Skeletons in video games come in all shapes, sizes, and moral alignments but are often considered the coolest types of characters to play despite their associations with death. Creepy bones often create threatening or foreboding appearances for evil or intimidating characters like villains. However, some skeletons are less spooky-scary and more comical or satirical, leaving some players shaking with laughter to the bone rather than quaking in their skin.
Skeletons are popular characters in many video game genres where they can feature as protagonists, minor characters, or simply NPCs for players to defeat. However, throughout video game history, there are many unique skeletons deserving of a (bone-built) throne to show off their iconic status.
8 Spinal - Killer Instinct
Spinal is a one-of-a-kind skeleton fighter from one of the most infamous fighting franchises, Killer Instinct. As well as an intimidating physique and well-recognized red bandana, Spinal had a spine-tingling, high-pitched laugh that cackled upon winning. There was also a memorable voice-over shout of "Spinal!" when players chose Spinal on the character selection screen, where players could also change the color of the character's bones.
Studio Rare also gave Spinal a comeback in Sea of Thieves as a purchasable costume in the Pirate Emporium, complete with the iconic and terrifying laugh.
7 Dry Bones - Super Mario Games
Dry Bones is the humorously named skeletal counterpart to the Koopa Troopa baddies who make many appearances throughout the Super Mario Brothers franchise and is a playable character in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Dry Bones is an instantly recognizable animalistic skeleton in gaming from the classic, worldwide-renowned franchise, and is often favored as a fairly quick, lightweight racer.
As an NPC in the classic Super Mario Brothers 3, 2D Dry Bones makes memorable, twinkling, bone-shattering sounds as it falls into a pile of bones on defeat, but sometimes self-resurrects a few moments later.
6 Manny Calavera - Grim Fandango
In the classic Grim Fandango, players become the endearing Grim Reaper protagonist Manny Calavera, who works for the Department of Death in the Land of the Dead. Players explore the game world and its puzzles through Manny's interactions through point-and-click adventure gameplay.
Grim Fandango, later recreated in Grim Fandango: Remastered is widely praised and celebrated for many reasons, including its striking art style and character design that puts a unique cartoonish spin on the types of skeletons often seen in the Day of the Dead festivities. Manny himself is one of the most recognized and memorable skeletons in video games as a unique take on the traditionally feared Grim Reaper.
5 Captain Flameheart - Sea Of Thieves
Captain Flameheart is well-known in the Sea of Thieves community as the big, ranting bobblehead in the sky. However, the floating skeleton head made a swift exit as part of the ongoing Captain Flameheart lore, and players saw his skeletal corpse in Adventures 8 and 9 of Sea of Thieves. Although there are many memorable skeletons in the game from Skeleton Lord Graymarrow to Captain Briggsy, Flameheart's reputation continues to grow in the game's ongoing Adventures and books that delve deeper into the lore.
In Sea of Thieves Season 8, players can even earn an enticing skeleton curse by pledging their Allegiance to Captain Flameheart in PVP on-demand ship combat.
4 Sir Daniel Fortesque - MediEvil Games
Sir Daniel, or Dan, is known from the MediEvil video games as the fallen but resurrected skeleton knight hero. In 2019's MediEvil Remastered version of the original MediEvil game, players hack and slash their way around the kingdom of Gallowmere as Dan in the platform action-adventure games, fighting demonic enemies in the battle against the sorcerer Zarok.
Despite MediEvil's mixed reception, Dan's quirky appearance and comedic, endearing personality in the game's The Nightmare Before Christmas vibes make for a memorable skeleton, including his humor in the follow-up MediEvil 2set in the 19th century. He also has some unique abilities that play on his undead status, such as pulling out his arm and using it as a weapon.
3 Scorpion - Mortal Kombat Games
Scorpion is one of the most widely recognized and iconic fighters of the Mortal Kombat franchise. He may not look particularly skeletal, but underneath his iconic ninja mask is a fiery skull to rival Ghost Rider that can breathe hellfire on its victims, setting them ablaze.
Scorpion's renowned one-liner, "Get over here!", is iconic itself, as he whips his famous kunai spear to harpoon his opponents. As a fearsome and memorable fighter, it's easy to see why he's a firm fan favorite, whether appearing in human or terrifying skull form.
2 Sans And Papyrus - Undertale
The skeleton brothers Sans and Papyrus in Undertale are well-known for their epically funny personalities and are a popular, widely-loved duo in gaming. Sans is the winking joker that drops puns, whereas Papyrus is the spaghetti-trapping skeleton who only wants to capture humans, so he can join the Royal Guard.
There are some hilarious puzzle-setting scenes with the 2 brothers in the player-choice-driven 2D RPG. The unique experience of Undertale and its entertaining characters like Papyrus and Sans are part of what makes the game so loved by many.
1 Greg The Grim Reaper - Conker Games
Greg the Grim Reaper is a skeleton from Conker's Bad Fur Day, which became a cult classic and was remade in Conker: Live and Reloaded. Greg looks like a typical Grim Reaper except for the gold tooth, dressed in a long black robe over a skeleton body and carrying a scythe.
However, Greg is anything but ordinary as one of the funniest Grim Reapers in video games, with his unusually high-pitched, squeaky voice, his way with words, and hilarious viewpoints on topics like cats. Greg is undoubtedly a unique and stand-out depiction of a skeletal Grim Reaper, even pulling out an amusing and unexpected voice-changing megaphone.