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. # Skeleton From the spelunky.ai wiki: . Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.8](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.8) on 27 October 2026. The Skeleton is a monster in Spelunky Classic that rises from a pile of bones as the player comes near, then walks at him and hurts him for 1 heart on contact. ![A white skeleton walking with its arms held out](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/f4b0b515497311e0/sprites/sSkeletonWalkLeft/anim%404x.png) | Skeleton | | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | Health | 1 hit point[^1] | | Damage | 1 heart[^2] | | Speed | 1 pixel per step[^3] | | Behaviour | Rises from bones, then walks at the player[^4] | | Objects | `oFakeBones`, `oSkeleton` | | Found in | The Mines, The Jungle, The Ice Caves, The Temple, Graveyard level | | Drops | Skull | Level generation scatters piles of bones through every area, and 1 in 8 of them is a Skeleton waiting to rise. When the player comes level with one, it stands up and walks toward him; it has no attack beyond touching him. With 1 hit point, it dies to any damage, and falls apart into bones and a Skull. ## Behaviour **Clip: Skeleton rising.** A pile of bones in a Jungle cemetery rises into a skeleton as the player runs at it, and he jumps on it as it stands up. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/f4b0b515497311e0/clips/skeleton/rise/clip.mp4)) A Skeleton starts out as a pile of bones on the ground, which falls if the ground under it goes[^5]. When the player is within 8 pixels of the pile's middle in height and 64 pixels of it across, the bones rise; when the rising animation ends, the pile is a Skeleton[^4][^6]. The pile only does this while it's on screen[^7]. The clip shows a pile on a Jungle graveyard level rising as the player runs at it, and the player jumping on the Skeleton as it stands up. A new Skeleton faces the player if he's there yet; one from a custom level's tile `K` is made before him, and faces right[^8][^9][^10]. It stands for 20 steps (0.67 seconds), and then walks the way it faces at 1 pixel per step (30 per second), turning around at walls[^11][^12]. It doesn't stop to rest, and it doesn't turn at the edge of a ledge, so it walks off ([Trivia](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skeleton#trivia)). It only acts while it's on screen or just off it[^13]. ## Damage When the player touches a Skeleton without stomping it, he loses 1 heart, is knocked away from it, and blinks, invincible, for 30 steps (1 second)[^14]. This is the touch code most monsters share; the Skeleton has no attack of its own. A pile of bones that hasn't risen does nothing to him. ## Defeating A Skeleton has 1 hit point, so any damage kills it[^15]: | Way | Damage | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | Whip | 1 hit point | [^16] | | Machete | 2 hit points | [^16] | | Stomp (landing on it) | 1, plus 1 for every 16 steps of falling; three times that with Spike Shoes | [^17] | | A thrown item moving faster than 2 pixels per step, such as a Rock | 1 | [^18] | | A Shotgun or Pistol bullet | 4 hit points | [^19] | | A Bomb's explosion | 30 hit points | [^20] | | A Spear Trap's spears | 2 | [^21] | | Falling onto Spikes | Kills it | [^22] | | Standing in Lava | Kills it | [^23] | | Ending up inside solid ground | Kills it | [^24] | A pile of bones that hasn't risen isn't a monster yet, and nothing hurts it. **Clip: Skeleton whipped apart.** A skeleton walks at the player, who whips it once: it falls apart into three bones and a skull, which shatters as it lands. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/f4b0b515497311e0/clips/skeleton/whip/clip.mp4)) A Skeleton that dies falls apart into three bones and a Skull, thrown upward[^25]. The clip shows the Whip breaking up a Skeleton that walks at the player; its Skull shatters as it lands. Skeletons killed count toward the player's kills, and the screen between levels draws a Skeleton icon for each[^26][^27]. One that Spikes, Lava or a Spear Trap killed doesn't count[^28][^29][^30]. ## Locations Level generation leaves piles of bones in the Mines, the Jungle, the Ice Caves and the Temple, as one of the things it may put on a block with open space above it, after the rolls for the things before it have failed. The chance depends on the spot and on the level number[^31]: | Spot | Chance of a pile | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------- | ----- | | An alcove: a space one block high with a wall on at least one side | 1 in (40 − 2 × level) | [^32] | | A tunnel: a space with a wall on both sides | 1 in (80 − level) | [^33] | | Open ground | 1 in (140 − 2 × level) | [^34] | Each pile has a 1 in 8 chance of being one that rises as a Skeleton; the others are plain bones with a Skull beside them, and never rise[^35]. On a graveyard level in the Jungle, each chance is 11 times higher[^36], and the graveyard's rooms have piles of their own, every one of which rises ([Trivia](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/skeleton#trivia))[^37]. In custom levels, the level editor's tile `K` is a Skeleton, ready to walk, and its tile `k` is plain bones with a Skull, which never rise[^38][^39]. ## Tips - A pile that will rise has its skull in the pile. A pile that won't has no skull in it, and a separate Skull lies beside it. - A pile only rises for a player at about its own height, so passing above or below it leaves it be. - A Skeleton walks off ledges, so one on a platform doesn't stay there. ## Trivia - The Skeleton's step event has two blocks commented out that would have turned it around at the edge of a ledge and stopped it at random, the latter the same lines as the [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman)'s[^40][^41][^42]. - For each bone tile in the graveyard's rooms, the code chooses between rising bones and a Jar with `if (rand(1,2))`, but `rand(1,2)` is 1 or 2, and both count as true, so it always makes bones[^43]: ```gml scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:490-494 else if (tile == "p") { if (rand(1,2)) instance_create(xpos, ypos, oFakeBones); else instance_create(xpos+8, ypos+10, oJar); } ``` `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:490-494`, 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)). ## FAQ ### How much damage does a Skeleton do in Spelunky Classic? 1 heart per touch. Touching a Skeleton costs the player 1 heart, knocks him back and makes him invincible for 30 steps (1 second). ### How do you kill a Skeleton in Spelunky Classic? Hit it once with anything. A Skeleton has 1 hit point, so a Whip hit, a stomp, a thrown item, a bullet or a Bomb kills it, and it falls apart into bones and a Skull. ### How do you tell which bones will rise in Spelunky Classic? By the skull. A pile that will rise as a Skeleton has its skull in the pile; a pile that won't has no skull in it, and a separate Skull lying beside it. ### Where do Skeletons appear in Spelunky Classic? In every area: 1 in 8 of the piles of bones level generation leaves in the Mines, the Jungle, the Ice Caves and the Temple rise as Skeletons. Graveyard levels have many more. ## See also - **Damaged by:** Whip, Machete, Spikes, Stomping[^17], Throwing[^18], Shotgun[^19], Pistol[^19], Bomb[^20], Spear Trap[^21], Lava[^44] ## References [^1]: `objects/oSkeleton/create.gml:10` [^2]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:25` [^3]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:75` [^4]: `objects/oFakeBones/step.gml:15-18` [^5]: `objects/oFakeBones/step.gml:4-13` [^6]: `objects/oFakeBones/other_animation_end.gml:1-5` [^7]: `objects/oFakeBones/step.gml:1-3` [^8]: `objects/oSkeleton/create.gml:27-31` [^9]: `scripts/scrLoadLevel.gml:100` [^10]: `scripts/scrLoadLevel.gml:162-173` [^11]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:37-61` [^12]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:75-76` [^13]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:3-5` [^14]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:14-25` [^15]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:16-32` [^16]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhip.gml:1` [^17]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:6-10` [^18]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:256-348` [^19]: `objects/oBullet/collision_oEnemy.gml:16` [^20]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:14` [^21]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:76-106` [^22]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:108-128` [^23]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:65-74` [^24]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:11-14` [^25]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:16-24` [^26]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:25-30` [^27]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:155-159` [^28]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:68` [^29]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:101` [^30]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:120` [^31]: `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml:47-133` [^32]: `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml:80` [^33]: `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml:103` [^34]: `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml:124` [^35]: `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml:82-87` [^36]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:257` [^37]: `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:490-494` [^38]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:122-126` [^39]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:143-146` [^40]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:62-73` [^41]: `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml:78-85` [^42]: `objects/oCaveman/step.gml:109-114` [^43]: `scripts/rand.gml:1-2` [^44]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:63-74` ### Source code - `objects/oFakeBones/step.gml` - `objects/oFakeBones/other_animation_end.gml` - `objects/oSkeleton/create.gml` - `objects/oSkeleton/step.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/step.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml` - `scripts/scrTreasureGen.gml` - `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml`