History Main / DemBones

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The BigBad is a lich, Xykon. At one point, decoys of him are created by making three other Dem Bones forms of undead and sticking them in his clothes. None of them are mooks though, being intelligent and quite powerful.

* Many of the zombies in ''Film/TheHauntedMansion''.

* WebAnimation/{{YouTube Poop}}er WebVideo/{{Ricesnot}} specializes in making videos about skeletons, especially the skeleton from the advertisement for the '80s board game "Rattle Me Bones".

* From ‘’Literature/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld’’, we have Arc, a gamer whose avatar is an armored knight who happens to be a skeleton.

* ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'' features a brief but memorable scene where a reanimated skeleton rises from a grave. It's never seen again after that. There is also Tarman, a prominently-featured zombie so decayed he's a skeleton held together with rotting tissue; unlike the skeleton, Tarman shows up in movie after movie.

See also SkullForAHead and StrippedToTheBone. May or may not be [[TheDeadCanDance prone to dancing]]. A unique example is TheGrimReaper, so ubiquitous it's its own trope. If the Skeleton is friendly and/or comical, it's a FriendlySkeleton. See also BadWithTheBone if bones are used as {{Improvised Weapon}}s, and BallisticBone if they're used as AbnormalAmmo.

* Literature/TheBible had the story of Ezekiel and the [[CavalryOfTheDead Valley of the Dry Bones that came to life]] and inspired the {{Trope Namer|s}} "Dry Bones"/"Dem Bones" song. The trope-naming song is based on a Biblical incident involving Ezekiel, who was told by God to create an army of these things with a prophecy. The Bible is surprisingly metal, in places. It should be noted that the bones are immediately [[MassResurrection given flesh and souls]] during their resurrections, [[UnbuiltTrope instead of being a literal skeleton army]] like [[Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts those]] created by Creator/RayHarryhausen.

* ''Captain Bones' Gold'' is a boardgame in which you have to acquire gold doubloons while avoiding having it stolen by Captain Bones, a skeletal pirate.

* In ''TabletopGame/DragonDice'', skeletons are one of the basic undead troop types - they move faster than zombies, but do less damage and are less capable of absorbing damage.

** Taken [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]] by the dracolich (also being the {{Trope Namer|s}} of {{Dracolich}}), an undead evil dragon that has combines the powers of a dragon ''and'' a lich. While their description does not specifically say they ''have'' to be skeletal, most are depicted as such.
** While most ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' settings are full of undead, ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' are especially fond of this theme and has the remarkable collection of unusual bones. For example, there lived--until she tried to raid a big temple of the god of wizardry, that is--Tashara of the Seven Skulls who seduced and tricked into becoming spellcasting flying skulls ([[MoreThanMindControl under her control]]) 7 archmages, one after another. There's even [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Skullport one city]] ''openly ruled by'' floating skulls (no, ''not'' Tashara's seven). Realms also are the origin of both baelnorn and banelich.
** The ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' setting's "evil, schmevil" attitude (the setting subverts the AlwaysChaoticEvil trope ''hard'') means that a nation like Karrnath can have a ''significant portion of their army'' composed entirely of skeletons, and nobody thinks any differently about them because of it.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Gloomhaven}}'' has the Living Bones enemies.

** The ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' setting has "mimirs"; recording devices shaped like metallic skulls. The inspiration for Morte, below.
** The original ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' products had a number of variants of this trope, such as archer skeletons whose ammo turns into more skeletons, or giant skeletons (enlarged human bones) that toss fireballs from the green flames ablaze inside their ribcages. Arthaus's ''Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead'' has guidelines for customizing the Obedient Dead with all sorts of creepy abilities.
** The Demilich is a lich who had decided to leave his/her phylactery and use astral projection to learn from other realms. All that's left is a weathered skull or skeletal hand that skill can dish out a world of hurt by [[YourSoulIsMine sucking the souls of anyone who bothers them]] or summoning Demiliches, six inch tall/long magic roaches with SkullForAHead. By the thousands.
* Skeletons serve as mooks in ''TabletopGame/MazesAndMinotaurs''.

* Skeletons are the basic grunt troops of the undead armies in the wargame/TabletopRPG ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''; serving the factions of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire Counts]] and [[{{Mummy}} Tomb Kings]].
** To specify. The Vampire Counts use Dem Bones as expendable meat(bone?)shields, and that would be about it. The Tomb Kings are an army of nothing but skeletons, with some mummies, animated statues and ancient, immortal priests to taste.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' has several skeletons, including the sad and scary case of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3114 SCP-3114]]. It's an animated skeleton and kills and skins any human or humanoid creature it comes into contact with and tries to wear it. When exposed to a simple border collie, 3114 [[PetTheDog was friendly to the dog and they played together for two hours]] before the dog was removed without incident. When exposed to an articulated skeleton for medical teaching, 3114 approaches and seems hopeful for a moment and then dejected when it realises the skeleton isn't alive. Finally, when it obtains a cadaver that fits perfectly and attempts to interact with a D-Class prisoner, it reacts with no hostility and even tries to hug him; when the (very disturbed) D-Class is recalled, 3114 stares at the door for a moment and then tears the skin off and kicks it into the corner and then lies down to "sleep" [[DespairEventHorizon for several days]] before returning to its old behaviour. [[TearJerker 3114 is just a confused and frustrated creature desperate to belong]].

* Horrorman and Horako from ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}''. Horrorman's a pretty nice guy (at least, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor when he's on the heroes' side]]) and Horako's a sweet little girl... even though her imagination has a tendency to go over the top [[spoiler:and she's actually a sea princess]].
* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': Gustave Malraux, an EnemySummoner who specializes in beasts out of Myth/ClassicalMythology, uses "dragons' teeth" to summon the Spartoi as they were depicted in the film ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts''. [[spoiler:They're no match whatsoever for [[MasterSwordsman Kirin Toudou]], who has added techniques to deal with multiple enemies to her repertoire.]]

* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': The appropriately named Bone Man is one of the first undead our protagonist creates, and while at first he's not much stronger than the average skeleton, in time he grows to be one of the deadlier fighters under Vandalieu's command. Funny thing is his skeleton was possessed by mice spirits who were given human-level sentience.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Overlord|2012}}'', main character Ainz Ooal Gown is a skeleton -- a [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]], to be more exact. Well, to be even more exact, he is a regular guy permanently stuck in the body and world of his video game character, but that's beside the point. Of course, as a godlike {{Necromancer}} SorcerousOverlord, he also has legions of skeletal minions at his beck and call.

* From ''Literature/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld'', we have the protagonist Arc [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who is a knight in another world who happens to be a skeleton.]]

* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': There are many skeletons in the sewers beneath Roalt and they are animated by a combination of ambient mana and lingering spiritual power. Dengel suggests that they are the remains of past adventurers, and stupid people on dares. Eric has to blow them up to stop them.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'', main character Ainz Ooal Gown is a skeleton -- a [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]], to be more exact. Well, to be even more exact, he is a regular guy permanently stuck in the body and world of his video game character, but that's beside the point. Of course, as a godlike {{Necromancer}} SorcerousOverlord, he also has legions of skeletal minions at his beck and call.

* Shiro from ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana''. His true form, though, is a {{bishonen}}.

* From ''LightNovel/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld'', we have the protagonist Arc [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin who is a knight in another world who happens to be a skeleton.]]

* Key antagonists in the battle on the Plains of Death in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. Paul loves them because destroying them doesn't compromise his [[ActualPacifist Actual Pacifism]].

'''Skeleton''': And I don't have a nose, and yet here we are. *sneezes*

* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''The Killing Ground'', Togandais has an animated skull -- with glowing eyes -- bringing him books in the library.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/AbyssOdyssey'', skeletons and zombies are some of the most numerous manifestations of the Warlock's dreams that are invading reality from the Abyss. The playable Ghost Monk is a manifestation of all the Chilean soldiers that have died in the Abyss, and takes on the form of a jumble of glowing red bones surrounded by shadow and a hooded cloak.
* ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]'''s Necromancy skill lets you raise humanoid corpses as skeletons. Only Necromancers will have high enough skill/stats to make the more powerful skeleton kings. Otherwise, skeletons are common {{mooks}}.
* Most undead in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'', ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'' and ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' are of this kind.
* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', haunted ship levels have skeletons as enemies.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders'' has these as the bulk troops of the Undead faction, including the subtypes like skeleton archers.
* These are a unit type in ''VideoGame/AncientEmpires''. They wield maces and have the same stats as a normal soldier. They can't be bought like other units: instead, they're raised from a gravestone by a Wizard (Sorceress in the sequel) -- gravestones are structures that are left by dead units and are consumed once a skeleton is raised from them. They take extra damage from the [[LightEmUp attacks]] of Wisps. Though not particularly powerful, they can be produced in large numbers and are useful for missions where you don't have a castle to buy units from.
* A rare heroic example: the Guitar Guy from ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'' is just a skeleton, a nod to his death in [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd the original series.]]
* ''VideoGame/ArenaXlsm'', made in Microsoft Excel, has several types of these. For instance, Skeleton Warrior is just a boring level 10-12 melee-only enemy: while it deals doubled melee damage, shooting it before it ever gets there is not too difficult. The Skeleton Archer is far more powerful, with about 345 health and the attack range of 5 squares, only somewhat compensated by its vulnerability to melee attacks. The Skeleton Mages are one of the worst enemies in the game, attacking both in melee and at range, while being invulnerable to all ranged attacks '''and''' melee''' attacks.
* Sword-wielding skeletons are all over the place in ''VideoGame/{{Astyanax}}''. One even shows up as a mini-boss to end a level.
* ''VideoGame/AwayJourneyToTheUnexpected'': One of the enemies you face in the game is skeletons dressed up in Labiworks outfits.
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' had enemy skeletons, but you could also summon your own with the proper spell.
** The sequel, ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', especially with ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal Throne of Bhaal]]'', features several floating skulls, which are infinitely more nasty than their full-bodied counterparts.
** Even in the original, common skeletons cease to be a serious threat after level 3 or so. But near the end, the game starts throwing the much nastier skeleton warriors at you, and one of the bonus bosses in the expansion is a death knight.
* The Limbos in ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. They'll get right back up after a few seconds, and the only way to kill them for good is with [[InvincibilityPowerUp Wonderwing]]. Gruntilda in ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' is one, due to spending two years trapped under a rock after the end of the first game.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', of all games, features these during [[spoiler: bouts with Scarecrow while under the influence of his fear toxin, though they're actually regular {{Mooks}}. There's also a Challenge Map named this, featuring exclusively this type of enemy]]. ''VideoGame/LegoBatman'' does the same thing in [[spoiler: the BossBattle against Scarecrow]].
* ''VideoGame/BattleBrothers'' has the Ancient Dead, which are the dead legions of the Roman Empire {{Expy}} that used to rule most of the known world, before it expanded too far and its nobles discovered the necromantic traditions of the southern cults, and preferred to preserve themselves as vampires in charge of skeleton legions over preserving the empire itself. All of these skeletons might have low actual health, but they also suffer no bleed damage, no bonus damage from head strikes, only 20% ranged damage and 50% piercing damage (since arrows rely on bleeding and organ damage to kill, which is irrelevant to them.) Like with real-life Legions, their weakest variety are lightly armed and armored Ancient Auxiliaries, most fighting is done by the proper legionaries, while Honor Guard are rare, but highly skilled and fully encased in the toughest armor.
** There are also the Ancient Priests, who can break the Morale of your mercenaries with "Horrify" spell, and cast area-of-effect Miasma.
* Two of the major Undead faction unit types in ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'' are skeletons, one with an axe and the other with a bow. They have very high resists to Pierce, Cold, and Blade damage types, but are very vulnerable to Impact, Fire, and Arcane damage. They can also move through and hide in deep water, and being Undead, are immune to poison and plague attacks. Combat with the Undead typically requires a lopsided unit selection to combat these. They usually serve as basic troops and as bodyguards to GlassCannon Dark Adepts in multiplayer, and are typically spammed by the AI in campaigns. Also, the high-level [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] unit, one of the levelled-up forms of the aforementioned Dark Adept, is skeletal and loses its old human characteristics in exchange for skeleton characteristics.
* ''Battle Monsters'' from Scarab, is a 1995 Japanese Mortal Kombat clone for the Sega Saturn. Among the monsters is the sword-wielding skeleton Fangore. Fangore is visually unusual for a skeleton. Besides having a bright-red mohawk(!) and a skull that's a bit more crocodilian than simian, Fangore is a beefy guy. He's as tall as Deathmask, the resident FrankensteinMonster, and significantly wider. His bones are also very chunky, with his humerus being thicker than the upper arms of most of the other characters.
* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'':
** Bonies are skeletons that fire a [[BallisticBone bone projectile]] when you get in line with them. Since their projectiles move so fast and you have to [[DenialOfDiagonalAttack get in line with them]] to attack them, they're pretty bad DemonicSpiders even for [[NintendoHard this game]]. They also have a [[PaletteSwap black]] [[UndergroundMonkey variant]] which fires three shots and [[ActionBomb explodes]] on death.
** The final SecretCharacter in [[ExpansionPack Antibirth+]] is [[spoiler: The Forgotten, a skeleton that represents [[UndeadChild Isaac's bones]]. He is primarily [[MechanicallyUnusualFighter a melee attacker]] with his [[BadWithTheBone own bones]] but can [[BallisticBone throw them]] by charging. He also has the ability to [[TheDividual switch]] to [[OurGhostsAreDifferent The Soul]] who can fly but is chained to the Forgotten's body]].
** The [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Harbinger]] [[TheGrimReaper Death]] is entirely skeletal in appearance, right down to his horse. [[spoiler:Ultra Death takes it a step further by not only using his scythe in proper, but also summoning a wavy BulletHell of giant skulls.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'' has Melquíades the Exhumed Archbishop, a giant skeleton propped up by equally giant hands from off-screen.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' features Darkbeast Paarl, who is an ''electric wolf skeleton the size of a bus''.
* In [[FreewareGames freeware]] ''VideoGame/ABlurredLine'', choosing a career as an Actor in Paradise will result in you facing some Undead enemies in the abandoned theatre near it, which includes a Risen Dead skeleton with a sword and a shield and a Skeletal Warrior with two scimitars. Then, there are the traditional skeletons in the dungeons within Eisen’s simulation.
* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfDeathVII'', the main character is a skeleton named ''Dem''.
* Precursor James, the most expensive mercenary in ''VideoGame/{{Brigador}}'', is depicted in his file photo as a skeleton in a military uniform with a death mask. It is unclear if he is using a nonrepresentative photo on purpose, [[TheDreaded if everyone is too scared of him to try to take his picture]], or if he is in fact an actual walking skeleton.
* ''VideoGame/{{Carnevil}}'': The BigBad, Dr. Tökkentäkker, have his CoolAirship manned by a literal skeleton crew, and in the FinalBattle they act as the villain's backup.
* ''VideoGame/CastleInTheDarkness'': One enemy type you encounter in the game is skeletons throwing bones.
* The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series is an obligatory mention here - there are dozens of varieties in each game, including a lot of simple UndergroundMonkey recolors. The red ones keep getting back up.
** Don't forget the laser-firing skeletons, the armor-wearing blade Masters, and the amusing skeletons called [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Yoricks]] in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow Aria of Sorrow]]'' that kick their skulls at you. There's even a medal-wearing champion runner Skeleton in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon Circle of the Moon]]'', the Skeleton Bartender who tosses drinks at you in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin Protrait of Ruin]]'', the Farmer Skeleton, the Waiter Skeleton, the [[Franchise/KamenRider Rider Kicking]] Skeleton, and the Ape skeleton introduced in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Rondo of Blood]]'' that [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong throws barrels at you]].
** ''VideoGame/Castlevania64'' has [[BadassBiker Biker Skeletons]] ([[SchizoTech in 1800]]). There's also a giant skeleton as a boss.
** The multiplayer mode in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDespair'' has a feature that activates when a player character's HP goes to zero: they turn into a standard bone-flinging skeleton, and they must be given a specific item for them to be able to turn back to normal. A death as a skeleton causes penalties on the level's time limit.
* ''Cataclysm'' features skeletons as mildly strong enemies. Cutting weapons do little damage and ranged weapons will miss most of the time, but blunt weapons are very effective against them.
* Non-human: ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' has hopping sandcroc skulls, sandcroc skulls with feet, sandcroc skulls carried by birds, and full sandcroc skeletons.
* ''VideoGame/{{Chantelise}}'': There are sword wielding skeletons that can only be defeated by magical attacks.
* Various skeletons are a frequent enemy in ''VideoGame/{{Chasm}}''. There's even a skeleton boss, King Trell, whose lack of lungs doesn't stop him from blowing into a horn to raise skeleton archers out of the ground.
* In ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', one of the early characters you can meet is the disembodied skull of a clown looking for the rest of his body parts. Naturally, he asks you to help him find them all. He appears to have been getting around until then by hopping with his jaw. Later, you get to meet his family, who has been wondering what happened to him.
* ''VideoGame/ClashOfClans'' has a few skeletal troopers.
** Wall Breakers are bomb-toting skeletons that blow up walls (and themselves) to make an opening for troops. They have low health, so it's best to lay down sturdier troops to cover them.
** Balloons are bomb-toting skeletons in hot air balloons that drop bombs on defenses. They're slow at attacking, but only anti-air defenses can hit them.
** Witches can [[MookMaker create an army of skeleton warriors]] to raid forts.
* ''VideoGame/TheCrystalOfKings'' have a plethora of skeleton-based enemies, from the basic skeletons (which are the weakest, a whole army of them serves the {{Necromancer}} MiniBoss but can be killed easily) to the floating Bone Sentinels and the {{Elite Mook|s}} Red Skeletons which are far stronger and harder to defeat. THe final stage also have Skeletal Gladiators, the PraetorianGuard warriors serving the evil Nightspirit.
* The LightGunGame ''VideoGame/{{Cryptkiller}}'' features skeletons as TheGoomba. They show up in absolutely massive droves in every level.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'', one of the passengers on the Phantom Express is T-Bone, a giant skeleton with a trucker hat. His design is loosely based on the Gashadokuro from Japanese folklore.
* ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' and ''VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'' had the fearsome Murray, the demonic animated skeleton with plans to conquer the world, who would have been significantly more fearsome if he wasn't just a skull and unable to move around by himself. Still, with lines like this, it's no wonder "Murray the Mighty Demonic Skull" is [[EnsembleDarkhorse so popular]]:
-->'''Murray:''' I'm a powerful demonic force! I'm the harbinger of your doom! And the forces of darkness will applaud me as I ''stride'' through the gates of hell carrying your head on a pike!\\
'''Guybrush:''' Stride?\\
'''Murray:''' All right then, roll! ''Roll'' through the gates of hell. Must you take the fun out of everything?
** ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' also had the skeletal [[WightInAWeddingDress ghostly bride]] whom you must reunite with her lover (who died after being trapped between a wall and his bed mattress), in order to break her curse and obtain her ring.
** ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' had more examples in [=LeChuck=]'s demonic crew. ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' notably featured Dem Bones actually singing "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dem_Bones Dem Bones]]".
* The UsefulNotes/Atari2600 game ''VideoGame/DarkChambers'' features skeletons as enemies.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', the Ancestor's early experiments with the forbidden knowledge involved resurrecting some old skeletons in the Manor himself. Soon, however, he invited the best Necromancers in the world to the Manor, learned everything he could from them, and then slit their throats at night, before resurrecting them as conscious and capable slaves to his will, who would raise and re-raise all the other skeletons for him, forming the so-called Bone Army populating the Ruins by the time the game proper begins.
** Since Ruins is the first area you get access to, members of the Bone Army are typically the least challenging to fight. They are the only faction whose melee damage dealer archetype, Bone Soldier/Veteran/Sergeant, has a weaker version occasionally mixed in, called Bone Rabble/Conscript/Militia. Similarly, both Bone Soldiers and their ranged counterpart Arbalists focus entirely on straight-up damage. While [[ShieldBearingMook Bone Defenders]] and [[GiantMook Bone]] [[LargeAndInCharge Captain]] can at least stun your party members, the entire faction has no-one able to inflict DamageOverTime status effects. Though, they themselves are immune to bleed, for [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome obvious reasons]], but are the most vulnerable to [[UniversalPoison blight]], which easily [[HollywoodAcid degrades their bones]].
** The [[SquishyWizard Bone Courtier]] is [[MemeticMutation especially popular with fandom]], due to being able to inflict [[SanityMeter stress damage]] by [[ImprobableWeaponUser throwing old wine]] on your heroes. It's implied that seeing what was once an incredibly wealthy and prominent man reduced to this mockery of his past revelries confronts the party members with their own mortality, while the ScratchDamage from the attack is due to the wine having long ago devolved into acidic vinegar.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' features several regular human skeletons wielding swords and shields, as well as skeletons that are intertwined with spiked carriage wheels that will run you down at any opportunity. The Tomb of the Giants also features massive quadruped but vaguely humanoid skeletons, and Gravelord Nito is a skeleton ''made'' of other skeletons and wielding a sword made from them. There's also the Darkwraiths, whose armor bears a skeletal motif, they also comes with a skull mask, which its item description implies that it's fused with their skins.
** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' sees the return of the sword-and-board and Bonewheel skeletons, as well as a trio of bosses called the Skeleton Lords. True to their title, they sit on thrones made of bones and wield weapons made of them, and upon death they summon a bunch of skeletons of various types. There's also a variety of skeleton that won't die until you kill the necromancer that is reviving them.
** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' brings back the bones one last time and manages to one-up every skeleton in the series to this point by giving us High Lord Wolnir, a skeleton king roughly ''five stories tall'' with a skull the size of a modest apartment and the ability to summon smaller skeletons to distract you (although he's just as likely to wipe them out with his massive swings as you are with a sword). The game also introduces the LightningBruiser Carthus Swordsman Skeletons who are even more dangerous since their weapons inflict Bleed. Fortunately the skeletons in this game have an AchillesHeel in the form of strike damage weapons, which break them apart with each blow.
* In the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 ShootEmUp ''VideoGame/DeadMoon'', many of the bosses resemble giant skeletal animals, and the FinalBoss is the head, torso and FloatingLimbs of a giant humanoid skeleton.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** In the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first game]], Sargasso is a lesser demon that resembles a human skull. Its only attack is to try to bite Dante.
** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'':
*** Sargasso return from the first game and are still floating demon skulls that either attempt to bite the player character or shoot icicles at them.
*** Bolverk's body is skeletal in appearance.
** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'': Hell Cainas and Hell Judeccas are scythe-wielding demons with a skeletal appearance underneath their hoods and/or robes.
* ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', of course, with both enemy and summonable skeletons.
** The original and sequel both have [[FanSpeak skellies]] as foes, but you couldn't summon any in the original. The original also have a unique enemy called Leoric the Skeleton King, basically a skeleton with a hugeass sword and a crown in his head, which can be encountered in the game or skipped out depending on how the game started. He proves popular enough that Blizzard expanded and fleshed out his backstory from merely 'king fallen into madness' into some sort of tragic figure (while still a mad king) linked with one of the original heroes. He also becomes the model of a hero in ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'' until he changed into Wraith King (see below for more), and he also returns for a first stage mandatory boss fight for [[VideoGame/DiabloIII the third game]], switching his huge sword to a huge mace, and then he carried his last appearance in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm''.
*** The summonables are quite strange, in that you can assemble a (human) Skeleton from the corpse of any monster, up to and including giant spiders, pygmies, ghosts, small rat-like creatures, swarms of locusts and ''other skeletons''. The latter wouldn't be so bad if the process did not involve LudicrousGibs.
** The ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' [[AllThereInTheManual information states]] that the undead are not from a single corpse. Instead, they essentially turn a corpse into bone powder and reconfigure it into a skeleton. When you raise any skeleton, it's really like you're raising a thousand tenths of a percent of a thousand different skeletons and sticking them together.
* ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'': During the Coordinate 136 dungeon, there's a floor with numerous pitfallss that throw you in the actual dungeons (as in, the cells) below. There you'll find a series of skeletons tied to the wall who will assault you with skeleton puns each and every time you talk to them.
-->'''Skeleton:''' I'm sure you figured out that you're boned...\\
'''Skeleton:''' C'mon, what's your nerve? ...Not that I have any.
* ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty 3'' offers these in their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRG7OsR8iuc RPG segment]].
* ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'': while there are several kinds of skeletons around, the trope is lampshaded early in the game: two philosophic skeletons are having a debate about their existence. [[spoiler:They notice that they think without a brain, move without muscles... and that they don't have any joints to keep them together. [[PuffOfLogic Then they fall apart]].]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' has the Lost Souls, which are floating flaming skulls.
** ''VideoGame/DoomII'' adds the Revenants, which are giant skeletons wearing metal chest armor and shoulder-mounted missile launchers, in ''VideoGame/Doom3'' it is shown that they are actually demons with transparent flesh, and the Arch-Viles, which clearly have a layer of skin but are otherwise very reminiscent of a walking skeleton.
** The ''VideoGame/Doom3'' ExpansionPack ''Resurrection of Evil'' has the Forgotten Ones, which are floating flaming skulls similar to the aforementioned Lost Souls.
** ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' again features Lost Souls, as well as the new Revenants, which now still have attached some bits and pieces of flesh and muscle. The codex explains that they used to be humans and they were transformed by both cybernetic implants and exposure to demonic energies, and as a result their skeleton went through an accelerated growth and literally tore their flesh from their bodies; they also now possess jet packs in addition to their shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.
* In ''VideoGame/Dota2'', before reviving as the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Wraith King]] due to pressing ceremonial reasons, Ostarion (previously Leoric) was once the Skeleton King, [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=128711900 the manliest hero in the game who does not have testicles]], and a hard-to kill hero with a penchant for dreadful puns. There's also Clinkz the Bone Fletcher, a master archer who was accidentally cursed to become a perpetually burning (and thus perpetually in pain) skeleton, and Pugna, a psychopathic skeletal mage who preys on other mages.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' they are an enemy type encountered in places where the Veil is thin, be it the ancient elven burial grounds, or the revisited Ostagar battlefield in the {{D|ownloadableContent}}LC. Like the other undead in the game, they are corpses possessed by minor demons who have mistaken them for a living human. This is a terrible mistake, because dead bodies lack any living energy to sustain them, and demons cannot leave the body they have already possessed on their own. It's even implied that a demon dies for good once the undead does, whereas demons who possessed living abominations (including animals or trees, forming creatures like werewolves and sylvans) can still use the remainder of host's lifeforce to eject themselves back to the Fade. Thus, demons possessing skeletons are driven insane, spending their time in slumber to conserve their energy, until someone living comes up and they try to kill it.
** Unlike the zombies, which are always recently possessed, and so the demon inside still has enough power to cast basic buffs (rage demon)/ debuffs (hunger/sloth demon), the skeletons lack the magical power to do anything but attack in melee or at range with whichever weapons their hosts used to have in life. However, they compensate for that through using that weapon's class abilities - whether learning them on their own, or somehow assessing that from the host's (muscle?) memory.
** The one exception are Arcane Horrors and Revenants, which is what happens when the elite desire and pride demons still manage to make the terrible mistake of possessing a dead body. The former have possessed dead mages, and can deploy the most powerful spells in the game. The latter possessed sword-and-shield warriors, and their only power is the ability to instantly pull their attackers to them from great distances...and the '''extreme''' health and damage output.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** Sword-wielder Skeleton enemies have made frequent appearances since ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI''.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'': After you kill Baramos, you fight his reanimated bones near the end of the game. They have no special abilities whatsoever and do nothing but attack repeatedly.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'': Maeve's true form is a skeleton knight.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'':
*** After stealing the Sword of Light, Mordegon uses his magic to transform it into the Sword of Shadows, a large greatsword made from bone. In his One-Winged Angel form, he becomes a giant, skeletal serpent with the Sword of Shadows becoming an actual dragon that serves as his "tail".
*** Tyriant is a skeletal monster wearing heavy armor.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2'': Griswold and Captain Whitebones are a Hargonaut and a Deadnaut respectively, two of the three types of skeleton knights.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestHeroesIITwinKingsAndTheProphecysEnd'': The King of Kadavra is a wight king.
* ''VideoGame/DragonsWake'' has numerous skeletal enemies, including [[spoiler: the final boss]].
* Also a supplemental unit in ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper2'', acquired by letting your [=POWs=] rot in jail. The cutscenes featuring skeletons reveal them to have retained their ligaments so as not to fall apart, as well as a single eye. They also tend to have dreadlocks.
** Found in the first ''Dungeon Keeper'' too, acquired in the same way. No eyes or ligaments were visible on those skeletons, but then again, the graphics of the nineties didn't allow for such levels of detail.
* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', a common sight in evil biomes are procedurally generated skeletons of [[RaisingTheSteaks the local wildlife]]. With the absurd amount of detail in the game, it's pretty smart about how the tissues work -- wherever possible, it rots away everything but the most essential ligaments needed to keep things connected together, and creatures that had exoskeletons in life become hollow exoskeletons in death. Also, skeletons are invariably amphibious and hostile to the living. If you embark on a hostile ocean with skeletal whales, prepare for "[[UnusualEuphemism fun]]".
* With the exception of your ghost boss, Simmer, all your fellow undead "employees" in ''VideoGame/DungeonMunchies'' are all sentient, talking, and intelligent skeletons. Most of them used to be zombies like the player character, until they were killed a second time and had all the rotting flesh torn from their bones by the local monsters.
* Dem Bones appear as mooks in ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege''.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has skeletons as common low-level enemies in pretty much every game. They can use weapons, probably as an homage to Harryhausen. Plenty of variants exist:
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':
*** Bonelords are tall, [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four-armed]], humanoid skeletons draped in brown robes who 75% resistant to all forms of magic [[KillItWithFire other than fire]]. They also tend to cast a barrier spell as soon as they've been aggro'd which makes them resistant to melee damage as well.
*** ''Tribunal'' adds Liches, who are powerful spell-slinging skeletons in dark brown robes. They're complete resistant to frost and poison damage, and 50% resistant to shock damage. Like Bonelords, [[KillItWithFire fire can still ruin their day]].
*** ''Bloodmoon'' brings [[NonHumanUndead Bonewolves]], who are partially decayed undead wolves who Downplay it by still being rather fleshy.
** Besides the leveled Skeleton variants, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' also has Dark Guardians, which serve [[MurderInc the Dark Brotherhood]]. They're tougher than normal skeletons, but their main distinguishing feature is [[InTheHood the hoods they wear]]. ''Shivering Isles'' has Shambles, which are made of the bones of a bunch of different creatures held together by leather straps.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'''s skeletons appear in various necromancer hideouts and [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Draugr]] crypts, though they're pretty pathetic overall, save for the really tough ones.
*** A [[{{Dracolich}} skeletal dragon]] appears as an encounter during the College of Winterhold questline during the quest "The Staff of Magnus." It's stupidly weak to magic (100% weakness) and flightless, so using flame spells should get rid of it easily.
*** ''Dawnguard'' has a few tougher skeleton variants, such as ones dressed in Ancient Nordic armor or others that resemble the Dark Guardians from ''Oblivion'' called Corrupted Shades. The main quest of the expansion also involves a trip to the Soul Cairn, home of the Bonemen, Mistmen and Wrathmen. You can learn to summon all three if you find the spell tomes lying around.
*** In the quest "The Break of Dawn" for the Daedric Prince of Life Meridia, the Dragonborn must clear her temple of Corrupted Shades, the ghostly skeletons of Stormcloaks and Imperial soldiers, commanded by the evil necromancer Malkoran ([[TurnsRed who himself turns into one after he dies]]). Being skeletons, the Unrelenting Force shout merely stuns them and they pack a serious punch, especially to the unprepared.
* Fernando from the Source Engine mod ''Elevator: Source'' who stands at the back of the elevator [[spoiler:until he gets dragged off by a giant hand and later returns as an Asian man]].
* ''VideoGame/ElliotAndTheMusicalJourney'': The {{Mooks}} of the game mainly consist of skeletons, since the BigBad is the Skeleton King.
* In ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' they are everywhere - crawling out of the woodwork, wandering around in the woods, hanging out under the water waiting to grab your ankles as you swim by. Necromancers can even have them as pets. Heck, there's even a skeletal '''band''' in Paineel.
* ''VideoGame/EvilIslands'': The skeletons from the Dead City.
* ''VideoGame/ExitFate'' has Derek, a 200-year old skeleton knight who joins your army after you've aided a (friendly) necromancer in raising him. He's pretty jovial about it. He's also Australian for some reason.
* ''VideoGame/EXTRAPOWERGiantFist'' gives enemy and friendly examples. Skeleton enemies populate Blackberry's pyramid, defending it from thieves by kicking [[BottomlessMagazines and endless amount]] of [[BallisticBone bones]]. In Coma's route, she's accompanied by Slumber - a dapper FriendlySkeleton dressed in a tuxedo and top hat who assists her in her mission.
* ''VideoGame/EyraTheCrowMaiden'': One enemy in the game that [[PlayerCharacter Eyra]] faces are skeletons that walk back and forth.
* Skeletons, Wraiths and the rare enemy Skull Lord in ''VideoGame/{{Fairune}} 1'', of which Skeleton and Skull Lord return in ''Fairune 2''.
* The DLC "Old World Blues" of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' provides us with the [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Y-17_trauma_override_harness Trauma Override Harness]] automated suits, which were designed to evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield by taking over their motor functions; however due to several malfunctions, they end up wrecking havoc and killing anything on sight while still carrying inside the long-dead skeletons of their previous users, [[AndIMustScream which were trapped in them]].
* The second and eighth ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games are unusual among their franchise in that they have monsters for enemies, including weapon-wielding skeletons.
* The ''Final Fantasy Legend[=/=]''VideoGame/{{SaGa|RPG}}'' games feature families of skeletal monsters, which all dress as pirates for some reason. They mostly appear as enemies, but can also be recruited into your party, or existing monsters in your party can transform into them.
* ''VideoGame/ForgeQuest'': In the first dungeon ([[AllJustADream which is a dream you're having]]), you battle living skeletons wielding swords and shields.
* In ''VideoGame/FranBow'', you get to meet a suave, top hat-wearing skeleton called Itward who has befriended many of the children from Oswald Asylum, has demonstrated he can easily travel around the [[spoiler:Ultrareality]], and is implied to be powerful enough to [[spoiler:kick Remor's ass out of the Third Reality when the demon was trying to prevent Fran from leaving the asylum]]. Itward is a [[DarkIsNotEvil lovable guy]] who becomes a {{Big Damn Hero|es}} to Fran [[spoiler:''twice'']] over the course of the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ghoulboy}}'': One enemy type encountered in the game is skeletons that fall apart when beaten.
* ''VideoGame/GhoulGringNightOfTheNecromancer'': One of the enemy types [[PlayerCharacter Nox and Veronica]] face in the game are skeletons.
* ''VideoGame/GianaSistersDS'': Enemy Ghosts are flying, humanoid three-headed skeletons.
* Some of the Bonus content in ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' talked about how they wanted to put Dem Bones in the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI first game]], in [[ShoutOut direct homage]] to Creator/RayHarryhausen. Naturally, they appeared in [[VideoGame/GodOfWarII the sequel]], and first show up when you catch up to Jason and the Argonauts.
* The original ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' has an army of skeleton swordsmen. The first one appears as the boss of the second stage and the rest are EliteMooks. ''Golden Axe II'' also had skeleton warriors, while ''Golden Axe III'' has the Dead Frames, which are the reanimated skeletons of reptilian humanoids.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' has skeleton enemies wielding various weapons. Unlike many other games, these skeletons aren't pushovers -- they're really dangerous swordfighters. There are also legless, floating skeleton mages. ''Gothic 2'' adds weak goblin skeletons (who are nevertheless more dangerous than living goblins), skeleton shadowbeasts (the ordinary shadowbeast is already a very dangerous predator; these necromantic versions are even more threatening) and armor-wearing shadow warriors, who are pretty much mini-bosses.
* The most common enemy from ''VideoGame/GrabbedByTheGhoulies''.
* ''Graveyard Shift 2: Skelly's Revenge'' has you [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKmiyxVPgF0 playing as]] a milk-chugging, child-flinging, bugle-dooting skeleton. Yes, really. It is very much "Skeleton Memes: TheGame."
* ''VideoGame/GreyAnAlienDream'': One of the enemy types [[PlayerCharacter Grey]] can encounter in his [[DreamLand dreams]] is living skeletons.
* In keeping with its El Día de los Muertos theme, nearly all of the characters in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' are skeletons. The rest are demons native to the Land of the Dead.
** Technically they're calacas (see above), which accounts for their stylization.
** The question of motor skills is lampshaded in Manny's conversation with a short-tempered clown:
--->'''Manny''': Some festival, huh?\\
'''Balloon Guy''': Yeah, my carpal tunnel syndrome's really acting up...\\
'''Manny''': But you don't have any tendons!\\
'''Balloon Guy''': Well you don't have a tongue, but that doesn't seem to shut you up, now does it?
* In ''VideoGame/{{Grow}} Cannon'', you can find a giant skeleton leg, finding the rest of its bones will give it flesh and skin.
* Skeletal undead are seen in both the original ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' campaign and the third campaign, ''Nightfall''. However, they are still garbed in the armor or clothes they wore in life, which can add or subtract from their horror.
* ''VideoGame/HauntedHalloween86TheCurseOfPossumHollow'': One of the first enemies you encounter in the game are skeletons that throw bones at [[PlayerCharacter Donny and Tami]].
* Skeletons show up throughout the ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' series as the standard melee grunt for TheUndead Necropolis faction, in normal and [[HeavilyArmoredMook armored]] varieties. ''Heroes of Might and Magic III'' had a unique death animation for them, whereas they collapse on the ground, while their sword sticks in the ground with its handle straight up, just like a cross on a normal grave.
** Meanwhile, the traditional top tier Necropolis unit is a skeleton ''dragon''. Like most undeads, they tend to be weaker than their live version but come in greater numbers.
** And of course, many of the Necropolis battlefield commanders are skeletons themselves.
* In ''VideoGame/AHintOfATint'', it turns that [[spoiler: Jezebel's Knights]] are this. [[spoiler: They were the human males who would have died from thirst in that world, but were turned by Jezebel into fellow Vampires, preventing them from dying outright, but still subjecting them to desiccation, which they hide underneath their suits of armor.]]
* Skeletons appear among the enemies in ''VideoGame/HypeTheTimeQuest''. Similarly to the Dry Bones from the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' franchise, they collapse into a pile of bones when defeated, only to get back up a little while later.
* There are many varieties of skeletons for you to fight in ''VideoGame/{{Hytale}}''; wizards use magic against their foes, soldiers wear armor and carry swords, archers attack from a distance using bows, etc.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}'', Bilaterus is a skeletal alien consisting of two heads connected by four spines. There is also Vert the Skeleton, a [[DarkIsNotEvil pet]] that drops golden coins for the player to collect.
* A skeleton serves as your guide in ''[[VideoGame/ISpy I Spy Spooky Mansion]]''.
* ''VideoGame/JitsuSquad'' have armoured skeleton enemies throughout the game. Appropriately enough, they debut in Castle Hellstrom, a NightOfTheLivingMooks stage as servants of Raven the {{Necromancer}}.
* The Bonefish and Skelterwild dream eaters in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' are skeletal variants of the Fin Fatale and Tyrant Rex dream eaters. The latter can be very troublesome to deal with due to the fact that its head detaches after it receives a solid hit and start attacking independently of its body.
* In ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'', a animated skeleton named Spinal who has a quirk: to perform certain moves, he must gather energy—represented by tokens shaped like skulls under his life bar (SNES version) or skulls floating around him (arcade and gold versions)—by absorbing opponents' projectile-energy attacks (with his shield in absorbing position) or performing combo breakers. Despite requiring these tokens, his special moves are no stronger than normal special attacks. Spinal can store up to five skull tokens, overloading if he tries to absorb energy for the sixth time. On the sixth attempt he will not block the projectile, and it will cause normal damage and knockdown; he will then be left with one remaining skull. Spinal has two No Mercy moves: one where he repeatedly stabs the enemy with a spike on his shield and another where he summons ghostly, skeletal hands to drag his opponent underground (in the SNES version, the latter became his summoning a bolt of lightning to strike his opponent).
** Spinal was originally notable for being perhaps the only animate skeleton in fiction that is the product of science, not magic. However, it seems that the creators later figured out that movement without muscles is scientifically ridiculous and [[DoingInTheScientist retconned his backstory to involve magic]].
** Spinal is also one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s for the high-pitched cackle a lot of skeleton characters are given when they are voiced, alongside the likes of [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]].
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has pet skeletons, misspelled skleletons, Spooky Pirate Skeletons, Misshapen Animal Skeletons... The list goes on. The introduction of the Angry Jung Man familiar and his psychoanalytic jars introduced a whole tower full of procedurally-generated skeletons which apparently exists in the mind of [=KoL=] creator Jick.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestMaskOfEternity'': The skeleton guards in the Dimension of Death.
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' is littered with the skeletons of many an AdventurerArchaeologist who failed to solve the puzzle of the ruins. Some hold helpful notes and items. Others get up and beat the crap out of you.
* ''VideoGame/LastArmageddon'' has a skeleton party member simply called Skeleton.
* ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain:'' Animated skeletons are encountered. Some of them walk in a fixed route and explode on contact with you. Others can [[PullingThemselvesTogether pull themselves together]] and need to be destroyed [[LudicrousGibs more]] [[KillItWithFire thoroughly]].
* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfTheWizard'': Green skeletal knights called simply "Skeletons" are a fairly common enemy type.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': After being cursed by Malefor for their shallow loyalty to him, [[spoiler:the Apes]] are transformed into skeletal undead.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has both the floating skulls -- Bubbles -- and skeleton swordsmen -- Stalfos -- as common monsters. The dungeon boss Stallord from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' is a gigantic, non-human example.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'': The Stalfos wander around in dungeons. They get upgraded to firing sword beams in the second quest.
** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': Stalfos come in two varieties, red and blue. Blue Stalfos are stronger and can jump and down-thrust in midair.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' had endlessly spawning Stalchildren that appeared in Hyrule Field at night, which grew larger the more of them you defeated.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' has no Stalfos by that name, but Ikana valley is home to skeleton soldier mini-bosses that are practically Stalfos in all but name.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'': Played with, as the games feature skeleton pirates who are ''good guys''.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': The boss Skeldrich is basically a giant humanoid skull with an absurdly long neck.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has the [[OurHydrasAreDifferent Staldras]] -- three-headed reptilian monstrosities from a bygone age whose heads must be destroyed simultaneously -- and the Stalmaster -- a four-armed and fully equipped Stalfos -- in addition to regular Stalfos. The latter two [[DemonicSpiders do not screw around]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': Skeletal versions of Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos can pop out of the ground at random much like the Stalchildren from ''Ocarina of Time'', while the Stalnox, a skeletal Hinox, can be found as a boss monster. There's also the Stalhorse, which you can ride at night but which disintegrates like the other Stal creatures at sunrise.
** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'': Stalchildren with their ''Ocarina of Time'' design appear as regular mooks. The larger weapon-wielding Stalfos, which likewise sport the ''Ocarina of Time'' design, appear as Elite Mooks. The four-armed Stalmasters from ''Skyward Sword'' also appear as Elite Mooks. In Adventure Mode, Captain Keeta appears in some battles on the Termina map.
* ''VideoGame/LEGOJurassicWorld'': Fitting with the paleontology focus of the franchise, the Minikits for this game unlock the ability to play as living skeletons of the dinosaurs, each level giving a skeleton for the dinosaur amber also found in it, and they function just as well as the fully alive ones despite lacking skin, flesh, and organs.
* ''VideoGame/LightCrusader'': The only way you can kill this type of enemy is the "Turn Undead" spell or kill the wizard controlling them.
* ''VideoGame/LuciferRing'' have skeleton mooks in two varieties. The player first encounter regular-sized human skeletons in the mausoleum, which they defeat with ease, but later on they fight a Skeleton Knight KingMook as a boss. And in the battle against Bair the EvilWizard, Bair will summon copies of the Skeleton Knight, but he's now a DegradedBoss who goes down easily.
* ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'' features no less than thirty-nine variants of the [[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Skeleton humanoid]] variety throughout [[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Rabbie_Dungeon Rabbie]], [[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Rundal_Dungeon Rundal]], and [[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Albey_Dungeon Albey]] Dungeons, with 6 varieties of [[http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Skeleton_Wolf Skeleton Wolves]] for good measure.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'' series features loose enough magic that a combination of lightning, death, cold, and rock will produce six humanoid skeletons wielding swords and ready to kill on your behalf. They're even healed by arcane death beams!
* ''VideoGame/MagicRampage'': Skeletons makes an appearance. Later in the game, they wield magic.
* One of the customers of the Alice Shop in ''VideoGame/TheMaidOfFairewellHeights'' is a Skeleton Soldier.
* In the 1990s PC fantasy kingdom sim ''VideoGame/{{Majesty}}'', your Priestesses of the Death Goddess Krypta had the ability to re-animate skeletons for use as partners in combat; walking skeletons were sometimes also used as enemy monsters.
* ''VisualNovel/MarcoAndTheGalaxyDragon'' has El Skeleton, an alien who looks like a skeleton and claims to be one. He’s actually flesh and blood, but can quickly heal from the most grievous wounds as long as his bones are intact.
* Freeware game ''VideoGame/MasterOfTheWind'' has skeletons wandering around the setting due to necromancers. Unusually some of these skeletons are sapient and just want to live in peace, something made rather difficult by overzealous clerics trying to grant them eternal rest. Shroud's partner Stoic is one of these.
* ''VideoGame/MediEvil'' gives us Sir Daniel Fortesque. A cowardly knight who died in the first hail of arrows, he's now been reanimated to take on Zarok. And he's the good guy! Although [[EyeScream he got hit in the eye and killed, and is effectively a cyclops]] and has had his jaw decompose so he can't communicate without subtitles, he's still one tough cookie.
* Floating skulls are also in some of the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' games.
* Skeletons appear among the many, ''many'' enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}''. Thieves can also by a skeleton suit, which invokes this trope.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': Skeletons were one of the first mobs added to the game alongside zombies, and come in a number of variants. The basic skeleton comes equipped with a bow and can fire arrows, and is in fact programmed to move away from you when you get too close (instead of rushing you like other monsters do) to make best use of its ranged attacks. Like zombies, they can spawn wearing armor, which will improve their defense and can drop for you to use when they die, and catch fire and burn to death in the sunlight unless they’re wearing a helmet. Specific variants include:
** Spider jockeys are a rare variant that spawns riding a {{giant spider}}. They can be quite dangerous, combining the skeleton’s ranged attacks with the spider’s melee and high speed.
** Skeleton traps are another rare variant that spawns when a seemingly regular (but in fact specifically spawned for this trap) horse is struck by lightning, turning it into four skeletal horses mounted by skeletons wearing helmets. As the horses will not burn in sunlight or despawn and are spawned tamed, once you kill the skeletons you can ride them to net yourself a skeletal steed of your own.
** Wither skeletons are taller, ash-grey skeletons that spawn in [[{{Hell}} the Nether]]. They wield stone swords instead of bows and inflict you with the Wither status condition, which will steadily sap away at your health. Like all Nether mobs they’re immune to fire damage, and will thus not burn to death in the sun. They can also spawn as spider jockeys.
** The Wither is a flying, three-headed skeletal monstrosity you can summon using three wither skeleton heads. It’s very powerful, it shoots explosive skulls, and it will try to kill every mob it sees that isn’t undead.
** Strays are a variant of skeletons with glowing eyes and clad in tattered rags that only spawns in snowy biomes, whose arrows inflict you with the Slowness status effect. They, too, can spawn as spider jockeys.
* ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': The ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' skeletons are back to annoy you with their arrows. They also come in [[OurLichesAreDifferent Necromancer]] and [[EliteMooks Nameless]] [[BladeOnAStick Guard]] flavors.
* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bones_(video_game) Mr. Bones]]'': Another skeleton protagonist is the aptly-named title character in this UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game.
* ''VideoGame/MintyFreshAdventure'': Since the dominant lifeform is ponies. The animate skeletons of them that appear, are also NonHumanUndead.
* Apogee's ''VideoGame/MonsterBash'' has skeletons as one of the common enemies. They throw what look like arms at you and break into two when you kill them.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPC'' has skeletons as [[FlunkyBoss flunkies]] of the warlock boss. They're invincible, since every time you blast them with a magic staff they fall apart before [[PullingThemselvesTogether reforming in two seconds]], with the only way of taking them down being defeating the warlock. Later on skeletons are the second stage of the difficult {{Mummy}} enemy - after a mummy is hit once by a magic staff, it sheds its bandages and turns into a fast-moving skeleton and pursues the player, who must run like crazy to collect another staff before they get killed.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher 2''. Dragon + Joker = Death Dragon.
* ''VideoGame/MontezumasRevenge'' had rolling skulls as enemies.
* Undead ninja Scorpion from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' technically counts as this due to him being a burning skeleton undneath his ninja garb and flesh.
* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'' has a Moshling species called "Creepy Crooners", who are singing skeletons.
* Skeletal Deadheads in ''VideoGame/MutantFootballLeague''. They're generally on the speedy side and have a potent HealingFactor that make them extremely difficult to injure or kill, making them ideal running backs. [[AllThereInTheManual The manual]] states that they're reckless daredevils (and party animals) who like to practice by running into brick walls.
* ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles'':
** In the bonus gameplay from ''13th Skull'', the Master Detective finds the skullless skeletal remains of Captain Crown's crew. [[spoiler:Placing their skulls atop of their head again will animate them, and they will get revenge on their captain after that.]]
** The skeleton of the evaded prisoner in ''Shadow Lake'' will briefly wake up and attack the Master Detective before collapsing again right before hitting her.
* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'' zombies can be encountered from the very start, in the form of pathetically weak kobold zombie. Somewhat stronger kobold mummies appear a little later on, and there are a lot of zombie and mummy varieties in total, going up to giant zombies/mummies. In contrast, there's only one type of a skeleton, and it is stronger than even the giant mummy, being encountered in the late-game Orcus Town level, with the unique ability to steal speed from the player. However, a player strong enough to have reached Orcus Town in the first place is likely to find them little more than a nuisance anyway.
** Liches are another, far more dangerous play on the trope. They can be rarely encountered from the mid-game onwards, which is one of the worst encounters a player can run into. Even a regular Lich can drain strength from the player, randomly curse their items (making it impossible to unequip worn weapons/armor, and severely worsening other items, to the point of making their use completely counterproductive) and worst of all, destroy armor outright, even if it's a very rare equipment. Luckily, they can only do these attacks in melee combat...which they compensate for through turning themselves invisible, and then casting haste on themselves, to make ranged combat without telepathy basically impossible. Oh, and they can heal themselves as well.
** Moreover, there are three more Lich varieties. A Demilich is simply stronger and faster than the regular one, though it also knows how to draw all the ''other'' enemies on the level to your location. Master Lich is even stronger, and does this spell too, but also knows how to summon some of the strongest enemies in the game outright, and can teleport to the player, '''then''' teleport away when they are wounded to heal. An Arch-Lich knows all of this, '''and''' can insta-kill in close combat those who lack magic resistance. Even the game itself considers them the highest-difficulty monster one can randomly encounter.
*** All the properties Liches possess mean that most players choose to deal with them in another way entirely, and target them with a blessed Scroll of Genocide, [[RetGone completely removing all four Lich types from the game world, forever]]. The only tricky thing is in finding and properly identifying such a scroll in the first place: even if you know/suspect that they would cost a fortune when bought/sold, you may well end up with a poison cloud exploding in your face (not scary with poison resistance/game-ending without one), or even get punished with a ball and chain crippling your movement, at least until your god decides to help you after a well-timed prayer. Oh, and using a scroll of genocide to exterminate Liches (or nearly any other creature, really) without testing to see if it's cursed can end up with [[OhCrap 4 Liches teleported to your location instead.]]
* The Lich class in ''VideoGame/NexusWar'' can raise skeletons as pets, or combine five skeletons into a fossil monster (essentially a bone golem). The Necrotic Tower, which was the home of the first Lich, is built entirely out of bone.
* ''VideoGame/NieR'' includes No. 6 and No. 7, the former of which is a rather distressing boss battle and the latter of which becomes a party member. [[spoiler: Or more accurately, a party member ''becomes'' the latter...]]
* Both ''VideoGame/ANightmareOnElmStreetPC'' and ''VideoGame/ANightmareOnElmStreetNES'' feature living skeletons as minor enemies.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaShadowOfDarkness'': Skeletons are a reoccurring enemy you can encounter in the graveyard/ghost city and underground tunnels.
* ''VideoGame/Nitemare3D'' had the skeletons that throw, um... flaming bones? ...at you. Which somehow hit their target instantaneously, unlike the blasts from your plasma gun.
* ''VideoGame/NomolosStormingTheCatsle'': Starting in the stronghold, [[PlayerCharacter Nomolos]] encounters skeleton enemies taller than he is.
* ''VideoGame/NosferatuLilinor'' is [=FULL=] of skeleton enemies. They can be temporarily defeated by hitting them, causing them to crumble. However, they can be permanently defeated by dropping them from a platform, or by having Zasha attack them.
* ''VideoGame/OfLoveAndEternity'': The body of the player character, an undead knight, has rotted to a skeleton, though he can still walk around, interact with the world and feel pain (physical and emotional). He's even still breathing given his breath mists, though he lacks the strength to climb.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Party member Ryuji Sakamoto's eponymous Persona FightingSpirit is a skeletal pirate standing atop a miniature pirate ship. Despite being nothing but bones and clothing, said Persona specializes in pure physical strength.
* ''VideoGame/PillarsOfDust'': Bones is an animated skeleton mercenary who can throw their own bones and play dead to avoid damage.
* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'',
** Skeletons are the end state of all [[TheUndead corporeal undead]], having [[FateWorseThanDeath degraded to a completely mindless state as they decay]].
** [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]] in the same series are spellcasters who have avoided the mental degradation of the undead but not the physical, eventually ending up as this.
* ''VideoGame/PirateHunter'' has skeletal pirates (unsurprisingly) as an UndeadCounterpart to the human pirate mooks. There's also a skeleton pirate captain as a boss.
* ''VideoGame/PizzaVsSkeletons'': As the title implies, the game has a wide variety of skeleton enemies to defeat as a giant pizza.
* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'':
** Morte, your first ally, is a wise-cracking, floating skull. Inexplicably, he has unrotted eyes in his sockets, no doubt preserved through his sheer will to roll them at every opportunity.
** Being based on a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting with a heavy emphasis on death and unlife, the standard Dem Bones from the source material also exist in the game. As the necromantic Dustmen repair the bodies of decaying zombie slaves, eventually they are reduced to Dem Bones, held together with iron and leather.
** ''[[VideoGame/GoldBox Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Dranoor]]'' features a skeletal dragon as the BigBad.
* The Free-to-Play TCG/tactics game ''VideoGame/PoxNora'' features skeletons as one of the main race types in the Forsaken Wastes faction. Fully skeleton-themed decks are viable and typically play as a horde of expendable lesser skeletons backed by powerful mages, tomb lords and the occasional skeletal ice dragon.
* One of the varieties of Fryhtans in the ''VideoGame/SevenKingdoms'' series are skeletal warriors called "Deezboans".
* ''VideoGame/{{Slashout}}'' have skeletons in the second stage, set in a haunted hill, where you must cross a graveyard to the boss' mansion.
* Like Dry Bones, skeletons in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia'' don't tend to stay down for the count.
* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' features two playable characters, Oshare Bones and Skeleton T, who happen to be animated skeletons. Neither of them are terribly threatening.
* ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'' has AI opponent and player model Bones. The manual [[LampshadeHanging idly wonders]] where the blood comes from when you shoot him.
* ''VideoGame/RagingBlades'' have two different varieties of skeletons; HornedHumanoid skeletons with tails which appeared first in the Cavern of Vortex, and the more common human skeletons in the Tower of Apocalypse. The human skeletons comes in two colours as well, yellow and white, though it's mostly just cosmetic.
%%* ''VideoGame/{{Raskulls}}''.
* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', hostile skeletons absolutely infest the Citadel of Ror-Dan.
* ''VideoGame/RecettearAnItemShopsTale'': There are sword wielding skeletons which come in white and yellow and drop Poison and Paralysis Crystals, respectively.
* A [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mr-bones-wild-ride somewhat famous]] game of ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon 2'' had a top hatted skeleton as the mascot of "Mr. Bones' Wild Ride", a VideoGameCrueltyPotential-driven roller coaster so long it became [[AndIMustScream a thing of horror.]] Naturally, it has become associated with the "Spooky Scary Skeletons" song and the "2spooky" meme.
* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has the expected basic human skeletons as enemies, as well as giant ones, a skeletal hellhound, skeletal wyverns (dragon-creatures), disembodied giant skeletal hands and an eldritch skeletal horror made of the bones of multiple creatures.
* The ''Castlevania''-inspired side-scroller, ''VideoGame/{{Rusty}}'', features Skeletons as soldiers, pikemans, and magicians.
* Animated skeletons appear as enemies in Episode 1 of ''VideoGame/ScoobyDooFirstFrights''.
* One of the most common enemies in ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' series is a skeleton of the Kleer alien species (which was rendered extinct by the BigBad Mental, then revived in its entirety as the mainstay of his army) - a horse-sized four-legged creature that charges at you while also somehow finding the time to roll two steel balls on a chain straight ahead of itself. ''II'' also has bone snakes.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowCaster'': An early area features red-boned skeletons hung up on poles. Drawing near causes them to animate, whereupon they attack the player with sword and shield.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts Covenant'' features an enemy called Agony that appears in the Gallery of the Dead. Its bestiary says it is a skeleton built and [[PoweredByAForsakenChild animated by a ghost of a child]]. Abandoned when the child's soul passed on, it now despises all humans with an anger born of deep sadness.
* The Fiend tribe of demons in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, including the Four Horsemen (Red, Black, White, and [[TheGrimReaper Pale Rider]]s,) Mother Harlot, [[ThatOneBoss Matador]], David the Violinist, the Trumpeter of the Apocalypse, Daisoujou the Monk, and the Hell Biker, among others. They're usually among the most difficult foes you will ever encounter in each game. ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' being what it is, you can also enlist them as allies against greater foes.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' has a skeleton maid named Bonehilda, first introduced in an expansion of the [[VideoGame/TheSims1 first game]], which players can purchase and will autonomously clean their Sims' houses. She's also a fan of TheGrimReaper and will try to get an autograph from him if he shows up. Visiting Sims can freak-out if they see her though.
* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheWorld'': The final Hollywood level contains skeletons that throw their skulls.
* The first two ''VideoGame/{{Sinjid}}'' games featured skeletons as fairly uncommon enemies.
** ''Battle Arena'' has the [[WarmUpBoss lowly]] Gel Skeleton and its [[PaletteSwap stronger variants]], the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Skeleton]], the Golden Skeleton, and the Titanium Skeleton, and their main method of combat is [[BareFistedMonk beating the player to a pulp]]. Their attack patterns are fairly simplistic, but they make up for it with fast attacks that can easily shut down approaches if the player isn't quick on the draw.
** ''Shadow of the Warrior'' has Skeletons who use [[AnAxeToGrind weap]][[CoolSword onry]] and [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shields]] in combat as opposed to their predecessors' bare-handed fighting style, and Skeleton Mages, who [[SquishyWizard had low health and physical power but made up for it with their magic abilities]] and [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe durable cloaks]]. The former are fairly weak on their own, but are always found assisting other monsters in battle, making it easier for their allies to take you out, and the latter are fairly menacing when cloaked, but drop quickly once uncloaked.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Skate}} 3'', Dem Bones is the name of a playable character model in free-skate mode. He is unlocked after completing half of the Hall Of Meat challenges in the career.
* ''VideoGame/SkeletalAvenger'': The PlayerCharacter is a recently-revived skeleton traversing a dungeon, battling monsters along the way.
* ''VideoGame/TheSkeleton'': The main threat of the game is the titular skeleton out to kill you with a sword (or a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] in the appropriately named mode.
* ''VideoGame/SkeletonBoomerang'': The vast majority of enemies in the game are skeletons of various creatures.
* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/SkulTheHeroSlayer'' is this.
* ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'':
** Numerous Undead Skylanders are skeletal in nature.
*** Chop Chop was made as a result of a fusion of Undead magic and technology, making him a skeletal knight complete with KnightlySwordAndShield.
*** ''Giants'' features the Undead elf called Fright Rider and his skeletal ostrich Ozzy.
*** ''Trap Team'' introduces a skeletal dog known as Funny Bone.
*** ''Superchargers'' has a more elaborate version of this in the form of Fiesta, a FriendlySkeleton trumpeter based on the Day of the Dead.
** However, numerous enemies from the Land of the Undead are skeletons, like archers known as Bone n' Arrows, and Undead Spell Punks beyond the first game can summon skeletal versions of common enemies like Trolls and Greebles.
* The cave complex in ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' often has piles of bones scattered around; some of them can re-animate as skeletons as you approach them. Luckily, a single GoombaStomp or even a whip strike is enough to put them down again.
* ''VideoGame/SkullAndCrossbones'', a pirate-themed adventure game, appropriately enough have skeletons in one level, rising out from the sands as the player reaches a beach.
* ''VideoGame/SolDivide'' has flying skeleton enemies as a recurring enemy type.
* Skeletons, usually armed with a sword, are the most common enemy in ''VideoGame/SpiritsAndSpells''.
* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' features skeletons as monsters encountered in floors 70-80 of the mines, there are also variants like "dangerous" and a mage skeleton on higher difficulties. On the Spirit's Eve holiday Marlon will have a few of these on display in a cage, and Sebastian will wonder what "trick" they are using to make them move.
* Hiante from ''VideoGame/StarStealingPrince'' is a more friendly example than most; a skeletal soldier [[spoiler: formerly of the Original King's army]] raised from the dead to protect Astra.
* The main character of ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'' hallucinates being attacked by skeletons (among other things) after [[MushroomSamba being covered in leeches and taking an entire bottle of medicine]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperDungeonBros'': The enemies you face in Cryptheim are skeletons. There's the standard skeleton {{Mooks}}, archer skeletons, and even much larger [[EliteMooks heavily armoured skeletons]].
* The ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]'' series has multiple skeletal enemies.
** Dry Bones are skeletal Koopa Troopas. Using the GoombaStomp on them makes them collapse for a few seconds, and then they reassemble. Usually, you have to either make the head roll into lava or a pit, smash them some other way or make sure all of the enemies on screen are dead to beat them, depending on the game/series in question. Variations of this enemy included Dull Bones and Red Bones (both not as strong as regular Dry Bones) and Dark Bones (which are stronger than Dry Bones). They are also named for a line from the trope-naming song.
** Bony Beetles are to Buzzy Beetles what Dry Bones are to Koopa Troopas. They can reassemble after being stomped, and can also collapse their skeleton exposing their sharp rib bones to defend against being stomped.
** Fishbones are skeletal fishes and immune to everything except invincibility.
** And there's a part where Bowser gets StrippedToTheBone and reanimated as a Skeleton. ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' calls this "Dry Bowser".
** There's also Kingfin in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', a skeletal shark with GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath. That apparently summons robotic piranha fish.
** ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' introduces the Spine Coaster, which takes you through the entire level by bone, complete with screeching.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' introduces the Tostarenans, who are beings based on the calacas of Mexico’s Day of the Dead. Tostarena and The Sand Kingdom is itself a [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Super Mario counterpart]] to Mexico.
* ''VideoGame/SuzyCube'' has the Dastardly Skulls, who stole all the gold coins from Castle Cubeton.
* ''VideoGame/TakAndThePowerOfJuju'' has the Dead Juju, an animated skeleton who likes partying.
* The ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', such as ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', has it's fair share of your standard skeleton mooks, but also has a recurring BonusBoss in the form of the Sword Dancer, a large, often MultiArmedAndDangerous skeletal swordsman who [[BloodKnight lives to fight strong opponents.]]
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'''s love of adding more thematic holiday content to the game, especially on Halloween, means that the presence of NPC skeletons was probably inevitable. While they are internally called zombies (due to previously using the various zombie skins of playable classes), they're really nothing but (surprisingly realistically depicted) bones. They usually appear with a SicklyGreenGlow, but occasionally skeleton swarms can be summoned by using magic spells, and will have a [[ColorCodedArmies team-colored]] glow in that case.
* One of the first enemies in Creator/{{Epyx}}'s ''VideoGame/TempleOfApshai'' is an animated skeleton.
%%(ZCE) * Many, ''many'' skeletal enemies are featured in ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}''.
* In ''VideoGame/ThreadsOfFate'', one of Rue's monster forms that he can transform into is a skeleton warrior. It has a standard slashing attack while its special attack, is to... ''break down into a pile of bones'' (of course, pressing Triangle again makes Rue reattach himself). It does form a useful function in solving puzzles where he encounters it, as well as defense; the broken form is invincible against certain enemies.
* In ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'', the color of the various skeleton enemies [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority indicates their power]], starting from the white ones in Greece, yellowed and brown ones later on, black ones in Egypt, and ending with the Gilded Skeletons in China.
* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation'' features skeletons armed with swords. Many weapons are completely ineffective against them. A shotgun blast will knock them over temporarily, but, if you want to permanently destroy them, you'd better have the grenade launcher or the explosive arrows at the ready, or make them drop from a cliff. They can also follow Lara almost anywhere and have a tendency of sneaking up on her from the sides or behind, making for some great {{Jump Scare}}s.
* ''VideoGame/{{Trine}}'' features skeletons as the primary enemies.
* Skeletons are a common foe in the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, but only gained the ability to revive continuously in ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII'' if the player did not kill them with the [[TurnUndead Grant Peace spell]]. Taken to ridiculous heights in the horribly broken ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', where a defeated skeleton would break into its component parts and could reform again if there were enough parts for a whole skeleton. Cue frantic body-part looting mid-battle in a game where inventory space was already at a premium, and the skeletons kept respawning whenever you returned to the area.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
** Two of the first major [=NPCs=] you meet are Papyrus and Sans, a pair of comedic skeleton brothers. In spite of being skeletons, they wear clothes, eat food, and don't seem to be the least bit inconvenienced by the whole 'lack of flesh' thing.[[note]] In fact, they even seem to ''benefit'' from it. When Undyne asks Papyrus how he can stand Snowdin's cold, he replies it's because he doesn't have skin[[/note]] All of their attacks are shaped like bones, and [[spoiler: Sans also uses Gaster Blasters, which are WaveMotionGun[=s=] in the shape of animal skulls]]. Rather than the skeletons of humans, both are monsters that are that way naturally. The unlikeliness of this is lampshaded when Papyrus theorizes humans are skeleton monsters that evolved flesh.
** [[spoiler: [[TheGhost Doctor W.D. Gaster]] may also be one, he's named after two fonts (Wingdings and Aster), and seemingly uses one of them in his dialog, not unlike the skeleton brothers. However, it's hard to tell since he's been DummiedOut and apparently stuck in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds as fragmented bits of data. There's also the "Gaster Blasters", which are draconic-looking skulls that shoot lasers, which Sans uses against the player in the Genocide Route.]]
* A great example is the Mysterious Lady from ''VideoGame/{{Uninvited}}''. In the first floor hallway, if you try a door a mysterious woman appears with her back to you, "dressed like Scarlett O'Hara," and she seems completely harmless - if you're playing the NES version there's even a chipper "hey, a cute lady!" tune in the background. But if you do something to get her attention (trying the door again, hitting her, trying to open her) she turns around and reveals her face: A bleached white skull, "devoid of any flesh"! The only way to get rid of her is to find a bottle labelled "no-ghost" in the upstairs closet, and even then you have to make sure to [[TrialAndErrorGameplay have the bottle open before even meeting her]]. Otherwise, nothing happens and she kills you. With this, and the fact that she's the first thing that can kill you in the game (unless you lingered too long in the wrecked car) and thus, your first death, she's pretty much become the game's mascot, even appearing on the NES version's [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/image/563472.html?box=49626 cover art]].
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDXSniYAND4#t=0m58s Thank you for coming back for me, my love. You will be mine forever.]]"
* ''VideoGame/{{Unworthy}}'' features the Frozen Giant - a very tough skeleton about twice as tall as the PlayerCharacter, and who attacks by creating two kinds of [[AnIcePerson ice]] {{shockwave|Stomp}}s and can also stand still and electrify himself for a while, making it hazardous to attack him. Luckily, he's a singular miniboss.
* ''VideoGame/VillageMonsters'': Stapes, the town guard, is a living skeleton.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
** ''Warcraft 3'' has several variants: a melee skeleton, an archer, a mage (without any spells, just a magic attack) and an orcish version (used in the campaign only). Frostwyrms are also basically [[{{Dracolich}} skeleton dragons]], and ghouls are half-way between skeleton and zombie. The [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] hero is also a skeleton, albeit much more powerful and with a free will (the above examples are mindless undead slaves). Death knights also use skeletal horses. Similar to the Diablo example above, a Necromancer using the Raise Dead skill creates two humanoid skeletons from any sort of corpse. Even something like a Crypt Fiend (half-spider) or a wolf. In the Frozen Throne expansion, the Scourge shop sells staves that allow any Hero Unit to raise skeletons as well.
** Obviously, these types (minus the orc version) made it into ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' as common monsters, as well as NPC necromancers which can summon them. No such class skill exists, although the first Hero Class, the Deathknight, comes close with summoning Ghouls. Unlike the RTS, these can only be raised from humanoid corpses or using Corpse Dust which can be bought from vendors. Better not to think about that one too much.
** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a large amount and diversity of Dem Bones, from typical meleeing mooks, to spellcasting mooks (often referred to as Bonecasters), to more elaborate skeleton mooks such as Bone Golems with their scythe hands, as well as many unique skeletons (including one rare mob who can return from the dead if not killed fast enough and is therefore rather hard to kill), and some Skeleton bosses, as well as Liches of course. The newly introduced Lord Marrowgar tops most of them, being a 10 to 25-man boss in the hardest raid so far (though an early one), and is basically a floating mass of bones with 4 heads armed with a massive bone axe.
** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' also features some Dem Bones noncombat pets. To wit, the collector's edition pet Frosty, a baby Frostwyrm, and the Ghostly Skull. A skeletal steed is the racial mount for the Forsaken, and archaeologists can assemble both a full sized fossilized raptor to ride and a small noncombat pet version.
** With some Noggenfogger Elixir and a bit of luck, you can become one too! [[note]]If you do that you'll no longer need to breathe![[/note]]
* Skeleton enemies appear sometimes in the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series, with the skeletal ghosts in ''VideoGame/WarioLand4'' and the aptly named Recapitators in ''VideoGame/WarioLandShakeIt''. The former shoot some kind of ectoplasm that turns Wario into a zombie, the latter actually use their head as a boomerang, and reassemble if destroyed with the head intact.
** ''VideoGame/WarioWorld's'' [[BigBoosHaunt Horror Manor]] has enemies that are skeletal versions of the enemies from the first two levels.
* In the arcade game ''VideoGame/{{Warzaid}}'' the objective is to stop these from taking over the world.
* In ''VideoGame/WhereTheWaterTastesLikeWine'', the Dire Wolf turns the player character into an animate skeleton, so that they can complete their task no matter how long it takes. Regular people don't seem to perceive this change, though some can sense a dark aura in you.
* ''VideoGame/WillRock'': Living skeletons from both roman legionnaires and centaurs are met.
* One species of goo in ''VideoGame/WorldOfGoo'' confuses the Sign Painter as to whether they're "alive... or dead. Probably polite to pretend we don't notice." These skull-shaped goo are the only species invulnerable to the ubiquitous SpikesOfDoom.
[[/folder]]

!!OtherExamples

!!Examples:

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Skeletons were a common sight in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation old cartoons]], usually dancing and living it up like undead party animals. Creator/{{Disney}}'s [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Silly Symphony]] ''WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance'' (1929) is the most obvious example, but Disney also made ''The Haunted House'' (also 1929) and ''WesternAnimation/TheMadDoctor'' (1933) with the same dancing skeleton characters.
** [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Fleischer]] had skeleton characters in numerous [[WesternAnimation/BettyBoop Betty Boop and Bimbo]] shorts...
** And Creator/VanBeurenStudios had them in Tom and Jerry's ''Wot a Night'' (1931) and ''Plane Dumb'' (1932) among others.
** The early Merrie Melodie ''Hittin' the Trail to Hallelujah Land'' (1931) features dancing skeletons too.
** Creator/ColumbiaCartoons had the Creator/UbIwerks-directed remake of The Skeleton Dance, called "Skeleton Frolic" (1937).
** Two skeletons appear in ''WesternAnimation/WhoKilledWho'', one regular and another with red bones (a ShoutOut to Red Skelton). There's also a skeletal cuckoo in a clock.
* 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': In "Totem Pole", Shake and Carl visit a rock band performance and are used to build a troll pole, which ends up summoning hundreds of skeletons from the ground leaving them trapped in the building without anyway to escape.
* 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.
* ''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 him]] is very [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejH9RBmV9s self-explanatory]].
* 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' has the Rivera family's greatest enemy, Sartana of the Dead and her undead army. Her ethnicity makes her a ''genuine'' calaca.
* 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/LucyTheDaughterOfTheDevil'': Becky, Satan's administrative assistant, is an animated skeleton.
* The BackFromTheDead version of Auntie in ''WesternAnimation/NotWithoutMyHandbag'' is a skeleton with a dress and hairdo.
* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' has a character named A Real Magic Skeleton, who is... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin you can probably guess]]
* 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/SkeletonWarriors''. In this one, the "curse" of becoming a skeleton could be reversed by removing a ruby in their chest, as they were immortal otherwise.
* 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/SWATKats'' had a recurring villain, The Pastmaster (an ancient sorcerer who keeps trying to bring back the Dark Ages). One of his shticks was reanimating skeletons, as he demonstrated in his first appearance. It wasn't very effective, as an Enforcer helicopter sees them, asks them to stand down, and then delivers a [[BondOneLiner parody on the Miranda Rights]] right before shredding them to bits with the on-board Gatling (well, laser, but it looks like a Gatling):
-->"You have the right to remain buried!"
* ''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.
[[/folder]]

* ''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]] 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. [[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 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]] 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. [[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 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]] 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. [[VillainSong The song]] [[EnemyMine Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://knd.fandom.com/wiki/Licorice self-explanatory]].

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has Black John Licorice, a 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]] 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. [[VillainSong The song]] [[EnemyMine Stickybeard and his crew]] [[TheVillainSucksSong sing about him]] is very [[https://knd.fandom.com/wiki/Licorice self-explanatory]].