User:Umbire the Phantom/Demon

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A demon, &, is a monster that appears in older versions of NetHack from Hack 1.0 to NetHack 3.0.10.

A demon has a single attack.

(The information below primarily concerns NetHack 1.3d, and will be expanded as necessary upon studying other versions.)

Generation

Demons are typically created hostile, and are primarily generated randomly in Hell.

Demons are among the monsters that can be generated in graveyards.[1]

Praying to the gods while they are angry has a chance of generating a hostile demon being generated adjacent to the hero.[2]

Quaffing from or dipping into a fountain has a 130 chance of generating a demon: there is a 3100 chance (3%) that the demon will be peaceful and grant a wish.[3][4][5]

Strategy

A demon being sent by the gods is a sign that their anger is one level short of the hero being struck with lightning.

History

The demon 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, it uses the d glyph; from Hack for PDP-11 and Hack 1.0 on, it uses the & glyph.

The distinct major demons, demon lords and demon princes are introduced in NetHack 3.0.0, though the demon continues to appear until NetHack 3.0.10, and is only generated if the HARD compile-time option is not defined; the option name is changed to INFERNO in NetHack 3.0.6.

References