Basic Trope: A Mook that can destroy the player in one hit.
- Straight: Dreadskulls have a mouth-laser attack that can One-Hit Kill Bob.
- Exaggerated:
- Dreadskulls breathe out fiery gas that One Hit Poly Kill Bob's entire party.
- Dreadskulls destroy the very soul of the victim with the laser.
- Dreadskulls are also unkillable, meaning that Bob has to run away from them before they kill Bob in one hit.
- Downplayed:
- Dreadskulls can kill Archmage Henry in one blow with their laser but not the others in Bob's group.
- Any character that would otherwise die can be saved by a damage-reduction spell or proper armor.
- Usually, a hit is fatal, but there's an unreliable chance that a character will survive making avoiding the hit still the best bet.
- Justified:
- The laser releases a special kind of energy that stops the hearts of victims.
- The laser is death magic.
- Inverted:
- The enemy dies in one hit.
- Harmless Enemy.
- Subverted: Dreadskulls start Sucking-In Lines and release a Wave-Motion Gun laser that looks like it would one-shot Bob but actually deals Scratch Damage.
- Double Subverted: Bob suffers Death of a Thousand Cuts as the laser continues.
- Parodied: A little bunny enemy called "Hyper-mega-cutey-pie" has a scratch attack that kills the heroes instantly.
- Zig Zagged: Dreadskulls have a mouth laser attack that can one-shot anyone, except for other undead, who are fully healed by it it. On a full moon though, it one-shots undead and fully heals the living.
- Averted: Dreadskulls deal moderate damage with the mouth laser.
- Enforced:
- "We need to establish these Dreadskulls as major threats."
- "Invisible walls are no fun, lets overpower this mook for Border Patrol"
- Lampshaded: "Why do those things defeat us instantly? We've never had another creature do that."
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz deploys Dreadskulls in back of Heavily Armored Mooks that shield the Dreadskulls from damage so they can fire their deadly lasers from the safety of behind their sturdier allies.
- Defied: Bob has a special enchantment that makes the Dreadskulls' lasers "just" an HP to One attack.
- Discussed: "What has Evulz done to these things and why haven't we replicated it for us yet?"
- Conversed: "Looks like I'm gonna have to use two more Revival Potions this fight."
- Deconstructed: Dreadskulls, despite the name, are actually really nice but everyone is afraid of them and ostracizes them due to their power, thus leaving evil as their only choice.
- Reconstructed: Dreadskulls find out they love terrorizing villages.
- Played for Laughs: Two Dreadskulls attacking Bob accidentally kill each other, thus he wins without lifting a finger.
- Played for Drama: Gus, who is normally not afraid of anything due to his Nigh-Invulnerability, cries in terror upon seeing a Dreadskull.
