SkekAyuk

PERFORMER	Louise Gold puppeteer
	Thick Wilson voice
DEBUT	1982

SkekAyuk is the Skeksis half of AyukAmaj, and serves as the Gourmet at the castle's court.

Like all the Skeksis, SkekAyuk wears an elaborate costume. A large handkerchief is tucked in his sleeve to dab his mouth. He loves to eat, and is often seen stuffing food into his cheeks, often disavowing eating implements in order to get the food in him all the faster. Unsurprisingly, he is the fattest of the Skeksis.

SkekAyuk commands a host of slaves to create complex meals for the Skeksis - including Roast Nebrie (a Skeksis favorite). Yet in spite of all this, the Skeksis' spiritual disjointment makes them leave each banquet still raging with hunger. In contrast, skekAyuk's alter ego, the Mystic cook urAmaj, prepares very simple and very satisfying meals by hand.

“Nor did the feasts prepared by skekAyuk the Gourmand and his teams of harassed slaves satisfy any appetite for long. Hot spices, sweet liquors, cream-rich sauces, were his delight; and he boasted he had a different menu for every feast.”
—The World of the Dark Crystal

Pre-production meeting notes for the film, as photographed in The Making of the Dark Crystal, described the Gourmet as having a head like Robert Morley. Additional attributes are listed:

“Jowly, bushy eyebrows, sweaty, burping. Stuffs food into cheeks. Lifts head to swallow, like a pelican. See food traveling down; Cheek bulges mechanized. Wine stains. Bits of encrusted food. Slaves always carrying trays of food for him - silver goblets, small sugar things, tidbits for him to nibble. When he talks he sprays food and saliva... Body bulges, tummy pops buttons, slits gape, pink extrudes.”

Jim Henson noted in The World of the Dark Crystal that many of the Skeksis were based on the seven deadly sins. SkekAyuk clearly represents Gluttony.

Other appearances

• SkekAyuk appears in the 2019 Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, voiced by Harvey Fierstein.

• SkekAyuk appears in the comic book series Legends of the Dark Crystal, where he is shown to have formed a political alliance with SkekSil in his bid to be next in line for the throne.