The Gourmand

Gourmand is one of the nine playable slugcats in Rain World, being one of the six introduced in the Downpour DLC. They are the leader of a colony of slugcats living in the outer expanse, who ventures outside their home to find food for the group. After having Five Pebbles unlock the gate back home, they return to their colony, who shares stories of the adventure they've had.
== Appearance ==
Gourmand is a fat, cream-colored slugcat with black eyes and a small black nose.
== Biography ==
Chronologically, Gourmand's campaign takes place between Hunter and Survivor.
Gourmand's campaign starts with an illustration on a cave wall of them surrounded by slime mold. They are unable to return back home just yet, as the Iterator Five Pebbles has locked the area off to prevent slugcats from the colony from bothering him.
When reaching him, Five Pebbles will immediately grand Gourmand the mark of communication so they may understand him, and asks what they're doing in his chamber. He remarks that they're unlike slugcat's he's seen in the past, and wonders if their kind has a way of communicating information of his existence to each other. He then admits that he may have been too hasty in granting Gourmand the mark of communication, though concludes that they won't be the last slugcat he sees, before telling them that every creature seeks a way out of the cycle. 
Pebbles then takes note of Gourmand's weight and concludes that they must not care about escaping the cycle, as they seem content in their current life, calling them ignorant for doing so. The Iterator doubts his purpose of seeking an escape will be useful to them, and instead encourages them to tell their colony to leave him alone. Realizing that sealing off the Outer Expanse - which he had done to keep its residents away from him - will also prevent Gourmand from leaving though, he opens the gates to the area. Pebbles then instructs the cream-colored slugcat to go through the tunnels on the outskirts of his territory to return home, reminding them to tell their colony to leave him be, and has them leave through the access shaft.
When visiting fellow Iterator Looks to the Moon, she will greet Gourmand and ask if they're lost, informing them that she has nothing for them. She notes that they've visited Pebbles due to their mark, and concludes that they must understand how little of her can remains operational. Moon will then continue that it's nice to have someone to talk to though, adding that her last visitor, Hunter, was very sick with Rot and thus could not visit for long. She hopes she'll be able to remember the pinkish-orange slugcat for as long as possible, wondering if they've left to return to their creator No Significant Harassment since she last saw them heading west through an Overseer.
When getting to the Outer Expanse, many slugcats from the colony will come to greet Gourmand. A cutscene will then show a slugpup telling three other slugpups about Gourmand's quest. A dark blue slugcat then alerts them that the fat slugcat is back, and they rush over to see them. If the player has completed the food quest, the cutscene will also show Gourmand showing their colony where to find food around the land they've explored.
Once reaching Karma 10 and getting past the Guardians in the Depths, Gourmand ascends through the Void Sea. However, their ascension ending doesn't show what happens to them, only showing a closeup on their face.
== Gameplay ==
Gourmand is unlocked alongside Hunter and Artificer after completing either Survivor's or Monk's campaigns.
Gourmand starts in Shaded Citadel with Karma 1, and is holding a slime mold. The state of the world during their campaign is largely the same as it is in Hunter's, Survivor's and Monk's campaigns, however predators are a bit more common, and there are more Rot Cysts in Garbage Wastes as well as less in Unfortunate Development.
To hibernate, Gourmand must fill up seven food pips, with four extra pips that carry into the next cycle when filled. They can eat the bodies of dead creatures, though aside from centipedes, this only fills half a food pip due to the cream-colored slugcat not being fully carnivorous. When holding two foods in each hand, they can both be eaten at once when holding up and grab, which fills an additional food pip on top of the ones filled normally. They have average running speed and lung capacity, and move slower when climbing poles and moving through pipes. Their noisiness is high and their stealth low, making sneaking past enemies quite the challenge. Their weight also makes Squidcadas unable to carry them as high, or Jetfish they're holding traverse through water as fast. However, their bulkiness is also an advantage, as dropping onto enemies from up high will greatly damage them, able to kill them in one hit if done from high enough. They're also more resistant to damage, with spears thrown at them being 15% less likely to be fatal, and almost all Lizard bites (Barring Red and Train Lizards) being unable to kill, only incapacitate.
Gourmand is able to quickly slide on the ground a fair distance, making them immune to spears while doing so, as well as stunning and slightly damaging any creatures hit in the process. Rolling as Gourmand also lasts longer than other slugcats, with them once again being immune to spears, and able to stun and damage creatures better than sliding.
Should they not already be storing something in their stomach, standing still and holding and grab while their hands are empty will make Gourmand regurgitate a random item, using up one food pip. Should the player try to do this with no filled pips, Gourmand will momentarily be stunned, not spawning anything. Should they be holding the right items, standing still and holding up and grab will instead make Gourmand craft the two items together, with a wide range of results depending on the combination.
While at full energy, Gourmand is able to quickly throw a spear a long distance, which deals a massive amount of damage. However, throwing a spear or excessively jumping or sliding will cause them to become exhausted, signified by them closing their eyes and breathing heavily. While in this state, they move much slower, can't jump as high, and can barely swim. Additionally, their spears won't travel as far, and will do much less damage. Gourmand enters this state easier when near predators, with sometimes only throwing a rock being enough to exhaust them. To recover, the player must allow the slugcat to stand still for a few seconds, not touching any controls.
Should the player have run out of cycles during Hunter's campaign and died from anything other than starvation, a special enemy known as Hunter Long Legs will spawn in Gourmand's campaign where Hunter had died, the pinkish-orange slugcat's body being overtaken by Rot. Killing this enemy is rather difficult, in combination due to Gourmand's exhaustion mechanic and Hunter Long Legs' large health pool. If they're killed though, their body can be eaten, filling two and a half food pips.
Optionally, the player can complete Gourmand's food quest, which requires them to eat each of the following plants and creatures at least once: a Slime Mold, a Batfly, a Blue Fruit, a Mushroom, a Bubble Fruit, a Snail, an Eggbug, a Cyan Lizard, a Lilypuck, a Grappling Worm, a Jetfish, a Gooieduck, a Yellow Lizard, a Centiwing, a Jellyfish, a Dandelion Peach, a Black Lizard, a Neuron Fly, either an Eel Lizard or a Salamander, and either an Aquapede or a Red Centipede.
Should the player complete this quest, an extended ending will show upon returning to Outer Expanse. Additionally, the Outer Expanse is unlocked for Survivor and Monk, allowing the player to get new endings with them, and up to two slugpups can be found in the campaigns of Gourmand, Survivor and Hunter.
Completing their campaign will earn the achievement Migration, and unlock Spearmaster and Rivulet.
== Gallery ==
File:GourmandTitleCard.png|Gourmand's title card
File:GourmandSlimeMoldDream.png|A drawing of Gourmand with Slime Mold seen in their intro
File:GourmandHibernation.png|Gourmand hibernating
File:GourmandReturn.png|Gourmand's colony going to greet them when they return
File:GourmandFoodQuest1.png|Gourmand with their colony after completing the food quest
File:GourmandFoodQuest2.png|Ditto
File:GourmandMigrationEnding.png|Menu art after the normal ending
File:GourmandFoodQuestEnding.png|Menu art after completing the food quest
File:GourmandAscension.png|Gourmand ascending
File:GourmandAscensionEnding.png|Menu art after the ascension ending
== Trivia ==
* The slime mold found in Gourmand's starting area fills two food pips rather than just one.
* As seen on the menu art after both the normal and food quest endings, Gourmand has two slugpups; one lavender and the other mint green.
* One of the slugcats in the colony during Gourmand's endings is dark blue with white eyes, presumably a reference to Nightcat, an arena-exclusive slugcat with the same appearance that was removed from the game with the release of Downpour.
* By combining a grenade with a Karma Flower, Gourmand is capable of crafting a Fire Egg, an item otherwise exclusive to Saint's campaign.
* Even when starving, Gourmand is still too heavy to fly indefinitely with a Squidcada.
* Gourmand is the only slugcat who Inv learns the name of in their dating sim.
== External links ==
Gourmand on the Rain World Wiki
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Indie/Doujin Heroes
Category:Genderless
Category:Animals
Category:Mute
Category:Parents
Category:Leaders
Category:Predators
Category:Lethal
Category:Fighters
Category:Neutral Good
Category:Determinators
Category:Successful
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice