What is the Skullheart and how does it give the Skullgirls power?

[b0nk]

Someone please explain this to me. I really have no clue and would like to know.

 

[juju_for_president]

http://skullgirls.wikia.com/wiki/Skull_Heart

Short answer: the Skull Heart is a macguffin that grants the wish of a girl. If the wisher is not pure of heart, the wish will be corrupted, the wisher becomes the Skullgirl, and the Skull Heart forces the Skullgirl to kill everyone.

Sort of like a really, really, REALLY evil monkey's paw :)

 

[b0nk]

Alright, thanks!

 

[Colossi]

What's a pure wish? Because I can't imagine many things more pure than Filia's wish.

 

[TheMightyBox]

What's a pure wish? Because I can't imagine many things more pure than Filia's wish.

I think at one point Alex said that no wish could ever be pure because the very concept of wishing for something involves some kind of greed.
Or something.

The point is, there's no such thing, it's probably a loophole the Skull Heart uses to get people to try it.

 

[Colossi]

we deep now
That's what I thought. There's no true altruism in the world. Everything you do is because it makes you happy, be it world peace or taking a bullet to the chest for another person. Even though it may look like something altruistic, it's not. Everything the human being does has the objective of feeling well, even if it means dying.

 

[Denizen]

The question of the thread has been answered, there's no need for us to get all philosophical now, especially when what I've heard so far is totally wrong.

Start a new thread if you all want to flap gums about this subject.

 

[TheMightyBox]

Completely wrong?!?
Granted I don't remember the source specifically, but The Canon Info thread agrees with me.

 

[Denizen]

Completely wrong?!?
Granted I don't remember the source specifically, but The Canon Info thread agrees with me.

Oh no not you, your information is correct.

 

[b0nk]

dying

 

[LKArtillery]

I know it's been said already about the loophole and stuff, but I feel the need to mention that I found it interesting exactly what Alex said, and that's that "wishing is an inherently selfish act".

It would seem that the Skull Heart simply holds everyone to completely and utterly unreasonable standards, so even the purest of Disney princesses making the most innocent and selfless wish of all would become the Skullgirl regardless, because the very act in and of itself is considered selfish.

I would assume even a wish like "bearing the unhappiness of everyone else in the world on your own shoulders" or something that would similarly bring nothing but negative results to the user would be interpreted as selfish, too. Even if the "wish" has only the slightest modicum--a mere atom--of something that isn't complete and utter altruism in it, nope. You gonna get Skullgirl'd.

I mean, look at Filia. The Heart made her turn into the Skullgirl because she maybe felt like she might have done something bad. That vaguely guilty feeling might not have even been real and she still had to be the Skullgirl.

The weirdest thing to me is that selfishness is not in and of itself a bad thing--it's okay to want or need things for yourself. Maslow's hierarchy of needs in action, you know? It's just selfishness in excess that gets to be a problem.

So it would seem that the Skull Heart's goals are completely bonkers, really. I mean, it's a bit hypocritical of the thing to go judging people for wanting stuff, then turn around and try to kill all mankind every seven years! What's with that, huh? >:P

On another note, it's been speculated that the Heart may have properties similar to a Parasite--it's sentient, bonds with its host, and has Theonite in it. Food for thought.

 

[Cellsai]

The question of the thread has been answered, there's no need for us to get all philosophical now, especially when what I've heard so far is totally wrong.
Start a new thread if you all want to flap gums about this subject.

Cool your jets there, good sir. This thread is a fine place for this discussion as far as I'm concerned. General concepts of the Skullheart sprang naturally out of that question. If needs be I can change the thread title, but I don't see that it needs that just yet. (And besides, we don't know what the Skullheart is, so that first question has not been answered. It has been theorized, which is very open to discussion.)

One thing that has bugged me a little about the Skullheart is how the selfishness of the wish is reflected in the speed/power of the resulting Skullgirl.
Squigly's mother was transformed instantly and was immediately able to summon hordes of the undead, whereas Filia is said to have a slow transformation based on how selfless her wish was.

Alos, how does the 7 year cycle affect that sort of thing? If Marie is killed on the first year of her term as Skullgirl and someone immediately makes a really selfish wish, will she immediately become the Skullgirl and break the cycle?

 

[LKArtillery]

Cool your jets there, good sir. This thread is a fine place for this discussion as far as I'm concerned. General concepts of the Skullheart sprang naturally out of that question. If needs be I can change the thread title, but I don't see that it needs that just yet. (And besides, we don't know what the Skullheart is, so that first question has not been answered. It has been theorized, which is very open to discussion.)

One thing that has bugged me a little about the Skullheart is how the selfishness of the wish is reflected in the speed/power of the resulting Skullgirl.
Squigly's mother was transformed instantly and was immediately able to summon hordes of the undead, whereas Filia is said to have a slow transformation based on how selfless her wish was.

Alos, how does the 7 year cycle affect that sort of thing? If Marie is killed on the first year of her term as Skullgirl and someone immediately makes a really selfish wish, will she immediately become the Skullgirl and break the cycle?

I think that last one can be answered by noting that it's the Skull Heart that specifically only reappears every 7 years. The Skullgirl showing up is just a natural result of that; Double always ensures there's some girl desperate enough to use the thing.

So.. my general theory is this:

Every seven years, the Skull Heart appears for the span of one year. If for some reason it isn't used within the span of that year, it disappears on its own. If it is destroyed, it won't reappear for another 7 years. However, if only the Skullgirl hosting it and not the Heart itself is destroyed, it's possible to use it to make a wish. So, theoretically, the Skull Heart could be used over and over again within the span of that one-year period.

The intent and "selfishness" of a wish affects the rate at which the user transforms into the Skullgirl. It can be instant, like with Selene and Valentine in her storymode. Or it could take a longer amount of time--Filia's storymode seemed to imply it had been at least some number of days and Filia hadn't turned yet. Also consider Queen Nancy, who was able to successfully carry Umbrella to term and give birth before she turned. That could very well have been several months.

As for "breaking" the cycle: It's possible for a Skullgirl to continue "living" (insofar as she is undead) past the span of the year. It's not as though she'll just spontaneously explode on 12 AM New Years' Day or anything. However, if she is defeated past that point, then then Skull Heart will go up in flames with her, rendered unusable by the rules on which it operates. It'll then reappear 7 years after the last time it had appeared, continuing the cycle as normal.

That's how I have it figured so far, at least...?

 

[Denizen]

Cool your jets there, good sir. This thread is a fine place for this discussion as far as I'm concerned. General concepts of the Skullheart sprang naturally out of that question.

Sorry I was just really pissed off at what Colossi said, which actually was off-topic in a way. I totally support speculation about the Skull Heart, I was just trying to keep the thread from derailing into a discussion about misguided ethics. Also I wasn't sure if the original poster was asking for intense speculation about the nature of the Skull Heart, or only what its general function is. That's a question that new Skullgirls fans may tend to ask so in a way I considered it answered. If this thread is going down that path then I support it wholeheartedly.

 

[Colossi]

However, if she is defeated past that point, then then Skull Heart will go up in flames with her, rendered unusable by the rules on which it operates. It'll then reappear 7 years after the last time it had appeared, continuing the cycle as normal.

What if she's not defeated? I mean, I don't know much about canon, but are there limits to the wish the person can make, like... you know... asking to be an invincible skullgirl?

Spoiler: Off-topic - @ Denizen

Why would it be considered thread derailing if the main subject was already answered? I just wanted to make the thread more useful instead of creating another new thread, but that's not the topic and let's forget about it.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

I think Alex's wording when he answered the Skull Heart 7-year question was important as well. He said something along the line of "there is a Skullgirl event every 7 years", which may not necessarily mean that there is a single Skullgirl created every 7 years. The answer to this seems to be intentionally vague.

Also keep in mind that there are sentient agents acting behind the scene with respect to the Skull Heart as well, so they could be intentionally influencing events so as to create a Skullgirl event every 7 years, perhaps for some sort of ritualistic or other reasons.

 

[Bitt_Player]

I know it's been said already about the loophole and stuff, but I feel the need to mention that I found it interesting exactly what Alex said, and that's that "wishing is an inherently selfish act".

It would seem that the Skull Heart simply holds everyone to completely and utterly unreasonable standards, so even the purest of Disney princesses making the most innocent and selfless wish of all would become the Skullgirl regardless, because the very act in and of itself is considered selfish.

I would assume even a wish like "bearing the unhappiness of everyone else in the world on your own shoulders" or something that would similarly bring nothing but negative results to the user would be interpreted as selfish, too. Even if the "wish" has only the slightest modicum--a mere atom--of something that isn't complete and utter altruism in it, nope. You gonna get Skullgirl'd.

I mean, look at Filia. The Heart made her turn into the Skullgirl because she maybe felt like she might have done something bad. That vaguely guilty feeling might not have even been real and she still had to be the Skullgirl.

The weirdest thing to me is that selfishness is not in and of itself a bad thing--it's okay to want or need things for yourself. Maslow's hierarchy of needs in action, you know? It's just selfishness in excess that gets to be a problem.

So it would seem that the Skull Heart's goals are completely bonkers, really. I mean, it's a bit hypocritical of the thing to go judging people for wanting stuff, then turn around and try to kill all mankind every seven years! What's with that, huh? >:P

I'm under the impression that the Skull Heart is a malevolent entity. It wants to turn the wisher into a Skullgirl, but like all inexplicable magic whatzits, the Skull Heart has its own rules which it must obey. Its unreasonable and even absurd standards for defining "impure intentions" are its excuse to turn even the sweetest and kindest woman you could imagine into the Skullgirl if she makes a wish on it.