“ | A vile force of darkness has arrived! | „ |
~ In-game announcement of an incoming goblin siege. |
The Goblins are the main antagonists of the indie management simulation game Dwarf Fortress. The player can also choose to play as a goblin in the game's "Adventure Mode", making a goblin either the main protagonist of that gamemode, a potential protagonist villain or anywhere in between.
The threat of the goblins may vary depending on where the player chooses to embark their settlement. They commonly send "babysnatchers" to the player's fortress, as well as sieges, depending on the value of the player's dwarf settlement. They are the arch-rivals of dwarves, as well as humans and elves.
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 and placement of goblins vary greatly.
Of all the main races in the game, goblins are the most mercilessly and relentlessly evil, and as such, have the least amount of ethics in the game. However, some goblins can split off from their evil counterparts and live normal lives.
History[]
During the very early B.C. times, demons escaped The Underworld (the deepest layer of land in the game) and made their way to the surface and became goblins, due to the way they evolve and adapt on the surface. They create their own civilizations once on land if they remain there long enough. If the player alters the game settings, demons can be trapped in the Underworld without the chance of escape, removing any goblin civilizations in map generation.
Demons trapped in The Underworld can still escape if someone or something digs them out, where they will escape to the surface and establish colonies all the same.
Gameplay[]
In the original version of the game, or if the classic ASCII graphics option is enabled in the premium version, goblins are represented with a gray "g" in gameplay. They live in settlements in the form of "dark pits" or dark fortresses. Goblins only exist in evil biomes, and never neutral or good ones. Depending on where the player chooses to put their dwarf settlement, the goblin threat varies due to how close they are. The closer the player is to a goblin settlement, the more often they will be attacked, making the game much harder. Note that the evil biomes that goblins live on are very abnormal and hellish, such as deathly gas clouds blowing by, rain made of blood, corpses suddenly being reanimated over and over, and extremely dangerous animals spawning instead of harmless or benign ones.
In the standard "Fortress Mode" gamemode, goblins will attempt to harass dwarven fortresses early on. First, goblin babysnatchers will stealthily attempt to steal young dwarves unless they are caught or attacked beforehand. If the babysnatcher succeeds, the kidnapped victim will be taken to a goblin settlement, but not killed. This also causes relatives of the kidnapped victim to become sad or even suicidal. A strong dwarf military can be sent to a goblin settlement as a mission to rescue kidnapped children. If a child is at a goblin settlement long enough, they will be manipulated to join the enemy's cause. Goblins capture trolls and use them as servants, as well as shear their fur to make things with it.
Once the player's settlement increases in value, goblins will begin sieges: sending many armored goblins at once, coupled with some of them riding large animals as cavalry (mostly trolls and beak dogs). The sieges will become larger depending on the increasing value of the player's fortress. Sieges are much more dangerous if trolls are alongside the goblins, given how strong they are, and how they can destroy buildings with ease. Siegers usually retreat after a certain amount of time and resistance, and remaining enemies will cower away if enough of its evil allies are killed. Goblins become adults twelve years after birth, but are immortal, only dying to violence or disease. Due to goblins not needing to eat or drink, this can provide a massive benefit when playing as a goblin in "Adventure Mode".
Though horrendously rare, it is possible to have a world generated where goblins are not enemies of the dwarves. However, like most of the game, this is completely dependent on how history is generated in a world.
Appearance[]
In the premium version of the game, goblins have a graphic sprite. They are always green, but each goblin can appear with one out of four different shades of green: lime green, yellow-green, dark green and a dim dark green. The appearance of their torsos change depending on if a goblin is male or female. They can have one of eight different types of faces.
Like other humanoid races, they appear as purple when undead, light purple as a necromancer, light blue-grey as a vampire (rather than the standard light green), light blue as an intelligent undead, green and transparent as a ghost, yellow as a disturbed dead/mummy and crimson red as an infected ghoul.
Sieges[]
When a goblin siege begins, the game will pause, zoom to the origin of the siege with the text "A vile force of darkness has arrived!" The word "SIEGE" will also remain at the top of the screen until the siege ends. If the player has embarked on a remote island where no goblin civilizations are present, or live an exceptional distance from any goblin ruled settlements, goblin sieges will never occur.
Sieges will contain one or more squads advancing on the player's fortress. These squads may contain mounts like the aforementioned trolls or beak dogs, but stronger forces may also contain mounts such as ogres and/or cave dragons - creatures easily capable of destroying buildings. These enemy squads may also contain non-goblin races, including brainwashed dwarves that were previously kidnapped by a babysnatcher.
If a siege is warded away or killed off entirely, a stronger siege will take place some time after the last one. Enemy sieges are a very common way to lose a fortress. When hitting the 'Esc' button, the "Retire your fortress" option will be changed to "Succumb to the invasion" for the entire duration of the siege (but note that that happens during a siege from any creature, not just goblins).
Personality[]
Being a demonic, power-hungry, mostly narcissistic and evil race, they have the lowest amount of ethics compared to any other race in the game. They have no centralized system of justice, prisons, or punishment, leaving any altercations to the parties involved. Many heinous acts such as animal torture, butchering and oath-breaking are acceptable to the goblins, making them despised by nearly any other race in the game, not just dwarves. Goblins consider power to be of utmost importance.
Despite their near-animalistic and barbaric ways, they are capable of intelligent thought, and even have their own language, style of architecture and military prowess. They are also capable of creating tactical sieges while riding other creatures, which are most commonly beak dogs, but trolls, ogres and cave dragons can also be used by them. With every potential failure of their siege, they will come back stronger each time (although any other race capable of sieges can do the same). This means that goblin sieges are among the most common ways a player's fortress can be destroyed.
If a babysnatcher catches one of the player's dwarven children, and the player does not launch a successful rescue mission in time, the goblins can manage to raise the stolen baby as one of their own (instead of simply torturing or killing them). When this happens, goblins will treat the kidnapped individual with the same level of respect as any of the other goblins. This is one of the few very rare instances that a goblin shows any kind of mercy or fairness. If dwarves are not guarding certain areas, the babysnatchers can silently enter a fortress and place a child in a bag completely undetected. Even the player can miss the chance to see them, proving that they sometimes have formidable stealth skills.
Considering that their "justice system" is nothing more than leaving altercations between the involved parties, that shows that they care about very little to nothing about justice, since uninvolved goblins show no interest of fairness when witnessing or knowing of an altercation between fellow goblins. When outmatched, goblins tend to show cowardice by running away, despite their bloodthirsty and hostile nature.
Given the game's mechanics of random generation, some goblins may not be evil at all. As mentioned before, they can appear in your fortress as friendly visitors, and can even take the role of being a high-ranking noble or intelligent undead goblins. These may be goblins that were raised in a much different environment than standard ones.
Trivia[]
- Despite the goblins' evil nature, some can be morally-balanced visitors to your fortress, acting as skilled leaders or politicians.
- The spoils left by goblins after a failed siege have been known in the game's community as "goblinite".
- Despite the fact that goblins are the most hated race in the game, some of the player's dwarves might actually like seeing them, depending on how a dwarf's personality is procedurally generated.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Goblin - Dwarf Fortress Wiki
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