Who is Eagle-Man?

Lately, I've become a big fan of George Romero's zombie movies. One of the things that I like the best about them is that he very deliberately never gives an explanation as to why the zombie plague is taking place. Roger Ebert, in a review of one of his movies, asked, "What sort of explanation could explain this?" It's a good point, and while movies like 28 Days Later do a variation of the zombie idea with an explanation as to why it's happening, I think it works better when the audience can make up their own minds. Personally, I think of the zombie plague as God's way of destroying humanity like he did with the Biblical flood. I don't know if that's what Romero intended, but I have the feeling that his intention was to let us figure it out for ourselves.

Which brings me to Eagle-Man. I've had many false-starts with writing his origin story. I can never come up with an explanation as to how he got his powers that I found satisfactory. In fact, I wrote several stories with him before I ever even got around to attempting his origin. Those were fun to write, and I'd only drop hints as to what caused everything. True, people would ask me how he got his powers in the first place, but I now realize that maybe it's not such a bad thing to leave them wondering.

From here on out, I'll just know what it was that changed him, but I will let it be a mystery to him. That way, any reader will find it easier to accept. After all, if the main character doesn't know, how is he even supposed to inform the reader?

Shall I reveal it here though? I'll just say this, Eagle-Man's transformations from human to half-bird/half-man did not come about through some sort of scientific process. His powers were granted to him from a higher power. Which higher power was that? Was it the Christian God? Well, probably not, considering that animal imagery isn't that big in Christianity, and it's more befitting a pagan deity. Eagles have been venerated by various cultures throughout history, so there are a lot of possibilities. Basically, it's an old god who gave it to him, and this isn't a warm and fuzzy god. This is an old school power who wants his time in the limelight back. Bestowing a human with powers to fight in his name is just the beginning. How will Eagle-Man take to being a pawn in a larger scheme to shift the balance of heavenly powers? Not too flippin' well.