Eliza

Eliza (JP: イライザ) is the celebrity diva of New Meridian’s premiere nightclub, Bastet’s Den. She is the mistress of Albus and Horace, and has been host to the skeletal Parasite Sekhmet for untold years.

General Information

Eliza is a playable character in Skullgirls Encore. Eliza was the nineteenth possible DLC character for Skullgirls to be revealed in the Indiegogo campaign, at $380,000. Having won the first DLC character vote, she was the third character to be created (after Squigly and Big Band). Her homestage is Bath of Tefnut, however Gehenna also plays an important role in her Story Mode.

She was originally set to be the main antagonist in the Skullgirls sequel.

There are other club singers in Canopy Kingdom, but Eliza is one of the best known.

She is confirmed to be older than Annie, and has been operating under her current guise for the past twenty years.

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 which she wants to keep the blood all to herself to retain her beauty. Although she prefers to sing on the stage over searching for the Skullgirl, she starts to enjoy the challenge of the hunt when something catches her eye along the way. She is shown 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 spend many years with one another 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 Trinitism and wanting to be the ruler of the world. Because of the chaos and misdeeds she has done in the past, she was hated by Samson, Leviathan, and Double. While malicious, she is shown to dislike the prejudice against parasites due to being bound to her own skeletal parasite, Sekhmet. Her adamance of wanting Samson and Leviathan to share her ideal of Theons taking power once more also suggests she considers this prejudice unjust, deeming them deserving of a higher social order. When fighting as Sekhmet, she is very aggressive, sadistic, and feral. Despite those qualities, she does not exhibit any type of abuse towards her servants Albus and Horace.

Eliza is fond of cats. This is likely a reference to how the Ancient Egyptians idolized cats in respect to Bastet, the cat goddess of protection.

Backstory

Eliza is a popular singer in New Meridian and is predominately known for her amazing charity work, which are namely, blood drives. Under her lavish appearance, Eliza harbors a dark secret, she carries the Parasite Sekhmet and uses the blood she gains in the drives to make herself young and beautiful perpetually. It did not take long for the Medici Mafia to discover this secret and use it to their advantage and blackmail Eliza. Now she finds herself pitted amongst the other girls in an ancient advent that Samson and Leviathan know all too well.

Character Basis

Name

Eliza is supposedly an alias and is short for Elizabeth, which means "My God is an oath" or "My God is abundance". She was named after (and influenced by) two people:

• Elizabeth Báthory, a real life Hungarian Countess who believed that by using her victim's blood she would remain beautiful, mirrored by Eliza's own use of blood.
• Elizabeth Taylor, the actress who played the title character in the 1963 film, Cleopatra.

Neferu, which means "beauty", was the name of several Egyptian queens. Given that it appears in hieroglyphs in her Action Shot poster, this is possibly her true name.

Design

The ribbon wrapped around Eliza's body forms the shape of an Ankh, an Egyptian symbol commonly associated with "eternal life". Her character symbol is also an Ankh. This is likely a reference regarding Eliza's playstyle of spilling her blood in battle and then proceeding to use it as a weapon, as well as using 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 healing, who was often shown holding the ankh in statues. Alex Ahad has stated in a Q&A that Eliza originates from the Skullgirls universe-equivalent of Egypt, suggesting her Ancient Egyptian inspired appearance. 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 her preserving an Ancient Egyptian-themed guise throughout her various pseudonyms is left ambiguous.

Story

After a performance at the night club, Bastet's Den, Eliza is summoned to meet with Lorenzo and Vitale Medici. They threaten to expose her secret (stealing from her own charity blood drive) if she does not retrieve the Skull Heart for them. Cerebella, eager to please Vitale, is sent along to keep an eye on her, but is constantly at odds with Eliza 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 inside herself, Leviathan recognizes the singer who his host admires so much as a being once known as "Neferu" and "The Crimson Scourge". Eliza attempts to persuade Leviathan into joining her in taking his rightful place as a Theon, but he refuses and a fight ensues. Thoroughly beaten, Squigly and Leviathan retreat.

A new scent of unusual blood leads Eliza to Little Innsmouth and subsequently Ms. Fortune. Realizing that the feline feral contains the Life Gem within her, Eliza captures her, intending to keep the artifact and her "cute little drinking fountain" to herself. Cerebella fights her for this betrayal, only to lose and be killed as Eliza ponders that the world has forgotten the terror she once wrought.

Deciding to claim the Skull Heart, she makes her way to the Grand Cathedral, again following the scent of blood, where she runs into Filia. As with his rival, Eliza tries to persuade Samson into joining her and finding himself a worthy host, but he rejects her offer as he considers her one of the causes of Delilah's death. Eliza proceeds to crush them before descending into the catacombs, only to be puzzled by the lack of blood. Marie, learning that she had worked for the Medicis, however briefly, sees this as enough reason to kill her and her servants.

Ending

After defeating Marie, Eliza prepares to claim the Skull Heart, but the mysterious artifact addresses her on its own, claiming that it's finally found her. Just then, Eliza's arm is severed by an infuriated Double, who accuses Eliza of murdering "her" children; Aeon and Venus. As Horace and Albus move to defend their mistress, a bleeding Eliza calls Double "Queen Lamia" before sensing something underground. Seeing an opportunity, she tears open the ground and flees to Gehenna, absorbing the ample amounts of blood there. By the time Double arrives, Eliza is more powerful than ever, allowing her to defeat the shapeshifting creature with ease. Having absorbed all of Gehenna's blood, Eliza destroys the Skull Heart, saying "it could have some use to me but now it doesn't matter", and takes her leave. She also states that her issues with the Trinity were some "ancient rivalries" which she thinks "do not matter now".

With the Heart gone and Ms. Fortune in their possession, Eliza, Albus, and Horace return to the Bath of Tefnut to relax and plan for the future. As Eliza begins plotting how to prepare for the Medicis (who she expects will come for her once they realize her betrayal), she is interrupted by the team of Squigly and Filia, their parasites determined to destroy the Crimson Scourge before she can cause any more damage. Irritated but unimpressed, Eliza transforms her chamber into the Bath of Sekhmet before battling and defeating the duo.

With Squigly falling back into death with the loss of the Skull Heart, Eliza has Albus lock up the undead singer and her Parasite back in the catacomb to use as "a crude alarm": Squigly will reawaken when the Skull Heart resurfaces. Eliza then binds Filia and Samson in a blood sarcophagus, planning to kill the former once she has found a more "suitable" host for her fellow Parasite. After this, Eliza decides that her previous "games" have been too small-scale, telling Horace that she'll be going out on her own, she merges with all of the blood she has collected over her life to create a giant figure resembling a lion. Declaring her intent to remind the world who its true leader is, Eliza sets off to destroy the Medicis.

After the credits, Eliza is shown approaching Medici Tower, only to be intercepted by a giant construct made of statue pieces and glowing-blue tendrils. From within the new giant's head, Marie grimly tells Eliza that "this is not over".

Abilities & Fighting Style

Eliza's main focus of her fighting style is her blood. She uses the malleability of the blood to turn various body parts into different creatures based off of Egyptian mythology. She also uses her microphone weapon, the Staff of Ra, to deliver damage. Her two bodyguards, Albus and Horace, are eager to assist her in battle by divekicking, throwing her opponents around, and ramming them with lounging chairs. She can also perform a taunt that restores lost health and allows Sekhmet to perform Lady of Slaughter by herself.

Sekhmet is another important element of Eliza. When Eliza is anchored to the Staff of Ra, Sekhmet comes into battle. Whereas Eliza is powerful, but lacking in mobility, Sekhmet is a fast creature that has weaker attacks. Her move list is different to Eliza's and she attacks by performing lunges, inflicting fast slashes using blood-fashioned cutlery and by causing the formation of various blood-made symbols. She also has hyper armor that prevents her from flinching. However, she will transform back into Eliza if her meter (which depletes while in play) runs out or she has been grabbed by the opponent. Although she is capable of performing attacks even when her opponents attack her, she can be stunned for a bit depending on a number of hits she endures. That can put her in peril when her health is low. She also cannot perform a Blockbuster in that state unless Eliza performs a taunt.

She was originally to have the ability to shed blood when attacked, which she would then be able to use in her own attacks or reabsorb to gain health. However, this idea was discarded as it was considered too difficult to implement, especially as she was developing into almost two completely separate characters instead of one.

Gameplay Inspiration

• A.B.A (Guilty Gear series)
• T.O.P. system (Garou: Mark of the Wolves)
• Donovan Baine (Darkstalkers/Vampire series)
• Nanase (Street Fighter EX3)
• Anakaris (Darkstalkers/Vampire series)
• Litchi Faye-Ling (BlazBlue series)
• Jafar (Aladdin [SNES])
• Jedah (Darkstalkers/Vampire series)
• Carmine (Under Night In-Birth)

Trailer

Color Palettes

File:Eliza pallets.png

1. "In Denile" - Default colors
2. Cleopatra (Cleopatra)
3. Eliza (Tekken Revolution)
4. Original colors
5. "Decrypted" - Original colors
6. Original colors
7. "Bloodbath" - Bloody Eliza
8. "Sparring Partner" - Iset (Vindictus)
9. Midnight Bliss Jedah Dohma (Darkstalkers 3); Albus as Jon Talbain
10. "Scarlet Viper" - Crimson Viper (Street Fighter series); Albus as Rufus and Horace as Goku (Dragon Ball Z)
11. Tharja (Fire Emblem: Awakening)
12. Doctor Doom (Marvel)
13. I-No (Guilty Gear series)
14. Odette (Odin Sphere)
15. "Stand Out" - Dio Brando (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series); Albus and Horace as The World
16. "Bloody Valentine" - Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop); Albus as Spike Spiegel and Horace as Jet Black
17. "Red Velvet" - Velvet (Odin Sphere)
18. Ragyō Kiryūin (Kill la Kill); Sekhmet as Life Fibers, Albus as Rei Hōōmaru and Horace as COVERS
19. Red (Transistor); Sekhmet as The Process
20. Original colors
21. Porrim Maryam (Homestuck) - Indiegogo backer color
22. Original colors - Indiegogo backer color
23. "Diva Intervention" - Urien (Street Fighter series); Sekhmet as Twelve, Albus as Gill and Horace as Necro
24. "Tomb & Gloom" - Raven (Teen Titans); Sekhmet as Trigon, Albus and Horace as Beast Boy - Indiegogo backer color
25. Elizabeth (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series); Sekhmet as Thanatos

Trivia

• Eliza's fondness of cats may originate from Sekhmet's ties with 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 depicted as having the head of a lioness.
• Alex Ahad has stated that Eliza is his favorite playable character in Skullgirls..
• In Eliza's story mode, her limousine'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 challenge the Trinity, but has also possibly killed them physically, as hinted in her dialogue with Double, who takes on the persona of Mother--named Queen Lamia--who desires revenge for "killing her daughters" and "destroying her kingdom".
• In the Medici Tower, there is a sign of herself outside the other buildings.
• Eliza's parasite, Sekhmet, knows both Leviathan and Samson, hinting as a possible explorable backstory. In their dialogues, it's hinted by Eliza that once their race were a multitude, but as time passed, due to her schemes, sentient parasites, known as Theons, were most likely persecuted and destroyed. Because of this, it's probable to assume that Sekhmet, Samson, and Leviathan are officially the last of their kind, as the only other parasites that remain are redundant "tools" or incapable of free will, being artificially made.
• Because of her "Scarlet Viper" color palette, Eliza's voice actress, Michelle Ruff, also provides the voice of Crimson Viper from the Street Fighter series. The same thing goes to Christopher Corey Smith, the voice actor of both Albus and Rufus and Sean Schemmel, the voice actor of both Horace and Goku.