Kainé is a scantily clad, hermaphrodite swordswoman in NIER. She ends up accompanying Nier after he helps her. She has drawn attention for her foul mouth. She is also possessed by a Shade who dubs himself Tyrann. As a result of her upbringing and Tyrann's occupation of her body, this gave her a disposition towards being cold and cruel - albeit the fact that more often than not she is shy and collected.
Originally born in the Aerie, Kainé is a coarse individual who suffers from being only half human. Her left arm and left leg, which she keeps under wraps, is that of a Shade. This hybrid form has left her to live as an outcast, unwelcome in villages and befriended by few. As a response to the harassment she received in her childhood for being a hermaphrodite, she took a liking to clothes that emphasize feminine characteristics. She has grown accustomed to being alone, and her veneer of shyness is easily shattered by sudden outbursts and irrational displays of violent anger. Though she is secretly glad to have Nier's company, she has already learned to survive on her own due to her grandmother (who she loved dearly), her skill with twin swords, and her ability to wield magic.
The only person that showed her kindness and protected her was her equally foul-mouthed grandmother Kali, with whom Kainé lived her childhood and inherited her attitude from. She held both love and respect for her grandmother who accepted her and treated her as a woman. One day when returning home she encountered the shade Hook, who was attacking Kali's house and had her pinned down, sadistically enjoying Kainé's despair. Kali died in the incident and Kainé was left mutilated. It was then that the Shade Tyrann fused with her, allowing her to live and causing Kainé's deep hatred of Shades.
When half of her body was taken over by the Tyrann, she became a Shade-possessed and gained humanly impossible battle power and the ability to hear the voices of the Shades, but despite this had convinced herself that they are all evil and deserve to die (Tyrann even mockingly asks her if she's going to sympathize with the Shade Gretel after hearing its vow to protect its fellow Shades). By becoming possessed, Kaine suffered even more persecution and lived only to exact her revenge even if it meant using the powers of a Shade.
However, influenced by her meeting with Nier, who lived an upright life even under excruciating circumstances, her heart began to change. After exacting revenge, she took up her sword for the sake of her comrade, Nier. When they first met, she only treated Nier as her traveling companion, but after reviving from petrification, she gradually began to recognize him as a male. Kainé first realized that she loved Nier during the scene in the Shadowlord’s Castle, when she beat him up out of frustration but also recognised her own feelings.
Kainé is implied to have romantic feelings for Nier. She is also very close to Emil, treating him in a sisterly fashion. In contrast she and Weiss rarely get along and often argue.
She is 17 years old.
According to director Yokoo, in Grimoire Nier, Kainé's gestalt was not originally a hermaphrodite. She was a normal female with a fiancé, but her replicant was born as a hermaphrodite due to an error in the long-running replicant system.
The kanji of her name was meant to be “壊音”(broken sound). It didn't have a specific origin, and was probably a development staff’s made-up language. For Kaine, who can hear “the voice of the Shades’ souls”, maybe their dying breath sounds “broken”. Maybe she can even hear the “sound of herself breaking".
Instead of Ending C and D being a decision for “Nier and Kainé”, it was more a choice for “the player and Kainé”. Director Yokoo explained, "If you like Kainé after playing through the game twice, then sacrifice yourself and save her, if you don’t then you don’t have to save her."
Though originally rumored to be a character exclusive to the Japan-only Nier Replicant, the third trailer for NIER showcased an audio-only monologue of Kainé berating Nier's book companion, Grimoire Weiss.
Kainé makes an appearance in the arcade-based fantasy collectible card game Lord of Vermilion Re:2.
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Concept art.
Kainé and Emil concept art.
Kainé concept art.
Young Kainé concept art.
Alternate outfit.
Alternate outfit.
After being turned to stone by Emil.
Kainé as a shade.
Card in Lord of Vermilion Re:2.
Back of card in Lord of Vermilion Re:2.
Kainé in Lord of Vermilion Re:2.
