Yar, this is a big thing. I looove dumpster diving for ‘new’ info on old blogs and image repositories, but everything is questionable. Remember when Ms. Fortune and Fillia had a big team-up and were just chilling in her apartment? Good times.
Where can I find the old storylines?
It requires a bit of digging around. The following places all have some stuff if you go through them.
There are quite a few of them here. I’ll copypaste into spoiler just in case:
Spoiler
Peacock:
Peacock is the last and ultimate Anti Skull Girl (ASG). For many decades, the Canopy Kingdom
had been secretly funding research into experimenting on various people to create an artificial
counterpart to destroy the Skullgirl. However, with a treaty forming between the Canopy, Gigan,
and Chess Kingdoms and the rising concern for public image, the Canopy King decided to
terminate this unethical project. But Peacock would not be terminated so easily…
She has the appearance of a child, but she seems to have degenerated into a psychopathic
murderer with a body full of weapons. Her love of cartoons as a child is reflected in the
nature of her attacks and style. Peacock’s mind has been twisted with an obsession to destroy
Marie, the current Skullgirl.
Painwheel:
Painwheel was one of the later results of the ASG project. However, in comparison to Peacock,
she was deemed inferior and considered a failure. Painwheel has a high threshold for pain due
to the extensive torture she was put though and a gigantic bladed wheel that she can control on
command. The suffering she was put through has made her cynical and bitter. She had lost her
pre-ASG memories, but she still vividly remembers the torture she was put through, and vows to
have revenge against Valentine, the one who had “created” her. Rumor has it that Valentine has
become a traitor to her country and now fights for the Skullgirl.
Umbrella:
Umbrella is the younger of the two Canopy princesses. She is somewhat of a carefree, albeit
spoiled child. Her older sister is Parasoul. Their mother was the Skullgirl seven years ago.
Following a strange dream that had been haunting her lately, Umbrella goes out to find the
Skullgirl. She seems to have some mysterious connection to the being. She is compelled to meet
it and has the uncanny ability to pinpoint its location. This ability has unfortunately
warranted all sorts of unwanted attention from those who are also seeking the Skullgirl.
Umbrella is not very skilled in fighting, but she has a lot of spunk, a gigantic umbrella
weapon, and an unusually high magic potential.
Parasoul:
Parasoul is the older of the two Canopy princesses. She is a level-headed leader of a small
band of Canopy soldiers and a skilled fighter. However, no matter how much she trains, she
seems to not have as much magic potential as her younger sister. This coupled with her sister’s
immaturity sometimes irritates her, but as an older sister she knows that must act responsibly.
When Umbrella ran away to find the Skullgirl, parasoul knew that it was her duty to get her
back safely, no matter what. In addition to the skillful use of her umbrella weapon, Parasoul
uses a gun with great precision and a limited amount of magic from a mysterious entity known as
"The Black Tree," that she had inherited from her father.
Miss Fortune:
Miss Fortune was part of a band of thieves known as “The Fishbone Gang.” However, they were
caught and decapitated. Miss Fortune has been known for having unusual amounts of luck, but
surviving a decapitation should be impossible. A mysterious gem that she had in the bell of the
collar around her neck seemed to allow her to stay alive, but now her head is detachable and
can move independently from her body. But, just how lucky is she this time? Sure she’s survived
a gruesome death, but all of her friends, her only family, are all gone. With nothing left to
lose, Miss Fortune sets out to defeat the Skullgirl, get the Skull Heart, and wish them back.
Cerebella:
Cerebella a jester for a part of a traveling group of circus performers who steal from their
unsuspecting customers. Unfortunately, Cerebella was never too elegant at stealing, and almost
got the whole group caught in the act. In order to save face, they had to blame it all on her
and kick her out of the group. In order to gain their respect back, Cerebella vowed to steal
the ultimate treasure: The Skull Heart. Using her giant hat with its monstrous arms, Cerebella
doesn’t hold back any punches! Yet with such aggressive brutality, she also has the elegance of
an acrobatic circus performer.
Squigly:
When Squigly was alive, she was known as Sienna CiShan Contiello. Her mother was from a far
away land, known as the Dragon Kingdom, while her father came from a long line of famous opera
singers. A marriage of their kind was not usually tolerated, but thanks to special connections
with the mafia, they were able to live a happy life. Living with them was her grandfather from
the Dragon Kingdom. He was the host to the ancient Parasite known as “Leviathan,” who was their
family heirloom. One day, her grandfather ran into the greedy and evil hair monster Parasite
known as Samson. Samson’s uncontrolled consumption was too much for Squigly’s grandfather to
handle. Eventually, his life was extinguished. Samson was expelled, and Leviathan was given to
Squigly’s father. However, the tragedy was not over.
As time went on, the mafia demanded for more and more money from Squigly’s family. When it
became impossible to pay, they ran into a little “accident.” This accident spared nobody, but
Squigly was saved by Leviathan. He had sworn to protect their family, and this was the only
thing he could do to save them. Squigly vowed to have revenge against the mafia, and looked at
the syndicate from the Dragon Kingdom for help, despite Leviathan’s advice not to. However,
things began to change when they heard about a young girl who was the host to an evil hair
monster. They knew Samson was going to use her to go for the Skull Heart, and that they must be
stopped.
Filia:
Filia’s memories of her past life are a blur. All she knows is what the Parasite known as
"Samson" tells her. Resting on her head and impossibly deep inside her skull, this being has
become a part of her, as most Parasites do. It is an ancient and powerful creature, but its
motives and behavior are questionable at best, and often quite evil. With a limited sense of
the world around her, Filia has no choice but to follow the advice of this creature. However,
despite her limited memories, she has a sharp mind and is a fast learner. Samson tells her that
she can get her memories and her past life back if she wishes for it from the Skull Heart. The
only way to get this is to defeat the Skullgirl. And so, their journey begins.
Thank you both.
Cool to see how the plot has changed.
My personal opinions:
Peacock was more like the present Painwheel.
Cynical and bitter. Looks like Painwheel had a cooler form of hatred back then. I can see her changing into that as the plot progress and if she obtains her freedom without getting her past back.
Umbrella seems to not have changed much.
Parasoul lost her “monster” ability. The dev team must have figured that she is unsettling enough with the nazi look-alike designs. Which is pretty true considering the reactions I have seen from some people who have played her for the first time.
Ms. Fortune’s plot hasn’t changed. In the future I would like to see her conflited with her desire for revenge (Cerebella’s path) and her desire for her old gang (her own path).
Although Bella’s plot has changed a lot her desire for affection is a constant.
Hoping to see Squigly in the future.
Filia is still a mistery. But I like Samson as a malevolent identity. I wouldn’t mind this plot to go on. We shall see how it will continue.
I like the plot change with Marie. Made her into a subversion of the classical maid and a much more active character in the Skullgirls world.
Edit: Russai is right. So I took off the spoiler tag.
Story Discussion Thread. If people don’t want potential spoilers they shouldn’t be in here so I’m not spoiler taggin’ 
One of the things I find most interesting about the plot changes is the stripping out of all magic. Umbrella used to have powerful amounts of magic, and Parasoul only had minimal amounts without the Black Tree. Now even though there’s clearly fantastical elements like the Life Gem, the Skull Heart and what have you, it’s almost like everyone treats them like a science (albeit one they don’t fully understand) instead of a mystical thing.
It’s like One Piece. I like it =]
To me it seems that it’s indeterminate where things stop being magic and start being science, and vice-versa. (no pun intended.)
Though it seems in general things lean toward the magic side of the spectrum, it never is explicitly stated “oh, such and such is using magic”. I think Peacock is one of the best examples so far. She’s clearly a cyborg, definitely sci-fi territory, yet she has this ambiguity to her abilities that makes the “science vs. fantasy” level unclear.
Like… Peacock’s powers all come from science, being a cyborg and all, but the way she uses them is totally illogical. They even seem to defy their intended purpose somewhat. Her storymode says Avery Unit is meant for making portals only, but she uses it to make stuff come to life and possibly alter reality? I know some of it can just be attributed to “fighting game zaniness + cartoonishness”, but still.
Come to think of it, most Parasites in general are pretty unclear as to whether they operate on magic or “natural function”. Like, I wonder if, say… Samson is just a glorified animated wig, or if he’s actually made of some kind of idk, muscular keratin cells and has proper biological functions? Is it either-or, or is it both? What of the others? How about Living Weapons? Are they just enchanted items, or are they actual living creatures that take the shape and function of weapons?
Silly thing to ponder, but I ponder it regardless. haha
Well, Samson is some kind of organic creature. He just mimicking hair visually and that’s pretty much it. The problem with both Samson and Vice-Versa is that they are able to change their mass. Which clearly isn’t science. I mean changing volume is easy and stuff but mass preservation law shouldn’t be breakable >_>
So I think parasites should be treated like magical creatures not regulated by physical laws imo. We probably should assume that they exist and don’t give a shit about physics just because they are what they are. Problems with living weapons though is that they are seem to be as ignorant of physical laws as parasites are. Which leave us with two possibilities: they are either just exist like parasites or they were made by humans. And if letter is true that also give us two possibilities: either they were made through science and that means that science in SG-verse is FUCKING AWESOME (it probably is anyways - check Avery Unit) or they were made through some arcane magical practice which leave us with magicians again. But since explicit mentions of magic were removed from the story it seems logical to assume that those functions now indeed are carried by science. Which is already that much superior to our actual science that you can roll with living weapons anyways. So yeah, I think you’re right, LK, we can just go with this.
Most of the game ignores the laws of THIS universe. Just say string theory and call it a day.
Well this is a wold/universe where fish people, demonic parasites, living inanimate objects, glowing wish granting skulls mixed with origins and etc… are considered not so out of the ordinary. It has it’s own messed up set of rules and im fine with that.
I really like this Black Dhalia voice over
[media=youtube]lsFNDeafres[/media]
hnnnng
I’m fresh out of big story conspiracies, but I’m willing to find one more before the patch hits. I heard one quote from Filia that piqued my interest a bit.
“***I’m sorry, mom…***”
What we can infer here is that Filia remembers her mother, and that she made a promise with her about something? Yet, does she know her father? Perhaps when Filia encountered Painwheel was when she suddenly remembered her mother and her history (if any) relating to the Skullgirl and/or the Medici.
Was that against a specific character, or during the story somewhere?
I wonder if “True Story Mode” is one of the reasons the patch was delayed. I think it’s unlikely, but cool.
It would be truly truly outrageously unlikely that something like that would be kept a secret when a free addition to the campaign could probably convince a few extra people to give the game a second chance post patch. Keeping it a secret would waste potential returning customers.
Not saying it wouldn’t be awesome of course!
Hey I never said that it’d be complete by patch time…or that’d it be free…
Playing the story won’t make a difference to what the characters will say, and I’m not sure about the specific character bit. At the very least, I think this quote has the chance to be said by Filia, regardless of the opponent.
Well, she, at the very least, can remember momentarily after taking a hard blow to her head.