Helldivers 2 dev shares fan art declaring community-favorite character is an anime girl "married to Democracy," smitten players immediately decide they're Democracy now
Apr. 16, 2024“Eyes up and focused on the mission, Helldivers”
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Alongside the righteousness of spreading managed democracy, if there’s one thingHelldivers 2soldiers go to bat for, it’s Eagle-1. Throw in the suggestion that the faceless community favorite might actually be an anime girl, though, and down-bad fans aren’t just going to bat – they’re standing between the NPC pilot and whatever harm might come their way with more vigor than ever before.
Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has tempted fate by posting fan art on its official Twitter account depicting the beloved Eagle-1 as an anime character. And folks, the spread of democracy has ground to a halt since.
“Eyes up and focused on the mission, Helldivers,” Arrowhead says. “She’s married to Democracy, and Liberty is her boyfriend.”
“Boys, remember she’s married to Pelican 1,” one fanreplies, referencing the space shuttle that arrives at the end of each mission to ferry players back to the Super Destroyer. “Are you sure about that?” Arrowheadteases, despite suggesting that lore tidbititself.
Most others, though, aren’t as bothered by Eagle-1’s would-be marital status. “hey Helldivers, just got back from changing my legal name to Democracy Liberty,” one fansays. Another more cautious solideradds: “Remember Helldivers: Eagle-1 can’t marry you, because an Eagle never Mrs.”
If you’ve been out of the loop, Eagle-1 is the NPC pilot behind liberty-approved Eagle Strategems. As you may have gathered by now, you don’t see her in-game, but she delivers some cracking voice lines when called upon to drop airstrikes and bombs to ensure bugs are squashed and oil is spilled.
All of that has made her such a favorite among the community that a new ship module upgrade that expanded the Eagle weapons bay at the expense of her safetywas met with stern resistance– that, or new head cannon that the XXL Weapons Bay upgrade was approved as Eagle-1 is so good at what she does that she doesn’t need the safety features, right?
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While I didn’t think it possible, I imagine the conviction to ensure her safety has only strengthened.
Helldivers 2 is technically free via PlayStation’s loyalty program, but only if you’ve already dropped roughly $1,000 on games in the last year and a half.
Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.
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