Rian, T-posing In The Doorway: Good Morning, Parental Figure

Rian, t-posing in the doorway: Good morning, parental figure

Ordon, not looking up from his coffee: Good morning, problem child

I don't know if you have answered this question already, but who is your favourite skeksis and why?

Ooooh, this is my first Dark Crystal ask! Honestly, I am really bad at picking just one favorite, all of the skeksis are delightfully twisted, bombastic, and uniquely homicidal! 😇

The most iconic of course is skekSil the Chamberlain, from his simpering Hhhhmmmm, to the fact that his silver tongue drives the whole plot in the movie and the tv series, the guy goes from sissy coward to being genuinely terrifying in a matter of seconds (see his torture of Rian).

I also love his mystic counterpart, urSol, because we know so little about him; only that his voice can shake the very stones of Thra and can apparently stop waterfalls. In secondary sources, he is described as being "impatient by urRu standards and a rogue." Plus, he's the Chamberlain's counterpart, he's got to have an interesting personality!

Next is skekTek the Scientist, who started off as one of the most sympathetic of the skeksis only to turn into a literal mad scientist who is one of the more sadistic. He experiments on himself FOR SCIENCE! He used to be somewhat normal, he even had a pet that he cared for. Too bad he went insane. Pray for urTih, who has to accept the fact that his counterpart is habitually losing body parts.

Now, you may be wondering are all the skeksis evil? The answer is no. Skekis and Mystics are not split into the good half and evil half, it's more complicated than that. It's more like the UrSkeks were split into their more proactive/impulsive half and their more spiritual half and both end up the worse for it.

The skeksis/urRu who realize this the most are skekGra and urGoh, who help the Gelfling fight back against the reigning skeksis and seek to merge back into one being. SkekGra started off as a conquering war lord only to see the light and atone for his crimes by turning against his kind. He's still impatient and rude, especially toward his slower mystic half, but can you really blame him? UrGoh, we love you, but you gotta pick up the pace.

Last but certainly not least, is skekSa the Mariner; do you like big beefy women? Do you like pirates? Fluffy lizards? Morally nuanced tragic villains? This is the skeksis for you. Unlike the other skeksis, skekSa actually likes the Gelfling and is rather protective of them. She still has a patronizing attitude toward them and expects her clan to obey her but that's rather typical of the skeksis. Also, despite being a pirate captain commanding a literal living ship, she still needs the Gelfing and her mystic counterpart's help when navigating the seas.

So those are my favorite skeksis, as you can see, I tend to gravitate toward the more layered characters but they're all great to be honest.

SkekGra the Conqueror, blindfolded with a baby nebrie balanced on his head: Do it! I believe in you!

SkekMal: *throws a hunting knife at SkekGra’s head, aiming for the nebrie*

SkekMal:

SkekGra, with the knife now lodged into his shoulder: Throw it!! I believe in you!!!

-while Rian is captured, he is ignoring him while Chamberlain pesters him-

Chamberlain: Riaaaan…. Riiiiaaaan… Don’t ignore me, Rian… Rian, please! You ignore me just as Emperor ignored me! -starts sobbing- You bring back memories of unhappy youth, Rian! Please, Rian—! -chuckles- I jest. Had a very happy youth.

Can I please have a love at first sight hc with Skekso.

Coming right up! Kinda short to help me get my mojo back going. 

Skekso’s love-at-first-sight is more of an obsession-at-first-glance. 

Once he sees you, he wants you; perhaps not as much as power, but he wants you in his court.

He needs you to be around him, for council and comfort, and he insists you sit next to him at meals; which in turn makes SkekSil give you the shadiest looks possible. 

You don’t outright become his adviser, but all questions he has, he goes to you first. The Emperor wants to make an eternal empire you’d be happy to stay in. To stay with him. 

Forever.