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"You may be big, but I am seriously bad!"
Sam after killing a Khnum.[src]
 

The Khnum is an enemy featured in Serious Sam 3: BFE, Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope, Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE and Serious Sam 4. It also appears in the Legend of the Beast DLC, where it serves as the boss.

Overview

Khnums are a species of large bipedal creatures originating from an unknown planet in the system of Lambda Arietis. They are a very powerful and aggressive race, where they are worshiped as gods on their home planet by smaller creatures. They are not actually divine, but due to their thick skin and regenerative capabilities, they can appear immortal.

There is no apparent explanation with why they are working with Mental's forces, though it could be possible that they agreed to join his army, either in exchange for magical powers (like with the Aludran Reptiloids) or other reasons.

Appearance

Khnums are very large creatures standing approximately 45 feet tall. Their heads feature red eyes, a gaping mouth showing razor teeth and two prominent horns similar to a goat, but not practical for use as a weapon. They do not have feet, rather they have two large hooves that, while slow, allow it to walk as fast as the player. They do have hands, each with three fingers and what appears to be an opposable thumb. Their skin is is extremely thick, with only rounds surpassing 30 mm caliber being able to penetrate it. This, along with its immense muscle mass makes it both durable and powerful. Due to its ram-like head, it is usually associated with the Egyptian god Khnum.

Occurrence

Serious Sam 3: BFE

Khnum Cairo

The first Khnum seen in Serious Sam 3: BFE.

The Khnum first appears in Summer in Cairo as a passing feature, looking at the player but does not engage, as if disinterested. The first Khnum encountered in the game serves as a boss. It is fought in Unearthing the Sun in an enclosed space filled with pillars, and has over twice as much health as a normal Khnum.

Later on, Khnums appear most commonly alone or in pairs with groups of enemies. However, in the final level, several can appear at the same time. They usually appear with larger amount of weaker enemies. On easy difficulties, Khnums walk at a relatively slow pace. On harder difficulties, Khnums will walk/run faster at roughly the same speed as the player's walking pace.

Legend of the Beast

The Khnum appears in the Legend of the Beast DLC as the final boss of the 3-level mini-campaign. It is found waiting for the player on its throne in a sacrificial chamber. The room has a number of columns, which the Khnum can easily smash, but they can protect the player from incoming fireballs.

The room also has 6 switches and a metal platform in the middle, where a lightbeam shines. One of the switches is located above the Khnum's throne, and another one is on the opposite side of the wall, facing the one above the throne. 2 others are on the right and left upper wings of the room, and another group of 2 are on the right and left lower wings of the room. The ones on the lower wings of the room need to be activated in order for the one opposite of the throne to be activated. The one above the throne will not activate unless all others are active.

The Khnum has a tremendous health amount of 100,000, which makes it the second boss with the highest health in the Serious Sam series, only exceeded by the Mental Institution and Kwongo. Given that fact, your weapons will do no harm to it. Although, once all 6 switches are activated, if the Khnum is hit by the electric beam, it will take out 1/3 of its health if it stands in it for the full duration (the Khnum is stunned while hit by the beam). The Khnum will also punch the player if they get too close.

Unlike Khnums in Serious Sam 3, the Khnum from the Legend of the Beast is vulnerable to every weapon, aside from the Serious Bomb (which you cannot acquire normally in the mini-campaign anyway).

Behavior and skills

Khnums are very powerful and dangerous opponents, relying on their immense physical strength and size to crush everything in their way and smash anyone who dares to oppose them. The Khnum has several attacks it may perform; if the player gets too close, it may attempt a swipe, which deals high damage. Also, it may use a hoof stomp attack which is faster, but does less damage. When a Khnum is close enough to the player, it will start charging towards them.

Its ranged attack is a triple fireball that it conjures in its hand (in the original version of Serious Sam 3, it fires three fireballs, whereas it only fires one in the Serious Sam Fusion version). It can toss it quickly for a quick attack, but this has less range and the fireballs are tightly grouped together. The Khnum usually performs this attack when it sees incoming projectiles from the player (such as rockets) and is strafing to dodge them. It may also charge the fireballs, which is easily visible by the glow in its hand. This will make the fireballs travel great distances and also spread them out. If a Khnum takes heavy damage from a C-4 charge or a cannonball whilst it is charging its fireballs, it will briefly stun the Khnum, preventing it from firing them.

Although the fireballs have no target tracking of their own, the Khnum can throw them so that if the target is moving, it will hit the target if it continues its movement in the same direction. An easy counter for this is to change direction. The fireballs travel extremely fast and cause immense amounts of damage to the player's health. Unlike missiles and fireballs in earlier Serious Sam games, a Khnum's fireballs cannot be destroyed by gunfire.

Tactics

  • In the original version of Serious Sam 3, bullets bounce harmlessly off a Khnum, regardless of where they're hit. Only explosives will damage a Khnum, with each explosive weapon sometimes being more appropriate depending on the situation.
  • With C-4 equipped, a red C-4 target will appear on the Khnum's chest. Although effective, (requiring roughly two to three attached blocks of C-4) C-4 may not always be the best choice considering the distance required to successfully attach C-4. Khnums tend to run towards the player, bringing themselves, and the attached explosives closer to an unsafe distance. On the other hand, detonating an attached C-4 will always stun the Khnum, so consistently using C-4 can take it down without it attacking or advancing.
  • The XPML21 Rocket Launcher is also another choice, but Khnums will actively dodge rockets shot at them, making hitting them difficult when not in close proximity. Khnums will also throw fireballs when dodging rockets, increasing the difficulty of successfully hitting one. This makes the rocket launcher one of the more challenging ways to engage Khnums, especially multiple groups. It is advised to fire rockets just as the Khnum starts charging, stop when the Khnum gets too close and then start firing again when it starts to use a ranged attack.
  • The AS-24 Devastator is a much better choice, doing roughly as much damage as the rocket launcher, but because the Devastator's projectiles travel faster, Khnums are unable to dodge each shot.
  • The SBC Cannon is a very effective weapon to take a Khnum down, needing only two fully charged hits. In addition, it causes them flinch after getting hit, preventing them from firing their fireballs. However, due to the rarity of cannonballs, players may opt in using other methods.
  • It is possible to decapitate a Khnum with the Sirian Mutilator, but only with at least two players using the Mutilator simultaneously. If a player attempts to decapitate a Khnum alone, then it will grab the beam and pull the player closer, which puts them in danger of a melee attack and usually disrupts the beam's charging process. Even if the player holds the charge indefinitely alone, the Khnum will not be decapitated. However, using the Mutilator in singleplayer against the Khnum can still be useful as it temporarily stuns it, stopping its charge and making the Khnum vulnerable to C-4.
  • With other enemies, Khnums are a medium-high-priority target. In some situations, they may be treated as high-priority targets. Their projectiles can be dodged at a distance but they deal a lot of damage and it can be hard to keep track of if other enemies are present.

Behind the scenes

  • The Khnum originally appeared in a screenshot in a 2006 demonstration of Serious Engine 3, where it was smaller and had a slightly different face.

Related achievements

Serious Sam 3: BFE

File:Headsman.jpg
Headsman 10 Gscore Ps 2 silver
Decapitate a Khnum.

Serious Sam Fusion

File:The Beast.jpg
The Beast
Finish the Legend of the Beast campaign in single player or cooperative.

Trivia

  • The Khnum, along with the Kleer Skeleton and Ugh-Zan IV, are the only enemies in Serious Sam 3: BFE that don't bleed (or splatter blood) when damaged or killed. They do bleed however in the Fusion version of the game and in Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope.
  • The models for the Khnum and Canned Cain were created as part of a temporary partnership with id Software, creators of the Doom franchise. The Khnum's appearance is similar to the Baron of Hell from Doom and Hell Knight from Doom II, as is the fact that it is first encountered as a boss and has pale skin like the Hell Knight.
  • The way its legs bend mean it also slightly resembles the Cyberdemon, the second boss of Doom and final boss of Doom 3.
  • In Serious Sam 3: BFE, Khnums cannot be harmed by any bullet-firing weapons, but they can take damage from any weapon in the Fusion version. Shooting a Khnum in the Fusion version with such weapons will only deal half the damage to the Khnum, however.
  • The Khnum is the only enemy in the Serious Sam franchise to be introduced in a new game and then retroactively added to an old one. In its case, the Khnum was introduced in Serious Sam 3 in 2011, then added to Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter (originally released in 2010) in the Legend of the Beast DLC, which itself was released in 2012.

Gallery

Serious Sam 3: BFE

Pre-release

Retail

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter

Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope

Serious Sam 4

List of appearances

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