Skullgirls

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Skullgirls
Platform(s)	Arcade
Genre(s)	Fighting game

Skullgirls (スカルガールズ, Sukaru Gāruzu) is an 2D fighting game developed by Lab Zero Games and published by Autumn Games. The game was first released in April 2012 with two expansions, Skullgirls Encore and Skullgirls 2nd Encore, being released from 2014 to 2015. A spin-off mobile game, titled Skullgirls Mobile, was later released in 2017.

Although created by American game directors Alex Ahad and Mike Zaimont, the game takes heavy inspiration from popular Japanese fighters. Most notably Darkstalkers, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future.

Summary

Skullgirls

Artwork by lead artist for Skullgirls, Alex Ahad.

Skullgirls was originally released on April 10, 2012, for the PS3 via PlayStation Network and on Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. The game features an all female cast of characters, each with their own unique fighting style and gameplay. It also contains several references to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, mainly due to the game taking inspiration from various fighting games developed by Capcom, including Heritage for the Future, BlazBlue, and Darkstalkers. Alex Ahad, the game's creative director and lead artist, describes himself as a huge fan of anime, with his style being influenced by the likes of FLCL and Gurren Lagann. Before the game released, Ahad said that his style for Skullgirls, as well as the types of moves and poses that he did for the characters, were also influenced by JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

The first reference to JoJo in the game can be found in one of Peacock's attacks. During her "Shadow of Impending Doom" move, there's a rare chance that a roadroller will drop on the opponent. When this happens, Peacock's companion, Avery, will scream "WRYYYYYY!" before pummelling the roadroller while shouting "MUDA MUDA MUDA!" This is a reference to DIO's iconic roadroller attack, which is also present in Heritage for the Future. In addition, just like in Heritage for the Future, it's also possible for the roadroller to miss it's opponent. The second reference to JoJo can be found can be found with the character Valentine, who also has an attack inspired by DIO. Her "Checkmate Incision" move is almost identical to DIO's Checkmate attack from Heritage for the Future, in both functionality and appearance. The only difference being that instead of throwing knives, she throws scalpels. In addition, it's also possible to perform an aerial variation of this attack similar to when using The World. The third reference can be found with Celebella, whose "Diamond Deflector" attack causes her and her hat Vice-Versa to renact Jotaro Kujo and Star Platinum's win pose from Heritage for the Future. A man who bears resemblance to Jotaro can also be spotted as an NPC in the background of the River King Casino stage.

Finishing the match with any Blockbuster attack in Skullgirls will cause the background to change and display a portrait of the defeated character with a pained expression on their face. This is a reference to Heritage for the Future's portrait effect for when a character is retired by a special move. The shaders that Skullgirls uses for its portraits in-game are also internally labelled as "JojosDeathPortrait" in the game's files.

Skullgirls Encore

Skullgirls Encore is an updated version of Skullgirls, which was released on February 11, 2014, for PlayStation Network and on April 4, 2014, for Xbox Live Arcade. The expansion was developed by Lab Zero Games, which was formed by several members of the original development team from Reverge Labs. It includes several new characters, including Squigly, Big Band, and Eliza.

The second DLC character Big Band was added on April 22, 2014, during a fundraising campaign for Skullgirls Encore. One of Big Band's signature attacks, "Satchmo Death Blow," unleashes a devastating flurry of Brass Knuckles similar to Star Platinum⁠—except instead of shouting "ORA ORA ORA!," he shouts "TUBA TUBA TUBA!". By winning 26 matches with this attack, you can unlock a hidden "Heavy Metal" palette referencing Jotaro Kujo and Star Platinum's colors from Heritage for the Future. This is further referenced in Skullgirls Mobile, with the same attack being named "Going Platinum" and the quote being "ORAORAORA!" while using the same colors. In Japanese, Big Band is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, who also voices Joseph Joestar in the anime.

The third DLC character Eliza was added on September 30, 2014, during a fundraising campaign for Skullgirls Encore. Her additional "Stand Out" palette, available in the color palette pack DLC, are a reference to DIO from Heritage for the Future, with her Sekhmet form and servants as The World. While in her Sekhmet form, Eliza is capable of performing a flurry of attack similar to The World. During her taunt, Sekhmet exclaims "I have no weaknesses!" ( わたしに弱点はない！, Watashi ni jakuten wanai!), which is a reference to Yoshikage Kira. In the patch notes for her release, the developers referenced one of DIO's more familiar quotes.^{[citation needed]} In Skullgirls Mobile, Eliza also references DIO's quote, "How many breads have you eaten in your life?"

The expansion also introduced additional announcer voice packs. The first was the Real Soviet Announcer voice pack, which was released on May 15, 2015 and was voiced by creator, Mike Zaimont. While using this voice pack, there's a chance the announcer will say (in Japanese) "Time has stopped" (時よ止まれ, Toki yo tomare) when the game as is paused, and "And now, time resumes" (そして、時は動き出す, Soshite, toki wa ugokidasue) when the game is unpaused. These are both are references to the phrases DIO says when stopping time. In the reveal trailer for the April Fools character Fukua, Brain Drain asks a dog to leave and says it should come back once it learns how to "manipulate sand or something," which is a reference to Iggy and The Fool.

Color Palette References

Big Band
Color 26 ""Heavy Metal"

Jotaro Kujo & Star Platinum

Eliza
Color 15 "Stand Out"

DIO & The World

Gallery

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  Drawing by Skullgirls staff

• Eliza dio.png
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  Celebella's "Diamond Deflector"

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  Jotaro NPC "River King Casino"

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  Artwork by Alex Ahad

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  Heavy Metal (Skullgirls Mobile)

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  Stand Out (Skullgirls Mobile)