| “ | Together, we are the Illuminati. I'm its shepherd, and you're my flock. The sheep follow the shepherd. But there will be times when the flock is more important than the shepherd. Without the sheep where shall I weave the wool to warm myself in the cold? Without the sheep where shall I obtain resources for survival? And to you. How shall you care for yourselves in my absence? How will you know where to go without my guidance? This is no mere 'leader and soldier' scenario, this is commensalism. We cannot survive without the other. My orders are of the utmost priority. As we grow in strength so does your will towards the choices in this life. What's important is the survival of the whole, not the individual. | „ |
| ~ The Shepherd to the members of the Illuminati |
Eron Carpathia, also known as the Shepherd, is a wealthy young genius as well as the leader of the Illuminati. As such, he is the main antagonist of the Illuminati arc, the 'prophet' of Lucifer and the Antichrist.
Overview[]
When assuming his civilian persona, Eron Carpathia is an eccentric millionaire who creates and funds wonderous technology for the purpose of achieving the betterment of the populous. He designed the Black Bar, which is a barcode engraved into the blood of a person that allows them to be identified by their serial number alone becoming something of a substitute for the ID cards or even their accounts related to their funds and interests. Eron is quite the celebrity as he was invited to host many auspicious events and even be counted among the members of the United Nations and the World Security Council, the latter of which is due to the advanced weapons he creates.
However, this persona is a façade as he is in fact the infamous Shepherd of the Illuminati, the leader of the organization. As the Shepherd, he guides and leads his underlings towards achieving the dream of a New World Order. While he rarely ever intervenes in the going-ons his subjects were tasked to do, his intellect and cunning is his greatest weapon as he always plays out the very likely scenarios to occur should a particular nuance occur that alters the way he first envisioned the scenario in his head, all before sending in one of the members of his flock and giving them specific instructions. The Shepherd considers himself a prophet of Lucifer, fulfilling the wishes of the Morning Star to release him.
Appearance[]
As Eron Carpathia, he was a lean built young man with a light blonde Korean undercut hair style. He also had piercing blue colored eyes, and a very pale complexion. He is always seen wearing white clothes including a large overcoat. Though he was sometimes seen wearing a navy blue blazer and wore a black hoodie went out in public with Leonardo.
As the Shepherd, he wore a long black cloak with a hood over his head. His face was concealed with a white porcelain human-shaped mask with slit eye-holes. The mask also bore intricate golden patterns that covered a large portion in the midst of the face, leaving only the underside such as the mouth, chin, and jawline.
Personality[]
Eron seems to have two personalities to him, one is him as a celebrated academic, author or genius and the other is an infinitely devious terrorist. As such, it is unknown which persona is the real Eron Carpathia though he implies that he was groomed to become what he truly is indicating that his personality as the Shepherd is his real self while 'Eron Carpathia' is a façade.
As Eron Carpathia, he is often seen as an eccentric hedonist who enjoys the finer things in life. Very charismatic, calm, but highly intelligent, he was also a somewhat self-centered, arrogant person, caring for few people outside his closest friends. During this period of his life, he had a moral code, albeit a twisted one, believing the weapons and technological gadgets he developed were being used exclusively by the United States and its allies for peaceful purposes. He also funded large humanitarian inventions and programs via his arms dealings, something he felt justified manufacturing weapons. But despite his rather carefree and overly confident personality, inside Carpathia's heart lied loneliness which was discreetly expressed in his growing friendship with Leo. He once admitted to Leo at the Buffalo Diner that he knows money cannot buy emotions and that even with his intellect he cannot create emotions, as such he is unsure of himself on how to build connections that will last. Even when Leo told him to just be himself, Eron looked puzzled by the answer at first until Leo continued that he should try to be the best version of himself and not "paint a Mona Lisa" over himself to have him be perfect in everyone's eyes. His interactions with Leo would slowly result in him having doubts and see things differently but while he was committed and steeled in his resolve, he could not bury these thoughts which is why he actively fought against the influence of the Antichrist.
As the Shepherd, however, Eron becomes an entirely different person. The Shepherd is calm, intelligent, and charismatic, as he seems to be a born leader and able to hold the Illuminati together despite the volatile personalities of some of its members. His presence is very demanding and authoritative to where even the strongest members of the Illuminati bow their heads in respect to him. The Shepherd himself has no unique ability amongst his peers but his greatest and deadliest weapon is his mind. His intelligence as Eron Carpathia plays into his devious and manipulative nature. He is easily capable of outsmarting even the strongest of opponents in a battle of wits when he is outclassed in the physical department, something which garnered fear and respect from both his allies and enemies. Unflinching and unshakable, he is also an observer of human nature and held the same disdain towards predestination as Lucifer. To him, the concept of predestination is akin to that of a stage built by a bored drama director where all the characters play out their roles unknowingly being controlled as puppets. To him, he sees humans as nothing but puppets on strings, and seeks to sever the threads of the control bar. He was taught to believe that humans must be in control of their own lives and should not live out their lives the way a higher power wants them to. They should make their own choices and control their own destiny, carving the path for themselves.
Surprisingly, the Shepherd does not treat his flock as expendable pawns but as allies, to where he expressed genuine care for them. In their undisclosed headquarters, the Shepherd is seen seated upon a throne but one that is not elevated atop a large set of steps, instead lowered to ground level where his flock are laid. This shows that the Shepherd actually treats his flock as equals and with a measure of respect instead of looking down on them and treating them with contempt. In turn, the Illuminati members are devoted and extremely loyal to him to where they are more than willing to die for him. Their devotion to their leader is so great that he is always accompanied by one or two members of his flock when he reveals himself to their adversaries or is going somewhere; this makes it very difficult for his opponents to try and attack him as he is always guarded by his servants. The Shepherd even shed a tear after seeing the body of Pakunoda, one of the members of his inner flock, where he helped shut her eyes and ordered her to be buried; a memorial was even made for her in the Illuminati's headquarters.
However, this side of him should not be mistaken for weakness, for the Shepherd has shown that he is still cold-blooded and not above inhuman mass murder, most notably when they brutally massacred certain Mafia groups and individuals in high positions of authority who were sleeper agents to the Illuminati. This shows that while the Shepherd holds his flock in high regard, he shows nothing but contempt to those who operate under the Illuminati's control, seeing them as corrupt, immoral, and expendable but somewhat useful pawns. The Shepherd was a gentleman, always keeping himself presentable and speaking pleasantly, even if he was speaking with someone he intended to kill or to his adversaries, the latter of whom he was, initially at first, mostly apathetic towards until he held them in regard and respect for their tenacity and persistence. When reverting to his persona as Eron, he shows that he is an incredibly skilled actor and quite manipulative, as shown when he met Leonardo Watch and "befriended" him to play with his mind so as to have him help the Illuminati use the Eyes of God. During that time, he presented himself as an amiable and helpful man, always enthusiastic and smiling, who also displayed curiosity. The level of skill in his acting is so unprecedented that he is even able to fool beings with highly sensitive levels of perception and deduction, example is him fooling even the Werewolves who are said to tell when a person is lying through smell and even fooled Derous' hearing when he steadied the rhythm of his heartbeat. Even then, there were moments of the Shepherd character coming out when he is out in public as Eron Carpathia though it was quite subtle.