Intelligent Undead

The Intelligent Undead (also known in-game as Raised Undead) are possible major allies in the construction and management simulation game Dwarf Fortress. They are a specific and empowered variant of the undead, resurrected by necromancers. They can be encountered in both Fortress and Adventure Mode.
Unlike the standard mindless undead, the intelligent undead have retained their personality, intelligence and attributes, and have also gained additional abilities upon being reanimated. This makes them one of the most formidable enemies and allies in the game. They are part of the "night creatures" group.
The term "intelligent undead" is a general one, and is not seen in-game. Instead, the reanimated creature's original name will be used. Additionally, they will have a title that is related to the type of undead the person is, with the first word being the type of undead, and the second part being a noun. For example, these titles can appear as "grim butcher", "putrid slayer" or "empty hunter".
==Biography==
===Gameplay===
Many intelligent undead are created before the events of the game, with a majority of them acting as important historic figures. Due to the mechanics of how intelligent undead are resurrected, they are extraordinarily unique, meaning that finding two or more of them that are exactly the same is painstakingly rare.
Only creatures with intelligence and sentience can be revived into an intelligent undead, which are dwarves, humans, elves, goblins, kobolds, and animal people.
As mentioned before, these types of undead will retain their original personality and skills prior to being killed and resurrected; in other words, the soul of the individual will once again take control of the body. In addition to the person's retained skills, they will also gain magic powers, given by the necromancer.
Depending on both the necromancer and the secrets used to resurrect the individual, the intelligent undead will be given a specific type. It is through these types that these undead gain a unique name, title and set of powers. Each intelligent undead can be given one to five powers:
In Fortress Mode, when the player has set up at least one tavern, it is likely they have at least one to a few intelligent undead visitors. These individuals will be friendly, and will casually socialize among the residents of a player's fortress. If a necromancer happens to be among one of the player's fortress residents, they can revive fallen dwarves and allies in combat, making them intelligent undead as well.
When this happens, the undead will immediately go back to their lives and attempt to reinstate their status as a fortress resident. They can even maintain marriages in that state, but any pregnant women will lose their unborn baby before being reanimated. During an undead siege, an intelligent undead will appear, doing their necromancer master's bidding.
Intelligent undead have no need for sleeping, eating or drinking. Like standard undead, they can withstand severe damage to their bodies and do not feel pain. This alone is a massive bonus in combat, as a living creature feeling enough pain can pass out, vomit or be stunned by feeling enough of it. Intelligent undead can retain their intelligence even if the brain has received maximum damage. They do not age nor have the ability to reproduce. Physical attributes cannot be lost or gained, but skills can still be increased.
Also like standard undead, they don't suffer from overexertion, don't need to breathe, can't bleed to death, cannot be stunned in any way, can't gain any sicknesses or fevers, don't feel dizziness, never feel nauseous, can't be paralyzed and never feel fear. Due to not feeling fear, they will never panic or run away from enemies. Their body parts don't need certain connections to move in the same way a living creature would.
Since intelligent undead cannot age, any children that were resurrected as such will remain a child forever. Dwarves are the only race in the game that can gain the "martial trance" status, which gives dwarves a bonus in combat against multiple enemies, but once a dwarf becomes an intelligent undead, they no longer have access to that status. Intelligent undead afflicted with the werebeast curse will still transform during full moons.
If the soul of a dwarf is elsewhere, in other words, taking the form of a ghost that is haunting the fortress, the body can't be resurrected. However, once the body of the ghost is properly buried, or if the deceased has a burial slab dedicated to them, the soul will be put to rest. After that, the dwarf can be resurrected into an intelligent undead.
Intelligent undead do not need to have a complete body to be resurrected, as they only require a center of mass. This means that headless, armless or legless creatures can be raised. Even just a head can be raised as well. In some cases, these undead might be hostile to the very necromancer that created them.
==Appearance==
In the classic version of the game, intelligent undead will appear as a sky blue Ñ. In the premium version of the game, they will appear as their original appearance before being reanimated, but will instead have light blue skin. In the case of a reanimated animal person, they will appear as their standard selves, with no changes to the color palette.
In the premium version, animated body parts may also take the appearance of a full body sprite, representing the entire creature that the limb belongs to. For example, a severed human head, left arm and right leg may show as three full-bodied, zombified humans once a necromancer reanimates them all. However, clicking on severed body parts or raised creatures with missing limbs will show up as such in their detailed portraits, unless they're an animal person.
==Gallery==
intel_undead_arena.webp|Two intelligent undead fighting in the object testing arena.
int_undead_art2.png|Artwork of an intelligent undead goblin, done by Sarasti.
intel_undead2.png|"Rosmo Queenales was a faded hunter, slayer of weregiraffes and savior of puppies." (story) Also by Sarasti.
int_undead_infobox.png|Infobox of an intelligent undead dwarf, spawned in the object testing arena.
==External Links==
*Intelligent Undead at the Dwarf Fortress Wiki
==Navigation==
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