Characters from the puzzle-platformer, Skully.
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The siblings (L - R: Fiona, Wanda, Terry, Brent)
Front:Skully
Back, L - R: Strong Silent, Fleet Footer and Jolly Jumper
Back, L - R: Strong Silent, Fleet Footer and Jolly Jumper
Skully
Silent as a skull.
The Player Character, a sentient skull bestowed life by Terry. Gaining the ability to roll around and transform into various golems by immersing in clay pools, Skully tags along behind it's new master, Terry (not that it has any other choice) to unite Terry's three siblings - Wanda the Water elemental, Brent the Wind elemental and Fiona the Fire elemental - to prevent a potential apocalypse.
- Animate Inanimate Object: An animated, sentient skull who moves by rolling around.
- Back to Base Form: After spending the whole game as various powerful golem forms, Skully's final stage sees it battling Terry in it's default skull form.
- A Dog Named "Dog": A skull named "Skully". Huh.
- Everyone Has Standards: Skully immediately refuse to serve Terry the moment it sees Terry betray his siblings and seal them in his jar.
- Friendly Skeleton: Skully is a friendly animated skull.
- Golem: By entering magical clay pools, Skully can transform into one of three golem types of it's choice - a muscular Strong Golem, a Jolly Jumper Golem who can leap twice in the air, and a Fleet Footer who moves really fast.
- The Hero Dies: Technically, Skully's Dead to Begin With (being a skull and all that) but it sacrifices itself one last time at the end to stop the elemental siblings' feud for good.
- Heroic Mime: Justified due to being a skull. Though Skully's golem forms can occasionally grunt.
- Heroic Sacrifice: By using itself, as a skull, to seal the Sacret Heart in the end. It's sacrifice is enough to make Terry realize the errors of his ways, and the other remaining siblings to regret their quarrels.
- Once for Yes, Twice for No: Skully's main method of communication with Terry, either by nodding or hopping up and down.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As a tiny, rolling skull, Skully can somehow defeat the empowered Terry by rolling real hard.
- Rolling Attack: In it's default skull form, Skully's sole attack is by rolling itself at maximum speed and colliding with targets. The final stage sees it attacking Terry's vase using this method.
- Silent Snarker: Doesn't speak, but Skully's non-verbal expressions (nodding, hopping around, tilting its head) at Terry's screw-ups can be felt in cutscenes.
- The Speechless: Unfortunately, Terry didn't give Skully any vocal chords when bringing it to life, a fact he seems to forget about during cutscenes.Terry: My name's Terry! And you are? Ahh, I'll just call you Skully.
- Super Drowning Skills: Justified - Skully is powered by magical clay, and upon contact with water it reverts to a normal skull. Its golem forms are slightly more resistant to water damage, but it's still best to flee from moisture.
The Golems
Golems
Tropes regarding the trio in General:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: All of Skully's Golem forms, just because.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Skully's golem forms, the Strong Golem who's the largest, the tall and lanky Jolly Jumper, and the diminutive Fleet Footer, in that order.
- Golem: What else are you expecting?
- Multiform Balance: Skully's three golem forms, which are respectively the Mighty Glacier Strong Golem, Fragile Speedster Fleet Footer and the Jolly Jumper which is somewhere in-between.
- Next Tier Power-Up: The orders they're added to Skully's roster. From large and smooth, to small and jagged, and then lean and light.
Strong Silent
You look big now! And strong! Strong and... slow. But strong is good!
The first form Skully obtains, resembling a clay giant with oversized fists. It's also the main form Skully uses for around the first quarter of gameplay until finding Fleet Footer later on.
- The Big Guy: Larger than the other two forms combined, though to be fair Fleet Footer is quite a dinky golem.
- Boring, but Practical: Strong Golem doesn't have the Mind over Matter abilities of the other two, is slowest in speed, and can't jump as far compared to later forms, but it's highly-durable and the only form actually capable of pummeling enemies. Without the basic Strong Golem form, Wanda and Brent would be a Hopeless Boss Fight.
- Dishing Out Dirt: The Strong Golem allows Skully to send seismic shockwaves at enemies, and is the only attack-based golem - the other two are based on defense.
- Fastball Special: One of the last abilities obtained by the Strong Golem allows the Golem to spit Skully out and throw itself as a projectile, a very useful trick to cover long distances in later stages.
- Made of Iron: Skully's most durable golem form, though Strong Silent isn't entirely invincible.
- Mighty Glacier: Skully's Strong Golem form can shatter walls, create seismic shockwaves and is the most durable of the trio, but happens to be the slowest.
- Perpetual Frowner: For some odd reason, the Strong Golem is never smiling.
- Plant Hair: The Strong Golem has grass for hair.
- Super-Strength: The Strong Golem form can break walls with it's fists and collapse tall stone slabs to create bridges. It's the strongest of the Golem trio (as if the name isn't clear enough).
- Top-Heavy Guy: Strong Silent's legs are roughly the same size as its fellow golem brethren, despite it's massive upper body.
Fleet Footer
Wow! Look at what I did! You look quick! And... and what's that magic coming from your arms? Let's see what it does!
Skully's second golem form, a short, midget-like golem with increased speed. It was appropriately introduced when the game starts throwing more platforming elements.
- Fragile Speedster: Fastest, but not as durable as the other two forms.
- Horned Humanoid: Has a number of small, spiky horns on it's head.
- Mind over Matter: The Fleet Footer can move platforms with it's mind, allowing Skully to create a path across lakes. Though it can only use this ability for puzzle solving, not for attacking enemies.
- Super-Speed: Is the fastest of the three golems, even leaving behind a visible trail of smoke when running.
Jolly Jumper
Hey, look at you! You've got a real spring in your step now!
The third and last Golem form, a skinny, lanky lightweight golem who can leap in mid-air. Oddly enough, it's unlocked roughly half an hour after Fleet Footer, compared to Strong Silent who dominates the first quarter.
- Double Jump: The appropriately named Jolly Jumper Golem can leap twice while in mid-air. If timed perfectly and with enough distance, Skully can even control it to cover wide chasms In a Single Bound.
- Horned Humanoid: It has two antler-like branches on it's head.
- Mind over Matter: Like the Fleet Footer, Jolly Jumper can move platforms with it's mind, this time by levitating them upwards and downwards. Again, it's a puzzle-solving exclusive, it can't be used for attacking.
- Next Tier Power-Up: Was obtained over halfway into the game, where Jolly Jumper's abilities is compulsory for Skully to scale otherwise unreachable platforms.
- Plant Hair: The leaves growing all over Jolly Jumper's "horns" certainly looks like scraggly hair.
Terry, the Earth Elemental
Haha! It worked! Look at you! You're... wait, where's the rest of you?
The absent-minded Master of Earth who brought Skully to life, albeit one who isn't very good at his job since his revival ritual results in bestowing sentience to a... little skull. He's on a quest to seek his younger brother and sisters, three other squabbling elementals whose feud threatens the world, but there's far more to him than it appears.
- All Your Powers Combined: Owing to consuming the life essences of Brent, Wanda and Fiona, he gains Playing with Fire, Making a Splash and Blow You Away abilities when Skully eventually faces him in the concluding chapter.
- Berserk Button: Don't call Skully his "pet".Wanda: I'll wash away you and that pet you brought, soon enough.
Terry: Yeah, YOU DO THAT. And Skully's my FRIEND, not a pet, try to be considerate for once! - Beware the Silly Ones: He's the bumbling oldest elemental brother who's often the butt of many jokes coming from his younger siblings, but guess who eventually swallows all the elementals and becomes the game's penultimate threat?
- Bullying a Dragon: Really, his three elemental siblings should've known better than to continue pissing Terry off after he had them sealed in his jar.Terry: [failing to unlock the Sacred Heart's chamber] ARRRRGGGHH!!! ARRRRRRGHHHH!!!... GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
Wanda: Keep going Terry! Maybe it'll work the twelfth time you hit it!
Brent: He's trying really hard and getting absolutely nowhere!
Fiona: Literally banging his head against a wall...
Terry: Shut up! All of you!
Wanda: This is his most clever plan yet!
Brent: He's so smart!
Fiona: Very smart!
Wanda: Really, really smart!
Terry: That's ENOUGH!
[devours all three of them in frustrtation] - Butt-Monkey: He doesn't have the best of luck, from having his siblings blasting him off mid-sentence to getting tossed off cliffs by Brent, drenched by Wanda's tidal wave (thrice!), and having Fiona randomly deciding to incinerate him.
- Creating Life: He's the one who gave life to Skully, the player character, after all.
- Despair Event Horizon: He finally lose it when his siblings destroy their mother's statue. And realize he's lost everything - even Skully, who then turns into a Strong Golem and charges at him.Terry: Fine. I'm done listening to you anyway. But there's good news. You get to come with me!
[sucks Wanda, Brent and Fiona into his vase] - Disappointing Older Sibling: How all the other siblings sees Terry, and they're not afraid to say it aloud to his face. The only one who shows some minor degree of respect at Terry is fellow brother Brent, but even then Brent is obviously trolling him.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Befitting an earth elemental, he can create earthquakes and send rock spikes as an attack. He will keep doing this in his final boss battle.
- Elemental Personalities: As the sole earth elemental, Terry is the firm, grounded brother who wants his siblings to stop their fighting.
- Genre Savvy: Fought as a boss, Terry purposely shrinks all clay pools preventing Skully from accessing any golem forms, forcing Skully to battle as a rolling skull.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: Terry spends the whole boss battle fleeing from Skully, siccing various elemental attacks to slow Skully down. Skully needs to catch up with Terry and damage his magic vase, thrice, in order to release the other elementals.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Have these when fought as a boss, constantly crackling with electricity.
- Heel Realization: Upon being defeated by Skully and losing his elemental powers, and then realizing his "pet", Skully, is willing to sacrifice itself at the end.
- Karmic Shunning: The moment Terry betrays his siblings by sealing all three of them in his magic jar leads to Skully - supposedly Terry's Only Friend - severing ties with him.Terry: At least I've got you, Skully. Come on.[Skully shakes it's head]Terry: I said come on! Let's go![Skully quietly slinks into a clay pool and starts turning into a Strong Golem, making a move at Terry in a threatening manner]Terry: You... you think I'm the bad guy here? I DON'T WANT ANY OF THIS! FINE!
- Meaningful Name: His name, Terry might sound totally random, until you realize it's derived from "Terra" - Latin for "Earth".
- My God, What Have I Done?: He instantly regrets it the moment he sees Skully giving up it's remaining lifespan to seal the Heart.Terry: Skully, what are you doing? Hop out of there! COME ON! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!
- Never My Fault: Played for Laughs when he blames Skully for attracting Wanda's attention... despite Skully being a silent skull.Terry: You must've been too loud!
- The One Who Wears Shoes: He wears boots in all his forms, even though you'd think the earth-based elemental would prefer to be closer to the ground. His sisters Wanda and Fiona on the other hand are barefoot the whole time, while his brother Brent doesn't have feet.
- Only Friend: Sees Skully as his last, actual companion, after deciding to absorb all his siblings into his vase. Unfortunately it was followed by Skully's betrayal.Terry: At least I've got you, Skully. Come on.
[Skully shakes it's head]
Terry: I said come on! Let's go!
[Skully quietly slinks into a clay pool and starts turning into a Strong Golem]
Terry: You... you think I'm the bad guy here? I DON'T WANT ANY OF THIS! FINE! - Plant Hair: Terry has leaves for hair, and a grassy beard for good measure.
- Power Floats: He can float everywhere he goes in the final battle, thanks to absorbing Brent's powers.
- Rage Breaking Point: When he sees the statue of Mother Earth - that he built with his three siblings, the last thing they did as a family before the schism - destroyed by the unstoppable duel between Wanda, Brent and Fiona.Terry: Our mother. OUR MOTHER! THIS IS WHAT WAS LEFT. ALL WE HAD LEFT!!! AND YOU SELFISH IDIOTS DESTROYED IT!!
[all three siblings continues arguing]
Terry: SHUT.... UP!!! - This Is Gonna Suck: Terry's reaction in the final battle, when Skully managed to make him drop his vase.Terry: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO... oh, great.
[Wanda, Brent and Fiona escapes] - Walking Shirtless Scene: He spends the whole game sans shirt, though with pants and boots.
- Weapons That Suck: Wields a magic clay vase that can absorb other magical beings, seemingly lifted from Journey to the West. He imprisons his sister Wanda using said vase after she refuses to co-operate, and later does the same to all three younger siblings.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: When it's clear that his siblings will never stop their fight, Terry decides to have them all imprisoned in his vase and absorb the Life Heart in the planet's core to rule all by himself.
Wanda, the Water Elemental
My favourite part was when you commented on my... how did you put it? *Stupid*, *idiotic* waterfall?
The youngest of the four elementals, Wanda controls the island's water and opposes Terry directly, being her brother's worst rival since young (despite Terry repeatedly denying so). She's the first boss in-game.
- Beam-O-War: Wanda unleashes a bolt of watery projectiles when Fiona tries vaporizing her with flames.
- Berserk Button: Do NOT pollute her waterfalls. Or badmouth the quality of the water in her lair.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy: It begs to question why there are conveniently-placed clay pools in her lair where she's fought, which allows Skully to gain powerful golem forms to counter Wanda's attacks. Especially how she explicitly states her hatred for dirt in the pre-battle cutscene.
- Deadpan Snarker: She tends to be quite the snarker compared to all her siblings.Wanda: [realizing Terry and Skully has pissed off Fiona, who's about to roast them] Just let me know when we've all burnt into a crisp.
- Designated Girl Fight: When forming a momentary alliance with Terry and Skully to take down Brent and Fiona, Wanda's main opponent is her sister, Fiona.
- Elemental Hair Composition: Her long hair is made of flowing water.
- Enemy Mine: Forms a temporary one with Terry and Skully when Brent and Fiona are revealed to be working together. The succeeding boss battle sees Wanda taking on Fiona as Skully battles Brent. She ditches her alliance almost instantly once the battle's over.
- Magical Barefooter: She's a water elemental who forgoes shoes. Her fiery sister Fiona follows this trope, but not her brothers.
- Making a Splash: Wanda can summon watery projectiles and use them to pummel Terry and Skully. She can even overpower her fire-based older sister, Fiona, with her water.
- Mook Maker: She creates the massive amount of sentient water-blobs that menaces Skully throughout the game's earlier parts.
- Right Behind Me: Gives Skully and Terry one hell of a scare in her debut.Terry: We're getting close. She couldd be anywhere around here so you really got to keep your voice down. Knowing her as well as I do, she has no idea we're...
Wanda: Yeah, I'm right here.
Terry: WHAT - - Sealed Evil in a Can: Was sucked into Terry's magic vase at the conclusion of her boss fight, after she refuse to listen to him. She can still communicate with Terry and Skully during gameplay though, and when Terry discover his two other siblings, Brent and Fiona, had joined forces, he have no choice but to release Wanda for an Enemy Mine.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The exact opposite of Terry in attitude, which is quite fitting considering their water-earth temperament.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: Combined with Boss-Arena Idiocy, Wanda is unreachable for the entirety of her boss battle, and she's defeated when Skully managed to trick her into overloading her powers causing her arena to collapse, taking her with it.
- Water Is Womanly: She's a lady water elemental, and is more feminine compared to the fiery Fiona.
- Weather Manipulation: One stage sees Wanda summoning a rain to dissolve Skully, requiring it to outrun at maximum speed.
Brent, the Air Elemental
Before we begin, I need you to do me a favor. Just move a bit to your right. No no no not far enough, just a little more...
An air elemental who controls the wind, Brent talks as fast as the breeze and unlike his sisters, doesn't openly go against Terry's desires to bring his siblings together - though he does like screwing with his fellow siblings just for fun.
- Blow You Away: The wind-controlling air elemental, and when fought as a boss Brent will spam air projectiles all over the place. His mountain lair also contains powerful, visible currents that can knock Skully off cliffs.
- Deliberately Monochrome: He's made of air, and rendered in grayscale.
- Elemental Hair Composition: He's a wind elemental whose hair resembles cirrus clouds.
- Elemental Personalities: The wind elemental has a really chill personality, and is the siblings' smooth talker.
- Fog Feet: His legs are smoke-like wisps, though it changes into a cyclone when he's attacking.
- Large Ham: Tends to randomly raise his voice in-between dialogue, usually when he's feeling high in the clouds.Brent: [about to pummel Skully] So how should I deal with you, marble-thingy... I know! BY TAKING YOU FOR A SPIN!
- Motor Mouth: He simply won't stop talking whenever he's onscreen, and constantly interrupts Terry and other characters around him by butting into their sentences.Terry: Brent, did you...
Brent: OK!
Terry: What?
Brent: YES, let's have a chat! Why didn't you say so before?!
Terry: Well, you keep interrupting -
Brent: I'm happy to have a talk! Come to my central chamber!
Terry: That's grea-
Brent: I'LL SEE YOU SOON! - Nasal Trauma: In his boss fight, every moment Skully inflicts a hit the following cutscene sees Brent automatically whacked in the nose.Brent: AAAAAAAAAAHH! My nose!
- Power Floats: Befitting an air elemental, Brent can float all over the place.
- Troll: He'll repeatedly annoy the living hell out of his siblings, whether they're on his side or not. And then some more. Best exemplified when he invites Skully and Terry to climb up his cliffs for a face-to-face talk, while sending gusts of winds at random trying to blow them off - only to simply blow them back to the surface anyways as soon as they arrive.
- Villain Team-Up: He's not as much a "villain" as an antagonist, but he's quick to ally himself with Fiona to attack Terry and Skully, forcing Terry to release Wanda for an Enemy Mine.
Fiona, the Fire Elemental
I thought you'd do better than that. What with you being a... what was it Wanda calls you? A know it all? You don't seem very knowing at the moment. All the more fun for me!
The fourth and last elemental sibling revealed, Fiona controls the island's fire source and rules a volcano. Befitting her element, she's a hot-tempered (literally!) ruler and doesn't take it kindly to Terry and Skully entering her lair.
- Beam-O-War: Fiona's stream of fire against Wanda's water.
- Burning with Anger: The fire shrouding Fiona visibly spikes whenever she's pissed, and subsides when she calms down.
- Designated Girl Fight: While working alongside her brother Brent, as Terry, Skully and Wanda tries to stop her Fiona's main opponent is her sister Wanda.
- Elemental Personalities: The fire-based elemental is the one with the fieriest temper. Surprise?
- Evil Laugh: Tends to do this time-to-time, usually when she's unleashing her fiery attacks behind Terry and Skully.Fiona: Time for some fun! Look out behind you! Hahahahahaha....
[cue cascading wall of lava in pursuit] - Fire/Water Juxtaposition: The Villain Team-Up vs Enemy Mine battle has Wanda the Water Elemental facing Fiona the Fire Elemental. Wanda wins, to nobody's surprise.
- Flaming Hair: Her hair is made of massive raging flames.Fiona: Aaaarggh!
Wanda: Oh I'm sorry , did all that water put out your hair? - Glowing Eyes of Doom: Her eyes are burning orbs of flames, and she shows it on full display when threatening to incinerate Terry.
- Magical Barefooter: She's a fire elemental who forgoes shoes, a trait shared with her water-based sister Wanda.
- The Unfought: Oddly enough, despite being one of the more powerful elementals, Fiona isn't faced as a boss. When confronted, she faces Wanda directly as Skully battles Brent, and after Brent's down Fiona's defeated off-screen.
- Villain Team-Up: "Villain" may be a bit of a strong word, but she forms an alliance with Brent to attack Terry and Skully, forcing Terry to release Wanda for an Enemy Mine.
Mother Nature
You have come to a very special place, little one. Everything flows from this island. Every grain of sand. Every stream. Every gust of wind. Every burning flame. Every tall tree. You. Your family. Your friends.
Gaia, the spirit of earth and nature, and the world's creator who died several millenia ago, appears as a spirit, revealing herself to Skully, where it turns out she has spent the entire duration of the game observing Terry's bothced attempts at uniting the elemental siblings before he eventually betrays them all. After Skully was banished by Terry for being unwilling to follow through his plans, Skully ends up in Mother Earth's underground cavern.
- Big Good: The benevolent mother of all creation, and also the parent to the four elementals, Terry, Wanda, Brent and Fiona - each of her children meaning to represent an element of nature.
- The Chooser of the One: When she meets Skully, she reveals that she knew her children are quarreling and turning the earth upside down, which saddens her. She then bestows Skully as the last savior of the world.
- Energy Beings: Her soul manifests as a being made of pure light.
