A

Printable ASCII characters
~	!	@	#	$	%	^	&	*	(	)	_	+	space
`	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	-	=	{	}	|
	Qq	Ww	Ee	Rr	Tt	Yy	Uu	Ii	Oo	Pp	:	"	[	]	\
	Aa	Ss	Dd	Ff	Gg	Hh	Jj	Kk	Ll	?	;	'	Ctrl
	Zz	Xx	Cc	Vv	Bb	Nn	Mm	,	.	/	<	>	Alt

In NetHack, the letter A serves the following purposes:

• a represents an insect:
  • a giant ant
  • a killer bee
  • a soldier ant
  • a fire ant
  • a giant beetle
  • a queen bee

• A represents an angelic being:
  • A couatl
  • A Aleax
  • A Angel
  • A ki-rin
  • A Archon

• It is also used for the following keyboard controls:
  • Press A to use or apply an item.
  • Press shift + A to take off multiple items at once.
  • Press ctrl + A to redo the previous command entered.

Historical uses

In hack121 and PDP-11 Hack, variants of Jay Fenlason's Hack, acid blobs and giant ants used the a and A glyphs respectively, and continued to from Hack 1.0 to NetHack 2.3e.

In NetHack 3.0.0, acid blobs are moved to the blob monster class at b, and giant ants are moved to a with other insects including the giant beetle (formerly b prior to 3.0.0) - A is used for the apelike creatures, which consists of the ape and carnivorous ape in this version. NetHack 3.1.0 introduces the angelic being monster class and gives them the A glyph, moving apelike creatures to Y; the yeti is merged into the apelike creature monster class, which uses its former monster class macro.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, there are 14 new monsters that use a and 5 that use A:

• a insect:
  • a giant tick
  • a giant flea
  • a snow ant
  • a giant louse
  • a tsetse fly
  • a migo drone
  • a yellow jacket
  • a black wasp
  • a migo warrior
  • a giant wasp
  • a spitting beetle
  • a migo queen
  • a assassin bug
  • a killer beetle
• A angelic being:
  • A movanic deva
  • A monadic deva
  • A astral deva
  • A Planetar
  • A Solar

SporkHack

SporkHack adds a new monster that uses the a glyph:

• a insect:
  • a locust

UnNetHack

UnNetHack adds new monsters that use the a and A glyphs:

• a insect:
  • a snow ant
  • a locust
• A angelic being:
  • A Dark Angel
  • A weeping angel
  • A weeping archangel

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, chaotic angels and minions use the A glyph, including the Eladrin and their nobility.

dNetHack adds many new monsters that use the a and A glyphs:

• a insect:
  • a vermiurge
  • a valavi
  • a trilobite
• A chaotic angel or minion:
  • A lillend
  • A weeping angel
  • A Coure Eladrin
  • A Noviere Eladrin
  • A Bralani Eladrin
  • A Firre Eladrin
  • A Shiere Eladrin
  • A Ghaele Eladrin
  • A Tulani Eladrin
  • A Gae Eladrin
  • A Brighid Eladrin
  • A Uiscerre Eladrin
  • A Caillea Eladrin
  • A Moonshadow
  • A Dracae Eladrin
  • A Jrt Netjer
  • A Light-elf
  • A kuker
  • A polypoid being
  • A Gwynharwyf
  • A Ascodel
  • A Faerinaal
  • A Queen Mab
  • A Keto
  • A masked queen
  • A Queen of Stars
  • A Oona

SpliceHack

SpliceHack adds several new monsters that use the a and A glyphs:

• a insect:
  • a giant fly
  • a ichneumon larva
  • a bullet ant
  • a giant praying mantis
  • a giant ichneumon
  • a assassin bug
  • a thriae
  • a spitting beetle
• A angelic being:
  • A lamassu
  • A movanic deva
  • A monadic deva
  • A astral deva
  • A Hound Archon
  • A Herald Archon
  • A Hearth Archon
  • A Throne Archon
  • A Planetar
  • A Solar

EvilHack

EvilHack adds some new monsters that use the a and A glyphs:

• a insect:
  • a giant mosquito
  • a giant cockroach
  • a locust
  • a queen ant
• A angelic being:
  • A eldritch ki-rin
  • A Archangel
  • A Saint Michael

SlashTHEM

In addition to the monsters from SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM adds some new monsters that use the a and A glyphs:

• a insect:
  • a black ant
  • a locust
  • a Ravenous Bugblatter Beast Of Traal
  • a tracker jacker
  • a queen ant
• A angelic being:
  • A Douglas Adams
  • A weeping angel
  • A weeping archangel

Hack'EM

Hack'EM adds several new monsters that use the a and A glyphs, including many from SLASH'EM, SpliceHack and EvilHack:

• a insect:
  • a giant mosquito
  • a ichneumon larva
  • a snow ant
  • a giant cockroach
  • a tsetse fly
  • a bullet ant
  • a gibberslug
  • a giant tick
  • a giant praying mantis
  • a giant flea
  • a yellow jacket
  • a black wasp
  • a giant ichneumon
  • a locust
  • a giant louse
  • a assassin bug
  • a migo drone
  • a giant wasp
  • a migo warrior
  • a spitting beetle
  • a queen ant
  • a killer beetle
  • a migo queen
• A angelic being:
  • A lamassu
  • A movanic deva
  • A eldritch ki-rin
  • A monadic deva
  • A astral deva
  • A Archangel
  • A Planetar
  • A Solar