Dark Bones

"Let those who would disturb her sleep fall into the depths of endless darkness..."

- Dark Bones

Dark Bones are enemies in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. They are the most powerful type of Dry Bones. Instead of being pale gray with red shoes, they are indigo with purple shoes. Dark Bones are only found in the Palace of Shadow, where they are seen twice, once in a corridor and yet again in Riddle Tower. A certain Dark Bones's pre-battle speech seems to indicate that it has been ordered to keep the Shadow Queen from awakening.

In battle, Dark Bones behave like regular Dry Bones, having the same moves and stats except much higher HP. After being defeated in both areas they appear in, they cannot be fought again.

Dark Bones returns in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers as a playable character and alternate team player of Dry Bones. In the former, he is called Red Dry Bones, and in the latter's challenge mode, he kidnaps Dixie Kong and battles Mario and Co. In these games, he wears red-tinted gloves and shoes, hence his name in the former. Unlike the other Dry Bones, he has a spike on his nose, as well has having several on the back of his shell.

Dark Bones also make a cameo in Minecraft, where the Wither Skeletons are reskinned as them in the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.

Field Tattle
Outside of battle, Goombella can use Tattle on Dark Bones only in Palace of Shadow before Mario examines it.
 * "Those are some weird-colored bones. Very suspicious! ...But I feel like I've seen something like them before. I guess we're not gonna get much farther without checking them out, are we?"

Related

 * Dry Bones
 * Red Bones
 * Dull Bones

Names in other languages
Geistertrocken Tartosso nero