Examining Kane's Status As WWE's Most Adaptable Character

Over the last 20 years, few characters have undergone as many adaptations, changes and reversals of direction than Kane.

The demon spawn of Ma and Pa Undertaker has been the Big Red Monster, tag team partner to X-Pac, boyfriend of Tori, bestie of Chyna, masked, unmasked and masked again. He has been a corporate stooge and a terrifying demon, but through it all, he has remained relevant.

In a company that gone through the Attitude, Ruthless Aggression and PG eras since his debut at In Your House: Badd Blood, Kane's steady work, reliability and openness to do whatever is asked of him from a performance standpoint has helped him remain one of WWE's most enduring.

The last year has seen the decorated heavyweight serve as part of The Authority, its Director of Operations and fill-in rule-maker whenever Triple H or Stephanie McMahon cannot appear on Raw or SmackDown.

He has also consistently been at odds with Seth Rollins, setting up the re-emergence of The Demon character and a date with the WWE world heavyweight champion at Hell in a Cell.

It is not out of the ordinary to hear fans criticize WWE on its use of Kane.

After all, it continuously goes back to the well with the character, leaning on him when it doesn't have better plans for any of its other younger and more talented Superstars.

"

This dude of Kane is too old still fight. He had to let the chances to the young ones 

— Good Vibes✌ (@NikkiBrie_Bella) September 22, 2015"

The fact of the matter is that Kane has remained relevant over the years because he is adaptable. His selflessness as a performer endears him to the office, while his safety between the ropes is majorly appealing to his fellow Superstars.

But it is the way the character has morphed and changed over time, thus keeping it fresh and connected to the audience, that has allowed Kane to have the career that he has had.

Whereas it is not uncommon to hear fans chant, "Please retire" at Big Show, they are not greeting Kane with the same disrespectful reaction, due largely to both his and the Creative team's ability to recognize when the character has grown stale and switch things up a bit.

Does every change make sense within the context of the story fans have been presented? No, but the wrestling business has always been about suspending disbelief and ignoring the details in favor of the larger picture.

Kane, at his simplest, is a grown man with an identity crisis. He is both demon and corporate, his association with either personality reliant upon the emotions he is feeling at any given point. In that sense, it makes absolute sense.

His character has also been reliant on WWE Creative's whimsical decisions to push him or not, but that is another argument for another time.

There is no denying that Kane's best days as a worker are behind him. He is not as fast as he once was, nor is he interested in expanding his move set beyond what he is comfortable doing.

Instead, he will continue being one of the most relevant stars in the WWE Universe thanks to a character mythos that has evolved over time and helped him remain one of the most intriguing personae on the roster.