Skeletons

Skeletron is a pre-Hardmode boss. It must be defeated prior to entering the Dungeon, and defeating it grants unlimited access to all Dungeon areas for all players. It also causes the Clothier NPC to spawn, as long as a vacant house is available.

If attempting to enter the Dungeon before killing Skeletron, Dungeon Guardians spawn once a player reaches 0 depth. These enemies generally kill any player with a single hit, dealing 1000 / 2000 / 3000 damage. Managing to defeat a Dungeon Guardian does not grant access to the Dungeon, thus defeating Skeletron is mandatory for (safely) entering the Dungeon.

Location & Behavior
Skeletron is a large floating skull with two independent floating hands. All parts can travel through blocks, and will attempt to make contact with the player to inflict damage. Each part can be killed independently, but killing the head is all that is required to defeat Skeletron.

Skeletron alternates between two attack phases:


 * 1) The head remains above while the hands slash at the player.
 * 2) The head spins, dealing significant damage if touched, but dropping its defense by 10 (to 0 in classic mode) for the duration of the attack.

Skeletron switches between these two phases in a regular cycle during the entire fight, with the first phase lasting for roughly 13.33 seconds and the second phase lasting for roughly 6.67 seconds. It lets out a roar  every time it enters the second phase.

If the player takes too long to kill it and dawn arrives, Skeletron will begin acting exactly as a Dungeon Guardian, performing a head spin attack with very high damage and gaining enough defense to only absorb 1 damage from all attacks, which will usually kill any players remaining in the vicinity quickly (it is still possible to kill it, but players are at an extreme disadvantage unless it only has a miniscule amount of health). Skeletron remains in this form until dying or despawning, even if players manage to avoid dying until the following dusk.

As an ally
The skeletron can wear any type of armor and wield any one-handed weapons and shields. They will attack automatically and target randomly. They have no flesh or usable soul, and so are not susceptible to bleeding, anal bleeding, poison, terror, blindness, or parasites. They still can be pollinated though.

Skeletrons are significantly better allies than Ghouls, being able to serve as better meat shields using armor and deal better damage (with the Slashing element) with weapons. The skeletron's arm can be removed in a pinch to create a Skeletral arm, which is a +25 Attack weapon that the Girl and Kid Demon can use.

Lore
A simple reanimated skeletron. The necromancy needs to be stronger in them to animate mere dust and bones, thus their strength is also greater than ghouls. -new gods, about skeletrons Skeletrons are just products of Necromancy; there's no greater meaning to their existence. They do seem to be intelligent enough to understand communication-telling a skeletron "prepare to die" in combat will cause it to take a defensive stance- but there's no greater origin to why they can be animated with blood magic or where these skeletrons come from.

Speaking to a skeletron ally will cause them to reply by shouting "Ack! Ack!". One of the skeletrons rattles its bones and somehow flexes its arm after this, while another does a dance, which the player can join along in if desired. These may be references to skeletrons in popular culture/the game's roleplay session:
 * The skeletron rattling his bones may be a reference to the "Don't Rattle Me Bones" skeletron board game.
 * The skeletron dancing may be a reference to the old roleplay in the Discord, where Seril had found a dancing skeletron companion.