Skeletron

The Skeletron is the boss related to dungeons. If one tries to enter a dungeon before killing Skeletron, after a short moment the head of the boss will come spinning and growling into the screen, impacting with the player and causing 999 damage, effectively one-hit killing the intruder. To summon this boss, you must talk to the Old Man at the entrance to the dungeon at night. The man will transform into the Skeletron. If you attempt this at day, he will simply say "Come back and talk to me at night".

Skeletron is a floating, massive skeleton head, with floating arms. What appears to be blood spurting from his arms and neck are most likely "the magic forces holding it together", as noted by Blue in a let's play video.

Skeleton will try to swing his arms at you and ram you. He has 3000 health points, so it is not a good idea for lower-end players to attempt at defeating this monster.

Once you defeat Skeletron, you may enter the dungeon as many times as you like, with no bother from skeletron anymore. Once you defeat him, you may not battle him again on that map, and must create a new one to fight him.