Avatar Skeith

Avatar Skeith is the Avatar of Haseo.

End of The World
Years after the Twilight Incident, Skeith's data was eventually discovered and salvaged by the genius programmer Jyotaro Amagi for use in the Salvage Plan. In order to control its power, Skeith's data was placed into an Epitaph PC. Sora was given as an example of someone who could control it, but since he was unable to be located, CC Corp was forced to find a different candidate. During the first test of the Epitaph PCs a strange error swept through the system, causing the person controlling Skeith's PC to fall into a coma. In the confusion, Skeith, still inside the Epitaph PC, was able to escape into the system, where it would remain hidden as The World was transformed into The World R:2.

.hack//Roots
After logging into The World R:2 for the first time, the Adept Rogue Haseo unwittingly became the bearer of the Epitaph PC for Skeith. Hidden deep inside his character data the powers of the Phase only manifested in a few situations, occasionally causing Haseo to see things that normal players couldn't, or protecting him from data corruption. After being defeated by Tri-Edge, Skeith's powers were fully released inside of Haseo's character. Skeith briefly appears physically at the end of Roots, floating above Haseo in a ghostly form as he stares out at the Arche Koeln Waterfall, also hinting at Haseo's Xth Form.

.hack//G.U.+
After Kuhn tells Haseo that he can summon an Avatar, Haseo swears to unlock its power. He gets his chance while fighting Endrance in the Arena. Endrance summons Macha during the fight and orders it to destroy Haseo. However Haseo manages to awaken Skeith who easily defeats Macha, destroying the AIDA known as Mia in the process.

.hack//G.U. Games
Haseo, the main character of the .hack G.U games, also called "The Terror of Death", is scouted by Yata early as the Epitaph User for Skeith, which is contained within his PC. Though Haseo's first few attempts at calling Skeith fail, he is able to manifest Skeith as an Avatar after almost being wiped out by Bordeaux in the Arena. After this event, Haseo continues to improve his control over Skeith, by fighting against AIDA and Tarvos, when it accidentally goes berserk after being exposed to AIDA. However Haseo begins to abuse his Avatar by using it in other Arena matches, such as his fight against Alkaid. Wanting to prove how dangerous Avatars are, Kuhn the Epitaph User of Magus confronts Haseo and challenges him to an Avatar Battle. During the fight Haseo loses control of Skeith, and can only watch helplessly as it mercilessly beats and data drains Magus until its Avatar form is completely dissolved despite Haseo pleading it to stop. Horrified by what he has seen, Haseo begins to use Skeith more wisely.

Under the direction of Yata, Haseo continues using Skeith to hunt AIDA. He is also forced to use it when confronted with Endrance's Avatar Macha and Azure Kite's "Azure Flame God", an entity that is almost identical to the Avatars. His skill with Skeith continues to increase, and he gets a major power boost when Skeith transforms in response to his third Job Extension. With this form Haseo fights against Gorre, Innis, Corbenik, Fidchell, and several new forms of AIDA. At one point, Kuhn, Atoli, and Endrance pool their energy to give Haseo the power he needs to summon Skeith to fight against against Sakaki's Victorian.

When Haseo's PC and spirit are damaged by Ovan's "Rebirth" ability and the truth he has revealed, he finds himself in a dark room inside his PC, and Skeith confronts him directly, in the form of a white version of Haseo who speaks in a voice and manner that are nearly identical to Sora's. He mocks Haseo briefly before Haseo decides to continue, and declares that Haseo doesn't need him anymore. Haseo rebuffs Skeith, however, and says that he's taking him with him. This conversation is immediately followed by their upgrade into Xth Form, which also upgrades Skeith into his final form. This form takes a sharp turn from his other forms in appearance, and is drastically more powerful as it possesses the full combined power of the eight Epitaphs. After a short battle with the Azure Knights, Skeith is used to finish Aina's summoning of Aura. During the battle against Cubia, all of the remaining Epitaph Users fuse physically with Skeith.

Form 1 (.hack//G.U.//Rebirth)

 * Slash: Skeith uses his scythe to slash the opponent up to 3 times.
 * Stun Bullets: Skeith fires 3 energy rounds towards the enemy. Might stun the opponent.
 * Data Drain: Skeith reveals a large cannon like bracelet out of its right arm and fires it at its opponents when they protect break.

Form 2 (.hack//G.U.//Reminisce)

 * Slash: Skeith uses his scythe to slash the opponent 3 times
 * Slash Shield: The scythe can be used as a projectile deflector now, by slashing at the incoming projectiles.
 * Stun Bullets: Skeith fires 5 energy rounds towards the enemy. Might stun the opponent.
 * Data Drain: Skeith reveals a large cannon like bracelet out of its right arm and fires it at its opponents when they protect break.
 * Chakram: By charging his scythe, Skeith can fire a disk-like energy blast from his scythe after his 3-slash combo

Form 3 (.hack//G.U.//Redemption)

 * Slash: Turns the 7 swords on his back into one large scythe to launch up to 4 energy waves at the opponent.
 * Chakram: By charging his scythe, Skeith can fire a disk-like energy blast from his scythe after his 3-slash combo
 * Slash Shield: The scythe can be used as a projectile deflector, by slashing at the incoming projectiles.
 * Energy Machine Gun: Rapidly fires energy blasts out of both hands. May stun the opponent.
 * Homing Shot: A multi-shot and multi-target homing projectile weapon that uses the 7 sword-like projectiles sticking out of Skeith's back.The longer "Square" is held, the stronger it gets. May stun the opponent.
 * Data Drain: Skeith transforms the 7 swords into a data drain cannon. On firing, the cannon opens up to reveal the data drain eye of which launches a huge ball of energy at his opponents when they protect break.

Form 4 (.hack//G.U.//Last Recode)

 * Slash Combo: Unison Skeith does a combo attack with his great scythe. Thanks to the Slash Wave unleashed from compressed energy, this main attack method of Skeith allows attacking the enemy from a bit farther range. At the end of the combo, the tip of the scythe will generate and unleash an energy chakram, which will deal a powerful blow.
 * Homing Laser: By holding the Square button, Unison Skeith will lock onto multiple enemies. Release the button to shoot lasers on all of them. There is no ammo limit, so this attack will feel very exhilarating when used to sweep a horde of enemies at once.
 * Stun Chance: Hitting the enemy with combo attacks will eventually cause them to stun, which gives the player a chance to deal massive damage. Dash with the X button to get close to the enemy, and respond to the O button prompt to quickly slash the stunned enemy!

Trivia

 * Skeith demonstrates the ability to talk in the GU Games, shouting "I have found you!" when Haseo releases him for the first time. In addition, he has a short conversation with Haseo in Vol.3
 * In the English dub, Skeith is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, Haseo's voice. In his Epitaph form, his voice's pitch has been artificially lowered.
 * Skeith's theme song in GU is called "I'm Right Here."
 * During Skeith's theme song, a piece from the Hulle Granz Cathedral theme can be heard. It says "The man with shadow is on the quest for the Evening Dragon", in German. It's likely a reference to Haseo's journey: "Skeith" means "shadow", making Haseo the one with the shadow. Inadvertently, he searches for "the Evening Dragon/Twilight Dragon": arguably, Skeith's last form; the weapon to counter Cubia.
 * Skeith's avatar form in the .hack//G.U. Prototype trailer is identical to his original form in SIGN, Another Birth, and the original .hack//Games.
 * The scythe Skeith wields in his final form in Redemption is identical to the one that Haseo uses in his Divine Awakening, Plasma Blade.
 * Corresponding to Haseo's change from black clothing, representing his angst, to white ones in his Xth Form, Skeith's new appearance changes from merely a Grim Reaper-esque figure to a multi-winged angel (of death).
 * Both of Ryou Misaki's characters, Sora and Haseo, are linked to Skeith. Sora became an unwilling host for the Terror of Death split hald and, ironically, becoming the basis for the Epitaph PCs, one of which is the other character, Haseo. This comes full circle when Skeith reappears to Haseo as a piece of Ryou Misaki's lost self.


 * In the official art for Skeith's third form, there are eight swords floating behind it, though in the game itself the number's reduced to seven. Either way the swords may represent all of the Epitaph waves, having taken the data of all of them prior to his transformation.
 * Skeith is the shortest Avatar in the Infinity Eight, being within the same size parameters of Gorre. The reason for this is unknown; however, since Skeith end up fighting all the Avatars, this is most likely to show the scale difference between player and boss. In TRILOGY, Skeith does become bigger, though still no larger than Corbenik.