Critters



Critters are harmless entities that don't interact with the player in any way, except in that they can be killed by both players and enemies, and be caught with nets. All critters have 5 health and serve as ambient entities. Most critters can be summoned by means of a statue, but will otherwise spawn randomly in any environment that supports them.

All critters can be caught with a Bug Net, except for and. Additionally, critters from The Underworld can only be caught with a or. When caught, the critter can be carried around the player's inventory (or placed in storage), and can be released again by being used like any other item. On, critters spawned from statues cannot be caught; attempting to do so will cause the critter to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Most caught critters can be used as fishing bait and crafted into food. All caught critters can be caged to create animated display furniture. Once crafted, the critter cannot be released. Most critters are caged in Terrariums, however Butterflies, Dragonflies, Fireflies and Lightning Bugs are caged in Bottles, and both Goldfish and Pupfish are caged in Bottled Water. Bottled Fireflies and Lightning Bugs also function as valid light sources.

On, some critter types have a rare golden variation that has a  /   chance of spawning instead of a normal one and can be detected by the Lifeform Analyzer. Visual identification is helped by the sparkles they emit when alive in the world.

There are currently 86 / 41  / 28  / 8  different critters.

Tips

 * With several NPCs acquired, keeping Water Candles around your suitable housing will cause more critters to spawn, without spawning enemies.
 * To find exactly how much damage an enemy does, a critter can be placed on the enemy. Critters have 0 defense and enemy damage to it will not vary unlike most situations of dealing damage. Projectiles from enemies will do varying and reduced damage to critters, so it will not work for measuring projectile damage.
 * Early game, before a player can craft enough torches to place around a base, a player can use critters to alert them when an enemy is approaching.
 * For eligible critter types, 1/400 /  1/150 spawns get a valuable golden critter. But since all critters are subject to a spawn cap, few new ones will spawn unless you are industrious about collecting all those "worthless" critters, increasing turnover.
 * During a Blood Moon, Bunnies, Goldfish, and Penguins will transform into hostile enemies: Corrupt Bunnies, Corrupt Goldfish and Corrupt Penguins in a Corruption world ( and Vicious Bunnies, Vicious Goldfish and Vicious Penguins in a Crimson world). So it is recommended for players who are ill-equipped or have low health to either kill or capture any bunny, goldfish, or penguin in their vicinity before nightfall happens. Critters that have been placed in inventory, storage, or cages will not be affected. These same critters can be transformed manually into their corruption form by throwing Vile Powder at them, and their crimson form by throwing . All Bunnies, Goldfish, and Penguins spawned from statues will transform into enemies if they are spawned during a Blood Moon. Once these critters have transformed into hostile enemies, they can no longer be caught with a Bug Net.
 * Having a in the inventory will prevent the player from dealing damage to all critters, except for the Explosive Bunny.  This includes traps placed by the player.
 * Lava critters like Hell Butterfly, Lavafly or Magma Snail may be useful for players wanting to fish in the lava with any poles (on version 1.4.0.1 or higher), but can be pretty hard to find. Critters spawn faster when the player don't move so much, coming from the sides of the screen. Staying at the same place in The Underworld, killing the various enemies around, seems to be the best way to get many lava critters.
 * On platforms with stereo sound, critter sounds will indicate the critter's direction (left or right). This is particularly useful for various birds (including owls and ducks), and for frogs.

Trivia

 * Birds placed in a Terrarium peck in ascending order, the Blue Jay once, the Bird twice, the Cardinal three times and the Gold Bird four times.
 * The Glowing Snail Cage emits a faint blue glow, similar to the one Jellyfish Necklace does when under water.
 * The Bunny, Bird, Goldfish, and Penguin are the only four critters that have banners of themselves.
 * All of the gem bunnies and squirrels are the same price when sold, despite representing gems of various, often higher prices.


 * Before 1.4, the Gold Mouse was probably the rarest non-unique creature in the game; as of 1.4, the throne has probably been taken by either the Gold Seahorse or the Gold Water Strider.