Ciaphas Cain is one of the most upstanding heroes of the Imperium, a dashing Commissar of the Astra Militarum who always has a trick up his sleeve and a card to play.
At least, that’s what he tells everyone.
He’s been on his quest to avoid the thick of the fighting in the pages of Black Library for 20 years now, and with his first adventure coming to pre-orders this weekend in an illustrious new special edition, we’re casting our eyes back over some of his greatest (or perhaps most questionable) exploits.
Cain has been the star of 11 novels so far, a mixture of tales told from his exulted (if unreliable) perspective – and from that of Inquisitor Amberley Vail, who knows him rather well and is quick to remind everyone who will listen that Cain’s greatest skill is lying for his own benefit. Dipping into her archives, she weaves a complex picture of a man keeping his own legend alive while swerving most of the danger he publicly claims to court.
“In all honesty, I thought the idea of a self-serving Commissar, playing against the archetype, was a one-joke concept, good for a single short story,” Sandy Mitchell told Warhammer Community. “Luckily the readers, and the editorial team at Inferno,* thought otherwise, and demanded to see more of him – which just goes to show how much more they knew than I did. If I’d realised just how popular Cain was going to become, I’d probably have been too intimidated to write a single word!
“I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun writing the Cain stories over the years, getting to know him better, and meeting some of his allies and adversaries along the way, and I hope we’re far from done with each other. He still has plenty of anecdotes to tell over a glass of amasec, and some of them might even be true...”
Sandy Mitchell’s loveable rogue is now part of the tapestry of Warhammer 40,000, delighting readers with his askance perspective of the Imperium. Things began in 2002 with the short story Fight or Flight, followed in 2003 by Cain’s first novel For the Emperor. His latest adventure – Ciaphas Cain: Vainglorious – was released just this year.
The series also features over half a dozen short stories and a novella, collected into three omnibus editions alongside the first nine novels. Not content to just stick with written propaganda, Cain has also featured in two original audio dramas, Dead in the Water and The Devil You Know, because there's no such thing as too much Ciaphas Cain
Now is as good a time as any to dig deeper in the uncorroborated life and times of the Imperium’s greatest living hero, and Black Library are preparing a special Print on Demand selection of the first three Ciaphas Cain novels – For the Emperor, Caves of Ice and The Traitor’s Hand – in hardback.
Coming soon, these volumes will allow you to revisit these classic stories, or to jump in and kick off your exploration with the help of Inquisitor Vail’s sardonic footnotes.
The whole Ciaphas Cain series is also available from Black Library in digital formats right now if you just can’t wait. Otherwise, stick with Warhammer Community to find out when the Cain Archives re-open.
* A monthly collection of comics and short stories from Black Library’s distant past.