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Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons | HearLore
Common questions
When did the Tarrasque first appear in Dungeons and Dragons?
The Tarrasque first appeared in the Monster Manual II on the 1st of January 1983. This creature was designed as the ultimate obstacle for high-level adventurers and stands 60 feet tall and 80 feet long. It is described as a force of nature that embodies wanton destruction and is immune or resistant to most offensive magic.
What is the Blood War in Dungeons and Dragons?
The Blood War is an eternal conflict between the tanar'ri demons and the baatezu devils that was introduced in 1991's Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix. This war was thoroughly detailed in various books throughout the Planescape setting and updated in the 4th edition of D&D's Manual of the Planes. Different game books attribute the conflict to primordial battles between law and chaos or to Asmodeus's goal of usurping divine power.
How did Dungeons and Dragons change the terms for demons and devils in later editions?
TSR eliminated most references to demons and devils from the second edition of the game and introduced the terms baatezu, tanar'ri, yugoloth, and gehreleth to replace the original terms. Wizards of the Coast reinserted many of these references in the third edition of the game while keeping the new terms to appeal to both older and newer players. The yugoloths were called daemons in 1st edition D&D and are now listed as neutral evil fiends under their original names in fifth edition.
Who created the kythons in Dungeons and Dragons?
The kythons were created when a group of fiends called the Galchutt from Monte Cook's Chaositech and Ptolus were trapped on the Material Plane. These fiends tried creating more of their own kind through magical means, resulting in eyeless reptilian creatures with insectoid features. None of the kythons are loyal to the fiends that created them, and they are also called earth-bound demons because they originated on the Material Plane instead of the Abyss.
Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons
The Tarrasque, a creature of such terrifying magnitude that it was designed to be the ultimate obstacle for high-level adventurers, first appeared in the Monster Manual II on the 1st of January 1983. This massive, lizard-like beast, standing 60 feet tall and 80 feet long, was not merely a monster to be slain but a force of nature that embodied wanton destruction. Unlike other creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons universe that could be reasoned with or bargained with, the Tarrasque existed solely to eat, kill, and destroy, making it the most dreaded monster native to the Prime Material plane. Its skin was thick and hard, providing excellent armor, and it was immune or resistant to most offensive magic, regenerating damage quickly. The creature's design was inspired by the French legend of the tarasque, yet it was given a Tyrannosaurus rex-like form that was much more broad and muscular, with a differently shaped head and larger front arms. Scabs, warts, and bits of encrusted dung covered its brown skin, while a thick, glossy caramel-colored shell protected its back and tail. Spikes protruded from its chin, the sides of its mouth, the underside of its neck, the elbows of its front arms, and its shell, and two horns projected forwards from the top of its head. In the 4th edition of the game, the Tarrasque was reclassified as an abomination and a Gargantuan elemental magical beast, described as a living engine of death and destruction created by a primordial race for use as a weapon against the gods. The creature's sheer power and the fear it inspired made it a central figure in the game's history, with Screen Rant calling it one of the strongest monsters in the game, stating that no other giant monster roamed the various Dungeons & Dragons worlds with more fear. The Tarrasque's presence in the game was so significant that it was ranked No. 2 on the list of the ten best high-level monsters in Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies, and Rob Bricken from io9 named it the 10th most memorable D&D monster. The creature's design and capabilities were so unique that it became a symbol of the game's ability to create monsters that were not just obstacles but also iconic figures in popular culture.
The Fiendish Hierarchy
The concept of fiends in Dungeons & Dragons, which includes demons, devils, and other malicious otherworldly creatures, was introduced to the game in the Monster Manual on the 1st of January 1977. These creatures, which are of an evil alignment and hail from the Lower Planes, are extraplanar outsiders that have been considered among D&D's most classic monsters. Demons, a chaotic evil race native to the Abyss, are rapacious, cruel, and arbitrary, and are portrayed as more widespread than other races of fiends, as the Abyss and its population are both theoretically infinite in size. The dominant race of demons is the tanar'ri, which includes true tanar'ri such as the balors, originally called Balrogs, and the six-armed serpentine mariliths. These creatures push other weaker tanar'ri around and organize them into makeshift armies for battle, and demon princes such as Demogorgon, Juiblex, Zuggtmoy, Graz'zt, and countless others are said to rule over the demons of their individual layers of the Abyss. Devils, of which the ruling type are called baatezu, are lawful evil natives of the Nine Hells of Baator, and are said to subjugate the weak and rule tyrannically over their domains. Pit fiends are the most powerful baatezu, though even the strongest pit fiends are surpassed by the Lords of the Nine, or Archdevils, whose ranks include Baalzebul, Mephistopheles, and Asmodeus. Unlike the demons, the devils are described as arranged in a strict hierarchy, and while a demon only keeps its words when it is convenient for it, a devil keeps its word all too well. They are said to be used to exploiting repressive bureaucratic machinations to the fullest and thus always know all ways around the letter of a contract to begin with. The tanar'ri and the baatezu hold an eternal enmity for one another and wage the Blood War against one another, a conflict that was introduced as part of the new background for the outer planes in 1991's Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix. The Blood War was thoroughly detailed in various books throughout the Planescape setting, particularly the 1996 boxed set Hellbound: The Blood War, and the 4th edition of D&D's Manual of the Planes updated the Blood War into a smoldering cold war that was formerly an all-out war. The Blood War has been given various causes across different game books, with Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss attributing it to an offshoot of the primordial battles between law and chaos, continued out of violent and sadistic stubbornness. Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells depicts Asmodeus as a formerly angelic being tasked with fighting an eternal war against the demons, and when he and his followers take on demonic traits to better combat their foes, these angels, now deemed devils, are either exiled to or granted their own plane, where they fight the Blood War without disturbing the primordial lords of order. The Guide to Hell instead portrays the Blood War as a distraction by Asmodeus to hide his true goal of usurping divine power and reshaping the multiverse. Later official materials claim Asmodeus possesses a piece of the pure elemental chaos Tharizdun used to create the Abyss, and the demons are drawn to this and seek to reclaim it. The Blood War has been considered one of the great conflicts that make up the D&D multiverse, and it has been praised for its in-depth look into its cause and background, with a Ken Burns-style narrative in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.
What is the hierarchy of power among the kythons in Dungeons and Dragons?
The current hierarchy of kythons from the weakest to the strongest is broodlings, juveniles, adults, impalers, slaymasters, and slaughterkings. As the kythons mature, they take on varied forms and eventually grow into newer and more powerful forms that closely resemble xenomorphs. These creatures are only interested in eating and breeding and have spread rapidly across the Material Plane.
The inclusion of demons and devils in Dungeons & Dragons proved controversial among critics of the game, leading to significant changes in the way these creatures were portrayed in different editions. TSR eliminated most references to occult symbols, demons, and devils from the second edition of the game, and when the creatures were reintroduced after a few years in the Monstrous Compendium supplement MC8: The Outer Planes, the terms baatezu, tanar'ri, yugoloth, and gehreleth were introduced and were used exclusively in place of the terms devil, demon, daemon, and demodand, respectively, but without changing the creatures fundamentally. Following a more relaxed attitude towards the hobby, Wizards of the Coast reinserted many of these excised references in the third edition of the game, keeping intact the terms they had been replaced with, using both when applicable to appeal both to older players and those who played in subsequent editions of the game. While the 1st edition of AD&D used the term Daemon, all subsequent editions beginning with 2nd edition have used the term yugoloth for the same creatures. The yugoloths, called daemons in 1st edition D&D, are neutral evil natives of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna and the Gray Wastes of Hades, and are neutral to the affairs of the other fiendish races, interfering only when they see a situation that may be profitable or a potential for the advancement of their own schemes. The yugoloths are portrayed as manipulative, secretive, and mercenary by nature, often acting as soldiers for deities in their own private wars, or even at times aiding both sides of the Blood War. In 4th Edition, the yugoloths are considered to be demons, and their previously standard naming convention of loth is replaced by demon, such as the Mezzoloth being the 4e Mezzodemon. In fifth edition, yugoloths are listed as neutral evil fiends under their original names. The demodands, a race of evil fiends that live on the plane of Carceri, were introduced in the 1st edition supplement Monster Manual II, renamed as gehreleths in the 2nd edition Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix, and reintroduced as demodands in the 3rd edition sourcebook Fiend Folio. In 1st edition D&D, the three types of demodands from weakest to strongest were tarry, slime, and shaggy, and in 2nd and 3rd editions, the three types are farastu, kelubar, and shator. The hordlings, fiends that form the hordes of the Gray Waste of Hades, first appeared in the 1st edition supplement Monster Manual II, and wander the Gray Waste preying upon everything they come across, even other hordlings. Hordlings vary greatly in appearance, and it is said that hordlings evolved from larvae whose hatred was so unique, their souls became individual. The hordlings can be summoned using an artifact known as the Bringer of Doom, which was created around the time of the Invoked Devastation of Greyhawk, and they are the most common inhabitants of the Gray Waste. They also occasionally roam the other Lower Planes as well. The kythons, distinct from the other fiends in that they did not originate on any of the lower planes, were created when a group of fiends, the Galchutt, from Monte Cook's Chaositech and Ptolus, were trapped on the Material Plane and tried creating more of their own kind through magical means. The results were eyeless reptilian creatures with insectoid features and neutral evil traits, and as the kythons matured, they took on varied forms. None of them were loyal to the fiends that created them, and because kythons originated on the Material Plane instead of the Abyss, they are also called earth-bound demons. Kythons are only interested in eating and breeding, and they have spread rapidly across the Material Plane. The current hierarchy of kythons, from the weakest to the strongest is: broodlings, juveniles, adults, impalers, slaymasters, and slaughterkings. Eventually, with more time, kythons will grow into newer and more powerful forms, and they closely resemble xenomorphs. The Night hags, fiends from the Gray Wastes of Hades that traffic in the souls of mortals in 3rd edition sources, come from the Feywild and are exiled to the Gray Wastes of Hades in 5th edition. The Rakshasas, fiends that may have originated on Acheron according to 3rd edition sources, originated in the Nine Hells in 5th edition. The Slaadi, in the 4th edition game, are chaotic evil and originate out of the Elemental Chaos, which is markedly different from the portrayal of Slaadi in all prior editions of the game, when they were chaotic neutral natives of Limbo and thus not fiends. The cambions, whose name comes from a different kind of mythological, demonic creature, are simply half-fiends, hybrids of fiends and non-fiendish creatures, often humans or other humanoids. Cambions are typically created through fiends raping mortals or seducing them after shape-shifting, although some of the most depraved beings actually participate willingly. Those cambions that actually survive birth typically look like grotesque, hellish variants of their mortal progenitors, having wings, claws, fangs and often many other features that reveal their fiendish origins. Cambions are usually outcast, being feared and hated in mortal societies for their fiendish origins and being derided by pure-blooded fiends for their impure heritage. A variant of cambion called durzagon is described in 3.5 edition of the Monster Manual II and is the hybrid of a devil and an unsuspecting duergar. The fiendish creatures are simply fiendish versions of other species in Dungeons & Dragons, and they typically look like fearsome travesties of beings from the Material Plane. Most fiendish species are divided into a number of variants, usually in a hierarchy of increasing power and cunning.
The Cultural Impact
The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have significantly influenced modern fantasy fiction, ranging from licensed fiction to how monsters are portrayed in fantasy fiction generally, with the scope of this influence being compared to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. In a 2005 interview, author China Miéville stated that references and homages to Dungeons & Dragons monsters can be found in works such as Adventure Time, and the game's monsters have inspired tributes that both celebrate and mock various creatures. A 2013 io9 retrospective detailed memorable monsters, and in 2018 SyFy Wire published a list of The 9 Scariest, Most Unforgettable Monsters From Dungeons & Dragons, and in the same year Screen Rant published a list of the game's 10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked. Other writers have highlighted the game's more odd or eccentric creations, such as Geek.com's list of The most underrated monsters of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, The Escapist's list of The Dumbest Dungeons & Dragons Monsters Ever (And How To Use Them), and Cracked.com's 15 Idiotic Dungeons and Dragons Monsters. D&D's monsters have also been licensed as toys, like in LJN's action figures, and even candy. The number and variety of different monsters contributes to keeping the game interesting and forces players to think about employing diverse strategies. The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have received criticism from multiple sources, and in addition to other game elements, the presence of magical or demonic monsters has provoked moral panics among religious conservatives. The game's emphasis on slaying monsters has also elicited negative commentary, and as monsters have traditionally been defined by the number of experience points they award when killed, the game has been said to promote a sociopathic violence where the dungeon master merely referees one imagined slaughter after another. Nicholas J. Mizer, in contrast, suggested that experience through combat was an in-game variation on Thorstein Veblen's theory that application of the predatory spirit of humans to warfare could lead to high standing in society. Some female monsters, such as the nymph and succubus, were seen by Philip J. Clements as an instance of the sexist tropes the game draws on which presented female sexuality as inherently dangerous. The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have become iconic and recognizable even outside D&D, becoming influential in video games, fiction, and popular culture. The game's monsters have been called a pastiche of sources, and in some cases, this has resulted in legal battles, such as when names taken from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien had to be changed due to copyright disputes. The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have been called a pastiche of sources, and in some cases, this has resulted in legal battles, such as when names taken from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien had to be changed due to copyright disputes. The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have been called a pastiche of sources, and in some cases, this has resulted in legal battles, such as when names taken from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien had to be changed due to copyright disputes.
The Fiendish Codex
The Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2006, provided an in-depth look into the causes and background of the Blood War, with the conflict being attributed to an offshoot of the primordial battles between law and chaos, continued out of violent and sadistic stubbornness. The Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells, also published by Wizards of the Coast in 2006, depicted Asmodeus as a formerly angelic being tasked with fighting an eternal war against the demons, and when he and his followers take on demonic traits to better combat their foes, these angels, now deemed devils, are either exiled to or granted their own plane, where they fight the Blood War without disturbing the primordial lords of order. The Guide to Hell, published by TSR in 1999, portrayed the Blood War as a distraction by Asmodeus to hide his true goal of usurping divine power and reshaping the multiverse. Later official materials claim Asmodeus possesses a piece of the pure elemental chaos Tharizdun used to create the Abyss, and the demons are drawn to this and seek to reclaim it. The Blood War has been considered one of the great conflicts that make up the D&D multiverse, and it has been praised for its in-depth look into its cause and background, with a Ken Burns-style narrative in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Black Gate reviewer Andrew Zimmerman Jones positively contrasted the extended description provided in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018) as compared to earlier material, stating that it's easy to treat demons and devils as villains just there to be killed, but after reading this chapter on the Blood War, you'll be more inclined to treat them as unique creatures, with their own goals and motivations. The Blood War has been given various causes across different game books, with Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss attributing it to an offshoot of the primordial battles between law and chaos, continued out of violent and sadistic stubbornness. Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells depicts Asmodeus as a formerly angelic being tasked with fighting an eternal war against the demons, and when he and his followers take on demonic traits to better combat their foes, these angels, now deemed devils, are either exiled to or granted their own plane, where they fight the Blood War without disturbing the primordial lords of order. The Guide to Hell instead portrays the Blood War as a distraction by Asmodeus to hide his true goal of usurping divine power and reshaping the multiverse. Later official materials claim Asmodeus possesses a piece of the pure elemental chaos Tharizdun used to create the Abyss, and the demons are drawn to this and seek to reclaim it. The Blood War has been considered one of the great conflicts that make up the D&D multiverse, and it has been praised for its in-depth look into its cause and background, with a Ken Burns-style narrative in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.