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Painwheel (JP: ペインホイール Peinhoīru) was once a school girl named Carol (JP: キャロル Kyaroru) before she was kidnapped and transformed into her current form by Valentine and Brain Drain.

General Information[]

Painwheel is one of the eight original playable characters in Skullgirls and is the only one with the ability to fly indefinitely.

Personality[]

Painwheel's personality tends to be initially mistaken at first, due to her form and behaviour when under Brain Drain's control. However, underneath that she's actually a kind girl that wants nothing to do with Brain Drain or his mission.

She was friends with Filia before her kidnapping and is the one who Found Dog and Samson.

Character Basis[]

Name[]

Painwheel's poster art

Painwheel's poster art

Her title is a portmanteau of the words "pain" and "pinwheel".

There are mixed accounts as to the origins of Carol, her real name. By itself, it can be related to music and mean "joyous song". It can also possibly be derived from Caroline, which itself is a feminine form of the name Charles, which means "a free man", relating to her motivation of fighting for her freedom.

Gae Bolga is a reference to a spear in Irish mythology Gáe Bulg which means "Spear of Mortal Pain/Death Spear". Buer Drive is a reference to the demon Buer who was said to be a demon leader who commanded fifty legions of other demons; it having the head of a lion and a body with five goat legs for multi-directional mobility.

Design[]

The blades attached to Painwheel's back bear a slight resemblance a Japanese shuriken throwing star, although their original design was closer to her namesake, the pinwheel.

When Painwheel is being introduced to her new class (in Filia's ending), she is seen carrying a cello case. It's been confirmed that the removable parts of Painwheel's Buer Drive are kept in here.

Story[]

Backstory[]

Once a normal schoolgirl named Carol, Painwheel was kidnapped by Valentine and delivered to the Anti-Skullgirls Labs’ secretive Lab Zero. There she was implanted with the synthetic Buer Drive and Gae Bolga parasites and infused with experimental Skullgirl blood, transforming her into the monster she is today. Violent and unstable as a result of these experiments, as a precaution she’s mentally controlled by Lab Zero’s powerful psychic director, Brain Drain.

Fueled by rage, she draws her power from her pain and fury. Despite that, the soul of that scared young girl still lives on inside this monstrous body, desperately fighting off the onslaught of voices that would control her.[3]

Once a normal schoolgirl named Carol, Painwheel lived in Maplecrest with her parents. She was friends with Filia despite her Medici heritage and she's the one who found Dog and Samson.

At some later point in time she was found in a Medici slave camp along with no man's land refugees, it is currently unknown what happened between her normal life and her appearance there but its known Filia feels responsible for what happened (though it's also not known how responsible she actually is). When The Last Hope rescue the refugees Valentine comes across Painwheel, and, finding her blood suitable for their next experiment, takes her back to Lab 0 under Brain Drain's orders with the intent to turn her into an anti-Skullgirl weapon.

After Valentine delivers Painwheel to Lab Zero, she is implanted with the synthetic Buer Drive and Gae Bolga parasites and infused with experimental Skullgirl blood, transforming her into her current state. She was also implanted with some kind of mind control device.

Soon after she was transformed and had her newfound abilities tested by Lab 0, she was sent by Valentine to deal with a Medici operation (who apparently had a recent run-in with Big Band). Painwheel seems to recognize the name "Medici", but carries out her mission. Afterward, she tells Valentine that she wants to stop, and Valentine reveals that the Medicis were actually the ones who kidnapped her months ago (It's unknown whether Valentine is being truthful here or if she's lying to get Painwheel to continue). Painwheel still resists, and Valentine decides to let her leave, telling Brain Drain that she's performing a test.

Painwheel travels to Maplecrest, which she recognizes as her previous home, and feels calm. When she arrives at her home, she fears her parents won't recognize her and attempts to remove her mask to no avail. Brain Drain calls her back to the lab, and, terrified of her parents seeing what she has become, she laments her fate and returns.

2e Story[]

After defeating Marie and destroying the Skull Heart, Painwheel goes home to face her parents (in her current monstrous form) hoping they would still accept her as their daughter- however, the adults are horrified upon seeing her and shun her because of her appearance. A heart-broken and despondent Painwheel goes off and is confronted by Brain Drain, and she swears she will come after him as her eyes turn into skulls like Marie's.

Abilities & Fighting Style[]

Fueled by rage, she draws her power from her pain and fury, she has two synthetic parasites she can use: her Buer Drive to fly and use as an aditional limb and Gae Bolga which allows her to eject spikes from her body. She can also contort her body in unnatural ways to fight more effectively. She also has an electic theme throughout her different attacks which may be due to her skullgirl connection (It's worth noting Umbrella has an electric themed attack and she also has a connection to the skullgirl).

Despite her using her rage to fight and other characters encouraging her to do so the devs have stated that she'd be stronger if she "calmed her heart."

Trailer[]

Skullgirls_Commencing_Experiment_0-84_-_Project_Painwheel

Skullgirls Commencing Experiment 0-84 - Project Painwheel

Color Palettes[]

  1. "Rusty" - Default colors
  2. "Twisted Mettle" - Original colors
  3. "Blood Drive" - Original colors
  4. Original colors
  5. "Buzzkill" - Original colors
  6. "Fly Trap" - Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)
  7. "Neuromancer" -  Brain Drain
  8. Valentine
  9. Kamen Rider (Kamen Rider series)
  10. "Rage Appropriate" - Original colors
  11. "Grim Fan" - Day of the Dead
  12. Sentinel (Marvel Comics: The X-Men (vol. 1) #14)
  13. "Firefly" - (The Serenity, Firefly series)
  14. Vega (Claw) (Street Fighter series)
  15. "Freaky Friday" - Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
  16. "Raw Nerv" - EVA-01 (Rebuild design) (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  17.  Haku (Naruto)
  18. Basara (Samurai Shodown series)
  19. "Mango Sentinel" (Marvel vs. Capcom 2) - Indiegogo backer color
  20. Original colors - Indiegogo backer color
  21. Rozalin? (Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories) - Indiegogo backer color
  22. "Web Crawler" - Spider-Man (The Amazing Spider-Man)
  23. Original color
  24. "Biting Cold" - Nemo (Commissioned fan character) - Indiegogo backer color
  25. Berserk Ryūko Matoi (Kill la Kill)
  26. Tyrant (Resident Evil)
  27. Hisako (Killer Instinct (2013))
  28. Skull Kid (The Legend of Zelda series)

Skullgirls Mobile exclusive Palettes[]

  • "Sparring Partner" - Original colors (Training dummy only)

Trivia[]

  • Painwheel's override code, 36E-25-40, is the exact same as Valentine's breast, waist, and hip measurements.
  • The Gae Bolga's full name in the past was Gae Bolga Matrix but since all new official materials so far has referred to it simply as Gae Bolga it is unknown if it's still its canon name.
  • Buer Drive's "spine" that connects it to Painwheel is remarkably similar to Hungern's handle, this may be due to both characters having a connection with the skullgirl but it may also be just a coincidence.
  • Painwheel's "Valentine" color palette was not changed in the update that changed the color of all the crosses Valentine wears, due to the fact it does not consist of a red cross on a white background.
  • In an unused alternate ending, Painwheel is swayed by the Skull Heart into wishing for freedom. The Skull Heart declares that she will be free from everything, including memory, reason and morals, and be "rage incarnate" as the next Skullgirl.[4]
  • Painwheel is possibly one of the most, "powerful," of the cast, as is the case with the other ethically-challenged Lab creation (Peacock), but she is (as is evident in her/Valentine's story mode) kind of unskilled. She's a raw murder machine without much time to get herself together, but given time and practice with her enhancements, she could be nearly unstoppable.
  • She was going to have wind attacks earlier on.

References[]

  1. Reverge Labs. Skullgirls - Show Me Your Moves: Character Movelist. skullgirls.com. Retrieved on 2021 July 9.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Painwheel « Skullgirls. skullgirls.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved on 2021 July 9.
  3. Painehweel's Biography.
  4. Alternate Unused Story Endings in the Game Data

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