History Main / SkullForAHead

* Sid Wilson of Slipknot wore multiple skull masks, starting with skull versions of his gas mask during the Iowa album cycle before moving to a more traditional set of skull masks during the Volume 3 album cycle.

* A plot twist in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': the character of [[spoiler:Turbo]], the protagonist of a racing game and [[spoiler:BigBad of the movie]], has chalk-white skin, sunken eyes, and yellow, grinning teeth.

* Cruella De Vil from ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', with her sunken cheeks, pushed-up nose and ashen complexion, has the appearance of having a skull for a face.
* When casting his spell on Prince Naveen in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', Dr. Facillier has his face painted to look like a skull.

* ''Film/TimeBandits''. Evil's minions include tall humanoid creatures with giant claws for hands and cow skulls for heads. As seen [[http://static.flickr.com/36/77304349_a7537af6e4_o.jpg here]].
* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse version of the Red Skull in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' had his previously normal face transformed into a literal red skull due to infusing himself with an incomplete Super Soldier Serum.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'', [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Elis_Helrot Elis Helrot]], a member of the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Givin Givin]] species, can be seen in the cantina scene.

* In ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes'', the title character's head is revealed to be little more than a skull with some scarred flesh clinging to it.
* Unlike most adaptations, ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1925'' follows the novel in giving the Phantom a skull-like face with sunken eyes, a nearly lipless mouth, and such oversized nostrils that one character is convinced he has no nose at all, just a hole.
* The Skull Crawlers from ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' have bony armor on their heads causing them to resemble this trope. They also have a pair of large sockets in the sides of their snouts, resembling the eye openings of a skull, though their real eyes are located further back (the sockets probably hold sensory organs, or serve to distract enemies from their actual eyes.)

* In ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' Chato Santana, aka "El Diablo" has his face tattooed to look like a skull.
* In ''Film/Frankenstein1970'', the monster has a skull for a head as Frankenstein has yet to finish affixing flesh to it.

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. In a sketch about a hospital for overacting, there's a brief animation of actors portraying Hamlet giving his "To be or not to be" speech. At one point they pull the flesh off their heads, leaving them with only their skulls on their shoulders.
* The Master does this in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' finale ''The End of Time''. Due to an accident during his resurrection, he's burning up life-energy faster than he can take it in, which results in his skull showing through his skin. He had a skull-like face earlier, in "The Deadly Assassin," but it applies even more here, because the Tenth Doctor even calls him "Skeletor."

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Jenna's Skull Snake is a giant snake with one of these.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': [[spoiler:The Nowhere King]]'s head is a fleshless deer skull [[GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath with green lights in its eye sockets]].
* Skeletor in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' and [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002 its reboot]]. In the earlier continuity, he was simply a guy whose head looked like a skull; in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfHeMan'' we even see that he has some hair up top. In the 2002 series, however, Keldor's face was melted off by a vial of acid -- his life was saved by Hordak, but at the cost of his head now being a skull floating above his shoulders. He also loses his face in [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021 the 2021 series]] due to [[TheDarkSide the power of Havoc]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' examples:
** "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E5And6OnlyADream Only a Dream]]": Dr. Destiny uses his powers of illusion to achieve this look. He reverts to a normal appearance when recovering from a punch to the face, and when he is finally defeated.
** Atomic Skull also has a skull wrapped in green fire, which he could fire energy blasts from.
* Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' had this while acting as [[GodOfEvil Trigon's]] undead servant, because in life he was burned to death by lava. As he kept it hidden behind his mask, however, it was only glimpsed a couple of times near the climax of that storyline.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'', Ezekiel Rage usually gets the "Phantom of the Opera" motif, what with his face badly burned and him having to wear a white mask. His Questworld avatar, though (which we see in "The Edge of Yesterday"), actually has a skull for a head.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' has a few of these.
** In "Ghosts of the Sargasso", Dr. Venture's "metasonic locator" inadvertently resurrects a dead test pilot. The ghost has a flight suit, a skull for a head, and glowing, flaming eyes.
** The villain Red Death has a skull for a head, being a lookalike of [[Characters/MarvelComicsRedSkull the Red Skull]].

* The Spooky Space Kook from season 1 of WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou is a hulking dark blue space suit capped with a shrieking, giggling, glowing skull. It's one of the more truly frightening Scooby-Doo villains, despite the name.
* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperForceGo'' has the main villain, Skeleton King, who has a fanged skull for a head and his costume has white parts that resemble bones and even what appear to be organs on the stomach.
* While the titular ''WesternAnimation/SkeletonWarriors'' might not might not strictly count given they're full skeletons, the heroic [[TheAtoner Grim Skull]] only does have a decidedly skull looking head... and a fabulous head of hair to boot.
* [[BigBad Skull Master]] of the ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'' cartoon has this going for him. He's also twice as big as the next largest character, voiced by Tim Curry, and utterly terrifying.
** From the same series is Cyber-Skull, though he's actually a computer nerd who digitized himself to take over the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Company]] that screwed him over on a game. In his second appearance, he tries to return to the physical world in a giant robotic body styled after his avatar, complete with skull for a head.

* Hordak in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' doesn't ''quite'' have a skull for a head, but his face is clearly designed to evoke one. His head is mostly white, but the white portion narrows under his eyes and leaves his cheeks grey, giving his face a skull-like outline. Additionally, he has an inverted V for a nose and his chin has some FacialMarkings that are faintly reminiscent of a skull's teeth, and his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] are surrounded by darkness... although since that's [[ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow eye makeup]], it can only be assumed that Hordak gets up in the morning, looks at his reflection, and decides that if he's going to look like a necromancer's in-tray ''anyway'' he may as well accentuate it.
* The Groaner from ''WesternAnimation/SuperMansion'', a more sympathetic parody of The Joker. Once just a party clown for hire, an incident during a party at a chemical and genetic company somehow turned his head into a skull, leaving only his hair behind.

* General Kael from ‘’Film/{{Willow}}’’ wears a helmet with a skull shaped face plate.

A character has a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin skull for a head]]. This may be because the character is a supernatural being, or due to some disfigurement that makes their head ''look'' like a skull. Occasionally used to make a robot look menacing, with a skull instead of a head -- see SkeleBot9000, although this also covers robots whose whole bodies look like skeletons. Fully human characters may paint their faces to look like skulls; done right, this can appear almost as terrifying as the real thing, or [[UncannyValley arguably even more so]].

''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'': The Lumifiber Skulls introduced in Halloween 2015 completely remove the user's head and replace it with a glowing holographic skull in either red, blue, or purple depending on the player's empire.

** The [[http://tinyurl.com/36jr63e Gambado]] from the 1st Edition ''Field Folio''.
** In Module I12 ''Egg of the Phoenix'', the cleric [=MacKurian=]'s dead body has a cow's skull attached to it. It is later changed into a revenant form and occupied by [=MacKurian=]'s spirit, leading to the final confrontation with Doc.

** Black Dragons are sometimes nicknamed "Skull Dragons" because as they age, their acidic breath degrades the flesh and scales around their face, which combined with their already sunken eyes gives them a distinctly skull-like appearance.

* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'':
** The archetypal 100 ton assault mech, the ''Atlas'', features a head stylized after a human skull. Making it "as ugly and foreboding as conceivable" was explicit part of the design specs. The numerous successor models and derivatives like the ''Akuma'' keep the motif.
** The ''Banshee'' is only 5 tons lighter than the ''Atlas'' and also features an angular ''screaming'' [[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/File:Banshee_RGilClan_v17.png skull face]].
** This trope plus {{Cephalothorax}} gives us the ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Ursus Ursus]]'', best described as a HumongousMecha with a skull for a ''torso'' that also happens to look like a giant head with arms and legs.

->At first glance, Slugtongue could be mistaken for a death-devil, for his head is little more than a leering, bovine skull...
-->--''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''

* From The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' comes [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1471 SCP-1471]], AKA "[=MalO=]" (sic). It's a freeware mobile app that when downloaded, causes you to see a huge creature appear in your peripheral vision through windows and mirrors, which looks like a giant humanoid monster covered in shaggy black fur and a canine skull for a head with glowing white eyes.
** The image that inspire the SCP is actually a picture of a [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furry]] wearing a skullsuit.

* Pyromancer Xan from ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' had a skull for a head.
* The Demon Monkeys from ''VideoGame/TempleRun'' have skulls for faces, though it's unclear if they're only wearing them or if it's their actual head.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has the Darkwraith, the former knights of New Londo succumbed to the Dark. They wear skull mask with a hood, and are merged with their face over time.
* The "Trueform" creatures in ''VideoGame/ShadowMan'' that serve as vessels for these immortal entities are creepily depicted as having this, with a distinctly non-human skull head sitting atop a muscular, skinless body.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei:'' While not a hard-and-fast rule, most demons of the Fiend race appear as this to signify their status as avatars of Death. The most famous of these demons include the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, the Trumpeter, and Mother Harlot, all figures from the [[Literature/TheBible Book of Revelation]].
* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' features Ghost, who wears an iconic skull mask.
** Ghost was so popular that his mask became the inspiration for the titular unit of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'', who ''all'' wear custom skull masks.
* The icon for the [[HarderThanHard Veteran difficulty]] in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' (helpfully demonstrated with the page image for NightmareFuel.CallOfDuty) is of a soldier whose head was reduced to his skull, possibly as a warning of the sheer hell the player will experience. ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' has [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/callofduty/images/2/2c/Veteran_difficulty_BO.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120528194440 a similar icon]] where a man stands in front of some flames and is missing a good chunk of his skull.

* Some incarnations of Scorpion from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' depict him as having a flaming skull for a head.
** Most other times, it's a non-flaming skull. It's never made clear whether this is a supernatural power of his or if that ''is'' his actual head now.
** Scorpion's fellow undead Noob Saibot has an alternate costume in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' that gives him one, too. Along with his shadow powers and SinisterScythe, it makes him look a ''lot'' like TheGrimReaper.

* Duskull from ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.
** One can make a case for Marowak too: in its pre-evolutionary form as Cubone, it wears its mom's skull as a helmet. After it evolves, the skull's become ''[[NightmareFuel fused to its head]]''.
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', the normal form of the Mahjarrat is this when they haven't been rejuvenated for a while.
* Applies to every character in ''VideoGame/{{Raskulls}}'', aside from the Pirats.
* Mumbo from ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. According to his backstory, his head became a skull because he was placed under a magic spell by the evil witch Gruntilda, who was once [[PupilTurnedEvil his student]].

* Like his namesake suggests, Skull Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''.
* Doc Robot in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' predates Skull Man--Doc Robot's name is is Dokurobotto in Japanese, and is actually a PunnyName based on the Japanese words 'dokuro' (skull) and 'robotto' (robot).
* Harpies and Medusa in ''VideoGame/WillRock''.
* Rogath, one of Dage the Evil's Generals from ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', has a horned skull for a head.
* VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack: Necrodeus also has a horned skull for a head, as well as a clown-like nose on it.
* This example, combined with exaggerated FacialHorror, is the result of what happens if Lance can't escape the deadly Beautifier in Vivi's Funeral Salon in ''VideoGame/BrainDead13''.
* Skullmageddon, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon'' (naturally, since he's a walking, talking {{Expy}} of Skeletor).
* In ''VideoGame/LittleKingsStory'', Cow Bones of the Cemetery, one of the [=UMA=] Guardians. Its skull comes off sometimes.
* The JerseyDevil in ''Videogame/TheWolfAmongUs'' is depicted as having a horse's skull for a head when he takes on his true form.
* The Atlas battlemech in the l''Videogame/MechWarrior'' series, like its [[Tabletopgame/BattleTech source material]], is an assault-class HumongousMecha with a skull-shaped cockpit, often painted bone-white. Depending on the game, it can have a [[EyeBeams laser mount in one of the eyes]] or GlowingMechanicalEyes
* Concept art for Commander Rimanah in ''Videogame/EYEDivineCybermancy'' gave him a golden, grinning skull helmet, though his in-game appearance uses a serene face mask.
* In ''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'', players can purchase skull helmets that invoke this, though they are merely masks that are worn around the basic helmet. The Lumifiber Skulls introduced in the Halloween 2015, however, completely remove the user's head and replace it with a glowing holographic skull in either red, blue, or purple depending on the player's empire.
* ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'':
** ISIC the [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue Magnus]] projects a floating holographic skull for his head.
** The Varelsi, [[HordeOfAlienLocusts a legion of extra-dimensional cosmic horrors]], have white skull-like heads upon their dark bodies.

* The Cyborg Reaper in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun'' comes pretty darned close to this. It's essentially a mutated human torso mounted in a spider-like four-legged chassis and armed with missiles and a net launcher. Its head is so disfigured that it almost literally looks like a skull. [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/cnc/images/5/5d/CNCFS_Cyborg_Reaper_Render.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091222102624 Seen here]]

* Ruh Kaan, one of ''VideoGame/{{Battlerite}}'''s combatants, has a beast's skull on top of a [[{{Mummy}} bandage-wrapped body]].
* A popular game on Website/{{Facebook}} called ''VideoGame/WarMetal'' has a character appropriately called Skullkeeper who fits this trope.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', [[spoiler:the FinalBoss Dark Samus looks like this. Due to Samus defeating her and causing her to blow up on two separate occasions earlier in the game, along with [[BackStory logbook scans]] noting that her form was unstable to begin with (hence her HorrorHunger throughout the game), she has not had time to properly repair herself before her final chance to confront you. Thus, when she makes [[TakingYouWithMe one last-ditch effort to kill Samus]], her armor is transparent, revealing a mouth-less skull underneath the helmet, showing that she has a partially-human-looking form underneath the armor from absorbing Samus's DNA.]]
* At the end of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', [[spoiler:the Colonel Campbell that Raiden was taking orders from is revealed to be an impostor. It is actually an AI created by [[OmniscentCouncilOfVagueness the Patriots]] called GW. GW's identity is revealed when it is hit with a major computer virus that causes a number of malfunctions. While most of these malfunctions are PlayedForLaughs and the bizarre behavior of the malfunctioning AI made it a FountainOfMemes, one seriously creepy effect of the virus was to cause GlamorFailure and reveal GW's true head: a skull. Once GW is outed, Raiden can still talk to it, but the malfunction will make it flash between its Campbell disguise and its SkullForAHead form while being much more antagonistic.]]
* The Graven in ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' are prominent figures in the Blue Kingdom, usually working as administrators and judges in several Courts. All the skin of their head and neck have been thoroughly peeled off leaving a bare skull that had been encrusted with countless gemstones. It had been mentioned that they can abandon their status, which will have them grow their faces back.

* The Rust Devils gang on ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', they build combat robots from spare parts and they put an actual human skull on their heads.

->''"A 'Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally."''
-->-- '''General Aleksander Kerensky''' (on the design order for the 100-ton ''Atlas'' [=BattleMech=]), ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''

* Speaking of Dark Souls, the "Trueform" creatures in ''VideoGame/ShadowMan'' that serve as vessels for these immortal entities are creepily depicted as having this, with a distinctly non-human skull head sitting atop a muscular, skinless body.

* King from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a dog-like creature of unknown species whose face looks like he is wearing a canine skull mask without a lower jaw. It apparently is part of his head as he never takes the "mask" off and he still has it even when he [[spoiler:was still in an egg]]. The titan trappers also have this appearance. [[spoiler:It turns out that the titan trappers are not King's species, but are actually cultists who hunt titans and wear their skulls as part of their costumes, and King is a titan.]]

* In Creator/EdvardMunch's ''Art/{{The Scream|EdvardMunch}}'', the lack of hair, nose and ears, thin face and pale skin give this impression to the androgynous figure. In fact, art historian Robert Rosenblum has suggested the face may be inspired on a similar mummy from the Peruvian Chachapoya people, since Edvard might have seen its exposition in the Ethnographic Museum while he studied in Paris.

* King from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a dog-like creature of unknown species whose face looks like he is wearing a canine skull mask without a lower jaw. It apparently is part of his head as he never takes the "mask" off and he still has it even when he [[spoiler:was still in an egg]]. The titan trappers also have this appearance. [[spoiler:It turns out that the titan trappers are not not King's species, but are actually cultists who hunt titans and wear their skulls as part of their costumes, and King is a titan.]]

* King from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a dog-like creature whose face looks like he is wearing a canine skull mask without a lower jaw. It apparently is part of his head as he never takes the "mask" off and he still has it even when he [[spoiler:was still in an egg]].

* King from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a dog-like demon whose face looks like he is wearing a canine skull mask without a lower jaw. It apparently is part of his head as he never takes the "mask" off and he still has it even when he [[spoiler:was still in an egg]]. [[spoiler:His father]] also looks like this.

* Mrs. Pruneface (Pictured [[http://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/3125/1547879-odt1.jpg here]], and [[https://img1.etsystatic.com/055/1/9585219/il_570xN.770122789_njob.jpg here]]) from ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' seemingly has empty black sockets for eyes, nose holes, and tends to grimace showing her teeth, and [[FangsAreEvil fangs]].

* Franklin Richards in Marvel's [[ComicBook/MarvelComics2 MC2]] gets a dose of cosmic rays, giving him new energy powers that burn the flesh off his head and require him to wear a mask.

* Borderline example: the ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' archvillain the Brain is a BrainInAJar perched atop a chess piece-like pedestal. The upper portion of the pedestal is designed to look like a skull.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain the Black Mask originally just wore an obsidian mask. But Cameron Stewart, artist of ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'' 14 drew him with a blackened skull which [[http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2750230.html later writers picked up on]].

* Atomic Skull (Joe Martin and Albert Michaels) from ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''. Both of the men have [[FlamingSkulls skull wreathed in atomic fire]] but very different powers. The former has superhuman strength, agility and endurance which he can further empower with the same energy that he shoots from his hands and [[BreathWeapon mouth]]. The latter has superhuman strength and stamina but his main power is using his own bio-electricity to shoot beams of atomic energy from his visor with his radium-powered brain implant.
* The ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' foe Doctor Destiny started out wearing a mask that conveyed this image. After a lengthy stay in [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum]], in which the doctors decided to curtail his dream powers by making him unable to dream (and consequently sleep, not that the doctors cared), he reappears in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' as an emaciated ghoul with a similar motif.

* The ComicBook/UltimateMarvel version of ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} features no skin on his face, exposing his skull -- outside of the top of it, where it's missing, exposing his brain. The normal human face shape when he wears his mask is the result of a dome over his head.

* Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had this while acting as [[GodOfEvil Trigon's]] undead servant, because in life he was burned to death by lava. As he kept it hidden behind his mask, however, it was only glimpsed a couple of times near the climax of that storyline.

* [[ScaryScarecrows The Scarecrow]] from the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' revamp (the New Batman Adventures) had a shriveled zombie-like face with the skin seemingly shrunk to the bone -- if it was a mask or not is still up for debate.

** The villain Red Death has a skull for a head, being a lookalike of ComicBook/RedSkull.

* Hordak in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' doesn't ''quite'' have a skull for a head, but his face is clearly designed to evoke one. His head is mostly white, but the white portion narrows under his eyes and leaves his cheeks grey, giving his face a skull-like outline. Additionally, he has an inverted V for a nose and his chin has some FacialMarkings that are faintly reminiscent of a skull's teeth, and his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] are surrounded by darkness...although since that's eye makeup, it can only be assumed that Hordak gets up in the morning, looks at his reflection, and decides that if he's going to look like a necromancer's in-tray ''anyway'' he may as well accentuate it.

* There's a demon in ''[[ComicBook/TheGrievousJourneyOfIchabodAzrael The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael (and the Dead Left in his Wake)]]'' who commands [[TheFerryman Charon]], and also has a cow's skull for a head.
* Bludgeon in ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' tends to have this; in [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 G1]] it's just the face of his Pretender shell, but the [[Film/{{Transformers}} movie]] version has this as his main robot head. His Pretender compatriot Skullgrin also has a skull-like head on his Pretender shell, though his resembles a demonic bull rather than a human skull.

* ComicBook/DeathsHead, a [[InsistentTerminology freelance peacekeeping agent]] who appeared in Marvel's ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' and ''Series/DoctorWho'' comics. Though it's more robotic and alien than most examples.

* Mr. Bones is the head of the [[Characters/DCComicsMiscellaneous D.E.O.]] in ''ComicBook/{{Titans}}'' and elsewhere in the DCU. Due to having invisible skin and flesh, he basically looks like a skeleton who can fill out a suit.

* While the original character was just a guy in a onmi-present skull mask, some versions of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's ArchEnemy the [[Characters/MarvelComicsRedSkull Red Skull]] qualify:

* ''VideoGame/BarnyardBlastSwineOfTheNight'' has the skull demon boss in the graveyard, whose head is, you guessed it, just a skull. Despite the rest of his body having visible ''abs'' (as he's wearing only a loincloth).