After becoming so immersed in the Skullgirls universe, I began exploring a character concept—a male character, seeking to make history by becoming the first boy to wield the power of the Skull Heart. Of course, he himself would be unable to wish upon it in the first place, so I had to design another character, a female companion for him. The idea eventually snowballed off into the duo known as...
Mr. Eus & Alissa.
Backstory: From the youngest of ages, the two of these characters were interested in the Skull Heart. Baybel Eus, intrigued by the Heart's power, often fantasized of wielding its power. This fantasy, perceived as a pipe dream by others, branded him as "weird," and various events, including presenting his parents with a drawing of himself as "The Skullboy" at the age of eight, eventually led to his disowning, hoping that finding his own way in the world would make his abandon his silly dream. He found himself in the working class, barely higher than a Medici slave, and found work in a grueling mine, where he, a strong-minded man of the higher class, clearly did not belong. During an awful mining accident in which he was brutally injured, he chanced upon a Shaper's Stone, which, as he would soon discover, would allow him to reshape the earth into any shape of his choosing.
Professor Alissa, likewise, went into the scientific field in the hopes of studying the heart, but when her colleagues ridiculed her so, she turned her research to practical applications and aiding humanity. This led to the eventual invention of the Drill Suit, a high-tech piece of machinery worn on the entire body outfitted with drills, flashlights, explosives, and even rocket boots to aid in navigation. Some considered it a worthless endeavor—the suit was one size fits one, and Alissa used her own proportions to make it—but most agreed it was a fine work of scientific achievement.
Eus and Alissa first met shortly after the aforementioned mining accident: Alissa came to save Eus after hearing he had fallen into a chasm, only to find that Eus had found his own way out (Using his newfound earth-shifting powers). Afterward, intrigued by the other's accomplishments, the two began to do research on one another, and, like two private-eye investigators hired to follow one another, began a discreet campaign of observing the other. It was in this way that they learned much about one another. After discovering Alissa's fascination with the Skull Heart, Eus came to her and offered a proposition: they would become companions, learn to fight together, and when the next Skullgirl emerged, they would work together and defeat her. Alissa would wish upon the Skull Heart to allow Eus to wield its power, and once he became the "Skullboy" he always wanted to be, he would allow Alissa to conduct any number of studies upon him—within reason, of course. Alissa, intrigued by the proposition, agreed to work with him.
Appearance: Ha...haha...if only I could draw. Well, in general, Eus is tall and proud, but also has a fair muscle tone to him. His once-fair skin is stained with soot. His wavy black hair is cut short and parted down the middle. He wears sincere smile, but a fierce determination illuminates his hazel eyes. He dresses in a plain brown tee shirt and gray jeans, each of them equally soot-stained as his skin. Over this, he wears a black leather jacket, his one nice article of clothing. In contrast, Alissa's getup is clean and high-class. Her pale skin is untouched by the elements, her slender form a result of perfect self-maintenance. Her brunette hair is tied into a short ponytail, and her green eyes glow with a deep, thoughtful focus. The Drill Suit, which goes as far up as her shoulders, has caution lines at the base around every drill on it, and its high-tech, form-fitting chassis is a shiny orange color.
Fighting Styles: Mr. Eus and Alissa fight on a forced tag-team, sharing a health bar and switching out by way of one of their Blockbusters. Eus fights primarily by using his earthshifting powers, and is in general more strategic with his approach. He has many options for how he can go about hitting his opponents, and is more resilient to oncoming attacks. Alissa, on the other hand, is much quicker than Mr. Eus and has a higher damage output, but is more predictable in nature—she'll have to bumrush her opponents in order to be effective. In short, Eus is +Defense, +Range; Alissa is +Attack +Speed.
Blockbusters:
Mr. Eus's
Tag-In — Alissa (L1): Eus brings up a thin wall in front of him, and calls for Alissa before dashing offscreen. Alissa comes charging in with her drills, and smashes through the wall, sending low-damaging pieces of shrapnel in several directions.
Earth Waves (L1): Eus stomps the ground, causing the ground to vibrate in a sine pattern. Each wave does moderate damage to the opponent if it strikes, but dodging is simple enough—the top of each wave is the damaging point, so the opponent has to jump between the high points of the wave.
Tower of Babylon (L3): Shouting and lifting his hands into the air, Eus brings a great tower out of the ground before him. A shadow is cast by the tower, and a gap in the shadow denotes the safe place to hide from the attack. The tower falls over on the opponent, leaving them to either run for the safe point or get smashed for big damage.
Alissa's
Tag-In — Mr. Eus (L1): Alissa calls for Eus before drilling into the ground, leaving a hole there. A moment later, a cube shaped out of the ground rises out of that hole, and its sides explode outwards, dealing fair amounts of damage to hit opponents and revealing Eus within the box.
Drill Burrow (L1): Alissa drills under the ground, then pauses for a brief moment before reaching from the ground to grab her opponent's foot. If she connects, she will pull her opponent underground and attack them brutally with her drills; if she misses, she will uppercut out of the ground, doing significantly less damage should it connect.
Path Clearer (L3): Alissa launches her drills out of her Drill Suit, exploding on contact with anything they collide with. The drills are simple enough to dodge, but are arranged in such a way that if one hits, it will string the opponent into getting hit by the rest of them. After pausing for a brief moment, new drills slide into place on Alissa's Drill Suit.
Shared
Pangaea (L4): Alissa activates the rocket boots in the Drill Suit, and charges at the opponent (From offscreen if Eus is the active character). She can be dodged via altitude changes, but if she successfully hits the opponent, a long, high-damage melee combo where Eus and Alissa pass around the opponent and use their attacks together in devious ways ensues (Think like Double's Nightmare Legion, except only two people).
Inspiration: ...Not...much, actually. I wanted to build a team of two with powers that were not only both unique and "Skullgirls-esque" (In no other game would I find a power like Samson the hairisite), but complementary to one another. I considered what I could do, but I eventually decided that drills and earth-shaping would serve my devices nicely. Perhaps some of Mr. Eus's moves are loosely inspired by Earthbending from the Avatar series, and the idea of a Drill Suit was brought to mind by
Tunnel Rhino (Mega Man X3), but I feel comfortable calling these characters their own things.
Stance Change
John opens the umbrella and throws it a set distance before dashing in quickly, striking with his sword. Light punch throws the umbrella a short distance in front of him. Medium punch throws it at an upward angle. Heavy punch throws it a long distance in front of him. If the umbrella is hit mid-flight, it will fall to the ground.
(Lvl. 1) John does a short jump backwards before making a long, low jump forward with a vertical swing of the sword at the end.
(Lvl. 1) John changes Chameleon Tongue into a large brush and hits the opponent with it several times in the face.
