Zs'Skayr

Zs'Skayr (pronounced Zuh Scare), also known as Ghostfreak, was the Ectonurite High Ecto-Lord of Anur Phaetos and Anur Transyl. He was originally stuck in the form of Ghostfreak, but after time managed to gain control over it and escape the Omnitrix, becoming one of Ben Tennyson's most dangerous enemies.

Background
The original Zs'Skayr was once the High Ecto-Lord of Anur Phaetos. He learned about the Omnitrix when one of Vilgax's data probes crash landed and he read its data files. Not long after, he met up with Myaxx when she was scouting the planet for DNA samples and aided her in acquiring samples from the nearby planet of Flors Verdance; however, unbeknownst to Myaxx, Zs'Skayr possessed the Florauna that was being sampled and thus Myaxx then got a Ectonurite-Florauna hybrid sample. Zs'Skayr's personality lay dormant within the Omnitrix DNA database, as Ectonurites' consciousnesses exist even in a single strand of DNA.

Personality
Zs'Skayr has a twisted and sadistic personality. Zs'Skayr is shown to be a careful and brilliant master planner. Similar to Aggregor, he tends to do the work by himself, though he does use minions such as Viktor. He is also a backstabber, as seen when after he told Vilgax what he seeks and then tried to possess him and take over Vilgaxia. Like Malware, he has an obessession with the Omnitrix, as he believes it will make him complete and more powerful.

By the time of the Omniverse series, Zs'Skayr's personality hasn't changed as his lust for power now drives him to regain his title as High Ecto-Lord of Anur Transyl. He also reveals to Ben that he had never answered to the name of Ghostfreak.

Appearance
In the original series, his body is gray-purple and he has black nails. He also has lines on his chest which are also black. He has an upside-down head of light brown color, with only one eye.

In Alien Force, his body is now purple/blue and he has whiteish-gray nails. His spine is sticking out of his back.

In Omniverse, he himself turns his head right-side up. He has two eyes, one on his head and one on his chest. He resembles a stereotypical Grim Reaper. His skin is black and white. His second skin is now modified to look like the hood of the Grim Reaper. The Facet Joints on his back are larger and more curved.

Original Series
His mind lay within the DNA sample of Ghostfreak. He finally managed to force his way out of the Omnitrix in the episode Ghostfreaked Out. After peeling off the protective layer of skin that normally covered him, he tried to take over Ben's body in order to become whole again. After a failed attempt to possess Ben, he found the Circus Freak Trio (whom were attempting to steal gold trophies from where Ben was at merely minutes before freeing himself) and coerced them to help him by taking over Thumbskull and tossing him about like a ragdoll in the room the three of them were hiding in. He was defeated when he was exposed to sunlight by Ben, causing him to burst into flames. Following this, Ben was unable (and unwilling) to turn into Ghostfreak ever again.

Zs'Skayr is the main antagonist in the third season, returning in the two-part episode The Return and Be Afraid of the Dark where he is revived by an alien scientist named Dr. Viktor, a Transylian from the Anur System that had stolen material from Zs'Skayr's clocktower grave to re-animate his deceased master again. Gathering a group of horror-themed aliens as minions, Vicktor enacted his plan to resurrect Zs'Skayr, whose then planned to plunge the Earth into total darkness for him to control. Zs'Skayr himself is still intent on gaining control of the Omnitrix. Using Corrodium retrieved by the mummy alien in Under Wraps they set up a Corrodium beam that will block out light from the sun, allowing Zs'Skayr to exist in eternal darkness. Zs'Skayr succeeds in doing so, allowing him to reach his full potential, but only for a while before Doctor Viktor accidentally rammed Max Tennyson into the projector during a dogfight. In the end, Zs'Skayr is killed on board a space shuttle, when Max opened the shuttle's roof and exposes him directly to the sun. Ben regains use of the form during this time, except in the Ectonurites' natural state.

Alien Force
Zs'Skayr reappeared in Ghost Town. After being removed from the Codon Stream, Zs'Skayr had apparently been imprisoned by the Galvans. Vilgax frees him on the condition that he tell him the secrets of the Omnitrix and the knowledge to defeat Ben, but Zs'Skayr betrays him and takes over Vilgax's home planet of Vilgaxia, possessing the citizens and turning them into his minions that resemble his sun shielded form. Vilgax then enlists the help of Ben, Gwen and Kevin to try to take Vilgaxia back. During the battle, Ben lets Zs'Skayr enter his body, resampling the Ectonurite DNA. Ben transforms into Ghostfreak but the alien soon takes control of him and soon he tries to possess Vilgax, but is defeated by the light of Vilgax's sword and Ben changes back. He is now back in the Omnitrix.

He also appears in the episode Primus when Vilgax has a flashback about the time he freed Zs'Skayr for the secrets of the Omnitrix. He also appears in the Vilgax Attacks Video Game as the boss of his home planet Anur Phaetos.

Omniverse
Zs'Skayr makes his return in Mystery, Incorporeal, being seen crawling out of the portal to Ledgerdomain. According to himself, Ben left him trapped there, and Darkstar opening the portal allowed him to escape. It is not explained how and when he was trapped in Ledgerdomain.

In Rad Monster Party, he along with Dr. Viktor, Kuphulu and Crüjo attempted to defeat Ben and his team, only to be defeated by NRG. His main objective was to regain his title as High Ecto-Lord.



Powers and Abilities

 * Invisibility and Intangibility: Zs'Skayr has intangibility and invisibility (accompanied by an inverted color scheme and transparency).
 * Density Manipulation: Zs'Skayr can control his density, allowing his body to become either lighter or heavier.
 * Flight: Zs'Skayr can hover, float or fly through the air.
 * Smoke Mimicry: Zs'Skayr can change into a smoke like form.
 * Tentacles: Zs'Skayr can peel back his skin, which reveals his tentacles.
 * Energy Blast: Zs'Skayr can shoot a powerful energy beam, if his skin is peeled back.
 * Possession: Zs'Skayr can possess life forms and take full control over them. Additionally, he can also use whatever abilities his victim possesses after taking control.
 * Telepathy: Zs'Skayr can enter Ben's mind and affect his dreams
 * Telekinesis: Zs'Skayr possess powerful telekinetic abilities, the extent of which is still unknown.
 * Power Absorption: Once he has possessed someone, Zs'Skayr can absorb the powers of other living things having already absorbed Ben and planned to absorb Vilgax's powers as well.
 * Space Survivability: Zs'Skayr's race can withstand the vacuum of space and doesn't seem to need to breathe. In fact, the darkness of space gives Zs'Skayr the ability to use all of his powers at their fullest potential.
 * Transformation Inducement: Zs'Skayr is able to transform living creatures into Ectonurite minions (with the appearance of the Sun-shielded Ghostfreak).
 * Zero Mana/Life-Force Energy: Since his race does not possess Mana/Life-Energy in the conventional sense, Zs'Skayr is immune to Darkstar's life-energy absorption powers.
 * Skull Rotation: Zs' Skayr, like all Ectonurites can rotate his skull.
 * Soul Consumption: Zs'Skayr can consume the souls of any being, living or dead.
 * Second Skin: Like all Ectonurites, Zs'Skayr can create a second skin to protect himself from sunlight. In Omniverse, it has been modified to resemble a stereotypical Grim Reaper's hood.
 * Skilled Scythe User: Zs'Skayr can wield a scythe with great skill as shown in Rad Monster Party.Zs'skayr_scythe.png

Weaknesses

 * Like all Ectonurites, Zs'Skayr is vulnerable to bright light without his outer skin and sunlight will burn him into ashes. However, if even a single strand of his DNA still exists, he can be resurrected. In Omniverse, his second skin was modified to look like a Grim Reaper's Hood, which affords him limited protection against light. Being exposed to NRG only greatly weakens him rather than kill him.
 * Certain compounds and energy fields can neutralize his intangibility and invisibility powers.
 * Though he is able to fly, he is not very fast in the air and mostly relies on his intangibility and invisibility to evade attacks.
 * Zs'Skayr's arrogance can make him underestimate his opponent.
 * He cannot merge with Ben while he is in one of his alien forms.
 * Though his intangibility is normally a useful form of defense, it is only effective when he consciously activates it.
 * Zs'Skayr can be caught-off guard by solid or energy-based attacks.

Ben 10

 * Ghostfreaked Out (first appearance)
 * The Return
 * Be Afraid of the Dark

Ben 10: Alien Force

 * Ghost Town (first re-appearance)
 * Primus (flashback)

Ben 10: Omniverse

 * Mystery, Incorporeal (first re-appearance; cameo)
 * Rad Monster Party
 * Charmed, I'm Sure
 * The Vampire Strikes Back

Ben 10: Protector of Earth
Zs'Skayr appears as the main antagonist in the Midwest. He frees Vilgax from the Null Void and teams up with him to get revenge on Ben. He also possesses Hex and tries to use his powers to bring an army of his minions from the Anur Realm, but is stopped by Ben. He leaves Hex and then attacks Ben at Chicago. Ben manages to defeat him and then sends him into the Null Void with the help of Grandpa Max.

Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks
After Max sent the team to Anur Phaetos to retrieve the Energy core hidden there the group quickly discovers that Anur Phaetos isn't a planet in the technical sense but in fact a type of Alternate Dimension. Verdona Tennyson arrives and uses her powers to send the group to Anur Phaetos, accidentally splitting them up in the process.

Once there Ben is lured into a fight with Zs'Skayr who is revealed to be alive, in a sense. This doesn't stop Ben from defeating Zs'Skayr using his one weakness, light. Afterwards, Professor Paradox arrives and gets the group out of Anur Phaetos.

Ben 10: Galactic Racing
He is a playable character in the game.

Trivia

 * Zs'Skayr's name is a corruption of the word "scary".
 * The way it's pronounced is like saying "the scare".
 * In both the original series and Ben 10: Alien Force no one called him Zs'Skayr - they only called him Ghostfreak.
 * In Vilgax Attacks, Zs'Skayr implies that he is undead ("Alive? Interesting word choice.", "Ben 10, as I live and breathe... not!"). However, according to Derrick J. Wyatt, Zs'Skayr is alive, but the Ectonurite concept of "life" is just very different from most sentient life forms.
 * According to Derrick J. Wyatt, Zs'Skayr's name was created by Tramm Wigzell.
 * Zs'Skayr's Omniverse appearance looks remarkably like Death from Castlevania.
 * Ben finally learns Zs'Skayr's name in Rad Monster Party.
 * Zs'Skayr is able to crack his head either upside down or the right side up, and is able to move his skin to make a hood. He also indicated in Rad Monster Party that it is more comfortable for him when his head is right side up.