Skar aka “Scarlet Rage”, finally freed from his chains!

Some characters in the Lore of Cross the Ages are born in unclear, even complex circumstances. Some of them are the result of forbidden experiments or even forced transformations. Each story is different and deserves to be explored. The lesson we must learn from Skar's is that appearances are most often deceptive...

The beast is not always the one with the appearance or the body.

Skar, whose nickname is "Scarlet Rage", bears the scars of the trials he has been through. Skar is actually the victim of a beast even more frightening and dangerous than the one he looks like, except that this one does not look like one.

Knowing that his body and mind have been tested in a secret laboratory,

that turned him into a real monster. We can understand a little better how he could become the embodiment of all this anger and uncontrollable pain that he is today.

Skar seems to want others to endure and feel what he went through.

In the two illustrations of these cards, we can see the evolution and the ugliness of this terrible suffering. From the moment he breaks his chains and frees himself, to the moment when the rage that drives him takes over his identity to give life to a destructive and uncontrollable monster.

These two Special Rare cards tell us a story of tragedy and brutality like no other, in which the greed for power of some men enslaves others, eventually turning them into ferocious beasts, haunted by infinite anger. This creature perfectly embodies the affliction that "Scarlet Rage" lives and makes all those who cross its path live.

Whether we experience this situation or decide to make others experience it, the symbolism is basically the same. The line between humanity and bestiality is thin.

There standard version of this card, reveals a dark and tragic moment in Skar's history. What immediately catches the viewer's attention is this damaged reflection in an unidentified liquid on the ground, of a man. He is chained, broken, exhausted. His exhausted silhouette is barely perceptible in the reflection and reveals that a transformation, almost a disappearance, is underway.

So here is the symbol of what he was before he became “Scarlet Rage”.

This physical but also and above all psychological prison has had dramatic consequences on his identity. Skar is at the mercy of those who manipulate him. We feel here all the tragedy of his transformation. The man he was is no more. He has now given way to a creature made of pain and rage, who knows only destruction.

Skar has become a massive beast, his musculature is deformed by anger and implants. Crouching, ready to pounce, his posture and his gaze suggest that he is in front of an obstacle, or an enemy, perhaps his jailer… Despite the broken chains he drags behind him, or the severed cables that hinder his passage, nothing seems to stop him.

His skin has already lost its human appearance, and seems to have disappeared in favor of a hard and resistant material, a sort ofornate armor of thick leather and metal. His hands, once human, have also changed, they are larger, more massive, with dark and sharp claws, ready to tear apart anything within their reach.

Skar's body still bears the scars and scars tortures and experiments done on him. They are probably etched in him forever, both physically and psychologically. The implants visible on his shoulders and back still seem to inject him with a red liquid which fuels its transformation. 

Is this what gives him this increased strength and energy?

This intense red imitating the color of blood spreads along his body, from his hair to the smallest patch of skin, rekindling his legitimate anger, as if every fiber of his being was inflamed by this rage that consumes him.

This incandescent depth is not natural, it results from the experiments that Skar has undergone, a direct consequence of the scientific manipulation of which he has been the victim.

But what is this liquid that reflects back to him what he has lost? And most certainly forever!!! Enough to amplify this rage in him, nothing holds him back anymore, nothing can appease him, nothing matters anymore…

In the alternative version From this card, Skar has finally broken free of his chains, and everything about his appearance screams his fury. If you're going to be the beast, you might as well deliver it with all the accessories. 

He intends to let his "Scarlet Rage" out to the world. The scene illustrated in this SR card takes place outside. Skar has escaped from his place of captivity!

Skar seems to be in a trance, unleashed. He slides along what appears to be a glass wall.

Skar is being hunted, followed, and attacked by Mantri utility drones. They target him with their lasers and fire projectiles at him in an attempt to neutralize him, but to no avail.

Protected by his lethal armor, only the sparks that fly from the impacts of shots on his back, testify to the will of these drones and those who mandated them to harm Skar. However, it is too late, it does not seem to affect him in any way, but on the contrary, only excites him more...

"Nothing stops rage when it breaks its chains."

He is no longer a human being, he is a beast forged by science, in suffering.

His bulging muscles are riddled with red cables that pulse with energy, like veins outside his body, fueling his rage over and over again. His face is ugly, contorted in a grimace of pure anger, of extreme glee. His glowing red eyes and sharp teeth are bared in a frightening grin… He is completely out of control!

Every part of his body, of what remains of his soul, is focused on a single goal. That of destroying everything that stands in his way. In any case, he has nothing left to lose!

Skar is no longer who he used to be, and now he's fighting for his survival. Skar knows that this is all he has left and he doesn't want to give his life up to anyone, even if it means destroying everything.

Once, looking at his eyes, one could glimpse humanity. Today, there is none of that. All is blind rage, a devouring fire that consumes everything, starting with one's own person.

Both versions of the "Skar" card tell the story of a tragic transformation, a broken destiny, a stolen identity, a man who was chained, subjected to inhumane experiments. This furious creature that defies everything that tries to contain it. The contrast is incredible!

In the standard version, Skar barely realizes that he has broken his chains, but he is already monstrous. In the alternate version, Skar, or rather "Scarlet Rage" is a furious force driven by pure destruction, an unstoppable beast.

Is it still possible to find this man behind Skar, the creature consumed by rage? Or has this man disappeared forever under the weight of suffering and anger?

If this anger is his strength, it is also his prison, a condemnation to being nothing more than a monster, incapable of feeling anything other than destruction. 

Is this really liberation?