Damocles

**Damocles** is an unlockable activated item added in *The Binding of Isaac: Repentance*.

## Effects

* Upon use, summons a sword that hangs directly above Isaac. As long as the sword hangs above Isaac, all item pedestals are doubled, spawning an additional free item next to them.
	+ Items spawned via other means, like Machines, Beggars, and certain items and cards, are also doubled.
	+ The extra item will be pulled from the current room's item pool, even if the original item is from a different pool (ex. Beggars or items from ).
* After Isaac gets hit once with the item activated, at any time with only a brief warning, the sword may fall, instantly killing Isaac regardless of his health. The sword has a 1/10000 chance every 4 game ticks (every 0.133 seconds) to fall, so on average, 50% of all Damocles runs will not drop the sword until after at least 15 minutes and 24 seconds have passed.
	+ Self-damage (such as from a Blood Donation Machine, Devil Beggar, Curse Room, Sacrifice Room, Spiked Chest, Bad Trip pill, or self-damage Active Items) does not count as damage taken for Damocles, and will not give it the chance to fall.

## Notes

* The chance for the sword to fall does not increase beyond the first hit taken.
* Items from Chests will not be doubled, which greatly limits Damocles' benefit in Chapter 6.
	+ The exception to this is Mega Chests, which will spawn one extra item alongside the 2 original items for a total of 3 items.
* In scenarios that have multiple items to choose from (such as rare double Treasure Room layouts and Boss Rush), an additional set of items for Isaac to choose from spawns. Only one item from each set can be taken.
* In alternate path treasure rooms, one item from the second set is known.
* Having multiple Damocles active at once does not spawn additional items.
* The only way Isaac can survive the falling sword is if he's invincible at the time it falls or, by technicality, with a respawn item. After the sword falls, extra items will no longer spawn.
	+ Losing a life before the sword falls does not remove the sword or its threat.
* Items with associated costs, like those in Devil Room or Shop, will not create additional items. This severely limits this item's benefit when used as  Tainted Keeper, since most items that are normally created as pedestals are instead Shop items.
* This can cause items that are in inaccessible spots in certain room layouts to be moved to a more convenient location due to not having space for two pedestals in that spot. It can also cause items to move to less convenient spots.

## Synergies

* +  as  Judas /  Dark Judas: The sword also increases Judas' damage by x1.4 then a flat +1 while it's active.
* : Spawns a wisp on the middle ring, looking like a sword. The wisp's tears look like 's beams, but there are no other effects. Likely not fully implemented.
* /  /  / : Damage blocked by the shield doesn't count as damage taken. It will not, however, protect Isaac from the falling sword.
* /  /  / other items that give shield: Nullifies the instant kill of Damocles if the shield is active when the sword falls.
* /  /  / : Blocked damage does not count as damage and can delay the triggering of Damocles.
* / : An extra item is spawned per each item cloned.
* : When in the shadow state, Isaac can survive the instant kill of Damocles, though this requires precise timing and can be impossible if Dark Art's charge is empty as the sword is falling.
* : If in the form of the statue, Isaac will be immune to the falling sword.
	+ 's statue form can also save Isaac, but the statue transformation time lining up with the sword falling is unlikely.
* Lazarus' revival mechanic allows him to continue the run after dying to Damocles.
	+ This extends to other extra-life items such as  or .
* The Lost /  Tainted Lost: Any damage the Lost would take is likely to kill him instantly, meaning that the item's downside is greatly mitigated. Dying and respawning, however, will still trigger the chance of falling.
* : Spawns 2 items on every use instead of 1.
* /  / other items that give invulnerability: If active, will negate the sword's lethal fall, saving Isaac.
* : When activated, protected from falling Damocles.
* : When Damocles is activated, a second item will be spawned with adherence to the item pool for the current room. Even if Mystery Gift "fails" and spawns either  or , a second item from the room's item pool will be rewarded.

## Interactions

* : Getting stabbed by Blood Oath does not trigger the chance of falling.
* : No effect.
* : The sword cannot be removed from Isaac's inventory.
* /  /  Tainted Eden: The sword does not get rerolled.
* : The Devil Room items that appear are not doubled.
* : The extra item will not have a "ghost" item to flip to.
* : Duplicated item pedestals do not reroll.
* : Does not protect Isaac from death when the sword falls.
* : Taking damage still allows it to fall, and the sword will still kill Isaac if it falls.
* Jacob and Esau: The sword only gains the chance to fall if the brother who used it takes damage.
* : Can invoke the effect of Damocles, which applies permanently.
* : Does not activate when the sword falls on Isaac.
* : Does not protect Isaac from death when the sword falls.
* Tainted Eden: Damocles does not reroll when damage is taken.
* Tainted Forgotten: The sword will hang over Tainted Forgotten's body but will still kill the character despite being invincible.
* Tainted Isaac: Damocles does not count toward his passive item count, and cannot be removed.
* Tainted Lazarus: The character that used Damocles must be active for double items to spawn.
	+ In the case of Boss Room, the character that did not use Damocles must fight the boss for it to drop double items.
	+ If the player has  and the inactive form has Damocles, the sword can fall on them and kill the player, bypassing the inactive form's immunity to damage.
* : The sword will not be removed from Isaac's inventory.

## Survival

Given the 1/10000 chance for the sword to fall every 4 game ticks (0.133 seconds), Isaac has a ~4.4% chance to die for every minute of gameplay that passes after he takes damage with Damocles active. The following is a table for times Isaac could survive to after getting hit, along with the chances of reaching them:

 4 Minutes, 57 seconds
 7 Minutes, 55 seconds
 11 Minutes, 21 seconds
 15 Minutes, 24 seconds
 20 Minutes, 21 seconds
 26 Minutes, 45 seconds
 35 Minutes, 40 seconds
 51 Minutes, 9 seconds

## Trivia

* Damocles originates from the *Antibirth* mod. In *Antibirth*, the sources of damage Damocles would ignore was very limited, only being damage that would not lower angel/devil deal chance under any circumstances. The more times Isaac would get hit, the higher the chance of Damocles falling became.
	+ Damocles' doubling effect would also double all item pedestals including ones from chests, shops, and devil deals with the extra items created by Damocles being free.
	+ Damocles would also appear in Secret Rooms.
* The item's appearance and effects are a reference to *[the] Sword of Damocles*, a story in which Damocles frequently praised King Dionysius's life of wealth and luxury, and is offered to switch places with Dionysius on the throne for a day to have a taste of his power. Damocles accepts, only to find that Dionysius had a sword hanging over his throne by a single horse hair to remind Damocles of the never ending threats to both themselves and their country that a ruler must deal with during their reign, causing Damocles to beg to give the throne back to Dionysius
* Damocles can be seen hanging over Isaac's head on the *Antibirth* album cover.
* There are actually two different Damocles items in the game: one (item ID `577`) is the active item that Isaac can encounter, and the other (item ID `656`) is a hidden passive item that is given when the active Damocles is used and that carries out the item's effects. The passive Damocles cannot be encountered through any normal means, even via  or , nor does it appear in the collection grid. If spawned on a pedestal via the Debug Console, collecting the passive Damocles will immediately put the sword above Isaac's head as if the active Damocles were used.