The Skull Knight's Longevity

Just Something That occurred to me its probably been discussed before so my apologies if I'm repeating someone else's assertion
The Skull Knight as he is presently could be described as being neither alive or dead(outside the reason of time) and has supposedly been fighting the God Hand and its minions for the better part of a thousand years
He previously wore the berserker armor and according to what Shierke was told the previous wearer of the armor(Probably/possibly SK) fought until he lost the last of his blood. In this state he could have been defined as being essentially alive until all his blood was gone.
Now Zodd Recalls SK wearing the berserker Armor yet Zodd is what a little over three Hundred years old and arguably The skull knight was not as he presently is when he wore the armor(Zodd`s reference to the path down into hell brought about by the armor and SK`s present lack of blood)
So assuming all of this SK would have had to have been alive in some way for a few Hundred years before wearing the armor and eventually becoming as he is presently
Speculation time could SK have been a creature from the astral world(Puck`s saying he felt a little like an elf)
could he have been an apostle or a magic user
or could he have been granted longevity in some other fashion
any thoughts
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks for posting. First of all I wanted to commend you for getting all your facts straight here. I don't have to correct anything. This is speculation nation, so this is like a holiday for me. :ubik:

Getting down to business, I think most of us have wondered how far back Zodd and the Skull Knight really go. Speculations similar to these were common around ep 226-227, when we first learned that the armor's former owner died while wearing it, and Zodd's enigmatic line about remembering SKs own "path of hell". But I don't think an explanation has to be as outlandish as SK formerly being an elf, or magic user. I think it's more an indication that Zodd is older than we previously (pre-vol 26) thought he was.

puppet12ca said:
Now Zodd Recalls SK wearing the berserker Armor yet Zodd is what a little over three Hundred years old
Well, we don't know Zodd's age. We just say he's 300+ years old because in vol 17, he repeatedly referred to his journey to seek the ultimate strong one (Griffith/Femto) beginning 300 years ago. Now, that doesn't preclude Zodd from being older than that, we just don't have any proof other than the 300 years bit.

and arguably The skull knight was not as he presently is when he wore the armor
Needless to say, when SK was still a man, he wasn't a hollow armor.

Speculation time could SK have been a creature from the astral world
Nope. He was once a man. Flora in vol 24: "Old friend... I want to believe you still have the heart of a man."

(Puck`s saying he felt a little like an elf)
An old, solid theory is that SK's current armor came from the elves, possibly even the Elven King, hence SKs foreknowledge of him.

could he have been an apostle or a magic user or could he have been granted longevity in some other fashion
Could be a number of things. But it's more likely that Zodd is simply older. Afterall, he refers to Guts wearing the armor as a "fond memory" of SK's former days.

While it may be a fun exercise to think outside the box on SK's past, it's become difficult to think of him as anything other than the revenant of Gaiseric. The skull-shaped helmet, his age coinciding with the fall of his empire, Slan calling him "King" in vol 26, all are pretty compelling evidence toward him once being Gaiseric.
 
Rats I completely forgot about Flora's Line and its true Zodd's age is not definite

I guess I should have mentioned that I wasn't ruling out SK being Gaiseric but maybe that there was more to Gaiseric than met the eye

but Looking at it I guess I'd have to agree the more likely explanation is that Zodd is simply older

Though I am looking Forward to the Skull Knight's past(hopefully) being revealed
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Walter already answered the core of the question, but if no one minds there are some technicalities I'd like to address.

puppet12ca said:
The Skull Knight as he is presently could be described as being neither alive or dead(outside the reason of time)

Him being "outside the reason of time" isn't really related to being alive or dead. We could also say that Zodd is "outside the reason of time" and yet I'm sure you consider him to be alive.

puppet12ca said:
according to what Schierke was told the previous wearer of the armor(Probably/possibly SK) fought until he lost the last of his blood. In this state he could have been defined as being essentially alive until all his blood was gone.

Don't focus too much on the losing blood aspect. Schierke also says that all his bones were broken. It's meant to convey that the previous owner fought until the very last of his body's resources. On a side note, I'd like to see that fight one day. :badbone:

puppet12ca said:
could he have been an apostle or a magic user

Him being an apostle is unlikely for a ton of reasons. Would it really make sense to you? Why would an apostle need a magic armor? Not useful for them. Why would an apostle oppose the God Hand (Ganishka's case being very specific) and why would someone like Flora help him? How could an apostle have a faint elfin aura and not make the Brand bleed? Etcetera. It's completely inconsistent with the character. As for being a magic user, while we know very little of his previous life, we do know that Guts' relationship with Schierke mirrors the one he had with Flora. That implies him being a warrior aided by a witch, and not a magic user himself.
 
speculation I pretty much just threw any reason I could think of that would allow a mortal to live for a few hundred years

as for being outside the reason of time I guess I interpreted that as not only not aging but not being subject to any needs associated with sustaining life such as the needs to feed, heal or sleep(Though I suppose its possible SK presently requires some resource to sustain his existence we just have not seen it). That is why i would not have associated Zodd with that definition as he displays some of those characteristics though I suppose focusing only on his longevity this could apply
 
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