Elephant

Version 0.13: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

elephant Y
HP	53-82
HD	9
XP	482
Speed	10
AC	8
EV	2
Will	60
Attack1	20 (trample: plain)
Attack2	5 (trunk slap: plain)
Resistances	rDrown, rWater
Vulnerabilities	None
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Animal
Uses	Uses nothing
Holiness	Natural
Size	Giant
Type	elephant, elephant
Flags	Warm-blooded

A large, thick-hided pachyderm. It crushes its foes and then thrashes them with its trunk. “And the King went to where the blind men were, and drawing near said to them: ‘Do you now know what an elephant is like?’ ‘Assuredly, Lord: we now know what an elephant is like.’ ‘Tell me then, O blind men, what an elephant is like.’ And those blind men, O Bhikkhus, who had felt the head of the elephant, said: ‘An elephant, Sir, is like a large round jar . Those who had felt its ears, said: 'it is like a winnowing basket.’ Those who had felt its tusks, said: ‘it is like a plough-share.’ Those who had felt its trunk, said: ‘it is like a plough.’ Those who had felt its body, said: ‘it is like a granary.’ Those who had felt its feet, said: ‘it is like a pillar.’ Those who had felt its back, said: ‘it is like a mortar.’ Those who had felt its tail, said: ‘it is a like a pestle.’ Those who had felt the tuft of its tail, said: ‘it is like a broom.’ And they all fought amongst themselves with their fists, declaring, ‘such is an elephant, such is not elephant, an elephant is not like that, it is like this.’” And the King, O Bhikkhus, was highly delighted. -_Udāna_, VI “Jaccandhavagga”. ca. 5th cent. B.C. trans. Dawsonne Melanchthon Strong, 1902. “And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong! So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!” -John Godfrey Saxe, “The Blind Men and the Elephant”. 1872.

Useful Info

Elephants are massive creatures which commonly roam the Lair in packs. They have enough HP and AC to last a few hits, and their attack deals decent damage and knocks you back a square, making it very difficult to escape via stairs. They can't knock you into lava or deep water this way, but that's small comfort after you've been trampled. They're still much weaker than their vicious cousins, the bloodthirsty dire elephant and the downright evil hellephant.

Tips & Tricks

• If you can kill a yak, then this creature shouldn't give you much more trouble. Fight them in corridors to keep the pack from surrounding you, and try not to stand at the last tile of the hallway or you'll be pushed out into the open.
  • Fighting with a wall, plant, or other creature behind you will keep you from getting shoved backwards.
• Note that even though elephants are not immune to poison, their relatively high HD makes them less likely than yaks to be confused by Mephitic Cloud unless you manage to keep them in the cloud for a few turns. Poisonous Cloud works just fine, however.
• Elephants are one of the first monsters you'll see that are large enough to safely wade through deep water. Don't count on any nearby lakes or rivers keeping them away from you.

History

Added in 0.7.