"Reploids... created by human beings, yet possessing abilities far beyond our own. [...] Mankind's arrogance? No...."

―Dr. Cain, The Day of Σ

Dr. Cain (Dr. ケイン, Dr. Kein) is a scientist from the Mega Man X series. He is the one who discovered X in the remains of Dr. Light's laboratory, resulting in him gaining knowledge to produce the Reploids. He also created Sigma and founded the Maverick Hunters.

Characteristics[]

Dr. Cain is an elderly human man of average height. He has a bald head, a sharp nose, and a long beard. He normally wears a blue robe with a red collar and holds a walking stick. In The Day of Σ he is seen sitting at a large, stationary life-support device.

Dr. Cain is a wise and thoughtful individual. He cares deeply for X, almost as if he were his own son, along with all of the Reploids he helped create. He especially cares about his magnum opus, Sigma, and bears great guilt for the destruction he has caused.^[1] He plays a fairly active role in the Maverick Hunters for the first three games of the series, showing his dedication to justice. In The Day of Σ, he is a degree more thoughtful and melancholy, since he is already reaching the end of his life.

History[]

Background[]

See also: The Journal of Dr. Cain

Dr. Cain was first and foremost a brilliant robotics scientist, with a penchant for archaeology. He discovered X on April 14, 21XX, during an archaeological expedition for a fossil that could verify his research about Mesozoic (Middle Ages in the Japanese version) plant life.^[2] X was located in a capsule buried underground in Dr Light's ruined lab. Excited by this monumental discovery, Cain worked with X and used his design to create the first Reploid on November 22, and soon after they went into mass production.^[2] As Cain couldn't fully understand X's design, and the Reploids didn't have as rigorous diagnostics as X, some Reploids developed glitches and became Mavericks. To counter such dangerous Reploid activity, Cain agreed to form the Maverick Hunters, and his most advanced creation, Sigma, became the leader of this new organization. Some time later, Cain presumably ended up studying and repairing the mysterious Maverick Zero at Sigma's request.^[3]

Mega Man X2[]

After being only mentioned in the opening and game manual of Mega Man X, Dr. Cain appeared for the first time in Mega Man X2. He was able to recover Zero's control chip from the conflict, but not the rest of his body. He continues working with the Maverick Hunters, tracing the location of the Sigma Chips to the Maverick factory at the beginning of the story.^[4]

At the climax, Dr. Cain pinpoints the location of the X-Hunters' base for X to infiltrate. If X is able to collect the three parts of Zero from the X-Hunters, Dr. Cain reassembles him and he assists X in the final battle at the Central Computer. If not, Dr. Cain is helpless to stop the X-Hunters from stealing Zero's control chip and using it to resurrect him as a Maverick loyal to Sigma.

Mega Man Xtreme[]

X meets with Dr. Cain after defeating the digital Mavericks within the Mother Computer. He tells X when he can infiltrate the Mother Computer's core and later Sigma's hideout.

Mega Man X3[]

Dr. Cain is absent during the Doppler Army's attack on Hunter Base, but reappears to speak with X and Zero later. He analyzes the chips from defeated Mavericks to discover that Dr. Doppler is building a powerful battle body by stealing parts from advanced Reploids, and pinpoints his underground laboratory at Point D. If Zero is damaged by Mosquitus, he is forced to get repairs from Dr. Cain while X finishes the fight.

Mega Man X4[]

Dr. Cain makes no appearance in the game, but he is still active according to the English manual, being the author of the report detailing Repliforce's founding, its disastrous performance in the field, and the look into alternatives while also recommending the establishment of the next version of the Maverick Hunters with combo units #0 and #17.

Dr. Cain is never seen in person again after Mega Man X3 nor mentioned as being active in any of the manuals after X4, so it can be assumed he inevitably retired or passed away of old age or other causes. In the English manuals for X3 and X4, "Cain Labs" is credited for creating a Reploid-focused website called "Reploids on the Web" and Repliforce.

The Day of Σ[]

Dr. Cain appears in the alternate story of Mega Man Maverick Hunter X in The Day of Σ. He is noticeably older, already resorting to life support technology, as well as implying that he's already hit his limit even with that.^[5]

Dr. Cain speaks to Sigma at his home in Abel City while eating dinner, discussing X's limited performance on the battlefield. Cain explains that X's hesitance and empathy are what make him special compared to other Reploids, which intrigues Sigma and gets him to consider X as a benchmark for Reploid evolution.

When Sigma later launches a missile strike at Abel City, Dr. Cain's home is caught in one of the blasts and he presumably perishes. He remains calm in his final moments, pondering if Mavericks are punishment for mankind's arrogance, though he appears to refute this before he is consumed in light. It is possible that he was meant to be deceased in the new continuity that the remake would have established, but as this never came to fruition, there is no official comment.

Other appearances[]

• Dr. Cain appeared as a card in Mega Man X DiVE.
• Dr. Cain appeared in TEPPEN.

Other media[]

Mega Man (Ruby-Spears)[]

An image of Dr. Cain appears in the episode "Mega X" from Ruby-Spears' Mega Man animated series, during a retelling of X's history. He appeared rather young and bore a passing resemblance to Dr. Cossack, likely because his official Mega Man X2 design was not available at the time of the episode's production.

Mega Man (Archie Comics)[]

Dr. Cain appeared in the Archie Comics starting in the story The X-Factor: Part One of Mega Man #34. As in the video games, Cain discovers the ruins of Dr. Light's lab and awakens X, whom he uses as the basis for his Reploids. Cain is thrilled by his discovery and the innovations stemming from it, including the fact that his first Reploid is able to argue with him. Unfortunately, his happiness is disrupted as the Mavericks make their debut and his work in creating them is brought into question by the Arcadia Council. He later had X accompany him into an archaeological dig in a mesa (actually what was formerly Wily's lab). However, Dr. Cain inadvertently reactivated the Wily Walker after removing a power cell that was dying out, resulting in a conflict between the Maverick Hunters and the giant mecha. Cain then tried to find anything that would indicate how to deactivate it to redeem himself for his foolishness (as he had ignored X's warning that it might have been a giant weapons platform), eventually uncovering an object containing data about the mecha, including that the mecha contained chemical weapons, much to his and X's horror.

Rockman X (manga)[]

Dr. Cain is a recurring character in the Rockman X manga, first appearing in the Rockman X2 chapters. Although he fulfills a similar role from the games, Cain often plays a larger role in the stories, and insists on accompanying X (and sometimes Zero) on missions to put his intellect to use. Despite his age, walking stick and alcoholic tendencies, Cain proves to be very spritely and physically fit, though also expresses a very short temper.

In the Rockman X3 chapters, it is revealed that Cain was a close friend of Dr. Doppler, having been collegues in the past as well as having collaborated together to create Maoh the Giant to protect Dopple Town. After his friend's betrayal, Cain becomes emotionally distraught, and repeatedly attempts to talk sense back into Doppler. Unfortunately, despite Doppler briefly regaining his lucidity, Cain is unable to prevent his friend from committing suicide to prevent himself from being retaken by the Sigma virus.

A drunken Cain briefly appears in the opening chapter of the Rockman X4 manga, holding a party to celebrate X's safe return following Sigma's third defeat. He coerces a hesitant X into sampling his "special drink", which causes X to vomit from its taste.

Dr. Cain also appeared in Rockman X5 IF.

Rockman X The Novel: Irregulars Report[]

Dr. Cain is the creator of Reploids, an elderly man called the century's greatest scientist by many. The prologue and epilogue of the novel are told by him. He found X 60 years before the events of the novel.

In Dr. Cain's younger days, the research and development of autonomous thinking robots had been tacitly forbidden and both technology and theory had become wholly stagnated. The reason for this is due to a long war in the past involving such robots that were primarily from an evil scientist and a righteous one, with the war ending before the world could collapse. Dr. Cain was a scientist based on both genetics and robot engineering, and secretly researched on his own to try to bring back that lost technology, but as he was young and had no reputation whatsoever, few places and scientists would cooperate or allow such research, and the idea of thinking robots was too cutting-edge. Labs and corporations that had more advanced equipment would cooperate if he was able to earn some fame, but as he was basically beginning, he wouldn’t be allowed in anywhere, and there was a limit to how much he could do by himself. Cain then decided to head to the site of Dr. Light's laboratory, which was written about in old data.

As Dr. Cain was skilled at finding things purposely hidden, he discovered a hidden basement room deeper into the ruins, where he found X's capsule, alongside several research notes. After viewing Dr. Light's final message in the capsule, Dr. Cain was not sure what to do as X had great possibilities that could lead to hope or despair, but not wanting to just abandon a lost technology and Light's masterpiece, he decided to take X's capsule and all data back to his home, which doubled as his lab.

About 3 years after Cain's discovery, he announced the existence of a new energy source to the world, the Energy Crystals, which he named after a placeholder name used in Light's journal as a humble homage to him. This was one of Cain's biggest achievements, and earned him the position as well as financial power of being the maker of an energy of a new age. Cain used his wealth to devote himself to the research of X.

17 years later, Dr. Cain had learned a lot by analyzing X and Light's notes. He had not activated X yet, as he wanted to understand as much as possible about him first and was both amazed and fearful of his unknown possiblities. Cain understood about 80% of X's structure, but he was unable to grasp some functions that he considers "black boxes", such as X's brain and the X Buster. Cain was perplexed on how detailed X's brain is, to the point that it is like he had synapses and an unique DNA, considering Light a genius with intellect so high that it goes beyond normal thinking. During the years Cain would supplement the parts he could not understand of the thinking program with his own research, embedding all kinds of patterns within the scope of what he could predict.

Cain was ready to start a thinking program, but as suddenly presenting a sealed technology to the world would make it hard to be accepted, first he needed to prepare the world to accept it again, deciding to start with something that could blend in with human lyfestyle. After conducting some genetic research, Cain started by developing machines such as prosthetics to allow people with disabilities to live as healthy people. The prosthetics catched the brainwaves of the users with calculation programs based on X's brain design to move accordingly, and were powered by Energy Crystals to operate stable for a long time. This tech would posteriorly be widely reused by the transportation and construction industries to develop powered suits, as well as building of automated factories that made use of the hi-speed calculations, amongst others, and the gap between humans and machines went on narrowing. Mechaniloids, machines that had highly functional programs which was the basis for their processing abilities, began to spread across the world.

10 years later, Cain decided to announce his plan to start the development of robots that can think by themselves, using technology from the past to make a better future. Now that he had a position close to the top of the scientific world, he began by supporting the development of thinking robots in an academic conference, and that led to the world entering the age of developing thinking robots once again. After the competing development of thinking robots began, there were some forces which, afraid of the liabilities of the past, would sometimes pester him. Such as politicians in military circles, or people fixated with human labor. He was summoned to Congress many times and barraged with questions, but since he was generally accepted and had thick nerves, he dealt with them appropriately and went on.

About 5 years after his announcement to develop thinking robots, Dr. Cain developed his first thinking robot to showcase to the world. He named him Alpha, based on how X meant an unknown number. Alpha was more human than he expected and overwhelmed people across the world, and human-like robots, which became known as Reploids, were accepted as partners of a new age, marking the beginning of competitions between scientists across the world to develop Reploids.

10 years since Cain showcased the first Reploid, Alpha, to the world, Cain decided to finally undo X's sealing and awaken him. 45 years have passed since he found X, and he could not wait to see his performance. As all indicators of the capsule were green and Alpha and the other Reploids have assimilated into society without any issues, X, the basis of all of them, should have no issues either, thought Cain. X was so human-like that for him, X was like a human wearing mechanical clothes. Cain wondered if he should tell him the truth, but decided to keep his origin a secret and only told X that the one who made him was a friend that passed away, and he took over his project, which was almost complete. And thus Cain's life with Alpha and X, and between humans and Reploids, began.

Another 10 years have passed since X's awakening. After spending time with X, Cain thinks he should have awakened him sooner, being surprised to how unique and human-like X was, being self-aware and able to converse like a human. Cain felt ashamed at having prided himself in saying that Alpha was the culmination of his work, considering the way he covered the "black boxes" clumsy compared to Light's work and noticing that X's heart was complete before he even began to accumulate experience. During the years, Cain continued to research X and applied his traits to Reploids. Cain kept on making updates until Reploids that could hold natural conversations became commonplace; and that's when, finally, Reploids that had a bug on their thought circuits, called "Mavericks", began to appear. Reploid crimes were more violent than what humans could handle. The Maverick Hunters were formed to carry out suppression by themselves, all while getting caught in the swirl of many public opinions. The possibility that thinking robots would disturb peace and the existence of Mavericks led to many debates being exchanged, but given the advanced economic growth and prosperity through the Reploids, which humans were unable to ignore, made the decision to make the Maverick Hunters dispose of those Reploids who’d broken down by themselves. And thus the development of battle Reploids progressed at an accelerated pace.

Cain also continued developing new types of Reploids and finally create what he considered his masterpiece, "Sigma", whose outward appearance was designed on how he looked like on his youth, considering him like a son. In less than a year Sigma climbed to the position of Chief Executive of the Maverick Hunters. Cain used X's abilities as reference for the combat Reploids he designed. As X had combat capabilities himself, Cain deduced that Dr. Light had concerns about the appearance of a threat like the Mavericks and thought that X would make a very good Maverick Hunter. Cain brought X to an abilities exam used as part of Hunter recruiting, but the result was something miserable, since X was unable to turn his arm into the Buster to begin with due to being afraid of shooting. Cain then noticed that Dr. Light prepared X not because he was worried about a threat, but rather to make X able to defend himself as he was kind and unable to harm others. Cain didn’t intend to force X, so he continued living with Cain and Alpha, the two Reploids being like foster brothers and sons to Cain. Cain has been constantly updating Alpha while making him be the center stage.

On a rainy day, an incident happened. Alpha had gone out with an unit led by Sigma to assist in subduing a mysterious red Maverick, but since Alpha had no combat abilities, his mission was to gather data and report back to Cain. When the red Maverick was subjugated and the unit returned, Cain went to the Hunter Base alongside X. Cain had to analyze the red Maverick, but first he went to the maintenance room to repair the Reploids that participated in the mission. He started with Alpha, who had risked his life to create an opening for Sigma. Suddenly, Cain is hit and thrown a long distance and is disoriented until a beam of light passes near him. When he noticed what was happening, he could not believe it. The kind Alpha was aiming a portable gun to Cain and was determined to kill him. Everyone in the room was in panic and both Cain and X tried to talk with Alpha, but Alpha would not listen. As Alpha became more violent, X instinctively shot him down to save Cain. Both lamented Alpha's loss due to him becoming a Maverick, and Cain tried to comfort X by saying that he had saved his life, worrying that X may blame himself for what he did. As a result of the incident, X began working full-scale as a low rank Maverick Hunter.

Later, both Cain and Sigma recommended the red Reploid to become a Maverick Hunter as he lost his past memories and had great combat capabilities, and Zero started working as a Maverick Hunter, becoming a Special A Class Hunter in a short time. Cain and Sigma also subjected Zero and Storm Eagle to disciplinary action due to starting a brawl and hurting both X and Armored Armadillo, who had tried to stop them.

It was painful for Cain when his greatest masterpiece Sigma caused an uprising, and he became a temporary commander to lead the Maverick Hunters for the sake of peace. After an injured X was attacked by Armored Armadillo and Vile, Cain had him rescued and, while repairing him, checked the footage of his latest memory, being surprised that Armadillo went to Sigma's side and that Sigma's army knows about the Mega Man legend and started the war because of it. Cain felt that he was responsible for the war and that he is paying the consequences for his actions, remembering his past. After Cain finished the repairs, X headed out to suppress the Mavericks led by Sigma once again. After Sigma's defeat, Cain was sad with his loss despite all he had done, wishing it had not happened to begin with. X reported everything that happened to him.

Dialogues[]

Mega Man X2[]

X: Dr. Cain! what happened?!
Dr. Cain: A group of Mavericks calling themselves the (X-Hunters) have just contacted us...
Serges: Greetings. We have all of Zero's parts.
Violen: They can be yours, if you can defeat us!
Agile: We look forward to meeting you, X!
Dr. Cain: X, Zero's control chip is still stored here. I doubt it is possible to resurrect him without it.
X: Dr. Cain, I've got to get Zero's parts back at any cost!

Dr. Cain: Mega Man X! I've located The X-Hunters base! It's at grid location 00. That's right at the North Pole!
X: Roger, Dr. Cain! I'm on my way!
Dr. Cain: It will take some more time to reactivate Zero... Slow them down Mega Man X!

Dr. Cain: I'm sorry X... One of the X-Hunters attacked the base and... took all of Zero's parts away... They are going to rebuild Zero at their base. I tracked them to location 00 - The North Pole!
X: I can't let them tamper with him Dr. Cain. I've got to save him!

Mega Man X3[]

X: Any problems Dr. Cain?
Dr. Cain: I pulled some memory chips from the Mavericks controlled by Dr. Doppler. I analyzed them and found out that Dr. Doppler is trying to create a powerful new Battle Body by collecting the "special abilities" from the latest breed of Reploids.
X: Battle Body...?
Dr. Cain: First I thought Dr. Doppler was trying to create it for himself. But the information indicates that he will not be able to interface with it, so it must be for someone else.
X: Sigma!?
Zero: Can he still be alive??
Dr. Cain: A hidden laboratory has been pinpointed found at Point D. All indications are that it is Dr. Doppler's secret lab. You need to get there immediately.
X: On my way......
Zero: It's time I put an end to Sigma for good!

The Day of Σ[]

Dr. Cain: There's been a lot of action around here lately.
Sigma: Yes Dr. Cain. Maverick crime has been steadily increasing. Even giant mechaniloids have begun to run amok.
Dr. Cain: Hmm... And how is X doing?
Sigma: As far as his judgment and abilities on the battlefield are concerned, he has shown tremendous promise. However, he tends to hesitate when the situation calls for decisive action.
Dr. Cain: He worries too much. Of course... that is his greatest feature, and the source of his potential. Sigma... You don't have that problem at all. When I found that robot, X, sealed away so long ago, I utilized his design concept to give birth to you Reploids. Reploids have the ability to think and act on their own - just like human beings. But the only one who seems to worry and fret so deeply is X. That is the source of his great potential.
Sigma: His worrying shows potential? It's not a weakness?
Dr. Cain: Hmmhmmhmm... Well, I suppose it might be, under normal circumstances, but in this case, it could be the beginning of a new connection between robots and humans. Of course, we don't know yet if that potential will be a wellspring of hope, or usher in an era of utter chaos.
Dr. Cain: I've extended my life as long as possible to see it all play out, but it looks like I won't be around long enough now...

Gallery[]

Concept art of Dr. Cain for Maverick Hunter X.

Dr. Cain's life support chair from The Day of Σ.

Dr. Cain card in TEPPEN.

In the TEPPEN card Clash of Ideals.

In the TEPPEN card Rise of the Third Energy.

Dr. Cain in the Mega Man TV series.

Dr. Cain in the Mega Man comic.

Dr. Cain in the Mega Man comic.

Dr. Cain in the Rockman X2 manga.

Dr. Cain in the Rockman X3 manga.

A young Dr. Cain in Rockman X The Novel: Irregulars Report.

Dr. Cain in Rockman X The Novel.

References[]