Eliza (Skullgirls)

Gender:

Female

Age:

Secret

Birthday:

October 17

Blood type:

Any

Height:

180 cm

Weight:

73 kg

Measurements:

36DD-24-41

Likes:

Beer, Kushari, Dolma, Old Fashioned, Board games (especially Senet), Bathing, Dressing up, Cats, Sunny weather, Dancing, Singing, Being in the spotlight, Blood, Conquest, Samson.

Dislikes:

Human arrogance, Prejudice against Parasites, Plebeians, Missed opportunities, Philanthropy, X-rays, Trinitarianism, Living small, Historical inaccuracies, Unhealthy blood, Losing your nose, Samson.

Personality:

Eliza is a diva who loves to be the center of attention. Despite running a charity blood drive, she has a greedy side in that she wants to keep the blood to herself to preserve her beauty. Although she prefers to sing on stage during the Skullgirl quest, she begins to enjoy the challenge of the hunt when something catches her attention along the way. She shows herself to be ruthless to those who oppose her. For example, she killed Cerebella after she refused to back down upon realizing Eliza's true intentions. Eliza and Sekhmet spent many years with each other to the point where their personalities merged and they act as one being. Eliza also has a god complex that is supported by her dislike of Trinitarianism and desire to be the ruler of the world. Because of the mayhem and misdeeds she has done in the past, she was hated by Samson, Leviathan, and Double. While she was malicious, they show her that they dislike prejudice against the Parasites due to being tied to their own skeletal Parasite, Sekhmet. Her stubbornness in wanting Samson and Leviathan to share her ideal of Theons taking power once again also suggests that she considers this prejudice unfair, deeming them worthy of a higher social order. Fighting as Sekhmet, she is very aggressive, sadistic, and savage. Despite these qualities, she presents no abuse towards her servants Albus and Horace. Eliza is a cat lover. This is probably a reference to how the ancient Egyptians idolized cats in respect to Bastet, the cat goddess of protection.

Past:

Eliza is a popular singer in New Meridian and is predominantly known for her amazing charity work, which are namely donating blood. Underneath her luxurious appearance, Eliza harbors a dark secret, she carries the Sekhmet Parasite and uses the blood she earns from drives to make herself perpetually young and beautiful. It didn't take long for the Medici Mafia to discover this secret and use it to their advantage and blackmail Eliza. Now she finds herself where she faced off with other girls in an ancient advent that Samson and Leviathan know all too well.

Name:

Eliza is supposedly an alias and is short for Elizabeth, which means "She who loves God", "She to whom God gives health" or "She whom God has helped". She was later named after (and influenced) by two people: - Elizabeth Bathory, who in real life was a Hungarian Countess who believed that through the use of her victim's blood she would remain beautiful, reflected by Eliza's own use of blood. - Elizabeth Taylor, the actress who played the title character in the 1963 film, Cleopatra. Neferu, meaning "beauty," was the name of several Egyptian queens. Considering that it appears in hieroglyphics in her action shot, this is possibly her real name.

Design:

The ribbon wrapped around Eliza's body forms the shape of an Ankh, an Egyptian symbol commonly associated with "eternal life". Her symbol is also an Ankh. This is likely a reference regarding Eliza's play style of spilling her blood in battle and then proceeding to use it as a weapon, as well as using the blood to remain youthful in appearance. This symbol may also be a connection to her Parasite, Sekhmet. Sekhmet was named after the bloodthirsty Egyptian goddess of war and vengeance, who was often shown holding the ankh in statues. Alex Ahad has stated in an interview that Eliza originates from the Egyptian equivalent Skullgirls universe, suggesting that her appearance is inspired from Ancient Egypt. However it is implied in Eliza's Story Mode that under her previous alias, Neferu, she took on a completely different appearance. What she looked like as Neferu is unknown, so the consistency of preserving an Ancient Egyptian-themed disguise throughout her various pseudonyms is left ambiguous.

Storyline:

After a performance at the nightclub, Bastet's Den, Eliza is summoned to meet with Lorenzo and Vitale Medici. They threaten to expose her secret (stealing from their own charity blood drive) if she does not deliver the Skull Heart to them. Cerebella, eager to please Vitale, is sent along with Eliza to see that she does her job, but is constantly at odds with her and her servants, Albus and Horace. Following the scent of death, Eliza finds Squigly, who has just escaped after a fight with Parasoul. Revealing Sekhmet hidden within herself, Leviathan recognizes the singer who greatly admires her guest as a being, once known as "Neferu" and "The Crimson Scourge". Eliza attempts to persuade Leviathan to join her in taking his rightful place as Theon, but he refuses and a fight ensues. Completely defeated, Squigly and Leviathan retreat. A new scent of unusual blood leads Eliza to Little Innsmouth and subsequently to Ms. Fortune. Realizing that the wild feline contains the Gem of Life within her, Eliza captures her, intending to keep the artifact and her "cute little drinking fountain" for herself. Cerebella fights this betrayal, only to lose and die as Eliza ponders that the world has forgotten the terror once wrought. Determined to reclaim the Skull Heart, she heads for the Great Cathedral, again following the scent of blood, where she encounters Filia. As with her rival, Eliza tries to persuade Samson to join her and finding herself a worthy host, but he refuses the offer because he considers her one of the causes of Delilah's death. Eliza proceeds to defeat them before descending into the catacombs, only to be baffled by the lack of blood. Marie, knowing that she had worked for the Medicis, however briefly, sees this as reason enough to kill her.

Ending (Part 1):

After defeating Marie, Eliza prepares to claim the Skull Heart, but the mysterious artifact addresses her on its own, claiming that it has finally found her. Just then, Eliza's arm is cut off by an enraged Double, who accuses Eliza of murdering "his" daughters; Aeon and Venus. As Horace and Albus move to defend their boss, bleeding Eliza calls Double "Queen Lamia" before sensing something subterranean. Seeing an opportunity, she tears up the ground and flees to Gehenna, absorbing the large amounts of blood there. By the time Double arrives, Eliza is more powerful than ever, allowing her to defeat the creature by shapeshifting with ease. After absorbing all the blood from Gehenna, Eliza destroys the Skull Heart, saying "it might have some use for me, but it doesn't matter now," and takes her leave. She also says that her problems with Trinity were some "old rivalries," which she thinks "don't matter now." With the Skull Heart destroyed and Ms. Fortune in their possession, Eliza, Albus, and Horace return to the "Tefnut Bath" to relax and plan things for the future. Eliza begins thinking about how to prepare to confront the Medicis (she expects they will come for her once they realize her betrayal), which is interrupted by Squigly and Filia's team, their Parasites determined to destroy "The Crimson Scourge" before he can cause any more damage. Irritated but unimpressed, Eliza transforms her chamber into "Sekhmet's Bath" before fighting and defeating the duo. With Squigly falling back into her slumber with the loss of the Skull Heart, Eliza orders Albus to lock the undead singer and her Parasite back in the catacomb to use as "a crude alarm": Squigly will awaken when the Skull Heart reappears. Eliza captures Filia and Samson in a blood sarcophagus, planning to kill her the first time she finds a more "suitable" host for her Parasite companion.

Ending (Part 2):

After this, Eliza decides that her previous "games" have been on a very small scale, telling Horace that she is going her own way, she teams up with all the blood she has collected during her life to create a giant lion-like figure. Declaring her intention to remind the world that their true leader is her, Eliza sets out to destroy the Medicis. After the credits, Eliza is shown approaching the Medici Tower, only to be intercepted by a giant construct made of pieces of statues and blue glowing tendrils. From inside the new giant's head, Marie somberly tells Eliza that "this isn't over."

Skills and Fighting Style:

Eliza's main focus of her fighting style is her blood. She uses the malleability of blood to turn various body parts into different creatures based out of Egyptian mythology. She also uses her microphone weapon, the Staff of Ra, to deliver damage. Her two bodyguards, Albus and Horace, are ready to assist her in battle, throwing her opponents around, and ramming them with resting chairs. She can also perform a taunt that restores lost health and allows Sekhmet to perform "Lady of Slaughter" on her own. Sekhmet is another important element of Eliza. When Eliza is anchored to the Staff of Ra, Sekhmet enters battle. While Eliza is powerful, but lacks mobility, Sekhmet is a fast creature that has weaker attacks. Her move list is different from Eliza and she attacks by performing lunges, inflicting quick slashes using fashionable blood cutlery and making the formation of various custom blood symbols. She also has hyper armor that prevents her from blinking. However, she will transform back into Eliza if her Meter (which depletes while in the fight) runs out or she has been grabbed by the opponent. Although she is able to perform attacks even when her opponents attack her, she can be stunned for a bit depending on a series of Hits that lasts. That can put her in danger when her health bar is low. Also, she cannot perform a Blockbuster in this state unless Eliza performs a taunt. Originally she had the ability to draw blood when attacking, and she would be able to use it in her own attacks or reabsorb it to gain health.[2] However, this idea was discarded as it was deemed too difficult to implement, especially while developing into almost two completely separate characters instead of one.

Curiosities:

- Eliza's fondness for cats may stem from Sekhmet's ties to bast in ancient Egyptian culture. Bast was considered Sekhmet's "counterpart" or "twin," with the two goddesses representing Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, respectively. Similarly, just as Bast was portrayed as having the head of a cat, Sekhmet herself was presented as having the head of a lioness. -Alex Ahad has stated that his favorite playable character in Skullgirls is Eliza. - In Eliza's Story Mode, her limo's license plate reads "CAR2CHE", which is a play on the word "cartouche". - Out of all the confirmed characters within the Skullgirls universes, Eliza is the only character shown to not only openly defy the Trinity, she can also possibly be physically killed, as she hints in her dialogue with Double, who assumes the character of Mother - called Queen Lamia - avenging for "killing her daughters" and "the destruction of her kingdom". - Eliza's Parasite, Sehkmet, knows both Leviathan and Samson, hinting at a possible explorable backstory. In her dialogues, it is implied by Eliza that once her race was a multitude, but are the passage of time, due to their schemes, sentient Parasites, known as Theons, were most likely hunted down and destroyed. Because of this, it is possible to assume that Sehkmet, Samson, and Leviathan are officially the last of a kind, while the only other remaining Parasites are redundant "tools" or incapable of free will, becoming artificial. - Eliza has an optional color palette inspired by DIO's costume for Part 3 of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series. In the patch notes for the release, the developers referenced one of DIO's most familiar quotes.