Cain is a character unlocked by obtaining 54 or more coins at once in a run.
Cain starts with two Red Heart containers, one 
Key, and 
Lucky Foot.
Cain also starts with a 
Paper Clip trinket after 68 coins have been donated to the 
Greed Donation Machine.
Lucky Foot now changes bad pills into good pills (similar to 
PHD, 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.
Blood Clot, Chemical Peel, and Stye have a 50% chance to do increased damage.- Technology 2 will prevent him from firing normal tears, even tear-changing effects like Brimstone.
- Technology 2 will no longer prevent him from firing normal tears and instead will cause him to also fire Technology 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. Neptunus 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 Lucky Foot boosts this even further by increasing his success for room drops and machines like Slot Machines, Fortune Telling Machines, Shell Games, etc.
- If Paper 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 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 Shops, bomb Shopkeepers, donate ten coins to a Donation Machine, or donate to a Beggar till he pays out to maximize the chances of an Angel Room. Cain benefits more from them compared to Devil Rooms due to his low health.
Item Interactions[ | ]
- Abel's tears become red and deal 7.5 damage when held by Cain.
- Birthright: Grants +1 luck. All floors that can have special rooms contain an upgraded Arcade.
- Technology 2: Effectively acts like the Technology item.
- Eye 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[ | ]
- Donate 68 Coins to the Greed Donation Machine - Start with Paper Clip
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.
- Abel 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[ | ]
Cain's transition screen portrait.
Cain's locked character icon.
Bugs[ | ]
 Bug!
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Cain's covered eye can be seen through the reflection on the floor on stages/rooms with water. |
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 Cain Unlocks
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 Characters
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 The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
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