Gelatinous cube
b gelatinous cube 
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|---|---|
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 6 |
| Base experience | 76 |
| Speed | 6 |
| Base AC | 8 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 600 |
| Nutritional value | 150 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | Fire, cold, shock, sleep, poison, acid, petrification |
| Resistances conveyed |
Fire (10%), cold (10%), shock (10%), sleep (10%) |
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A gelatinous cube:
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| Reference | monst.c#line157 |
A gelatinous cube, b, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The gelatinous cube is an eyeless, amoeboid monster that engulfs a majority of objects they encounter as they wander about the dungeon - this dissolves any organic items engulfed this way, and adds the remaining objects to its inventory; a cube cannot engulf boulders or a punished player's iron ball and attached iron chain, and will also respect and avoid eating a scroll of scare monster. Organic containers engulfed by a cube are dissolved, with the contents of that container becoming part of the cube's inventory.
Gelatinous cubes possess many resistance properties and have two paralysis-inducing attacks: an active paralyzing touch and a passive that paralyzes attackers. The corpse of a gelatinous cube is acidic, but eating its corpse or tin can convey fire resistance, cold resistance, shock resistance, or sleep resistance, with a 1⁄10 chance for each property. Like all blob monsters, gelatinous cubes are vegan.
Polymorphing into a gelatinous cube allows you to actively eat organic items using e - you will not automatically dissolve items that you pick up while in this form. Eating a scroll of scare monster, a scroll of mail, a scroll labeled YUM YUM, or any other paper item gives special messages, but has no additional effect.
Contents
Strategy
Gelatinous cubes are not much of a direct threat to your well-being, but their paralysis can cause major trouble if you are careless or caught off guard fighting other monsters; magic cancellation can protect against the paralyzing touch, while a ring of free action will prevent paralysis from the cube's touch and its passive attack. Ranged attacks will also not trigger passive paralysis, though the gelatinous cube will resist most elemental wands and spells and engulf projectiles - be sure not to use wooden projectiles against a cube unless they are disposable.
History
The gelatinous cube first appears in Hack for PDP-11, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is one of many monsters included in the initial bestiary of Hack 1.0.
Origin
The gelatinous cube first appears in the original Dungeons & Dragons 1974 "white box" set, along with its first supplement Greyhawk. The cube was created directly by Gary Gygax: it is a cube of gelatinous, near-transparent ooze that is "adapted" to the dungeon environment it frequently appears in, and can absorb and digest organic matter, including unfortunate explorers that do not succeed a save against paralysis. The gelatinous cube is one of the more iconic Dungeons & Dragons monsters to appear in other fantasy works, and is known as much for the silliness of its concept as it is for the genuine dangers posed to player characters.
The average gelatinous cube is 10 feet in size, which takes up the entirety of a typical dungeon's passageways, and acts as a form of scavenger, absorbing living organisms and carrion from the dungeon's floor and walls and dissolving them with acidic digestive juices - larger cubes can even pull in mosses and the like from ceilings. A cube can slide through corridors and molds its body to flow around objects and fit through narrow passages, returning to its original shape once enough space is available. Objects that cannot be dissolved by its juices are swept up and will remain in the cube's body for up to several weeks, after which it is slowly explled from the cube and left on the floor.
The dim lighting of a dungeon and the gelatinous cube's transparency provide an element of surprise that allows it to engulf all but the most alert adventurers - fortunately, cubes are vulnerable to weapons and fire, and cold can slow them down unless they save against it. The gelatinous cube of NetHack resists fire, unlike those of Dungeons & Dragons, but thankfully has no means of hiding or engulfing you - though the same may not apply to variants of NetHack.
Messages
- You hear a slurping sound.
You hear several slurping sounds. - A gelatinous cube has eaten (more than) one thing somewhere out of sight on this level.
- The gelatinous cube engulfs <foo>.
The gelatinous cube engulfs several objects. - A gelatinous cube has engulfed - that is, picked up - (more than) one thing.
Variants
GruntHack
In GruntHack, gelatinous cubes are capable of hiding similar to piercers, and can additionally engulf targets in order to suffocate them. Combined with their paralysis, this will usually lead to a swift death, making gelatinous cubes a major threat once they start generating (typically from the mid-game on).
Use your best available ranged attacks and means of scaring to keep gelatinous cubes from engulfing you before you can kill them - gelatinous cubes respect Elbereth, and a source of warning can help you avoid being caught off guard by a hidden cube. A ring of free action will give you time to kill or break out of the cube if you are engulfed; zapping a wand of digging while engulfed will reduce their HP to 1 and release you, making killing them afterward somewhat trivial. An amulet of magical breathing or a breathless polyform will prevent the cube's suffocating from affecting you, and any polyform that is larger than the cube cannot be engulfed at all.
Gelatinous cubes can also be useful as a means of zombie disposal, as they can consume and dissolve the corpses with no ill effect - they do not possess sickness resistance, however. Their paralyzing touch and passive will also immobilize zombies that try to attack it, which you or another living monster can then dispose of them without fearing retaliatory bites.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, gelatinous cubes behave mostly the same as they do in GruntHack, though they lack the ability to hide. This makes it much less likely that you will be surprised by one, though you will still need to listen out for telltale slurping noises. A source of phasing (e.g. via polyself) can prevent engulfing, and allows for easy escape if you are already engulfed - much of the strategies for GruntHack are applicable to EvilHack as well.
Encyclopedia entry
Despite its popularity (or perhaps because of it), the gelatinous cube is also widely known as one of the sillier role-playing monsters. It is something of a commentary on the ubiquity of treasure-laden dungeons in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, as the cube is a creature specifically adapted to a dungeon ecosystem. 10 feet to the side, it travels through standard 10-foot by 10-foot dungeon corridors, cleaning up debris and redistributing treasure by excreting indigestible metal items.
