Zs'Skayr

Zs'Skayr (pronounced "Zuh Scare"), also known as Ghostfreak, was the Ectonurite High Ecto-Lord of Anur Phaetos and Anur Transyl in the Anur System. He was originally stuck in the form of Ghostfreak, as a separate personality that would influence Ghostfreak's actions. Over time, he managed to gain enough control over the form that he could escape from the Omnitrix, becoming one of Ben Tennyson's most dangerous enemies.
==Appearance==
In the Original Series, Zs'Skayr had a ghost-like body. It was gray-purple and had black lines running across his chest. His head resembled a grey-brown skull turned upside-down, which had uneven teeth, black lips, and one purple eye. He had long black nails, and there were some tears in his skin, revealing black and white striped tentacles underneath. He could also become smoke-like by deforming his bodily shape into wisps of grey, somewhat transparent flames.
Just after escaping the Omnitrix, Zs'Skayr looked exactly like 10-year-old Ghostfreak. This included the original Omnitrix symbol peeking out of his skin on his lower left chest too, which was not present on his true form.
In Alien Force, Zs'Skayr's body was purple/blue and he had whitish-grey nails. His spine was sticking out of his back, his tail was fully exposed with black and white stripes and he had spikes on his elbows with whiter, less sharp rows of teeth.
In Omniverse, Zs'Skayr had turned his head right-side up. He had two eyes, one on his head and one on his chest, and his skin was now modified to look like the hood and cloak of a stereotypical Grim Reaper, complete with a scythe. The spinous processes on his back were larger and more curved, the skin on his arms were hanged down, much like sleeves, and his teeth looked more like human incisors than fangs.
GhostfreakPose2.png|Zs'Skayr after first escaping the Omnitrix in the Original Series
Zs'Skayr Completed Form.png|Zs'Skayr's completed form in the Original Series
OV Zs Skayr Unhooded Upside Down.png|Unhooded Zs'Skayr with an upside-down head in Omniverse
Unhooded scare.png|Unhooded Zs'Skayr in Omniverse
Zs'Skayrupsidepose.png|Zs'Skayr with an upside-down head in Omniverse
==Personality==
Zs'Skayr had a twisted, arrogant, power-hungry and sadistic personality. Anyone whom he considered as worthless is either tormented for his amusement or is manipulated and later destroyed once their usefulness has ended.
Zs'Skayr was shown to be a careful and brilliant master planner, able to come up with highly resourceful, cunning, and complex schemes and plans, through which he aimed to gain immense power for himself and domination over entire worlds. Good examples of Zs'Skayr's ingenuity include his master plan to turn the Earth into a Corrodium-cloaked world of darkness for him to rule over, his resurrection by ViktorThe Return and his scheme to drain the Alpha Rune with the purpose of resurrecting the Vladats and regaining his title as High Ecto-Lord.The Vampire Strikes Back
While Zs'Skayr tended to do most of the work by himself, he did usually recruit residents of the Anur System (such as Viktor, Kuphulu, Crüjo, and Lord Transyl) and other villains. Zs'Skayr's minions are not much more of an exception to his cruelty than his enemies. He had been known to quickly and almost happily resort to violent shows of power and intimidation (often via his possession ability) against other villains to cow them into allying with him when they are uncooperative. He also showed little respect for his minions, and tended towards flashes of abuse and threats when they do not obey him without question.
Zs'Skayr was a backstabber, as seen when he tried to possess Vilgax and take over Vilgaxia after telling him what he was seeking.
Zs'Skayr was highly vindictive and vengeful, a side of him which was especially heightened through his vicious and bloodthirsty personality. His obsession with possessing Ben, besides becoming whole through access to the Omnitrix, was rooted in his spite over his original entrapment in the Omnitrix and his desire to make Ben feel the same way. After being fought off by Vilgax, Zs'Skayr went as far as invading Vilgaxia and turning its people into his Ectonurite slaves.
By human standards, Zs'Skayr could be described as matching the textbook definition of a psychopath, with notable traits being his obsessive behavior, his lack of remorse, his immense sadism, and his enjoyment of the suffering of others.
==History==
=== Background ===
The original Zs'Skayr was once the High Ecto-Lord of Anur Phaetos. He learned about the Omnitrix from the data files of one of Vilgax's scout probes, which crash-landed on his planet. He left his planet using the probe and searched the galaxy by possessing many beings. After some time, he encountered Myaxx while she was collecting samples for the Omnitrix on Flors Verdance.
Zs'Skayr possessed the Florauna that was being sampled, thereby adding Ectonurite DNA to the Omnitrix as well as Florauna DNA. Since an Ectonurite's consciousness exists even in a single strand of DNA, Zs'Skayr had effectively copied himself into the device. However, his personality remained dormant within the Omnitrix's DNA database for a long time.
===Ben 10===
Zs'Skayr's mind continued to lie dormant in the Omnitrix when it fell into Ben's possession, with his DNA allowing the young boy to transform into a form dubbed "Ghostfreak". Since adjusting to the Omnitrix was so difficult, Zs'Skayr couldn't take control right away. However, one time when Ben used Ghostfreak to sneak into a horror movie, he took control and contacted Viktor with his plans. He also had a few episodes of overriding Ben's personality during fights as Ghostfreak, such as when battling KraabHunted or Zombozo.Last Laugh
Zs'Skayr first appeared in Ghostfreaked Out, where he finally managed to force his way out of the Omnitrix after taking control of Ghostfreak during a battle with the Circus Freak Trio. After revealing his true form to Ben by ripping off his outermost layer of skin, he tried to take over Ben's body in order to use his human DNA to become whole again. This was because as Ben was the first being to wear the Omnitrix since Zs'Skayr entered it.
Unfortunately, his weakness against sunlight thwarted his attempt to possess Ben. After possessing a student at Bancroft Academy, Zs'Skayr found the Circus Freaks and coerced them into helping him by taking over Thumbskull and tossing him about like a ragdoll in the room they were hiding in. He was defeated when he was exposed to sunlight by Ben, causing him to burst into flames. Following this experience, Ben was unable (and unwilling) to turn into Ghostfreak ever again.
In The Return, Zs'Skayr was resurrected by Dr. Viktor, a Transylian scientist from the Anur System, who had stolen material from Zs'Skayr's clock tower grave to re-animate his deceased master.
In Be Afraid of the Dark, Zs'Skayr carried out his ultimate goal was to plunge the Earth into total darkness for him to control while maintaining his intentions of gaining control of the Omnitrix. Using Corrodium retrieved by the Mummy and projectors built by the Werewolf, Zs'Skayr and Viktor fired a Corrodium beam to block out all sunlight on the planet, allowing Zs'Skayr to exist in eternal darkness.
While fighting Ben as Frankenstrike, Zs'Skayr dragged him to outside the control satellite and morphed into his complete form due to being in "the darkness of space". He even expressed eagerness in seeing Ben time out and "implode in the vacuum of space". Viktor accidentally rammed a space shuttle piloted by Max into the projector, destroying it. Zs'Skayr was killed once more when Gwen opened the shuttle's roof and exposed him directly to the sun.
Though Ben regained use of Ghostfreak (albeit in his true form) during this time, he refrained from using the transformation for the remainder of the series under the fear that Zs'Skayr may take over again.
===Five Years Prior to Omniverse===
At some point after Ben meets Azmuth in Secret of the Omnitrix, Ghostfreak's DNA was removed from the Codon Stream, allowing Zs'Skayr to escape the Omnitrix a second time.
In From Hedorium to Eternity, Zs'Skayr possessed the body of Thaddeus J. Collins and attempted to take over Earth by having his fellow Ectonurites possess people. His plot was discovered by Ben and his friends. After a short battle between him and Upgrade, Cooper reversed the Transmat Portal that brought Zs'Skayr and his minions to Earth, pulling them all back in. Zs'Skayr swore revenge on Ben as he was sucked into the portal.
At some later point, Zs'Skayr was trapped in a Plumber prison designed to hold him, under a beam of concentrated sunlight to keep him helpless despite his new abilities, which he had gained since the end of the Original Series.
===Alien Force===
thumb|left|Zs'Skayr incarcerated |alt=
In Ghost Town, Vilgax freed Zs'Skayr on the condition that he tell him "the secrets of the Omnitrix [and] the knowledge to defeat Ben". He told him about Primus the location of the Codon Stream. However, after this, Zs'Skayr betrayed and deceived him after getting free wanting to possess his power to become all powerful. Zs'Skayr took over Vilgax's home planet of Vilgaxia, possessing the citizens and turning them into his minions that resembled his sun-shielded form. Vilgax tried to fight them, but was forced to retreat and went to Earth to ask for help from Ben, Gwen, and Kevin.
Traveling to Vilgaxia, they infiltrated Vilgax's palace and confronted Zs'Skayr, who revealed that Vilgaxia was just the beginning, and his minions were already building ships to spread their master's influence to other planets. During the battle, Ben let Zs'Skayr enter his body, allowing the Omnitrix to resample the Ectonurite DNA which was happened as Ben planned. His plan backfired when Ben transformed into Ghostfreak, Zs'Skayr took control of the transformation and tried to possess Vilgax. However, he was defeated by the light of Vilgax's sword, causing Ben to change back.
Though these events caused Ghostfreak to become available in the Omnitrix once more, Zs'Skayr's consciousness was separated from the transformation.
In Primus, Vilgax recalled how he freed Zs'Skayr for the secrets of the Omnitrix before making his way to Primus.
===Omniverse===
After Ben destroyed (or dispersed) him in their last battle off-screen, Zs'Skayr's essence ended up in Legerdomain, where he reformed himself using the magic there.
In Mystery, Incorporeal, Zs'Skayr could briefly be seen crawling out of a portal that was previously opened by Darkstar, allowing him to escape Ledgerdomain.
Making his way to Plumber HQ, Zs'Skayr discovered Viktor trapped in metal and stored in the basement. By taking control from King Xarion, he restored Viktor to his true self. Zs'Skayr then manipulated events while possessing Morty so that he and Viktor could stow away on the Lovely Duck and return to Anur Transyl, where Zs'Skayr could regain his title as High Ecto-Lord.
In Rad Monster Party, Zs'Skayr and his current team (consisting of a restored and liberated Viktor, Kuphulu, and Crüjo) battled Ben, Rook Blonko, Hobble, Scout, and Rad Dudesman only to be driven away when Zs'Skayr himself was defeated by NRG.
In Charmed, I'm Sure, Zs'Skayr drained a large portion of energy from the Alpha Rune he had stolen before teleporting Ben, Rook, Hobble, and Charmcaster elsewhere. Though he thought that it was completely powerless and now useless, that was not the case as Charmcaster was able to use it while fighting Swampfire, Rook, and Hobble.
In The Vampire Strikes Back, Zs'Skayr used the Alpha Rune's power to resurrect Lord Transyl as a powerful servant. From there, he would use Transyl's DNA to resurrect the extinct Vladat race as an army in order to regain his title as High Ecto-Lord. This was against the objections of Dr. Viktor, who remembered how the Vladats enslaved and feasted on his people.
Ultimately, Zs'Skayr's plan came to naught as he was suddenly betrayed by Viktor, and Ben as Atomix created a light orb called "Fusion Cuisine" that vaporized Zs'Skayr's ectoplasm down to its atomic structure and dispersed his remnant particles, which was radiated out in every direction for thousands of miles and some were sent into outer space. Though Zs'Skayr was already seemingly killed, Atomix decided to leave behind his Fusion Cuisine in Z'Castle Zs'Skayr in the event Zs'Skayr does return.
==Powers and Abilities==
TVSB105.PNG|Intangibility
RMP (374).png|Invisibility
Afraid (1150).png|Intangibility/Invisibility Infusion
2GFO (638).png|Incapacitation (via Intangibility)
TVSB107.PNG|Body Possession
RMP (367).png|Consciousness Removal
GhT (486).png|Tentacles
RMP (344).png|Flight/Enhanced Speed
TVSB17.PNG|Levitation
GhT (582).png|Sharp Claws
RMP (382).png|Scythemanship
GhT (579).png|Enhanced Strength
RMP (384).png|Enhanced Durability
RMP (332).png|Enhanced Reflexes
Afraid (1163).png|Space Survivability
GhT (608).png|Prehensile Tail
2GFO (312).png|Telepathic Illusions (Omnitrix Mind Link)
2GFO (120).png|Dream Viewing/Dream Manipulation (Omnitrix Mind Link)
2GFO (403).png|Telekinesis
RMP (212).png|Electronic Disruption
Afraid (560).png|Smoke-Like Form/Density Shifting
GhT (551).png|Regeneration
GhT (208).png|Ectonurite Conversion
GhT (620).png|Converted Ectonurite Manipulation
2GFO (870).png|Removable Skin (Formerly)
CHS (15).png|Skin Storage
GhT (430).png|Energy Beams
GhT (587).png|Enhanced Telekinesis
Afraid (1167).png|Darkness Empowerment
RMP (130).png|Skull Rotation
Zs'Skayr could make himself intangible and invisible as both a powerful defense and a way of infiltrating high-security locations.Kevin 11 Zs'Skayr could choose to selectively make parts of himself corporeal or slightly corporeal. This extended technique can be used to interact with the world or fight while still intangible.From Hedorium to Eternity It can also be used in a more deadly way by interacting with someone's internal body parts, such as when he passed into Thumbskull's body and incapacitated him without a chance to fight back.
Zs'Skayr could even make people intangible and transparent by touching them, as he did to Frankenstrike to phase the two of them through the floor of a space station and out onto its hull.
Zs'Skayr could possess life forms and take full control of them. Additionally, he could also use whatever abilities his victim possesses after taking control. In the original series, the eyes of anyone he possessed would become black with white pupils and black cracks underneath the eyes.
Zs'Skayr could possess Humans, Florauna, Vladats, Necrofriggians, Atrocians, Polymorphs, Galvanic Mechamorphs, Microchips, Chronosapiens, and even Celestialsapiens and other Ectonurites.
Zs'Skayr could completely remove someone's consciousness while possessing them if his willpower is stronger.Rad Monster Party
Zs'Skayr could use the tentacles under his skin as a means of scaring his enemies into submission. These tentacles could grow sharp thorns that can be used as lethal weapons.The Big Tick
Zs'Skayr was capable of flight and levitation, which he could use to soar through the air at high speeds.
Zs'Skayr had sharp claws, which could easily tear through Vilgax's Mechadroids.Malgax Attacks
Zs'Skayr was strong and durable enough to physically fight beings as powerful as Vilgax.
Zs'Skayr could survive in the vacuum of space.
Zs'Skayr was immune to Darkstar's energy absorption ability. This was because Ectonurites do not have mana, as they are not alive in the same conventional way that most other life forms are.Mystery, Incorporeal
Zs'Skayr had an eerie, glowing eye that was formerly able to move around his body before he removed his outermost layer of skin.
Like all Anur System aliens, Zs'Skayr could see in the dark.
Zs'Skayr's tail was prehensile.
Zs'Skayr was capable of telekinesis, shown off by when he was still trapped in the Omnitrix, when he used his telekinesis to make flames erupt from Bunsen burners. Zs'Skayr was also capable of telepathy.
While Zs'Skayr was in the Omnitrix, he was able to create telepathic illusions in Ben's mind. He was also able to view and manipulate Ben's dreams.
Zs'Skayr was able to disrupt electronics by phasing through them.
Zs'Skayr could make people feel deathly cold by simply moving right through them.
Zs'Skayr could alter his shape and deform like gas by making himself into a grey, somewhat transparent smoke-like wispy form.
Zs'Skayr could regenerate lost skin.
Sometime after the Original Series, Zs'Skayr gained a few new abilities. One such ability was to convert living creatures into Ectonurite minions by possessing them, briefly merging with them, and then leaving the victim, causing them to morph into Ectonurites completely subservient to him. Being defeated would cause his minions to return to normal.
Zs'Skayr was able to store small objects under his skin flaps.Charmed, I'm Sure
All members of his race have their consciousness genetically bonded to their DNA. A piece of DNA is all that is needed to re-create the same being entirely.
Zs'Skayr could project powerful energy beams from either the tentacles in his chest and or his hands whenever his skin was peeled back.
In his true form, Zs'Skayr's telekinesis was greatly enhanced, being able to even move an entire pillar without effort.
While exposed to total darkness, like that of space, Zs'Skayr's powers and abilities would be greatly enhanced to their full potential.
Zs'Skayr, like all Ectonurites, could rotate his skull.
===Equipment===
Zs'Skayr owned a scythe that he could wield with great skill.
With the Alpha Rune, Zs'Skayr was able perform magical feats, such as teleporting Charmcaster away to another location.
==Weaknesses==
Afraid (1712).png|Sunlight Vulnerability
VSB (419).png|Bright Light Vulnerability
GO (90).png|Possession Limit
RMP (429).png|Electricity Vulnerability
Like all Ectonurites, Zs'Skayr was vulnerable to bright light, with sunlight burning him to ashes. However, if even a few strands of his DNA still existed, he could be resurrected. This weakness could be negated if he occupies a body that can handle sunlight. Being in light further lessened his abilities. Being exposed to NRG only greatly weakened him rather than killed him. However, Zs'Skayr could not handle lights as bright as that produced by Atomix's "Fusion Cuisine."
Certain substances could neutralize Zs'Skayr's intangibility and invisibility, such as a special orange liquid used by Kraab. It is possible that Gutrot's species can replicate this liquid in a gaseous form.
Zs'Skayr's intangibility required conscious thought to activate, so opponents will be able to harm him if he's caught off-guard, as seen when Ghostfreak got hit by a punching bag that Thumbskull threw at him while he was distracted.
Zs'Skayr could be tracked by opponents who can sense heat or use thermographic vision, as demonstrated by Kraab.
There are a number of weaknesses that Zs'Skayr was vulnerable to if he remains tangible and caught off-guard. For example:
*He could be trapped by an Evolved Arachnichimp's webbing.The Ultimate Sacrifice
*He could be immobilized by an Evolved Necrofriggian's ice flames.
*He could be harmed by electricity, such as that generated by Transylians and Conductoids.
*He could be controlled and hypnotized by Vladats via their Corrupturas, as demonstrated by many Ectonurite residents of Anur Transyl.
*He could be greatly weakened by NRG's radiation.
There are certain beings Zs'Skayr could not possess. For example, Zs'Skayr could not possess a zombies due to them lacking minds of their own.A New Dawn He was also not able to possess Omnitrix transformations, including the Sentient Ultimate forms (when inside the Ultimatrix); nor Dagon.
Zs'Skayr possession abilities could be countered. The Omnitrix is capable of protecting its users from Ectonurite possession. As such, Zs'Skayr could not merge with Ben or any Omnitrix wielder while they are in one of their alien forms. Even in their regular forms, the Omnitrix is capable of holding off Zs'Skayr for a short time.
Even if Zs'Skayr did possess someone, it may be possible for them to reject them out of their body, as shown with Ma Vreedle.Vreedlemania 
Like the rest of his kind, Zs'Skayr could not survive on Anur Vladias.
Zs'Skayr could be affected by a Nemuina's sleeping dust.
Zs'Skayr could be terrified of Toepick's face. He also greatly fears Ma Vreedle.
==Appearances==
===Ben 10===
====Season 2====
*Ghostfreaked Out (first appearance)
====Season 3==== 
*The Return
*Be Afraid of the Dark
===Alien Force===
====Season 2====
*Ghost Town (first reappearance)
*Primus (flashback)
===Omniverse===
====Season 5====
*Mystery, Incorporeal (first reappearance; cameo)
*Rad Monster Party (flashback and present)
*Charmed, I'm Sure
*The Vampire Strikes Back
====Season 8====
*From Hedorium to Eternity (flashback)
===Video Games===
====Ben 10====
*Ben 10: Protector of Earth (boss)
====Alien Force====
*Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks (boss)
====Ultimate Alien====
*Ben 10: Galactic Racing
==Video Games==
Zs'Skayr PoE.png|Zs'Skayr in Protector of Earth (consoles)
Zs'Skayr PoE DS.png|Zs'Skayr in Protector of Earth (DS)
Zs'Skayr VA.png|Zs'Skayr in Vilgax Attacks
===Ben 10: Protector of Earth===
Zs'Skayr appears as the main antagonist in the Midwest. He frees Vilgax from the Null Void and teams up with him to get revenge on Ben. He also possesses Hex and tries to use his powers to bring an army of his minions from the Anur System but is stopped by Ben. He leaves Hex and then attacks Ben in Chicago. Ben manages to defeat him and then sends him into the Null Void with the help of Grandpa Max. 
===Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks===
After Max sends the team to Anur Phaetos to retrieve the Energy core hidden there, the group quickly discovers that Anur Phaetos isn't a planet in the technical sense but in fact a type of alternate dimension. Verdona arrives and uses her powers to send the group to Anur Phaetos, accidentally splitting them up in the process.
Once there, Ben is lured into a fight with Zs'Skayr, who is revealed to be alive, in a sense. This doesn't stop Ben from defeating Zs'Skayr using his one weakness, light. Afterwards, Professor Paradox arrives and gets the group out of Anur Phaetos.
===Ben 10: Galactic Racing===
He is a playable character in the game.
==Naming and Translations==
==Etymology==
Zs'Skayr's name is a corruption of the word "scary". The way it is pronounced is similar to saying "the scare."
==Trivia==
*Zs'Skayr's real name was first conceived during the Original Series but was never used on-screen until Rad Monster Party. Before then, characters only referred to him as "Ghostfreak" (which he made no effort to correct).
**However, in From Hedorium to Eternity, he is referred to as Zs'Skayr by Ben and his team. This is an error, along with other errors in the episode like Zs'Skayr having his hood and his head in an upright orientation, both of which should be seen only after Rad Monster Party chronologically.
*Zs'Skayr is able to crack his head either upside down or right side up, even without physically touching it, and is able to move his skin to make a hood. He also indicated in Rad Monster Party that it is more comfortable for him when his head is right-side up.
*Zs'Skayr is a living being; the Ectonurite concept of "life" is just very different from most sentient life forms.
*Zs'Skayr finds Zs'iza and Zs'oise annoying since they just like to play tricks on him and haunt Z'Castle Zs'Skayr.
*Zs'Skayr was named by Tramm Wigzell.
*Dave Johnson designed both Zs'Skayr and Ghostfreak. Zs'Skayr's head being upside down was used to justify Ghostfreak's eye placement while wearing his outermost layer of skin. 
**Zs'Skayr's head was turned rightside up in Omniverse because Derrick J. Wyatt never understood the upside down head. He expanded on this, saying that he always wanted to because it is how he displayed his figures of the character.
*Zs'Skayr is the first alien to leave the Omnitrix/Ultimatrix, followed by the escaped aliens from Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2, and then by the Sentient Ultimate Aliens.
==Notes==
==References==
===Crew Statements===
====Dave Johnson====
====Derrick J. Wyatt====
====Dwayne McDuffie====
===Pop-Up Trivia===
===Audio Commentary===
===Merchandise===
===Ben 10 Planet===
==See Also==
*Z'Castle Zs'Skayr
bg:Зъ Скеър
de:Zs'Skayr
es:El'Terhor
fr:Spectral
pl:De Szrama
pt-br:Zs'Skayr
ro:Sinistrul
ru:Зескер
tr:Zs'Skayr
Category:Villains
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Category:Introduced in the Original Series
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Category:Classic Aliens
Category:Deceased Characters