Eben Oleson

 is a fictional law enforcement officer and a central character featured in the 30 Days of Night comic book limited series by IDW Publishing. The character was also featured in the 2007 film adaptation 30 Days of Night where he was played by actor Josh Hartnett.

Biography
Eben Oleson was the sheriff of North Slope Borough in the small town of Barrow, Alaska. He was married to a Fire Marshall named Stella, but their marriage became strained and the two eventually separated. Eben's grandmother, Helen Munson and his younger brother Jake often helped out by working at the police station. His closest friend was Deputy Billy Kitka.

In the winter of 2007, Barrow underwent it's annual thirty days of sunless winter. Eben and Billy watched the final sunset together, a tradition they had established between themselves and maintained every winter. It was at this time however, that Eben began noticing a series of bizarre, inexplicable crimes taking place throughout the borough. Billy and he found a pile of cell phones that had been set on fire and he later learned that somebody had slaughtered a kennel full of sled dogs belonging to John and Ally Riis. The oddities continued, in particular when Eben encountered a gruff stranger at the Ikos Diner, who behaved in a threatening manner and issued cryptic warnings about things that were to come. Eben arrested the stranger, but minutes after locking him up, he learned about some more random acts of vandalism. Carter Davies, manager of the utilidor, reported how someone had sabotaged Wilson Bulosan's helicopter. They also lost contact with Gus Lambert, the man who normally operated the telecom station. It soon became clear that someone, or something, was deliberately trying to isolate the town, cutting off all communication with the outside world.

As all of the power in Barrow went down, Eben went to the station to find Gus Lambert. What he found instead was Gus' severed head impaled on a fence post. When he returned to the police station, he arrived just in time to prevent the eerie stranger from breaking out. Eben shot him once in the shoulder then handcuffed him to the bars of his cell.

Eben and Stella got into the police truck and drove towards the pipeline to find Billy Kitka. As they continued forward, a vampire leaped upon the top of the truck and began pounding on the roof. Eben fired his sidearm through the roof and succeeded in knocking him off.

As panic began to slowly overwhelme the people of Barrow, an entire horde of vampires decided to reveal themselves. The leader of the brood was a man named Marlow Roderick. He was attended by Zurial, Kali, Arvin, Iris and several others. They engaged in wholesale slaughter, murdering every human they could find, making certain however, not to turn any of them into vampires. One of their unfortunate victims was Eben's grandmother. Eben and a small group of people managed to evade them temporarily and met at the Ikos Diner. At the suggestion of a girl named Denise, the survivors sought refuge in the secret attic of a man named Charlie Kelso.

Eben and Stella went off to gather as many bear traps and flares as they could possibly find. They told the others that they will meet up with them at Kelso's attic. A nest of vampires attacked them and overturned the police truck. A local man named Beau Brower came to their aid, driving the vampires away with his bulldozer. They then piled into Beau's truck and took off for Kelso's hidden attic.

By the seventh day, their supplies began to run low, but they were all still alive. Eben believed that if they could make it to Steve's General Store to refresh their supplies, then they might be able to relocate to the utilidor, which was significantly larger than the cramped attic room. Eben went out and found John Riis hiding underneath his house. He had apparently been there ever since the vampires took Ally. Eben helped him out, but soon discovered that John was now a vampire. He was starving however, and barely had the strength to chase after him. John lunged at Eben, but got himself tied up in a swing set. Eben picked up an axe and hacked away at John's head until it finally fell to the ground.

As the snow began to worsen, Eben met back up with the others and told them that it was time to make a go for the general store. They reached the empty establishment, but as they gathered their supplies, they encountered a little girl vampire feeding off the beheaded body of a man. She charged at Eben who began swinging his axe, but she was too fast for him. It was actually his brother Jake who saved the day by taking up Eben's axe and chopping the little vampire's head off.

By day 18, the whiteout had ended and they were able to leave the store. Stella deduced that these creatures might be vulnerable to sunlight. She recalled that Helen Munson maintained a UV lamp array in her home for growing marijuana. If someone were to create a diversion, one of them might be able to make it to the house and secure the lamp. Eben, Jake and Stella argued over who should be the one to create the diversion, but ultimately Eben decided that he would be the one to go.

He left the store with his axe and began running through the streets, shouting out loud to draw the vampires' attention. When he got to his mother's house, He started up the generator in the garage. The vampires circled around the area and Iris charged through the front door. Eben activated the UV lamp, causing severe burns across the vampire's face.

Eben met up with the others back at the police station, but now they faced another problem. Carter Davies revealed that the little girl from the general store bit him and he is now a vampire. Eben followed him into the adjacent room where he performed a mercy killing, cutting Carter's head off with two swift blows from his axe.

By day 27, Eben finally reunited with Billy Kitka, whom he was surprised to see still alive. He was horrified however, when he discovered that Billy elected to kill his own wife and children to spare them the possibility of becoming food for the vampires laying waste to the town outside their home. Eben shook Billy, admonishing him for the rash decisions he had made.

The plan was still to reach the utilidor at any cost. The group trudged out into the snow, but Eben had to help Billy along. They eventually reached the utilidor, but a vampire named Arvin found them and attacked Eben. Billy Kitka partially redeemed himself by saving Eben's life, but at the cost of his own humanity. Billy was turned into a vampire. As with the others, Eben was forced to destroy him with several strong blows from his axe.

Staring out a window from the utilidor, Eben realized that the only way to truly defeat these monsters was with another monster. Embarking upon a risky gambit, Eben took a syringe from a first aid kit and collected a sample of Billy's blood from his now-headless body. He then injected the vampire blood into his forearm. He believes that he could hold on to his humanity long enough to hopefully make a difference.

Eben went out into the snow to face the vampire leader, Marlow Roderick. The two began fighting and Eben surprised Marlow with how strong he had become. The two traded blows and Marlow maintained the upper hand, but ultimately, Eben was able to end Marlow's undead existence by punching his fist through his head. When the others saw that their leader had fallen, they left Eben alone and elected to leave Barrow.

A tearful Stella understood the sacrifice that Eben was required to make to save their lives. Though he still held onto his humanity momentarily, Eben was now a full vampire and this was the last night of winter. Stella and he went out onto the ridge to watch the sun rise. As the sun came up over the horizon, Eben's skin turned black and he died in Stella's arms.

Eben Olemaun
In the comic book series, 30 Days of Night, Eben and Stella's last name is Olemaun, not Oleson. Stella is a Sheriff's deputy working under her husband as opposed to a fire marshal, which is how she is presented in the film. In the comics, the Olemauns appear to be of Eskimo descent. Their nationality is never firmly established, but a bald vampire refers to some "Eskimo trouble" following an encounter with Eben. In the comics, Eben and Stella have a healthy, loving marriage and are not estranged.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of was created by writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith. He was further developed by David Slade, Stuart Beattie and Brian Nelson.


 * In the original comic book series, Eben Oleson's name was Eben Olemaun.


 * Canadian film and television actor Stephen Huszar played the role of Eben in the 2010 film 30 Days of Night: Dark Days.


 * The reason behind Eben and Stella's separation is never fully explained in the film. One possible insight into their break-up however is supplied when Stella asks Eben, "I guess this is why you never wanted to have kids."