[Untagged Spoilers Allowed Here] The Spoiler Discussion Thread (for Marie's story and onwards)

[Corridor89]

I guess it was to be expected that there would be some tomfoolery that would have eventually prevented the Skull Heart from breaking/reforming incorrectly. Y'know, since the plot has to escalate eventually.
Maybe Valentine will have something to do with the Skull Heart shards. Seems like it would help accomplish her goals. Maybe Peacock will be responsible; shattering the Skull Heart so that Marie can live. Double will be mad, but then again, she still has Umbrella.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I always thought Marie was just as "powerful" as she was because she's only ever fought in the catacombs of the Grand Cathedral/Final Atrium, where she has immediate access to virtually limitless resources. Similarly, I thought the whole reason Valentine and her team lost to Marie (and Double) was because they challenged her in No Man's Land.

I know she's not powerless without corpses lying around, but a limit to her resources could mean a fairer fight?
Though I guess this goes out the window the moment you put playable Marie into Final Atrium or No Man's Land, lol.

Lore-wise then yeah, Marie and Skullgirls in general would be limited in power if they don't have corpses around they can use, but I think even their innate power is a force to be contended with. Like how Marie just burned up the Medici goons in the SGM story in seconds.

I guess it was to be expected that there would be some tomfoolery that would have eventually prevented the Skull Heart from breaking/reforming incorrectly. Y'know, since the plot has to escalate eventually.
Maybe Valentine will have something to do with the Skull Heart shards. Seems like it would help accomplish her goals. Maybe Peacock will be responsible; shattering the Skull Heart so that Marie can live. Double will be mad, but then again, she still has Umbrella.

Yeah, I was thinking that one theory is that it might be something to do with the Labs coming up with ways to "destroy" the Skull Heart that still leaves shards of it that could be collected, as we know that Lab 0 is trying to retrieve the Skull Heart for study.

 

[missingno]

skull heart destroyed whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

 

[tristePinguino]

The Skull-Heart-shard theory is fun, but I can't help but wonder if Marie's "survival" could also have something to do with the fact that the Skull Heart never had full control over her.

 

[Sun]

The Skull-Heart-shard theory is fun, but I can't help but wonder if Marie's "survival" could also have something to do with the fact that the Skull Heart never had full control over her.

she is simply too much willed to die

 

[Brawlitup99]

The Skull Heart shard seems to be an explanation on why Marie survives despite the Skull Heart being destroyed. Lore-wise, it probably is also supposed to explain how she can have a playable version that's not an extremely powerful Skullgirl, but rather a "depowered" Skullgirl with only a shard of the Heart rather than a full one.

If that's the case it could be possible (and would make sense for her Story Mode) that Marie references one or more of the Story Mode endings, though which one exactly it is could really be any one of them. The trailer shows Peacock which could suggest it's either after her or Big Band's story, but that shouldn't really be evidence IMO since Peacock could show up at any point in any story mode depending on how they wanna spin it.

My money's on the her story mode being aftermath of Eliza's story--her post-credit scene was a notable tease and would allow for a lot of lore and story elements to develop if it's Marie hunting down Eliza instead of the other way around.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

If that's the case it could be possible (and would make sense for her Story Mode) that Marie references one or more of the Story Mode endings, though which one exactly it is could really be any one of them. The trailer shows Peacock which could suggest it's either after her or Big Band's story, but that shouldn't really be evidence IMO since Peacock could show up at any point in any story mode depending on how they wanna spin it.

My money's on the her story mode being aftermath of Eliza's story--her post-credit scene was a notable tease and would allow for a lot of lore and story elements to develop if it's Marie hunting down Eliza instead of the other way around.

Personally I think it will actually be an "original" timeline. It was previously confirmed that, in the canon timeline, Marie actually would require several people working together to beat her. Rather than continuing any one character's what-if stories, I think they might pick it up where Marie would be "canonically" defeated. In the same way that we had been getting glimpses of the canon timeline through other what-if stories, like the Lab 8 attack, destruction of the Medici Tower, etc.

Analysing the trailer, in the "flashbacks" right before the scene with Marie and Peacock is shown, we see several characters final scenes with the Skull Heart from their stories, including Filia, Ms. Fortune, Painwheel, Big Band and Parasoul. Perhaps these are the characters that work together in order to defeat Marie?

Notably Peacock herself was not shown in that sequence. Perhaps she didn't have a hand in defeating Marie, and only arrived later and found her?

 

[Sun]

Personally I think it will actually be an "original" timeline. It was previously confirmed that, in the canon timeline, Marie actually would require several people working together to beat her. Rather than continuing any one character's what-if stories, I think they might pick it up where Marie would be "canonically" defeated. In the same way that we had been getting glimpses of the canon timeline through other what-if stories, like the Lab 8 attack, destruction of the Medici Tower, etc.

Analysing the trailer, in the "flashbacks" right before the scene with Marie and Peacock is shown, we see several characters final scenes with the Skull Heart from their stories, including Filia, Ms. Fortune, Painwheel, Big Band and Parasoul. Perhaps these are the characters that work together in order to defeat Marie?

Notably Peacock herself was not shown in that sequence. Perhaps she didn't have a hand in defeating Marie, and only arrived later and found her?

it just makes me even more curios to what her story mode gonna be you know and what comes after

 

[Zazz]

With marie finally being real, i hope the teams at HV have the ability to retire her boss form and have all the story/arcade mode appearances of her replaced with actual gameplay marie.

 

[Corridor89]

I keep forgetting to ask, but does anyone else think Aileen is supposed to resemble Anne Frank? Keeping with the themes of her being named after Aileen Quinn, who played the titular Little Orphan Annie in '82, her appearance was taken from yet another famous Ann(i)e. And maybe there's a connection between Aileen's essay and Anne Frank's diary????

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I keep forgetting to ask, but does anyone else think Aileen is supposed to resemble Anne Frank? Keeping with the themes of her being named after Aileen Quinn, who played the titular Little Orphan Annie in '82, her appearance was taken from yet another famous Ann(i)e. And maybe there's a connection between Aileen's essay and Anne Frank's diary????

That's kiiiinda a reach for me. She's just meant to look like Annie but with a different hair I think. I don't think her hair looks particularly like Anne Frank's apart from being wavy.

 

[Corridor89]

With us halfway through July and getting close to EVO. I decided to make this preemptively. A bingo/speculation chart for Black Dahlia's story.

Spoiler

View attachment 16422

I also am curious about one thing. In SGM, Lorenzo was shown to be fighting Selene. What do you think his fighting style is? I can't really see him attempting to punch out a Skullgirl, life gem or not.

welp

Spoiler

I presume we're going to continue to use this thread for Dahlia's story.

 

[Holy Goose]

I presume we're going to continue to use this thread for Dahlia's story.

Indeed!

Oh, I'm so happy that Fukua is finally canon. And these "Doom" references... Still no Cacodemon, though.

Maybe, Fukua really is a Cacodemon?..

The story itself seemed to be pretty short to me, but I'm glad it's out. Still, I was hoping to get at least some answers to the lore questions (shouldn't use that emote here, though).

 

[BloodofAeon]

The story itself seemed to be pretty short to me, but I'm glad it's out. Still, I was hoping to get at least some answers to the lore questions (shouldn't use that emote here, though).

Yeah I was expecting a bit more backstory wise, maybe they're saving something for the mobile version? Still a cool story though and I appreciated the stinger

 

[Corridor89]

The stinger was great. It was nice to see the goddesses again. It's been a while
Also, somebody brought it up, but I am surprised the Skull Heart didn't get a line for when Eliza was killed The Thing style.

 

[Holy Goose]

Also, somebody brought it up, but I am surprised the Skull Heart didn't get a line for when Eliza was killed The Thing style.

Yeah, it seems to be pretty surprising.
Maybe it was so shocked, that it lost its ability to speak for a moment (I can relate).

maybe they're saving something for the mobile version?

There were no new origin stories for SGM for quite a while now... I hope you're right, I want more story-related content (really, we need more emotes, because using Nadia while talking about this particular story mode is kind of weird).

 

[Chrono_Tata]

My initial thoughts is that it is a very interesting story mode. Cool expositions and a few unexpected directions. I think my main problem is that there's a lot of information you need to process and it felt like it was taking away from the enjoyability of the story a bit compared to a more conventional fighting game story mode. In that aspect, I think Umbrella's story did a better job. However, I feel like it will be more enjoyable in subsequent play throughs now that I have had some time to process the more difficult-to-digest aspects of the story. I certainly don't dislike it and I appreciate them taking some risk with the story.

Gonna try to give it another playthrough and I'll be writing a full impression and analysis on it, hopefully by this weekend.

 

[Corridor89]

Yeah. I also had to give the story a second pass over. I want to say that it's easily the most dense story in the game. Heavy with Dahlia's philosophy and murders alongside the Skull Heart's musings and future lore implications regarding Brain Drain and the goddess sisters (and Fukua?).
A lot of jokes, too. Like Dahlia struggling to use the communicator.

I guess of Fukua is canon now: should we assume that her backstory of being two warrior ghosts shoved into a Filia clone body is canon or have the developers cooked up something a little different in mind?

 

[BloodofAeon]

Yeah. I also had to give the story a second pass over. I want to say that it's easily the most dense story in the game. Heavy with Dahlia's philosophy and murders alongside the Skull Heart's musings and future lore implications regarding Brain Drain and the goddess sisters (and Fukua?).
A lot of jokes, too. Like Dahlia struggling to use the communicator.

I guess of Fukua is canon now: should we assume that her backstory of being two warrior ghosts shoved into a Filia clone body is canon or have the developers cooked up something a little different in mind?

I mean they could just say she's an alternate version of Filia considering Aeon's speculated gameplay (yeah I know that information might be a bit out of date but with the threads of fate stuff she's already involved in, it's still plausible).

"Aeon’s attack themes may be similar to Double’s in that she wields hypothetical versions of characters to attack, conjured from the distorted reflections on her hourglass. She may use figures from the past, characters that have not been seen yet, and alternate versions of the cast including ones where they have become the next Skullgirl."

I assume Fukua might just be retconned into being a bizarro Filia from an alternate timeline but I could easily be wrong.

 

[BallotBoxer]

Black Dahlia needs a Joker color palette. The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) must have been a major inspiration for the SG writers.

The Joker : [to Det. Stephens in the interrogation room] Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the... little emotions. In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?

Loved the deep-dive into her philosophy. I like how she is a complex psychopath, instead of just being "lol I luv killin, so random." In a twisted way, she thinks she is helping/improving her victims. Only those pushed to the edge, that lose everything yet persevere, can become their true selves.

The biggest reveal was a closer look into the curse placed on the Skull Heart. I always wondered why it grants wishes. It is like some kind of magical restriction. It wants to open a rift to free the exiled Aeon and Venus, but the "key" to that "lock" is something contradictory (Needs a wish from a pure heart --> by wishing the heart is impure --> start over) It is as if it was designed to be impossible.

But who cursed the Skull Heart? I'm reminded of the sorcerer's curse in the TV show Gargoyles. They were frozen in stone for a thousand years because the magical curse was set with a seemingly-impossible requirement that the castle "rises above the clouds." Must be a magic rule. Set an escape clause, but make it something extremely unlikely. But who made it so the Skull Heart had to search for a wisher for centuries?

Notes on this crazy timeline:

• Where's Double?
• Fire seems very effective against parasites. See: toasted Eliza+Sekhmet and Marie getting an exploding jetpack shot at her.
• *studio audience cheering noise* for the Medicis getting capped. Much appreciated.
• I thought Ottomo was Vitale's right-hand man? He doesn't care?
• Super brutal what happened to Squigly and Ms. Fortune. Trash compactor function! I'm going to have nightmares for weeks!
• I dislike they made Fukua canon (dilutes what makes Filia special). What was Fukua trying to say anyway?
• Maybe Dahlia should have went to the Labs for a sort of homecoming instead of Brain Drain foolishly going to the club
• I wonder if Lorenzo would have "healed" back to his young self given enough time, or is the Life Gem a kind of "pause button" for aging? (If you can stop your telomeres from unraveling, you'll stop aging too!)

 

[Sun]

• I dislike they made Fukua canon (dilutes what makes Filia special). What was Fukua trying to say anyway?

she was sent by aeon to stop the apocalypse that happens at the end of dahlia story she basic became her agent

 

[Corridor89]

Where's Double?

Dahlia was baiting people with the Skull Heart so I would assume Double felt she didn't need to get involved. The city was already in chaos and Aeon was "winning" her game. And from a narrative perspective, the Skull Heart was doing a lot of the same kind of analyzing and manipulating Double often does.
I presume that Double doesn't bother to interfere in cases where she thinks/knows the Skull Heart will be wished upon. For instance: when she gave Selene the Heart she didn't pressure Selene for a wish, but rather let the Medici do it. Or when Double didn't appear in Umbrella's story, it was likely because she thought Umbrella would become the Skullgirl anyway and her only interference was attacking the Egrets offscreen.

• I thought Ottomo was Vitale's right-hand man? He doesn't care?

Guess not. He's just a robot and Tom is presumably just wise enough to not get too heavily involved or cross Dahlia unlike Lorenzo, Vitale and Eliza. (assuming Tom was piloting Ottomo at the time).


Here's some thought of my own. Dahlia has become a pretty fascinating character because of her strange morality, and it makes me very curious as to how she'd interact with some of the rest of the characters. Especially Peacock, Annie and Double.
Peacock was subjected to nearly the same mutilations and ASG-related changes as Dahlia was, and you might even argue that Peacock is going down the exact same route as Dahlia is with her sanity and morality slipping away. Though perhaps having more forces to prevent her from sliding over the edge entirely. They have a lot in common and an interaction might be interesting if they weren't immediately hostile.
Annie is presumably very familiar with the edge Dahlia talks about, but Annie's despair went a different direction. She persists year after year in fighting the Skullgirl even when she thinks what she's doing is a dead end road and will never be able to stop women from wishing on the Skull Heart.
And Double -- and I'm basing this on the assumption that Double is Lamia or that Double mirrors Lamia's thoughts and emotions -- lost her kingdom and Daughters and that appears to have driven her just as homicidally nuts as Dahlia and Peacock. Making her hellbent on psychologically breaking each and every person down, crushing their spirits and destroying everything in her wake.

But who cursed the Skull Heart?

Makes me wonder if it's not the Skull Heart being cursed is what makes the conditions of the Trinity's freedom so precise, but rather if it's the nature of another wish.

Edit: Forgot to mention, but would the dialogue imply Friedrich Nietzsche (or Friedrich Jacobi) and Gen. John T. Thompson existed in the Skullgirls universe?

 

[Holy Goose]

Fire seems very effective against parasites. See: toasted Eliza+Sekhmet and Marie getting an exploding jetpack shot at her.

I'm really happy they made the flamethrower a part of Dahlia's story mode. Kind of sad it couldn't be a part of her playstyle.

I wonder if Lorenzo would have "healed" back to his young self given enough time, or is the Life Gem a kind of "pause button" for aging? (If you can stop your telomeres from unraveling, you'll stop aging too!)

That's a great question, too.
Maybe, the webcomic would explain the way it works?

Right now, we have no information if the Life Gem ages someone back. Dahlia only mentions eternal life in her story mode. Vitale doesn't seem to be looking any younger in Cerebella's ending, too.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Okay, here's my full thoughts and analyses on Dahlia's story as mentioned earlier. It's hella long so I'm splitting them into different segments based on general impressions of the story, reading on Dahlia's character and lore exposition.

Spoiler: Story Impressions

Definitely a lot more to cover here than previous stories, since Dahlia's story the info-densest story we've seen so far. I feel like the amounts of expositions and philosophical discussions though kind of take you out of being able to enjoy the more basic level of story a bit, which is Black Dahlia Kills The Skullgirls Universe. I think they definitely could have done a better job spacing out the heavier speeches and give the action more room to breath and more emotional scenes to settle in.

I was hoping Dahlia's story will be the most bloody one of all and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The body count definitely piles up and I think it fits her story perfectly.

One of the main problems that made the story not as enjoyable as it should have been was that the story structure was a bit weird. It definitely hit a climax too early, and then the later half of the fights felt like it was simply just winding down. I think it could have been improved with a bit more of a creative challenge. Since the boss character was killed early, they could have done something with the last fights in order to make it more interesting. Maybe the Robo and PW fights could have had special properties, as they are getting Brain Drain's support, or something along that line. Although maybe it was intentional cause I definitely was feeling what Dahlia was feeling like at that point lol.

However; my biggest gripe with this story, or at least the way this story was written, is that the Skull Heart talks waaaaay too much. I'm not averse to long dialogues in principle, but I feel like things that the Heart was conveying could have been said with a lot less words. Especially, as re-affirmed in this story, the Heart is able to read minds/hearts. It definitely feels like it loses the air of mystique and threat a bit, compared to how we have seen it act in previous stories. The only other time we've seen it so flustered was in Eliza's story, but that was more understandable. While Dahlia was certainly unusual, I don't think it quite justified the Heart losing so much composure.

There are some cool segments where custom cutscenes were used pretty effectively, particularly the jet pack sequence in the intro. Another one I like is the scene where she was about to execute Brain Drain, which reflected her earlier encounter with Squigly, and his escape. I certainly feel like some other scenes would have been more effective with custom art rather than talking head dialogues though, like the killing of Vitale and Lorenzo.

I very much enjoy Marie being the very first fight in this story lol. How gatekeeping against new/casual players of me. :^)

More exposition on Vitale's ambition to take over the Medici is also interesting. It has been heavily hinted at in previous stories but I think it's good that this story lays it out a bit more, especially since it's a Medici faction story.

The appearance of Fukua as a canon character now is very... eh. I've made my thoughts known about bringing in the non-canon joke characters into the lore before so I won't bore people with it. This is not unexpected since I've been waiting for it since Robo was canonised in Annie's story. At least some thoughts seem to have been put into bringing her in a way that follows the lore, so that's good. I'm open to see how they go with it.

I think probably the best part of this story is that there are so many surprises, which for the most part make it pretty fascinating. The most surprising of which is definitely the ending where Dahlia's wish is accepted by the Skull Heart. More on that later. While I think there are some notes the story didn't quite hit, I truly appreciate that they took a risk with the story and tried to do something that's not very conventional.

Spoiler: Dahlia's Character Analysis: motivations and miscellaneous

On the subject of Dahlia's character, I'm happy to see that my reading on Dahlia's character was more-or-less correct. There's been a lot of fans complaining about why Dahlia simply had not killed Lorenzo or betrayed the Medici and take over the Mafia for herself. The story makes it clear that she has no wish or ambition to take over the Mafia and having to go through the tedium of running it. Her serving Lorenzo allows her to indulge in her violent urges without needing to deal with the consequences. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement.

I like her interactions with the bunnies and their nature as completely ambitionless, broken people who she has moulded in her own image. It definitely fits in with her wish at the end of the story. In a sense, she wanted to do what she had been doing with her bunnies to everyone in the world - to make them see the world as she sees it. As some people have pointed out, it's pretty similar to the Joker from DC comics, although I don't think it's an uncommon trait in fictional villains, but Joker is definitely one of the most prominent ones.

I find it funny because some people have said that they didn't like it that she didn't seem to "care for" her bunnies, given that she threatened to kill them towards the end. I feel like they are definitely missing the point of her character. She does like them, in the same way that she likes Eliza, or Lorenzo, but she certainly doesn't like anyone in the way that normal people relate to other people. Killing simply to solve minor inconveniences comes as naturally to her as breathing. Which makes it even more interesting that she spared Big Band's life.

On that note, I'd love to see the faces of Dahlia x Eliza shippers when they played this story. Is that mean-spirited? Maybe Dahlia rubbed off on me when playing this story.

One of the more interesting things to analyse in this story is considering why Dahlia decided to spare some of the characters. The first one is sparing Cerebella after murdering Vitale. I think that one is pretty obvious: she sees Bella as having some potential to "see the truth" like her, and once she does she would make an interesting challenge when she eventually comes to take her revenge. The same with Ms. Fortune. Big Band, though, is a bit more complicated. He's a complete contradiction to her philosophy that I think she knew that if she killed him, she would never be able to figure out the answer. As the Skull Heart said, "In fact, you long to be proven wrong, do you not? For reasons even you do not understand."

Spoiler: Dahlia's Character Analysis: the wish

So, to address the elephant in the room: Dahlia's wish - possibly the most controversial part of this story. It's a wish that the Skull Heart accepted as pure, which is confirmed by the fact that Dahlia did not turn into the Skullgirl in the aftermath. Based on the Skull Heart's own interpretation, the main reason it was a pure wish was because Dahlia had a selfless determination in order to make everyone believe the same way as she does, and it was made neither selfishly or benevolently, nor is she trying to "cheat" and skip the work in bringing about that change. She simply wanted a world that would allow her to do that for other people. On the surface, it's definitely a very interesting wish and I can see how it's different to all the other wishes we have seen so far.

But, when it comes down to it, was the wish really a pure wish? As mentioned earlier, Dahlia is still plagued by self doubt. It's the reason she spared Band earlier in the story, and both the Skull Heart and herself makes references to this doubt in their final conversion before the wish is made. I think it's pretty clear to us the audience that her wish had a selfish element to it - she wanted to validate her own belief that the way she saw the world was correct. Was it really that much different to, say, Nancy's wish?

Then why did the Skull Heart accept the wish? While it has been shown before, it has been made much clearer in this story that the Skull Heart isn't simply just an unthinking, unfeeling wish-granting device that simply evaluate wishes objectively. It has its own personality and motivations, and it even sees Dahlia as a kindred spirit in their worldview on humanity. It seems much more likely that they Skull Heart simply accepted Dahlia's wish because her wish was based on a worldview that the Heart agreed with. It certainly doesn't invalidate what was said before that wishes are inherently selfish, because Dahlia's wish certainly is. The Skull Heart was simply able to just overlook it.

But why is that the case though? More thoughts on that later.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: miscellaneous Dahlia stuff

So I like that it's been heavily implied that Dahlia does have a Glasgow Smile carved into her by a Skullgirl. I do wonder if it was intentional or just an accidental injury. Either way, I think it's good that they didn't actually reveal what it looks like - the mystery is more effective. Although the fact she keeps going around talking about it is very Dark Knight's Joker lol.

The jet pack that they swiped from the Egrets was a cool piece. Is this something we've seen before? Nothing comes to mind but it definitely fits with Canopian technology.

I used to think that Dahlia saying she didn't recognise Squigly and Leviathan was just banter, but based on the story, it seems like she actually has had some mental/neurological damage or deterioration that causes her to have trouble remembering things. Perhaps that's why she didn't recognise or remember Brain Drain? More on this later. Also hilarious that Lev was trying to reason with Squigly to not attack Dahlia and then immediately flew off the handle after 1 conversation lol.

I also wonder if Dahlia had the stage in the Bunny Burrow built with blood drainage as a long-prepared countermeasure against Eliza, or just as a practical consideration given the kind of entertainment that probably usually takes place there. I'd imagine the latter.

Another thing that Dahlia said that also stood out to me. "A saint would give you the same problem, wouldn't they? Someone truly pure of heart would never make a wish on you." I've always wondered about the Trinity religion, and we know that they have saints just like in Christianity, since Filia's high school was named after one. One of my theories is that Trinitism teaches that saints are people who were pure enough to make a wish on the Skull Heart and not been corrupted; part of the lies that Double teaches in order to convince people that they have a chance to make a pure wish on the Skull Heart. Maybe Dahlia also sees through those lies.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: The Medici

It's interesting that Vitale said in this story that he knew the real reason that Lorenzo is looking for Ms. Fortune. In the Webtoon, Lorenzo specifically tells Vitale to go and retrieve the Life Gem. Re-reading Eliza's story, it seems Lorenzo never specifically told Vitale to find the Life Gem either, just to find Ms. Fortune. Lorenzo keeping Vitale in the dark is certainly interesting and definitely fits his personality, but it is a bit funny that he thinks his son wouldn't be able to figure it out. I guess that brings us to the next point.

Another revealing thing is that we find out that Lorenzo is actually a terrible leader. I have always wondered why the Medici have been in power for so long when they have been shown to be so incompetent, and it makes more sense that they have been around through a combination of Lorenzo being invincible and able to shrug off any attacks or assassination attempts, while having capable killers on their side to get rid of their enemies like Dahlia - a situation that has actually been benefiting her since it gives her more opportunities to act out her violent urges, and a status-quo that she wants to maintain.

It does make me wonder if Marcus was also more involved in the family business previously (the way Dahlia talked about him certainly indicated as such), and his capability had been partly helping keep the Medici in power, and part of the recent deterioration of the Mafia is due to him having had enough and leaving the family.

Brain Drain referring to "a Life Gem" was certainly interesting. Implies that it is not a unique artefact. I have always wondered if, as a backup plan to retrieving the Life Gem, he also has a plan to create another one (something involving Dagonian girls perhaps). Maybe Lorenzo's secret is not so much the existence of the Life Gem, but rather the method of creating one.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the 'joke' characters

So Fukua seems to be an agent of Aeon now. I do like how her dialogue is completely incomprehensible when we first meet her, but it all becomes clear once you have finished the story. That's the kind of fun writing I enjoy. Her connection with Aeon definitely implies that she is some sort of alternate Filia plucked from a different universe.

As for Fortune, we didn't get to see much in Annie's story, but based on this one it seems that they are sticking mostly with the origin per her bio and her joke story. However, it seems they are definitely fleshing it out a bit more, especially with Brain Drain mentioning that Valentine recommended Ms. Fortune for a blueprint for testing a future project. I wonder what that is. I don't think she was referring to Painwheel since she's already active.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the ASG Labs

Regarding the ASG Labs, it was interesting that Dahlia didn't think a Lab 0 exists. So either Lab 0 was established after she left, or it was such a secret at the time that even Dahlia didn't know about it.

We know that Lab 0 was established in order to research Skullgirls blood, but we never really know which Skullgirl they got it from, or how they could keep or reproduce it. I wonder if the Skullgirl they got it from was the same Skullgirl that mutilated Dahlia. Certainly would be a good reason to not tell her that they are messing around with the blood.

Definitely the most interesting thing to me that was revealed in this story lore-wise though is that Dr. Geiger seems to either be the same person as Brain Drain, or at least, a part of his psyche is living inside Brain Drain. Given that we've had characters like Double who has the shadow of Lamia dormant inside her, having multiple personas residing inside one person is definitely not a new concept. But could it be the simpler explanation that Brain Drain is simply Dr. Geiger whose body was destroyed in the Lab 7 accident?

Based on what we've heard previously, Alex confirmed the order of creation of the ASG soldiers, including that Dr. Geiger was "created" after Brain Drain. It definitely would seem like they are 2 different people, so I am leaning towards the explanation that perhaps, Dr. Geiger's body was destroyed in the accident, but his psyche managed to survive by residing inside Brain Drain. However, this was a while ago and it's certainly possible that the lore was changed/simplified so that they are just the same person?

It was also said that Brain Drain is the second-in-command at Lab 0, so the assumption was always that Dr. Geiger ranks above him. If Brain Drain is actually Geiger, does that mean there is someone else that outranks him? I definitely feel like Geiger and Brain Drain being 2 separate people is a lot more interesting, but who knows.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the Skull Heart

So the Skull Heart talks a lot about a "purpose" although it stops short of elaborating what it actually is, but it did say that the world that was created for Dahlia's wish is the purpose it was born for. Dahlia then said that she was waiting for the goddesses to descend. So, whatever the purpose was, Dahlia's wish met the condition to trigger the process for which the Trinity can return to the main universe; presumably the success of the Mother's plan.

So, was the Heart 1) created by the Trinity as a method to take themselves back to the main universe? Or was it 2) created by someone else for the purpose of bringing about an apocalypse (or, to use the Heart's own wording, revealing the world's true shape), which the goddesses would exploit in order to use for their own goals? Or was it even created at all? The Heart said it was "born", but does that mean it was created by intelligent design, or 3) simply emerged naturally through some unexplained process?

1) would definitely be a simpler explanation, although it does raise the question of how the goddesses would have been able to create such a thing if they were trapped in the Abyss. Alex also previously mused that the Skull Heart may have simply crashed into earth a long time ago and kickstarted evolution, which makes it more like a primordial force and similar to the concept of 3).

Certainly interesting to think about but I doubt we would know for sure till it's revealed.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the Goddesses

The final subject to address are the motivations of the goddesse, based on the post-credit, which is also one of my favourite sequences in the story. As mentioned earlier, the timeline Aeon and Venus are observing finally meets the condition for the goddesses to return to the main universe. However, Aeon suddenly lost connection to that timeline. She immediately blamed Venus for kicking the console and causing it, but according to Venus, Aeon was the one sitting next to the console. Aeon also dismissed the idea of being able to reestablish the connection saying that the timeline is one in a billion. Hmmmm.

So yeah, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that Aeon purposefully sabotaged her connection to that timeline. As she made clear later in the scene, she is worried about what would happen, or at least (given the multiversal aspect of SG storytelling) has observed possibilities of what could happen if the Mother or Venus's plans succeed and they manage to return to the main universe, and she'd rather it not come to pass. She even sent Fukua to try to stop the timeline from reaching its conclusion which failed miserably, which is why she had to take a more direct approach to disconnect it.

The question is though, even if Venus knows what terrible fate could await them if they return, would it matter to her? Aeon is a shut-in who is content with just hanging out in the Abyss with her sister, but Venus is clearly not the case and she is restless to do something. Even if she knows what could happen, I think she would likely go for it anyway. That's the fundamental difference between the two sisters. And now we know all 3 of the Trinity are acting according to their own agenda, although what Venus wants is a lot closer to what the Mother wants.

So, in a sense, Aeon's objective to have her family not return to the main universe aligns with the objective of most of the occupants of the main universe to, well, not die. I wonder if that will be setting up for stories where Aeon will be (secretly) working with some of the main characters. Exciting stuff.

EDIT: Also, is it just me, or do the "demons" that Dahlia is fighting at the end look suspiciously like they have elements of Hungern designs?

 

[Corridor89]

EDIT: Also, is it just me, or do the "demons" that Dahlia is fighting at the end look suspiciously like they have elements of Hungern designs?

I think the demons were more meant to resemble Double's various transformations.

The jet pack that they swiped from the Egrets was a cool piece.

The jetpack is definitely period appropriate for 30's-60's science fiction stuff. It's only fitting Skullgirls would have something like it.

I feel that if even if the Skull Heart's talkativeness and Dahlia's wish doesn't really gel with prior stories and the standards of "pure", that making the concession of allowing Dahlia and the Heart this sort of back-and-forth in their interactions benefits the story more than harms it. I also think that the intent in the writing of Dahlia's story was not only just to give Dahlia 30 minutes of focus, but also elaborate more on the Skull Heart and the Trinity -- since who knows if later stories will get the same chance (I can only imagine Marie's story won't dwell too much on the Trinity's machinations). Dahlia having her bizarre morality puts her in a entirely unique position nobody else in the cast shares: the ability to develop that camaraderie, make a "pure" wish and earn herself a "good" ending. And writing an ending to imply that Aeon doesn't necessarily agree with her mother and sister is a cherry on top.

Something I have been thinking about is whether or not The Mother exists in the Abyss alongside Aeon and Venus. Of the Abyss, we've only seen Aeon's room and we have only see The Mother in a single ending. From Eliza's story we could extrapolate that The Mother's primary motivation is anger and grief over what happened to Venus and Aeon. Does anyone suppose could we infer that the three are typically separated? Aeon and Venus imprisoned in the Abyss and The Mother in a different realm, if not being still alive on Earth?
Tying to this somewhat is that the apocalypse apparently being necessary to summon the goddesses fits with the Gehenna stage. Gehenna being a location of mass sacrifice and apocalypse in Hebrew myth.

Also, I find it pretty amusing at this point just how different all the DLC stories are from the base cast. It's such a shame that the original 8 were all comparatively rushed and weren't able to get the same level of focus as later ones.

 

[Big Boy Beo]

Okay, here's my full thoughts and analyses on Dahlia's story as mentioned earlier. It's hella long so I'm splitting them into different segments based on general impressions of the story, reading on Dahlia's character and lore exposition.

Spoiler: Story Impressions

Definitely a lot more to cover here than previous stories, since Dahlia's story the info-densest story we've seen so far. I feel like the amounts of expositions and philosophical discussions though kind of take you out of being able to enjoy the more basic level of story a bit, which is Black Dahlia Kills The Skullgirls Universe. I think they definitely could have done a better job spacing out the heavier speeches and give the action more room to breath and more emotional scenes to settle in.

I was hoping Dahlia's story will be the most bloody one of all and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The body count definitely piles up and I think it fits her story perfectly.

One of the main problems that made the story not as enjoyable as it should have been was that the story structure was a bit weird. It definitely hit a climax too early, and then the later half of the fights felt like it was simply just winding down. I think it could have been improved with a bit more of a creative challenge. Since the boss character was killed early, they could have done something with the last fights in order to make it more interesting. Maybe the Robo and PW fights could have had special properties, as they are getting Brain Drain's support, or something along that line. Although maybe it was intentional cause I definitely was feeling what Dahlia was feeling like at that point lol.

However; my biggest gripe with this story, or at least the way this story was written, is that the Skull Heart talks waaaaay too much. I'm not averse to long dialogues in principle, but I feel like things that the Heart was conveying could have been said with a lot less words. Especially, as re-affirmed in this story, the Heart is able to read minds/hearts. It definitely feels like it loses the air of mystique and threat a bit, compared to how we have seen it act in previous stories. The only other time we've seen it so flustered was in Eliza's story, but that was more understandable. While Dahlia was certainly unusual, I don't think it quite justified the Heart losing so much composure.

There are some cool segments where custom cutscenes were used pretty effectively, particularly the jet pack sequence in the intro. Another one I like is the scene where she was about to execute Brain Drain, which reflected her earlier encounter with Squigly, and his escape. I certainly feel like some other scenes would have been more effective with custom art rather than talking head dialogues though, like the killing of Vitale and Lorenzo.

I very much enjoy Marie being the very first fight in this story lol. How gatekeeping against new/casual players of me. :^)

More exposition on Vitale's ambition to take over the Medici is also interesting. It has been heavily hinted at in previous stories but I think it's good that this story lays it out a bit more, especially since it's a Medici faction story.

The appearance of Fukua as a canon character now is very... eh. I've made my thoughts known about bringing in the non-canon joke characters into the lore before so I won't bore people with it. This is not unexpected since I've been waiting for it since Robo was canonised in Annie's story. At least some thoughts seem to have been put into bringing her in a way that follows the lore, so that's good. I'm open to see how they go with it.

I think probably the best part of this story is that there are so many surprises, which for the most part make it pretty fascinating. The most surprising of which is definitely the ending where Dahlia's wish is accepted by the Skull Heart. More on that later. While I think there are some notes the story didn't quite hit, I truly appreciate that they took a risk with the story and tried to do something that's not very conventional.

Spoiler: Dahlia's Character Analysis: motivations and miscellaneous

On the subject of Dahlia's character, I'm happy to see that my reading on Dahlia's character was more-or-less correct. There's been a lot of fans complaining about why Dahlia simply had not killed Lorenzo or betrayed the Medici and take over the Mafia for herself. The story makes it clear that she has no wish or ambition to take over the Mafia and having to go through the tedium of running it. Her serving Lorenzo allows her to indulge in her violent urges without needing to deal with the consequences. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement.

I like her interactions with the bunnies and their nature as completely ambitionless, broken people who she has moulded in her own image. It definitely fits in with her wish at the end of the story. In a sense, she wanted to do what she had been doing with her bunnies to everyone in the world - to make them see the world as she sees it. As some people have pointed out, it's pretty similar to the Joker from DC comics, although I don't think it's an uncommon trait in fictional villains, but Joker is definitely one of the most prominent ones.

I find it funny because some people have said that they didn't like it that she didn't seem to "care for" her bunnies, given that she threatened to kill them towards the end. I feel like they are definitely missing the point of her character. She does like them, in the same way that she likes Eliza, or Lorenzo, but she certainly doesn't like anyone in the way that normal people relate to other people. Killing simply to solve minor inconveniences comes as naturally to her as breathing. Which makes it even more interesting that she spared Big Band's life.

On that note, I'd love to see the faces of Dahlia x Eliza shippers when they played this story. Is that mean-spirited? Maybe Dahlia rubbed off on me when playing this story.

One of the more interesting things to analyse in this story is considering why Dahlia decided to spare some of the characters. The first one is sparing Cerebella after murdering Vitale. I think that one is pretty obvious: she sees Bella as having some potential to "see the truth" like her, and once she does she would make an interesting challenge when she eventually comes to take her revenge. The same with Ms. Fortune. Big Band, though, is a bit more complicated. He's a complete contradiction to her philosophy that I think she knew that if she killed him, she would never be able to figure out the answer. As the Skull Heart said, "In fact, you long to be proven wrong, do you not? For reasons even you do not understand."

Spoiler: Dahlia's Character Analysis: the wish

So, to address the elephant in the room: Dahlia's wish - possibly the most controversial part of this story. It's a wish that the Skull Heart accepted as pure, which is confirmed by the fact that Dahlia did not turn into the Skullgirl in the aftermath. Based on the Skull Heart's own interpretation, the main reason it was a pure wish was because Dahlia had a selfless determination in order to make everyone believe the same way as she does, and it was made neither selfishly or benevolently, nor is she trying to "cheat" and skip the work in bringing about that change. She simply wanted a world that would allow her to do that for other people. On the surface, it's definitely a very interesting wish and I can see how it's different to all the other wishes we have seen so far.

But, when it comes down to it, was the wish really a pure wish? As mentioned earlier, Dahlia is still plagued by self doubt. It's the reason she spared Band earlier in the story, and both the Skull Heart and herself makes references to this doubt in their final conversion before the wish is made. I think it's pretty clear to us the audience that her wish had a selfish element to it - she wanted to validate her own belief that the way she saw the world was correct. Was it really that much different to, say, Nancy's wish?

Then why did the Skull Heart accept the wish? While it has been shown before, it has been made much clearer in this story that the Skull Heart isn't simply just an unthinking, unfeeling wish-granting device that simply evaluate wishes objectively. It has its own personality and motivations, and it even sees Dahlia as a kindred spirit in their worldview on humanity. It seems much more likely that they Skull Heart simply accepted Dahlia's wish because her wish was based on a worldview that the Heart agreed with. It certainly doesn't invalidate what was said before that wishes are inherently selfish, because Dahlia's wish certainly is. The Skull Heart was simply able to just overlook it.

But why is that the case though? More thoughts on that later.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: miscellaneous Dahlia stuff

So I like that it's been heavily implied that Dahlia does have a Glasgow Smile carved into her by a Skullgirl. I do wonder if it was intentional or just an accidental injury. Either way, I think it's good that they didn't actually reveal what it looks like - the mystery is more effective. Although the fact she keeps going around talking about it is very Dark Knight's Joker lol.

The jet pack that they swiped from the Egrets was a cool piece. Is this something we've seen before? Nothing comes to mind but it definitely fits with Canopian technology.

I used to think that Dahlia saying she didn't recognise Squigly and Leviathan was just banter, but based on the story, it seems like she actually has had some mental/neurological damage or deterioration that causes her to have trouble remembering things. Perhaps that's why she didn't recognise or remember Brain Drain? More on this later. Also hilarious that Lev was trying to reason with Squigly to not attack Dahlia and then immediately flew off the handle after 1 conversation lol.

I also wonder if Dahlia had the stage in the Bunny Burrow built with blood drainage as a long-prepared countermeasure against Eliza, or just as a practical consideration given the kind of entertainment that probably usually takes place there. I'd imagine the latter.

Another thing that Dahlia said that also stood out to me. "A saint would give you the same problem, wouldn't they? Someone truly pure of heart would never make a wish on you." I've always wondered about the Trinity religion, and we know that they have saints just like in Christianity, since Filia's high school was named after one. One of my theories is that Trinitism teaches that saints are people who were pure enough to make a wish on the Skull Heart and not been corrupted; part of the lies that Double teaches in order to convince people that they have a chance to make a pure wish on the Skull Heart. Maybe Dahlia also sees through those lies.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: The Medici

It's interesting that Vitale said in this story that he knew the real reason that Lorenzo is looking for Ms. Fortune. In the Webtoon, Lorenzo specifically tells Vitale to go and retrieve the Life Gem. Re-reading Eliza's story, it seems Lorenzo never specifically told Vitale to find the Life Gem either, just to find Ms. Fortune. Lorenzo keeping Vitale in the dark is certainly interesting and definitely fits his personality, but it is a bit funny that he thinks his son wouldn't be able to figure it out. I guess that brings us to the next point.

Another revealing thing is that we find out that Lorenzo is actually a terrible leader. I have always wondered why the Medici have been in power for so long when they have been shown to be so incompetent, and it makes more sense that they have been around through a combination of Lorenzo being invincible and able to shrug off any attacks or assassination attempts, while having capable killers on their side to get rid of their enemies like Dahlia - a situation that has actually been benefiting her since it gives her more opportunities to act out her violent urges, and a status-quo that she wants to maintain.

It does make me wonder if Marcus was also more involved in the family business previously (the way Dahlia talked about him certainly indicated as such), and his capability had been partly helping keep the Medici in power, and part of the recent deterioration of the Mafia is due to him having had enough and leaving the family.

Brain Drain referring to "a Life Gem" was certainly interesting. Implies that it is not a unique artefact. I have always wondered if, as a backup plan to retrieving the Life Gem, he also has a plan to create another one (something involving Dagonian girls perhaps). Maybe Lorenzo's secret is not so much the existence of the Life Gem, but rather the method of creating one.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the 'joke' characters

So Fukua seems to be an agent of Aeon now. I do like how her dialogue is completely incomprehensible when we first meet her, but it all becomes clear once you have finished the story. That's the kind of fun writing I enjoy. Her connection with Aeon definitely implies that she is some sort of alternate Filia plucked from a different universe.

As for Fortune, we didn't get to see much in Annie's story, but based on this one it seems that they are sticking mostly with the origin per her bio and her joke story. However, it seems they are definitely fleshing it out a bit more, especially with Brain Drain mentioning that Valentine recommended Ms. Fortune for a blueprint for testing a future project. I wonder what that is. I don't think she was referring to Painwheel since she's already active.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the ASG Labs

Regarding the ASG Labs, it was interesting that Dahlia didn't think a Lab 0 exists. So either Lab 0 was established after she left, or it was such a secret at the time that even Dahlia didn't know about it.

We know that Lab 0 was established in order to research Skullgirls blood, but we never really know which Skullgirl they got it from, or how they could keep or reproduce it. I wonder if the Skullgirl they got it from was the same Skullgirl that mutilated Dahlia. Certainly would be a good reason to not tell her that they are messing around with the blood.

Definitely the most interesting thing to me that was revealed in this story lore-wise though is that Dr. Geiger seems to either be the same person as Brain Drain, or at least, a part of his psyche is living inside Brain Drain. Given that we've had characters like Double who has the shadow of Lamia dormant inside her, having multiple personas residing inside one person is definitely not a new concept. But could it be the simpler explanation that Brain Drain is simply Dr. Geiger whose body was destroyed in the Lab 7 accident?

Based on what we've heard previously, Alex confirmed the order of creation of the ASG soldiers, including that Dr. Geiger was "created" after Brain Drain. It definitely would seem like they are 2 different people, so I am leaning towards the explanation that perhaps, Dr. Geiger's body was destroyed in the accident, but his psyche managed to survive by residing inside Brain Drain. However, this was a while ago and it's certainly possible that the lore was changed/simplified so that they are just the same person?

It was also said that Brain Drain is the second-in-command at Lab 0, so the assumption was always that Dr. Geiger ranks above him. If Brain Drain is actually Geiger, does that mean there is someone else that outranks him? I definitely feel like Geiger and Brain Drain being 2 separate people is a lot more interesting, but who knows.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the Skull Heart

So the Skull Heart talks a lot about a "purpose" although it stops short of elaborating what it actually is, but it did say that the world that was created for Dahlia's wish is the purpose it was born for. Dahlia then said that she was waiting for the goddesses to descend. So, whatever the purpose was, Dahlia's wish met the condition to trigger the process for which the Trinity can return to the main universe; presumably the success of the Mother's plan.

So, was the Heart 1) created by the Trinity as a method to take themselves back to the main universe? Or was it 2) created by someone else for the purpose of bringing about an apocalypse (or, to use the Heart's own wording, revealing the world's true shape), which the goddesses would exploit in order to use for their own goals? Or was it even created at all? The Heart said it was "born", but does that mean it was created by intelligent design, or 3) simply emerged naturally through some unexplained process?

1) would definitely be a simpler explanation, although it does raise the question of how the goddesses would have been able to create such a thing if they were trapped in the Abyss. Alex also previously mused that the Skull Heart may have simply crashed into earth a long time ago and kickstarted evolution, which makes it more like a primordial force and similar to the concept of 3).

Certainly interesting to think about but I doubt we would know for sure till it's revealed.

Spoiler: Lore Expositions: the Goddesses

The final subject to address are the motivations of the goddesse, based on the post-credit, which is also one of my favourite sequences in the story. As mentioned earlier, the timeline Aeon and Venus are observing finally meets the condition for the goddesses to return to the main universe. However, Aeon suddenly lost connection to that timeline. She immediately blamed Venus for kicking the console and causing it, but according to Venus, Aeon was the one sitting next to the console. Aeon also dismissed the idea of being able to reestablish the connection saying that the timeline is one in a billion. Hmmmm.

So yeah, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that Aeon purposefully sabotaged her connection to that timeline. As she made clear later in the scene, she is worried about what would happen, or at least (given the multiversal aspect of SG storytelling) has observed possibilities of what could happen if the Mother or Venus's plans succeed and they manage to return to the main universe, and she'd rather it not come to pass. She even sent Fukua to try to stop the timeline from reaching its conclusion which failed miserably, which is why she had to take a more direct approach to disconnect it.

The question is though, even if Venus knows what terrible fate could await them if they return, would it matter to her? Aeon is a shut-in who is content with just hanging out in the Abyss with her sister, but Venus is clearly not the case and she is restless to do something. Even if she knows what could happen, I think she would likely go for it anyway. That's the fundamental difference between the two sisters. And now we know all 3 of the Trinity are acting according to their own agenda, although what Venus wants is a lot closer to what the Mother wants.

So, in a sense, Aeon's objective to have her family not return to the main universe aligns with the objective of most of the occupants of the main universe to, well, not die. I wonder if that will be setting up for stories where Aeon will be (secretly) working with some of the main characters. Exciting stuff.

EDIT: Also, is it just me, or do the "demons" that Dahlia is fighting at the end look suspiciously like they have elements of Hungern designs?

I like your take on Aeon being somewhat of a "neutral" agent to the characters. She's not helping them by giving them the answers (for example: "Hey guys, Aeon here, just want to say that the way to destroy the Skull Heart forever is...) but she's also giving them nudges here and there to try and derail or delay whatever Mother or Venus' endgame goal is.

Maybe, being a Goddess of time, she sees the "canon timeline" (the true Thread of Fate, the true story ending, etc) where she and Venus are destroyed or the Trinty is overthrown. Because Aeon's a good sister, she doesn't exactly trust Mother's judgement and wants to protect Venus and herself for as long as possible.

But why would she be high-fiving Venus at the end of Robo's story mode?

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I think the demons were more meant to resemble Double's various transformations.

Yeah, I think they could be or at least derived from Double's flesh, but look at the designs. Elongated bodies with ridges running along them. Circular mouths lined with row of teeth. Extendable long tongues. I don't think any of Double's transformations we have seen have these design languages.

I feel that if even if the Skull Heart's talkativeness and Dahlia's wish doesn't really gel with prior stories and the standards of "pure", that making the concession of allowing Dahlia and the Heart this sort of back-and-forth in their interactions benefits the story more than harms it. I also think that the intent in the writing of Dahlia's story was not only just to give Dahlia 30 minutes of focus, but also elaborate more on the Skull Heart and the Trinity -- since who knows if later stories will get the same chance (I can only imagine Marie's story won't dwell too much on the Trinity's machinations). Dahlia having her bizarre morality puts her in a entirely unique position nobody else in the cast shares: the ability to develop that camaraderie, make a "pure" wish and earn herself a "good" ending. And writing an ending to imply that Aeon doesn't necessarily agree with her mother and sister is a cherry on top.

It's not that I have a problem with Dahlia and the Skull Heart having a back-and-forth conversation, it's the way that the Skull Heart responds to her. Like I said, the Heart is able to read her mind, so it must already have an idea of what Dahlia is thinking most of the time. If the Heart's dialogue had been written to communicate this better and using less words, I think it would have made it more menacing and seemingly omniscient, which would be more fitting of the eldritch wish-granting device. The way the Heart talked just seemed like it was one step behind Dahlia all the time and sucked all the sinister aura out of it.

Something I have been thinking about is whether or not The Mother exists in the Abyss alongside Aeon and Venus. Of the Abyss, we've only seen Aeon's room and we have only see The Mother in a single ending. From Eliza's story we could extrapolate that The Mother's primary motivation is anger and grief over what happened to Venus and Aeon. Does anyone suppose could we infer that the three are typically separated? Aeon and Venus imprisoned in the Abyss and The Mother in a different realm, if not being still alive on Earth?

Err, I think in Double's ending it was implied pretty heavily that the Mother is there with them given that she called them to go to dinner. I think what we actually see is Aeon's room and Venus just comes and hang out with her sometimes. The Abyss seems to be a pocket dimension but I'm pretty sure there are other areas apart from this.

Also, I find it pretty amusing at this point just how different all the DLC stories are from the base cast. It's such a shame that the original 8 were all comparatively rushed and weren't able to get the same level of focus as later ones.

Lol, would have been nice although if they have time to redo the original stories, I'd rather they spend it making Nightmare Legacy. :P

Right now, we have no information if the Life Gem ages someone back. Dahlia only mentions eternal life in her story mode. Vitale doesn't seem to be looking any younger in Cerebella's ending, too.

I think it probably takes some time to work, especially if the user just got hold of it. For example, Fortune was cut up and thrown into the river, so she must have appeared dead at the time. Probably took a bit of time for the Life Gem to take effect and animated Fortune, so maybe it can reverse their aging back to the user's peak physical age if given enough time.

Or maybe not and it just freezes the user at their current appearance. In that case Lorenzo must have got it as a young man and never parted with it for any significant period of time until now.

But why would she be high-fiving Venus at the end of Robo's story mode?

Yeah, that's definitely part of my issues with the joke stories like Robo's. I honestly don't think it was supposed to be taken seriously and many other characters we already saw previously were acting way out of characters. Based on what we know about Aeon now, she was probably acting out of character there as well.

 

[Big Boy Beo]

Yeah, I think they could be or at least derived from Double's flesh, but look at the designs. Elongated bodies with ridges running along them. Circular mouths lined with row of teeth. Extendable long tongues. I don't think any of Double's transformations we have seen have these design languages.

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It's not that I have a problem with Dahlia and the Skull Heart having a back-and-forth conversation, it's the way that the Skull Heart responds to her. Like I said, the Heart is able to read her mind, so it must already have an idea of what Dahlia is thinking most of the time. If the Heart's dialogue had been written to communicate this better and using less words, I think it would have made it more menacing and seemingly omniscient, which would be more fitting of the eldritch wish-granting device. The way the Heart talked just seemed like it was one step behind Dahlia all the time and sucked all the sinister aura out of it.


Err, I think in Double's ending it was implied pretty heavily that the Mother is there with them given that she called them to go to dinner. I think what we actually see is Aeon's room and Venus just comes and hang out with her sometimes. The Abyss seems to be a pocket dimension but I'm pretty sure there are other areas apart from this.


Lol, would have been nice although if they have time to redo the original stories, I'd rather they spend it making Nightmare Legacy. :P


I think it probably takes some time to work, especially if the user just got hold of it. For example, Fortune was cut up and thrown into the river, so she must have appeared dead at the time. Probably took a bit of time for the Life Gem to take effect and animated Fortune, so maybe it can reverse their aging back to the user's peak physical age if given enough time.

Or maybe not and it just freezes the user at their current appearance. In that case Lorenzo must have got it as a young man and never parted with it for any significant period of time until now.


Yeah, that's definitely part of my issues with the joke stories like Robo's. I honestly don't think it was supposed to be taken seriously and many other characters we already saw previously were acting way out of characters. Based on what we know about Aeon now, she was probably acting out of character there as well.

I could see Robo's story being more of a gag than anything (see: "Don't worry, no one will believe this nonsense as canon"). But I could also see it being a way to drop some crazy lore implications without it seeming like a spoiler.

Marie mentions a "greater monster binds me to its will," which hints that it may be Mother controlling the Heart. In the spirit of Robo's story being goofy, you're supposed to think "Lol this is Marie being serious before she just gives up and plays along with everything")

I wonder what it could be that Aeon wants to prevent? Maybe she knows something about Mother Venus doesn't?

 

[Corridor89]

I wonder what it could be that Aeon wants to prevent? Maybe she knows something about Mother Venus doesn't?

If not for the line where Aeon warned of "Venus wouldn't like either", I could see her seeming willingness to preserve the world as strictly a product of her fangirl NEET personality. That she likes the characters in the same way someone is the fan of a book, game or show. She doesn't want them to die, she wants the adventures to continue.
Maybe there's some 4th wall breaking planned. Aeon knows that her existence is tied to the existence of Skullgirls, so she doesn't want Skullgirls to end or for the "bad guys" to win (even when she knows that she's a bad guy).

Yeah, I think they could be or at least derived from Double's flesh, but look at the designs. Elongated bodies with ridges running along them. Circular mouths lined with row of teeth. Extendable long tongues. I don't think any of Double's transformations we have seen have these design languages.

You might be correct. To be honest, I mostly just chalked up the appearances (especially the one on the left) as just being a Cthulhu shout-out. But knowing that Hungern is a very ancient Living Weapon, I could see his in-universe creation being based upon those demon entities. And I suppose the reverse could be true as well.
At any rate, Skullgirl's isn't a stranger to intentionally borrowing designs from character-to-character and implying connections. As I recall, Leviathan looks very similar to Abaddon. So you might be onto something. Now we just need more lore on Trinitist demons.

Err, I think in Double's ending it was implied pretty heavily that the Mother is there with them given that she called them to go to dinner.

What I mean is that the only time The Mother is expressly present in the Abyss is when the Trinity's win con is met in Double's story. And from Dahlia's story we might assume that Trinity winning entails a merger of or access between the Abyss and Earth. What I am speculating is that when the Mother tells Aeon and Venus it's time for dinner at the end of Double's story, she does so having just reunited with them. Because again, from what we know about Lamia and The Mother, is that her primary motivation is what happened to her daughters -- I feel like it would make sense for the entire Skullgirl gambit to be a means for her to reunite with them.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I could see Robo's story being more of a gag than anything (see: "Don't worry, no one will believe this nonsense as canon"). But I could also see it being a way to drop some crazy lore implications without it seeming like a spoiler.

That's exactly the problem. Even if there is some real lore being hidden there, the fact that there are mixed with unambiguously untrue information makes nothing in the story reliable. Maybe it's canon, maybe it's not. As a joke, it's a fun story for people who were around for her creation and are in on it. For people who weren't, it's frustrating noise that only made SG lore worse.

You might be correct. To be honest, I mostly just chalked up the appearances (especially the one on the left) as just being a Cthulhu shout-out. But knowing that Hungern is a very ancient Living Weapon, I could see his in-universe creation being based upon those demon entities. And I suppose the reverse could be true as well.

Yeah, that's exactly my thought as a possibility. We know that in the old lore, Hungern was apparently based on the dream monsters that were controlled by Aesil, so I wouldn't be surprised if in he current lore, he was created from a similar existing creature.

At any rate, Skullgirl's isn't a stranger to intentionally borrowing designs from character-to-character and implying connections. As I recall, Leviathan looks very similar to Abaddon. So you might be onto something. Now we just need more lore on Trinitist demons.

Yep, or it might just not mean anything and it's just a case of things looking similar because they were designed by the same people lol. I'm open to both explanations, but I certainly felt it was interesting. If it has some lore implications, that's even better.

What I mean is that the only time The Mother is expressly present in the Abyss is when the Trinity's win con is met in Double's story. And from Dahlia's story we might assume that Trinity winning entails a merger of or access between the Abyss and Earth. What I am speculating is that when the Mother tells Aeon and Venus it's time for dinner at the end of Double's story, she does so having just reunited with them. Because again, from what we know about Lamia and The Mother, is that her primary motivation is what happened to her daughters -- I feel like it would make sense for the entire Skullgirl gambit to be a means for her to reunite with them.

I don't think Double's story actually presented a "win" for the Trinity either though. The Harvest wasn't successful with Marie, and while Double has identified a candidate with sufficient potential (presumably Umbrella), that had not happened either.

 

[Big Boy Beo]

If not for the line where Aeon warned of "Venus wouldn't like either", I could see her seeming willingness to preserve the world as strictly a product of her fangirl NEET personality. That she likes the characters in the same way someone is the fan of a book, game or show. She doesn't want them to die, she wants the adventures to continue.
Maybe there's some 4th wall breaking planned. Aeon knows that her existence is tied to the existence of Skullgirls, so she doesn't want Skullgirls to end or for the "bad guys" to win (even when she knows that she's a bad guy).


You might be correct. To be honest, I mostly just chalked up the appearances (especially the one on the left) as just being a Cthulhu shout-out. But knowing that Hungern is a very ancient Living Weapon, I could see his in-universe creation being based upon those demon entities. And I suppose the reverse could be true as well.
At any rate, Skullgirl's isn't a stranger to intentionally borrowing designs from character-to-character and implying connections. As I recall, Leviathan looks very similar to Abaddon. So you might be onto something. Now we just need more lore on Trinitist demons.

What I mean is that the only time The Mother is expressly present in the Abyss is when the Trinity's win con is met in Double's story. And from Dahlia's story we might assume that Trinity winning entails a merger of or access between the Abyss and Earth. What I am speculating is that when the Mother tells Aeon and Venus it's time for dinner at the end of Double's story, she does so having just reunited with them. Because again, from what we know about Lamia and The Mother, is that her primary motivation is what happened to her daughters -- I feel like it would make sense for the entire Skullgirl gambit to be a means for her to reunite with them.

Maybe Aeon knows something's not quite right with Mother. She is a Goddess of Time, so maybe she saw something that entails Mother betraying them while she reaps all the power for herself?

I imagine Mother, being the main antagonist behind Skullgirls, is actually this combination of Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest and JUDY from Twin Peaks-- this selfish, overbearing mother who doesn't so much as "love" her children but treats them with extreme possessiveness. Mother's whole reason for the Skull Heart is to get back at humanity because she doesn't feel they "love" her as much as she thinks they should. The Skull Heart is her real heart, a symbol of her true emotions-- something pretending to be selfless and wanting to help, but actually belittles and hurts. Dahlia's "pure" wish coincided with Mother's desire to wipe out humanity as an extreme form of punishment. Dahlia wasn't "pure of heart" in the sense it was selfless, it was just that she had that same callousness towards life that Mother shares.

Venus thinks that, once the Skullgirl destroys the world and they escape their prison in the Abyss, Mother will let them go and do whatever they want. Aeon, however, knows that they'll simply be trading one prison for another and Mother would have no problem getting rid of two "bratty" children once they help her accomplish her goal. Aeon, who wouldn't be a "friend" or "enemy" to humanity, decides to try and stall Mother's plan to save Venus and herself-- the world would just be a fun bonus, so she could keep watching and being entertained by her favorite TV show of mortals.

Venus and Aeon win, everyone on Earth wins-- it's just Mother who's the problem and if she gets out, that spells the end of Venus and Aeon.

But this is just a theory haha.

 

[tristePinguino]

Thoughts, many thoughts...
For the sake of space, I would also like to group them under Spoilers.

Spoiler: The Skull Heart

Hooray, Skull Heart talk sprites!
Until this Story Mode, I honestly, honestly believed the Skull Heart's role during these branching threads of fate was just like, a walkie-talkie for Aeon & Venus (the Story Mode voice acting update may be to blame). I assumed it served as a way for them to influence the timelines they've been exploring. That said, it's bewilderment in this timeline didn't feel particularly off to me, personally. It wasn't until later in the Story that I realized the Skull Heart is, in-fact, it's own entity (or is at least not under the control of Aeon & Venus).

And yes: "I want others to see the world as I do," is an incredibly selfish wish, lol.
Also, the Skull Heart just leaves??? Instead of helping the world end faster????? Then what would it look like if a Skullgirl succeeded?
Would a Skullgirl succeeding even release the Goddesses? Is that not the point???

Spoiler: Aeon

Robo-Fortune's Story notwithstanding (probably), I have assumed that every moment of Aeon & Venus we've been shown has been canon. That Aeon has just been using "games" to explore threads of fate for fun or the sake of interest. And that these "games" yield no real consequences, no matter the outcome.
Aeon's explanation of a joy-stick to Venus in Double's Story Mode might have just been for farts n' giggles, but it might also suggest that exploring the timelines (in this way, at least) is something she recently started doing. Or just that Venus recently found out Aeon was doing it.
But Aeon's lines in Black Dahlia's Story suggest that she has "completed" a game before, without Venus's knowledge.
I wonder now if Aeon is searching for a specific outcome. Regardless, the True thread won't be just a game.

It seems the second coming of the Goddesses will bring about the end, but maybe Venus doesn't know this? She wants to see the world, but doesn't know there won't be much left to see if she gets there.

How powerful are Aeon & Venus, exactly??? Sure, Goddesses of Time & Space (respectively) sounds daunting, but they were also apparently "killed" long ago. And now they're trapped. Fukua's involvement in Black Dahlia's Story suggest that Aeon can cross and manipulate the threads of fate (which is more significant than Fukua's actual appearance in the Story), but this is still within the scope of Aeon's games. If Aeon ever came to join the roster, that would probably remain true; she'd still be playing "What If".

Spoiler: The Fortunes

"Don't worry, nobody will think any of this nonsense is canon. :)"
This line will never not be funny to me, 'cuz like, YEAH, NOTHING IS!!! IT NEVER HAS BEEN!!!

Brain Drain's confusion about how the Life Gem permeated Ms. Fortune's body is interesting, 'cuz it suggests that the way it affected her is "unusual". Many attempts have been made on Lorenzo's life, but would he not have similar abilities if he were cut to pieces?
Of course, Ms. Fortune ATE the damn thing, and doing so shortly before her "death" might be a factor, too. Or maybe it's just 'cuz she's a Feral.
The idea that this Life Gem was somehow made of Dagonians is kinda funny/messed up because of Ms. Fortune's already prominent connections to them. This obviously means Ms. Fortune gets extra perks outta the Life Gem due to the power of friendship/family.
Omega-3's for (un)life.

Did uh... Did Dahlia keep the Life Gem?

 

[Sun]

Did uh... Did Dahlia keep the Life Gem?

well she did take it from lorenzo to propely kill him so..yeah she took it i just dont know if she still has it after killing him

 

[Corridor89]

I wonder now if Aeon is searching for a specific outcome. Regardless, the True thread won't be just a game.

I really like this idea.

 

[Holy Goose]

On that note, I'd love to see the faces of Dahlia x Eliza shippers when they played this story. Is that mean-spirited? Maybe Dahlia rubbed off on me when playing this story.

Okay, this is very cruel

It's not that I have a problem with Dahlia and the Skull Heart having a back-and-forth conversation, it's the way that the Skull Heart responds to her. Like I said, the Heart is able to read her mind, so it must already have an idea of what Dahlia is thinking most of the time. If the Heart's dialogue had been written to communicate this better and using less words, I think it would have made it more menacing and seemingly omniscient, which would be more fitting of the eldritch wish-granting device. The way the Heart talked just seemed like it was one step behind Dahlia all the time and sucked all the sinister aura out of it.

Maybe, it's really lonely? After all, Double is not around in this story mode. And Dahlia seems to be a kindred spirit (and a suitable candidate too).

In that case Lorenzo must have got it as a young man and never parted with it for any significant period of time until now.

Webtoon kind of confirms that Lorenzo was having the Life Gem with him all the time (which is logical anyway). And it seems to be a long period of time, according to Vitale's monologue in Dahlia's story.

Lorenzo mentions his youth slipping away, but it might not mean he'll get it back with the Life Gem.

The writers knew what they were doing. All we can do now is speculate.

Yeah, I think they could be or at least derived from Double's flesh, but look at the designs. Elongated bodies with ridges running along them. Circular mouths lined with row of teeth. Extendable long tongues. I don't think any of Double's transformations we have seen have these design languages.

Still no Cacodemon references, even when outright spoofing "Doom". I'm so bitter about it.

It wasn't until later in the Story that I realized the Skull Heart is, in-fact, it's own entity (or is at least not under the control of Aeon & Venus).

I guess, Double fits more to be the Trinity's "player character" (though, I guess, it's not correct at all).

Also, the Skull Heart just leaves??? Instead of helping the world end faster?????

Maybe it doesn't have a say in this situation? It disappears when it's job is done, no exceptions.

I wonder now if Aeon is searching for a specific outcome. Regardless, the True thread won't be just a game.

Would make sense.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Also, the Skull Heart just leaves??? Instead of helping the world end faster????? Then what would it look like if a Skullgirl succeeded?
Would a Skullgirl succeeding even release the Goddesses? Is that not the point???

Like Goose said, I think it doesn't really have a choice. But, yeah, like it said, it has no joy or hope except for its purpose. Once the purpose is fulfilled, it could finally rest. As I theorised in my post, I don't think it has any actual stake in the return of the goddesses; its purpose may be to simply be to bring about the apocalypse and whatever happens after is no longer its problem.

Robo-Fortune's Story notwithstanding (probably), I have assumed that every moment of Aeon & Venus we've been shown has been canon. That Aeon has just been using "games" to explore threads of fate for fun or the sake of interest. And that these "games" yield no real consequences, no matter the outcome.
Aeon's explanation of a joy-stick to Venus in Double's Story Mode might have just been for farts n' giggles, but it might also suggest that exploring the timelines (in this way, at least) is something she recently started doing. Or just that Venus recently found out Aeon was doing it.
But Aeon's lines in Black Dahlia's Story suggest that she has "completed" a game before, without Venus's knowledge.
I wonder now if Aeon is searching for a specific outcome. Regardless, the True thread won't be just a game.

Yeah, I think the videogames that Aeon are playing are just her observing and influencing actual timelines. The writers of Double's story just made the tools she does it with look like videogames just as a wink to the readers who are playing Skullgirls the videogame - kinda saying that we're not much different to Aeon in the way that we are playing with these characters' lives. The writers of Dahlia's story simply continued with the established lore. I don't think there is any reason to believe any of the (non-joke) stories are not actually happening in some timeline. I certainly don't think they are "just a game", within the universe's logic.

As for Aeon's line, it's an interesting thought that maybe she has completed one of these "successful" timelines before and not told the others about it, although being a goddess of time (or more correctly, a Parasite user who can observe and control time), maybe she has other ways of finding these out without the timelines having to come to pass. Hard to say.

It seems the second coming of the Goddesses will bring about the end, but maybe Venus doesn't know this? She wants to see the world, but doesn't know there won't be much left to see if she gets there.

Like I said, I don't think she really cares to be honest. She's seen what Dahlia's timeline led to, and still considered the timeline as having potential. Maybe that's what Aeon was trying to show her to change her mind, and seeing that Venus wasn't deterred, decided to sabotage it.

"Don't worry, nobody will think any of this nonsense is canon. :)"
This line will never not be funny to me, 'cuz like, YEAH, NOTHING IS!!! IT NEVER HAS BEEN!!!

I think SG fans (including myself) definitely abuse the term canon. Canon doesn't just mean the single true timeline, it means all the collection of lore and stories that make up our repertoire of reliable lore knowledge. This includes all the story modes, as we can see in the way we are analysing Dahlia's story right now in order to piece together the truth of the SG universe. Except, of course, the joke stories.

Marie in Robo's story recognises that the story was written for shit and giggles the primary purpose of entertaining rather than informing, and that, even if there are some true lore being hidden there, there is no way the average reader can reliably extract anything out of it, hence it being considered non-canon. At best, it could be considered an apocryphal story - it can inform and contribute to our lore knowledge, but it should not be taken as truth in the same way that a story that is part of the canon is.

well she did take it from lorenzo to propely kill him so..yeah she took it i just dont know if she still has it after killing him

It doesn't make any sense for Dahlia's character for her to keep it. I think she just throws it away.

Maybe, it's really lonely? After all, Double is not around in this story mode. And Dahlia seems to be a kindred spirit (and a suitable candidate too).

I agree, but yeah, I think there would have been a better way to communicate that and showing the Heart getting more comfortable to talk with her as the story progress. However; the way the Heart acted from the beginning just seemed very off, compared to how we had seen it so far in previous stories.

Webtoon kind of confirms that Lorenzo was having the Life Gem with him all the time (which is logical anyway). And it seems to be a long period of time, according to Vitale's monologue in Dahlia's story.

Lorenzo mentions his youth slipping away, but it might not mean he'll get it back with the Life Gem.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more inclined I am to go with this explanation.

 

[Big Boy Beo]

Like Goose said, I think it doesn't really have a choice. But, yeah, like it said, it has no joy or hope except for its purpose. Once the purpose is fulfilled, it could finally rest. As I theorised in my post, I don't think it has any actual stake in the return of the goddesses; its purpose may be to simply be to bring about the apocalypse and whatever happens after is no longer its problem.


Yeah, I think the videogames that Aeon are playing are just her observing and influencing actual timelines. The writers of Double's story just made the tools she does it with look like videogames just as a wink to the readers who are playing Skullgirls the videogame - kinda saying that we're not much different to Aeon in the way that we are playing with these characters' lives. The writers of Dahlia's story simply continued with the established lore. I don't think there is any reason to believe any of the (non-joke) stories are not actually happening in some timeline. I certainly don't think they are "just a game", within the universe's logic.

As for Aeon's line, it's an interesting thought that maybe she has completed one of these "successful" timelines before and not told the others about it, although being a goddess of time (or more correctly, a Parasite user who can observe and control time), maybe she has other ways of finding these out without the timelines having to come to pass. Hard to say.


Like I said, I don't think she really cares to be honest. She's seen what Dahlia's timeline led to, and still considered the timeline as having potential. Maybe that's what Aeon was trying to show her to change her mind, and seeing that Venus wasn't deterred, decided to sabotage it.


I think SG fans (including myself) definitely abuse the term canon. Canon doesn't just mean the single true timeline, it means all the collection of lore and stories that make up our repertoire of reliable lore knowledge. This includes all the story modes, as we can see in the way we are analysing Dahlia's story right now in order to piece together the truth of the SG universe. Except, of course, the joke stories.

Marie in Robo's story recognises that the story was written for shit and giggles the primary purpose of entertaining rather than informing, and that, even if there are some true lore being hidden there, there is no way the average reader can reliably extract anything out of it, hence it being considered non-canon. At best, it could be considered an apocryphal story - it can inform and contribute to our lore knowledge, but it should not be taken as truth in the same way that a story that is part of the canon is.


It doesn't make any sense for Dahlia's character for her to keep it. I think she just throws it away.


I agree, but yeah, I think there would have been a better way to communicate that and showing the Heart getting more comfortable to talk with her as the story progress. However; the way the Heart acted from the beginning just seemed very off, compared to how we had seen it so far in previous stories.


Yeah, the more I think about it the more inclined I am to go with this explanation.

First off, I like the idea that if you hold onto the Skull Heart long enough and not wish on it, it'll eventually just start talking to you out of boredom. After a day or two of you having the Skull Heart, it actually gets pretty chatty all things considered.

I also like the idea that Aeon completed a timeline (or timelines, if we consider the endings of Dahlia,, Double, and maybe Robo and Eliza's stories) and saw what will happen when the world comes to an end. Aeon, for whatever reason, doesn't want the world to end (maybe mistrust for Mother, maybe to spend time with Venus, maybe because she's so invested in the world and its "characters" she doesn't want it to end, etc). Aeon decides to subtly derail Mother's plans or convince Venus to leave well enough alone.

Honestly, I bet the "canon ending" (or the true ending, the real story, the Thread of Fate, whatever we call it) will have the Skull Heart destroyed and Mother defeated, but the world will not be a peaceful, happy utopia. There will still be the mafia, there will still be war, there will still be struggles-- but no one becomes a Skullgirl. No one's wish, whether it's Dahlia's wish for the world to be modded into DOOM Eternal or Marie's wish for the Medici to stop, will be granted. Now, I'm not too sure about the characters like Squigly, Dahlia, Eliza, etc (since this is just off the top of my head), but I think it will be a somewhat happy ending. Even in a world of struggles and insanity, there was still something good about it that it was decided that it deserved to keep going.

The world will still be weird, sure, but in keeping with the theme of Skullgirls, there's no "easy way" to fix the world by making a magic wish. The good that exists in the world will continue to grow over time, and good things will still happen just as bad things will.

 

[Corridor89]

Kuroirozuki posted his interview with Alex Ahad online on his twitter

https://twitter.com/x/status/1642550022192656389

not sure if there's a better thread to put this, but w/e

 

[Holy Goose]

Okay, time to bring this thread back

We've been waiting for this.

Did you like Marie's Story Mode?

Personally, I have questions about Filia and Squigly's fates. The story kind of loses them after the first battle.

Nice to finally see Marie making her wish. Nice to see the previous Skullgirls. Nice to see my boy The Skeleton as an important character.
Also, did they retcon Joe the Skeleton into one of the Medici goons that died while protecting Lorenzo in SGM?

From a gameplay point of view, I really like the use of Bloody Marie in the story mode. Heck, that was amazing. Also, nice to see that the predictions about Marie fighting her boss version were true. It was too good not to implement.

 

[Sun]

Okay, time to bring this thread back

We've been waiting for this.

Did you like Marie's Story Mode?

Personally, I have questions about Filia and Squigly's fates. The story kind of loses them after the first battle.

Nice to finally see Marie making her wish. Nice to see the previous Skullgirls. Nice to see my boy The Skeleton as an important character.
Also, did they retcon Joe the Skeleton into one of the Medici goons that died while protecting Lorenzo in SGM?

From a gameplay point of view, I really like the use of Bloody Marie in the story mode. Heck, that was amazing. Also, nice to see that the predictions about Marie fighting her boss version were true. It was too good not to implement.

i thought it was great

Spoiler: spoiler

marie not dying was something i wanted so badly