Skulduggery Pleasant
 The Skeleton Detective | |
| Nationality | Irish |
|---|---|
| Dead? | Yes |
| Age | Over 400 years old |
| Powers | Elemental (fire, water, earth, air) Necromancer (formerly) Flight (becomes a plane) |
“Fucking smart-ass.”
“Fucking smart-ass.”
“Fucking smart-ass.”
Skulduggery Pleasant is a walking, talking, magic-doing, gun-toting skeleton detective with a knack for witty remarks. He can often be confuzzling, and that is why you should bring a dictionary with you when he talks — just in case there is a very weird word you do not know. His exploits are detailed in a bestselling book series by Irishman biographer, Derek Landy (no relation to Eugene Landy).
Skulduggery denies all claims of being related to fellow egocentric magic-wielding, sarcastic skeleton Skeletor, and describes him as his nemesis. However, this is contradicted by the rumour that Mr Pleasant is in fact Skeletor's superhero alter-ego. You will have fifteen books and a few spin-offs to work this out.
History[edit]
Early life[edit]
Not much is known about Skulduggery's life before he found out he was a sorcerer. However, after he threw his first fireball, he got married and had a kid — talk about going into the flames head first. Talking about heads, after he became a skeleton via being burnt alive and left on a wooden pole, Pleasant was 'sleeping' one night when a bunch of goblins stole his head. Luckily, Skulduggery was able to win a replacement skull in a game of Poker — despite not having eyes to see his cards.
A new partner[edit]
After the death of his friend, Gordon, Skulduggery got a sidekick in the form of the dead man's niece, Stephanie. Stephanie would then help Skulduggery save the world from an evil guy with a red hand that could turn people to dust (which later inspired Thanos in the MCU). Along the way, however, nobody believed that someone was out to get the Book of Names, until they caught Nathan Surplus (the guy with the red hand) — trying to steal the Book of Names red-handed.
Grotesque football[edit]
The second adventure Skulduggery had with Stephanie (now named Valkyrie) was when a mate of Nathan's from the first book adventure had the idea to build a Frankenstein-type monster from the body of a literal space-magic God, and to bomb a soccer game because his team didn't make it to the finals.
Banishing God(s)[edit]
To complete the trifecta of adventures, Valkyrie and Skulduggery have to stop the evil Gods known as The Faceless Ones, who aren't surprisingly related to Skulduggery considering his lack of a face also. Along the way, they meet a mortal (mortal is what magic people call non-magic people, even though magic people can still die) old man who helps them, but when the Faceless Ones managed to return to Earth, it turns out that the old man was behind it the whole time! Hence, why you should never trust men...or old people.
A bunch of Necromancers show up in a deus ex machina, and help Valkyrie and Skulduggery, but since they are fighting literal Gods, Skulduggery must sacrifice himself to save the world...again. Skulduggery throws himself, along with the Faceless Ones, into a portal never to be seen again.
Bright nights[edit]
That was until Valkyrie opened another portal to save Skulduggery, who can now fly.
Motel coin[edit]
A bunch of black ghosts known as Remnants start taking over peoples bodies, so Valkyrie and Skulduggery team up with the Ghostbusters.
Dessert bringer[edit]
A Necromancer brings cake for the group — then tries to kill everyone.
Other people[edit]
- Valkyrie Cain
Valkyrie Cain (real name Stephanie Edgley) is a twelve-year-old Irish girl who is Skulduggery's apprentice. She gets roped into the magical world when she meets Skulduggery Pleasant at her uncle's Bar Mitzvah. She is also the key reason bad things keep happening that force Skulduggery to fight the bad guys, at the expense of a high quality, custom-made suit each time.
- Tanith Low
Tanith Low is a master swordsman, sorry I mean woman; a master swordswoman. She also gets her own spin-off novel later on after Landy was accused of not putting enough 'girl power' into his novels, despite the fact that Valkyrie is the more prominent character than Skulduggery in the novels. Which poses the question: why are the novels called Skulduggery Pleasant, and not Valkyrie Cain?
- Ghastly Bespoke
Ghastly (not to be confused with the Pokémon of the same name) is Skulduggery Pleasant's best friend, if not his only friend. He is a tailor, who is overworked as he has to keep making Skulduggery suits, after they get destroyed in every novel when Skulduggery saves the day.
- China Sorrows
China Sorrows is neither a country, nor sad. Instead she runs a library — what a nerd. She also becomes Grand Mage after all the other ones die.
- Nathan Surplus
Nathan was killed off on Skulduggery and Valkyrie's first case, but a version of him in an alternate dimension is seen when Valkyrie was touched by a teleporter. Nathan also has a red hand that, when pointed at someone, causes some sort of feeling. He is also the person who killed Skulduggery when he had blood and flesh. He does not, however, run a Military Surplus store.
- Darren Violin
When the Shamrock Rovers didn't make it into the Irish Cup, Darren used the body of a dead Faceless One to help him commit a terrorist attack.
- Lord Vile
If you don't care about spoilers, Lord Vile was one of the most evil and powerful beings in the world, and also Skulduggery Pleasant when he had DID.
- Melodramatic
Melodramatic was the leader of the 'bad side' during the Magic War. When the War ended, his death was a bit melodramatic.
- The Faceless Ones
The ancient magic Gods, named so because they don't have any faces, but there are more than one, so somebody should probably change that.
Becoming an author[edit]
Skulduggery's biographies are hugely popular in every country, except the United States. Only the first three novels were published for the American audience due to apparent "cultural differences", but the truth is that nobody wants to read a book about a magic, talking skeleton...except the rest of the world, it seemed.
Most readers of the series are also 'Potterheads', or, just also mildly enjoy Harry Potter. The two novel series share many similarities, such as magic. The target audience for these books are teenagers to young adults, but, with every franchise, most notably My Little Pony, people and weirdos of all ages read and enjoy them. Many, not including myself, buy ALL the books, but don't actually read them. Like I said, I am NOT, I repeat, NOT, one of these people.
Film adaptation[edit]
In 2013, film tycoon company, Disney, tried to purchase the rights from Pleasant to his novel franchise. Before selling-out, however, Skulduggery asked them for a screenplay. A few months later, Disney returned with a screenplay in one hand and a stack of cash in the other, ready to give it to Landy when he sells his soul to the Mouse. After reading the screenplay, however, Skulduggery told them to "piss-and-vinegar off" and that the screenplay was "utter Cerberus excrement" — making the right call, according to his fans and readers.
In 2015, when asked what Disney wanted to do with the film that made him reject their offer, Skulduggery said that the screenplay depicted a scene of him singing to himself in the mirror to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". Skulduggery also stated that Disney wanted Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau to produce it as they were doing so good with Star Wars, despite it being four years too early.
See also[edit]
“Before you leave, did you know, by the way, that the sparrow flies south for winter?”
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