Old Man

The Old Man is an NPC found outside every dungeon. He guards the dungeons, and a dungeon cannot be fully explored until he is gone. When spoken to at day, he does nothing. When spoken to at night, he will turn into the Skeletron boss.

If you decide to go into a dungeon without fighting him, a group of Skeletron Heads will spawn and attack you. This makes it nearly impossible to continue in the dungeon.

The Old Man is not immortal and can be killed if trapped in a pool of lava. The Old Man takes 1 damage per second from the lava, and after his 250 HP is depleted he is dead. Although the Old Man can be killed, his death does not eliminate the Skeletron Heads inside the dungeon. Additionally, the Old Man does not respawn, leaving no means of killing the Skeletron Heads or exploring the dungeon without facing a swift, inevitable death.

Spawns on the first night of the first day.