Magma Man

Verified against the spelunky.ai port v0.1.10 on 27 October 2026.

Magma Men come out of lava: a lava spurt sometimes throws up a blob of magma, which forms into a Magma Man where it lands. A Magma Man wanders the ground like a Hawkman, burning anything it touches, and there's almost nothing to do about one but keep away: it can't be stomped or whipped to death, and a Bomb only makes two. It doesn't last, though: within 200 steps it burns out.

From lava. Each block of lava with open air above it has a 1 in 4 chance, when the level is made, of being one that spurts ^[6]. While the player is within 240 pixels, a spurting block spurts every 100–300 steps, and 1 spurt in 8 is a blob of magma rather than a flame ^{[7] [8]}. The blob flies up and falls, leaving a fiery trail; if it lands on the ground, it forms into a Magma Man there, carrying the blob's hit points ^{[9] [10]}. A blob that falls back into the lava, leaves the screen, hits water or hasn't landed within 60 steps (2 seconds) is gone ^{[11] [12] [13]}. The clip shows a spurt throwing a blob onto the floor beside a pool of lava, where it forms into a Magma Man, which wanders the floor until it burns out ^[14].

Walking. A Magma Man walks at 1.5 pixels per step (45 per second), turning around at walls. At the edge of a ledge, and with a 1 in 100 chance each step, it stops to stand for 20–50 steps (0.67–1.67 seconds), then sets off in a random direction ^[15]. Each time it sets off, it has a 1 in 6 chance of melting back into a blob of magma instead, which keeps its hit points and forms again where it lands ^[16]. A Magma Man that isn't standing on anything, knocked off a ledge or with the floor blown out from under it, turns into a new blob at once ^[17].

Burning out. It loses 1 hit point every step, so its 200 hit points last at most 200 steps (6.67 seconds). With none left, or if it ends up inside solid ground, it stops and crumbles away ^{[18] [19]}.

When the player touches a Magma Man, unless he's invincible from a hit in the last 30 steps, he loses 2 hearts, is knocked up and away from it, is stunned, and catches fire for 100 steps (3.33 seconds), which only looks the part ^{[20] [21]}. Its touch has no stomp: landing on one burns him the same. A flying blob of magma does the same, for 2 hearts ^[22]. The clip shows a Magma Man walking into the player, then melting into a blob that bounces into him again and kills him ^[23].

It burns other monsters too: one it touches loses 2 hit points, catches fire, is knocked away and, but for a Tomb Lord or the Yeti King, is stunned ^[24].

A Magma Man can't be killed so much as waited out. Most of what kills monsters does nothing to it:

An explosion that touches a Magma Man replaces it with two blobs of magma, each with a fresh 200 hit points, so a bomb makes two Magma Men where there was one ^{[30] [32]}. A bomb it touches is lit, going off 8–12 steps later, and knocked away from it ^[33]. The clip shows a bomb going off by a Magma Man: the blast kills the player, beside it, and the Magma Man bursts into two blobs, which land and form two Magma Men ^[34].

Its own step event replaces the one most monsters share, which is where Spikes, Lava, Spear Traps and water hurt them, so none of those harm a Magma Man ^[35]. Its death isn't counted as a kill.

Magma Men aren't made with the level: they come from lava spurts, wherever there's lava with open air above it on a level. That's the Temple, whose rooms can have pools of lava ^{[36] [37]}, and Olmec's Lair, with its sea of lava below ^[8]. Custom levels with lava get them too, as the level editor has lava (tile l) but no Magma Man ^[38].

• A Magma Man burns out within 200 steps (6.67 seconds), so waiting at a distance is the safe answer.
• Don't bomb one: an explosion turns it into two, each with a fresh 200 steps to live.
• Landing on a Magma Man burns the player: it can't be stomped.
• It burns other monsters for 2 hit points, so it can thin out the Temple's Cavemen and Hawkmen.

• Its object has a throwing state, as the Hawkman's does, which nothing uses ^[39].
• A blob that turns into a Magma Man on its own keeps its hit points, but one made when a Magma Man is knocked off the ground gets a fresh 200 ^{[17] [40]}.