List of holy monsters

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Holy monsters are creatures that are blessed in some way by divine forces. They are quite rare outside of specific vaults, the Abyss, or holy-themed Pandemonium or Ziggurat floors - thankfully so, because they tend to be quite dangerous. Their innate holy damage, occasionally augmented by weapons of holy wrath, make them particularly deadly to undead or demonspawn characters. Most can fly and have halos, and all resist holy damage and often negative energy as well.

Holy Monster Types

Mortals

y Sun moth- Fluttering, shining creatures that blast their foes with solar energies. They have one-tile halos.

h Holy swine- Celestial beings that have fallen afoul of a curse. They are fast and deal moderate holy-branded physical damage, but are otherwise rather mundane. They have one-tile halos.

Y Apis- A yak-like being sacred to Elyvilon, they lumber into battle and hit hard with their powerful holy-branded horns. Unlike other holy monsters, they have no halo.

D Pearl dragon- A sacred dragon with brutal holy attacks, they can also breathe cleansing flames that create lingering clouds of holy fire, making them extremely dangerous to demons and the undead. Killing them may produce an otherwise difficult-to-find set of pearl dragon scales. Unlike other holy monsters, they have no halo.

Angels

A Cherub- One of the less powerful holy creatures, they are still capable of flight, wield powerful flaming weapons, and can inspire their allies. They have four-tile halos.

A Angel- The most common holy monster, they can often be found in special vaults throughout the Dungeon guarding altars to good gods or entrances to Ziggurats. They are faster than most characters and often carry weapons of holy wrath. They have four-tile halos.

A Daeva- Slower and more durable than angels, they often carry a tower shield in addition to their weapon of holy wrath. They can smite foes from a distance and have four-tile halos.

G Ophan- A wheel-like angelic being that traps evildoers inside a ring of holy flames before pelting them with Bolts of Fire. They have six-tile halos.

A Seraph- The most powerful angels and leaders of the angelic hosts, their already impressive strength is further augmented by the powerful long blades they wield. They can call down bursts of sacred fire, summon holy reinforcements, and protect their allies from harm. They have seven-tile halos.

Unique Holy Monsters

A Mennas- A well-equipped and extremely dangerous angel who silences players before rushing in and breaking them. He has a two-tile halo.

Unused and Retired Holy Monsters

p Spirit- Intended to be a weak, timid creature that would flee from you until enough time had passed for it to transform into a more powerful holy monster. However, they were never actually included in Crawl. They would have had two-tile halos.

* Blessed toe - Intended to be the holy analogue to curse toes. They would have been able to summon more holy monsters and would have had four-tile halos.

@ Paladin - Mortal worshipers of the Shining One, they came with armour, shield, and a weapon of holy wrath. They had two-tile halos.

H Shedu- Holy creatures that always came in pairs. Whenever one of them was injured or killed, the other would attempt to heal or even resurrect it unless their corpse was destroyed. They had three-tile halos.

b Phoenix- A mystical bird wreathed in flames. If a phoenix corpse was left untouched for too long, it would resurrect itself at full health in a burst of fire. They had three-tile halos.

* Silver star- The holy analogue of the dreaded orb of fire, it was a terrible threat to any evil or heavily mutated opponent. They had six-tile halos.

History

• Shedu, phoenixes, and silver stars were removed in 0.15, which greatly reworked the mechanics of holy monsters. Prior to that version, holy monsters could be neutral toward sufficiently pious worshipers of the good gods (i.e. The Shining One, Elyvilon, or Zin). Also, killing a holy monster would anger The Shining One, who might decide to smite the offender with Cleansing Flame. Similarly, killing an apis would anger Elivilon, who would punish the offender by inflicting temporary weakness.
• Paladins were removed in 0.13.