SkeleTONS: nearly every bony bastard in the gaming universe

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A pictorial history of our skinless friends, from NES to PS3

Dragon Quest is right up there with Final Fantasy when it comes to worldwide recognition. Formerly known as Dragon Warrior in the US, it’s gone on to sell millions upon millions of copies of every game in the series, the latest of which weeffing adored.

Here’s one we’ve seen time and time again, poor Arthur shattering into a pile of individually separated bones. That’s what he gets for starring in what is officially known as The Hardest Videogame Franchise of All Time.

On the other end of the spectrum we have these piddly wimps from various cutesy games. Don’t think they realize simply being a skeleton isn’t enough. You’ve got to feel it, deep down in your coccyx.

Perhaps the most famous ongoing skeletal enemy of all time, the Stalfos knight from Zelda. It’s been in just about every game in the series, represented here by its meager beginnings as a crude patchwork of white pixels to its Link to the Past depiction that leaps all over the damn place.

Compare that to Twilight Princess:

All that time to figure out a plan against Link... and all they added were shoulder pads? No wonder Ganon keeps getting punted into prison dimensions.

Next page – God of War, Bully, Kingdom Hearts and tons more!

Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.