Rogue Male

Rogue males are nichelings found roaming around on islands of all difficulties. They will try to breed with female nichelings and cannot be invited to join your tribe. They have two Deformed Paws, a Derp Snout, and two High Fertility genes, and the rest of their genes are randomized.

## Behavior

Rogue Males spawn at the age of 7 days, nearby adult females in hidden/unexplored hexes. Rogue males can move one tile with every action the player takes. When in non-visual perception modes, they show up as red (hostile). Whenever a rogue male moves onto a tile adjacent to a non-pregnant, non-spiky, adult, and fertile female nicheling, the rogue male will attempt to breed with your creature. Rogue males tend to follow your female nichelings, move away from your male nichelings, and generally don't approach a male and female standing close together.

Rogue males operate on a Lust/Fear mechanic. A rogue male with a high "lust" value will continuously move toward your females (including non-adult females), and mate with them even if they are attacked if their lust is high enough. A rogue male with a high "fear" value will move away from your nichelings, and will eventually cease to move toward your females if it is high enough. Actions that increase fear are the presence of males, being attacked/growled at, spiky-bodied females, and large groups. Lust is primarily increased by time and proximity to non-spiky females.

## Strategy

Rogue males can be quite difficult to manage if you have a lot of nichelings and focus on one side of the island for a while. If you're not careful, a rogue male may breed with one of your females while you're not looking.

A tip for preventing unwanted rogue male pregnancies is to impregnate your breeding females as soon as they become adults, as being already pregnant is the only certain way to prevent rogue males from interfering with your breeding. If this is not possible due to the breeding male not being available to mate yet, pay careful attention when your breeding female becomes an adult and make sure they are not the first nicheling to travel into unexplored hexes. Furthermore, making liberal use of all the Senses will also help in avoiding rogue males.

As for the females whom you don't plan on breeding with, since there are no negative consequences to being pregnant, it ultimately does not matter as much if these females get pregnant with a rogue male. It will not negatively affect your tribe if you simply choose not to have them give birth. Alternatively, if you do plan on having them give birth, know that their babies will always have at least one deformed paw, and should largely be used for food gathering/exploring only. Unless in specific circumstances, such as missing an immunity gene, children of rogue males are generally not to be bred with due to their less favorable genes.

### Notification

If a rogue male breeds with one of your nichelings, you will receive this event notification.

## Gallery

Rogue male lurking in tall grassAn albino rogue male (with recessive melanism)
## Notes

* Rogue Males can sometimes fail to impregnate a female nicheling if the female has less than 6 fertility. The player will not receive a notification of the failed mating attempt, but the mating purr sound will still play as the rogue male attempts to mate with a female.
* Rogue Males will not impregnate a female nicheling if the player is currently at their max tribe limit (only in sandbox mode)
* If a rogue male and a male nicheling are both adjacent to a female nicheling, the player is able to mate with their own male nicheling just before the rogue does. Despite rogue males being able to move at the same time as a player's action, mating with one's own male nicheling takes priority over the rogue male's attempt.
	+ If either your male or female nicheling has less than 6 fertility, there is a chance for their mating to fail. In this case, it is highly likely that the adjacent rogue male will be able to impregnate the female before your own male does.
* Rogue males cannot be attacked if the attacker has a strength value equal to or less than the rogue male's defense.
	+ All nichelings with 0 strength cannot attempt to attack rogue males.
	+ Nichelings with 1 strength cannot attempt to attack rogue males with 1 defense (Big Body).
* Rogue males will not be attacked by hostile creatures that normally would attack other wandering nichelings.
* Like wandering nichelings, rogue males will not be snatched by hostile meat eating plants.
* Rogue males cannot get the warmed up status effect like normal wanderers, but will still get cold and eventually freeze if they lack cold resistance for their climate.
* Rogue males cannot get the healing status effect from a nearby purr.

## Trivia

* If console commands are used to switch the gender of a rogue male, they will essentially turn into "rogue females", mating with your male nichelings. Though they will become pregnant, they are unable to give birth even if they end the day while on a nest.
* Rogue Males used to be called "Horny Males" in version 0.2.9 and earlier, though this was changed likely due to player feedback.

## References

1. ↑ https://strayfawnstudio.com/community/index.php?/topic/2682-is-there-a-pattern-behind-rogue-males/#comment-9815