Eli Grant
| Eli Grant | |||||||||||||||||
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| Days of Our Lives character | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Lamon Archey | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2017– | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | February 23, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Dena Higley and Ryan Quan | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Ken Corday, Albert Alarr and Greg Meng | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||
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| Occupation | FBI agent | ||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Salem, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||
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| Family | Horton |
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| Father | David Banning |
| Mother | Valerie Grant |
| Stepfather | Terrence |
| Half-brothers | Scotty Banning |
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Eli Grant is a fictional character from the long-running NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. Created by head writers Dena Higley and Ryan Quan, the role was originated by actor Lamon Archey in 2017. Eli is introduced as the previously unknown son of Valerie Grant (Vanessa A. Williams) fathered by the late David Banning. Through his father, Eli is a member of the Horton family, the central family within the series. Eli is embraced by the family, particularly his grandmother Julie Olson Williams (Susan Seaforth Hayes) which puts a strain on his budding romance with Gabi Hernandez (Camila Banus).
Eli is notable for being the product of the very first interracial couple in the history of American daytime television as well as the first "Black" member of the Horton family. The casting of Lamon Archey was well received and the actor also garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of Eli. However, the reception to the writing for the character's introduction was less positive.
Eli shocks his mother Valerie Grant (Vanessa A. Williams) when he crashes David Banning's funeral and reveals that he knows David is his father. An irate Eli reveals that he's known about his paternity since he applied to the FBI Academy and Val explains that David had commitment issues. Eli later forces Val to tell David's mother Julie Williams (Susan Seaforth Hayes) about him and he is relieved when the Hortons welcome him into the family but he struggles to forgive his mom. Eli's cousin Abigail (Marci Miller) sets him up on a failed blind date with Gabi Hernandez (Camila Banus). Despite encouragement from Val's boyfriend Abe Carver (James Reynolds) and his daughter Lani (Sal Stowers), Eli struggles to trust Val. Eli later agrees to use his connections to help his cousin JJ Deveraux (Casey Moss) breakup the local mob war between the DiMera, Kiriakis and Hernandez families. Eli heads up the investigation which doesn't sit well with Lani. He also comforts Gabi as she struggles to get over Chad DiMera (Billy Flynn) and grieves the loss of her dad when he goes to prison. Despite warnings from Julie and Abigail, Eli is determined to continue seeing Gabi and wants to help her get over Chad. Eli serves as a federal liaison in a drug investigation when Lani is exposed to a synthetic drug and also helps Lani cope with her withdrawal syndrome in secret. After being ambushed with a breakfast date orchestrated by Abe and Gabi, Eli begins to understand Val's actions but he still needs time work through his feelings. Eli travels to Greece with Lani, JJ and Gabi to apprehend Deimos Kiriakis (Vincent Irizarry) where he witnesses a close moment between Chad and Gabi and breaks up with her. On the way back to Salem, the plane crashes and the group is stranded along with Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith) his boyfriend Paul Narita (Christopher Sean). Eli disappears after he goes to radio for help and returns to reveal that Paul stabbed him. Sonny keeps Eli from killing Paul as they realize he has contracted jungle madness. Eli later serves as a listening ear when Lani has doubts about her relationship with JJ. At Paul's request, Eli agrees to kill him if he tries to harm anyone else but they are soon rescued. Back home Lani convinces Eli to reconcile with Val and he is surprised to learn that she and Julie have also called a truce. Julie then gifts Eli with the Martin House, which belonged to his great-grandfather and plans a welcome home party for everyone from the island. During the party, Eli comforts Lani after she witnesses a close moment between JJ and Gabi. They wake up together and learn that Deimos drugged the party guests and he has been murdered. Later, Eli and Lani arrest Gabi's brother Dario (Jordi Vilasuso) for hacking Countess Wilhelmina Cosmetics and running a counterfeit operation. However, they make enemies with Police Commissioner Raines (Aaron D. Spears) when they shut him out of the case. Dario convinces Eli to grant him immunity and place him into the Witness Protection Program in exchange for giving up his partner. However, Eli's plan backfires when Dario disappears after a failed attempt on his life that lands Abigail in the hospital and Eli tells his aunt Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso) that Dario's partner is responsible for Abby's accident. Eli blindsides everyone including Lani and Valerie when he has Abe arrested for conspiring with Dario. Julie even threatens to take back the Martin House if Eli doesn't get Abe released. While Eli tries to keep his loved ones at bay, it is revealed that he and Abe are working together to bring down Raines, Dario's real partner.
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