Black Dahlia

Black Dahlia (JP: ブラック・ダリア Burakku Daria) is an upcoming downloadable character in Skullgirls 2nd Encore.

A mysterious woman who is at least partially mechanical, Black Dahlia has risen through the ranks of the Medici Mafia's minions to become one of Lorenzo Medici's top enforcers. When she's not acting as his personal bodyguard, she's being sent on the most important and heinous missions for the Medicis. She has worked for Lorenzo for at least fourteen years.

She is the trainer of the Medici's legion of female assassins who specialize in hidden weapons such as the footblades Cerebella uses. They dress in bunny suits and appear in Squigly and Big Band's stories. She also trains prospective enforcers working for Cirque des Cartes, referred to by Regina as their "conflict coach".

Creation and development
Black Dahlia was the third possible DLC character to be revealed in the Keep Skullgirls Growing Indiegogo campaign, at $60,000. It has been stated that she is one of the characters who would need to be made playable for the canon Skullgirls storyline to be revealed.

A mid air hitstun rough frame of Black Dahlia appeared briefly around minute 25:36 in Future Club's Umbrella Animation Stream of October 12, 2021.

A teaser for the reveal of a "NEXT SKULLGIRLS CHARACTER!" was posted on Skullgirls '  official social media on December 2, 2021. On December 5, 2021, Black Dahlia was revealed as the upcoming character for Skullgirls 2nd Encore at the end of the Umbrella trailer showcased at the fighting game event, 2021, after the game's Grand Finals. The trailer was also uploaded to the Skullgirls' official YouTube channel on the same day.

On January 28, 2022, a portion of Black Dahlia's action shot was first shown in a post on the official Twitter account of the winter fighting game event, Frosty Faustings.

On April 10, 2022, "Dahlia's debut" was announced as part of the 10th anniversary celebration for the Skullgirls's first release. On May 11, 2022, it was announced a world exclusive early access to play as Black Dahlia at the Skullgirls booth of the fighting game convention, Combo Breaker 2022.

A trailer for the release of Black Dahlia's alpha development phase was uploaded to the Skullgirls' official YouTube channel on May 25, 2022. It was also announced that Season 1 Pass holders on Steam would be able to play as Black Dahlia during her alpha phase by June, in which she would look "sketchy" and be mostly functionally complete; and during her beta phase by the third quarter of 2022, in which her animations and voice lines would be finished along with a possible debut of her stage and theme music. By the last quarter of 2022, her full release would also be available on other platforms outside of Steam.

Design
Aside from using hidden weapons that hide across her body, her concept art for her moves also show that the gun on her arm can change into other weapons such as a chainsaw, a chicken sickle, a bayonet-like weapon, an axe and a gun with a saw. The mask she wears obscures her face in all known pictures.

Black Dahlia is a human cyborg but is sometimes mistaken for an elf. Alex Ahad, Skullgirls' co-creator and former creative director, stated the idea that she was elven sprung from the misinterpretation of a piece of art where her ears were stylistically more pointed, but never meant to indicate she was anything but human.

She is around 50 to 60 years old, but the extent of how much she has aged is unknown due to her mechanical parts and exposure to the Life Gem. Peacock refers to her as an old hag.

Backstory
Many years ago her body was grievously injured in a Skullgirl attack, but due to the efforts of Anti-Skullgirl Labs founder Dr. Geiger, she was rebuilt with a formidable armament of projectile weaponry. She was the first ASG created. Black Dahlia's time in the Labs drove her mad, as she used to be a lot different and had a different name before becoming an assassin. Much like Big Band, she was a veteran ASG agent who resided within the labs years before the parasite experimentation that would eventually birth Peacock and Painwheel took place and as such she too is not equipped with a synthetic parasite. Black Dahlia eventually went rogue from the Anti-Skullgirl Labs and now works as a seasoned assassin for the Medici Mafia.

Closer to the events of the game, Black Dahlia was sent to pursue the Fishbone Gang following their theft of the Life Gem. She killed them all, cut them into pieces, and dropped the remains in the bay of Little Innsmouth. Unbeknownst to Dahlia at the time, one member of the gang - Nadia Fortune - survived her fate, having consumed and bonded with the Life Gem prior to her "demise".

Peacock's story
Black Dahlia appeared at the end of Peacock's story, where she was summoned by Lorenzo when the cartoonish cyborg launched an assault against the Medici Mafia. Confronting Peacock in her superior's office, Black Dahlia traded barbs with her opponent before engaging her in battle to allow Lorenzo to escape.

Squigly's story
In Squigly's story, Black Dahlia was among the Medici enforcers sent to eliminate the Contiello family after a mysterious woman informed them that Selene Contiello had gained possession of the Skull Heart. Dahlia herself administered the fatal blow to Selene's young daughter, Sienna, taunting Selene the entire time. Shortly afterwards, Black Dahlia was likely among those that battled Selene after she became a Skullgirl.

Personality
Black Dahlia has no true loyalty to the Medici Mafia and only serves as Lorenzo's consigliere as a constant excuse to be violent. She was always “rough around the edges”.

Fighting style
WIP

Color palettes

 * 1) Default colors

Keep Skullgirls Growing Indiegogo campaign
Lorenzo Medici's right hand hitwoman who takes thorough enjoyment in her work. Little is known about her outside the carnage left in her wake, which has spanned decades without slowing down. Only two of her targets have walked away so far, oversights she plans to rectify soon.

Playstyle Speculation
Black Dahlia keeps her arsenal well hidden. Grenade launchers, tear gas, and hidden knives. She isn’t above dirty tactics, cloaking her movement using her doilies. One attack may look like it will go one way when she shifts into another. Don’t let the giant gun distract you when the blade hidden in her knee cap is tearing at your liver! Just how much of her is mechanical, anyway?

Gameplay Inspiration

 * Cable (Marvel vs Capcom 2)
 * Hol Horse (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
 * Chris (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3)
 * BB Hood (Vapire Savior [sic])
 * Justice (Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core + Reload)
 * Genjuro (Samurai Showdown 2)
 * Darkwing Duck
 * Cammy (vs. series version)
 * Meta Knight (Super Smash Brothers Brawl)

Trivia

 * Her name is a reference to the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, nicknamed.
 * Dahlia appears in the background of the Medici Tower stage, standing next to Lorenzo as he gives orders to Vitale and Ottomo in his office.

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