Undead - Revision history

108.85.197.99: added "mummy necromancer" images, bumped images around in article (no /txt changes)

2026-02-26T02:59:41Z

added "mummy necromancer" images, bumped images around in article (no /txt changes)

Silverwing235 at 15:15, 17 August 2025

2025-08-17T15:15:00Z

Silverwing235: /* Destruction */

2025-08-16T23:35:28Z

Destruction

Takov: /* Destruction */

2025-07-21T21:43:32Z

Destruction

Takov: /* Destruction */ Undead with weapons CAN parry/block

2025-01-03T19:35:51Z

Destruction: Undead with weapons CAN parry/block

Zippy at 22:46, 10 December 2024

2024-12-10T22:46:17Z

Desistance: /* Undead Fun Facts */ wc

2024-11-16T23:32:51Z

Undead Fun Facts: wc

Silverwing235: /* Traits */

2024-06-14T00:11:00Z

Traits

Zippy at 00:01, 14 June 2024

2024-06-14T00:01:38Z

Zippy: Added image.

2024-06-07T16:04:08Z

Added image.

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 ==What is an undead?==
-[[File:undead_stab.jpg|thumb|200px|A drawing of a zombie and a dwarf by [[Zach Adams]]. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. The dwarf is stabbing the zombie in the back. The zombie is smirking.]]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.
+[[File:skin_color_preview.png|thumb|210px|right|What different undead/immortal creatures' skin colors mean.]]
 While ''Dwarf Fortress'' has many kinds of creatures that are no longer performing the bodily functions of a living being ([[vampire]]s, [[ghost]]s, [[mummy|mummies]], [[intelligent undead]], even [[necromancer]]s to some degree),
 this article is focused on the mindless bodies, raised from death by the foul powers of individuals or evil lands, or enthralled by evil weather. [[Infected ghoul]]s are similar to the common animated dead, but have their own article and a different tile color.
-[[File:skin_color_preview.png|thumb|210px|right|What different undead/immortal creatures' skin colors mean.]]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. Even some parts of creatures which should be incapable of autonomous movement can be raised, such as the [[hair]] or [[skin]], or even ''[[mussel]] [[shell]]s''. These are, however, predictably nonlethal, mostly serving as B-movie terror monster 'fodder' 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. However, pulping damage (that is, "exploding into gore", "cloven asunder", "torn into shreds" and so on) to the head, neck, lower body, or upper body will turn the corpse into a "mangled corpse", ensuring that the zombie cannot rise up again. Likewise, destroying the structural integrity of an animate bodypart will stop its reanimation.
+[[File:undead_head_preview.png|thumb|right|Stat screen of an animated severed dwarf head.]]
 Upon animation, an undead gains a [[syndrome]] that fundamentally changes its physical characteristics and behaviour. Some of the traits they generally possess are:
 *Unnatural [[attribute|strength and toughness]]. Strength increases to 130% and toughness to 300% + 1000 points on top - as the attributes scale from 0 to 5000, an above-average toughness of 1334 is enough for a zombie to reach the absolute cap of Toughness and pretty high, yet not absolute 3077 to reach the cap of Strength.
@@ Line 34: / Line 39: @@
 ==Destruction==
-[[File:DnD skelleton.png|thumb|Illustration of Undead legions]]
+[[File:undead_stab.jpg|thumb|200px|A drawing of a zombie and a dwarf by [[Zach Adams]]. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. The dwarf is stabbing the zombie in the back. The zombie is smirking.]]
 ''To kill undead via combat, means that sufficient slashing or blunt damage must be dealt to either the head, neck/throat, upper body, or lower body.''
 The undead are not to be trifled with – they have high Strength and very high Toughness, along with all other physical [[attribute]]s increased (except Speed), do not tire, feel no pain, have no useful articulations to damage, ignore injuries to their now-useless organs, do not fall unconscious, and are impervious to the effects of morale. Add in that they often arrive in very large numbers, using armor and weapons which make them even more powerful, and with [[necromancer]]s to reanimate them, and that [[semi-megabeast|the]] [[megabeast|greatest]] [[titan|of]] [[forgotten beast|beasts]] can be reanimated, and it comes off as no surprise that the undead can pose a great opportunity for trouble.
-[[File:undead_head_preview.png|thumb|right|Stat screen of an animated severed dwarf head.]]As a rule, an individual dwarven undead should best an untrained living dwarf, but be relatively easily dispatched by an armed member of the [[military|militia]]. Physically larger undead are greater threats than their smaller brethren, and no undead army should be faced without a prepared militia.
+As a rule, an individual dwarven undead should best an untrained living dwarf, but be relatively easily dispatched by an armed member of the [[military|militia]]. Physically larger undead are greater threats than their smaller brethren, and no undead army should be faced without a prepared militia.
 The undead cannot bleed out - puncture wounds do little good for this reason, and likewise, choking is obviously ineffective against their lack of breath. Pulping or severing ("flies/sails off in an arc!" etc.) an important structural body-part (head, neck, upper body, lower body) is guaranteed to kill an undead. [[Attack types#Blunt weapons|Blunt]] weapons are effective against animated corpses because they inflict pulping damage, mangling the zombies so badly that they cannot rise up again, without severing body parts that might reanimate. Of those commonly available to dwarves, [[mace]]s are more efficient at pulping than [[war hammer]]s. [[Flail]]s are better still if one can acquire them. There once existed a very rare bug (one noted by Toady) may occur where beheading doesn't kill an undead – this is possibly related to the neck being cut off rather than the head itself, which the game does not register as decapitation{{Verify}}. However, if this occurs simply destroying/severing another part (be it a foot or even a finger) will cause the game to realize they should be dead and instantly kill them; it is unknown if this bug can still occur but is noted here just in case.
@@ Line 45: / Line 50: @@
 Cutting apart the physical form of undead can be dangerous if the source of reanimation is still active and present - the more body parts are about, the more fodder for animation is present. In this case, it is wisest to either butcher the corpses (if they can be butchered), throw them into [[magma]], or [[dwarven atom smasher|pulverize them with a drawbridge]], which will destroy the bodies so thoroughly that they cannot be reanimated again. A thrall may be "safely" fought with cutting weapons however, as long as there is no risk of infection at hand. Undead animals can be disposed of by cage-trapping them and trading them away to passing merchants. [[Crossbow]] bolts and other ranged weapons are essentially useless against undead of even moderate size, even if they can theoretically kill them if one of the previously mentioned important body-parts is destroyed by the shot. Against particularly small enemies like a kea or raccoon, bolts and arrows can be capable of severing limbs and ultimately finishing the job - but against anything more substantial like your average goblin, a squad of marksdwarves can spend multiple ''years'', and quiver after quiver of ammunition, before ever dealing a lethal blow. This can be useful for rapidly training marksdwarves with a small number of targets, but may be undesirable if you're making a last stand, or had intended to thin the horde before the melee started.
 Undead from necromancer sieges may carry equipment, including weaponry and armor. While such undead cannot dodge and will seldom block or parry even if able to, they are perfectly capable of using their weapons to inflict damage upon your dwarves, and the armor they carry makes them much more difficult to put down. Against an armored zombie, hammers will be more effective than maces, as they have higher armor penetration while still inflicting blunt damage.
@@ Line 61: / Line 67: @@
 ==Undead Fun Facts==
 * Undead can animate from hauled corpses.
 * Animated undead will not attack necromancers (including those not responsible for raising them), as they are considered non-living beings. They are also indifferent towards other undead creatures like vampires or mummies.
@@ Line 80: / Line 87: @@
 * Undead [[echidna]], [[echidna man]], [[giant echidna]], [[hedgehog]], [[giant hedgehog]] and [[hedgehog man]] can be at the same time curled up (and therefore impossible to destroy), moving and attacking. Modding may be used as a workaround.{{bug|11463}}{{bug|10519}}.
 *Dwarves fail to bury remains of reanimated corpses.{{bug|10396}}
 {{Translation| dwarven = nasnökor | elvish = senoanaÿa | goblin = rotûstru | human = obmuthro}}
 {{Creatures}}
 {{category|Creatures}}
 [[ru:Undead]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 [[File:undead_sprites_preview.png|right]]The '''animated dead''' (or '''undead''') {{Tile|Ñ|3:0}} are the [[corpse|bodies]] of formerly living [[creature]]s animated through fell [[magic]]. These [[night creature]]s can be created intentionally by a [[necromancer]], a [[mummy]], or arise naturally from the dark energies of [[surroundings|evil regions]]. Animated dead are [[immortal]] and have no [[soul]]s.
-Graphically, the main races of the game will appear with purple skin. Undead [[animals]] will appear with an alternative sprite, usually being completely indigo with black spots around glowing white eyes. Many intelligent [[humanoid]] creatures will appear as they did when alive, albeit with an alternate, paler blue or purple skin color. Animated body parts may also appear as the whole, albeit zombified version of the respective creature. Some undead creatures will appear exactly the same as they were when alive, which is usually the case for those that are procedurally generated.
+Graphically, the main races of the game will appear with purple skin. Undead [[animals]] will appear with an alternative sprite, usually being completely indigo with black spots around glowing white eyes. Many intelligent [[humanoid]] creatures will appear as they did when alive, albeit with an alternate, paler blue or purple skin color. Animated body parts may also appear as the whole, albeit zombified, version of the respective creature. Some undead creatures will appear exactly the same as they were when alive, which is usually the case for those that are procedurally generated.
 ==What is an undead?==

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==Destruction==
 [[File:DnD skelleton.png|thumb|Illustration of Undead legions]]
-''To kill undead via combat means, sufficient slashing or blunt damage must be dealt to either the head, neck/throat, upper body, or lower body.''
+''To kill undead via combat, means that sufficient slashing or blunt damage must be dealt to either the head, neck/throat, upper body, or lower body.''
 The undead are not to be trifled with – they have high Strength and very high Toughness, along with all other physical [[attribute]]s increased (except Speed), do not tire, feel no pain, have no useful articulations to damage, ignore injuries to their now-useless organs, do not fall unconscious, and are impervious to the effects of morale. Add in that they often arrive in very large numbers, using armor and weapons which make them even more powerful, and with [[necromancer]]s to reanimate them, and that [[semi-megabeast|the]] [[megabeast|greatest]] [[titan|of]] [[forgotten beast|beasts]] can be reanimated, and it comes off as no surprise that the undead can pose a great opportunity for trouble.
@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 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. However, there are also reports of undead wildlife being encountered in areas bordering such places.{{verify}}
-In [[Adventure Mode]], edged weapons are far more effective than they are in Fortress and recommended over blunt weapons, as the player can target where they attack and provided they have no or little protection for their neck or head, their inability to dodge means the player can easily decapitate and instantly kill them, a skilled adventurer capable of slicing through a horde with ease while blunt weapons are notably less reliable in being able to kill a zombie every turn. Reanimated body parts are also far less of a concern than in Fortress Mode, as they require line of sight to be animated and reanimated parts deeply struggle to harm an adventurer in full armor with a shield. Reanimated parts can usually be put back down with a simple attack or two, or even kicked.  It is recommended the player cut a swath to the necromancer (who make for pathetic fighters outside of their powers) and kill them as soon as possible.
+In [[Adventure Mode]], edged weapons are far more effective than they are in fortress mode, and recommended over blunt weapons, as the player can target where they attack and provided they have no or little protection for their neck or head, their inability to dodge means the player can easily decapitate and instantly kill them, a skilled adventurer capable of slicing through a horde with ease while blunt weapons are notably less reliable in being able to kill a zombie every turn. Reanimated body parts are also far less of a concern than in fortress mode, as they require line of sight to be animated and reanimated parts deeply struggle to harm an adventurer in full armor with a shield. Reanimated parts can usually be put back down with a simple attack or two, or even kicked.  It is recommended the player cut a swath to the necromancer (who make for pathetic fighters outside of their powers) and kill them as soon as possible.
 ==Uses==

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:43, 21 July 2025
Line 54:		Line 54:

	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. However, there are also reports of undead wildlife being encountered in areas bordering such places.{{verify}}		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. However, there are also reports of undead wildlife being encountered in areas bordering such places.{{verify}}
		+
		+	In [[Adventure Mode]], edged weapons are far more effective than they are in Fortress and recommended over blunt weapons, as the player can target where they attack and provided they have no or little protection for their neck or head, their inability to dodge means the player can easily decapitate and instantly kill them, a skilled adventurer capable of slicing through a horde with ease while blunt weapons are notably less reliable in being able to kill a zombie every turn. Reanimated body parts are also far less of a concern than in Fortress Mode, as they require line of sight to be animated and reanimated parts deeply struggle to harm an adventurer in full armor with a shield. Reanimated parts can usually be put back down with a simple attack or two, or even kicked. It is recommended the player cut a swath to the necromancer (who make for pathetic fighters outside of their powers) and kill them as soon as possible.

	==Uses==		==Uses==

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==Destruction==
 [[File:DnD skelleton.png|thumb|Illustration of Undead legions]]
 The undead are not to be trifled with – they have high Strength and very high Toughness, along with all other physical [[attribute]]s increased (except Speed), do not tire, feel no pain, have no useful articulations to damage, ignore injuries to their now-useless organs, do not fall unconscious, and are impervious to the effects of morale. Add in that they often arrive in very large numbers, using armor and weapons which make them even more powerful, and with [[necromancer]]s to reanimate them, and that [[semi-megabeast|the]] [[megabeast|greatest]] [[titan|of]] [[forgotten beast|beasts]] can be reanimated, and it comes off as no surprise that the undead can pose a great opportunity for trouble.
 [[File:undead_head_preview.png|thumb|right|Stat screen of an animated severed dwarf head.]]As a rule, an individual dwarven undead should best an untrained living dwarf, but be relatively easily dispatched by an armed member of the [[military|militia]]. Physically larger undead are greater threats than their smaller brethren, and no undead army should be faced without a prepared militia.
-The undead cannot bleed out - puncture wounds do little good for this reason, and likewise, choking is obviously ineffective against their lack of breath. Pulping or severing ("flies/sails off in an arc!" etc.) an important structural body-part (head, neck, upper body, lower body) is guaranteed to kill an undead. [[Attack types#Blunt weapons|Blunt]] weapons are effective against animated corpses because they inflict pulping damage, mangling the zombies so badly that they cannot rise up again, without severing body parts that might reanimate. Of those commonly available to dwarves, [[mace]]s are more efficient at pulping than [[war hammer]]s. [[Flail]]s are better still if one can acquire them. Beheading appears to sometimes work less reliably – this is possibly related to the neck being cut off rather than the head itself, which the game does not register as decapitation{{Verify}}.
+The undead cannot bleed out - puncture wounds do little good for this reason, and likewise, choking is obviously ineffective against their lack of breath. Pulping or severing ("flies/sails off in an arc!" etc.) an important structural body-part (head, neck, upper body, lower body) is guaranteed to kill an undead. [[Attack types#Blunt weapons|Blunt]] weapons are effective against animated corpses because they inflict pulping damage, mangling the zombies so badly that they cannot rise up again, without severing body parts that might reanimate. Of those commonly available to dwarves, [[mace]]s are more efficient at pulping than [[war hammer]]s. [[Flail]]s are better still if one can acquire them. There once existed a very rare bug (one noted by Toady) may occur where beheading doesn't kill an undead – this is possibly related to the neck being cut off rather than the head itself, which the game does not register as decapitation{{Verify}}. However, if this occurs simply destroying/severing another part (be it a foot or even a finger) will cause the game to realize they should be dead and instantly kill them; it is unknown if this bug can still occur but is noted here just in case.
 Cutting apart the physical form of undead can be dangerous if the source of reanimation is still active and present - the more body parts are about, the more fodder for animation is present. In this case, it is wisest to either butcher the corpses (if they can be butchered), throw them into [[magma]], or [[dwarven atom smasher|pulverize them with a drawbridge]], which will destroy the bodies so thoroughly that they cannot be reanimated again. A thrall may be "safely" fought with cutting weapons however, as long as there is no risk of infection at hand. Undead animals can be disposed of by cage-trapping them and trading them away to passing merchants. [[Crossbow]] bolts and other ranged weapons are essentially useless against undead of even moderate size, even if they can theoretically kill them if one of the previously mentioned important body-parts is destroyed by the shot. Against particularly small enemies like a kea or raccoon, bolts and arrows can be capable of severing limbs and ultimately finishing the job - but against anything more substantial like your average goblin, a squad of marksdwarves can spend multiple ''years'', and quiver after quiver of ammunition, before ever dealing a lethal blow. This can be useful for rapidly training marksdwarves with a small number of targets, but may be undesirable if you're making a last stand, or had intended to thin the horde before the melee started.
-Undead from necromancer sieges may carry equipment, including weaponry and armor. While such undead will neither block nor parry, they are perfectly capable of using their weapons to inflict damage upon your dwarves, and the armor they carry makes them much more difficult to put down. Against an armored zombie, hammers will be more effective than maces, as they have higher armor penetration while still inflicting blunt damage.
+Undead from necromancer sieges may carry equipment, including weaponry and armor. While such undead cannot dodge and will seldom block or parry even if able to, they are perfectly capable of using their weapons to inflict damage upon your dwarves, and the armor they carry makes them much more difficult to put down. Against an armored zombie, hammers will be more effective than maces, as they have higher armor penetration while still inflicting blunt damage.
 [[Evil weather]] thralls may require utmost caution. Any thrall carrying a melee weapon or armour (let alone any combat skills of its own, which it will retain the use of) can dispatch a full squad in short order even with average combat skills, making direct confrontation an unwise choice – Armok help you if the thrall in question used to be one of your best soldiers. A particularly dire possibility is that, if the responsible evil cloud is in dust form, the thrall is still contaminated with whatever substance transformed it. If this is the case, any dwarves sent to fight the thrall will become thralls themselves if the thrall tries to wrestle them. From there, the new thralls might spread the contaminant further still, which can easily lead to a [[Fun|full-fledged zombie apocalypse]].

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 ==Undead Fun Facts==
 * Undead can animate from hauled corpses.
-* Animated undead will not attack necromancers (including those not responsible for raising them), as they are considered non-living beings. They are also loyal towards other undead creatures like vampires or mummies.
+* Animated undead will not attack necromancers (including those not responsible for raising them), as they are considered non-living beings. They are also indifferent towards other undead creatures like vampires or mummies.
 * Undead will not attack inorganic/elemental creatures, such as [[Gabbro man|gabbro men]] and [[bronze colossus]]es. This is because these creatures are also treated as 'non-living', despite the fact they are not undead.
 * Undead risen from starved animals in cages are not caged.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 *[[Speed]] is reduced to 60% of the living creature.
 *Unliving, sterile and opposed to life. Will be hostile to everything in the vicinity, other than fellow undead and inorganic aberrations that also have {{token|NOT_LIVING}} (iron men, bronze colossuses).
-*Mindless. Undead can no longer learn or forget, fixed to what [[skill]] levels they had in death. They are unaffected by fear, cannot feel emotions and keep going even if the brain is destroyed. Mischievous behavior and battle-trance capability are removed if present.
+*Mindlessness. Undead can no longer learn or forget, fixed to what [[skill]] levels they had in death. They are unaffected by fear, cannot feel emotions and keep going even if the brain is destroyed. Mischievous behavior and battle-trance capability are removed if present.
-*Magically sustained. Undead keep their [[attribute]] scores forever, do not age, and are beyond bodily worries such as pain, illness and exertion. Undead do not breathe, bleed, eat, drink nor sleep. Their limbs will continue to function even if the normally necessary ligaments have rotted away, and their extrasensory vision cannot be blinded.
+*Magically sustained. Undead keep their [[attribute]] scores forever, do not age, and are beyond bodily worries such as pain, illness and exertion. Undead do not breathe, bleed, eat, drink nor sleep. Their limbs will continue to function even if the normally-necessary ligaments have rotted away, and their extrasensory vision cannot be blinded.
 [[File:dismal_zombie_preview.png|thumb|187px|right|Blue goblin as a dismal zombie.]]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 undead 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, though their untanned skin and hair can potentially become undead. Reanimated skin and hair are easy to kill but will often frighten civilians; surrounding a butcher's shop with cage traps will help alleviate the problem. In addition, undead appear to retain the trading value of the original animal.
-Unintelligent undead such as those created by a necromancer or raised by an evil biome have no concern for their own wellbeing. Such zombies will not attempt to dodge, block, or parry blows.
+Unintelligent undead, such as those created by a necromancer or raised by an evil biome, have no concern for their own wellbeing - such zombies will not attempt to dodge, block, or parry blows.
 Larger undead who were [[building destroyer]]s in life can still destroy buildings, though undead with special attacks like webbing will not be able to use them (zombie [[dragon]]s, however, still use their breath). Undead thieves can still pick locks, but will not path to a locked [[door]] unless in pursuit of the living. If found underground, undead will usually path into a fort if they can. [[Aquatic]] creatures rendered undead are able to path through land, even if their living counterparts are unable to do so.