History Main / SkeletonMotif

* ''WesternAnimation/PoohsGrandAdventure'': After the main characters decipher Christopher Robin's honey-stained letter, they become convinced that he has been kidnapped by a monstrous "Skullosaurus" and taken away to a place known as "the Skull". This is represented by a giant skull symbol on Owl's map, and turns out to be a cave bearing a suspicious resemblance to a cranium once the gang actually gets there. [[spoiler:In the end, it turns out that they had just misread a message saying Christopher Robin was off to ''school'', and their fear made the cave appear a lot more monstrous than it really was.]]

* [[ScarySkeletonsFormerlySkeletalHorror Scary Skeletons]] skeletons are sinister abominations played for horror.

* ScarySkeletons: skeletons are sinister abominations played for horror.

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'':

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

** Skullomania of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'' wears a full body suit that has skeletons painted over his whole body. Subverted in that not only he's a hero, he's a clear-cut and rather silly one as well.

* ''Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' features a house party scene in which Brom Bones recounts to Ichabod Crane the legend of the Headless Horseman (and turning it into a musical number, natch). One of the party guests is a skeletal-looking fellow who sings the line "And some don't even wear their skin!"
* ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'': Hades, being the Lord of the Underworld, takes this motif and runs with it. The clasp of his toga is in the shape of a skull, his lair is skull-shaped, he gives baby Hercules a pacifier made of bones, there are tiny skulls on the bubbles on the potion to make Hercules mortal, and so on.

* On ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', when the Queen dips the apple in the Sleeping Death potion, the potion dripping from it forms a skull, "a symbol of what lies within".

** The Coalition States uses skull motifs for their body armour helmets, and some vehicles. Because of this, Coalition soldiers are commonly referred to as "[[InSeriesNickname Dead Boys]]." Their giant robots also carry this motif frequently, and the newer powered armours can carry a lot more of the skeleton in their design; as do the newer model body armours. And of course they have Skele-bots.

* ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': The villain uses skulls as a sort of calling card, especially "Day of the Dead" style sugar skulls, which appear a lot in the taunting online messages he sends MI6. We later learn [[spoiler: his face actually resembles a skull, with slightly melted cheekbones due to a failed suicide attempt with a poison capsule]].

* ''Franchise/KingKong'': The horrifically dangerous island where Kong dwells alongside hordes of dinosaurs, [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant insects]] and assorted meat-eating monsters is traditionally named Skull Island, and more often than not bears an improbably resemblance to a colossal human skull when seen from above.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'': To show that Scarecrow is not fucking around anymore, he radically alter his appearance to resemble an undead soldier ready to spread fear into the world.

** Duskull, besides including the word "skull" in its name, also has a face resembling a bleached skull with a single glowing red eye peering from behind the sockets. While not outright evil, it's decidedly sinister -- its Pokedex entries describe it as relentlessly stalking hapless humans and Pokemon through the night, and stealing away misbehaving children.

'''Erich:''' I didn't say we weren't fun, but, fun or not, pirates are still the baddies. I just can't think of anything good about a skull!\\
'''Hans:''' What about pure Aryan skull shape?\\
'''Erich:''' Even ''that'' is more usually depicted with the skin still on!

'''Erich:''' I didn't say we weren't fun, but, fun or not, pirates are still the baddies. I just can't think of anything good about a skull!

->''"Hans, have you noticed that our caps actually have little pictures of skulls on them? [...] What do skulls make you think of? Death, cannibals, beheading... ehm... pirates..."''
-->-- A Nazi starts to [[HeelRealization realize his role in the narrative]], ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook''

** In stark contrast to Overwatch's more heroic-looking logo, Blackwatch's logo resembles that an animal skull with a dagger in the center. It symbolizes Blackwatch's willingness to engage in morally questionable actions.

%%* In ''Manga/SkullMan'', the title character is a masked AntiHero.

* In the MarvelUniverse, the ComicBook/{{Punisher}} is a vigilante who kidnaps, tortures and kills criminals. He wears a uniform/shirt with a skull insignia on the chest. It is deliberately done so that people aim for his better-armoured chest, rather than his head or joints.
* Long before the ''ComicBook/{{Punisher}}'', a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] superhero called ''ComicBook/BlackTerror'' wore a black costume with a skull and crossbones insignia. He also had a sidekick who wore a similar costume; together they were known as "Terror Twins". During TheEighties Golden Age revival, the character was several time reimagined as a grim and gritty AntiHero under different aliases like "Terror", "Holy Terror" and even "Terrorist". He also appeared in Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TomStrong''. He sometimes appears in more recent comics as well: e.g. in one comic series he was given a RaceLift and called himself "[[CaptainEthnic Blackest Terror]]".

** [[OmnicidalManiac Judge Death's]] badge is a fanged skull.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', food critic Anton Ego has a gaunt, skeletal appearance befitting his role as TheDreaded among restauranteurs. To bring the point home, his office is shaped like a coffin, and his typewriter resembles a skull.
* Hades from ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', being the Lord of the Underworld, takes this motif and runs with it. The clasp of his toga is in the shape of a skull, his lair is skull-shaped, he gives baby Hercules a pacifier made of bones, there are tiny skulls on the bubbles on the potion to make Hercules mortal, and so on.
* On ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', when the Queen dips the apple in the Sleeping Death potion, the potion dripping from it forms a skull, "a symbol of what lies within".
* ''WesternAnimation/PoohsGrandAdventure'': After the main characters decipher Christopher Robin's honey-stained letter, they become convinced that he has been kidnapped by a monstrous "Skullosaurus" and taken away to a place known as "the Skull". This is represented by a giant skull symbol on Owl's map, and turns out to be a cave bearing a suspicious resemblance to a cranium once the gang actually gets there. [[spoiler:In the end, it turns out that they had just misread a message saying Christopher Robin was off to ''school'', and their fear made the cave appear a lot more monstrous than it really was.]]

* In ''Film/MajorLeague'' Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn has a skull and crossbones on the nosepiece of the NerdGlasses that he wears while pitching.

* ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': The villain uses skulls as a sort of calling card, especially "Day of the Dead" style sugar skulls, which appear a lot in the taunting online messages he sends MI6. We later learn [[spoiler: his face actually resembles a skull, with slightly melted cheekbones due to a failed suicide attempt with a poison capsule]].

* ''Franchise/KingKong'': The horrifically dangerous island where Kong dwells alongside hordes of dinosaurs, [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant insects]] and assorted meat-eating monsters is traditionally named Skull Island, and more often than not bears an improbably resemblance to a colossal human skull when seen from above.

* In the novel ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' the badge of The Skeleton Army is an important clue in tracking the spectral serial killer.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': The Death Eaters are often described as wearing skull-like masks, partly to cover their identity but also to scare the crap out of their targets. The "Dark Mark" that they leave as a calling card displays a glowing skull in the air with a snake-like tongue. The films [[DownplayedTrope didn't remove this entirely]], but [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything did make them resemble the KKK to a degree]].
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': In ''The Lost Colony'', one of the last warning signs put up by the demons to warn off anyone heading towards the dangerous crater of the island of Hybras is simply a bloody wolf skull on a pole.

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'': Discussed in a sketch where two Nazi SS soldiers begin to notice that they're wearing uniforms with skulls on them. The junior one points out that he can't really think of any positive symbolism for a skull, and [[HeelRealization meekly asks if they're the baddies]].

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' is full of skeletal imagery:
** [[TheEmpire The Imperium of Man]], a bloated, oppressive, warmongering regime distinguished chiefly by its pervasive blind zealotry and rampant xenophobia and by the horrid living conditions of the faceless masses of its citizens, makes extensive use of skull iconography. Almost every Imperial ship, building and set of PowerArmor of any importance can be expected to be lavishly decorated with gilded skulls.
** Khorne, the god of war, slaughter and general disorganized bloodshed, sits on a throne made out of every skull his followers have claimed in his name.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'': To show that Scarecrow is not fucking around anymore, he radically alter his appearance to resemble an undead soldier ready to spread fear into the world.
* In ''VideoGame/MediEvil'', the Kingdom of Gallowmere uses a skull as its symbol; it adorns its forces' shields and its former King Peregrine had his throne placed inside the mouth of a giant one.
* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'': The Shadaloo symbol used by Vega/M. Bison is a skull with wings on the sides.
* Skullomania of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'' wears a full body suit that has skeletons painted over his whole body. Subverted in that not only he's a hero, he's a clear-cut and rather silly one as well.
* Ghost from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'' has a skull painted on the lower half of his balaclava.
* ''Videogame/BlazblueCentralFiction'': Hades Izanami is the Goddess of Death and she has a lot of bones forming her special logo. In her [[LimitBreak Exceed Accel]] her face also briefly turns into a skull with a SlasherSmile.

* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', the game's way of warning you about a seriously dangerous unit (typically one that is several levels higher than the player) by putting a skull next to their name and health bar. Loading screens outright encourage you to run if you come across one of these.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** The series has about three variations of the skull and crossbones theme for the highest Legendary difficulty:
*** The classic variation from the original trilogy and ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' is an Elite skull crossed with two swords behind a shield with the ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' symbol.
*** ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' uses a human skull and suppressed [=SMGs=] behind the same shield.
*** ''VideoGame/Halo4'' and ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' use a Promethean skull crossed by Energy Swords and a different shield.
** Emile from ''Reach'' has a skull carved into his helmet's faceplate.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Duskull, besides including the word "skull" in its name, also has a face resembling a bleached skull with a single glowing red eye peering from behind the sockets. While not outright evil, it's decidedly sinister -- its Pokedex entries describe it as relentlessly stalking hapless humans and Pokemon through the night, and stealing away misbehaving children.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': This is Team Skull's motif, although they're more heavily influenced by gangs.
* ''Videogame/MegaManClassic'': [[BigBad Dr. Wily]] is famous for having the skull motif, whether in his Wily Machines, his endgame castles, or just skull sigils/ornaments in the levels. The 4th game doesn't have it much due to the villain being Dr. Cossack... except for one of the bosses, Skull Man, a robot with this motif. [[spoiler:It also gives a hint of Wily's involvement in this game, i.e being [[TheManBehindTheMan the guy behind Cossack.]]]]
* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': Deathskull radscorpions, the most dangerous and powerful variant of [[ScaryScorpions radscorpions]] in the wastelands, are distinguished by a white, skull-shaped mark around their eyes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bully Jimbo Jones wears a skull t-shirt.

When you find a complete skeleton, it's a strong sign that its former owner is DeaderThanDead. Thus it's only natural that skeletons symbolize death, evil, and, well, scary things. So, to symbolize a character's darker side or to give them that "DeadSerious" (pun intended) edge, it's [[StealthPun only natural]] to use imagery associated with bones, skeletons, or skulls.

For "bad" characters in particular, a BigBad, or a member of a QuirkyMinibossSquad will use a Skeleton Motif for their own appearance or for that of their {{mook}}s. This is often done deliberately by a CardCarryingVillain or a HarmlessVillain looking for [[VillainCred respect]]. Not surprisingly, this is especially common in franchises with BlackAndWhiteMorality that make use of DarkIsEvil, or when the villains are PuttingOnTheReich.

On the other hand, many {{AntiHero}}es also use a Skeleton Motif as part of a DarkIsNotEvil or GoodIsNotNice persona.

* FlamingSkulls: Because fire makes everything better - for a certain meaning of "better" in skulls' case.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* This motif is played with in ''Franchise/OnePiece'' in Chopper's past: while he's making a soup for his ill foster father, he's reading a book of kinds of mushrooms; he comes across one noted with skull and crossbones near it. He thinks that it's like the pirates' jolly rogers, i.e symbolizing their free spirit, so he tries to obtain it. Of course, unbeknownst to Chopper, said mushroom turns out to be poisonous (the true meaning of such skull symbol), but his father just chooses to eat the soup with it so he won't let Chopper down.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Films -- Animated ]]

* ''Disney/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'' features a house party scene in which Brom Bones recounts to Ichabod Crane the legend of the Headless Horseman (and turning it into a musical number, natch). One of the party guests is a skeletal-looking fellow who sings the line, "And some don't even wear their skin!"

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'': [[BigBad Immortan Joe's]] [[MartyrdomCulture empire]] is resembled by a flaming skull emblem. Joe's pale hue and breathing apparatus also personally makes him resemble a skeleton.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Death, being an anthropomorphic personification of, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin death]], lives in a pocket dimension where nearly everything - furniture, tools, his house, etc. - has some kind of bone-and-skull motif to it. Things that aren't are usually something that was brought in from the real world.
* Creator/IrvineWelsh's novels feature skeleton imagery as an metaphor for heroin addiction (particularly the cover artwork).
* The Death Eaters from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' are often described as wearing skull-like masks, partly to cover their identity but also to scare the crap out of their targets. The "Dark Mark" that they leave as a calling card displays a glowing skull in the air with a snake-like tongue. The films [[DownplayedTrope didn't remove this entirely]], but [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything did make them resemble the KKK to a degree]].

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' is full of skeletal imagery. Particularly with the Imperium of Man and even more so with worshippers of [[BloodKnight Khorne]].
* ''TabletopGames/{{Rifts}}'':

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* To show that Scarecrow is not fucking around anymore in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', he radically alter his appearance to resemble an undead soldier ready to spread fear into the world.

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'''s cover depicts a [[TheGreys Sectoid]] made of human skulls.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', the game's way of warning you about a seriously dangerous unit (typically one that is several levels higher than the player) by putting a skull next to their name and health bar. Loading screens outright encourage you to run if you come across one of these.

*** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' and ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' use a Promethean skull crossed by Energy Swords and a different shield.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': This is Team Skull's motif, although they're more heavily influenced by gangs.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'', an alternate - universe {{Forgath}} is missing the lower part of his face, revealing the bones underneath, as the result of owning a "Ring of Undeath".
* Kurloz from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', one of the most unambiguously evil characters in the story (and arguably the most evil troll of all), wears a sweatshirt with a skeleton torso on it.
* Han of ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' has a glowing blue skeletal arm and hand.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Poisonous chemical substances are often noted with a skull (crossbones optional) to denote its danger.

For "bad" characters in particular, a BigBad, or a member of a FiveBadBand or QuirkyMinibossSquad will use a Skeleton Motif for their own appearance or for that of their {{mook}}s. This is often done deliberately by a CardCarryingVillain or a HarmlessVillain looking for [[VillainCred respect]]. Not surprisingly, this is especially common in franchises with BlackAndWhiteMorality that make use of DarkIsEvil, or when the villains are PuttingOnTheReich.

* ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': The villain uses skills as a sort of motif, especially "Day of the Dead" style sugar skulls, which appear a lot in the taunting online messages he sends MI6. We later learn [[spoiler: his face actually resembles a skull, with slightly melted cheekbones due to a failed suicide attempt with a poison capsule]].

On the other hand, many {{AntiHero}}es also use a Skeleton Motif as part of a DarkIsNotEvil or GoodIsNotNice personna.

** In ''Streets of Gotham'', after being accidently disfigured, Judson Pierce decides to adapt Skeleton imagery as his symbol, and takes on the name "Skel".

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'': Discussed in a sketch wherein two Nazi SS soldiers begin to notice that they're wearing uniforms with skulls on them. The junior one points out that he can't really think of any positive symbolism for a skull, and [[HeelRealization meekly asks if they're the baddies]].
* On ''Series/RedDwarf'', the Inquisitors' helm. It's not quite shaped like a human skull, though.

* The Nazi SS had tiny skulls on their uniform insignia, which were based off an older Prussian tradition of using headwear with skull symbols in the Hussar regiments.