David Cain (character)

David Cainis asupervillainin theDC ComicsUniverse.He first appeared inBatman#567 (July 1999), and was created byKelley PuckettandDamion Scott.

David Cain
Interior artwork fromBatman: No Man's LandSecret Files & Origins#1 (November 1999, DC Comics), art byDamion Scott.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman#567 (July 1999)
Created by	Kelley Puckett(writer) Damion Scott(artist)
In-story information
Species	Human
Team affiliations	League of Assassins
Notable aliases	Orphan
Abilities	Highly trained assassin Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant Expert marksman Skilled in the use of knives and explosives Espionage

Fictional character biography

The assassin

David Cain is an esteemed assassin and ally of theLeague of Assassinswho trained Bruce Wayne in his early years. However, Bruce has never used all of the techniques Cain taught him and has since surpassed him in ability.

Cain desired a perfect partner with whom to carry out his assassination plans. Attempts to train young children resulted in failure, so he decided to conceive one himself. He found the perfect mother in a martial artist named Sandra Wu-San. He watched her duel her sister at a tournament and concluded that it was her sister Carolyn that was holding Sandra back from her full potential. He murdered Carolyn and ambushed Sandra with the help ofRa's al Ghuland his League of Assassins. In exchange for sparing her life, Sandra agreed to bear David's child and leave them in his care for him to train.

The child,Cassandra,would be Cain's "One Who Is All", whose native tongue was one-on-one combat. This gave her the ability to read people's intentions simply by their body language. The latter was a special gift that only the Wu-San sisters and Cassandra knew. After bearing his child, Sandra set out to becomeLady Shiva.

The father

David trained Cassandra in combat, but never taught her to read, write, or speak, rendering her illiterate and mute for most of her life. Cassandra later flees David's care after being forced to kill a businessman.

In David's first appearance inNo Man's Land,Two-Facehires him to assassinateJames Gordon.However, Cassandra spots him and saves Gordon's life. After she burns Two-Face's money to void the contract and refuses to come back to him, Cain leaves Gotham, briefly moved to tears after learning that Cassandra has learned to speak.

Framing Bruce Wayne

Lex Luthorlater hires Cain to frame Bruce Wayne for the murder of Vesper Fairchild, during which he tests Bruce to determine if he is worthy of raising Cassandra.Eventually, Cain concludes that Batman is worthy and turns himself in to clear his name.He is later attacked by Deadshot, but fights back and shoots him, leaving him alive to prove a point.

One Year Later

Cassandra shoots her father, art by Freddie E. Williams II.

InOne Year Later,Robincaptures Cain and brings him to the League of Assassins as ransom to save Cassandra, only to learn that she has become their leader under the influence ofDeathstroke's mind-altering serum.Cassandra then shoots David, seemingly killing him, though his body mysteriously disappears.

Batgirl

In the 2008Batgirlmini-series, Cain is revealed to have survived and begun working with Deathstroke to "cripple the meta-hero community". However, Cassandra stops him, after which he is arrested by Batman.

The New 52

In "The New 52",David Cain works for the villain" Mother ", who influenced his upbringing of Cassandra. She believed that the perfect assassin could only be molded from exposure to a traumatic existence from a young age.