Skulker: Inappropriately adorable looking Ghost Hunter
VOICE ACTOR: St. Patrick (for his first three appearance), Kevin Michael Richardson (for the rest)
AGE: Unknown
EYES: Green
HAIR: Flamin' Green
STATUS: #1 Rogue Ghost Hunter (and possible cannibal), Unofficial Leader to other Ghosts when the plot calls for it leading to potential career as an Ambassador (well, I like to think so)
LIKES: Hunting, Danny Phantom (for his rare one-of-a-kindness)
DISLIKES: Being the hunted instead of the hunter, Danny Phantom (because that damn whelp keeps escaping him, but all the more of a challenge)
POWER: Standard Ghost Powers
STRENGTH: Both a good balance of brawn and brains, knowledgeable in the field of hunting, surprisingly good leadership quality, skilled in a vast, vast number of weapons
PERSONALITY: Rough, tough, focus, determined, confident, roguish, surprisingly honorable
WEAKNESS: Underneath that giant hunk of a ghost robot suit, he’s a teeny tiny ghost
FIRST APPEARANCE: "One of A Kind"
GOAL: To hunt down Danny Phantom
HISTORY: Entitling himself as the Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter, Skulker is a towering figure who’s manmade suit compensates for his actual tiny form. Despite it, he is a cunning figure who hunts for rare ghouls and a half ghost like Danny is the rarest of them all. Originally plotting to keep him in a cage for the reminder of his life (and Afterlife), Danny’s constant evasion has prompt the pursuer to kill and mount his pelt on his walls. Eww. Thanks to the help of his best friends and a gender-mistaken gorilla, Skulker lost and was subsequently "derobotized" and thermosed. But that was merely Stage One on a long stretch of neverending pursuit. He aggressively follows his previous efforts by chaining both Danny and Valerie together to hunt them down after judging them both as worthy opponents, and in a latter episode, he temporarily gains bigger and better armor and weapons on a mad chase for the ghost boy while shrunk down to size by Jack’s latest weapon at the time. The only time he’s shown to hunt for anyone else is when he wished to prove to his one-time girlfriend Ember that he was competent in his goals...only to be beaten by Jack. ("Girls’ Night Out")
He was later revealed to be a consistent employee to Vlad Masters when he captured Danny for the elusive billionaire. He stepped in time before Skulker could behead the boy. Proving he’s a good sport, Skulker left him alive (though reluctantly). He would prove his loyalty to his employer when he captured Danny again, delivering him to Vlad instead of killing him.
For some reason, Skulker was jailed at one point, but worked alongside the equally holed up Danny ("An enemy of my enemy is my friend.") and started a prison riot to escape. Such alliance were rare, but appropriate when situations called for it. Exemplified when he and his fellow ghosts combated Pariah’s army to clear a path for Danny to defeat the rogue ghost king, when he abide by the Ghost Zone’s Christmas Law to befriend and help his enemy when Danny nearly ruined the holidays, when he helped Danny, Johnny, and Youngblood block out a GZ-destroying missile ("Livin’ Large"), and in the series finale when he was among the many ghosts who saved two worlds by phasing Earth from a deadly asteroid, though he still gets the last word and declares his hunt forevermore. ("Phantom Planet").
Aside from a consistent appearance as a main baddie, Skulker frequents cameo spots as well. He flies around until he is captured by the Guys in White, he, for some reason, steals money at a molasses factory, and embarrassingly chased by unicorns ("Boxed Up Fury").
He has an alternative future self, a superior being who’s armor has mashed with Technus’ technology to create Skultech 9.9 They were sent by Clockwork to defeat Danny ten years before he reign terror, but failed due to Tucker's PDA. Seems like they still got a lot of upgrading to do.PERSONALITY: Skulker only looks all muscle, but he’s a mix of both brain and brawn. As terrific of a fighter he is, as wonderful he can be with the weapons, Skulker is also an intelligent being. Having lived and breathed (or died and breathed, whatever) the life of a hunter, Skulker’s near impossible goal to capture anything rare requires a level of cleverness, quick-thinking, and brilliant strategy, all of which he successfully employs, making him a worthy foe for Danny. Despite his brute nature, Skulker’s hunter code is honorable at best for he does not wish to simply kill Danny. He wants to challenge himself and dispatch the half ghost through a fair, demanding battle.
Skulker mostly works alone, but he possesses a remarkable display of good leadership. Whenever a group of ghosts are present or within range, he will usually be the one taking charge. He will usually be the representative. As I stated numerous times, Skulker would make a killer ambassador or even ruler if he was ever interested in politics. He also has a sense of loyalty within, dutifully obeying Vlad without questions, even if it means leaving Danny to live. How much more creditable can you get then that?
OPINION: It’s hard not to like Skulker. He has a killer design that screams intimidation, yet his face is also a bundle of cute (and several shades of hot—it's definitely the goatee), though that hardly diminishes his awesome appeal. Skulker is an admirable foe, a competent one who has passion for his hobby and goals. Skulker isn’t a screw-up; the very idea that Danny wins all the time is merely an upfront to what we expect in TV, not to mention it adds to the level of trial Skulker wants and demands. He isn’t dumb, what doesn’t work the first time, Skulker will successfully implant a new idea. He constantly innovates himself.
Not to mention he holds a lot more depth then he lets on. It could just have been easy to make him nothing more then a caveman hell-bent on ending Danny’s life for his own good, but Skulker is also an honorable being. His idea of Danny isn’t something cheap as shooting him in the face. No, he has to give him a head start, make him pass all his clever traps, corner him, give him a short chance to run off, then shoot him. There would be no challenge otherwise to do things short and simple. If he has to let Danny go because he feels it was too easy of a struggle, I bet you, he would. If anything, he’s already done this several times. Of course, when two worlds are in danger, it makes sense to team up, but Skulker holds a loyal side. His employer Vlad is also after Danny for entirely different reasons then Skulker, yet the hunter is willing to let the ghost boy go. Be it for money or weapons or equipments, whatever, the fact of the matter is, Skulker will not betray Vlad. My only question is does Skulker know Vlad’s half ghost (their interactions on the series only showed Vlad as a human) or does Skulker fear or respect Vlad too much to murder him?
Of course, I already mentioned his potential as an ambassador. Not even the GZ law maker Walker has any influence the way Skulker has on his people. He has a certain charisma to gain a following when the need arises. He could rule the world if he wanted to or at the very least, if humans ever wanted to ally or learn more about the Ghost Zone, Skulker could step up as their primary spokesman.
The only disapproval I have about Skulker is his romantic interest in Ember. Unlike her, I don't think he's incapable of romance; the pairing just came out of nowhere. Nothing to hint before nor elaborated beyond. It felt more as an excuse to get Ember into the current plot of the day. Not to mention any attempts at believability crashed when neither made contact with each other. That doesn't bound well to believe in their love, despite their current disdained status. Not even a scene of them visibly arguing—absolutely nothing.
And no matter what Ember thinks, Skulker is not incompetent in his work. His failure is with Danny only; otherwise, he hasn't shown any giant symptoms that he's godawful at his job.
Back to the Characters PageArticle written revised in: Jun. 19, 2009
Layout design by OKami_hu, 2009