Skeleton (monster): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 00:52, 27 September 2026

Obsolete: This article refers to an aspect of the game which has been removed. It is retained for historical reference only.

This page is about the former monster. For the item left behind by rotting corpses, see skeleton. For the monster that replaced skeletons, see draugr.

A skeleton compelled to unlife by the exercise of necromancy.

"God save us from the skeleton
Who sitteth at the feast!"
-James Jeffery Roche, _The Skeleton at the Feast_. 1890.

Skeletons are the reanimated bones of once-living creatures. As a type of derived undead, their stats are based on what the monster had in life.

Useful Info

Skeletons are slower, stupider, and clumsier than their alive counterparts. Skeletons are weaker versions of zombies.

HP: (HD)d4 + 5*HD
AC: Original - 6
EV: Original - 7
Speed: Original - 2 (at least 3)
Attack flavour: None
Special: Does not regenerate, cannot traverse stairs

Skeletons may be created with the Necrotise spell. They can also be found in a couple vaults. A newly-animated skeleton will drop weapons and armour that they were wearing.

Identifying Skeletons

Different monsters will leave behind skeletons with differing stats, but Crawl tends to lump them all together, making identifying them at a glance difficult. Console mode will display skeletons as either z or Z, depending on their size. Tiles mode provides different tiles for several different kinds of skeletons, but there are still many different monsters that fall under each type. In any case, if you want to find out exactly what you'll be fighting, simply hit x and highlight the skeleton in question.

Below are all the categories of skeletons in tiles mode:

Fish

Humanoids (small)

Humanoids (medium)

Humanoids (large)

Hydras

The Lernaean hydra

Lizards

Nagas

Quadrupeds (small)

Quadrupeds (large)

Quadrupeds (winged)

History

In 0.34, skeletons were replaced with draugrs.
Prior to 0.29, skeletons on the ground could be re-animated using Animate Skeleton or Animate Dead. Reanimated monsters kept their weapons and armour. Skeletons were also removed from the main Dungeon's spawn table.
Prior to 0.26, skeletons were more important. You could butcher a corpse to eat its chunks, then animate it into a skeleton. You could not do this with zombies.
Prior to 0.23, butchering a corpse did not always leave a skeleton item, though Animate Skeleton always left chunks.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{version021}}
+{{obsolete}}
-''For the item sometimes left behind by butchered or rotting corpses, see [[skeleton]].''
+''This page is about the former monster. For the item left behind by rotting [[corpse]]s, see [[skeleton]]. For the monster that replaced skeletons, see [[draugr]].''
 {{Flavour|A skeleton compelled to unlife by the exercise of necromancy.
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 -James Jeffery Roche, _The Skeleton at the Feast_. 1890.}}
-'''Skeletons''' are the reanimated bones of once-living creatures and are a type of [[derived undead]]. Either way, they are considerably slower, stupider, and clumsier than whatever they were when they were alive. They also cannot heal, but on the flip side they do have undead resistances.
+'''Skeletons''' are the reanimated bones of once-living creatures. As a type of [[derived undead]], their stats are based on what the monster had in life.
-Skeletons may appear in the [[Dungeon]] as random monsters or be created by players (or other monsters) through [[Necromancy]] or the [[Invocations]] of certain gods. Note that hostile skeletons can serve as a "preview" of upcoming monsters: since they're weaker than the original, the skeletal version of a monster will often show up a level or two before the live version.
+==Useful Info==
+Skeletons are slower, stupider, and clumsier than their alive counterparts. Skeletons are weaker versions of [[zombie]]s.
-As servants, skeletons are useful for characters who need meat shields (so to speak). [[Zombie]]s may be more durable, but skeletons let you get both minion and meat from the same corpse: using [[Animate Skeleton]] on a whole corpse will leave the chunks behind, or you can animate a skeleton left behind from butchering. (The former is more reliable, as butchering doesn't always leave a skeleton.) Of course, only corpses with internal skeletons can be raised in this manner -- various types of monsters, such as [[List of arthropods|insects]] or [[List of worms|worms]], can only be made into [[zombie]]s.
+*'''HP:''' (HD)d4 + 5*HD
+*'''AC:''' Original - 6
+*'''EV:''' Original - 7
+*'''Speed:''' Original - 2 (at least 3)
+*'''Attack flavour:''' None
+*'''Special:''' Does not regenerate, cannot traverse stairs
-A newly-animated skeleton will sometimes wield weapons or armor on the tile it was animated on (usually their old equipment). This is your only chance to equip them, as they won't pick anything up or wield/wear new items. If they should be destroyed later on, you can get this gear back.
+Skeletons may be created with the [[Necrotise]] spell. They can also be found in a couple [[vault]]s. A newly-animated skeleton will drop weapons and armour that they were wearing.
-Skeletons created through the player's Necromancy are temporary and will eventually crumble to dust on their own, but using [[Yredelemnul]]'s Animate Remains ability creates skeletons that will persist until they are destroyed. Additionally, skeletons are unable to use [[stairs]], but you can lure monsters up or down stairs to where your thralls are.
 ==Identifying Skeletons==
@@ Line 48: / Line 52: @@
 [[Image:Skeleton hydra 1.png]] [[Image:Skeleton hydra 2.png]] [[Image:Skeleton hydra 3.png]] [[Image:Skeleton hydra 4.png]] [[Image:Skeleton hydra 5.png]] [[Hydra]]s
-[[Image:Skeleton lizard.png]] Lizards
+[[Image:Skeleton lernaean 1.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 2.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 3.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 4.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 5.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 6.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 7.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 8.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 9.png]] [[Image:Skeleton lernaean 10.png]] [[The Lernaean hydra]]
+[[Image:Skeleton lizard.png]] [[List of reptiles and amphibians#Lizard types|Lizards]]
 [[Image:Skeleton naga.png]] [[List of nagas|Nagas]]
@@ Line 65: / Line 71: @@
 [[Image:Skeleton ugly thing.png]] [[Ugly thing]]s
+==History==
+*In [[0.34]], skeletons were replaced with [[draugr]]s.
+*Prior to [[0.29]], skeletons on the ground could be re-animated using [[Animate Skeleton]] or [[Animate Dead]]. Reanimated monsters kept their weapons and armour. Skeletons were also removed from the main [[Dungeon]]'s spawn table.
+*Prior to [[0.26]], skeletons were more important. You could butcher a corpse to [[food|eat]] its [[chunk]]s, then animate it into a skeleton. You could not do this with [[zombie]]s.
+*Prior to [[0.23]], butchering a corpse did not always leave a skeleton item, though Animate Skeleton always left chunks.
 [[Category:Monsters]]
 [[Category:Undead holiness]]