Panther

f panther
Difficulty	7
Attacks	Claw 1d4 physical, Claw 1d4 physical, Bite 1d10 physical

f panther
Difficulty	7
Attacks	Claw 1d4 physical, Claw 1d4 physical, Bite 1d10 physical
Base level	5
Base experience	59
Speed	15
Base AC	6
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	600
Nutritional value	300
Size	Large
Resistances	None
Resistances conveyed	None
A panther: has no hands. is an animal. is carnivorous. is normally generated hostile. has infravision. can be seen through infravision.
Reference	NetHack 3.6.7 - src/monst.c, line 373

A panther, f, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The panther is a large, quadrupedal feline animal 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 (NetHack 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.

Per commit 7817e69c, jaguars and other felines 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 heroes with low HP, poor AC and/or a lack of reliable weaponry.

History

The panther first appears in NetHack-- 3.0.10, and also appears in NetHack-- 3.1.3 and SLASH 6. It 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 be generated in real zoos.

Werepanthers summoning help have a ¹⁄₅ chance of generating a hostile panther per summoned monster—a hero that contracts lycanthropy from a werepanther can spend 10 power to summon tame jaguars with the same probability by using the #monster extended command.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, panthers appear among the random f that are part of the second quest monster class for Cavepeople and make up ⁶⁄₁₇₅ (3%) of the monsters randomly generated on the Caveman quest.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, panthers are chaotic. Their base monster level is raised to 7, and their monster difficulty is increased to 9.

The Cartouche of the Cat Lord is a ward that can pacify hostile panthers which see it, returning them to full health if successful. The Toustefna is a stave that can scare off panthers if carved into a wood weapon placed on the hero's square.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, panthers have infravision.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, panthers appear among the random f that are part of the second quest monster class for Cavepeople and make up ⁶⁄₁₇₅ (3%) of the monsters randomly generated on the Caveman quest, as in UnNetHack. Panthers also appear among the random f that are part of the first quest monster class for Zookeepers and make up ²⁴⁄₁₇₅ (14%) of the monsters randomly generated on the Zookeeper quest.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, panthers have infravision and 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 ]