Skeleton Merchant

  

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

Skeleton Merchant

Statistics

Type	NPC
Environment	Cavern
AI Type	Passive AI
Damage	10
Max Life	250
Defense	30
KB Resist	50%

Projectile created

• Bone
  

Sounds

Hurt
Killed

• Internal NPC ID: 453
• Internal Projectile ID: 21

“

You would not believe some of the things people throw at me... Wanna buy some of it?

— The Skeleton Merchant

The Skeleton Merchant found lurking in the Cavern.

The Skeleton Merchant is a unique NPC vendor who randomly appears 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 most other skeletons.

Unlike other NPCs, the Skeleton Merchant does not have a map icon.

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 it displaying as Skeleton Merchant.

Items sold

Note: All item prices can be decreased by equipping a Discount Card or Greedy Ring(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).

Inventory

Item	Cost	Availability
Wooden Boomerang	1 GC	During a Full Moon:
Umbrella	1 GC	During a Waning Gibbous:
Wand of Sparking(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1 GC	During a Third Quarter in any world except Don't dig up and Get fixed boi worlds:
Magic Dagger	50 SC	During a Third Quarter in Don't dig up and Get fixed boi worlds:
Step Stool(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	2 GC50 SC	During a Waning Crescent:
Aglet	2 GC50 SC	During a New Moon:
Climbing Claws	2 GC50 SC	During a Waxing Crescent:
Guide to Plant Fiber Cordage(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	2 GC50 SC	During a First Quarter:
Radar(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	2 GC50 SC	During a Waxing Gibbous:
Strange Brew(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	5 SC	During the following moon phases:
Lesser Healing Potion	3 SC	During the following moon phases:
Healing Potion	10 SC	In Hardmode, during the following moon phases:
Spelunker Glowstick(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1 SC50 CC	At night during any moon phase, or all day during a Full Moon:
Spelunker Flare(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1 SC50 CC	When the player has a Flare Gun in their inventory at night during any moon phase, or all day during a Full Moon:
Glowstick	10 CC	At daytime during the following moon phases:
Bone Torch(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	1 SC	During the first half of every in game minute (every real-life second).
Torch	50 CC	During the second half of every in game minute (every real-life second).
Bone Arrow(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	15 CC	During the following moon phases:
Wooden Arrow	5 CC	During the following moon phases:
Blue Counterweight(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	5 GC	During the following moon phases:
Red Counterweight(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	5 GC	During the following moon phases:
Purple Counterweight(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	5 GC	During the following moon phases:
Green Counterweight(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	5 GC	During the following moon phases:
Bomb	3 SC	Always available.
Rope	10 CC	Always available.
Gradient(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	20 GC	In Hardmode, during the following moon phases:
Format:C(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	20 GC	In Hardmode, during the following moon phases:
Yoyo Glove(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	50 GC	In Hardmode.
Slap Hand(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	25 GC	In Hardmode, during Blood Moon.
Magic Lantern(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	10 GC	At night, during a Full Moon:
Artisan Loaf(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	10 GC	If the player has not consumed an Artisan Loaf before, during the following moon phases:

Shimmered form

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.

Notes

• He cannot be teleported by the Portal Gun or King Statue.
• He can sometimes spawn in pools of water. However, he is immune to drowning.
• The Skeleton Merchant does not attack other skeletons listed below, nor will they harm him via contact damage. The Skeleton Merchant can still inadvertently damage other skeletons if they are hit by the bones from the Skeleton Merchant, and he can still be harmed by certain non-contact attacks or projectiles like the Skeleton Archer's arrows.

• Armored Skeleton
• Armored Viking
• Hoplite(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Skeleton(and all variants)
• Skeleton Archer
• Skeleton Commando
• Skeleton Sniper
• Spore Skeleton(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Tactical Skeleton
• Undead Miner
• Undead Viking

• 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 enemies in the Underground or Cavern layers. It is necessary to have the Flymeal or 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.
  • The Skeleton Merchant also does not increase the chance for critters to spawn, unlike actual town NPCs.
• The Skeleton Merchant does not spawn on Jungle grass or evil biome blocks.
• Despite being a skeleton, the Skeleton Merchant is not immune to the Poisoned debuff.

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

"Got any spare bones for sale? I'm looking to replace my broken hip... again." "Excellent! Someone's finally come by to take some of these maggots off my hands." "There's no illness or condition that can't be cured by some of my Slime Oil! Trust me, it works, just look at my lively figure!" "You've got a real backbone coming way down here, how 'bout ya buy somethin?" "You would not believe some of the things people throw at me... Wanna buy some of it?" "I'd lend you a hand, but last time I did that, I didn't get it back for a month." "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." "The only things constant in this world are death and taxes, I've got both!" During Rain: "Up there? Heard it's pretty wet. Don't want my bones getting soggy and mushy..." When in a Graveyard: "As much as you would think I'd belong here, I really don't." "How did I get here!? These are not my friends!" During a Thunderstorm: "The surface is overabundant with destructive weather. Singed bones would be bad for my complexion!" During a Windy Day: "The world above is turbulent and chaotic. I like my bones to stay attached, as it were!"

Tips

• Using the Hunter Potion helps with finding the Skeleton Merchant.
• Selling items to the Skeleton Merchant 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, or if Gem Bunnies or Squirrels start appearing, it could be a sign that the Skeleton Merchant has spawned.
• If the Skeleton Merchant spawns in front of a Detonator explosive trap, interacting with him may unwillingly hit the plunger on the detonator trap, killing both him and the player.

Trivia

• The names Jack Sellington and Skellington are references to Jack Skellington from the 1993 American animated fantasy film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The credits cutscene about the Skeleton Merchant.

The Skeleton Merchant's scavenging animation.

• 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 1998 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 Tim, another skeletal enemy.
• 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 2012 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, likely a Wall Creeper or Black Recluse from a Spider Nest.
• 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 the tabletop role-playing game 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 when submerged 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 version

• 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. Old sprite was:

• 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 version

• Console 1.0.933.1: Introduced. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: Introduced. ()

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.3.0.7: Introduced.