Gollum
Gollum was a unique monster that previously appeared in SLASH, and also appears in EvilHack.
Contents
SLASH'EM
Gollum, h, served as the quest nemesis for the Hobbit quest in SLASH, where he guarded the Bell of Opening and the hobbit's quest artifact, The One Ring. He possessed two weapon attacks and a touch attack that could poison you, but lacked any means to steal back the quest artifact if you were able to obtain it without killing him.
The Hobbit quest and the other racial quests of SLASH became defunct when SLASH adopted the Wizard Patch along with starting races from NetHack 3.3.0 and became SLASH'EM. The data for Gollum can still be found within monst.c in every iteration of SLASH'EM and variants of the game.
EvilHack
Gollum, h, is introduced in EvilHack version 0.8.1, and is encountered in a minor role based on his appearances in his source material. The former hobbit Gollum lurks around a subterranean lake in the caverns underneath Goblin Town, where some optional treasures can be found - he is capable of swimming, and will wander around in search of corpses to eat and items to pick up, including a cursed ring of invisibility (aptly named The One Ring) that appears somewhere on the level. He has two weapon attacks, and can steal items from you with the latter.
Generation
Gollum is generated in one of six specific locations around the dungeon.
Strategy
Gollum is slow and has mediocre AC, but like the Goblin King above, he can surprise you and make life difficult if you are careless. Gollum can also become troublesome if he steals a powerful item or comes across the ring of invisibility hidden on the level.
Messages
Gollum will randomly use one of the following lines:
- "Precious, precious, precious! My Precious! O my Precious!"
- "Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!"
- "Never! Smeagol wouldn't hurt a fly!"
- "It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in it's nassty little pocketsess!"
- "We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us!"
- "And they doesn't taste very nice, does they, Precious!"
Monster stats by game
h Gollum 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 16 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d6, weapon 1d6, touch 1d2 (poison) |
|
| |
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | -5 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -6 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 500 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | Small |
| Resistances | Poison |
| Resistances conveyed | Poison |
|
Gollum:
| |
| h Gollum
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 6 |
| Attacks |
2d4 weapon physical, 1d2 weapon item steal |
| Base level | 5
|
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 30 |
| Alignment | -10 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 500 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | poison |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
Gollum:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack 0.8.2 - monst.c, line 567 |
Origin
In J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth setting, Gollum (also known as Sméagol) was originally a Stoorish hobbit during the middle periods of the Third Age. Sméagol's friend and close relative Déagol had offered him a cheap present on his birthday: later that day, Déagol was pulled into the water by a large fish while boating in the Gladden Fields, and found a gold ring. Sméagol demanded the ring as a birthday present and strangled Deágol when he refused, hiding his body afterward - thus, Sméagol became the fourth Ring-bearer. Sméagol kept his treasure secret and used it in malicious ways, slowly becoming corrupted by the ring; his peers began to avoid him, and in his state as a loner he muttered to himself and gurgled in his throat, which earn him the derisive moniker of gollum.
Eventually banished from his family and hobbit-hole, he wandered in loneliness up the River, using the invisibility of the Ring to survive by catching and eating raw fish. Some time later, he made his way to a cave in the Misty Mountains from which the stream ran - there, the Ring's malignant influence twisted his appearance and mind and prolonged his life well beyond its normal span, with the murder of Déagol haunting him the entire time. For over four hundred years, "Gollum" managed to live on a small island surrounded by a subterranean lake; he would prey upon any raw fish he caught from his small raft, along with goblins from the nearby Goblin-town. Meanwhile, he had developed a habit of talking to the Ring and reassuring himself that it turned up to him so it could be his "Birthday Present" and his "precious".
Gollum eventually became disfigured and grotesque in appearance and mentality: by the time he encountered Bilbo Baggins, he was afflicted with almost complete madness. The Hobbit details Bilbo's encounter with Gollum and subsequent theft of the Ring (which he may well have been aided in by the Ring itself). Gollum would eventually leave the caves in pursuit of Bilbo and the Ring, eventually meeting Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring - in events that span much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gollum leads Frodo into Mordor and betrays him to Shelob, and eventually he finally seizes the Ring from Frodo in Sammath Naur; in his euphoria, he loses his balance and fell into the fires of Mount Doom, destroying both him and the Ring for good.
Encyclopedia entry
"Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy
creature. I don't know where he came from, nor who or what he was.
He was Gollum - as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale
eyes in his thin face."
[ The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]
