Eric Koenig

"The NSA. You want to hack the NSA? That's a bad idea, Skye. That's a terrible idea. The NSA's already got S.H.I.E.L.D. on its watch list. Why poke the bear - the big, scary, waterboarding bear?"

- Eric Koenig to Skye

Eric Koenig was a Level 6 S.H.I.E.L.D. operative that Nick Fury entrusted with some of his greatest secrets. He was killed by HYDRA infiltrator Grant Ward while he was assigned to the Providence facility.

Early Life
Eric Koenig grew up with at least two brothers, Billy and Sam. One of them even gave him the nickname "lightning foot". The brothers grew up and joined S.H.I.E.L.D., often puzzling fellow agents with their similarities, such as when Antoine Triplett mentioned to Skye how similar Billy was to Eric and wondered if they were truly just twins. , or when Skye mistook Billy for Eric when she first arrived at the Playground with the rest of her team.

HYDRA Uprising
"So how long have you been in here?" "Since the Chitauri invaded New York." "Oh...""

- Phil Coulson and Eric Koenig

Eric Koenig was stationed in Providence, a secret safe house belonging to Nick Fury, after the battle of New York. Agent Koenig named the place himself and even decorated it over the two years that he had been there in total isolation, entertaining himself by playing online video games with his brothers who were stationed at the Playground.

Meeting Coulson's Team
"What is this place?" "One of Fury's secret bases. I call it Providence although technically it doesn't have a name as technically it doesn't exist, it being a secret base and all."

- Skye and Eric Koenig

Using information provided by Nick Fury, Phil Coulson and his team were able to locate Providence and get past security. As they stepped into the base Koenig greeted them and showed them around the base. Koenig introduced himself and told them he would issue out lanyards when the agents had been cleared, when Coulson asked about Nick Fury, Koenig claimed he had been killed by HYDRA during an assassination attempt in DC and informed them that the Fridge had been taken over by HYDRA, much to Coulson's shock as he revealed they had an agent at the Fridge. Koenig asked to speak to Phil Coulson alone while Skye called their other agent to confirm he'd survived. Koenig told him how long he'd been at the base before informing Coulson that Nick Fury was indeed alive. Although Coulson was furious at having been lied to, Koenig made it clear that Fury's orders were that only a select few people knew of his survival, including Captain America, Maria Hill and them. When Coulson expressed his discomfort at lying to his team, Koenig threatened him if he were to reveal the truth, noting that these were also Fury's direct orders. Coulson agreed and Koenig happily advised that Melinda May park the Bus inside the base.

Lie Detector
"Fury designed this himself. He wanted a lie detector Romanoff couldn't beat." "Did she?" "Like Fury would tell!"

- Eric Koenig and Grant Ward

Shortly after their arrival, Coulson's Team were joined by Grant Ward, their agent who was nearly killed during the Raid of the Fridge. When Coulson demanded to take some of his team after Marcus Daniels, an escaped inmate from the Fridge, Agent Koenig objected, claiming they had protocols. Coulson argued that if they did not act to protect innocent people but Koenig insisted that Coulson's team needed to pass the Lie Detector before they could go. While conducting the tests, Koenig questioned if the agents had ever heard of Project Insight or had met Alexander Pierce, testing if they had connections to HYDRA. Koenig found himself getting frustrated as many of the Agents thought too hard about the questions, with Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons listing every difference between a rock and an egg and wanting to know more details about the box they were given on a hypothetical island. Skye confessed that she had changed her named as she did not know her mother or father. Koenig also showed great enthusiasm when he learnt that Agent Antoine Triplett's grandfather was a Howling Commando during World War II. During his questioning of Grant Ward, Koenig noticed that if heart rate and pulse were spiking, but Ward insisted that it was due to the pain he was in because of his broken ribs. Koenig became more suspicious Ward as his answers seemed questionable and Koenig questioned if Ward was a HYDRA sleeper. Drawing a gun, Koenig questioned his connections to HYDRA and demanded to know why Ward was there, asking if he had another motive for being there, but Ward eventually claimed that he had come for Skye, which was true, and passed the tests.

Working with Skye
"Okay, alright, colour me impressed. Now impress me more, get me that footage."

- Eric Koenig to Skye

While watching police reports with Skye about possible cases of escaped Fridge prisoners, Koenig looked over his ipad to see where Grant Ward and Melinda May were on the base. Skye spotted this and called him out on hiding trackers in their lanyards. This gave Skye the idea of hacking NSA satellites and reviewing the data, although Koenig strongly recommended against the idea. Koenig gave in once Ward also claimed it to be a good idea and Koenig told Skye to start the hack.

Death
Skye's hack proved successful and Providence gained access to the NSA's complete satalight feed. Grant Ward came to check on the progress and the excited Koenig updated him, with Koenig noting that Skye had greatly impressed him. Ward however locked the door and revealed himself to be a HYDRA agent before strangling Koenig to death and hiding his body in a closet. Eventually, Skye used the tracker that Koenig owned to know the locations of the other agents and found Koenig's body, realizing that Ward was a member of HYDRA. When half of Coulson's team returned from Portland, they discovered the other half was gone. Jemma Simmons decided to make pancakes to calm everyone. While in the closet, she found Koenig's body and, after an autopsy, confirmed that "Ward is HYDRA" as written on the message left by Skye.

Sam and Billy Koenig asked Grant Ward what was the last words of Eric when they had him at gunpoint on the Bus. Though the brothers wanted revenge, they decided against it for the sake of the other agents who were surrounded by HYDRA operatives.

Abilities

 * Expert Hacker: Eric Koenig worked with Skye in hacking NSA satellites to view the Raid of the Fridge and remain undetected by the United States Government. Koenig worked closely with computers, monitoring Coulson's team through their lanyards. However, he sometimes trusted them over his own instincts, as when he trusted the Lie Detector's readings more than his feelings towards Grant Ward.

Weapons

 * : The Koenigs used a Walther PPK/S as their sidearm. Eric had his weapon by his side when submitting the members of Phil Coulson's team to "Orientation" at the Lie Detector, grabbing it when Grant Ward's answers made him believe he was hiding something, but Koenig did not shoot as Ward answered with selective truths to hide his true motives.

Family

 * Billy Koenig - Brother and S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Sam Koenig - Brother and S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Sister

Allies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury - Former Director
 * Coulson's Team
 * Phil Coulson - Superior
 * Melinda May - Colleague
 * Jemma Simmons - Colleague
 * Leo Fitz - Colleague
 * Skye - Colleague
 * Antoine Triplett † - Colleague

Enemies

 * HYDRA
 * Grant Ward - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague turned Killer

Appearances

 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season One
 * Providence
 * The Only Light in the Darkness
 * Nothing Personal (mentioned)
 * Beginning of the End (mentioned)
 * Season Two
 * Shadows (mentioned)
 * A Fractured House (mentioned)
 * Ye Who Enter Here (mentioned)

Trivia

 * In the comics, Eric Koenig was a Wehrmacht soldier and a former member of the Howling Commandos, who joined Nick Fury when he formed S.H.I.E.L.D..

Behind the Scenes

 * Patton Oswalt on being offered the part--"When they first told me the character’s name, I’ll admit the first thing I did is I went on Wikipedia and looked up the M.O.D.O.K. character to see if Koenig was maybe his name before he became M.O.D.O.K., but it wasn't,” Oswalt told Marvel.com, laughing. “They keep on talking about the Clairvoyant in the show and I’m like, ‘is that M.O.D.O.K.? Am I M.O.D.O.K.?”