In Neverness to Everness, the so-called "furry" character that fans keep pointing to is Skia, an anthropomorphic half-wolf Esper and the lieutenant of the Bureau of Anomaly Control's ETD-4 squad. He is currently the only playable character in the launch roster with a visibly animal-based design, which is why the urban-fantasy city of Hethereau has only one face that fits the beastkin label.
Quick answer: Skia is an A-Rank Lakshana character of the Gas archetype, a Main DPS, and is available on the standard banner as well as featured at boosted rates on the Misty Tipsy Style banner running May 13 to June 3, 2026.
Who Skia is in Neverness to Everness
Skia is a tall, stoic, half-wolf, half-human Esper who serves as the lieutenant of ETD-4, a frontline unit under the Bureau of Anomaly Control. His silhouette uses canine ears and a wolfish facial structure on an otherwise human body, and his combat style leans on disciplined martial arts paired with shadow manipulation. He is the single confirmed anthropomorphic playable Esper in version 1.0 of the game, and no other beast-styled humanoid is currently announced as playable.
His role on the ETD-4 team is enforcement and pursuit. The kit theme runs all the way through his moveset, with skills named after police work, arrest procedures, and tracking. The animal motif is reinforced by abilities that summon shadowy "hounds" and "fangs" out of his own shadow to chase down targets.
Skia profile: Rank, element, and role
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Rank | A-Class |
| Esper type (element) | Lakshana |
| Arc archetype | Gas |
| Combat role | Main DPS |
| Faction | Bureau of Anomaly Control, ETD-4 |
| Design | Anthropomorphic half-wolf, half-human |
| Gender | Male |
| How to obtain | Standard banner + featured A-Rank on Misty Tipsy Style |
Skia's kit and shadow-hound theme
Skia's combat identity is built around Fang Thrust, a tracking projectile that splits out of his shadow and locks onto enemies. Up to three Fang Thrusts can attach to a single target at once, and most of his damage scaling depends on keeping those marks active. His martial arts basic chain, Arresting Art, hits up to five times and applies a Fang Thrust per hit.
His main skill, Shadow Hound Chase, lets him dive into his own shadow and enter the Shadow Hound Gnaw mode. While in this mode, he can move along ground or wall surfaces, stay undetected by nearby enemies, and trigger extra Fang Thrust hits whenever he touches a marked target. This is also the source of one of his most useful traversal tricks: he can climb walls and buildings as a shadow without consuming stamina, which is handy in the open world of Hethereau outside of combat.
His Ultimate, The Pack, flicks a spinning lighter and spreads his shadow in every direction before converging it onto a single target "like well-trained canines." It buffs Fang Thrust damage afterwards and applies a control effect on each hit, which is the team's main damage window when Skia is on the field.
| Ability | Type | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Arresting Art | Basic Attack | 5-hit martial-arts chain, applies 1 Fang Thrust per hit (max 3 per target) |
| Territory Control | Basic Attack | Plunging strike; bonus damage scales with fall height |
| Fang Thrust | Tracking attack | Auto-homing shadow fangs that attach to targets |
| Pen to Paper | Critical Riposte | Triggers after a Critical Dodge into Arresting Art; reduces Break |
| Shadow Hound Chase | Skill | Enters Tailed state, AoE Lakshana hits, leads into Shadow Hound Gnaw mode |
| The Pack | Ultimate | Wide shadow sweep + converging strike, buffs Fang Thrust damage |
| Arrest Warrant | Support Skill | Shadow bites the target on swap-in, dealing area Lakshana damage |
| Suppression | Passive | Adds an extra Remora when Fang Thrust locks onto a Remora-marked target |
How to get Skia
Skia is permanently available on Neverness to Everness's standard banner, so he can drop from any pull on that pool. He also shows up as one of the rate-up A-Rank characters on certain limited banners. On the second limited banner of version 1.0, Misty Tipsy Style, he is one of three boosted A-Ranks alongside Haniel and Aurelia, with Hotori as the featured S-Rank.
| Banner | Featured S-Rank | Skia status | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard banner | — | Permanent pool | Always available |
| Misty Tipsy Style | Hotori (Cosmos / Solid) | Rate-up A-Rank | May 13 – June 3, 2026 |
Pity carries over within the limited banner pool, and the S-Rank guarantee triggers within 90 pulls maximum since the game has no 50/50 loss mechanic on featured S-Ranks. Pulling on Misty Tipsy Style is the most efficient way to specifically chase Skia copies, because his rates are boosted compared to the standard pool.
Best build direction for Skia
Skia's best-in-slot weapon is his signature Arc, Tears Beneath the Mask, which scales his damage around Marked targets. If you do not have it, Watch Your Heads! is a strong A-Rank alternative with a Crit DMG substat that works especially well in teams that trigger Remora or Stain.
For Cartridges, the recommended four-piece set is Street Boxer. The two-piece gives +10% Lakshana DMG, which applies to every part of his damage profile, including Fang Thrusts. The four-piece grants +14% Crit Chance, doubling to a noticeably higher value for 20 seconds whenever the team triggers Remora or Stain. His own Suppression passive feeds Remora stacks automatically, which keeps the bonus active in teams that pair him with Cosmos units such as Esper Zero.
Skill priority for upgrades is Ultimate first, then his passives, then his Skill, with Basic Attack and Support Skill last. Awakenings are largely damage-focused: A1 (Process of Elimination) raises Fang Thrust's auto-attack DMG Ratio by 60% and is the single biggest power spike on his upgrade path.
Why Skia is the only "furry" character right now
The launch roster of Neverness to Everness leans heavily on human Espers with stylized designs, and the only confirmed character with overt animal anatomy is Skia. Other characters have animal-adjacent motifs — Hathor uses a wing, and some Anomaly creatures resemble beasts — but they are not anthropomorphic in the way Skia is. None of the announced version 1.1 additions (Lacrimosa and Chaos) are beastkin either, so for the moment, Skia remains the singular pick for players specifically looking for a furry-styled playable Esper.
If your goal is to play the anthropomorphic character in NTE, focus on Skia: he is reachable as a free-to-play A-Rank, he scales as a real Main DPS rather than a niche pick, and his shadow-traversal mechanic gives him a distinct identity in the open world on top of his design.