What's the age of Deckard Cain?

Question

Searching in the Diablo Wiki I happened to stumble upon this timeline of Sanctuary's history.

When we first encounter Deckard Cain, in Tristram, he's already an old man. He claims to be the last of the Horadrim (even if this seems to be disproved in Diablo III), which seems unlikely, because more than 150 years have passed since the last known activities of the order. Anyway, in Diablo III, it will be more than 20 years since we first met him.

So my question is: what's his real age? Does he have a dark secret that keeps him alive? He managed to survive events that killed many other younger men, is he just lucky?

Asked by Kappei

Answer

It is unknown, along with the ages of most Diablo-series characters.

Deckard Cain's age is a popular question due to his renown in the series, but remember that the three-game timespan is only 27 years, a reasonable mortal timeframe. He notes that he is near the end of his life¹ in the foreword and afterword to his Book of Cain, which prefaces Diablo III. If Cain is mortal and about to die, consider that a "Middle Ages" setting's life expectancy is ~70 years max, which puts him near ~40 at the beginning of Diablo I (1258).²

Cain and the Horadrim do not live extended lifespans. For the record, Jered is Deckard's ancestor, and not his father. As per the Book of Cain, there are many generations in-between Jered Cain of 1019 and Deckard Cain of 1285:

...from writings passed down through my family from my ancestor Jered Cain... (p. 88)

So chalk up his Sean Connery doddering voice to the "wise old man" trope sounding older than he looks. Blizzard consciously withholds Cain lore for the good of the series. If you want the truth, though, the real Deckard Cain Elder is 16.³

Answered by sean

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