Count Cain

A Kaori Yuki manga set in a dark Victorianesque world, the series centers around a young earl, Cain Hargreaves. Cain is seventeen, apparently orphaned, rich and eccentric. Unfortunately, his family past will allow him no peace.

Everybody in Cain's family, we are told, has a habit of studying poisons, and Cain is no different. With the aid of his trusted manservant Riff, he uses his knowledge of poisons to seek justice for murder victims, usually by poisoning the murderer. Both halves of the series (see below) begin with murder mystery short stories that Cain investigates before launching in to longer storylines concerning issues close to Cain himself.

Like any good Crime and Punishment Series, Count Cain brings up just about every kink under the sun. It has gothic sensibilities, as well as bad steampunk science. Abusive Parents, Incest, and Magnificent Bastards are a staple. Blood, death, tragedy, and madness also abound.

The series was originally split into two halves, as the creator took a break to work on another series, Angel Sanctuary. The first part consists of four arcs collected in five volumes, entitled Count Cain. The second, done some years later, is eight volumes long and entitled Godchild.

Tropes used in Count Cain include:

• And I Must Scream: Rebecca's dolls
• Anti-Hero
• Arranged Marriage
• Art Evolution: The art has changed a lot from the first volume to the fifth; then Kaori Yuki took a break from Cain to work on Angel Sanctuary, and when she took up Cain again, the art style was almost completely different from where she'd left off. The mangaka herself even makes note of this in one of the sidebars in Godchild.
• Author Appeal: Brother-Sister Incest, Ho Yay, Foe Yay...
• Ax Crazy: Several characters.
• Battle Butler: Riff, subverted when he has his Face Heel Turn.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Subverted hard in "Scold's Bridle".
• Best Served Cold
• Bigger Bad: Augusta
• Big Screwed-Up Family: Like you wouldn't believe. The only one who gets off lightly is Merryweather, and that's because she turns out to not really be Alexis' daughter after all.
• Bittersweet Ending
• Brainwashed
• Brainwashed and Crazy
• Break the Cutie: Jizabel's backstory.
• Broken Bird: Mikaela ...Well, when she's not in her Yandere mode.
• Brother-Sister Incest: Between Alexis and Augusta.
• Cain and Abel: Ironically enough, Cain is the Abel to his illegitimate and completely psychopathic half brother, Jizabel.
• Cartwright Curse
• The Chessmaster: Alexis
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Emmeline, to a certain extent.
• Did Not Do the Research: Siobhan the French maid, among other things. See Lost in Translation entry below.
• Disguised in Drag: Jizabel during his childhood, Cain in one chapter, and also Leroy.
• Disposable Woman
• Distressed Damsel: Most of the sympathetic female characters end up like this at one point.
• Doomed Appointment: Neil in "Zigeunerweisen".
• Dysfunction Junction: Most of the cast.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Cain
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Merryweather, plus half the female characters Cain encounters.
• Face Heel Turn: Riff
• Freudian Excuse: Averted. Cain would have some justification in invoking it, but he never does. Also averted with Jizabel; the excuse isn't so much "excuse" as it is the actual base of Jizabel's plot. His abuse isn't just a past event to spur revenge, but an actual plot point for the story and an ongoing point of development.
• Gender Blender Name: Apparently, Kaori Yuki thinks the names Cassandra, Jizabel and Gloria are unisex.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Cain's scars are easily hidden; the villain in "Scold's Bridle" has hers on her face and wears a mask to hide them.
• Heel Face Turn: Riff, among others.
• Hollywood Science
• I Ate What?: When Jizabel was a child, he owned a pet lamb that he spent a lot of time with. Alexis secretly had the lamb killed and served to Jizabel for dinner one day, promising him that he would be able to go see the lamb if he finished his meal. When Jizabel was nearly done, Alexis revealed what he had done with "I let you see him, didn't I? Did you enjoy Snark, Jizabel?"
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Subverted with Cain and Riff.
• In the Blood
• Informed Deformity: Viola in "Scold's Bridle" wears a mask to hide her horrible scars, which turn out to be mild acid burns on an otherwise pretty face. But then, she is completely insane...
• Ironic Nursery Tune
• The Jeeves: Riff, but subverted when it's revealed that he is even more mentally unstable than Cain is.
• Jesus Taboo
• Kill'Em All: Nearly all the minor characters introduced end up dead.
• Knife-Throwing Act: Cassian was sold to the circus and performed in one of these for some time. During the series, his main weapon remains throwing knives.
• Living Doll Collector: Rebecca in "The Little Crooked House".
• Lolicon: Merryweather, Rebecca, Mikaela (at first)...
• London Town: Where The Streets Are Paved With Excrement version. It is Victoriana, after all.
• Lost in Translation: Merryweather =/= Mary Weather, primrose = prom rose, Baraba company =/= Barabba company named after the thief, Rukia =/= Lukia.
• Love Hurts
• Love Martyr: Merryweather, in "The Little Crooked House".
• Mad Love
• Mad Scientist: Jizabel
• Man Child: Gilford
• Manchurian Agent
• Master Poisoner: Cain is very knowledgeable in, and collects, poisons.
• Meganekko: Marjorie
• Naive Everygirl: Merryweather
• Not Brainwashed
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Cain
• Older Than They Look: Cassian
• Only Six Faces: Particularly in run of Count Cain, most obviously when it came to young boys who all looked exactly the same. More or less avoided after the Art Evolution.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Invoked and then subverted, twice in Godchild. Cain doesn't seem to realize that he really should disguise himself more properly before walking into enemy base... Just what made him think it would be okay to just wear glasses after his blonde wig attempt had failed so much earlier?
• Pimped-Out Dress: Every single one.
• Princess Curls: Plenty.
• Psycho Serum
• Rapunzel Hair: Almost all the female characters, and also Jizabel.
• Royally Screwed-Up: Many characters.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Jizabel
• Shown Their Work: Kaori Yuki likes to point out that she often has done the research...and jettisoned it in favor of a more interesting development which might otherwise be prevented.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Jizabel/Jezebel/Jezabel
• Split Personality
• Stuffed Into the Fridge
• Tarot Motifs: Delilah. Used incorrectly at some points, and correctly in others.
• There Are No Therapists: SUBVERTED. Because, literally, it's Victorian London. Do you have any idea what mental health "care" was like then?
• Together in Death: Riff and Cain.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid:Jizabel
• Victim Falls For Rapist: Subverted in that the assault drove the victim mad. Further subverted in that it wasn't really rape and the victim actually planned and provoked it herself for her own sick purposes.
• We Can Rule Together: Alexis to Cain.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Jizabel
• Why Couldn't You Be Different?
• Wig, Dress, Accent: Cain in a chapter of Godchild, minus the accent. He doesn't speak since, well, despite being beautiful like a woman, he sounds very much like a man. His disguise is really convincing, and nobody suspects a thing. It's already too late when Mayor Gloria realizes who that woman truly was.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
• Wife Husbandry: Oscar and Merryweather.
• Yaoi Guys: Riff and Cain.
• Yandere: Mikaela. Anyone who got between her and Cain would meet a horrible death.