LogFAQs > #924249086

Today's trope is Dem Bones. Here is the link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemBones

Animate beings constructed from ossific material in their entirety are a very common form of The Undead in video games, but much rarer in other media, to the point where, as an object of fear, they have become slightly camp. They're cousins to the Zombie in spirit, but remain explicitly separated in the public consciousness by the lack of muscles and other juicy bits. A likely explanation for their ability to see and hear and indeed their status as Perpetual Motion Monsters is a necromancer used Functional Magic to raise and operate them. Thus, these creatures are firmly inhabitants of Fantasy works. You might know them as skeletons. We call 'em "Dem Bones".

There are human, non-human, and weirder variants, and in 99% of their appearances, they're enemy Mooks. Their prevalence in RPGs is owed to Dungeons & Dragons, which established them as the slaves of necromancers. When they aren't Mooks, they're usually liches, which are much nastier, because they tend to be powerful mages. Skeletal spellcasters who are not liches are rare, but not nonexistent.

Often enough, Dem Bones are reused in the same game la Underground Monkey. Expect, in the spirit of a Zombie Minotaur, to find double-category monsters, like a skeletal mammoth or dragon. Many games have even tougher skeletons that are colored red. This could be because the red ones are a little more skilled and covered in the blood of hapless adventurers who couldn't best them.

A prominent variation is a being composed of just a skull without a body. In this case, their ability to attack may be a simple bite, or through magic spells. They may or may not also have the power to defy gravity to compensate for the lack of legs. As trope examples indicate, there are a noticeably greater number of friendly talking skulls compared to the rare friendly skeleton.

TL,DR: Living skeletons.

Nominations:
Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Sir Daniel Fortesque (Medievil)
T.Rex Skeleton (Night at the Museum)