Skeletal Tropes

Tropes about human and animal skeletons, and the bones that make them up. Subtrope of Dead Body Index.

Compare and contrast the Muscular Index. See also Artistic License – Biology, Death Tropes, Horror Tropes, and Undead Index.

Tropes:

• Bad with the Bone: Bones are used as a weapon.
• Ballistic Bone: Bones are used as a projectile weapon.
• Beware the Skull Base: Villain lairs shaped like skulls.
• Bones Do Not Belong There: Bones in soft organs, or animals that don't have them in real life.
• Calacas: Skeletons representing the dead in Mexican culture. Usually highly decorated with designs painted on their skulls.
• Creepy Cemetery: An unusually scary cemetery with skeletons, and maybe other monsters, abound.
• Crystal Skull: A supernatural skull made out of a gem or valuable metal.
• Dem Bones: Skeletons that move on their own.
• Desert Skull: The stock "animal skull in the desert", typically a bovine.
• Dracolich: A skeletal dragon.
• Dinosaur Doggie Bone: Dogs love fossilized dinosaur bones as much as regular bones.
• Elephant Graveyard: A place that large animals (not necessarily elephants) naturally go to when they die, often containing their skeletons.
• Expressive Skull: Skulls that can perform facial movements as if they had flesh and muscle. Typical in Halloween productions.
• Flaming Skulls: Skulls on fire.
• Friendly Skeleton: Sometimes instead of scary and mean, a skeleton will be depicted as kind and even comical.
• Gashadokuro: Giant skeleton youkai, made from the bones of a mass of people who never had proper burials.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Animate skeletons with glowing eyes.
• Nothing but Skin and Bones: A character's so thin that you can actually see their bones under their flesh. Typically used for zombies or starvation victims.
• Nothing but Skulls: Skulls are the only bone present.
• Ribcage Ridge: The skeleton of a gigantic creature is shown to distance the work's location/time from familiarity.
• Ribcage Stomach: The ribcage is visible in the stomach, similar to Nothing but Skin and Bones.
• Scary Skeleton: Malicious skeletons and skeleton-like creatures that are Played for Horror.
• Sinister Deer Skull: Deer skulls are creepy and usually signs of malevolence.
• SkeleBot 9000: Robots that resemble skeletons.
• Skeletal Appendage: A living, otherwise non-skeletal character has part of their skeleton visible.
• Skeletal Musician: An animated skeleton who's also a musician.
• Skeleton Crew: The crew of a craft is made up of skeletons.
• Skeleton Motif: Skeletons/skulls resemble death, danger, etc.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Bones used as clothing or armor.
• Skull Cups: Skulls used as drinking cups.
• Skull for a Head: A creature that isn't a skeleton has a skull for a head.
• Stock Femur Bone: When non-skull bones are automatically femur bones. Typically used in cartoons.
• Stripped to the Bone: Only the skeleton is left behind.
• This Way to Certain Death: The, usually skeletal, remains of those who traveled the route beforehand tell of danger.
• Undead Fossils: Remains of prehistoric animals that move on their own.
• Unbreakable Bones: A character's bones can't be destroyed. Common with superheroes or monsters.
• Waiting Skeleton: A character waits so long that they've been reduced to a skeleton. Sometimes used for comedic effect.
• Walking Ossuary: An undead being created from parts of multiple mix-and-matched skeletons.
• X-Ray Sparks: Getting electrocuted makes your skeleton visible.
• Xylophones for Walking Bones: Xylophones being involved with skeletons.