Line #130 Main/BonesDoNotBelongThere


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1boneplants.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:♫ The stem bone's connected to the leaf bone... ♫]]
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11
12	->''"Why do Piranha Plant have bone in it?"''
13	-->-- '''Creator/BrianDavidGilbert''' on ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''
14
15	If you've ever looked at a human or animal skeleton, you've probably noticed they don't have much in the way of ears or noses. Some artists don't let that stop them, and add "ear bones"[[note]]While there are actual [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossicles ear bones]], they are behind the eardrum and have nothing to do with the cartilaginous outer ear.[[/note]] or "nose bones" (or "penis bones"[[note]]Despite common slang for a RagingStiffie being a "boner", the (human) penis does not have a bone in it (many mammals, including some other primates, have a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baculum baculum]]).[[/note]]). Likewise, you may see skeletal or undead invertebrates with "bones", despite the only structures that come close being the exoskeletons in arthropods. Cartilaginous fish like sharks and rays do have skeletons, but they're made of cartilage rather than bone (they still look pretty much the same under an x-ray though, so only examples in which it's clearly bone and not cartilage should be included).
16
17	ExpressiveSkull is a related trope. Compare RemovableShell. FeatherFingers and TailfinWalking may implicitly rely on this. Often shown via XRaySparks or a FunnyXRay.
18
19	Unlike EyesDoNotBelongThere, this is usually PlayedForLaughs rather than PlayedForHorror.
20
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'': The demon that drags Kagome down the well in the first chapter/episode is a MixAndMatchCritter consisting of a roughly humanoid torso with a centipede lower body. It's shown to have an endoskeleton in its lower body despite centipedes being invertebrates.
27	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': When Usopp gets hit in the face by Mr. 4's four-ton bat, an x-ray of Usopp's head briefly flashes on screen to emphasize the damage, showing that he has a bone in his long nose that gets broken by the impact.
28	* ''Manga/PrincessKnight'': In one episode of the old anime, a whale makes an appearance on-screen and eats a bunch of different creatures. One of them is a jellyfish. After eating it, he spits out its skeleton.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Fan Works]]
32	* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': The oozes on The Isle of Slimes have evolved into plasmoids who 'wear' the skeletons of their kills within their bodies. The skeletons appear to be largely cosmetic (Haara breaks one enemy's spine to no functional effect), but their presence warns her the other kidnapped slaves are still alive, as each has a unique body part[[note]]the orc's tusks, the yuan-ti's snakelike lower half, and the elf's prosthetic foot[[/note]] she'd notice if they'd been killed and turned into a plasmoid skeleton.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
36	* In the AnimatedCreditsOpening of ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation'', Santa is given XRaySparks by a broken Christmas bulb, showing bones inside his ''hat''.
37	* ''Film/Werewolf1996'': The werewolf skeleton has bone ears that curve downward to look like floppy dog's ears.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Literature]]
41	* ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'': At the end of the seventh book and the beginning of the eighth, George and Harold are [[FunnyXRay shown as skeletons]] due to the X-rays produced by them using the Purple Porta-Potty time machine without letting it cool down. Their skulls have each boy's characteristic hairstyle, but as bone: Harold's unruly poof and George's super-straight flat-top. Strangely enough, they also both have shirts, but no pants.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
45	* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Subverted in [[Recap/ScrubsS8E5MyABCs "My ABCs"]], a crossover with ''Series/SesameStreet''. J.D. has a fantasy about treating a patient. When he brings out the x-ray, it only shows the hand bones of the puppeteer within a muppet's body.
46	-->'''J.D.:''' I see what the problem is. ''(shows the x-ray)'' You have a hand inside of you.
47	-->'''Muppet:''' [[ThisExplainsSoMuch This explains so many things]].
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Magazines]]
51	* ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'' has an Illustrated History of Sex, with drawings by Ronald Searle. During the Renaissance, alchemists were fervently trying to turn something or other into gold. A {{Background Gag\|s}} has a standing skeleton in an alchemist's lab, with three or four vertebrae-like bones extending from the pubis. This means the man would have had a permanent erection, making urination challenging.[[note]]Incidentally, phosphorus was discovered by trying to turn urine into gold.[[/note]]
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Toys]]
55	* Around Halloween, a common sight in some stores is [[https://animalarchaeology.com/2017/10/31/spooky-scary-inaccurate-skeletons/ animal skeletons with visible bone ears, or in the case of birds, wings with bones in place of feathers]]. Even more JustForFun/{{egregious}}ly, there are ''bone spiders'', animals that don't even have bones as we would consider them, bone ''octopuses'', which have no hard parts at all except the beak, and a bone '''pumpkin'''.
56	* Series 2 of ''Toys/TreasureX'' introduced the concept of "Mini Beasts", living animal skeletons that [[UncattyResemblance resemble the skeleton treasure hunters]]. Some of these animals are skeletal insects and spiders, creatures that have an exoskeleton in real life.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Video Games]]
60	* ''VideoGame/AgainstTheStorm'': In the Scarlet Orchard biome, you can excavate the bones of giant arachnids, which don't have bones in real life.
61	* ''VideoGame/AmongUs'': Crewmate [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe corpses]] have a StockFemurBone sticking out where the spine should be.
62	* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'': The BigBad of the previous game Gruntilda is resurrected as a skeleton. Not only does her skull have a nose, but she's also got a ribcage on the outside of her dress.
63	* ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing'': Crash's skeletal "Realistic Crash" skin features triangular ear bones.
64	* ''{{Videogame/Cuphead}}'': Midway through her BossFight, Cala Maria is bitten on the hips by two [[PsychoElectricEel electric eels]]. The following XRaySparks show her whole skeleton, which also includes [[StockFemurBone double-bulbed bones]] inside the tentacles of the octopus she wears as a hat. This is actually a [[spoiler:foreshadowing of her transformation into a Gorgon and the tentacles into snakes]].
65	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'': The skeleton blacksmith Vamos has [[WeirdBeard a beard made out of bones]].
66	* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'': XRaySparks will reveal characters' skeletons even when said character should not have a skeleton, such as a robot, a plant and a possible non-physical projection. Characters who are supposed have skeletons also have bones where there shouldn't be, such as in their hair.
67	* ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'': The desert areas of the game include enemies called Skelpions. As the name suggests, they're scorpion skeletons, even though real-life scorpions are arthropods and thus don't actually have endoskeletons.
68	* ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkinMinus'': Mean Boyfriend's game over screen shows a bone in the brim of his hat: the hat isn't part of his head and Beta and Blue don't have bones in theirs, so why there's a bone in his hat specifically is anyone's guess.
69	* ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkinXRayMod'': Miku's hair and even her hair ribbons have noticeable bones in them; while initially understandable because she's [[OurAngelsAreDifferent an angel]], Boyfriend, who is also an angel, doesn't have hair bones.
70	* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'': One level features an x-ray image of the {{Human Alien\|s}} protagonist, showing that her ponytail has a bone in it.
71	* Averted for the most part by Transparent Website/{{Neopets}}, which show such attention to detail like the Transparent Elephante having no bones in its trunk. However, there are a few ArtisticLicense-based exceptions, such as the Transparent Lenny having arm-like bones in its wings to account for its FeatherFingers.
72	* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'': According to x-rays taken during the DLC case, Phoenix has hair bones, and Edgeworth's cravat is made of bone.
73	* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' uses XRaySparks for zombies killed by electrical attacks. ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' has Bug Zombies which are AirborneMooks carried by giant insects. If you kill one with an electrical attack, the XRaySparks effect will show a skeleton within the insect as well as the zombie.
74	* ''VideoGame/PoppyPlaytime'' has an unusual example which is absolutely PlayedForHorror. Despite being robotic, The Prototype has bones visible in its arm. It's likely that the bones are from one of his victims and he [[TheAssimilator incorporated]] them into himself.
75	* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxTheDevilsPlayhouse'': Max for some ungodly reason has bones in his ears. Between that and his shark-like teeth, he comes off as quite unnerving as a skeleton.
76	* An odd example in ''[[VideoGame/TheSimpsons The Simpsons Arcade Game]]'' occurs when Marge gets electrocuted, she performs the standard cartoon skeleton but also has very long skeletal bunny ears beneath her hair. One, ears don't have bones. Two, the ears are a holdover from an early idea when Marge would have been from Groening's "Life in Hell" Comic strip and have had Rabbit ears hidden beneath her hair (These Rabbit ears also appear during Marge's attack animation).
77	* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', when [[XRaySparks hit by electrical attacks]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Luigi's]] prominently bulbous noses show as part of their skulls, and numerous characters: Mario and Luigi again, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/StarFox Fox]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Ness]], still have their ears.
78	** GameMod ''VideoGame/SmashRemix'' includes [[Franchise/StarFox Wolf]] (who still has his cheek fur), [[VideoGame/Mother3 Lucas]], VideoGame/{{Conker\|sBadFurDay}} (who still has his poofy tail), [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Mewtwo]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Young Link, Sheik]], VideoGame/DrMario (who still has his nose, like his non-doctor counterpart), and VideoGame/{{Wario}} (who still has not only his nose, but his moustache as well) in its list of ear-skulled characters. VideoGame/{{Banjo\|Kazooie}}, [[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Goemon and Ebisumaru]] don't have ear bones, but they do have snout, hair and nose bones respectively, while [[VideoGame/MischiefMakers Marina Liteyears]] (a robot) and [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Mad Piano]] (a, well, piano) are two characters who shouldn't have skeletons at all.
79	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
80	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'': One of the enemies in the game is [[BeeAfraid Skeleton Bees]], who are [[RevivingEnemy self-reviving]] skeletal versions of bees, animals who have exoskeletons in real life.
81	** ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' serves as a debut to Bone Piranha Plants, skeletal versions of Piranha Plants. It doesn't take a botanist to figure out that a plant cannot have a skeleton.
82	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'': Kingfin, the boss of Bonefin Galaxy, is a colossal [[DemBones skeletal]] [[ThreateningShark shark]], whose entire body consists of bones. In real life, sharks' internal structure consists of cartilage, not bones.
83	* ''VideoGame/TheTrickyMod'' has a FunnyXRay showing the bones of a ''road sign''.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Web Animation]]
87	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'':
88	** In the 2009 HalloweenSpecial "[[Recap/HomestarRunnerDoomyTalesOfTheMacabre Doomy Tales of the Macabre]]", Homsar's hat is part of his skull.
89	** When everyone gets literally scared out of their skins in "[[Recap/HomestarRunnerThatAGhost That A Ghost]]," Old-Timey Marzipan and Sir Strong Bad have lines of miniature femur bones in place of their respective GirlishPigtails and evil mustache. That's actually by far the least weird thing about Marzipan's skeleton.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Webcomics]]
93	* ''Webcomic/{{Scurry}}'' has a mouse skull as its logo. It includes ear bones, which mice don't have. Its right ear (viewer's left) has two notches in it, very similar to the two {{Ear Notch}}es that main character Wix has.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Web Original]]
97	* One [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bone-tiddies particularly infamous image]] features two skeletons, one with bone breasts, presumably to [[SecondarySexualCharacteristics make it clear that that skeleton is female]].
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Web Videos]]
101	* Every Halloween, ''WebVideo/ClintsReptiles'' does a video where he reviews terrible animal skeleton decorations, such as mammals with bone-ears and invertebrates with bones.
102	* Conversed in the ''WebVideo/{{Unraveled}}'' video on [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser's military hierarchy.]] Brian is confused about the skeletal nature of the Bone Pirahna Plant, remarking, "Why do Piranha Plant have bone in it?"
103	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs1UudPHGAI This]] video from ''Website/TheOnion'' on how to make slow-cooked potatoes that fall right off the bone.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Western Animation]]
107	* Max of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' has been shown to have femur-like bones in his long ears. Obviously due to RuleOfFunny, but if we want to get technical, he only ever describes himself as a "lagomorph" and/or "rabbity thing", so he may not necessarily be an actual rabbit.
108	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': Frylock has a [[https://aqua-teen-hunger-force.fandom.com/wiki/Visible_Frylock poster]] in his room that suggests [[AlienHair his fries]] are made of bones....which contradict instances where he's braided them and lost them from chemotherapy. [[SurrealHumor It's just that kind of cartoon]].
109	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBusyWorldOfRichardScarry'', Lowly Worm breaks the bones in his body and has to be put in a cast.
110	* In an episode of the short-lived ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'', Maggie's older brother zaps her with a hand buzzer, resulting in XRaySparks. For those who have never heard of the show, it's a high school comedy involving ''insects''. Insects do not have inner skeletons.
111	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainFlamingo'': X-rays of Milo in his Captain Flamingo outfit show him to somehow have a large bone inside the beak of his helmet.
112	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': When Bean, Elfo, and Luci find a battlefield with skeletons of many races, the elf skeletons have visible ears.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Several instances of XRaySparks show Wanda having a bone in her hair swirl.
114	* ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle2007'': A variation; "Franken-George" featured a rhino skeleton with the horns still intact as if they are bones. Rhino horns are made of keratin.
115	* ''WesternAnimation/GetAHorse'': For an XRaySparks gag, Peg-Leg Pete is shown with a bone in his ''hat''.
116	* Some WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse x-rays show plate-like bones inside his ears (or [[https://jambareeqi.com/2020/04/28/runaway-brain-1995-short-film-review/ brain matter in the case of "Runaway Brain"]]).
117	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Bill Cipher has a top hat that he can take off like an actual hat, but when he is shot through the hat, it's revealed to be organic and have bone in it.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Pegasus ponies have finger-like bones inside their wing feathers, as seen in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep Read It and Weep]]" (via a medical X-ray) and "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E7NewbieDash Newbie Dash]]" (via an XRaySparks gag). This might explain why pegasi are [[FeatherFingers so good at grasping and manipulating objects with their wings]] in the show.
119	* ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' gets a special intro for the episode "Pinky and the Brain... and Larry". When the titular mice walk past the X-ray machine, Larry is shown to have bones in his hair.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
121	** When Bart and Lisa are shown as skeletons in some episodes, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d3044613f8c547cc9c0a1b40014f64d5.png their hair will be included in the skeleton]].
122	** In the episode "Brother From Another Series", Sideshow Bob gets electrocuted in a flashback and the resulting XRaySparks show that there are bones in his FunnyAfro.
123	** In ''JustForFun/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'', Scratchy's skull has cat ears.
124	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Despite being a sponge, [=SpongeBob=] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_splinter_056.png has a full internal structure]], [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nickmaghalloween2008jacobchabot.jpg including a spine, skeleton, and organs]], all of which a real sea sponge doesn't have. Mostly it's DependingOnTheWriter as [=SpongeBob=] outright says and shows that he doesn't have any bones or organs but will be shown with some for the sake of a gag. Other invertebrate characters like Plankton and Squidward are also shown with bones, which their species don't have. This is {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d by a fish in one episode.
125	-->'''[[BadLiar SpongeBob]]:''' ''[telling a [[BlatantLies story]]]'' I emerged from my fruit-shaped bungalow fresh as a bee when a wanted cry of distress pounded against my eardrum!\
126	'''Fish:''' Hold it. Sponges don't have eardrums.\
127	'''Mr. Krabs:''' He's right.
128	* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'': The cat skeletons in the graveyard have cat ears.
129	* ''WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa'': The elephant skeletons in "No Good Samaritan" are shown to have vertebrae-like bones in where their trunks would be when they were alive, which is jarring considering [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original source]] got it right.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Other]]
133	* [[AIIsACrapshoot AI-generated images]] purporting to show the excavation of mammoth or mastodon skeletons sometimes give them [[https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/amoqw96_700bwp.webp singular, massive trunk bones]], betraying the fact that the computer doesn't actually understand how proboscidean animals' trunks work.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Real Life]]
137	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progressiva Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva]] is a genetic disorder that causes muscle and other non-bony tissue to be replaced by bone, eventually restricting the person's ability to move.
138	* [[https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/cin6u5/bone_tiddies At least one set of Halloween decorations]] featured a pair of male and female skeletons, and it was roundly mocked online for giving the female "bone tiddies" which, obviously, real women lack. Funny thing is, women do have a broader pelvis than men which helps with childbearing, and the female skeleton in the meme appears to have that as well, making the breast bones even more unnecessary than they already were.
139	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BonesDoNotBelongThere