Origin

Jon says it all happened few years back as he was driving home at night after spending his day with his girlfriend and dog at the park. It happened when out of the woods shot a deer that caused Jon to lose control of the vehicle.

They were driven off the road and into a the tress, all three individuals died that night, however they managed to resuscitate Jon, making him the only survivor. However this new lease on life becomes troublesome when ghosts begin haunting Jon, slowly growing in number as time passes.

They began to drive Jon crazy as they all spoke out at once, creating the effect of sinister moaning and hisses. And it was at the point that he was about to completely snap, his guardian came in the form of Wraith, the ghost of his dog. He drove the spirits away, allowing his master of have some peace and rest.

In time, Jon came to befriend the ghosts when he realized they were friendly and just needed someone to talk to. Some sought out an answer to their questions so they could peacefully go to rest while still others enjoyed being tied to the physical plane.

Brandi, Jon's boyfriend however was different from the rest, though she chose to remain in the physical world she was not happy about it. She became bitter and depressed, no longer a pleasant person to be around.

He still talked to her though as he was the caretaker of the Salem Woods Cemetery where she lived, Jon thought it was a pleasant place until the night when all sorts of miscreants show their face. So it was that Jon realized the best way to guard the cemetery would be to scare away its attackers and so he made a costume and had the spirits aid him in his ventures and until last night they had never had any major problems.

Witch War

Skeleton Man makes his debut appearance when three men, who were hired by Raven Hex are stealing a coffin from the Salem Cemetery.

The spirit of this body, sometimes referred to as The Twins, calls out to the Graveyard Guardian to rescue her corpse.

So, fully dressed in his costume, the Skeleton Man makes himself known and shouting at the terrified grave robbers he demands they return the coffin to its resting place and leave the cemetery immediately.

He jumps off from the monument that he stands upon, attacking the men who are becoming terrified at the coming of this ghost, this "skeleton man".

The Graveyard Guardian manages to take out two of the men, beating them mercilessly in his rage.

However, the third grave robber comes up behind Jon, calling him the "Cemetery Clown" and then proceeds to attempt to hit him in the back of the head with a shovel.

However, the speech causes the Graveyard Guardian to turn around and catch the shovel with his hands, he then rips it from the man's grasp and boots him in the face.

Leaving the freshly injured man on the ground he turns to face Kreskin, who is also holding a shovel and plans to bash the Skeleton Man with it.

Kreskin brings his shovel down hard, unfortunately it is easily stopped by Jon who blocks it with his own. He then proceeds to fight the foolish man, disarming him and finally hitting him across the face with the handle of the shovel.

Kreskin and Pierce were now cowering on the ground when the Skeleton Man once again says, "We want you to leave these hallowed grounds."

As the terrified men lay on the ground they ask him what he means about "we". It is then that the numerous spirits surrounding their own Guardian reveal themselves, simply driving more fear into the men's hearts and so they flee.

It is then that The Twins scream in fear when they realize the third man is running off with their body. The Skeleton Man tells them not to worry as he calls forth his ghost "pet", Wraith and orders him to attack the man.

Wraith obviously succeeds in short order and the Fright Knight comes over to once again verbally attack the man. With the Wraith ready to kill the man, it seems the words sink in this time and the Skeleton Man feels he has done his job, as the cemetery is safe from robbers once again.

But unfortunately for him, this peace does not even last a minute, as when he turns around he is met with ghouls that could only be imagined by the darkest of minds...a trio of energy emanating, living pumpkins, supported by skeletons that enabled their movement.

The Graveyard Guardian believes himself to be unable to fight back and cowers from the impending doom. Yet his attacker surprisingly bursts thanks to an unseen force and the Skeleton Man looks around to see if he can locate it.

It is revealed to be a beautiful young woman, wearing a very revealing armor and wielding a mighty sword. She catches his gaze and he watches her battle his foes for some time but when she is thrown to the ground he decides to step in.

Unleashing his fists of fury on one of the pumpkin monsters he is an easily removed threat. And though it seems that once again it is his end, the woman recovers and saves him from the beast, asking him if he's hurt.

The selfless man tells her not to worry about him but about the remaining creature, however it teleports out of the cemetery before they can attack, taking The Twins coffin with it.

The Graveyard Guardian is now angered and saddened at his own failure and pulls off his face mask. He shouts in his rage as he sums up the events of the night but Tarot tells him to cool down.

She touches him and to her surprise feels a spark, as the Lovers tarot card flashes in her mind. He pulls away in surprise asking Tarot if she felt what he had.

Tarot tells him it was nothing and quickly changing subjects asks him if he's willing to help her in her mission. He agrees to it, as long as it includes getting the coffin back.

She assures him it will not be an easy task but he refuses to back down saying, "If they have what I'm looking for, then bring 'em on, I have a bone to pick with them!"

In the dawn of October 30, at the Salem Woods Cemetery, flesh and earth are warmed by the sun's first rays of light. However, what it reveals is two heroes, clad in leather, disappointment clearly seen on their faces.

Tarot tells Skeleton Man that she must care for him, before the infection sets in because of his multiple wounds. But he assures her there nothing serious and that they can wait.

He then calls Sally and Susan leaving Tarot so that he can talk to the young girls he always puts before himself. With a sad voice he tells them to have the other spirits release the grave robbers as he is sure they must be scared enough by now and will no longer be a threat.

However, the young girls innocently inquire about their body and Jon tells them that they need not worry, as he and the "sword lady" will recover it and be back soon.

Jon drops to a crouch, supporting his head with his palm. He complains about not feeling so good and Tarot tells him it is because his wounds are magical in nature and only magick can stop the effects of magick.

She tells him that she has all they need for him in her spell room but they must go there quickly, he tries to tell her he is just fine and is a pretty tough cookie. Yet things don't go according to his plans as his body gives up and his face smashes into the ground as he goes utterly unconscious.

Picking him up, Tarot smiles as she holds the dazed man, "You're coming with me...cookie." and so Jon and Rowan disappear in a flurry of leaves.

Somewhere else, two sets of moist lips lunge for one another, obviously belonging to Tarot and Skeleton Man. As they meet, passion can be sensed while the two embrace, Jon holding flowers in his hands.

Suddenly a skeletal creature with glaring red eyes takes Tarot's place and places its hand on Jon's shoulder, asking him, "Do you really know what you're getting into, Jon?"

Jon screams "NO!" in terror as he swiftly sits up in a bed, having just left his most "real" dream he ever experienced. Looking around he finds himself shirtless, with some bandages around his abdomen in a room that seems to be all about love and seduction from its statues to its candlelight.

As his memory slowly clears, flashes of the sword, the cemetery, the dizziness, the poison and most importantly, the woman pass through his mind. He gets out of bed to find answers and finds himself wearing naught but his cheese-decorated underwear.

Embarrassed, he takes a robe to cover up his shame and begins his excursion through the massive mansion. He finds it to be a maze of flights of stairs and hallways though also a place of great beauty.

The mansion has forty foot high ceilings, and is filled with both beautiful and creepy statues. But the biggest surprise to Jon was an indoor fountain and the beautiful mermaid statue in its center.

So it is that his curiosity and desire to find more beauty leads him down a shadowed hallway and when he reaches its end and gazes through the open doorway his eyes are met with the mansion's most beautiful treasure of all.

He finds himself blessed enough to gaze upon the beauty of the goddess among all women as she emerges naked from the pool. Her smooth skin, perfectly curved form, her appearance is that of both mystery and innocence.

She looks at Jon flirtatiously as she wraps a towel around her body, leaving a tattoo of a black rose on the back of her left shoulder exposed. "I'm glad to see you're awake and feeling better."

Awkwardly Jon answers that he is indeed doing better and Rowan tells him that she is glad but he must now follow her to discuss things. As he follows her he asks if she removed his costume and she answers yes, as it was the only way she could tend to his injuries.

Jon expresses that he was obviously in a deep sleep as he did not notice the removal of his make-up or contacts but Tarot smiles and says she has friends with a light touch, hinting at the fairies fluttering above, unseen to the Skeleton Man.

As they enter the kitchen, Jon tells her that he does indeed like the mansion and Tarot thanks him saying it has been in her family for generations.

In the kitchen, the two robed heroes walk, Tarot going to the counter to pour a cup of hot chocolate. While she does this though, Jon begins bombarding her with questions such as her identity, where the pumpkin ghouls are from, why Raven needs to be found, who has The Twins body, and what's with all the talk about magic...finally he asks her, "are you a magician?"

She smiles at him as she says flatly, "No. I'm a witch." Jon seems to go in shock and gasps in surprise as she sets the hot chocolate down before him, encouraging him to have some while she answers his questions.

He picks up the mug but looks at it nervously and asks Tarot how he's supposed to know its not one of those witch potions so he asks her what it is. Still smiling at him she says its hot chocolate and Jon's palm connects with his face as he feels like an idiot.

Apologizing to Tarot he tells her its just because he has never met a real witch before. She assures him its quite alright as most people have the wrong idea...however, if they really wanted to know the truth all they'd have to do is ask her and she would gladly share but no one does ask.

And so Tarot begins the tale of her life, initially interrupted at certain points by a confused Skeleton Man. She begins by introducing herself as a Witch of the Black Rose. Her birth name was Rowan but her magickal name is Tarot.

Here Jon interrupts to ask her what a magickal name is and she explains it as a name chosen by a witch when she becomes of age. She chose hers based off of a gift granted her by her mother and her sister Raven simply added Hex to her name.

At this point Jon speaks up again and asks her if Raven is the one they seek and inquires as to why she would be interested in the Sally and Sue's body. Tarot tells him that she fears Raven plans on using it for necro magick so that she may resurrect the dead.

Jon makes his final interruption before the story begins when he says, "One of those dark girls, I guess." Yet, surprisingly, Tarot backs her sister's behavior up and tells him that he shouldn't judge her too harshly as it was difficult living as a family of witches, especially since it was not done secretively.

As Jon holds his steaming hot chocolate he gasps after hearing the tale and in astonishment he asks if Raven can actually bring the dead to life. Tarot's mother emerges from the shadows behind Jon and answers his question by saying that with the Forbidden Book anything is possible, however a spell of such magnitude as resurrection would surely create a shock wave in the world.

Jon turns and walks over to her and greets the kind woman when Tarot tells him, "Jon, this is my mother." At hearing this he turns back to Tarot in shock and asks her if she figured out his name with her witch powers.

She smiles at his assuming comments, as usual, and tells him that it was actually because she overheard The Twins calling him Jon back at the cemetery. Once again, Jon feels embarrassed at his behavior and tells her he'll try to think before he says anything next time.

So Jon tries to sum up what he's just learned and asks if all they need to do is, find Raven so they can get both the book and the body and there problems should be solved. Tarot's mother tells him he is correct but adds that it must be done before Samhain, which causes Jon to question her on what Samhain is.

She tells him Samhain is what we would call Halloween, it is the day that the barrier between life and death is thinnest and so at midnight would be when Raven would logically use her necro-magick. She goes on to say this will end up horrifying the peoples and causing them to begin a second burning of witches.

Jon sighs as he realizes that Halloween is tomorrow, meaning they have very little time so he asks Tarot, "Where do we start?"

Tarot smiles as she sets her palms on the table, exposing her bare midsection, "We start with you." Jon is horrified and asks why they must start with him and Tarot tells him it is because he is the key to finding Raven, the cards have told her.

Jon tells her he has no idea how he could locate her sister but his best bet would be going to talk with The Twins and asking them the whereabouts of their body. Tarot is surprised and asks him if he means they can sense their body.

He tells her that indeed, they can pinpoint the exact location of their body meaning they can lead them to Raven if she is in possession of it. It is then that Jon explains how he became Skeleton Man when Tarot asks him how long he has been able to communicate with the dead.

After sharing his near-death experience and the origin of his powers, Tarot asks him why the ghosts just don't appear and scare people off on their own but Jon tells her most of them find it difficult to do when he's not there and he believes it to be because of his near death experience. He then tells her that's the conclusion of his story and that now all he needs is his costume and they can hunt Raven down.

He asks for the location of his room and Tarot tells him not to worry, as Pooka will lead him there. Jon seems a little afraid of meeting Pooka when suddenly the goblin cat flies right into his face and he shouts in surprise, "You have a flying cat?"

Tarot smiles at him asking, "Doesn't every witch?" Jon admits he doesn't know and that it's easily possible so regaining his composure he follows Pooka as he leads Jon to his room.

Personality

Jon is often portrayed as the protector of all spirits of the dead. Yet at the same time he is often seen as weak and in need of protection himself. When you first meet him, he seems like he can hold his own, however that is against ordinary humans like himself.

Later on throughout the series he often faces foes with mystical powers far beyond anything he can muster, and so he is dependent on his lover, Tarot, to save him. This never seems to be a problem in their relationship though because Jon is a brave man and despite the odds will often try to save Tarot from harm.

Another recurring trait of Jon is that unlike witches, he is extremely shy about nudity and whenever he catches them skyclad he begins to get nervous and usually looks away and complains, this causes a little rivalry with Raven who thinks it humorous that he is shy around her when she's unclothed.