Cyclops
H Cyclops 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 23 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 4d8, weapon 4d8, claw quest artifact-stealing 2d6 |
| Base level | 18 |
| Base experience | 662 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -15 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1900 |
| Nutritional value | 700 |
| Size | Huge |
| Resistances | Stoning |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
The Cyclops:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line3236 |
The Cyclops, H, is the Healer quest nemesis. He is a unique giant who guards the Bell of Opening and the Healer quest artifact, The Staff of Aesculapius. He possesses stoning resistance like all quest nemeses, and has two strong weapon attacks and a claw attack that can steal back the quest artifact if you liberate it from him.
Eating the Cyclops's corpse has a 1⁄2 chance of increasing your strength.
Contents
Generation
The Cyclops is always generated near the center of his isle on the goal level of the Healer quest, with the Bell of Opening, The Staff of Aesculapius and a wand of lightning on his square.[1]
Strategy
The Cyclops is a very dangerous quest nemesis - fighting him one-on-one is not advised, as he is faster than a normal giant and gets two very strong weapon attacks, and the Staff is guaranteed to drain a level each time it hits you; he can be disarmed with a bullwhip, but still hits very hard. As with other quest nemeses, the Cyclops respects the scroll of scare monster, and can be easily beaten if you engage him on the stairs with one on the floor.
Fortunately, the Cyclops has an MR score of 0 and is susceptible to most magical attacks, lacking any resistances outside of the shared quest nemesis resistance to stoning. The wand of sleep is guaranteed to work on the Cyclops, although the ray may miss a few times due to his 0 AC. A wielded potion of sleeping is more likely to hit, and a wielded potion of polymorph or a zapped wand of polymorph (which cannot miss) can transform him into a usually-weaker monster or one without a weapon attack. Healers lucky enough to find a wand of death have a fairly safe means of ending the Cyclops's threat quickly.
As a giant, the Cyclops is vulnerable to Giantslayer as well, though there are typically far better options for artifact weapons available.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 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.
The scroll of scare monster on the ground no longer scares any unique monster.History
The Cyclops first appears with most other quest nemeses in NetHack 3.1.0.
Origin
The Cyclops (plural "Cyclopes") is a type of one-eyed giant encountered in Greek folklore, with at least two or three distinct groups of Cyclopes mentioned in various works. The term "cyclopean" has since been codified and used to describe any one-eyed creature - it is worth noting that the name Cyclops actually means "wheel-eyed" or "circle-eyed", referring to the eye's size and shape.
Hesoid's Theogony in particular tells of three Cyclops brothers born to Uranus and Gaia and imprisoned in Tartarus - they would eventually forge Zeus's trademark thunderbolts in return for him freeing them (hence the wand of lightning the Cyclops generates with). In Hesoid's Catalogue of Women, these Cyclopes are killed by Apollo in retaliation after Zeus kills Apollo's son Asclepius, whom the Healer quest artifact is named for, with his thunderbolt. Later sources such as Euripides's play Alcestis explain that Apollo could not strike at his father directly, and thus chose the Cyclopes as a proxy - the reason given is that Asclepius was so proficient as a healer that he could evade death and bring others back to life; depending on the source, this lead to either Hades accusing Asclepius of stealing his subjects, or Zeus himself becoming afraid that Asclepius would teach the art of resurrection to others.
The encyclopedia entry for the Cyclops is an excerpt from Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey, which details Odysseyus and his men's attempts to escape from the cave of Polyphemus: Odysseyus uses a vat of strong wine to lull him into drunken sleep, fools the Cyclops into believing he is "Nobody", then blinds him in his sleep—Odysseus and his men escape the cave in the morning, tied to the undersides of Polyphemus's sheep when he lets them out to graze. Polyphemus is unable to stop them as they leave the island by ship, as his shouts that "Nobody" has blinded him are taken as a sign of divine affliction that could only be helped with prayer. The fleeing Odysseyus then boasts of his superior with and reveals his true name - an act of hubris that would prompt Polyphemus to pray to his father, Poseidon (the chaotic god of the Healer pantheon), for revenge and incur his wrath towards Odysseus.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, the Cyclops hates iron like all other giants, providing another possible weakness for Healers to exploit.
Encyclopedia entry
And after he had milked his cattle swiftly,
he again took hold of two of my men
and had them as his supper.
Then I went, with a tub of red wine,
to stand before the Cyclops, saying:
"A drop of wine after all this human meat,
so you can taste the delicious wine
that is stored in our ship, Cyclops."
He took the tub and emptied it.
He appreciated the priceless wine that much
that he promptly asked me for a second tub.
"Give it", he said, "and give me your name as well".
...
Thrice I filled the tub,
and after the wine had clouded his mind,
I said to him, in a tone as sweet as honey:
"You have asked my name, Cyclops? Well,
my name is very well known. I'll give it to you,
if you give me the gift you promised me as a guest.
My name is Nobody. All call me thus:
my father and my mother and my friends."
Ruthlessly he answered to this:
"Nobody, I will eat you last of all;
your host of friends will completely precede you.
That will be my present to you, my friend."
And after these words he fell down backwards,
restrained by the all-restrainer Hupnos.
His monstrous neck slid into the dust;
the red wine squirted from his throat;
the drunk vomited lumps of human flesh.
