Black Eagle

Creation

Eagle is one of the few characters mentioned in the original Killer Instinct (1994) who had yet to make an appearance in any of the series' titles, his likeness only ever seen in the KI comics published in the mid 1990s. In some of the comics, he is shown to have long and black hair, but in others, he is bald. He wears a leather headband (adorned with feathers in appearances where he's portrayed as bald) as well as a pair of leather armbands. He is shown to be holding a bow in one piece of artwork.

Eagle's 2017 teaser trailer marked the character's first official appearance in a Killer Instinct game. It portrays him as a fast-paced Nez Percé archer who wields a futuristic-looking bow and carries a whip-like weapon, is accompanied by a robotic bird of prey which appears to be his guardian and who is wearing some kind of bionics suit. Eagle also features bright, glowing glyphs across his torso, face and right arm that are reminiscent of the ones seen on Glacius, the extraterrestrial entity who has released him from Ultratech's captivity.

History

Killer Instinct (1994)

Like his brother Thunder, Eagle was a skilled warrior. He had entered a previous Killer Instinct tournament and won, using his newfound fame to publicly protest the evils of Ultratech. Unfortunately, this protest was short-lived, as Eagle mysteriously vanished shortly afterwards. Eagle was converted into the first in a line of cyborg soldiers known as the Fulgores, and was sent to participate in the upcoming Killer Instinct tournament.

Coincidentally, Thunder entered the same tournament in order to discover the fate of his brother. He did not win the tournament, but he succeeded in finding out that Eagle had seemingly "perished" at the hands of Ultratech. Thunder was initially very upset by this, and spent a long deal of time mourning during the events of Killer Instinct 2. Meanwhile, Eagle as Fulgore had been heavily damaged during his fight with Jago and he was retired. It is unknown if the new Fulgore model present in Killer Instinct 2 was Eagle or not.

Curiously, in Thunder's ending in the first Killer Instinct a ghastly image of Spinal is shown upon mentioning Eagle.

Killer Instinct (2013)

"Eagle and Thunder were instructed to always honor the old ways. And when Eagle was a young man, he went to receive a Guardian Spirit. Indeed, he wanted to help his people. He tried to expose the corruption of ARIA to the world... but he was trapped in ARIA's dreamworld. And his spirit was copied. After years of imprisonment something came to set him free."

--Nez Percé chief narrating

In the alternate rebooted universe, Eagle was a member of the Disavowed who worked closely with Orchid to fight against Ultratech. Thunder witnessed his brother's capture and attacked ARIA in a fit of rage, but he was subdued and Eagle was brought back to Ultratech headquarters. There he was utilized as the "human element" in a prototype for the Fulgore Mk. III, as his brain waves were copied and used as the basis for the combat AI of the Fulgore Mk. III. The resulting product is the same Fulgore that is controlled by the player in KI 2013's Arcade Mode.

After Thunder came to terms with his brother's mysterious kidnapping and apparent death, he begrudgingly struck an accord with ARIA to serve Ultratech in exchange for recovering Eagle's remains. However, while Thunder was going about this ordeal, Orchid revealed to him that Eagle was, in fact, not dead. Thunder then broke his deal with ARIA and began to hunt down all the Fulgores he could, in search of the one that he believed contained Eagle's spirit or remains.

In ARIA's mind, Eagle is the most valuable being on the planet. His ability to commune with and influence all forms of life, including machines, is the key to her total destruction. Modified by both Ultratech and Glacius, Eagle soars into battle with his mid-range Tech Short Bow and Weyekin Bird companion, the two working as one to take down anyone who threatens the balance of this world.

Characteristics

• Name: Tipyeléhne
• Sex: Male
• Age: 33
• Height:
• Weight:
• Race: Human (bionically altered)
• Affiliation: Disavowed (formerly), The Alliance, Night Guard
• Family: Thunder (Brother)
• Alignment: Lawful Good
• Fighting Style: Zoning
• Weapons: Archery Bionics/Robotics

Abilities

A gifted amateur fighter in his own right, Eagle is skilled in both boxing and wrestling, compared to his mountain of an older brother who became a football star. Devoted in his training to become the ultimate fighter and protect the ones he loves, his skills earned him a spot with the underground spy agency, the Disavowed, who later sent him to infiltrate the first Killer Instinct tournament.

His fighting abilities were unique enough to gain the full attention of Ultratech CEO ARIA, who had him captured and used as the basis for their ruthless cyborg soldier, Fulgore.

Other Media

Video Game

Killer Instinct (2013)

Eagle in a playable character following Season Three of the 2013 Killer Instinct video game. He is voiced by Thomas "tátlo" Gregory.

Comic Book

Killer Instinct (2017)

The 2017 comic depicts Eagle and Glacius fighting ARIA and escaping Ultratech.

Notes

• Josiah Pinkham, one of the Nez Percé consultants for Killer Instinct (2013) who provided advice for re-imagining Thunder/Hinmatoom's design as culturally authentic, is interestingly named "Tipyeléhne Cimuuxcimux", translated as "Black Eagle", which was the character's codename in the original KI comics.
  • The same real-life Nez Perce members who previously advised Iron Galaxy on Thunder's design were also consulted for Eagle's design, personality and mannerisms, presumably around the same time the developers at Iron Galaxy were creating Thunder's newly culturally-authentic Legend of Thunder costume.
• BlitzedKraig, one of the IG developers for KI 2013, confirmed that Eagle isn't a remix character similar to the post-Season 3 characters Kilgore or Shin Hisako, but was "built from the ground up. Completely." Thus, he has received his own retro costume, which is not available for remix characters as well as Bonus characters.
• In Eagle's Retro costume, his weyekin's appearance is visually similar to a phoenix in Greek and Roman mythology, in which it is reborn from its own ashes, symbolic of how Eagle is "reborn" through his cybernetic enhancements that were forcibly implanted by Ultratech while his body lied in stasis.