Noodlefly



Noodleflies, called Needleworms or Needles in the game's files, and affectionately known as "Noots" by many fans, are neutral creatures in Rain World often seen in groups of one adult and several juveniles. Noodleflies have long bodies, four wings, a set of vestigial legs, and adults possess a retractable needle which they use to fend off predators and other noodleflies.

Appearance
Noodleflies tend to come in shades of red with a light stripe that runs the length of their body. Occasionally, melanistic (black) or albino (white) noodleflies can also appear. Juveniles are usually lighter than adults, tending to be pink in color.

Behaviour
Adult noodleflies will explore the land with their offspring. They will keep at a distance and watch passing creatures like slugcats curiously. It isn't uncommon to see a baby noodlefly holding onto their parent's tail while they fly around. Noodleflies spend most of their time in the air, but they are also capable of slinking through pipes.

Adult noodleflies are protective of their children and will become hostile towards anything that harms one of them, even across multiple rooms. Angry noodleflies will relentlessly pursue attackers until either the cycle ends or the offender is dead. Adult noodleflies are always hostile towards each other and will attack and kill rivals on sight.

Holding a noodlefly egg will also draw the attention of nearby noodleflies who will become hostile until the egg is dropped.

Juvenile noodleflies are not hostile and will never attack or actively flee from predators.

Noodlefly Babies and Eggs
Juvenile noodleflies will usually come in trios and closely follow adults. Juvenile noodleflies are edible, but are also delicate and will die shortly after being grabbed. If caught, juvenile noodleflies will cry out in distress before dying, alerting the nearest adult in the region.

Noodlefly eggs are black and red, and they can be found hanging in a few regions, including Industrial Complex and Farm Arrays. These eggs have a very resistant shell and cannot be pierced by spears, which will simply bounce off of them. However, eggs can be picked up and carried to a shelter where, upon hibernating, they will hatch and produce a pair of noodlefly babies. Newborn noodleflies will follow slugcat as they would an adult noodlefly, wandering around but usually not straying too far. Like most other items and creatures, baby noodleflies will persist inside shelters and will wake up with slugcat if they are inside the shelter when slugcat hibernates.

Noodlefly eggs hatched in a shelter can serve as a filling and reliable one-time-use source of food. However, harming a baby noodlefly hatched from an egg will still anger nearby adults, even if the babies do not belong to them.

Noodlefly eggs are considered as objects, and respawn after 4 to 9 cycles. Do note that they cannot be swallowed.



Combat
After a noodlefly has become angered, it usually will not stop trying to kill its target until it is dead or the noodlefly itself is dead. If they don't charge at their opponent, there is a chance that they will knock out temporarily with a poke. However, after charging they usually get stuck onto the ground and have to pull themselves out over a period of a few seconds leaving them very vulnerable to counter attacks. An attack is often fatal, even capable of de-masking Vultures. It only takes one spear to kill them, but they make up for their fragility with the ability to effectively dodge projectiles.

Angered noodleflies will follow slugcat into tunnels, where they are unable to attack or dodge and can be freely dispatched.

Bugs

 * If a noodlefly parent is killed in a hibernation chamber and the children are left alive when hibernating, on the following cycle, the children will be in the chamber whether they were there before or not.
 * If the previous glitch is performed and the babies are killed/eaten, a new noodlefly will spawn and start hunting the player.