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Eddie the Head, also simply known as Eddie, is the villainous mascot of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
He has featured on nearly all of the band's album covers, t-shirts, posters and other merchandise as well as most of their music videos along with being featured as a backdrop/prop/costumed character at their concerts. He is the main protagonist of the mobile game Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast, an unlockable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, and the titular deuteragonist of the first-person rail-shooter Ed Hunter. He is also one of the many playable killers in the online horror game Dead by Daylight.
Appearance[]
Eddie's normal clothing is very casual, being denim jeans and a plain white t-shirt. However, he often wears different disguises and outfits depending on the situation. Most notably, mummy attire, a cybernetic suit with a brown trench coat, a soldier uniform, a British redcoat uniform, voodoo priest attire, a straitjacket, etc.
Biography[]
Eddie's past and possible mortal life are unknown. As such, it is unclear how he ended up the way he is. What is made clear is that he is undead and immortal, meaning that he would have had to have lived a mortal life at some point. It is theorized by fans that he was a murderer that died and was sent to hell, only to be cursed with immortality. According to the Legacy of the Beast comic series, he is the embodiment of free-will. Whether or not this is in the literal or figurative sense is unknown.
Camp Chaos[]
The Trooper[]
In the Camp Chaos music video for "The Trooper", we see Eddie in the middle of a heated and hellish battlefield. He is donning a uniform reminiscent of the red coats worn by British soldiers from the 16th to 19th centuries. Eddie is seen fighting off several skeletal soldiers, wielding swords. He manages to wipe them all out and the video ends with him standing victorious.
Run for the Hills[]
In the video for "Run to the Hills", we see Eddie in a desert like wasteland riding some kind of futuristic vehicle. Here, he resembles his cybernetic design along with wearing a fedora and a trench coat. He stops at a bar in a shanty town and witnesses several cloaked men on similar vehicles attack and capture a tribe of, seemingly innocent, creatures. He then engages battle with the men, killing them all, before riding away.
Aces High[]
TBA...
Flight of Icarus[]
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Number of the Beast[]
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Ed Hunter[]
In the video game Ed Hunter, Eddie is captured and locked away in an asylum by his rival The Beast. An unknown source sends a private detective a letter explaining that he is to save Eddie for unknown reasons. Eddie is capable of escaping and travels through hell and into the mortal world. He makes his way through the pyramids of Egypt, where the detective finds him. Eddie attempts to attack the detective but is sent to the future by an unseen force. Eddie treks through the futuristic world for a possible escape. He then finds the Four Horsemen and battles and kills all four. Then, a cybernetic version of himself from the future appears and captures him, taking him off to an unknown location.
The music video for the song "The Angel and The Gambler" is actually some-what of a sequel to the game, explaining the events that followed after Ed Hunter.
Eddie, still in the future, is now on the moon, where various aliens have colonized and evolved into a human-like society. Eddie decides, for the time being, to lay low at a bar. He proceeds to play a game of cards with members of Iron Maiden, along with a trench-coat wearing stranger. After losing, Eddie makes a scene, leading to him being spotted by his future self. Eddie then retreats outside, hijacking a space-vehicle and escaping.
Legacy Of The Beast[]
At some point, Eddie encounters his nemesis once more, but this time loses the battle. The Beast shatters his soul, leaving him without his powers. Later on, Eddie is found by a woman who calls herself The Clairvoyant. This woman is capable of magical abilities, abilities that could help Eddie get his powers back. For the time being, he complies with her, not having any real choice. The two travels through time, using The Clairvoyant's time travel abilities. He manages to find The Beast and his sons. He kills all of them but is still without his powers. It is not until he battles and kills a demonic clone of himself that he gets the last piece of his soul back and returns to his original form.
The Writing on The Wall[]
Belshazzar was a demonic tyrannical warlord who owned a large fortress somewhere in the desert. Belshazzar decided to throw a feast and invite fellow warlords to come. He also captured several innocents and imprisoned them, draining them of their lifeforce. At some point, Eddie, disguised as a hooded figure snuck into the feast. Once inside, Eddie revealed himself before summoning clones of himself. He and his clones proceeded to brutally murder everyone in the room before casting Belshazzar into hell for eternity. He then proceeds to snatch the man and woman who Belshazzar was draining, before riding away, with his cloaked clones tailing.
Personality[]
Eddie is usually depicted as a violent psychopath and a total lunatic. It seems he enjoys killing people and causing misery and chaos in general. He also seems does have a more perverted side as depicted on the cover for the singles "Women in Uniform" and "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter". In general, he is a depraved psychopath with no morals willing to go to any extreme. He seems to have a love for heavy metal music as shown by his guitar and bass playing skills. He does appear to have a temper and a very short one at that. Despite all of this, he does do a good act every now and then. Although, this is primarily for his own benefit.
Villainous Acts[]
- On the cover of "Running Free", Eddie is seen perusing a frightened teenager. The teenager's fate is unclear, but it can be presumed that he was murdered.
- On the cover of "Sanctuary", Eddie is shown holding a bloody knife standing over the dead body of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, implying that he murdered her.
- On the cover for the single 'Twilight Zone", Eddie is seen stalking a young woman.
- On the cover of "Killers", Eddie is shown wielding a bloodied hatchet with a large, evil grin on his face. An agonized hand is gripping onto his shirt.
- On the cover of "The Number of the Beast", Eddie is seen controlling a smaller devil like a puppet as he torments humans, all the while laughing maniacally.
- On the cover of the single "Flight of Icarus", Eddie, now with wings, wields a flamethrower as he torches the mythical Icarus.
- On the cover of "Somewhere in Time", Eddie, now in the future as a cyborg, wields a smoking gun, whilst standing behind a pained arm.
- On the cover of 'No Prayer for the Dying", Eddie is seen bursting out of a crypt while gripping onto a person's neck.
- On the cover of "Fear of the Dark", Eddie, or possibly a creature that resembles him, is now a tree-like creature ready to strike an innocent bystander.
- On the cover of 'A Real Live One" Eddie has two large wires with electricity shooting out of them, preparing to strike and electrocute a bystander.
- Eddie has been repeatedly depicted as a soldier, implying he is a symbol of war. In "The Trooper", he is depicted a soldier during the Crimean War. In both "Aces High" and "Tailgunner", he is in a World War II plane, as the pilot in the former and the tail gunner in the latter. In "Two Minutes to Midnight", he stands in front of a nuclear mushroom cloud wielding a machine gun. On the cover of "A Matter of Life and Death", Eddie is the general of an army of skeletons, atop a tank bearing his visage.
- In concerts, Eddie has appeared in a costume resembling General Custer during "Run to the Hills".
- In the music video for "The Wicker Man" Eddie stops a man's car before hypnotizing him. He then takes him to a cult gathering, where he sticks the man inside a large wicker man before burning it down, with him inside. He then steals the man's car.
- In the music video for "Can I Play with Madness", Eddie kidnaps a professor and leaves him to die.
- In the music video for "Aces High", Eddie attacks numerous plane fighters and presumably kills them.
- In the music video for "The Angel and the Gambler", after losing a match of poker, Eddie goes nuts and destroys the casino before attacking the band.
- On the cover of "Best of The Beast" Eddie is shown attacking a concert goer whilst preparing an iron claw, getting ready to strike.
- On the cover of the single "Bring Your Daugther... to the Slaughter", Eddie is seen with a skinned woman (alive by what can only be assumed to be supernatural means) with dead bodies at his feet, another showcase of Eddie's homicidal tendencies.
- On the cover of "BBC Archives", Eddie is seen destroying the BBC House with a giant British flag, most likely killing many. A promotional picture has him doing the same with the Sony building in New York.
- On the cover of "The Final Frontier", an alien that resembles Eddie is depicted as having just killed an astronaut. The music video for the title track has him causing the destruction of the planet the astronaut visited as well. Although, much like with "Fear of the Dark" it is possible that this creature is not actually Eddie and merely resembles him.
Gallery[]
_-1981-.jpg "Iron Maiden - Maiden Japan (EP) -1981-.jpg (57 KB)")
Trivia[]
- As Eddie is a zombie, he is shown to frequently be resurrected. Notably on the cover for "No Prayer for the Dying" in which he is seen bursting out of a crypt, whilst gripping onto an onlooker's neck. This is also shown on the cover for "Live After Death", which depicts him being resurrected in a way similar to that of Frankenstein's Monster, being struck by lightning.
- On the cover for "Powerslave" Eddie is depicted as a mummy, bursting free from a mausoleum.
- Due to both his immortality and possible time travel, Eddie has been seen in the past (such as on the cover for "The Trooper", in which he is a British soldier or on the cover for "Powerslave" where he is a mummy in ancient Egypt) as well as in the future (such is the case with "Somewhere in Time").
- On the cover of "Somewhere in Time", Eddie's design and the background parodies the film "Blade Runner".
- Likewise, "Stranger in a Strange Land" parodies Star Wars.
- On a withdrawn cover of "Maiden Japan", Eddie is shown holding the decapitated head of Paul Di'Anno, the former vocalist for the band.
- Similarly, on the cover of the single "Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)", Eddie is shown as, now resembling the devil, having impaled singer Bruce Dickinson.
- Given that he is the mascot to the band. it makes sense that Eddie has been depicted being involved in music or as a musician multiple time. On the cover for "A Real Dead One" he is a radio DJ. On the cover for "Phantom of the Opera", Eddie, disguised as The Phantom, is shown playing an organ. He has also been shown as a bassist and as a singer.
- On the single "Run to the Hills", Eddie, is seen fighting Satan, whilst on the cover for "Number of the Beast" he is shown holding Satan's decapitated head, implying that he is stronger than Satan. This was confirmed in the music video for "Speed of Light".
- The album cover for "Edward the Great", shows that at one time or another, Eddie was once a king of some sort or is of royal blood as he is shown wearing a crown and regal clothes. It is also possible that he killed the king and stole his throne.
- As shown in "Infinite Dreams", Eddie is a stunt cyclist.
- Eddie's tombstone features a misquote from H.P. Lovecraft's The Nameless City, that reads: "That is not dead which can eternal lie. Yet with strange (a)eons even death may die."
- Eddie has been depicted as a Grim Reaper-like figure numerous times.
- In the fighting game series Guilty Gear, Zato-1's familiar, Eddie, is named after Eddie the Head.
- On both the covers of "Aces High" and "Flight of Icarus", Eddie seems to be an avid aviator.
