History Characters / Terraria

* BadassNormal: Beyond getting extra stats from Heart Crystals, Mana Crystals, Health Fruit and all other sorts of permanent consumables, there's nothing special about them. All of their powers come from diligent exploration and crafting.

* AntiHero: In order to progress, the player must commit some questionable acts during their journey - most notably, [[spoiler:murdering the Guide by destroying his voodoo doll]]. Beyond that it’s largely up to you where in the scale your PC falls into.

* HumanoidAbomination: An end game character is both much more durable than the average mortal and fully capable of wielding weapons and magics that are nearly cosmic in scope. They can have minions made of star matter, armor forged solar energy and other worldly metals, weapons that summon falling meteors with every swing, ect. Very little about how the player fights is at all human in the end and a battle involving a high tier player can look outright terrifying from an outside perspective. On a side-note, the more stranger dyes can also turn you into one visually as well, if you wish to complete the image. [[DownplayedTrope However]] due to the game’s mostly gear based progression, you can return to normal just by unequiping all of your gear.

* VillainProtagonist: [[AmbiguouslyEvil Possibly]]. In order to progress past a certain point, in this game that averts DeathIsCheap when it comes to the [=NPC=]s, they need to summon, then kill, an EldritchAbomination by sacrificing the current guide. Although how they feel about this depends on how they view the Guide and his frustrating quirks.

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Due to the lack of a concrete plot and [[HeroicMime lack of dialogue from the PC]], it's not hard to see why some believe the fan theory mentioned on the YMMV page. They are willing to sacrifice others to ensure their life improves and most bosses seem to avoid them unless necessary. That being said, they do free tied up [=NPCs=] and build a home for them, implying there might be some good in them...if these aren't acts of PragmaticVillainy in any case.
** However this is largely down to interpretation and the lore implies your actions are saving the world and [[spoiler: help each NPC [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their happy ending]] in the credits.]]

* BadassNormal: Beyond getting extra health and mana from Life and Mana Crystals there's nothing special about them. All of their powers come from diligent exploration and crafting.

* SuperToughness: By consuming crystal hearts (and later on, Life Fruits), the player can increase their resilience five-fold over the course of the game, becoming truly superhuman and able to take blows that would eviscerate a starting player.

* WasOnceAMan: {{Subverted|Trope}} The player starts out perfectly baseline mortal, although as time goes on and they start both gathering all sorts of energies and weaponry, they eventually become an [[HumanoidAbomination unnatural]] PhysicalGod. However they can go back to normal (minus the increased health and mana) the second they take off their gear.

!! Non-Player Characters

[[folder:As a Whole]]
All [=NPCs=] can move into a player's town if they have, a room with light, a large item (such as a table, dresser, bookshelf, etc.) and a comfort item (such as a chair, bench, bed, etc.), a door and some criteria specific to the NPC.

* ActionGirl: Each and every one of the female [=NPCs=] can defend themselves when push comes to shove.
* ActionSurvivor: Most of them are relatively normal people with normal jobs- unfortunately, being 'normal' isn't enough to protect you in the DeathWorld that is ''Terraria''.
* BadassBystander: Some of them - such as the Demolitionist and the Arms Dealer - are more dangerous than others, but they're all very capable of defending themselves if they need to.
* BadassCrew: They can all participate in combat, and can easily become this if enough are gathered in one place.
* DamselInDistress[=/=]DistressedDude: The Goblin Tinkerer, Stylist, Mechanic and Wizard are all initially found tied up in one place or another, and must be freed to be recruited.
* TheDividual: Every NPC changes name whenever they respawn after death, implying that they're different people of the same profession... and appearance. Regardless, they're all treated as the same person. This even applies to the Dryad, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation who is said to be the last of her kind]] despite being just as plentiful in supply as anybody else.
* DungeonShop: They can live anywhere that isn't the Corruption or Crimson, as long as it fits the requirements for a house--including underground, producing this trope.
* IdleAnimation: Are prone to these when the PC isn't interacting with them. This includes talking to and playing games with fellow [=NPCs=] and sitting on nearby chairs.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Most of the NPC's whose functions aren't directly related to combat tend to be this. Examples include the Nurse and her needles, the Party Girl's Confetti Guns, and the Truffle's spores.
* JerkassBall: When a blood moon happens, most [[note]]The Party Girl doesn't act any different and the Steampunker [[DownplayedTrope only feels peevish in one random, additional bit of dialogue]][[/note]] of the female [=NPCs=] become irritable and rude.
* LoveDodecahedron: The Nurse likes the Arms Dealer. The Arms Dealer reciprocates, but is also not above flirting with the Dryad and Mechanic, neither of which like him back. The Mechanic, meanwhile, has a mutual attraction with the Goblin Tinkerer, [[CannotSpitItOut but neither of them is willing to voice it]].
* TookALevelInBadass:
** A meta-example: prior to the 1.3 release, the [=NPCs=] were defenseless against enemies and reliant on the player to deal with any attackers. The 1.3 update armed them and made them ready to fight anything that invades the town.
** And more straightforwardly: once you reach Hardmode, some of the [=NPCs=] switch to more powerful weapons, and can utterly decimate even (pre-Hardmode) bosses without breaking a sweat.

[[folder:Guide]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0001_guide.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_guide.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:They say there is a person who will tell you how to survive in this land... oh wait. That's me.]]
-->''The Guide always offers useful advice and crafting recipes. His origins and unusual connections to this world remain a mystery.''
The first NPC, who you start out with in every world. As befits his name he guides you with tips of varying levels of helpfulness, and if you show him any material item he can tell you what can be crafted from it.

* AmbiguousSituation: How the Wall of Flesh is connected to him. Is he a manifestation of the Wall of Flesh, or the other way around? Is he a [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan person-shaped can]]? Does he know about his supposed relation to the Wall of Flesh? There's a lot of in-game dialogue that hints towards a connection, but it's never explicit. The Tavernkeep notes that the Guide has some sort of dark aura about him, the Cyborg used to refer to the Guide as "the Wall of (Guide's name)", and if the Guide respawns after Wall of Flesh is beaten and is talked to, the new Guide mentions the original burst into flames from his voodoo doll being dunked in lava -- but nothing of note beyond that.
* BadassNormal: The most "average" of the [=NPCs=] and besides having a vast amount of insight he's seemingly normal, yet can still hold a fight along with the rest of them when pushed enough times.
* TheChosenOne: Several [[AllThereInTheManual bestiary entries]] indicate that the Guide is considered a Chosen One and his soul is linked to the Guardian of the world (aka the Wall of Flesh)... but his purpose is to ''guide'' the hero, not to ''be'' the hero. The game heavily implies that there's more going on with him than meets the eye, though.
* GuideDangIt: His purpose is to [[AvertedTrope avert this]] for new players: if you give him a crafting material, he can tell you everything you can make with it, where it can be crafted, and the crafting recipe itself. He will also tell you the next possible objectives towards progression (at least until the later portions of Hardmode).
* TheGenericGuy: Besides his knowledge, he's just a normal guy. His dialogue has very little personality to it, besides a couple of lines -- one of which is his image quote.
--> ''[During a Blood Moon]'': "[[CaptainObvious If you were to look up, you'd see that the moon is red right now.]]"\\
"Hey, buddy, do you know where any deathweed is? Oh, no reason; just wondering, is all."
* TheOmniscient: He's suspiciously knowledgeable on game mechanics. Some of his advice like using tools to break things or going to certain areas when the player is strong enough are obvious enough. Others, like "search the haunted dungeon where people are killed on sight for any prisoners" or how he seems to know about the Wizard's presence[[note]]Unlike other [=NPCs=], who appear when they have a relevant condition fulfilled -- like obtaining money for the Merchant, guns for the Arms Dealer, etc. -- the Wizard spawns only in Hardmode, rather than if one player has a sufficient amount of mana[[/note]] would take some rather wide stretches of logic to come to the conclusion of. At times, his surprisingly specific dialogue can read like a snippet from a Website/GameFAQs guide.
* TheScrappy: Invoked. He originally got hate from the beginning for appearing in every world, being unkillable, and subject to mass ArtificialStupidity, especially pertaining to doors and monsters. At this point he's somewhat become the Scrappy ''in-game'', with other [=NPCs=] occasionally making comments about how much they're annoyed with his antics. Which at least helps the player feel better about repeatedly killing the Guide to do battle with the Wall of Flesh. In the 1.4 update, killing him will give you Good Luck for 4 minutes while killing any other NPC gives you Bad Luck.
* ShapedLikeItself: As shown in the caption quote, one of the first tips you receive from the Guide is that there is a Guide, although he quickly realizes how redundant this information is.
* TheSmartGuy: Both of the booksmart ''and'' StreetSmart variety.
* SmugSuper: See the caption quote. Now remember this is the same guy who holds every single bit of knowledge of the world of Terraria.
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: Uses a simple Wooden Bow to defend himself if forced into combat. Come Hardmode, he upgrades to flaming arrows.
* VoodooDoll: You can find his in the clutch of Demons flying about in the Underworld. Equipping it allows the player to attack the Guide even though [=NPCs=] are normally immune to player attacks, and tossing it into lava instantly kills him. However, a doll incinerated in the Underworld (whether tossed by a player or simply dropped by a killed Demon and not caught) will summon the Wall of Flesh.

[[folder:Merchant]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0002_merchant_7.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_merchant.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Did you say gold? I'll take that off of ya.]]
-->''The Merchant acts as a simple general store of sorts, providing useful starter tools and supplies needed for exploration.''
As the player amasses more money (50 or more silver), the Merchant will appear to relieve them of that burdensome cash. He sells mostly general use items, some potions, and spare tools in case the player loses theirs and lacks the materials to make more.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: He will sell the Furnace if he's housed in a Jungle biome. It seems unusual until you try the "not the bees" seed added in 1.4 where the entire world consists of Jungle which means practically no stone at all. Because the Merchant initially spawns instead of the Guide, you'll have access to a Furnace.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Lies that he doesn't periodically sell junk and believes [[Main/CheesyMoon the moon is made out of cheese]] yet is essential early on, all the while keeping to his promise that his prices aren't high as they could be.
* CrutchCharacter: The wares he sells are useful in the early game, but by the time Hardmode comes around just about all of them have been surpassed in function or usefulness.
* HonestJohnsDealership: Judging by his dialog. He's constantly trying to foist off items of dubious usefulness like "perfectly ventilated armor". Despite his claims of not being a junk dealer, he's tried to sell useless angel statues to other [=NPCs=], and he sells dirt blocks for exorbitant prices on the international market.

[[folder:Nurse]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0003_nurse.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_nurse.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Would you like a lollipop?]]
-->''The Nurse's snarky attitude and poor bedside manner may be scary, but for a price, she will cure all that ails a wounded Terrarian.''
The nurse will move in once a player has found a heart crystal to expand their maximum health above the starting 100. For a price, she can restore the player back to full health in an instant, and remove any debuffs.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: As of Patch 1.4, the Nurse's price for healing you will increase as you progress through the game.
* AllPeriodsArePMS: All of the female characters get ''really'' nasty during a Blood Moon, which the devs have confirmed is a joking reference to periods. The Nurse is no exception, as her lines become various levels of bitchy, either accusing the player of being a hypochondriac or complaining that they dare to get injured.
* AmusingInjuries: Several of her lines has her casually mentioning re-attached body parts or other grievous wounds.
* CombatMedic: Will heal herself or other wounded [=NPCs=] after attacked, and when not helping her allies stay alive she'll be fighting off enemies with poisoned needles.
* DoubleEntendre: Her dialogue is loaded with medical themed sexual innuendo.
* DrJerk: She tends to become a bit sarcastic, especially when [[BerserkButton the player wants her to heal them at high health]]. Approach her on the brink of death, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold and she'll quickly lose this attitude]].
* HealingShiv: She also throws needles at the [=NPCs=] to heal them, and will occasionally use them to heal herself. She throws poisoned needles at enemies instead.
* HospitalHottie: Is a nurse and is considered very attractive InUniverse. Her dialogue is also loaded with medical themed innuendo.
* ShipTease: She loves having the Arms Dealer as a neighbor, and occasionally asks does he need a doctor checkup. However, when asked about her Happiness when Arms Dealer is her neighbor…
-->'''Nurse:''' What? [The Arms Dealer]? [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend I don't have a crush! I don't! Shut up!]]
* {{Tsundere}}: The Nurse can come off as this: Some of her quotes suggest a TeamMom mentality, others that she only sticks around because you pay her.
* TurnYourHeadAndCough: One of the random quotes when you talk to her, even if your character is female.
* WhiteMage: Her Shimmered form implies this with her cleric outfit and her occupation in healing.

[[folder:Demolitionist]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0004_demolitionist.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_demolitionist.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:NO SMOKING IN HERE!!!]]
-->''Tread carefully around this dwarf. The Demolitionist is an explosive fanatic and sells dangerous things that go 'Boom!'''
A dwarf who moves in after you find grenades/dynamite or craft sticky bombs and can sell you more of them and with many other explosive products.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: He spawns in place of the Guide in a "for the worthy" world to offset the fact that any bombs spawned by pots are lit and will explode, thus still giving you a way to obtain normal bombs.
* AxCrazy: This guy is a little too fond of explosive tumult.
* BadassBystander: Most [=NPCs=] are only of moderate help if enemies get into your house. The Demolitionist, on the other hand, has an inexaustible supply of grenades, and is very eager to use them; this makes him a very useful ally to have on your side during Blood Moons and Invasions, especially in Expert Mode.
* GrenadeSpam: Defends himself through the use of Grenades.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: If you talk to him, he may ask you to sign a "Griefing Waiver".
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: He has many of the stereotypical dwarf's traits.
** He is significantly shorter than other [=NPCs=], has a beard, and prefers to live underground.
** His mining helmet, lantern, and wares all reference how Dwarves are known for being great spelunkers.
** He loves living near the Tavernkeep, referencing how much dwarves like to drink.
** His Shimmered form even sports a horned helmet, which Dwarves are commonly depicted wearing.
* TheRival: To the Arms Dealer. They hate having each other as neighbors.
* StuffBlowingUp: His speciality.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: As mentioned below, he enthusiastically endorses the judicious application of explosives for any and all problem-solving needs you may have. In fairness to him, he's usually right.
* YourAnswerToEverything: Got a problem, ''any'' problem? Easy -- blow it up.

[[folder:Dye Trader]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0005_dye_trader.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_dye_trader.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I bring you the richest colors in exchange for your riches!]]
-->''Eccentric and rather snobby to a fault, the Dye Trader has expensive tastes. He is passionate about the materials used in the dyes he sells.''
A trader and purveyor of dyes, who wears a colorful Arabian-styled outfit and shows up after the player obtains a dye ingredient. He sells the Dye Vat, which allows the player to start making their own dyes from natural resources. If you bring him particularly exotic plants, he will trade them for special, magical dyes.

* ArabianNightsDays: He rocks this general aesthetic, prefers to live in the desert, and makes passing references to the associated cultural tropes. He even uses a scimitar to defend himself.
--->'''Dye Trader:''' ''(When living by himself)'' My dear, this palace is quiet enough to sleep like a sultan!
* ColorCodedMultiplayer: In a multiplayer server, he sells Team Dye that changes the color of the armor/clothing that it's applied to the respective color of the team if you are on one.
* GlobalCurrencyException: Like the Tavernkeep. He sells some items for typical Terrarian cash, but he'll only trade his most exotic dyes in exchange for Strange Plants.
* TheFashionista: He's the most colorfully dressed, and all of his lines to the player are about dyes and/or appearance. For bonus points, he has a habit of referring to the player as "my dear."
* ThePrimaDonna: Downplayed. He has a ''lot'' of the tropes typically associated with this archetype; he's very haughty, has a sharp eye for fashion sense, frequently refers to players of either gender as "my dear," and tends to look down on anybody he sees as being "uncouth." That said, he lacks the more negative traits of the archetype.
* ShoutOut: His line about rich mahogany is a reference to ''Film/{{Anchorman}}''.

[[folder:Dryad]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0008_dryad.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_dryad.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Be safe. Terraria needs you!]]
-->''The Dryad is the last of her kind. She is connected with nature and can analyze its purity worldwide. She sells seeds, too!''
A centuries-old NatureSpirit, who will move in if you have defeated one of the regular pre-Hardmode bosses. She sells various natural items like acorns and seeds, and she can tell how corrupt the world has become (and will rebuke you for it).

* ADayInTheLimelight: She becomes a playable character in ''[[VideoGame/DungeonDefenders Dungeon Defenders II]]''.
* AllPeriodsArePMS: During the blood moon but not as bad as the Nurse and Mechanic.
* ClothingAppendage: According to Redigit, the vines are not clothes, but a part of her body.
* GardenGarment: She's clad in naught but vines and leaves. Players can also buy it during Halloween and wear it themselves.
* GreenThumb: Nearly everything she sells has something to do with growing vegetation or altering nature. When monsters are nearby, she'll cast a barrier of leaves that buffs up the defense nearby players and [=NPCs=], increases their life regeneration, and gives them the [[CounterAttack Thorns]] ability. The more bosses you defeat, the more powerful the barrier gets against enemies.
* InformedAttribute: The game's lore event states that she's the last Dryad. Despite this, she respawns with a different name every time she dies, indicating that each Dryad that comes into your town is different.
* [[TheLastOfHisKind The Last of Her Kind]]: The [[https://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/terraria-8th-anniversary-lore-event.79764/#post-1763546 8th anniversary lore event]] reveals that there were once many more dryads, but all but a single member perished [[spoiler:banishing the Moon Lord to the dark side of the moon]].
* MsFanservice: Downplayed due to the tiny pixel art style of the game, but the vines have the appearance of a {{stripperiffic}} outfit, and there's a risqué painting of her that can appear in the Dungeon that shows off part of her butt.
* NiceGirl: She's one of the kinder NPC[=s=] in the game ([[AllPeriodsArePMS when it's not a Blood Moon]]), passionate about the wellbeing of her neighbors and the environment and one of the few people who is on good terms with the Truffle.
* OnlyFriend: She's the only NPC the Truffle gets along with (since she is the only one who hadn't tried to eat him or use him in a potion).
-->"I feel like [Truffle] is a bit misunderstood, he really is a [[{{Pun}} fun guy]]."
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Being a dryad, she's a fey creature associated with plantlife and happens to be one of the few fairies in the game who has a humanoid shape.
* PlantPerson: Has vines as a part of her body. This may also apply to her hair (which is the same color on her sprite, but not in the "Dryadisque" Dungeon painting).
* PungeonMaster: Downplayed. She puns more frequently and more noticeably than the other [=NPCs=], and seems to enjoy them for their own sake.
* Really700YearsOld: "I wish [Arms Dealer] would stop flirting with me. Doesn't he realize I'm 500 years old?"
* ShoutOut: "The sands of time are flowing, [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime and you are not aging gracefully]]."
** Another reference is one of her possible names being [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic "Celestia"]].
** Her Shimmered form is a pixelated version of her corrupted form seen in ''[[VideoGame/DungeonDefenders Dungeon Defenders II]]''.
* StatusBuff: When threatened, she will generate an aura that boosts all nearby {{Non Player Character}}s and players by increasing their defense and regen, while giving them a permanent Thorns effect. On enemies, however, the aura burns them for a small amount of DamageOverTime.
* ThongOfShielding: If the "Dryadisque" painting is accurate, the vines barely cover her rear.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: She encourages the player character to make the world a CrapsaccharineWorld by spreading the Hallow, although as of 1.3 she'll praise the player even more for completely purifying the world.

[[folder:Arms Dealer]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0011_arms_dealer.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_arms_dealer.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hey, this ain't a movie, pal. Ammo is extra.]]
-->''The Arms Dealer has everything anyone could need to shoot things dead, from little round bullets to guns made from sharks.''
He moves in after you find a gun. He sells guns and bullets, and will also sell you illegal gun parts if you catch him at the right time.

* ArmsDealer: Of the Gun Shop Owner type. He can sell you illegal parts, however.
* BloodKnight: He loves the sheer amount of enemies he has the chance to kill during Blood Moons. After all, it's much more fun than trying to hold a conversation with his neighbors while the event lends most of them their own JerkassBall.
* BottomlessMagazines: He lampshades the trope; just see his quote under his picture up above.
* CasanovaWannabe: He has a tendency to flirt with the ladies. The Dryad is sick of him doing so with her due to the massive age difference, and the Mechanic already has a crush on the Goblin Tinkerer and is completely oblivious to his innuendo-laden jokes. The Nurse is the only one who appreciates his feelings, as evidenced by several of her quotes, and he may occasionally mention that he's preparing for a date with her or say that he's into what she's selling.
* CovertPervert: If the Halloween event is any indication, he's not above having spare of the Nurse's clothes lying around and selling them.
* DoubleEntendre: He may mention that he "wants what the Nurse is selling" and the Mechanic may mention that he's asked her if he could press her pressure plates.
* FriendInTheBlackMarket: He's.. not very subtle about his illicit connections. Part of why he likes living in the Desert is because there's plenty of solitude for him to do "business."
* TheGunslinger: Wields either a Flintlock Pistol pre-hardmode, or a [[MoreDakka Minishark post-hardmode]].
* MoreDakka: The guy loves his firearms. He also sells the infamous Minishark, which can then be upgraded into the extremely fast-firing Megashark.
* TheRival: To the Demolitionist. They hate having each other as neighbors.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: He sells them in hardmode.
* YouDoNOTWantToKnow: It's best he didn't answer HOW he made the Minishark, even stating this trope's name in a conversation with the player.

[[folder:Tavernkeep]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0012_tavernkeep.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_tavernkeep.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:They say you're strong, well, I know strong. Let's see if you measure up.]]
-->''The Tavern Keep once managed a bar in another universe. He's here to help stop the Old One's Army from conquering this world.''
A new NPC introduced in 1.3.4, unique in that most of the items he sells can only be bought using Defender Medals. He sells the items required to summon the Old One's Army, as well as several weapons useful for completing the event.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He refuses to sell ale to the Angler, due to him being underage. This is the reason why the Angler hates him.
* GlobalCurrencyException: You can use Terrarian cash to buy the two things you need to summon the Old One's Army, as well as ale, from him. Everything else in his inventory can only be bought with Defender Medals.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: Defends himself against monsters by throwing mugs of ale at them.
* GuestFighter: [[http://wiki.dungeondefenders2.com/wiki/Tavern#Tavernkeep Originally from]] [[VideoGame/DungeonDefenders Dungeon Defenders 2]].
* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: One of his possible names is literally "Barkeep". ...which would make him [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Barkeep the Tavernkeep]].
* MrExposition: With regards to the Old One's Army.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Most human [=NPCs=] in the game have a sort of "template" that they usually are drawn on. The Tavernkeep is the exception, as his shut-eyed face, burly arms, and larger physique indicates.
* ShoutOut: Setting aside the fact that he's literally a GuestFighter from ''Dungeon Defenders 2'', many of his quotes are [[MythologyGag mythology gags]] about his home series.
** "<Dryad> seems nice. I should bring her back with me." Also, "Anyone see where <Dryad> went?[[labelnote:Explanation]]The Dryad was added to Dungeon Defenders 2 as part of the crossover that added the Tavernkeep to Terraria.[[/labelnote]]
** "Have you seen any Meburs around here?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]A reference to a rather-obscure joke in the patchnotes about some people calling Ramsters "Meburs."[[/labelnote]]
** "Do you think <Steampunker> has an extra of that gun? I know a witch that may want one."/"I know a Lavamancer that would really like that hellstone down in the underworld."[[labelnote:Explanation]]References to the Gunwitch and Lavamancer from ''Dungeon Defenders 2''.[[/labelnote]]
** "Moon Lord, don't you mean Abyss Lord?"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A reference to the Abyss Lord from ''Dungeon Defenders II''; both the Abyss Lord and the Moon Lord are [[{{Expy}} expies]] of [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu]].
* OddFriendship: Surprisingly, even though he came from a world where goblins are AlwaysChaoticEvil, the Tavernkeep gets along well with Goblin Tinkerer, and likes having him around as a neighbor.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: {{Averted}}. His catalog of items are all related to the Old One's Army event, but the exception is that he'll still sell pints of normal ale, fulfilling his bartending role.

[[folder:Painter]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0009_painter.png]]
%% [[caption-width-right:350 [[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_painter.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:No, no, no... There's TONS of different grays! Don't get me started...]]
-->''The Painter can talk about all the different shades of colors with which one can paint the walls. He'll sell but a handful of them!''
He's a painter, dressed in a red cap and white overalls. He sells everything you need to paint your world and decorate your walls, as well as a number of decorative paintings, particularly landscapes. Many of the paintings and wallpapers he sells depend on location and the moon phase.

* AbnormalAmmo: Uses a Paintball Gun in self-defense.
* ShoutOut:
** His dialogue and name pool make several references to other painters, particularly [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob Ross]].
** One of the wallpapers he sells is called [[Music/{{Prince}} Purple Rain Wallpaper]].
** One of his random names is Mario. Considering his red-themed clothing, overalls and [[VideoGame/MarioPaint a certain game that had to do about painting]], the reference is sound.
** His Shimmered form resembles [[Creator/VincentVanGogh Vincent Van Gogh]].

[[folder:Angler]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0006_angler.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_angler.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I don't have a mommy or a daddy, but I have a lot of fish! It's close enough!]]
-->''The Angler, a rude fishing genius, sends others to find weird, rare fish. He rewards random items, entertained by any misfortunes.''
The only child NPC, who can first be found sleeping out on the ocean. He gives out rewards in exchange for finding special, rare fish.

* AllThereInTheManual: His parents are absent in the game, but it's never actually stated where they are, what happened to them, or why the Angler is all alone. However, Red has [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Terraria/comments/gmfb1e/comment/fr73c2b/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 stated on Reddit]] that his parents are the Bride and Groom, two specially costumed zombies that spawn during the Blood Moon.
* BrattyHalfPint: He's possibly the most annoying character in the game. At times he even refers to the player as an errand boy.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: He may occasionally mention that he's parentless, which partially justifies why he can be found in the middle of nowhere in the CrapsaccharineWorld that is this game.
* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Unlike the other [=NPCs=], the Angler, due to being a child, just disappears in a puff of smoke when his health reaches 0, and the text states "[Angler name] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere has left]]".
* {{Jerkass}}: This kid has nary a redeeming feature. He's an egotist who actively pulls cruel pranks on his neighbors and views the player as nothing more than a personal slave. Notably, only two [=NPCs=] like having the Angler around: the Pirate and the Golfer. And also the Princess, but she loves everyone.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Golfer thinks so, anyway, noting the Angler will retrieve the golf balls he hits into the water. He's also the only one who thinks that, [[LampshadeHanging and he knows it]]. The Princess also says that the Angler offers to take her fishing sometimes, but she loves everybody.
* ShamuFu: Throws Frost Daggerfish to fight.
* {{Kappa}}: Shimmering him turns him into one.
* SkewedPriorities: When sending you to Sky Islands to catch a Cloudfish, he may talk about how Floating Islands are supposed to have "amazing treasure" - before completely brushing that idea off and demanding you go catch him his fish.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Everyone else in his eyes are his underlings, despite the fact that unlike him they're all adults with a myriad of useful skills and wares.
* SpoiledBrat: He frequently screams that he wants the daily quest fish immediately.

[[folder:Stylist]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0013_stylist.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_stylist.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:For you I think we'll do something... low maintenance.]]
-->''The Stylist loves style, gossip, and hair. Aside from performing a miracle makeover, she sells some hair product as well.''
A new NPC introduced in 1.2.3 that is found inside a spider nest, [[DistressedDamsel bounded by webs]] and can be freed. She can change your hair style. She also sells various hair dyes.

* AxCrazy: DownplayedTrope as she's only this on blood moons. The other female [=NPCs=] only go as far as telling you not to bug them. This one? She will threaten to go Theatre/SweeneyTodd on you with her styling tools if you don't leave her alone.
* AllPeriodsArePMS: During the Blood Moon, which the devs have confirmed is a joking reference to periods, she threatens you with her [[{{ImprobableWeaponUser}} scissors and razor]].
* ColorCodedMultiplayer: In multiplayer servers, she sells Team Hair Dye that makes the player's hair change colors depending on what team they're on.
* DamselInDistress: You first find her tied up in a spider nest, and have to rescue her before she moves in.
* TheFashionista: She's all about the freshest hair styles, defends herself with Stylish Scissors and has got a nice dress and pair of high heels.
* HairstyleMalfunction: Possibly. Upon her death, her head and hair split into two different chunks, unlike other long-haired NPC[=s=]. What little hair is attached to her head is a spiky, misshapen mess, and it might not all be that surprising given how she might complain of her hair being loaded with spider web when you rescue her.
* ShearMenace: Uses Stylish Scissors when forced to fight monsters.
* SeriousBusiness: Bad hair days. She may mention a disastrous attempt to dye her hair using some of the Dye Trader's stock or comfort the player if they supposedly have an awful hair problem.

[[folder:Goblin Tinkerer]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0014_goblin_tinkerer.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_goblin_tinkerer.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hey, does your hat need a motor? I think I have a motor that would fit exactly in that hat.]]
-->''Exiled from the rest of goblinkind for being an intelligent pacifist, the Tinkerer sells tools for combining accessories into stronger versions.''
After the player repels the first Goblin Invasion, the Goblin Tinkerer can be found underground. He is an invaluable asset to any player, for he can reforge the player's items to make them more powerful; he also sells a couple of items that are extremely useful in the mid-game (Rocket Boots for flying, and the Tinkerer's Workshop for combining items).

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: Lampshaded.
* ExpospeakGag: He says being near the Mechanic makes his "cardiac core to function improperly". She says the same thing about the Tinkerer, in plain language: "he makes my heart flutter".
* InterspeciesRomance: He and the Mechanic have a mutual crush on each other, and he loves having her as a neighbour.
* LuckBasedMission: Getting the right modifier for a weapon can cost immense amounts of time and money, especially if said item is incredibly expensive to buy/sell. But that Unreal Megashark is so tempting...
* MetaGuy: He hangs a lot of lampshades on the goblins such as the fact that they carry the spike balls they drop, the true direction they approach from due to the sun's left-to-right pattern (making West and East flipped), the fact that thieves don't even steal anything and that tattered cloth from their scouts can be used to start a war with them.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: If he's to be believed, most goblins are generally disagreeable, bumbling idiots. Not this guy; he's completely polite in his interactions with you and provides some useful tech. Naturally, he didn't really get along with the rest of his kind, and the reason you find him tied up in a cave is because the other goblins left him there.
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: He's quite adept at technology, selling you the tinkerer's workshop, necessary to combine accesories, and also sells spike balls that can be used as traps.
* ShipTease: He's always asking about the Mechanic and loves having her as a neighbour.
* ShoutOut: His name is a reference to ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'''s Goblin Tinker.
** "Hey, does your hat need a motor? [[Music/{{Motorhead}} I think I have a motor that would fit exactly in that hat]]."
** "[[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg Yo, I heard you like]] [[http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Rocket_boots rockets and]] [[http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Hermes_Boots running boots]], [[http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Spectre_Boots so I put some rockets in your running boots]]."
* SpikeBallsOfDoom: Throws Spiky Balls in self-defense against monsters.
* TokenHeroicOrc: The only goblin that isn't antagonistic.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Toward the Mechanic.

[[folder:Witch Doctor]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0015_witch_doctor.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_witch_doctor.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The heart of magic is nature. The nature of hearts is magic.]]
-->''It's unusual for a Lihzahrd to be outside the Temple. Even more unusual are the voodoo things he sells. He prefers his jungle digs.''
The Witch Doctor moves in after defeating the Queen Bee. He sells the imbuing station and various tribal-themed accessories and items.

* AmbiguousGender: None of the NPC[=s=]' conversations mention his gender at all and his mask obscures his facial features. Prior to Bestiary introduced in "Journey's End" update explicitly establishing him as male, the only way one could find out on their own was to mess around with King and Queen Statues; these statues can be used to teleport random [=NPCs=] of the corresponding gender.
%%* BlowGun:
* EarlyBirdCameo: For the Lihzahrds in general, as he can move in as soon as you beat the Queen Bee, way before you enter the Lihzahrd temple to fight his more aggressive kin.
* LizardFolk: WordOfGod has offhandedly said that the Witch Doctor is a lihzahrd, and the bestiary outright confirms it. Also, a quick comparison of the Lihzahrd and Witch Doctor sprites makes it clear by way of several shared features; a tail, green skin, and head frills, the last being partially obscured by the Witch Doctor's mask.
* PungeonMaster: Several of his lines involve wordplay.
* TokenHeroicOrc: The only Lihzahrd in the game that doesn't attack you on sight.
* WitchDoctor: It's in the title, after all.

[[folder:Clothier]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0016_clothier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Of course embroidery is hard! If it wasn't hard, no one would do it! That's what makes it great.]]
%% [[caption-width-right:350:[[[[labelnote: Click here to see him as the Old Man.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0027_old_man.png[[/labelnote]]]]
%% [[caption-width-right:350:[[[[labelnote: Click here to see his Shimmered form]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_clothier.png[[/labelnote]]]]
-->''Once trapped under a curse, the Clothier is the master of thread. If it's fashion that's desired, he's the man! He talks in a familiar way.''
Formerly a slave of Skeletron who could be found wandering outside of the dungeon, he moves in once his master has been slain, selling clothes.

* BadPowersGoodPeople: From 1.3 onward, he will fend off invading monsters by launching Shadowflame skulls at them.
* BackFromTheDead: Summoning Skeletron undoubtedly kills him, as the process of Skeletron emerging tears him apart from the inside out, but [[UnexplainedRecovery he appears later perfectly fine]] and with only very vague hints as to how he came back.
* CartesianKarma: He's hated as a neighbour by the Mechanic because he threw her into the Dungeon while he was cursed and brainwashed. He does mention inexplicably hating her, a remnant of his curse.
* CastingAShadow: He primarily uses shadow magic to defend himself.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Going by his means of self-defense and the fact Skeletron bursts out of his corpse if you personally kill him at night, the Clothier still has ''some'' connection to Skeletron even without his curse. However, he's just another friendly NPC who never harms the player or the other [=NPCs=] on his own, and none the items he sells have any application in combat either.
* DealWithTheDevil: Implied to be a possible explanation for his status as the keeper of the Dungeon--he refers to Skeletron as "his master" and is capable of using powerful bone magic (even after being freed) against enemies.
* DemonicPossession: Considering he has RedEyesTakeWarning before he's set free as well as the fact that Skeletron bursts out of him, it's heavily implied that this is the case with him.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: He's extremely grateful towards the player for freeing him from Skeletron's control.
* FaustianRebellion: See DealWithTheDevil.
* FountainOfYouth: Shimmering him makes him appear much younger, gaining blonde hair and losing his facial hair. However, when Shimmered as the Old Man he keeps his beard and is still referred to as the "Old Man", implying that Shimmering him [[OlderThanTheyLook just makes him]] ''[[OlderThanTheyLook look]]'' [[OlderThanTheyLook younger]].
* IrrationalHatred: He hates the Mechanic as a neighbor, even though his curse was uplifted, and he himself doesn't know why. It's implied to be the after-effect of his curse.
* LudicrousGibs: He violently explodes into Skeletron if you ask him about the curse if he hasn't been freed yet.
* NotQuiteBackToNormal: After being freed from his curse, he still has remnants of it. Namely, being able to use shadow magic.
* OneWingedAngel: If it's night time and he hasn't been freed, talking to him and agreeing to fight Skeletron will result in the beast bloodily ripping itself out of him and tossing his dismembered body aside to fight you. He can also do this after he's been freed when you kill him with the clothier voodoo doll, although considering all he's been through [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential it makes the player]] [[KickTheDog look like more of a dick.]]
* SitcomArchNemesis: He really wants to [[SapientEatSapient eat the Truffle]]. This is even reflected in their preferences: the Clothier loves having him as a neighbor, while the Truffle himself, on the other hand, dislikes that.
* ShoutOut: Nearly every line he says is a reference to a Creator/TomHanks movie.
* SpellBook: Uses the Book of Skulls to attack monsters. In hardmode, he begins using a special version that also inflicts the Shadowflame debuff on enemies.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: If you want to obtain his hat, you need to get him killed, and if you want to challenge Skeletron again you need to kill him yourself while you are equipped with his voodoo doll at night. He'll uneasily comment on it if you talk to him while wearing said hat.
* VoodooDoll: Now dropped by Skeletons in the dungeon, in-case you aren't bothered to build an elaborate lava trap to get his hat. Killing him this way will summon Skeletron again if it's night.

[[folder:Mechanic]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0017_mechanic.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_mechanic.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Oh, you know what this house needs? More blinking lights.]]
-->''The Mechanic was imprisoned for her aptitude in engineering. She sells wiring and tools for putting together anything imaginable.''
Like the goblin, she's also bound, and found in the dungeon. She sells wires and wiring tools.

* AllPeriodsArePMS: During the blood moon.
* DistressedDamsel: While he was still cursed the Clothier tied her up and tossed her into the dungeon, and the player has to save her before she moves in.
* GadgeteerGenius: She is the one who was captured by the cultists and forced to build the three Mechanical Bosses. Also, she and the Steampunker were ones who created the Cyborg.
* InterspeciesRomance: She's a human, has a crush on the Goblin Tinkerer, and she loves having him as a neighbour. Averted when she's Shimmered, where she becomes a goblin like her crush.
* LettingHerHairDown: She usually wears her hair in a bun, but she wears it long during parties.
* ObliviousToLove: She doesn't understand the Arms Dealer's comments about "pushing her pressure plate". On the other hand, she appears to have a mutual crush on the Goblin Tinkerer.
* ShipTease: She's always asking about the goblin tinkerer and loves having him as a neighbour.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Towards the Tinkerer.
* WrenchWench: She even throws boomerang-like wrenches in self defense.

[[folder:Party Girl]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0018_party_girl.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_party_girl.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:We have to talk. It's... it's about parties.]]
-->''Positive beyond comprehension, the Party Girl will use any excuse to celebrate. She sells party favors and flashy things.''
The party girl moves if you have at least 14 NPC[=s=] living in houses, with a 2.5% chance of doing so each day while the population remains at or above that number. She sells party supplies, including fireworks.

* AllPeriodsArePMS: She's one of the ''only two'' female [=NPCs=] that averts this during the Blood Moon.
* GenkiGirl: Just like the pony she's based off, most of the thoughts running through her mind are about fun and parties.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Uses [[GrenadeSpam Happy Grenades]] in self-defense.
* JokeItem: All of her items have no real significance for actual combat or other tasks but just there to, well, party.
* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: She can invoke this trope as a unique function introduced in 1.4, allowing the player to toggle between ''Terraria'''s soundtrack and the previously-unreleased soundtrack of ''Terraria: Otherworld''.
* LethalJokeItem: The Fireworks she sells in Hardmode can ''kill'' enemies and even bosses, and the Confetti she sells can be combined with empty casings from the Arms Dealer to make Confetti Ammunition, which is more powerful than all pre-Hard Mode ammunition.
** Fireworks are especially deadly when correctly HOIK'd and they all detonate in a single spot to generate the highest achievable DPS in the game.
** 1.4 moves the Celebration, a lethal firework launcher that can be aimed at enemies, from the Moon Lord's drop table (being replaced by the Celebration Mk. II) to her inventory as a mid-Hardmode unlock.
* RoseHairedSweetie: She's cheerful, optimistic and loves parties. She's the only female NPC besides the princess who doesn't become rude or grouchy during a Blood Moon.
* ShoutOut: She basically ''is'' [[{{WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic}} Pinkie Pie]]. She has blue eyes, dark pink hair with a distinctive curled lock, a love for parties, and so on. Two of her possible names are "[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Sparkle]]" and "[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed Trixy]]". Furthermore, her Shimmered form sports blue clothes, pink eyes and rainbow hair, bringing [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRainbowDash Rainbow Dash]] to mind.

[[folder:Wizard]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0019_wizard.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_wizard.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I make a rather enchanting hot chocolate if you'd be inter... No? Ok.]]
-->''The Wizard is an absent-minded, demented old man who dabbles in the arcane arts. He sells magical trinkets to train new apprentices.''
Once the world is in hardmode, he can appear underground, [[DistressedDude bound]]. He sells the materials to make a variety of magical weapons.

* AccidentalMisnaming: He frequently calls you by the names of other [=NPCs=] of your character's gender.
* MagicLibrarian: He sells magic spellbooks you need for crafting.
* MagicVersusScience: Hates having the Cyborg as a neighbour. He claims that the Cyborg is "a complete and total abomination to magic".
* NiceGuy: He ''tries'' to be friendly to the player, but if a couple of his possible conversations are any indicator, it's not exactly working.
* PlayingWithFire: Uses the Flower of Fire to fight.
* RobeAndWizardHat: He's a wizard who wears a purple robe and pointed hat.
* ScatterbrainedSenior: PlayedForLaughs. The loading screen tool tip outright calls him "demented," and he doesn't do much to disabuse you of the notion.
->'''Wizard:''' You call this lightning!? Back in my day, I... uh... Hmm. Oh, did you need something?
* ShoutOut:
** "Someone once told me '[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic friendship is magic]]'. That's ridiculous, you can't turn people into frogs with friendship!"
** Shimmering shrouds his face in shadow with two yellow glowing eyes, greatly resembling the Black Mages from ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''.
* WizardClassic: He's got an impressive white beard, a starry purple robe, and a pointed hat. He even sells a Crystal Ball! (Snarky talking Owl familiar and MagicStaff sold separately.)

[[folder:Tax Collector]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0020_tax_collector.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_tax_collector.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You already managed to spend every pence I paid you!? Bah, I'm not a charity, go kill a slime!]]
-->''This grumpy Tax Collector has literally been to Hell and back. Greedy to a fault, he's truly only concerned with money.''
The Tax Collector moves in after you sprinkle a Tortured Soul, found in the Underworld in Hardmode, with Purification Powder. Every in-game hour (a minute in real time), he will collect 50 copper from each NPC that is living in a house up to a limit of 10 gold.

* AndIMustScream: He's trapped in the underworld until you decide to free him.
* CaneFu: Uses his Classy Cane to fight.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Only two [=NPCs=] like living near him, one of whom is [[BrattyHalfPint the Angler]]. Everybody he likes to live near dislikes or hates him in turn.
* GrumpyOldMan: Very old, and one of the rudest [=NPCs=] in the game.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He dislikes the Corruption, Crimson and Dungeon if he is living there.
-->'''Tax Collector:''' Even for my standard, the Corruption/Crimson/Dungeon is beyond miserable! Bah!
* HeelFaceTurn: He goes from a hostile monster down in the underworld to a recruit-able NPC if you have some purification powder handy.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Implied to be the case with the Angler, of all people. This is one of the few departures he makes from [[Literature/AChristmasCarol his pedigree]], as classic Scrooge hated kids before his HeelFaceTurn. On the other hand, this ''is'' [[BrattyHalfPint the Angler]] [[SpoiledBrat we're talking]] [[{{Jerkass}} about here]].
* JacobMarleyApparel: When you first meet him as the Tortured Soul, he wears tattered clothes and he carries around chains. Once you purify him, his clothes magically turn back to normal.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's apparently very kind to the Princess.
* SexForServices: Hinted at in one of his dialogues, though it didn't end well for him.
-->'''Tax Collector:''' Tried to get [the Dryad] to pay me with favors once, now I have fungus growing in strange places.
* TheScrooge: He's based off of this, right down to the [[JerkAss personality.]] He even hates Santa Claus (and Santa Claus is not too fond of him as a neighbor as well). Unfortunately for everybody involved, he's based off ''pre-''character development Scrooge.
-->'''Tax Collector:''' I loathe the very existence of Santa Claus! What kind of lunatic just gives things away for free?
* UngratefulBastard: He's created by purifying his [[AndIMustScream Tortured Soul]]. Anybody would think that would give him a more kinder demeanour in his new lease on life, but sadly, that is not the case.
** Then again, the taxes he collects go straight to you, so he's not ''entirely'' ungrateful. He also has a few lines where he isn't so sour about giving you his money.
** Because he's immediately changed into a new character when you purify him and only has his standard dialogue (same as he uses when he's in your town), he can't even acknowledge that you just saved him. (This is unlike other [=NPCs=] that you save such as the Mechanic and the Goblin Tinkerer, who do have appropriate lines for thanking you.)
* UniqueEnemy: As a Tortured Soul. Once he's saved, the Tortured Soul will never appear again in the whole game.

[[folder:Truffle]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0021_truffle.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_truffle.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You haven't seen any pigs around here have you? My brother lost his leg to one.]]
-->''Harnessing the hidden power of the glowing mushroom, the Truffle forges weapons and tools exclusively in his mushroom house.''
The Truffle will only move into a house within a surface mushroom biome during hardmode and cannot be moved anywhere outside of it. He sells mushroom stuff.

* BladeOnAStick: He sells Mushroom Spears.
* DroneDeployer: Of a sort. He creates explosive spores that hover in the air when threatened.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: He's at odds with everyone but the Dryad and the Guide (if the living preferences are anything to go by, in case of the latter). The Clothier and the Witch Doctor have even gone as far as to try eating him.
* GettingHighOnTheirOwnSupply: One of his dialogue pieces has him mention that he licked himself once after hearing it was a popular thing to do, and that it left him seeing blue for a while.
* MushroomMan: All of his possible names are kinds of mushrooms or toadstools to boot, too. He'll also release spores as a means to attack enemies.
* NonhumansLackAttributes: He appears to be completely nude, yet being a MushroomMan, doesn't exactly have anything that needs to be covered.
* ShoutOut: He doesn't know the "[[Film/TheGoonies Truffle Shuffle]]", so stop asking.
* WhatTheHellPlayer: He calls you out for "stealing his children."

[[folder:Pirate]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0022_pirate.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_pirate_captain.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I'm no landlubber, but it's better to have lubbed and lost than never to have lubbed at all.]]
-->''Ahoy! The only good Pirate Captain is... one that sells cannons and weapons to take out all competing Pirate Captains.''
The pirate moves in after defeating the Pirate Invasion and sells cannons primarily, and some other things.

* CoolGun: A minigun with a cannon strapped to it. Extremely effective for self defense.
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: He looks and fights exactly like the Pirate Captain enemy, which may imply he elected to join the winning side after you trounced his invasion.
* GhostPirate: He becomes one when Shimmered, complete with a transparency effect and glowing white eyes.
* PirateParrot: Which you can buy as a pet, but it requires him in the ocean and costs two platinum coins. The Cyborg also implies the Pirate has one of his own after exclaiming how corrosive its droppings are to him.
* RenownedSelectiveMentor: He has a soft spot for Angler and wants to raise him to be a pirate.
* TalkLikeAPirate: His manner of speaking.

[[folder:Steampunker]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0023_steampunker_4.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_steampunker.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I like your... gear. Does it come in brass?]]
-->''The Steampunker has a particular taste for steam-fueled machinery and gadgets. She sells her gizmos with an endearing accent.''
The Steampunker moves in if you have beaten at least one hardmode boss. She sells a variety of high-tech, SteamPunk gizmos.

* AllPeriodsArePMS: During a Blood Moon. Notably, she only has one Blood Moon-exclusive quote warning the player that she's feeling peevish; aside from that, her dialogue is the same as always.
* CoolGun: Wields a Clockwork Assault Rifle to defend herself.
* GadgeteerGenius: Together with the Mechanic, she created the Cyborg.
* MagicVersusScience: Dislikes having the Dryad and Wizard as neighbours.
* SkyPirates: She may mention that she's beginning to consider becoming one.
* SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish: She has distinctly RP speech patterns, and provides some of the most high-tech gear in the game.
* SteamPunk: It's in her title, and she sells a lot of industrial-looking gadgets.
* WrenchWench: This girl is extremely tech savvy, building and selling some of the most high end machinery in the game like jetpacks and teleporters. She occasionally expresses curiosity about the workings of the Cyborg.

[[folder:Cyborg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0024_cyborg.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_cyborg.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Sometimes I come off a bit... Get it? A bit?]]
-->''The Cyborg was built with the combined effort of the Mechanic and the Steampunker to aid in rocket science and world defense.''
The cyborg will move in once you have defeated Plantera and collected a rocket launcher. He sells rockets.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Either his optical enhancement is more like goggles for both eyes or they can swap between eyes based on how the eye that's shown is always covered.
* ArmCannon: Uses one that can either fire Missiles or Proximity Mines to defend himself.
* {{Cyborg}}: Well, yeah.
* ExpoSpeakGag: "[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim My expedition efficiency was critically reduced when a projectile impacted my locomotive actuator]]."
* GrenadeLauncher: Or a Proximity Mine Launcher to be exact.
* LogicBomb: Completely unaffected. In-fact, he makes a joke of it.
* MagicVersusScience: Hates having the Wizard as a neighbour.
* StuffBlowingUp: Many of his items involve explosions, excluding the nanites.

[[folder:Zoologist]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0007_zoologist.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered forms]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_zoologist.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I love animals, like, a lot! I tried to pet this weird looking fox one time, he sooo bit me, and now I became like one! Rad!]]
-->''The Zoologist, resident lycanthrope, adores animals. Her fox-like biology resulted from a cursed animal bite.''
Showing up after the current world's bestiary has been filled to at least 10%, the Zoologist provides buyable rewards in the form of pets, animal-themed cosmetics and weapons depending on the moon phase and how much of the bestiary that has been filled. She prefers living in the Forest biome, and likes living with the Golfer and the Witch Doctor, but hates the Desert, and does not like living with the Angler and the Arms Dealer. Confirmed to be the Golfer's sister.

* AnimalLover: She makes it clear that she absolutely adores all of them.
* CuteMonsterGirl: She sports a pair of red fox ears, and a fluffy fox tail, all of which are confirmed to be real, but still looks identifiably human-ish most of the time until full moon or blood moon rolls around.
* GeniusDitz: A ValleyGirl who admits that she "may not know, like, a whole lot", but she is good at her job.
* MsFanservice: Easily the bustiest of all the female villagers, she even wears a top that exposes as much cleavage as you can with a few sprites.
* RedheadInGreen: Has orange-red hair and wears a green tanktop.
* ValleyGirl: Has the speech patterns of one, at any rate. Just look at her quote up there.
* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: She is a werefox who turns into a more beastly looking form during full moons and blood moons, but remains friendly during said transformations, even if her dialogue is way more agitated if not in a forest biome. That being said, she still remains a LittleBitBeastly in her human form.

[[folder:Golfer]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0010_golfer.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_golfer.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:To strike high, strike far, or to get unstuck? It's all about the club you use. Choose wisely!]]
-->''The Golfer is a wise, middle-aged man who sells all sorts of golfing equipment. He's got game and knows how to score.''
The Golfer can be found stuck in the Underground Desert and talking to him will free him and allow him to move into a suitable house. He sells various items and equipment both to play golf and create golf courses. He prefers the Forest biome much like his implied sister and prefers living with her, the Painter and the Angler especially but is at odds with the greedy Pirate and Merchant. His inventory expands as your character's "golf score" counter advances which is based upon the total number of strokes taken and the distance golf balls have traveled.

* FunnyAnimal: When Shimmered he becomes what looks to be an anthropomorphic dog, likely playing off of his sister's Werefox form.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: He tosses golf balls at enemies if he is threatened.
* MiniGolfEpisode: He sells stuff that allows you to create golf courses.
* OddFriendship: He's one of the few people who actually likes having [[BrattyHalfPint Angler]] around. He even lampshades it by declaring it "unpopular opinion". Some dialogue indicates that he often pays the Angler to help him recover any golf balls that fall into bodies of water.

[[folder:Princess]]
-->''Shy and innocent, this happy young lady sees the positive in everything, and everybody. She appreciates all of her subjects, from all walks of life.''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/princess_large.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_princess.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I'm so happy to finally travel the world, and meet new people!]]
A kind and friendly girl who appears when all the other town [=NPCs=] (except Santa Claus) have moved in to your world. She sells princess-themed decorative and vanity items.

She is unique in that she has no preferences for biome or company, loves every single town NPC and is not negatively affected by overcrowding. She also does not contribute to overcrowding and is liked by every other town NPC.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: She is liked by every single town NPC. Even normally rude characters, like the [[BrattyHalfPint Angler]] and [[TheScrooge Tax Collector]], are stated to be really nice to her.
* AllLovingHero: Thinks highly even of the meaner [=NPCs=] and is adored by them in term, and is also actively engaging in diplomacy with some of the monsters in the game with the intention of making peace with them.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: She's titled as the princess, but she never actually does anything or takes authority. If anything, the player is the real leader, as they're the one defending the town, and building and sorting homes for the townsfolk, including the princess.
* CheerfulChild: She's extremely friendly and positive, getting along well with every other town NPC. The only thing that makes her unhappy is [[HatesBeingAlone being alone]].
* CoolCrown: She wears the Royal Tiara, which the player can buy from her.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: One of her potential names is "Hime," the Japanese word for Princess.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: She both drops and defends herself with the Resonance Scepter, a magic weapon that essentially kills things with magic pink sparkles.
* GratuitousJapanese: Several of her potential names are in Japanese, most of which are {{Meaningful Name}}s.
* HatesBeingAlone: Having less than two town [=NPCs=] nearby instantly sets her unhappiness to its maximum value, and is pretty much the only thing that makes her unhappy.
* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Just like the Angler, the Princess vanishes in a puff of smoke when killed, with her death message saying that she "left."
* InnocentBlueEyes: She has bright blue eyes, and is probably the nicest character in the game.
* MeaningfulName: Several of her names are GratuitousJapanese, and translate into something relevant to the character.
** Ai translates to "love."
** Hikari translates to "light."
** Hime translates to "princess."
** Yuuki translates to "excellence, superiority," or "gentleness," combined with "hope", "brightness" or "living."
* NiceGirl: She loves being around every single town NPC, and doesn't have a single person she dislikes. She even has nice things to say about the Angler and Tax Collector.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Her outfit, attack, and many of her wares are all pink.
-->'''Princess''': Pink is the best color anyone could ask for!
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: Some of her quotes mention trying to communicate diplomatically with the Snow Queen and Pumpking, and trying to deal with "the organized crime problem among snowfolk."
-->'''Princess''': The Pumpking can be rather two-faced, it seems. I shall not give up on peace with his spooky people!
* PrincessClassic: She definitely fits the bill, being a shy, cute, feminine, and innocent young girl.
* RoseHairedSweetie: She has light-pink hair that matches her dress, and is probably the nicest character in the game.
* ShoutOut:
** The list of potential names for her includes [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Belle]]. A few of her other names, like [[WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst Sophia]] and [[Franchise/DisneyFairies Rosetta]], may also be references to Disney properties. She can also be named Momo, the Japanese word for [[Franchise/SuperMario Peach]].
** Two of the paintings she sells are also references. The title of Princess 64 is an obvious reference to ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and resembles a depiction of Peach's castle from that game, while Dark Side of the Hallow is a reference to ''Music/DarkSideOfTheMoon'' and resembles the art for that album.
* WhatsUpKingDude: Despite apparently being royalty, the Princess lives alongside all of your other town [=NPCs=].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Santa Claus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0025_santa_claus.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_santa.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:What? You thought I wasn't real?]]
-->''Only present during a specific time of year, Santa Claus makes a big entrance and an even bigger, rather explosive exit. Ho! Ho! Ho!''
He will only move in if 1: [[HolidayMode It's around December 15th to 31st]] and 2: If you summon, and defeat the Frost Legion. He sells a variety of Christmas-themed decorative items, including christmas trees and trimmings.

* AbnormalAmmo: He throws Christmas tree decorations at nearby enemies.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Oh, and some decorative items too for beating the Frost Legion.
* TheGhost: Not Santa himself, but his elves. He refers to them in his happiness quotes, despite them never appearing outside of the Frost Moon event.
* HolidayMode: Santa only appears during December 15th to 31st, promptly dying in the usual gory explosion as soon as the new year hits.
* ShoutOut: He appears to become [[UsefulNotes/ChristmasIsBourgeois Ded Moroz]] when transformed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Traveling Merchant]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0026_travelling_merchant.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_travelling_merchant.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hmm, you look like you could use an Angel Statue! They slice, and dice, and make everything nice!]]
-->''The flamboyantly-dressed Travelling Merchant travels far and wide to bring unique, cultural wares from time to time.''
An NPC introduced in 1.2.3 that has a random chance of spawning every day once the player has at least two [=NPCs=] moved in and no other daytime events are occurring (goblin invasion, pirate invasion, eclipse). Unlike other [=NPCs=], he does not move into a home and instead wanders around near where your home is. He carries a random list of goods each time he appears.

* BadassCape: He can sell one of four possible vanity capes.
* BoozeBasedBuff: Sake sometimes shows up which grants the tipsy (de)buff for twice as long as ale.
* EnergyBow: After defeating Plantera, one of the possible items that can be purchased is the Pulse Bow. He also uses it to shoot down enemies.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: One of the possible items that can be bought. It's also one of the few pre-hardmode swords with autoswing and has a respectable attack range, so at least early on, they really are better.
* KillerYoYo: Has a random chance of selling One Drop's Code 1 yo-yo or the Code 2 when in hardmode, he can also sell two of the counterweights that the Skeleton Merchant does not.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: A possible item he can sell after a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart has been smashed.
* TheGunslinger: Attacks enemies with his [[RevolversAreJustBetter Revolver]] when threatened pre-hardmode.
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: When Hardmode comes along, he switches out his Revolver for a [[EnergyBow Pulse Bow]] to attack enemies with.

[[folder:Skeleton Merchant]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0028_skeleton_merchant.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Shimmered form]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shimmered_skeleton_merchant.png [[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You would not believe some of the things people throw at me... Wanna buy some of it?]]
-->''Most skeletons are out for blood, but not the Skeleton Merchant. He just wants to sell supplies, such as rare torches and yo-yo gear.''
Introduced in 1.3, the Skeleton Merchant has a random chance of spawning underground. Like the Traveling Merchant, he will not move into a home and will wander around the caverns. He carries a list of goods dependent on current time and moonphase.

* BallisticBone: He throws bones at enemies when threatened.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: One of his lines implies that he died by being caught by underground spiders, and they [[EatenAlive feasted on him until there was nothing left except bones]]. Oh, and ''he remembers it completely''.
* DemBones: He's a skeleton.
* DungeonShop: He's a merchant that tends to spawn when you're spelunking in monster-filled caverns.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: A minor example. He finally finds the [[LiteralMetaphor hand he lent someone]] during the credits after griping about it in some of his dialogue.
* FriendlySkeleton: He isn't hostile like the other skeletons you find underground.
* GloveSlap: During a Hardmode Blood Moon, he carries a glove on a stick, while its damage is mediocre, it has knockback on par with weapons like the Paladin's Hammer and Golem Fist.
* KillerYoYo: He can sell the various yo-yo Counterweights that send out a tiny, orbiting counterweight upon attacking an enemy and during Hardmode, he not only can sell two unique yo-yos but also the Yoyo Glove that allows the equivalent of DualWielding two of the same yo-yo at once.
* MetalSlime: A non-enemy version. He only spawns rarely in the Cavern layer, and unlike most other [=NPCs=], his presence is not shown by an announcement. Furthermore, some of his items are only available at very specific times, meaning that you'll need to get very lucky at the right time to get, say, a Magic Lantern.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Unlike other skeletons (and zombies, in regards to his Shimmered form), the Skeleton Merchant doesn't show any hostility to the player. All he wants is to sell his stuff.
* RevenantZombie: His Shimmered form restores his flesh, turning him into a zombie. His demeanor, however, does not change.
* SnakeOilSalesman: Referenced in one of his quotes:
-> "There's no illness or condition that can't be cured by some of my Slime Oil! Trust me, it works, just look at my lively figure!"
* ShoutOut: Several of his names are shout outs to other skeleton or advertiser characters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Critters]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0029_critters.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right, row to row: Squirrel, Bunny, Monarch Butterfly, Bird, Duck, Penguin, Goldfish, Blue Fairy]]
Critters spawn in certain environments and are completely harmless and all of them can be caught using the bug net sold by the Merchant and put into bottles or Terrariums. These include birds, cardinals, blue jays, ducks, mallards, owls, grebes, seagulls, bunnies, squirrels, turtles, fireflies, butterflies, ladybugs, goldfish, pupfish, dolphins, seahorses, sea turtles, fairies, worms, grasshoppers, dragonflies, water striders, mice, rats, maggots, snails, scorpions, black scorpions, penguins, frogs, buggies, sluggies, grubbies, jungle turtles, lightning bugs, glowing snails and truffle worms. There is also lavaflies, magma snails and hell butterflies in the Underworld, which cannot be caught with a normal bug net and are required if you wish to fish in lava without the Hotline Fishing Hook.

* AnimalisticAbomination: The Corrupted forms of penguins, goldfish, and bunnies. Considering that the Corruption has a reputation for spawning minor [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], this comes part and parcel. Their crimtane versions in Crimson worlds are even worse.
* BunniesForCuteness: Bunnies spawn at random and you can even catch one to put into a terrarium to keep. Although they become [[HairRaisingHare less cute]] during Blood Moons.
* CaptainObvious: Fairies might lead you to treasure chests you've already been to, as long as there's still something left in them.
* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: In the snow biome, unless it's a Blood Moon then you should run...
* FairyCompanion: If a fairy comes to you, they can show you treasure if you follow their lead. Once they take you to where they want you, they disappear.
* GoldMakesEverythingShiny: 1.3 brought about gold versions of many critters, which are very rare and worth 10 gold coins each. If they're bait critters then they have 50% bait power. 1.4 also included gemstone versions of bunnies and squirrels in the Cavern layer that spawn if you have enough [=NPCs=] for a village.
* KillerRabbit: During a Blood Moon, Bunnies, Goldfish and Penguins become Corrupted/Crimtane versions of themselves. They're still as small, but far more lethal.
* MetalSlime: Truffle worms, they burrow away the moment you get too close and spawn rarely. 1.3 introduces gold variants of various critters, which still have the paper-thin durability of regular critters. If you manage to catch them, golden critters net you a handsome 10 gold when sold off. [[spoiler:The truffle worm, however, is used for summoning Duke Fishron.]]
* NoSell: Unlike other critters, dolphins and sea turtles cannot be caught with a bug net.
* NumberOfTheBeast: The Truffle Worm's bait power is 666%.
* OneHitPointWonder: Although they actually have 5 HP, they have zero defense and literally any attack will instantly kill them unless it was a weak starting weapon such as the Wooden Hammer.
* TailfinWalking: When it rains, goldfish shuffle about on land on their tails.
* UndergroundMonkey: In a literal case, you can find bejeweled versions of bunnies and squirrels in the Underground level.
[[/folder]]

!!Minions
[[folder:In general]]
With the right equipment, Players can summon several different minions to aid them in combat. They are crucial to the Summoner class set up, and a small yet helpful addition to the others. All of them are summoned from magic staffs.
-----
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Zigzagged. If the player is separated from the minions and moves too far away from them, they will spawn/fly over to the players location. . . Most of the time. If the minions in question can't pass through walls and are still on screen, they won't be able to get beside the player unless they are re-summoned. Thankfully re-summoning them is quick and needs little mp.
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Without certain gear or buffs, a player can only have one minion active at a time. The highest cap is 11 on computer, and 9 on mobile and console versions. Some armor sets meant for summoning minions will grant an increase in minion damage rather than an increase in the minion cap.
* EvilCounterpart: Inverted. Most of the minions are loyal ally versions of enemies the players fight, and likely encounter first. On a more meta level, the Minions were not originally in the game when it first came out, and started being added in later updates.
* FriendlyFireproof: The Minions attacks cannot hurt the player, and the player's attacks cannot hurt the minions.
* GameplayAllyImmortality: None of the minions can take damage or die, but will de-spawn if dismissed, or the player dies.
* LeeroyJenkins: They will rush off to fight any enemies they can get to, regardless of wether or not the player is actually fighting them. None can get hurt, so it works out well.
* LoyalAnimalCompanion: All of them are loyal minions for whomever summons them, though only a handful of them are actual animals.
* SummonMagic: All of the minions are summoned from magic staffs. The minions damage is based on the stats of the equipment used to summon them.
* YouAndWhatArmy: The achievement for having nine minions at once is called this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Baby Finch]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0018_finch.png]]
The weakest and easiest to acquire minion in the game, the baby finch is summoned from a finch staff, found in living wood chests and given to new Journey Mode characters. When not attacking enemies, it nests atop the player's head.

* KillerRabbit: {{Downplayed}}. While it is the weakest minion, it's still a small baby bird capable of killing zombies.
* StarterEquipment: Journey Mode characters start with one, giving them a jump-start in exploration protection.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Baby Slime]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0017_baby_slime_minion.png]]
One of the easiest minions to get but also the most time consuming, the baby slime is summoned from the Slime Staff, which is a RareRandomDrop from slimes. It is one of the five pre-hard mode minions, and the second-weakest minion in the game.

* BlackBeadEyes: Has these.
* BlobMonster: A tiny slime.
* BlushStickers: Has these to make it look cuter and younger.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: As the second-weakest minion, fighting just about anything stronger than a zombie goes like this.
* EvilCounterpart: Inverted. The first slimes encountered by players are enemies, while baby slimes are loyal to the player who summons them.
* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Is a baby slime that, like other minions, cannot die.
* RareRandomDrop: The Slime staff that summons it has the lowest drop rate of any item dropped by an enemy. In normal mode, The lowest drop rate is 1/10000 (0.01%), while it's "best" drop rate is marginally better, at 1/100 (1%), but the latter only applies to ''[[MetalSlime Pinky]]''. By the time a player obtains one, they probably have the means to get the Hornet staff, or even the Imp staff instead, making the Slime staff and the Baby slime by extension more of a BraggingRightsReward.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Is tiny, with BlushStickers, beady little eyes,and a pacifier.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vampire Frog]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0016_vampire_frog_minion.png]]
The vampire frog is summoned with the Vampire Frog Staff, which is dropped by Zombie Mermen and Wandering Eye Fish during a blood moon. It is a red frog that hops along the ground, attacking enemies with its tongue.

* LoyalAnimalCompanion: Is a large frog that is loyal to the player who summons it.
* OverlyLongTongue: Its method of attack is to lash enemies with their tongue.

[[folder:Hornet]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0013_hornet_minion.png]]
One of the five pre-hard mode minions. A hornet that is summoned from the Hornet Staff, which requires materials dropped by the Queen Bee to craft.

* BewareMyStingerTail: The hornets method of attack is firing poisonous stingers.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Is a hornet almost as big as the PC.
* GoodCounterpart: The first Hornets the players encounter are enemies, while the summoned ones are loyal to the player who summons them.
* LoyalAnimalCompanion: A large Hornet minion loyal to the player who summons it.
* ScaryStingingSwarm: Can be invoked if you summon a ''lot'' of Hornets.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Its stingers can inflict the "Poisoned" debuff on enemies.

[[folder:Imp]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0000_flying_imp.png]]
The strongest, and usually last minion pre-Hardmode. Summoned from an Imp Staff the player must craft from hellstone bars at an anvil.

* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Water puts out their fireballs on contact.
* EvilCounterpart: Inverted. The first imps encountered by the players are enemies, while the summoned ones are loyal to the player who summons them.
* GoodWingsEvilWings: They have [[BatOutOfHell bat like]]/devil wings on their backs which they use to fly, but they only attack their summoners enemies.
* PlayingWithFire: Attacks enemies with fire balls.
* SecretAIMoves: Played with. Enemy Imps have the ability to teleport, but player summoned Imps lack this ability. Instead, player summoned Imps have wings and can fly, an ability enemy Imps lack.
* SequenceBreaking: Prior to the 1.4 Journey's End update, it was possible to skip over the other pre-hardmode summon weapons by fishing up a Reaver Shark (a pre-hardmode pickaxe that was able to mine hellstone before the 1.4 update) and using it to mine the hellstone needed to craft the Imp Staff.
* StatusInflictionAttack: It's fireballs inflict the "On fire!" Debuff on enemies.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Is the best pre-hard mode minion- unless water is involved. Its [[PlayingWithFire fireballs]] are extinguished the moment they come in contact with water, making Imps useless for underwater combat.

[[folder:Enchanted Dagger]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0001_enchanted_dagger_projectile.png]]
Summoned by the Blade Staff, a rare drop from the Hallow's Enchanted Sword enemies, the enchanted daggers resemble the flying knife weapon dropped by Hallowed Mimics. They deal very little damage, but attack quickly and ignore a portion of enemy armor.

* ArmorPiercingAttack: They ignore most of an enemy's armor, compensating for their low base damage.
* DeathByAThousandCuts: The tooltip for the buff you get when they're summoned says this. It's also present in gameplay due to their low base damage and high attack speed.
* FlyingWeapon: A flying dagger that hovers over the player's head and shoots away at high speed to slash away at any nearby enemies.

[[folder:Spider]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0005_spider_minion.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The three variants from left to right: Jumper, Venom, and Dangerous spider.]]
The weakest Hardmode minions, but the easiest to obtain, Spiders are summoned from the Spider staff, which is crafted from 16 spider fangs at an anvil and above.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Spiders that are about as big as the player character's head.
* LoyalAnimalCompanion: Is a Spider that is loyal to the player who summons it.
* PaletteSwap: Has three possible sprites with minor differences.
* SpiderSwarm: Invoked if the player summons more than one.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Inflicts the "Venom"[[note]]A stronger version of "Poisoned"[[/note]] debuff on enemies.
* WallCrawl: Spiders can climb background walls.
* ZergRush: Each spider only takes up 3/4 of a minion slot, allowing you to squeeze in more minions than with other summoning items.

[[folder:Sanguine Bat]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0003_sanguine_bat_minion.png]]
The sanguine bat appears to be a strange, bat made entirely of red light. It is summoned with the Sanguine Staff, which is dropped by the Dreadnautilus.

* AnimalisticAbomination: An unnatural flying mass of glowing red energy with the outline of a bat summoned by the Sanguine Staff, and the fact that it’s dropped by the demonic Dreadnautilous, itself an example of this trope, certainly renders the nature of this creature very suspect.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Despite being a very strange creature with connections to the blood moon, it's as loyal and helpful as any other minion.

[[folder:Twins]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0004_twins_minion.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Left: Spazmamini, Right: Retinamini]]
Smaller versions of The Twins in their second form, called Spazmamini and Retinamini, respectively, are summoned from the Optic staff, which requires souls of sight obtained from defeating The Twins as one of the crafting materials.

* EyeBeams: Retinamini fires these.
* FunSize: Essentially tiny versions of the Twins, and are allies instead of enemies.
* GoodCounterpart: To Retinazer and Spazmatism, being miniature versions of them.
* OneSteveLimit: Downplayed. To lessen confusion between these minions and The Twins, they are just referred to by the Optic staff as "Twins".[[labelnote:More]]On a meta level, many players change the upper case T to a lower case t when referring to the minions.[[/labelnote]]
* ShortRangeGuyLongRangeGuy: Like The Twins. Retinamini fires Eyebeams, while Spazmamini charges enemies.
* ZergRush: Both do 30 base damage (only 4 more than a Spider), but each pair of Retinamini and Spazmamini count as ''one'' minion, meaning that a fully geared and buffed player can have ''18 or 22 at once'', depending on what version they are playing.

[[folder:Pirate]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0006_pirate_minion.png]]
Small Pirate minions summoned by the Pirate staff, a RareRandomDrop from enemies in the Pirate Invasion event.

* DressedToPlunder: There are three different sprites for the Pirates:
** One has an EyepatchOfPower.
** One has a Pirate captains hat.
** One has a beard, although it's a bit hard to tell due to the Pirates size.
* PaletteSwap: Has three possible sprites with minor differences.
* {{Pirate}}: Tiny pirates.
* PirateParrot: If they are too far away from the player, a Parrot will carry the Pirate to them.
* ShoutOut: To ''VideoGame/PixelPiracy'', a game Re-Logic published.
* ToiletHumor: Occasionally the Pirates will poop. This has no functional purpose.

[[folder:Pygmy]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0002_pygmy_4.png]]
Pygmy minions that are summoned from the Pygmy Staff, which is one of the items Plantera might drop upon defeat.

* JavelinThrower: They fight with throwing spears.
* PaletteSwap: Has four possible sprites with minor differences, mainly the colours on their faces. They are: Blue, red, yellow/orange, and purple.
* PoisonedWeapons: Their spears can inflict Poison and Venom on enemies.
* RequiredPartyMember: The Pygmy Staff must be in the players inventory when talking with the Witch Doctor in order to buy the Tiki armor, Pygmy Necklace, and Hercules beetle.
* ShoutOut: The four different Pygmy sprites have colours on their faces that match up with the masks worn by the [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Ninja Turtles.]]
* SkySurfing: They can fly by riding on their spears if they need to catch up to the player.

[[folder:Desert Tiger]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0007_desert_tiger.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The three stages the tiger can become]]
A white tiger that is summoned with the Desert Tiger Staff found in the dungeon's desert chest. Instead of summoning more tigers, each use of the Desert Tiger Staff will increase its damage and alter its appearance. The tiger will appear as a baby if the staff is used 1 to 3 times, an adult if it is used 4 to 6 times and an armored adult if it is used 7 to 9 times.

* PantheraAwesome: It's a white tiger AttackAnimal that's wearing golden armor in its fully-upgraded form and will tear your foes to shreds.

[[folder:UFO]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0010_ufo_minion.png]]
A small flying saucer minion summoned by the Xeno Staff, which is one of the possible drops from the Martian Saucer during the Martian Madness event. It is currently only in the desktop version.

* EnergyWeapon: The UFO fires laser beams at enemies.
* FlyingSaucer: Is a small one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Raven]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0008_raven_minion.png]]
Ravens that are summoned from the Raven Staff, a rare drop from the Pumpking during the Pumpkin moon event.

* CreepyCrows: Dark purple Ravens with orange eyes that are acquired during a Halloween-themed event.
* LoyalAnimalCompanion: A Raven minion that is loyal to the player who summons it.
* PurpleIsTheNewBlack: The Ravens are a dark shade of purple.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Terraprisma]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0012_terraprisma_projectile.png]]
A glowing, multicolored, flying sword that is summoned by the Terraprisma, a weapon dropped by the Empress of Light if she is defeated during the day.

* BraggingRightsReward: While it is a very powerful summon weapon, it can only be obtained by defeating the BulletHell that is the Empress of Light during a time when she is capable of killing any player instantly, so anyone who gets it is probably skilled and well-equipped enough to beat the game without it.
* FlyingWeapon: They normally hover behind the player until an enemy gets too close, at which point they shoot off and slice the foe to ribbons.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Terraprisma possesses the highest base damage of any minion in addition to having very fast and precise attacks, even beating the Stardust Dragon in consistent single-target damage. That said, it does fight the spot for strongest summon as the Dragon can still crank out big numbers at max length.
* OddNameOut: The Terraprisma is the only minion-summoning weapon that does not have "staff" in its name.

[[folder:Sharknado]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0009_sharknado.png]]
Sharknados (small tornadoes that fire sharks) summoned from the Tempest Staff dropped by Duke Fishron.

* ShoutOut: To ''Film/{{Sharknado}}''.
* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Are the same type of sharknados summoned by Duke Fishron.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Deadly Sphere]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0015_deadly_sphere_7.png]]
A minion summoned with the Deadly Sphere Staff which is a rare drop from Deadly Spheres during the Solar Eclipse event.

* PaletteSwap: After it attacks three times, its sprite changes, to one of four sprites, two of which are the exact same except for the colours on their protrusions.
* ShoutOut: To the 1979 film Phantasm, and one of the possible sprites for it looks a lot like a [[Franchise/StarWars TIE Advanced]] from the front.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stardust Dragon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0014_stardust_dragon_minion_1_summon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Who needs a horde of minions when you have a giant dragon?"'']]

A dragon summoned from the Stardust Dragon Staff, which is crafted from 18 Stardust fragments. Instead of summoning more dragons, each use of the Stardust Dragon Staff will increase its length and damage.

* AchillesHeel: It's a powerful minion, but it's still just one minion, and is thus relatively ineffective against hordes of enemies as it can't be everywhere at once.
* AwesomeButImpractical: In multiplayer. Due to how the hit detection works any target the dragon is currently attacking is nearly immune to all other forms of damage, this includes most bosses. If you are solo and not planning on fighting at all yourself then it is by far the strongest minion, but if you have teammates or are attacking with other weapons the dragon will completely invalidate most of the other hits. This makes the Cells more suited to summoners who have other forms of damage output. The other problem is its floaty movement, making speedier bosses harder to kill because it can't keep up.
* DraconicAbomination: A large, serpentine EnergyBeing comprised of celestial energies that can massacre entire armies of enemies without slowing down.
* EnergyBeing: It's less of a Dragon and more of a Dragon-shaped mass of eldritch energy.
* GoodCounterpart: The Stardust Dragon operates like a player friendly version of a [[BossInMookClothing Wyvern]].
* InfinityMinusOneSword / InfinityPlusOneSword: A single summon Stardust Dragon has a base attack of 40 while the Stardust Cell does 60. On paper, the Cell does more damage than a one-segmented Dragon. In practice, a single ''max length'' Stardust Dragon, however, is more than capable of shredding through bosses with ease than a single Cell.[[note]]While the Sharknado and Deadly Sphere are technically stronger with a base attack of 50, neither can attack through solid blocks, limiting the number of enemies they can attack[[/note]]. Its killing potential is contested with the Terraprisma, which has a higher base power and can stay fixated on enemies easier, but doesn't strike as rapidly as the Dragon can due to how the latter behaves in combat.
* LightningBruiser: When it's on the attack, it moves ''faster than the player''.
* OneManArmy: Invoked. The Stardust Dragon at full power tears enemies, both mooks and bosses alike, to ''shreds''.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: It's a blue and yellow wyrm, and it attacks enemies by flying through them instead of using some kind of BreathWeapon. It also gets longer as the player summons it more.
* PowerFloats: How it flies, gliding effortlessly around.
* PowerGlows: As it moves, it leaves behind a small trail of blue sparkles that provide some temporary light.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: Despite being a dragon, it has more in common with the Wyvern than Betsy, as it will instead charge and ram into and through it's targets. Although it doesn't make it any less lethal.
* SegmentedSerpent: Instead of spawning another copy of it, using it instead makes it longer by adding more segments.
* ShamuFu: Despite being a dragon, it closely resembles a shark as well.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stardust Cell]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minion_0011_stardust_cell.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Cultivate the most beautiful cellular infection"'']]
A minion summoned with the Stardust Cell Staff, crafted from 18 Stardust Fragments.

* BoringButPractical: The Cells are just balls of light that float around and shoot smaller balls of light at things. However, their ranged attacks are very fast and track targets, they teleport into attack range instantly, and their attacks cause a very powerful [=DoT=] effect. They might not look like much compared to the Dragon, but are easily its equal.
* DamageOverTime: The Stardust Cell fires "mini cells" that latch onto enemies and damage them for 30 "ticks".
* FlashStep: Will do this to get closer to enemies out of range.
* GoodCounterpart: It's essentially a good version of the Star Cell enemies fought at the Stardust Pillar.
* HomingProjectile: Its mini cells.
* InfinityMinusOneSword / InfinityPlusOneSword: Is the second-strongest individual minion due to its base damage of 60, while the Stardust Dragon has a base damage of 40, but will increase in attack power and length with each use of the Stardust Dragon Staff making it stronger than the Stardust Cell. Unlike the Stardust Dragon, multiple Stardust Cells can be summoned, giving it an edge in crowd control.
* PersonalSpaceInvader: The mini cells that the cells fire attach onto enemies and deal constant damage to them.
* PowerFloats: Stardust Cells float around.
* TeleFrag: They teleport on top of any target that is out of their immediate range which causes impact damage. This can easily kill most non-boss targets instantly. They occasionally use this ability rapid fire provided each target dies on contact.
[[/folder]]

!!Bosses

[[folder:King Slime]]
[[quoteright:162:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_slime.png]]
[[caption-width-right:162:"The lord of all things slimy."]]
-->''Slimes normally aren't intelligent, but occasionally they merge together to become a powerful force to swallow all things.''
King Slime is a Giant Slime with a crown. It is a side boss that can be fought at any time but doesn't count for progression of the first act of Pre-Hardmode.
----
* AmbiguousSituation: The ninja's significance to King Slime. While it may be a very recent victim, the fact that they don't show signs of being digested, as well as the repeated prominence of the Ninja in the trophy and achievement artwork implies they may be a symbiotic entity.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: You beat it? Enjoy your random part(s) of the ninja costume and possibly the boss mask. Not so bad since 1.2.4 as it now drops the Slime Hook, the Slime Gun and a Slimy Saddle that you can get a Slime mount. Then 1.3 improves the drops even more by making the Ninja costume into functional armor that improves Throwing weapons.
* AsteroidsMonster: It will eschew normal slimes from itself as it takes damage.
* BlobMonster: It's a giant Slime.
* CoolCrown: Now wears one after the 1.3 update, making it look very similar to King Slime from ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''.
* FlunkyBoss: Spawns blue slimes as it takes damage. On Expert, it can also spawn ''spiked'' blue slimes.
* HarmlessEnemy: In Expert Mode, it drops a Royal Gel that, when equipped, turns almost all slimes into these by making them passive.
* KingMook: Basically a bigger, stronger version of the blue Slime. After the 1.3 update he even has a crown, and also appears as the boss of a Slime Rain.
* OptionalBoss: It isn't required for progression and, prior to 1.3, had fairly out of the way spawning requirements. However 1.3 [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] this by having it more likely to spawn naturally as the end boss of the Slime Rain event and making its summoning item cheaper along with giving it more useful drops, though it’s still not required for progression.
* ShoutOut: To ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' with the ninja floating inside it, being a reference to a boss of the same one you fight.
* ShowsDamage: It gets smaller as its health gets lower. Justified as it starts losing mass as it takes damage, as shown by the blue slimes it releases when taking enough damage.
* SpikeShooter: Not King Slime itself, but the Spiked Blue Slimes it spawns on Expert can fire spikes at the player.
* {{Teleportation}}: Will now dissolve and reform on the player if it happens to get stuck or manages to escape it for a while, so it cannot be trapped or outran anymore.
* TookALevelInBadass: Prior to 1.3 the boss was a joke and was easily cheesed by simply boxing it (or yourself) in [[note]] In fact it was possible to beat it with the [[CherryTapping copper pickaxe]] this way [[/note]]. After 1.3 it gained the ability to teleport, forcing you to face it, and it’s spawn, head on, making the boss a genuine threat early game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Eye of Cthulhu]]
[[quoteright:110:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eye_of_cthulhu.png]]
[[caption-width-right:110:"You feel an evil presence watching you..."]]
-->''A piece of Cthulhu ripped from his body centuries ago in a bloody war. It wanders the night seeking its host body… and revenge!''
Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}'s [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin disembodied eyeball]]. It's very likely to be the first boss fought, unless players set sight on the weaker King Slime first.
----
* TheBerserker: In Expert Mode, when the Eye of Cthulhu is brought to low health, it will supplement its regular charges with an extremely fast zig-zagging charge. The lower its health, the more it does this; when on the verge of death, it will continuously make mad dashes in your general direction.
* EarlyBirdBoss: After the player has satisfied a few relatively easy-to-meet conditions, the Eye of Cthulhu may simply decide to show up one night and start attacking, even if it hasn't been summoned. While it's still within reason to defeat it, it's also just as likely that the player lacks the equipment or skill necessary to fend it off.
* EldritchAbomination: Well, at least the eye of one.
* FinalBossPreview: [[spoiler:For both Ocram, which shares its attack pattern, and the Moon Lord, who spawns True Eyes of Cthulhu.]]
* FlunkyBoss: For the first phase, it shoots weaker and smaller Demon Eyes called Servants of Cthulhu at you.
* GiantEyeOfDoom: The first major Lovecraftian horror most players with find themselves against, and once it loses enough health it ditches its iris for a horrifying and toothy mouth. With its speedy charge, it can easily outmatch an unprepared player.
* GuestFighter: Also appears as a boss in [[VideoGame/DungeonDefenders Dungeon Defenders 2]] as part of its crossover with Terraria.
* KingMook: A bigger, badder version of the common Demon Eye enemy.
* TimeLimitBoss: It will run away if you do not defeat it by dawn.
* TurnsRed: Once at half health, it spins in a circle, releasing a small swarm of Demon Eyes and gaining a giant mouth where its iris was. In this state, it no longer shoots Demon Eyes but charges more aggressively. The 1.3 Big Update adds a new attack to the Eye's arsenal in Expert Mode, granting it a powerful and even faster berserker charge that it uses in proportion to how much damage it's taken.
* WarmUpBoss: Eye of Cthulhu is the first progression-related boss in the game, and has relatively low health and a predictable pattern. As such, it serves to introduce the player to bosses in the game.
* WakeUpCallBoss: For those who faced the King Slime earlier than anticipated.
** It also serves this role in Expert Mode, demonstrating that bosses have become ''much'' stronger than they were in normal mode. Its movement is upgraded to nearly match The Twins' ability to track the player's position, it releases a large swarm of lesser eyes transitioning into its second phase, and the new DesperationAttack it uses makes it extremely difficult for early-game characters to both hit and dodge the Eye of Cthulhu when it's on its last legs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Eater of Worlds]]
[[quoteright:292:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eater_of_worlds.png]]
[[caption-width-right:292: "Screams echo around you..."]]
-->''Conceived from the bottomless malice of the Corruption, this mighty abyssal worm tunnels wildly to devour all in its path.''
A [[KingMook giant-sized Devourer]]. It typically takes the Brain of Cthulhu's place as the second major boss in worlds afflicted with the Corruption.
----
* AsteroidsMonster: If you destroy a segment that would leave two intact segments ahead or behind it, the detached segments will become a separate worm that must also be destroyed. At a bare minimum, you have to kill at least half of the Eater of Worlds to kill it permanently.
* EldritchAbomination: A gigantic mutant worm with eyes all around it's body that heralds from the Corruption. If lore is any indication, it's entirely possible that the Eater of Worlds isn't a worm so much as ''Cthulhu's intestines''.
* KingMook: To the Eaters of Souls and Devourers in the Corruption.
* OpenEndedBossBattle: It (along with the Brain of Cthulhu) doesn't actually need to be defeated in order to progress the game: in addition to its main reward of Shadow Scales dropped upon death, each of its individual segments also have a chance of dropping a few, more than enough to collect the six required to forge the Nightmare Pickaxe, at which point you can flee the battle or die (on anything other than Hardcore) without having to worry about finishing the job. However on Expert and above, killing it rewards the highly useful Worm Scarf (which grants a flat 17% damage reduction)
* SandWorm: Well, Corruption Worm. Plays this straight if summoned in a Corrupted desert.
* SuperSpit: The Expert Mode version of the Eater of Worlds possesses the ability to shoot Vile Spit like a Corruptor on LSD.
* SegmentedSerpent: Each of its segments is its own entity with its own health bar, and are capable of acting as independent worms so long as two segments are connected.
* SkippableBoss: If you can fish up the Reaver Shark, you can skip the Eater of Worlds. It'll be a bit harder to mine Hellstone with inferior armor, but not insurmountable (unless you farm Eater of Souls instead for the Ancient variety of Shadow Armor).
** Averted as of Journey's End, where the Reaver Shark has been {{nerf}}ed and the Nightmare Pickaxe and its counterpart are now required to mine Hellstone, meaning you will have to face the Eater of Worlds at least once to progress (even if you don't necessarily have to beat it, as seen above).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Brain of Cthulhu]]
[[quoteright:194:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brain_of_cthulhu.png]]
[[caption-width-right:194:"A horrible chill goes down your spine..."]]
-->''A piece of Cthulhu torn asunder, this vile mastermind pulses with agony and aids the Crimson to an attempt to avenge its master.''
Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}'s [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin brain]]. It typically takes the Eater of World's place as the second major boss in worlds afflicted with the Crimson.
----
* BizarreAlienBiology: It has a ''heart'' inside of it. [[EyesDoNotBelongThere With an eye on it.]]
* BrainMonster: A giant, monstrous brain which attacks you in the Crimson should you smash too many Crimson hearts or use a bloody spine to summon it.
* DoppelgangerSpin: On Expert, during the second half of the fight. Each time it teleports, it produces three translucent, harmless fake images of itself that also converge on you. As its health gets lower, these images become less transparent, making it harder to distinguish the real one.
* EldritchAbomination: Again, at least the brain of one.
* FlunkyBoss: Much like the Eye of Cthulhu, it summons eyeball-like minions to attack you. Unlike the Eye of Cthulhu, these ''must'' be destroyed if you want to hurt the Brain itself.
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: A case of "The ''first'' of these is not like the others", it's the only piece of Cthulhu without a mechanical counterpart. It's implied that you rescue the Mechanic before she can be forced to build it.
* OpenEndedBossBattle: It (along with the Eater of Worlds) doesn't actually need to be defeated in order to progress the game: in addition to its main reward of Tissue Samples dropped upon death, every Creeper it spawns also has a chance of dropping a few, more than enough to collect the six required to forge the Deathbringer Pickaxe, at which point you can flee the battle or die (on anything other than Hardcore) without having to worry about finishing the job. However, like the Eater of Worlds, killing it on Expert or above awards the very useful Brain of Confusion (a 1/6 percent chance to dodge damage, with a buff to critical chance and enemies being confused given upon a dodge).
* SkippableBoss: If you can fish up the Reaver Shark, you can skip the Brain of Cthulhu. It'll be certainly a bit harder to mine Hellstone with inferior armor, but not insurmountable.
** Averted as of Journey's End, where the Reaver Shark has been {{nerf}}ed and the Deathbringer Pickaxe and its counterpart are now required to mine Hellstone, meaning you will have to face the Brain of Cthulhu at least once to progress (even if you don't necessarily have to beat it, as seen above).
* StatusInflictionAttack: On Expert, any CollisionDamage with the eyeballs or the Brain can cause the Confused, Poison, Bleeding, Darkness, Broken Armor, or Weak status effects.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Due to being a floating brain-like enemy that attacks you with eyeball-like minions, the Brain of Cthulhu is possibly the closest thing the PC version has to Ocram.
* TeleportSpam: In the second half of the fight.
* VillainTeamUp: According to its Bestiary description, the Brain is not ''directly'' related to the Crimson, but simply formed an alliance with it; It defends the Crimson's hearts and aids in its spread to avenge its originator's defeat.
* WeaponizedTeleportation: The Brain's main attack is to teleport right on top of the player. To compensate for this, it's also the only boss that is susceptible to knockback.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Queen Bee]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/queen_bee_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:200:"The matriarch of jungle hives..."]]
-->''This highly aggressive monstrosity responds violently when her larva is disturbed, the honey-laden hives are her home turf.''
A giant queen bee. Her larvae spawn inside bee hives and can be fought if broken. She's a sideboss and can be fought at any time although again like the King Slime, she doesn't count towards progression of Pre-Hardmode.
----
* BeeAfraid: You stumble into a hive, with not many monsters inside unless you start digging into the walls. Then you attack the larva... and a gigantic bee attacks you furiously in retaliation.
* BeeBeeGun: Can send out smaller bees to attack you. When beaten, all the weapons received from her will spawn homing bees to attack the enemy. The Hive Pack that she drops on Expert Mode will strengthen half of said bees as well.
* BodyHorror: She’s equal parts bee and beehive, judging from the holes in her abdomen and her ability to shoot bees at the player from them.
* BewareMyStingerTail: Like the Hornets, she can fire out venomous stingers that poison the player.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The largest insectoid enemy in the game[[note]]Destroyer doesn't count as it's a worm[[/note]].
* BerserkButton: Killing the Bee Larva in any of the bee hives will summon her.
* BossArenaRecovery: Due to how the Queen Bee is summoned, you'll probably be fighting her inside a beehive, the bottom of which is lined with honey that you can take a dip in to recover health over time.
* FlunkyBoss: One of her attacks is to release a swarm of tiny bees that follow you relentlessly.
* GlassCannon: The bees she spawns have very little health, but they pack quite a wallop.
* InsectQueen: It's right there in the name.
* KingMook: A ''Queen'' Mook towards the Hornet enemies.
* MamaBear: Kill her larva and she'll awaken and attack you in retaliation.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: One of her attacks. She's able to fire out bees and stingers, but will also charge the player.
* SkippableBoss: Like the King Slime, there's no particular need to fight the Queen Bee unless you want her loot and the Witch Doctor NPC.
* SpamAttack: In Expert, her attacks get faster she nears death. This can lead to her chaining up charge attacks, or releasing swarms of bees followed by machine gun-like stinger barrages.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Can poison you with her stingers.
* TimeLimitBoss: Averted, unlike many other bosses in the game.
* TurnsRed: Only on Expert. Her attack pattern gets faster and more frequent as she loses health. In addition, her defense gradually increases as she takes damage on Expert, culminating in more than double her defense at critical health.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Skeletron]]
[[quoteright:100:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skeletron_head.png]]
[[caption-width-right:100:"The cursed guardian of the dungeon..."]]
-->''The disembodied bones of a former tyrant pulsed with a hatred so strong, it left behind a mighty curse which guards the dungeon.''
A giant floating skull and arms that is summoned by talking to the old man at the entrance of a dungeon at night.
----
* CognizantLimbs: Both his hands. It's recommended to destroy them first, as they are his main means of attack. It's almost required to kill them first in Expert, because his head will have 100 defense until you do.
* CycleOfHurting: On Expert, his spinning move upgrades once both arms are destroyed, becoming faster so he can stick to your character for continuous, huge CollisionDamage.
* DemBones: It's a floating skull with disembodied skeletal arms.
* DungeonBypass: Very strongly averted. Try to tunnel past Skeletron and you'll be killed by the Dungeon Guardian, a NighInvulnerable BeefGate meant to punish such an attempted bypass. Even if you decide not to enter the dungeon at all, he is still required to be defeated if you want the cultists to appear and trigger the Lunar Events.
* HomingProjectile: In Expert, he fires homing skulls a la the Book of Skulls once you've destroyed one of his hands.
* NameTron: It's named Skeletron, although it's not a robot or machine at all.
* SkippableBoss: {{Subverted|Trope}}. He may seem completely optional, albeit at the cost of losing out on all of the very powerful pre-hardmode and [[spoiler: post-Planter]] loot, along with both the Clothier and Mechanic, but killing him is required to spawn the cultists who initiate the endgame.
* SpectacularSpinning: For the player, anyway. His defense drops when his head is spinning.
* TimeLimitBoss: It will ''kill you'' if you do not defeat it by dawn.
* TurnsRed: At dawn, it transforms into the [[BeefGate Dungeon Guardian]] and will OneHitKill you. In Expert, once his hands are destroyed, he begins firing skulls at the player while also upgrading his spinning attack to perform a CycleOfHurting.
* UndeadAbomination: It's a giant, skeletal monster that, according to the lore, is made of a part of Cthulhu's skeleton itself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dungeon Guardian]]
-->''A lethal sentry that stands watch over the Dungeon's gates. Those who are deemed unworthy to enter shall not pass!''
A special version of Skeletron meant to keep you out of the dungeon until you've defeated Skeletron proper, introduced to fix a loophole in which the Skeletron Heads that once held its role in earlier versions could accidentally grant access to the dungeon if killed. Delving too deep (below 0 depth, specifically) will summon this nigh-invincible horror, and thusly, [[OneHitKill your doom]].
----
* BeefGate: It's intended to keep you out of the dungeon until you've earned it by defeating Skeletron. If you descend below 0 depth, it spawns. Unlike most Beef Gates, however, this one will keep spawning if you try to enter the dungeon, no matter how many times you kill it.
* BraggingRightsReward: The [[http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Bone_Key Bone Key]] it drops when killed, which summons a mini-Skeletron pet.
* DemBones: A flying skull.
* DoppelgangerAttack: The game treats it as a normal enemy, not a boss, so it is possible for more than one to spawn. It's not uncommon for two to chase you out of the dungeon. Death is pretty much assured when this happens.
* ImplacableMan: It can phase through structures and the ground so walling it up is a no-go, it will chase you across the map and won't stop coming until either it despawns (which barring an endgame mount fast enough to outpace the creature would require an absolute ''miracle''), it hunts down and kills you, or you manage to kill it. It's immune to knockback and will shrug off everything up to and including the most powerful weapons in the game without slowing down one bit. Your only advantage over it in the end is agility.
* TheJuggernaut: Doesn't stop homing in on you, takes ScratchDamage from everything, {{One Hit Kill}}s you, and is practically invulnerable to {{knockback}}.
* LightningBruiser: It can fly faster than anything short of the best mount in the game, has 9999 HP and takes 1 damage from everything, and can OneHitKill an endgame melee tank build on contact.
* LordBritishPostulate: It originally had 9999 hp, 9999 defense and 9999 damage, aside from being very fast. Yet, many players were able to kill it, using fast shooting weapons (that would deal 1 damage per hit) and reversing gravity in order to be fast enough not to be hit. Thanks to how defense works, and the addition of armor [[HoistByHisOwnPetard dealing melee damage done to the player back to the attacker]], as well as an item allowing a small dodge chance, this was in a few updates relatively easy, until it was patched by decreasing the guardian's attack to 1000.
* MarathonBoss: You have to run away from it dealing ScratchDamage until its health depletes, which can take quite a long time. The absolute fastest you can kill the Guardian is in about five minutes, with the right equipment, and that's on Normal mode.
* NighInvulnerable: It has [[DamageSpongeBoss 9999 HP]] (which is doubled in Expert Mode) and [[MadeOfIron 9999 Defense]] (turning all attacks into ScratchDamage), and is ImmuneToFlinching. It can be killed, but only with a ''lot'' of preparation.
* OneHitKill: Its sole purpose of existence. With an attack that deals 1000 damage, if it catches you, you're dead.
* OnlyTheWorthyMayPass: Its Bestiary entry outright states it will not allow anyone deemed unworthy to pass into the dungeon.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Vanishes once Skeletron is defeated, so get your Bone Key before you open the dungeon.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: It will crash into you at high speed and make you explode into gibs on impact.
* RasputinianDeath: Pretty much required to kill it. In fact, it's likely that the reason why it blinks out of existence when it finally kicks the bucket is because in the process of killing it you have to ''[[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill grind up the creature until nothing remains]]''.
* SelfImposedChallenge: Killing it is considered a personal achievement by ''Terraria'' veterans. The devs have acknowledged this, and it now drops the aforementioned Bone Key as a reward.
* SpectacularSpinning: Constantly in this state.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Deerclops]]
-->''Hailing from a distant land, this cyclopic monstrosity lurks in cold places, wreaking havoc on those who disturb it.''
A boss added in 1.4.3, which originates from VideoGame/DontStarve.
----
* AdaptationalBadass: The Deerclops was no slouch in its source game, but ''Terraria'' gives it a slew of new attacks besides its icy GroundPunch, such as throwing a barrage of snow projectiles into the air and even summoning the Night Hands from its source game.
* AntiEscapeMechanism: It forces the player into combat range by becoming invulnerable to damage if it's too far, as well as casting a slow debuff onto the player.
* CastingAShadow: Its insanity aura is presented as having Night Hands pop up near it before charging at the player, and it can also turn into an invulnerable shadow of itself if it's too far from the player.
* HitboxDissonance: The collision hitbox that determines if Deerclops does contact damage to you only covers the waist-up. You can run between his legs and make it out the other side unscathed provided he doesn't catch you with a different attack.
* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Combined with DefeatEqualsFriendship with the Expert Mode-exclusive Bone Helm accessory, which passively summons the Night Hands to protect you from any nearby foes when worn.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wall of Flesh]]
[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wall_of_flesh.png]]
[[caption-width-right:150:"The master and core of the world..."]]
-->''Serving as the world's core and guardian, the towering demon lord exists to keep powerful ancient spirits sealed away.''
The final Pre-Hardmode boss, the Wall of Flesh is summoned by tossing a guide voodoo doll into lava in the underworld.
----
* AdvancingBossOfDoom: It will charge at you and pursue you from one end of the world to another, there is no way to get past it, and if it is still alive by the time it is on the other end, it will crush you to death.
* BarrierMaiden: As eldritch and frightening as it is, lore states that the Wall of Flesh is the world's guardian, holding back the spirits of light and darkness. Destroying the Wall releases the spirits to expedite the process of finding a new one, with devastating effects on the land itself.
* BeefGate: The Wall of Flesh will easily kill the under-prepared, to prevent them from unleashing hardmode prematurely.
* BreathWeapon: A particularly disgusting version. When it’s health has been cut down to a certain point it will start vomiting swarms of Leeches at the player.
* BodyHorror: As its name suggests, it's a giant wall of viscera with stringy tentacles, two enormous bulging, veiny eyes, and a gaping, protruding mouth. The fact that it also spews out Leeches, which are noted in the bestiary to be parasitic creatures full of the monster’s healing blood, doesn’t imply anything healthy about the insides of the beast either.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Despite being an enormous wall of meat, the Wall of Flesh's purpose is actually to contain the greater part of the Corruption/Crimson and the pretty-but-no-less-dangerous sprites of the Hallow. Slaying it unleashes them; unless you've taken preemptive measures to limit the spread of these biomes, you will quickly learn why they were locked up to begin with.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The most powerful pre-hardmode boss you face before you go into hardmode.
* EyeBeams: It fires volleys of purple lasers at you from its eyes, and the time between shots decreases as its health gets lower until it's full-on BeamSpam.
* EldritchAbomination: Moreso than the other pre-hardmode bosses because it can inflict a MindRape on you that forces you to kill it to survive. According to a card, it's the lord of eternal nightmares. And when killed, the world gets drastically and irrevocably changed.
* FlunkyBoss: This game loves these bosses a lot. The Wall of Flesh has a number of flunkies called The Hungry attached to it which reach out to damage you before detaching and flying at you upon death. It can also summon burrowing Leeches.
* {{Gasshole}}: It will periodically burp out leeches as one of its attacks.
* GoForTheEye: While both its mouth and eyes are vulnerable, the eyes have zero defense and thus do not benefit from any DamageReduction, making them the preferred targets.
* ImmuneToFlinching: [[SubvertedTrope Surprisingly, no]], despite being an AdvancingBossOfDoom. Shooting Heart Arrows at its mouth will actually stun it for a brief while.
* LivingStructureMonster: The Wall of Flesh is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin -- a massive, moving wall of meat with eyes and a mouth.
* LoadBearingBoss: Its death infects the world with large swathes of ever-expanding Hallow and Corruption.
* MarathonBoss: Clocks in at 8000 HP in normal mode, which is considerably higher than any other easymode boss. Even top-tier easymode weapons will take a while whittling this guy down.
* NintendoHard: Either you're over-prepared or you die. There is no middle ground.
* ShoutOut: According to Redigit, it was inspired by the Demon Wall bosses in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: It's the only enemy in the game that can inflict the "Horrified" debuff on your player, which results in death if you attempt to escape using a teleportation item like the Recall Potion or Magic Mirror. The tooltip for this debuff is "You have seen something [[EldritchAbomination nasty]], there is no escape".
* TimeLimitBoss: You have to defeat it before it reaches the other side of the world and kills you.
* TurnsRed: As you wear down its health, it will start gaining speed, belch up leeches more often and will shoot its EyeBeams more often. On Expert, he gains a '''massive''' burst of speed when at critical health.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: The wall will use its tongue to reel you in if you run too far from it, get behind it or try to escape the underworld conventionally. Trying to use the magic mirror to escape splatters you when you reach your spawn. This isn't as bad as it sounds for soft-core or even medium-core characters as your money/items drop at the spawn/bed that you warped to. [[{{Permadeath}} Hard-core]] however...[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJjQueAsHO4&app=desktop this happens]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Queen Slime]]
[[quoteright:162:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/queen_slime.png]]
-->''Hallowed slimes consolidated into a haughty, crushing force adorned in dazzling crystals. She is rumored to grow wings.''
A Hardmode counterpart to King Slime, summonable in the Hallow by using a Gelatin Crystal.
----
* BlobMonster: Much like King Slime, Queen Slime is a giant Slime.
* CoolCrown: Just like King Slime, Queen Slime wears a crown on the top of her head.
* DistaffCounterpart: To King Slime, of course. Nearly all of her loot (a set of crystalline ninja armor, a saddle that summons a winged slime mount, a method of coating others in harmless goo, and a unique grappling hook) is some sort of upgrade to King Slime's loot.
* KingMook: She's a Queen Mook to Slime enemies.
* MookMaker: Like her counterpart, Queen Slime summons Slime minions as she takes damage, bringing spiky Crystal Slimes, bubbling Bouncy Slimes, and winged Heavenly Slimes to her side as the fight progresses.
* OptionalBoss: One of three Hardmode bosses that aren't needed to progress the game.
* PinkMeansFeminine: It befits her nature as both a queen and a creature of the Hallow.
* TurnsRed: At 50% health, Queen Slime sprouts feathery wings and takes to the skies, mixing up her tactics as she does so.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Like King Slime, she can teleport. Her second phase grows wings and ''flies'' after you.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Twins]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_twins.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"[[TagTeamTwins This is]] [[OhCrap going to be]] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck a terrible night...]]"[[note]]Left: Retinazer, right: Spazmatism[[/note]]]]
-->''Belonging to a pair of mechanically-recreated Eyes of Cthulhu, this one focuses its energy into firing powerful lasers.'' (Retinazer)\\
''Belonging to a pair of mechanically-recreated Eyes of Cthulhu, this one chases at high speeds, exhaling cursed flames.'' (Spazmatism)
A mechanical version of the Eye of Cthulhu, [[DualBoss except there are two of them]], [[EyeBeams Retinazer]] and [[KillItWithFire Spazmatism]].
----
* ArtificialLimbs: The Mechanic was forced to build them so they could serve as Cthulhu's new eyes.
* BreathWeapon: Spazmatism will spew a constant stream of Cursed Flames in its second phase, though at least the range is limited.
* BeamSpam: The lower Retinazer's health is in the second phase, the more it does so. At critical health it can fire as fast as a Megashark.
* DegradedBoss: In a rare beneficial version! Players can craft an staff that lets them summon miniature stage two Twins to aid them in battle and they keep their signature breath and laser attacks. A properly geared player can have a pack of ''22'' of these things trailing behind them.
* DualBoss: Thought the Eye of Cthulhu was fun? Now you get to fight two of them at once, one packing EyeBeams and the other with a BreathWeapon. Have fun!
* EssenceDrop: Drop Souls of Sight when the remaining one is destroyed.
* EyeBeams: Retinazer, Retinazer, Retinazer. It gets worse the lowers its health gets. Spazmatism's fireballs in its first phase also count on a technicality.
* FusionDance: [[spoiler:In the "Get Fixed Boi" seed, the Twins combine with the other Mechanical Bosses to form Mechdusa.]]
* GiantEyeOfDoom: Much like the Eye of Cthulhu, except now there's two of them!
* {{Hellfire}}: Spazmatism uses Cursed Flames as its ranged attacks.
* MechanicalAbomination: The mechanical reincarnation of the Eye Of Cthulhu.
* PunnyName: Both of their {{Portmanteau}} names are eye puns.
** The retina is the part of the eye where light is focused, and a laser is a focused beam of light. Retinazer attacks with focused BeamSpam.
** A 'spaz' is a person who acts chaotically and jerkily, while astigmatism is an eye problem causing blurry vision. Spazmatism jerkily charges all over the place and clouds its own vision with flames.
* RoboticReveal: Unlike the other mechanical bosses, these two appear to be biological at first. Once you get their health down far enough, however, they [[TurnsRed enter their second phase]], shedding their organic tissue and unveiling themselves as completely-robotic recreations of the Eye of Cthulhu.
* ShortRangeGuyLongRangeGuy: Apparent in their second forms--Spazmatism is the Short Range, attempting to stay close to breathe cursed flames and charge the player, while Retinazer is the Long Range, attempting to stay far while firing lasers at the player.
* TechnicolorEyes: Retinazer's iris is red, and Spazmatism's is green, appropriate for the latter since it spews green fire. Both have blue pupils.
* TimeLimitBoss: The two will run away at dawn.
* TurnsRed: Like the Eye of Cthulhu, the Twins will enter a second form when low enough on health.
** Spazmatism's charges become much faster and more frequent, and while it's not charging, it relentlessly pursues the player while breathing a constant stream of Cursed Flames.
** Retinazer switches from blue lasers to more damaging red lasers, and the lower its health gets during its second phase, the faster it fires the laser cannon, until it's essentially BeamSpam.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Destroyer]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_destroyer_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"You feel vibrations from deep below..."]]
-->''A mechanical simulacrum of Cthulhu's spine decorated in laser-armed probes, which detach from its body when damaged.''
A mechanical simulacrum of Cthulhu’ backbone, heavily inspired by the Eater of Worlds.
----
* AchillesHeel:
** The Destroyer's massive, segmented body make it highly vulnerable to piercing weapons.
** Unlike the other mechanical bosses, the Destroyer is stuck to the ground. Standing on a platform high enough in the air will make it hard for the Destroyer to even get to you, barring its lasers and Probes.
* AnimalMecha: A giant metal worm.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: While most worm-type enemies' drops will spawn from their head segments when they die, the Destroyer's drops will instead spawn at the segment closest to the player on death, as its massive size makes it very easy to lose track of where the head was when you killed it.
* ArtificialLimbs: The Mechanic was forced to build it so it could serve as a replacement backbone for Cthulhu.
* AttackDrone: Sends these out which pepper you with lasers. Thankfully, they drop hearts and mana stars.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Unlike the rest of its body, the Destroyer's head has 0 defense. As it attacks by lunging at you, you'll have plenty of opportunities to strike it.
* BeamSpam: Both its sections and probes can do this from time to time.
* BossArenaRecovery: Destroying the probes it sends out will get at least one heart and/or a mana star if you've been using magic weapons.
* CollisionDamage: Notably, on Expert and Master, the Destroyer's head making contact with you deals more damage than any other attack save for the Phantasmal Deathray and [[OneHitKill anything from daylight Empress of Light]].
* CompositeCharacter: While it's mostly based on the Eater of Worlds, the eyeball-like Probes it sends out resemble the Brain of Cthulhu's Creeper minions.
* ContractualBossImmunity: Unlike any other enemy in the game, the Destroyer is completely immune to all debuffs.
* DamageSpongeBoss: Has more HP than any other non-composite entity opponent in the entire game at a whopping 80000 (''120000'' in Expert), but since all of its segments are individual targets vulnerable to attack, piercing and melee weapons will rack up massive amounts of damage by striking multiple segments on each pass, balancing out the extra health.
* EnergyWeapon: The aformentioned probes will start letting out a barrage of lasers should they be allowed to survive for a bit.
* EssenceDrop: Drop Souls of Might when destroyed.
* FlunkyBoss: The probes it sends out upon being hurt.
* FusionDance: [[spoiler:In the "Get Fixed Boi" seed, the Destroyer combines with the other Mechanical Bosses to form Mechdusa.]]
* SandWorm: A robot sand worm, at that.
* SegmentedSerpent: The Destroyer possesses 82 separate segments, each of which is as long as your character is tall, making it undisputably ''the'' biggest thing in the game. The player can attack multiple segments at one go, allowing them to deplete its massive HP faster. If someone has already defeated The Twins and has used their souls of sight to build a Magical Harp[[note]]fires slow, infinitely piercing projectiles rapidly as long as your mana meter holds out[[/note]] weapon, the boss fight becomes nearly effortless.
* SuperPersistentPredator: Unlike most bosses, the Destroyer will not despawn if you get too far away from it, and will pursue you across the world if it has to.
* TimeLimitBoss: Runs away at dawn.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Skeletron Prime]]
[[quoteright:171:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skeletron_prime.png]]
[[caption-width-right:171:"The air is getting colder around you..."]]
-->''Mechanically reconstructed for reviving Cthulhu, this Skeletron has more arms than ever before, and a variety of fierce weapons.''
The mechanical version of Skeletron.
----
* ArtificialLimbs: The Mechanic was forced to build it so it could serve as Cthulhu's new skeleton.
* ArmCannon: One of his arms has a cannon that functions like a GrenadeLauncher, lobbing bombs at the player that explode after a short delay.
* ArmoredButFrail: Downplayed. Of the Mechanical bosses, Skeletron Prime has the most defense, but in terms of health he's only beating out the [[DualBoss Twins]] individually.
* ChainsawGood: The Prime Saw arm.
* CognizantLimbs: Has four destructible limbs, each carrying a deadly weapon of its own.
* CripplingOverspecialization: The Prime Cannon arm fires bombs which explode on contact with solid platforms. This means that a floating arena of wooden platforms makes the arm utterly incapable of causing anything other than CollisionDamage. However, note that this is no longer true as of 1.4.01 onwards, meaning in Expert Mode, he can and will wreck your arena.
* DemBones: Mechanical ones this time.
* EnergyWeapon: The Prime Laser arm.
* EssenceDrop: Drop Souls of Fright when destroyed.
* EvilIsDeathlyCold: The warning message that appears to indicate that it will spawn on a Hardmode night is "The air is getting colder around you," implying this trope. Downplayed in that it lacks any sort of ice or cold-themed attacks.
* FusionDance: [[spoiler:In the "Get Fixed Boi" seed, Skeletron Prime combines with the other Mechanical Bosses to form Mechdusa. Prime is the binding agent between the three; if you kill Skeletron Prime before one of the other components of the boss, they'll resume their usual behaviour.]]
* JetPack: While the head floats, Skeletron Prime's arms seem to move using jets of (harmless) flame.
* MarathonBoss: With its four arms and high HP, Prime can easily drag the fight out [[TimeLimitBoss until morning]] if the player's damage output is too low, and unlike the Destroyer, it isn't made up of hundreds of segments that can all be targeted.
* MechanicalAbomination: The mechanized reincarnation of the Skeletron.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Has four arms as compared to Skeletron's two, and each arm has a different weapon to murder you with on the end.
* NameTron: It's named Skeletron Prime. Unlike Skeletron, this one ''is'' mechanical.
* PowerPincers: The Prime Vice arm.
* SkeleBot9000: It's a mechanical skull with four arms.
* SpectacularSpinning: Unlike Skeletron, Prime benefits from spinning as its defense actually ''increases'' instead of decreasing when it does so.
* SpikesOfDoom: The head grows these when spinning.
* ThrowDownTheBomblet: The Prime Cannon arm.
* TimeLimitBoss: Like Skeletron, Prime has a Dungeon Guardian form and will kill you at dawn.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ocram]]
[[quoteright:264:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ocram.png]]
The true final boss of the old generation console version, Ocram can best be described as a flying ''Film/{{Predator}}'' head.
----
* BaitAndSwitch: [[spoiler:The "Get Fixed Boi" seed features an item called "Ocram's Razor." One would think that the monster has finally returned, but it just summons [[FusionDance Mechdusa.]]]]
* BeamSpam: Its first form loves this. Its second form basically pumps out laser shotgun blasts at the speed of a machinegun.
* BulletHell: During his second phase, he will be spraying countless laser blasts and Demon Scythes at a ridiculous speed. Not only does it do this itself, but this is also the focus of most strategies for fighting him.
* CallBack: Oddly enough, to the Eye of Cthulhu. His strategy is similar, his flunkies are called "Servants of Ocram" like the Eye's "Servants of Cthulhu", and they share a battle theme.
* EldritchAbomination: Quite. His appearance is extremely otherworldly even in comparison to the likes of the Celestial Pillars and the [[spoiler:Moon Lord.]]
* EssenceDrop: Drops Souls of Blight when slain, which are required to craft the end-game armors.
* ExiledFromContinuity: WordOfGod has stated that Ocram will never appear in any version of the game still recieving updates, although mods are fair game. The Labor of Love throws a few name drops his way, though.
* FinalBoss: Confirmed to be as such by the (console version's) [[WordOfGod developers.]] Subverted in the newer console version and the mobile version, as he was removed in the 1.3 update, which added the game's real final boss.
* FlunkyBoss: Sends out Servants of Ocram, though he has plenty of other attacks. They're fairly easy to kill if you use Crystal Bullets. However, don't mistake him for relying solely upon them.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Has no buildup or references, not even in the item used to summon him.
* LightningBruiser: He moves fast and hits HARD.
* NintendoHard: He's pretty much impossible to kill without near-endgame to endgame armor.
* OmnicidalManiac: If you summon it too close to your house/town, it can and will kill your [=NPCs=].
* SdrawkcabName: "Ocram" is "Marco" backward, the name of Ocram's programmer.
* TurnsRed: His second form turns out his eyes, reveals a bigger eye, and also amps up the power of his BeamSpam attack while allowing him to launch Blinding Demon Scythes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Plantera]]
[[quoteright:268:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plantera.png]]
[[caption-width-right:268:"The jungle grows restless..."]]
-->''A dormant, yet powerful floral guardian awoken by the fallout of Cthulhu's destroyed machinations. Its reach spans the entire jungle.''
After defeating the three Mechanical Bosses, strange pink bulbs will begin gradually growing throughout the Underground Jungle. Breaking one will awaken the giant plant-like monster, Plantera.
----
* AutobotsRockOut: Unlike every other boss, Plantera's theme is a heavy guitar-laden piece. It also doubles as a BossRemix of the Jungle theme!
* BerserkButton: If you lure it out of the Underground Jungle biome, it will become more aggressive and damaging. She’s also not too amused about anyone breaking her bulbs either, as she’ll immediately awaken and begin hunting any players nearby upon someone doing so.
* BotanicalAbomination: {{Implied|Trope}}. Plantera only awakens after [[MechanicalAbomination the Mechanical Bosses]] are defeated, and it's somehow linked to biome spreading, as defeating it will slow the spreading down.
* CombatTentacles: Its invulnerable grappling hooks can deal damage, and it sprouts a bunch of smaller, destructible ones when it TurnsRed. In Expert Mode, its grappling hooks sprout them too when it TurnsRed!
* FlunkyBoss: The plants that it sprouts when it TurnsRed.
* FoulFlower: Its initial form is a giant, aggressive flower bud. In the second phase, it drops off its flower and becomes a full-fledged ManEatingPlant.
* HomingProjectile: Its second form launches Spores that will seek out and damage the nearest player.
* ImpossibleItemDrop: Plantera is a particularly strange case. Whereas most bosses can also drop some sort of item or weapon, most of them are somehow based on the abilities of the boss itself (e.g. the Book of Skulls fires the same skulls that Skeletron does in Expert Mode)... but what is Plantera doing with an ''electric guitar''?[[note]]Granted, it's likely another nod to the band, Pantera.[[/note]]
* ManEatingPlant: Even more so than the Man Eaters you used to encounter in the jungle.
* {{Pun}}: Of the band ''Music/{{Pantera}}'', especially so because of its unique boss theme.
* RushBoss: Plantera's HP isn't too impressive compared to the mechanical bosses, who all have higher aggregate HP than it. However, what it lacks in durability it makes up for with heavy-hitting, hard-to-dodge attacks, especially since you're going to be fighting it in the cramped Underground Jungle ''[[BerserkButton or else]]''.
* SamusIsAGirl: According to [[WordOfGod Cenx]], Plantera is [[https://imgur.com/ECMM1WU female]].
* SilentAntagonist: Unlike most other bestial bosses, she doesn't make the standard roar you hear upon summoning a boss.
* SpikeBallsOfDoom: Spits these out in its first phase.
* SpikeShooter: First phase uses these. The rate of its fire increases as it loses health.
* TurnsRed: At half health, the flower will drop off and sprout tentacle plants, and it'll become much faster and damaging.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Plantera is ''significantly'' harder than the Mechanical Bosses, and a large amount of preparation is needed to even stand a chance of killing it, especially since its bulb appears at complete random. You can't lure it above-ground without it becoming ''much'' meaner, so if you do build an arena, you have to carve it out of the Underground Jungle while under attack by the monsters there.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Empress of Light]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/empress_of_light.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"A beautiful bullet hell."]]
-->''Beneath the Hallow's cleansing blanket lies a vengeful fae goddess bent on scrubbing the land of any and all impurity.''
A humanoid, fairy-like boss that can be fought by killing a Prismatic Lacewing at night, a post-Plantera critter that lives in the Hallow.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Her skin is yellow.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: She believes that killing a specific Hallowed butterfly, even by accident, warrants death, yet she is nowhere to be seen when it comes to infections/invasions of the Corruption, Crimson, the Celestial Pillars, or the Moon Lord. Unless the player summons her near those biomes, events, or while fighting the Moon Lord. But by killing that same butterfly and making her fight the player instead of any of them.
* BulletHell: ''Oh'' yeah. She practically floods the screen with projectiles. Cenx even [[https://imgur.com/a/RTp2Lkn described her fight]] as a "beautiful bullet hell" before the update's release.
* DynamicEntry: Appears in an aurora of rainbow-colored light. If fought at day, the aurora will be yellow instead.
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: Well, worse for the player, but all of her attacks glow brightly are colored in every color of the rainbow. She even appears in a rainbow-colored aurora when spawning. However, if she's fought in the day, all of her rainbow-colored attacks will turn bright yellow to signify that the player is now in [[OneHitKill serious trouble]].
* TheFairFolk: She is a fae goddess who, like the rest of the Hallow, is a vicious KnightTemplar with a desire to purge the land of any and all impurity.
* LightEmUp: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin She's the empress of the stuff.]] All of her many attacks are themed around light and rainbows, and she's vastly empowered during the day.
* LightIsNotGood: Just like the rest of the Hallow, she is [[KnightTemplar obsessed with destroying any sort of impurity]]. Granted, to summon her [[GaiasVengeance you have to kill an extremely rare butterfly,]] yet the bestiary entry for said butterfly explicitly describes her as a tyrant...
* LightningBruiser: She has 70,000 HP at minimum which can go up to 124,950 on Master - significantly more than her fellow OptionalBoss Duke Fishron, who has 50,000 to 76,500 HP respectively. She also flies around the air quickly, and hits extremely hard with both projectiles and contact damage.
* MsFanservice: Her armor is revealing and due to her size her sprite is much more detailed than the [=NPCs=] or humanoid monsters.
* NoDamageRun: Obtaining the Terraprisma requires the Empress to be defeated while doing all of the damage during the day. Because every hit is a OneHitKill at day, this is a given.
* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Outside of the Lunatic Cultist, she's the most humanoid non-event boss, resembling the Ice Queen.
* OneHitKill: Fighting her in the day causes all her attacks to deal at least 10,000 damage.
* PhysicalGoddess: Is explicitly described as a goddess in the bestiary, and given just how much of a powerhouse she is even without her daytime boost, there’s not much evidence to dispute that.
* SinisterSchnoz: [[WordOfGod According to Crowno]], the game's artist, the v-shaped line on her face is not her mouth, but her nose. It's a rather pointy nose for a tyrannical ruler of the Hallow.
* {{Superboss}}: Like Duke Fishron, she is completely optional and not required to face the FinalBoss, and you likely have to go out of your way to summon her, although ''unlike'' Duke Fishron she can be accidentally summoned if you're supremely unlucky. And she demands respect, too - despite being able to be summoned right after Plantera, she's so incredibly difficult and unorthodox compared to ''every other boss in the game'' (arguably including the ''FinalBoss'') that gear obtained from the Lunar Events, or gear obtained after Golem or even Duke Fishron is ''heavily'' encouraged to be acquired first. Yet if you do kill her, she can drop some incredibly good gear for your troubles, which will make all of the remaining challenges in the game significantly easier.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Fighting her in the day causes her attacks to deal at least 10,000 damage to you. You have a maximum of 500-600 HP.
* TimeLimitBoss: Like Skeletron and Skeletron Prime before her, once the sun comes up, the Empress's attacks will kill you instantly. If summoned during the day (likely by a player looking for her BraggingRightsReward), she will run away at dusk if she and the player are (somehow) both still alive by then.
* TurnsRed: Once she gets below half HP, she'll vanish momentarily, before switching her attack pattern for an improved variation and launching attacks even faster than before.
** Like Skeletron Prime, fighting her in the sun makes her attacks nearly impossible to survive, dealing a minimum of 10,000 damage. ''Unlike'' Skeletron Prime, managing to defeat her during the day (no damage can be done at night for this to work) nets you a unique weapon, the Terraprisma.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Golem]]
[[quoteright:216:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/golem_5.png]]
[[caption-width-right:216:"The stone-faced ritualistic idol of the lihzahrdian tribe..."]]
-->''A remarkable display of ingenuity constructed by the Lihzahrd clan. Powered by solar energy cells, it is ready to guard the temple.''
A giant animated statue. Summoned by using a Lihzarhd Power Cell on an altar found inside the jungle temple.
----
* BerserkButton: If you lure him out of the Underground Jungle biome, he will become more aggressive and damaging.
* CognizantLimbs: His arms can be attacked and destroyed separately, though this isn't necessary to beat him.
* DetachmentCombat: When his health gets low, his head separates from his body and attacks separately, although the head cannot be damaged.
* EyeBeams: The first phase uses these when its health gets low. The head in the second phase also uses them.
* {{Fireballs}}: Spits out bouncing ones.
* {{Golem}}: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Duh.]] It's a construct created by the Lihzarhd.
* HyperDestructiveBouncingBall: The fireballs the head shoots out.
* LosingYourHead: When he TurnsRed. Justified because he's a construct. Said head is also invulnerable to damage during the second phase.
* OutsideTheBoxTactic: The Golem used to be one of two bosses unable to pass through solid blocks, allowing a player to trap him inside and attack him from there with a wall-piercing weapon.
* PowerOfTheSun: Many of the Golem's drops are associated with daytime and the sun.
* RocketPunch: His arms. The Golem Fist he drops allows the player to do the same.
* SlowLaser: The EyeBeams it fires are slower than light.
* TookALevelInBadass: Prior to 1.4.4 it was a notoriously easy boss. In said update it received a massive buff to it’s attacks, it’s fists can no longer be deflected ([[DiscardAndDraw though they now need to charge up), and various other tweaks were made that make it a much greater threat.
* TurnsRed: Its head flies into the air and becomes invincible when its health is depleted, forcing you to attack its body directly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Duke Fishron]]
[[quoteright:194:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dukefishron.png]]
[[caption-width-right:194:"The mutant terror of the sea."]]
-->''An aquatic pigron mutation from the depths of the ocean who surfaces in search of a rare, savory type of worm.''
A giant fish-pig-dragon hybrid summoned by using a Truffle Worm as fish bait in the ocean.
----
* AscendedMeme: Was originally supposed to be the boss of an AprilFoolsDay joke, the Tidal Moon event. While the event isn't real, Duke Fishron is.
* BerserkButton: If you lure him out of the Ocean biome, he will become more aggressive and damaging.
* BubbleGun: Spits homing bubbles at the player.
* BullfightBoss: While he does have other attacks, Duke Fishron's primary form of offense is charging at the player repeatedly. In his Expert Mode third phase, he will only attack by charging.
* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: His Expert Mode ability shrouds the entire area in fog while he turns invisible, and his glowing eyes is one way to detect him before he charges.
* DesperationAttack: He gains one when he's at very low health on Expert Mode. It involves him turning the screen dark while he turns invisible before he charges you.
* FlunkyBoss: Summons Sharknadoes and Cthulhunadoes that spew out flying shark projectiles called Sharkrons.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: He's a huge flying fish.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When he TurnsRed.
* HomingProjectile: His bubbles and his Cthulhunado typhoon.
* ImmuneToFlinching: Duke Fishron is one of the very few bosses in the game that cannot be stunned nor slowed by the Heart Arrows, which can otherwise stun even the Destroyer, Wall of Flesh and the Dungeon Guardian!
* ImplacableMan: Got buffed in 1.3--he will ''repeatedly'' charge at you if you exit the ocean, instead of charging five times then attacking.
* TheJuggernaut: It will only stop when it's transforming to its second state, pumping out bubbles or dead. He's also immune to the Stunned debuff.
* KingMook: To both a Mook (Pigron) as well as a particular fishing catch (Fishron).
* LightningBruiser: Extremely fast, extremely painful, and sports at least 50,000 health, more than most of the other bosses.
* MixAndMatchCritters: A fish-pig-dragon mutant creature.
* {{Mutant}}: The official achievement unlocked by beating him outright calls him one.
* NintendoHard: Deals painful damage with his attacks, moves extremely fast, and a lot of health to wear down. Speed-increasing items and Wings are pretty much mandatory if you don't want to be torn to shreds. In 1.3 and above, you're also constrained to fighting him within the ocean, or else he ''[[BerserkButton gets pissed]]''.
* NumberOfTheBeast: The Truffle Worm used to summon him has a 666% Fishing Power. In addition, the Fishron Wings you can get for beating him have a 6.66% drop rate.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: Has a high tendency to ram the player.
* ShoutOut: Has the ability to summon Film/{{Sharknado}}es.
* {{Superboss}}: Like the Empress of Light, he doesn't need to be beaten in order to fight [[spoiler:the Moon Lord]], and you need to go somewhat out of your way in order to summon him. He's also much tougher than most of the other Hardmode bosses despite being able to be potentially summoned before any of them, but his drops will make the rest of the game a lot easier.
* TeleportSpam: In his third phase in Expert Mode, Duke Fishron will frequently teleport around the player before charging.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He can only be summoned via a Truffle Worm.
* TurnsRed: Gains GlowingEyesOfDoom, charges faster but less often, and changes his bubble spray into a spinning spray that creates more bubbles and his Sharknado into a Cthulhunado which is much larger, homes in on the player before deploying, and summons many more Sharkrons. The Fishron Mount obtained from him in Expert Mode allows the player to do this--when low on health, the player gains an attack and speed buff.
** Expert added a third phase to his fight: at critical health, he will darken the screen, turn invisible, and continuously charge at you while constantly teleporting to approach you from different angles.
* VictorGainsLosersPowers: When the player beats him, they get equipment based on his abilities: Flairon and Bubble Gun are based on his bubble spray, Tsunami is based off his relentless charges, Razorblade Typhoon is based off his Cthulhunado-spawning homing typhoons, the Tempest Staff is a smaller Sharknado, Fishron's Wings give the player the Duke's superior air and water mobility, and the Expert Mode Shrimpy Truffle nets the Duke himself as a mount, allowing ''you'' to [[TurnsRed Turn Red]] when low on health.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lunatic Cultist]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lunatic_cultist_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"The fanatical leader of the Dungeon coven..."]]
-->''A fanatical leader hell-bent on bringing about the apocalypse by reviving the great Cthulhu through behind-the-scenes scheming.''
After Golem is defeated, a group of cultists will gather outside the dungeon praying towards an ominous stone. Killing all of them incites the wrath of the Lunatic Cultist, who absorbs the power of the stone, and attacks you.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Human in appearance, yet his body is completely covered with even his face being masked. He possesses insanely powerful inhuman abilities and his VoiceOfTheLegion implies that he's something entirely different.
* ApocalypseCult: He's the leader of them.
* BeefGate: In order to prove that you have a chance to deal with the Pillars and their wide range of coverage, you have to kill him first. Especially since there's no way to get rid of the Pillars once summoned aside from destroying them.
* BigBad: In the 8th Anniversary Lore, he's the one behind several of the events, including the Old Man and the Dungeon being cursed as well as being responsible for the Mechanical Bosses by having the Mechanic kidnapped and forced to assemble them. Finally, he's the one who summons the Celestial Towers, and by extension the Moon Lord.
* BigNo: He says this upon death.
* DoppelgangerAttack: If you fail to interrupt his DoppelgangerSpin, the copies follow him around in an upside-down 'V' formation and are able to attack you. They can't be damaged or destroyed until his next spin, which will cancel them out if you do it right.
* DoppelgangerSpin: After several magic attacks, he'll create several copies of himself surrounding a runic circle. If you don't hit the original (distinguished by a yellow vertical stripe on his hood, among other minor differences), it becomes a DoppelgangerAttack and he summons a phantasm dragon. Each time you fail this, he gains more copies until you get it right.
* TheDragon: He's the one in charge of the Lunatic Cult and is therefore the greatest servant to the being he worships, [[BigBad the Moon Lord]], also being responsible for the summoning of said Moon Lord.
* DragonInChief: [[GreaterScopeVillain On account of the Moon Lord being sealed away]], he is the one actively responsible for many of the game’s events.
* DuelBoss: Fights you mano-a-mano without the aid of any allies beyond what he can create if you don't interrupt his summoning spell.
* EvilSorceror: Very much so.
* EvilSoundsDeep: His voice sounds inhumanly deep as he prays to the stone in BlackSpeech before absorbing it and turning his attention to you.
* FireIceLightning: Can cast homing fireballs, ice crystals that fire ice spikes, and lightning bolts.
* GetBackHereBoss: He teleports all over the place between attacks and always tries to stay above you, even if you try to chase him down using flight.
* HumanoidAbomination: The Lunatic Cultist may look human, but his exceptional magical strength as well as his voice, which borders on VoiceOfTheLegion, heavily implies that he may have traded his humanity to become something not of this world.
* InstantRunes: He will create a massive runic circle just before creating a doppelgänger and attacking.
* LightningBruiser: Don’t let his SquishyWizard tendencies fool you. He’s fast enough on his feet to FlashStep, can summon powerful spells and monsters very quickly and can take a beating that would tear lesser foes to pieces many times over before finally expiring.
* MagicMissileStorm: Once he takes enough damage, he starts to cast Ancient Light, firing two spreads of painful homing projectiles at you. Thankfully, said projectiles are destructible.
* MeaningfulName: He's lunatic in both senses of the word--crazy, and also moon-related.
* PlayingWithFire: One of his attacks is to hurl homing fireballs at you that explode on impact. In certain circumstances he can combine this with CastingAShadow and start tossing shadowflame fireballs as well.
* PlagueDoctor: He's got the outfit of one, at least. You can get said plague doctor mask as a drop, and it's also the trophy you obtain from him.
* PuzzleBoss: Part of his boss fight involves a SpotTheImposter phase where hitting the wrong Lunatic Cultist will let him summon additional minions--a Phantasm Dragon and Ancient Vision.
* SpreadShot: His Ancient Light attack fires two spreads of homing magic projectiles which hurt a lot, but are thankfully destructible.
* ShockAndAwe: One of his attacks is to summon a giant ball of energy that hurls lightning bolts at the player.
* SquishyWizard: He has extremely low HP when compared to most of the other hardmode bosses, but he can deal out damage very quickly with his wide variety of magic attacks. He mitigates his frailty somewhat by moving around constantly and being hard to hit.
* TurnsRed: He gains a new attack in the form of [[MagicMissileStorm Ancient Light]] when he reaches around half his health.
* UnstableEquilibrium: The fight with him can either be reasonably difficult or downright impossible, depending on your ability to interrupt his DoppelgangerSpin.
* XanatosGambit: Seems to absorb the sealing magic of the Mysterious Tablet in order to gain power AND ensure a victory on some level. Either you kill him and break the seal of the Celestial Pillars, or he kills you and can continue his plans unhindered.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Celestial Towers (Vortex, Nebula, Solar, and Stardust Pillar) ]][[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/celestial_towers.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Celestial creatures are invading!"[[note]]From left to right: Vortex Pillar, Stardust Pillar, Nebula Pillar, Solar Pillar[[/note]]]]
-->''Representing a deep celestial void/stormy celestial body/flaming celestial event/glittering celestial remnant known as "vortex/nebula/solar flares/stardust", this tower holds the seal locking away the terrifying tyrant.''
Four ominous pillars that appear after the Cultist is beaten. These spawn powerful alien enemies, and must be defeated by killing enough of their minions to break the shield. Each of the pillars and their mooks correspond to a method of offence - Vortex for ranged, Nebula for magic, Stardust for summoner and Solar for melee.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: All of them turn the background to an ominous moon with coloured background when fought. Each of their fragments can be used to craft a Monolith that can display their respective backgrounds at will.
* AntiAir: Go too high off the ground near the Solar Pillar, and you will be attacked by a Crawltipede; as they're massive, heavily damaging, and only take damage if you attack their tail segments, it's generally not something you want to happen. Fortunately, Crawltipedes can ''only'' attack airborne players; if you're standing on something solid, they'll leave you alone.
* AsteroidsMonster:
** The Stardust Pillar's Star Cells will split into multiple small Cells when killed. If left unattended, these small Cells will grow into full-sized Star Cells and start the process over again.
** Alien Queens from the Vortex Pillar will release Larvae upon death that can grow into Alien Hornets, which in turn will become more Alien Queens if not dealt with.
* AttackReflector: Selenians, summoned by the Solar Pillar, can attack with a spinning dive that also [[SpinToDeflectStuff reflects incoming projectiles]].
* BrownNote: It's suggested by the messages that appear after destroying them that they have a pretty bad effect on the player character. It is not clear whether this is the Towers' doing or the Moon Lord's.
-->'''First Tower:''' "Your mind goes numb.."\\
'''Second Tower:''' "You are overwhelmed with pain..."\\
'''Third Tower:''' "Otherworldly voices linger around you..."
* CosmicEntity: They have the markings of this as they both draw power from and seem to embody on a level their respective cosmic forces in the universe.
* DeflectorShields: When first encountered, they have a clear forcefield around them that makes them invulnerable. It's only when you kill off 100 (150 in Expert) of their minions that the shield breaks.
* EldritchAbomination: All four of the pillars are some kind of otherworldly aliens. It's unknown if they're even sentient. Many of the {{Mooks}} they teleport in also fit this, if they aren’t [[HumanoidAbomination humanoid]] or [[AnimalisticAbomination resembling various terrestrial animals]].
* EnergyWeapon: The preferred attack method of the Nebula Pillar's Nebula Floaters and the Vortex Pillar's Alien Queens and Storm Divers. Their lasers are among the more damaging attacks in the Lunar Events.
* FighterMageThief: And Summoner. Each of the towers are based on a method of offense -- Solar for Fighter, Nebula for Mage, Vortex for Ranger, and Stardust for Summoner. The Lunar Fragments they drop are also used to craft equipment corresponding to the respective tower's type.
* FlunkyBoss: The pillars do attack, but mainly rely on spawning minions. It's also required that you beat enough minions first in order to attack the boss itself. Once their shields are down, though, they are practically helpless and only have 20000 HP.
* HeroAntagonist: Their appearance is a last ditch effort to stop the [[EldritchAbomination Moon Lord]] from being released.
* HumanoidAliens: Each pillar summons at least one humanoid enemy: Stargazers for the Stardust Pillar, Predictors for the Nebula Pillar, Drakanians and Selenians for the Solar Pillar, and Vortexians and Storm Divers for the Vortex Pillar.
* IncreasinglyLethalEnemy: Alien Larvae around the Vortex Pillar are nearly harmless. Then they grow into manageable Alien Hornets, which will grow into deadly Alien Queens that drop more Larvae on death.
* LastDitchMove:
** Vortexians will summon a portal that releases a lightning bolt at the player when killed.
** Flow Invaders attack by generating minions that they shoot as projectiles, one at a time. When killed, the Flow Invader will launch all of its remaining minions at once.
* MookMaker: Besides the bosses themselves, the Stardust Pillar's Twinkle Poppers will summon Twinkles, small minions that [[ActionBomb explode on contact]].
* OurWormholesAreDifferent[=/=]SwirlyEnergyThingy: The Vortex Pillar creates these around the player, which spawn Alien Hornets.
* PlayingWithFire[=/=]ThePowerOfTheSun: The Solar Pillar's mooks are rather fiery and sun-like, and the pillar itself will attack with a shower of fireballs, many of which can be seen raining down in its background.
* ShockAndAwe: The portals created by the Vortex Pillar can sometimes shoot a bolt of lightning at you, instead of spawning more {{Mooks}}.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Storm Divers wield laser shotguns. It's certainly not better for the player, though, as they deal quite a bit of damage if the Storm Diver can line up a shot.
* ShowsDamage: Every time one of their minions (besides Crawltipedes) die, they generate a bolt of energy that strikes the Tower's shield and causes it to visibly weaken. The shield itself gets more and more transparent until finally bursting.
* StarfishAliens: Most of the minions summoned by these things are pretty weird looking. The Pillars themselves may also count.
* StarPower: Of the Lovecraftian sort. The Stardust Pillar is able to create "stars" around it that spawn Star Cells and Milkyway Weavers.
* StationaryBoss: They don't move at all, and none of them apart from the Solar Pillar are directly capable of attacking you.
* TeleportSpam: Nebula Floaters teleport around frequently while firing lasers in your general direction.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Pillars are physical anchors meant to keep the Moon Lord imprisoned, and it can be assumed that the invaders are actually defending them to prevent ''you'' from breaking the seal.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Moon Lord (Cthulhu)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/impending_doom.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"[[OhCrap Impending doom approaches...]]"]]
-->''The mastermind behind all terrors which befall the world, freed from his lunar prison. Practically a god, his power knows no limits.''
The Lunar Event Boss - a large, Cthulhu-like being that is summoned after the four Celestial Towers are destroyed. His arrival is signified by a sense of impending doom, as the screen starts warping and turning black. As of the 1.3 update, he is the final boss of the game. The 8th Anniversary Lore reveals that he ''is'' Cthulhu, albeit most likely in an incomplete physical form.
----
* AncientEvil: The 8th Anniversary Lore states that he arrived to Terraria long ago to rain destruction and to dominate all sentient life, but was heavily wounded and driven away to the moon by the Dryads. The Lunatic Cultist plans to bring him back in the current day.
* AntiRegeneration: When he's leeching energy from you, he applies the Moon Bite debuff which makes that affected player's lifesteal effects useless.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: The giant beating heart in his chest. The problem is that you must destroy all three of his eyes if you want him to expose it.
* BackgroundBoss: Stays in the background all the time. However, touching its eyes (or where they used to be) will deal CollisionDamage.
* BattleThemeMusic: One of six bosses with their own theme music, in his case [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lcnjjeq8ig an appropriately eldritch tune simply titled "Moon Lord"]].
* BeamSpam: The Moon Lord ''excels'' at this, with his entire offensive pattern being pretty much trying to obliterate the player with endless volleys of eldritch-plasma blasts while trying to pick them off with up to ''three'' giant laser blasts in one go.
* BodyHorror: His body from the neck down looks mostly human, but everything below the chest is missing, complete with exposed ribs and spine. His Cthulhu head also has an exposed brain, his heart is exposed through his chest, and his forehead and hands both have eyes set into them that can pop out and leave a gaping maw behind.
* BossVulnerability: Each of the targetable eyes are a Wait Them Out sort, while the heart is Always Vulnerable once it's exposed.
* CognizantLimbs: The eyeballs in his hands and his ThirdEye can attack separately and must be destroyed for him to expose his core.
* DamageSpongeBoss: His component parts have collectively more health than anything in the game. His ThirdEye and heart have more health than every other boss save the Destroyer.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: He turns the background around him black, so if you lose track of him, a good way to find out where he's gone is the background rapidly growing darker as he slowly comes back. He’ll also turn campfire flames ''black'' when he’s summoned.
* EldritchAbomination: An eldritch horror from the depths of space.
* EvilIsBigger: The largest enemy in the game as of 1.4 and the FinalBoss.
* ExtraEyes: He has five eyes on his head (although only one is targetable) and one on each palm.
* {{Expy}}: Heavily resembles Cthulhu. His eyeball minions are even called "True Eye Of Cthulhu". WordOfGod has stated that he is Cthulhu's brother. [[https://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/terraria-8th-anniversary-lore-event.79764/#post-1763546 8th Anniversary Lore Event]] drops the {{Expy}} part entirely though, referring to him simply as Cthulhu instead of as the Moon Lord.
* EyeBeams: His forehead eye can fire out a powerful Phantasmal Deathray while the eyes on his palms can fire laser shots. When his eyes are detached and become True Eyes of Cthulhu, they can use a weaker version of the Phantasmal Deathray.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Has an eye in each of his hands. He can also fire countless energy eyeballs at you for his attacks.
* EyesAreUnbreakable: Depleting the health of his eyes will simply cause them to pop out and become invulnerable True Eyes of Cthulhu instead of destroying them.
* FinalBoss: Is this for the entire game. Getting him to appear requires defeating almost every other boss. He is fittingly the absolute last thing on the Bestiary.
* FlunkyBoss: When each eye is beaten, they will become an invincible flunky that attacks on its own.
* GoForTheEye: The Moon Lord's eyes are his weak points in his first phase.
* GreaterScopeVillain: The 8th Anniversary Lore has him as the main antagonist that threatened Terraria long ago and his missing body parts are early game bosses but he has long since been sealed away and only appears for one boss fight. The [[BigBad Lunatic Cultist]] is the one who not only causes far more immediate problems (namely the creation of the mechanical bosses) but is the one who allows him to break free from his seal in the first place.
* HandicappedBadass: Is clearly still reeling from his defeat long ago evident by his entire missing lower half, but will give the player the fight of their life.
* HomingProjectile: Can fire Phantasmal Eyes that home in on players and explode.
* ImplacableMan: Do not let his slow movement fool you, this guy will never stop coming unless he kills you or dies trying. He will never despawn unless you die, so he'll chase you quite literally to the ends of the earth and the fact that he teleports to you when you get far enough away from him doesn't help.
* KaizoTrap: Before the Journey's End update, the holes where his weak points used to be will still hurt you during his death animation; if you're low enough on health, you'll get killed and he'll disappear without leaving behind any of his valuable drops or giving you the achievement for killing him.
* LifeDrain: Has an ability where his mouth sends out a sucker that starts draining balls of energy from you. If the balls are not destroyed before they reach his mouth, he regenerates health. During this, he'll inflict the Moon Bite debuff which also prevents you from lifestealing from him for the next fifteen seconds or so.
* MightyGlacier: The most powerful boss, and yet also one of the slowest. Granted, that's only his movement speed, his ''rate of attack'' is a [[LightningBruiser different story entirely]].
* MonsterProgenitor: Most of the pre-Hardmode bosses are implied by lore to be parts of his body that were torn off in his battle against the Dryads.
* MutualKill: Was torn to pieces by the Dryads and forced to retreat, leaving only his scattered body parts behind, but annihilated the Dryad civilization and killed all but one of them in the process.
* NoSell:
** He's immune to lifestealing effects from the Spectre Armor and the Vampire Knives when he's leeching energy from you.
** As of 1.3.0.6, it's impossible to "cheese" him via using MercyInvincibility from other sources of damage--he will still hit you.
* NothingIsScarier: Before he appears, the background music ominously disappears.
* OrganAutonomy: Even his detached organs are essentially {{Eldritch Abomination}}s in their own right.
* PowerFloats: Floats around the area effortlessly.
* {{Retcon}}: Initially, [[WordOfGod Cenx]] stated that the Moon Lord was the brother of Cthulhu. This was later revealed to be a joke. [[WordOfGod Red]] eventually clarified by adding that the Moon Lord ''is'' Cthulhu, albeit nowhere near full power and lacking a complete form.
* RasputinianDeath: His ability to endure mortal injury and keep on going is downright absurd. In the lore the Dryads really did a number on him, with the Moon Lord having been literally bisected, disembowelled and losing his eye along with at least some of his brain and bones before being finally sealed away. When he’s unsealed and does battle with the player, three more of his eyes are gouged out over the course of the lengthy fight and it takes the player pulverising his exposed heart with all they have for him to kick the bucket, with the resulting death knell vaporising all the remaining flesh on his body and reducing him to a skeleton.
* SequentialBoss: His three main eyes must be destroyed first, then his core will open.
* SicklyGreenGlow: Various parts of his body glow blue-green, and while he's alive, the entire screen will be tinted the same color.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Moon Bite is of the Decover type, preventing LifeDrain effects from working on him.
* StrippedToTheBone: When beaten, his skeleton drops to the ground.
* SuperPersistentPredator: Will chase the players across the map. 1.3.0.4 made it such that he just teleports right to you if you get too far from him.
* TacticalSuicideBoss: The Moon Lord's forehead eye is closed and cannot be attacked most of the time. It only opens to fire the Phantasmal Deathray, at which point it becomes vulnerable to damage.
* ThirdEye: While he has four other eyes on his head (and one on each hand), the one on his forehead is the most prominent: it has the most health, is closed for most of the time and is the only one that can fire the Phantasmal Deathray.
* WaveMotionGun: Can fire a Phantasmal Deathray from his ThirdEye. It sweeps around from one side of the screen to the other and does a great amount of damage while penetrating solid blocks. When an eye is detached, it can use a similar but weaker laser.
* WhoNeedsTheirWholeBody: Is capable of being an apocalyptic threat even after having been bisected, disemboweled, de-boned, blinded, and ''lobotomized.'' In fact, the parts that were taken out of him just got up and started their own reigns of terror.
* WorfHadTheFlu: It's implied that he was not at full power when battling the player, as his physical form was incomplete.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: The 1.3.0.4 update made it such that he teleports right to you if you get too far from him.
[[/folder]]

!! Enemies

[[folder:Lost Girl/Nymph]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nymph.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Deceiver of Fools]]
-->'''Lost Girl Entry:''' ''Naked and afraid, this girl stands still, deep in the world, as if waiting for someone to rescue her and lead her to the surface.''\\
'''Nymph Entry:''' ''Masterfully deceives explorers by posing as a lost girl, then attacks with ferocious might, blood-lust in her eyes.''

What appears to be an NPC named "Lost Girl", similar to the ones the player can rescue. Approaching her, however, has her transform into a green-skinned nymph that will maul unsuspecting players with potent melee attacks.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Her skin is green in her true form.
* BarbieDollAnatomy: She's depicted as fully naked, but lacks nipples or genitalia. Probably a display of modesty more than limitations of the art style.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Her eyes and hair are the same light blue in her disguised look.
* ExposedToTheElements: She is naked and can spawn in the Cavern layer of any biome, including the Ice Biome. This does not appear to trouble her.
* FanDisservice: She is a naked woman that is either covered in blood or has parts of her body "rotten" away. Or she just has reddish-brown patches on her skin, but she's still trying to kill unsuspecting players.
* FullFrontalAssault: She wears absolutely nothing while trying to kill the player.
* GodivaHair: Her sprites appear to have this for some reason, instead of sharing the same BarbieDollAnatomy with her genitals.
* LightningBruiser: She hits like a truck by Pre-Hardmode standards, moves twice as fast as normal mooks, and is harder to knock back.
* TheLittleDetecto: She has a 50% chance of dropping a Metal Detector, which is increased to a guaranteed drop in Expert Mode.
* LuckBasedMission:
** Finding her in the first place is luck, because unlike other enemies she doesn't move until provoked. Unless you have the Lifeform Detector, it's entirely possible you'll pass right by without even noticing her, and even if you do have a Lifeform Detector, it's often difficult to find the Nymph before she despawns.
** She has a 50% chance of dropping the Metal Detector, one of the items needed to craft the Cell Phone. Considering her rarity, this can make obtaining it pretty annoying. In Expert Mode, thankfully, it's a guaranteed drop. Prior to the 1.3 update, getting her banner was even worse, as the drop rate is only 0.5%. From 1.3 onwards you just have to kill 50 of her. Good luck with that.
* MsFanservice: Downplayed because of the limited art style[[note]]She also has more detailed official art in the form of her achievement image, but it only shows her face[[/note]], but she is one of the very few humanoid characters in the game who is completely naked. Becomes FanDisservice when she turns green and has what appears to be blood or body rot on her hands, mouth, and between her legs.
* NakedPeopleTrappedOutside: Subverted. The other "lost" [=NPCs=][[note]]sans the Golfer, but he is at least visibly fighting off the Underground Desert monsters[[/note]] are tied or webbed up while she appears just fine but naked, suggesting to unsuspecting players that she lost her clothes in an incident that left her stranded in the caves. She instead reveals her equally-naked true form and tries to kill the player.
* OurNymphsAreDifferent: They're cave-dwelling monsters who lure in people to kill them, and have no signs of being any sort of nature entity beyond the name. Whatever connection they have to the Dryads, if any, is unknown.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Her eyes are red in their true form, and they are blue in her disguise.
* SchmuckBait: Hey, it's another NPC. I'll just go up and--"[[HaveANiceDeath Player's flailing about was finally stopped by Nymph]]." Subverted if the first encounter is in Hardmode, and due to her rarity it likely will be. Despite the scare, her stats are laughable at that point (and she does not gain an Expert/Master boost after Wall of Flesh or Plantera), so she likely ends up luring the player character in to her ''own'' death instead.
* {{Shapeshifting}}: Downplayed, she is capable of making her skin shift from green to a human skin tone and hide her blood stains when disguising.
* ShoutOut: Her Bestiary entry as a Lost Girl begins by saying she's "Series/NakedAndAfraid."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clown]]
-->''His origins unknown, this creepy fiend balances himself on a ball while hurling explosive destruction at everything around him.''
A Hardmode enemy that only spawns during Blood Moons. The Clown throws bombs and chattering teeth enemies, and, until Patch 1.2, was the only enemy in the game capable of damaging blocks.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: He looks more human than Zombies or other common humanoid enemies, but he only appears during Blood Moons, which otherwise have a pretty strict blood and zombie theme to their exclusive enemies. Him being a MonsterClown with unknown origins complicates things further.
* EnemySummoner: The Journey's End update gave it the capability to throw chattering teeth enemies at the player.
* {{Griefer}}: Prior to Patch 1.2, it was capable of damaging and destroying blocks, including your NPC houses.
* MadBomber: Its modus operandi.
* MonsterClown: An evil clown that balances on a ball and chucks happy face bombs at you.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sand Elemental]]
-->''The most intense sandstorms draw forth powerful earth elementals. With this feminine form, her tornadoes tear all asunder.''
The Sand Elemental uncommonly appears in a Hardmode Desert biome during a sandstorm.
----
* DeadlyDustStorm: Is only encountered during a sandstorm in Hardmode.
* DishingOutDirt: Attacks with sand-based tornadoes.
* ElementalEmbodiment: Called an elemental of sand. The Bestiary entry suggests that this is a sub-category of earth elementals.
* {{Foil}}: To the Ice Golem:
** Both of them only appear during a storm, but the Sand Elemental is found in the hot Desert biome and appears female, while the Ice Golem is found in the cold Ice biome and appears male.
** The Sand Elemental attacks indirectly by conjuring sandnado traps as compared to the Ice Golem who fires ice beams in a more direct approach.
** The Sand Elemental's Forbidden Fragments are used to craft the Forbidden Armor that benefits Magic and Summoner, while the Ice Golem's Frost Cores are used to craft the Frost Armor which benefits Melee and Ranged.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: While the Sand Elemental possesses a pair of glowing yellow eyes by default, they produce a bright flash when she decides to use her sand-tornado attack.
* SentientSands: Is made of sentient sand.
* TornadoMove: Her only attack is conjuring several "sandnados" which hurt you upon touching them.
* VictorGainsLosersPowers: When she's beaten, she drops Forbidden Fragments that allow you to craft the Forbidden Armor set. Wearing the full set gives a SetBonus that allows you to use the same sand tornado attack she uses.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ice Golem]]
-->''Sub-zero temperatures, blinding snow flurries, and being blasted apart by an icy construct are some of the dangers of blizzards.''
The Ice Golem uncommonly appears in a Hardmode Ice biome during a blizzard.
----
* ColdFlames: Obtaining its Frost Cores will allow the player to craft the Frost Armor set, and wearing this set will give a SetBonus that causes the player's Melee and Ranged attacks to cause the Frostburn status.
* EyeBeams: Shoots {{Freeze Ray}}s at the player from its eyes.
* {{Foil}}: To the Sand Elemental:
** Both of them only appear during a storm, but the Ice Golem is found in the cold Ice biome and appears male, while the Sand Elemental is found in the hot Desert biome and appears female.
** The Ice Golem fights more directly by firing ice beams aimed at the player as compared to the Sand Elemental's Sandnado traps.
** The Ice Golem's Frost Cores are used to craft the Frost Armor which benefits Melee and Ranged, while the Sand Elemental's Forbidden Fragments are used to craft the Forbidden Armor that benefits Magic and Summoner.
* FreezeRay: Its EyeBeams have a chance of chilling or even freezing the player.
* {{Golem}}: One that's made of ice.
* AnIcePerson: Its attacks deal icy damage and can freeze the player.
* MightyGlacier: Moves slowly, but can deal a good amount of damage to the player via its EyeBeams and has a huge amount of health.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wyvern]]
The Wyvern sometimes appears in high altitudes in Hardmode. It is a long, white serpentine dragon that curves around similar to the Worm-type enemies, but through the sky. The Wyvern is the only enemy that drops Souls of Flight, which are needed to make most of the wings in the game.
----
* AchillesHeel: Each segment of their body is a separate hitbox so piercing weapons will absolutely shred their health in seconds.
* BossInMookClothing: It's a normal (if uncommon) enemy that can spawn without warning, comes packing more HP than most pre-Hardmode bosses, and hits like a truck. What really puts them in this category, however, is that it does not get detected by the Lifeform Analyzer, unlike most uncommon enemies.
* CallAPegasusAHippogriff / OurDragonsAreDifferent: Despite having the name of a variant of Western Dragon, the design of this one is more Eastern.
* EssenceDrop: Drop Souls of Flight when slain, which are used to craft many of the various wings in the game.
* {{Flight}}: Sky-bound serpentine dragons that easily fly through the air. Killing them nets you an EssenceDrop in the form of Souls of Flight, which are used to craft wings.
* LightningBruiser: Fast moving, lots of health, and very painful.
* NonIndicativeName: They resemble Eastern-style dragons rather than [[OurWyvernsAreDifferent the traditional depiction of wyverns]].
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The only ones in the game, not counting Arch-Wyverns in the Legacy Console version, and Betsy and the Stardust Dragon in 1.3 onward.
* SegmentedSerpent: While they don't look segmented, Wyverns are treated as having multiple body segments akin to worm-type enemies. Piercing weapons are your friend at high altitudes.
* SuperPersistentPredator: Ever try teleporting back home just to get away from these beasts in 1.2? Don't, because when you're least expecting it, they'll swoop out of nowhere from the sky to finish the job of killing you.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Slimes]]
All slimes behave the same: They hop to get around and all but a few drop slime gel upon death. They come in all different colors and sizes such as green, blue, red, purple, yellow, black slimes that inflict darkness (reduced light vision), [[AsteroidsMonster mother slimes and their baby slimes]], [[MetalSlime Pinky]], [[UndergroundMonkey Jungle Slimes]], Dungeon Slimes that drop keys instead of gel, Lava Slimes that turn into lava in Expert Mode, and [[KingMook The Slime King]]. In Hardmode, they are joined by the Toxic Sludge that can poison the player, [[AsteroidsMonster Corrupt slime and its slimelings]] that can also inflict darkness with a Shadow Slime variant in the Console version, the slimer that [[{{AirborneMook}} flies on bat wings]], and the glowing Illuminant slime that's found in the underground Hallow, above ground is the Rainbow Slime that can rarely spawn in rainstorms and drop rainbow bricks. The Crimson on the other hand will have Crimslimes that don't have the splitting or darkness inducing effect of Corrupted (or Shadow) slimes.
----
* BlobMonster: Naturally, given that they are gelatinous monsters.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: One can tell the power of the "basic" Slimes by their color. From weakest to strongest, they are Green, Blue, Red, Purple, Yellow, and Black, with Black Slimes sharing stats with Yellow Slimes but also dealing the Darkness debuff. Queen Slime's spawns are also color-coded, something their Bestiary entries take note of.
* TheGoomba: Slimes are generally the first enemy you'll encounter in Terraria. They're also some of the weakest and most numerous in the game.
* HolidayMode: Slimes can spawn in seasonal variants depending on the holiday, such as wearing bunny masks for Halloween, or wearing gift ribbons for Christmas.
* InformedAttribute: The gel they are made of is apparently rather tasty (particularly Pinky's, which is said to be "bouncy and sweet"), but it's impossible to eat it raw without crafting it into a potion.
* KingMook: The King and Queen Slimes are this to the Slimes in general. The King Slime can be seen as the King to the Blue Slimes specifically, while the Queen Slime's mooks are enemies unique to her fight.
* MetalSlime: Rainbow Slimes. They show up very rarely in the Hallow during rainstorms while you are close to pure land, and drop the sought-after Rainbow Bricks.
* MoneySpider: Jungle Slimes, pre-hard mode. Most other enemies drop maybe one silver coin if they're high tier and you get lucky, while Jungle Slimes drop four or five silver coins as standard, aren't particularly hard to kill, and [[ZergRush spawn in droves]].
* RareRandomDrop: The Slime Staff has a 0.01% chance of being dropped by most slime variants. Hours upon hours upon hours can be spent trying to get the staff.
* SpikeShooter: Spiked Blue Slimes, Spiked Jungle Slimes and Spiked Ice Slimes can fire spikes at the player. The latter two can poison and chill you respectively.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Darkness (reduced light vision) and poison. The lava slime originally counted for fire since they turned into lava when killed before a patch removed that trait, until it was added in again as an Expert Mode trait.
* TookALevelInBadass: The Green Slime in Expert Mode. It starts pretty weak, but in Hardmode its maximum life shoots up from 28 to 246 and its attack from 12 to 86. Once Plantera is defeated, its HP and attack go up to 338 and 118.

[[AC:Pinky]]
-->''The smallest slime ever recorded, their extreme cellular density makes them incredibly durable for their small size. They eat money.''
A rare overworld slime that is tiny and pink. It's hard to hit but, when killed, it will drop a single gold coin (worth 100 silver, or 10,000 copper) and some Pink Gel, useful for players starting out.
----
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: Pinky is more susceptible to knockback than just about any other enemy in the game, meaning that it often goes flying across the screen after a single hit. This also makes it harder to kill, since you often have to alternate between hitting it and running after it for another hit. Given the gels it drops is "bouncy and sweet", it can be chalked up to Pinky itself being much more...well, bouncy, compared to the common slime.
* GlacierWaif: Pinky may be the smallest slime of the game, but it's only second to King Slime in terms of health when it comes to all of the slimes available before hardmode and it drops dozens of Pink Gel in contrast to its size.
* MetalSlime: And an actual slime to boot. Slaying this tiny slime drops a single gold coin and some Pink Gel, but happens to have the highest health of any pre-hardmode slime. They are also rare and are extremely sensitive to knockback, the latter making it likely to send them flying off a cliff and despawning if fought wrecklessly underground.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zombies]]

Once night comes, slimes stop appearing, and zombies come instead. They're just like your standard zombie, being slow but coming in great numbers. They're especially dangerous during a blood moon, when they appear in greater numbers and gain the ability to open doors.
----
* EliteMooks: Blood Zombies are tougher, faster, and more powerful versions of the regular zombie that only spawn during a blood moon. Expert Mode also adds zombies wielding severed arms as weapons, letting them hit harder and from longer range than your average zombie.
* TheGoomba: While slightly tougher and more numerous than Slimes, Zombies are still as basic as enemies get.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: Some zombies in Expert Mode come wielding severed arms as weapons. Additionally, almost all zombie variants have a chance of dropping a Zombie Arm that can be equipped by the player.
* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: The basic zombies also have Raincoat and Eskimo variants which spawn in rain and snow biomes respectively.
* NightOfTheLivingMooks: Literally, since [[NocturnalMooks they only spawn at night]].
* PaletteSwap: Zombies have a very wide range of possible sprites. Interestingly, each variant of zombie actually has slightly different stats, and some have different drops as well.

[[AC:Doctor Bones]]

A zombie that spawns rarely in the jungle (both above and underground) during the night, wearing an archaeologist's hat, who drops it when killed. It's tougher than the regular zombie as well.
----
* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: Doctor Bones is dressed in archaeologist gear.
* MetalSlime: Tougher than the standard zombie and is a rare encounter in the Underground Jungle, but killing him gets you his hat.
* ShoutOut: Like the rest of the archaeologist's vanity set, to ''Franchise/IndianaJones''.

[[AC:The Groom]]

A zombie wearing a top hat that spawns during a blood moon, the top hat is also dropped upon death, like Dr. Bones, he also has higher HP than the regular zombie.
----
* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: Ever see a zombie in a wedding tuxedo?
* MetalSlime: He only appears during a blood moon, and even then, only rarely, and has much higher health than a regular zombie. He drops his hat when killed.
* ShoutOut: It may be a reference to the zombie groomsman in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead''.

[[AC:The Bride]]

A zombie wearing a wedding gown and veil that spawns during a blood moon. Like the Groom, she has much higher HP than your average zombie, and her clothing is dropped on death.
----
* BloodSplatteredWeddingDress: Attacks you in full wedding wear.
* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: In her case, it's a wedding dress.
* MetalSlime: She only appears during a blood moon, and even then, only rarely, and has much higher health than a regular zombie. She drops her veil and dress when killed.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Skeletons]]
You spend a lot of time battling skeletons in the game so here's a list of them: The first type of skeleton is found underground and drops hooks occasionally. Then, there's the undead miner and [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Tim]]. Skeletron is fought to get into the dungeon. Once you get to the dungeon, you find angry bones that come in their normal size, along with [[GiantMook big boned]] and [[MiniMook small boned]] sizes. Also present are dark casters and then the cursed skulls (which can curse the player, rendering them unable to use items). In the underworld, you will find the bone serpent. On hard mode, the player fights armored skeletons and their heavy variants underground that poses a threat of breaking their armor (halved defense for five minutes) and skeleton archers that shoot flaming arrows at the player. And, finally, there is Skeletron Prime.
----
* DemBones: A whole collection of them, no less!
* SniperRifle: Skeleton Snipers in the Hardmode dungeon after beating Plantera will use these. They hurt ''a lot'' and from a great distance too.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Cursed (unable to use items) from the flying cursed skulls, broken armor (halved defense for 5 minutes) from armored/heavy skeletons, and fire from skeleton archers.

[[AC:Undead Miner]]

A skeleton that appears underground, wearing a glowing mining helmet. When killed, it can drop bombs, a hook, or mining pants/shirt. They're easy to spot due to the glow of their helmets, and they can help illuminate undiscovered caverns.
----
* MetalSlime: Quite rare, and killing it is the only way to get the Bone Pickaxe and the Mining Armor.

[[AC:Tim]]

A skeleton sorcerer that can spawn underground. Like other casters, it will teleport around and fire projectiles until you kill it. When killed, Tim drops a wizard hat that can be used to increase magic damage or simply as a vanity item.
----
* MetalSlime: Appears very rarely, and killing him is the only way to get the Wizard Hat, as well as giving you the achievement.
* RobeAndWizardHat: Wears a wizard hat that drops on death, and complements the gem robes very well.
* ShoutOut: To ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.

[[AC:Rune Wizard]]

Appearing in the Hardmode Caverns, the Rune Wizard is an extremely rare enemy with one of the most powerful attacks in the game.
----
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Killing the Rune Wizard allows you to nick his robe and hat for your own use, although unlike with Tim’s hat they’re purely cosmetic in effect.
* GlassCannon: He can dish out some incredible pain, but he can't take a hit.
* TeleportSpam: Not to the extent of the dungeon mages, but he does warp around if you can't kill him quickly.

[[AC:Paladin]]

Appearing in the 1.2 Hardmode Dungeon, the Paladin is a heavily armored knight that throws giant hammers that pass through walls.
----
* AchillesHeel: Paladins cannot attack while they are being attacked. The problem is focusing them down while getting mobbed by a dozen other enemies.
* DropTheHammer: Which they [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throw at you]] to attack. They will sometimes drop from dead Paladins, and allow you to do the same thing.
* LightIsNotGood: It has really bright armor, and it starts not-so bright chaos.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: It carries a shield which can drop as a defensive accessory when the Paladin is defeated.
* MightyGlacier: With its very high offense, it can easily maim you in seconds while you struggle to kill it.
* SwordBeam: In the form of hammer projectiles.

[[/folder]]

!! Biomes

[[folder:The Corruption]]
-->''The Corruption is a cancer caused by the sins of those living in the worlds of Terraria. The vile actions and thoughts present in all beings feed the growth of the Corruption as it spreads relentlessly across each world. The Corruption knows nothing else but to consume everything it touches, leaving behind terrible creatures of hate that exist for the sole reason to cause pain in punishment for the unearned pleasure experienced by living things. After the Corruption restores balance to life, it destroys it with the goal of turning the world into a desolate abyss void of life.''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/corruption.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Making the world evil...]]
Once you start exploring the Corruption, there are various sickly looking enemies starting with the Eater of Souls: Small, flying enemies that swarm the player, along with [[{{GiantMook}} Big Eaters]] and [[{{MiniMook}} Little Eaters]], all three of which drop rotten chunks. There is also the Devourer [[{{SandWorm}} Worm]] that burrows through the ground, also dropping rotten chunks, along with worm teeth, used for unholy arrows. Then the king mook of the environment is the Eater of Worlds (see above in bosses). Bunnies and goldfish turn into corrupted versions of themselves during a blood moon. Once in hardmode, the aforementioned [[{{AsteroidsMonster}} Corrupt Slime and its slimelings]] spawn, along with the [[{{AirborneMook}} Slimer]]. Then there is the Corruptor, a flying enemy like the Eater of Souls but it can shoot vile spit that has a chance to weaken the player. If the Corruption spreads to a desert, dark mummies will spawn, which drop dark shards by chance. Deeper down underground, World Feeders start to spawn, looking like the [=EoW=] mentioned above, that drop cursed flames when killed. Cursed hammers also roam the caves, and charge their target, having a chance to curse the player (unable to use items). Finally, there's the Clinger that acts like a plant enemy such as the man-eater, but it can spew cursed fireballs, flames that cannot be put out, even by water, meaning they also drop cursed flames when killed.
----
* AirborneMook: Eaters of Souls, Corruptors, and Slimers. Cursed Hammers also appear to fly through the ground.
* AlienKudzu: Although not confirmed, there all too many subtle hints that the Corruption at first may have been of extraterrestrial origin (i.e: the connection to meteors and the Shadow Orbs that are meant to be destroyed in order for them to appear, the Band of Starpower that can be released from said Shadow Orbs, etc).
* TheCorruption: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Quite obviously]]. It spreads and corrupts the land, and its spread gets far faster in Hardmode.
* {{Cyclops}}: Many entities from the Corruption have a single eye, which seems to be a running theme with them.
* DarkIsEvil: It turns the landscape bleak and foreboding and turns the very rock black.
* EldritchLocation: This place compared to the land around it is unnatural. Weird, rotting monstrosities spawn out of deep chasms in the ground and it assimilates the land around it. All of that can tell you that all is not well in that land.
* EliteMook: Corruptors, considering that they can appear much more often than other Hardmode corrupted creatures and have that little bonus of spreading the corruption with their vile spit. Past 1.2 though, the corruption spreading bit has been taken out but they have a decent ranged attack and enough health to shrug off some attacks.
* EvilTaintedPlace: An evil, spreading biome that corrupts the land and turns critters into twisted, stronger versions of themselves.
* {{Foil}}: A rather obvious one to the Crimson: while both are eldritch (and possibly, truly extraterrestrial) AlienKudzu anomalies, the Corruption more represents inherent evil than the visceral horror of its counterpart and is somewhat more fantasy-like in nature, which becomes more apparent in Hardmode. Furthermore, while the Corruption wants to wipe all life out, the Crimson wants to assimilate life into itself.
* FlyingWeapon: [[DropTheHammer The Cursed Hammer]]; a flying cursed hammer, of course.
* GiantMook: Big Eaters, which are slightly stronger than the regular Eaters. World Feeders are this to Devourers.
* {{Hellfire}}: Clingers spit out cursed flames that cannot be put out by water.
* MiniMook: Little Eaters, which are slightly weaker than the regular Eaters.
* MadeOfEvil: Is explicitly said to be created by the sins of those living in the worlds of Terraria.
* OmnicidalManiac: Its true goal after restoring the balance of life is to then wipe it out and leave a lightless, lifeless world behind.
* PurpleIsTheNewBlack: While the Corruption's running theme is darkness and evil, its overall color scheme is purple. Ebonstone, for instance, carries a dark purple hue.
* ShoutOut: Possibly one to Literature/TheColourOutOfSpace.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Corrupt Slimes and Dark Mummies inflict Darkness, Clingers inflict Cursed Inferno (water cannot put it out), Corruptors inflict Weakness (reduced stats) and Cursed Hammers inflict Cursed (cannot use any weapons or consumables).
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: The Corruption zones that generate naturally in the world will have deep pits in the planet that lead into large tunnels, as if the planet itself has been scarred by its presence here.
* UnholyGround: An evil land filled with various eldritch monsters that spreads to the lands around it, ayup. It's so unholy that [=NPCs=] cannot live on it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Crimson]]
-->''The Crimson is a single emergent living being connected directly to each world, sharing a hive mind, and solely focused on restoring balance at all costs. Thousands of worlds before the one on which you stand now have been absorbed by this being. Many misguided people have made the horrific mistake of raising the Crimson to the level of a deity – conducting human sacrifices to it to placate the monstrosity or seek its favor. The Crimson gladly consumes these bodies, becoming one with them and producing terrifying beings, who lose the ability to feel and blindly follow the hive mind.''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crimson_4.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Making the world bloody...]]
The Crimson biome appears as an alternative to the regular Corruption, a land of rotting flesh and bodily fluids. Their lands instead resemble neuron pathways rather than the "impact craters" style of their counterparts. Their normal mode enemies include the Crimera, a floating cockroach-like expy of the Eater of Souls, Face Monsters which are basically faster and tougher zombies, Blood Crawler which are giant spiders which crawl long the walls to get you, and Blood Feeders which are monstrous fish. Hardmode enemies include the Crimslime, the Floaty Gross, the Herpling, and the Ichor Sticker.
----
* TheAssimilator: In the lore, it’s revealed that anybody who is sacrificed to the Crimson is consumed and transformed into one of its monstrous slaves.
* AirborneMook: Crimeras are the Crimson's equivalent of the Eaters of Souls and fly in a similar manner to them. Ichor Stickers and Crimson Axes are also capable of flight.
* AlienBlood: Ichor, the elemental counterpart to the Corruption's Cursed Flames, is consistently portrayed as both the Greek mythology (blood of gods and / or immortals, deadly to mortals) and the bodily fluid (i.e: pus) versions of its namesake.
* AlienKudzu: Possibly, just like the Corruption (if the connection to Cthulhu with the Brain of Cthulhu and by extension, the Moon Lord, was any indication).
* AnimalisticAbomination: Blood Crawler and Blood Jellies.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The Blood Crawler drops vertebrae despite being based on an invertebrate. Could be a way to show the eldritch nature of the Crimson that goes against nature itself, and the lore states that they might have been once human before being assimilated.
* TheCorruption: Similar to the Corruption, it spreads and corrupts the land, and its spread gets far faster in Hardmode.
* BeatStillMyHeart: The Crimson Hearts in the underground crimson areas are giant disembodied hearts.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Blood Crawlers are basically huge ticks.
* BloodyHorror: The main theme of the Crimson is flesh and blood everywhere. Even the grass and trees are bloody. Fittingly enough, the world creation for a Crimson world is "Making the world bloody".
* BloodyMurder: The Ichor Sticker shoots ichor at you, described as the blood of gods.
* BodyHorror: Face Monsters. Floaty Gross as well, if it's [[{{Buffy Speak}} name]] is any indication; considering that it rather looks like a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Gardevoir]] made out of bodily fluids, one could say it's pretty spot-on...
* BossRoom: Each Crimson chasm leads down to a huge, spacious room, with multiple passageways leading from it to a Crimson Heart. This spacious room is a very useful place to retreat after smashing three Crimson Hearts and causing the Brain of Cthulhu to appear, since the huge amount of space will help with the fight.
* CameBackWrong: The Floaty Gross is classified as an Undead enemy, and it has come back alright, and very ''[[HumanoidAbomination very]]'' [[BodyHorror wrong.]]
* EldritchLocation: Like the Corruption. It's an otherworldly, unnatural place that turns the earth itself into flesh as it assimilates it, and spawns murderous, disgusting, BodyHorror-riddled [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations.]]
* {{Expy}}: The Crimera to the Eater of Souls, Crimslime to Corrupted Slime, the Ichor Sticker to the Corruptor and the Crimson Axe to the Cursed Hammer.
* EvilIsVisceral: An evil place with a flesh, blood and gore theme.
* EldritchAbomination: In the lore it’s revealed to be a sentient extraterrestrial entity that exists on (and has entirely consumed) multiple planets at once and possesses a HiveMind that follows a [[BlueAndOrangeMorality bizarre train of thought]], as it sees itself as restoring balance.
* EvilTaintedPlace: An alternative to the usual purple one.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Floaty Gross, as its Bestiary entry describes, is "floaty and gross".
* {{Foil}}: To the Corruption: while both are eldritch (and possibly, truly extraterrestrial) AlienKudzu anomalies, the Crimson more represents visceral horror than the inherent evil of its counterpart and is even more sci-fi in nature. Furthermore, while the Corruption wants to wipe all life out, the Crimson wants to assimilate life into itself.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: The Ichor Sticker is basically a flying squid.
* FlyingWeapon: [[AnAxeToGrind The Crimson Axe]]. A counterpart of the Cursed Hammer.
* GeniusLoci: With the lore, it’s revealed that it’s not only just alive, but a sentient, thinking entity as well, meaning anywhere it corrupts is automatically converted into one of these.
* HumanoidAbomination: Face Monsters and to a lesser degree Floaty Grosses.
* HiveMind: In the lore, anybody who is assimilated by the Crimson becomes a part of one.
* KnightTemplar: The Corruption is an extraterrestrial HiveMind that believes itself to be restoring balance to life... by assimilating all life it touches and turning them into visceral horrors.
* LovecraftianSuperpower: The Ichor Stickers wear this on their sleeve.
* MeatMoss: The ground and trees are covered with this in a Crimson biome, and Crimstone might be considered this as well.
* NightmareFace: There's a pretty good reason why the Face Monster is named that way.
* NoSell: Forget using Sunflowers to stop Pre-Hardmode Crimson, it will uproot them and take over the grass instead.
* OrderVersusChaos: Represents the Order to the Hallow's Chaos. It consumes living beings and forces them to follow the will of a single hive mind.
* ProphetEyes: Any Crimson creatures with visible eyes have them glazed over with a reddish tint.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The combination of black necrotic flesh and blood-covered tissue give it this look. Additionally, Crimtane bars and equipment are colored red and black.
* ThemeNaming: Many of the Crimson creatures and related items begin with "Crim".
* ShoutOut: How the trees in the background of Forests afflicted with Crimson are covered in intestines and overall the entire biome's red gore theme (and possible connection to an extraterrestrial lifeform) brings to mind the Red Weed from Literature/WarOfTheWorlds.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Ichor Stickers inflict Ichor ([[DamageIncreasingDebuff lowers defense considerably]]), while the Floaty Gross inflicts Weakness.
* VillainTeamUp: It formed an alliance with the Brain of Cthulhu; It provides the Brain with a place to rest, and the Brain defends the Crimson's hearts and helps it spread.
* WasOnceAMan: The lore states that several of the monsters were humans sacrificed to the Crimson, assimilated and transformed into horrors. This might explain why the Blood Crawler drops a vertebrae.
* WombLevel: It's definitely this. The entire biome has a "flesh" theme, and moreso underground where it and the cave systems leading to it resemble being inside of some giant, red abomination.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Hallow]]
-->''The Hallow, on the other hand, is of an entirely different nature. Within each world is a Guardian who serves as the worlds[sic] master and core. Once this creature is destroyed the world will release the Ancient Spirits of Light and Dark to expedite the process of finding a new Guardian. It is here when the Hallow is created and functions as an overcompensation of purity, taken to the absolute extreme. The Hallow cures threats that would attempt to violate the critical balance of life, killing anything in its path as though it were treating an infection – whether friend, foe, or neutral party. Ultimately, the Hallow serves to push back against the never-ceasing encroachment of control.''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hallow.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"We are living in a fairy tale."]]
Once hardmode is activated, the hallow will start spreading as a bright, colorful environment with pearlstone, teal-colored grass, and rainbow-colored trees. This is also a straight example of LightIsNotGood, meaning that the inhabitants aren't merciful, such as violent pixies that deal heavy amounts of damage, along with a chance to slow you or silence you (unable to cast spells). Pixies drop dust when killed. Unicorns also roam around the hallow, and will charge you at high speed. They drop unicorn horns for the purpose of holy arrows and such. At night, there are also gastropods that can slow the player on contact, fire lasers at you from as far as off-screen, and drop gel upon death, like slimes do. Hallowed deserts contain a light equivalent of the dark mummies that drop light shards. Underground, there's the aforementioned illuminant slime as well as an illuminant bat. Chaos elementals that TeleportSpam to attack and avoid the player are also found here. Contrasting the underground corruption, there are enchanted swords that also attack the player and curse them.
----
* BlobMonster: Gastropods, despite resembling jellyfish-snail hybrids, are actually slimes, as they drop gel and also become harmless when Royal Gel is equipped.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: Bright, cheerful and healthy for the environment...and filled with vicious fairytale creatures.
* TheFairFolk: Pixies are hostile towards the player, unlike [[FairyCompanion normal fairies]].
* FlyingWeapon: [[{{BFS}} The Enchanted Sword]]. Unrelated to the equipable sword of the same name (in fact it looks like a glowing Excalibur). It's also the Hallowed version of the Crimson Axe and Cursed Hammer.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Gastropods, if you consider them jellyfish.
* HeavenlyBlue: Hallowed grass becomes blue, and the Hallow in general is stated as having been overcome by the spirits of light. Additionally, there's also the Holy Water, a thrown weapon that spreads hallow upon impact. The Clentaminator solution for the Hallow is light blue. Underground the Hallow is instead more associated with pink, as that is the color of their torches, most of the Underground Hallow enemies, Hallowed ice, the backgrounds, and the Souls of Light.
* HolyIsNotSafe: Unless you enjoy getting gored repeatedly by unicorns and poked to death by hostile pixies, do ''not'' tread lightly on the Hallow.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: The only biome in the game safe from being corrupted on its own. It can still be corrupted manually via the Clentaminator.
* KnightTemplar: The 8th Anniversary lore describes the Hallow as order and purity [[PureIsNotGood taken to the extreme]], as it will indiscriminately destroy anything in its way to purify the world.
* LesserOfTwoEvils: Commonly interpreted as this, since unlike the Crimson/Corruption it does not render areas uninhabitable, never attempts to invade the jungle, and prevents them from spreading. Certain [=NPCs=] still believe it is bad -- the Dryad considers a completely pure world to be better than a world with Hallow, but no Corruption/Crimson, and the Witch Doctor believes it is evil outright.
* LightIsNotGood: Played painfully straight - despite the rainbows, pastel colors and flora-friendly atmosphere the biome is filled with creatures just as dangerous as the ones dwelling within the Corruption and Crimson. However, the Hallow does not force [=NPCs=] to move out unlike the Corruption and Crimson.
* LightningBruiser: Unicorns. Chaos Elementals, considering that they can take about as much in damage, move as fast as the player and also TeleportSpam to close the distance even faster.
* OrderVersusChaos: Represents the Chaos to the Crimson's Order. It's mentioned in the lore that it pushes back against the never-ceasing encroachment of control, attacking friend, foe, and neutral party alike.
* PureIsNotGood: the lore page describes it as "purity, taken to its utmost extreme". In game, it is nearly as deadly and contagious as the evil biomes, and can ruin a player's day just as thoroughly.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Pixies inflict slowness (along with the gastropod) and silence, enchanted swords inflict cursed, light mummies inflict confusion.
* TeleportSpam: Chaos Elementals teleport near the player and dash around. They have a small chance of dropping a Rod of Discord, which allows the user to teleport.
* {{Unicorn}}: One of the enemy types found in the Hallow. They're very deadly and fast, and can drop their horns.

[[/folder]]

!! Events
[[folder:The Torch God]]
-->''An unseen deity responsible for a torch's eternal flicker, however easily angered by the unsightly, ungrateful abuse of torch placement.''
An event that can be initiated by placing over 100 torches underground in close proximity at any point in the game's progression. The torches will shoot fireballs at the player while inflicting the Blackout debuff. Surviving the event gives a unique item that automatically converts torches based on what biome they are placed in.
----
* DisproportionateRetribution: He seems to believe that anyone who puts too many torches underground at once should die.
* {{Fireballs}}: What the torches will fire at you when the event starts. Each torch will fire once.
* TheGhost: The actual Torch God is not seen, he only attacks the player through the torches placed. His Bestiary entry just uses a single torch to represent him and says that he himself is unseen even in-universe.
* GuideDangIt: Nothing in the game tells the player how to begin the event or that it even exists, and the way to start it is not something usually done by accident unless it is part of an elaborate building project.
* HairTriggerTemper: The game itself says he is easily angered and he will try to kill players who put too many torches together.
* InterfaceScrew: The player's vision is reduced while the event is active. Since it's through the Blackout debuff rather than the Darkness debuff, the Blindfold and its upgrades cannot be used to combat this.
* OptionalBoss: Surviving the Torch God's challenge is completely optional and gives an item that helps with luck.
* AWizardDidIt: According to his Bestiary entry, he's the reason why Torches in the game never die out over time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Blood Moon]]
The Blood Moon has a 1 in 10 chance of occurring each night with a visible moon so long as a player with 120 health or more is in the world. Unlike other events, the Blood Moon incorporates biome specific monsters as well as their event specific monsters into the fray. In addition, certain harmless critters, such as rabbits and goldfish, turn hostile during the event, and will attack the player. Zombies and other monsters gain the ability to open doors, making them a much larger threat then they are usually.
----
* AnimalisticAbomination: While the Hemogoblin Shark and Wandering Eye Fish border on this, being grotesque, mutant hybrids of various creatures brought into being by the power of the Blood Moon, the Blood Eel and Dreadnautilus straight up cross into this territory, explicitly being called demons in the bestiary, with their supernatural abilities only serving as the icing on the cake.
* AirborneMook: Dripplers are weird flesh-and-blood abominations that slowly float towards the player and only appear during Blood Moons.
* BadMoonRising: A blood-red moon that summons horrifying-looking enemies, one after another.
* BodyHorror: Blood Zombies are overflowing with blood to the point where they look like walking piles of exposed flesh, while Driplers are an amalgamation of Demon Eyes fused into a bloody ball with [[EyesDoNotBelongThere eyes all over it]].
* JerkassBall: During this event, female [=NPCs=] become rude and irritable.
* KillerRabbit: Those cute goldfish, bunnies and penguins turn into evil biome-specific counterparts that are hostile to the player.
* NonHumanUndead: Zombie Mermen will occasionally appear as one of the hazards a fishing player faces while a Blood Moon is taking place.
* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: Possibly, as real-life blood moons are actually lunar eclipses.
* ZergRush: A few unique enemies aside, the Blood Moon's main effect is to massively increase the spawn rate of regular night or biome enemies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Slime Rain]]
The Slime Rain occurs once the player(s) have 140 life and 8 defense or it can occur before that with a lower chance in Expert Mode, at a ≈%10 chance per day pre-hardmode and a ≈%6 chance during hardmode. When it occurs, Slimes literally start falling from the sky even when enemies normally do not spawn such as being near [=NPCs=]. The event ends 24 (in-game) hours after it begins or when the player kills 150 slimes then it will summon the King Slime, after which the event ends when the King Slime is defeated. Subsequently, the chances of a Slime Rain occurring after defeating the King Slime are roughly halved and it only requires killing 75 slimes the next time a Slime Rain occurs.
----
* ItsRainingMen: The idea behind this event. The background even changes accordingly to feature this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Old One's Army]]
A special crossover event (from ''VideoGame/DungeonDefenders 2''). Triggered by placing an Eternia Crystal on an Eternia Crystal Stand, the objective is to protect the Eternia Crystal from waves of enemies seeking to destroy it. Unique in that the event's difficulty depends on when you trigger it: triggering it after defeating the Golem results in more waves of enemies (and the enemies themselves having better stats) than you'd get if you triggered it as soon as it's available. When triggered in its hardest version, the event ends with a fight against a "boss", Betsy.
----
* ActionBomb: Both Kobolds variants attack by blowing themselves up, among the only enemies in the game to do this.
* AirborneMook: Etherian Wyverns, Etherian Lightning Bugs and Kobold Gliders. Their ability to fly makes them dangerous enemies.
* BrutalBonusLevel: Fighting the Old One's Army is entirely optional for progress, although tackling them yields some nice loot from both the bosses and the Tavernkeep. However, with the sheer number of enemies and the various restrictions, you'll have to put in some serious work to get their exclusive items.
* DegradedBoss: The Dark Mage serves as the final boss of the easiest version, while the Ogre serves as the boss of the second version. On the final and hardest version, both of them show up as regular enemies.
* FireWaterJuxtaposition: Betsy (fire) and Duke Fishron (water). Betsy has an attack pattern very similar to Duke Fishron's, both alternating between charging, a blowing attack (a fire breath and several bubbles, respectively), and throwing projectiles (fireballs and sharknados, respectively). They're meant to be fought at roughly the same moment of the game (soon after defeating Golem), and accordingly they have the same health (although Betsy has lower damage and defense since it's part of an event, while Duke Fishron is a stand-alone boss).
* FluffyTheTerrible: The post-Golem boss of this event is a massive, fire-breathing dragon called... ''Betsy''. Yep.
* FlunkyBoss: The Dark Mage has the power to summon Old One's Skeletons.
* NoFairCheating: Trying to block enemies from the Crystal by placing walls in the way will only have them walk through the walls. Furthermore, you are unable to place blocks during the duration of the event to prevent cheesing it ([[LordBritishPostulate not that it stopped players from cheesing it anyway]], most notably by using actuators to get around the "no placing/removing blocks" rule).
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Betsy is the only enemy in the game based on a Western dragon (other dragon-like enemies like Wyverns or Phantasm Dragons resemble more Eastern dragons).
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: An interesting case. The enemies that appear during the event are all based on enemies from ''VideoGame/DungeonDefenders 2''. However, many of those enemies (namely skeletons, goblins, wyverns and lightning bugs) happened to share a name with creatures previously found in ''Terraria'', even though all of them are very different from the already-existing version (the normal lightning bug is even a ''critter''). To distinguish them, the new version has "Etherian" or "Old One's" in front of his name.
* OurOgresAreHungrier: Ogres appear as a mini-boss during this event.
* ShockwaveStomp: One of the Ogre's attacks.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Several of them. Lightning Bugs can reduce your damage while Wither Beasts can reduce your defense. Ogres throw you a snot ball that slows you while Betsy is able to burn you.
* TimeLimitBoss: Betsy's diving attacks ''will'' damage the Eternia Crystal, putting you on a timer to defeat her before she destroys it.
* TowerDefence: As expected from an event inspired by ''VideoGame/DungeonDefenders 2''.
* YouShallNotPass: Your goal in the game is to prevent hordes of mobs from taking out your crystals.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Goblin Army]]
Once the player has over 200 health and has destroyed either a Shadow Orb (if they are playing in a game world with Corruption) or a Crimson Heart (if the game world has Crimson), then the goblin army may invade at the start of a random day.
----
* AirborneMook: The Warlock can fly around to evade your attacks.
* BerserkButton: Apparently you can start a war with them using a flag made of tattered cloth. The Goblin Tinkerer mentions that they have quite the HairTriggerTemper.
* BossInMookClothing: The Goblin Warlock, who only appears in Hardmode, is much beefier than the rest of her army and summons homing projectiles on you.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves - weak but fast, and they can open doors faster than other goblin types.
* GlassCannon: Archers: they're not as fragile as the wizards, but they are made short work of if you get close to them.
* TheGoomba: Goblin Peons are the weakest and most expendable units, although they do have the ability to break down (not open like Blood Moon Zombies, ''break down'') doors.
* HitboxDissonance: Peons and Thieves have a smaller hitbox than their sprite, allowing them to squeeze through smaller areas.
* InformedAbility: The Goblin Thief doesn’t do any stealing despite his title (unless it’s expert or higher, and even then it’s nothing exceptional), coming off more as a quick-footed knife user than anything.
* LightningBruiser: The Goblin Warlock, despite using a combination of summoning and chaos magic to assault you with, is ''not'' a SquishyWizard, being able to fly around at astonishing speed, pack a punch against early hardmode players and possess a four-digit health bar, making her the toughest foe in the entire event.
* MightyGlacier: Goblin Warriors. They're big and slow and can take more hits than the Peons.
* NonIndicativeName: Parodied. The Goblin Warlock was once named the Goblin Summoner and it ''does'' use SummonMagic to spawn shadowflame apparitions to attack you, but since it never dropped any Summoner equipment, the devs changed its name.
-->'''1.4.4.6 devlog''': ''It has come to our attention that the Goblin Summoner does not, in fact, drop any Summoner items. This is an unacceptable discrepancy, so the Goblin Summoner has been demoted to Goblin Warlock.''
* SquishyWizard: Sorcerers, who are commonly offed with a single hit. Subverted with Summoners, who have much more health than the rest.
* TeleportSpam: Goblin Sorcerers move around by teleporting, allowing them to enter even your otherwise-safe airborne houses.
* ZergRush: A single goblin (aside from the Warlock) is barely a threat, but given that they come in an army, they can still pose a threat to weaker characters by weight of numbers.

[[AC:Goblin Scout]]

A semi-rare enemy that appears above 0 depth, during the day, around two-thirds away from the center of the map (the same area in which the King Slime can spawn). Scouts will not spawn on sand or in the corruption, nor will they appear among the other goblins during the goblin invasion.
----
* MetalSlime: Quite rare, only spawn on the outside of the map, and killing several of them is the only way to get the summoning item for the Goblin Army.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Frost Legion]]
The Frost Legion will invade if the player uses the Snow Globe that can be acquired from Present obtained during the Christmas. The enemies are various kind of snowman gangsters, and defeating them allows Santa Claus to move in.
----
* LongRangeFighter: Snow Ballas and Snowman Gangstas attack from distance, the former by [[SnowballFight throwing snowballs]], and the latter shooting targets down with tommy guns.
* TheMafia: They're a mafia made up of snowmen, with Snow Balla's bestiary description outright referring to him as a mafioso. They don't seem to do any mafiaing, though, instead simply murdering people left and right when summoned.
* PsychoKnifeNut: The aptly-named Mister Stabby is a maniacal snowman armed with a knife with which he seeks to stab anyone he gets his hands on.
* SnowballFight: Snow Ballas attack the player with snowballs. When snowballs land, they create a Snow Block on impact that ends up serving as an obstacle.
* {{Snowlems}}: The Frost Legion is an army of gangster snowmen.
* StealthPun: "Snowman" is a slang term for "gangster". [[DontExplainTheJoke And they all are snowman gangsters]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pirate Invasion]]
The pirate invasion can occur during Hardmode by a 6.22% chance at the start of any day or if the player uses a pirate map (dropped from enemies in the ocean) and approaches much like a goblin invasion. The force consists of Deckhands, Deadeyes, Corsairs, Crossbowers, Captains, Parrots, and the "boss", the Flying Dutchman.
----
* AirborneMook: Parrots are fast flying enemies that deal large amounts of damage if they hit you.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The Captains are the toughest to deal with out of all the types of pirates.
* BattleshipRaid: To defeat the Flying Dutchman, the player has to destroy all four cannons on its side.
* {{BFG}}: The Pirate Captain carries a gun with a huge cannon strapped to it that fires out ''very'' painful cannonballs.
* BossInMookClothing:
** Captains, which come with high HP, are immune to knockback (although constant DPS and DOT does keep them from attacking) and carry a rapid fire machine gun with a cannon strapped to it like an [[{{GrenadeLauncher}} M203]].
** The Flying Dutchman, a large flying pirate ship that rains cannonballs and drops pirate mooks into the fight. It has four high health cannons that must be taken down in order to be beaten.
* FlunkyBoss: The Flying Dutchman will drop various types of Pirates onto you, while also attacking with its cannons.
* GlassCannon: The Parrots have rather low health for Hardmode enemies, but they move fast and hit surprisingly hard.
* GhostPirate: Any Pirate Captain killed by the player will quickly come back for a second try as a Pirate’s Curse, a floating skeletal torso with an eyepatch and a cutlass. Thankfully, they stay dead after you kill them the second and final time.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: The Deckhands and Corsairs will attempt to charge the player, and while the Deadeye and Captain do use ranged weapons, they still attempt to move towards the player to deal collision damage. The female [[PirateGirl crossbower]] however stays in the back lines firing flaming arrows.
* TheJuggernaut: Pirate Captains are completely immune to any form of knockback, keep moving towards the player, and have huge amounts of health.
* LongRangeFighter: Crossbowers will stay a distance from the player and shoot ArrowsOnFire at them. Their ranged damage is far greater than their melee damage too.
* MightyGlacier: The Captains are immune to knockback and can both dish out and endure heavy damage. However, they are quite slow.
* MoneySpider: Pirates tend to drop [[GoldMakesEverythingShiny golden furniture]], most of which can be sold for quite a bit of money, in addition to quite a few coins. If you have a decent defense against them, fighting Pirate Invasions can be very lucrative in early Hardmode. They also have a very small chance of dropping money-based items like the Discount Card and Gold Ring.
* PirateGirl: The Crossbower is one of the few female humanoid enemies in the game.
* PirateParrot: The parrots, which appear alongside the pirates.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Unlike most other events, none of the pirates' attacks go through blocks. Many players exploit this by walling themselves off underneath a shallow lava pit and waiting out the invasion as the pirates wade into the lava and kill themselves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Solar Eclipse]]
After a Mechanical Boss has been defeated, there is a 4% chance that the entire day may be a Solar Eclipse, where monsters straight out of horror movies appear in droves to attack the player. It can also be summoned by using the Solar Tablet during the day. The monsters include Swamp Things, Vampires, Eyezor, Frankenstein, The Possessed, Fritz, and Creature from the Deep. Reapers and Mothron appear after all three Mechanical bosses are beaten, and Butchers, [=NailHead=], Deadly Spheres, Psycho and [=Dr. ManFly=] appear after Plantera is beaten.
----
* AirborneMook: Vampires can transform into bats to fly into you, while Mothron and Deadly Spheres are capable of flight all the time.
* ArmoredButFrail: Deadly Spheres. Their 350 health is fairly low for the point where they appear and is one of the lowest among Solar Eclipse enemies, but they also boast one of the highest defense ratings of any enemy in the game at a massive ''80''.
* BossInMookClothing:
** Mothron is counted as a normal enemy, but it has nearly boss-level health, a powerful dash attack, and can spawn eggs that hatch into smaller versions of itself.
** Nailhead is counted as a normal enemy but also has nearly boss-level health. Every time he is hit, nails will fly off his head to strike you.
* EyeBeams: Eyezor fires lasers from the huge singular eye on its face.
* MonsterMash: Loads of classical and horror movie monsters spawn during this event. Skeletons and Werewolves are absent, however, since the former only spawns underground and the latter appears on the night of a full moon, and this event takes place at "day" in the overworld.
* MothMenace: Mothron is the strongest enemy encountered during a Solar Eclipse.
* OriginalCharacter: Eyezor is the only enemy not based on an existing character.
* ShoutOut: Nearly all of the enemies are based on various horror movie monsters.
** Swamp Thing: ComicBook/SwampThing.
** Frankenstein: Literature/{{Frankenstein}}
** Fritz: [[Film/Frankenstein1931 Fritz]]
** The Possessed: [[Film/TheExorcist Posessed Regan]]
** Creature From The Deep: [[Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon Gillman]]
** Mothron: [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mothra]]
** Butcher: [[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre Leatherface]]
** Psycho: [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]]
** [=NailHead=]: [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Pinhead]]
** Deadly Spheres: [[Film/{{Phantasm}} Sentinel Spheres]]
** [=Dr. ManFly=]: [[Film/TheFly1986 Seth Brundle]]
* SpikeShooter: Nailhead shoots nails off from his head when he takes damage.
* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: It's in the name. A solar eclipse takes up the entire day, spawning monsters that will keep the player busy.
* WallCrawl: The Possessed can climb on background walls toward you. It's also immune to knockback while doing so, forcing you to try and wear down its health before it reaches you.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Martian Madness]]
When traveling around the map after Golem is defeated, one may spot a Martian Probe. If the player gets into its sensors, it will attempt to fly away, and if successful, the Martian Madness event will trigger. The force consists of Martian Walkers, Martian Drones, Martian Officers, Brain Scramblers, Gigazappers, Gray Grunts, Martian Engineers (and their spawned Tesla Turrets), Scutlix, Scutlix Gunners, Ray Gunners, and the boss, the Martian Saucer.
----
* ActionBomb: Martian Drones attempt to kamikaze on the player and explode. This explosion can hit through walls.
* AirborneMook: Martian Drones fly around and [[ActionBomb attempt to kamikaze the player]].
* AlienBlood: Their blood seems to be purple in colour, considering the color of the flesh on their gibs.
* AlienInvasion: The whole theme of the event is about Martians invading your world.
* AliensAreBastards: Their first instinct upon detecting life with the Martian Probes is to invade and start killing indiscriminately.
* AttackDrone: The Martian Drones. These do not have guns, and instead use a SuicideAttack to explode on the player.
* BattleshipRaid: In order to defeat the Martian Saucer, the player must destroy all of its missile launchers and laser turrets. Then, on Expert and Master difficulty, they can attack the main core.
* BossInMookClothing:
** The lightning-quick Martian Saucer. It has four high health cannons that provide it with a plethora of attacks such as BeamSpam and MacrossMissileMassacre, and a DeathRay it will use that deals huge damage. When those four cannons are destroyed... it becomes vulnerable, but will then ''repeatedly'' use the DeathRay attack. Thankfully, you can spare yourself from the beam by hiding underneath some blocks. The game even displays a "Martian Saucer has been defeated!" message when one is destroyed as it does for bosses, and the Saucer has its own trophy.
** Journey's End hit the Martian Saucer with several {{Nerf}}s: it doesn't have its speedy, DeathRay-spamming second phase on Normal, instead just dying once all its cannons are destroyed. It is also slower and spawns less frequently. However, its DeathRay now penetrates blocks.
* BossRush: It's not uncommon for a new Martian Saucer to show up as soon as you destroy one.
* BeamSpam: The entire event packs enemies carrying various Tesla Turrets and ray guns. You ''will'' be on the receiving end of this when enough of them show up. The Martian Saucer also has two laser machine-guns included in it's armament and will occasionally stop to rain a hail of painful energy bolts upon your position.
* DeflectorShields: The Martian Officer sports these, allowing him to take more damage than the normal martians. It also regenerates if taken down.
* EnergyWeapon: They're pretty big on these. The Martian Saucer is the most prominent user, but most of the regular Martians come with ray guns that can pelt you with energy bolts.
* FlyingSaucer: The Martian Saucer. It can drop a Cosmic Car Key, which allows you to ride your own.
* TheGreys: The martians are based off these.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Scutlix Gunners ride Scutlixes, which appear to be some kind of fast-moving slug-like alien creature. You can get the Brain Scrambler RareRandomDrop to summon a Scutlix Mount if you kill the gunner on top first.
* KaizoTrap: When the Martian Saucer explodes, it launches bits of scrap that can still deal contact damage.
* LittleGreenMen: Ray Gunners, Scutlix Gunners, and Brain Scramblers appear to look like green-coloured [[TheGreys greys]].
* MacrossMissileMassacre: The Martian Saucer possesses two missile launchers on it's sides, and will use them to let loose a sizeable volley of homing missiles upon your position.
* MindRape: The Brain Scrambler, as its name suggests. Its ray gun fires lasers that can inflict the Confused status.
* MookMaker: The Martian Engineer spawns Tesla Turrets that will fire at you.
* OutsideGenreFoe: Most of Terraria is mainly fantasy with a few SchizoTech guns and machines thrown in. Then the Martians with their highly advanced technology show up.
* SequentialBoss: In Expert Mode, he Martian Saucer requires you to destroy its two turrets and two missile launchers, before the main body becomes vulnerable to damage and constantly uses its laser attack.
* ShockAndAwe: The Gigazappers and the Tesla Turrets deployed by Martian Engineers. Both can even cause an "electrified" debuff that deals constant damage, more so if you're moving. The Martian Saucer can drop the Electrosphere Launcher.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Tesla Turrets and Gigazappers can inflict the Electrified debuff, which acts like poison but deals even greater damage if the player moves. Brain Scramblers inflict the Confused debuff that reverses your controls.
* TripodTerror: The Martian Walkers.
* TheTurretMaster: Martian Engineers can spawn Tesla Turrets which attack you.
* WaveMotionGun: The Martian Saucer has one of these.
* WeaksauceWeakness:
** Prior to the Journey's End update, the Martian Saucer had no attacks which could pass through blocks. A simple box thick enough to block splash damage from the missiles would render it harmless, provided you leave a hole for something to shoot through or something that shoots through blocks.
** Most of the martians and their attacks are incapable of going through blocks, meaning that walling yourself in and using a strong piercing weapon like the Death Sickle can be a viable strategy.

[[AC:Martian Probe]]

A semi-rare enemy that appears above 0 depth, around two-thirds away from the center of the map (the same area in which the King Slime can spawn) with a higher spawn chance in space. It projects a short ranged sensor light below, and if the player touches the light, it will attempt to flee. If successful, it will cause the Martian Madness event to occur.
----
* AirborneMook: A flying space probe that can appear in space.
* ArmyScout: Scouting probes of the Martian Army with pathetically low collision damage and decent HP. Their main purpose is to detect you to see if the place is suitable to invade.
* MetalSlime: Quite rare, only spawn on the outside of the map, with a better spawn chance if in space. Unlike most Metal Slimes, you ''want'' them to get away if you want the Martian Madness event to occur.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Pumpkin Moon]]
By crafting a Pumpkin Moon Medallion and using it at night, the player can summon the Pumpkin Moon. The Pumpkin Moon is similar to the Goblin and Pirate invasions, but it also has some special mechanics of its own. The invasion will progress in waves, each one featuring progressively harder batches of enemies to fight. The player can encounter Scarecrows, Splinterlings, {{Hell Hound}}s, Poltergeists, and [[HeadlessHorseman Headless Horsemen]]. Killing enough enemies will allow the player to move on to the next wave until they reach wave 15, the final wave. Another key difference from the other invasion events is that starting with wave 4, boss-like enemies will emerge. In this case, they are Mourning Wood and Pumpking.
----
* BossInMookClothing: The Headless Horseman is halfway between the mooks and the bosses, boasting a huge health pool (more than Mothron and slightly less than Mourning Wood), extremely high contact damage, and [[ContractualBossImmunity immunity to all debuffs]]. It's still counted as a normal enemy, possibly because unlike the minibosses it has no unique attack patterns besides trying to run the player over for contact damage.
* OptionalBoss: Both minibosses, as the Pumpkin Moon is not at all required for beating the final boss and both of the minibosses are fairly difficult. Unlike the Goblin Summoner, Flying Dutchman, Mothron, or Martian Saucer, fighting the Pumpkin Moon's bosses is ''entirely'' by player choice, so they won't even fight them with bad luck regarding invasions. Note that their items ''are'' needed if you want to craft a select few other items, notably the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Zenith]].
* ScaryScarecrows: The first Mook to show up. A-list CannonFodder compared to the other monsters.
* WeaksauceWeakness: The Pumpkin Moon has no airborne enemies aside from Pumpking, and none of the non-boss enemies have projectile attacks. Staying off the ground can render most enemies harmless.
* WhenTreesAttack: The Splinterlings, which are garden-variety {{Mooks}}, and Mourning Wood, which is... not.
* ZergRush: The basic premise of the first few waves, before the Mourning Wood appears. After Wave 15, you can end up being zerged [[BossRush by the bosses]].

[[AC:Mourning Wood]]

An animated dead tree that first appears on Wave 4 of the Pumpkin Moon.
----
* FlechetteStorm: Sprays out loads of burning spikes and splinters.
* KingMook: To the Splinterlings.
* MiniBoss: Quite a powerful {{Mook}}, but not too hard to defeat.
* PlayingWithFire: Spits flaming pieces of wood at you to attack.
* PunnyName: On "morning wood," [[DoubleEntendre a term for nighttime erections.]]
* TimeLimitBoss: Mourning Wood will attempt to flee at dawn, when the Pumpkin Moon ends. However, it's slow enough that you can still easily finish it off before that happens.
* WhenTreesAttack: A dead, burning tree that tries to kill you.

[[AC:Pumpking]]

A cloaked figure with vines that end in scythes for arms, and a pumpkin for a head. He appears on Wave 7 of the Pumpkin Moon and is considered to be the boss of the event.
----
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The Pumpkin Moon's final adversary, and the most powerful.
* BadassCape: He doesn't seem to have a body under it, but he wears a nice black cape anyway.
* CallBack: Has some similarities to Skeletron, in that it is a floating body that attacks using two disembodied arms. However, Pumpking has some nasty tricks of its own, like firing large scythe-shaped projectiles at the player.
* SinisterScythe: Has two for arms.
* PlayingWithFire: Can conjure flaming scythes and also spit embers at you.
* PowerFloats: Constantly floats around the area, making it somewhat annoying to hit him.
* TimeLimitBoss: When dawn breaks and the Pumpkin Moon ends, Pumpking will vanish immediately.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Frost Moon]]
The Frost Moon works similarly to the Pumpkin Moon, but features even more difficult enemies to deal with. Crafting and using the Naughty Present will make the player the target of an invasion by nightmarish Christmas-themed enemies: living Gingerbread men, Zombie Elves, Elf Archers, Nutcrackers, Yetis, Elf Copters and multiple [[TheKrampus Krampus]]. The Frost Moon also has three "boss" monsters with the Everscream, Santa-[=NK1=] and the Ice Queen.
----
* NintendoHard: The Lunar Events aside, this is ''the'' toughest event in the game yet. It takes immense amounts of preparation to get to the final wave of this event and survive.
* NonHumanUndead: Zombie Elves.
* OptionalBoss: Like the Pumpkin Moon minibosses, all of the Frost Moon minibosses are totally optional to defeat. Unlike the Pumpkin Moon, ''none'' of their drops are used in any crafting recipes, all of them being standalone items.
* ZergRush: The basic premise of the first few waves, before Everscream appears.

[[AC:Everscream]]

An animated Christmas tree that first appears on Wave 4 of the Frost Moon.
----
* FlechetteStorm: Shoots out a flurry of razor-sharp pine needles.
* MiniBoss: Has less health than a boss-level enemy, but still a very formidable foe.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Can also fire out exploding Christmas ornaments.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Is pretty much a Christmas-themed version of Mourning Wood. However, its attacks can't pass through blocks.
* WhenTreesAttack: A Christmas tree that tries to kill you.

[[AC:Santa-[=NK1=]]]

A tank-like mecha with the appearance of SantaClaus carrying a Gatling gun and a rocket launcher. It appears on Wave 7 of the Frost Moon.
----
* BackpackCannon: It's used to fire presents that rain down on you.
* BadassSanta: Like the other boss enemies in this event, he won't disappoint in terms of asskicking when he shows up.
* BadSanta: While Santa himself is not evil in ''Terraria'', Santa-[=NK1=] is a Santa-faced tank that tries to blast the player into bloody chunks with machine guns, rockets, and explosive presents.
* DeathFromAbove: Can make it rain down explosive presents on you.
* GatlingGood: Carries an arm mounted Gatling gun, which he will fire upon you with sometimes.
* GlowingMechanicalEyes: Its eyes glow with menacing yellow light.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: It has one of the highest defense ratings in the game.
* KillerRobot: It's a Santa-based robot that attempts to massacre you with a huge arsenal.
* MacrossMissileMassacre: Carries a rapid missile launcher. Unlike the machine gun, the rockets can penetrate blocks.
* MiniBoss: Has less health than a boss-level enemy, but still a very formidable foe.
* MoreDakka: Carries a gatling gun. Can drop the chain gun which is ''faster''
* SkullForAHead: Damage it enough and its face is revealed to be similar to that of Skeletron Prime.
* TankTreadMecha: Like its namesake hints, it's a robot Santa with tank treads instead of feet.

[[AC:Ice Queen]]

A large, floating feminine figure that appears to be made of ice. She appears on Wave 11 on the Frost Moon and is considered to be the boss of the event.
----

* HornyDevils: Mentioned above, she's naked and fairly attractive. Until she turns that is...

* BlowGun: His WeaponOfChoice.

* TheOmniscient: He's suspiciously knowledgeable on game mechanics. Some of his advice like using tools to break things or going to certain areas when the player is strong enough are obvious enough. Others, like "search the haunted dungeon where people are killed on sight for any prisoners" or how he seems to know about the Wizard's presence[[labelnote:*]]Unlike other [=NPCs=], who appear when they have a relevant condition fulfilled -- like obtaining money for the Merchant, guns for the Arms Dealer, etc. -- the Wizard spawns only in Hardmode, rather than if one player has a sufficient amount of mana[[/labelnote]] would take some rather wide stretches of logic to come to the conclusion of. At times, his surprisingly specific dialogue can read like a snippet from a Website/GameFAQs guide.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead: She mentions she used to have dark brown hair in one conversation; it's now a fox-like bright orange.

* NonIndicativeName: Parodied. The Goblin Summoner ''does'' use SummonMagic to spawn shadowflame apparitions to attack you, but since they never dropped any Summoner equipment, the devs changed its name to Goblin Warlock.

-->''It has come to our attention that the Goblin Summoner does not, in fact, drop any Summoner items. This is an unacceptable discrepancy, so the Goblin Summoner has been demoted to Goblin Warlock.

%%* TeleportSpam: Sorcerers, and the Goblin Summoner.

* AirborneMook: The Summoner can fly around to evade your attacks.

* BossInMookClothing: The Goblin Summoner, who only appears in Hardmode, is much beefier than the rest of her army and summons homing projectiles on you.

* LightningBruiser: The Goblin Summoner, despite using a combination of summoning and chaos magic to assault you with, is ''not'' a SquishyWizard, being able to fly around at astonishing speed, pack a punch against early hardmode players and possess a four-digit health bar, making her the toughest foe in the entire event.

* ZergRush: A single goblin (aside from the Summoner) is barely a threat, but given that they come in an army, they can still pose a threat to weaker characters by weight of numbers.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: For the player, anyway. His defense drops when his head is spinning.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Constantly in this state.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Unlike Skeletron, Prime benefits from spinning as its defense actually ''increases'' instead of decreasing when it does so.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Can spin around to fire out a huge storm of shards.

* Kappa: Shimmering him turns him into one.

* FountainOfYouth: Shimmering him makes him appear much younger, gaining blonde hair and losing his facial hair. However, when Shimmered as the Old Man he keeps his beard and is still referred to as the "Old Man", implying that he just becomes [[YoungerThanTheyLook younger than he looks]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0001_guide.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0002_merchant_7.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0003_nurse.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0004_demolitionist.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0005_dye_trader.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0008_dryad.png]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: She becomes a playable character in ''[[VideoGame/DungeonDefenders Dungeon Defenders 2]]''.

** Another reference is one of her possibles names being [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic "Celestia"]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0011_arms_dealer.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0012_tavernkeep.png]]

** "Moon Lord, don't you mean Abyss Lord?"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A reference to the Abyss Lord from ''Dungeon Defenders 2''; both the Abyss Lord and the Moon Lord are [[{{Expy}} expies]] of [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0006_angler.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0013_stylist.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0014_goblin_tinkerer.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0015_witch_doctor.png]]

* BackFromTheDead: Summoning Skeletron undoubtably kills him, as the process of Skeletron emerging tears him apart from the inside out, but [[UnexplainedRecovery he appears later perfectly fine]] and with only very vague hints as to how he came back.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0017_mechanic.png]]

* InterspeciesRomance: She's a human, has a crush on the Goblin Tinkerer, and she loves having him as a neighbour.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0018_party_girl.png]]

* ShoutOut: She basically ''is'' [[{{WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic}} Pinkie Pie]]. She has blue eyes, dark pink hair with a distinctive curled lock, a love for parties, and so on. Two of her possible names are "[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Sparkle]]" and "[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed Trixy]]".

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0019_wizard.png]]

* MagicLibrarian: He sells magic spellbooks you need for crafting.
* ShoutOut: "Someone once told me '[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic friendship is magic]]'. That's ridiculous, you can't turn people into frogs with friendship!"

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0020_tax_collector.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0021_truffle.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0022_pirate.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0023_steampunker_4.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0024_cyborg.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0007_zoologist.png]]

Showing up after the current world's beastiary has been filled to at least 10%, the Zoologist provides buyable rewards in the form of pets, animal-themed cosmetics and weapons depending on the moon phase and how much of the beastiary that has been filled. She prefers living in the Forest biome, and likes living with the Golfer and the Witch Doctor, but hates the Desert, and does not like living with the Angler and the Arms Dealer. Implied to be the Golfer's sister.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0010_golfer.png]]

-->''The Golfer is a wise, middle-aged man who sells all sorts of golfing equipment. He's got game and know's how to score.''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0025_santa_claus.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0026_travelling_merchant.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/npc_0028_skeleton_merchant.png]]

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Unlike other skeletons, the Skeleton Merchant doesn't show any hostility to the player. All he wants is to sell his stuff.
* SnakeOilSalesman: Referenced in one of his quotes

* FinalBoss: Confirmed to be as such by the (console version's) [[WordOfGod developers.]]

%%* HospitalHottie

* CartesianKarma: He's hated as a neighbour by the Mechanic because he threw her into the Dungeon while he was cursed and brainwashed.

* GreaterScopeVillain: The 8th Anniversary Lore has him as the main antagonist that threatened Terraria long ago but has long since been sealed away.

* NiceHat: Wears a blue hat with a feather in it, which he sometimes drops when killed.

* NiceHat: Wears a large black hat.

** One has a [[NiceHat Pirate captains hat]].

* NiceHat: Sports a nifty top hat that you can claim for yourself when you kill him.

* NiceHat: Wears a wizard hat that drops on death, and complements the gem robes very well.

* NiceHat: You get his hat and robe if you kill him.

* NiceHat: Both Snowman Gangsta and Snow Balla wear bowler hats, which befits their gangster style.

* NiceHat: A deep purple turban that matches the front of his robes.