| “ | Th-Thanks Feng... hey, it's not like I need MORE work anyway. Main attraction of the Cirque des Cartes is a full-time job after all, right? | ” |
Cerebella (JP: セレベラ Serebera) is the alias of Cassandra Veranos (JP: カサンドラ・ベラノス Kasandora Beranosu), a survivor of No Man's Land who was adopted by the Medici and is now a member of the Cirque des Cartes and wielder of the Living Weapon, Vice-Versa.
General Information[]
Cerebella is one of the playable characters in Skullgirls. She is among the earliest characters conceived by Alex Ahad, and among the original cast slated for initial release. Her homestage is Medici Tower, although River King Casino may also count as of Skullgirls Encore. She is also the main grappler character of the roster.
She represents the diamond in the Cirque des Cartes, with the club, heart and spade being represented by Beatrix, Hubrecht and a yet unnamed character respectively.
Personality[]
Energetic, flashy, and spirited, Cerebella is a young lady who aims to please and constantly strives to be the center of attention, a trait derived from her profession as a main performer for the Cirque des Cartes. She is especially playful toward her roommate and fellow performer, Feng, often making fun at her expense, much to Feng's chagrin. She is also a huge fan of the retired wrestling legend Beowulf, and was noticeably giddy when he asked her to assist in his big comeback attempt.
None, however, are more treasured by Cerebella than Vitale Medici, lieutenant and grown son of Lorenzo Medici as well as Cerebella's adoptive father. Orphaned at a very early age, Cerebella was taken in and raised by Vitale as part of the Medici "family", allowing her the level of fame and glamour she enjoys presently. As a token of gratitude, Cerebella serves Vitale as his enforcer, dutifully carrying out his every whim in an attempt to earn his heart.
Cerebella is noted to be rather close-minded and in a state of denial, regarding any claim to Medici wrongdoings as slander to the family that graciously saved her from an orphan's life. She is not without a moral compass however, as she's shown to be a good person at her core.
Character Basis[]
Name[]
Cerebella's poster art
Cerebella is a feminine take on the word cerebellum, which is the part of the brain responsible for motor control. However, this is her stage name given to her by the circus. In the "Limited Run Games" physical copy of Skullgirls it is revealed that Cerebella's name is Cassandra Veranos, coincidentally sharing the initals as her voice actress Christina Vee.
Design[]
Cerebella has light brown skin and mint green hair color, tied up in a sharp ponytail. She wears purple eye-shadow as well as matching mint-green lipstick and nail polish. She has a small purple diamond tattooed on her left cheek. Her eyes have alternatively been portrayed as being black or purple.
Her outfit is befitting that of a performer: a bright orange strapless low-cut mini-dress, with a band of cloth with an orange and black triangle pattern around her upper-arms, billowing cream sleeves and maroon appendages on the cuffs, and a black choker. She wears black thigh-length boots, with an orange diamond pattern along the length of each boot, that are pointed at the ends (similar to medieval crakows) and have a skull sitting each bridge. Her underwear is shown to be white. With Vice-Versa in its dominant form atop her head, her resemblance to a jester becomes more apparent.
Her ethnicity is meant to be the equivalent of Brazilian in Skullgirls and in her reference sheets she is referred to as a tomboy.
In her earlier incarnation of Skullgals and the early Skullgirls lore itself, she was a thief in a circus gang, who were rivals of the Fishbone Gang as the Medici Mafia didn't exist at that time.
Story[]
Backstory[]
The biggest sensation in the Cirque des Cartes, Cerebella is a tumbling, soaring dynamo of star power: throughout the Canopy Kingdom, she’s admired for her enormous strength and alluring curves. Sadly, this acrobatic orphan only desires the attention of one man, mobster Vitale Medici, who took her in and became the closest thing to a father she’s ever known.
While inherently good, Cerebella serves the mafia as a leg-breaker when not performing in the circus. Cerebella is the only person capable of controlling her powerful Living Weapon hat, Vice-Versa, so Vitale is stingy with his affections to keep her fighting in his corner.[4]
Cerebella originates from one of the countries that got turned into No Man's Land, she has had Vice-Versa since birth, most likely an heirloom passed down by her biological parents (her mother being a living weapon smith). She was taught how to use the knives that she keeps in her shoes by Black Dahlia.
In her Skullgirls Mobile origin story, "The Main Attraction", she is selected by Regina as a candidate for her first job for the Medicis assigned by Black Dahlia, alongside Feng and Beatrix. She completes the first test, an obstacle course made by Hubrecht, with ease, but struggles with the second test where she must open a complicated puzzle box to retrieve a fragile item for Taliesin. Frustrated with a minute to spare, she simply breaks open the box, destroying the object. However, she manages to play it off as if it were intentional with Taliesin congratulating her for noticing that he never said it she had to give it to him in one piece.
After Beatrix sabotages Feng's attempt by stealing the item hidden inside her box, Cerebella attempts to console Feng by offering to buy her hot chocolate later, and after lashing out Feng makes Cerebella promise that if she gets the job she won't become self-centered like Beatrix. For the final test, Cerebella must fight Beatrix one-on-one until one is KO'd or leaves the ring. Cerebella is delighted to see Vitale show up to spectate and she tells him she will win. However, during the fight Beatrix launches a flurry of knives not at Cerebella, but at Vitale, causing Cerebella to leave the ring to protect him and lose the match.
Cerebella takes the loss gracefully, and Feng invites her for the hot chocolate she promised earlier. However, Vitale tells Black Dahlia to give the job to Cerebella, not only because she saved his life, but also because she would have clearly been the victor had Beatrix not acted as she did.
Story Mode[]
Cerebella is first seen preforming her act, after the show, she meets up with Vitale. Who orders her to find Ms. Fortune, who stole the Life Gem.
After defeating Marie, Cerebella obtains the Skull Heart but decides not to make a wish just before Ms. Fortune makes an attempt to steal it. Cerebella stops the attempt by catching her in Vice-Versa's hands with Ms. Fortune still screaming threats against the Medici Mafia. She claims that she won't stop as long as the Life Gem still flows through her veins, which rings out to Cerebella. Using Vice-Versa's strength, Cerebella crushes Ms. Fortune's body into nothingness and reveals the Life Gem. Soon after, Cerebella (as well as Vice-Versa) are seen in a bunny costume sitting on Vitale's lap with him congratulating her on a job well done. She does, however, regret her actions somewhat pondering if it really was worth it.
Other Stories[]
Peacock's Story[]
While she doesn't appear directly, Vice-Versa is seen torn apart by Peacock's gang. Implying Cerebella was either beaten into submission or outright killed by her due to her affiliation with the Medici.
Beowulf's Story[]
Cerebella is Beowulf's first opponent, excited to help him kickstart his career again. She is later seen captured alongside several others by Double, but is rescued by Annie.
Eliza's Story[]
Cerebella's role is similar to her own, being sent to out to find Ms. Fortune alongside Eliza. After the two capture Nadia, they have an argument before fighting in the Bath of Tefnut, after Eliza beats her, the immortal woman attacks her and absorbs her blood, she is last seen laying on the floor, dead.
Umbrella's Story[]
Similar to Eliza's story, Cerebella is seen alongside her searching for the thief. Umbrella fights them and wins, before Cerebella reveals her family's past wrong-doings, which devastates the young princess.
Black Dahlia[]
Cerebella is one of the many characters that Dahlia fights, but her, alongside Big Band, are the only ones who confirmed to be spared in the story. She is simply taking by Dahlia's bunnies somewhere.
Abilities & Fighting Style[]
Cerebella is the master of Vice Versa; its giant arms grappling and throwing foes around the screen like ragdolls. Cerebella herself is a talented acrobat and has no trouble adjusting her body to suit Vice Versa's needs. She is vicious with punches and kicks and contains hidden blades in the heels of her boots for a nasty surprise. Vice Versa is capable of turning rocks or projectiles into diamonds. Cerebella herself has plenty of strength, but Vice Versa has the ability to negate a lot of weight.
Trailer[]
Color Palettes[]
- "Understudy" - Default colors
- "Brain Freeze" - Rainbow Mika (Street Fighter Alpha 3)
- "Harlequin" - Harley Quinn (Batman)
- NiGHTS (NiGHTS into Dreams...)
- Hulk Hogan (World Wrestling Entertainment)
- "Big Top" - Hugo Andore (Final Fight/Street Fighter series)
- "Headstrong"- Cerebella's bunny suit
- Original colors
- "Toad Warrior" - Rash (Battletoads)
- Original colors
- "Star-Spangled" - Flag of the United States of America
- Original colors
- Original colors
- Potemkin (Guilty Gear series)
- Original colors
- Original colors
- "Criminal Mind" - Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)
- "Gray Matter" - Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
- Flag of Brazil - Indiegogo backer color
- Hot Rod Flames - Indiegogo backer color
- Annie - Indiegogo backer color
- "Heavy Handed" - Heavy (Team Fortress 2) - Indiegogo backer color
- "Armed Forces" - Original colors
- Shigen Naoe (The Last Blade 2)
- Ira Gamagōri (Kill la Kill)
- "Mekastar" - D.Va (Overwatch)
- Harbour Princess (Kantai Collection)
- "Blitz & Glamour" - Twintelle (ARMS)
- "Scare Giver" - Mike Wazowski / James P. Sullivan (Monsters, Inc.)
Trivia[]
- If Cerebella defeats an opponent with her Battle Butt attack, "2000" will appear on screen in a similar fashion as killing an enemy in Battletoads, an intentional reference placed into the game by Mike Z.
- A random cat has a .02% chance of appearing when Cerebella hits an opponent with her Lock & Load move. This derived from one of the animators doodling a cat in one of the frames, forgetting to take it out. Mike Z insisted that the cat should remain in the game as an Easter egg, with the staff agreeing on the condition that Mike Z would animate it himself. The cat would also return in Lab Zero's second game Indivisible as the Unknown Meownster.
- In an unused alternate ending, Cerebella makes a wish on the Skull Heart to have Vitale love her, and only her, forever. She returns to Cirque Des Cartes to find its members (except Feng) murdered by Vitale, who is now obsessed with Cerebella. Feng kills him, but he returns as one of the Skullgirl's undead, still declaring his love.[5]
- As the adopted daughter of Vitale, she technically is also the cousin of Filia, the niece of Marcus and Amelia as well as the granddaughter of Lorenzo. It is unknown how close she was to Filia but seems to know her enough to recognize her even with her parasite even commenting in one of her win quotes that her new “do” doesn’t suit her.
- She was going to have things called strength bracelets in her earlier fighting style.
- Cerebella isn't "literally pure" but is pure in the sense that's she's not entirely aware of how bad the Mafia is.
- Cerebella being able to turn rocks into diamonds is a true-to-lore power, which was demonstrated in her ending. It is likely that diamonds aren’t worth as much in the Skullgirls universe due to the mob having a member who can create them.
- Her palette referencing Homura Akemi is a nod to them sharing the same English VA.
- Cerebella's mother was an expert at crafting Living Weapons.
- If Valentine is an anti-hero who has been driven by her principles, Cerebella is the opposite, she could be considered an anti-villain. If that's the case, than she'll likely be destined to be stopped by Peacock, who could be considered the true main hero.
References[]
- ↑ Reverge Labs. Skullgirls - Show Me Your Moves: Character Movelist. skullgirls.com. Retrieved on 2021 July 9.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Cerebella « Skullgirls. skullgirls.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved on 2021 July 9.
- ↑ Chrono_Tata. The Canon Info Thread - What We Know. Skullheart. Retrieved on 2021 July 9.
- ↑ Cerebella's Biography.
- ↑ Alternate Unused Story Endings in the Game Data, Skullheart Forums