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NetHack data file - version 3.0i
demons should all come first, before the *centaur line
balrog
... It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as
if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped
the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed
about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its stream-
ing mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand
was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it
held a whip of many thongs.
'Ai, ai!' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!'
[ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
horned devil
Horned devils lack any real special abilities, though they
are quite difficult to kill.
incubus
succubus
The incubus and succubus are male and female versions of the
same demon, one who lies with a human for its own purposes,
usually to the detriment of the mortals who are unwise in
their dealings with them.
erinyes
These female-seeming devils attack hand to hand and poison
their unwary victims as well.
marilith
The marilith, a type V demon, has a torso shaped like that
of a human female, and the lower body of a great snake. It
has multiple arms, and can freely attack with all of them.
Since it is intelligent enough to use weapons, this means it
can cause great damage.
barbed devil
Barbed devils lack any real special abilities, though they
are quite difficult to kill.
vrock
The vrock is one of the weaker forms of demon, being only a
type I. It resembles a cross between a human being and a
vulture and does physical damage by biting and by using the
claws on both its arms and feet.
hezrou
``Hezrou'' is the common name for the type II demon. It is
among the weaker of demons, but still quite formidable.
bone devil
Bone devils attack with weapons and with a great hooked tail
which causes a loss of strength to those they sting.
nalfeshnee
Not only do these demons, which are of type IV, do physical
damage with their claws and bite, but they are capable of
using magic as well.
ice devil
Ice devils are large semi-insectoid creatures, who are
equally at home in the fires of Hell and the cold of Limbo,
and who can cause the traveller to feel the latter with just
a touch of their tail.
pit fiend
Pit fiends are among the more powerful of devils, capable of
attacking twice with weapons as well as grabbing and crush-
ing the life out of thise unwary enough to enter their
domains.
juiblex
jubilex
Little is known about the Faceless Lord, even the correct
spelling of his name. He does not have a physical form as
we know it, and those who have peered into his realm claim
he is a slime-like creature who swallows other creatures
alive, spits acidic secretions, and causes disease in his
victims which can be almost instantly fatal.
yeenoghu
Yeenoghu, the demon lord of gnolls, still exists although
all his followers have been wiped off the face of the earth.
He casts magic projectiles at those close to him, and a mere
gaze into his piercing eyes may hopelessly confuse the
battle-weary adventurer.
orcus
Orcus, Prince of the Undead, has a rams head and a poison
stinger. He is most feared, though, for his powerful magic
abilities. His wand causes death to those he chooses.
geryon
Geryon is an arch-devil sometimes called the Wild Beast,
attacking with his claws and poison sting. His ranking in
Hell is rumored to be quite low.
dispater
Dispater is an arch-devil who rules the city of Dis. He is
a powerful mage.
baalzebub
Baalzebub has been known as the lord of the flies. His bite
drips poison, and a mere glance into his eyes can stun the
hapless invader of his realm.
asmodeus
It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.
His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is
human apart from his horns and tail. He can freeze flesh
with a touch.
demogorgon
Demogorgon, the prince of demons, wallows in filth and can
spread a quickly fatal illness to his victims while rending
them. He is a mighty spellcaster, and he can drain the life
of mortals with a touch of his tail.
*centaur
Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination
the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves.
Despite a strong streak of sensuality in their make-up,
their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly
thought of man's welfare. The attempted outrage of Nessos on
Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the
Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of
Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet,
lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles. Further, the Cen-
taurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the
body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved
an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important
members. So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek.
These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and
clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially
with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos.
[ Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271 ]
cockatrice
Once in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then,
along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basil-
isk, or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A sin-
gle glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill
both man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be
so great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove
fatal. Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vege-
tation to wither.
There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows
why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps
the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever
sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instant-
ly. But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said
that merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
sicken and die.
[ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
and other sources ]
*dragon
In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man.
Although preferring to live in bleak and desolate regions,
whenever it was seen among men it left in its wake a trail
of destruction and disease. Yet any attempt to slay this
beast was a perilous undertaking. For the dragon's assailant
had to contend not only with clouds of sulphurous fumes
pouring from its fire-breathing nostrils, but also with the
thrashings of its tail, the most deadly part of its
serpent-like body.
[Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)]
*elemental
Elementals are manifestations of the basic nature of the
universe. There are four known forms of elementals: air,
fire, water, and earth. Some mystics have postulated the
necessity for a fifth type, the spirit elemental, but none
have ever been encountered, at least on this plane of ex-
istence.
*giant
giant humanoid
Giants have always walked the earth, though they are rare in
these times. They range in size from little over nine feet
to a towering twenty feet or more. The larger ones use huge
boulders as weapons, hurling them over large distances. All
types of giants share a love for men - roasted, boiled, or
fried. Their table manners are legendary.
gnome*
gnomish wizard
... And then a gnome came by, carrying a bundle, an old
fellow three times as large as an imp and wearing clothes
of a sort, especially a hat. And he was clearly just as
frightened as the imps though he could not go so fast.
Ramon Alonzo saw that there must be some great trouble that
was vexing magical things; and, since gnomes speak the
language of men, and will answer if spoken to gently, he
raised his hat, and asked of the gnome his name. The
gnome did not stop his hasty shuffle a moment as he
answered 'Alaraba' and grabbed the rim of his hat but forgot
to doff it.
'What is the trouble, Alaraba?' said Ramon Alonzo.
'White magic. Run!' said the gnome ...
[ The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany. ]
gold
pile of gold
A metal of characteristic yellow colour, the most precious
metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange. Sym-
bol, Au; at. no. 79; at. wt. 197.2. It is the most malle-
able and ductile of all metals, and very heavy (sp. gr.,
19.3). It is quite unalterable by heat, moisture, and most
corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in
coin and jewelry.
[ Webster's New International Dictionary
of the English Language, Second Edition ]
*golem
These creatures, not quite living but not really nonliving
either, are created from inanimate materials by powerful
mages or priests.
gremlin
The gremlin is a highly intelligent and completely evil
creature. It lives to torment other creatures and will go
to great lengths to inflict pain or cause injury.
grid bug
These electrically based creatures are not native to this
universe. They appear to come from a world whose laws of
motion are radically different from ours.
hobbit
Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more
numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace
and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-
farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not
and did not understand or like machines more complicated
than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a handloom, although
they were skillful with tools. Even in ancient days they
were, as a rule, shy of "the Big Folk", as they call us, and
now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find.
[ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
hobgoblin
Hobgoblin. Used by the Puritans and in later times for
wicked goblin spirits, as in Bunyan's 'Hobgoblin nor foul
friend', but its more correct use is for the friendly spir-
its of the brownie type. In 'A midsummer night's dream' a
fairy says to Shakespeare's Puck:
Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
Are you not he?
and obviously Puck would not wish to be called a hobgoblin
if that was an ill-omened word.
Hobgoblins are on the whole, good-humoured and ready to be
helpful, but fond of practical joking, and like most of the
fairies rather nasty people to annoy. Boggarts hover on the
verge of hobgoblindom. Bogles are just over the edge.
One Hob mentioned by Henderson, was Hob Headless who haunted
the road between Hurworth and Neasham, but could not cross
the little river Kent, which flowed into the Tess. He was
exorcised and laid under a large stone by the roadside for
ninety-nine years and a day. If anyone was so unwary as to
sit on that stone, he would be unable to quit it for ever.
The ninety-nine years is nearly up, so trouble may soon be
heard of on the road between Hurworth and Neasham.
[ Katharine Briggs, A dictionary of Fairies ]
humanoid
Humanoids are all approximately the size of a human, and
may be mistaken for one at a distance. They are usually
of a tribal nature, and will fiercely defend their lairs.
Usually hostile, they may even band together to raid and
pillage human settlements.
human
archeologist
barbarian
cave*man
elf
healer
knight
priest*
rogue
samurai
tourist
valkyrie
wizard
These strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
resent the intrusion of such beasts. They are capable of
using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.
imp
... imps ... little creatures of two feet high that could
gambol and jump prodigiously; ...
[ The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany ]
An 'imp' is an off-shoot or cutting. Thus an 'ymp tree' was
a grafted tree, or one grown from a cutting, not from seed.
'Imp' properly means a small devil, an off-shoot of Satan,
but the distinction between goblins or bogles and imps from
hell is hard to make, and many in the Celtic countries as
well as the English Puritans regarded all fairies as devils.
The fairies of tradition often hover uneasily between the
ghostly and the diabolic state.
[ Katharine Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies ]
jabberwock
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
[ Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll ]
*kobold*
The race of kobolds are reputed to be an artificial creation
of a master wizard (demi-god?). They are about 3' tall with
a vaguely dog-like face. They bear a violent dislike of the
Elven race, and will go out of their way to cause trouble
for Elves at any time.
leprechaun
The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
under various names in different parts of Ireland: Cluri-
caune in Cork, Lurican in Kerry, Lurikeen in Kildare and Lu-
rigadaun in Tipperary. Although he works for the Faeries,
the Leprechaun is not of the same species. He is small, has
dark skin and wears strange clothes. His nature has some-
thing of the manic-depressive about it: first he is quite
happy, whistling merrily as he nails a sole on to a shoe; a
few minutes later, he is sullen and morose, drunk on his
home-made heather ale. The Leprechaun's two great loves are
tobacco and whiskey, and he is a first-rate con-man, impos-
sible to out-fox. No one, no matter how clever, has ever
managed to cheat him out of his hidden pot of gold or his
magic shilling. At the last minute he always thinks of some
way to divert his captor's attention and vanishes in the
twinkling of an eye.
[ A Field Guide to the Little People
by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse ]
leocrotta
leu*otta
...the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness,
the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck,
tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven
hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one contin-
uous bone instead of teeth; it is said, too, that this
animal can imitate the human voice.
[ Curious Creatures in Zoology, John Ashton ]
*lich
Once in a great while, an evil master wizard or priest will
manage through use of great magics to extend his or her life
far beyond the normal span of a human. The usual effect of
this is to transform the human, over time, into an undead of
great magical power. A Lich hates life in any form; even a
touch from one of these creatures will cause a numbing cold
in the victim. They all possess the capability to use magic.
medusa
This hideous creature from ancient Greek myth was the doom
of many a valiant adventurer. It is said that one gaze from
its eyes could turn a man to stone. One bite from the nest
of snakes which crown its head could cause instant death.
The only way to kill this monstrosity is to turn its gaze
back upon itself.
*naga*
The naga is a mystical creature with the body of a snake and
the head of a man or woman. They will fiercely protect the
territory they consider their own. Some nagas can be forced
to serve as a guardian by a spell caster of great power.
*ooze
*pudding
These giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than
puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on
metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to
supplement their diet.
orcrist
The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he
looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth,
clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at
once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when
the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did
battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist,
Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter. They
hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.
[ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
piercer
Ye Piercer doth look like unto a stalactyte, and hangeth
from the roofs of caves and caverns. Unto the height of a
man, and thicker than a man's thigh do they grow, and in
groups do they hang. If a creature doth pass beneath them,
they will by its heat and noise perceive it, and fall upon
it to kill and devour it, though in any other way they move
but exceeding slow.
[ the Bestiary of Xygag ]
quantum mechanic
These creatures are not native to this universe; they seem
to have strangely derived powers, and unknown motives.
quadruped
The woodlands and other regions are inhabited by multitudes
of four-legged creatures which cannot be simply classified.
They might not have fiery breath or deadly stings, but ad-
venturers have nevertheless met their end numerous times
due to the claws, hooves, or bites of such animals.
rust monster
These strange creatures live on a diet of metals. They
will turn a suit of armour into so much useless rusted
scrap in no time at all.
snickersnee
Ah, never shall I forget the cry,
or the shriek that shrieked he,
As I gnashed my teeth, and from my sheath
I drew my Snickersnee!
--Koko, Lord high executioner of Titipu
[ The Mikado, by Sir W.S. Gilbert ]
*soldier
sergeant
lieutenant
captain
The soldiers of Yendor are well-trained in the art of war,
many trained by the wizard himself. Some say the soldiers
are explorers who were unfortunate enough to be captured,
and put under the wizard's spell. Those who have survived
encounters with soldiers say they travel together in
platoons, and are fierce fighters. Because of the load of
their combat gear, however, one can usually run away from
them, and doing so is considered a wise thing.
tengu
The tengu was the most troublesome creature of Japanese
legend. Part bird and part man, with red beak for a nose
and flashing eyes, the tengu was notorious for stirring up
feuds and prolonging enmity between families. Indeed, the
belligerent tengus were supposed to have been man's first
instructors in the use of arms.
[Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)]
*unicorn
unicorn horn
Men have always sought the elusive unicorn, for the single
twisted horn which projected from its forehead was thought
to be a powerful talisman. It was said that the unicorn had
simply to dip the tip of its horn in a muddy pool for the
water to become pure. Men also believed that to drink from
this horn was a protection against all sickness, and that if
the horn was ground to a powder it would act as an antidote
to all poisons. Less than 200 years ago in France, the horn
of a unicorn was used in a ceremony to test the royal food
for poison.
Although only the size of a small horse, the unicorn is a
very fierce beast, capable of killing an elephant with a
single thrust from its horn. Its fleetness of foot also
makes this solitary creature difficult to capture. However,
it can be tamed and captured by a maiden. Made gentle by the
sight of a virgin, the unicorn can be lured to lay its head
in her lap, and in this docile mood, the maiden may secure
it with a golden rope.
[Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)]
*long worm
worm tooth
crysknife
[The crysknife] is manufactured in two forms from teeth tak-
en from dead sandworms. The two forms are "fixed" and "un-
fixed." An unfixed knife requires proximity to a human
body's electrical field to prevent disintegration. Fixed
knives are treated for storage. All are about 20 centime-
ters long.
[ Dune, by Frank Herbert ]
wizard of yendor
No one knows how old this mighty wizard is, or from whence
he came. It is known that, having lived a span far greater
than any normal man's, he grew weary of lesser mortals; and
so, spurning all human company, he forsook the dwellings of
men and went to live in the depths of the Earth. He took
with him the mystical artifact, the Amulet of Yendor, which
is said to hold great power indeed. Many have sought to find
the wizard and his treasure, but none have found him and
lived to tell the tale. Woe be to the incautious adventurer
who disturbs this mighty sorcerer!
xan
They sent their friend the mosquito [xan] ahead of them to
find out what lay ahead. "Since you are the one who sucks
the blood of men walking along paths," they told the mosqui-
to, "go and sting the men of Xibalba." The mosquito flew
down the dark road to the Underworld. Entering the house of
the Lords of Death, he stung the first person that he saw...
The mosquito stung this man as well, and when he yelled, the
man next to him asked, "Gathered Blood, what's wrong?" So
he flew along the row stinging all the seated men until he
knew the names of all twelve.
[ Popul Vuh, as translated by Ralph Nelson ]
*zombie
The zombi... is a soulless human corpse, still dead, but
taken from the grave and endowed by sorcery with a
mechanical semblance of life, -- it is a dead body which is
made to walk and act and move as if it were alive.
[ W. B. Seabrook ]
zruty
The zruty are wild and gigantic beings, living in the wil-
dernesses of the Tatra mountains.