# Naga
The naga, N, is a monster class in NetHack that consists of the following monsters and their hatchling forms:

N red naga
N red naga hatchling
N black naga
N black naga hatchling
N golden naga
N golden naga hatchling
N guardian naga
N guardian naga hatchling
Contents

1 Common traits

1.1 Generation

2 Hatchlings
3 Adult nagas
4 History
5 Origin
6 Encyclopedia entry

Common traits
Nagas have the head of a human and the body of a snake. They are slithy, limbless monsters with thick hides that are classified as strong and capable of consuming meat; with the exception of black nagas, they are also omnivorous. Female nagas are oviparous and capable of laying eggs. All nagas have poison resistance, and you may gain the intrinsic from eating naga meat.
All hatchlings are large, while all adult nagas are huge. Nagas are considered kebabable—you receive a +2 to-hit bonus when attacking them with a weapon that uses the spear skill.
If you chat to a naga or naga hatchling, they will "mumble incomprehensibly".

Generation
The naga monster class is the second quest class for the Rogue quest, and have a 3% chance to be generated within the branch.
Naga hatchlings are neutral-aligned and do not randomly generate outside of certain branches with a neutral "bias" such as the Oracle and Sokoban. They can also hatch from naga eggs, and are sometimes generated peaceful towards neutral characters. 

Hatchlings
All naga hatchlings have a single 1d4 bite attack and are mostly harmless.

RedBlackGoldenGuardian

N red naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

N red naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

Base level

3

Base experience

28

Speed

10

Base AC

6

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

Fire, Poison

Resistances conveyed

Fire (10%), Poison (10%)

A red naga hatchling:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1621

The red naga hatchling and its adult form are infravisible. The hatchling has the least chance of all nagas to convey poison resistance from eating their corpse or tinned meat, but is also an early source of fire resistance.

N black naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

N black naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

Base level

3

Base experience

28

Speed

10

Base AC

6

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

Poison, Acid, Stoning

Resistances conveyed

Poison (20%)

A black naga hatchling:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.

 is acidic to eat.

 is carnivorous.

 is strong.

Reference

monst.c#line1621

The black naga hatchling and its grown-up form are acidic—players eating their corpses will take damage, but their tinned meat is safe to consume. Black naga hatchlings and adults are also the only carnivorous members of the monster class.

Generation
Four black naga hatchlings appear on the fourth variant of Medusa's Island.

N golden naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

N golden naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

Base level

3

Base experience

28

Speed

10

Base AC

6

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

Poison

Resistances conveyed

Poison (20%)

A golden naga hatchling:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

Reference

monst.c#line1621

N guardian naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

N guardian naga hatchling 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d4

Base level

3

Base experience

28

Speed

10

Base AC

6

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

Poison

Resistances conveyed

Poison (20%)

A guardian naga hatchling:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

Reference

monst.c#line1621

Adult nagas

RedBlackGoldenGuardian

N red naga 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Bite 2d4, Breath 2d6 fire

N red naga 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Bite 2d4, Breath 2d6 fire

Base level

6

Base experience

82

Speed

12

Base AC

4

Base MR

0

Alignment

-4 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2600

Nutritional value

400

Size

Huge

Resistances

Fire, Poison

Resistances conveyed

Fire (20%), Poison (20%)

A red naga:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.
 can lay eggs.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1627

The red naga is the slowest of the adult nagas, with its speed matching that of an unhasted player. It is also the only chaotic naga. They are likely the first hostile monsters with a fire breath attack to be encountered in the dungeon—avoid fighting them over ice if possible.

N black naga 

Difficulty

10

Attacks

Bite 2d6, Spit 0d0 acid venom

N black naga 

Difficulty

10

Attacks

Bite 2d6, Spit 0d0 acid venom

Base level

8

Base experience

132

Speed

14

Base AC

2

Base MR

10

Alignment

4 (lawful)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2600

Nutritional value

400

Size

Huge

Resistances

Poison, acid, stoning

Resistances conveyed

Poison (53%)

A black naga:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.
 can lay eggs.

 is acidic to eat.

 is carnivorous.

 is strong.

Reference

monst.c#line1634

The black naga is capable of spitting acidic venom at you from a distance.

Generation
Four adult black nagas appear on the fourth variant of Medusa's Island.

N golden naga 

Difficulty

13

Attacks

Bite 2d6, Magic 4d6 spell-casting

N golden naga 

Difficulty

13

Attacks

Bite 2d6, Magic 4d6 spell-casting

Base level

10

Base experience

239

Speed

14

Base AC

2

Base MR

70

Alignment

5 (lawful)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2600

Nutritional value

400

Size

Huge

Resistances

Poison

Resistances conveyed

Poison (67%)

A golden naga:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.
 can lay eggs.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

Reference

monst.c#line1642

The golden naga is the sole spellcaster of the monster class, and a dangerous one at that. Their available spells include destroy armor, curse items and drain strength, and they may haste self and/or become invisible before you can catch sight of them.

Generation
Golden nagas often generate peaceful for a lawful character.

Strategy
Magic resistance can blunt the worst of their spells' impact.

N guardian naga 

Difficulty

16

Attacks

Bite 1d6 paralysis, Spit 1d6 blinding venom, Hug 2d4

N guardian naga 

Difficulty

16

Attacks

Bite 1d6 paralysis, Spit 1d6 blinding venom, Hug 2d4

Base level

12

Base experience

295

Speed

16

Base AC

0

Base MR

50

Alignment

7 (lawful)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

2600

Nutritional value

400

Size

Huge

Resistances

Poison

Resistances conveyed

Poison (80%)

A guardian naga:

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 has a serpent body.

 has a thick hide.
 can lay eggs.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is strong.

Reference

monst.c#line1649

The guardian naga is the fastest of the nagas, and arguably the strongest. Although they lack the golden naga's spellcasting prowess, they can paralyze you with their bite attack and spit blinding venom.
They have a bearhug attack defined in the source, but may not use it against you: bearhug attacks require hitting with two prior attacks in the same turn, but guardian nagas never meet this condition due to skipping their spit attack in melee combat. The attack still contributes to their experience reward, and they use it readily in combat against other monsters.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Guardian nagas can use their hug attack, which is now an eel-style "wrap" attack. Nagas can't inhabit water squares, so they can't drown you.
Generation
Guardian nagas are the second quest monster in the Rogue quest, and have a 14% chance to be generated within the branch. Several more guardian nagas will be generated upon entering each floor below the Home level.

Strategy
A ring of free action is very useful against guardian nagas, especially if you lack ranged options to drop them before they can close in.

History
All nagas were introduced to the game in NetHack 3.0.0.

Origin

Wikipedia has an article about:
Nāga

The Nāga (feminine "Nagi") are creatures that appear in Dungeons &amp; Dragons, which in turn derives them from a supernatural race of half-human half-serpent beings that can occasionally take human form, and hold cultural significance in the folkloric traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures over the past two millennia.
Their most common depiction is that of a snake with a human head, which the default tiles of NetHack draw from—other iconographic depictions portray them as human from the waist up and snake from the waist down, wholly human with snakes on the heads and necks, or even as common serpents. Various south and southeastern Asian cultures also portray Nāgas as having multiple usually-serpentine heads.

Encyclopedia entry

The naga is a mystical creature with the body of a snake and the head of a man or woman.  They will fiercely protect the territory they consider their own.  Some nagas can be forced to serve as guardians by a spellcaster of great power.

 