Eidolon
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Eidolon</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><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>
Eidolon (pronounced “eye-doe-lin”)<ref>Worm Audiobook pronounciation guide (confirmed by Wildbow)</ref> is one of the founding members of the Protectorate and the leader of the Houston Protectorate. He is generally considered to be the fifth-strongest being on the planet, the first four being Scion and the Endbringers.
Personality
He's described as a quiet man, with a calm voice, brimming with strength of his power, often making people around him feel intimidated.
His sole purpose in life is to help as many people as possible and help in the End of the World scenario - an event for which he is preparing his whole cape life, describing it as his legacy. <ref name="I27"/>
Appearance
Eidolon wears a blue-green skintight suit with a hood and cape and with sleeves that drape over his hands. The interior of his hood and cape are filled with a green light.
When not dressed up as Eidolon, he is a middle aged man, with thick eyebrows, thinning hair and heavy cheeks, big nose and ears. Legend described him as looking "more like an average family man who was getting dressed up as Eidolon for a costume party than he looked like Eidolon himself." <ref> Excerpt from Interlude 14.y</ref>
Abilities and Powers
Eidolon is one of the most powerful beings in the world, equaled only by the Endbringers or Scion.<ref name="18.ze1"/><ref name="8.1e1">When the question inevitably got to who was the strongest, the ‘big five' were generally ruled out, in the sense of ‘well, yeah, but besides them‘. Scion got counted as a part of that group because the powers he did have were head and shoulders above just about everyone else's. Eidolon was almost the opposite, because he had every power, though he could only hold on to a handful at a time. Then there were the Endbringers, because they mandated situations like this, where even Scion or Eidolon plus multiple teams of capes weren't necessarily enough.
Sure, some loyal people might argue that Legend was better than Eidolon, or maybe even some other cape like Dragon or Alexandria. Generally speaking, though? Eidolon was a top dog. - Extermination 8.1</ref>
He has the ability to equip himself with a tremendous array of powers, but is limited to three to four at a time. The powers he chooses take time to build up strength.[citation needed]
Even though his power is one of the strongest, he doesn't have much control over it. He is limited to holding tighter to or discarding various powers, which are selected by his shard in accordance to what it perceives David needs.<ref>"Eidolon's power… he chooses what powers he gets?"
"He gets the powers he needs," Dispatch said. "He can be receptive to new ones, hold tighter to ones he wants to keep, but that's it." - Crushed 24.4</ref>
His power, however, has been slowly weakening over time, which leads him to look for a sense of challenge, in order to find the untapped well of power he can feel when he's fighting.<ref name="18.ze1">“I’m losing my powers. Slowly but surely. If this goes much further, mankind may lose this war.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Against the Endbringers, there are really only two individuals who can stop them, drive them away. Scion is one. I’m another. Each of us is worth a hundred other capes, if not more. I’m not boasting when I say this. But my powers are getting weaker every day, little by little. Whatever vast, improbably deep well parahumans tap into to use abilities, I suspect mine is running dry.” ---Excerpt from 18.z (Donation Interlude #3; Jessica Yamada, Therapist)</ref> Eidolon speculated that Ignis Fatuus wasn't as restricted as he was, and perhaps if Glaistig Uaine claimed his power, she wouldn't be as well.<ref name="I27">Interlude 27</ref> Skitter, however, speculated that Ignis Fatuus was enhancing his power using a variant of Scapegoat's power.<ref name="19.6e1">The flickering. Was that some variant on Scapegoat’s power? More broad? Paging through realities to find the state he wanted to be in? Uninjured, dressed?
There were a lot of ugly possibilities with that one. Could he affect how he was accessing powers?-Excerpt from Scourge 19.6</ref>
He is later able to restore his power by using one of his three powers to sense and drain the shards of other parahumans, based on advice given to him by Glaistig Uaine.<ref name="I27"/>
{{#if:Tattletale|| “ | Eidolon’s some kind of exception, on a lot of levels. His power works by different vectors, the innate limits aren’t there… something broke, and I’m betting the Endbringers are tied to it. Like, this entity is fissioning off into countless fragments that impregnate hosts and somehow a little extra gets tacked on. Or Cauldron’s method of replicating the fragments gets that little extra. | ” |
| {{#if:Tattletale| —Tattletale{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}} }}}} | ||
Glaistig Uaine referred to Eidolon's shard as the "High Priest".<ref>"Can you tell me why you call me the High Priest, before I put my life in your hands?"
[...] "Some lead by logic, by law, by order and organization. Others lead by the abstract. By faith and the imagination of the public. Yes?"
"You're talking about leading… the passengers, the agents?"
"Naturally so. Plotting, raising the faerie up as objects for worship. They are chosen, cultivated, as the situation demands, to suit the world outside, to best manipulate it. The pantheon in the temple."
"Me. I'm this temple?"
She nodded. "Mmm."</ref>
History
Background
David was born with a severe illness and was confined to wheelchair for most of his life, facing regular seizures.
Before being approached by Doctor Mother he wanted to become more independent, applied to the army and was subsequently turned down, which made him try to commit suicide.<ref name="I27"/>
When Eidolon gained his powers, he was one of a rare few who did not forget the vision of the Entity they saw. Doctor Mother speculated that his passenger had not been limited, unlike most powers.<ref name="29.7">Venom 29.7</ref>
As Eidolon, he was a founding member of the Protectorate. After Hero's death, he became the leader of a smaller team based in Houston.<ref>Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>
Battle against Leviathan
During the fight he worked with Myrddin to mitigate the effects of tidal waves created by the Endbringer, along with helping the wounded heroes.<ref>https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-8-extermination/8-3/ </ref> After Scion makes the appearance Eidolon helps pin down Leviathan with the manipulation of the water, freezing it into walls around the Endbringer.<ref>https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/extermination-8-5/ </ref>
New Delhi
During the whole encounter he's noted as the one being at the epicenter of the fight along with Legend and Alexandria.
At the beginning of the fight he works in coordination with Legend to slow down the Endbringer's movement. After Alexandria's (Pretender) arrival he adopts more of a hit-and-run approach with a malee powerset and a time bubble slowing down the Behemoth's movement, to help Alexandria's own efforts in hitting the Endbringer hard enough to topple and drive him back. Their coordinated efforts are noted to throw the Behemoth off his game and with the help of Clockblocker's frozen strings they are able to deal substantial damage to his body.
He's involved in Weaver's and Phir Se plan of killing the Endbringer. He creates an inviolable forcefield, which contains the Phir's Se light to an area surrounding the Behemoth. In the final stand in the Temple he creates a green field around the structure, which keeps it from collapsing.
After Scion's arrival Eidolon helps keep the Endbringer from retreating, arresting his momentum in the sky with a violet forcefield and he stands witness to the destruction of Behemoth with Scion's golden light.<ref>Crushed 24.x</ref>
Post-Timeskip
Tried to help against the Slaughterhouse Nine Hold Apartment Hostage but was turned away by Weaver. He threatened her but she called his bluff pointed out that while she could be put down if she became evil Eidolon would be much harder to contain. He backed down.
Golden Morning
Eidolon participated in the oil-rig battle alongside the rest of the Triumvirate.<ref name="27.5">Extinction 27.5</ref> Glaistig Uaine taught him how to drain other parahumans, bringing him back to his peak strength. Together, they drove Scion across dimensions. Scion, increasingly hard-pressed, used his path-to-victory ability to convince Eidolon to give up.<ref name="I27">Interlude 27</ref> Glaistig Uaine harvested Eidolon's shard<ref name="29.2">Venom 29.2</ref> keeping him in the fight.
Relation to Endbringers
Eidolon is the suspected creator of the Endbringers, which is likely unintentional due to his lack of active control over his power. It is suspected that the power acted on his subconscious need to engage in fights against enemies on his power-level. This may be due to his psychological issues of inferiority complex from his background. In addition, it is not certain whether he actually created the Endbringers, or if they were created by Eden and his power just gained control over them after her 'death'. This is supported by their appearance in the Eden's interlude chapter, which contains a vision of the future as intended by the Entities.
The hints on the origin of the Endbringers were not present until late in the story, but then several convincing clues appeared:
The first clue are the words uttered by Scion and David's reaction to them: 'You needed worthy opponents'.<ref>https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/interlude-27b/ </ref> After Eidolon's death Simurgh, Khonsu, Tohu, Bohu and Leviathan began behaving in an erratic manner.<ref>Cockroaches 28.2</ref>
Similarly after the Undersiders and Protectorate approach the Simurgh, Tattletale and Defiant discuss the topic:
“He’s really their creator?” Defiant asked. “Eidolon?”
“…Sixty percent sure."<ref>Cockroaches 28.4</ref>
The final clue is Simurgh's weapon, which after the Golden Morning contained a male fetus "With large ears and a large round nose. Not attractive, as babies went."<ref>Teneral e.5</ref>, which matches the general description of Eidolon.
Trivia
- "Eidolon" can mean an unsubstantial image, an ideal, or an idealized figure.
Fanart Gallery
-
Image by pabelandnine.tumblr.com. -
Image by DerTodesbote on deviantart -
Fanart by Juilian Bautista.
-
Image by TheDeviantObserver on DeviantArt.
-
Illustration by sandara on deviantart
-
Image by lonsheep on DeviantArt.
-
Image by a friend of DellSalami on Reddit.
-
Image by foust2015 on Reddit.
References
<references/>