History Main / BallisticBone

A subtrope of AbnormalAmmo. Compare BadWithTheBone, ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks, and ImprovisedWeapon.

* In TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', the Tomb Kings army has access to Screaming Skull Catapults (affectionately terms "Skull Chuckers" until around the turn of the millennium) - large trebuchets made from the bones of desert animals that fire flaming skulls at the foe. In the large-scale Warmaster spin-off game they also have Bone Throwers - gigantic bolt throwers of similar manufacture whose ammunition is the sharpened femur-bones of giants.

-->-- '''Creator/{{Egoraptor}}''', commenting on the bone throwing skeletons, ''WebVideo/{{Sequelitis}} - VideoGame/CastlevaniaI vs. VideoGame/{{Castlevania II|SimonsQuest}}''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]

* The more advanced skeleton enemies of ''VideoGame/{{La-Mulana}}'' can throw these.

* A certain tribe of Pacific Islanders uses arrow points made out of human bones. Preferably coming from a ''relative'', mind.
** Shark tooth arrows are far more common and reliable in Oceania and South America. After all, they don't need additional sharpening.

* This is one of the reasons cannonballs were effective. If a cannonball hit somebody dead center in the chest, their torso would pretty much explode, and bits of their ribs and other bones would fly out as shrapnel, killing or injuring nearby soldiers..

* In ''TheSimpsons: Virtual Bart'', the cavewoman version of Marge throws bone hairpieces. A nameless baby also throws bones, [[WhatTheHellHero until you kill him]].

-->-- '''Creator/{{Egoraptor}}''', commenting on the bone throwing skeletons, ''WebVideo/{{Sequelitis}} - VideoGame/{{Castlevania|I}} 1 vs. VideoGame/{{Castlevania|IISimonsQuest}} 2''

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'':

* In the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', the BigBad, [[spoiler:''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' Flood]] morph [[MassEffect krogan]] specifically to do this when they die, and the batarians gain bone-shooting ''eye sockets'' which also carry the infectious agent to their targets.

[[folder:Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop RPG ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* [[DemBones Dry Bones]] from the ''[[SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' series do this in some games since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', most notably in the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series. ''You'' can do this with the Bone sticker in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar''!

* ''EternalDaughter'' skeletons.
* ''BattleForWesnoth'''s advanced skeleton archers shoot arrows made of their victims' bones.
* ''HydraCastleLabyrinth'' skeletons.

* In ''{{Baroque}}'', you can find many items; bones that you can throw is one of them.

* The skeletons in ''Nitemare3D'', presumably.

* The Flamerus Rex boss in ''FinalFantasyMysticQuest'' has a bone missile attack.
* Bone arrows are one way to get into the Shivering Isles in the eponymous ''ElderScrollsIV'' expansion.

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* [[SCPFoundation SCP-154]] is a pair of bracelets that creates an EnergyBow that uses the bones of the arm holding it as the arrows. The bones [[HealingFactor regenerate]] instantly, however multiple uses can cause [[BodyHorror mutations of varying severity]].

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* Ultimate Humongosaur from ''Ben10UltimateAlien'' uses its knuckle bones as machine gun rounds.

[[folder: Real life ]]

* ''ShinkyokuSoukaiPolyphonica'': [[spoiler:In ''Inspector Black'', Managa and Matia figure out that the book's victim was killed by a bullet made of bone. Skull bone, to be exact, to blend in with the resulting fragments from the headshot. And the perpetrator, after spilling his secret in a bar, is nailed by the scar on his scalp where the bone was harvested.]] Pretty ingenious, actually.

* In the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', the BigBad, [[spoiler:''{{Halo}}'' Flood]] morph [[MassEffect krogan]] specifically to do this when they die, and the batarians gain bone-shooting ''eye sockets'' which also carry the infectious agent to their targets.

* ''FateZero'' has a literal case of this. Emiya Kiritsugu put pieces of bone extracted from his body into high-caliber bullets, turning them into a {{Counterspell}}.

* In ''Film/The Bullet Vanishes / The Phantom Bullet'', People keep dying from what seem to be normal gunshot wounds, yet as per the title the bullet is nowhere to be found. The superstitious factory employees think it is a curse [[spoiler: The factory owner in collusion with a number of others were using shattering bullets machined from bone, initially they were unable to find the bullet due to it being 1930s Shanghai where forensics were not as well developed .]]

* ''Series/MythBusters'' tested teeth and bone bullets[[note]]the episode has aired overseas, but not in the US to date[[/note]], both whether they would work at all and whether they would leave a pathologist wondering how the guy on the slab died. Busted: unshaped teeth are too inaccurate to hit the target, carving teeth to a bullet shape weakens them, and the pathologist had no trouble picking out the bone and teeth fragments.

* Kimimaro from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' can use the bones in his body as weapons, including his fingertips as bullet-like projectiles. Justified in his case, since he can grow new bones with chakra

* ''FateZero'' has a literal case of this. Emiya Kiritsugu put pieces of bone extracted from his body into bullets.

* [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Marrow]] is typically more of a BadWithTheBone fighter, but she throws them from time to time as well.

[[folder: Live-Action Film ]]
* ''TwoThousandOne'' begins with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDAWszeZtNg an ape throwing a bone into the air]].
* ''EXistenZ'' featured a tooth-firing bio-gun.
* In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', Spike pursued Wolverine through the forest at one point. Some bone spikes were thrown during pursuit, and after that two others were used in melee combat, leaving a pair of holes in Wolverine's shirt.
* In ''Film/The Bullet Vanishes / The Phantom Bullet'', People keep dying from what seem to be normal gunshot wounds, yet as per the title the bullet is nowhere to be found. The superstitious factory employees think it is a curse [[spoiler: The factory owner in collusion with a number of others were using shattering bullets machined from bone, initially they were unable to find the bullet due to it being 1930s Shanghai where forensics were not as well developed .]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* On one episode of ''{{Bones}}'', [[BigBad Gormogon]] packed a bomb with his master's teeth.
* ''Series/MythBusters'' tested teeth and bone bullets[[note]]the episode has aired overseas, but not in the US to date[[/note]], both whether they would work at all and whether they would leave a pathologist wondering how the guy on the slab died. Busted: unshaped teeth are too inaccurate to hit the target, carving teeth to a bullet shape weakens them, and the pathologist had no trouble picking out the bone and teeth fragments.

[[/folder]]

** Archer skeletons from {{Ravenloft}} fire bone arrows, which can transform into additional skeletons if they miss their targets.

* Some Abyssal charms in ''{{Exalted}}'' do pleasant things like hurling slivers of the Abyssal's finger bones at his enemies.
* In Warhammer the Tomb Kings army has access to Screaming Skull Catapults (affectionately terms "Skull Chuckers" until around the turn of the millennium) - large trebuchets made from the bones of desert animals that fire flaming skulls at the foe. In the large-scale Warmaster spin-off game they also have Bone Throwers - gigantic bolt throwers of similar manufacture whose ammunition is the sharpened femur-bones of giants.

[[spoiler:In '''', Managa and Matia figure out that the book's victim was killed by a bullet made of bone. Skull bone, to be exact, to blend in with the resulting fragments from the headshot. And the perpetrator, after spilling his secret in a bar, is nailed by the scar on his scalp where the bone was harvested.]]

* [[DemBones Dry Bones]] from the ''[[SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' series do this in some games since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', most notably in the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series.

** In ''[[Film/XMenTheLastStand X3]]'', there was some fellow who pursued Wolverine through the forest at one point. Some bone spikes were thrown during pursuit, and after that two others were used in melee combat, leaving a pair of holes in Wolverine's shirt.

* [[SCPFoundation SCP-154]] is a pair of bracelets that creates an EnergyBow that uses the bones of the arm holding it as the arrows. The bones [[HealingFactor regenerate]] instantly, however multiple uses can cause mutations of varying severity.

* The Flamerus Rex boss in FinalFantasyMysticQuest has a bone missile attack.

* ''{{Castlevania}}'' skeletons have this ability.

* ''ShadowsOfTheDamned'' uses three types of ammo: skulls, teeth, and bones. Bones are used as ammo in a gun that Garcia colloquially calls "The Boner."

* ''CliveBarkersUndying'' has a spell (the game's equivalent of a rocket launcher) that pulls skulls out of the ground, charges them with magic and fires them when you release the button. The ammo is justified by the island having been a battleground for pretty much forever, "Not an inch of this ground where someone hasn't died." Doesn't explain how you can use it up on the roof of the mansion, though...

* In the ''MediEvil'' series, the first weapon that the protagonist, [[DemBones Sir Daniel Fortesque]], has at his disposal is his own arm. It is [[JokeWeapon pathetically weak]], and should only be used in emergency situations (read: when you have absolutely nothing else), but he can use it as a bludgeon or, fitting this trope, as a boomerang.
* In ''CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'', one of the Bird-Type Innocent Devils can cast a gatling gun-like flow of sharp bones bullets at the enemies, dealing damage as the enemy is showered with them.

-->-- '''Creator/{{Egoraptor}}''', commenting on the bone throwing skeletons, ''WebVideo/{{Sequelitis}} - VideoGame/{{Castlevania}} 1 vs. VideoGame/{{Castlevania|IISimonsQuest}} 2''

-->-- '''Creator/{{Egoraptor}}''', commenting on the bone throwing skeletons, ''Sequelitis - Castlevania 1 vs. Castlevania 2''