Golem

' Golems are a class of monsters in NetHack. As they are inanimate objects given life, their corpses are sometimes useful or valuable objects, especially in the case of paper and gold golems. Because they are artificial constructs, scrolls of genocide do not work on golems.

Symbol	Monster	Corpse
'	clay golem	rocks
'	glass golem	pieces of worthless glass
'	iron golem	iron chains
'	leather golem	leather armours
'	paper golem	scrolls of blank paper
'	rope golem	(none)
'	stone golem	statue of a stone golem
'	straw golem	(none)
'	wood golem	quarterstaffs
'	gold golem	gold
'	flesh golem	flesh golem corpse (edible)

Golems are randomly generated, and an appropriate golem can also arise when trying to polymorph large piles of objects at once. For example, a pile containing many scrolls may become a paper golem, and a pile of rocks may become a clay golem.

In addition, polypiling many bone objects (such as unicorn horns) can produce a skeleton.

Stone golems can be created by stoning any of the other golems (e.g. with a cockatrice corpse). Stone golems themselves are stoning resistant, since it would be rather odd if stoning could kill them.

Casting stone to flesh at a stone golem will turn it into a flesh golem. The flesh golem is weaker in combat, and its corpse can give almost any resistance in the game.

Mythology

Golems are creatures from ancient Jewish folklore. They are not derived from Gollum in The Lord of the Rings.

Although the encyclopedia entry for gold golem describes their mythological counterparts as female, the NetHack monster is neuter.

Encyclopedia entries

Golem

"The original story harks back, so they say, to the sixteenth
              century.  Using long-lost formulas from the Kabbala, a rabbi is
              said to have made an artificial man -- the so-called Golem -- to
              help ring the bells in the Synagogue and for all kinds of other
              menial work.
              "But he hadn't made a full man, and it was animated by some sort
              of vegetable half-life.  What life it had, too, so the story
              runs, was only derived from the magic charm placed behind its
              teeth each day, that drew down to itself what was known as the
              `free sidereal strength of the universe.'
              "One evening, before evening prayers, the rabbi forgot to take
              the charm out of the Golem's mouth, and it fell into a frenzy.
              It raged through the dark streets, smashing everything in its
              path, until the rabbi caught up with it, removed the charm, and
              destroyed it.  Then the Golem collapsed, lifeless.  All that was
              left of it was a small clay image, which you can still see in
              the Old Synagogue." ...
                  [ The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink ]

Gold golem

The bellows he set away from the fire, and gathered all the tools
           wherewith he wrought into a silver chest; and with a sponge wiped
           he his face and his two hands withal, and his mighty neck and
           shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic, and grasped a stout staff,
           and went forth halting; but there moved swiftly to support their
           lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids.
           In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech and
           strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal
           gods.
                   [ The Iliad, by Homer ]

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM features the following new golems:

Symbol	Monster	Corpse
'	wax golem	wax candles
'	plastic golem	credit cards; cheap plastic imitations of the Amulet of Yendor in older versions
'	ruby golem	rubies
'	diamond golem	diamonds
'	sapphire golem	sapphires
'	steel golem	iron chains
'	crystal golem	random gems

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