# Rat
Rats are long-tailed rodents, the three in the family being sewer rats, giant rats, and rabid rats. They are generally encountered in the early part of the dungeon. Their lycanthrope relative, the wererat, can summon an entourage of these creatures as allies.

Contents

1 Sewer rat
2 Giant rat
3 Rabid rat
4 Encyclopedia entry
5 Variants

5.1 Convict patch

5.1.1 Enormous rat

5.2 Rodent of unusual size
5.3 SLASH'EM

Sewer rat

r sewer rat 

Difficulty

1

Attacks

Bite 1d3

r sewer rat 

Difficulty

1

Attacks

Bite 1d3

Base level

0

Base experience

1

Speed

12

Base AC

7

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

20

Nutritional value

12

Size

Tiny

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A sewer rat:

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can be seen through infravision.

 normally appears in small groups.

Reference

monst.c#line734

A sewer rat is just another weak monster, stronger than a newt but weaker than a kobold.

Giant rat

r giant rat 

Difficulty

2

Attacks

Bite 1d3

r giant rat 

Difficulty

2

Attacks

Bite 1d3

Base level

1

Base experience

8

Speed

10

Base AC

7

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

30

Nutritional value

30

Size

Tiny

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A giant rat:

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can be seen through infravision.

 normally appears in small groups.

Reference

monst.c#line736

A giant rat has slightly more health and nutritional value than its sewer rat brethren, but it moves more slowly.

Rabid rat

r rabid rat 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 2d4 poisonous (constitution)

r rabid rat 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 2d4 poisonous (constitution)

Base level

2

Base experience

17

Speed

12

Base AC

6

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

30

Nutritional value

5

Size

Tiny

Resistances

poison

Resistances conveyed

None

A rabid rat:

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is poisonous to eat.
 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line742

A rabid rat is the most dangerous member of the rat family in NetHack. It has a special constitution-draining poisonous bite, which has a slim chance of causing instadeath if not poison resistant. This bite can be protected against with high magic cancellation. Its corpse is poisonous, but will not grant poison resistance.

Encyclopedia entry

Rats are long-tailed rodents.  They are aggressive,
omnivorous, and adaptable, often carrying diseases.
&nbsp;
"The rat," said O'Brien, still addressing his invisible
audience, "although a rodent, is carnivorous.  You are aware
of that.  You will have heard of the things that happen in
the poor quarters of this town.  In some streets a woman dare
not leave her baby alone in the house, even for five minutes.
The rats are certain to attack it.  Within quite a small time
they will strip it to the bones.  They also attack sick or
dying people.  They show astonishing intelligence in knowing
when a human being is helpless."

[ 1984, by George Orwell ] 

Variants
Convict patch
The Convict patch and variants that implement it include larger species of rats.  Existing rats grow up into them.
Convicts begin with a pet sewer rat and have a chance of taming or at least pacifying hostile rats by #chatting with them.

Enormous rat

r enormous rat 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d6 physical

r enormous rat 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d6 physical

Base level

3

Base experience

28

Speed

9

Base AC

6

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

200

Nutritional value

100

Size

small

Resistances

Resistances conveyed

An enormous rat:

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can be seen through infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 normally appears in small groups.

 cannot be tamed.

In the Convict patch and most variants that incorporate it, giant rats grow up into enormous rats.

The development version of UnNetHack removes the enormous rat, so giant rats grow up directly into rodents of unusual size.

To set certain popular misconceptions to rest once and for all:

	1) He was not found wandering the sewers of London as a child during
		the winter of 1864, unable to say anything more than "Powerful 
		big rats, gentlemen."

	2) He was never exhibited in public houses to the curious; only 
		briefly in July, 1865, to selected gentlemen of standing from 
		the scientific and literary community.

	3) He did not have a vestigial tail.

	4) He did indeed have what most people would commonly understand 
		as "eyes."

	5) He was not actually the pilot of the Zeppelin, although he did 
		disappear for good following the explosion.

	6) There is obviously no "underground kingdom beneath London, 
		inhabited by huge, intelligent rodents." And even if there were,
		and suggestion of Neil's involvement in the mazy territorial
		negotiations between Londons Above and Below can be considered a
		joke, and in poor taste at that.

	7) He was afraid of neither mirrors nor street conjurers.

	8) There were no tooth marks on the bones.

[ The Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman ] 

Rodent of unusual size

r rodent of unusual size 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Bite 2d6 physical

r rodent of unusual size 

Difficulty

8

Attacks

Bite 2d6 physical

Base level

7

Base experience

92

Speed

8

Base AC

4

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

500

Nutritional value

200

Size

medium

Resistances

Resistances conveyed

A rodent of unusual size:

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is carnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 can be seen through infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 cannot be tamed.

Rodents of unusual size (R. o. U. S.) are the strongest rats in the Convict patch and variants that include it.  

Enormous rats grow up into R. o. U. S., except in the development version of UnNetHack, where enormous rats are removed and giant rats grow up into R. o. U. S. instead.

"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."

[The Princess Bride, by William Goldman ] 

SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, if you throw cheese at a sewer rat you might tame it, but since rats are not remarkable pets it's probably not worth the effort.
SLASH'EM also includes a Rat King.

This page is based on a spoiler by J. Ali Harlow.

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
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