Tengu

i tengu
Difficulty	7
Attacks	Bite 1d7

i tengu
Difficulty	7
Attacks	Bite 1d7
Base level	6
Base experience	76
Speed	13
Base AC	5
Base MR	30
Alignment	7 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	3 (Rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	300
Nutritional value	200
Size	Small
Resistances	Poison
Resistances conveyed	Poison (13%), teleport control (17%), causes teleportitis (20%)
A tengu: can teleport. has teleport control. does not eat. (*) can follow you to other levels. has infravision. can be seen through infravision.
Reference	monst.c#line531

A tengu is a minor demon in NetHack. Its corpse is valued by many players, as it has a chance of granting teleport control (but can also grant teleportitis). Encountering tengus can be quite annoying as they extensively teleport themselves during combat after hitting. It is easier to kill them in a no-teleport zone such as Sokoban. Unlike other minor demons, they are not susceptible to silver damage.

The wizard quest home, locate, and end levels often are pre-populated with several tengu. The knight quest levels also generate many random i, including tengu, and they can be easily farmed with the abundance of magic traps surrounding the Isle of Glass.

Contrary to popular belief, the chance of gaining teleport control from a tengu corpse is not higher if you already have teleportitis.

Polymorphing into a tengu grants you teleport control, but this is a last resort because you can carry only 20.7% as much as your natural form.

Chances of Gaining Teleport Control

This table shows how many tengu corpses you must eat to have the listed chance at feeling controlled:

Eaten corpses	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chance of control	17%	31%	42%	52%	60%	67%	72%	77%	81%	84%	87%	89%	91%	92%	94%	95%	95%	96%	97%	97%

This table shows how many tengu you must kill to have the listed chance at feeling controlled:

Killed tengu	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chance of control	8%	16%	23%	29%	35%	41%	46%	50%	54%	58%	62%	65%	68%	70%	73%	75%	77%	79%	81%	82%

This table shows how many cursed scrolls of genocide you must read to have the listed chance at feeling controlled:

Read scrolls	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Chance of control	35%	58%	73%	82%	89%	93%	95%	97%	98%	99%

Encyclopedia entry

The tengu was the most troublesome creature of Japanese
legend. Part bird and part man, with red beak for a nose
and flashing eyes, the tengu was notorious for stirring up
feuds and prolonging enmity between families. Indeed, the
belligerent tengu were supposed to have been man's first
instructors in the use of arms.

[ Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) ]