Filia (Canon)

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**Filia** (JP: フィリア) was once a normal school girl, until one night, her hair was possessed by the Parasite named Samson, resulting in amnesia.

She is also the granddaughter of Lorenzo Medici, although this has yet to be directly addressed in game.

## General Information

Filia is one of the playable characters in *Skullgirls*. She was the first character made playable in a demo of Skullgirls when the game was being made. Her homestage is Maplecrest.

She has been named the "protagonist/main character" of *Skullgirls* although characters such as Marie, Parasoul, Valentine, Double and Painwheel all have more major roles than Filia herself. This is possibly because she has been used in most of the game's advertisements and cover artworks.

### Personality

As of now, nothing is known about Filia's character or impact in the storyline prior to Samson's introduction into her life, which supposedly gave her total amnesia. It is mentioned, however, that Filia was the daughter of a prominent Medici Mafia member, a position that afforded her luxuries and power over her classmates in school.

The "post-Samson" Filia is a kind and friendly young lady, with the tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt and approach them in a friendly manner. Consequently, this also makes Filia rather naïve, as she struggles to identify hostile persons without being explicitly told so and even then hesitates to fight back. In the end, Filia's wish upon the Skull Heart to return Painwheel/Carol to normalcy was out of pity for the horrid state Carol came to be in and out of guilt for wrong-doings Filia may have committed in the past.

## Character Basis

### Origin

Samson's location on Filia gives her the appearance of a Template:W, a monster from Japanese folklore with a second mouth on the back of its head.

### Name

*Filia* is based on Template:W and the Latin word for "daughter". Coincidentally, it can also be a reference to Template:W, which are long chains of proteins found in hair.

### Design

Filia's character design is inspired by Millia Rage from the *Guilty Gear* series, who similarly fights with her magical hair.

Filia's most apparent physical feature is Samson, who takes the form of Filia's hair, with several short bangs slightly covering her forehead and multiple tentacle-like locks of hair propagating outward from the back. Samson's eyes and teeth are situated opposite of Filia's face, but are still visible when viewing Filia from the front. Strangely enough, Samson's shape bears a striking resemblance to Filia's mother's haircut.

Filia stands at slightly-shorter-than-average height, has red eyes and, apart from having distinctly large abdominal and thigh regions, is of slender build. Filia's default attire, her school uniform, consists of a miniskirt, mid-thigh length leggings, and tie (all of which are dark purple in color), a white button-down collared shirt that exposes her midriff, and dark brown shoes.

The original design for Filia was far different from her current incarnation, where she is portrayed as a puppet upon Samson's back. This design corresponded with a different plotline from the now canon version of Filia, in which Samson had eaten her parents, presumably using her body to achieve an unrevealed goal. It is unknown if this is still canon, though an alternate version of Samson having a design resembling features of another, related concept was optioned as a possible DLC character during the Skullgirls Indiegogo fundraising campaign.

Other early concepts have shown Filia wearing glasses and wielding two swords that resemble hairpins. While the glasses were removed, the hairpin swords are apparently still a part of Filia's arsenal, although they have yet to appear in-game. It should be noted however that Alex Ahad posted an image during Eliza's development of Samson's old host, Delilah, who is seen wielding identical hairpin blades to that of Filia in the concept art.

## Story

Filia was once just an average schoolgirl, but one day woke up without any memories and a second mouth on the back of her head. She was now playing host to a parasite named Samson, an unruly mop of demonic hair with incredible power.

With no memories or anyone to turn to for help, if she ever hopes to piece together her forgotten past and survive the inevitable clash with the Skullgirl, Filia will need to trust this mysterious being.

### Ending

After defeating the Skullgirl, Filia takes possession of the Skull Heart. After much thought, she decides not to wish for her lost memories back; instead, she wishes for Carol (Painwheel) to return to her old self. Despite her good intentions, however, the Skull Heart declares that the wish is slightly impure, as Filia feels personal guilt over Carol's fate. Thus she is attempting to improve herself through the wish. As such, Filia is doomed to become the new Skullgirl, albeit slowly due to the nearly selfless nature of her wish. The Skull Heart tells Filia to make the most of her time before her transformation.

Filia is next seen at school, where her class is introduced to the new student Carol - formerly Painwheel - who appears to be a normal (if slightly disfigured) girl. Filia smiles to herself, even as she feels the Skull Heart beginning to transform her. She and Carol then watch the sunset, best friends once again.

## Abilities & Fighting Style

Filia and Samson share a symbiotic relationship, and it is this relationship that forms the basis for their fighting style. Samson is able to attack from a distance by turning his tendrils into long tentacles with sharp razor-like ends. He can also attack from afar with hairball spit attacks.

Filia herself does not really do any fighting on her own; instead, Samson fights and she just walks him from place to place. They do have some team attacks, such has when she sticks her arm out so Samson can turn her hair into gator teeth. He can also attack by turning into a donkey and have Filia deliver a hard kick to the opponent. Filia seems to have above average possibly super human endurance; whether or not this comes from Samson is unclear.

With Samson in tow, Filia uses chains of swift attacks and moves around the battlefield with volatile mobility. She is capable of performing mix ups that can keep her opponents on their toes as Samson shifts into different shapes and sizes. She is also capable of pulling off cancels. Filia is a good rushdown character for beginners.

## Color Palettes

1. Default colors File:Filia's Color Palettes.png
2. Original colors
3. Original colors
4. Palette taken from alternate costume design
5. Original colors
6. Original colors
7. Past Filia
8. Original colors: Filia's color map
9. Miku Hatsune *(Vocaloid)*
10. Rei Miyamoto *(Highschool of the Dead)*
11. Original colors
12. Magneto *(X-Men)*
13. Original colors
14. Millia Rage *(Guilty Gear series)*
15. Original colors
16. Zeruel (*Rebuild* design) *(Neon Genesis Evangelion)*
17. Scanty *(Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt)*
18. Madoka Kaname *(Template:W)*
19. Original colors - Indiegogo backer color
20. Fionna the Human *(Adventure Time with Finn and Jake)* - Indiegogo backer color
21. Shantae *(Shantae)* - Indiegogo backer color
22. Original colors - Staff-picked color (Originally removed prior to **Skullgirls** console release.)
23. Millia Rage (Xrd design) *(Guilty Gear series)*
24. Original colors
25. Ryūko Matoi *(Kill la Kill)*

## Extra Information

IconGallery.png**Images of Filia (Canon)**IconScript.png**Scripts featuring Filia (Canon)**IconMoveList.png**Filia (Canon) Move List**IconQuotes.png**Filia (Canon) Quotes**IconRelations.png**Relationships with Other Characters**
## Trivia

* Filia's winning stance resembles that of Ryu's from the *Street Fighter* franchise, where he crosses his arms and the wind blows his headband (in this case, Samson is crossing his arms and Filia is fluttering in the air. However, there is also a winning pose where Samson is waving in the air).
* Filia has an unused second time-out animation where Samson tears apart the top of her shirt in a rage. This animation was left unused due to objections from some Lab Zero staff, but is present in the Digital Art Compendium given to backers of the Keep Skullgirls Growing! fundraiser.
* In an unused alternate ending, Filia wishes for her memories to return. Samson protests, as the process presumably involves his removal from her head, and it is suggested that he had possessed Filia at her request. For her selfish wish, the Skull Heart declares that she will be the next Skullgirl.
* The bar in the opening of her story mode is a parody of the famous Template:W, and is named after Madman's Cafe.