Keystone Kops

A slapstick comedy troupe, directed by Mack Sennett, from the silent-film era. Famous alumni include the great character actor Edgar Kennedy (with wide-ranging credits, including Little Rascals shorts and films with the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields), and silent-film star Fatty Arbuckle. The term "Keystone Kops" is often used to denote ineptitude, especially when the dolts in question are authority figures.

In NetHack, the Keystone Kops are the minions of evil shopkeepers. They are summoned and try their best to hunt you down if you rob a shop by any of the more obvious methods or commit certain other crimes.

They come in several ranks, including Kop Kaptain (2d6 damage by weapon), Kop Lieutenant (1d8), and Kop Sergeant (1d6). They are not particularly difficult to kill (Lv. 4, 3, and 2, respectively), but can pose big problems for low-level characters. They will throw cream pies to blind you, necessitating the use of the #wipe command.