Cain Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Jeff Hordley. Cain made his first appearance on 30 March 2000, and in 2006, he was written out of the series when Hordley left the soap; however, the option for a return was confirmed, which occurred when Hordley returned to the cast in February 2009. Cain's main storylines have focused on discovering his "uncle" Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell) is his father; his relationship with his cousin Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins); discovering he is Debbie Dingle's (Charley Webb) father; his affair and subsequent relationship with Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb); being attacked in a whodunit storyline where his assailant was eventually revealed to be his father; being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm; supporting his nephew Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) after discovering Aaron was sexually abused by his father Gordon Livesy (Gary Mavers) as a child; reuniting with his and Chas' mother Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter); his relationship with local vicar Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton); building up a relationship with his children; being blackmailed by DI Malone (Mark Womack) to do drug runs for him; his feud with Al Chapman (Michael Wildman) and taking blame for Al's murder to protect his younger son Kyle who was responsible for killing Al.