Cain

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Cain is a character unlocked by obtaining 55 or more coins at once in a run.

Cain starts with two Red Heart containers, one Key.pngKey, and Collectible Lucky Foot icon.pngLucky Foot.

(except in Rebirth) Cain also starts with a Paper ClipPaper Clip trinket after 68 coins have been donated to the Greed Donation Machine.pngGreed Donation Machine.

(in Repentance) Lucky Foot now changes bad pills into good pills (similar to Collectible PHD icon.pngPHD, although not telling the pill's effect).

Notes

  • Cain can only shoot tears from his right eye. This affects certain items.
    • The R U a Wizard? pill will cause Cain to fire tears to his right exclusively.
    • Collectible Blood Clot icon.pngBlood Clot, Collectible Chemical Peel icon.pngChemical Peel, and (in Repentance)Collectible Stye icon.pngStye have a 50% chance to do increased damage.
    • (except in Repentance)Collectible Technology 2 icon.pngTechnology 2 will prevent him from firing normal tears, even tear-changing effects like Collectible Brimstone icon.pngBrimstone.
      • (in Repentance) Technology 2 will no longer prevent him from firing normal tears and instead will cause him to also fire Collectible Technology icon.pngTechnology lasers out of his right eye instead of his normal tears. These Technology shots have the same synergies and interactions with other items on top of the Technology 2 laser. Collectible Neptunus icon.pngNeptunus lets him fire tears normally. These lasers cannot be angled with momentum.

Strategy

  • Cain starts with slightly higher damage and speed than most characters, making him more agile and effective at the start. However, he has lower range and health than average, which means he has to put himself closer to danger and can take less punishment than most.
  • As mentioned above, Cain only shoots tears from his right eye. This makes it easier to aim as him, and lets Cain consistently peek around corners to shoot behind cover.
  • Cain's kit makes him the best character for hoarding items. His starting luck increases the chance of a drop after a room clear, and Collectible Lucky Foot icon.pngLucky Foot boosts this even further by increasing his success for room drops and machines like Slot Machine.pngSlot Machines, Fortune Telling Machine.pngFortune Telling Machines, Shell Game.pngShell Games, etc.
  • If Paper ClipPaper Clip is unlocked, Cain can unlock every golden chest he finds, which significantly increases the chance for an item or a mass collection of pickups.
  • Cain's luck makes him a good candidate for tear effects, as many of them are more likely to trigger based on luck.
  • As he starts with only two hearts, Cain benefits from early health ups, and is not a very good candidate for Devil RoomDevil Rooms early on since they will significantly cut his endurance.
  • As Cain is likely to have a large collection of coins or keys after a few floors, it is wise to open up ShopShops, bomb Shopkeeper.pngShopkeepers, donate ten coins to a Donation Machine.pngDonation Machine, or donate to a Beggar.pngBeggar till he pays out to maximize the chances of an Angel RoomAngel Room. Cain benefits more from them compared to Devil Rooms due to his low health.
  • (in Repentance) Because Lucky Foot changes bad pills into good pills, pills are extremely effective for Cain. This makes Golden Pills and (in Repentance)Collectible Echo Chamber icon.pngEcho Chamber great finds for Cain, as he will receive multiple guaranteed buffs from the pills.

Item Interactions

  • (in Repentance) Collectible Abel icon.pngAbel's tears become red and deal 7.5 damage when held by Cain.
  • (in Repentance)Collectible Birthright icon.pngBirthright: Grants +1 luck. All floors that can have special rooms contain an upgraded ArcadeArcade.
  • (in Repentance) Collectible Technology 2 icon.pngTechnology 2: Effectively acts like the Collectible Technology icon.pngTechnology item.
  • (in Repentance)Collectible Eye Drops icon.pngEye Drops: Since his left eye is covered, it's simply a tears up instead of the normal effect of +40% fire rate on the left eye.

Unlockable Achievements

Unlockable Starting Items

Trivia

  • Cain appeared in the original Binding of Isaac and required the same coin count to unlock.
  • Cain is a reference to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, in which Cain commits the first murder by killing Abel.
    • Collectible Abel icon.pngAbel also appears as an item in Rebirth.
    • Cain's special interaction with Abel is also a reference to this.
  • Glass Baby could be a reference to Cain having a glass eye.
  • Cain's locked icon shows him bound in chains.
  • The fact that he takes 55 coins to unlock may be a reference to how it is said that Jesus cast out 55 demons during his life.


Gallery

Bugs

Bug Bug! Cain's covered eye can be seen through the reflection on the floor on stages/rooms with water.