Guards and Bank Guards are NPCs found in most cities that attack any player with a skull. They are combat level 831 and can inform the player about their role. They can be pickpocketed at level 40 Thieving.
Three types of guards exist representing the three different combat styles; Melee, Ranged, and Magic. Depending on the style, the guards will wield a Chaotic Maul, a Chaotic Staff, or a Zaryte Bow - only the last of which can be currently be obtained by players right now. Many players think the bow wielded by guards is a chaotic bow but it is in fact the zaryte bow from before the graphical update of 2012.
After a hidden update, guards started smiting players, preventing them from abusing the Protect Item and Retribution prayers.
Their combat level was 138 upon release, the same as a maxed combat player. This was changed to 831 in an update on 09 November2015, in response to complaints that maxed combat players would attack on left-click.