Eddie Evans

Eddie Evans
Eddie Evans as seen in the Salamander anime
Japanese name	エディ・イーバン Edi Īban
Personal information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Race	Latian
Appearances	Salamander (OVA)
Japanese voice	Kazuhiko Inoue

Eddie Evans (エディ・イーバン, Edi Īban) is one of the protagonists from the Salamander anime. He pilots one of the three Vic Viper crafts and is said to have had top honors in Gradius' military academy.

He is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue.

History

His family was exiled from planet Latis but warmly welcomed by planet Gradius/Nemesis. In "Meditating Paula" (based on Gradius), Eddie has a sharp tongue and grumpy attitude but seems to soften when he meets Paula, a green-haired girl with telekinetic abilities whom he, Dan, and Stephanie rescued off a damaged ship orbiting not far from Gradius. Later after being demoted for disobeying orders not to engage the Bacterians to reveal a weakness, he sneaks Paula from observation so she can lead him to what is attracting the Bacterians. Taking a Vic Viper craft to the deserts of northern Gradius, they find there a moai obelisk that Paula tells him is attracting the dark forces and destroy it. However, it is revealed that the moai statue was actually repelling the Bacterians and that Paula had tricked him, revealing herself to be a Bacterian, transforming into a massive dragon and fleeing, thanking Eddie for his help, as well as taunting him that he, his friends, and the rest of Gradius will be eradicated by them. Heartbroken, he screams that he never trusted her to begin with, just like Dan. He even tries to convince her that he is not from planet Gradius/Nemesis but from another planet. He eventually gives up and admits that racism exists on every planet, regarding his family's exile form Latis and Paula's hatred for Gradians.

In the episode "Salamander" (based on Salamander), he travels with his friends to planet Latis to destroy planet Salamander, a planetoid deformed by the Bacterians. He soon gets into a poor relationship with Latis' ruler Ike Lord British. After snooping around for clues about his father's origins on the planet, he leaves, claiming that he would rather give his life to protect planet Gradius than a planet who exiled his family to protect its selfish and overconfident ruler. When the others later engage the fire dragon at the core of Salamander, he returns with his Vic Viper and sacrifices himself to kill the apparently invincible dragon by flying his craft inside its body to buy his friends enough time to destroy Salamander's core. When Dan, Stephanie, and Lord British return to planet Latis, Lord British decides to erase the incident of the Evans Family and tells his advisors to record Eddie Evans' name in Latis history and to make sure he is never forgotten as the hero who saved planet Latis. Dan reveals to Lord British that despite Eddie having a sharp tongue, he did indeed die to save Lord British's planet and Gradius.