Neanderthal
@ neanderthal 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d4 physical |
| Base level | 5 |
| Base experience | 61 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | 1 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A neanderthal:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line3126 |
A neanderthal, @, is a Caveman quest guardian. The neanderthal is a strong and omnivorous lawful human that can be seen via infravision.
Neanderthals have a single weapon attack that is slightly stronger than those of most quest guardians.
Contents
Generation
Neanderthals are not randomly generated, and are always created peaceful. They are not a valid genocide target, and are not a valid polymorph form except for doppelgangers encountered by roles other than Cavepeople.[1][2]
Eight neanderthals are generated within Shaman Karnov's main dwelling in the college of the Archeologist quest home level.
Neanderthals are always generated with a club and leather armor.[3]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (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 9b74ea0b, neanderthal corpses may be generated in "massacre" themed rooms.Strategy
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (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 20cbadcf, the game is no longer unwinnable if the hero is banished from the quest branch, but killing quest leaders and guardians incur steeper penalties: killing a peaceful quest guardian will cause a -4 luck penalty and anger the hero's god, on top of the standard MAX8 alignment record penalty and murder penalties for a non-chaotic hero.
Per commit ee08c05e, quest guardians will become angry if they see you attack a peaceful monster, but will not turn to flee like other monsters do. Quest leaders will not become angry if they see you attack a peaceful monster other than one of the quest guardians.
Per commit 3d5b7f1f, killing a quest leader will anger the quest guardians.History
The neanderthal first appears alongside the Caveperson's quest branch and its other related monsters in NetHack 3.1.0.
Origin
Neanderthals, or homo neanderthalensis, are an extinct species of archaic humans, one of the last such species to become extinct. Neanderthals lived alongside anatomically modern humans (homo sapiens sapiens) before their extinction approximately 40000 years ago. There exists debate as to whether they are a distinct species, or a subspecies of homo sapiens, but modern scientific consensus generally leans towards considering them a separate species. They are known to have interbred with homo sapiens, and in fact many modern humans possess Neanderthal DNA, primarily those with European ancestry, where Neanderthal populations survived the longest.
Despite popular perception of the Neanderthal/caveman character as an unintelligent, aggressive apelike person, this was not scientifically accurate for Neanderthals, who were likely more psychologically and socially similar to homo sapiens. Surprisingly, the quotes from Neanderthals when players chat to them in NetHack correctly reflect this.
Messages
- You smell body odor.
- A doppelganger polymorphed into a neanderthal outside of your sight.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, if a Binder starts the game with any Caveperson gods in their pantheon, hostile neanderthals may generate among the quest guardians that make up 72⁄175 of the randomly generated monsters on the Binder quest.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, neanderthals may appear among the adventurers generated within the Bar.
Encyclopedia entry
1. Valley between Duesseldorf and Elberfeld in Germany,
where an ancient skull of a prehistoric ancestor to modern
man was found. 2. Human(oid) of the race mentioned above.
