ELI
ELI is a product of the government-funded megacorp SYGEN CORP — a symbol of military power and technological dominance in the sprawling cityscape of Virex-9. He’s no longer seen as human, but rather as a sleek embodiment of capitalist success and corruption. SYGEN treats him like their corporate military darling — their poster boy. In Virex-9, if you look closely enough, you’ll find billboards, ads, and even merchandise in his image.
From his towering frame to every inch of synthetic plating, ELI is worth over 4.6 billion credits — a walking investment used for war, marketing, propaganda, and the enforcement of the city’s corrupt agenda. He’s not a soldier anymore — he’s a product.
Years of irreversible modifications have stripped away almost everything that once made him human. He stopped asking questions long ago. Now, he simply follows orders. Every limb, every neural override, every adaptive weapon system — all designed and owned by SYGEN CORP.
But something’s shifting.
A revolution is brewing in the slums of Virex-9. Underground resistance groups have begun fighting back with their own rogue, modified superweapons. As ELI is forced to confront the uprise — and the public’s shifting perception of him — the cracks begin to show. His morals which had long been buried, are being challenged. His loyalty tested. And for the first time in decades, he’s asking questions again.
Creation and Story
ELI is a character I’ve had in mind for years. I made the first sketch around six years ago and have kept coming back to him ever since. I always imagined him as the lead in an animated series — either 2D or 3D — set in a cyberpunk-inspired megacity. Virex-9 would be a place of corruption, neon-lit slums, and unregulated human modification.
In the show, ELI would be the main character, paired against a female hybrid soldier created by the uprising — someone in a nearly identical situation: heavily modified, stripped of her humanity, and no longer questioning her orders. The story would center around the manipulation and corruption of the masses on both sides of the revolution.
Symbolically, the climax of the series would bring ELI and his counterpart face-to-face in a battlefield filled with debris, fire, and fallen soldiers. In the middle of their fight, both of them realize: this war was never really about them. They were never heroes or villains — just tools in someone else’s war. But what does one do with the realization? Keep fighting? Plan another uprise? There doesn’t seem to be a happy end, no matter who wins.
I also created these posters to explore what merchandise might look like within ELI’s world. They’re designed to reflect the corporate tone of SYGEN CORP — very technical, polished, and focused on achievement, performance stats, and money.
Just like ELI himself, the merch is less about the person and more about the product.