Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold. Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC. # Dead Fish From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 27 October 2026. The Dead Fish is a skeletal fish in Spelunky Classic that takes the Piranha's place on the Jungle's graveyard levels, biting a swimming player for 1 heart. ![A tiny grey fish skeleton with an open jaw, swimming](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/5c7e47490074a2a7/sprites/sDeadFishLeft/anim%404x.png) | Dead Fish | | | --------- | --------------------------------------- | | Health | 1 hit point[^1] | | Damage | 1 heart[^2] | | Speed | 1 pixel per step[^3] | | Behaviour | Patrols the water; attacks swimmers[^4] | | Object | `oDeadFish` | | Found in | The Jungle, Graveyard level | | Drops | Fish Bone | On a graveyard level of the Jungle, the water holds Dead Fish where other levels have [Piranhas](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha). A Dead Fish leaves a player on dry land alone, but once he's swimming near it, it swims straight at him and bites. Its code is a copy of the Piranha's, less its hunting of other monsters and its bubbles, plus a check for being on screen. With 1 hit point, it dies to any damage, and falls apart into three bones. ## Behaviour A Dead Fish swims back and forth at 1 pixel per step, turning around where the water ends or a wall is in its way[^5]. It always starts out heading right[^6]. **Clip: Dead Fish bite.** On a graveyard level, a dead fish swims at the player in a pool and bites him for a heart. He whips it, and it falls apart into three bones. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/5c7e47490074a2a7/clips/dead-fish/bite/clip.mp4)) When the player is swimming within 90 pixels of it, it attacks: it swims straight at him at 1 pixel per step (30 per second), its heading wobbling by a degree each step, and moves only while the way ahead is water[^7][^8]. The game moves it in whole pixels on each axis, so on a diagonal it covers 1 pixel across and 1 up or down in a step[^9]. When he leaves the water or its range, it stops for 20–40 steps (0.67–1.33 seconds) and then patrols again, heading left or right at random[^10][^11]. The clip shows a Dead Fish swimming at the player in a graveyard level's pool, biting him, and the Whip breaking it up. Unlike a Piranha, a Dead Fish doesn't hunt other monsters in the water, and lets off no bubbles[^12][^13]. **Out of the water.** A Dead Fish whose middle isn't in water turns into a Fish Bone at once[^14]. **Off screen.** A Dead Fish does nothing at all unless it's on screen, or less than 16 pixels off its left or top edge: it doesn't move, and even one killed or out of the water there only falls apart or turns into a Fish Bone once it's back on screen[^15]. A Piranha has no such check, and swims on out of sight. ## Damage When the player touches a Dead Fish without stomping it, he loses 1 heart, is knocked away from it, and blinks, invincible, for 30 steps (1 second)[^16]. This is the touch code most monsters share. Unlike a Piranha's, its bite draws no blood[^17][^18]. The bite clip shows a bite taking the player from four hearts to three. ## Defeating A Dead Fish has 1 hit point, so any damage kills it[^19]: | Way | Damage | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------- | | Whip | 1 hit point | [^20] | | Machete | 2 hit points | [^20] | | Stomp (landing on it), except while the player is swimming | 1, plus 1 for every 16 steps of falling; three times that with [Spike Shoes](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/spike-shoes) | [^21] | | A thrown item moving faster than 2 pixels per step, such as a Rock | 1 | [^22] | | A stunned monster thrown into it | 1 | [^23][^24] | | A Shotgun or Pistol bullet | 4 hit points | [^25] | | A Bomb's explosion | 30 hit points | [^26] | | Being out of the water | Turns it into a Fish Bone | [^14] | The Dead Fish's own step event replaces the one most monsters share, which is where Spikes, Lava and Spear Traps hurt them, so none of those harm a Dead Fish[^27]. **Clip: Dead Fish stomped.** On a graveyard level, the player drops into a pool right onto a dead fish. He isn't swimming yet, so he stomps it, and it falls apart into three bones. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/5c7e47490074a2a7/clips/dead-fish/stomp/clip.mp4)) A swimming player can't stomp it, but one dropping into the water lands on it before he's swimming, and that is a stomp. The clip shows the player dropping into a pool onto a Dead Fish, which falls apart. A Dead Fish that dies falls apart into three bones[^28]. Dead Fish killed count toward the player's kills, and the screen between levels draws a Dead Fish icon for each; in the kills table the game writes to `stats.txt`, which has no row for them, they're added to the Piranha's row[^29][^30][^31]. One that turns into a Fish Bone out of the water isn't killed, so it isn't counted. ## Locations Level generation makes Dead Fish only on graveyard levels, which 1 in 10 levels of the Jungle is[^32][^33]. Each water block with no solid block in it has a 1 in 30 chance of a monster, which on a graveyard level is a Dead Fish and on any other Jungle level a Piranha[^34]. The level editor has no tile for a Dead Fish, so custom levels can't have them. ## Tips - A Dead Fish only chases a swimming player, so one crossing above the water isn't chased. - Dropping into the water right onto a Dead Fish stomps it. - A Dead Fish freezes as soon as it's off screen, so one left behind stays where it was, and one killed off screen falls apart only when it's seen again. ## Trivia - The Dead Fish's code never sets its `type` string, so it keeps the parent object's `"None"`[^35]. A Dead Fish that takes the player's last heart isn't counted in the deaths-by-enemy table the game writes to `stats.txt`, under the Piranha or anywhere else[^36][^37]. - Unlike the Piranha's, its code starts an attack without checking that the player is alive, so near a dead swimming player it keeps starting attacks and giving them up the next step[^7][^38][^39]. ## FAQ ### How much damage does a Dead Fish do in Spelunky Classic? 1 heart per bite, like a [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha). Each bite also knocks the player back and makes him invincible for 30 steps (1 second). ### Where do Dead Fish live in Spelunky Classic? In the water of graveyard levels ("THE DEAD ARE RESTLESS!"), which 1 in 10 levels of the Jungle is. There, the 1 in 30 chance for each water block that makes a Piranha elsewhere makes a Dead Fish instead. ### What is the difference between a Dead Fish and a Piranha in Spelunky Classic? Little. A Dead Fish swims and bites as a [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) does, but it only hunts the player, not other monsters, only moves while it's on screen, and falls apart into three bones instead of bleeding when it dies. ### How do you kill a Dead Fish in Spelunky Classic? Hit it once with anything. A Dead Fish has 1 hit point, so a Whip hit, a thrown item, a bullet or a Bomb kills it. A swimming player can't stomp it, but one dropping into the water onto it can. ## See also - **Damaged by:** Whip, Machete, Stomping[^21], Throwing[^22], Shotgun[^25], Pistol[^25], Bomb[^26] - **Related:** [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) ## References [^1]: `objects/oDeadFish/create.gml:14` [^2]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:25` [^3]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:56` [^4]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:21-63` [^5]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:21-35` [^6]: `objects/oDeadFish/create.gml:11` [^7]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:36-39` [^8]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:50-57` [^9]: `scripts/moveTo.gml:20-31` [^10]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:41-49` [^11]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:58-62` [^12]: `objects/oPiranha/step.gml:37-51` [^13]: `objects/oPiranha/step.gml:123-128` [^14]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:70-74` [^15]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:1-3` [^16]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:14-25` [^17]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:55` [^18]: `objects/oDeadFish/create.gml:27` [^19]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:4-17` [^20]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhip.gml:1` [^21]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:6-13` [^22]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:256-348` [^23]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:169-180` [^24]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:252-259` [^25]: `objects/oBullet/collision_oEnemy.gml:16` [^26]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:14` [^27]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:63-128` [^28]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:6-9` [^29]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:10-15` [^30]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:143-148` [^31]: `scripts/scrWriteStats.gml:181-198` [^32]: `scripts/scrInitLevel.gml:147-148` [^33]: `scripts/scrClearGlobals.gml:56` [^34]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:326-336` [^35]: `objects/oEnemy/create.gml:4` [^36]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:27-51` [^37]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^38]: `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:52-62` [^39]: `objects/oPiranha/step.gml:32` ### Source code - `objects/oDeadFish/create.gml` - `objects/oDeadFish/step.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/create.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhip.gml` - `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml`