Bat
B bat 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 2 |
| Attacks |
Bite 1d4 |
| Base level | 0 |
| Base experience | 6 |
| Speed | 22 |
| Base AC | 8 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 20 |
| Nutritional value | 20 |
| Size | Tiny |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A bat:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line1120 |
A bat, B, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. Bats are carnivorous animals that will likely be the first bat or bird a hero encounters, and like the others it is capable of flight and can be seen via infravision. Bats will flit erratically about the dungeon: there is a 1⁄3 chance of the monster moving in a random direction during each of its turns.[1]
A bat has a single bite attack.
Eating a bat corpse or tin will stun the hero for up to 30 (more) turns.[2] A hero polymorphed into a bat is intrinsically stunned for the duration of the polyself.[3]
Contents
Generation
Bats can generate in small groups, and may sometimes generate as peaceful towards neutral characters. A bat can grow up into a giant bat.
Bats appear among the random B that are part of the first quest monster class for Wizards and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Wizard quest.
Standard bats generated in Gehennom have slightly higher speed than normal.[4]
Strategy
Bats are not especially tough, but their very high speed can make hostile bats an annoyance, particularly in groups. Fleeing from bats is somewhat easier due to their erratic movement; if you stay in melee range, they will often also stay in melee range, making them easier targets as well.
History
The bat first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0. In these early versions, eating a bat corpse causes confusion, as the stun property is not yet implemented.
Origin
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera (/kˈaɪrəptɛrə/) that have forelimbs adapted into wings, with very long spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium - they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight, and are more agile in flight than most birds. Bats make up the second largest order of mammals after rodents, comprising about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with over 1,400 species - until as late as 2013, these were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating "megabats", and the echolocating "microbats".
Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges; their habitats are spread throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions. Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest primarily consume fruit or nectar; a few species feed on animals other than insects, such as the blood-drinking vampire bats. While not blind, many 'microbats' have small and poorly developed eyes (in contrast to 'megabats' possessing vision comparable to that of humans, if not better) - these 'microbats' (and a few 'megabats') are known to use echolocation to navigate and forage, often in total darkness. Using echolocation, these bats can determine how far away an object is, as well as its size, shape and density, and whatever direction it is moving in if any; microbats may resort to standard vision for orientation and while traveling between their roosting grounds and feeding grounds, as echolocation is effective only over short distances.
As flying mammals, bats are considered liminal beings in various traditions, and are associated with a range of traits such as death, darkness, and witchcraft (which occurs in Aztec and Indigenous American folklores), as well as good fortune, happiness and fertility (such as in China). In Western cultures, the bat is often a symbol of the night and its foreboding nature, and is often associated with fictional characters of the night, ranging from villainous vampires such as Count Dracula to heroes such as the DC Comics character Batman.
The speed of bats in NetHack being higher if they are generated in Gehennom likely originates from the phrase "like a bat [on its way] out of hell".
Variants
In the biodiversity patch, polymorphing into a bat simulates the use of echolocation by real-life bats.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, bats appear among the random B that are part of the first quest monster class for Necromancers and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Necromancer quest.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, at least two bats are generated on the fifth level of the Ruins of Moria at level creation.
Encyclopedia entry
A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn
as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window
which had been left healthfully open. It then proceeded to
circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual
with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually
gifted of God's creatures. Show me a bat, says the old
proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in
some kind of a home.
[ A Pelican at Blandings, by P. G. Wodehouse ]
