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1* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
2** Given Sekhmet is Eliza's skeleton, is she still her own person with Sekhmet sparing her brain, just a personality taken up by the Parasite to enjoy herself, or have the years together resulted in a SplitPersonalityMerge?
3** The nature of [[NotQuiteDead Marie's abrupt return]] in TheStinger of Eliza's Story Mode. Given that she's nowhere to be seen directly after Eliza defeated her the first time, [[HeroicSecondWind did she somehow muster up the strength]] to recover while Eliza was pre-occupied with Double or did the Skull Heart revive her in the hopes she'd be able to defeat Eliza?
4* AmericansHateTingle: While it does have its fans there and is not exactly hated per se, the game is not ''exactly popular'' in Latin America, compared with other established fighting game franchises like ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' or ''Franchise/StreetFighter''. This is partly because unlike the aforementioned games, this game is notorious for having a steep learning curve regarding combos, meaning that any useful tactic in those games will definitely ''not'' work here, and partly because it's a console-exclusive game, while most Latin American players are more experienced with arcades.[[note]]This is not exclusive from this game, as practically games with similar playing schemes like Creator/ArcSystemWorks's fighters like ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' and ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' suffer from this as well in that region.[[/note]]
5* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The art direction is amazing, paying homage to old school cartoons with each character having multiple drawn frames with smooth animation. They could've gone with cheaper 3D models, but where's the fun in that?
6* BaseBreakingCharacter: Cerebella is liked thanks to her cute design, fun gameplay that's noted for being much easier than other [[TheGrappler grapplers]] in fighting games before her, and for being one of the nicer members of the [[TheMafia Medici family]]. However, she is also hated because of her strong devotion towards Vitale, who is not only the cruel head of the Medici family, but is also Cerebella's father figure, which makes her devotion come off as an Electra complex, as well as her story mode's ending [[spoiler: where she horrifically crushes Ms. Fortune in order to get the Life Gem back]].
7* BestKnownForTheFanservice: The game has a rather cool art style, a good story for a fighter, some interesting characters with personalities that shows they actually have more depth to them than just their looks, and is an overall fun and solid tournament fighter. Unfortunately, many people who haven't played the game for more than 10 minutes, if at all, often get stuck on what they perceive as blatant fanservice. Though [[FanDisservice this diminishes really fast]].
8* BrokenBase: With the tumultuous development of ''Skullgirls'', the game inevitably attracted its own share of arguments amongst its fanbase as changes rocked the scene.
9** Mike Z's conservative approach to balance patches. Mike believes that you cannot make changes based off a limited amount of play and prefers to let a game grow before he and his team make any balance changes. This obviously appealed to older fans and fighting game veterans who are used to seeing most early [[GameBreaker Game Breakers]] eventually find counters. However, newer players, especially those new to the genre in general, were not so happy with this. Some of those same newer players were also somewhat put off by the influences from ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', specifically on the utility of the assists.
10** Double's Hornet Bomber Assist. Due to a mistake in the game's coding, it had a lot more invincibility frames than it should have, making countering it difficult. There were people already crying out for a nerf on the game's debut, and people who didn't think the assist needed nerfing, and they told those people to learn to deal with it. Either way, though, the move did end up being nerfed.
11** In the end, the game seems to have eventually captured a significant fandom -- but it turned out that not many of the fans actually played fighting games at a high level. So even though it was designed by an experienced FG player for high-level competitive play, it eventually lost most of its tournament exposure. The Xbox 360 version's not being updated to the latest version (for about a year; thankfully, the patch was finally released) further fractured the base, as the online matchmaking for the game is almost completely empty on that platform as a result.
12** Not even the voting for the two DLC characters was immune. When Round 2's survivors were announced, many fans cried foul due to hopefuls like Marie, Umbrella, and Scythana being out-voted by Minette. Beowulf winning the second contest was met with outright revulsion from detractors, who claimed he had the least interesting design of all the male characters and Beowulf didn't make even make it to the top 4 in the first contest's voting. Many fans were not happy at Big Band taking Umbrella's second DLC character spot, especially as she lost in the fan voting soon after. What probably caused the most resentment was Alex Ahad's explanation that it would be impossible to add True Story Mode until Marie, Umbrella, and Black Dahlia were playable characters. You can imagine the rage that erupted when ''none'' of them won, meaning that the mode would never come to pass. [[AuthorsSavingThrow This was alleviated]] when Umbrella, Black Dahlia, and Marie finally made their playable debuts as DLC characters.
13** After it was discovered that a couple of animations involving panty shots were edited, many fans were concerned this was the start of potential censorship in the future. Lab Zero later clarified that these were only edited due to artistic reasons (they felt the original animations were too forced) and no other adjustments of this type would be made. (In addition, some panty shots are still in the game.) After further edits were made in a June 2023 patch, the base was broken even further, especially considering the promise the development team had previously made to not make any further changes of that nature.
14** Legendary FGC player [[MediaNotes/FightingGameCommunity Sonic]][[UsefulNotes/FGCAces Fox]] received the honor of having their avatar/UsefulNotes/{{fur|ryFandom}}sona added into the game where there is a 50/50 chance that they will replace Mrs. Victoria on the Class Notes stage. This has been divisive among both the FGC and the furry community. A mod was promptly made to remove the character.
15* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
16** For the most part, this was fortunately averted early on in the game's life, as you would see many different types of teams and assists being used online, which is likely helped by the fact that the roster was so small at launch. However... get into higher-level play and you would see a whole lot of teams with Double on the end as an anchor. Double had an extremely good assist in her Hornet Bomber move, particularly her Light Kick variation, since it simultaneously acts as a lockdown assist and an invincible assist. Along with that, while she was mostly manageable as a normal point character, she became much scarier when she had a meter to abuse her Bandwagon Rushdown, Nightmare Legion, and Catellite Live supers with. Not to mention, the latter acts as a really good way to bring in Double through a DHC if you keep the opponent blocking. She's been nerfed pretty effectively over the course of the game's lifespan, so it's not like she's unbeatable at this point, but that doesn't stop a lot of people from tacking her on their team even after the game's support initially ended and when it got revived in 2020.
17** Fukua has been the subject of this as well, due to her ability to easily confirm into combos (while simple to do), causing a ton of damage.
18** Big Band is put on many, many teams simply due to his Brass Knuckles and Beat Extend moves being fantastic assists. It doesn't hurt that he's a pretty good character as well, in spite of his massive size. And if it isn't him, it's Cerebella instead. Aside from solo characters, seeing a high-level team without one of the two online is very rare.
19* CompleteMonster: [[TheDon Lorenzo Medici]] is a vain, narcissistic, and power-hungry crime lord who has presided over [[TheMafia the Medici Organization]] for decades, using the mystical Life Gem to become nigh-immortal while harboring ambitions of using [[ArtifactOfDoom the Skull Heart]] to conquer the Canopy Kingdom--if not the entire world. Lorenzo [[VillainWithGoodPublicity poses as a philanthropic businessman]], but is responsible for the Medici Mafia's countless felonies--including torture, murder, HumanTrafficking, and child slavery--while having those who cross him ruthlessly disposed of, even long-time allies and family members. After the Life Gem is stolen, Lorenzo--reduced to a decrepit old man--furiously orders his son/consigliere Vitale, the mass-murdering cyborg Black Dahlia, and the bloodthirsty warlord-turned-diva Eliza to retrieve it and kill anyone who defies him, no matter the collateral damage.
20* CrazyIsCool: Peacock's powers rely on a mix of her love of cartoons and her total insanity. Things like her beartrap teeth, her calling in AnvilOnHead attacks, and her creative and absurd HyperspaceArsenal make her both an incredibly deadly LongRangeFighter, and a stand-out even in a zany CastOfSnowflakes.
21* CreepyAwesome: Double, her being a completely amorphous and voracious BlobMonster doesn't detract fans from her fun playstyle of turning into other characters using moves they never did in-game.
22* CrossoverShip: Peacock/[[WesternAnimation/{{StevenUniverseTheMovie}} Spinel]], either as genuine best friends or VitriolicBestBuds, due to their shared InkblotCartoonStyle and BreakTheCutie characterization.
23* EnsembleDarkHorse:
24** Back when the game was being developed, Peacock drew the most attention for fans by virtue of being the weirdest character -- which is quite an achievement, given what the other characters are like. This is most likely due to her spouting a bunch of [[FountainOfMemes familiar lines]] and [[CrazyIsCool her appearance and fighting style being based on old cartoons.]]
25** [[CuteMonsterGirl Squigly]] was very popular among the fanbase, despite not being in the default roster. When she was added, her popularity was cemented thanks to her fun fighting style, her cute appearance, and her tragic story.
26** [[FishPerson Minette]], a character who was only seen in one picture in the Story Mode Trailer, and whose name was only known at the time by WordOfGod, gained popularity shortly after the trailer went up. And while she didn't become a DLC character, she did manage to make it into the final four of the first voting poll.
27** Panzerfaust, a huge, muscular character with a tank for a fist, and whose name was also only revealed by WordOfGod, who grew in popularity as the possible first playable male character until Big Band was chosen. He was previously part of another game concept by Alex Ahad, but shows up in the background of Parasoul's Story Mode in the same uniform as the rest of her soldiers. A popular Website/YouTube voice actor, General Ivan, recorded some lines for him and sent them to Mike Z. The webcomic boosted his popularity due to his comical nature.
28** Bloody Marie was by far the most requested character for DownloadableContent, according to [[WordOfGod Mike Z]].
29** Stanley Whitefin, also known by the FanNickname "Science Shark." He was apparently designed as a throwaway background character and was actually intended ''to die'' over the course of the story... but fans took a liking to him, and he was even a possible DLC candidate.
30** Big Band, aka [[FanNickname Sax Deka]], was initially another background character with a large following. In fact, he replaced Umbrella as the second DLC character.
31** Adam Kapowski, elite Black Egrets soldier, is well-liked amongst the fandom for his status as a [[TheGenericGuy generic]] DoggedNiceGuy in the crazy setting.
32** Feng, Cerebella's roommate, is well-liked for her [[AnimeChineseGirl cute appearance]] and [[EpicFail humorous backstory]]. She has a surprisingly large amount of fanart.
33* FandomRivalry: With ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' during the charity donation event to decide which game would get into [=EVO=] 2013. Although Melee won, both of the sides seem to have nothing but mutual respect now for being the two highest-raising communities.
34* FanNickname:
35** "[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Bionic Car]]," "Toontown Swag Wagon," or "Drunk Drivin'~" for, "Bandwagon", Double's super move mimicking Peacock. If Republican Double is using it, it's 'REPUBLICAN CAR!'
36** "Republican Double" - Double in her red color palette. Comes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Z03UzBlns this]] video, which later expanded into a sort-of in-joke within the community: "REPUBLICAN DOUBLE FOR DLC!" [[AscendedMeme Thanks to the Indiegogo fundraiser reaching $250,000, it actually became DLC]].
37** "Swag Bag" for Peacock's grab super.
38** "Science Shark" for Dr. Stanley Whitefin, the [[FishPeople Dagonian]] scientist in the background of the Anti-Skullgirl Laboratory stage.
39** "Lunch" for [[EnsembleDarkhorse Minnette]], the [[FishPeople Dagonian]] waitress from Ms. Fortune's story mode.
40** "[[{{Portmanteau}} Doublecock]]" or "Cock and Ass" for a team including Peacock and Double. Quite a popular team, as Double's [[AssKicksYou Hornet Bomber]] assist provides a great way to get into Peacock's keep away game.
41** "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Boob Nurse]]" for Valentine. [[BuxomBeautyStandard No points for guessing why]].
42** Big Band:
43*** "Sax-[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Q]]" for Big Band, referencing both his look and the way that Mike Z wanted him to fight.
44*** Big Band was nicknamed "Detective Sax" by Japanese fans before they found out anything else about him; in a nod to the way names can change in different localisations of a game, the developers actually made that his official name in Japan.
45*** "Big Bad" is another nickname for Big Band, due to people primarily picking him up for his fantastic assists. However, as a result of that, Big Band players are also usually terrible to okay as him, making him dead weight on their teams as a result.
46** "Ass-ist" for Double's [[AssKicksYou Hornet Bomber]] attack, due to its primary use being an assist.
47** Annie's Star Power mechanic got dubbed "Star Install" after [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Sol Badguy's Dragon Install]] due to both serving the same purpose and Annie generally having a very similar moveset and overall playstyle to Sol already, with Star Power specific combos often being referred to as "Install" combos. The mobile game makes this an AscendedMeme, with the Star Power mechanic for her Sol shout-out costume being renamed explicitly ''Dragon Install''.
48* {{Fanon}}:
49** There was a common fan theory that before she swallowed the Life Gem, Ms. Fortune had brown hair. This was a sort of DevelopmentGag, as her [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original design]] sported brown hair instead of her current white.
50*** However, as of ''Skullgirls Mobile'' (which takes place before Ms. Fortune ate the Life Gem), this has been debunked, as Ms. Fortune is seen in the story mode with an appearance very similar to her current design (including the existence of her white hair), yet simultaneously with no signs of being cut up whatsoever on her body.
51** Adam is often [[AmbiguouslyBrown thought to be]] the ''Skullgirls'' universe equivalent of Slavic, due to his grey eyes and Polish last name. In a related vein, he's almost always depicted as a [[TheGenericGuy generic]], [[TheComicallySerious comically serious]] DoggedNiceGuy who gets [[NoRespectGuy no respect]], and has a crush on the clueless Parasoul.
52* FetishRetardant:
53** The stylized anatomy and overly jiggly breasts can have this effect for some people.
54** Double might even be an intentional use of this; her intro animation starts with her appearing as a shapely nun, shortly before she splits in half and turns into a giant flesh monster, not unlike ''Film/TheThing1982''.
55* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' fandom, crossed with FandomRivalry. When a charity event was made to decide which game should go to EVO 2013, ''Melee'' won, but the two fandoms still have respect for each other.
56* GameBreaker: Double used to be one, due to how overpowered she used to be. In short, she had[[note]]Big Band's assists are considered better, along with the move being nerfed[[/note]] the best assist in Hornet Bomber, a broken level ''one'' (now level two ''and'' shortened) super in Catelite Lives, and ''an infinite''. No matter what you needed, your team was automatically better simply by placing Double on it.
57* GeniusBonus:
58** One of Filia's supers is called "Gregor Samson" -- after Gregor Samsa, the main character of the Franz Kafka story ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis'', who wakes up one morning to discover that he's turned into a giant cockroach-like insect.
59** The resident race of FishPeople are called [[Creator/HPLovecraft Dagonians and inhabit the district Little Innsmouth]].
60** The Argus system gets its name from [[Myth/GreekMythology the myth of Argus Panoptes]], the multi-eyed giant whose eyes, after his death, were taken by Hera to adorn the tail of the peacock.
61** Samson is a parasite that replaced Filia's hair ([[{{Pun}} A hairasite]]?), and acts as the source of her strength. Now, who knows what was the source of Samson's strength in Literature/TheBible? Anyone?
62*** Samson's former host was also called Delilah. In the Bible, Delilah was the one who tricked Samson into removing his hair.
63** Everybody knows Peacock's mascot partner is named after Creator/TexAvery. Fewer people notice the Avery Unit is named after his team of animators. Appropriately, it's her weapon system that [[RealityWarper warps reality]] into cartoon logic.
64*** "Avery" also happens to sound like "Aviary," continuing Peacock's bird theming.
65** The Medici Mafia run the city of New Meridian and are the patrons of Cerebella's circus, Beowulf's wrestling arena, and other entertainment. During the Italian Renaissance, the House of Medici ran the city of Florence and were patrons of the arts, though with less [[WorldHalfEmpty horrifying crime]].
66** Black egrets are actual birds that hunt by cupping their wings into makeshift umbrellas.
67** Creator/CirqueDuSoleil has an act named ''Vis (Vice) Versa'' in which one person balances on top of another using remarkable physical strength.
68** Buer is a Goetic demon depicted as a lion's head with five bent goat legs arranged like a spinning wheel. The Buer Drive is a [[FuumaShuriken spinning wheel made of bent blades]]. Painwheel's other synthetic parasite, the Gae Bolga, is named after the Celtic hero [=CuChulainn=]'s spear, that expanded into thirty barbs when it entered a body. Since it's already [[FridgeHorror in her body]], it [[BodyHorror bursts out of her skin]] as multiple spikes.
69** Parasoul's living weapon is [[ParasolOfPain Krieg]] (German for "war"), which she uses in conjunction with a Luger Parabellum pistol. "Parabellum" is derived from the Latin adage ''Si vis pacem, para bellum'' - "If you wish for peace, [[TechnicalPacifist prepare for war]]."
70*** Parabellum is also the name for a type of bullet in real life, the 9x19mm Parabellum round commonly used in most semi-automatic pistols today. To add to this, it was first introduced for the Luger semi-automatic pistol.
71*** For further theming, her snack-obsessed sister's weapon is named Hungern (Swedish for "starvation," but can also mean "famine"). While understandably not named after the German for "famine" (because "Hungersnot" sounds [[{{Narm}} terrible in English]]), they appear to be named after the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse.
72** Eliza's parasite is named Sekhmet after the Myth/{{Egyptian|Mythology}} goddess of war. In the mythology she was known for drinking the blood of her slain foes. Sekhmet was also known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Lady of Slaughter" and "She Who Mauls"]] - both of these titles are referenced in one of Eliza's supers.
73*** You could fill a page with just the [[ShownTheirWork Ancient Egyptian trivia]] squeezed into Eliza. She references a multitude of [[Myth/EgyptianMythology gods]], [[FamouslyMundaneFictionallyMagical relics]], [[CulturedBadass artwork]], and even some [[BilingualBonus hieroglyphs]].
74*** Creator/PercyByssheShelley's poem "Ozymandias" gets referenced twice. The obvious one is Sekhmet paraphrasing, "[[LookOnMyWorksYeMightyAndDespair Look on ye mighty, and despair!]]" The poem being about how "Nothing beside remains" of the Egyptian empire, Sekhmet also [[RageAgainstTheHeavens tears at it]] with, "[[BadassBoast I remain!]]" in her Lady of Slaughter Blockbuster.
75** The triangular marks on Hive's forehead appear to be dorsal ocelli - light sensitive organs of insects for maintaining flight stability especially during high speed maneuvers.
76** Squigly's Shoryuken move is called Draugen Punch. Not only is this a pun, but "draugen" is a type of undead from the Myth/NorseMythology.
77** Squigly can [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom punch opponents across the room]] with Liver Mortis. The body blow's name is already appropriate ("liver death"), but "livor mortis" is also the [[UndeathlyPallor discoloration]] brought on from dying. On top of that, it is a nod to "rigor mortis," the post mortem stiffening of muscles, and is fashioned after Creator/BruceLee's famously rigid [[MegatonPunch one-inch punch]].
78** Eliza referred to Double as Lamia in her tag-in line. Lamia was the queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon and her name was derived from the word "laimos" (Greek for gullet). One of Double's lines before fighting is "Blessed are those that revere Lamia." Also, she refers to the other fighters as "ignorant children" and [[spoiler: consumes the initial cast in her ending]].
79** Common depictions of Pazuzu makes him a MixAndMatchCritter HumanoidAbomination with a serpentine penis. D.Violet's Pazuzu Whip looks like a snake... [[{{Squick}} Hmm]]...
80* SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming: [[http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/b/463593588?&t=3h4m20s According to Mike Z]], being able to have six characters at all on consoles, even with pixelated sprites on occasion, [[http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/b/463593588?&t=3h8m25s is a miracle in and of itself]].
81* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
82** While the game rose in popularity in its native US as more info came out, the game is also very popular in Japan, with a lot of the initial featured fanart being made by Japanese artists, and Uno Makoto (designer for ''Anime/WitchBlade'') had even drawn fanart for ''Skullgirls''. Reverge Labs also noticed this: they planned to release a Japan-exclusive disc (due to Japan's [[AmericansHateTingle dislike of DLC]]) after the first batch of DLC.
83** It drew the attention of Japanese fighting-game producers as well; [[Franchise/StreetFighter Yoshinori Ono]] and [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Daisuke Ishiwatari]] are both on record as saying they were looking forward to the release of ''Skullgirls''. (Ono even [[Website/{{Twitter}} tweeted]] several photos of himself at the ''Skullgirls'' booth at New York Comic Con 2011.)
84** Mike Zaimont (director of the game) also said he was hoping to get an arcade release for the game, with a Japan-focused breakthrough in mind. Things were looking up for that; apparently the game could run on a Taito arcade board. And then it happened, as ''Skullgirls'' got an arcade release in Japan through the NESICA system.
85** Following the game's US release, Microsoft Japan contacted Konami and Reverge Labs because they were overwhelmed by people calling in asking why it wasn't out in Japan yet. Wow. Those fans' prayers were eventually answered - an issue of Famitsu announced that ''Skullgirls'' would be available on the Japanese Playstation Store on Feb. 14, 2013.
86*** Better yet, on its first week, ''Skullgirls'' [[http://shoryuken.com/2013/02/21/skullgirls-currently-the-1-downloadable-playstation-3-title-in-japan/ was the #1 downloadable title in Japan.]]
87** On a smaller level, Japan apparently ''really'' likes Bloody Marie for some reason. Must be the ElegantGothicLolita[=/=]{{Meido}} design motifs or something.
88** For the record, the game's popularity in Japan is pretty unusual for a Western-developed fighting game, since [[HitlerAteSugar other Western fighting games]] since ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' are [[AmericansHateTingle considered jokes there due to their extreme violence and being too photo-realistic]]. The fact that most of the cast are cute anime-style girls might have helped in this respect.
89* GoddamnedBoss: The Skullgirl herself. While Marie can take a lot of punishment and dish it out in spades, most of her attacks are easily avoided provided you play smart. When she's down to the last 10% or so of her health, however, she breaks apart into nothing more than a skull and some bones hovering around the Skull Heart. In this form, she is very hard to hit due to her tiny hitbox that floats out of the reach of most ground-based attacks, and zips back and forth across the arena to avoid you. All the while she's using all of the same attacks she was using in the previous two forms, with the [[GoddamnedBats skulls]] firing in greater numbers. While she's (arguably) not difficult enough to put her in SNKBoss level, she's still very, very irritating to fight.
90* HarsherInHindsight: Lab 0 being the incredibly shady, covert branch of the Anti-Skullgirl Labs and having a BadBoss in the form of Brain Drain is a lot more awkward after 2020, when Creator/LabZeroGames closed down after almost all of the staff left the company, citing a toxic workplace environment perpetuated by [=MikeZ=].
91* HilariousInHindsight:
92** In [[http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/b/404460087 this stream around 44 minutes in,]] someone shoved fanart of Beowulf into the camera (before the official announcement). Shortly afterward, Render declared, "That was not our official announcement; that was just some fan art!" Guess who won the second DLC character vote?
93** An AprilFoolsDay joke in 2012 has ''Skullgals'' announced for the Neo-Geo, a little more than two years later, ''Skullgirls Encore'' was announced for the Platform/PlaystationVita.
94** Beowulf's section of the bios for all the potential DLC characters reads "[His using weapons in battle is] only illegal if there’s a referee." Fast-forward to today, and not only does Beowulf have a personal referee, he is part of his moveset, meaning there ALWAYS is a referee in fights that Beowulf is a part of.
95** [[CharacterizationMarchesOn Baring Parasoul's more abrasive characterization]], [[spoiler:[[https://www.deviantart.com/one-mister-badguy/art/Skullgirls-Sprite-Comic-3-The-Power-of-Friendship-371787164 this one comic]] has Umbrella sneaking away and befriending Carol (simply on the basis that she looks cool) with Carol openly accepting her hospitality. Come Umbrella's story mode, and not only does the same thing happen, but Carol also gets the added bonus of ''finally'' getting her happy ending thanks to her.]]
96** Parasoul at one point says "Winners don't use drugs!". Her English voice actress Erin Fitzgerald would later use the exact same voice for Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacist, in ''Side:Future'' of ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''.
97* HollywoodPudgy: Filia is the "Fat" member of the cast weighing in at 142 pounds (24.4 BMI, 0.6 away from over weight).
98* IAmNotShazam: To those who don't recognize the title as referring to the main antagonist and not the characters. It doesn't help that the demo version featured [[PrehensileHair Filia]] and [[WeaponizedHeadgear Cerebella]] as its two playable characters, both of whom attack using their head. This reached new highs (or lows) when Big Band, the first ''male'' character, debuted.
99* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Due to the game's increasing popularity, many gamers are actually too afraid to try this game since they assume that only fighting game veterans will enjoy it and player killers might overpopulate the multiplayer for any newbies trying to enter the ring. Not helped by [[ThatOneBoss brutal boss Marie]] and [[ThatOneAttack certain attack strategies]] that could crush players really easily.
100* LauncherOfAThousandShips:
101** Filia. Being more or less TheProtagonist, she gets more of this than most of the cast, and ''with'' most of the cast: [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Painwheel]], [[FirstGirlWins Cerebella]], [[{{Friendly Rival}} Squigly]], [[{{Puppeteer Parasite}} Samson]], [[CrackPairing Ms. Fortune]], [[ScrewYourself Fukua]], etc...
102** Beowulf. Even before his DLC was released, he was already being paired with the entire female cast (especially with Eliza, [[HospitalHottie Valentine]] and [[FemaleFelineMaleMutt Ms. Fortune]]) and also some male characters...
103* LGBTFanbase: As one would expect out of a game that has a [[ImprobablyFemaleCast fully female cast]] (not counting DLC), it's rather popular among lesbians and bisexual women.
104** To a lesser but still notable extent Beowulf has caught some gay male eyes. Being just as fanservicey as the females, of legal age, and quite possibly being the least creepy and traumatic character on the roster has caused some to appreciate him as a rare case of all-in male fanservice.
105* LesYay: All-female fighting game. This was inevitable.
106** This little exchange in Ms. Fortune's story mode:
107-->'''Valentine''': Well, well...what have we here? That's quite the body you have there, kitty.\
108'''Ms. Fortune''': ...Er, sorry, creepy lady. [[MistakenForGay I'm not interested]].
109** According to WordOfGod, Valentine is more or less asexual. Despite this, she is said to use her looks to seduce people, which might explain some elements of the ProudBeauty she expresses in-game - in fights predominantly against other women.
110** Seen in Double's ending, [[{{Otaku}} Aeon]] has a Ms. Fortune body pillow.
111** Peacock has a few, [[AccidentalInnuendo likely innocent]] examples of this, probably due to her role as a pastiche of classic cartoons being rather masculine while she herself is a girl. For example, her grab block has her spurt out "Watch the merchandise," she refers to Parasoul as a "dame" in one of her win lines (in a very mocking tone), and one of her opening lines against [[HospitalHottie Valentine]] is a very loud and drawn-out "[[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Hello, nurse]]!" She also smokes a big, fat cigar and likes to sit and watch TV all day.
112** [[http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=44290918 This image]], giving heavy implications of the CrackPairing of Squigly and Eliza, is an [[TheMerch official shirt]] design by Japanese fanartist Moyoosu.
113** The moment Roxie appeared in the webcomic, she gets an interaction with Molly which really came off as the two of them flirting. This of course got many people to start shipping the two of them together instantly.
114** Black Dahlia leads a whole unit of henchwomen in scantily-clad bunny suits, and if the voice lines during her Girl's Night super are anything to go by, she is ''very'' affectionate towards them. She even openly contemplates how Valentine would look in a bunny suit in one of her pre-round intro lines! And that's without even reading into her VillainousFriendship with Eliza.
115* MemeticBadass: Yu-Wan, the owner of the restaurant in Little Innsmouth, thanks to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VDMPwCQSq0 this video]].
116* MemeticLoser: The Skullgirl herself, Marie. For a number of factors such as her remarkable weakness by Skullgirl standards, dying in every single character's Story Mode (with her death going unacknowledged in nearly all of them), frequently getting overshadowed by Double in later story modes, and had to wait nearly a decade after release to be playable as the last character for the Season 1 Pass despite being the final boss and titular character. [[spoiler:Black Dahlia's story takes this to its logical extreme by having Marie be the first character she fights, beats, ''and'' kills, with no one giving her death the time of day, not even by the Skull Heart itself]].
117* MemeticMutation:
118** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Z03UzBlns Republican Double]]
119** Robo-Fortune's became one as well, spawning much fanart after Kimlinh Tran (Fortune's actress) ad-libbed some lines during a stream. ([[http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/b/362778320 As seen here on the 1:13:00 mark]]) And then Robo-Fortune appeared on the game's Indiegogo page....
120*** Both are now [[AscendedMeme Ascended Memes]] (though granted, they were started by the voice actors). Republican Double was announced to be a downloadable voice pack as a reward for hitting $250,000 in the Indiegogo fundraising campaign. Robo-Fortune became a voice pack at $350,000 in the campaign, but this was superseded when a last-minute stretch goal was funded, making Robo-Fortune into a playable character a la [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Robo-Ky]].
121** The weekly [[http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/videos?kind=past_broadcasts Salty Cupcakes]] ''Skullgirls'' livestream has the meme of Mike Z's Sandwich. Really, just sandwiches in general.
122** Umbrella's [[DemotedToExtra Demotion To Extra]] has led to her "Salty Umbrella" portrayal where she looks annoyed, angry, or [[CuteButPsycho psychotic]] with DullEyesOfUnhappiness in fan-art after she fell out of the DLC character race. This meme has now officially died thanks to Umbrella's [[PromotedToPlayable promotion]] as the second character of the season pass.
123** [[ScheduleSlip Two Weeks]] ([[TradeSnark TM]]) [[labelnote: Explanation]]A patch for a game has to be submitted to Sony and Microsoft for testing before it can be released on PSN and XBLA, leading to a two-week long wait period between the developers finishing up and the companies actually finishing up. When this was brought up in regards to [[TroubledProduction the Xbox patch]], the wait ended up being much longer than that, and "Two Weeks" promptly became a mantra for the ''Skullgirls'' community whenever they're waiting on something to release.[[/labelnote]]
124*** Became an AscendedMeme: [[spoiler:Squigly tells Marie and [[BreakingTheFourthWall the audience]] in the beta story mode that they're going to have to wait two weeks for her real story mode to happen. Marie reacts very poorly to being told that]].
125*** Eventually was ascended even further: it's now one of the things that must be typed to maximize Blockbuster damage in ''[[VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead The Typing of the Skullgirls: Encore]]''.
126** Adam, one of the few Black Egrets we see with a face, [[EnsembleDarkhorse gained popularity]] due to his status as TheGenericGuy and is frequently depicted amongst the fandom as a [[TheComicallySerious comically serious]] DoggedNiceGuy.
127** Lab Zero's [[TroubledProduction complete inability to catch a break.]] Fans dubbed it the "''Skullgirls'' curse."
128** "''Skullgirls'' is a dead game." Eventually died off, due to the fanbase being ''very'' dedicated in making it appear at many tournaments long after it was first claimed to be dead, with Combo Breaker being the most popular.
129** Conversely, "the ''Skullgirls'' launch party never ends", referring to how ''Skullgirls'' continuously received attention from its developers and to how its community managed to stay alive and active for so long, despite being a niche indie title. The meme saw a further increase in usage after a DLC season with four new characters was announced nearly a ''decade'' after release.
130** [[CallingYourAttacks "ROLLING!"]] [[labelnote: Explanation]]Annie's j.HP, Rolling Maneuver, quickly became infamous for its [[ThatOneAttack insane crossup and reset potential]]. Its repeated use in the competitive scene combined with Annie's unusually loud yell of "Rolling" whenever the attack comes out swiftly brought the attack up to meme status in the community.[[/labelnote]] It became an AscendedMeme after an April Fools' patch that replaced ''all'' of Annie's voice lines with that specific yell.
131** "Why are you eating ice cream?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]From a [[http://k009.tumblr.com/post/67592032939/saltiness-intensifies fan comic]] where Parasoul asks Umbrella why she's eating ice cream, to which she replies that she does so when she has a bad day, only for Parasoul to reply that she eats ice cream every day, ending with a dismayed smile on Umbrella's face. The comic has been redrawn with other characters from different media, sometimes with ice cream being replaced by a different food or with something else entirely. The original comic received [[https://k009comics.com/post/670791457723006976/update a sequel]] following Umbrella finally being added to the game.[[/labelnote]]
132** "#[=SaveSkullgirls=]" [[labelnote:Explanation]]In 2023, ''Skullgirls: 2nd Encore'' was patched to tone down or outright remove elements deemed problematic, like the Nazi-esque armbands of the Canopy Kingdom's military, the CG of Big Band being violently beaten to the brink of death, certain lines of dialogue, and the "trademark" gratuitous panty shots -- especially from underaged characters. In response, a subset of players began vehemently protesting the move as "[=SJW/woke=]" censorship and demanding the game be returned to its original state or even handed off to a different developer who would do so, managing to get #[=SaveSkullgirls=] trending on Twitter/X on a few occasions.[[/labelnote]]
133* {{Moe}}:
134** [[spoiler:Carol]] is ''[[InvokedTrope actually called this]]'' on her design sheet.
135** Another example [[{{Adorkable}} Filia]] seems to get this treatment among fans. Increases the former's moe factor by having [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica her voice]] by Creator/ChristineMarieCabanos.
136** Minette is a CuteClumsyGirl and a CuteMonsterGirl at the same time, increases her Moe factor.
137** Peacock [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fSXBrySXKw in the Japanese version.]]. Not that [[BadassAdorable she is not in the U.S. version of course.]]
138** Umbrella is tiny, innocent and huggable.
139* MoralEventHorizon: While [[PsychoForHire Black Dahlia]] has done some pretty horrible stuff, [[spoiler: shooting Squigly - [[WouldHurtAChild a 14-year-old girl at the time -]] clean through the head and ''[[KickTheDog mocking her mother about it]]'' really pushes her over the line.]]
140* {{Narm}}: Painwheel's ending is depressing, but the presentation is sort of goofy. [[spoiler:The fact that her parents were able to shout her away with one sentence, and that she didn't even attempt to remove her mask to show them it was her (which she can apparently do according to Valentine's ending) makes it seem like she put no real effort into trying to re-unite with her parents, and goes off to be alone instead.]]
141* NeverLiveItDown: Cerebella will always have trouble living down her story mode's ending, where she [[spoiler:gruesomely kills Ms. Fortune]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil out of love for Vitale]]. Even though her ending is technically non-canon, and the event in question isn't referenced outside of her own story mode, some people still hate her because of it.
142* ObviousBeta: The pre-patch version of the game by Reverge Labs. The Xbox 360 version suffered from this longest due to Microsoft's ''very'' strict file size patching limits, but it was eventually patched months after the [=PlayStation=] 3 version, plus unless you didn't download the required patch, you're stuck with it until you do.
143* OlderThanTheyThink: The game had been in production for years before Mike Z came on board, with several of its cast members created years before even that. Most of the characters thought to be [[{{Expy}} expies]] precede their counterparts. Not that it's easy to tell in a game made of [[ShoutOut references]].
144* ParanoiaFuel: Try to finish Fukua's story mode without wondering if [[spoiler:"Filia" isn't really Fukua after the story's ending and her successfully taking over Filia's body. She likes being Filia, after all.]]
145* PlatonicWritingRomanticReading: Cerebella and Vitale Medici are supposed to have an "aloof father and daddy's girl adopted daughter" feel to their interactions, but in the game, it comes off more as a creepy MayDecemberRomance thing -- especially in Cerebella's ending, where she's shown sitting on Vitale's ''knee'' sharing a glass of champagne in a very tight, slinky dress that the busty girl is almost falling out of. It feels more like Cerebella wants Vitale's ''romantic'' love than his paternal love. Common fanon is that it is romantic, but only on Cerebella's part, with Vitale seeing her only as a daughter. This would of course make Cerebella the resident [[FreudWasRight Electra-complex representative.]]
146* PolishedPort: The PC version of the game is very well done, [[http://www.twitch.tv/eightysixed/b/419785960?t=48m24s having lobbies]], supporting just about any USB controller available, using the extra memory to have all the sprites loaded at once, and updated much more frequently than either console version.
147* PortingDisaster: The Switch version, which was handled by Skybound instead of Lab Zero, launched with a myriad of issues including (but not limited to) voice lines playing at incorrect times (if at all), framerate drops, input lag, large space requirements compared to other versions, using English audio even when the options are set to Japanese, and voice acting not being present during Story Mode. Luckily, a new port of the game was released in 2023, completely replacing the old version, though it still has the issue of the game crashing during Beowulf's story mode (altough still an issue, the devs are aware of it and working on a solution).
148* RefrainFromAssuming: The credits theme is called "In A Moment's Time", not "In ''Just'' A Moment's Time'', as most sources on the Internet have it listed.
149* SacredCow: Among the online-focused part of the MediaNotes/FightingGameCommunity, at least two games get constantly praised because of having a rollback networking code (such as GGPO). They are this game and ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct''. You can barely find any major criticism of these games online.
150* {{Shipping}}: Fans of LesYay are very happy with this game:
151** The most prominent is Filia/Painwheel. [[spoiler:Happens because of Filia wishing for Painwheel having a normal life, sacrificing her chance of getting her memories back. Also, Carol is really cute.]]
152** [[spoiler: Fans also seem to like Patricia/Marie ToyShip. Their [[TearJerker backstory]] is the reason for Marie's wish, and Peacock is willing to forgive and save her until the very end.]]
153** Some {{Fanon}} interpretations pair up [[FoeYayShipping Cerebella with Ms. Fortune, and Parasoul with Valentine]], conveniently ignoring the Canon that [[spoiler: Cerebella is willing to crush Fortune into another [[MacGuffin Life Gem]] in her ending (although [[WasItReallyWorthIt her regrets afterward]] shed some sympathy), and Valentine is part of the TerribleTrio that wishes to make Parasoul's little sister Umbrella [[HumanoidAbomination a Skullgirl]]]].
154*** It should be mentioned that Parasoul's and Valentine's voice actors [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Bhcp4Aa7w did some videos]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edOuz6xSPT8 where the two characters display]] LesYay.
155--->''"Suddenly there's going to be a million new pictu - {{yuri}} pictures of these two popping up on the internet after this."''
156** Valentine and Painwheel also see a lot of pairing up. [[spoiler:This could possibly because in Valentine's ending, it turned out that in a way, she was looking out for Painwheel, wishing herself to be a Skullgirl so Painwheel could be the one to destroy her and the Skull Heart.]]
157** Feng x Cerebella has been rising in popularity as well, though WordOfGod is that Feng doesn't have romantic feelings for Cerebella at all.
158** Ms. Fortune x Minnette also pretty fairly popular, given thanks for their OddFriendship.
159** Squigly x Filia, based on their {{Friendly Rival}}ry (even though their {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s don't approve), their tag-team battle against [[spoiler: Double]] and ''especially'' in the BittersweetEnding [[spoiler: where Filia gives Squigly a proper burial, and carved a very heartwarming epitaph on the headstone.]]
160** Filia x Cerebella is also prominent, [[FirstGirlWins mostly for being the first two girls shown]], but also Cerebella's cryptic win quote implying that she knew Filia before her memory loss.
161** A rare het ship; since the addition of Big Band to the playable roster, and him calling in Leduc to extract Painwheel after Band beats her, Leduc x Carol is fast becoming a popular ship. Strangely, no one ships Big Band x Ileum, despite them being the shared ParentalSubstitute for Lab 8's RagtagBunchOfMisfits.
162*** Before the release of Big Band, many supported the ship of Big Band x Illeum, for being TeamDad and TeamMom for obvious reasons.
163** Some people are shipping [[ScrewYourself Filia x Fukua]] as well, although Fukua's interest in Filia [[{{Squick}} is very creepy]], [[FoeYayShipping she wants to be Filia]] and [[AngelDevilShipping she wants to]] [[NightmareFuel have her face]]...
164** Cerebella x Beowulf is somewhat popular due to a pre-release Beowulf picture of Beowulf signing Vice Versa [[https://mobile.twitter.com/sgmobile/status/888489031364890625 and the caption being: To My Biggest Fan]]. Needless, it's very common for Cerebella to have a CrushBlush in fanart.
165* SpiritualLicensee:
166** One of the few modern games considered to be a worthy successor to ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}''. It was also considered the closest there was to a fourth ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' installment until the ''actual'' [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite fourth installment]] was announced (and, in fact, is the most popular ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' {{expy}} [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff in Japan]]).
167** Also one for ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' and ''Franchise/BlazBlue'', though with the addition of 'Capcom Vs'-style team mechanics.
168* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
169** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clecIMqEuMY opening soundtrack piece]]'s melody is quite reminiscent of ''Franchise/TouhouProject''[='=]s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12AHLzW4kks&t=39s Satori Maiden ~ 3rd eye]]". Fans humorously compare the two games, as they both involve cute girls beating the heck out of each other.
170** "Satori Maiden" is itself a suspiciously similar song to ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAAjTI0ewio&t=26s She said, 'Don't make others suffer for your personal hatred']]." Given it plays over a flying [[{{Oculothorax}} eye monster]] attacking a city, you could argue Sahaquiel, Satori, and Marie form their own musical and thematic trinity.
171* ShockingMoments:
172** Squigly's Story Mode. [[spoiler: When Marie throws half of a building at the beginning of the story you know that shit just got real.]]
173** Eliza's story mode still manages to top it. [[spoiler:The moment she straight up ''kills Cerebella'' is the moment things take an [[NightmareFuel incredibly dark turn...]]]]
174* ThatOneAttack: Double's Catellite Lives super. What it does is essentially keep you in permanent lockdown for the entire duration of the move, allowing your opponent to mix you up in any way they see fit. If you end up getting hit, which you likely will, you end up in a combo... which leads to the person gaining meter, performing Catellite Lives AGAIN, and repeating the process until you're dead. The only way to defend against it is to either block the entire thing or perform a really difficult technique known as pushblock guard cancelling in the middle of blocking the super and ''hope'' that it manages to hit Double so you can break free.
175** Fortunately the move was [[{{Nerf}} nerfed]] in the Squigly patch -- it now costs ''two'' meters to use, meaning it can't be used continuously as it used to be, and you can't cheat the system and just mash the macro buttons so you don't accidentally throw out an attack anymore.
176* ThatOneBoss:
177** Marie. She's immune to hitstun, spits out attacks like crazy, and has a hitbox the size of a peanut in her final form. She is also [[NoSell totally immune]] to anything involving a grapple, making her even harder for the characters that rely on powerful grabs.
178** Filia when fought as Fukua's final boss. She is automatically set to Nightmare difficulty, has 3 times normal health, and starts with 5 charges in her super meter. ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Good luck.]]''
179* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The June 2023 update was met with considerable backlash (up to and including review bombing on Steam) for perceived censorship -- specifically to certain fanservice elements[[note]]e.g.: Changing Filia's underwear color from white to black and removing a CG where a middle-aged man visibly gropes her from her story mode.[[/note]] and to certain politically-sensitive design aspects[[note]]Most notably removing the [[PuttingOnTheReich red armbands]] from the Black Egrets and a few alt Parasoul palettes, heavily editing the flashback CG in Big Band's story mode where he's beaten to near death by {{Corrupt Cop}}s to no longer show the full aftermath, changing concept art included in the artbook, and removing the Soviet Announcer from the "Real Soviet Damage Voice Pack" despite it being a backer goal.[[/note]], which also resulted in several guest fanarts being removed for incorporating the former two mentioned. This isn't the first time the game's developers have caught flak for a wave of design edits seen to be 'toning down' a game BestKnownForTheFanservice.
180* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
181** Despite having a pre-existing emotional connection with Annie in his own story mode, Beowulf only appears once in Annie's own story mode route as an opponent, where he could've given a similar "YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre" she gave him when he was at his lowest.
182** Valentine and Double makes no physical appearances in either Umbrella's or Black Dalia's stories. [[spoiler:Umbrella's case is especially confusing, considering the former has the most personal stake in Painwheel's existence, so she should've known that she was able to break free from Brain Drain's commands with Umbrella's help, and the latter showed explicit interest in her Skullgirl abilities way back in Parasoul's story, meaning there was simply no reason why any of them wouldn't show up. Meanwhile, Black Dalia starts her story by outright ''killing'' Marie in her first fight, which again begs the question of ''why didn't Valentine or Double know about this despite being her CoDragons'']].
183* UglyCute: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIRYpV1_JfY Mike Z described Double as this in this video]].
184* TheWoobie:
185** Painwheel. [[spoiler: Originally a normal school girl, she was kidnapped by the Medicis and later experimented on by Brain Drain and Valentine into becoming the monster she is now. Even her story ending doesn't bode well for her since when she was able to see her parents again, they did not see their daughter. All they saw was a monster, presumably trying to kill them, and forced her out. Driven by that despair, Painwheel regretfully returns to Brain Drain]].
186** Peacock. [[spoiler: Before her augmentations, she was a slave that was abused by the Medicis to the point of being mutilated completely, especially her eyes getting gouged out. Once Dr. Avian found her, he was able to restore her into becoming who she is today. However, when the Skullgirl attacked Lab 8, Peacock found Avian dying from his injuries, losing the person she looked up to. Even worse is when she found out that the Skullgirl in question was actually Marie, her one friend that she had while enslaved]].

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