Caine is the anti-heroic secondary antagonist of the 2023 action film John Wick: Chapter 4. He is a blind yet skilled assassin who was coerced by Marquis de Gramont to find and kill his old friend John Wick, under the threat of losing his daughter if he refused.
He was portrayed by Donnie Yen, who also portrayed Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One.
History[]
While watching his daughter Mia play violin from afar, Caine was summoned by the Marquis de Gramont. The Marquis ordered him to kill John Wick, and when Caine at first refused, the Marquis threatened his daughter.
After reluctantly agreeing, Caine was dispatched to Osaka, Japan along with the rest of the Marquis and the High Table's forces to conduct a raid on the Osaka Continental, whose owner was providing shelter to John Wick. After fighting broke out between Koji Shimazu's men and the High Table forces, Shimazu fought Caine to buy time for John to flee, forcing Caine to kill him. Shimazu's daughter Akira then attempted to avenge her father, but a dying Shimazu urged her to flee.
Caine later pursued John to Belarus, where he had rejoined his old family and been sent to kill Killa in retribution for Killa murdering their boss, Pyotr. Also heading there was the Tracker, another bounty hunter hunting John Wick. Killa proposed they have a game of poker to decide who gets to kill John Wick, only to cheat and then order his goons to kill all of them. However, the three hitmen were able to fight their way out and John killed Killa, taking one of his teeth as proof he had done the deed.
When John used his newfound status as an official member of a High Table family to issue a challenge to the Marquis, the Marquis ordered Caine to fight as his proxy in the duel. At the same time, the Marquis also put out a hit on John's head to get assassins to go after him and stall him from reaching the site of the duel before sunrise, which would mean he had technically failed to comply with the terms of the duel and make the Marquis the victor by default. John was able to reach the steps, but was beaten back by the Marquis's assassins. However, Caine then intervened and helped John fight off the assassins and ascend up the steps, just before sunrise so the two could duel.
Caine and John were each handed a pistol loaded with a single bullet and told to take thirty steps apart from each other before firing it. They were then given another bullet and told to step towards each other before firing again. After they had both been wounded twice and given another bullet to shoot with, Caine shot John and critically injured him. The Marquis then swapped Caine out and stepped in to execute John himself, but John, who had intentionally not yet fired his bullet, used it to shoot and kill the Marquis. With the Marquis dead, Caine did not have to worry about his daughter being in danger and his obligation to the Table was relieved.
Returning to Paris to reunite with his daughter, Caine approaches her as she busks in the street, but a vengeful Akira walks towards him and unsheathes a blade as the screen cuts to black. Whether Akira successfully killed him or if he fought her off or escaped is unknown.
Trivia[]
- Caine is the second blind character portrayed by Donnie Yen, the first being Chirrut Îmwe from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
- In an interview with Director Chad Stahelski, he states that in an alternate post-credits scene, Akira actually managed to kill Caine. This was scrapped due it being "too much" and Stahelski preferred the cut to black.
- Cain is the only antagonist who managed to (seemingly) kill John Wick.
- Cain is also the only antagonist who didn't want to kill John Wick at all. In fact, his goal was to save his daughter.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Caine on the Villains Wiki
- Caine on the Villainous Benchmark Wiki
- Caine on the John Wick Wiki