Creature

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v50.13 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

In Dwarf Fortress, a creature is defined as any animate, normally-mobile (and for the sake of this article, non-vermin) being that can interact with the world and any element inside it. The creatures in the game range from being entirely realistic to completely mythical. Although most creatures are animals, dwarves, giant cave spiders, and even megabeasts are all also considered creatures. Various creatures can and will interact with a fortress or adventurer in many different ways.

Some creatures have skills that match what type of creature they are (e.g. monkeys having legendary climbing skill). Though most creatures can be found in any mode, some are exclusive to adventure mode or fortress mode. Some creatures are randomly and procedurally generated, meaning they could have many different sprites in-game. Creatures of that type may have just one to a few sprites showcased out of many in the list below. A question mark placeholder may also be shown instead.

Also note that creatures with the [ARENA_RESTRICTED] or [DOES_NOT_EXIST] tokens cannot be spawned in the object testing arena, similarly to vermin (e.g. flies, worms).

Many standard-sized creatures in the game take the space of a single tile, while many giant versions of creatures, including many types of beasts, may take up the space of more than one tile. There are roughly 680 creatures in the game.

Spawning

Same concept, but in ASCII mode.

The creatures that will spawn on any given fortress map depend on the biome(s) that the fortress is in. Additionally, there are several creature tokens in the raws that deal with creature spawning:

• [FREQUENCY:X]: This tag dictates how often a creature will spawn. It ranges from 0-100, and is a comparative number, where the higher this number is, the more likely the creature is to spawn.
• [CLUSTER_NUMBER:X]: This determines how many creatures will appear at one time on a map.
• [POPULATION_NUMBER:X]: This determines the total number of this type of creature that can ever visit your fortress. The exact number varies, depending on the map.

For example, deer have a [POPULATION_NUMBER:15:30], meaning that if you kill between 15-30 deer, no more deer will ever visit your fortress.

Reading the Table

Graphic	Tile	Name	Playable	Hostile	Food Source	Adult Body Size	Pet Value (×)	Biome	Features

The above columns indicate, in order:

• Graphic: The sprite assigned to the creature. Seen only in the Steam version.
• Tile: The tile assigned to the creature, how you will see it without a graphic set.
• Name: The name of the creature as it displays in-game.
• Playable: If "No", the creature is not playable in any modes. "Fort" indicates that the creature is playable in fortress mode ([SITE_CONTROLLABLE]). "Adv" indicates that the creature is playable in adventure mode. All creatures except humans must have a population in an [ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE] civilization in order to be playable in adventure mode; goblins (and other creatures) cannot be played from a goblin civ. Humans can be played whether or not a population exists due to [OUTSIDER_CONTROLLABLE], but an [ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE] civ still needs to have existed at some point. Creatures with [LOCAL_POPS_CONTROLLABLE] are also playable in adventure mode.
• Hostile: If "Yes", then the creature will attack on sight, if "No" then the creature is either neutral, or friendly. Undead creatures are always hostile to living things.
• Food Source: If "Yes", then the creature can be butchered into an edible substance that your dwarves will feed on.
• Adult Body Size: The average size of the creature when an adult. This can be anywhere from 500 for a rabbit to 25,000,000 for a dragon. This value represents the creature's volume in cm³, which, for creatures made of flesh, more-or-less equals the creature's weight in grams.[1] These sizes do not correspond to the sizes which trigger pressure plates. Size is modified with height and broadness (i.e. incredibly skinny and short is below the average weight, while a fat and tall one is above it).
• Pet Value: This is the value the creature can be bought and sold for as a pet during trading.
• Biome: Where the creature can be found.
• Features: Any special features the creature possesses, including things such as causing a syndrome, breathing fire, or spinning webs.

Note: If you wish to view alternate ways of sorting creatures, such as sorting by biomes and location, or sorting domestic creatures by features, there is a new page found here: Alternate creature sorting

Creatures

Civilized

Main races

These are intelligent creatures that form the dominant civilized races of the world. While most are part of society, many have turned to Banditry.

Graphic	Tile	Name	Playable	Hostile	Food Source	Adult Body Size	Pet Value (×)	Biome	Features
	☺	Dwarf	Fort, Adv	No	No	60,000	Not tameable	Mountain halls, dwarf fortresses, hillocks	Trading race
	e	Elf	Adv	Variable1	No	60,000	Not tameable	Forest retreats	Trading race
	U	Human	Adv	Variable1	No	70,000	Not tameable	Towns and hamlets	Trading race
	g	Goblin	Adv	Usually1	No	60,000	Not tameable	Dark fortresses and dark pits	Snatchers2
	k	Kobold	Adv	Usually1	No	20,000	Not tameable	Caves	Skulking race

1. Whether or not you are hostile with select civilized races depends on the history of your game world, and its length. Shorter histories mean less ongoing wars and less general hostility, good for a newer player to learn the basics.

2. Snatchers try to snatch children of other civilizations. Snatched individuals become part of the Snatcher's civilization.

Underground Tribes

Intelligent animal people that form crude civilizations underground, but will not trade with you. They wield some weapons and can join adventurers. They can also perform ambushes once the cavern is reached, depending on which creatures are hostile. These types of animal people are not playable in adventure mode.

Graphic	Tile	Name	Playable	Hostile	Food Source	Adult Body Size	Pet Value (×)	Biome	Features
	a	Amphibian man	No	Variable1	No	20,000	Not tameable	Underground	Amphibious
	a	Antman	No	Variable1	No	Variable2	Not tameable	Underground	Four castes
	b	Bat man	Adv	Variable1	No	35,050	Not tameable	Underground	Can fly
	f	Cave fish man	Adv	Variable1	No	35,500	Not tameable	Underground	Amphibious
	s	Cave swallow man	Adv	Variable1	No	35,050	Not tameable	Underground	Can fly
	o	Olm man	Adv	Variable1	No	35,100	Not tameable	Underground	Amphibious
	r	Reptile man	No	Variable1	No	50,000	Not tameable	Underground	Amphibious
	r	Rodent man	No	Variable1	No	40,000	Not tameable	Underground
	s	Serpent man	No	Variable1	No	50,000	Not tameable	Underground	Amphibious; Causes Syndrome

1. Whether an animal person civilization treats you as hostile or not seems random.^[Verify]

2. Ant-men body sizes depend on their caste.

Livestock and Domestic Animals

Creatures that have long been domesticated, and either play a part in the meat industry, or are simply pets to keep dwarves company. Note: Except for wagons, domestic animals can be bought at embark, or requested from dwarven caravans. Animals of these types below that are caught in the wild with cage traps can be tamed after only one session with an animal trainer.

Graphic	Tile	Name	Playable	Hostile	Food Source	Adult Body Size	Pet Value (×)	Biome	Features
	a	Alpaca	No	No	Yes	70,000	200	N/A	Domestic, milkable and can be sheared
	p	Blue peafowl	No	No	Yes	4,000	10	Tropical broadleaf forest	Domestic, lay eggs
	c	Cat	No	No	Yes	5,000	20	N/A	Domestic
	c	Cavy	No	No	No	800	3	Tropical savanna, grassland, and shrubland	Domestic
	c	Chicken	No	No	Yes	3,000	10	N/A	Domestic, lay eggs
	C	Cow	No	No	Yes	600,000	300	N/A	Domestic and milkable
	d	Dog	No	No	Yes	30,000	30	N/A	Domestic and trainable
	d	Duck	No	No	No	1,000	10	Any lakes and any wetland	Domestic, lay eggs
	D	Donkey	No	No	Yes	300,000	200	N/A	Domestic, milkable, pack animal
	g	Goat	No	No	Yes	50,000	50	N/A	Domestic and milkable
	g	Goose	No	No	Yes	4,500	10	Temperate lakes and temperate marshes	Domestic, lay eggs
	g	Guineafowl	No	No	No	1,500	10	N/A	Domestic, lay eggs
	H	Horse	No	No	Yes	500,000	200	N/A	Domestic, milkable, wagon puller, pack animal
	L	Llama	No	No	Yes	180,000	200	N/A	Domestic, milkable, pack animal and can be sheared
	M	Mule	No	No	Yes	400,000	200	N/A	Domestic, pack animal
	C	One-humped camel	No	No	Yes	500,000	500	Any desert	Domestic, milkable, pack animal
	p	Pig	No	No	Yes	60,000	100	N/A	Domestic and milkable
	r	Rabbit	No	No	No	500	3	Temperate savanna, grassland, and shrubland	Domestic
	R	Reindeer	No	No	Yes	130,000	200	Tundra and taiga	Domestic and milkable
	s	Sheep	No	No	Yes	50,000	100	N/A	Domestic, milkable and can be sheared
	t	Turkey	No	No	Yes	5,000	10	Temperate forest, swamp and shrubland	Domestic, lay eggs
	C	Two-humped camel	No	No	Yes	500,000	500	Any desert	Domestic, milkable, pack animal
	W	Wagon	No	No	No	12,000	Not tameable		A special "creature" - see article
	W	Water buffalo	No	No	Yes	1,000,000	200	Tropical wetland	Domestic, milkable, wagon puller, pack animal
	Y	Yak	No	No	Yes	700,000	200	Mountains	Domestic, milkable, wagon puller, pack animal

Beasts and Monsters

All kind of monstrous creatures that roam the land and underground caverns, including: Semi-megabeasts, megabeasts, and randomly generated ones that can take any form. all very powerful and can easily be game-ending.

Semi-Megabeasts

Graphic	Tile	Name	Playable	Hostile	Food Source	Adult Body Size	Pet Value (×)	Biome	Features
	C	Cyclops	No	Yes	No	8,000,000	Not tameable	All land	One eyed
	E	Ettin	No	Yes	No	8,000,000	Not tameable	All land	Has two heads
	G	Giant	No	Yes	No	9,000,000	Not tameable	All land