Eide is a challenge to write for, since we only have about 3 lines of spoken dialogue from him in Night in the Woods, and even though he’s a very prominent and important character, everything else he does is so heavily shrouded in mystery that there are a thousand different versions of him you could extrapolate from the mist that is his original character.
All we have of him are the lines:
“There they are! They’re right there! I’m gonna kill them!”
(after he’s told to shut up) ”He…shot…me!”
Then it’s not confirmed, but the position of the text bubble also implies he says “Ones ‘e takes a shining to. It rubs off on ya. You can do things.” When explaining Ed Skudder’s “glimmer” gift, which would line up with Eide’s own gifts, if he was one of the people the Black Goat “took a shining to.” But again, it’s not confirmed that it’s even him speaking
He’s depicted as the most aggressive, trigger-happy and violent member of the cult, contrasted by the calm, apologetic, or wisened members next to him. He shouts to kill the main crew immediately, while the member next to him apologizes to the crew for a separate incident, showing a strong contrast between him and the rest of the miner cult. He has a dynamic with the leader that’s effectively “annoying brat keeps having to get told to shut the hell up and stay in line,” he’s rebellious against said authority and acts out against his orders by chasing after Mae, and on the more spiritual side, he has some kind of psychic connection to Mae and The Black Goat, to the point where he’s special enough to be blessed with special powers by The Black Goat. He’s also the only character we see going out and doing the cult’s dirty work, and though I’m sure plenty of the other members do their part as well, it’s narratively important enough for Eide to be the only one spotlighted for his work, which is a natural reflection on Eide as a character.
And that’s all we have of him that’s set in stone, and even that's a tad extrapolated. Anything else beyond that is speculation, including his identity, his motives, why he chases after Mae, why he follows her, why he appears in her dreams, everything. He’s very likely to be an older man, anywhere between his late 50s-60s at the youngest to possibly "older than we can even comprehend" at the oldest. He may be older than the town itself. We don’t know. We know he’s a cat, like Mae, further solidifying their connection. He has curly fur, and he has two nicks in both ears, which similarly ties back into Mae’s own nicked ear. We know he’s freely a murderer and serial killer, likely without regret or shame.
Using what we have, I’ve decided that this AU version of Eide is a larger, older male cat, whose personality is brash, aged, aggressive, violent, trigger-happy, grouchy, brazen, vulgar, egotistical, and very lacking in the “empathy and kindness” department. There are a lot of different roles he could have played for the AU, he could have fit Aym/Baal’s replacement, he could’ve been the weapons-seller, but due to his special, psychic connection with The Black Goat and Mae (and his importance in NITW), I figured the best position for him would be the previous Red Crown holder. (red crown holder also fits with him aesthetically due to the cult’s strong red association in both games)
So with all of that addressed, let me introduce you to: Eide, “The Ghost of Death”
Eide’s name is a legacy written in blood across the lands of the Old Faith. To civilians, grunts of the four main cults, and smaller “monster” enemies, Eide was a nightmare. A monster you told stories about past midnight and around the fire to terrify your little siblings over. He had been the blessed bloodhound of The One Who Waits for generations. Beatrice Santello is the only witness that remembers him, that was alive during the time of his legacy, though she’s grateful she never met him. He went after the armies of the Old Faith, culling them down to weaker and weaker numbers, he took down the previous witnesses of Leshy, Heket, and Shamura, freeing up the positions for Angus, Gregg and Lori to fill later. He wanted to be the one to kill the Old Gods, he wanted to be the legendary crown-holder at the top of the world, known throughout history as The Godkiller. But Narinder only hired him to set the stage for the true, Lamb savior to arrive, and he had to remind him of that countless times. He was not the chosen savior, he was not The Lamb. He may have been the best there ever was (and will be, as Eide insistingly grumbled), but that was not his place. He needed to stay in line, Narinder told him.
But that wasn’t what he wanted. He was better than that. He deserved that damned throne, and he would get it, no matter what anyone said. It would be his.
Leshy, the weakest, was his first target. His army had been massacred, his Witness was nowhere to protect him, and he was still trying to recover and rebuild from Eide’s last attack. Eide tracked him down, found him in his lair, and went for the kill. That glory, that power, that would be his, all his.
Maybe he was blinded by his emotions, maybe it was the slightest mistake, maybe it was a lucky roll of the dice for Leshy that day, maybe he jumped wrong, maybe one of those damned grunt archers got a once-in-a-lifetime shot, who knows. But one moment he was leaping to slice Leshy in half, and the next moment, Leshy’s jaws came down on him, the whole world went black, and he woke up revived in Narinder’s realm with a chunk of his side missing and his dominant arm gone.
Leshy had killed him, and TOWW had to bring him back at the expense of his own power. He had failed, for the first time in his life. Narinder screamed at him, furious that he disobeyed his orders and jeopardized their mission and Narinder’s own success due to his ego, his disobedient, insolent pride. Eide yelled back, but that only worsened his position.
That day ended with his status and power as the Crown Bearer being revoked. And in an instant, he had nothing.
To the rest of the world, it was as if the Ghost of Death disappeared one day. Rumors and stories were told of seeing his shadow in the woods at night, beasts preying on villagers in the night would be blamed on him, and a fear of his return or a surprise attack from the infamous monster Reaper would remain for the following decades, before his memory faded away into an urban legend and the next generations forgot him.
Eide now lives in a small, isolated cabin in the deep, dark forest. His warrior days are over, and now all he can do is burn his time and keep an eye on the events going on. He watched as the lamb prophecy was revealed to the other gods, he watched with intrigue as the lamb species was culled, and he waited with hope and anticipation for Narinder’s call after they went extinct. There were no more sheep in the entire land, so surely he was all he had left and he would be able to live his glory days again soon.
One day, he was called back by Narinder, his moment had come—only for his dreams to be shattered by the sight of a 4-foot tall scrawny-ass black-furred kitten.
TOWW explained to him that as the previous holder, Eide’s job would be to mentor the new holder and teach her everything she needs to know to kill the Gods and truly be His savior.
He would fucking kill her.
…but unfortunately, he can’t. His job is to mentor his replacement. The “true” savior. This little brat.
He’s going to lose his mind out here.
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