Dissidia 012 Kain Highwind

Kain Highwind is a warrior of Cosmos and one of the new characters introduced in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. He is the third representative of Final Fantasy IV. He was a Dragoon that served alongside his best friend Cecil in Baron, but Golbez took control of him and used Kain to attack his friend and obtain the crystals. In time, Kain resisted Golbez's control and redeemed himself. He specializes in high-speed aerial combat, fighting with his lance and Jump, along with a variety of other Dragoonabilities and Wind spells.

In the game's story mode, his opposing villain is Exdeath.During Prologus, Kain joins a conversation between Lightning and Jecht about the Warrior of Light. Lightning does not see eye to eye with the Warrior, and Kain puts forward the idea that her arrogance may not live up to her strength, before suggesting that she works with the Warrior to witness his prowess. After the Warrior separates from Lightning, she and Jecht ask Kain if he thinks they are capable; he tells them that he would not be here if they disappointed him.

Kain talking to the Warrior of Light.

After receiving his dormant crystal, Kain receives a visit from Golbez who divulges on the war's cycle of death and rebirth; in order for the revival to work their memories of the last war and their original home worlds must be erased. Golbez mentions Kain fell in the previous cycle, but still retains memories oftheir own world, and that he will recover more with every battle he wins. Cecil enters and attacks Golbez, who teleports away. Before rejoining the others, Kain asks Cecil if he remembers anything about their world, to which Cecil responds he can only vaguely remember Kain.

Kain informs the Warrior of Light of what he learned and the two reach the agreement they should defeat the other warriors of Cosmos before the manikins do, who are the only ones that can permanently kill the warriors summoned by Cosmos and Chaos. Kain proceeds to defeat and kidnap Bartz, which alerts the attention of the Chaos faction when he tries to take Lightning out as well. However, he ended up sparing her due to the Chaos faction being alerted, not willing to risk giving away his allies' location by fighting and defeating her.

Kain confronts Exdeath and the Delusory Dragoon manikins.

After knocking Firion out, Exdeath asks Kain to disclose the whereabouts of the warriors of Cosmos, and turns a group of Delusory Dragoons on him when he refuses, with Kain emerging triumphant. After taking out Zidane, he intervenes in Tifa's fight with Ultimecia and protects her.

Despite Tifa's joy at Kain's arrival, Ultimecia gloats about Kain's treachery and he flees with Zidane. By the time she finds him, Kain begins to suffer the toll of his fight as he tells Tifa to leave, but when she offers him her last Potion to Kain out of trust, he tells her the truth about the cycle. While Tifa remains positive, Kain asserts he cannot guarantee she will survive the path she has chosen.

Kain, moments before he decides to stay behind to slow down Exdeath.

After they reunite with Laguna, Yuna, Lightning, and Vaan, Exdeath and Golbez appear to tell them the number of manikins in the surrounding area is low. Kain catches onto the fact that the manikins are heading towards Cosmos, and stays behind to fight Exdeath while the other five hurry to her aid. Kain defeats manikins of the warriors he kidnapped, and finally Exdeath, which was partially due to Golbez's interference.

Golbez expresses gratitude to Kain, as his actions have given him a chance to stop the cycle and save Cecil. He tells him he will not make it back alive if he leaves, but Kain resigns himself to his fate. Despite his injuries, Kain joins the other five in their stand against the manikins at the Empyreal Paradox, where they eventually succumb to them and lose their power. Kain sheds his light and fades away.

Confessions of the CreatorEdit

After the player defeats the Chasm in the Rotting Land gateway and is directed to the Southern Lufenia gateway, Kain can be found wandering near Gulg Volcano Ring, provided he is not currently in the player's party. When spoken to he vanishes with the words "prepare yourself". As the world of Confessions of the Creator is a hypothetical nightmare world where the cycles of war kept going and Feral Chaos killed all summoned warriors, this Kain is likely a spectre of the Kain of this alternate world. He can no longer be found after the player conquers the Southern Lufenia gateway.

Official QuestsEdit

Kain is the main focus of "Kain's Quest 012: A Dragoon's Betrayal". After failing to defeat Lightning, Kain abandons his plans to put her to sleep with Exdeath pursuing him. Encountering Ultimecia who questions his actions and his alliance with Golbez, Kain defeats her and sends her into retreat, then meets Squall. Kain defeats Squall and puts him to sleep, and has a brief encounter with Tidus, who asks if Jecht is on Kain's list of targets. Kain continues on after this to Ultimecia's Castle where he senses another warrior nearby, leading into Tifa finding him and the defeated Zidane at the area soon after.

In "Cecil's Quest 012: A Re-encounter With a Close Friend", Cecil recovers his memories of him and Kain serving in Baron's military together, and Kain is happy his friend remembers him. The two duel to commemorate the occasion, Kain telling Cecil that in time further memories will become clear.