Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold.

Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC.

# Megamouth

From the spelunky.ai wiki: <https://spelunky.ai/wiki/megamouth>. Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 27 October 2026.

The Megamouth is a giant fish in Spelunky Classic that lives in a flooded Jungle level's lake and charges at a swimming player, biting for 1 heart.

![A huge grey fish with yellow eyes, sharp teeth and a red belly, turning around](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1f61a00df79ad623/sprites/sJawsTurnL/anim%404x.png)

| Megamouth |                                                 |
| --------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Health    | 40 hit points[^1]                               |
| Damage    | 1 heart[^2]                                     |
| Speed     | 3 pixels per step[^3]                           |
| Behaviour | Patrols the lake; charges a swimming player[^4] |
| Object    | `oJaws`                                         |
| Found in  | The Jungle, Flooded level                       |
| Drops     | Crate                                           |

The Megamouth lives only in the lake at the bottom of a flooded level of
the Jungle, one to a level. Four blocks long, it patrols the lake bed and leaves a player on dry
land alone, but as soon as he's swimming it charges straight at him. It has 40 hit points, and
when it dies, four Crates burst out of it.

## Behaviour

**Clip: Megamouth attack.** A megamouth patrols the bottom of a lake. As soon as the player drops into the water, it charges at him and bites, then turns around. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1f61a00df79ad623/clips/megamouth/attack/clip.mp4))

A Megamouth swims back and forth along the bottom of its lake at 2 pixels per step
(60 per second), sinking 1 pixel a step until it's just above the ground[^5]. Where the water ends or a wall is in its way, it turns around, if
there's room behind it: a turning animation, then a pause of 40 steps (1.33 seconds)[^6][^7].

As soon as the player is swimming, it attacks, however far away he is in the water[^8]. It heads for him at 3 pixels per step
(90 per second), aiming from its head at him every step, and moves only
while the water ahead is clear[^9]. When he gets behind it, it stops
to turn around, with the same animation and pause, before it comes at him again[^10]. When he leaves the water, it goes back to patrolling[^11]. The clip shows a Megamouth patrolling the lake bed, charging
the moment the player drops into the water, biting him, and turning around as he sinks behind it.

It lets off a bubble every 41 steps[^12]. It acts while it's within
48 pixels of the screen, farther out than most monsters[^13].

**Out of the water.** A Megamouth whose head is out of water loses 1 hit point every step, so its
40 last at most 40 steps (1.33 seconds)[^14]. The last clip on this page shows it: a Bomb breaks the
lake bed, the water drains away, and the stranded Megamouth dies[^15].

## Damage

When the player touches a Megamouth without stomping it, he loses 1 heart, is knocked
away from it, and blinks, invincible, for 30 steps (1 second)[^16]. This is the touch code most monsters share. Its
body counts as well as its head: it's 64 pixels long and 32 high, and the game moves its collision box to
match the way it faces[^17].

## Defeating

**Clip: Megamouth whipped.** The player drops into a megamouth's lake and whips it as it charges. The whip draws blood on every step it touches the fish, so one swing takes several hit points. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1f61a00df79ad623/clips/megamouth/whip/clip.mp4))

A Megamouth has 40 hit points. The Whip and the Machete hurt it through the
code most monsters share, and an explosion through its own, and both take their damage on every step they
touch it, with no pause between hits, so one swing of the Whip can take several hit points[^18][^19].
The clip shows the player whipping a charging Megamouth from the water: one swing takes 1 hit point, the next
seven, the third three[^20].

| Way                                                                | Damage                                                                     |       |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- |
| Whip                                                               | 1 hit point for every step a swing touches it                              | [^21] |
| Machete                                                            | 2 hit points for every step a swing touches it                             | [^21] |
| Stomp (landing on it), except while the player is swimming         | 1, plus 1 for every 16 steps of falling; three times that with Spike Shoes | [^22] |
| A thrown item moving faster than 2 pixels per step, such as a Rock | 1                                                                          | [^23] |
| A Shotgun or Pistol bullet                                         | 4 hit points                                                               | [^24] |
| A Bomb's explosion                                                 | 30 hit points for every step it touches it                                 | [^19] |
| Being out of the water                                             | 1 every step                                                               | [^14] |

Its own step event replaces the one most monsters share, which is where Spikes, Lava and
Spear Traps hurt them, so none of those harm a Megamouth[^25].

As it's hurt, its body looks more and more bitten: the game draws one of three bodies behind its head, by
whether it has 20 hit points or more, 10 or more, or fewer[^26].

**Clip: Megamouth stranded.** The player drops into a megamouth's lake with a bomb, which sinks to the lake bed. Its explosion breaks the bed and the water drains away, leaving the megamouth on dry ground, where it dies and four crates burst out of it. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/1f61a00df79ad623/clips/megamouth/bomb/clip.mp4))

When it dies, it bursts in a spray of blood, leaving four bones, and four Crates fly out of it[^27]. The clip shows one stranded by a drained lake dying and leaving
its Crates. Megamouths killed count toward the player's kills, and the screen between levels draws a Megamouth
icon for each[^28][^29].

## Locations

Level generation makes a Megamouth only on flooded levels. Each level of
the Jungle, levels 5–8, has a 1 in 10 chance of being flooded, unless the player is on his way to
the Black Market[^30][^31]. A flooded level opens with "I CAN HEAR RUSHING WATER...", and
its two bottom rows of rooms are a lake[^32][^33]. One of the four rooms along the lake's bottom, never the one
in the exit room's column, is the Megamouth's, a room of water with one Megamouth in
it[^34][^35][^36].

Custom levels can have them, as the level editor's tile `{`, a Megamouth in a block of water
four tiles wide and two high[^37].

## Tips

- A Megamouth only attacks a swimming player, so its lake can be crossed above the water without it giving
  chase.
- It turns slowly: a player who gets behind it has its turning animation and a 40-step pause to get away.
- One swing of the Whip can take several of its hit points, as can a Machete's.
- A Megamouth out of the water dies within 40 steps, so a Bomb that breaks the lake bed and drains the lake
  kills it.

## Trivia

- Its object is named `oJaws`, its sprites `sJaws...`, and its code calls it `"Mega Mouth"`, two words, while
  the game's tables name it MEGAMOUTH[^38][^39].
- That spelling means its kills of the player are never counted. The touch code that tallies deaths by
  monster checks for `"Megamouth"`, which no monster's name matches, so the deaths-by-enemy table the game
  writes to `stats.txt` always shows ??? and 0 in the Megamouth's row[^40][^41].

## FAQ

### How much damage does the Megamouth do in Spelunky Classic?

1 heart per bite, like most monsters. Each bite knocks the player back and makes him invincible for 30 steps (1 second), but the Megamouth keeps coming for as long as he swims.

### How do you kill the Megamouth in Spelunky Classic?

It has 40 hit points. A Whip swing hurts it on every step it touches it, so one swing can take several, and a bullet takes 4. Out of the water, it loses a hit point every step, so draining its lake, with a Bomb through the lake bed, kills it.

### What does the Megamouth drop in Spelunky Classic?

Four Crates, which burst out of it when it dies, along with four bones.

### Where is the Megamouth in Spelunky Classic?

In the lake at the bottom of a flooded level ("I CAN HEAR RUSHING WATER..."): each level of the Jungle has a 1 in 10 chance of being one, and every flooded level has one Megamouth.

### Does the Megamouth attack the player on land in Spelunky Classic?

No. It only charges while the player is swimming; when he leaves the water, it goes back to patrolling.

## See also

- **Damaged by:** Whip, Machete, Stomping[^22], Throwing[^23], Shotgun[^24], Pistol[^24], Bomb[^42]
- **Related:** [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha)

## References

[^1]: `objects/oJaws/create.gml:16`

[^2]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:25`

[^3]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:123`

[^4]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:34-133`

[^5]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:34-69`

[^6]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:36-64`

[^7]: `objects/oJaws/other_animation_end.gml:1-15`

[^8]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:71-74`

[^9]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:86-125`

[^10]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:93-116`

[^11]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:127-132`

[^12]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:135-140`

[^13]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:1-2`

[^14]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:5-8`

[^15]: Clip megamouth/bomb

[^16]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:14-25`

[^17]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:142-149`

[^18]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhip.gml:1-8`

[^19]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:12-14`

[^20]: Clip megamouth/whip

[^21]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhip.gml:1`

[^22]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:6-10`

[^23]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:256-348`

[^24]: `objects/oBullet/collision_oEnemy.gml:16`

[^25]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:63-128`

[^26]: `objects/oJaws/draw.gml:1-13`

[^27]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:10-30`

[^28]: `objects/oJaws/step.gml:12-17`

[^29]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:239-244`

[^30]: `objects/oTransition/step.gml:20-23`

[^31]: `scripts/scrClearGlobals.gml:57`

[^32]: `objects/oPlayer1/alarm_0.gml:34-36`

[^33]: `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:194-210`

[^34]: `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml:203-209`

[^35]: `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:222-228`

[^36]: `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml:390-394`

[^37]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:177-188`

[^38]: `objects/oJaws/create.gml:3`

[^39]: `scripts/scrWriteStats.gml:128`

[^40]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml:41`

[^41]: `scripts/scrWriteStats.gml:110-116`

[^42]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:14`

### Source code

- `objects/oJaws/create.gml`
- `objects/oJaws/step.gml`
- `objects/oJaws/other_animation_end.gml`
- `objects/oJaws/draw.gml`
- `objects/oEnemy/collision_oCharacter.gml`
- `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhip.gml`
- `scripts/scrLevelGen.gml`
- `scripts/scrRoomGen2.gml`
- `objects/oTransition/step.gml`
