# Catoblepas

q catoblepas 

Difficulty

10

Attacks

Gaze 2d6 Touch of death, Bite 1d3

q catoblepas 

Difficulty

10

Attacks

Gaze 2d6 Touch of death, Bite 1d3

Base level

6

Base experience

118

Speed

6

Base AC

7

Base MR

10

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

Unique

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1200

Nutritional value

500

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A catoblepas:

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is herbivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 is nasty.
 is strong.

 hits creatures as a +2 weapon.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line1388

The catoblepas is a monster added in SLASH'EM. It possesses a fatal gaze attack that will kill you immediately if you are not undead, blind, magic resistant, or reflecting. 

Gaze attack
The gaze attack has a fairly low accuracy: there is a 75% chance that it will miss plus another 66% if you are either invisible or displaced. If you are reflecting and the gaze would have connected, then it will kill the gazer. 

Generation
Although the catoblepas is not randomly generated, it is a valid polymorphable form, so it is perfectly possible for a chameleon or intelligent monster with a wand of polymorph or polymorph trap to suddenly turn into a catoblepas. It is also possible to self polymorph into a catoblepas, but beware of monsters with reflection, as a reflected gaze of death will kill you even if you have reflection yourself.
Strangely, the catoblepas is a unique monster, yet also genocidable.  This is mostly irrelevant, but if you wish for the corpse of one in wizard mode, it will be described as "The catoblepas' corpse" rather than "A catoblepas corpse."

Mythology
The Catoblepas is, as in Ethiopia, a mid-sized herbivore with a body of a buffalo and a head of a boar. Its gaze and breath was thought to turn man to stone, or kill them in some way. Due to the weight of its head, it is usually looking downwards.