Creatures in Zork

This article is a list of creatures in the Infocom text adventure Zork universe.

B
Bloodhounds were a favorite of Dimwit Flathead, who maintained a collection of them in the royal kennels and reportedly based the bloit on them (a bloit was determined by the distance that the king's favorite pet could run in a set period of time). Bloodworms live in the Miznia jungle and can be mistaken for "mossy rocks". Brogmoids are dimwitted giant humanoid creatures. The oft-ridiculed beliefs of Brogmoidism hold that a giant brogmoid holds up the "Earth" and that another giant brogmoid standing on the "Earth" holds up another world. These beliefs are verified by the adventurer in Zork Zero. However, the similar Turtle Theory put forward by Leonardo Flathead remained the popularly accepted explanation. Also appears in Zork Grand Inquisitor.
 * Bloodhound
 * Bloodworm
 * Brogmoid

C
Cerberus guards the Tomb of the Twelve Flatheads in Zork II but can be tamed with a collar. Christmas tree monsters are cold-weather plants who migrate in the autumn with disastrous results. They fear caterpillars. A herd of them threatened Thriff village in Beyond Zork. Orkan the enchanter held them at bay with a glyph made of ice until a volcanic eruption destroyed most of them and created a permanent glyph. Encountered in Beyond Zork, the cruel puppet reduces the endurance of adventurers by mocking them with words or shape-shifting. Can only be destroyed by magic or high stats.
 * Cerberus
 * Christmas Tree Monster
 * Cruel Puppet

D
Encountered in the cellar of the Rusty Lantern in Grubbo-by-the-Sea in Beyond Zork, discipline crabs are a particularly territorial breed of crab which hoards valuables hidden in debris. Met in the Dragon Room of Zork II. The player must kill him in order to free the Princess. Also appears in Enchanter, Sorcerer and Wishbringer. Encountered in the lighthouse near Grubbo-by-the Sea in Beyond Zork, dust bunnies multiply like rabbits via agamogenesis but can be dispelled by static electricity or lemon-scented sprays.
 * Discipline Crab
 * Dragon
 * Dust Bunny

E
Encountered in the moors near Grubbo-by-the-Sea in Beyond Zork, the eldrich vapor filches items, depositing them in random nearby locations. It can't steal items which are wielded or stored in a pack. Also appears in Wishbringer. Elves are not encountered in the Zork universe, but there is an "elvish sword of great antiquity". In Return to Zork, the sword is renamed the "Dwarven sword".
 * Eldritch Vapors
 * Elves

F
Encountered in Zork Zero, this cannot be captured in the Formal Garden. However, the flamingo can be transfigured using the wand and used in the Testing Room, in conjunction with the flamingo food, to cure the hunger curse. Encountered in Zork Zero, fungi are a parasite inhabiting brogmoids' ears and toes which can be communicated to using a potion invented by Thomas Alva Flathead. Also appears in Beyond Zork as one of the locations in the Miznia jungle; if you try to escape the area, the bloodworm (which is disguised as a mossy rock until you try to escape) will attack you and you can fight it.
 * Flamingo
 * Fungus

G
These large bats amuse themselves by grabbing adventurers and depositing them somewhere completely different. Giant corbies are huge birds encountered in the Fields of Frotzen in Beyond Zork with extremely sharp color vision and very specific fears of colors. Encountered in the lighthouse near Grubbo-by-the-Sea in Beyond Zork, the giant slug can easily be defeated by throwing salt from the patch of brine at it, but is hard to defeat if you fight it normally (using the sword, shillelagh or any other weapon).
 * Giant Bat
 * Giant Corbie
 * Giant Slug
 * Giant Spiders


 * Grues

Glurz is a species of fish encountred in Beyond Zork which can be eaten fried bestowing increases in intelligence. Gnomes were employed exclusively by J. Pierpont Flathead to work in the Bank of Zork for reasons which remain unknown. There is also a mention of gnomes working on the Great Underground Highway, but the tollbooth is unmanned when encountered in Zork Zero. A bird encountered in the moors near Grubbo-by-the-Sea in Beyond Zork.
 * Glurz
 * Gnome
 * Guttersnipe

H
Encountered in the forest in Beyond Zork, a hellhound is a generic, although difficult to defeat, monster. Also appears in Sorcerer, Wishbringer, Zork Zero and Return to Zork. A hungus is a permutation of a sheep and a hippopotamus found in the Miznia jungle in Beyond Zork which is integral to solving the Crocodile's Tear puzzle.
 * Hellhound
 * Hungus

J
An ancient, powerful demon of the Eastlands that terrorized the populace until a large coalition of sorcerers and kings combined their magic and banished Jeearr into another plane of existence. However, as predicted by the coalition, Jeearr escaped from his prison in a weakened, but intact, form. Jeearr was defeated permanently by an unnamed wizard sent by fellow mages concerned for the welfare of Zork and it's inhabitants. Visually, Jeearr can be described as a huge spider with millions of legs, darkening his surroundings with his stature and malice. His major weakness is his need for a host to feed off of both mentally and physically. This weakness, incidentally, was exploited by the wizard that defeated him. The wizard exorcised Jeearr from his former host, Belboz, and, using an ancient protective scroll, prevented Jeearr from entering the wizards' minds and bodies. Without a suitable host, Jeearr quickly perished and is assumed to have been destroyed forever.
 * Jeearr

L
Lucksuckers are shape-shifting monsters found in the Ur-grue's cave in Beyond Zork. To defeat the three lucksuckers the adventurer must throw a good luck charm at each of them (the three good luck charms found in the game are the rabbit's foot, the horseshoe, and four-leaf clover).
 * Lucksucker

M
The minx is an irresistibly cute combination of a cat, a pig, and a koala bear which can dig for truffles. It is integral to finding the helmet in Beyond Zork.
 * Minx

N
Nymps are small, annoying, fairy-like, servile creatures in Beyond Zork and Sorcerer such as the warning nymph and the financial nymph. They pop up to give you information which may or may not be helpful.
 * Nymph

O
Otto is John Paul Flathead's pet toad who will only turn over the spyglass if given four flies and called by his name in Zork Zero. Encountered in the Wizard's Workshop, the owl is simply a red herring.
 * Otto
 * Owl

P

 * Platypus

R
Encountered in the cellar of the Rusty Lantern in Grubbo-by-the-Sea in Beyond Zork. Also appears in Zork: the Undiscovered Underground. Encountered randomly on the lake in Zork III, the roc can eat adventurers although it is little more than a rare easter egg. There is also a roc teriyaki in the prologue of Zork Zero, and in Spellbreaker, at one point, the player is captured by a roc and taken to its nest, where the player will return later in the game to get a cube, which can't be gotten earlier because the roc won't let you go near the egg.
 * Rat-ant
 * Roc

S
Encountered in the Aquarium Room in Zork II as the Wizard of Frobozz's pet, the sea serpent guards the clear orb. It will kill the adventurer if one reaches into the aquarium or breaks it with a suboptimal object. It can only be defeated by throwing the bat or sword at the aquarium or by saving the water absorbing cake from the Tea Room. In version 7 of Zork II, you can tell it to do things after it dies with commands like:
 * Sea Serpent

TELL SERPENT "E THEN LOOK"

T
See Otto A monster in the original Zork, the troll must be defeated in order to pass into much of the dungeon. Trolls also appear in Return to Zork.
 * Toad
 * Troll

U
Encountered in Zork II the unicorn can only be captured by the princess, who thereupon gives the gold key on its neck to the adventurer. In Beyond Zork it is discovered that there is a unicorn society in the Plane of TransInfinite Splendor which can be accessed through an old sea chest.
 * Ur-grue
 * Unicorn

W
The favorite pet of Bozbo IV who made for a very large bloit measure.
 * Windcat

V
A vampire bat inhabits the Bat Room in Zork I and is repulsed by garlic.
 * Vampire Bats