Spittle Bone

The Spittle Bone is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a four-legged skeleton that crawls on walls.

Origins[]

Artibatirae - 01 — Illustration of an Artibatirae from *The Arnstein Bible* (*Job to Revelation*), featuring hoofed animal-like hind legs.^[1]

According to ancient and medieval authors, the Artibatirae were an Ethiopian tribe of abnormal humans which walked on all fours and roared like animals. They were first described by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder in his encyclopedic work Naturalis Historia from AD 77. According to most surviving accounts, neither the Artibatirae nor any other similar monstrous humanoid races lived to be 40 years old.

The Artibatiraes don't appear very often in medieval writings. There are also few known images of this people and these are mostly found in the galleries of monstrous tribes adjacent to bestiaries. In some of the illustrated lists of On the Universe by Raban Mavr, we can also find Artibatiraes. They are usually depicted either as a bent man or a naked man on all fours, and in at least one case they were confused with the Himantopodes, another monstrous race which crawled instead.^[2]

Description[]

A four-legged crawling skeleton that incessantly moves along the surface it is affixed to, making loops endlessly unless destroyed. In some games it drips poison, while in others it breathes flames in a steady stream outward.

The Vice Beetle is a similar enemy that breathes out clouds of poison.

Enemy Data[]

Enemy Data: Spittle Bone
Image	Name - Game Description	Statistics	Items	Location	Notes
	9. Spittle Bone (Artibatirae) - Symphony of the Night				[ edit ]
	4-legged skeleton. Drips poison.	Weak: Holy Level: 3 HP: 16 Exp: 20		Alchemy Laboratory	(Strategy)
	27. Spittle Bone (Artibatirae) - Portrait of Ruin				[ edit ]
	A four-legged skeleton that crawls on walls.	Strong: Dark Weak: Strike, Whip, Fire, Holy HP: 10 Exp: 33 Skill Pt: 1		Sandy Grave, Entrance, Nation of Fools	(Strategy)
	10. Spittle Bone (Artibatirae) - Harmony of Despair				[ edit ]
	A four-legged skeleton that crawls on walls.	Strong: Pierce, Darkness Weak: Strike, Fire, Holy	Bind: Raging Fire Soul: Red (2.80%) Spew fire while spinning around.	Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
	Spittle Bone - Grimoire of Souls				[ edit ]
	A four legged skeleton that crawls along the walls. Breathes fire at intruders.				Abil: Burn

Item Data[]

Item Data: Spittle Bone
Image	Name - Game Type - Users Description	Attributes / Consume	Statistics / Sell	Found	Notes
	Spittle Bone - Harmony of Despair Bullet Soul - Soma				[edit]
	Spew fire while spinning around.	Attrib: Fire Consume: 12 MP	ATK +5	Rarity: * Steal: Spittle Bone (2.8%)	Effect: Summon Spittle Bone