Old Man

Oldman.pngmation
The Old Man is a pre-boss NPC. He does nothing but stand at the entrance to the dungeon. If a player attempts to talk to him at night, he will instantly turn into Skeletron without any dialogue. To enter the dungeon he is guarding, the Skeletron must be defeated.

If a player attempts to enter the dungeon before this, they will be slain by a skeletron head that inflicts an insta-kill on touch. However, it should be noted that skeletron heads only deal normal damage at night. This allows one to loot some chests before being slain.

Occasionally, the Old Man can spawn past the door marking the entrance of the dungeon. Even rarer, though, he can become stuck to a wall of the dungeon going downwards. The result is him flashing back and forth at a very fast speed, probably because of his strange walk cycle.

Quotes

"I can't let you in before you free me from my curse."

"They call me Old Man." (A reference to the webseries The Legend of Neil)

"Come back again at night if you wish to enter."