Eyedol Thoughts

Long time lurker, first-time poster; please forgive any novice forum gaffs.

Eyedol’s been on everyone’s mind lately due to the launch of Season 3 and the 2 unidentified characters that are coming our way. I, personally, do not have strong feelings on whether Eyedol makes a return or not, but there is a sizable portion of the fan base who most certainly would like him to appear.

If he does, what will he play like? KI currently has, arguably, one of the most unique rosters of fighters the genre has ever seen, each character having intensely different features and mechanics. Eyedol, if he arrives, will be one of the last ones added, meaning IG will have to think way outside the box to come up with something eye catching (pun very much intended). I’ve seen some players speculate on how he might play, a common theme being his having two heads and, therefore, also having two fighting styles. A stance change is the method a majority of people seem to think would be utilized to achieve that.

It’s a cool idea, but tons of fighting game characters have stance changes (although Riptor is the only KI character with one, to be fair) and, compared with the wild variation we’ve seen in with the rest of the cast since IG took over, simply giving one character two sets of moves that can be switched between at will is nothing new. So, what would be new?

What about a directional stance change? What if Eyedol had one set of moves while facing to the right, and another set while facing the left? What if Ryedol was a zoning monster, hurling fireballs and hammer/club induced ground quakes at range in attempt to keep out his opposition, who will have an advantage if they get inside his zoning because Ryedol has terribly weak close range tools? Lyedol, on the other hand, would have fast close range normals and a command grab, making him scary up close and a character that no one wants to be close to. Both versions would share a position switching more a al Tusk’s f+MP and a side-switching ender to allow the player to attempt to control his positioning.

That’s the catch, he only has access to each of his move-sets if facing the required direction, meaning he has to fight to optimally position himself while attempting to do the same with his opponent. Eyedol always wants to face to the left when facing someone like Kan-ra or Glacius, while facing to the right when fighting Wulf or Tusk. Both he and his opponents will be aware of his proclivities, so the match will be a constant positioning battle to see who can keep the optimal matchup the longest. I am not aware of another fighting game character that plays like this (although my experience is mainly in the major western releases (SF, MK, MvC, Injustice)) and it would be a cool nod to Eyedol’s dual nature.

So, has this been done before? Is it not nearly as novel as I think it is? Is it even something that anyone would want to play as?

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I strongly believe Eyedol is in this Season :slight_smile:

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The problem with a character that changes so heavily his gameplay depending his side would be that people would take advantage of it. For example if one of his side’s has no tools against zoners, kan-ra could try to lock him in one side and he would be helpless

I’m more with a two stance fighter, or a brawler like Bane from injustice

That is a very interesting concept, and I definitely commend you on your originality!

I think it might be very difficult to use Eyedol this way, as you are not free to change stances at will. As a result, you may be stuck with a certain stance and can’t do anything about it. Some characters can just teleport to switch sides, and therefore have more control over your stances than you do yourself!

Finally, would this actually occur from a practical standpoint? Imagine if Eyedol was surrounded by an army. Which stance would be active? He’d have enemies on both sides of him!

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The ability for people to attempt take advantage of it would be the point, meaning that the Eydol player would know the Kan-ra player wants to be on a certain side and vice-versa, causing both players to change how they would approach the match and forcing them both to attempt make adjustments accordingly.

Also, I’m not suggesting the Eyedol would be completely defenseless to a certain range of attacks while in each of his stances, only that he gets new attacks, certain attacks get buffs, or certain attacks gain different properties when facing a specific direction. These new attacks and buffs would make it ideal for Eyedol to be facing a certain direction against certain opponents, but not essential in that he would have no way of getting in. Glacius is a Zoner with a few decent short-range moves to help him reestablish range. Tusk, Wulf, and TJ Combo are close range fighters with tools to help them close on zoners. There’s no reason both “sides” of Eyedol could not have similar, respective tools.

I’d also suggest his Instinct remove the side restriction, letting him switch stance at will for the duration, adding another level of consideration to the objectives of each player.

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Several characters do have teleports, and they could use those moves to get on what they view as the optimal side of Eyedol, but that will cause a change in their playstyle and will be something the Eyedol player will know is coming and also can take advantage of. All the teleports are unsafe if done raw, so portions of the match would come down to Eyedol knowing his opponent wants to get on his other side via teleport and his opponent knowing that’s what Eyedol is waiting for him to do, making for an interesting give and take.

It wouldn’t be about the Eyedol player having control over his own stances, it would be about both players attempting to use his stances to their own advantages. One method of granting the Eyedol player more control would be to grant him his own teleport or, perhaps, a move that is the reverse of Kan-ra’s Spike move that, instead of bringing Eyedol in front of his opponent, it brings his opponent in front or behind him, but I don’t think Eyedol should be able to get in his preferred stance at will. He should have to work at it. Less so than his opponent, but he should still have to do something beyond hitting a button.

Re: your comment on the practicality of his stance restriction… I’ve got nothing. I honestly never thought about it outside of the fighting game world he would be locked in. If I had to attempt to justify it narratively, I would argue the stance change is due to only one of his two heads can be in control at once. Each head possesses a different personality and knowledge, therefore each has a different fighting style. That only explains the stances, however, not the side limitation, and I’d have to venture into some pretty contrived territory to make that work.

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Good points you raise. And no doubt you should get accolades for being creative an original. It might work, and it’s now out there, so hopefully the developers have a read and have a think about it (assuming they will include Eyedol at some point)!

Ha ha - I like your response regarding the practicality of it in the “real world”. It would be funny if his brain just locked up if he were fighting more than one opponent one opposite sides of him.

Eyedol: “Don’t… Know… Which… Head… Controlling… Body…” collapses

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Eyedol’s one head: We should hit Orchid with our right fist?
Eyedol’s two head: Nah. Our left fist is better than right hand!
Eyedol’s one head: No! Our right fist is fast and strong than left fist!
Eyedol’s two head: LEFT FIST!
Eyedol’s one head: RIGHT FIST!
Eyedol’s two head: LEFT FIST!
Eyedol’s one head: RIGHT FIST!

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When I saw the title of the thread I was expecting thoughts from the mind of Eyedol… like “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey” but Eyedol’s thoughts instead.

I reckon what KevBones and I had posted is pretty much a deep thoughts from Eyedol would be like… LOL!

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"Every time right hand scratch left head, club drop into lava. :frowning: "
“Burnt leg hair again. Smell nice.”
“Silly green lady try to kick left face - she not know Eyedol always plus?”
“Hungry. Guess I eat pile of bones under shield over there.”
“Eyedol want fly like Gargos - go to Chuck E. Cheese, play in ball pit”

I should make an Eyedol twitter.

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Always love new eyedol idea threads. And I really like your idea though as someone said directional stance could cause problems. Though personally I love the idea of eyedol being a stance character

Make him a normal char, had enough of “tool” characters like Maia, Aria…etc

Do the Eyedol twitter seriously that would be awesome :smiley:

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While I like the idea (In concept), how would it work in a Reyedol vs. Leyedol situation?

In my opinion this should not be side dependant, but simply stance change with its own set of moves and normals.

For example, Eyedol could have two different weapons in each hand, with different abilities.

Or he could get power buff or some additional move when in danger state, MKX Johnny Cage style.

what if he plays like he did back in the day like updated with new moves but he still has that leap across the screen that he couldn’t be knock out of and had the dash that lead to his combo and the life regen. imagine playing him on kyle difficulty. it would be entertaining to watch but frustrating to fight. i just thinking about what it was like as a kid trying to beat him he was hard on medium difficulty. No offense to Gargos fans but after having a character design like eyedol in the original K.I seeing Gargos in K.I. 2 and his design i thought he is lame.

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It would be cool if because he had two heads each had it own voice.

I shared this somewhere else but i posted it here for those who may not have seen it. I love the design. Wouldn’t mind if here looks similar. That beard tho

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