Wyatt Cain

DG for her second companion when she and Glitch heard screams while they were lost in the woods. They saw a family being attacked by Longcoats and then discovered it was only a time-loop projection. Then they found the iron suit set up to watch the projection. The man inside the suit was Wyatt Cain, a former Tin Man, police officer in Central City and part of the Mystic Man's protection detail, who joined the Resistance and was locked in the suit by Zero for defying the Sorceress. He believes his wife Adora and son Jeb are dead and has been locked in the suit long enough for a tree to grown from a sapling.

All he wants to do is find Zero and kill him. Only whatever trait in Cain that led him to becoming a police officer and led him to resisting a tyrant’s rule won’t allow him to abandon DG—who honestly doesn’t know anything about the dangers of this world—with only a convict for protection. So he reluctantly agrees to guide her after her parents.

DG insists on saving Raw from certain death—a position a Tin Man should automatically take. She instinctively turns to Cain for protection (just try to convince me that doesn’t stroke a male ego unconsciously). Cain puts DeMilo in his place when he gets lewd interacting with DG, a response all on Cain and not due to DG jumping behind him for protection. And then she suffers a blow no one should, and finds out her parents lied to her for as long as she can remember. She is a good if exasperating person, and she’s only exasperating because he wants to get her safe and sound anywhere so his conscious won’t nag him as he puts a bullet in it after Zero’s dead and she keeps delaying that outcome.

So when Father Vue tells DG to go to the Mystic Man, Cain figures his duty will be done at that point. Her parting shot “You’re a Tin Man, not a killer” hits home when he abandons the group in Central City, even though he manages to ignore it up until hearing she is in danger as Zero’s new target. By the time he is confronted with the shell of the Mystic Man, it is pretty clear that Cain is not a stone-cold b#stard even though he’s trying to maintain that image. Not for the people he cares about and DG has been added to that list with the Mystic Man, and to a lesser degree with Glitch and Raw—he doesn’t accept them fully until after the Tower rescue and escape.

Zero tells Cain his family is still alive before shooting the Tin Man out a window in the Northern Palace. Cain falls into the ice-covered lake below, and crawls out of it and collapses, where he is found by Glitch after the Longcoats have taken DG and Raw away. Cain only believes Zero halfheartedly until Ralph Bedose confirms the story. Unfortunately, the group only finds an empty iron suit and Adora's grave at the cabin by the white elm. Cain is convinced Jeb is dead too, despite Raw telling him different.

The quest eventually brings them to the Realm of the Unwanted where Airofday captures Cain, Glitch, and Raw, turning them over to Zero, while the Seeker takes off with DG. This set back turns out to be a blessing in disguise because Jeb's Resistance cell attacks and frees them.

Father and son reunion is awkward for both of them, and made worse that they disagree on the best way to deal with the captured Zero. Cain finally locks the Longcoat general in the spare iron suit Jeb keeps in his camp, and Jeb accepts the verdict that they'll come back after dealing with the Eclipse and get him as something Adora would approve of.

Cain, Glitch, and Raw borrow some horses and follow Toto to rescue DG from the Royal Tomb and they meet up with Jeb's fighters at the Tower. While the Resistance engages the Longcoats as a distraction, Cain leads Glitch and Raw to the Brain Room after reluctantly allowing DG to confront Azkadellia alone.

My Fanon:

Cain was shown captured and beaten, and they heavily implied that his family was tortured and maybe even had their deaths faked in front of him given his absolute certainty they are dead, and shoved into an iron suit which kept his body in physical shape while he watched a projection of that day over and over again for annuals. Eight is a number agreed upon by most of the fandom, based on an interview with Neal McDonough. This is horrific torture; Cain has a nightmare later of Adora’s death and it turns into a projection on him. Yes, he has issues (just like all the other characters), but I don’t think those issues mean he needs to check into the nearest available psychiatric ward.

I actually like the theory that the iron suit is a sensory deprivation device, and Zero’s addition of the time-loop project helped keep Cain sane. It has a delicious sense of irony because that was so not Zero’s intent. He knows he’s watching a projection; hello, he’s a cop, a trained observer! Even if he had a bad week or month, he would reason out that it never changes and it never stops eventually. It gave him time to mourn his wife and son, and plan what exactly he was going to do to Zero when he got out. And this is exactly was Cain was ready to stride off to do after DG and Glitch save him and he realized he was free. Yeah, we got time lapsed right over that bit, and I do think it took a while.

Would a man so on the edge of a psychotic breakdown be as gentle as he was with the withdrawal-suffering Mystic Man?

Yes, Cain gives in and has revenge-addled moments, most notably at the Northern Palace. His hopes rise especially after Ralph confirms Zero’s story. But even once they are dashed again after seeing Adora’s grave, he doesn’t turn on or take it out on this new group he has bonded with. He accepts DG’s comfort. He does tell Raw off, but not as harshly as he could. After the Realm of the Unwanted, he is freely giving out hugs! That’s a huge leap for the guy who didn’t know what to do when DG pounced on him in the Tower.

But I suppose all this is supposed to be shuffled onto sucky writing of the miniseries and not any growth of the character, who according to the archetype is supposed to realize he has had a heart and compassion all along. I’m willing to leave it to individual writers as too how long it takes before Cain decides to have another romantic commitment, if any, after Adora, but I don’t think the five month or the annual long wait I’ve used so far is out of line considering what growth the miniseries projected.

Based on footage from the trailer that was cut from the miniseries: one shot in the trailer has Cain leaning against a tree saying “Seems to me, you were sent through that storm for a reason.” I decided it must have come up in conversation between Milltown and Central City after they found DG's real mother had sent her to the Other Side but didn't know why. Cain's first counseling session was to tell DG there had to be a reason (he wouldn't dump Jeb in another world without a damn good reason), but right then she needed to concentrate on the finding her mother and not go crazy guessing why.

Based on footage from the trailer that was cut from the miniseries: one shot has Jeb and Cain detonating some explosions together. I put this after all the fighting and sorting is done, and everyone has decided the Tower needs to blow up. So it's my proof that Jeb did survive the Battle of the Eclipse.

The Tin Men's Last Stand was an attempt to rescue their Commissioner from the gallows. The Sorceress executed him and his family because he was using the Tin Men to stop her Longcoats from terrorizing the people of Central City into giving up Resistance members. Her use of Viewers' second sight predicted the attempt and she set a trap instead. The Mystic Man saved Cain's ass from Zero after the Tin Men's Last Stand, and arranged for the boat escape for the Cain family. (Read Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic.

What happened at the first cabin when Cain got locked in the suit: After softening up Cain some more and hitting Adora and Jeb a few more times, Cain is tied to a dining table chair pulled out of the cabin (it is still there in the yard when DG and Glitch rescue him). Zero wants identities of resistance members, locations of where former Tin Men have hidden themselves, and revenge for Cain's previous escape. Cain doesn't talk, no matter what they hit him with. One Longcoat suggests cutting off body parts when even the delivery of the iron suit doesn't faze Cain, but Zero ups the ante. Three of the Longcoats drag Adora and Jeb behind the cabin. They are gagged to prevent any noise and two shots are fired into the ground. The shooter Longcoat returns to the front, telling Zero the other two are going to drag the bodies to the Papay Fields. Instead of breaking Cain into giving up information, Cain goes berserk, breaking free of the bonds holding him to the chair and lashing out at Zero. The Longcoats knock him out. They put his unconscious body in the iron suit, start the time loop projection, and take Adora and Jeb away. Cain wakes up to the events replaying over and over again. (Read "Tin Man: What Memories Can Bring".

Borrowed from Andrealyn

Cain and Adora wanted more kids but couldn't have any.

Shootout featured in the Tin Man comic is the Last Stand of the Tin Men and that is the battle Cain refers to when talking to DG.

Borrowed from Transgenic_girl

Cain's first assignment was the Sin District.

Borrowed from Gatechic

Zero told Adora and Jeb that Cain died in the suit and they threw his body to the Papay.

My answers to Catyuy's Questions

How did Wyatt and Adora meet?

I have no idea. They got married at 19, right after Cain graduated and got his first assignment.

Does Cain stay and help the royal family? Or does he retire?

Depends on the story. I can't see him abandoning DG or Jeb.

What position would Cain have if he stays with the Royal family? Advisor, General, guard, what?

Whatever he wants. Who really wants to argue with the man? Though based on experience and lack of manpower, a position in the Army seems likely to me. I don't see him getting a General-ship--too much paperwork.

Bonus Question: What is your fanon for the Cain Family?

When Jeb was born, Wyatt and Adora had only been married seven months. And Jeb was three weeks late. ;D

!Fanon Stories That May get Referenced
Down We Fall - Cain's POV at the cave
Never the End by ASolidSecond - Cain's brief green glow in What Memories Can Bring was inspired by this story.