So what's the deal with the Skullgirls controversy?

_{(Originally written July 2023 )}

Table of contents:
Okay, but what the fuck is Skullgirls? - What happened now?
So what do you think about this? - TL;DR

The 'tism...it's one hell of a drug, isn't it. This entire website is basically an entire catalogue of my own autism. Despite what upstanding individuals online tell you, you can't control your special interests. I think it's normal for any autistic individual to have "good", "bad", or just "weird" special interest phases. For me, Skullgirls was just in the "weird" category since it was something I got into late-2013 after I finally got rid of an awful outdated Mac computer I was given and went back to the glorious land of having an actual fucking PC again. I'm not even a big gamer, technically... I wasn't even good at Skullgirls. Or any fighting game. You guessed it, I was part of the tertiary fan base who liked it for the *gag* art and soundtrack...EWWW!

Sorry, that intro was making fun of myself and trying to justify why I'm writing about this. I also figured my thoughts on this would have more weight knowing the context that is from someone with a previous engagement on the subject, not chasing the new ragebait topic. This is still subjective, though.

Right, I have a bad habit of assuming the reader is already familiar with the subject I'm writing about, when there's a high chance most don't. Oops. Well, if you didn't know, Skullgirls is a 2D fighting game (initially) developed by Reverge Labs and published by Autumn Games in 2012. It's a passion project that was in some form of developmental hell since the lead designer Alex Ahad was in high school, and it has a long history of mishaps and controversies. It used to be a joke in the fandom that the game is literally cursed!

From the original team getting laid off by Reverge Labs after being sued over fraud allegations over another game, the successful crowdfunding campaign that brought us the PC port and DLC, to Konami taking the original game off the Playstation and Xbox store (leading to the Encore rerelease), the game's original programmer getting #MeToo'd and Lab Zero dissolving... Sounds like an underdog of a game, huh? It's still considered a good fighting game despite all that, and even attracted a fanbase of non-fighting game players. I found out about it from Tumblr a decade ago, since plenty of creatives I followed were praising the art and soundtrack.

Skullgirls kind of fell off my radar after the Robo-Fortune DLC, but I'll do a mini recap of what I know of happened between then and now. A mobile game was released, and ports for several consoles were released. A webtoon drawn by a fan I followed on Tumblr is in progress. I caught wind of Mike Z getting #MeToo'd for inappropriate sexual comments towards staff and firing everyone in Lab Zero, and a new studio was made. Well, that sounds like a happy ending. Skullgirls doesn't have a creep involved with it and it's getting new content, right? I don't know, I haven't been following the game.

June 2023 is when a new update was rolled out. Skullgirls initially had really positive reviews on Steam (which is only one of the platforms it's on), but the most reviews left after this update are now negative. What's going on here?

Let's look at the Skullheart forum post about it first.

Hey everyone,

As many of you know, Skullgirls has had a long and colorful history shaped by a variety of contributors over the years. As we look ahead towards the future of Skullgirls, we have reflected upon past decisions regarding certain content that has undermined the many things that make Skullgirls truly unique and special.

As such, as part of our most recent round of updates across all platforms (console and mobile), we have decided to make some changes to certain legacy content in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward.

Below is an overview of many of those changes and some insight into our rationale for the adjustments.

Uh, okay. Let's see what this is.

ALLUSIONS TO REAL-WORLD HATE GROUPS

While the Renoir family and the Black Egrets were always intended to evoke imagery from an oppressive militant regime, we felt that the way that manifested (most notably via red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close for comfort - especially given the unfortunate reality that some of these hate groups are still active in various respects to this day.

As such, you will notice that Egret soldiers no longer feature armbands and that the heraldry of the Black Egrets organization has also been adjusted. This is a holistic pass that applies to in-game frames, concept art, story mode art, and more.

_{Old VS New.}

This was a beef I had when I first played Skullgirls a decade ago. I thought it was EXTREMELY tonedeaf to have the Renoir family and Black Egrets have an intentional Nazi-motif: For record, the issue isn't what is being portrayed or referenced, it's how. Very fucking weird to give an arguably heroic playable character (Parasoul) Nazi imagery, especially when Nazism is still a problem today. I don't have an issue with this, although it does feel like a decade too late... (I hope you're imagining the ping sound effect in Ace Attorney right now.)

...Wait a minute. This change applies to the concept art too? This seems weirdly revisionist in a way, though. This totally isn't a precursor for something even more questionable, right?

_{Comparison images used on this page were taken from this video.}

CHARACTER SEXUALIZATION & AGENCY

While Skullgirls is no stranger to characters that confidently express their sexuality, there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them. This includes a few depictions of unwanted predatory behavior, particularly towards younger characters.

While alluding to some of this can be narratively meaningful, we have made a number of small adjustments throughout the game to ensure that this content is less exploitative (e.g. the opening of Filia's Story Mode).

This is funny since there was backlash about Skullgirls being misogynistic for having fanservice-y designs back in 2012. (Holy fuck, THAT has totally never happened before!) I assumed this drama was over and done, but it's still a known criticism... Honestly, I rolled my eyes at both people acting like a horny indie video game was sending women back in the kitchen en masse, and geniuses within the fanbase claiming that Skullgirls is ackshully totes progressive and "empowering" for...technically passing the Bechdel test... Yes, I'm serious. Even though that's not the sole measurement of progressivism or lack of misogyny. Also something something, the lead animator is a woman and she's okay with all that stuff. Pretty cool how a single indie game has apparently liberated AND set women's rights back by 50 years at the same time, huh?

I jest, there's merit to the criticisms. I'm just tired of this topic. Skullgirls has a reputation for being a hornycoded video game. The kind of people who like it either actively want to see fat cartoon honkers, or are willing to ignore it in favor of other aspects of the game. Personally, I always found the fanservice to be fetish retardant, so I'm in the latter camp. (Try to imagine the canon measurements on a real person, I dare you.) That quote is pure cope all around - These are fictional characters with no agency. Technically, no one is "confidently expressing their sexuality" and everyone is "fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them" (except Beowulf, he's an empowered man choosing to let his bulge flop out for the whole world to see). That's all in good fun, right? Except the main instance noted is one of the underage characters. D'oh!

This seems pretty reasonable too. Anime Chris Hansen won't knock on my door for posting this edited art. Filia is 16 years old, there are plenty of adults in the cast to commission a titty mouspad or a dakimakura of, right? But even then, the disclaimer to make it "less exploitative" also sounds like a cope. Filia gets her ass grabbed by a creepy guy, then we find out she's not a normal teenager and Samson beats the creep's ass. The now-removed underage ass shot was unnecesary, but it's clear who is the bad guy and he gets punished. This also happens when this NPC appears again in Ms. Fortune's story mode; Minette gets negged by him and a friend, and Ms. Fortune comes to her defense. I might be misinterpreting the intent, but even if the intro to Filia's story mode wasn't all that tasteful, I've seen a hell of a lot more exploitative shit in other media, especially involving young characters.

_{This wasn't affected by the update, for the record. I'm just referencing it.}

RACIAL SENSITIVITY

While there are numerous playful references to pulpy themes that we feel respectfully allude to certain stereotypes (e.g. the Saxploitation VO pack), we have made adjustments to some content that we believed to be in poor taste (e.g. references to racial violence in Big Band's Story Mode).

This is something I hesitate to approach because I'm not black, and I'm not sure what the real answer is. I think anyone can have an opinion on anything even if it's "not their lane" as long they're reasonably educated on the subject (and don't speak over those actually affected by it...), but I don't want to come off as maliciously ignorant or offend. To recap, Big Band is black and his backstory involves being a former cop who was beaten and left for dead by his fellow policemen for daring to go after the Medici mafia. He became Big Band after the Anti-Skullgirl Labs rebuilt him. This sounds pretty loaded for a DLC released in April 2014, a year after Black Lives Matter started and the same year as the Ferguson riots in August. I can see why this was changed, but I don't understand why this done was 9 years later.

Spoilered images of the story mode scene

I basically lived in the Skullgirls tag on Tumblr, and despite Tumblr's reputation of being a ~SJW Hellscape~, I hardly saw anyone comment on this being in bad taste. Big Band's story mode was not a social commentary (it wasn't racial violence in-canon), even if it's understandable why it can be read that way; Media does not exist in a vacuum even if the intent is apolitical. It feels like this was made to be an issue when it initially wasn't, and is more insulting in itself to remove it for resembling a real-life tragedy down the line. I'm not saying no one ever found it offensive, but if it was an issue then, that would've been the perfect time to approach Lab Zero about it. Especially in 2020 when anti-black police violence became a bigger headline. (Instead, Mike Z went mask-off and made an "I can't breathe" joke on stream... Note the awkward silence after.)

But even back then it wasn't touched. When it comes to serious topics, like what I said about the Egrets original designs: how something is portrayed matters just as much, if not more, than what it is. Big Band's story mode shows the police as evil and corrupt from the get-go, and has a happy ending as opposed to being misery porn. I feel like a more sensitive change would be to add a warning for police brutality before playing so players can skip the cutscene.

A separate thread on Skullheart details more changes made. (I'm only looking at the main game, by the way, not Skullgirls Mobile.)

Here is the full list of items that have been altered in 2nd Encore:

COMBAT ADJUSTMENTS

• Adjusted Filia palettes: 1, 3-11, 13, 16, 18-20, 22, 24-28.
• Removed comb from Filia's Burst animation.
• Adjusted Parasoul palettes: 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 22, 24, 25, 27.
• Adjusted in-game Black Egret art for both Parasoul and Umbrella.
• Replaced combo counter phrases for 18-hit combos (and reshuffled 16 and 17 accordingly).
• Removed an intro voice line in Big Band's alternate voice pack.
• Removed an intro voice line in Peacock's alternate voice pack.
• Removed the Soviet Announcer voice pack.

GENERAL ART ADJUSTMENTS

• Removed 4 illustrations from Gallery > Guest Art
• Adjusted “Parasoul Poster” (Gallery > Posters)
• Adjusted "Parasoul and Black Egret" (Gallery > Parasoul)
• Adjusted "Parasoul and the Egrets" (Gallery > Parasoul)
• Adjusted "Cancer Drive - Parasoul and Valentine" (Gallery > Production Art)
• Adjusted “Double's Action Shot” (Gallery > Double)
• Adjusted “Cast Poster - Original” (Gallery > Key Art)
• Adjusted “Menu Background” (Gallery > Key Art)
• Adjusted “Double Arcade Stick” (Gallery > Arcade Sticks)
• Adjusted “Film Strip Blue” (Gallery > Arcade Sticks)
• Adjusted “Posters Arcade Stick” (Gallery > Arcade Sticks)
• Adjusted “Vertical Cast Arcade Stick” (Gallery > Arcade Sticks)
• Adjusted “Filia vs. Peacock 1” (Gallery > Key Art)
• Adjusted “Adam's Lineup Art” (Gallery > Lineup Shots)
• Adjusted “Molly's Lineup Art” (Gallery > Lineup Shots)
• Adjusted “Panzerfaust's Lineup Art (Gallery > Lineup Shots)

STORY MODE ADJUSTMENTS

• Adjusted several illustrations from “Beowulf's Story Mode Art” when characters are captured by Double.
• Removed one illustration and adjusted another when Big Band is attacked by police officers.
• Adjusted illustration from “Double's Story Mode Art” when characters are captured by Double.
• Adjusted several illustrations from “Eliza's Story Mode Art” when Cerebella is attacked by Eliza, and Filia and Ms. Fortune are captured by Eliza.
• Adjusted several illustrations from “Filia's Story Mode Art” during the intro.
• Adjusted several illustrations from “Parasoul's Story Mode Art” involving Black Egrets apparel and uniform.
• Adjusted illustration from “Umbrella's Story Mode Art” involving Black Egrets apparel and uniform.

...Jesus fucking Christ, that's a lot. (For record, the Soviet Announcer might have been removed because it's Mike Z's voice, not for any censorship or political correctness-related reasons.)

As I mentioned earlier, I do not agree with the concept art with the old designs being changed. It feels revisionist and pretending the past mistakes never happened. Changing the story mode art and portraits make sense, but people aren't going to know you made a mistake and learned from it if you try to bury your tracks. And it's frankly too late to try to bury it, when this game is a decade old! I also don't think any guest art with past designs should be removed. If anything there needs to be a disclaimer that the old archived content is a product of its time, especially since the Digital Art Compendium (which is paid for content, being taken away) was changed too.

_{I get it, it's kind of gross. But this was originally drawn around 2008. Seriously?}

I've seen the other changes made, but I don't have anything to say about them that wasn't already stated before.

This isn't a hill I'd die on, but I'm not happy about this. I initially thought this was well-intentioned, but in hindsight it feels intentionally malicious. Skullgirls is something I look fondly towards even if it's not a big part of my life right now; It was one of the first games I played on my old laptop, I've bought merchandise, and even beta tested the Mobile game. I spent days watching old Salty streams and various interviews. I was crushed when I found out about the news about Mike Z. I've considered buying future DLC when I can, but I decided not to. If the direction Skullgirls is going is pretending its past mistakes didn't happen to repent for the sins of Mike Z (despite being a team effort, including the crowdfunders) or trying to appeal to a crowd that wouldn't like it in the first place, I won't reinstall my Steam copy or buy any port. Even if some changes were reasonable, a mile was taken from the inch given. I'd rather the "offensive content" originally present stay in the game and have the right to criticize it (which both fans and critics have in the last decade), than have it removed entirely and pretend it didn't happen.

Anyone who owns a personal site in this age is aware of the state of social media. I posted this away from any doomscrolling pit for a reason, because it would be easy to jump to the worst possible conclusion if I solely stated "I don't agree with this" in a bite-sized format, instead of having a space to write out All This Shit I typed out. Just scrolling social media and some news outlets for a few minutes to read other people's opinions has a black-and-white mentality; I see disagreements about these changes being written off as just "pedophile coomers are angry that Nazi imagery and panty shots were removed", meanwhile just clicking on a Youtube video trying to talk about it gives me spiels about "pro-grooming (LGBT) feminists ruining video games". I was also disappointed by a lot of coverage on this from a lot of well-known gaming outlets repeating the same talking points from social media. It's extremely unfair to write all of this off as something that only a racist or pervert would disagree with, when the conclusion I came to was the exact opposite. I encourage people who have issues with things like this to speak about it, because reasonable people who might otherwise agree won't listen or because of the direction the loudest are going in.

This was initially going to be short filler content, but I ended up spending 2 days writing this. I hope this page gave you a new perspective, whether you agree, disagree, or just reading because you're bored.

The colors I used for this page were randomly chosen, but I really like it. I might reuse this...