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. # Yeti 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. *For the bigger yeti of the Yeti lair, see [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king).* The Yeti is a monster of the Ice Caves in Spelunky Classic that wanders the ground and throws the player who walks into it, or bites him under a low ceiling. ![A white, shaggy yeti with a blue face, running](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/sprites/sYetiRunLeft/anim%404x.png) | Yeti | | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | Health | 5 hit points[^1] | | Damage | 1 heart[^2] | | Speed | 1.5 pixels per step[^3] | | Behaviour | Wanders, and throws the player who touches it[^4] | | Object | `oYeti` | | Found in | The Ice Caves, Yeti lair | Level generation puts Yetis on the ground all over the Ice Caves. A Yeti wanders like a [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman) but never charges, and what it does to the player depends on the ceiling: in the open it picks him up and throws him, and under a ceiling one block above it, it bites. With 5 hit points, it survives most hits, which stun it, and the Whip can't hurt it at all. ## Behaviour A Yeti sets off walking in a random direction as soon as it's made, turning around at walls[^5][^6]. Its code sets its speed to 1.5 pixels per step, but it covers 4 pixels every 3 steps (40 per second), as a Caveman does: friction takes 0.1 off before it moves, and the game moves it in whole pixels[^7][^8][^9]. It stops to stand for 20–50 steps (0.67–1.67 seconds), with a 1 in 100 chance each step and when it reaches the edge of a ledge, then sets off again in a random direction[^10]. Standing beside a wall, it hops[^11]. Every 6 steps while it stands or walks, a Yeti sends an invisible sight check ahead of it, as a Caveman does[^12][^13]. When one reaches the player, it sets off the Cavemen and [Hawkmen](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman) within 100 pixels of him, but not Yetis: a Yeti never charges at the player[^14]. A Yeti only acts while it's on screen or just off it[^15][^16]. ## Damage **Clip: Yeti throw.** The player walks into a yeti in an open cave. It grabs him and flings him back over its head, stunned, and he loses a heart when he lands. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/yeti/throw/clip.mp4)) When the player touches a Yeti that isn't stunned, without landing on it, and isn't invincible, the Yeti grabs him, unless there's a block right above it. It stops, turns toward him, and throws him back over its head at 6 pixels per step sideways and 6 pixels per step upward, stunned, and he drops whatever he's holding[^4]. The throw itself costs nothing, but the first wall or floor he hits while stunned costs him 1 heart, or a fall long enough to hurt him on its own does instead[^17][^18]. The clip shows a Yeti throwing the player, who loses a heart where he lands. **Clip: Yeti under a low ceiling.** In a tunnel one block high, a yeti walks into the player. With a block right above it, it can't throw him, so it hurts him instead: he loses a heart and is knocked back. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/yeti/ceiling/clip.mp4)) With a block right above it, a Yeti can't lift the player, and the touch costs him 1 heart instead, knocks him away and makes him invincible for 30 steps (1 second)[^19]. The clip shows it in a tunnel one block high. A stunned or dead Yeti does nothing to him. ## Defeating **Clip: Yeti stomped.** The player drops off a ledge onto a walking yeti, which falls stunned. About eight seconds later it gets up and walks on. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/yeti/stomp/clip.mp4)) Most hits stun a Yeti as well as hurting it: it's knocked back and lies on the ground for 200 steps (6.67 seconds), counted down while it's on the ground or carried, and then gets up if it has hit points left, slipping out of the player's hands if he's holding it[^20]. The clip shows a stomp stunning a Yeti, which gets up about eight seconds later and walks on. A stomp, a thrown item and a stunned monster thrown at it can't hurt a Yeti that's already stunned: | Way | Damage | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----- | | Whip | None: it knocks the Yeti back | [^21] | | Machete or Mattock | 2, and stuns it; at most once every 10 steps | [^22] | | Stomp (landing on it) | 1 for every 16 steps of falling, rounded up, three times that with Spike Shoes, and stuns it; nothing while it's stunned | [^23] | | A thrown item moving faster than 2 pixels per step, such as a Rock | 1, and stuns it; nothing while it's stunned | [^24] | | A stunned monster thrown into it | 1, and stuns it | [^25] | | A Shotgun or Pistol bullet | 4 hit points, and stuns it for 20 steps | [^26] | | A Bomb's explosion | 30 hit points | [^27] | | A Spear Trap's spears | 2, and stuns it | [^28] | | Falling onto Spikes | Kills it | [^29] | | Standing in Lava | Kills it | [^30] | | A [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha)'s bite, while the Yeti is in water | 1, at most once every 10 steps, and sets it charging | [^31] | | Ending up inside solid ground | Removes it | [^32] | The Whip's crack and its wind-up only push a Yeti back: they hurt it only when the hit punctures, which a Machete's and a Mattock's do and the Whip's doesn't[^33][^34][^35]. When its hit points run out, a Yeti dies and leaves its body, which can be picked up and thrown[^36][^37]. Yetis killed count toward the player's kills, and the screen between levels draws a Yeti icon for each[^38][^39]. One that Spikes, Lava or a Spear Trap killed doesn't count[^40][^41][^42]. A stunned or dead Yeti left lying still on Kali's altar for 20 steps is sacrificed to her, adding 4 to her favour if it's stunned and half that if it's dead, unless her favour is already −8 or less[^43]. ## Locations - **The Ice Caves.** Level generation gives each block with open space above it, outside the shops and more than 64 pixels from the entrance, with no monster or Spikes already on it, a 1 in 20 chance of a Yeti standing on it, once the roll for a spring trap there has failed[^44]. - **The Yeti lair.** The room that holds the [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king) has four Yetis beside it[^45][^46], and the lair's blocks get the rolls above too. - **Custom levels**, as the level editor's tile `y`[^47]. ## Tips - In the open, touching a Yeti costs no heart until the player lands; a long fall after the throw costs the fall's damage instead. - A player a Yeti throws drops anything he carries, a Golden Idol included. - Only a block right above a Yeti makes it bite, so in a tunnel one block high it hurts on contact like most monsters. - The Whip can't hurt a Yeti; a stomp stuns it for 6.67 seconds, long enough to carry it to Kali's altar. ## Trivia - The Yeti has a charging state, at 3 pixels per step, but its own sight checks never set it off[^48]. The only code that does is a [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) biting a swimming Yeti[^49][^50]. - Its sight check records which Yeti sent it, and nothing ever reads it[^51]. - The Ice Caves' room script can place a Yeti on a tile `Y`, but none of its rooms has one[^52][^50]. ## FAQ ### How much damage does a Yeti do in Spelunky Classic? Usually 1 heart, from the landing. A Yeti in the open throws the player instead of biting him, and he loses 1 heart when he hits a wall or the ground, unless the fall is long enough to hurt him on its own. Under a ceiling one block above it, a Yeti can't throw him and takes 1 heart on contact. ### Can you kill a Yeti with the Whip in Spelunky Classic? No. The Whip only knocks a Yeti back. A Machete or Mattock, a stomp, a thrown item, bullets or a Bomb hurt it; it has 5 hit points. ### Why did a Yeti throw me in Spelunky Classic? Touching a Yeti that isn't stunned, without landing on it, makes it grab the player and fling him back over its head, stunned, and it drops anything he's carrying. Only a block right above the Yeti stops it, and then it bites instead. ### Where do Yetis appear in Spelunky Classic? In the Ice Caves, levels 9–12, the only area whose level generation makes them: on the ground, and in the Yeti lair, four of them beside the [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king). ## See also - **Damaged by:** Machete, Mattock, Spikes, Stomping[^23], Throwing[^24], Shotgun[^26], Pistol[^26], Bomb[^27], Spear Trap[^28], Lava[^53], [Piranha](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/piranha) - **Related:** [Caveman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/caveman), [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman) ## References [^1]: `objects/oYeti/create.gml:10` [^2]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oCharacter.gml:37` [^3]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:96` [^4]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oCharacter.gml:42-77` [^5]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:59-64` [^6]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:78-82` [^7]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:94-113` [^8]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:204-206` [^9]: Clip yeti/stomp [^10]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:88-113` [^11]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:45-52` [^12]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:65-74` [^13]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:115-124` [^14]: `objects/oEnemySight/collision_oCharacter.gml:1-17` [^15]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:7-11` [^16]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:3` [^17]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1815-1842` [^18]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:254-257` [^19]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oCharacter.gml:23-41` [^20]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:137-175` [^21]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oWhip.gml:22-30` [^22]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oWhip.gml:1-21` [^23]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oCharacter.gml:6-22` [^24]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:270-288` [^25]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:169-199` [^26]: `objects/oBullet/collision_oEnemy.gml:14-32` [^27]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:12-19` [^28]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:76-97` [^29]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:108-124` [^30]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:65-74` [^31]: `objects/oPiranha/step.gml:107-117` [^32]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:26-40` [^33]: `objects/oYeti/collision_oWhipPre.gml:1-31` [^34]: `objects/oWhip/create.gml:5` [^35]: `objects/oSlash/create.gml:6` [^36]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:21-24` [^37]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:176-193` [^38]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:178-188` [^39]: `objects/oTransition/alarm_0.gml:197-201` [^40]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:68` [^41]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:87` [^42]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:120` [^43]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:130-167` [^44]: `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml:362-371` [^45]: `scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:127` [^46]: `scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml:447-450` [^47]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:197-200` [^48]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:126-136` [^49]: `objects/oPiranha/step.gml:85-110` [^50]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md) [^51]: `objects/oYeti/step.gml:72` [^52]: `scripts/scrRoomGen3.gml:404-407` [^53]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:63-74` ### Source code - `objects/oYeti/create.gml` - `objects/oYeti/step.gml` - `objects/oYeti/collision_oCharacter.gml` - `objects/oYeti/collision_oWhip.gml` - `objects/oYeti/collision_oWhipPre.gml` - `objects/oYeti/other_animation_end.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/create.gml` - `objects/oEnemy/step.gml` - `objects/oEnemySight/collision_oCharacter.gml` - `scripts/scrEntityGen.gml` - `scripts/scrRoomGenYeti.gml`