v0.34:Undead

v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34.11 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

The animated dead are the bodies of formerly living creatures animated through fell magic. Undead can be created intentionally by a necromancer to serve him, or arise naturally from the dark energies of evil regions.

What is an undead?

An undead may be formed of either the rotting husk or the bones and shell of a being. The former is considered a zombie, and the latter a skeleton. Although vampires are no longer performing the bodily functions of a living being, they are not considered the "animated dead", this term being reserved for a corpse which has begun to move and act on its own or by the will of another, the distinction generally being held as one of cognitive capacity. Where zombies and skeletons cannot think or behave in any sophisticated manner, vampires are willful beings capable of great deception. Ghosts are called Undead in-game, but they are also not considered animated dead.

As long as the remains of a creature contain a body part capable of grasping, be it a hand or head or the entire upper half, those remains can be animated. This can lead to animated hands and heads, which seems comical until you consider the implications of a swarm of such monstrosities and the havoc that they might wreak. Currently, even some parts of creatures which should be incapable of autonomous movement can be raised, such as the hair or skin. They are, however, predictably nonlethal, mostly serving as a B-movie terror monster to scare your dwarves into running around.. A body part can be resurrected as a zombie even if it has already done so and been de-animated again. It is important to realize that an endless horde of the undead may really be endless unless the root of the problem is destroyed, or in the case of evil regions, avoided entirely.

Traits

Undead retain the wounds that killed them in life, as well as any they have sustained since or from a temporary de-animation. Undead vary in levels of strength depending on their form. Certain types of animal are likely the most dangerous that it is common to encounter, and can have dangerous strength, speed, aggression, and piercing attacks. The undead of butcherable creatures can still be butchered once de-animated, as long as they have not rotted; doing so will prevent them from re-animating again.

Larger undead with the BUILDINGDESTROYER tag can still destroy buildings,though undead with special attacks like webbing will not be able to use them. If found underground, undead will usually path into a fort if they can.

Destruction

Undead are not difficult to destroy, but require unconventional tactics. You would not wish to attempt to kill them with puncture wounds, as their organs no longer serve them in any useful regard. Likewise, choking is ineffective against their lack of breath. Instead, the most useful tactic is dismemberment, axes and swords serving to cut apart the physical form of the undead rather than attempting to wound its unfeeling shell. This may however be dangerous if the source of the undead is still active and present, as the more body parts are about, the more fodder for animation is present. In this case, it is wiser to either butcher the corpses (if they can be butchered) or throw them into magma, which will destroy the bodies so thoroughly that they cannot be reanimated again. It should be noted that magma will not currently kill a zombie itself, however.

Reports have been made of zombies animated by the ambient evil of a region deanimating on their own when wandering away from such a vile place.

Thralls, Husks, and Zombies

Certain kinds of evil weather can instantly turn any syndrome-vulnerable creature into a bloodthirsty undead killer, opposed to all life. These creatures are referred to be the sort of weather that transformed them, an identifier as a thrall, husk, or zombie, and their original creature name-- for example, a stray guineahen unholy gloom husk. The specific syndromes that generate these creatures are created at the time the world is generated, but vary only slightly from one another. Some traits these creatures are likely to possess include:

• Increased strength, toughness, and/or reduced speed.
• Opposition to life, lack of emotion
• Undead status (NOT_LIVING), sterility, no attribute rust or gain
• An almost complete invulnerability to the effects of damage

Because of the plethora of tags added to these creatures, they are vulnerable only to beheading or bisection. Because the interaction can happen without first killing the target, thrall-like creatures retain any armor or weapons they were carrying. And, perhaps worst of all, they may still be contaminated with the material leading to the transformation, infecting those with whom they wrestle.

Undead Fun Facts

• Undead can animate from hauled corpses
• Undead will not attack vampires
• Undead risen from starved animals in cages are not caged
• Undead attack Megabeasts as well as invaders, excepting necromancers
• Creatures capable of evading traps or bypassing locked doors retain that ability as undead.
• Dwarves who like an animal will also enjoy that undead animal

Bugs

Dwarves will not report someone missing as dead even if the corpse is gnawing on their ear.