Bone Pillar

The Bone Pillar is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a construction made with the skulls of two dinosaurs stacked one on top of the other. They have the ability to shoot fireballs (usually in rows of three), but as the series progressed they also developed new ways of attacking, such as breathing flames, activating only when approached, shooting fireballs in an arcing pattern, or being constructed with several skulls to form very tall pillars.
==Description==
The Bone Pillar is another one of the classic staples in the Castlevania series. It is a construction made with two fierce dinosaur heads stacked on top of each other, which shoot fireballs at oncoming adventurers. In later games, Bone Pillars are often constructed with more than two heads and sometimes form very large pillars. Also in some of the more recent games, the player character can step onto them without sustaining damage; and in some cases, their presence actually forms part of small puzzles where the player must destroy them strategically in order to use them as impromptu stepping platforms to reach ledges high above earlier in the game.
In some titles, mainly the earlier ones, the whole construct is treated as a single enemy and can be destroyed by damaging it enough with attacks, regardless on where the hits land, while in other titles, mainly the most recent ones, each skull is treated as a separate entity, stacked on top of another, and has to be individually destroyed.
===Attacks===
*Bone Pillars usually attack with the head facing the player either flashing or emanating a fiery glow from inside before spewing out three fireballs (which can be destroyed).
*In later games (starting with Rondo of Blood), Bone Pillars also began breathing flames in a close range attack, as well as allowing the player to stand on top of them.
*Bone Pillars eventually became able to turn their heads in order to target the player. This makes them even deadlier, as they can have both heads (or more) attacking at the same time.
==Types==
While Bone Pillars have been pretty common in the series for the longest time, there have been a few variations to make things a bit trickier for wandering heroes, such as:
*Bone Head: The name for single heads of a Bone Pillar when appearing alone.
*Bone Tower: A somewhat stronger version of the Bone Pillar appearing in a few games.
*Fish Head: An underwater version of a Bone Pillar whose heads are shaped more like fish carcasses.
*Bone Ark: A Bone Head carried by Skeletons.
*Jp Bonepillar: A jumping Bone Head impaled on a lance.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania/Vampire Killer===
Bone Pillars make their first appearance here. They are always formed with two skulls, and ironically, the top one always faces Simon Belmont's direction, turning around the whole sprite to do so. The top one shoots two fireballs after it flashes red, and it is one of the most durable enemies in the game. In Vampire Killer, they are easier to deal with thanks to the yellow shield, which automatically blocks projectiles.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
While in most of the games Bone Pillars are on flat ground, in the Royal Chapel they are located along the long staircase, such that all of their attacks aim diagonally. If the lower Bone Pillar is destroyed first, the upper one will slowly fall down and bounce on the staircase.
The topmost Bone Pillar is different as there is only one of them, while the upper enemy is replaced with a unique enemy "Spiked Ball" that doesn't feature an enemy list entry. The Spiked Ball is level 40, has 500 HP with a DEF rating of 28, gives a base EXP of 100, deals 59 base physical damage, and drops the Iron Ball and Axe Lord Armor. Destroying the Bone Pillar under it will send the Spiked Ball crashing down the staircase, instantly killing any enemy it comes in contact with, and is indestructible unlike normal Bone Pillars.
The Spiked Ball is normally practically impossible to destroy at the point in the game it is first encountered, but if the player acquires the Jewel Knuckles early, it can be used for a minor leveling exploit by entering from the top of the staircase in the Royal Chapel, defeating the first Corner Guard on the stairs, and then crouching close to the Spiked Ball and holding the Attack button to attack it constantly. Since the Spiked Ball will be twenty or more levels above Alucard, the experience gained from destroying it will allow very fast leveling up. The player will usually deal only 1-3 damage per hit to the Spiked Ball, so they'll mainly have to rely on Criticals to destroy it, that deal about 14+ damage. However, when the player reaches STR 21, they'll suddenly start dealing 14 damage to the Spiked Ball (and more on following levels), greatly accelerating the leveling up process.
While farming the Spiked Balls, they'll often drop an Iron Ball (or an Axe Lord Armor), which is hard to see due to its dark color and also because its icon will appear behind the remaining Bone Pillar. To pick it up, simply get very close to the Bone Pillar without actually touching it.
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
Bone Pillars can be found in the Ghostly Theatre; however, this time they cannot be damaged by any means. They travel along a rail-like structure and shoot a beam of energy at Leon Belmont to knock him to the bottom of the room. Leon must then hide behind some conveniently placed walls nearby in order to avoid exposure to the Bone Pillars and thus be able to make it across a series of bridges.
The Bone Pillars in this game are not considered to be regular enemies, as they don't have a proper enemy list entry. They are only environmental hazards that can't be destroyed and which are positioned strategically throughout a room to prevent further progress. 
They normally fire blue lasers. In order to progress, Leon must face the statue firing the laser to temporarily deactivate it. On Crazy Mode, they fire purple lasers instead, which will briefly cease after four second intervals.
===Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow===
Bone Pillars show up in the underground area of The Dark Chapel, as well as inside a room to the left of the Demon Guest House. In this particular room, Soma Cruz needs to destroy only the necessary skulls in order to create an impromptu stair-like formation with which he can enter the room above (or use the Bat Company's soul much later in the game). Another method is to jump kick a Bone Pillar and then keep jump kicking it until the player character reaches the top on the whole construct, and from there just jump to the other pillars and enter the room at the top.
Large columns of Bone Pillars are usually not threatening, although getting too close to more than one will result in a big barrage of fireballs and flames being launched all over the place.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
Bone Pillars, like most skeletal monsters, appear in the Skeleton Cave. In Normal Mode, they are easy to defeat, but require great care in Hard Mode. In fact, adding to their improved firepower, they can shoot a fire blast at great speed (about one attack per second). That makes them very dangerous in the "Bone Pillar room" (the third room before the boss).
Using Vol Macir or Luminatio against them is a good choice. Casting Fidelis Caries will summon a Zombie that will slowly shamble in front of Shanoa, blocking all projectiles fired by the Bone Pillars. Likewise, casting a Scutum glyph can also be used to block their fireballs.
===Castlevania: Moonlight Rhapsody===
Due to cultural taboos against depicting bodily remains, the Bone Pillar was replaced with a Dragon Pillar in the Chinese mobile game Moonlight Rhapsody. Rather than being made of literal bones, it appears as a magical mechanism in a similar shape.
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
===Artworks===
Bone Pillar - Castlevania - 01.png|Bone Piller from the Japanese Castlevania instruction booklet.
Bone Pillar - Vampire Killer - 01.png|Pile Battery from the Japanese Vampire Killer user's manual.
CV3 J Manual Pile Batteries.JPG|Pillar of Bones from the Japanese Dracula's Curse instruction booklet.
NP C3 Bone Pillar.JPG|Pillar of Bones from the Nintendo Power - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse guide.
15bonepillar.jpg|Pillar of Bones from the All About Akumajō Dracula guide for Super Castlevania IV.
NP C4 Bone Pillar.JPG|Pillar of Bones from the Nintendo Power Super Castlevania IV Guide.
RoB Bone Pillar.JPG|Bone Pillar from the Rondo of Blood instruction booklet.
DX Bone Pillar.JPG|Bone Pillar from the Dracula XX instruction booklet.
Cv64-offart27.jpg|Pillar of Bones artwork for Castlevania 64.
Dragon Pillar MR.jpg|Dragon Pillar artwork from Moonlight Rhapsody.
===Screenshots===
Cvr27.jpg|Bone Pillars from the canceled game Castlevania: Resurrection.
HoD 012.png|Bone Pillar enemy list entry from Harmony of Dissonance.
AoS 009.png|Bone Pillar enemy list entry from Aria of Sorrow.
Bone pillar LOI.png|Bone Pillars shooting energy beams at Leon in Lament of Innocence.
Dxc 041.png|Bone Pillar enemy list entry from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night.
==See also==
*White Dragon
==External links==
*Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin – Bestiary by Darth Nemesis at GameFAQs
*Mr. P's Castlevania Realm
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