Eddie
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FAMILY LOVE... SOMETHING I HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE WITH. WEAPONS DO NOT FORM FAMILIES... THEY FORM ARSENALS.
― Eddie[src]
disambiguation: for the little boy of the same name, see Venom's companion
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Eddie, (sometimes written as Eddy or Edy[1]) is a recurring character in the Guilty Gear series. He is the shadow Forbidden Beast attached to Zato-ONE, granting him his shadow manipulation abilities.
Design
Eddie is able to possess the body of Zato, at times using his corpse as his own skin. His true form is an amorphous black mass that can take almost any shape. His most common depiction is a black silhouette of a tall humanoid figure with large wings, elongated limbs, a spine of spikes running down his back, and a gargoyle head. In combat he takes numerous forms, most commonly circling Zato's feet though many moves have him transforming into sharks, skulls, swords, and drills. The inside of his body including his eyes, mouth, and markings glow red.
Curiously, Eddie is also shown to have some form of tangible body, his jump Dust attack in the XX series involves him peeling back his skin to reveal a massive cow skull with curved horns the size of his body. It is the only display from him that isn't the typical black color but natural bone, implying the skull may be real and not transformed shadow.
In the original Guilty Gear, while Zato was still alive, Eddie's appearance was more monstrous. Most commonly depicted with much longer horns, a more pronounced beak, and a segmented body more resembling armor with large talons and plating. In some official art, he takes a form similar to Justice, with a segmented chest bearing indents and plated hands. In game, the glow surrounding him is more white than the typical red.
In the XX series, Eddie's design is simplified down, but is far more expressive. He has a far more human body structure, with his gargoyle like head having shorter horns and a more streamlined face. His arms are elongated with spikes on the elbows. In gameplay, the shadow is lighter in color and flashes a glow, while in-game this is explained as a way to differentiate Eddie from Zato, as the glow doesn't appear in GGX while he is still alive, the gameplay reason is to prevent the dark palette from blending in with backgrounds.
In Xrd series, Eddie still retained his overall appearance from XX but has been redesigned to be more angular and detailed, in particularly his head which is now more robotic and artificial looking. He now sports a crest on his forehead with the text "Life bad walking shadow." above and has a glowing red marking in a shape of a crescent line with 5 wedges running along it on his chest. Instead of the glow, Eddie in Xrd has a red body outline instead.
In Strive, Eddie has a much more minimalistic design, appearing as an actual shadow in humanoid shape with wings and a pointed head with no visible neck. He sports red eyes and a row of white human teeth.
Personality
Eddie's personality is reminiscent to that of Zato's pre-death but notably more subdued and introspective. During the incubation period, Eddie gained Zato's memories[2] and seemingly some of his emotions, shown by his affection for Millia Rage. While he views himself as above humanity and constantly demeans anyone he fights, he's lonely and craves someone he can relate to, often finding this in Dizzy and Millia.[3]
Eddie also constantly struggles with defining his own identity as an individual. Often he is left with frustration and anger over his life being predestined by everyone else. He was created as an Anti-Gear weapon made with Gear cells, with memories of the Crusades and an instinct to eliminate all Gears, yet finds comfort in finding that Dizzy broke free of her intended role to find love and a family. Though the knowledge of being created only to be a weapon offers him comfort in an explanation for his destructive urges, he still feels isolated by the idea he only is a tool. He also struggles with separating himself from Zato, growing frustrated when Venom and Millia don't acknowledge him individually, even using Zato's words against them for no reason other than aggression, yet when dying, figures the only person he could find comfort in is Millia.
In Strive, Eddie usually imitates the emotion of Zato, such as pain when being hit with Faust's overdrive.
Story
Background
Once an underling of the Assassin's Guild, Zato-ONE was disgusted with his lack of ability to rise through the organization's ranks, and he risked death by invoking the forbidden arts and became a host for Eddie at the cost of his eyesight. Unbeknownst to Zato, Eddie had thoughts and a will of his own, and bid his time in silence until he could possess him.
Guilty Gear
Eddie's chance came when the constant battling of the Second Holy Order Selection Tournament takes its toll on Zato.. To Zato's surprise, he cannot control Eddie any longer. Eddie thanks him for incubating him. Zato laughs at being fooled entirely, but is ultimately scared, as Eddie takes over his body.[4]
Guilty Gear X
Zato-ONE dies due to his injuries, allowing for Eddie to take full control of Zato's corpse.
Guilty Gear XX
Eddie begins to search for a new body due to being aware that his current dead one will not last long. Faust first off tries to study his condition, which via a fight against him, will thrust Eddie off into 2 different routes depending on how long it took for him to defeat Faust.
In one instance, he encounters I-No who decides to toy with him into fighting against various characters to help him search for a new vessel (with the route determined if he used an instant kill on I-No beforehand or not). In one path, he attempts to possess Sharon, but is ultimately ousted by the fact that Sharon is of a uniquely-immortal make, causing Eddie to melt away as I-No thanks him for being a fool. The other ending involves after a second fight with I-No, That Man comes in and has Raven take Eddie away to be used as a sample for the future he has been considering.
However, in another ending upon taking too long to defeat Faust, Eddie eventually encounters Venom who desires to take Zato's body back from him. But upon losing to Eddie, the shadow taunts Venom's attachment and connections to the late Zato, as a way of claiming that his connection to others through inducing hatred in others is proof that he is alive. Thus, he flies away to a location unknown, telling Venom to hunt him down and kill him if he can.
Guilty Gear Dust Strikers
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Guilty Gear Judgment
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Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus
Eddie becomes more desperate to find another vessel to extend it; subsequent battles cause his HP amount at the start of each one to end up lower and lower. Through out this ordeal, he begins pondering the meaning of his existence and his life as a shadow.
In one ending, he comes across Slayer who is actually sympathetic to him this time around, telling him of one last thing he do for the sake of the answer he is searching for. He is finally confronted by Millia Rage, who eventually engages in battle with him as they both start to have their life gradually lower on their own. Eddie finally gives in to inevitable death, but realizes the meaning of living is how much of an impact he has left on others, especially in accordance to Zato's will. Feeling content with this, Eddie begins to fade away before Millia's eyes.
In his non-canon ending, Eddie approaches the brink of death without finding a new host body after a battle with Venom. However, just as he believes he is about to die, Eddie realizes that much to both his own and Venom's shock, as a Forbidden Beast, he has a different value of mortality in comparison to humans. Finally free of all doubt, Eddie releases himself from Zato's corpse as Venom curses him, and flies into the night reveling in his newfound life and power.
Guilty Gear Xrd
Both his and Zato-1's remains were confiscated by the Conclave for experimentation involving the art of resurrection. He was held at Harden Fort for six years.
By 2187, Eddie is revived alongside Zato-1 by the Conclave. He functions once again as Zato's willing partner and shadow. Seemingly no longer trying to take him over as he had previously, Eddie encourages the emotionless and unfettered Zato to escape from the prison that the Conclave put them in, still having a zeal for fighting and life. However, Zato only reacts when he remembers Millia and frees himself to see her, Venom and Slayer.
Guilty Gear -Strive-
To be added...
Abilities
Main article: /Commands
Eddie is the source of Zato-ONE's abilities. He is a parasitic being that inhabits Zato's shadow and is able to take any shape he wishes, and even be temporarily separated from his host for short periods of time.
In term of physical statistics, Eddie is much stronger and durable than average humans, as shown in his ground throw attack, Eddie is capable of ripping off a human's throat with bare hands. When struck, Eddie can liquefied his body to lessen the damage and can reform his body with no visible efforts. Eddie can also enhance his body further in various ways, from growing a pair of leathery wings to take flight to shaping his appendage into a cutting weapon.
Eddie is not conformed to the concept of mass and dimension. His amorphous nature allows him to melt into a puddle of flat shadow on the ground via his Break the Law. His air throw in XX sees him liquefied himself and invades his opponent's orifice, causing internal damage before piercing out of their body as a bee before reforming his to his full size. While his Shadow Gallery and Traversing allows him to swap place with any part that forms his shadow or even outright teleports through and from it.
Gameplay-wise, Eddie (possessing Zato's body) is playable in Guilty Gear XX and all of its updates, as well as Guilty Gear Isuka, Dust Strikers, and Judgment.
Much like how Zato plays, Eddie is hard to master, but he is also quite devastating. He is a tricky character who relies on pressuring the opponent in conjunction with his true shadow-self to create mixups and unblockable traps, especially in Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload where Eddie is considered the most powerful character. Focusing on large-space covering normals and zoning tools, Eddie can easily run over his foes if they are careless in their approach and defense, but otherwise, lacks conventional reversals and/or fast-safe pokes in order to maintain a non-committal neutral as most of his tools are very specifically-angled and/or rather slow to use on their own.
Music
- Feel A Fear - Guilty Gear XX
- Dementia - Guilty Gear XX #Reload Korean OST
- Push A Bush - Guilty Gear Isuka
- Rivalry themes
- Still In The Dark (vs EX Millia) - Guilty Gear XX
- Existence (vs Millia/Venom/Slayer) - Guilty Gear XX
Quotes
Main article: /Quotes
Allusions
- His name may be a reference to Eddie The Head, the mascot for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, or to Eddie Van Halen, founding member of American-Dutch glam-metal band Van Halen.
- The name "Eddie" may also be a reference to Spider-Man villain and sometimes antihero Eddie Brock, the most well-known host to the Venom symbiote.
Gallery
Main article: /Gallery
External links
- ギルティギア イグゼクス アクセントコア【キャラクター】｜エディ（ザトー＝ONE）
- GGACR/Eddie at Dustloop Wiki
Notes
- ↑ Eddies age is never given, though he fully incubated and gained personhood at the end of GGML, in 2180. GG World offers that Zato-ONE cast the 5th Forbidden Spell in 2173. Eddie was bound to the spell prior to its inclusion in the Arcanum, implying he was created before 2173 and only "issued" by P.W.A.B. using the spell at a later date.
References
- ↑ Guilty Gear X Advance Edition
- ↑ Guilty Gear XX script § "Eddie"
- ↑ Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus script § "Record ♯1573"
- ↑ Guilty Gear script § "Zato" Shadow: It's too late... you can't control me any longer. Nevertheless, I owe you a certain degree of thanks for...incubating me.