Floating eye

A floating eye, e, can be one of the most dangerous Nethack monsters if handled incorrectly. If you hit a floating eye in melee, you will be paralyzed for several turns, during which you are likely to be killed by even the weakest monsters such as newts or grid bugs. Because of this, floating eyes are the cause of many YASDs.

To kill a floating eye, it is best to use ranged weapons or spells. Alternatively you can paralyze a floating eye by applying a mirror to it.

Floating eyes cannot harm you if you are blind. Thus you may kill them in melee if you just first blind yourself, for example by wearing a blindfold.

Eating a floating eye corpse conveys telepathy.