This is only the third basic enemy type in the very first game, just a step up from the Slime and Dracky! It even has a similar sort of gelatinous look to it, and the same sort of face as a slime if you just added a dangling tongue, fangs and a bit more of a scowl. The tongue is a major feature of Japanese cartoon ghosts, since a classic ghostly yokai activity is to sneak up and lick people! I appreciate the ghost's body being bright orange while also wearing a purple witch hat, opting for a "Halloween" color scheme rather than the typical white or pale blue you would expect.

Skeletal warriors are obligatory in all fantasy dungeons, so of course they're another common enemy in the first game. Technically, the DQ Skeleton is a "generic" cartoon skeleton design, but you can still tell it's Toriyama's generic cartoon skeleton design. There's a signature way he draws a human skull, with big exaggerated sockets, and he really likes giving skulls a taller or more elongated cranium. It gets a lower score simply because there's not a lot to it we can talk about, but it's a good solid bone man.

The Dragon Quest "zombie" design first appears in the second game, and like the skeleton, it's a got a straightforward look that does the job; a grimy looking, shuffling human corpse with tattered clothes, messy blue-grey hair, one larger bulging eye and a dangling strand of slobber.

Another introduced in the second game, mummies are tougher cadavers traditionally armed with a sleep-inducing physical attack. What makes this mummy stick out from the average Halloween mummy design is that we can see skin and a toothy skull through the bandages, but that underlying body is uniformly jet black, save for a blue glow from inside the mouth and large, circular yellow lights for eyes. These details pop really nicely against the backdrop of mostly white bandages! It's just so nicely done! Maybe that's why I've also seen it stolen for at least a couple of generic Halloween trinkets in my lifetime, too:

On the left, a pocket-size Halloween activity book from the dollar store in roughly 2002 (sadly, no interesting artwork on the inside, stolen or otherwise), on the right, a soft rubber refrigerator magnet I've encountered several times, once even at Wal-Mart!

Dragon Quest III would complete the traditional cycle of Halloween ghoulies with the addition of the series first full-fledged vampire. Dracky would arguably be its first vampire-themed enemy, but it's not an undead type, nor derived from what may have been a human. Cutely translated in later games as "Drac the Vlad," the series basic nosferatu is hilariously short and squat, always shown hovering with the aid of large batlike wings on its back. It has blue skin, pupil-less orange eyes, a skeletal nose hole, a black Beethoven sort of hairdo with a widow's peak, and a little tiny perfectly tailored black suit with a bow tie. Adorable! Who made its little shoes?!

There are, of course, many more zombies, skeletons, ghosts and corpse-critters in this series, but I felt these five made a good review together; they don't offer much discussion individually, but they represent the most iconic possible set of spooky dead guys with just enough original flair.