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— Eyedol's intro quote |
Eyedol is a fearsome bicephalous titan, and one of the main antagonists of Killer Instinct ever since he featured as the series' original last boss in Killer Instinct (1994). One of the two demon warlords who were banished from Earth in its distant past, the other being Gargos, in Killer Instinct (2013) Eyedol is a corrupted champion who was slain by his arch rival, and thereafter foolishly resurrected by the sorcerer Kan-Ra. Eyedol made his return to Killer Instinct after twenty-two years on July 27th 2016, as the final playable character released for KI 2013.
Biography[]
Appearance[]
In Eyedol's classic design, he appears as a massive, gray- (or green- or brown-) skinned, two-headed cyclops with glowing red eyes, and goat-like legs with cloven hooves. He wields a massive, spiked mace and is the tallest character in the game.
In Killer Instinct (2013), Eyedol received a substantial overhaul. Unlike in 1994, he now has a single head; however, it has been split completely in half down the middle, so one eye is on each side of the cleft. His brain is visible within the massive gap, and purple and red lightning darts across the divide, connecting the two pieces of his head. His left eye glows purple, his right eye glows red, and the horn on the right side of his head is broken off. He retains his gray skin, but now has swirling tattoos running along half of his body that glow purple, and has ropes slung around his torso. He's less muscular and pot-bellied, like a stereotypical ogre, though remains very large in stature. He wears a single pauldron on his right shoulder and a loincloth with human skulls attached to it. His legs are digitigrade like those of Gargos, but his three-toed feet show large, blunt toenails rather than talons. He wields a mace laced with human skulls. When focusing on physical combat, his red-eyed side takes control, and when he focuses on magical combat, his purple-eyed side takes over.
Eyedol's retro costume largely mirrors his original 1994 appearance, though he is far bulkier than in the original game. Each head only shows one horn instead of two and lacks his original chain ear piercings. He still has a purple-colored eye for one head and a red-colored eye for the other and keeps his new skull-laced club from his default KI 2013 costume.
Personality[]
"Power tends to corrupt, and ♫ absolute power corrupts absolutely. ♫"
Eyedol is a dreadful example of John Dalberg-Acton's famous observation: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
Once a champion appointed by a race of demi-gods to protect humanity from Gargos, Eyedol's body and soul were consumed utterly by a myriad of factors: the magnified abilities granted to him by these sympathetic beings, his own arrogance over the supreme victory that he achieved over Gargos, and him plundering a large portion of the Astral Tyrant's dark powers. Together, they caused Eyedol's essence to slowly but surely turn a sinful black and, over time, began to hideously transform him into the very thing he was once empowered to destroy—a diabolical fiend and an ungodly monster.
Crowning himself the god-king of a vast dominion in an age long forgotten, when countless humans worshiped him as a divinity that walked upon the Earth, Eyedol's boundless desire for prestige and power seemed his greatest strength, and yet it became his downfall. His corrupted being lost all control over its base impulses, and Eyedol went berserk with greed, lust, gluttony, pride and wrath, nearly wiping out the ancient heroes of the world who tried to contain his rampage and tyranny; which led to his banishment to the Astral Realm by the immortal warrior Tunth-ska. There, Eyedol was ambushed and met his ultimate demise at the talons of a cunning Gargos, who had been waiting for him in the darkness of the void.
"Great men are almost always bad men."
Finally slain by the rival Shadow Lord, having gotten his head split in half, and after eons reanimated by the sorcerer Kan-Ra, the fallen god-beast now is obsessed with but one thing: total annihilation. To this end, Eyedol violently breaks loose from Kan-Ra's control and immediately embarks for war. His one-track (or, should we say, two-track) mind becomes his sole guide as he brutalizes, demolishes, and magically destroys all on his forsaken path to exact unfathomable vengeance on Gargos and the world.
Powers & Abilities[]
Ever since his head was spliced in two halves by Gargos, Eyedol's titanic might has been diminished in two different ways. All of his power -and indeed his very mind itself- is now divided into two separate aspects of himself: the red-eyed "savage" head and the purple-eyed "warlock" head. The savage head's personality is excessively violent, impulsively lashing out with sheer ferocity and in utter barbarity. The personality of the warlock head, however, is deviously calculating as well as ominously patient, and invokes cataclysmically powerful magic to ruin Eyedol's enemies from afar.
When his Instinct Mode is activated, Eyedol's split aspects merge and his true strength temporarily returns to him. He becomes a god-like force to be reckoned with: an unholy beast embodying the ultimate power, demonic brutality and sorcerous might.
Killer Instinct (1994)[]
Eyedol's original appearance in Killer Instinct (1994)
Eyedol's "retro" appearance for Killer Instinct (2013)
Story[]
Eyedol is Ultratech's trump card. Remember the warlords from the Prologue story? Well, Eyedol is one of them. Ultratech's scientists snatched him out of Limbo to do battle with the finalist in this year's Killer Instinct tournament. Little did they realize what kind of power they were releasing when they set Eyedol free from his magical prison...
Extended Story[]
Eyedol and his greatest rival, Gargos - known only in the modern world to the Monks of the Tiger as the great Spirit they serve - were the last surviving Warlords of ancient times, battling for ultimate control of the land. The heroes of the age joined together to banish them to Limbo, and for 2000 years there they stayed: but now Ultratech's meddling has resulted in a device that can scan the void for life, and despite their efforts to shut it down before anything nasty gets out, a weakened Eyedol manages to break through at the last minute, right into the company's scheming hands.
Ending[]
Eyedol's ending is actually a joke ending that parodies Blanka's ending from Street Fighter II. The name was changed from Jimmy to Billy, probably as a reference to British pop singer Billy Idol.
If he wins, a random woman approaches Eyedol after the tournament and sets into motion a rather strange ending with the following dialogue:
- Woman: "Billy... Are you my long lost son Billy...?"
- Eyedol: "Why would I be your son?... My name's Eyedol."
- Woman: "My son was lost in a car crash... I gave him those bracelets for his birthday....."
- Eyedol: (Eyedol's heads give each other a confused look) "Somehow.......... we don't think so." (Eyedol smashes the woman into the pavement with his club)
Stage[]
- Main article: Eyedol's Lair / Warehouse Basement
Character Selection[]
Being a secret character, Eyedol can only be selected by players through a built-in cheat code.
- Arcade v1.4: Select Riptor. Begin holding Left. Once the versus screen appears, begin holding Right and press MP, FP, and then FK. The announcer saying "Eyedol" will confirm the selection, making Eyedol playable for the next battle.
- Arcade v1.5/SNES: Select Cinder. Begin holding Right. Once the versus screen appears, press QP, QK, FP, MK, MP, and then FK (on the controller: L, R, X, B, Y, and then A). The announcer saying "Eyedol" will confirm the selection, making Eyedol playable for the next battle.
Killer Instinct (2013)[]
Story[]
Eyedol's new default appearance in Killer Instinct (2013)
Eyedol suffered his downfall at the claws of his rival and arch enemy, Gargos, who waylaid him and split his head completely in half down to his chest. With his remains too powerful to decay, Eyedol's carcass was somehow located by Kan-Ra many ages later, who sought to reanimate the fallen Shadow Lord and use it as his trump card against Gargos. But even Kan-Ra's necromancy lacked the power needed to control Eyedol, causing the demonic warlord to break free from the sorcerer's bonds, and once again rampage across Earth as destruction incarnate.
Extended Story[]
The Reawakened:
- Main article: The Reawakened
Music[]
A Shattered Eyedol - Killer Instinct OST by Atlas & Celldweller
Eyedol's new theme for Killer Instinct (2013), titled "A Shattered Eyedol", was composed by the duo Celldweller and Atlas Plug. It is a dark industrial-techno remix of his original 1994 final boss theme, "The Extreme", and features a 1980s horror vibe reminiscent of the soundtracks of John Carpenter's films, notably to the opening theme of The Thing, along with elements from Klayton's own "Scandroid" project.
When both combatants remain idle for a short period while using Eyedol's music on any stage, a synthesized remix of Killer Instinct's legendary main theme, "The Instinct," will start playing.
Gallery[]
Killer Instinct Comics
Quotes[]
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—Eyedol's proclamations during the events of Shadow Lords (KI 2013) |
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—Eyedol to Jago in the Killer Instinct comics (1996) |
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—Eyedol's famous line from his 1994 arcade ending |
Trivia[]
- During Eyedol's first reveal for Season 3, designer Adam "Keits" Heart summarized the character as "two heads, two characters", and mentioned that the "combat head" is a "berserking, close range, rushdown character", while the "mage head" is a "smart, screen-controlling, zoning character".
- Eyedol is referred to as "Panda" in the game files for Killer Instinct on PC.
- Eyedol's name is a portmanteau of the words "eye" (being a cyclops) and "idol" (due to his reference in the original timeline as an ancient spirit by the Monks of the Tiger or being "worshipped" by Ultratech and the spectators of the Killer Instinct tournament).
- Following the new timeline introduced in the 2013 reboot, the "idol" part now references him being worshipped by humans who praised his original victory over Gargos and subsequently saving the world, eventually crowning himself king of a vast empire. The "eye" part references his split head and how his eyes are presently separated from each other.
Eyedol's "savage" personality, featuring Kan-Ra
Eyedol's "warlock" personality
- Eyedol's Savage and Warlock "Heads" are somewhat inconsistent in placement due to the mirroring of his in-game model, and sometimes the Savage Head will be active while the Warlock Head should be or vice versa.
- During gameplay, confusion from this can be avoided by looking at Eyedol's Rage/Control Meter, since flames appear on the half of his head that is currently active. One can also tell by the color of the eye of the active head, the color of his club's sparks, or the appearance of Eyedol's neutral stance (upright with club held high, or hunched over with club held low).
- Eyedol's Savage and Warlock heads are similar to Street Fighter 3's Gill when he uses both pyrokinesis and cryokinesis. Their heads also relate to He-Man's Two-Bad.
- His two retro costume colors in KI 2013 - brown and green - are a throwback to his physical appearance in the arcade version and SNES version of the original Killer Instinct, respectively.
- Following Rash, Mira and General RAAM over the course of Season Three, Eyedol doesn't have his own stage in Killer Instinct, but does have his own selectable theme for any stage. Interestingly, Eyedol shares Kan-Ra's Forbidden Archive (same with Rash) as his stage in the game, likely as a placeholder, similar to the situation with Omen sharing the Shadow Tiger's Lair with Shadow Jago and Gargos (temporarily), and Mira sharing the Alchemical Lab with Sabrewulf in Survival Mode. This makes him the sixth overall fighter as well as the fourth character in Season 3 amongst the roster who does not have a stage, but shares an arena with another combatant.
- Eyedol shares his Killer Instinct (2013) voice actor, Zachary Quarles, with Riptor and Aganos.
- On July 17, 2014 (coincidently, just two years before Eyedol's return to KI 2013), former KI composer Robin Beanland posted on his official SoundCloud page an unused track that was supposed to be Eyedol's main theme but was immediately scrapped after hearing it in-game.
External links[]
- Eyedol's character page at the official Killer Instinct Website
- Eyedol's gameplay profile at Infil's The Complete Killer Instinct Guide
Media[]
- Eyedol's trailer - Eyedol's official trailer reveal for Killer Instinct (2013) by Iron Galaxy
- Creating the music for "Eyedol" - Celldweller and Atlas Plug offer an exclusive look into how they created Eyedol's theme for KI 2013
- Delta Rayquaza (Eyedol) vs. SonicDolphin117 (Arbiter) - Video compilation of pro gamer matchups with Eyedol
| Killer Instinct (1994) Characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playable | Jago ·Black Orchid ·TJ Combo ·Glacius ·Chief Thunder ·Sabrewulf ·Spinal ·Cinder ·Riptor ·Fulgore | |||
| Boss | Eyedol | |||
| Killer Instinct (2013) Characters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Jago ·Sabrewulf ·Glacius ·Thunder ·Sadira ·Orchid ·Spinal ·Fulgore ·Shadow Jago | |||
| Season 2 | TJ Combo ·Maya ·Kan-Ra ·Riptor ·Omen ·Aganos ·Hisako ·Cinder ·ARIA | |||
| Season 3 | Kim Wu ·Tusk ·Arbiter ·Rash ·Mira ·Gargos ·General RAAM ·Eyedol | |||
| Season 3+ | Kilgore ·Shin Hisako ·Eagle | |||
