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. # Tomb Lord From the spelunky.ai wiki: . 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 Tomb Lord is a giant bandaged monster of the Temple in Spelunky Classic that spits swarms of flies, each taking 2 hearts, and guards the Sceptre. ![A hulking figure wrapped in white bandages with a gold headband, walking](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/sprites/sTombLordWalkL/anim%404x.png) | Tomb Lord | | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Health | 20 hit points[^1] | | Damage | 2 hearts[^2] | | Speed | 1 pixel per step[^3] | | Behaviour | Walks; spits flies at a player level with it[^4] | | Objects | `oTombLord`, `oFly` | | Found in | The Temple, City of Gold[^5] | | Drops | Sceptre | Tomb Lords live in the Temple, at most one to a level, and in the City of Gold. Two blocks tall, slow and with 20 hit points, a Tomb Lord is a mini-boss: the danger is its flies, a stream of them that it spits at a player level with it, each costing him 2 hearts, and they hit him again and again with no pause. On level 13, the first of the Temple, killing it gives the Sceptre. ## Behaviour A Tomb Lord walks at 1 pixel per step (30 per second), turning around at walls. When the player is behind it, low enough to be within 16 pixels of its feet, it turns around to face him, at most once every 30 steps[^6][^7]. It acts only while it's on screen or just off it[^8]. Nothing stuns it: anything that stuns other monsters just leaves it walking[^9]. ### The swarm **Clip: Tomb Lord flies.** The player whips a tomb lord from the floor it stands on, which does it no harm. It opens its mouth and a swarm of flies streams out at him; the first two take 2 hearts each, and he dies. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/tomb-lord/flies/clip.mp4)) When the player is in front of it, at any distance, and within 32 pixels of its middle in height, a Tomb Lord stops, opens its mouth, and spits a stream of flies at him, one every step for about a third of a second[^10][^11]. The flies fly the way it faces at 3–5 pixels per step, drifting a little up or down, until they hit something: a wall or block puffs one out[^12][^13][^14]. After a swarm it rests for 30 steps, and can't spit again for 100 steps (3.33 seconds)[^15][^16]. The clip shows the player whipping a Tomb Lord from the floor it stands on, which does it no harm, and two of its flies killing him[^17]. ## Damage | Attack | Damage | | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | | Touching it | 2 hearts; the player is knocked away and invincible for 30 steps (1 second) | [^18] | | Each fly | 2 hearts, even while the player is invincible; he's knocked back and stunned for 20 steps | [^19] | A fly has no regard for the 30 steps of invincibility that follow a hit, so each one in a swarm that reaches the player takes 2 hearts more: in the clip, the first two take his 4 hearts 8 steps apart, well inside the 30 steps of invincibility the first one gives him[^17]. Its flies hurt other monsters too, 2 hit points and a short stun each, and damsels, but never a Tomb Lord[^20][^21]. ## Defeating **Clip: Tomb Lord and the whip's wind-up.** With his back to a tomb lord, the player swings the whip: the wind-up behind him takes 3 of its hit points, 1 a step. Then its flies reach him. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/tomb-lord/wind-up/clip.mp4)) A Tomb Lord has 20 hit points, and nothing stuns it. The Whip only hurts it high up, level with the top 12 pixels of its body, and at most once every 10 steps[^22]. A player standing on its floor can't reach that high: a whip swung in front of him there does nothing, as the first clip on this page shows, but from a step one block up it takes a hit point[^23]. The whip's wind-up behind the player's back is another matter: the Tomb Lord takes it through the code most monsters share, which has neither the height limit nor the pause, so it takes a hit point every step it touches, about 3 a swing[^24][^25]. The clip shows the player with his back to a Tomb Lord, the wind-up taking 3[^26]. | Way | Damage | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | | Whip | 1 hit point, at most once every 10 steps, only level with its top 12 pixels | [^22] | | The Whip's wind-up behind the player | 1 hit point for every step it touches it | [^27] | | Machete or Mattock | 2, with the Whip's limits; their wind-ups 2 a step | [^22] | | Stomp (landing on it) | 1, plus 1 for every 16 steps of falling, three times that with Spike Shoes | [^28] | | A thrown item moving faster than 2 pixels per step, or a stunned monster thrown into it | 1, at most once every 20 steps | [^29][^30] | | A Shotgun or Pistol bullet | 4 hit points | [^31] | | A Bomb's explosion | 30 hit points, enough to kill it | [^32] | | A Spear Trap's spears | 2 | [^33] | | A [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) or a blob of magma | 2 | [^34] | | Falling onto Spikes | Kills it | [^35] | | Standing in Lava | Kills it | [^36] | | Ending up inside solid ground | Kills it | [^37] | **Clip: Tomb Lord bombed.** A bomb the player has left on a ledge goes off beside a tomb lord below it. The one blast kills it, and it leaves four bones and the Sceptre. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/tomb-lord/bomb/clip.mp4)) When it dies, it bursts into blood and four bones, and on level 13 it leaves the Sceptre where it fell[^38]. The clip shows a bomb on the ledge above a Tomb Lord killing it with one blast, on level 13: it leaves its bones and the Sceptre[^39]. Tomb Lords killed count toward the player's kills, and the screen between levels draws one for each[^40][^41]. One that Spikes, Lava or a Spear Trap killed doesn't count, though it still leaves the Sceptre: one that walks into lava on level 13 drops it into the lava[^42][^43]. ## Locations - **The Temple.** On level 13, the Temple's first, level generation always tries to place a Tomb Lord; on levels 14 and 15, it does with a 1 in 4 chance[^44]. It goes on a block with two blocks of open space above it, outside the starting room: a 1 in 40 chance for each such block, until one is placed, so a level has one at most[^45]. - **The City of Gold.** Two of the room layouts only the City of Gold uses have a Tomb Lord in them[^5][^46]. - **Custom levels**, as the level editor's tile `T`[^47]. ## Tips - A Tomb Lord only spits at a player level with it and in front of it: above or below it, or behind it, the player is safe from the flies. - From its own floor, whip it with the player's back to it: the wind-up takes about 3 a swing, where a forward swing does nothing. - One Bomb kills it. On level 13, that's the quickest way to the Sceptre. - Its flies don't pause between hits, so at full health two flies are enough to kill the player. ## Trivia - A Smash Trap that slides into a Tomb Lord stops as if it had hit a wall[^48]. - When a fly hits a monster, the code knocks a heavy one back less, then knocks it back the full amount anyway: the lines after the `if` replace what it set. Every monster is heavy, so all of them get the full amount[^49][^50][^25]. ```gml objects/oFly/collision_oEnemy.gml:3-14 if (other.heavy) { other.xVel = xVel*0.5; other.yVel = -2; } else { other.xVel = xVel; other.yVel = -4; } other.xVel = xVel; other.yVel = -4; ``` `objects/oFly/collision_oEnemy.gml:3-14`, from `spelunky.gmk`, Spelunky Classic 1.1's source, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC ([Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt)). ## FAQ ### How much damage does the Tomb Lord do in Spelunky Classic? 2 hearts on touch, and 2 hearts for each of its flies. The flies hit even a player who's still invincible from the last hit, so two of them kill a player with 4 hearts. ### How do you kill the Tomb Lord in Spelunky Classic? It has 20 hit points. One Bomb kills it. The Whip takes 1 a hit, but only high up, level with the top 12 pixels of its body: a whip swung at it from its own floor does nothing, while the whip's wind-up behind the player's back takes 1 a step, about 3 a swing. ### Does the Tomb Lord drop the Sceptre in Spelunky Classic? Yes, but only on level 13, the first level of the Temple, where level generation always tries to place one. A Tomb Lord on any other level leaves only its bones. ### How do you avoid the Tomb Lord's flies in Spelunky Classic? Stay out of line with it. It only spits flies at a player in front of it and within 32 pixels of its middle in height, and after a swarm it can't spit again for 100 steps. ## Gallery **Clip: Tomb Lord whipped from above.** From a step one block above the floor, the player whips a tomb lord across the top of its head and takes a hit point. Then its flies reach him. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/tomb-lord/whip/clip.mp4)) ## See also - **Damaged by:** Whip, Machete, Mattock, Stomping[^28], Throwing[^29], Shotgun[^31], Pistol[^31], Bomb[^32], Spear Trap[^33], Spikes[^35], Lava[^36], [Magma Man](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man) - **Damages:** [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman) ## References [^1]: `objects/oTombLord/create.gml:10` [^2]: `objects/oTombLord/collision_oCharacter.gml:32` [^3]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:67` [^4]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:47-110` [^5]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:122-140` [^6]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:47-91` [^7]: `objects/oTombLord/other_animation_end.gml:1-10` [^8]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:3-5` [^9]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:111` [^10]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:60-66` [^11]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:92-110` [^12]: `objects/oFly/create.gml:1-2` [^13]: `objects/oFly/step.gml:1-5` [^14]: `objects/oFly/collision_oSolid.gml:1-3` [^15]: `objects/oTombLord/other_animation_end.gml:11-16` [^16]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:36` [^17]: Clip tomb-lord/flies [^18]: `objects/oTombLord/collision_oCharacter.gml:19-36` [^19]: `objects/oFly/collision_oCharacter.gml:1-20` [^20]: `objects/oFly/collision_oEnemy.gml:1-30` [^21]: `objects/oFly/collision_oDamsel.gml:1-26` [^22]: `objects/oTombLord/collision_oWhip.gml:1-8` [^23]: Clip tomb-lord/whip [^24]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhipPre.gml:1-8` [^25]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^26]: Clip tomb-lord/wind-up [^27]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhipPre.gml:1` [^28]: `objects/oTombLord/collision_oCharacter.gml:6-18` [^29]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:310-319` [^30]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:222-231` [^31]: `objects/oBullet/collision_oEnemy.gml:1-16` [^32]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:14` [^33]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:98-104` [^34]: `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oEnemy.gml:1-19` [^35]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:108-124` [^36]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:65-74` [^37]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:11-14` [^38]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:16-31` [^39]: Clip tomb-lord/bomb [^40]: `objects/oTombLord/step.gml:24-29` [^41]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:251-256` [^42]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:68` [^43]: Replay `fidelity/replays/temple-seed-113.txt` [^44]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:382-385` [^45]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:452-464` [^46]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:426-429` [^47]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:221-224` [^48]: `objects/oSmashTrap/step.gml:105-113` [^49]: `objects/oFly/collision_oEnemy.gml:3-14` [^50]: `objects/oEnemy/create.gml:15` ### Source code - `objects/oTombLord/create.gml` - `objects/oTombLord/step.gml` - `objects/oTombLord/collision_oCharacter.gml` - `objects/oTombLord/collision_oWhip.gml` - `objects/oTombLord/other_animation_end.gml` - `objects/oFly/create.gml` - `objects/oFly/step.gml` - `objects/oFly/collision_oCharacter.gml` - `objects/oFly/collision_oEnemy.gml` - `objects/oFly/collision_oSolid.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhipPre.gml` - `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml` - `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml`