Skulduggery Pleasant (character)
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Skulduggery Pleasant is a fictional character in the fantasy novel of the same name. He is a powerful magician who was killed in battle many years ago but came back to life as a skeleton.
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[edit] Fictional character history
In the novel, Skulduggery tells the story of his "life" to the story's main character, Stephanie Edgely. In the story magic is very real and those who wield it live among society and have a society of their own complete with their own businesses and government in a plot-setup similar to Harry Potter and other works of fiction.
Many centuries ago according to Skulduggery an evil sorcerer named Mevolent gathered an army and tried to conquer the world but he was opposed by a resistance movement. Skulduggery was one of the leaders of this resistance movement but he fell victim to Mevolent's second-in-command, Nefarian Serpine who killed Skulduggery's wife and child and then killed Skulduggery himself. Mevolent's minions then stuck Skulduggery's body on a pike and burnt it for all to see. One by one the other leaders of the resistance fell but strangely Skulduggery's spirit did not move on. His bones had been placed in a bag and thrown in a river but Skulduggery somehow was able to go into the bag, re-enter his bones and quite literally pull himself back together. He then returned and with his help the resistance was able to defeat Mevolent whose minions were either imprisoned or rehabilitated, Nefarian Serpine included. A truce was signed between the Magical government and the former followers of Mevolent and an uneasy peace ensued. After Mevolent's defeat, Skulduggery (now a skeleton) became a detective, but he never lost his hatred for and desire for revenge on Serpine.
[edit] Role in story
The story begins with the death of Skulduggery's long-time friend Gordon Edgely, whose niece, Stephanie, inherits his house. Stephanie is spending the night in her uncle's house alone when she is attacked by an intruder who demands that she give him "the key". Skulduggery then arrives and is able to overpower the intruder and set him on fire with a spell. Although unharmed by the fire, the intruder flees. Upon recovering from the shock of seeing that Skulduggery is in fact a living skeleton and possesses magical powers, the highly adventurous Stephanie demands to accompany him to find out who the burglar was working for. Skulduggery does so and together the two of them investigate the death of Stephanie's uncle, whom they discover was guarding the key to the Sceptre of the Ancients, an incredibly powerful weapon which was used to banish the demonic Faceless Ones from the world many centuries ago. The Sceptre, like the Faceless Ones, was assumed to be a myth; however Skulduggery believes otherwise and he and Stephanie discover that the evil Nefarian Serpine is seeking the Sceptre so that he can use it to release the Faceless Ones, whom he worships. They also discover that Serpine was responsible for the death of Stephanie's uncle. After doing battle with Serpine's forces Skulduggery and Stephanie discover that the key is in fact a brooch which Stephanie's deceased uncle, Gordon, left to his unpleasant brother Fergus and his grasping wife, Beryl; Stephanie's aunt and uncle. She retrieves the brooch and together she and Skulduggery discover a maze of catacombs beneath Gordon's mansion where they find the Sceptre. Unfortunately Serpine is there as well and steals the Sceptre before using it to destroy two of the three members of the Magician's Guild. His eventual aim is to retrieve the Great Book of Names which contains the true name of every person in existence. This, according to the story's premise, gives the reader power over them. With the Book, Serpine will control every living person on Earth, and will be able to salvage the Ritual to release the Faceless Ones. With the help of a treacherous member of the Magician's Guild he retrieves the Book, but is defeated by the combined efforts of Skulduggery and Stephanie. Skulduggery then avenges the death of his wife and child by disarming Serpine and killing him with the Sceptre.
[edit] Personality
Skulduggery, despite his bizarre appearance which he hides with a disguise in public, is something of a dapper gentleman. He has a polite, old-fashioned way of speech, and a velvety-smooth voice which enraptures Stephanie when they first meet. As well as a powerful sorcerer, commanding the four elements, he is particularly enthusiastic about detecting, always sleuthing for clues, much to Stephanie's and Tanith's chagrin. He is also a flamboyant egotist, vocally exalting his own plans and showing off his magical abilities to Stephanie, at one point walking on the ocean's surface after falling from a cliff. He is a clever strategist, usually forming the plan the team uses (when they indeed have a plan) and sharpening his wit on Stephanie's, taking pleasure in his own wisecracks. The two partners develop a relationship throughout the book.
Skulduggery's suave demeanor hides a desire for revenge. Because he died hating Serpine and his hatred brought him back, it forms part of his existence. At Stephanie's questioning, he describes his true nature as a "dark, twisted thing." Conversely, witnessing the murder of his family makes him sensitive to the loss of others. Although he accepts sacrifice of individuals as part of war, he is highly reluctant to allow this to happen. He protects Stephanie diligently throughout the novel; originally only about to arrest Serpine, he is forced to kill him when he attempts to kill Stephanie.
