Balor of the Evil Eye
CelticGiantFomorianHostileEvil Eye
Lore
Balor of the Evil Eye is a Fomorian Giant seen in wind-swept marsh edges and rocky coastal terraces. He is vast and slow-moving, a ridge of muscle and weathered hide crowned by one terrible, lidless eye that burns like a charcoal hearth when roused. Smell: a metallic tang of ozone overlying scorched peat and salt. Sound: low, timbered rumbles—like distant cliffs creaking—broken by a sudden, unnatural silence among birds and small mammals. Temperature: the air close to him grows unnaturally hot and dry; stones and grasses near his path retain a faint warmth long after he passes. Field notes emphasize a deliberate, stormlike presence rather than frantic violence.
Origin: Irish (Celtic) • Gaelic Ireland / Western Isles
Classification: Fomorian Giant
Field Notes
Observations
- A circular zone of browned or seared vegetation with no clear tracks through it, accompanied by an abrupt hush of wildlife and a metallic, ozone scent.
Encounter Advice
- avoidance: Never meet the eye. Keep to cover, travel in groups, and avoid high ground where he can command sightlines. If movement is necessary, skirt the perimeter of any seared zone and retreat along your approach path; do not provoke with loud displays directly toward his facing.
- defense: Use reflective surfaces (polished metal, a shield) to deflect or misdirect the gaze and buy time; employ ranged tactics to force his eyelid closed (nets, weighted lines) or to strike from blind angles. Darken or obscure sightlines—smoke, sudden shadow, or lowering the sun behind terrain may help. Retreat is preferable to engagement.
- offering: Optional distraction: leave a polished bronze or tin surface set low at the edge of a suspected approach path to catch his attention and redirect a glance—treat this as a last-resort diversion rather than an appeal.
Abilities
- Death‑Gaze of the Evil EyeWhen Balor opens his single, baleful eye it emits a withering death‑fire that kills living beings and scorches the land in a line of sight.
- BlightwindA partial glance or exhalation from the closed eye sends a creeping blight that withers crops and sickens herds across fields and valleys.
- Fomorian TideAs a war‑king he can rally and muster the monstrous Fomorian host to overwhelm settlements and bend coastal strongholds.
Weaknesses
- Sealed EyeIf his destructive eye is physically closed, bound, or covered the Death‑Gaze is neutralized and his battlefield supremacy collapses.
- Fatal ProphecyA curse foretells he will be slain by his descendant, so events and loyalties conspire to create an opportunity for that kin to kill him.
- Lugh's WeaponIn myth Balor was felled by Lugh's thrown weapon (sling or spear) that struck his skull/eye directly, making cranial trauma an acute vulnerability.