Corpseless

Corpseless monsters are those that do not leave corpses or globs:

• x grid bugs
• y lights
• e spheres, except floating eyes
• v vortices
• ' golems, except for flesh golems (although most leave characteristic item drops)
• i manes and i lemures
• Z ghouls
• W barrow wights
• L liches
• W Nazgul
• Z skeletons
•   ghosts and shades
• @ Ashikaga Takauji
• @ Dark One
• & Minion of Huhetotl
• & Nalzok
• @ Thoth Amon
• E elementals, except stalkers
• A angelic beings
• & demons, except the Riders

Such corpses simply cannot be created in a normal game.

Several monsters, such as purple worms and trappers, can swallow and digest monsters, including corpseless monster. If you are polymorphed into such a monster, digesting a corpseless monster yields no nutrition and confers no intrinsics.. This breaks foodless conduct but preserves vegan and vegetarian conducts.

Several types of undead monsters revert to ordinary corpses when destroyed. For example, a kobold zombie does not leave a kobold zombie corse, but rather an old and tainted kobold corpse. These monsters are:

• Z zombies
• M mummies
• V vampires

History

In NetHack 3.4.3, puddings, oozes, and slimes left ordinary corpses rather than globs, enabling pudding farming.

In NetHack 3.4.3, it was possible to wish for a corpse of a corpseless monster in wizard mode by using the form "<monstername> corpse". This no longer works as of NetHack 3.6.6.

Prior to NetHack 3.6.2, if a mimic concealed itself as a corpse, it could pick a corpseless monster type.

Prior to NetHack 3.6.2, it was possible to create a corpse of a corpseless monster by setting up a level full of monsters, going up one level, and then making a monster fall into a hole.