The Avatar of Evil (邪悪の権化 Jaaku no Gonge) is the final boss of Metal Slug 5. It is a mysterious being linked to the cult faction of the Ptolemaic Army.
Information[]
Of unknown origins, the nature of the Avatar of Evil varies between its two appearances in the series. In Metal Slug 5, nothing is said or hinted at its origins prior to showing up as the final boss. Metal Slug Attack has details contradict the Avatar as being as a mere creation by Mira, and, on its flavor text, a being which can only be summoned by a powerful priest. Nevertheless, the Avatar of Evil is used by Ptolemaios to instill his dominion over the world.
The entity is depicted as being an embodiment of duality, who is empowered by human emotions. The Avatar has a pair of wings, a protruding skull on its chest, sharp claws and elbows, and wild hair. Everything on it is celestial except for his glowing, red eyes. It carries the Life Reaper, a giant, organic scythe that has a mind of its own.

Rosetta Stone
Cut content of Metal Slug 5 actually details what the creature is supposed to be on the Rosetta Stone found among the graphics of Ptolemaios. It suggests the Avatar of Evil is an ancient "deity" possibly on par to Sol Dae Rokker, who is said to bring life and destruction equally. Its purpose, or rather what the entity was going to be used for, is detailed in the design sheet of the Stone Turtle: that being the "apotheosis of humanity," which likely meant the destruction of the world, as seen on the final mission.
Appearances[]
Metal Slug 5[]
The Avatar of Evil appears as the final boss of the game. At the top of the Gaia Elephant, the entity performs a sudden attack on the protagonists.
In battle, the Avatar of Evil attacks by casting a series of energy spheres that track down the player. After a short time, it will cast a large amount of spheres and fly away. The demon's shadow will appear in the background, raising its Life Reaper to target the player's position, giving a moments notice to get out of the way. Merely dodging the scythe is not enough, as it will create a spray of deadly arcing smoke projectiles upon impact with the ground. Its weak spot is the skull on its chest.
Once sufficiently damaged, several explosions will burst forth from the demon, and it will fly away - thus preventing the players from ever knowing exactly what this behemoth was.
Metal Slug Attack[]
The Avatar of Evil is given more details in this game. It made its first appearance as part of Ptolemaios (Abyss)'s special attack; appearing in the background readying its scythe and slamming it a few spaces forward with deadly smoke spewing out. This attack is given name here as Geographia.
The Avatar of Evil made its debut as a playable unit as the Ptolemaic Army's Ultimate Boss, summoned and developed by Mira. Being an incredibly powerful and large being, a massive summoning portal surrounds its hip area, making it incapable of standard movement. It retains the standard energy projectile attack as in the original encounter, spewing out numerous projectiles that roughly target the nearest enemy unit in range.
It has some new attacks up its sleeve however: the skull protruding from its chest is capable of breathing deadly flames, and the scythe is an organic weapon known as the Life Reaper; the Avatar of Evil will leap from the portal to fly, positioning itself above a nearby enemy unit or as far as possible, before slamming its scythe behind them and raking backwards, spewing out deadly flames that incinerate anything it touches, before readjusting itself accordingly, making its special attack the only way to move around.
As a standalone unit, the Life Reaper possesses a will of its own and tries to capture the living. It simply jabs enemies as a standard attack, spins around as a counter evasion and retains the same special as if the Avatar of Evil was using it.
Trivia[]
- To date, the Avatar of Evil has the largest sprite size in the series.
- The Avatar of Evil resembles the alternate flag of the Rebel Army. It also bears a passing resemblance to The Grim Reaper. Given the occult nature of the Ptolemaic Army's doings, some fans believe the Avatar of Evil to be Death itself, given form and summoned to do Ptolemaios' bidding. Others think it is a demon of some kind, or possibly even the Devil. It could also simply be an extraterrestrial life form, given the starry night appearance of its "skin".
- Common names that the fans used for the Avatar of Evil prior to its debut as a playable Metal Slug Attack unit were "Evil Spirit Incarnate" and "Scyther".
- Geographia is the name of an atlas written by Claudius Ptolemy. Prior to this, some fans theorized that Ptolemaios and the Avatar of Evil may have been one and the same.
- The Avatar of Evil's wings detach from its body when its arm moves from its swing (seen below). This tidbit is not fixed in Metal Slug Attack.
- Similarly, when the Avatar of Evil is defeated, the sprite cutoff from its sides can be been when it's swaying about before leaving.