Femme Fatale, dark, statuesque, curvaceous, long raven hair...
Evil, vicious, manipulative, imperious, condescending...
Barely-concealed rage, utterly-confident, extraordinarily powerful...
And to top it all off, she's a GIANTESS. A glorious, hundred-foot-tall GIANTESS.
Yup, they somehow managed to make a character that has absolutely every one of my fetishes!
"WHAT? But she's not nine months preg-"
SHUT UP, RANDALL! You're fired! Go back to J-Mart!
---
*Sinbad is trapped in the claws of the dead Cetus, sinking to the ocean floor. A smoky form materializes into a... oh god... a woman of staggering size*
"The day started with SUCH promise... Now, look- my sea monster is dead, and I STILL don't have the Book of Peace. All because of YOU, Sinbad..."
"Uh-huh... And YOU are?"
"ERIS... The Goddess of DISCORD. No doubt you've seen my likeness on the temple walls?" *mimics a wing-handed form*
"I..shhhaa... you know, they DON'T do you justice!"
"Uh-huh. NOW... about my sea monster...?"
"RIGHT, right- listen, I'm sorry about that. I don't suppose a heartfelt APOLOGY would do?"
*mocking laughter* "HEARTFELT?!? From YOU?! You don't HAVE a heart..." *shrinks to human size, moans, and cranks the Femme Fatale Dial to 25 out of 10* "That's what I LIKE about you..."
ERIS, GODDESS OF CHAOS AND DISCORD
Role: The Manipulator of Manipulators, The Definition of Chaotic Evil, Lady of Leisure, Mrs. Jabroniville
Played By: Michelle Pfeiffer
PL 13 (346)
STRENGTH 6/12 STAMINA 10/16 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 13 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 5 AWARENESS 6 PRESENCE 5
Skills:
Deception 10 (+15)
Expertise (History) 8 (+13)
Insight 7 (+13)
Intimidation 4 (+9, +16 Giant Size)
Perception 6 (+12)
Persuasion 6 (+11)
Stealth 1 (+4)
Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 5 (Goddess), Daze (Deception), Diehard, Fast Grab, Fascination (Deception), Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Languages 2 (Numerous), Power Attack, Startle, Takedown 2, Well-Informed
Powers:
"Immortal Goddess"
Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) [11]
Immortality 15 [30]
Regeneration 10 (Feats: Regrows Limbs) [11]
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
"Sees All From On-High" Remote Sensing (Vision & Hearing) 21 (Feats: Dimensional 1- Earth, Subtle 2) (66) -- [73]
- AE: "Wisps From Place To Place" Teleport 15 (Feats: Change Direction & Velocity) (Extras: Easy, Accurate) (62)
- AE: "Blows Air-Bubble" Immunity 3 (Drowning, Pressure & Suffocation) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0, Area- 30ft. Burst) (6)
- AE: Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel- Earth & Spacey-Realm) (2)
- AE: "Mass of Shadows" Concealment (Visuals) 2 (Flaws: Partial) (2)
- AE: "Shows the Way To Tartarus" Illusion (Visuals) 4 (8)
- AE: "I LOVE Playing Pretend..." Morph 4 (Anything) (20)
- AE: "Control The Air, Water & Sand" Move Object 10 (Extras: Damaging) (30)
"Gloriously-Resplendent Size"
Growth 6 (Str & Sta +6, +6 Mass, +3 Intimidation, -3 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -3 Stealth) -- (105 feet) [12]
Growth +9 (+15 Mass, +7 Intimidation, +1 Speed, -15 Stealth) -- (105 feet) (Flaws: Limited to Non-STR & STA Growths) [9]
Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Giant Size +13 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +8
"Giant Size" Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +16, Fortitude +16, Will +8
Complications:
Motivation ("GLORIOUS Chaos...")- Eris seeks to unravel the entire world, sending people's lives descending into chaos. When Sinbad & Marina see Tartarus, they find a desolate world full of corpses, sand and monsters. "LIKE it? I'm going to do the whole WORLD this way..." Her ultimate plan is to have Proteus killed thanks to Sinbad's selfish (sorta) decision to not be executed, thus sending Syracuse into rudderless chaos.
Motivation ("Enough TALKING... Time for some SCREAMING...!")- Eris could probably just KILL Proteus and get her way, but where's the fun in THAT? She likes to do things via manipulation and deceit, not direct action. She's even seen being bored by Character Development & Expository Dialogue, instead summoning a huge monster.
Responsibility ("When a Goddess Gives Her Word... She Is Bound For All Eternity...")- A Goddess can NOT go back on her word, no matter how angry she is.
Responsibility ("Your heart is as BLACK as mine...")- Eris cannot comprehend good people, and does not think that anyone can change- especially black-hearted pirates...
Total: Abilities: 106 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 19 / Powers: 188 / Defenses: 12 (346)
Eris- The Ultimate Villainess:
-For all the issues with the main characters, the absolutely knocked it out of the park with Eris, Goddess of Chaos. She's basically everything that makes a villain great, and is by FAR the most-memorable part of the picture. Men love her, and women want to BE her (the comments on YouTube and such are actually largely-female, cheering on how great she looks and how rad she is). It's all in the hair- a giant flowing mane of raven tresses. It's a nightmare for animators (it took a long time, and required CGI- the director jokes that she looked ridiculous in the animatics because she "looked like she had a shower cap on", despite trying to reflect all that power), but it's magnificent in animation.
-I can't say enough about how good Michelle Pfeiffer was in this role, too. While you've got Brad Pitt all "Haw, Voice Acting is super-awesome, because you only have to show up for a couple of hours, get to do it at your own pace, and you don't have to PHYSICALLY act!" (he more or less says this on the Special Features of the DVD), there's stuff out there about how much trouble Michelle had with the role and how she phoned Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and said "you can fire me if you want to" before she FINALLY got it (twirling a scarf around her in the recording booth was the "trick" to get her in character). So while the A-List Actors are half-assing "Some Pirate Movie" or something, Pfeiffer pulls off a great, complicated role- Eris has to be flirtatious, manipulative, confident and cruel, but has to remain in power, so she restrains her anger to appear more unflappable. I was actually stunned by how good she was- I only remember her from her career peak with Batman Returns/Dangerous Minds, and she disappeared from the mainstream soon afterwards. But I needn't have been so surprised- she's actually a THREE-TIME OSCAR NOMINEE, it turns out, so she's got the credentials. But really, you can FEEL the power in her voice- and when she laughs, she doesn't do a Disney Villain Cackle, you can actually hear the laugh in her voice as she talks (like when she mocks Sinbad for saying "heartfelt").
The Complexity of Eris:
-There's a good bit in the Commentary about how their initial Eris had stuff like "DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" as part of her dialogue, but they realized that to lash out with such anger actually caused her to GIVE UP some of her power! It reminds me of Jake "The Snake" Roberts' discussions about his wrestling interview style, and how he almost NEVER raised his voice or screamed at his opponents (like most wrestlers do). When asked why, he just calmly said "because a man of great power... does not have to shout." Compare Eris to Disney's Hades- Hades is a fun role, but his endless bickering, biting and freaking the F out actually DIMINISHES him as a threat, not boosts him (you always know that Herc would trounce him in a fight, for example). Great anger makes villains comical figures. Meanwhile, Eris maintains her composure until the very end of the picture, maintaining her threatening aura throughout- she has a lot in common with Maleficent and The Evil Queen in that regard. She FEELS tremendous anger, but constantly (at times desperately) gives off the sense of "LOL none of this bothers me" even she she's furious, so you get all these seething takes and bundled up energy waiting to explode (like when she mutters "D-don't play COY with me!" while clattering her nails on the gallows when Sinbad frustrates her).
-They go all-out with the character animation, fluidity, and set-pieces with Eris, too. Instead of WALKING like some common peon, she "flows" from place to place ("because why would you WALK if you could do THAT?" sez the commentary), effectively teleporting, even if it means moving three feet, or just changing position. She acts as a living shadow in one scene, creates a "Sinbad Puppet", then merges into it to control the thing and imitate the pirate. She appears before Sinbad, UNDERWATER, at a hundred feet tall, then blows an air bubble to keep him alive while she lectures him. She's often seen stalking the ENTIRE PLANET, as if she's literally larger than the Earth itself (this may not even be metaphorical- she physically drops Cetus into the ocean from on high, and he appears falling from the sky and into the ocean... however, it could just be an application of being within Tartarus, as Sinbad & Marina cross into the same world, past several constellations, when they fall in), and in a GLORIOUS, but way-too-short scene, is seen bathing IN A CLUSTER OF STARS while she summons the Roc ("Enough TALKING... *girlish giddiness* time for some screaming!"). And that scene where she rises from the ocean, overlooks a pier dozens of feet off the ground, with an angry look on her face? GAAHHHHHH....
Eris in Whole:
-Eris is the only villain, and the only GOD in the picture (early development included Janus as a "Rival God" who debated with her, but they felt again that this robbed her of power and agency in the overall plot- the movie's climax works best when it's SINBAD vs. ERIS, not SINBAD & JANUS debating Eris). She manipulates Sinbad and the people of Syracuse, setting up a situation where the heir to the throne will die, thus causing the city to fall into chaos (and she is literally the GODDESS OF CHAOS. Chaotic Evil is basically her entire schtick- not the raving lunatics that most people imagine that Alignment to be- but a careful practitioner). Like Maleficent, her screentime is limited, but focused- she throws trouble in at every step of the way- sending Cetus, the Sirens and the Roc, then presenting Sinbad with one final question- if he fails to get the book, will he return and take his execution like a man, or will he abandon Proteus to his probably death?
-Only at the end of the picture does she lose her cool- terrifying everyone in Syracuse by rising from the harbor at a hundred-plus feet tall and in a deadly rage (!!!!!-- MARRY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!), trying one last shot at scaring off our hero. And when he uses Eris' word against her (she's gotta follow the rules of the deal, after all...), she desperately tries to strike him, fails due to being bound by her oath (physically shown by her "crossing" her chest with light energy), rolls her eyes, and hands the Book back. But makes sure to maintain her composure on the way out, having just embarrassed herself by proving that a mortal could break her facade of uncaring.
-So yeah, I like Eris. Just wanted to make that clear.
The Might of Eris:
-Eris is supremely powerful, especially in this universe- it's quite clear she could have destroyed all the heroes in a moment if she so chose (she even saves Sinbad's life in the opening). She's only bound by her sworn oath (which prevents her from striking, or even harming, Sinbad when he fulfills his part of their bargain), otherwise she could probably kill thousands of people effortlessly.