Baalzebub
& Baalzebub 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 45 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 41 |
| Base experience | 2333 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | -5 |
| Base MR | 85 |
| Alignment | 20 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1500 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | Fire, poison |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
Baalzebub:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2713 |
Baalzebub, &, is a demon prince who appears in NetHack. He is guaranteed to appear in Gehennom, and is generally encountered after Asmodeus.
Generation
Under normal circumstances, Baalzebub will be encountered in his lair, situated in a passage at the very back next to the stairs. The lair is eligible to leave bones.
Strategy
As with Asmodeus before him, Baalzebub will appear before you once you attract his attention; if you were not wielding Excalibur upon entering the lair, he will start out peaceful and demand a portion of your visible gold as payment for safe passage. If you were wielding Excalibur at the time of level creation, refuse the bribe when he asks, or else he fails to see where you are, Baalzebub will become hostile.[1][2][3][4]
Giving Baalzebub the desired gold will cause him to disappear from the level, allowing you to continue forward; this is the ideal strategy if you are in a hurry or else want to conserve resources. As always, unwield Excalibur or Demonbane before walking down to his lair if you plan to pay him off.
Baalzebub is quite easy to defeat, especially compared to Asmodeus; while he is almost as magic-resistant, Baalzebub's primary methods of attack are his poisonous sting and stunning gaze attack, which can be easily countered. Blindfolding yourself protects from his somewhat annoying gaze, and most players will have poison resistance by the time they encounter him, or else have other ways to render strength loss a non-issue. Fighting him on the up staircase with your best weapons is usually enough.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Demonbane will now have the same effect as Excalibur on Baalzebub and other princes when wielded.Origin
Like the other demon rulers, Baalzebub is adapted from Dungeons & Dragons, which uses the spelling Baalzebul and is in turn inspired by Christian demonology.
Beelzebub was originally the name of a Philistine god formerly worshipped in Ekron, whose name was associated with the Canaanite god Baal; he was later adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon. Baalzebub is known in Christian demonology as one of the seven princes of Hell; in some predominantly-Christian theological sources, Beelzebub is another name for Satan. The Dictionnaire Infernal describes Beelzebub as a being capable of flying, known as the "Lord of the Flyers", or the "Lord of the Flies". This is considered to be the result of mistranslating of the Hebrew Ba'alzevuv (Greek Beelzebub), and as the encyclopedia entry hints, the name may have been mis-transliterated in turn.
In Dungeons & Dragons, Baalzebul appears as a giant slug-like creature which trails feces and garbage wherever he goes. Flies crawl over his body at all times, and his arms are tiny and malformed. He also has a dark-skinned humanoid form with compound insect eyes, which is said to be his initial form prior to being transformed as a punishment by Asmodeus. Other media generally depicts Beelzebub as a demonic fly; in NetHack, this is reflected by both his default tile as well as the fly-like shape of his lair. The encyclopedia entry comes from the novel Lord of the Flies, named for Baalzebub.
Variants
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Baalzebub is demoted to demon lord status, and is one of the four first-tier demon lords that can appear in Gehennom.
His stats have been adjusted slightly; his speed has been increased to 12, his bite attack's damage has been changed to 4d6, and he gains a 4d6 clerical casting attack. He is also made infravisible.
Encyclopedia entry
The "lord of the flies" is a translation of the Hebrew Ba'alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek). It has been suggested that it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which gave us this pungent and suggestive name of the Devil, a devil whose name suggests that he is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic...
