Centipedes

Centipedes are long, segmented myriapods based loosely on their real-world counterpart. These creatures can vary from being a safe source of food to a dangerous predator according to their size.

Appearance
Centipedes are black and orange arthropods with protective shells and segmented bodies. They have many legs and two sets of feelers on both ends of the body. They have a brown coloration on the ends of their legs, and can range vastly in size.

Combat
Depending on their size, Centpedes range from harmless to extremely dangerous. Centipedes are fast crawlers, able to outpace most creatures along the ground, in tunnels, and on poles. Their ability to climb along background walls makes them difficult to evade. Centipedes are not stunned by throwing unless injured, however, there is a chance they may let go. cause Centipedes to release held creatures, as well as prevent them from grabbing for a short period.

Mature Centipedes can be killed with 2 or 3, but Overgrown Centipedes may require up to 12 hits before they die. Segments that have been de-shelled take extra damage. Centipedes spasm and ball up after becoming injured, making it easier for them to grab and shock threats, alongside making retrieving Spears difficult. can be used to kill a Centipede from a long distance.

Stealth
Due to their sharp hearing and good vision, sneaking around Centipedes can pose a challenge. Avoid making loud noises or passing by one of their heads to prevent detection. Crouching and crawling greatly reduces their vision. When moving, they have further reduced vision, giving opportunity to sneak past.

Evasion
Keeping a far distance from Centipedes is safest, as they are primarily found in dark, tunnel-filled areas with little room for escape. By use of shortcuts or avoiding areas they are in altogether, it is possible to pass by unharmed. Throwing Rubbish or Spears to create sound can lure Centipedes to a different location if there is no other way around. Movement such as slidepouncing, backflipping, and slide flipping can help to keep distance between Slugcat and Centipedes.

Grabbing & Electrocution
Centipedes grab on to creatures by their heads. If they manage to connect both ends to the creature, they deliver a shock. Centipede shocks do not deal damage, but either stun or kill depending on the mass of the creature in relation to the Centipede. If the creature has less mass than the Centipede, the shock kills it. Shocks delivered underwater deal damage instead of depending on mass. The current travels to all other creatures within the same body of water. When injured and attempting to retreat inside a den, Centipedes can latch on to creatures and pull them into the den, killing them like and.

Vision
Centipedes have strongly movement-based vision. All Adult Centipedes, as well as Infant Centipedes, share the same vision capabilities. They are only able to see out of one head at a time, but alternate between heads every frame.

Centipedes can not see Slugcat when they are crouching and have greatly reduced vision when crawling. If a Centipede is moving, its vision is further reduced, unable to see Slugcat when crawling or standing.

It is important to note that when the Slugcat is moving away from a pursuing Centipede at a slow enough pace, either by walking or pole climbing, the Centipede will slowly move towards you at a pace of one audible click before pausing shortly and then moving forward one more click; a consistent and repeating cycle of stopping and moving as long as the Slugcat's slow pace is maintained. In this state the Centipede will not grab onto the Slugcat or otherwise hasten their pursuit, which can be used to the player's advantage to escape via reaching a pole, tunnel, or pipe that will allow the player to reduce the noise they produce and move out of the grasp and sight of the Centipede. This behavior might be explained by the Centipede switching their active vision between their heads each game tick, along with the tendency of Centipedes to be stretched or spread out during chase and therefore making the Slugcat visible through only one head, effectively seeing the Slugcat only half as long as it appears, creating this pattern of stopping and moving.

Hearing
Centipedes are one of the few creatures capable of hearing. Depending on their size, Centipedes may flee from or investigate interesting sounds. The role that sound plays in the aforementioned behavior of moving towards the player one audible click at a time is currently unknown, but it is notable that creating too much noise either through attacking the Centipede or through player movement, that the Centipede will break from this crawling behavior and instead grab onto and shock the player to death.

Color
Centipedes range in color from a pale yellowish orange to a much darker, deeper red orange color. Their shells can be affected by room darkness. Interestingly, their shell colors are not tied to ID, and change color every time a room is loaded.

Sizes
Adult Centipedes come in a large variety of sizes, ranging from small and harmless to massive and dangerous. Their aggression, health, and food pips given vary depending on how large they are. A Centipede's segment and shell count depends on their size. Adult Centipedes fall into three categories of size; Youth, Mature, and Overgrown. Other variations of Centipede include, , , and.

Youth
Youth Centipedes are unable to kill Slugcat, as well as most creatures, and can only stun them with their shock. Due to their relatively small size, Youth Centipedes are neutral towards Slugcat. If threatened enough, they become aggressive and shock Slugcat. They have at least 0.69 health points, and can be killed with one or two. They fill 2–3 food pips when eaten.

Mature
Mature Centipedes are larger than Slugcat and see them as prey. Mature Centipedes hunt by grabbing and then shocking them to death. They have a health range of 1.32–2.56, and so can be killed with 2–3 shots of a regular Spear. If killed and eaten, Mature Centipedes fill 3–5 food pips.

Overgrown
Overgrown Centipedes are extremely large, nearly 4 times that of Slugcat, and aggressively hunt them down. Due to their huge size, they have slightly more trouble grasping prey with both ends and delivering shocks, making them less dangerous than they at first appear. Despite their size, they can traverse tunnels easily, and travel much faster than most creatures. They have a health range of 2.56–12, and so they require at least 3 Spear shots or a well-aimed Spore Puff to kill. If killed and eaten, they fill 5–7 food pips.

Infant Centipede


Infant Centipedes are the smaller, non-aggressive juveniles of the species. They are typically found in groups, occasionally accompanied by an Adult Centipede. Infant Centipedes can be picked up and eaten live by Slugcat to restore 2 food pips. Alternatively, they can be killed with one Spear hit, or by partially eating them.

When an Infant Centipede is picked up by a creature, they emit an electrical whine. If held for too long, they shock the creature, stunning it and causing it to drop the Infant Centipede. Dead Infant Centipedes can be picked up and carried without harm.

= Trivia =
 * When a Centipede spawns, there is a 1.5% chance for each segment to be missing its shell.
 * After 4.55 seconds, Centipedes release what they are holding if they can not connect their other head.
 * The leg count of a Centipede depends on the amount of segments, with two legs per segment.
 * Centipedes cannot be stunned by Rubbish unless injured. However, if hit by rubbish, Centipedes release held creatures 50% of the time.
 * Stabbing an Infant Centipede does not break the Saint passage.
 * Adult Centipedes die in shelters if a player hibernates.
 * Because infant centipedes have no weight encumbrance on Slugcat's movement, they can be used as "pincushions" to hold an arbitrary number of spears, allowing any Slugcat to carry as many spears as they like at the cost of lost item carrying versatility.
 * A pursuing Centipede can instantly kill a Slugcat hiding inside of a room/shortcut pipe by traveling through the other end and to the side containing the Slugcat. This is due to the quirk of Centipedes rapidly shrinking when entering a pipe connection and expanding back to regular size upon reaching the other side, which theoretically allows both of their heads to be in close proximity shortly after exit, therefore able to shock and kill the Slugcat occupying that same space.