily putting himself into the entire affair involving them, the WWE Championship and AJ Lee.
    • Averted in his latest heel turn as the Director of Operations for the Authority, where he willingly (for reasons never fully explored) submits to The Authority.
  • Unrelated Brothers: While half-brothers in kayfabe, The Undertaker and Kane are not related in real life.
  • Villain Protagonist: Often times as a face.
  • Villainous Valour: He may be a heel, but he's no coward.
  • Villains Out Shopping:
    • His Stacker 2 commercials. The aforementioned Chef Boyardee commercial probably also counts.
    • In 2012, he used his pyrokinetic powers to start a Fourth of July barbecue, much to everyone's delight. Summer fun was also had in 2006, when he and Viscera teamed up to punish Jonathan Coachman for taking the last hot dog at the SummerSlam pool party.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Kane and The Undertaker, who have both feuded and teamed up with each other at various times since 1997. He also has this kind of thing going on with The Big Show. He and Daniel Bryan are the epitome of this trope.
  • We Used to Be Friends: With Daniel Bryan.
  • Win Her a Prize: Kane tried to get a toy from a toy grabber machine for a kid in an arcade room. After an unsuccessful attempt, he just broke up the machine and gave the kid a lot of toys from there.
    Kane: Stay back, kid.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Particularly after Paul Bearer abandoned him to rejoin Undertaker in 1998 and attempted to have him committed to an insane asylum, Kane's character was portrayed as this. He's also done a promo about how much he loves the holidays and his family - he even said he wasn't a monster and that he's tired of being seen as an outsider - and the audience booed the entire thing (mainly for his "devil's favourite demon" claim). Really puts his angle with Edge in a new light.
    • Everybody who Kane gets attached to or gets close to seems to turn on him. Chyna turned on him. X-Pac, the best friend Kane ever had and the guy who helped Kane feel 'human', turned on him. His girlfriend Tori turned on him to align herself with X-Pac. You can understand why he'd end up bitter and lashing out at a world that doesn't seem fair to him.
  • The Worf Effect: Whenever WWE wants to show off a talented new wrestler, they'll often have him go over Kane in a feud and series of matches. Because of this trope (and Kane's longevity in the business), the list of guys who have gone through Kane on their path to the top of the business is quite long.
  • Would Hit a Girl:
    • Came close to attacking Sable on the March 17, 1998 Raw, after her match with Luna Vachon went to a no-contest. Sable had injured her ankle and was lying helpless on the mat until Undertaker showed up on the stage.
    • Averted, though implied as part of the Katie Vick angle as a cause of her death; this was the angle where Triple H falsely claimed Kane had killed Katie as psychological warfare.
    • He once gave Linda McMahon a Tombstone Piledriver onto the stage.
    • And then about a couple years later, he did it to Lita.
    • Came close to doing this to Kelly Kelly during a short-lived 2008 angle, whom he thought was flirting with him. He kidnapped her and sequestered her to a back room to interrogate her as to who she was seeing, she claimed she was with The Miz, in order to protect Randy Orton, who in actually was only using her. The angle didn't go anywhere beyond a match on Raw.
    • As of 2012, not much has changed. Kane has made moves for Eve Torres on a couple of occasions, but WWE being PG, someone always showed up to rescue her at the last moment.
    • During the Attitude Era, he attacked Tori and Chyna.
      • As far as Chyna goes, he grabbed her neck preparing for a chokeslam on a RAW before the Royal Rumble which would have been the first time she would have been totally owned by a wrestler, but was stopped by Triple H before the move could be completed. Steve Austin got the honor of hitting her first.
  • Wrestling Monster: A self proclaimed example.
  • You Got Guts: Used in a frightening (and funny manner towards Sheamus, when the Irishman interrupted a backstage segment of Kane's:
    Kane: I like you. You've got guts. Most of which will be spilled out all over the floor if you EVER interrupt me again!

 
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That's gotta be Kane!

Kane makes his WWF debut at Badd Blood 1997, immediately targeting his older brother, the Undertaker.

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Main / RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver

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