Skeith (.hack)
Skeith (スケィス, Sukeisu) is a fictional boss monster and character from .hack, a franchise that encompasses several video games, anime and manga. Within the fictional mega-popular MMORPG The World, it appears as a mysterious figure glimpsed by relatively few players. As revealed in several types of media, Skeith bears the full title Skeith, the Terror of Death.
His avatar appears as a humanoid seemingly comprised of rounded rock, having floating disjointed appendages, and a two-piece ring shaped horn. Skeith carries a red staff, which is a celtic cross in the original Japanese version of the game, and a Q-shaped staff in the American version and in .hack//Sign, upon which he 'crucifies' his victims prior to Data Draining them.
Fragment
When Emma Wielant, the author of the epic poem entitled the Epitaph of Twilight died, Harald Hoerwick wanted to express the love he felt for her in the form of a virtual daughter. To accomplish this task he created the AI Morganna Mode Gone to gather emotional data, from which he hoped the Ultimate AI, Aura, could be born. Designing a game system around Morganna, he disguised her as a MMORPG known as Fragment and sold it to the CC Corporation.
The Eight Phases of the Wave originally existed only in the Epitaph, but after Aura awakens, Morganna forms her own data into physical beings; monsters that takes the form of the eight Phases of the Epitaph, and sends them to capture Aura and halt her growth.[1]
The World
During the final events .hack//Sign, Tsukasa finally having the courage to stand up to people like her father and even Morganna is able to awaken Aura. Sora, no longer having any reason to stay with Morganna, renounces his alliance and asks friendship from Tsukasa. Giving them a message to head back to Net Slum, he stays behind a moment to taunt. Morganna, however prevents Sora from getting out and rewrites his character data into Skeith, causing the child behind the character to fall into a coma in real life.
Seeking to capture and delete Aura, Morgana attempted to upload Skeith to Net Slum. Detecting the intrusion, Helba has no choice but to shut down the server that contained Net Slum, returning Aura & Skeith somewhere within The World and causing all players in Net Slum to disconnect from the game.
The .hack//Zero novel, which is set between .hack//Sign and the .hack//Games reveals that Sora is seen wandering The World, covered in rags and with no recollection of past events.[2] He acts as a vessel for Skeith to travel freely, and is instinctively drawn to Aura and Carl (the protagonist of the novel).
A few months later, in .hack//Infection, Skeith is seen by Kite and Orca while exploring the dungeon of Δ Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field at the start of the game. Skeith is seen chasing a girl in white, Aura. Later in the dungeon, Kite and Orca meet Aura, who presents Orca with an Installation Book known as the Book of Twilight. However, Aura is forced to flee when Skeith makes his reappearance.
Attempting to take him down, the high-leveled Orca attempts to bring down Skeith's Hit Points, only to discover that Skeith has infinite HP. Skeith Data Drains Orca before turning to the newbie Kite. Only the timely intervention of Helba saves Kite from sharing the same fate as Orca.
At the end of .hack//Infection, Skeith is found as the final boss at the bottom of the dungeon Θ Chosen Hopeless Nothingness. However, Kite is too late and when Aura is data Drained, her code is fragmented into several pieces and spread across The World. Skeith is finally defeated by Kite, who used the power of the Twilight Bracelet to Data Drain Skeith into a non-bugged form. However, the use of such a power on Skeith, gives Cubia a body from the remmants of Skeith's data, first created when the Twilight Bracelet was installed into Kite.
R.A. Plan
As revealed in End of the World, the "Restore Aura" Plan was the strategy the programmer Jyotaro Amagi devised to restore Aura through reconstructing Morganna under the control of CC employees. Through Project G.U., the remnants of the 8 Phases data (also known as the "elements of Morganna") were recovered and incorporated into special characters known as Epitaph-PCs, which were based on Sora's condition during the envents in .hack//Zero. Jyotaro speculated that each phase required a certain type of person in order to use it effectively, in the way Sora had been attached to Skeith, so these PCs were then to be used by scouted candidates with Amagi's R.A. Program. The first choice as a candidate was Sora himself, but he wasn't playing the game anymore at the time.[1]
With candidates located, and the Epitaph PC's prepared, Jyotaro began the test, but something went horribly wrong. Most of The World's data was lost instantly, and all 7 Epitaph-PC players fell into comas. Amagi, who was using a "Dummy Program" to replace Tarvos (which had been stolen by Jun Bansyoya), fell into a state of delirium and set fire to the CC Corp Japan Building. Afterwards the Phases escaped onto The World, where they waited for the right person to "connect" to.[1]
Skeith becomes part of Haseo, who in .hack//G.U Volume 1 game awakens Skeith to defeat a group of player-killers in an arena battle. Haseo slowly learns how to control Skeith after losing control in a fight between him and Kuhn, who uses Magus, during the semi finals in the arena tournament. When Haseo loses control, Skeith takes over and furiously attacks Magus, not reverting to Haseo until Magus is Data Drained (though it is later revealed to be a Magus clone).
Skeith's design is changed as an avatar; he is black with gray highlights, and is smoother and less rock-like. His staff has become a scythe that can be summoned at will, and Skeith can now rapidly fire energy blasts from his hands. Upon breaking the "protection" of an enemy, Skeith enters Data Drain mode which allows Skeith to charge shots which initiate the Data Drain upon impact. Avatar battles in the game are between AIDA or other avatars.
Haseo faces Azure Kite (confusing him for Tri-Edge) and his avatar form, "Azure Flame God", in the first volume.
Skeith changes its form when Haseo attains a new Adept Rogue form through the in-game job extension quests, as seen in.hack//G.U. Volume 2. Skeith's second form has various golden highlights and increased strength.
In .hack//G.U. Volume 3 When Haseo's PC and spirit are damaged by Ovan's "Rebirth" ability and the truth he has revealed, he finds himself [[1]] in a dark room inside his PC, and Skeith confronts him directly, in the form of a white version of Haseo who speaks in a voice and manner that are nearly identical to Sora's. He mocks Haseo briefly before Haseo decides to continue, and declares that Haseo doesn't need him anymore. Haseo rebuffs Skeith, however, and says that he's taking him with him. This conversation is immediately followed by their upgrade into Xth Form, which also upgrades Skeith into his final form. This form takes a sharp turn from his other forms in appearance, and is drastically more powerful as it possesses the full combined power of the eight Epitaphs. After a short battle with the Azure Knights, Skeith is used to finish Aina's summoning of Aura. During the battle against Cubia, all of the remaining Epitaph Users fuse physically with Skeith.
Notes and references
- ^ a b c CyberConnect2 (October 24, 2006). .hack//G.U. Vol.1 Rebirth (Playstation 2). Bandai. Level/area: End of The World.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Yokote, Michiko (May, 2003). "RE: 2000". .hack//Zero〈Vol.1〉Phantom Pain. Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 4-04-419903-5.
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External links
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![[1]](http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/dothack/images/thumb/8/83/Skeith3rd.jpg/200px-Skeith3rd.jpg){kind=link}