A Skeleman sprite as seen in Yūsha no Kiroku Ver.(Ke).
Skelemen are a group of undead, skeletal monsters, introduced in What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!?. They are spawned through the corpses of dead heroes, Treasure Chests, and Fossils. They are closely related to the Mandrake family.
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In What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? & What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2[]
Skelemen are normally spawned from poking the corpse of a Hero with a pickaxe; some are aquatic. They "level up" when they defeat a hero, giving them potential to become quite powerful. However, they cannot reproduce or eat, meaning that the HP they start with acts as a sort of timer. It is possible to spawn a Skeleman through a Treasure Chest or fossil, in which it will be a Skelebond or Wandering King, before becoming a regular corpse. If any Skeleman species—including those related to the Skelebond—dies from "hunger", it will become a corpse again. Corpses can be packed with 30 or more mana through absorbing Spirits to make a Skeleslave, which has much higher HP and attack.
Skelemen tend to have very high attack speed and defense, making them surprisingly powerful early-game. However, they quickly fall off in viability, with even the Skeleslave becoming more of a minor inconvenience as time goes on. However, if they manage to land a hit on a hero, all positive stat buffs, such as those from War Cry, are erased, which can make them far more manageable. Because Skelemen have few ways to perish outside of being attacked by heroes or their self-induced starvation, they have no impact on the ecosystem and have few true downsides. Thus, while weaker late-game, there is no reason not to spawn them either.
In No Heroes Allowed![]
Starting in No Heroes Allowed!, Skelemen can level up into the Corpse King, Kicking King, and King of Bling, with the Skeleslave going straight to the Kicking King stage. Likewise, Skelebonds can become Wandering Kings. Thus, it is reasonable to use a Skeleman to kill heroes as soon as possible if aiming to level it up to maximum. This is best performed with the first hero's corpse on the second stage of an area, where the corpse is likely close to the entrance, letting the Skeleman pick up an easy kill. Levelled-up Skelemen have their HP replenished by water, making them among the only semi-aquatic monsters. The Wandering King and Crystal King also exists as potential spawns from Fossils doused with water.
If a corpse is left alone in No Heroes Allowed!, it will grow into a Mandrake or Magic Mandrake depending on the quantities of nutrients and mana available. Skeleslave-prepped corpses can easily become a Magic Mandrake, growing up near-instantly and being far stronger overall. If aiming to set up a Mandrake, it's viable to deliberately spawn a Skeleman to have it move to a more viable location before letting it become a corpse again. This is also helpful for avoiding spawning a Mandrake in water, where valuable nutrients may be inadvertently lost, potentially ruining the ecosystem.
List of Skeleman family members[]
| Skeleman family | |
|---|---|
| Lv. | Skeleman |
| Default, No Mana | Skeleman |
| 30+ Mana | Skeleslave |
| First Kill | Corpse King |
| Second Kill | Kicking King |
| Third Kill | King of Bling |
| Skelebond family | |
|---|---|
| Lv. | Skelebond |
| Fossil | Skelebond |
| Hero Killed / Fossil | Wandering King |
| Fossil | Crystal King |
[]
Skelemen are Level 4 azure monsters, spawning Level 5 purple tiles featuring members of the Dragon family if combined on the puzzle table. Corpses are shown when heroes are defeated, though this is purely aesthetic. There are two distinct Skeleman evolutionary lines, one involving the Skelemen, and one involving the Skelebonds.
Skelemen and Skeleslaves can be evolved into the Corpse King and Kicking King respectively; akin to how they evolve in the main games, the Skeleslave essentially skips a stage. Skelemen cannot evolve into Skeleslaves, though. The Skelebond has its own family, evolving into the Wandering King and nothing else.
Out of the family, the Crystal King is the strongest, evolving from the King of Bling. It has 74 Attack, among the lowest the maxed out azure monsters have to offer. Due to a lack of special abilities to compensate, it is strictly outclassed by the Mara and Supremanoid, which reach up to 84 Attack.
| Skeleman Evolution Chart | |
|---|---|
| Lv. | Skeleman |
| 1 | Skeleman |
| 2 | Corpse King / Skeleslave |
| 3 | Kicking King |
| 4 | King of Bling |
| 5 | Crystal King |
| Skelebond Evolution Chart | |
|---|---|
| Lv. | Skelebond |
| 1 | Skelebond |
| 2 | Wandering King |
Trivia[]
The Skelemen with mismatched names and sprites.
- Curiously, the names for the Skelemen in the English release of No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either! are completely jumbled up. Furthermore, the Wandering King's sprite is mistakenly applied to the King of Bling, while the Wandering King uses the Kicking King's sprite.
- Amongst the jumbled names is one for a Skeleman called the "Clean King", which has never been seen in any title in the series. Given the naming conventions, this could imply that an Alchemist-summoned version of a Skeleman was planned at some point in development. However, Alchemists don't summon Skelemen in No Heroes Allowed! and thus the Clean King has never existed.
- Despite not having Pure Breeds obtainable in the traditional sense, the Skelebond and Wandering King are stated to be such. This is despite Skelemen being automatically destroyed when struck with holy water in prior titles, thus implying the family has no Pure Breeds at all. Whether this is a mistake or attempt to differentiate the two types of Skelemen is unknown.
- It is implied that heroes maintain some form of consciousness as Skelemen, as Rand's Almanac entry claims he can revive after becoming one. However, this ability is never actually seen.
| Land monsters |
|---|
| Moss family - Insect family - Lizardman family - Spirit family - Lilith family - Dragon family |
| Aquatic monsters |
| Aquachnid family - Hurtle family - Thunderhead family - Lorelei family - Whale family |
| Runeborn monsters |
| Demon family - Golem family - Lady family - Gargoyle family - Mara family - Homunculus family |
| Other monsters |
| Mimic family - Skeleman family - Mandrake family - Humanoid family |
| Skeleman family |
|---|
| Corpse - Skeleman - Skeleslave - Corpse King - Kicking King - King of Bling |
| Skelebond - Wandering King - Crystal King |