Panther

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A panther, f, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a large, quadrupedal feline that is carnivorous and can be seen via infravision like all felines.

A panther has two claw attacks and a bite attack.

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.

Panthers have infravision.

Generation

Randomly generated panthers are always created hostile.

Strategy

Panthers are slightly stronger than lynxes and also possess 15 speed, making them hazardous for a hero in the early game that has a lower level and/or poor AC.

History

The panther first appears in NetHack-- 3.1.3, and makes its vanilla NetHack debut in NetHack 3.3.0.

Origin

The panther, or Panthera, is a genus of big cats within the family Felidae, and one of two in the subfamily Pantherinae. It contains the largest living members of the cat family, with five living species: the jaguar, leopard, lion, snow leopard, and tiger. Most members of Panthera are native to equatorial regions. "Panther" can refer to any of these "big cats", with the usage being somewhat regional: in some parts of North America, "panther" refers to the cougar (Puma concolor), while in South America it is used to mean the jaguar (Panthera onca), and elsewhere it is used to mean the leopard (Panthera pardus).

Depictions of a specific "panther" in media such as NetHack usually correspond to the black panther, a melanistic colour variant of the leopard and jaguar. Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, and have been documented mostly in tropical forests—black leopards are found in Africa and Asia, and black jaguars are seen in South America.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, panthers can generate in real zoos.[1] Werepanthers summoning help have a 15 chance of generating a hostile panther on each applicable square[2] - a hero that gets lycanthropy from a werepanther can summon panthers as pets with the same probability by using the #monster extended command, which costs 10 power.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, panthers appear among the random f that are part of the second quest monster class for Cavepeople and make up 6175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Caveman quest.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, Gladiators can obtain gold by killing panthers.

Panthers appear among the random f that are part of the first quest monster class for Zookeepers and make up 24175 (14%) of the monsters randomly generated on the Zookeeper quest.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, panthers can jump after their targets.

Encyclopedia entry

And lo! almost where the ascent began,
A panther light and swift exceedingly,
Which with a spotted skin was covered o'er!
 
And never moved she from before my face,
Nay, rather did impede so much my way,
That many times I to return had turned.

[ Dante's Inferno, as translated
                by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ]

References