SkekOk is a Skeksis and an antagonist in the The Dark Crystal franchise. He is the Scroll-keeper of the Skeksis and the spiritual counterpart of the Mystic urAc.
In The Dark Crystal, he was puppeteered by Bob Payne with John Baddeley providing the character's voice. In the prequel series, he is puppeteered and voiced by Neil Sterenberg, who also puppeteers Tavra and Rian.
Background[]
Once the being known as OkAc, who attempted to cleanse his soul with the Crystal of Truth, he was instead split into two beings: the Skeksis, LachSen was split into the Skeksis SkekLach and the Mystic, UrSen. Two of the Skeksis were killed and the Crystal was cracked by one of the Skeksis and causing a shard from the Crystal to break off. SkekAyuk rejected the Mystics, who went to live in hiding in the Valley of the urRu. Following this, SkekOk was made the Scroll-Keeper, keeping record of false history in his library. Obsessed with knowledge, SkekOk forbade any Gelfling from entering the library. Overtime, he became close friends with SkekLach.
When SkekGra and his Mystic counterpart UrGoh saw visions of them being one day reunited, the duo tried to convince SkekOk and the other Skeksis and Mystics but they refused to listen. They were cast out and went to live in the Crystal Desert.
Personality[]
SkekOk was the least honest of all the Skeksis, and habitually changed allegiance, re-writing historical accounts to gratify his shifting allies to the point that the truth was soon lost. Like his comrades, he considered Gelflings to be inferior, and his race's efforts to civilize them as "noble". He was also prone to vanity, being proud of his thinning white hair while most of his comrades had gone bald. He was frequently seen vacantly mumbling to himself and had the habit of turning up late to all meetings and falling asleep during them.
He was, nevertheless, skilled at manipulation, feigning to be hurt when a farmer refused to give her family heirloom as a tithe, only to give it to Mayrin, showing that he never really cared for it. While silver-tongued and manipulative like skekSil, skekOk could at times display genuine kindness to others, though laced with barely concealed snobbery. He expressed fascination if creatures other than Skeksis could read and write as he could, and had a liking for Gelfling architecture; although he found Ha'rar to be "malodorous", he considered it part of the charm.
After the dissolution of the Alliance of the Crystal, he dropped all pretenses and showed himself to be perfectly content with being viewed as a monster by the Gelflings, even mocking his former admirer Brea for not having realized the Skeksis' true nature earlier.
He had a particular taste for luxury as he liked to bath in perfumed water with flowers and was outraged and embarrassed when Aughra dunk her eye in his bath and poked him with her staff.
Although he was open about considering his comrades ugly, he seemed to have a real friendship with skekLach and skekEkt, being often seen in their presence and mourning the death of the former, despite their constant bickering, and being comforted by the latter after the Collector's death.
He had an antagonistic relationship with Aughra, liking to call her ugly and to taunt her on her age and being very annoyed when Aughra was revived after SkekMal's death.
Quotes[]
- "Have you only just figured that out? Perhaps you are not so clever... after all."
- "Naughty princess!"
- "Perhaps your interminable age has finally caught up with you"
Gallery[]
