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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"I feel so alone, gonna end up a big ole pile of them bones."''
|'''[[Alice in Chains]]''', "Them Bones"}}
The human skeleton is pretty tough. If you drink a lot of milk and get plenty of sunshine, your bones can grow to be stronger than concrete; shattering a bone requires a really, really strong hit, as in "crashing your car at 60 km/h"-strong. Did you know that crematoria actually grind bones because otherwise the fragments could be too big to fit in the urns?
But a lot of science fiction writers seem to think that the skeleton is absolutely impervious to any weapon. Hit 'em with [[Energy Weapon
Arguably, of course, the bones are the hardest and densest structures in the human body (the jaw and teeth especially) so it would make sense that the skeleton would be the last body part to be destroyed. Of course, when whatever substance that has disintegrated the rest of the body has also been known to destroy much tougher substances, it goes from being understandable to an expected [[Sci Fi]] trope.
Also occurs in fantasy settings.
The purpose of this trope, of course, is shock-effect rather than realism: i.e. to visibly communicate the fact that the person is ''really dead'', since their simply ''disappearing'' wouldn't have nearly the same impact as seeing them instantly turned into The Grim Reaper's twin brother. Meanwhile, at the same time it's "cleaner" and less gruesome to show a person turned into a Halloween-type skeleton than the blood-and-gore of nastier deaths, while likewise being more devastating since it would obviously take more of an impact to strip someone to the bones than simply gouge the flesh. A variant of this trope is to have a person be reduced to a skeleton, let them stay like that for a few seconds, and ''then'' have the skeleton disintegrate or collapse.
This might be part of why people are [[Made of Iron]]. Also, compare [[Made of Plasticine]]; here, everything but the skeleton appears to be. See also [[Robotic Reveal]].
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples}}
* ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]'': In the [[Alternate Continuity|2009 movie]], there's a swarm of mechanical bugs that reduces some birds to bones in seconds; an unpleasant surprise to anybody who's watched the 1960's show. [[Justified]], since the carnivorous bugs have no interest in eating bones, just the flesh.▼
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Bleach]]'': {{spoiler|Barragan has an ability in his released form that will rot away all of the flesh, muscle, and organs of a person until all that is left are the bones.}}▼
▲* [[Kimba the White Lion]]: In the [[Alternate Continuity|2009 movie]], there's a swarm of mechanical bugs that reduces some birds to bones in seconds; an unpleasant surprise to anybody who's watched the 1960's show. [[Justified]], since the carnivorous bugs have no interest in eating bones, just the flesh.
▲* [[Bleach]]: {{spoiler|Barragan has an ability in his released form that will rot away all of the flesh, muscle, and organs of a person until all that is left are the bones.}}
** It's implied that {{spoiler|it keeps aging until the point where the bones would be gone as well, but it takes a LONG time for bones to decay.}}
** In the anime, it's not just implied. When {{spoiler|Soifon is hit in the arm, and summarily cuts it off to stop the decay from spreading,}} the bones turn to dust and vanish. This makes sense, since Barragan can age rocks and concrete into nothingness.
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'' is fond of this trope. Many demons turn to bones when killed, and this is the fate of {{spoiler|all of the Band of Seven.}}
** Justified for {{spoiler|the Band of Seven. They were resurrected by the power of the Shikon Jewel, and when they died their bodies simply [[No Immortal Inertia|reverted to what they were before]]; bones.}}
== Comic Books ==
* Wolverine of the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', when he's in the middle of an explosion, is completely destroyed, with the exception of his [[Unobtainium|adamantium]] bones. He [[From a Single Cell|regenerates from a few braincells that survive]]. This is, of course, [[Justified Trope|justified]] due to the fact that Wolverine's skeleton really IS indestructible.
** But the regeneration power depends on the writer, so in ''Days of the Future Past'', Wolverine is stripped to the bone, but here it means [[Killed Off for Real]].
** The unstoppable, [[Nigh Invulnerable]] Juggernaut has also survived being Stripped to the Bone, and magically regenerated. When they say "nothing can stop [[The Juggernaut]]", they apparently mean it.
*** Subverted in that D'Sparye could have actually destroyed the bones too, he was just too shocked stupid by the fact that Juggernaut was a skeleton and was ''still'' coming at him. Ultimately, Juggs would have still lost if not for [[Wiki Magic|being helped by someone I can't remember.]]
** The Hulk has done it on occasion.
* Subverted by DC's post-Zero Hour ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (
** Happens again by DC in ''[[
* Though it's yet to be shown happening to anyone, the voracious female faeries in ''[[Proof]]'' are said to be able to strip a person to the bone in seconds.
* In ''[[No Hero]]'', one of the heroes is killed with a chemical weapon specifically designed to dissolve flesh, leaving bone intact.
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* A whole field of super-human bones is left in the wake of a nuclear explosion at the climax of ''[[Kingdom Come]]''.
* Practically everyone [[Fallen Hero|the Plutonian]] kills with his heat vision in ''[[Irredeemable]]'' leaves behind a charred, smoking skeleton. Also, one of the penultimate events that results in the Plutonian's [[Face Heel Turn]] is when dozens of children are killed by an alien virus that liquefies soft tissue, [[Dem Bones|animates their skeletal remains]], and spreads through their screams.
* ''Fantastic Four'' Vol. 1 #241. Several Russian scientists end up this way, mystifying Reed Richards. Explained later; the Big Bad has vast cosmic powers and just simply likes disposing of malcontents this way.
* ''G.I.Joe Vs Transformers 2''. A [[Kill Sat]], invented by the good guys, blasts nukes into harmless puffs of machinery. However, when it hits Mercer, a good guy (oops), the flesh goes but the skeleton does not.
* Happens a lot in the ''[[Hellboy]]'' comics, especially to evil supernatural creatures who are killed by sunlight, touching holy ground, etc.
* In the Marvel mini-series ''Mys-Tech Wars'', {{spoiler|Nick Fury}} is captured by the villians and strapped to a device that is supposed to flay "skin from bone and soul from body." The end result is not pretty. {{spoiler|Hard to believe, but he does get better.}}
* Happens to [[Strontium Dog|Johnny Alpha]] at the end of ''The Final Solution'', though the bones are not exactly bleached white and do collapse into a pile once the monster releases its grasp. However, the recent ''Death And Life Of Johnny Alpha'' has [[
* In Bill Willingham's ''[[Ironwood]]'' comic, a [[Multi
== Fan Works ==
* In the ''[[Worm]]/[[Harry Potter]]'' crossover ''[[A Wand for Skitter]]'', Taylor discovers a dark counterpart to the Patronus, [[The Power of Hate|powered by hate]], which manifests for her as a swarm of insects capable of [[Eaten Alive|eating a victim alive]] and leaving only bones behind.
== Film ==
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* In the original ''[[Godzilla]]'' (or ''[[Spell My Name with an "S"|Gojira]]''), the device that ultimately defeated Godzilla skeletonized him, and pretty much every living thing in the general area.
** Don't forget Hedorah's acidic sludge in Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster.
* Done quite a lot in the Tim Burton film ''[[Mars Attacks
* In the campy 1980s flick ''Killer Klowns from Outer Space'', a security guard is pummeled with pies by the clowns, reducing him to a steaming pile of ice cream (with a cherry on top!). Upon further inspection by the heroes, the pies were acidic: The guard's bony arm is found sticking out of the pile.
* In the first ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]]'' film, the Green Goblin's Pumpkin Bombs can rip a concrete banister off a building, but when humans are subjected to it, they are blasted into bones. This might simply be that they are different types of bombs. (And said bones crumble shortly after appearing.)
* One of the many versions of ''[[War of the Worlds]]'' had a heat ray that left just the skeletons.
* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'': {{spoiler|After drinking from the wrong Holy Grail, Walter Donovan}} decays completely, including his bones, which are smashed against the wall when Indy pushes him back.
** At the end of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', the [[Villain by Default|Nazis]] open the Ark and {{spoiler|have their skin and flesh blasted away, leaving the bones behind.}}
* In ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'' (2004), a man gets skeletonised by getting hit by a bolt of electricity from a Tesla coil. (It was one of the few bits of CG in the film that looked plain bad, probably due to [[Stylistic Suck]]).
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** This scene seems to be a [[Shout-Out]] to the ''[[Terminator]]''.
* In ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'', Matthew Patel's [[Fireballs]] hit Crash and the Boys, killing all three in an instant, turning them into flaming skeletons for a second, before the bones turn to ash. "Mystical powers" indeed.
* In ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'', it's shown that Cybertronian weaponry does this to humans. Which makes sense, really, given that they're designed to damage giant, metallic beings; it's no surprise that they'd rip through soft tissue like nothing. Notably, the blast force also blows the skeletons apart, leading to a brief but gruesome shot of a NEST trooper's bones flying through the air as a Decepticon blasts him with his laser rifle.
* The [[Chevy Chase]] [[Cult Classic]] ''[[Nothing but Trouble]]'' has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enUo-1TjdEs Mister Bonestripper], which does [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].
* ''[[Critters]] 2'' near the climax a man falls and is run over by a Crite Ball. His twitching skeleton is a rare example where it's not picked clean, to dramatic effect ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130613130447/http://horrordaily.com/2011/07/11/monster-mondays-krites/ See description and before/after images ... or don't].
== Literature ==
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* In Neal Asher's ''The Skinner'', the native alien life forms do not seem to like eating or otherwise decomposing bones, resulting in plenty of beautifully preserved and cleaned human skeletons around a pirate base abandoned for centuries.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter|Prospero In Hell]]'', Miranda recounts how her brother had used the Staff of Decay on soldiers, who were reduced first to their skeletons, then to nothing.
* In [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Firestarter]]'', when the heroine turns her immense pyrokinetic power on [[Big Bad
* In [[Robert Westall]]'s ''[[Urn Burial]]'', the [[Eldritch Abominations|Attock]] created ''[[Festering Fungus|harka]]'', an engineered mould that infects and [[Body Horror|grows on living creatures]], usually infecting females and young in the womb. It slowly eats away at the flesh and eventually even eats away the bones. It takes long enough on the skeleton that there a couple of collections of bones still held together with sinew and tendon in the [[People Jars]] on the Wawaka ship.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': The Vashta Nerada can do this to you in a fraction of a second. [[Red Shirt
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': The Vashta Nerada can do this to you in a fraction of a second. [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]] take note: When the Doctor says "Don't move," he ''means'' it.
** Probably justified considering the Vashta Nerada are living, and probably leave the bone deliberately.
* A new episode of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has this happen to {{spoiler|Adam Monroe when Arthur Petrelli takes his ability, which [[Fridge Logic|doesn't make much sense since all of his cells would presumably still be fairly new from the constant rejuvenation.]]}}
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* In the ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent|Law & Order: Criminal Intent]]'' episode "Maledictus", a murder victim is dissolved down to her bones in her own bathtub using a large amount of lye. The killer is later shown tossing the bones out of a cardboard box and into the river.
* ''[[The Collector (TV series)|The Collector]]'': Happens to Morgan's hand when dipped into some chemicals during [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique|interrogation]]. [[Good Thing You Can Heal|He got better]].
== Music Videos ==
* A [[Body Horror|more literal version]] of this trope appears in the video to Robbie Williams' "Rock DJ".
== Tabletop Games ==
* The Necrons of ''[[Warhammer
** Plus the Necrons ''themselves'', who take the worst of a [[Our Zombies Are Different|fleshless Romero zombie]] and a [[Terminator]] and blend it into some of the most potent horror 40k has to offer.
** Dark Eldar beastmasters have flocks of Razorwings, alien birds with extremely sharp beaks and wingtips, that can strip a man to the bone in seconds. Much like the Hellboy tooth fairies, they eat bones and tear off the flehs to get to them. Dark Eldar also have a piece of arcane wargear called the Casket of Flensing, which releases a swarm of invisible creatures that strip the flesh off their target's bones (they leave the brain intact tho, so the unfortunate victim can be aware of his final moments for as long as possible).
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* The [[Magic: The Gathering]] card [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=175070 Skeletonize] connects this trope with [[Dem Bones]].
** The page picture comes from the card [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=106636 Disintegrate,] and the trend continues with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=47226 Carbonize,] older versions of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2630 Incinerate,] and the list goes on. You tend to see this more in Black and Red cards, they being the colors of death and destruction, respectively. However, White gets in on the action as well, being the color of [[Light Is Not Good|"God will look after his own"]] and all. Behold, the infamous [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129808 Wrath of God.]
== Video Games ==
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* ''[[Super Mario Brothers|New Super Mario Bros.]]'' features the series' [[Big Bad]] Bowser falling into lava and being skeletonized (which is depicted in a surprisingly [[Nightmare Fuel]]-ish level of detail for this series). Later on, you get to fight Bowser's animated skeletal remains. Though he eventually recovers later on with a little help from Bowser Jr.
** Mario will be reduced to a skeleton if you are killed by electricity in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]''.
** [[Night of the Living Mooks|Dry Bones]] collapse following a [[Goomba Stomp]], but reassemble shortly after.
* So did the [[Lost Vikings]] from Blizzard's SNES puzzle classic, ...well, ''Lost Vikings''.
* Crocomire in ''[[Metroid|Super Metroid]]'' suffers this upon being knocked into a pit of acid. His remains then knock open a spiked wall, allowing you to proceed further into Norfair.
* ''[[Unreal Tournament 2004]]'' sported the Link Gun, a plasma rifle that has a long stream of plasma for an alternative fire. Death by this plasma stream resulted in its victim being reduced to a skeleton. Another skeletonizing weapon in the same game was the Ion Cannon, an orbital Satellite that fired a gigantic purple beam of death, unsurprisingly, reducing victims of it to skeletons, the downside of it was that it had to be "painted" onto an enemy with the Ion Painter, which took quite a lot of time to do so.
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* The [[Ray Gun]] weapons in ''[[Another World (video game)|Another World]]'' reduce anyone hit by them(which can be either the player or enemies) into a skeleton that explodes after a few seconds
* Several characters in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series have [[Finishing Move|fatalities]] that can do this, such as Scorpion (who breathes fire) or Reptile (who vomits acid). This also happens in the Dead Pool stage fatality from ''[[Mortal Kombat 2]]'', in which the opponent is knocked into a pool of acid.
** Sheeva's has to be the cruelest: she '''tears''' your flesh off.
** Sindel in ''[[Mortal Kombat 3]]'' and Fujin in ''[[Mortal Kombat 4]]'' blow the opponent's flesh off.
** In one of his DC crossover fatalities, Raiden uses his electric powers to burn off all the opponent's flesh, leaving behind their smoking skeleton.
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* You may see one or more charred skeletons [[Dramatic Space Drifting|floating in space]] when investigating the wreckage of the transport destroyed in the intro of ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]] IV''
* In ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'', one of the peculiar status effects that might be inflicted upon you involves getting (temporarily!) reduced to a skeleton by a particularly fierce sandstorm.
* Arthur is always reduced to a skeleton if he's killed in ''[[Ghosts 'n Goblins
* In ''[[Rise of the Triad]]'', using the flamewall weapon on a mook causes them to be reduced to a bare skeleton, which them crumples to ash with a humorous falling xylophone glissando.
* Spontaneous Skeletonification tends to happen to a lot of mooks in [[First Encounter Assault Recon]], usually by beam weapons or psychic powers.
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* The carbine can do this in ''[[Bulletstorm]]'' if you [[Charged Attack|amp it up]].
== Web Comics ==
* Happens in [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/041116 this] ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' when Horribus kills {{spoiler|Mosp}}.
* Richard, Cale, and Benny need some backup in battle in an early ''[[Looking for Group]]'' script. Richard decides to summon [[Dem Bones]]. [http://lfgcomic.com/page/9 The enemy soldiers donate theirs].
== Western Animation ==
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** In another episode, Stimpy buys a super powerful vacuum cleaner; as he turns it on, Ren happens to be standing in front of it. He tries to escape and clings to the rug, it ends up ripping off his skin and sucking out his organs; now a skeleton, he attempts to save his brain before being sucked inside.
* In the direct-to-video animated film ''[[Doctor Strange]]: Sorceror Supreme'', the final creature that appears before Dormammu's return is the Wing Mouth, a massive flock of small creatures with huge fangs and tiny wings. Individually, they're easy to destroy, but together, they can skeletonize a full-grown human within seconds. They devour several civilians and sorcerers before being defeated.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons']]'' [[Show Within a Show]], Itchy & Scratchy uses this trope quite often.
** In one ''Treehouse of Horror'' episode, Bart and Lisa are being chased by Itchy and Scratchy. Bart gets hit with a blast of piranhas from a firehose, stripping everything from the neck down to the bone. Afterwards, he muses "Ooh, that's gonna hurt in the morning." He gets better, BTW.
* In ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', this happens to Agent Bishop's [[Clone Degeneration|old body]] once his consciousness is transferred to a new one, with his skin and muscles melting into purple goo.
* The ''[[Futurama]]'' revival on Comedy Central began with the Planet Express crew, after a hard crash, reduced to their heads and skeletons - even Bender.
* [[Superjail]] has Jailbot do this to a farmer pursuing Jacknife in one intro.
* Happens to [[Mad Scientist|Doctor]] [[Kelsey Grammer|Frankenollie]] in ''[[Runaway Brain]]'' after he switches [[Mickey Mouse]]'s brain with that of a monster's.
* The alien death rays in the ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'' episode "Failsafe" reduce those shot (y'know, like [[Batman]], [[Green Lantern]], ''[[Nightmare Fuel|the teenage heroes of the show]]''...) into skeletons for a brief but memorable second before ''[[No Kill Like Overkill|disintegrating the skeletons, too.]]''
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* A caustic base will break down living tissue at least as quickly as an equivalent acid, but will do little or nothing to the bones.
** Hydrofluoric Acid, meanwhile, has the opposite effect- it'll seep through human skin without doing much damage, but it'll quickly dissolve the bones underneath.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Mt2E1M6dU These ants manage to strip away an entire gecko into a skeleton in a few hours
* Any carrion eating animals (vultures, ants, maggots) will do this.
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[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Skeletal Tropes]]
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