Revive
Reviving the corpse of a dead monster is a means of bringing it back to life. Trolls and the Riders have the ability to revive themselves;[1] that is, they will often resurrect a few turns after they are killed. See their articles for strategies on how to prevent this and kill them permanently.
Most actions that try to dispose of a Rider corpse will instead instantly resurrect it. Among other actions, this includes teleporting it, tinning it, or picking it up.
You may also revive any corpse with the spell of turn undead or wand of undead turning. Corpses can also be revived with the cursed Book of the Dead (possible for illiterates), but this method has drawbacks. If you revive a dead adventurer's corpse in a bones level, the ghost will inhabit its original form and disappear, and the corpse will be revived.[citation needed]
When a monster is revived, it is restored to full health, with maximum hit points; part of that is then deducted if the corpse was partly eaten. It will have no status afflictions.[citation needed]
Pets that died while tame usually have a 1 in (tameness+1) chance of becoming untame upon revival. If it becomes untame, it will become either hostile or peaceful with a 1⁄2 chance of each. However, if you killed the pet or abused it more than 2 times, it will never revive tame, and will most often be hostile.[2]
Similar to revival, statues can be brought back to life with stone to flesh or a statue trap.
Messages
In the following messages, substitute the names of the involved monsters for the monsters of your choice.
Reviving a corpse by zapping a wand of undead turning, casting the spell of turn undead, or reading the cursed Book of the Dead will produce one of these messages:[3]
- Your <monster> corpse suddenly comes alive!
- Your inventory was affected by revival magic, and the <monster> corpse in your inventory came to life. The <monster> spawns as close as possible to you. (If you were zapped with the wand or spell, the following message is often "You shudder in dread.")
- The <living monster>'s <monster> corpse suddenly comes alive!
- A monster's inventory was affected by revival magic, and the <monster> corpse in its inventory came to life. The <monster> spawns as close as possible to the <living monster>.
- A <monster> suddenly appears!
- This may indicate that an unseen monster's inventory was affected by revival magic, and its <monster> corpse came to life where you can see it.
- <Player>'s ghost is suddenly drawn into its former body!
- A bones file corpse that had a ghost adjacent to it was revived.
When a corpse revives itself, one of these messages may appear:[4]
- A <monster> rises from the dead!
- This is the most common message; trolls often will come back to life soon after death.
- You feel squirming in your backpack!
- Some corpse in your inventory (not being wielded) came to life. The monster will spawn as close as possible to you. The message does not name the monster.
- The <monster> corpse writhes out of your grasp!
- You were wielding the <monster> corpse when it came to life. The <monster> spawns as close as possible to you.
- Startled, the <living monster> drops a <monster> corpse as it revives!
- The <monster> will spawn as close as possible to the <living monster>.
- A <monster> suddenly appears!
- This may indicate that a <monster> corpse, in the inventory of an unseen monster, came to life where you can see it.
- A <monster> writhes out of a sack in your pack!
- The player had a <monster> inside a sack as it returned from the dead.
- A <monster> writhes out of a sack!
- A <monster> corpse was in a sack as it came alive.
- A <monster> escapes from a <container>!
- A <monster> was dead in an unlocked container on the ground when it returned to life.
SLASH'EM
Some fungi and molds can revive themselves in SLASH'EM. You might just kill the fungus repeatedly, or drop its corpse where the revived fungus will not block the way.
More interestingly, as other types of corpses rot, then mold may grow on them, and the corpse may revive as a mold. This typically produces the "rises from the dead" or "squirming in your backpack" message, as the corpse disappears and the mold spawns.
References
- ↑ mondata.h in NetHack 3.4.3, line 142
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 982
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 959: function
unturn_dead - ↑ revive_corpse in do.c
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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
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