Skeleton Merchant


Type | |
---|---|
Environment | |
AI Type | Passive AI |
Damage | 10 |
Max Life | 250 |
Defense | 30 |
KB Resist | 50% |
Hurt | |
---|---|
Killed |
- Internal NPC ID: 453

The Skeleton Merchant is an NPC vendor that randomly spawns in the Cavern layer.
He is not a Town NPC and will despawn when off-screen, although enemies will not spawn near him.
The Skeleton Merchant's stock changes at dawn (4:30 AM) daily, and he does not need to respawn for it to do so. The majority of the items in his inventory will vary, depending on the current moon phase.
He will throw Bones to fend off nearby non-skeletal enemies, while ignoring bosses and most other skeletons.
Unlike other NPCs, the Skeleton Merchant does not have a map icon. A Hunter Potion will highlight him.
He is one of the few entities that can be detected by the Lifeform Analyzer or its upgrades. His current name will be displayed (e.g. Rattles Magoo) rather than Skeleton Merchant.
Items sold
Item | Cost | Availability
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1 | During a Full Moon: ![]() |
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1 | During a Waning Gibbous: ![]() |
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1 | During a Third Quarter in regular worlds: ![]() |
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50 | During a Third Quarter in Don't dig up and Get fixed boi worlds: ![]() |
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250 | During a Waning Crescent: ![]() |
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250 | During a New Moon: ![]() |
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250 | During a Waxing Crescent: ![]() |
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250 | During a First Quarter: ![]() |
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250 | During a Waxing Gibbous: ![]() |
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5 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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3 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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10 | In Hardmode, during the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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150 | At night, or all day during a Full Moon: ![]() |
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150 | When the player has a Flare Gun in their inventory at night, or all day during a Full Moon: ![]() |
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10 | At daytime, during the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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1 | During the first half of every in game minute (every real life second). |
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50 | During the second half of every in game minute (every real life second). |
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15 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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5 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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5 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() |
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5 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() |
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5 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() |
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5 | During the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() |
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3 | Always available. |
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10 | Always available. |
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20 | In Hardmode, during the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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20 | In Hardmode, during the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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50 | In Hardmode. |
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25 | In Hardmode, during Blood Moon. |
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10 | At night, during a Full Moon: ![]() |
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10 | If the player has not consumed an Artisan Loaf before, during the following moon phases: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Shimmered form
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Shimmered Skeleton Merchant. |
When submerged in Shimmer, the Skeleton Merchant will transform into his Shimmered form. This has no impact on gameplay or dialogue and is only a visual change. He can be returned to his classic look by submerging him in Shimmer again.
Names
The Skeleton Merchant may have any of the following names:
- Billy Marrows
- Bones McGee
- Gloomy Mays
- Jack Sellington
- Mandible Calavera
- Mika
- No-Eyed Wiley
- Rattles Magoo
- Skellington
- Tom
- Victor
Quotes
During Rain:
When in a Graveyard:
During a Thunderstorm:
During a Windy Day:
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Notes
- He cannot be teleported by the Portal Gun or King Statue.
- He can sometimes spawn in pools of water. However, his skeletal nature renders him immune to drowning.
- The Skeleton Merchant does not attack other skeletons, nor will they harm him via contact damage. He can still be harmed by certain non-contact attacks like Skeleton Archer's arrows.
- He will not attack bosses save for Skeletron. He may still be damaged by them, however.
- He cannot be killed by explosives deployed by the player. However, he may spawn in front of a Detonator or pressure plate explosive trap. Because of his bulkier appearance, players interacting with him may unwillingly hit the plunger on the detonator trap, killing both him and the player.
- Despite similar mechanics, the Skeleton Merchant is not considered a town NPC in regards to reducing enemy spawns. He does, however, count as seven NPCs for the sake of enemy spawn limits when spawning NPCs, mechanically similar to bosses. In most cases this effectively blocks virtually anything from spawning, including critters. This creates a problem when the player is preparing to farm monsters in the Underground or Cavern layers. It is necessary to have a strong external damage source (lava, Boulders, Jungle Temple traps) to kill him to continue farming, or just go far enough for him to despawn.
- His presence also does not increase the chance for critters to spawn, unlike actual town NPCs.
- He does not spawn on Jungle grass or evil biome blocks.
- Be careful when using the Volcano near him: He will be affected by the explosion and likely burn to death.
Tips
- Selling items to him can help a player clear out their inventory in the middle of a long caving session.
- If a player notices a suspiciously low number of enemies on their Radar, it could be a sign that the Skeleton Merchant has spawned.
Trivia

- The names Jack Sellington and Skellington are references to Jack Skellington from the 1993 American animated fantasy Halloween-Christmas film The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- He can be seen retrieving a Slap Hand from a pile of bones in the credits.
- The name "Bones McGee" is a reference to Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy, a character in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek.
- The name "No-Eyed Wiley" is a reference to One-Eyed Willy from the 1985 American adventure comedy film The Goonies.
- The name "Mandible Calavera" is a reference to Manuel "Manny" Calavera from the adventure game Grim Fandango.
- The names "Billy Marrows" and "Gloomy Mays" are a reference to the late American television salesperson Billy Mays.
- The name "Tom" may be a reference to Tom "Bones" Malone, member of the American blues and soul revivalist band The Blues Brothers.
- "Tom" may also be a reference to the enemy Tim.
- The quote about Slime Oil is a reference to the "miracle medicine" peddlers of the 1800s, who were commonly called Snake Oil Salesmen.
- The quote "The only things constant in this world are death and taxes, I've got both!" is a reference to Benjamin Franklin's famous quote "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
- The quote "You would not believe some of the things people throw at me... Wanna buy some of it?" is a reference to a young scavenger named "Squirt the Peddler" in the action role-playing game Diablo III. Squirt periodically asks the player a near-exact variation of this question, but refers to "things people throw away" instead of "things people throw at me".
- The quote "Stay away from the spiders. They'll suck out your insides and leave you a hollow shell of a man. Trust me on this one." suggests that he came to be after being killed by a Spider.
- Even though he is not a town NPC, he will throw confetti during a Party.
- He is one of two NPCs that does not have a map icon, the other being the Old Man.
- He is the only NPC that always despawns once off-screen. The Traveling Merchant also despawns when off-screen, but only after 6:00 PM.
- Despite the fact one of his quotes makes a joke on the idea, the Skeleton Merchant does not sell Maggots.
- If the Skeleton Merchant is slain, no message pops up to announce his death, unlike most NPCs.
- The counterweights he sells resemble dice used in Dungeons and Dragons. This is a possible reference to weighted dies used for cheating, which may be provided by a disreputable merchant such as the Skeleton Merchant.
- The Skeleton Merchant's Shimmered form transforms him into a Zombie. This is most likely a reference to the fact that Zombies turn into Skeletons in shimmer.
- The
Bestiary entry for the Skeleton Merchant: "Most skeletons are out for blood, but not the Skeleton Merchant. He just wants to sell supplies, such as rare torches and yo-yo gear."
History
- Desktop 1.4.4:
- Now sells the Artisan Loaf.
- Now sells Healing Potions in Hardmode.
- Now sells a variety of surface chest loot.
- Now has a chance to be named "Victor".
- Sprite updated.
- Desktop 1.4.0.4: Fixed Traveling Merchant and Skeleton Merchant accidentally having NPC Happiness.
- Desktop 1.4.0.1: Now shows its name in the Lifeform Analyzer rather than "Skeleton Merchant".
- Desktop 1.3.1: Now has a chance to be named "Mika".
- Desktop 1.3.0.1: Introduced.
- Console 1.0.933.1: Introduced. (
)
- Console 1.0.750.0: Introduced. (
)
- Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.
- Mobile 1.3.0.7: Introduced.