Skald

**Skald** (*Romaji*: **Sukarudo**; *Kana*: **スカルド**) is the helmsman of the Wild Hunt Pirates.

## ***Profile***

### *Backstory*

Skald is the son of a man named Andreas and a piratess named Æsir D. Frímannía. He was born on the island of Baterilla in South Blue. Because his mother had a bounty in both the Underworld and the World as well, his father went to great lengths to conceal his maternal parentage from him and others. As such, he grew up without so much as a hint of his mother's identity.

Unfortunately for Andreas, Skald inherited all of Frímannía's agility and flexibility. Consequently, people began to gossip that Skald's mother was not an irresponsible and long-gone shipper like Andreas said she was. In order to counteract the rumors, Andreas enrolled Skald into a dance school. Subsequently, because Skald excelled at dance, people began to suspect that Skald was the son of a dancer or performer rather than a fighter or pirate.

As a 12-year-old, out of the hope of becoming famous enough to catch his mother's attention and lure his mother into meeting him, Skald began to compete in competitions about contortion and dancing. After 4 years of winning every competition that he ever competed in, at the age of 16, Skald began to perform on stage. About a year after he began to perform on stage, at the A Paean Dance Festival, Skald was outperformed by a girl named Lenore. As such, Skald began to view Lenore as an enemy.

Over the course of 3 years; Skald danced alongside of, against, and with Lenore at many islands and on many stages. Initially, Skald blamed Lenore for his failure to catch his mother's attention and reel his mother into his life. As such, Skald hated Lenore and elevated Lenore from an enemy into his nemesis. However, slowly but surely, Lenore and Skald became more and more familiar with one another. Eventually, Skald began to see Lenore as less of a nemesis and more of a rival. And not long after, Skald began to view Lenore as a friend rather than as a rival.

But one day, when Skald was a 20-year-old, one of Lenore and Skald's performances was crashed by the king of the country that they were performing in. The king abducted Lenore from the stage with the intent of forcing Lenore to marry him. As a result, Skald realized that he was in love with Lenore and he killed the king with a single kick to the head. Immediately afterward, as the stage hands began to smuggle Lenore out of the country and spirit Lenore away to safety, Skald fought and killed the entirety of the king's army! However, by doing so, Skald exposed his maternal parentage to those capable of recognizing his mother's abilities and spirit within him.

Immediately afterward, the World Government altered the details of the story. The World Government reported that Skald had been envious of the king's relationship with Lenore and that Skald had murdered the king out of jealousy. The World Government also reported that Skald hunted down and killed the king's army out of naught but spite, Consequently, Skald became world-renowned as a mass-murdering yandere! As such, Skald came to believe in and despair over the idea that his mother would avoid him out of disgust or fear. So Skald gave up on luring out or meeting his mother and then resolved to find and meet up with Lenore so that he could at least admit his feelings to Lenore and get a bit of closure. With this resolution in mind, Skald became a pirate.

## ***Abilities and Equipment***

### *Gadgets and Weapons*

#### **Axe**

Main Article: Lenore

Skald possesses an axe named **Lenore** (*Romaji*: **Renoa**; *Kana*: **レノア**). Lenore is a double-bitted battle axe with an extendable and flexible shaft which allows it to double as a halberd. Notable, though Lenore is not a Meitō, it exhibits all of the durability and sharpness of one of the 21 Great Grade Swords!

Through his acrobatic prowess, when Lenore is in its halberd form, Skald is able to use Lenore for pole-vaulting.

### *Fighting Styles and Martial Arts*

#### **Acro Dance**

Skald is a performer of Acro Dance, a combination of acrobatics and ballet. As an Acro Dancer, Skald is able to gracefully and seamlessly transition between acrobatics and ballet. In addition, Skald is able to accomplish such transitions with ease and haste.

In combat, Skald uses Acro Dance for mobility in the air and nimbleness on the ground. In addition; because Acro Dance allows Skald to change his direction, elevation, and posture in a single move; Skald is able to use Acro Dance for evasion as well.

#### **Axemanship**

After Skald became a pirate, because axes were cheap yet effective as both tools and weapons, Skald chose the axe as his weapon-of-choice.

Through 4 years of training and usage, Skald has learned how to wield an axe in both the **Gentle Blade Style** (*Romaji*: **Jūken-ryū**; *Kanji*: **柔剣流**) and the **Strong Blade Style** (Romaji: **Gōken-ryū**; *Kanji*: **豪剣流**). As a result, Skald is able to bisect a steel-hard cannonball with just as much ease as he is able to redirect a steel-hard cannonball.

In addition, like a powerful and skilled swordsman, Skald is able to launch a **Flying Slash Attack** (*Romaji*: **Tobu Zangeki**; *Kanji*: **飛ぶ斬撃**)! Notably, by incorporating elements of Fishman Jujutsu into his axemanship, Skald is able to launch Flying Slash Attack which exhibits an intricate and specific shape. In addition, Skald is able to spin his axe in hand in order to generate a Flying Slash Attack-vortex around the entirety of his body or just his hand. And just as Skald is able to launch Flying Slash Attack with an intricate and specific shape, Skald is able to generate a Flying Slash Attack-vortex with an intricate and specific shape as well!

Notably, through his flexibility and leg strength, Skald is able to wrap his leg into a snake-like constriction around an axe's shaft. By doing so, Skald is able to wield an axe with his leg just as easily as he is able to wield an axe with his hand! Frighteningly, because Skald's legs are more flexible and more powerful than his arms, Skald is a far more dangerous axeman when he is wielding an axe with his leg than when he is wielding an axe with his arm!

#### **Contortion**

Skald is a natural-born contortionist, as Skald exhibits hypermobility in a supermajority of his joints. As a result, Skald exhibits a measure of flexibility that is surpassed by none other than a consumer of the Gomu Gomu no Mi.

In addition to being a natural-born contortionist, Skald is a trained contortionist as well. As Skald is capable of performing a variety of contortionist's techniques, such as backbending and frontbending. In addition, whenever necessary, Skald is more than capable of dislocating his joints from their proper position and then relocating his joints back to their proper position. Also, in stark contrast to a supermajority of contortionist, Skald is able to perform all of his techniques with ease and haste. And Skald is able to perform all of his techniques without any assistance of any kind and without any preparation of any sort.

Notably, Skald is able to emulate a bullwhip with his arms and legs and thereby accelerate his feet and hands to a supersonic velocity! As such, Skald is able to strike a target with immense force by bull whip-lashing his arms and feet into target. So Skald can be said to be a user of the **Bananawani no Shippo** technique of the Legitimate Self-Defence Style of the Merchant Fleet. Also of note, Skald is able to easily and quickly contort his body in a manner that is reminiscent of how easily and quickly that most are able to bend paper. And by doing so, Skald is able to dodge around or under even an entire barrage of strikes. So Skald can be said to be a user of the Kami-e technique of Rokushiki.