In
Nethack, the barbarian is one of the easiest classes to play for
newbies - they start out with a good
weapon, and good physical stats. This class is perfect for playing in the classic "
hack and slash" style. Furthermore, all barbarians start out with
poison resistance which means that they can eat almost anything in sight (rotten food is still 'bad'). At exp level 7 the barbarian will gain
speed and at exp level 15
stealth.
The pantheon of deities that exist with the Barbarian are Mitra, Crom and Set.
The Barbarian's quest artifact is the Heart of Ahriman - a luckstone that confers stealth when carried and levitates when invoked. This artifact is retrieved from Thoth Amon - the quest nemesis. The majority of the monsters in the quest are Ogres and Trolls
In Nethack 3.3 and higher (I assume), the barbarians can be either of two races: human or orc. The barbarian must be either neutral or chaotic.