Cobra

S cobra
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Bite 2d4 poison, Spit 0d0 blinding venom

S cobra
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Bite 2d4 poison, Spit 0d0 blinding venom
Base level	6
Base experience	90
Speed	18
Base AC	2
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	1 (Very rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	250
Nutritional value	100
Size	Medium
Resistances	poison
Resistances conveyed	poison (40%)
A cobra: can swim. can hide under items. cannot pick up items. has no limbs. is an animal. has a serpent body. can lay eggs. is poisonous to eat. is carnivorous. is normally generated hostile.
Reference	monst.c#line1783

A cobra, S, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a type of snake that can swim and hide under objects like other snakes.

A cobra has a poisonous bite attack and the ability to spit blinding venom, and possesses poison resistance.

A cobra corpse is poisonous to eat, but eating a cobra corpse or tin has a ²⁄₅ chance of conveying poison resistance.

Generation

Randomly generated cobras are always created hostile.

Cobras generate among the random S that are part of the first quest monster class for Archeologists and make up ²⁴⁄₃₅ of the monsters that randomly generate on the Archeologist quest. Two sleeping cobras are generated on the second variant of Medusa's Island at level creation, placed just outside Medusa's room, and cobras may also generate among the random snakes that appear on the first and fourth variants of Medusa's Island.

Cobras generated at level creation are given a random item to hide under.

Strategy

While cobras are not the most dangerous serpents in the dungeon, the blinding venom and poisonous bite can pose a serious problem if other hostile monsters are around.

History

The cobra first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.

Origin

"Cobra" is the common name used for various snakes: most cobras belong to the genus Naja and, with some exceptions, are of the family Elapidae. Cobras are venomous snakes that commonly have the ability to rear upwards and produce a "hood" of scaled skin when threatened. While the members of the genus Naja constitute the "true cobras", the name cobra is also applied to other genera and species of snake.

The cobra of NetHack is a type of spitting cobra, which can refer to any of several species of cobra that can intentionally shoot their venom directly from their fangs. Spitting cobras use their venom "spitting" as a form of both offense and defense: the venom can be absorbed via the victim’s eyes, mouth, nose, or any mucous membrane or existing wound, and can also be sprayed upon targets as well. A spitting cobra will consciously take aim as close as possible to the eyes and face of an aggressor.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, cobras will not generate in Gehennom.

The Snake Pit of the Lawful Quest may contain cobras among the random 2-4 S generated at level creation.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, four cobras appear within one of the rooms in Demogorgon's lair containing the statue trap of Shaktari if his dwelling appears as the third Abyss level.

Encyclopedia entry

Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without
answering, for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush
there came a low hiss -- a horrid cold sound that made
Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet. Then inch by inch out of
the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big
black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail.
When he had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground,
he stayed balancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion-tuft
balances in the wind, and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the
wicked snake's eyes that never change their expression,
whatever the snake may be thinking of.
'Who is Nag?' said he. '_I_ am Nag. The great God Brahm put
his mark upon all our people, when the first cobra spread his
hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept. Look, and be
afraid!'

[ Rikki-tikki-tavi, by Rudyard Kipling ]