NetHack/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Important Note: Spoilers are easily accessible via the wiki and IRC, but there is always the difference between knowing of something and experiencing it for the first time; even so, in the spirit of being as new player friendly as possible, spoiler tags are used on this page. The NetHack community defines "spoilers" as not just including plotline spoilers, but gameplay-related ones as well. The plot itself usually has far less direct impact on the game than its various mechanics, so if you wish to experience as much of the challenge as possible, read with caution and mind the spoiler tags and links.

As a long-running roguelike, NetHack has a very relatively loose plot to accommodate the high levels of randomization. That said, there are at least a few characters that will always appear in every game, all listed below.

You

Behold, Our Hero.

It is written in the book of (god X):

After the creation, the cruel god Moloch rebelled against the authority of Marduk the Creator. Moloch stole from Marduk the most powerful of all the artifacts of the gods, the Amulet of Yendor, and he hid it in the dark cavities of Gehennom, the Under World, where he now lurks, and bides his time.

Your god (god X) seeks to possess the Amulet, and with it to gain deserved ascendance over the other gods.

You, a newly trained (title X), have been heralded from birth as the instrument of (god X). You are destined to recover the Amulet for your deity, or die in the attempt. Your hour of destiny has come. For the sake of us all:

Go bravely with (god X)!

—The introductory text shown after creating your NetHack character.

...Yes, you. Now quit gawking at the screen and pay attention!

In the context of NetHack, you can either mean "you, the adventurer/player character/hero/etc." or "you, the physical player"; the former is generally preferred for the in-game character and will be used as such for this section.

You can be any one of 13 character roles from one of five races (human, elf, dwarf, gnome, or orc) and three alignments (lawful, neutral or chaotic). The available race-and-alignment combinations are dependent on the role you pick.

Tropes listed here apply to the player character across all "incarnations"; for a look at the actual roles races and alignments, along with any consistent tropes they exhibit, see the setting page.

Tropes exhibited by you include:
  • All There in the Manual: The Guidebook that comes with local installs gives more context about why you're there in the Mazes of Menace.
  • Big Eater: Unless you're doing specific diet-based conducts, you'll likely be going through a lot of corpses by the time you're even close to a third of the way done.
  • Bottomless Bladder: You never have to sleep, and can recover HP and magical energy without explicitly resting, provided you're not carrying too much.
    • Wizard Needs Food Badly: You still need to eat, all that said, though you can circumvent even most of those processes if you're creative and willing enough.
  • The Chew Toy: You may become this if your luck (not always including your Luck, mind) goes badly enough.
  • The Chosen One: As indicated by the quoted introductory text, and it would certainly explain the strange dreams you've had according to the Guidebook.
  • Critical Existence Failure: You're still just as capable at 1 HP as you are at maximum (unless you're heavily encumbered), but the second you hit 0... DYWYPI?
  • Featureless Protagonist: Played with. You can pick your role, race, gender, and alignment - each role also has distinct starting armor, weapons and the like - but between NetHack being an ASCII game and a not-very-plot-heavy one, what you actually look like (and any other characterization not given by the game itself) is entirely left to your imagination. Using tiles can also guide your impression of your appearance, depending on the set you choose.
  • Final Death: Any death you suffer in-game will be this... unless you're in wizard/explore mode or have an amulet of life saving.
  • Glory Seeker: One of your primary motivations for entering the Dungeons of Doom, according to the introduction in the Guide.
  • Guile Hero(ine): Even at your most Lawful Good, you'll still be pulling quite a few mean tricks out of your hat in order to achieve your objective.
  • Mission from God: Your primary motivation, as stated by the text at the start of a game. Succeed and you Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence as a demigod.
  • Regenerating Health: Occurs passively, depending on your nutrition and encumberment levels.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Specific interactions on the final level of the game reveal that you are War of the Four Horsemen.

Who do you think you are, War?

The Oracle

The Oracle is a unique human monster who resides on her own special level, which she calls Delphi. She is guaranteed to appear in every game (outside of shenanigans involving bones files), and can provide the player consultations for a fee.

Tropes exhibited by the Oracle include:
  • Classical Mythology: She's explicitly based on the Pythia, the priestess who presided over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and even welcomes you to "Delphi" when you first arrive in her room. The random messages generated on the level while outside the Oracle's room also allude to the Oracle of Jupiter at Dodona ("You hear a strange wind") and the Oracle of Æsculapius at Epidaurus ("You hear snoring snakes").
  • Mad Oracle: Downplayed. At worst, her minor consultations are a bit obtuse, and even that is justified since her purpose is to reveal various mechanics of the game to the player. One of the random messages that occur while you are elsewhere on her level also mentions "conclusive ravings".
  • Shout-Out: In addition to the Greek Oracles, she is also partially based on The Internet Oracle. Both of them were even introduced in the same year (1989)!
  • Trial and Error Gameplay: The Oracle's purpose is to help avert this.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential/Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Attacking the Oracle in melee will get you showered with magic missiles, which can be blocked via magic resistance. Attacking or killing her is generally a bad idea anyway, as it will rob you of the ability to get consultations for the rest of the game, on top of murder penalties for the latter. There is no penalty if a high-enough level pet attacks her, and the magic missile shower is a passive attack that only triggers in response to your melee attacks - meaning that said pet can kill her quite easily.

Croesus

The owner of all the vaults scattered across the Dungeons of Doom, and the employer of its guards. He also commands a pretty sizable army of mercenaries, and has a chance to be found waiting in Fort Ludios.

Tropes exhibited by Croesus and his guards include:
  • Badass Normal: Croesus is effectively a normal human... a human who has a solid base AC of 0 and is damn skilled with a zweihander.
  • Blade of Fearsome Size: Croesus is always generated with a two-handed sword.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: If any of his guards finds you in one of his vaults, they'll promptly leave if you are unable to speak at the moment. You can also fool them simply by saying you're Croesus, regardless of your actual gender (Kroisos or Creosote also work). How do they not recognize their own boss!?
  • King Mook: Of a sort - he's generated on a throne like most other examples in the game, and commands legions of soldiers.
  • Orcus on His Throne: Subverted - he starts "asleep" and occupying the throne square in his dwelling as with any other generated throne room, but the moment you enter the branch, the alarms will sound and he'll immediately spring into action, ready to fight well before you've reached him.
  • Properly Paranoid:
    • Croesus has several enclaves of monsters you'll have to fight through to get to him, and a set of alarms will trigger to wake up everyone on the floor the second you step through the portal - which is entirely sensible for someone who owns as much as he does. Said alarm will continually trigger with each entrance until you've dispatched him. Even after all that, you'll have to deal with traps laid all around the treasury past his throne room. Admittedly, the landmines might be a little overkill.
    • Every floor with a vault has it blocked off from the rest of the dungeon, though it's possible to dig your way to one. Some floors have a hidden door with the phrase "ad aerarium" (Latin "to the treasure") in front of it; this door hides a closet with a vault-connected teleporter inside... or, on deeper levels, a level teleporter that sends you upward. Similar closets marked with "Vlad was here" have trap doors behind them instead.
    • His guards will attempt to kill you if you claim to be Croesus after killing him.
  • Rich Bitch: Those vaults you find in the dungeon? All his. He also has truckloads of gold along with hidden caches of gems in his fortress.
  • Skippable Boss: Not only can you skip Fort Ludios completely, but the portal to the branch may not even appear (though the branch itself technically exists in every game).
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The guards regard you as one if you take certain actions prior to them entering the vault. Eating a mimic corpse while hallucinating turns you into an orange, and the guard will wonder who left one in here if they show up while you're in this state, immediately leaving after.

Quest nemesis

Each role has a specific "nemesis" monster that has taken possession of your people's sacred artifact, and must be defeated in order to thwart their evil ambitions and get it back. Your quest nemesis also holds the Bell of Opening, which is required to access the Amulet of Yendor.

Tropes specific to any or all of the quest nemeses include:

Medusa

A boss that needs very little introduction. You must pass through her islands on the path to the Castle.

Tropes specific to this incarnation of Medusa include:

Spoiler Characters

Demon Lords and Princes

The demon lords and princes of Gehennom are among some of the biggest major obstacles you'll potentially face on your way down through the literal hellscape.

Tropes specific to the demon lords and princes of NetHack include:
  • Contractual Boss Immunity: All demon princes are immune to poison and death rays.
  • Demon Lords and Archdevils
  • No Body Left Behind: None of them leave corpses upon their death.
  • Public Domain Character: All of them were adapted from Dungeons & Dragons, which in turn adapted them from various literary sources. In addition, NetHack is a free game, meaning that the DevTeam doesn't profit off them anyhow.
  • Skippable Bosses: Played With - you technically don't have to fight any of them. Even so, you'll probably want to dispose of as many of the guaranteed bosses as possible to make life easier, and in a few cases the rewards may be worthwhile (primarily Orcus's wand of death).
    • Asmodeus and Baalzebub in particular can potentially be bribed to leave you alone, and Juiblex and Yeenoghu can be summoned early via same-race sacrifice (though this is normally inadvisable unless you're chaotic - demons summoned by a chaotic hero this way are peaceful). Of the guaranteed demon rulers - Asmodeus, Baalzebub, Juiblex and Orcus - Orcus is the only one that cannot be bribed or summoned, and it is still possible to bypass him to a degree. The ones not already named will only appear if summoned via the above method, or else called in by another sufficiently powerful demon and/or spellcaster - of that bunch, Geryon can also be bribed.
  • Teleport Interdiction: Demon lairs prevent you from teleporting freely around the level.
  • Teleport Spam/You Will Not Evade Me: All the demon rulers are covetous and will continually warp near you - funnily enough, this includes ones made peaceful through chaotic same-race sacrifice, so be especially careful around them!
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Stoning and disintegration can instantly defeat them all, up to even Demogorgon! If you happen to have a source of either available, that is...

Asmodeus

Asmodeus is likely to be the first of the demon rulers you'll encounter, and he's probably the most fearsome of the quartet. Asmodeus awaits in a square segmented room next to the level's downstair, situated at the center of a maze.

Tropes specific to this version of Asmodeus include:
  • An Ice Person: He has a special cold ray attack - at a distance, it's functionally identical to the cone of cold spell, but in melee range it does upwards of 180 points in devastating cold damage, which is potentially enough to kill all but the most powerful characters in one strike. And it completely bypasses magic resistance and reflection! Fortunately, half spell damage can blunt the impact, and cold resistance completely nullifies the attack.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: Asmodeus will demand a payment for safe passage upon noticing your presence and warping to you (unless you're wielding Excalibur or Demonbane, which will turn him hostile if you enter the level wielding them). Given that you likely have a bag by that point, it's easy to stash most of the gold you actually care about (or donate it to the priest in the Valley of the Dead beforehand) and simply let Asmodeus make off with as much or as little of the rest as he demands, allowing you to continue on unharmed.
  • Character Alignment: Lawful Evil.
  • Grave Humor: A possible epitaph for randomly-generated graves reads "Postman, please note forwarding address: Gehennom, Asmodeus's Fortress, fifth lemure on the left".
  • Weapon of Choice: He always generates with a wand of cold and a wand of fire, and the latter is likely meant to represent his Ruby Rod from 1st edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Baalzebub

Baalzebub is the next of the demon rulers whose lair you'll encounter. Like Asmodeus, he waits in the center of a maze - Baalzebub's lair is fly-shaped, with the demon prince himself waiting at the back end of the "fly".

Tropes specific to this version of Baalzebub include:
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: Baalzebub will demand a payment for safe passage upon noticing your presence and warping to you (unless you're wielding Excalibur or Demonbane, which will turn him hostile if you enter the level wielding them). As with Asmodeus, you can stash most of your gold and accept Baalzebub's bribe, causing him to leave you be while you progress on relatively unharmed.
  • Brown Note: Baalzebub's gaze can scramble the player's senses and stun them.
  • Character Alignment: Lawful Evil.

Juiblex

Usually the third guaranteed demon ruler encountered in Gehennom, Juiblex the Faceless Lord is an original creation of Dungeons & Dragons; in NetHack it is a slime-like creature whose lair is a murky swamp, and it can engulf targets and spit acidic venom at them. Being engulfed by it is infectious - and usually fatal.

Tropes specific to this version of Juiblex include:
  • Blob-of-Muck Monster: Juiblex sort of mixes both tropes, leaning towards the mucky end of the scale with a swamp dwelling to match. It's also amorphous enough to flow under doors, though this is generally only observable if it appears or is lured into an area with doors - and it generally prefers warping around to moving regardless.
  • Character Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
  • Mighty Glacier: Juiblex is incredibly slow, with a character at normal speed getting four moves to its one on average - but it makes up for that with -7 AC, solid magical resistances and a powerful engulfing attack, and its "covetous warp" ability ensures it'll get to you.
    • Weaksauce Weakness: Unfortunately for Juiblex, engulfing you also puts you in the best position to kill him, such that even far lower-level characters can manage it. Zap a wand of digging while inside, and you'll reduce him to 1 HP as you tear your way out. Just be sure to cure that sickness afterward...
  • Poisonous Person: Acidic and poisonous - check. Literally spits acid - check. Induces disease in someone by engulfing them? Che-eeech!
  • Swamps Are Evil: His entire lair is one full of hostile jellies, slimes, and other amorphous monsters such as mimics. There's even a skull-shaped 'island'!

Orcus

Often the last of the demon rulers you're guaranteed to encounter, he of the throne-slouch has an entire "town" as his lair, complete with abandoned shops and an unstaffed temple to Moloch. Orcus himself awaits on the downstair and always appears carrying a wand of death (clearly a stand in for his trademark "Wand of Orcus").

Tropes specific to this version of Orcus include:
  • Beware My Stinger Tail: Orcus is described as possessing a poisonous stinging tail, adapted from his Dungeons & Dragons appearances, and he uses it as part of his attacks.
  • Character Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
  • Orcus on His Throne: Subverted, funnily enough - Orcus simply waits for you on the downstair to the next floor, instead of in a specialized room.
  • Weapon of Choice: His wand of death is the only guaranteed one in the game, and is desired by many players for dealing with certain opponents, including Big Bad Rodney. As most players have a safeguard against death rays by that point, the challenge isn't as much in killing Orcus as making sure he doesn't empty the wand on you before you do.

Yeenoghu

Yeenoghu is the vicious and imposing demon lord of gnolls, and one of the optional bosses that can be summoned by other demons or the Wizard of Yendor.

Tropes specific to this version of Yeenoghu include:
  • Character Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
  • Gods Need Prayer Badly: Subverted - as his encyclopedia entry indicates, he's still alive and kicking even after his followers were wiped out.
  • Magic Missile: Yeenoghu has this as a melee-range spell.
  • Stun Lock: Yeenoghu's melee attacks can induce paralysis, potentially spelling doom in an instant.
  • Touch of Death: Yeenoghu was capable of this for a time, due to what a member of the Dev Team referred to as "a ludicrous bug". The Riders were introduced in version 3.1.0, with the code that handles their special attacks inserted carelessly after the code that handles Yeenoghu's confusion attack. The consequence was that, after Yeenoghu used this attack, code execution would proceed into the section that handles Death's touch - three guesses what happened next. Thought to be intentional by source-divers for years, Pat Rankin - the DevTeam member in question - was made aware of the bug during a discussion; the upcoming version at the time was NetHack 3.4.0, and he would fix it in time for release.
  • Weapon of Choice: Yeenoghu is always generated with a standard flail, meant to represent his trademark Dungeons & Dragons weapon.

Geryon

Geryon, the Monster of Fraud, is a man-faced serpent monster that serves as one of the optional bosses summoned by other demons or the Wizard of Yendor.

Tropes specific to this version of Geryon include:
  • Beware My Stinger Tail: Has one at the end of his serpentine body, and uses it to attack.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: Geryon is the only summonable demon prince who may demand payment for safe passage, and bribing him works the same as with Baalzebub and Asmodeus.
  • Character Alignment: Lawful Evil.
  • Classical Mythology: Geryon is named for the multi-bodied Greek monster, though his appearance is derived from Dungeons & Dragons, which in turn adapted it from The Divine Comedy.
  • Mighty Glacier: On paper, anyway - he has the same low movement speed as Juiblex, but also possesses decent AC at -3 and high magic resistances. In practice, however, most players are well prepared to deal with worse and likely already have an Acquired Poison Immunity, along with good armor of their own and a source of speed. Should Geryon appear, he can usually be hacked apart before he gets a chance to strike.
  • Reptiles Are Abhorrent: He is reptilian in physique and generally unpleasant.
  • Snake People: Geryon is depicted in the default tileset as a human-faced snake monster with hairy arms, a la Aligheri.

Dispater

The Lord of Dis and Duke of the Iron City, Dispater is one of the bosses that can be summoned by other demons or the Wizard of Yendor.

Tropes specific to this version of Dispater include:
  • Artificial Stupidity: Dispater always generates with a wand of striking, which is ineffective against a mass majority of players that can reach the areas where he might even be summoned - force bolts in general roll against the target's AC, and a minimum AC of -10 ensures the bolts will never land. Monster AI in NetHack functions such that if you encounter Dispater, he will likely waste turns emptying the wand at you first - barring serious misfortune, your AC should be well below the given threshold. This has the overall effect of making Dispater less immediately dangerous - but once the wand runs out, he'll lean more on his far nastier arsenal of spells, providing an incentive for players to finish him quickly.
  • Character Alignment: Lawful Evil.
  • Classical Mythology: Named for a Roman god of the underworld.
  • Squishy Wizard: Of a sort - Dispater has the least impressive AC among demon rulers at a measly -2 - for reference, the barbed devil and foocubi have the poorest AC among Gehennom's denizens at 0, and the horned devil (the lowest-difficulty monster that can appear in Gehennom) has better AC than any of them at -5! However, he more than makes up for it with a strong weapon attack and nasty spellcasting.
  • Weapon of Choice: Spawns with a wand of striking, which is a reference to the powerful rod he appears with in Dungeons & Dragons (though it's sadly much less powerful here).

Demogorgon

The self-proclaimed-and-more-than-willing-to-back-it-up Prince of Demons, Demogorgon is the most powerful of the summonable demon rulers.

Tropes specific to this version of Demogorgon include:
  • Character Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
  • The Dreaded: Demogorgon has developed this reputation amongst players, and with good reason. His tentacle attacks can induce terminal illness, and if you're too slow to cure it, the next hit he lands will cut your lifespan even shorter! Additionally, he's capable of summoning nasties, destroying armor and cursing or un-blessing your items like most hostile spellcasters - usually including the blessed unicorn horn you were relying on to cure status problems. Yeenoghu, Orcus, Juiblex, and the Wizard of Yendor can summon Demogorgon, and the mere threat of him appearing is enough incentive for players to dispose of these bosses as quick as they can.
  • Multiple Head Case: As in Dungeons & Dragons, his tile depicts him as two-headed.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Fortunately, Demogorgon isn't immune to stoning or disintegration. Unfortunately, players aren't likely to have a pet black dragon or a spare footrice corpse on hand when he does appear, unless they were actively seeking him out. In the event he does appear, the latter is usually the best method (usually via wish or reverse genocide), but you'd better make it fast!

Vlad the Impaler

A boss that also needs very little introduction. He guards the Candelabrum of Invocation.

Tropes specific to this incarnation of Vlad the Impaler include:
  • Anticlimax Boss: Pre-3.6.1, Vlad was considered an absolute joke. Emphasis on was.
  • Adaptational Badass: Subjected to this in most (if not all) variants of NetHack. Many of these variants came out prior to NetHack 3.6.1, which would upgrade Vlad proper - reversing his Badass Decay and turning him into one of the fastest and most fearsome bosses in the game.
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: Lives in a three-tier one.
  • Interface Spoiler: Vlad's presence in the game is hinted at early by closets with the phrase "Vlad was here" written in dust in front of them. (Those closets have trap doors hidden within them.) Then again, it's Vlad - there's not that much to spoil.
  • King Mook: Rules over vampires, and is found with several vampires and vampire lords at the top floor of his tower.
  • Level Drain: Capable of draining levels with his bite like all vampires - and as fast as he moves, you'll find yourself losing quite a few unless you have a resistance or beat him quickly.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Hits hard and often? Check. Hits real fast? Check. Drains health and even levels? Boy oh boy, check.
  • Public Domain Character
  • Skippable Boss: Was one until version 3.1.0. The Candelabrum of Invocation was introduced in that version and given to him, making him a mandatory boss in all future versions.
  • Teleport Spam/You Will Not Evade Me: Like many other bosses, Vlad is covetous and will continually warp near you - his speed allows him to warp back and forth between the stairs and your position repeatedly each turn, usually tagging you at least a couple of times and potentially draining levels in the process.

The Wizard of Yendor

The primary Big Bad of the game, and the one who seeks to make use of the Amulet of Yendor's power for unknown ends. The Wizard of Yendor also holds the Book of the Dead.

Tropes exhibited by Rodney include:
  • Bandit Mook: Rodney has a chance to steal quest artifacts, the Amulet of Yendor, and the Book of the Dead from you upon a successful attack if any of them are in your open inventory.
  • Big Bad Triumvirate: Forms one with the High Priest of Moloch and Vlad the Impaler. Also technically forms a Big Bad Quartet with your quest nemesis: they, Rodney and Vlad guard the three items required to obtain the Amulet of Yendor, held by the High Priest.
  • Doppelganger Attack: He has a unique spell called "double trouble", which summons a clone of him disguised in the form of another monster - only one such clone can be present at a time, and may even carry a plastic dupe of the Amulet of Yendor.
  • Enemy Summoner: The Wizard can summon nasties like many other high-level spellcasters. He can continue to surround you with monsters even while harassing you remotely. He can also use the "double trouble" spell to duplicate himself, disguising the duplicate as another monster.
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: He has several towers in Gehennom, only one of which actually has him inside. It can only be reached through a portal in one of the "fake" towers, which are modeled after his dwelling in older versions of the game.
  • Fan Nickname: Affectionately called "Rodney".
  • Final Boss: Served as the final obstacle of the original Hack from version 1.02 until NetHack 3.1.0; in versions after that, he is effectively the last boss you're guaranteed to fight before the Astral Plane.
  • Interface Spoiler: Certain messages generated by fortune cookies, crystal balls, headstones, etc., indicate that the Wizard is expecting you.
  • Resurrective Immortality: No matter how many times you drop Rodney, he'll keep coming back and heckling you all the way until the Astral Plane.
  • Sdrawkcab Name: The Wizard of Yendor is referred to as Rodney for this reason.
  • Sorcerous Overlord: A powerful wizard with a massive army - the in-game encyclopedia indicates he had a hand in training and possibly brainwashing them.
  • Super-Persistent Predator/Teleport Spam/You Will Not Evade Me: Not only is he covetous like other bosses, but the Wizard of Yendor can and will follow you to the ends of the earth. No matter how often or which way(s) you kill him, he'll continue to plague you with misfortune from behind the scenes, occasionally reviving and/or teleporting directly to you for another round, until you reach the Astral Plane.
  • Touch of Death: One of the many spells in Rodney's arsenal.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Rodney is easily dispatched by a wand of death. But it won't put him down permanently, and he can gain resistance to it if he steals certain quest artifacts from you.

Spoiler Characters

The Riders

Also known as the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Death, Pestilence and Famine await players who successfully make it to the last of the Elemental Planes - the Astral Plane. Interacting with them or applying certain other items on the Astral Plane reveals that you are the Fourth Horseman, War.

Tropes exhibited by the Riders include:
  • Contractual Boss Immunity: All three of the Riders cannot be turned to stone and have every elemental resistance, along with full monster magic resistance. They are also capable of reviving from most forms of Instant Kill that they aren't outright immune to; disintegration causes them to re-integrate instantly, and if killed in any other way they have a 1⁄3 chance of reviving each turn, starting 12 turns after. Their corpses cannot be polymorphed and will instantly revive if you try to dispose of them: trying to eat the corpses or else engulf and digest them will instantly kill the unfortunate schmuck in question and leave the Rider unharmed.
    • Subverted with regards to Death Rays, which can instantly drop both Pestilence and Famine, though as above Resurrective Immortality ensures they won't be down for long. Death, on the other hand, is healed by them.
  • Cool Horse: Averted. Despite their name, none of the Riders actually ride anything - this is justified, as hostiles riding other monsters has yet to be implemented.
  • Elemental Embodiment: The Riders are referred to with agender pronouns ("they" or more commonly "it") and seem to serve as this for their respective aspects, due to their individual traits; additionally, their Character Alignment is neutral, much like other Elemental Embodiments and "force of nature"-style creatures in-game.
  • Finger-Poke of Doom: The Riders' touch attacks are among the most lethal in the game, and they use them twice per attacking turn; the second attack is converted into a stunning touch if the first one lands.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: The Riders can actively shove aside and displace other monsters in their path to get to you.
  • Glass Cannon: Subverted - they have a solid base AC of -5, but that's not likely to be trouble for any player good enough to reach the Astral Plane to begin with, and their powerful touch attacks are several factors more worrisome. However, the highest roll possible for their maximum HP is a measly 80, meaning that if you can hit them reliably with non-elemental damage you'll bring them down quickly.
  • Resurrective Immortality: The three Riders can revive from their corpses at any moment after you kill them - you, on the other hand, aren't so lucky. It's possible to get rid of them "permanently", but very, very difficult to do so.
  • Skippable Bosses: It's more than possible to make your way to the high altar without encountering any of your brethren, but you'll have to fight at least one of them if your search takes too long (especially on "grand tours" where your desired altar is the last one you find).
  • Walking Spoiler: They're exclusively encountered on the Astral Plane, which as the last level lands them solidly in this territory.
  • You Will Not Evade Me: An unusual variant. Zapping them or their corpses with a wand of teleportation only has a 1/13 change of actually getting them away—and the rest of the time, they'll end up on a square next to you and revive from their corpse if applicable.
Tropes specific to Pestilence include:
  • Plaguemaster: Pestilence's touch attack can render you seriously ill, which leaves you a limited amount of turns to cure it before killing you outright.
  • Poisonous Person: The incarnation of this trope, to the point that they're even healed by potions of sickness (which they helpfully generate with a small stock of).
  • Revive Kills Zombie: Healing spells actually hurt Pestilence, though the monster magic resistance they possess (i.e. 100, which is the most possible) will always halve the damage. Healing potions can have the same effect, but Pestilence will completely resist those unless they are severely level-drained first.
Tropes specific to Famine include:
  • Wizard Needs Food Badly: Famine can inflict this on you by draining your nutrition with their touch attacks. Fainting of hunger on the Astral Plane is a surprisingly good way to end up dead.
Tropes specific to Death include:
  • Canon Immigrant: Of a sort. The 3.6.0 update incorporates a tribute to Terry Pratchett, which among other things added Discworld novels to the game and gives Death his trademark style of text; additional Easter Egg messages also occur if you chat to him while carrying a novel.
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: As of 3.6.0, he has his trademark full-capital speech from Discworld.
  • Shout-Out: One of many to the late Sir Terry Pratchett. He even gives a special message if spoken to while carrying a Discworld novel.
  • Touch of Death: But of course, he is Death. As such, his touch is far more potent than the melee-range spell used by other enemy casters, and can drain your maximum HP as well even with magic resistance.

The Gods

There are 3 gods in the pantheons corresponding to each of the 13 roles (minus the Priest, whose pantheon is chosen at random after character creation). The "main" set of 36 gods are all roughly interchangeable with one another - as only one pantheon will be a factor in terms of any given playthrough - but each alignment's god still has different standards for their servants. In addition, there are other gods mentioned alongside them, usually as part of the game's backstory.

Tropes exhibited by the gods of NetHack include:

Marduk

The creator god mentioned in the introductory text at the start of each game... which is about the extent of their involvement.

Tropes exhibited by Marduk include:

Moloch

The only unambiguously evil deity of the bunch, and one of the few unaligned gods. He is responsible for stealing the Amulet of Yendor from the chief creator god, Marduk, and spiriting it away to Gehennom. His high priest keeps the Amulet of Yendor in their temple.

Tropes exhibited by Moloch include:
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  1. ↑ The statue is technically of a knight player monster named Perseus, but is very clearly meant to represent him.
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