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. # Fish Bone From the spelunky.ai wiki: . The Fish Bone is a carryable item in Spelunky Classic, left by a Piranha or a Dead Fish out of the water, that breaks on the first monster it hits. ![A tiny white fish skeleton, its spine and ribs](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/sprites/sFishBone/frames/0%404x.png) | Fish Bone | | | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Kind | Carryable | | Effect | Thrown, hurts a monster and breaks[^1] | | Damage | 1 hit point[^2][^3][^4][^5][^6][^7] | | Object | `oFishBone` | | Dropped by | [Dead Fish](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dead-fish), [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) | A Fish Bone is what's left of a [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) or a [Dead Fish](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dead-fish) that ends up out of the water, which happens when the water drains away around it. It can be picked up and thrown like a [Rock](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rock), and hurts a monster as an [arrow](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/arrow) does, breaking as it hits. ## Usage **Clip: Fish bone from a piranha.** The player drops a bomb beside a pool and runs back. The explosion breaks the pool's side, the water drains away, and the piranha left on the dry floor turns into a fish bone. He picks the bone up, jumps out of the pool and throws it at a snake, which it kills, breaking. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/clips/fish-bone/piranha/clip.mp4)) A Fish Bone is picked up and thrown as any item is: crouching over it with empty hands, the attack key lifts it, and the attack key throws it, at 8 pixels a step plus the player's speed, rising at 3[^8][^9]. It moves by the code all items share: its own lighter gravity, 0.2, lasts its first step, and then it falls 0.6 pixels a step faster each step, as items do, bouncing off walls and floors[^10][^11][^12]. It turns to point the way it's flying[^13]. While it moves faster than 2 pixels a step, across or down, and touches a monster, it takes 1 hit point from the monster nearest it ([Nearest-enemy hits](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/nearest-enemy)) and is destroyed; a Caveman, a Hawkman, a Mantrap, a Yeti or a Vampire is also stunned. It's destroyed even when the monster's own rules spare it the hit, as a Caveman's do while it's stunned, so it breaks on the first monster it reaches. Only an invincible monster or a [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) lets it fly on. A [Damsel](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/damsel) it hits loses 1 hit point, and the bone is destroyed too[^1][^14][^15]. Unlike a Rock or an arrow, it can't hurt the player: his own code checks only for those two[^16]. In the clip, the player drops a bomb beside a pool and runs back. The explosion breaks the pool's side, the water drains away, and the Piranha in it turns into a Fish Bone. He picks the bone up, jumps out of the pool and throws it at a [Snake](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/snake), which it kills, breaking[^17]. ## Locations [Level generation](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-generation) makes no Fish Bones, and the [level editor](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/level-editor) has no tile for one. They come from: - **[Piranhas](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha).** One whose middle isn't in water turns into a Fish Bone at once[^18]. - **[Dead Fish](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dead-fish)**, the same way, while they're on the screen[^19][^20]. Both live only in water, so it takes the water draining for either to leave it: a block next to water that breaks lets the water beside it go, and the rest of the pool follows over the next few steps[^21][^22]. A Piranha that's killed leaves only blood, and a Dead Fish three plain bones, not a Fish Bone[^23][^24]. ## Interactions - **[Bombs](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb).** An explosion destroys a Fish Bone, as it does an arrow, a Jar or a Skull[^25]. - **[Lava](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/lava).** A Fish Bone that touches lava stops and sinks, and is destroyed once it's under the surface[^26]. - **The screen.** It moves only while it's within 16 pixels of the screen[^27][^15]. - **Exits.** Carried through a level's exit, it's in the player's hands on the next level; while he holds it, the HUD shows it in the box for the held item[^28][^29][^30]. ## Tips - A Fish Bone breaks on the first monster it hits, hurt or not, so it's good for one throw, where a Rock can be thrown again. - It can't hurt the player, so one thrown at a wall beside him and bouncing back is harmless. ## Trivia - The code that lets a thrown monster hurt the monsters it hits ends by destroying the thrown one if its name is "Arrow" or "Fish Bone", a line copied from the items' code; no monster has either name[^31]. The Jar's and the Skull's own steps keep the same line, which never holds for them either[^32][^33][^15]. ## FAQ ### Where do you find Fish Bones in Spelunky Classic? Wherever a [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) or a [Dead Fish](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dead-fish) ends up out of the water: one whose middle isn't in water turns into a Fish Bone at once. Level generation makes none, and the level editor has no tile for one. ### What does a Fish Bone do in Spelunky Classic? Nothing in the player's hands. Moving faster than 2 pixels a step, thrown or falling, it takes 1 hit point from the monster nearest it and breaks, as an [arrow](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/arrow) does. ### Can a Fish Bone hurt the player in Spelunky Classic? No. The player's code checks for fast arrows and rocks only, so a Fish Bone flying at him does nothing. It can hurt a [Damsel](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/damsel). ### Does killing a Piranha leave a Fish Bone in Spelunky Classic? No. A Piranha that dies leaves only blood, and a Dead Fish three plain bones; a Fish Bone is what a living one turns into when its water is gone. ## See also - **Related:** [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha), [Dead Fish](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/dead-fish), [Arrow](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/arrow), [Throwing](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/throwing) - **Damages:** [Damsel](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/damsel) ## References [^1]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:256-363`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L256-L363) [^2]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:282`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L282) [^3]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:294`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L294) [^4]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:305`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L305) [^5]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:315`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L315) [^6]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:325`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L325) [^7]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:344`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L344) [^8]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1203-1214`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1203-L1214) [^9]: [`scripts/scrUseItem.gml:605-646`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrUseItem#L605-L646) [^10]: [`objects/oFishBone/create.gml:6`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFishBone/create#L6) [^11]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:84-111`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L84-L111) [^12]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:160-170`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L160-L170) [^13]: [`objects/oFishBone/step.gml:3-25`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFishBone/step#L3-L25) [^14]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:365-398`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L365-L398) [^15]: [docs/quirks.md §1, Bugs and leftovers in the 1.1 source](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/059d629be4ffc90c405e1bfef24d0341c70d3c22/docs/quirks.md#1-bugs-and-leftovers-in-the-11-source) [^16]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1513-1565`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L1513-L1565) [^17]: Clip [fish-bone/piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/fish-bone#clip-fish-bone-piranha) [^18]: [`objects/oPiranha/step.gml:136-140`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPiranha/step#L136-L140) [^19]: [`objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:1-3`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDeadFish/step#L1-L3) [^20]: [`objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:70-74`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDeadFish/step#L70-L74) [^21]: [`objects/oSolid/destroy.gml:35`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oSolid/destroy#L35) [^22]: [`objects/oGame/step.gml:49-104`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oGame/step#L49-L104) [^23]: [`objects/oPiranha/step.gml:3-13`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPiranha/step#L3-L13) [^24]: [`objects/oDeadFish/step.gml:5-18`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDeadFish/step#L5-L18) [^25]: [`objects/oExplosion/collision_oItem.gml:1-5`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oExplosion/collision_oItem#L1-L5) [^26]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:160-185`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L160-L185) [^27]: [`objects/oItem/step.gml:1-3`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step#L1-L3) [^28]: [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:842-850`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step#L842-L850) [^29]: [`scripts/scrHoldItem.gml:37`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrHoldItem#L37) [^30]: [`scripts/scrDrawHUD.gml:84`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/scripts/scrDrawHUD#L84) [^31]: [`objects/oEnemy/step.gml:264`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oEnemy/step#L264) [^32]: [`objects/oJar/step.gml:143-144`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oJar/step#L143-L144) [^33]: [`objects/oSkull/step.gml:141-142`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oSkull/step#L141-L142) ### Source code - [`objects/oFishBone/create.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFishBone/create) - [`objects/oFishBone/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFishBone/step) - [`objects/oFishBone/alarm_2.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oFishBone/alarm_2) - [`objects/oItem/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oItem/step) - [`objects/oPiranha/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPiranha/step) - [`objects/oDeadFish/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oDeadFish/step) - [`objects/oPlayer1/step.gml`](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/source/objects/oPlayer1/step)