Fish Bone

Fish Bone
Official artwork of a Fish Bone from New Super Mario Bros. U
First appearance	Super Mario World (1990)
Latest appearance	Mario Kart Tour (Wario vs. Waluigi Tour) (2022)
Variant of	Cheep Cheep
Relatives Honebon Jean de Fillet
Comparable Bonefin Dry Bones Sharkbone

Fish Bones (also parsed as Fishbones) are skeletal, undead versions of Cheep Cheeps which first appear in the game Super Mario World. Despite this, they are often larger than living Cheep Cheeps, and have completely different tail fins. In later games, they take on torpedo-like qualities.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario World / Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2

Fishbones are found in the submerged Vanilla Fortress and the underwater room of Bowser's Castle. They are the only strictly aquatic dungeon enemies in the game, though terrestrial enemies are also found underwater in these levels. Their behavior is simple, traveling in straight lines across the screen in a jerky, darting motion, usually in small groups. Fishbones can be defeated by Caped Mario or Caped Luigi's spin attack, but only in Super Mario Advance 2, and are otherwise invincible.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Fish Bones (referred to as Wet Bones in the Prima guide) inhabit some water levels in New Super Mario Bros. Wii; they appear in World 4-Castle and World 5-Ghost House. Also, in the battle against Wendy O. Koopa in World 4-Castle, various Fish Bones can be seen swimming in a water tank in the background.

They now have a new attack pattern: if a Fish Bone detects one of the characters, it will lock on to them (as their eyes turn red) and launch themselves in the direction of the character. If it misses and hits a wall or another Fish Bone, it will crash and break apart in a similar manner to that of Dry Bones (the sound effect is longer if it hits another Fish Bone). However, once they break apart, they will reappear if the player goes far enough offscreen. Fish Bones can be permanently defeated with Ice Balls, a thrown object, or a Star. Fish Bones will stop following a player that jumps out of the water; the player can also dodge them by walking on the floor and ducking once spotted, which turns the Fish Bone's eyes back to normal and stops the chase. In dark caverns, their eyes light up, although the illuminated area around them is much smaller than that provided by Bulbers and thus far less useful.

In the Prima guide, they are mentioned under Dry Bones in the list of enemies and are presumably renamed as a contrast to them.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

Fishbones reappear in New Super Mario Bros. 2, where they keep their design and attack pattern from New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario World. They appear in three levels: World 3-Tower, World Star-3, and World Star-6. In this game, Fishbones do side flips when a vocal riff "paah" is heard, similar to Cheep Cheeps.

New Super Mario Bros. U

Fish Bones reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U, retaining the same design and attack pattern from their previous appearance. They appear in Haunted Shipwreck and Deepsea Ruins.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS

Fish Bones reappear in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. When placing a Dry Bones in the Underwater level style and testing the level, Dry Bones turn into Fish Bones. Additionally, new sprites for Fish Bone have been made for the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 styles. Fish Bones use once again their attack pattern from New Super Mario Bros. Wii in all game styles as well. In the Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U styles, Yoshis can eat Fish Bones and spit out bones that fly in straight lines ahead of him. It acts similarly to the fireballs from Super Mario World, but can also defeat many fireproof enemies such as Buzzy Beetles and Chain Chomps.

Super Mario Run

While Fish Bones do not appear as enemies in Super Mario Run, they can be seen inside the ground in desert levels.

Super Mario Maker 2

Fish Bones reappear in Super Mario Maker 2, and are now completely separate from Dry Bones. Thus, they can now be placed on land. Parachutes can also be attached to them. However, they fall apart whenever they touch the ground. If they reach the surface of the water from below, they break apart. If placed in a Koopa Clown Car or on tracks, they can exist above water. In the nighttime sky and airship themes, Fish Bones are able to swim in the air, and can be defeated with a stomp. They also appear in the Super Mario 3D World style despite not appearing in the source game itself.

Mario Kart series

Three Fish Bones seen in the walls of N64 Choco Mountain in Mario Kart Tour

Mario Kart 7

Fish Bones make their first Mario Kart appearance in Mario Kart 7 and take their design from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They are found in Wario Shipyard, where they swim in schools or sometimes alone. Drivers that collide with Fish Bones will simply lose some speed.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Fish Bones also appear in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the underwater section of Twisted Mansion; unlike in Mario Kart 7, however, drivers cannot interact with them. As N64 Choco Mountain returns in this game, the different sized Fish Bones on the walls of the falling boulder section do as well. They also appear in GBA Boo Lake during the underwater section.

Mario Kart Tour

In Mario Kart Tour, several Fish Bones of different sizes can be seen in the walls in the falling boulder section of N64 Choco Mountain. Fish Bones also appear as obstacles in the returning course 3DS Wario Shipyard and are added in GBA Boo Lake, where interacting with them in any way causes them to collapse and give points.

A Mii Racing Suit and two karts based on Fish Bones, both of the latter being called the Fish Bone Ferry and the Gold Fish Bone Ferry, all debut in the Night Tour.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

Fossilized Fish Bones can be found in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit in the Mario Cup (added in the version 1.1.0 update), similarly as to how they appear in Mario Kart Tour. They appear on the gates in Fossil Fields.

Super Mario World television series

Yoshi using a Fishbone to cut a log in the Super Mario World episode "The Wheel Thing".

Fishbones, though never referred to as such, made several small appearances in the Super Mario World cartoon.

A Fishbone first appeared in the episode "The Wheel Thing", where one is used by Yoshi to cut a log into wheels to be used in Mario's car factory. In "The Night Before Cave Christmas", both Mario and Oogtar use a Fishbone to cut-down several Christmas trees.

In "Rock TV" and "Mama Luigi", two extremely large Fishbones are shown to be decorations in Bowser's throne room.

Super Mario Adventures

In the Super Mario Adventures comic, Fishbones, along with several other creatures such as Urchins and Porcu-Puffers, are shown to act as guards/obstacles in the moat surrounding the Koopalings' tower.

Mario & Luigi series

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Fishbones make another appearance in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story during the battle with Junker. When Mario and Luigi manage to defeat a Junker Can, a Fishbone may attempt to attack the plumbers. It attacks by orbiting around one of the two and eventually ramming them, though it can be stopped by counterattacking with the hammer before it does. This would be the final game to use their Super Mario World design. They do not reappear in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, where their role is taken by Scutlets instead.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Although no Fish Bones appear in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, there are rock carvings with images of Fish Bones in Driftwood Shore.

Mario Party series

Mario Party 4

In the minigame Mushroom Medic in Mario Party 4, there is a poster in the background with a Cheep Cheep and its Fishbone X-ray. Of note is that the tail fin in the picture is much too large for the accompanying Cheep Cheep's tail fin.

Mario Party 9

Fish Bones make their Mario Party debut in Mario Party 9, using their New Super Mario Bros. Wii design. Fish Bones only appear during the Blooper Beach Captain Event; when the player lands on an Unlucky Space in that section of the board, a group of Fish Bones attacks them and steals five of their ten Mini Stars.

Mario Party 10

Fish Bones reappear in Mario Party 10 in Whimsical Waters. In Mario Party mode, they are present at Unlucky Spaces and deduct Mini Stars from players landing on said spaces; in Bowser Party mode, they are found in treasure chests during Dragoneel Treasure events, and take away half of the current captain's hearts if their chest is selected.

Super Mario Party

In Super Mario Party, a Fish Bone makes a cameo appearance in the minigame Absent Minded, where it is one of the character choices that can be guessed.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Fish Bones attack Mario's raft in Jungle Rapids

Fish Bones make an appearance in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. They appear in Jungle Rapids, leaping in the water and attempting to destroy the raft Mario uses to cross through the river. They can be removed using the hammer. They were originally going to be fought as enemies, but were cut from the game.

Dr. Mario World

Fish Bones make their Dr. Mario series debut in Dr. Mario World as assistants. In stage mode, they have a chance in increasing capsules by 2 when there are no more capsules left and no further moves could be made. The activation will be checked again when it didn't activate earlier but the condition is met again, but after the effect is activated it will not activate again in the stage. In versus mode, it grants a chance in defending against four-line attacks, which does not stack with the doctor's innate defense. They also appear on World 19 alongside Dry Bones when an area is cleared of viruses.

Other appearances

A Fish Bone in the Fishing minigame of AR Games

Fish Bones are referenced in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, with a neon sign in Dinohattan showing a lit up outline of a Fish Bone and text reading "Fishbone" under it.

Fish Bones also appear in the Nintendo 3DS Fishing AR minigame, where they can be caught after lightning strikes the water.

Profiles and statistics

Super Mario series

Super Mario World

• Mario Mania: This finny fossil follows a straight and narrow path. He's slow but deadly if you dare to step into his territory at the wrong time.

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten

フィッシュボーン
種族　ゴースト族
性格　根に持つタイプ
登場ゲーム　ワールド
骨になったプクプクか！？
骨になってしまった魚。プクプク（P190）の幽霊か？この魚はときどき一瞬止まり、休んでから進む。倒すことは不可能だが、左右にまっすぐ泳ぐので、ひたすら避けよう。

Fish Bone
Tribe: Ghost clan
Disposition: Type to hold a grudge
Game appearances: World
Cheep Cheep as a skeleton!?
A fish that has turned into a skeleton. Is it the ghost of Cheep Cheep (p. 190)? This fish sometimes stops for a moment, rests, and then moves on. It is impossible to defeat it, but it swims straight to the left and right, so just avoid it.

Dr. Mario World

• Stage mode: "Grants 15%/25%/35%/45%/55% chance of extra capsules (2) when all capsules have been used. (Once only.)"
• Versus mode: "Grants 30%/35%/40%/45%/50% chance of defending against four-row attacks."

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Fish Bone.

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  Super Mario World

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  Mario Party 9

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  Paper Mario: Sticker Star

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  Super Mario Maker (Super Mario Bros. style)

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  Dr. Mario World

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	フィッシュボーン[?] Fisshu Bōn	Fish Bone
Chinese (simplified)	鱼骨头 Yú Gǔtou 枯骨鱼 (Dr. Mario World) Kūgǔ Yú	Fish Bone Dry Bone Fish
Chinese (traditional)	魚骨頭[?] Yú Gǔtou	Fish Bone
Dutch	Fish Bone[?]	-
German	Skelettfisch[?]	Skeleton Fish
Italian	Pesce Lisca[?]	From pesce (fish) and lisca (fishbone)
Korean	피시본[?] Pisi Bon	Fish Bone
Portuguese	Espinhosso[?]	Pun on espinhoso (prickly), which is from espinho or espinha (spine) and osso (bone)
Russian	Рыба-скелет[?] Ryba-skelet	Skeleton Fish
Spanish	Pezueso[?]	Pun on pez (fish) and hueso (bone)