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v0.34:Giant sponge

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Revision as of 17:18, 31 March 2014 by Quietust (talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by Latias1290 (talk) to last revision by Proudnerd)
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Giant sponge

S

Urist likes giant sponges for their squishy texture.
Biome

Variations

Sponge - Sponge man - Giant sponge

Attributes
Alignment: Savage

· Aquatic · Genderless · Exotic mount

Tamed Attributes
Pet value 500

· Exotic pet · Non-Breeding

Not trainable 

Size
Max: 560,000 cm3

Age
Adult at: Birth
Max age: 20-30
Cannot be butchered
This article is about an older version of DF.
A huge immobile sponge.

Giant sponges are larger versions of sponges. They can be found in savage rivers, lakes and oceans, and are one of the most improbably fun new creatures of DF2012.

Physically, giant sponges are blobs made of "sponge" tissue. Despite this harmless appearance, they have earned a reputation similar to that previously held by carp, for they are much more dangerous than they look. If some hapless dwarf appears near their water, giant sponges may feel suddenly threatened and charge (!) the hapless dwarf and engage in combat. They may also become enraged or unconscious, as utterly improbable as that sounds.

"Without a nervous system, the only thing it can feel is ANGER."

Giant sponges cannot be killed in normal combat. They are also the uncontested aquatic contestant for the DF2012 king of beasts. Any kind of edge attack will only tear the body at best, and blunt attacks make no damage at all. This is due to having just one body part, with no blood, no brain, and no way to cut the body into two. Even several bronze colossi wielding adamantine slashing weapons, or throwing punches, will not kill them. Besides being completely invulnerable to combat damage, their large size means they can (and usually will) shatter bones, articulations, bruise organs or even kill a dwarf via headshot using their default push attack. How a giant sponge's soft structural tissue can break a dwarven skull is a mystery for the ages.

Giant Sponge Fun Facts

  • Giant sponges are utterly immune to blunt damage and seemingly cannot be killed by edge damage, only "torn"
  • Giant sponges do not seem to take damage from being set on fire, although they will die from air-drowning.
  • Giant sponges do not explode when striking the ground with enough force, so they are immune to falling damage.
  • Giant sponges can only move when attacking or charging other creatures.
  • Giant sponges do feel pain, and if hurt enough, will fall unconscious (whatever that means).
  • The only way to kill a giant sponge is by airdrowning or by using an insta-kill method such as a dwarven atom smasher, encasing it in obsidian or ice, or dropping a cave-in on it.

Beware embarking on evil water, though; a zombie giant sponge (or even worse, a thralled giant sponge) is not strictly aquatic.

Both sponges and giant sponges are, according to their raws, susceptible to infection. It is not known if sponges can die of infection.

Due to their invulnerability, giant sponges are wonderful training dummies, as long as they will not air-drown. However, your dwarves need to be protected if you want to engage giant sponges in melee, and the giant sponges quickly become unconscious, negating most dwarf experience gains. This can be fixed by making them undead (although a thralled giant sponge will likely be far too fun to be trained on) They are also useful as crossbow training dummies.

According to its raws, the giant sponge can not only be tamed but even ridden as a war beast by invaders. No reports of goblins or elves riding giant sponges has been documented, but maybe its strictly aquatic lifestyle prevents it from being chosen.

Undead giant sponges are less threatening than they would appear, given their habit of collapsing after taking a few hits. A thralled giant sponge is another matter entirely.

Bugs

  • Rangers and Hunters may try to hunt the Giant Sponge, wasting bolts that become lost in the water or lodged into the Sponge itself. This may also lead to near endless "Urist McHunterpants Ranger cancels Hunt: Could Not Find Path" messages.
Races
DwarfElfGoblinHumanKobold
Subterranean
animal people
Birds
Albatross (man, giant) • Barn owl (man, giant) • Bushtit (man, giant) • Cassowary (man, giant) • Cockatiel (man, giant) • Crow (man, giant) • Eagle (man, giant) • Emu (man, giant) • Great horned owl (man, giant) • Grey parrot (man, giant) • Hornbill (man, giant) • Kakapo (man, giant) • Kea (man, giant) • Kestrel (man, giant) • Kiwi (man, giant) • Loon (man, giant) • Lorikeet (man, giant) • Magpie (man, giant) • Masked lovebird (man, giant) • Osprey (man, giant) • Ostrich (man, giant) • Parakeet (man, giant) • Peach-faced lovebird (man, giant) • Penguin (little, emperor, man, giant) • Peregrine falcon (man, giant) • Puffin (man, giant) • Raven (man, giant) • Snowy owl (man, giant) • Sparrow (man, giant) • Swan (man, giant) • White stork (man, giant) • Wren (man, giant)
Bugs
Bark scorpion (man, giant) • Brown recluse spider (man, giant) • Damselfly (man, giant) • Grasshopper (man, giant) • Jumping spider (man, giant) • Louse (man, giant) • Mantis (man, giant) • Moon snail (man, giant) • Mosquito (man, giant) • Moth (man, giant) • Slug (man, giant) • Snail (man, giant) • Thrips (man, giant) • Tick (man, giant)
Desert
Desert tortoise (man, giant) • Gila monster (man, giant) • Leopard gecko (man, giant)
Domestic
AlpacaBlue peafowlCatCavyChickenCowDogDonkeyDuckGoatGooseGuineafowlHorseLlamaMulePigRabbitReindeerSheepTurkeyWater buffaloYak
Mountain
Ocean
AngelsharkBasking sharkBlacktip reef sharkBlue sharkBluefin tunaBluefishBull sharkCodCoelacanthCommon skateConger eelCrab (man, giant) • Cuttlefish (man, giant) • Elephant seal (man, giant) • Frill sharkGiant grouperGreat barracudaGreat white sharkHalibutHammerhead sharkHarp seal (man, giant) • Horseshoe crab (man, giant) • Leopard seal (man, giant) • Longfin mako sharkManta rayMarlinMilkfishNarwhal (man, giant) • Nautilus (man, giant) • Nurse sharkOcean sunfishOctopus (man, giant) • OpahOrca (man, giant) • Sea lampreyShortfin mako sharkSperm whale (man, giant) • Spiny dogfishSponge (man, giant) • Spotted wobbegong • Squid (man, giant) • StingraySturgeonSwordfishTiger sharkWalrusWhale sharkWhitetip reef shark
River/Lake
Axolotl (man, giant) • Beaver (man, giant) • CarpHippo • Leech (man, giant) • Longnose garMink (man, giant) • Otter (river, sea, man, giant) • PikePlatypus (man, giant) • Pond turtle (man, giant) • Snapping turtle (common, alligator, man, giant) • Tigerfish
Temperate
Adder (man, giant) • AlligatorBadger (man, giant) • Black bearBobcat (man, giant) • BuzzardCapybara (man, giant) • Coati (man, giant) • Copperhead snake (man, giant) • CougarCoyote (man, giant) • DeerDingo (man, giant) • Echidna (man, giant) • FoxGray langur (man, giant) • Green tree frog (man, giant) • Grizzly bearGroundhogHare (man, giant) • Ibex (man, giant) • Kangaroo (man, giant) • Kingsnake (man, giant) • Koala (man, giant) • Moose (man, giant) • Opossum (man, giant) • Panda (man, giant) • Porcupine (man, giant) • RaccoonRattlesnake (man, giant) • Red panda (man, giant) • Rhesus macaqueSkunk (man, giant) • Weasel (man, giant) • Wild boar (man, giant) • WolfWombat (man, giant)
Tropical
Aardvark (man, giant) • Anaconda (man, giant) • Armadillo (man, giant) • Aye-aye (man, giant) • BilouBlack mamba (man, giant) • Black-crested gibbonBlack-handed gibbonBonoboBushmaster (man, giant) • Capuchin (man, giant) • Cheetah (giant) • ChimpanzeeElephantGazelleGiant desert scorpionGiant tortoise (man, giant) • GiraffeGorillaGray gibbonHoney badgerHyena (man, giant) • Impala (man, giant) • Jackal (man, giant) • Jaguar (giant) • King cobra (man, giant) • Leopard (giant) • Lion (giant) • Lion tamarin (man, giant) • MandrillMongoose (man, giant) • Monitor lizard (man, giant) • Ocelot (man, giant) • One-humped camelOrangutanPangolin (man, giant) • Pileated gibbonPython (man, giant) • RhinocerosSaltwater crocodileSiamangSilvery gibbonSloth (man, giant) • Sloth bear (man, giant) • Spider monkey (man, giant) • Tapir (man, giant) • Tiger (giant, man) • Two-humped camelVultureWarthogWhite-browed gibbonWhite-handed gibbon
Tundra
ElkLynx (man, giant) • MuskoxPolar bearStoat (man, giant)
Subterranean
Mammals
Flying squirrel (man, giant) • Hamster (man, giant) • Hedgehog (man, giant)
Miscellaneous
Semi-Megabeasts
Megabeasts
Nonexistent