Skullface
Skullface, also known as Abel and the Stranger, is the secondary antagonist of Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Bloody Ties.
Biography
Early Life
Abel was the son of Ogar, Carnage Hall's Champion, and the older brother of Ciro. Despite living a life of luxury and wealth as the Champion, Abel's father was a severe gambling addict who owed much to the Hall's owner, Astrid Okere. Ogar was ordered to take a dive against the fighter, Skullface, but defeated him after hearing the crowd's support. Attempting to flee from his debtor, Ogar took Abel and Ciro but did not make it far. Astrid told him that she would have both of his sons killed if he did hand over one of his sons to the Arena. Ogar chose Abel since he was being trained by him which gave the eldest son a fighting chance to survive. Astrid, however, told Abel that he was abandoned to die by Ogar, setting him on his path to becoming the monster of the Arena.
Becoming Skullface
Abel would be trained by Suppade and was considered his greatest student. His master would also recognize that Abel possessed a great darkness and anger within. He would later kill and adopt the mask as well as the moniker of his father's opponent, "Skullface." Astrid began to set up Skullface to be the next Champion of the Arena since he was the fastest and strongest of the fighters. He would develop a bloodlust which would grow greater after every fight to the point where his conscience could no longer restrict his sadism. Skullface would become more and more violent as a result which turned Carnage Hall into a violent blood sport rather than a competition. Feared by Astrid herself, she recognized the monster he had become and sought to remove the threat to her rule as Champion. Jack Matt ordered she serve him his head or he will shut the Carnage Hall down. He also began to kidnap and torture the wounded fighters into testing Infected camouflage, which gave him a major advantage in the Arena since the Infected never attacked him.
The Conspiracy
Skullface knew that he would wreak havoc on all of Villedor as his bloodlust continually grew. He called the Pilgrim, Aiden Caldwell, as a mysterious man known as the Stranger to tell him how a faction in Carnage Hall plotted to destroy the City. He planned to use Aiden in order to kill and supplant him as the Champion, aware of Astrid's conspiracy against him. Skullface attacked a bush league fighting arena in the City where Aiden was training with Ciro and stole the Shield Glove of Tatsuo.
Aiden arrived at Carnage Hall in order to rescue Ciro and rose through the rankings as a result. Skullface would fight his brother in the Arena and swiftly defeat Aiden who was interloped in the fight. The Pilgrim then returned after being banished but was forced into the finale against Skullface by Astrid in order to dethrone him. They engage in a tough brawl utilizing the Infected, Aiden can avoid fighting them if he has discovered Skullface's secret and uses the camouflage. He unleashes a Demolisher on the Pilgrim but Ciro, if spared in the fight with Aiden, kill it. The fight ends with Aiden victorious but Ogar intervenes and begs Aiden not to kill his son. He explains why he left Abel as Astrid lies that he was abandoned. Skullface throws his sword and kills Astrid but collapses. He gives his mask to Aiden and proclaims he has earned it before succumbing to his wounds.
The next day, Aiden a confessional tape from Skullface explaining why he set him up to kill him. He ends the tape asking him to tell Ogar he loved him and to Ciro that he will always look after his little brother.
