TV-Series
Description
Cain Dressel is a prominent antagonist in the anime Valvrave the Liberator, serving as a colonel in the military of the Dorssian Military Federation. A tall and imposing figure at 199 centimeters, he is 38 years old and wears an eyepatch over his right eye. He was born on February 29 and has AB blood type.
Before the events of the story, Cain was a celebrated hero and a central figure in the Dolshian Reformation twelve years prior, having been awarded the Dolshian Military Merit Medal on three separate occasions. He was a trusted friend and the right-hand man to the Supreme Commander Amadeus. At the elite Karlstein Institute, he served as a primary instructor for exceptional soldiers, including the young agent known as L-Elf, who Cain personally trained. In this role, he was known for his strict but principled teaching, famously advising his students to have the strength to protect both their own back and their comrades, rather than relying on others to guard it for them.
Ten years before the series begins, Cain's body was taken over by a Magius, a parasitic, immortal entity. A crest appearing on his neck marks this possession, and the Magius has since dominated his personality, though it retained Cain's military rank and position to conceal its true identity. The Magius that controls him does not possess the memories or the inner spirit of the original man, leading to subtle but critical contradictions in his behavior that alert his former subordinates that something is fundamentally wrong.
In the story, Cain is a calm, cold, and exceptionally calculating commander. His tactical genius and martial arts prowess are virtually unparalleled, making him the single greatest threat to L-Elf and the student pilots of Module 77. He is a competent and charismatic leader but is utterly ruthless, willing to sacrifice his own soldiers to achieve his objectives. During Dorssia's invasion of the neutral JIOR module, he uses a hidden crystal to activate and seize the Valvrave Unit 2 for his own faction, later upgrading it into a unit called the Dainsleif. He refers to the human pilots like Haruto Tokishima, who gain immortality after piloting the Valvraves, as the "Third Generation".
As a being controlled by the Magius, his primary motivation is to ensure the secrecy and survival of his race, which has manipulated human history from the shadows. He believes that the Magius, by hiding the truth and maintaining order from behind the scenes, are the true guardians of world peace. He views anyone who seeks to expose the truth as an evil that threatens that fragile stability, arguing that living separately from humanity is the only way to eliminate conflict. Ironically, he orchestrates a plot to reveal the regenerative abilities of the Magius to the world to destabilize a new political alliance, but this act backfires, sparking a brutal, humanity-wide witch-hunt against the creatures he seeks to protect.
Cain's most significant relationship is with L-Elf. He was once L-Elf's mentor and superior, but after his possession, he becomes the agent's most feared obstacle. L-Elf views Cain as the greatest danger due to his ability to calmly assess and counter any strategy. He shares a close, loyal relationship with the Dorssian leader Amadeus, who is also possessed by a Magius. He is also the commander of elite agents like H-neun and X-eins; X-eins remains fanatically loyal to him, while H-neun becomes suspicious and eventually confirms that Cain is no longer the man he once was due to the contradictions in his philosophy about protecting one's comrades.
Cain possesses numerous notable abilities. As a soldier, his skills in hand-to-hand combat and tactical command are perfect, surpassing even the abilities of L-Elf. Because he is a Magius, he can pilot a Valvrave without needing to form a formal contract with its sentient system. He also demonstrates supernatural powers, such as generating solid light from his hands to replace missing limbs and unleashing powerful attacks using a creature's Rune energy. In the final battle, he pilots the upgraded Dainsleif against a coalition of his former subordinates and Haruto. Despite his power, he is ultimately defeated when Haruto, having taken over L-Elf's body, expends all of his own RUNE in a ferocious attack, leading to Cain's death in battle. Before his death, he releases the captive spirit of Prue from his Valvrave.
Before the events of the story, Cain was a celebrated hero and a central figure in the Dolshian Reformation twelve years prior, having been awarded the Dolshian Military Merit Medal on three separate occasions. He was a trusted friend and the right-hand man to the Supreme Commander Amadeus. At the elite Karlstein Institute, he served as a primary instructor for exceptional soldiers, including the young agent known as L-Elf, who Cain personally trained. In this role, he was known for his strict but principled teaching, famously advising his students to have the strength to protect both their own back and their comrades, rather than relying on others to guard it for them.
Ten years before the series begins, Cain's body was taken over by a Magius, a parasitic, immortal entity. A crest appearing on his neck marks this possession, and the Magius has since dominated his personality, though it retained Cain's military rank and position to conceal its true identity. The Magius that controls him does not possess the memories or the inner spirit of the original man, leading to subtle but critical contradictions in his behavior that alert his former subordinates that something is fundamentally wrong.
In the story, Cain is a calm, cold, and exceptionally calculating commander. His tactical genius and martial arts prowess are virtually unparalleled, making him the single greatest threat to L-Elf and the student pilots of Module 77. He is a competent and charismatic leader but is utterly ruthless, willing to sacrifice his own soldiers to achieve his objectives. During Dorssia's invasion of the neutral JIOR module, he uses a hidden crystal to activate and seize the Valvrave Unit 2 for his own faction, later upgrading it into a unit called the Dainsleif. He refers to the human pilots like Haruto Tokishima, who gain immortality after piloting the Valvraves, as the "Third Generation".
As a being controlled by the Magius, his primary motivation is to ensure the secrecy and survival of his race, which has manipulated human history from the shadows. He believes that the Magius, by hiding the truth and maintaining order from behind the scenes, are the true guardians of world peace. He views anyone who seeks to expose the truth as an evil that threatens that fragile stability, arguing that living separately from humanity is the only way to eliminate conflict. Ironically, he orchestrates a plot to reveal the regenerative abilities of the Magius to the world to destabilize a new political alliance, but this act backfires, sparking a brutal, humanity-wide witch-hunt against the creatures he seeks to protect.
Cain's most significant relationship is with L-Elf. He was once L-Elf's mentor and superior, but after his possession, he becomes the agent's most feared obstacle. L-Elf views Cain as the greatest danger due to his ability to calmly assess and counter any strategy. He shares a close, loyal relationship with the Dorssian leader Amadeus, who is also possessed by a Magius. He is also the commander of elite agents like H-neun and X-eins; X-eins remains fanatically loyal to him, while H-neun becomes suspicious and eventually confirms that Cain is no longer the man he once was due to the contradictions in his philosophy about protecting one's comrades.
Cain possesses numerous notable abilities. As a soldier, his skills in hand-to-hand combat and tactical command are perfect, surpassing even the abilities of L-Elf. Because he is a Magius, he can pilot a Valvrave without needing to form a formal contract with its sentient system. He also demonstrates supernatural powers, such as generating solid light from his hands to replace missing limbs and unleashing powerful attacks using a creature's Rune energy. In the final battle, he pilots the upgraded Dainsleif against a coalition of his former subordinates and Haruto. Despite his power, he is ultimately defeated when Haruto, having taken over L-Elf's body, expends all of his own RUNE in a ferocious attack, leading to Cain's death in battle. Before his death, he releases the captive spirit of Prue from his Valvrave.