Eric Wells - also known as Captain Eric Wells - is one of the main characters in the movie "War of the Worlds: Goliath". As a child in his hometown of Leeds, England, he witnessed and survived the First Martian Invasion in 1899 but was orphaned when his parents were vaporized by a Martian's Heat-Ray shortly before the invaders succumbed to Earth's bacteria.
In 1914, he is a member of A.R.E.S. and is a Captain in the organization's Battle Tripod Corps. He commands an Achilles-Class Battle Tripod "Goliath" with Jennifer Carter,Raja Iskandar Shah, Abraham Douglas, and Patrick O'Brien.
Information[]
Eric was born in the year 1889 and lived a happy life with his father and mother. It wouldn't be until 1899 however, that his life was turned upside down by the Martian invasion. He and his parents survived the initial attack and at some point, ended up in Leeds. While running to evade a tripod, he fell behind during the chase, leading to his father to try and save him. This however would be the last time Eric would see his father, as the heat ray from the tripod vaporized him in front of the young boy. His mother would too suffer the same fate, leaving the young boy an orphan and about to be killed by the Martians himself. Before they could kill him however, the Martian pilots began succumbing to the Earth-based germs, which they lacked an immunity towards, killing them as a result.
Not much is known about Eric's life after the incident, however what is known is that he developed a personal hatred towards the Martians and that 15 years after the first attack, he became a well accomplished captain of the International alliance known as A.R.E.S. He became a tripod commander, along with Lieutenant Jennifer Carter, Patrick O'Brien, Raja Iskandar Shah and Abraham Douglas. Despite the nations of world working together to ensure no further Martian incursions, the potential of war was rising in Europe, which angered Wells, as he believed the martians were a much bigger threat than serving against his fellow humans. Eric's attentions were more on the fact that a potential martian invasion was on it's way and he would be the first to command his crew in a new line of tripod, known as the Goliath Variant Achilles-Class Tripod.
On the night before his training with the new tripod, A.R.E.S received a report to recall all troops to their respective countries, as a result of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's death. This angered Eric, as it was bad enough that the nations had already begun recalling troops, but now that all of them were being recalled back, was going to result in the further weakening of A.R.E.S forces. He decided to stand up and defy the recall orders, imploring all others to do the same, convincing them that despite their race, nationality, creed, they were human and that they needed to unite against the martians and not have to worry about killing each other in a war caused by greedy politicians.
The next day came and Wells commanded blue team somewhere outside New York, which was interrupted by 3 new martian tripods. Despite some of his team being killed off, Wells ordered his crew and remaining members of his team to unleash their arsenals onto the martians. Reinforced by red team, the martian vehicles were obliterated and they debriefed their superiors about the incident. This indicated that the three were a mere probe to test the capabilities of A.R.E.S and now that the martians knew what they were up against, more tripods began crashing on Earth, with much of their forces in the United States. The biggest concentration was in New Mexico, which was where the Leviathan was heading for to take on the bulk of their military force.
Upon their arrival in Albuquerque, they found a maximum of 15 tripods within the vicinity, who they planned to get into a kill box. One of their scouts arrive to warn them that only 12 were seen, leaving the other 3 missing. As a result Eric and his team, along with another tripod and 3 scouts entered a nearby canyon, in hopes of finding the remaining 3 tripods, to ensure they didn't outflank their forces. They engaged at least 2 tripods, the first went down with some resistance, however the second managed to damage Eric's tripod's back leg, causing the vehicle to crash into a nearby canyon wall, leaving them defenseless. Despite this, what was left of a downed tripod squadron diverted the tripod from the Goliath, which managed to line up in the sights of the downed vehicle, which unleashed what weapons it had available. This destroyed the tripod, but left the crew moving on foot.
Raja reported to Eric that the crew of the downed vehicle didn't make it in the fight, which upset him, however he was determined more than ever to contact command and take down the remaining enemy forces. This sparked a brief fight with Patrick, who Eric threatened to shoot. Luckily however, they heard the sounds of gunshots in the canyon, indicating possible survivors. They followed the shots and found only one, yet unstable soldier named Wilson, who managed to lead them to a base within the canyon. Once there, Wilson provided a distraction to the guarding tripod, allowing for Eric and his team to enter the base and hopefully, sabotage it.
Eric and his team ventured forth into the base, discovering that not only were the martians inhabiting it, but also taking human prisoners to feed upon, as well as constructing new weapons for their war against humanity. Eric and Patrick were able to set a satchel charge for 5 minutes and the others ventured to rescue any prisoners. A fire fight broke out, which Eric covered his team while they made their escape. Luckily for him, the satchel charge they placed was near drums of oil and propane, which exploded and destroyed any advancing smaller tripods in the base, allowing Eric to escape as well. Once back on the Leviathan, Gen. Kushnirov briefed Wells on their losses in Albuquerque, as well as the fact that the attacks were nothing but feints in order to divert any forces from New York, the state where A.R.E.S was placed. With 15 hours ahead of them, Wells and his crew repaired the Goliath from their previous battle with the martians. Jennifer entered the tripod and began speaking with Eric about their performance, as well as the fact that her father would be proud. Jennifer admitted to him that her relationship with her father was strained, but also began confessing that all of conflict began separating things that she wanted from things she thought she wanted. Admittedly, she said she wanted Eric, who was surprised at this, only to be picked up by his collar and both made love in the vehicle.
Upon their arrival in New York, Wells commanded a whole squadron of tripods to engage the martians in the streets and with the aid of other ground forces, as well as air forces, the managed to box the remaining enemy tripods in and destroyed the final one. Believing this a victory, their celebration was cut short, as a massive martian warship entered the bay, toppling over the Statue of Liberty. It would be General Kushnirov and the valiant crew of the Leviathan, which would make the ultimate sacrifice, colliding with the massive vessel and taking it down once and for all, resulting in a well fought, but costly victory for humanity. Following their victory, Roosevelt rallied surviving soldiers and civilians to not only rebuild Earth once more, but to take the war to Mars and wipe out their extraterrestrial enemy once and for all.
Personality & Traits[]
Prior to his adult life, Eric was a very happy child, leading a very happy life with his parents. Upon witnessing his parents' deaths at the hands of the martians however, caused him to grow a personal vendetta against the same creatures which killed his family. The events in his life however also left him with some PTSD, which would cause him to have flashbacks to his time as a child, witnessing the atrocities that the martians caused on Earth prior to their defeat. Eric however maintained a strong hatred for the martians, so much so, that he would be willing to disregard orders recalling him back to his country of origin. He also had a hatred for nation leaders who recalled A.R.E.S troops back home, as this diminished their forces significantly and he believed that the security of Earth was jeopardized due to politicians wanting their armies to fight and kill each other, rather than protect against the martian threat.
Eric is a fierce and loyal commander and is willing to put his life on the line for those who he calls his comrades, as well as those in need.
Relationships[]
Despite being a commander, Eric is known to have developed many relationships during his time as a soldier.
Jennifer Carter[]
Sometime prior to commanding the Goliath-Variant tripod, it was revealed that Eric and Jennifer did indeed have a personal relationship, however it also remained professional as well. It wouldn't be until later on before the battle of New York that their relationship was finally consummated in the tripod, after Jennifer admitted to him that she wanted him. After the battle, during Roosevelt's rally, Eric is shown with his hand around Jennifer's hip, signifying that they are officially a couple.
Theodore Roosevelt[]
Trivia[]
- His last name is a reference to H.G. Wells, the author of the original novel.