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. # Phantom Jar 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 28 October 2026. The phantom Jar is a quirk of Spelunky Classic in which a Jar shot in the player's hands stays on the HUD, and switching items gives him a new one. | Quirk | | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Status | GML + Oracle (the Jar); GML (the Skull) | | Where | `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:30-34` | | Pinned by | `fidelity/replays/item-held-jar-shot.txt` | | Row | [docs/quirks.md §1, Bugs and leftovers in the 1.1 source](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/blob/main/docs/quirks.md#1-bugs-and-leftovers-in-the-11-source): “A held Jar or Skull broken by a bullet leaves its type in the player's hands.” | The player's hands and the item he's holding are two things to the game: the instance in his hands, and the kind of item it remembers he's holding, which the HUD shows and the item key gives back. A bullet that breaks a held [Jar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar) or [Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skull) clears the first and, through a typo, not the second, so a new one comes back. ## What happens An angry [Shopkeeper](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shopkeeper)'s shot breaks the Jar the player is holding. His hands are empty, but the Jar stays on the HUD, and switching items gives him a [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb), a [Rope](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rope), and then a brand-new Jar[^1]. **Clip: A jar shot in the player's hands comes back.** An angry shopkeeper's shot breaks the jar the player is holding. His hands are empty, but the jar stays on the HUD, and switching items gives him a bomb, a rope, and then a brand-new jar. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/015c74cb8645abba/clips/quirks/jar-shot-in-hands/clip.mp4)) ## Why A bullet's collision with a Jar only destroys it[^2]. The Jar's destroy event then breaks it, and, if the player held it, empties his hands[^3]: ```gml objects/oJar/destroy.gml:30-34 if (held) { oPlayer1.holdItem = 0; oPlayer1.pickupItem = ""; } ``` `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:30-34`, from `spelunky.gmk`, Spelunky Classic 1.1's source, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC ([Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt)). The variable the player's code reads for the kind of item he holds is `pickupItemType`; `pickupItem` is a new variable that nothing reads. The Jar's whip code, which breaks a held Jar its own way, clears the right one[^4]. The Skull's destroy event has the same typo[^5]. So after the shot, `pickupItemType` is still "Jar": the HUD draws a Jar in the held item's box[^6], and the code that gives back the remembered item makes a new one. The item key does, after a bomb and a rope, as it puts the rope away[^7], and so does losing a bomb or a rope from his hands, by being stunned, killed or knocked[^8]. ## Reproducing it Carry a Jar or a Skull where an angry Shopkeeper's [Shotgun](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shotgun) can hit it. Once a pellet breaks it, press the item key until a Jar comes round. The replay of the clip's staged scene pins it: the shot breaks the Jar, `pickupItemType` stays "Jar", and the item key gives a bomb, a rope and a new Jar[^9]. ## In the port The spelunky.ai port reproduces it exactly: it's in docs/quirks.md's list of the 1.1 source's bugs[^8], and the oracle's fingerprint of the replay pins the Jar's return. The Skull's version is read in the code and not yet in a replay. No option turns it off. ## FAQ ### Why does a Jar come back after it's shot in Spelunky Classic? The code that tidies up after a broken Jar clears a misspelt variable, so the game still remembers a Jar as the item in the player's hands. Switching items gives him a new one after the bomb and the rope. ### Does the same happen with a Skull? Yes. The [Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skull)'s code has the same misspelling, so a Skull shot in the player's hands comes back the same way. ### How do you get a phantom Jar in Spelunky Classic? Hold a [Jar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar) while a [Shopkeeper](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shopkeeper) shoots at the player: when a pellet breaks the Jar in his hands, press the item key until it comes round again. ## See also - **Related:** [Jar](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/jar), [Skull](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skull), [Shopkeeper](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shopkeeper), [Shotgun](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/shotgun), [Bomb](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/bomb), [Rope](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/rope) ## References [^1]: Clip quirks/jar-shot-in-hands [^2]: `objects/oJar/collision_oBullet.gml:1` [^3]: `objects/oJar/destroy.gml:30-34` [^4]: `objects/oJar/collision_oWhip.gml:16-20` [^5]: `objects/oSkull/destroy.gml:16-20` [^6]: `scripts/scrDrawHUD.gml:79-83` [^7]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:983-991` [^8]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^9]: Replay `fidelity/replays/item-held-jar-shot.txt` ### Source code - `objects/oJar/collision_oBullet.gml` - `objects/oJar/destroy.gml` - `objects/oSkull/destroy.gml` - `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml`