In honor of all things Skeletal, let's make a tier list of video game skeletons.
The rules:
1. So the tier list doesn't become insanely bloated, iconic video game skeletons only. Usually this means only named skeletons or bosses, but particularly memorable skeletons count too. This means that a random scimitar skeleton from dark souls or armored skeleton from castlevania won't count, but Gravelord Nito, Death (castlevania), wheel skeletons, and nova skeletons do. Use your intuition.
2. Living skeletons only. Liches are allowed only if they are more skeleton than whatever they were originally.
3. The ranks are SSS, S, A, B, C, D, F. After the tier list is finished, we can start moving skeletons around the line up and down tiers. SSS is limited to 10 skeletons maximum. If you think a skeleton doesn't deserve to be in its current tier, bring it up but don't ruin the thread over it since every skeleton will probably be moved around once the list is completed.
4. If your post doesn't have the name of the skeleton, the game its from, and the tier you think it belongs. I won't include it. This is for the sake of my own sanity so I won't include dupes by accident.
5. Tier maker sucks and will automatically make any non square image terrible to look at. If your posted image doesn't have your skeleton as a square image, I also won't be able to include it.
VIDEO GAME SKELETON TIER LIST
They’re all shit, and you’re a faggot.
This means that a random scimitar skeleton from dark souls or armored skeleton from castlevania won't count
retard, kys
there would be 100s of skeletons from those two game series alone. I know because I did this before and kept getting skeletons with spears being but in B tier and you couldn't see the named ones anymore. That said, if a skeleton is actually notable or important to the game that its in, it's still an inclusion.
you just hate skeletons, stfu
Is that...
I have only ever seen Crashbox mentioned once on Anon Babble in 17 years. This would be the second.
I mostly think of it because of this video: youtube.com
Heh.
I watched it as a kid at a buddy's house at the time. Finally looked it up, sad to see they only ever made two seasons but it appears that the show is still syndicated to some degree. Crashbox was dope.
Crashbox
this has been my holy grail for literal decades. I saw it once when I was sick as a kid and remembered it really well except for the name, until I saw this very post. At long last we are reunited
Damn, anon. Enjoy.
Looks like it's that time of year again.
Matador from SMT. S tier.
I'll crop the image to a square this time because the thread is slow, but for the future use paint or whatever program you have on your computer to make it a square so tier list maker doesn't make it look like shit by cropping off the top and bottom and making it so we only see the middle.
*toot* *toot*
okay well it looks like this thread isn't going to make it so I'm going to link the previous 2 years just in case it dies
arch.b4k.co
arch.b4k.co
arch.b4k.co
only one skeleton matters in the modern day
yuck
skelebump
This unfortunately seems to be a bad year for Halloween. Every time I check the catalog anything remotely related just gets drowned out in a deluge of gay shit. Might be worth trying again later tonight.
Sir Daniel Fortesque
Captain Backen
B rank
Pretty cool guy who ropes the party into his bullshit but he's unable to fight which is an important aspect of being a proper skeleton.
best skeleton thread
ENTER
Mr Bones for SSS
perfect name
perfect voice
chill dude
can break mind control with music
has sex
holy fuckkkk I havent seen this nigga in AGES.
I used to watch this before my SMW gaming seshes back in the day. some of the designs were a bit creepy in hindsight.
Sir Dan from Medievil, I would say at least a strong A tier
interesting
Murray the demonic skull from Monkey Island is iconic. I would say A tier, he only loses points for missing the rest of his body
Sir Daniel Wigginbottom Fortesque the fourth
The dancing skeleton from Spyro, surely he's iconic since he appeared in two games. But he doesn't really do anything except dance, so I'd say D tier
Medieval series
Dark Cloud Skeleton
bro he's easily S tier
Manny from Grim Fandango, I want to say S tier but everyone's putting all the skeletons in top tier
put him in SS tier then, he deserves at least that
Bone Courtier from Darkest Dungeon. B tier. He's funny and throws wine at you but is overall a weak skeleton. Nice fashion.
Manny and Sir Dan are the only S-tiers, let's just get that straight right away
Doom Revenant
I'd probably put him at A tier at least
Too high
Creaking Skull deserves SSS tier
Spine, Rib, and Joint from Skeleton Krew. D tier because the game kinda sucks
You think? I know he's just a nameless enemy but he's pretty iconic being from Doom. I'd argue he's more recognizable than Matador from SMT.
its impossible to have a skeleton list without Papa Nito
points for being skeleton god, though subtract a little because he's got all of that hair stuff
Creaking bone of course
Dry Bones should go into D tier
give me better images please, these images will look really bad when compressed by tier list maker
The S in S-tier stands for Sandro, obviously
Spinal from killer instinct
Seconded, Nito should be near A or S tier
this also needs a better image, grab the sprite and post it
my favorite games are the ones where you can turn people into skeletons
Doom 3 - if you do the matter processing button on the fat guy trapped in the chamber it grinds him down into a bloody skeleton atop a pile of oozing gore
Wolfenstein 2009 - Leichenfaust 44 gun shoots an antigravity energy ball that evaporates nazis and turns them into piles of bones, and the slow-time geist ability causes them to age instantly into skeletons like the bad guy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade if you touch them
Rage 2 - the radioactive sniper rifle instantly scours all the flesh off enemies leaving their skeletons lily white, whereas the shoulder mounted plasma rifle disintegrates them dirty like a nuclear shadow
here's something more square and brightly lit
updated
Papyrus is better.
does nakarkos (monster hunter) count as a skeleton or does the octopus controlling it disqualify it? If it does then id say A tier
The default Skeleton from the DQ series.
I think he deservers S tier due to how iconic the design is.
I think it deserves an F
angry bones
spinal hasn't been posted yet
Why do I still visit this shithole of a website
I'd say maybe B or C for Skelly from Hades
693392297
u mad?
Mr Bones of Wild Ride fame
SSS
if not deserves his own tier
for the love of bones post a crisp square image
Skul the hero slayer.
On one hand he's a hero slayer. On the other he's dependent on finding other skulls and using them to gain new powers. Also, he's void of any personality.
Place him in C.
Morte from Planescape Torment, solid S tier
crisp image required
Spinal was the first character I thought of
Is it a skeleton if it's just a skull? Questions, questions
Better?
uuuURRRRAAAAAAAAARGHh
b tier pls
that's an octopus wearing bones as armor/weapons. Cool, but not a skeleton.
Lich mythic path MC from Pathfinder WOTR, best necromancy magic in any game, kills demons by ripping out their skeletons and choking them with their own magic, he makes the queen his personal zombie bard bitch, he has his own ziggurat where he sacrifices whores. Best playable skeleton ever, SSS tier
Shout out to extra toggle lego skeleton
I remember there being a huge argument over the lego skeleton during one of the last threads and can't remember what is was about
okay
I'M GOING TO BE GONE FOR ONE HOUR, KEEP THE THREAD BUMPED
hero's shade
Lich is cool but OP said no liches
Shout out to the Sea of Theives skeletons
Hero's Shade should be A
delta charizard from this edgy ass pokemon fangame i found called pokemon insurgence
b tier because he looks cool
thats fair
Hero's Shade is a desiccated corpse, not a skeleton.
forgot the image
Well you have all your skin fall off and turn into a living skeleton so I'm not really sure what the difference is
Alice from HorrorVale
C rank She's probably the strongest Party member in the game, but as a character she's nothing to shake a stick at. Just a standard protag personality.
this is a pretty good design.
Mind status: BOGGLED
Liches are allowed only if they are more skeleton than whatever they were originally
I think it’s fine, and you need to learn to read
I'm getting needlessly annoyed by all the bad picks and bad rankings, I'm outta here
See you in an hour.
youtube.com
ONE THOUSAND COINS
Glad to see Dan in there before I even woke up today
I came to the thread looking for this and was not disappointed.
King of the Skull Servants from Yu-Gi-Oh.
Probably S or A rank.
I'd say at least A or B. forgot to mention. you can choose what you want to give him.
as I said. very good design so give him a worthy position.
2nding on the S rank.
Really sick design
Nito from Dark Souls, he's the MASTER of skeletons, like his entire areas is filled to the brim with nothing but skeletons and summons them in combat. He's a skeleton made out of skeletons.
how can you get this far and forget the King of Bones himself
C tier, because he was pretty one note to play and is no longer the boner lord
He's more like a ghost or wraith, but does the Hero's Shade from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess get skeleton status?
he came back though you just need to pay 200 dollars
fucking gaben
This random skeleton from Fallout 76
S tier
No. Look at his full model. He's not even a skeleton, just his face.
I used to be friends with someone who would pronounce it as skelickton
AHOY ME LAND JAMMIN FRIENDS, THIS HERES CAPTAIN BOB EITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF COOL RUNNIN
Tim from Terraria. In C
ok I'm back gimme a bit to catch up on these new skeletons
S tier? Raidboss so unmatched strength
Didn't played his game, is this just a mask?
this in-game tier 6 skeleton for S tier just for the boney banter.
rigelatin.net
Souls has all kinds of skellies, my fav is one armed parry falchion dudes
S for Seven
Skeleton Soldier from Painkiller.
Great design, but they are cannon fodder.
A solid C.
Stevari from Noita. I want to put him in A because he's a cool floating magic-casting skeleton, but he's a pushover once you know what you're doing and he's missing everything below his ribcage. B tier.
Oshare/Dapper Bones from Puyo Puyo Fever belongs in at least A tier, maybe S. Probably not SSS since he's not super prominent, but he's fucking great.
Sans is A tier hard carried by the boss fight.
Dry bowser should be b tier
Seconded
Ah shit, missed the "square image" part. Here's a better one.
Did he ever Anon Babble with the Witch?
Skeleton from Crypt of the Necrodancer.
Belongs in C.
Do the Skeletons from Kenshi count or no?
Death in Castlevania should be the first SSS Tier
literally no one has posted a good image of spinal yet
this one should work
Tf2's 5 FPS skeletons
Uncle Death from Let It Die is easily the best part of the game. A tier.
Whoops never mind I'm retarded.
B for boggling
S
Gregg the Grim Realer from Conker should be A tier
Actually no B
Forgot image
Sekhmet from Skullgirls, rate
Living skeletons only
I nominate Bartos from Adventure of Dai for A tier, he raised a random orphaned human kid from some settlement his army razed to the ground. Said kid grew up to be crucial to helping the hero defeat the Dark Lord. Overall just a solid "dad", despite dying after getting only a couple minutes of screentime.
He's been getting more page time in the prequel manga.
Rooting for Nuclear Throne's Skeleton to be A if not S tier.
requires cryptic method to play as, cannot be selected normally in vanilla Nuclear Throne
slow, inaccurate, and weak as fuck, but will be your character if you're used to unnecessary pain and suffering
active ability Blood Gamble is a dice roll of letting you, well, gamble with no ammo cost at the chance of losing health
Throne Butt (ability upgrade) gives gambling better odds
one Ultra Mutation named Damnation effectively lets you spam shots with active, letting you gamble EXTREMELY quickly, even more so with one of the lategame weapons
90% of mutants QUIT before they're about to hit it big
Oh yeah, I forgot he's there too. The time between translated chapters has me constantly forgetting what's happened, I may be due for a full re-read.
Why would this literal who be A or S?
no Pious Augustus
He's a very skeletal lich even has a skeleton staff
My choice SSS
Excuse me for posting a clip, but I think this would explain this guy a bit better than I can.
youtu.be
Up to the tier list anon to add him. Not really going to push the guy. If not, then so be it.
Osteoblasts
pic related, is an entire spoopy skelellington based game.
Skeleton is cool but he's just a normal skeleton at the end of the day in name and looks. Blood gamble is neat but it plays no role in his design. I wouldn't put him above B tier, as much as I like him.
the virgin simp Manny
the alpha chad Sal
Patiently waits
I love Uncle Death, but he's more a B tier skeleton.
Blitztank is a cool dude and also a real skellie that the nazis shoved inside a big metal tank.
From Akatsuki Blitzkampf, deserves at least a D for his reputation within the FGC and Saltybet circles
IM HERE FOR MY PRIZE CALYPSO
Death from Dragon's Dogma. B or C, since he shocks you the first time and becomes more of an annoyance after.
For me it's Kel'Thuzad
I like Murray from Monkey Island 3.
More soulful picture of it.
What the fuck was his problem?
FPBP
Posting my favorite basic skeleton enemy design.
I always found the Morrowind Skeletons iconic in a way, the sounds of their creaking bones and the ghoulish gasps they make still live in my brain today
Maybe B tier?
Forgot to mention: Bonewalker from Fire Emblem Echoes
He realized the universe is a yawning chasm filled with emptiness and the puerile meanderings of sentience so decided to let a lovecraftian god take over the earth for the lulz
Skeletron from terraria
He was a total bonehead
Have a bump
Don't forget Wolnir
Bink from Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. F tier for making you play the worst minigame ever created.
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds from Lobotomy Corporation. The literal destroyer of the antichrist and your only true friend.
but he's only a skull and he's not that spooky
Warcraft 3 Lich
actually warcraft 3 has some neat skeletons
Avatar of the Forgotten King from Realm of the Mad God
Seems to be going pretty slowly this year.
SSS tier presumably means spooky scary skeletons?
There are lots of skeletons but iconic skeleton bosses are somewhat rarer
The lack of Captain Keeta who should be at least A tier is depressing
S tier, he even makes his own skeleton bros
Great design, too bad he's a gimmick boss.
these fucking double kiggers
Well gee,faggot OP doesn't check filenames so i guess Mr Grimm from twisted metal 2 doesn't belong on the list
It's just a skin, but it's a really good skin. So, C at the highest.
bump for op, I'll try to think up one more iconic skeleton boss but I think we have about got them all
eh...
uhhh all they have to be is either an important part of the game they come from, or a boss
I nominate the Skeleton King from TF2 for F tier
Deals a fuckton of damage
Buggy
Shit ton of health
Literally just the regular skeleton with an existing model pasted on top
Shows up in maybe 2 or 3 maps
Despite being a huge danger 90% of retard pubbies ignore skeletons and die to them because they aren't enemy gamers
His only saving grace is that he gets some decent voice lines related to him.
Does Gruntilda (specifically her appearance in Banjo-Tooie) count? If she does, then I honestly have no clue what to rate her because I absolutely hate Banjo-Kazooie, but I'm also not petty enough to give her a shitty ranking due to bias.
What about the Skull who drives the Sonic Phantom in F-Zero
Would he count?
fzero.fandom.com
you forgot a tier
Oh sorry B tier would be fine
Put her in A tier, Gruntilda is an iconic character
Idk if her Tooie form deserves a very high rank, she drops the rhyming and becomes a lazy bitch in Tooie
Forgetting the modern day GOAT
Missed that we were supposed to say the tier. is B or low A tier. Cool skull and has a nice crown but is just a head and neck.
Honestly a B minimum, maybe higher.
no Death Jr. posted yet
absolutely shameful
Sanbone trio from Guitaroo Man. Literally BORN TO BONE. Tier B or C, maybe.
youtube.com
Then put her in C or B tier, her skeleton form is notable enough to be on the tier list
Jamjars does the rhyming instead. Grunty in Tooie is vastly different from her BK version, she's dangerous, lethal and unhinged. She rhymed on her own terms and put in the effort to do so. She's not the green witch with a whimsical flair, she's an undead, cold lich that's out for revenge and she kills Bottles before the game begins as well as causing damage across the board. She's definitely worthy of a high ranking.
She murdered her own sisters even.
Tears of the Kingdom Gibdo for F tier
Lategame enemy
Dies super easily to fire attacks
Moves and attacks incredibly slowly
Does fuck all damage if it somehow manages to hit you
Useless jobber
highly resistant to all dmg types except the one dmg type no-one really does
highly resistant to the most common magic dmg types
ice spikes paralyze you
aoe blind makes it hard to hit him, while doing high dmg
aoe drain heals him while doing high aoe dmg to the party
high dmg special moves
always spawns tightly packed in large groups in narrow corridors
blood agro means taking damage agro'd dozens of them within a wide radius
FFXI had probably the most dangerous skellingtons of any vidya I've played.
S tier cause im biased. A tier if you want.
How do we feel about Cubone and Marowak?
AAAA tier
My NIGGA Mor'Ladim from the World of Warcraft™
level 35 elite in a 25 area = huge aggro range
small so you don't notice him
huge patrol area so you aren't safe anywhere
has a slow to make sure he kills you
actually has a tragic backstory and a cool quest
in the end you get his sword
My nigga mor'ladim is at least A tier.
low C, Gains is cooler. B.
Living thing, it needs to be a skeleton
Golden Axe Skeleton Warrior for B Tier?
where would the Ultima Skeleton land? he's the most basic you can make a skeleton
put Chuck D. Head in D or F tier. Only the skull weapon he throws is skeletal as he's pretty much just a mummy.
okay I need to step out for another hour for halloween stuff, be back soon
Aye aye Captain
somehow both SSS and F
BONE-voyage, captain
B tier skeleton IMO
lower them both
gangrapes you to death
My brother, B tier suits them just fine.
no Shining in the Darkness
You people don't play enough video games.
I got a BONER to FUCK with you
Sayonara Bone-kun
For me it's Jumpin' Johnny Jumble
A for AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Divinity original sin 2, Fane.
B tier.
I've always loved the Vagrant Story skeleton designs, they're solid Bs at least
How do we feel about the Red Skeletons in Castlevania? I think their immortality warrants at the minimum a B if not an A.
D Tier
Jack Skellington. Nice design but C-D tier for being a theater nerd and not having any good games.
Castlevania has a lot of good skeletons. I'd put the Bone Muskets in B or C-tier because they've always been underwhelming despite the cool concept.
Skeleton Lords, Dark Souls 2.
D-Tier
Here's a better version though I wanna find one with the whole squad
With a crown and smile like that, low C seems more fitting.
Nova Skeletons are definitely A-grade, being one of the few actually threatening enemies in SOTN.
Now post him with his beard.
For me it's Dora Smarmy..or Eddy Bull
blessed thread
based op
may your bones be strong
i seen that show. weird but a cool stuff
Skeleton Bartender is a B for Bartender
I've always had this dream game that's like a reverse dungeon crawler.
You're just some scrub level 1 skeleton in the top level of a dungeon, and the enemies are "adventurers" and rpg protagonists trying to kill you to level up.
So to survive you've got to try and get deeper in the dungeon, where there are more powerful monsters, but also the heroes who get farther are stronger as well, so you start trying to find loot to make yourself stronger. Occasionally you'll get some nice rare helmet, and it turns out its a quest item for the heroes, so you start getting a stream of dudes coming for you, driving you to find better gear so you can drop the cursed crown of the false king ballsniff, and deeper into the dungeon.
Eventually you start getting monsters that are attracted to you since you're a big dick swinging, and you go from a mini boss to a level boss, and eventually the end/raid boss.
Have some mechanic where you can swap out your bones to upgrade, like big nasty demon arms, or brittle necromancer bones that increase your magic. Swap our your skull with some bejeweled skull from a reliquary.
D rank. He's not even a whole skeleton. Doesn't have any particularly special techniques either. Frankly the only thing keeping him out of F is his cool name.
He spins, that's a good trick
does he count?
yeah I guess spin to win is always fun. Still wouldn't rank him very high
literally impossible boss
d rank
come on man, give him some more credit. he even shoots out tiny skulls
the skeleton is impossible meme was never funny. He's actually really easy. The "you built a platform? you cheated and didn't beat him" is too retarded of a take to be funny.
we can change skeletron later
SSS - Nova Skeleton. 'nuff said.
skeletron deserves his spot, mogged by skeletron prime from his own damn game.
wasn't it like one guy making the same thread over and over
Spinal
Mr. Bones
Those assholes from world 4-1 in Demon's Souls
Skeleton is well placed, but mind boggling effects should be A tier
Is that pic from fucking crashbox
Why is skeleDong in F tier?
His minigame is fucking awful
i thought the joke was that he was mixing it up with the dungeon guardian, who is actually intended to be impossible
This lad from the Lego games
almost forgot my yearly rewatch
no, he thinks that if you build an arena to fight the boss like you're intended you cheated and didn't beat the game. He's just retarded. Maybe pretending to be retarded, but still retarded.
S
Skeleton Boss from Blaster Master Zero.
C Tier because Inti has a freakish hard-on for this thing and keeps bringing it back in every game with some wacky new form.
Absolutely S-tier
have a better pic of him
I present to you the Steel Skeleton from Lost Kingdoms 1 and 2
Fast, strong, lifesteal, chance to debuff on hit
In his own game? He deserves SSS or S rating for his might.
Rating by the games that he hails from? They were made by Fromsoft before the Souls wave, very fun but not well known. A-tier or B-tier by popularity.
Skeletor, what tier does he get?
A
youtube.com
What are some skeletons where the minions put him together?
How about the Sanchez twins?
Fuck this asshole he killed me in hardcore at like lvl 28
Skeleton Girls?
i dont know about that buddy, they seem more Girl than Skeleton to me
cool character from a cooler game
just a skull
B
I love me a good skeleton thread. Consider me rattled and spooked.
(me)
Holy shit! A remaster of the game came out today!
store.steampowered.com
They're skeletons all the way down.
BOW BEFORE YOUR LIEGE
Necromorphosis
so keep your feet on the (ground) and your head in the (clouds)!
MY NIGGA IN CHRIST IS THAT FROM FUCKING CRASHBOX ON HBO?!
God damn someone ELSE remembers!
yeah
could you post an image of him from a video game?
The Forgotten counts, right?
how do you even argue that the forgotten isn't a skeleton lol
“DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”
also yeah he's Anon Babble not really Anon Babble, but he did appear in both PC Discworld games, so there's your limp excuse.
would rub my bone against
okay well it looks like it's over. modest tier list this year compared to 2022 and 2023.
Here's 2022's tier list. 2023 next. Gonna monitor this thread for a couple more hours in case more tiers get posted but that's it.
I don't remember the dungeon guardian looking like that
2023.
Where is krell?!?
I'd like to nominate Mom for somewhere around A-tier.
Also put that dumb skeleton in those shitty Raid Shadow Legends ads somewhere at the bottom.
The Tactics Ogre skeletons deserve a B at least, they've got a good smile.
Meanwhile the ones in Ogre Battle are firmly A-tier, being completely immune to all damage not coming from a priest. Genuine MVPs on some maps.
Skull wing from castlevania curse of darkness, drops bone bombs and shoots bone shards. A birb and a skelly clearly A tier.
Crocomire deserves an S, he did nothing wrong
I got maybe 30 more minutes in me, so if you see any untiered skeletons, post them with a tier
worst one with rankings and the Wanderer in Diablo 2 doesn't even appear as a skeleton in the game just on the box.
WHERE'S MY SON AND WHY ISN'T HE IN SSS
How about Vordred the Paladin Slayer? He has a whole bunch of skulls on him and in him.
based artix entertainment enjoyer
skulls are cool and all but skeletons have bones that just the one
But skulls are the best part of a skeleton.
Definitely an S-tier.
shut the fuck up slug
I know this guy doesn't count for vidya, but I'm posting him anyway for fun
This design is from a sentai show and not vidya (though the designer did do some Megaten designs) but it kicks ass
Wrong; SSS for Skeleton Skeleton Skeleton because there's 3 of them
I'd like to recommend Tartarians from Dominions as an A-tier. Super strong, but expensive (but very cost-effective) and likely to be a rather insane from being necromance'd.
Also they have great sprites.
The feels you get after desperately traversing in search of a bonfire a spindly, jagged canyon full of undead hiding behind every twist and turn, waiting patiently in every crevasse to ambush you, and getting back on their feet even if you "kill" them, just to end up stuck at the end with your back to a horde of evil guardians, and your front to a boss gate?
The feels you get when you, with just one flask left, enter the gate to escape pursuit... only to see yourself standing at the bottom of a giant burial pit, with three majestic lordly figures, sat on thrones, looking down at you? When the room lights up a hellish, dim orange as they slowly stand up.... Those feels are unforgettable.
ok last post from me unless this thread is somehow up for 9 hours lol
I will see you all again next year
Gutsy Bones from Yokai Watch
I say B since its just that japanese one but with a gacha machine but hes a cool dude
"Red Skeleton and Blue Skeleton" from Goof Troop (SNES). They throw bone shurikens and their head floats towards you too. C Rank.
Whoops, forgot to make it square.
Goodnight.
4 years ago, everyone would've mentioned Papyrus and Sans as their 1st post. Funny how something that became big enough to appear in Smash is now being forgotten like this.
Anyway, I'm gonna say Skull Man even if it's a robot.