Why do some champion monsters split?

Question

In Torchlight 2, some champion monsters seem to have a chance to split on defeat. In other words, when monster A is defeated, monsters B and C, both of which appear to be "clones" of monster A, instantly appear upon monster A's death. This happily results in (a) additional fame XP, and (b) additional loot (though, if you're not careful, it can also result in an untimely death).

Is there a reason why this happens? Do all champions simply have a small chance to split, or is it monster specific? Or worse yet, is it a game bug? I've seen no mention of this split ability in the list of abilities for each champion I've fought so far.

Answer 1

Some champions have an attribute called splitting. Upon death, they split into 2 weaker versions of themselves. If you hover your mouse over the champion it'll give information about them (knockback, leaping attack, etc.) and some have extra information, usually at the bottom of their name in purple saying "splitting" or "haunted"

Not all champions have the splitting ability and it's not a bug. It's random which champions have this attribute.