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"It is known as the God-Killer. What it cuts, it kills."
Mevolent to Darquesse, Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked
Sceptre American cover

The Sceptre of the Ancients

The God-Killers are five weapons said to have been forged to fight the Faceless Ones. They are a sword, a dagger, a spear, a bow, and the Sceptre of the Ancients. The sword is wielded by Mevolent in the alternate universe in Kingdom of the Wicked. In Skulduggery Pleasant: Bedlam a sixth weapon is revealed, The Obsidian Blade. It's said to be the most powerful God-Killer in existence. The God-Killers, excluding The Obsidian Blade, are the main focus of The Maleficent Seven. It should be noted that the Obsidian Blade and the Sceptre were NOT created by the Ancients, and instead Mevolent and the Faceless Ones respectively.

In Books[]

History[]

The Faceless Ones forged the Sceptre with the intended purpose to kill the Gods that had fled to Earth following the Great Betrayal. The other four were once ordinary weapons that were brought to the Source Fountain in the Caves of the Void. The water they were placed in made them magical and imbued them with the ability to kill a God.

Trick Or Treat[]

Tanith Low, who heard rumours of four weapons that could kill Gods, interrogates Jerry Ordain, a Sensitive who she believed could help her find the weapons and destroy them, to prevent them from killing Darquesse. She killed him after extracting what little she could and proceeded to hunt them down. 

Kingdom of the Wicked[]

God Killer Sword

As part of her research, Tanith learned that Christophe Nocturnal had intel on one of the God-Killers. She later killed him after she extracted the intel.

It is revealed that Mevolent owned the sword in the alternate dimension. Valkyrie Cain saw it in a case in his palace. Much later, Mevolent carried it into battle and used it in Ratoath, in an attempt to destroy the last of the Resistance. He uses it in his battle with Darquesse. He briefly lost it and Darquesse took possession, killing several soldiers with it. She decides, however, that "swords aren't her thing" and throws it through a window. Mevolent presumably retrieved it afterwards.

The Maleficent Seven[]

Tanith assembles a team of seven criminals to hunt down the four remaining weapons . Meanwhile Dexter Vex assembles his own team of sorcerers to obtain the weapons, without the express permission of the Irish Council. The God-Killers were all in the hands of private collectors and Sanctuaries. Following a tense globe-trot, Tanith's team managed to obtain them all despite Vex's best efforts. Tanith sent Billy-Ray Sanguine to destroy them, but he instead had Sabine make forgeries so he could protect Tanith.

The Dying of the Light[]

It is shown that Billy-Ray Sanguine gifted the sword, bow and spear to the Irish sanctuary. They are then used by Skulduggery, Erskine Ravel and Saracen Rue to fight against Darquesse. Sanguine keeps the dagger and uses it to save Tanith Low from the Black Cleaver

During the final battle, Darquesse breaks the Sword into pieces. Skulduggery tried to use the broken hilt against her to no avail. She also there the Sceptre high into the sky until it could no longer be seen. Earlier, she had considered hiding it on the moon so nobody could use it against her.

Skulduggery Pleasant: Bedlam[]

Another God-Killer, the first God-Killer, is revealed: The Obsidian Blade.

Weapon Overviews[]

They were once regular weapons until they were dipped into a pool in the caves of the void beneath Gordon Edgley's house this same pool is used to boost Stephanie (Valkyrie Cain's reflection) magical properties so Darquesse can use her body

The Obsidian Blade:[]

Overview:[]

As the universe began to expand a part of it was said to have "snagged" creating a gap in reality. This gap, over the course of eons, slowly drew particles of matter until it gained weight. Now drifting through the vast emptiness of space entombed in rock it would eventually crash to earth and be subsequently found by The Faceless Ones. Recognising the power this piece of oblivion held the Faceless Ones used it as a weapon that they then used to fight amongst themselves. When the infighting stopped and The Faceless Ones united as a race, they decided to cast The Void Meteorite into a Barren Dimension so no being could use it again. This proved to be cataclysmic for that alternate world as the blades power infected the very land eventually corrupting and turning the entire planet into the Void World.

Abilities[]

The Obsidian Blade is regarded as the most powerful God Killer in existence and the only weapon capable of killing The Unnamed. The Obsidian Blade possess the ability to completely destroy anything it touches to the point of wiping it from existence. This ability applies to seemingly anything from sentient beings to entire planetary bodies of matters.

Its effects appear to be irresistible as The Unnamed possibly the most powerful magic user to have ever lived could at most only slow down the effects of the blade, unable to halt the process completely.


The Sceptre of The Ancients:[]

Overview:[]

Forged by the Dark Gods themselves, The Sceptre is hailed as one of the strongest God Killers to ever exist, second only to The Obsidian Blade.

The Sceptre is featured prominently throughout most of the first series. Forged by the Faceless Ones to fight and kill the other Gods that had fled to Earth, they used molten gold to form the shaft, with pieces of obsidian at its hilt. Knowing the devastation that the Void Meteorite could cause, they constructed the Sceptre with it in mind, and placed a splintered off shard of the Void Meteorite into its top. These shards are what have become known as the Katahedral crystals which can be harvested from the Caves of the Void.

Abilities:[]

What makes The Sceptre so deadly compared to the other God-Killer weapons is its unique ability to fire off forked tongues of black lightning capable of instantly reducing anything it touches to dust. These streams of energy appear to be irresistible. They are shown to completely ignore any form of physical or magical defence, passing through the strongest magical shields, destroying The Book of Names and reducing even beings as powerful as The Faceless Ones to dust. The Sceptre also posses the ability to sing to its user, warning them of any incoming attackers or beings attempting to sneak up on them. The Ancients, Faceless Ones or those of their respective blood line will not be registered by The Sceptres detection abilities.

Conditions of Use:[]

Only one person may wield The Sceptre. The Sceptres ownership can only pass on if its current user dies or is killed. Whoever touches The Sceptre during this period of time will become its owner regardless of if they possess the capability for magic or not. Only a living being of flesh and blood may claim ownership of the Sceptre. If the Sceptre is unowned an undead being may seemingly wield the sceptre but will not be granted the status of ownership, allowing them to wield the Sceptre up until it has been touched by a living being.

The aforementioned condition of killing a user can be circumvented in special circumstances. If The Sceptre or an alternate version of it is brought out of its native reality to another it short circuits. This causes The Sceptre to reset, allowing one to come into ownership of a Sceptre without having to kill its user if they so desire. In this state the first person that comes into ownership of The Sceptre must be a sorcerer or someone possessing inherent magical ability. This charges the Sceptre, returning it to its normal state. If a mortal or a being of magic with no inherent potential for magic touches The Sceptre before it has been charged they will be unable to come into ownership of it. Because of this it's impossible for a mortal or a being with no inherent magical ability to posses The Sceptre without killing its current user or waiting for them to die of natural causes.

The Bow:[]

Overview[]

The Bow is one of the weaker God-Killers that were created from the pool of magic in the caves beneath Gordon Edgley's house. The upper and lower limbs as well as the Riser are made out of yew wood, with the string made from the same silk the Children of the Spider produce from their fingertips.

Abilities[]

The Bow's primary ability is that its arrows will barely ever miss its targets regardless of the wielder's skill with a bow. Due to being a God-Killer the arrows are lethal regardless.

The Sword:[]

Overview[]

The Sword is one of the weaker God-Killers that were created from the pool of magic in the caves beneath Gordon Edgley's house. The sword is, for lack of better words, gigantic. A double - edged sword that is around 6ft long. It’s metal - a burnished metal grey - is made up of tungsten. Sporting a black hilt with black leather wrapped around its grip, the God-Killer sword has a black crystal embedded in the ricasso area.

Abilities[]

The Sword's ability is quite simple. Everything it cuts it kills. Even the smallest cut is lethal.

The Dagger:[]

Overview[]

The Dagger is one of the weaker God-Killers that were created from the pool of magic in the caves beneath Gordon Edgley's house. A blade made of tungsten and a hilt of molten gold with animal fur as a strap.

Abilities[]

Every cut The Dagger inflicts will grow larger until it has killed its target.

The Spear[]

Overview[]

The Spear is one of the weaker God-Killers that were created from the pool of magic in the caves beneath Gordon Edgley's house. The spear is 5 inches, 6ft long, and is formed out of gold and tungsten. The tip of the spear is made of hardened diamond.

Abilities[]

Alongside its god-killing abilities, the spear can return to its owners hands at will when it is thrown.

Trivia[]

  • Only the Sceptre and the Sword have been seen with a duplicate in the alternate dimension. Presumably, the other three weapons have counterparts as well.
    • Since Crab was a reclusive hermit, it is possible that he remained undetected in the alternate dimension and kept the Spear safe.
  • Erskine Ravel mentions that there are other God-Killer Weapons, if one were to believe the legends.

Appearances[]

They appear or are mentioned in every book in the series.

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