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Eddie, also spelled as Eddy, 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 used the once-deceased corpse of Zato as a sort of "human skin". Aside from that, Eddie is an amorphous mass of black shadow that can take the shape of just about anything imaginable. His preferred form, and most common depiction, is a completely black silhouette of a tall, muscular male with an unusually thin waist, elbow spikes, a gargoyle head and glowing red eyes.

Eddie appears to possessed a glowing void of red "core" in place of organs which are shown in his eyes, his body markings and inside his body during some of his attacks.

Curiously, Eddie is also shown to have some form of tangible body structure. In XX series, Eddie's Dust attack involving him peeling off his mouth and strikes his opponent with his own skulls. The skull is that of a cow but with curved horns and of massive size, as large as his entire body. It also has a natural bone color instead of the usual black color. This suggested that this skull is real and not a polymorphed shadow, and that Eddie's true form maybe far larger than he appears.

During the event of the original Guilty Gear, while Zato was still being in control of his body. Eddie's gargoyle form was much more beastial in appearance, sporting long spiked tendril hair, enlarged beak and raptor-like talons. He also has white glow on his eyes and body outline instead of red.

In XX series, Eddie's overall design is much more organic but also simpler in appearance. Eddie has more expressive facial features, natural-looking musculature and lacks any bodymarks. His shadow hue is also lighter in color, and Eddie's body also periodically glows up. An in-game explanation is that the glow was used to differentiate Eddie from Zato, whom in GGX lacks the glow, while the Gameplay explanation is that it was used to prevents Eddie's dark palette from melding into the background and gaining an unfair advantage.

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 crest which are now more robotic looking. He now sports an unknown scriptures on his forehead and has a glowing red marking in a shape of a crescent line with 5 wedges running along it on his chest. His eyes and mouth are motionless, locked in place and perpetually opened. 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 similar to that of his host, due to inheriting his memory and personality during his incubation, but he is notably deranged and sadistic. When not desperately seeking out host bodies, he often ponders the meaning of his existence, as well as the meaning of life in general.

In combat, Eddie fights with a distinct brutality and viciousness as shown in most of his movements and techniques, all of which are gradually toned down or outright changed as Zato regaining control of both his body and Eddie.

He also struggles with trying to define his own identity as a unique individual, which is often met with frustration and anguish when confronted with the fact that he has the same persona and memories as his host. As an Anti-Gear weapon, he also possesses pre-programmed memories of the Crusades and instincts to eliminate Gears.

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.

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.

Sometime later, 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[]

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

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[]

External links[]


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