Kangaroo
z kangaroo 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 15 |
| Attacks |
Kick 2d8, Kick 2d8, Bite 1d6 |
| Base level | 10 |
| Base experience | 286 |
| Speed | 24 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1000 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A kangaroo:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line1918 |
A kangaroo, z is a type of monster that appears in SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM, SpliceHack, and Hack'EM. It is a herbivorous animal that is the strongest of the zouthern animals, with two kick attacks and a bite attack.
Generation
Randomly-generated kangaroos can appear in small groups.
Strategy
Kangaroos can be quite a threat through the mid-game and even into the late game: they hit very hard, are twice as fast as an unhasted hero, and tend to appear in small groups. Worse, they can appear earlier than one might expect, often popping up around the time a character may want to find the alignment quests. They are particularly deadly to characters with poor AC: their kick attacks have high damage, but the damage spread makes it possible to dampen reliably with a solid AC of around -8 or better.
As for weaknesses, their 6 AC is unimpressive, and like all zouthern animals they lack any MR score. Group combat tactics combined with ranged attacks and spells that can slow or immobilize them (such as the wand or spell of sleep) are the best bets for a character fighting off a group of kangaroos. In the NetHack 3.4.3 variants such as SLASH'EM, Elbereth is the best first response for an unprepared player; in post-3.4.3 variants such as SpliceHack and Hack'EM, it still works on a defensive level, but is best combined with the aforementioned ranged attacks while moving off the engraving.
Origin
"Kangaroo" is a term that refers to four species of marsupials from the macropod family, and is typically used to describe the largest species from this family: the red kangaroo, the antilopine kangaroo, the eastern grey kangaroo, and the western grey kangaroo. Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea, and have large, powerful hind legs, large feet adapted for leaping, a long muscular tail for balance, and a small head.
Kangaroos are the only large mammals that move around by hopping on two legs - the comfortable hopping speed for a red kangaroo is about 20–25 km/h (12–16 mph), but speeds of up to 70 km/h (43 mph) can be attained over short distances, while it can sustain a speed of 40 km/h (25 mph) for nearly 2 km (1.2 mi). The kangaroo also has specialized teeth that are rare among mammals due to its grazing habits: its incisors are able to crop grass close to the ground, and its molars chop and grind the grass. Since the two sides of the lower jaw are not joined or fused together, the lower incisors are farther apart, giving the kangaroo a wider bite.
The kangaroo is important to both Australian culture and the national image, and serves as one of the primary symbols of Australia: A kangaroo appears on the Australian coat of arms and on some of its currency, and is used as a logo for some of Australia's most well-known organizations, such as Qantas.
