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My understanding is that if you dig down deep enough in Dwarf Fortress, you can run into an extraordinarily nasty type of monster. It also seems to be a tradition among players of the game not to mention these monsters' names on forums — they're too evil, like Voldemort.

I don't have the game, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me. What are these enemies called? Why are they so awful (both from how they fit into the lore and how they affect gameplay)?

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  • Just look in the files for the game. The files containing the data are encoded in plain text, so just dig through those. Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 3:21
  • @Garan: I don't have the game =P
    – Kevin
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 4:00
  • The game is free... Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 4:09
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    @Garan Clowns, being generated as they are, aren't present in the game's raws. Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 11:21
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    @Garen They're not stored within the program's code as such, they are procedurally generated (as with the Forgotten Beasts). You won't find a spec for any of them in the raws (the text data files), but you will find lists of features that the game randomly picks from to construct a new monster each time.
    – raveturned
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 12:37

1 Answer 1

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Spoiler - highlight with your cursor if you want to spoil your Dwarven fun.

There are great enemies lurking at the bottom of the mineable stone depths. They are collectively refereed to as "demons". Forum tradition has them often referred to as clowns, and the place where they are imprisoned (Hell or sometimes Hidden Fun Stuff) as the circus (as to avoid spoiling the player's fun). They cannot access the player's realm unless the player mines the adamantine spires. Adamantine is often referred to as cotton candy. Also, demon species are randomly generated as a combination of names and features animals have. As such, no two worlds will feature the same kind of demons.

As for why those enemies are awful:

As soon as an adamantine spire breaches Hell, hundreds of demons start to spawn below it. If a player doesn't lock that part of the fortress, demons will quickly overrun and slaughter every living being in the fortress. Also, and in comparison with the average dwarf, their stats are far higher, making them not only more deathly but more difficult to kill and/or to trap.

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    I would like to add that we don't say what they are because discovering for yourself is very Fun.
    – Wutaz
    Commented Mar 4, 2014 at 18:47
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    @Wutaz you mean !!FUN!!
    – wersimmon
    Commented Apr 18, 2014 at 2:12

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