| “ | Now you will know why you fear the night. | „ |
| ~ In-game description. |
Bogeymen are major antagonists in the indie management simulation game Dwarf Fortress. They are only encountered in "Adventure Mode", and do not appear in "Fortress Mode". They are small, hyperactive, shapeshifting, sadistic and procedurally generated night creature enemies.
Due to the procedural generation of the world, coupled with the fact that many elements can be customized by the player, the strength, threat level, placement and physical form of bogeymen vary greatly.
They are always attached to deities with the spheres of "misery", "night" and "nightmares". This is what gives them their sadistic, fearless and morally disgusting disposition to any morally sound creatures.
Biography[]
Two Bogeymen transforming prior to battle in the Object Testing Arena.
In the original version of the game, or if classic ASCII graphics are enabled in the premium version, bogeymen are - by default - represented by a dark grey "ñ" in gameplay, but can take on other forms, and will be represented by different letters with varying colors when that happens. In the premium version of the game, they have sprites that take on the appearance of black, mysterious looking creatures that can be slightly randomized depending on the world generation.
Being procedurally generated, with their characteristics altering between generated worlds or certain interactions, though there are many traits that all bogeymen share, being that many have or are missing bodily features and/or limbs that may give them extra abilities, such as the ability to fly if they're given wings.
Gameplay[]
One of the default sprites for bogeymen, before transforming.
Bogeymen are only found in evil-aligned regions, especially areas that are connected spheres related to nightmares or darkness. They can also be created by necromancers, but only if the necromancer understands the secrets required to summon them.
Despite being small, bogeymen pose a serious threat to an unprepared traveler. They possess an "Expert" level (which is eight on a scale of fifteen) in the following skills: fighting, striking, kicking, wrestling, biting, dodging and observing. They are also among the most agile creatures in the game, making them very hard to hit. Bogeymen can breathe underwater, feel no exertion, cannot be stunned and are immune to pain, nausea, dizziness and fevers. Bogeymen need no food, water or sleep to survive, nor do they need to breathe, meaning they cannot be drowned or strangled. If they are caught in the Sun, they will suddenly vaporize.
In later versions of the game, bogeymen can transform themselves into animals (including giant ones) as well have the ability to summon more bogeymen to assist themselves. Similar to quitting the game during sieges, exiting the game during a bogeyman attack will have the pause screen's "give up" option be renamed to "give in to the night".
When traveling at night in an evil region, the following words will appear depending on the player's situation:
You are surrounded by incessant cackling.
You are still surrounded by cackling.
The cackling fades away.
Respectively, these statements appear when being ambushed by bogeymen, remaining in their presence for too long and taking shelter. If a creature has the [NOFEAR] token, bogeymen will be completely friendly to them.
When speaking to other townsfolk, many will warn you of the dangers of the night; telling you to take any precaution necessary to avoid the horrors that are facing bogeymen. They'll also suggest spending the night in town, as bogeymen will dissipate if they enter certain populated areas. When a bogeyman dies, it dissipates into smoke. Its detached limbs will soon do the same. The true origins of bogeymen are never revealed.
Personality[]
Bogeymen are absolutely sadistic, reprehensible and fearless, having roughly the least positive or ethically redeeming qualities of any kind. They take endless pleasure in not only brutally attacking their enemies, but insulting them as well. Bogeymen are arguably the most morally corrupt creatures in the game, even surpassing the main antagonists - the goblins - and possibly demons. Although goblins are hateful, imperialistic and have far fewer ethics to speak of compared to other races, they are at least sometimes supportive and kind to each other, and some even take the role of good-natured citizens or diplomats, which can be seen visiting the player's fortress.
The bogeymen are only allied to each other, and creatures that have no ability to feel fear (which is determined by the creature having a [NOFEAR] token in the game's code.) Unlike other races in the game, they do not build relationships or societies. This is likely due to the fact that they cannot exist in the daytime, so they don't have the time to thrive as a settlement. Additionally, they do not form relationships between themselves, as they are most likely created for the purpose of harming others, given their attachment to the "misery" sphere. Bogeymen are also very intelligent, and even have pre-generated personality traits that other intelligent creatures have, such as likes, dislikes, values, wants, needs and personal preferences.
Bogeymen even have the potential to be an upstanding citizen in any settlement of any kind, but this can never be the case, given their sadism and being vulnerable to the sun. Seeing as they reside in demonic-made regions, it is no surprise that bogeymen possess such an evil nature. The fearlessness of bogeymen also extends to ambushing even werebeasts, which are cursed, transformed creatures in a statement of constant berserk rage. There are three potentially playable characters in Adventure Mode that bogeymen stalk but never attack: the bark scorpion man, the brown recluse spider man and the jumping spider man. Bogeymen can still prevent the player from sleeping or fast traveling when playing as one of these three characters.
External Links[]
- Bogeyman - Dwarf Fortress Wiki
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 Villains 
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Enemies Immortal & Undead Night Creatures Other | ||