Helldivers 2 dev shares more fan art of best girl Eagle-1, but insists that she hasn't been "physically augmented to better perform their duty"

Helldivers 2 Democratic Detonation Warbond diving
(Image credit: Sony)

Arrowhead Game Studios has shared yet more fan art of Helldivers 2's beloved Eagle-1 pilot, while insisting that she and the other Eagle pilots haven't been "physically augmented" in order to better deliver Managed Democracy.

For context, when it comes to Helldivers 2's ship module upgrades, poor Eagle-1 has had it rough. The faceless pilot who swoops in to drop powerful Eagle Stratagems works tirelessly to destroy bugs and bots, but what does she get in return? With the latter two Eagle Stratagem upgrades, far worse working conditions, apparently. Loyal Helldivers were concerned when the XXL Weapons Bay upgrade rolled out, removing Eagle-1's safety systems, but even before that, the Expanded Weapons Bay was said to "trim excess leg space" to fit more cargo.

In the latest art shared by Arrowhead, Reddit user magisterium_art mocked up the idea of Eagle-1 being an amputee with prosthetic legs, which according to the art, could be temporarily removed in order to better accommodate the Expanded Weapons Bay. According to SE High Command, however, this isn't a requirement in order for the Eagle pilots to fight more effectively. 

"SE High Command would like to dispel any rumors that our Eagle pilots have been physically augmented to better perform their duty," Arrowhead writes. "If you see any personnel with unauthorized body modifications, they may be an Automaton dissident. Stay vigilant, Helldivers."

This isn't the first time that Arrowhead has leaned into the community's love of best girl Eagle-1. Earlier this month, the studio shared fan art depicting her as an anime girl, noting to the onslaught of admirers that "she's married to Democracy, and Liberty is her boyfriend." 

The anime-style design and the art most recently shared look pretty different, so it doesn't appear that Arrowhead is trying to canonize any particular look for her, but rather allow Helldivers to imagine the loyal pilot however they like. One thing is for sure, though, if Arrowhead ever does decide to unleash a canon, in-game Eagle-1 design upon the world, Helldivers everywhere are going to go absolutely wild. 

One Helldivers 2 player recently shared a one-in-a-million clip in which they got launched into the air and gruesomely attacked by Eagle-1's jet

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of 12DOVE's news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

Read more
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing a fully geared/armored diver standing with gun in hand as three jets soar the skies behind him
Arrowhead reveals the Helldivers 2 ideas left on its cutting room floor, from 5-player squads to low-gravity planets and a whole new armor system
Four Helldivers lined up on base ship
Less than a year after launching 2024's best live service, Helldivers 2 creative director has already started working on "the next Arrowhead game"
A Helldiver from Helldivers 2 stand proudly atop a pile of Terminids.
Helldivers 2 lead thought it would bang, but not that hard: "We were prepared for having 150,000 players peak CCU"
Helldivers 2
After an eventful year, Helldivers 2 devs hope "it will be less of a bumpy road when it comes to release accuracy" - but Arrowhead is still "prepared to take risks"
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 has an endgame problem, but a developer assures us "things are coming," they just can't say what yet because otherwise our expectations will be too high
A Helldiver from Helldivers 2 stand proudly atop a pile of Terminids.
Helldivers 2 Game Master Joel apparently isn't as evil as we thought: the commander-in-pain's "personal favorite" community moment is the time players helped raise money for real-life sick children
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Marvel Rivals Spider-Man
Spider-Man has become every Marvel Rivals player's worst nightmare
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing a fully geared/armored diver standing with gun in hand as three jets soar the skies behind him
Arrowhead reveals the Helldivers 2 ideas left on its cutting room floor, from 5-player squads to low-gravity planets and a whole new armor system
Helldivers 2 Ultimatum
Helldivers 2 has a Major Order problem, but the solution isn't simple because "having 100% participation means the MOs will always be won and that introduces other issues"
Marvel Rivals Clone Rumble
Marvel Rivals' new Clone Rumble mode sounds like the kind of absolute chaos multiplayer games need more of
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 has an endgame problem, but a developer assures us "things are coming," they just can't say what yet because otherwise our expectations will be too high
Jeff the Land Shark as he appears in Marvel Rivals
"Sounds like a skills issue": Jeff the Shark co-creator says Marvel Rivals players "should get better at the game" if "my boy is beating your ass every night"
Latest in News
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog