Cockatrice (monster class)
The cockatrice is a monster class that appears in NetHack, and is represented by the lowercase c glyph (c). Cockatrices are designated internally by the macro S_COCKATRICE.[1]
The class contains the following monsters:[2]
- c chickatrice
- c cockatrice
- c pyrolisk
Common traits
All monsters in the cockatrice monster class are omnivorous animals of neutral alignment that are small in size at most. They can be seen via infravision, possess poison resistance, and each have an MR score of 30.
The term 'cockatrice', 'c' or footrice is often used to refer specifically to cockatrices and chickatrices: pyrolisks lack the stoning properties of the other two monsters, though their fiery gaze attack poses its own dangers.
Generation
Randomly generated cockatrice monsters are always created hostile.
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—from Hack for PDP-11 and Hack 1.0 onward, the cockatrice uses its current glyph.
The chickatrice first appears in NetHack-- 3.0.10, while the pyrolisk first appears in SLASH 6, and both make their vanilla debut in NetHack 3.3.0.
Variants
Some NetHack variants add chicken-like birds and similar monsters to this monster class.
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM add three new monsters to the monster class:
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, all cockatrice monsters are considered avian and reptilian.
A cockatrice monster may be generated on the stockade level of the Lost Cities in the Neutral Quest during level creation.
SpliceHack
SpliceHack adds two new monsters to the monster class:
EvilHack
EvilHack adds one new monster to the monster class:
- c basilisk
Hack'EM
Hack'EM adds four new monsters to the monster class from other variants:
