History DemBones / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Dean is aware of the trope -- when he investigates a plane crash and sees the charred skeletal remains of the crew he cries out "Brock! I think I figured out why the plane crashed -- there were ''SKELETONS'' driving it!"

* ''WesternAnimation/OlliversAdventures'': In the episode "Warpo General Hospital", when Ollie is sent there for getting stuck in a funny face, he meets the resident doctor, who's a living skeleton. He seems to have no idea what Ollie's problem is, and does treatments on him that make no sense. Plus, he regularly falls apart. [[spoiler:Ollie discovers he has a calcium deficiency, which is the source of his current state. He fixes him up by having him drink a mixture of carrots (to improve his eyesight) and milk (to strengthen his bones).]]
* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': The residents of [[spoiler:Pottsfield]] once they make TheReveal. [[spoiler:They're all dressed up in pumpkins and straw when Wert and Greg meet them, but at the end of the episode, we see a skeleton rise out of a freshly-dug grave and dress up like all the others.]]

%%* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': The residents of [[spoiler:Pottsfield]] once they make TheReveal.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': [[TheGrimReaper Grim]] is like this under his robes (which leads to a ''lot'' of humorous situations). More than once, the other two protagonists, Billy and Mandy, have taken him apart in order to carry him in a backpack or other small container.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has [[GhostPirate Black John Licorice]], a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]". Thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew Black John and his crew]] chopped down and stole, a curse was placed on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison, and is kidnapped by them as a result, [[EnemyMine forcing Numbuh Five to join forces with Stickybeard to find him]]. Black John is described to be a more vicious candy pirate who'd "do anything for candy, even steal it from his mom". [[VillainSong The song]] [[PirateSong Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Black John Licorice, a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]". Thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew Black John and his crew]] chopped down and stole, a curse was placed on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison, and is kidnapped by them as a result, [[EnemyMine forcing Numbuh Five to join forces with Stickybeard to find him]]. Black John is described to be a more vicious candy pirate who'd "do anything for candy, even steal it from his mom". [[VillainSong The song]] [[PirateSong Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': [[TheGrimReaper Grim]] is like this under his robes (which leads to a ''lot'' of humorous situations). More than once, the other two protagonists take him apart in order to carry him in a backpack or other small container.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'', a magic ring allows its wielder to animate and control an army of skeletons. The ring passes through several hands before Puss in Boots decides the Skeletons are nice, and [[FreeingTheGenie Frees the Genie]], in a sense, by giving the ring to the skeletons and inviting them to live in San Lorenzo.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' featured a big bad with skeleton minions. Aladdin and crew pulled off the standard "knock the minions together" knockout, only for the skeletons to [[PullingThemselvesTogether pull themselves]] [[InvincibleMinorMinion back together]] into ''new shapes''. Two got [[GrievousHarmWithABody smashed together]] to form a centaur with four arms and two heads.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' there was Mr. Skullhead; usually he appeared in the "Good Idea, Bad Idea" segments, but sometimes appeared in others, including a musical skit which was a {{Homage}} to the song that's the {{Trope Namer|s}}. Before that he was born doing skits for ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''; the skull is inspired by Elmyra's skull on her headband.

* A recurring character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' is Jacques, a skeleton with a French accent who wears a beret and is mildly obsessed with building his muscles... of which he of course has none.

* One of Youngblood's minions in the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episode "Pirate Radio". Also, one of the ghosts Vlad sent after Danny in "Kindred Spirits" looked like a BedsheetGhost; but in reality, the bedsheet was covering one of these, albeit with black bones. Not to mention Pariah Dark's army which is composed of skeleton warriors.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' animated series, when the children confront Venger in the Dragons' Graveyard, he summons draconian skeletons to attack them. There's also Dekion, the skeletal Celestial Knight {{curse}}d due to his cowardice.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', TheGrimReaper is this underneath his robes. In one episode we see him in normal person clothes.
* Ben Bones, the protagonist of the Canadian animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{Freaktown}}''. He's also able to disassemble himself if needed.
* ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' villain Scared Stiff is an odd robotic version of this. There's also the company phone, Ansa-Bone.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': several of the ghosts they face are walking skeletons including; the Scottish soldiers in "Bustman's Holiday", the Pirates in "Sea Fright", the train passengers in "Knock, Knock" and some [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment dancing and singing skeletons]] in "The Haunting of Heck House".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' episode "The Phantom Brigade" a skeleton rises up from the floor to threaten Cobra Commander into giving up control of three spirits. The Commander is reasonably freaked out and even the Joes who walk in on the scene can't believe what they're seeing.
* [[TheGrimReaper Grim]] is like this under his robes in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' (which leads to a ''lot'' of humorous situations). More than once, the other two protagonists have been known to take him apart in order to carry him in a backpack or other small container.
* ''Dingbat and the Creeps'' which played in ''WesternAnimation/HeathcliffAndTheCatillacCats'' had Sparerib, a broad skeleton that could arrange himself into several configurations, like a floor lamp in the opening.

* The BackFromTheDead version of Auntie in ''WesternAnimation/NotWithoutMyHandbag'' is a skeleton with a dress and hairdo.

* The residents of [[spoiler:Pottsfield]] in ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'' once they make TheReveal.
* Skull Boy of ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom''. He's also [[BoyMeetsGhoul the main characters's love interest.]] There's also a band called the Skeletunes, which Skullboy sometimes hangs out with.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited'' version of [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]] has a very skeletal appearance.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' had Mr. Krabs battling an army of living fish skeletons in a cemetery [[ItMakesSenseInContext to reclaim a "#1 Fan!" soda-drinking hat SpongeBob had buried]]. His weapon happened to be the skull of a swordfish.
* One of the baddies in ''WesternAnimation/SuperTed'' is a skeleton accidentally awakened by Texas Pete who comes along for the ride.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' -- Dean is aware of the trope -- when he investigates a plane crash and sees the charred skeletal remains of the crew he cries out "Brock! I think I figured out why the plane crashed -- there were ''SKELETONS'' driving it!"
* Lord Hater of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' is a skeletal being, though he may just be alien rather than undead.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Black John Licorice, a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]", thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew he and his crew]] chopped down and stole, placing a curse on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison, and is kidnapped by them as a result, [[EnemyMine forcing Numbuh Five to join forces with Stickybeard to find him]]. Black John is described to be a more vicious candy pirate who'd "do anything for candy, even steal it from his mom". [[VillainSong The song]] [[PirateSong Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Black John Licorice, a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]", thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew he and his crew]] chopped down and stole, placing a curse on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison, and is kidnapped by them as a result, forcing [[EnemyMine Numbuh Five to join forces with Stickybeard to find him]]. Black John is described to be a more vicious candy pirate who'd "do anything for candy, even steal it from his mom". [[VillainSong The song]] [[PirateSong Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Black John Licorice, a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]", thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew he and his crew]] chopped down and stole, placing a curse on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison. Black John is described to be a more vicious candy pirate who'd "do anything for candy, even steal it from his mom". [[VillainSong The song]] [[EnemyMine Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Black John Licorice, a [[EvilVsEvil rival]] [[SweetTooth candy pirate]] of [[CaptainColorbeard Stickybeard's]] and a one-time villain appearing in the episode "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E12AOperationLICORICE Operation L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.]]", thanks to a cursed licorice tree [[SkeletonCrew he and his crew]] chopped down and stole, placing a curse on them that turned them into black licorice skeletons that only come alive at dusk, [[WeakenedByTheLight then are reduced to piles of licorice bones at dawn until they come alive at dusk again]], unless they could replant a Red Stalk Seed on the very island where they once destroyed the red licorice stalk forest in order to become human again, which Heinrich Von Marzipan accidentally ate during his time at the Kids Next Door prison. [[VillainSong The song]] [[EnemyMine Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about Black John and his crew]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].