Kara Dennison
June 13, 2022 
In less than a month, Overlord returns with its fourth season. Skeletal protag Ainz Ooal Gown (a.k.a. Momonga) returns to rule over his New World in early July. In the meantime, you can get to know other skeleton types overseeing worlds of their own!
From pirates to paladins to booksellers, here are a few of our favorite skellingtons living their best lives in their respective anime worlds:
Brook
You won’t have time to get through all of One Piece between now and the Overlord premiere… especially if you’re starting from the very beginning. But if you want to meet another adventurous skeleton, have a One Piece-watching friend direct you to some good Brook content. The “Soul King” of the Straw Hat Pirates takes inspiration from several real-world musicians, in particular Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. And, appropriately, he is the crew’s resident musician.
Brook fancies himself a gentleman, but doesn’t always come across that way. Regardless, he’s a good guy deep down in his bones, and believes in doing what’s right. Ideally not if it involves facing down the paranormal, though… this skeleton has a severe fear of the undead.
Arc
Much like the protagonist of Overlord, the star of Skeleton Knight in Another World is a gamer with a skeletal avatar who finds himself isekai‘d into his favorite game. Unlike Ainz Ooal Gown, though, Arc is super earnest in his love of fantasy stuff. Finding himself with a skull for a head and a whole tree of paladin powers, he decides to make the best of his situation. But he wants to lie low while he does — the bony look may just be an unfortunate avatar choice, but try explaining that to undead-fearing locals.
Arc is all about making this world a better place. Rescuing kidnapped elves, protecting kids as they pick herbs in the forest, and so on. But he also wants to meet cool fantasy monsters and enjoy the local cuisine. All the while, he plays his part to the hilt. (Clearly he was on an RP server.)
Honda-san
Not all skeletons can live the fantastical life of an Overlord hero. Some work in bookstores, like Honda.
Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san started as an autobiographical comic on pixiv, in which the author details her experiences handling foreign comics and art books at a bookshop. Like Honda, the other employees are depicted as having covered or non-human faces. Keep an eye out for clerks in medieval and kendo helmets, bunny masks, paper bags, noh masks, and bandages.
The only fantasy adventure Honda is likely to take you on is into the world of a new book. Unless you’re looking for a “special yaoi book”… Honda’s bookstore doesn’t carry those.
Want more immortal isekai weirdness? Check out these gods who make KONOSUBA‘s Aqua seem almost normal.
Related Posts
