Mumak
q mumak 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 5 |
| Base experience | 68 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | −2 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 2500 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A mumak:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line753 |
A mumak (plural mumakil), q, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The mumak is an herbivorous, elephant-like quadruped that is strong and thick-skinned, and is the only quadruped to be chaotic.
Mumakil have a powerful headbutt attack and a bite attack.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated mumakil are always created hostile.
Strategy
While they are technically not the most dangerous of the quadruped class, mumakil are still a powerful threat that can deal large amounts of damage: The mumak possesses the most powerful single melee attack in the game other than those of the Riders; their headbutt attacks can produce high-rolls that smash through all but the sturdiest armor; their AC of 0 also lets them withstand or dodge significant punishment from most early game heroes before succumbing; and they are likely to mulch fully-grown domestic pets and even some other pet types that attack them as well. While stronger roles like Valkyries or Barbarians may be sufficiently prepared for the encounter, mumakil tend to be a frequent cause of death for them just as often as they are for weaker or under-prepared heroes trying to fight them in melee.
When fighting a mumak, take advantage of its low speed of 9: use ranged weapons, polearms, wands, spells, or hit and run; remember that mumakil take no damage from kicks or bullwhips, among other things. As they have no MR score whatsoever, slow monster, sleep and poison are stellar aids against the beasts and can potentially render them into pushovers, though do not take these vulnerabilities for granted, and pay attention to your health regardless.
History
The mumak first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Origin
The mûmak (plural: mûmakil) is the Gondorian name for the oliphaunt, a giant elephant-like beast that appears in the Middle-Earth setting of J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien borrowed the term oliphaunt from Middle English, which in turn was a borrowing of the Old French olifaunt; both terms refer to an ordinary elephant. Tolkien stated in his guide for translators that the word was "used as a 'rusticism', on the supposition that rumour of the Southern beast would have reached the Shire long ago in the form of legend." Tolkien wrote two "Oliphaunt" poems: one is a playfully childlike rhyme recited by Sam in The Lord of the Rings, and the other is a humorous poem in the medieval bestiary tradition mocking the excessive use of allegory in Middle English verse.
Oliphaunts are first mentioned by Sam as he recites a playfully childlike rhyme (with Tolkienusing the first of the two aforementioned poems) to explain what an oliphaunt is to Gollum and express his hopes of seeing one. His wish is fulfilled as he witnesses Faramir's ambush of a contingent from Harad in Ithilien, where Sam and Frodo Baggins see an oliphaunt in full charge: the maddened animal had smashed its war-tower in its rush through the woods, and trampled soldiers of both sides until it disappeared from view. The Haradrim armies use oliphaunts as war elephants, as shown in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields—the Peter Jackson film adaptations of both the ambush and the later battle portray the mumak as more resembling a species of Gomphotherium.
Oliphaunts are described as massive, often ferocious beasts with legs like trees, bodies larger than a house, enormous sail-like ears, and a long prehensile snout. The Haradrim strapped towers on the backs of these beasts and rode on them into battle, where the mûmak itself would charge through the enemy and trample archer, swordsman and horse alike beneath its feat, enraged and goaded by its masters. Killing a mûmak was almost impossible since its rough, leathery hide made arrows relatively harmless, and horses had such a great natural fear of them that even the most skilled riders could not close enough to strike at its legs. The only known way to defeat an oliphaunt was to shoot it in the eye, which was a very difficult task to perform since that typically meant standing in front of it as it charged.
Variants
NetHack: The Next Generation
In NetHack: The Next Generation, Mumakbane is a neutral artifact long sword that has +d5 to-hit and +d60 fire damage bonuses against mumakil.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the mumak cannot be seen via infravision, and will not randomly generate in Gehennom.
Mumakil may be generated within real zoos at level creation.[1]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack, notnotdNetHack, the mumak is a huge monster, and its monster level and difficulty are raised to 15 and 17 respectively. Mumakil can also smash down doors.
The mumak calf is a younger form of mumak that has the same difficulty and shares many of the mumak's stats, though it is smaller and the size of its damage dice are halved. Mumak calves can grow up into mumakil, and both are considered giants.
Mumakil are randomly generated on several floors of the Mordor Ruins Quest:
- 1⁄8 of randomly-generated monsters on the Forest Edge floor will be mumakil.
- 1⁄20 of randomly-generated monsters on the Mordor Wall, Mordor Fortress, and the first Mordor Cracks floors will be mumakil.
- 1⁄30 of randomly-generated monsters on the second floor of the Mordor Cracks will be mumakil.
A mumak has a 11⁄100 chance of being generated with armor designed to fit their size and body shape:
- For the suit of armor, a mumak has a 1⁄100 chance of being given archaic plate mail, a 4⁄99 chance of being given orcish chain mail if the plate mail is not generated, and otherwise has a 6⁄95 chance of being given orcish ring mail.
- For the helm, a mumak has a 1⁄100 chance of being given an archaic helm, and otherwise has a 10⁄99 of being given an orcish helm.
- The mumak also has a 3⁄50 chance of being generated with a saddle.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the mumak's monster level and difficulty are raised to 8 and 10 respectively, and they are also given the ability to inflict knockback with their melee attacks, as well as an additional holding attack that crushes the target with their trunk. This also applies to Hack'EM.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, a hero polymorphed into a mumak or mastodon gains intrinsic immunity to amnesia and improved spell retention as granted by wearing an amulet of data storage (since "an elephant never forgets"). This feature is incorporated from the Ring of Memory patch, which the amulet's function is based on.
SlashTHEM also adds Mumakbane from NetHack: The Next Generation, which has +5 to-hit and a flat +60 fire damage against mumakil.
Gladiators that kill mumakil are rewarded with 50+(1d20*XL) gold pieces.
Encyclopedia entry
... the Mumak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and
the like of him does not walk now in Middle-Earth; his kin
that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth
and majesty. On he came, ... his great legs like trees,
enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like
a huge serpent about to strike, his small red eyes raging.
His upturned hornlike tusks ... dripped with blood.
