Fish Bone

Fish Bones (also known as Wet Bones) are skeletal, undead versions of Cheep Cheeps which first appear in the game Super Mario World. They may also be related to some of the other kinds of undead fish appearing in the Mario series. Their name is a pun on fish and wishbone.

Super Mario World
Fish Bones or ("Fishbone" in the English translation) are found in the submerged Vanilla Fortress and the underwater room of Bowser's Castle. They are the only strictly aquatic dungeon enemies in the game, though terrestrial enemies are also found underwater in these levels. Their behavior is simple, traveling in straight lines across the screen in a jerky, darting motion, usually in small groups. Fish Bones can be defeated by Cape Mario or Cape Luigi's spin attack, but only in the Super Mario Advance 2 release, and are otherwise invincible.

Super Mario Galaxy
In Super Mario Galaxy, Fish Bones appear in the Bonefin Galaxy during Mario's boss battle with Kingfin. In this game, they have glowing red eyes, and attack in a way that's very similar to Torpedo Teds; by homing in on Mario and striking him to cause damage. They can be destroyed when touching the surface, like the real-world fishes. After the player has used a Green Shell or a Red Shell to dole out some damage to Kingfin, the skeletal shark summons the voracious fish to aid him in attacking Mario. When the player has hit Kingfin two more times, he will summon a lot more Fish Bones, which attack the player until the end of the battle, after which they disappear.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Fish Bones inhabit some water levels in New Super Mario Bros. Wii; they appear in and. Also, in the battle against Wendy O. Koopa in the World 4 Castle, various Fish Bones can be seen swimming in a water tank in the background.

They now have a new attack pattern: if a Fish Bone detects one of the characters, it will lock on to them (as their eyes turn red) and launch themselves in the direction of the character. If it misses and hits a wall or another Fish Bone, it will crash and break apart in a similar manner to that of Dry Bones (the sound effect is longer if it hits another Fishbone). However, once they break apart, they will reappear if the player goes far enough offscreen. Fish Bones can be permanently defeated with Iceballs, a thrown object, or a Star. Fish Bones will stop following a player that jumps out of the water; the player can also dodge them by walking on the floor and ducking once spotted, which turns the Fish Bone's eyes back to normal and stops the chase.

In dark caverns, their eyes light up, although the illuminated area around them is much smaller than that provided by Bulbers and thus far less useful. They are referred to as Wet Bones in the Prima Games guide.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Fish Bones re-appear in New Super Mario Bros. 2, where they keep their design and attack pattern from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They only appear in and.

New Super Mario Bros. U
Fish Bones reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U, having the same role from their previous appearance. They appear in Haunted Shipwreck and Deepsea Ruins.

Mario Kart 7
Fish Bones make their first Mario Kart appearance in Mario Kart 7 and take their design from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They are found in Wario Shipyard, where they swim in schools or sometimes alone. If any drivers collide into Fish Bones, the former will be pushed back.

Mario Kart 8
Fish Bones also appear in Mario Kart 8 in the underwater section of Twisted Mansion. They serve as obstacles just like in Mario Kart 7.

Super Mario World television series
Fish Bones, though never called as such, made several small appearances in the Super Mario World cartoon.

A Fish Bone first appeared in the episode "The Wheel Thing", where one is used by Yoshi to cut a log into wheels to be used in Mario's car factory. In "The Night Before Cave Christmas", both Mario and Oogtar use a Fish Bone to cut-down several Christmas trees.

In "Rock TV" and "Mama Luigi", two extremely large Fish Bones are shown to be decorations in Bowser's throne room.

Super Mario Adventures
In the Super Mario Adventures comic, Fish Bones, along with several other creatures such as Urchins and Porcupuffers, are shown to act as guards/obstacles in the moat surrounding the Koopalings' tower.

Mario Bros. (Super Mario Advance)
Fish Bones, known as "Fish Skeletons", are a useless item that Mario sometimes receives after being thrown in the trash can in the Mario Bros. battle mode of the Super Mario Advance series.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Fish Bones make another appearance in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story during the battle with Junker. When Mario and Luigi manage to defeat a Junker Can, a Fish Bone may attempt to attack the plumbers. It attacks by orbiting around one of the two and eventually ramming them, though it can be stopped by counterattacking with the hammer before it does.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Although no Fish Bones appear in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, there are rock carvings with images of Fish Bones in Driftwood Shore.

Mario Party 9
The Mario Party debut for Fish Bones (not counting their cameo in Mario Party 4) is in Mario Party 9. They appear once again with their New Super Mario Bros. Wii appearance. Fish Bones only appear during the Blooper Beach Captain Event; when the player lands on an Unlucky Space on this part of the board, a group of Fish Bones attacks them and steals five of their ten Mini Stars.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Fish Bones make an appearance in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. They appear in Jungle Rapids, leaping in the water and attempting to destroy the raft Mario uses to cross through the river. They can be removed using the hammer.

Gallery
For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Fish Bone.

Trivia

 * In the Nintendo 3DS's Fishing AR minigame, after lightning strikes the water, the player can fish out Fish Bones.
 * In the minigame Mushroom Medic of Mario Party 4, there is a poster in the background with a Cheep Cheep and its Fish Bone X-ray, suggesting Fish Bones are undead Cheep Cheeps.
 * A similar enemy called Shell Missile from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! acts almost like Fish Bones.
 * They are similar in appearance to the Skullfish enemy from the The Legend of Zelda series.