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| “ | A tiny, foul-tempered humanoid creature that dwells in the evil mountains. They are known to enjoy drinking liquor and will take any unguarded supplies of booze. | „ |
| ~ In-game description of a dark gnome. |
Dark Gnomes are minor antagonists in the indie construction and management simulation video game Dwarf Fortress. They are small, alcoholic thieves that will do anything to steal alcohol from anyone, with their most prominent victims being the dwarves, the titular main protagonists of the game.
Due to the procedural generation of the world and civilizations in the game, coupled with the fact that many elements can be customized by the player, the strength, placement and traits of dark gnomes vary greatly.
Similar to kobolds, dark gnomes have an underhanded, shameless and sneaky nature, as well as having a preference for thievery over combat. Their role in the game is designed to be more of a near-comical annoyance, rather than a serious threat. Despite all this, they can be mortally dangerous in high numbers.
Biography[]
History[]
Like most of the creatures of in the game, the true origins of the dark gnomes are a mystery. However, given their appearance, it is highly possible that they originated from the cavernous layers of the world, as their appearance is very similar to other creatures from those layers, such as gremlins, goblins and kobolds.
Although, seeing as dark gnomes also have beards, as well as share the alcohol addiction of the dwarves, it is also possible that dark gnomes are dwarves that have changed through evolutional mutation of some sort. Although nearly all races in the game enjoy alcohol, dwarves and dark gnomes are the only two species that constantly need the substance to function.
Given the lore of the game including the evolution of many types of creatures, this further opens the possibility that dark gnomes were dwarves themselves, but the factors of being exposed to the dangerous, mind-altering areas of the evil biomes while living secluded in the mountains slowly mutated them into the evil gnomes they are at the time of the game's events.
Another theory of the gnomes' origin is a possible combination of shared genetics with multiple species: dwarves being combined with an evil cavernous creature, and dark gnomes being the offspring.
Gameplay[]
Adult, child and baby sprites of gremlins. Undead versions at the bottom.
In the classic version of the game, or if ASCII mode is enabled in the premium version, dark gnomes will appear as a cyan "g". In the premium version, they look like very small humanoids with white beards, cyan skin, pointy elf-like ears and glowing yellow eyes. Their appearance is similar to that of smaller versions of gremlins. Like other creatures, their undead sprites have an indigo shade to them, but instead of having black eyes with white pupils most undead creatures have, zombified dark gnomes will instead have unique glowing green eyes.
Although their appearance would make them look like perfect candidates for being subterranean creatures, this is not the case, as they can only be found in mountainous areas of an evil biome. This location can make the dark gnomes a very rare encounter, as the player is unable to embark on top of mountains, but can try to embark near them. They are intelligent, even matching up to dwarves and other civilized creatures in the game. They cannot communicate audibly with others in any sense, as they have no established language, given that they do not form organized communities. They can live up to 250 years.
As mentioned before, they have beards just as dwarves do, which is even acknowledged in the game's code, and not just the visual sprites. If any nearby dark gnomes can reach a player's fortress, and by extension, their alcohol storage, they will appear in groups of five to ten and attempt to steal and drink as much booze as they can. They are able to drink it so fast, that it can potentially leave your dwarves dying of thirst and alcohol withdrawals, even if a water source is available. The dark gnomes are able to drink more than ten times their own weight, meaning that they can handle large amounts of alcohol better than any other creature in the game.
Dark gnomes have an alcohol inebriation tolerance of 500%, which is five times greater than that of dwarves, a species that is physically and culturally cemented to consumption of alcohol. It is unknown how the gnomes can retain so much liquid in their small bodies. The dark gnomes' theft of alcohol can leave a dwarven fort crippled, heavily denting the flow of its progress. Dwarves are so dependent on alcohol, that they will move significantly slower and start having negative, stressful emotions due to withdrawals and not feeling the happiness and euphoria of inebriation. Additionally, if dwarves accumulate too much stress, they can end up having a temporary mental breakdown, to a permanent break of insanity.
The sight of dark gnomes can scare a fortress' residents, which also creates stress. They will also attack traveling caravans attempting to deliver alcohol, although the armed guards of the caravan can easily kill them. Even in the presence of stronger forces that can easily defeat them, they will shamelessly chug alcohol in front of them. Private, smaller stashes of alcohol can also be stolen, or directly from what someone is carrying.
Dark gnomes are able to equip weapons and armor, although they rarely choose to fight, often running away with as much stolen booze they can carry. Despite their cowardice, they may actually kill people if enough of them attack at once. Since dark gnomes are encountered in evil biomes, this adds to the already-existing difficulty of the game, assuming the player embarks in such an area. Dark gnomes - as well as any other creature - will rise from the dead, as is this a side effect of death in an evil biome. This means dark gnomes will be even harder to kill, due to their undead status giving them many immunities, including the absence of feeling pain and needing to breathe.
A chemical known as "gnomeblight" is extremely toxic and deadly to the dark gnomes, suffering necrosis if the chemical comes into contact with them. They have a good counterpart known as "mountain gnomes", and are only found in good mountainous biomes. These mountain gnomes also steal booze, but are absolutely harmless compared to the dark gnomes.
Personality[]
The dark gnomes are selfish, cowardly, thieving, obnoxious, potentially murderous and alcohol-addicted creatures. Their desire to drink alcohol eclipses any other trait or interest the evil gnomes have. That seems to be their only goal in life, as they make no attempt to create an advanced mode of communication or any type of civilization or settlement, despite their high intelligence. These creatures have both a fearless and cowardice nature to them, as they will happily drink the alcohol of others in plain sight, but will often run away when engaged physically.
Even when a dark gnome is heavily outnumbered, they will continue their theft, and possibly even after they've sustained an injury. This shows how deep and powerful their addiction is, with the possibility of the evil biome's corruption deepening these addictions and their thieving, semi-fearless nature. It is highly likely that they care very little for their own lives, given the lengths they go through when the odds are heavily stacked against them.
Their confidence increases when dark gnomes move in higher numbers. Although they are still relatively weak and inexperienced fighters naturally, they can still harass, gravely injure and even outright kill the residents of a fortress or caravan. Feeling no remorse and hesitation, they can even go right back to drinking booze immediately after killing someone. Dark gnomes, like the few protagonistic species in the game, are able to learn from their environment, and may use that against their enemies, since they can increase their skills, including combat ones.
Trivia[]
- In older versions of the game, rather than just drinking the booze of others, they would also steal plants and fruits used to make alcohol, to presumably run off and make it themselves.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Dark Gnome - Dwarf Fortress Wiki
 Villains 
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Enemies Immortal & Undead Night Creatures Other | ||