Caim (Drakengard)

Caim (Japanese: カイム, Hepburn: Kaimu) is the main protagonist of the action role-playing game Drakengard by Cavia. After seeing the death of his parents and the destruction of his home by the Imperial dragon Legna, Caim swears vengeance against the Empire and fosters a deep hatred of dragons. Mortally wounded in a battle, he is forced to make a pact with the dragon Angelus (Angel in Japanese) to save himself, sacrificing his own voice to do so. The character returns as the antagonist in Drakengard 2, in which Caim is on a quest to free Angelus from the painful burden of the Seals. He also lost his eye, becoming known through the lands as the "One-Eyed Man". He succeeds, but Angelus has been driven insane by the burden and must be killed, killing him too.

Influenced by the Berserk manga protagonist Guts, Caim created by co-producer Takuya Iwasaki; the game's director Yoko Taro described him as an examination of action game heroes of the time. He was designed by Kimihiko Fujisaka, who later felt embarrassed by his work. In the sequel he was redesigned was a wanderer figure. Caim is voiced in Japanese by Peter (Shinnosuke Ikehata) and in English by Fleet Cooper; both voiced other characters in the game. Caim has stood out among game journalists for his unusually violent personality and his poor relationships with other characters, traits rarely seen in RPGs. His silent demeanor and relationship with Angelus were also praised.

Caim was created for the 2003 video game Drakengard by its co-producer Takuya Iwasaki.^[1] The game's director Yoko Taro described Caim as an examination of the typical action game hero of the time; he felt someone who had killed so many people should not have a happy ending.^[2] His role as a dragon rider was present from early in production, when the game was intended to emulate the Ace Combat series.^[3] Caim was based on Guts, the lead protagonist of the manga Berserk, and was also codenamed "Guts" during development.^[4] Yoko had little involvement in Caim's story, claiming not to remember most of it.^[1] The relationship between Caim and his dragon companion Angelus (Angel in Japanese) underwent changes during development: Yoko initially planned for the relationship to be a parasitic one, but Iwasaki instead wrote their relationship as an unconventional romance between a young man (Caim) and an older woman (Angelus).^[2]

A core plot thread is the relationship between Caim, his friend-turned-rival Inuart, and Caim's sister Furiae who harbored romantic feelings towards her brother.^[5] Yoko was inspired by incorporate Furiae's incestuous feelings by the anime Sister Princess; he remembered creating an ending based around it, but had to change it based on negative feedback from staff.^[3] Inuart was originally designed as the main protagonist, with him being a "useless hero"; the scene where he first clashes with Caim was the way Yoko was able to show the game world's tone.^[6] Caim returned for Drakengard 2 (2005), taking on the role of an antagonist, eventually dying alongside Angelus. Their deaths were intended to be "short and ruthless", but the game's director Akira Yasui had it changed to a more sentimental version. Dialogue from Caim for the scene was cut from the game due to it clashing with his previous portrayal as a mute.^[7]

Co-producer Takamasa Shiba drew parallels between Caim and the cast from Neon Genesis Evangelion as individuals who use supernatural beings to fight even if they do not want to, with Caim's sole motivation being to save his sister.^[8] Shiba wanted Caim's portrayal as a dragon knight to be unique in order for the game to be more original than Dynasty Warriors, which he wanted Drakengard to compete with. He also aimed for the fights with the dragon to affect the protagonist's personality. Seeing Caim as too violent a protagonist, Yokoconsidered using monsters as antagonists to make Caim more heroic. Iwasaki wanted the game's multiple endings to influence Caim's morals but without making any of them a true ending so the players can freely choose.^[9] Furiae was designed by Yoko as both an explanation for Caim and Inuart's rivalry and as a representation of his distaste for the kind of forgettable character she represented. The relationship between Caim and Furiae, as well as their ultimate fates, was Yoko's response to the standard happy ending found in most role-playing games at the time, tying into his examination of Caim.^[1]

Caim was designed by the game's character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka, and was one of the earliest characters created for the game.^[7] In hindsight, Fujisaka was dissatisfied with his work on Drakengard, particularly his work on Caim who he felt was "too bland" and designed to be easy to model in-game rather than distinctive.^[10] When summing up Caim's outfit, Shiba described the design as "the result of giving an ancient piece of armour to a modern Japanese designer and seeing what they would come up with."^[11] Fujisaka returned as his designer for Drakengard 2. He felt this design was an improvement on the original; the redesign was meant to represent Caim's status as a wanderer. Fujisaka also took elements of Caim's original design and incorporated them into those of lead characters Nowe and Manah, intending to represent "passing the torch" between characters.^[7]

The actor who voiced both Caim and Angelus in Japanese is Peter (also credited as Shinnosuke Ikehata). Though originally cast for the role of Caim, Peter's versatility led to also voicing Angelus.^[12] While describing a later design as "pretty", Peter stated in an interview to that they had little strong feelings connected to voicing him.^[13] Peter would return to voice other characters in later Drakengard projects.^[14] In English, Caim is voiced by Fleet Cooper, who also voiced Inuart.^[15]

Drakengard opens with Caim in the midst of a battle to protect his sister from the Empire. He finds Angelus severely wounded from torture. Despite their mutual mistrust, Caim and Angelus agree to make a pact and save each other.^[16][17] With the attack repelled, Caim is joined by Furiae and Inuart to find safety, encountering Verdelet on their travels. Verdelet and Caim travel to each of the three Seals but arrive too late to stop them from being destroyed each time. Eventually, the Union and the Empire engage in battle, and the Union emerges victorious. After the battle, however, the Union's surviving troops are decimated by an unknown force from above, and the Empire's troops return to life.^[18] Caim and Angelus travel to an Imperial fortress that has appeared in the sky, where they find that Furiae has killed herself, breaking the final seal. Inuart, seeing her body, is released from his brainwashing and takes her away.

In the first ending, Caim and Angelus confront Manah and defeat her. Manah asks them to kill her, but Angelus declares that she must live with her crimes.^[19] Angelus then offers herself as the new Goddess of the Seal for Caim's sake. As Verdelet performs the ritual, Angelus tells Caim her name before fading away.^[20] In the second ending, Caim is forced to kill Furiae, but not before clones of her are produced from other Seeds to destroy humanity.^[21] In the third ending, after Furiae's suicide, Caim and Angelus stop Inuart's attempt to resurrect her and confront Manah, who is killed by another dragon.^[22] With the dragons now being driven to destroy mankind, Angelus breaks her pact with Caim and fights him to the death. Caim then prepares to die fighting the other dragons.^[23] In the fourth ending, Seere has his Golem pact partner kill the deranged Manah, causing the fortress to collapse. Caim, Seere, Leonard, and Arioch escape, while Inuart and Furiae are killed inside.^[24] With Manah dead, the Watchers descend on the Imperial capital, with Leonard and Arioch dying at their hands. Caim and Angelus then sacrifice themselves to allow Seere to use his powers to seal the city and the Watchers in a timeless zone, nullifying their threat.^[25] In the fifth ending, instead of using Seere's power, Caim and Angelus instead attack the queen, and the three disappear through a portal. After engaging the queen monster in a rhythm game in modern-day Tokyo, the two destroy it and are then shot down by a fighter jet.^[26]

In Drakengard 2, Caim is working to destroy the seals and free his dragon Angelus from the pain of being the Goddess Seal. Urick and Nowe face off against Caim, who mortally wounds Urick before being driven off. Urick dies content, and the seal is destroyed.^[27] Caim asks Nowe and Legna to kill her, and as she dies, he and Angelus share a final moment together before fading away.^[28]

Caim's role in Drakengard was retold in two novelizations by Emi Nagashima (writing as Jun Eishima) and Takashi Aizawa.^[29][30] The game's events were retold again in a special story titled Drakengard 1.3, which followed on from the spin-off manga Drag-On Dragoon: Shi ni Itaru Aka.^[31][32] Caim also appeared in the Drakengard 2 novelization written by Nagashima.^[33]

When Dengeki held a popularity contest for the characters to celebrate both the series's tenth anniversary and the announcement of Drakengard 3,^[34] Caim, Angelus, Nowe, Urick, and Manah were among the most popular characters. Caim has earned the nickname Prince (王子, Ōji) among fans of the games.^[35] Iwasaki believed that one of the reasons Drakengard became popular is that the protagonist's personality could be defined by the players.^[11]

Caim has stood out among multiple journalists for gaming as a result of his violent characterization. In "Unraveling the Strange Appeal of Drakengard", Kat Bailey from VG247.com said Caim impressed him for being portrayed as a "serial killer" the player controls, and none of his partners are superior to him. This type of writing is seen again in the spin-off Nier, where the player is unaware they are helping the protagonist commit genocide across the walkthrough, making the narrative's outcomes not seen as potential happy endings. The writer also compared Caim with Zero from Drakengard 3 for their similar brutal actions, concluding they are "little more than two-dimensional cutouts in an ocean of blood".^[36] In "Cavia: A Brief Retrospective", a writer from GamesBeat said that Cain sacrificing his voice in the game's beginning made the narrative hard to understand until the protagonist starts interacting with the beast. This comes across as philosophy involving the violence Caim is often put into. In retrospect, the writer said Caim's team-up with the dragon helped the game from being seen as too similar to a similar franchise titled Dynasty Warriors. Despite finding the game slow, the writer praised the number of powers Caim is able to obtain, highly overpowering enemies in the process.^[37] In a retrospective article titled "Retro Encounter Final Thoughts – Drakengard", RPGFan said Caim was the opposite of heroic archetypes commonly seen in role-playing games due to his violent nature. He instead is "driven by psychopathic levels of revenge and bloodlust", with several writers noting the cast are not worthy of having happy endings, especially when the world explored in the game is constantly in danger.^[38]

In "19 years ago, the best bad video game ever transformed the medium", Willia Rowe from Inverse said that while all characters appear to be despicable, Caim was the worst due to his violent nature and incestuous overtones with his sister. Though the cast works to save the world from ending, the game designers appear to have developed the gameplay to make both Caim and the player themself hate it. The final ending was compared to the movie The End of Evangelion (1997) but seen in a parody fashion similar to how Silent Hill often creates comical endings.^[39] Davis A. from Digitally Downloaded said in "Retro reflections: On my love for Drakengard" that while Caim appears to be a traditional prince who wears royal clothing and weaponry commonly seen in other games, his portrayal was out of the element as a result of his violent personality and the incestuous romance he has. The game was also notable for portraying more taboo themes that fit with Caim's party, resulting in tragic events the more time the player has in the game, making Drakengard completely unpredictable.^[40]

Caim has also been compared with other characters in gaming. GameRant praised him as one of the best anti-heroes ever seen in Japanese role-playing games as a result of his morality issues as well as violent actions, making his transformation as the villain of Drakengard 2 fitting.^[41] The same website also praised him as having one of the best reasons for being a silent character in a video game thanks to his pact with the dragon and how it stays across the narrative until Ending C of the original game.^[42] In retrospect, TheGamer writer Jade King was amazed by its adult content that could have been either removed or censored, with Caim's violent nature standing out without seeming to have any sort of mercy towards any enemy that he might face.^[43] GameRant noted that the brother protagonist from Nier appears to be similar to Caim, showing more examples of Yoko Taro's previous works, as he can enjoy killing similar to Caim, with both also developing similar weaponry.^[44] In "El transmedia en el videojuego: la saga NieR como caso de estudio", A. Fernández de Marticorena Gallego from the University of the Balearic Islands said Caim's journey in modern Japan is seen as one of the weirdest ways to end a story, especially since the spin-off Nier chooses this route to start the plot, especially since the plot and characters do not feel that similar at first.^[45]

In the book The Strange Works of Taro Yoko: From Drakengard to Nier: Automata, Nicolas Turcve said that Caim being influenced by the famous character Guts from Berserk is notable, as besides the personality, both also are in a story with a dark fantasy appealing for "tortured teenagers". Meanwhile, Guts' incestuous tone with his sister appears to be influenced by Sister Princess, an eroge focused on the tabbo term Caim is associated with and is explored in Ending B, which explores the cruelty of Furiae. The fight against the Empire is one of Caim's biggest shows of anger as he kills multiple people alongside his dragon and is shown having a cold determination to win.^[46]