Echidna

"…Man, oh man, did you ever fuck the dog, here."

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<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Echidna</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

<label>Status</label><format>

Deceased

</format>

<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> The Echidna (pronounced “eh-kid-nah”)<ref>Worm Audiobook pronunciation guide (confirmed by Wildbow)</ref> is a powerful being, described as potentially a "young Endbringer". Her eventually intense hatred of the Undersiders directs her to focus primarily on killing the team. She is amazingly destructive, powerful, and hard to stop. She qualifies as a Class-S threat, a category that includes the likes of the Endbringers.

Powers

Echidna consumes tissue and 'evolves' body parts, varying from wolf-like heads to legs. When touched she will vomit a clone of whoever is touching her - with all the powers they may have - that are stronger, violent, and impossible to control. If she maintains contact with the original, she can continuously produce clones. Clones, along with vomit, are her only excretion; she eats only meat and it adds directly to her mass. This ability is a Master/Trump effect where she creates clones that share and sometimes have alternate or even stronger versions of the original's powers.<ref name="22.6c1">She’d be a Trump/Master hybrid. - Comment by Wildbow on Cell 22.6</ref><ref>Some of the time, the powers would be different. Most of the time, going by precedent, they were stronger. Trickster was left to wonder how Perdition’s powers had changed. Duration? Range? The amount of time reversed? - Migration 17.8</ref>

Tattletale considers Echidna to be as strong as Leviathan,<ref name="18.3"> “She’s as strong as Leviathan, physically,” Tattletale said, “She’s not as tough, based on what I’ve seen. - Queen 18.3</ref> who is classified as a Brute 9 to Echidna's Brute 8,<ref name="8.5c1"> Leviathan does not exceed 10 on the Brute scale - Comment by Wildbow on Extermination 8.5</ref> but is not as durable and is able to move quite fast despite her size. While seemingly indestructible due to her quick regeneration, she in fact can be killed. Anything cut away from the core of her body will deteriorate and die, while anything left attached to the core will quickly regenerate. This includes her human body that is regrown if cut away and heals if severely damaged. If Echidna's core is destroyed, the rest of her is destroyed as well.<ref name="19.5">"The following information has been disseminated, and remains unconfirmed. Echidna is in a rage state. The monster is in control, not the girl. Seventeen capes are currently within her. Her rate of regeneration and production of clones is derived from a central core within her lower body that produces an endless quantity of biological material. A body part severed from the core will die. Destroying the core in entirety will destroy her…"

Tattletale, I thought. She'd passed on the info she'd gleaned. - Excerpt from Scourge 19.5</ref>

Anyone she touches is absorbed and, if a parahuman, has their powers suppressed,<ref>[Echidna has] touch-based power/ dampening & absorption - Wildbow on Reddit</ref> some parahumans take extra punishment before they succumb. The ingested experience vivid hallucinations based on the worst moments of their lives.

Her clones are usually physically tougher than the original, resistant to pain and injury, although this effect seemed to grow weaker as she produced increasing numbers of clones. They vary based on how long she spent creating them - clones that are produced too rapidly are fragile, half-formed and missing body parts, while clones that are held inside too long are heavily mutated to the point of having difficulty moving.<ref>Noelle tagged several of the bodies in her internal stomachs, felt flesh constrict tight against them, felt the pre-prepared nuggets of flesh in her gullet forming into close replicas in an instant. Timing was crucial; if she spat them out too soon, they’d be malformed, missing limbs or features. Too late, and there was extra material. - Excerpt from Interlude 18</ref> Even the most human-looking clones are visibly different from the original.

Echidna can also create hostile versions of rats, insects, spiders, and other organisms that she absorbs, and can mutate fungi and bacteria into a form that temporarily debilitates anyone she captures.<ref name="19.1">With that thought, it dawned on me. Noelle absorbed living things, and that apparently extended to bacteria. Where others had bacteria in their digestive systems to help them digest food, Noelle, Echidna, had no need for such. When she absorbed the ambient bacteria and molds from her surroundings, she was storing them, weaponizing them like she did with rats and insects. They were used to debilitate her victims, render them unable to fight back while her clones got the upper hand. - Excerpt from Scourge 19.1</ref>

She has also developed an extremely unstable temperament as a direct result of her power. Her displacement from Earth Aleph and Simurgh's tampering also contributes to her unstable state.

It is likely that her power was affected by the fact that Echidna was administered only half of a dose of a power elixir; her unstable temperament and monstrous lower body were probably not in the intended spectrum of effects. Oliver, who drank the other half of the dose, may have received the portion of the power intended to moderate and control these effects.

Echidna has a thinker power that interprets people's power through "taste" or "smell" It seems that this serves as a weak tracking aid, but serves primarily to identify the powers parahumans have in order to facilitate the planned creation of clones.<ref>One was the little space-warper, another was a copy of the firebreathing acrobat with the rich smell, and three were copies of the unpowered people she’d absorbed.
[...]
Regent might work against this girl in white, but his influence would be too minor in the big picture. His smell was weakest of the three.

Not that it was really a smell… but she was peculiarly aware of the people with powers, active or otherwise. Each had a texture and a tone and a flavor, something she felt like she could come to understand. She might have said it was taste, might have compared it to when she’d tried wine that one time and tried to see what the wine aficionados looked for when they sampled a vintage. Except the word ‘smell’ worked better, because smell and taste were really very similar and smell worked over distances.

There was a difference in Skitter, Grue’s and Eidolon’s smells, along with a handful of the other visiting capes. A smell that set them apart from the other parahumans in the same way that the other parahumans were set apart from the people who could have powers but didn’t. An intensity. - Excerpt from Interlude 18.z</ref> This helps tracking down targets.

History

"I won't spoil the conclusion if you're eager to see this through."

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Echidna is the codename of Noelle Meinhardt, a member of the nomadic villain group known as the Travelers. The Travelers are a group of dimensionally displaced teenagers from Earth Aleph who were dragged into Earth Bet during the Simurgh's attack on Madison.

Noelle and the rest of her group found and drank several Cauldron vials that they found in a briefcase, granting each of them powers. However, Noelle and Oliver split one of the vials, each of them drinking half. As a result, they received what are believed to be two halves of the same power - Oliver's appearance gradually adjusts to the local standard of attractiveness, and Noelle became the monster known as Echidna. A common theory is that by splitting the vial, the intended power was broken into two parts, leading to a weaker stabilizing power and an incredibly unstable power.

Echidna was the main cause of the Travelers' nomadic lifestyle, due to her occasional rage states that resulted in dozens of deaths. They arrived in Brockton Bay after fleeing from Boston, enticed by Coil's promises of a way to cure Noelle. Noelle was kept in a secure room underground, far away from other people, but could communicate via a microphone and loudspeaker installed in her room.

She later escaped after finding out that the Undersiders had killed Coil. Coil had broadcasted his last moments to Echidna's cell, dashing her hopes of being cured of her condition. This resulted in her going into a rage and culminated into the Battle against Echidna.<ref>We stopped when we reached Tattletale. She stood facing the vault door. The one that was used to seal Noelle within.

There were two vault doors, one set behind the other, and both were ruined, the one closest to us nearly folded in half, hanging by one hinge.

“A final act of spite,” Tattletale said. She looked at the phone in her hand. “He made sure she heard our conversation.” - Excerpt from Monarch 16.13</ref>

During her rampage, Echidna was finally killed by her former friend Sundancer, who incinerated her and several capes still trapped inside of Echidna at the time.<ref name="19.7">Scourge 19.7</ref>

Other Information

"Echidna" is the codename used for Noelle. A PRT member suggested the name because he had a daughter named Noelle and didn't want to associate the name with the monstrous equivalent. It is implied that this PRT member is the Earth Bet version of Noelle's father, as they share the last name Meinhardt.<ref name="Meinhardt">“Echidna?” Noelle asked.

“One of the PRT members coined it,” Eidolon said. He was eyeing her minions warily. “Said he had a three year old girl called Noelle, didn’t want to associate her with something like you.”

“What was his last name?”

Eidolon gave her a wary look. “Meinhardt.” - Excerpt from Interlude 18</ref>

Echidna's most notable "human connection" is with Trickster. He is the Traveler most able to control her, while simultaneously being the main reason the Travelers have not abandoned Noelle.

Echidna has an adversarial relationship with her body. Her body constantly seeks highly destructive and aggressive combat and Echidna frequently struggles to control it. Because of this (and sometimes consentually), Echidna periodically enters "rage states," where Noelle is completely out of control while her mutated body rampages. During these rage states, Noelle is unaware of what her body is doing. instead, she is experiencing memories. Noelle often gives her body complete control in exchange for (oftentimes) enjoyable memories. Her body, however, abides by no alliance or truce, and even attacks Trickster if given the chance.

Physical Appearance

As described from Krouse's point of view, Echidna appeared exactly like Noelle from her pelvis up. Underneath that pelvis was a mass of flesh containing multiple animal heads, limbs and other assorted bits of flesh (smooth dark green, brown and gray flesh as well as raw angry red flesh). The limbs described included forelegs ending in a cross between claw and hoof, a set of tentacles (with assorted exoskeletons) that were able to support her weight, and a gigantic arm and hand with another limb sprouting from the palm. Lower-body heads included a horse-sized half-bovine and half-canine head and a half-sprouted head. These features would further develop and change before the combined hero and villain forces fought her.<ref>Migration 17.8</ref>

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Illustration by grocerystorephobic
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Echidna by BirdLover_01
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S-Class Threats by BenswFrenefits

Trivia

Echidna was named by fans before being eventually incorporated into the story proper.<ref name="17.8C1">Trusting:
Echidna , mother of monsters ! - First mention in comment on Migration 17.8</ref>

References

Site Navigation

v • eThe Travelers
Leader	Noelle Meinhardt {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Trickster {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}
Members	Ballistic {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Genesis {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Oliver {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Perdition {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Sundancer {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}

v • eEchidna
Leader	Echidna {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}
Clones	Abhorror {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Apocrypha {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Carnie {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Charlatan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Chitter {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Gross {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Ignis Fatuus {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Pwn {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Scape {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Temblor {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Unter {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Vizier {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Witness {{#switch: noncanon	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}

v • eS-Class Threats
Endbringers	Behemoth {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Leviathan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Simurgh • Khonsu {{#switch: unknown	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Tohu {{#switch: unknown	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Bohu {{#switch: unknown	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}
Titans	The Kronos Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Titan Eve {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Titan Fortuna {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Nemean Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Titan Arachne {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Titan Oberon {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Ashen Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Titan Skadi {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Ophion Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Strange Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Auger {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Titaness Amenonuhoko {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Flowing Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Drillbit {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Liminal Titan {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Pouffe {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Valkyrie {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Morgana {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Yakshini {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Ashoka {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Ghast {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}
Groups	The Slaughterhouse Nine {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Three Blasphemies • The Machine Army
Parahumans	Ash Beast {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Echidna {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Khepri {{#switch: former	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Nilbog • Pastor {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Scion {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }} • Sleeper • The Tower {{#switch: deceased	deceased=^†	noncanon=^≠	former=^‡	unknown=^*	#DEFAULT= }}