Eric Pollard is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Chris Chittell. He made his first appearance in the soap on 30 September 1986. Having appeared continuously since, he is currently the longest-serving actor and the longest-serving character in the history of the soap. The character originally served as the show's villain, but this has been noticeably toned down in recent years, particularly since Eric's marriage to Val Lambert (Charlie Hardwick) and the introduction of his long-lost son, David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden).

Originally introduced for a 12 episode stint, Eric became a popular character amongst viewers for his villainous ways and mistreatment of others, and was promoted to a regular character. He has been married six times: to Eileen Pollock (Arbel Jones) in 1964; Elizabeth Feldmann (Kate Dove) in 1992, although the marriage was bigamous; Dee de la Cruz (Claudia Malkovich) in 1997; Gloria Weaver (Janice McKenzie) in 2002; Val in 2008; and Kerry Wyatt (Laura Norton) in 2025.

After Val dies, Eric takes a while to process her death. He "insists on holing himself up in his house", and when it comes to Christmas, he does not want to celebrate with any of his family members. To explore his grief, Emmerdale produced a one-hour special episode which featured Eric as a version of Ebenezer Scrooge, and the episode took on the format of the Charles Dickens 1843 book A Christmas Carol. Explaining the plot, Chittell stated that Eric wants the festive season "over and done with", and that his character "thinks that it's a waste of time and a waste of energy". He praised the producers for using the Dickens plot in the episode, describing it as "beautifully done" and "really, really clever". He went on to admit that he believes Eric "has to move on now", and accept the love he is receiving from friends and family members. For the story, Chittell grew out both his hair and facial hair to give Eric a "very unkempt" look, and recalled shaving it off immediately after the filming of the storyline concluded.

Eric arrives in Beckindale (later Emmerdale), and immediately annoys Sandie Merrick (Jane Hutcheson). He makes himself very unpopular, and is involved in a number of illegal schemes, often with his crooked business associate, Charlie Aindow (David Fleeshman). Sandie finds that he is fiddling the accounts at Hotten Market, and he loses his position as manager. He befriends Marian Rosettii (Debbie Blyth) and her husband Paolo (Carl Forgione), and tries to burgle their house, and Paolo chases him. Paolo accidentally shoots himself with a gun, but never discovers it was Eric who was the thief. Once Eric finds out Paolo had been taken to hospital after being shot, he leaves Beckindale for a few months. Upon his return, Eric applies for his old job as an auctioneer but loses out to Sandie, starting another feud. Eric finds romance with Debbie Wilson (Debbie Arnold) and they soon become engaged. However, Debbie leaves with £2,000 and valuable goods that Eric gave to her to start an antiques shop, to which he intended to divert goods from Hotten Market.

Following Debbie's departure, he and Elizabeth Feldmann (Kate Dove) started dating. The relationship surprises many in the village, as two years before, Eric bought the Feldmanns' farm at a reduced price. Elizabeth's son, Michael (Matthew Vaughan) is particularly upset, but Elizabeth ignores him and accepts Eric's proposal. However, the marriage soon turns sour, and when Elizabeth discovers Eric has committed cheque fraud and framed Michael for it, she tells him that she plans to go to the police. He threatens Elizabeth to keep quiet, but a determined Elizabeth leaves the house, and Eric follows her. Moments later, a plane crashes into Beckindale, and Elizabeth is killed along with several other local residents. Michael becomes convinced that Eric is responsible for her death, and becomes determined to prove it. However, after knocking Eric out during a heated argument, Michael panics. Thinking he has killed him, Michael leaves the village.

Meanwhile, Eric's first wife Eileen Pollock (Arbel Jones) comes to Emmerdale as she learns about Elizabeth's death, and threatens to expose Eric as a bigamist. Knowing this would cost him Elizabeth's estate, Eric agrees to pay Eileen in return for a divorce and her silence. Despite his reputation for dodgy business deals, including a dramatic heist in November 1994, Eric persuades Kathy Glover (Malandra Burrows) to go into business with him and turns her tea rooms into a wine bar at night. When he goes on holiday to the Philippines for Christmas 1996, Eric shocks everyone by returning with a young fiancée, Dee la Cruz (Claudia Malkovich). She and Eric get married, despite a backlash when Rachel Hughes (Glenda McKay) discovers that Dee is a "mail-order bride". Dee is surprisingly keen to make the marriage work, convincing Eric that they should put their energy into the business, but Dee later decides to go home, leaving Eric suicidal, but Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) helps Eric to recover from his heartbreak. Eric meets Gloria Weaver (Janice McKenzie), who pushes him to become mayor, and on their wedding night, she insists he spend the night with a councillor to secure her nomination. When the scandal breaks, thanks to Steph Forsythe (Lorraine Chase), Gloria twists it so she looks like the wronged wife and takes the job, despite the fact it is in Westminster. He throws her out, and later becomes convinced that she is dead, until a few months later, when he gets a video of her sipping a cocktail in the sun, revealing that she faked her death in order to clean out his bank account undetected.

After many disastrous marriages and relationships, Eric finally meets his match in troublemaker Val Lambert (Charlie Hardwick). The pair go into business together, and their romance flourishes. David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) arrives in the village, looking for Eric as his late mother has informed him that Eric is his father. Eric did not know that David existed, and secretly conducts a DNA test which suggests David is not his son, but the test is later confirmed to be faulty. A second test confirms that Eric is David's biological father. David and his girlfriend Delilah Dingle (Hayley Tamaddon) secretly embezzle £20,000 from Eric, reclaiming money Eric stole from Lydia. After Eric discovers David's scheme, they agree to put the past behind them. Eric and Val marry in a surprise ceremony; Eric cannot afford the wedding Val wants, so he convinces her family to go along with a surprise wedding. After their marriage, Eric sinks deeper and deeper into debt, even asking David to borrow money from Val. When Val finally learns about his problems, she sells the factory to the Kings.

Eric receives letters, messages and cards, apparently from his dead wife, Elizabeth. Amy Wyatt (Chelsea Halfpenny), Eric and Val's foster daughter, is the original suspect, but the culprit is revealed to be Elizabeth's son, Michael. Michael, who had been to jail repeatedly, confronts Eric at Elizabeth's grave, and follows him back to the Grange, the B&B that Eric co-owns with Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen). He threatens to tell Val about his past; he leaves initially, but later tells Amy that he is demanding Eric pay him a lot of money or he will reveal Eric is a murderer. Eric produces a tyre iron and threatens Michael; when Michael returns to confront Eric again, Val tells him that the coroner's report states that Elizabeth was killed by falling debris. Val tells Michael that it is time to stop blaming Eric. He agrees and after a calm discussion, Eric persuades Michael to take the money he asked for and use it to start again. Michael then leaves the village.