Cockatrice

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c cockatrice Cockatrice.png
Difficulty 8
Attacks

Bite 1d3 physical, touch 0d0 stoning, passive 0d0 stoning

Base level 5
Base experience 149
Speed 6
Base AC 6
Base MR 30
Alignment 0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means) 5 (Common)
Genocidable Yes
Weight 30
Nutritional value 30
Size small
Resistances poison resistance, stoning resistance
Resistances conveyed poison resistance (33%)

A cockatrice:

Reference NetHack 5.0.0 - include/monsters.h, line 178

A cockatrice, c, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The cockatrice is an oviparous, omnivorous animal that can be seen via infravision, and is the namesake monster of the cockatrice monster class. The cockatrice and chickatrice, collectively referred to as footrices, are among the more complex creatures in NetHack and one of the more threatening to the average hero, as both can inflict stoning upon heroes and other monsters alike.

A cockatrice possesses poison resistance and stoning resistance, and it has a bite attack, a passive attack that causes instant stoning on skin contact, and a touch attack that can initiate delayed stoning:[1][2] if the cockatrice's touch attack hits, there is a 1⁄3 chance of the cockatrice hissing afterwards if it is not cancelled—if this hissing occurs and the hero lacks stoning resistance, there is a base 1⁄10 chance that they will begin turning to stone, which always occurs during a new moon. This is a delayed instadeath that removes intrinsic speed, and the hero has a limited amount of time to cure it before they become a lifeless statue—since the death is not caused by HP loss, polymorphed heroes will become statues of their current forms, while heroes polymorphed into golems other than a stone golem will become a stone golem instead.[3] Most monsters that are subjected to stoning by the cockatrice's touch attack will instantly turn into statues, while non-stone golems will become stone golems.[4][5][6] A cockatrice's corpse will still cause stoning on contact even after death, and can only be safely picked up by a hero or monster with either worn gloves or stoning resistance.[7][8]

Eating a cockatrice corpse or tin, or else engulfing a live cockatrice, will instantly turn the eater to stone on the first bite unless they have stoning resistance.[9][10][11][12] Monsters without stoning resistance will avoid consuming a cockatrice corpse. Eating a cockatrice egg will cause delayed stoning—monsters will also avoid eating cockatrice eggs, while hostile humanoid monsters may throw them at the hero to cause delayed stoning, and monsters hit by cockatrice eggs will instantly turn to stone. If a cockatrice corpse is eaten by a hero with stoning resistance, YAFM is printed and the meat has a 1⁄3 chance (33%) of granting poison resistance[13]—a monster with stoning resistance that eats a cockatrice corpse or tin can also gain poison resistance. A hero eating a cockatrice corpse or tin gains temporary intrinsic stoning resistance for 3-18 turns upon finishing (although stoning resistance is required to do so in the first place), and temporary stoning resistance will not expire while the hero is eating a cockatrice corpse or any other meal that causes stoning.[14][15][16][17]

Generation

Randomly-generated cockatrices are always hostile. A chickatrice can grow up into a cockatrice, and a cockatrice egg will hatch into a chickatrice.

Hostile cockatrices can be generated with the summon nasties monster spell.[18]

The cockatrice nest special room contains several cockatrices and cockatrice eggs.[19]

The Wizard of Yendor may create a clone of himself in the guise of a cockatrice by casting the Double Trouble monster spell.[20]

If a hero wishes for a cockatrice corpse while being unable to safely handle it, it will appear on the floor at their feet instead of being placed into their inventory.

A hero that is not stoning-resistant and is killed by stoning or HP damage from a cockatrice will leave a statue instead of a ghost if a bones file is created.[21]

Strategy

Main article: Stoning

Both the chickatrice and cockatrice are generally considered serious nuisances at best: they are the source of many stupid and annoying deaths, the likes of which are listed in the article about stoning linked above. Cockatrices are stronger than chickatrices, slightly faster at 6 speed, much more common, and much likelier to drop corpses, but they tend to appear somewhat later than chickatrices.

Use any and all ranged attacks at your disposal to bring down a cockatrice before it can get into melee range. Magic cancellation will not protect you against any of the stoning attack's stages, but good AC will prevent the cockatrice's touch attack from landing, and cancellation will prevent the cockatrice from hissing—note that it does not cancel any of the other stoning qualities of a cockatrice or its corpse, including the stoning caused by bare-skinned contact. Worn yellow dragon scales or yellow dragon scale mail will prevent stoning outright from both live cockatrices and their corpses and eggs. You can prepare for the speed loss ahead of time by applying a tinning kit to create a quantum mechanic tin, or by keeping potions of speed in a bag or other container.

Lizard corpses are among the most reliable cures for sudden stoning by far:[22][23] the potion of acid (particularly for vegetarians and vegans) and the corpse or tin of an acidic monster will also cure stoning, but you are not guaranteed to be able to access these items in time, especially if they are carried in a container.[24] Note that merely biting into the corpse of a lizard (or any acidic monster) cures stoning, so interruptions can allow for one lizard corpse to cure a few instances of stoning before it is fully eaten—finishing off a lizard corpse also grants temporary stoning resistance, granting the hero further safety from repeated stoning for a short time.[15] Corpses and tins of acidic monsters can also grant stoning resistance, but require the meal to be finished and thus can also function somewhat better as a preemptive measure for entering combat with them.[15] Monsters that are stoned while they have applicable corpses or tins in open inventory will have a chance of eating that corpse and curing stoning, though an acidic corpse may kill that monster from HP damage instead.[25]

Do not attack a cockatrice if you are polymorphed into a form that uses bite, touch, sting, or tentacle attacks and you are not stoning resistant—additionally, do not attack in the form of a monster that uses kicks if you are not wearing boots, and do not attack in the form of a monster that uses claw attacks if you are not wearing gloves. Furthermore, avoid riding while fighting a cockatrice if your steed is not stoning-resistant, since it may use attacks that will cause it to touch the cockatrice, and any of the cockatrice's attacks that miss you will sometimes fall upon your steed! Even after you have dealt with a cockatrice, do not walk onto the square where it was, apply a tinning kit on that square or attempt to loot that square if you are blind and not wearing gloves:[26][27] this will cause you to feel the floor with your bare hands, and if the cockatrice's corpse is present you will be instantly turned to stone. Lastly, do not sacrifice a footrice corpse without gloves as this will also require touching the corpse and thus instantly turn you to stone.

Random tins beyond a certain depth should be examined carefully when eating them: many a promising run has been lost to speeding through tin-opening dialogue and hitting "yes" to dig into a meal of deep fried cockatrice! If a hero attempts to eat a tin while hallucinating, a tin of cockatrice or chickatrice meat will always smell like chicken when opened, and opening the tin while the hero has stoning resistance also produces the same message.[28]

As a weapon

If a hero or a monster is either wearing gloves or has stoning resistance, they can pick up and wield a footrice corpse as an extremely powerful weapon, but this can easily backfire on a wielder that does not handle it with caution. Monsters hit with a cockatrice corpse will turn to stone instantly, while a hero hit by a wielded cockatrice corpse is subjected to delayed stoning and loss of intrinsic speed as above.[29][30] The same applies for cockatrice eggs as well, though touching them does not cause stoning.[31]

A footrice corpse can be weaponized to dispose of almost any monster that lacks stoning resistance, up to and including powerful demon lords and princes—footrice corpses are nicknamed rubber chickens by players who like to use them in this way. However, the hero will instantly turn themselves into a statue if they fall or lose their gloves while wielding the corpse, so keep track of pits, spiked pits, holes and trap doors: falling into one while wielding a cockatrice corpse will stone you, even with gloves, and the same applies for monsters. Levitation or flying both eliminate this danger, and deliberately swooping into a trap door (e.g. at the Castle) while flying and wielding a footrice corpse will not be fatal.

One of the better methods of preventing YASD from a carried footrice corpse is to unwield the corpse immediately after threats are dealt with, especially in areas that have not been checked for traps. Keep a carried cockatrice corpse out of inventory slots that are frequently used, especially for food: gaining the food appraisal intrinsic warns of food that is dangerous to eat, including food that will petrify the hero, and can prevent an otherwise-fatal fat-fingering; for extra safety, you can also simply bag the corpse or else abandon it altogether if you are sure another monster will not pick it up to wield.

Additionally, keep away from sinks, amorous demons and monsters with theft attacks (e.g. the charming of nymphs) if at all possible, especially while levitating. However, a monster without gloves which steals a wielded foorice corpse will turn themselves to stone, with the corpse embedded in the resulting statue[32]—additionally, when engaging in an amorous demon encounter, the demon will always ask to take off the hero's gloves if they have at least 20 charisma. If wielding and using a footrice corpse, have your main weapon ready to go when necessary: in addition to monsters that resist stoning outright, golems that are subjected to stoning will turn into stone golems, which can make them stronger.

Take note of footrice corpses near any hostile monsters that can wield weapons and either wear gloves or possess stoning resistance, and be on alert for messages involving the corpse being wielded—if a moat is nearby, the corpse can be disposed of by throwing it in the water (while wearing gloves) or kicking it in (while wearing boots). If a hero is unable to kill a monster that is wielding a cockatrice corpse, they can levelport or otherwise escape the level and wait around 200-250 turns for the corpse to rot away.

Be extremely careful when using a bullwhip or grappling hook to snag a wielded footrice corpse: the hero will attempt to grab it when yanking it into their inventory and turn themselves to stone if they do not have gloves, but using either item to pick a corpse up off the ground is fine.[8][33][34]

Cockatrice eggs

Cockatrice eggs can be stockpiled and used as makeshift "grenades" to instantly stone particularly troublesome monsters. One of the easier methods to obtain them is to lay them while polymorphed into a female cockatrice—it is also possible (though quite tedious) to obtain them via polypiling meatballs. Keep in mind that breaking your own laid eggs costs you 1 point of luck per egg, up to a maximum of 5 points at once.

Like other eggs, cockatrice eggs need some special care: an egg that is carried in open inventory will hatch after a short while, so stash it in a container until their hatching time passes to ensure that you are not surprised by the hatchling and possibly turned to stone. You can test for a rotted cockatrice egg after retrieving it from the container by picking up multiple eggs after—if they stack in your inventory, they will not hatch.

As a wish

A footrice corpse or stack of cockatrice eggs is a good wish when dealing with especially tough monsters, or else when looking to deal with a significant horde of hostiles as fast as possible (e.g. on the Astral Plane). The most ideal wish for the former is a "blessed partly eaten chickatrice corpse", since chickatrices are lighter than cockatrices, and partly eaten ones are lighter still—it is often worth banking a wish or two to use on this just in case of an unexpected deadly encounter. Remember that your quest nemesis and the Riders are all immune to stoning.

Below is a quick list of stoning candidates:

As a pet

As pets, footrices are somewhat notable, though not especially desired: fully grown cockatrices in particular can easily defeat non-resistant monsters with a single bite, making it easy to retrieve loot from their statues. They are also omnivores, making them easier to feed directly in lieu of them eating their own kills (which naturally leave very few corpses).

Footrices and golems

Golems other than the stone golem that are stoned by one of the above methods will instead become an animated stone golem, including heroes in the form of a non-stone golem. Early heroes that cannot deal easily with hard hitters and/or lack reliable damage output would do well to avoid accidentally creating an annoying (or even lethal) obstacle out of a paper golem or straw golem. Conversely, a well-equipped hero facing stronger golems like the iron golem can reduce them to relative nuisances with a footrice corpse or egg.

History

The cockatrice first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0. In Hack 1.21, the cockatrice uses the C glyph; in Hack for PDP-11 and Hack 1.0, the cockatrice uses its current glyph. From this version to Hack 1.0.2, a successful hissing was an instadeath, and the only safe way to fight a cockatrice is with ranged weapons. Hack 1.0.2 also introduces the effects of the new moon. Hack 1.0.3 includes both gradual stoning and applies it to cockatrice attacks, and makes dead lizards a cure for the affliction.

From these versions to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on these versions, the following applies to cockatrices, their corpses and their tins:

  • Cockatrices are defined as granting stoning resistance from a hero eating their corpse or tin, but the feature is not implemented until the release of NetHack 5.0.0 enables the mechanic via commit 071d79dc and commit e96d4ea9—NetHack 5.0.0 also adds the ability for monsters to gain resistances from eating corpses via commit 8d2407f1.
  • A hero that carries a lizard corpse in their open inventory during a new moon only has the normal 1⁄10 chance of the cockatrice's hiss initiating the stoning process—this effect is removed in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 8a9dc00c.
  • Cockatrice corpses that are wished for will always be placed in the inventory if possible like other items—NetHack 5.0.0 implements the current placement conditions for a wished footrice corpse via commit 9c554895.

Cockatrices are also subject to a few bugs over these versions:

  • Smashing a wielded potion of polymorph over a monster while not wearing gloves will stone the hero if the monster is turned into a footrice as a result. This is bug #C343-31, and is fixed in May 2004 for NetHack 3.6.0.
  • Jabberwocks can wield things and hit monsters with them, but secondary effects will not trigger—footrice corpses will not petrify monsters, silver weapons do not deal extra damage to silver-haters, and so on. These are bugs #UNL343-080 and #UNL343-081, and are fixed in 2011 via commit 164f498a and commit 8dfb62a9.
  • Manually flying down a hole or trap door while wielding a footrice corpse will turn the hero to stone, as if they had fallen down them normally—this is fixed in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 7efba965.

Origin

Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:

A cockatrice is a mythical beast that features prominently in medieval bestiaries and English folklore, and is first mentioned in the 14th century John Wycliffe translation of the Bible, with the word used for the translation of various Hebrew words for "asp" and "adder" in the Book of Isaiah. The cockatrice appears as a two-legged serpentine creature with a rooster's head and bat wings; it is said to hatch from a rooster's egg, especially one incubated by a serpent or toad. and is reputed to be capable of killing with as little as a look, touch or breath.

The cockatrice has significant overlap with the mythical snake known as the basilisk: basilisks are said to be so full of venom that they leave a wide trail of deadly venom in their wake, and can similarly kill with a gaze; medieval bestiaries attribute chicken-like traits to the basilisk and popularized the idea of them being born from a chicken hatching the egg of a serpent or toad, which is the reverse of the cockatrice. Both also share a weakness to "weasels" (likely the mongoose, which had some immunity to snake venom) as well as their own reflected gazes and the crowing of roosters, and are likely based off the Nile crocodile—as a result, the basilisk and cockatrice referred to interchangeably (for example, the encyclopedia entry that both share in variants of NetHack), and many languages still translate the term "cockatrice" as "basilisk" in some form.

Modern incarnations of the basilisk and cockatrice, such as those seen in Dungeons & Dragons and various other fantasy media, characterize the creatures' lethal venoms as a petrifying substance that turned victims to stone, and later works portray them as distinct creatures: the modern cockatrice is a somewhat more bird-like creature as opposed to the fully lizard-like or serpentine basilisk. The cockatrice of Dungeons & Dragons debuts in the original 1974 white box as a weaker form of basilisk with a stoning touch and the ability to fly, and is further differentiated in later editions.

Cockatrices can be found in almost any region, and typically prefer temperate or tropical regions, where they reside either underground or above ground in plains; some scattered numbers of cockatrices can be found in the Elemental Plane of Earth. Their beaks inflict minor damage, but their bite can permanently turn creatures to stone—some editions allow the petrifying aura to penetrate the Astral and Ethereal planes, much like basilisk gazes. Cockatrices are immune to their own petrifying bite and that of other cockatrices, but they are not immune to petrification through other means unlike in NetHack. A cockatrice is very territorial and ferociously attacks perceived threats; flocks of cockatrices often attempt to overwhelm or confuse their opponents, and frequently fly at their faces.

Messages

The <cockatrice> touches you!
A cockatrice landed its touch attack.
You hear the <cockatrice>'s hissing!
This follows the above with a 1⁄3 chance; this will always cause gradual stoning to begin on a new moon if you are not carrying a lizard corpse, and otherwise has a 1⁄10 chance of triggering it.
You hear a cough from the <cockatrice>!
As above, but the cockatrice is cancelled, and nothing happens.
You turn to stone...
You were instantly turned to stone by contact with a cockatrice or its corpse, or by throwing a cockatrice egg up and having it land on your head while you are not wearing a helm.
This tastes just like chicken!
You ate a cockatrice corpse while you have stoning resistance.[13]

Variants

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, chickatrices and cockatrices are considered avian and reptilian.

NetHack Fourk

In NetHack Fourk, cockatrices that are generated during level creation will have one or more statues placed somewhere in the area around them.

A hero that is hallucinating can safely touch a cockatrice corpse (on the basis that they are already "stoned").

xNetHack

In xNetHack, cockatrices that are generated outside of special rooms during level creation will have one or more statues placed somewhere in the area around them, with the potential area made wider than in Fourk. Cockatrice eggs are also generated in cockatrice nest rooms alongside live cockatrices.

A cockatrice's hissing induces delayed stoning 1⁄5 of the time unless it is a new moon, and will have no effect if the hero is deaf.

As in Fourk, a hero that is hallucinating can safely touch a cockatrice corpse.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, heroes that have lycanthropy from a werecockatrice are considered cannibals if they eat cockatrice meat.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, monsters subjected to stoning by a cockatrice's touch attack, a wielded cockatrice corpse or a thrown cockatrice egg will experience delayed stoning and loss of intrinsic speed as the hero does.

Encyclopedia entry

Once in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then,
along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basilisk,
or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A single
glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill both
man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be so
great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove fatal.
Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vegetation
to wither.

There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows
why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps
the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever
sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instantly.
But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said that
merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
sicken and die.

[ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) and other sources ]

See also

References

  1. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 4202-L4262: case for footrice stoning attacks
  2. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 5934-L5957: case for hero attacking a footrice
  3. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3923-L3942
  4. ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2482-L2507
  5. ↑ src/mhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1032-L1056
  6. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3944-L3978
  7. ↑ src/pickup.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 272-L281
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 src/pickup.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 283-L299: fatal_corpse_mistake() function
  9. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 5010-L5014
  10. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 794-L810: cprefx() function
  11. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1866-L1867
  12. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2560-L2575
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1971-L1973
  14. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 471-L493: temporary resistances are extended through a dangerous meal that is made safe by that resistance
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 932-L935: corpses of stone-resistant monsters can grant stoning resistance
  16. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 991-L997: monster level determines chance of temporary intrinsics
  17. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1089-L1095: duration of temporary stoning resistance
  18. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 33
  19. ↑ src/mkroom.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 356-L357
  20. ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 55
  21. ↑ src/end.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1211-L1212
  22. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 827-L830: eating a lizard cures stoning immediately
  23. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 866-L877: fix_petrification() function
  24. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 859-L862: eating an acidic monster cures stoning immediately
  25. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3952-L3959: stoned monster has chance to cure itself
  26. ↑ src/pickup.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2223-L2235
  27. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3684-L3963
  28. ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1564-L1568
  29. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1151-L1176
  30. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 4145-L4150: monsters using footrice corpses against other monsters
  31. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1203-L1221
  32. ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2147-L2165
  33. ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3037-L3056: this portion of use_whip() does not check for worn gloves when snatching a corpse off the ground
  34. ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3209-L3232: this portion of use_whip() does check for gloves when a weaponized corpse is snatched
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