History Characters / DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesFToO

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' '''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragons Main Characters Index]]'''\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClasses Character Classes by Edition]]:'' 1st to 3rd ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFirstToThirdEditionCoreClasses Core]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesOtherPreThirdEditionClasses Pre-3rd]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesOtherThirdEditionClasses 3rd Other]]) | 3rd & 3.5 ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesThirdEditionPrestigeClasses Prestige Classes]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesThreePointFiveEditionNPCClasses NPC Classes]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFourthEditionClasses 4th]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsClassesFifthEditionClasses 5th]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': General ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesAToE A to E]] | '''F to O''' | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesPToZ P to Z]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDeities Deities]]'': Non-human Pantheons ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDemihumanDeities Demihuman Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGiantDeities Giant Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsGoblinoidDeities Goblinoid Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsScalykindDeities Scalykind Deities]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUnderdarkDeities Underdark Deities]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsElderEvils Elder Evils]]\\
''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces Playable Races]]''\\
''Campaign Settings:'' Characters/{{Dragonlance}} | Characters/{{Eberron}} | Characters/ForgottenRealms ([[Characters/ForgottenRealmsGods Gods]] | ''Characters/TheLegendOfDrizzt'') | Characters/{{Greyhawk}} ([[Characters/GreyhawkDeities Deities]]) | Characters/{{Planescape}} ([[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Factions]] | [[Characters/PlanescapeRaces Races]]) | Characters/{{Ravenloft}} ([[Characters/RavenloftDarklords Darklords]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheCarnival The Carnival]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheKargataneOfVallaki The Kargatane of Vallaki]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheFraternityOfShadows Fraternity of Shadows]] | [[Characters/RavenloftTheGreatFamilies Great Families of the Core]] | [[Characters/RavenloftGods Faiths]]) ]] -]]]

This page covers general ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' monsters such as can be found in the ''Monster Manual'' or in setting-agnostic books such as ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'' or ''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes''. The creatures on this page can be found in any world of the ''D&D'' multiverse and can be encountered in just about any campaign.

For the game's iconic dragons, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons''. For demons and devils, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends''. For the various undead creatures, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead''. For creatures found only in specific settings, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures''.

[[foldercontrol]]

!!F

[[folder:Fensir]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_fensir_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Giant\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (fensir), 8 (rakka) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

A breed of giant native to the Heroic Domains of Ysgard, known for their aversion to sunlight. While most fensir are unassuming and reclusive, their females may, after giving birth, grow into dimwitted, ravenous brutes that force their families to strip the surrounding countryside in their efforts to keep this rakka fed.
----
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Fensirs are commonly called trolls on Ysgard, even though the two species are completely unrelated.
* DeathActivatedSuperpower: Just before a rakka is killed, she places a dying curse on those responsible, usually forcing them to pay back or serve her family.
* {{Gonk}}: Fensirs are unattractive, with huge heads, enormous noses, warty skin and deep, misaligned eyes.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: The majority of fensir are born as pairs of fraternal twins.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: A fensir will do everything possible to avenge the death of their twin, even crossing into the Material Plane to seek vengeance.
* TakenForGranite: Fensirs turn to stone the moment their body is fully exposed to natural sunlight.
* TwinTelepathy: Fensir twins enjoy a near-psychic connection allowing them to sense the location and status of their sibling, no matter the distance between them.
* TrackingSpell: If a fensir died through malicious intent, their surviving twin can track those individuals responsible, with no range limit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Firenewt]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/firenewt_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"'Tis always a fight to the death for them, so 'tis also one for ye." --Elminster]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3.5E), Humanoid (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E), 1/2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Humanoid salamanders who worship Imix and live in hot, humid locations like hot springs or volcanoes. Like many reptilian races in D&D, they're jerks.
----
* BreathWeapon: Firenewts can breathe fire. In early editions they need ten or so minutes between uses to recharge, while 5th requires them to make a longer rest before being able to do so again.
* FierySalamander: Humanoid salamanders that inhabit volcanic areas, need constant humid heat to remain active, and can breathe fire.
* LeaveNoSurvivors: Firenewts take no prisoners of war. In battle, they seek nothing less than the annihilation of their foes.
* LizardFolk: Their older depictions mostly resemble red-scaled, humanoid lizards, and they're believed to be descended from true lizardfolk.
* PlayingWithFire: They aren't called ''fire''newts for nothing. Ordinary firenewts can spit fireballs, and the warlocks of Imix can cast plenty of fire-based spells.
* ReligionOfEvil: They worship Imix, a primordial fire elemental whose titles include such lovely things as the Lord of Hellfire and [[CardCarryingVillain the Prince of Elemental Evil]].
* TheTheocracy: Firenewt society is dominated by the worship of Imix, and their tribes are ruled by his clerics and warlocks.
* VolcanicVeins: 5th edition artwork gives them visible yellow veins as a consequence of their translucent red skin.

!!Giant Strider
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_giant_strider_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Bird-like, scaled creatures which often serve firenewts as mounts.
----
* ArmlessBiped: Giant striders have no limbs save for a single pair of powerful legs.
* BreathWeapon: They can breathe fire.
* FeedItWithFire: When a giant strider is subjected to an attack or hazard that would deal fire damage, it gains an amount of health equal to the damage that would otherwise be caused.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Giant striders voluntarily serve as mounts for elite firenewt soldiers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Flail Snail]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_flail_snail_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey Beast (4E), Elemental (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Large snails with spiny, flail-like tentacles and iridescent, magic-resistant shells.
----
* AttackReflector: A flail snail's anti-magical shell has a one-in-three chance of reflecting any single-target spell cast on the snail back at its caster.
* BlindedByTheLight: Flail snails can release a disorientating flash of light from their shells.
* CombatTentacles: The spiny tentacles which give the flail snail its name can be used to bludgeon potential enemies.
* CraftedFromAnimals: Their shells can be worked into shields that retain the creature's spell-reflecting trait for a month before becoming ''spellguard shields'', or ground into a powder incorporated into a ''robe of scintillating colors''
* EatDirtCheap: Flail snails consume everything on the surface, including rocks, sand and soil, and especially relish mineral deposits.
* NonMaliciousMonster: Flail snails will attack if they feel threatened, but are otherwise not hostile.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Flumph]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flumph_5e.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood

Flumphs are jellyfish-like, LawfulGood-aligned aberrations that inhabit the Underdark. They feed passively on psychic energy, and often lurk near the communities of powerful psychic beings as a result -- however, in the Underdark, this forces them into contact with entities such as mind flayers, aboleths and worse, and flumphs consequently welcome contact with adventurers who might be able to destroy these bastions of evil, even though it will force the flumphs to find new food sources.
----
* AcidAttack: A flumph's tentacles secrete acidic slime, which serves as the creature's main means of physical combat.
* CombatTentacles: When forced into melee, flumphs prefer to fights with their acid-coated tentacles.
* CreepyGood: Flumphs are aberrations, feed parasitically on mental energies, and resemble floating jellyfish monsters with acid-producing tentacles and the ability to vent jets of nauseatingly smelly gas. They're also wise, moral and benevolent beings, and some of the very few friendly faces adventurers can meet in the dark beneath the world.
* FlippingHelpless: Flumphs are saucer-shaped and not terribly strong, and if knocked prone have a chance to land upside-down and remain helpless and incapacitated until they're able to rock themselves rightside-up again.
* LivingMoodRing: A flumph's body glows faintly, and the color of the glow changes with its emotional state. Soft pink indicates amusement, deep blue represents sadness, green expresses curiosity, and crimson red shows anger.
* OurMonstersAreWeird: Intelligent, innately good, psychic, floating, subterranean jellyfish-creatures.
* {{Telepathy}}: Flumphs are gifted telepaths by nature: they use it as their primary means of communication, and can perceive the contents of any telepathic message sent or received within sixty feet of themselves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fomorian]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_fomorian_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (4E), Giant (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 17 (4E), 8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

A breed of giants that once attempted to conquer the Feywild, but were defeated, cursed with hideous forms, and driven into the Underdark.
----
* {{Curse}}: The "evil eye" of a formorian can curse victims with magical deformatives for several days, during which time their speed, ability checks, saving throws and attacks are all impaired.
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Fomorians typically mark the borders of their territories with the mangled corpses of their victims.
* {{Gonk}}: All fomorians are grotesquely deformed: some have facial features randomly distributed around their misshapen, warty heads; others have limbs of grossly different sizes and shapes, or emit terrible howls from misshapen mouths.
* MadeASlave: Fomorians routinely abduct slaves to cultivate food in their underground lairs, and if a slave grows incapable of work, they provide food in a more direct sense.
* PrimitiveClubs: Their standard weapons are giant-sized greatclubs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Formian]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_formians_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (worker), 3 (warrior), 6 (winged warrior), 7 (taskmaster), 8 (armadon) 10 (myrmarch), 11 (observer), 17 (queen) (3E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral
Ant-people from the plane of Mechanus, who live in rigidly ordered societies and would see the whole multiverse brought into their hives' hierarchies. Not to be confused with the Fomorians, above.
----
* BeePeople: Ant people, technically, but formians are otherwise a classic case of insectoid sapients who live in rigidly ordered, hive-like societies divided into a large number of biological castes.
* HiveCasteSystem: Like the ants they're based on, formians are divided into a number of distinct biological castes with specialized roles in the hive's society:
** Workers, which are around the size of a large dog, perform the myriad day-to-day tasks of maintenance, construction and drudgery that the hive needs done. They do not fight except as a last resort when the hive is breached and cannot speak, communicating either with crude hand gestures or, more eloquently, though the species' hive mind.
** Warriors are about the size of a pony, and live only to fight for the hive's expansion and defense. They speak only telepathically, and then only to give reports or acknowledge orders; they do not come up with plans or initiatives of their own. Their hands are modified into a set of pincer-like claws, and they have venomous stingers.
** Winged warriors are a soldier variant used as scouts and vanguard forces, and attack from above by launching spikes from their tails.
** Armadons are Large, heavily-armored, clawed shock troops unleashed upon the most dangerous battlefields, where their great strength, acid spray and poisonous stings can crush the heaviest resistance.
** Observers have oversized heads and antennae, as well as extra eyes, while their bodies are weak and spindly. They lead the warrior castes from the rear, telepathically directing other formians in combat and providing cumulative attack bonuses against targets for every round the observer evaluates them.
** Taskmasters exist outside of the hive's central hierarchy, and are tasked with controlling and overseeing the hive's slaves. They are telepaths, and use their psychic abilities to dominate unwilling laborers -- they prefer to use other methods to convince nonformians to work for the hive, but feel very little remorse about having to resort to psychic control. They resemble warriors in all but lacking mouths -- they sustain themselves off of their subjects' mental energies.
** Myrmarchs are the elites of formian society, reporting directly to the queen or high-ranking myrmarchs, and serving as overseers in day-to-day hive life and as commanders and generals in times of war. They possess much more mental flexibility and originality than other formians do, and are larger as well, being about seven feet long and as tall as a human.
** Queens are immense, immobile and bloated beings, with atrophied legs useless for walking. They remain in their highly protected chambers all their lives, guarded by elite myrmarchs. They're the rulers of formian hives, using their telepathy to direct their subjects despite being unable to move from their spots, and are the only formians to breed.
* HiveMind: All formians within fifty miles of their hive's queen are in constant mental contact with one another, and share thoughts, sense impressions and information. This makes it impossible to outflank or surprise a formian in such a state unless all connected formians can be outflanked or surprised simultaneously.
* HiveQueen: Formian queens are classic fictional insect queens, serving as the undisputed, authoritarian rulers of their slavishly devoted minions and the cruxes of their HiveMind -- in addition to also birthing each new formian generation, the only thing their real-life inspirations actually do.
* InsectoidAliens: Formians are the most insectoid end of this trope, resembling giant ants with upright torsos, varying from dog- to human-sized depending on their caste, and with forelimbs useable as hands.
* LargeAndInCharge: In the highly stratified formian civilization, each caste is distinctly larger than the ones in outranks -- workers are the size of a dog, soliders and taskmasters are the size of ponies, myrmarchs are the size of centaurs, and the queens are bloated behemoths ten feet from end to end. Armadons subvert this by being big and bulky, but still subservient like the other warrior castes.
* MadeASlave: The typical fate for those attacked by formians on the warpath is to be forcefully conscripted into the hive's workforce and put to work on maintaining and expanding it and on contributing to the formian war efforts. Escapees refer to formian settlements as "work pits," and note that while the ant-people aren't malicious taskmasters, they don't have any pity for those who fail to meet their standards of efficiency and output.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Froghemoth]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_froghemoth_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrosity\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Giant bipedal amphibians with a vague resemblance to frogs, apart from their tentacles and eyestalks.
----
* AchillesHeel: Froghemoths are distinctly vulnerable to electricity, and will be slowed and suffer other penalties if they take shock damage.
* CombatTentacles: They attack mainly by lashing foes with their tentacles.
* GiantAnimalWorship: Bullywugs revere froghemoths as gods and will try to gain their favor with offerings of food and protection. The froghemoths usually get used to the situation after eating only a few bullywugs.
* MonstrousCannibalism: A froghemoth cares nothing for its egg, and might eat it or the hatchling. Young froghemoths usually survive if their parent leaves them behind in indifference.
* OurMonstersAreWeird: A froghemoth resembles an elephant-sized toad which walks on its hind legs, has four tentacles in place of its front legs, and has a cluster of three eyestalks growing from the top of its head. ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'' implies that they may be aliens of some sort, citing the ancient journals of Lum the Mad which describe froghemoths emerging from metal cannisters in the ground.
* OverlyLongTongue: Like actual frogs, a froghemoth has a long sticky tongue which it uses to grab and reel in distant prey to be SwallowedWhole.
* ThatsNoMoon: Froghemoths can try to ambush prey by submerging themselves in a swamp, so that with their tentacles trailing in the shallows and their [[EyeOnAStalk eye-stalks]] just visible above the water's surface, they might be mistaken for some aquatic plant.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Frost Worm]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_frost_worm_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E), 17 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Huge, burrowing, worm-like monsters with freezing bodies, and the terror of the arctic wastes they call home.
----
* ArchEnemy: Frost worms attack remorhazes on sight, resulting in terrible battles that can devastate entire areas, though the remorhazes tend to emerge victorious in such brawls.
* BreathWeapon: Once per hour they can blast enemies with a 30-foot cone of freezing cold.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: When a frost worm dies, it explodes in a burst of frigid energy.
* AnIcePerson: Frost worms are ''so'' cold that they deal extra cold damage with their attacks, or to anyone who strikes them in melee.
* TheParalyzer: Frost worms can emit an eerie trilling that can cause creatures within a 100 feet of them to stand motionless, stunned by the sonic effect for as long as the frost worm trills and for a few rounds afterward. Victims stunned by this effect don't get saving throws against the frost worm's breath weapon.
* SandWorm: Frost worms are enormous creatures that burrow through snow, ice, and even frozen earth, eagerly consuming any living creature they can wrap their jaws around.
* WeakToFire: Being creatures of the cold north, frost worms are vulnerable to fire.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Frostwind Virago]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_frostwind_virago_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 16 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Beautiful but cold-hearted fey who lure travelers to icy deaths, or set themselves up as cruel rulers of frozen lands.
----
* ArchEnemy: They hate fey from temperate or warmer climates, and will subject any they catch in their territory to a long, excruciating death.
* CompellingVoice: When a frostwind virago speaks and wills it to be so, all creatures that hear her and fail their save become captivated and are forced to move toward the frostwind virago, taking the most direct route available, potentially walking right into dangerous terrain.
* EvilChancellor: When one isn't reigning as a wintry monarch, a frostwind virago may ally with a tribe of frost giants, who revere her as a mighty spirit of winter and take her on as their leader's counselor.
* AnIcePerson: Frostwind viragos are imbued with the essence of bitter winter. Their mere touch deals cold damage, and they can produce a whirling vortex of ice shards to shred and freeze everything around them.
* OneGenderRace: Frostwind viragos are all female, and mate with humanoids to reproduce.
* TheParalyzer: When active, their "Mind Freeze Aura" causes increasingly debilitating mental effects based on how badly other creatures fail their saving throws, from rendering them shaken or dazed to full-on stunned.
* PrettyInMink: A frostwind virago prefers to look like a fur-clad maiden with smooth, attractive features.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Frostwind viragos possess blonde to stark white hair, and embody the unforgiving, indiscriminately cruel heart of deep winter.
[[/folder]]

!!G

[[folder:Galeb Duhr]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_galeb_duhr_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/galeb_duhr_3e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Elemental (3E, 5E), Elemental Humanoid (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E), 6 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Rock-like creatures of elemental earth. Their degree of anthropomorphism varies between editions.
----
* ArmlessBiped: They have no arms in 1st and 2nd edition.
* ArtEvolution: In 1st and 2nd Edition, galeb duhr are rough boulders with faces and a pair of stumpy legs. In 3rd, they become stout-limbed but otherwise normal humanoids with rock-like skin. In 4th and 5th, they have an intermediate appearance as neckless, stumpy-limbed beings more visible made of rough stone.
* DishingOutDirt: Galeb duhr have considerable natural power over rock, which they can shape, control and turn into mud.
* EnemySummoner: Once per day, a galeb duhr can magically animate a pair of nearby boulders to assist it, for up to one minute.
* RockMonster: The galeb duhr is a boulder-like creature with stumpy appendages that act as limbs. They are always composed of an igneous or metamorphic rock of a type common in their area; granite is particularly common. No sedimentary galeb duhr exist.
* RollingAttack: A galeb duhr does bonus damage on a charge as they roll towards their opponent like a loose boulder.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gargoyle]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gargoyle_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Elemental (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Malicious creatures that use their resemblance to fearsomely-carved statues to ambush victims who lack sufficient paranoia towards fearsomely-carved statues.
----
* AquaticMook: Kapoacinths are amphibious gargoyles that can swim but cannot fly and which are only found in aquatic environments.
* ArchEnemy: Like their creator, gargoyles hate creatures affiliated with elemental air, especially the aarakocra.
* CopycatMockery: In one telling, gargoyles are the creations of Ogremoch, the evil Prince of Elemental Earth, created in mocking imitation of the creatures of air that he despises - hence why these creatures of stone are somehow capable of flight.
* ForTheEvulz: Gargoyles have no actual need to hunt, kill and consume other creatures. They just like doing it.
* TheNeedless: Gargoyles do not need to eat, drink or sleep, and can go indefinitely without any food, water or air.
* OurGargoylesRock: Gargoyles are wicked ambush predators resembling winged, horned and generally demonic-looking stone statues. They hunt by lying perfectly still, passing for stone statues until unwary prey draws near. Their origins have varied from edition to edition, usually describing them as either earth elementals, animated statues, or simply natural monsters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gem Stalker]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gem_stalker_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrosity\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
----
* PowerCrystal: A gem stalker's skin is studded with bright crystals that pulse with psychic energy and allow the gem stalker to communicate telepathically, fling crystal darts and create a ward to protect other creatures.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Genie]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Elemental (5E)

The rulers of the four Elemental Planes, famous for granting wishes to mortals who bind them into service.
----
* ElementalWeapon: In 5th edition, the scimitars wielded by djinn and efreet inflict lightning and fire damage, respectively.
* FantasticRacism: Each type of genie despises at least one of the other three. Djinn loathe dao, efreet and marids hate each other, and the dao cannot stand djinn or marids. Even the types that they don't despise are generally treated as inferior.
* MadeASlave: In 5th edition, all genies — even the good-aligned ones — believe that it is their right to take other beings as slaves, and derive status from having servants. How they treat their slaves, and how enthusiastically they go about slaving in the first place, varies from one type of genie to the next.
* MakeAWish: The strikingly rare genie nobles sometimes have the power to grant ThreeWishes to other beings. If the genie is coerced into doing this, they'll probably try to twist the wishes to their captor's detriment, while a genie who is freed from servitude may reward their benefactor with a good-heartd ''wish''.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: Dead genies swiftly break down into their associated elemental substance, leaving only their clothes and equipment behind.
* OurGeniesAreDifferent: They come in a number of flavors, from the four classical elements to a combination of those elements to shadow or ice genies.
* SummonMagic: 5th edition genies can summon an elemental once per day. The elemental needs to be of the same element as the genie: an efreeti can only summon a fire elemental, for example.

!!Dao
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_genie_dao_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 11 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

The greedy earth genies, who focus on gaining material wealth and cannot be happy unless they're the envy of others of their kind.
----
* DishingOutDirt: Dao are the genies of elemental earth, hailing from its associated elemental plane and having the innate ability to use spells like ''move earth'' and ''stone shape''.
* DropTheHammer: The 5th edition dao wields an enormous maul, which hits like a truck and can knock even a giant prone with one blow.
* DungeonBypass: They can glide through earth and stone as easily as a fish moves through water, allowing them to outmaneuver enemies.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: 5th Edition dao will gladly lay into enemies with their rocky fists, which inflict as much damage on average as a djinni's scimitar.

!!Djinni
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_genie_djinni_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 11 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood

Genies of air that hate evil and are the most likely to aid good mortals, but remain dangerously fickle.
----
* BlowYouAway: Djinn are the genies of elemental air, hailing from its associated elemental plane and wielding innate magic tied to the element, such as the ability to turn themselves into living wind.
* ElementalShapeshifting: Djinn can take on ''gaseous form'' for one hour every day, and in battle can turn themselves into raging whirlwinds for several minutes.
* ThreeWishes: Noble djinn are bound to grant three wishes to any mortal who can capture them. They grant no other services, and leave once the third wish is granted.

!!Efreeti
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_genie_efreet_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 11 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

The ruthless and imperialistic fire genies, who are probably the most powerful wish-granters, but highly resent being forced into servitude for this power.
----
* BigRedDevil: Between their bright red skin, horns and cruel and tyrannical natures, efreet embody this trope much more closely than many of the setting's actual fiends.
* HornedHumanoid: They have small horns growing from their foreheads.
* NobleDemon: They're merciless and certifiably evil, but efreet remain honorable, and prefer indentured servitude to capital punishment.
* PlayingWithFire: Efreet are the genies of elemental fire, hailing from its associated elemental plane and being innately able to create and control fire and heat.
* PragmaticVillainy: They're the most likely genies to treat their slaves harshly, but never to the point that those slaves are unable to function. Similarly, they're likely candidates for an EnemyMine situation
* ProudMerchantRace: They use their capital, the City of Brass, as the seat of a cross-planar mercantile empire.

!!Janni
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

The weakest of genies, jann are made of all the classical elements, and thus must spend most of their time on the Material Plane. They usually live as nomads and can be easily confused for humans, until danger threatens.
----
* AllYourPowersCombined: Subverted; Jann are formed out of all four elements, but are actually the weakest of the genies.
* {{Invisibility}}: A janni can use ''invisibility'' three times per day.
* {{Sizeshifter}}: They can use ''enlarge/reduce person'' on themselves twice per day

!!Marid
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_genie_marid_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E), 11 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

The egotistical, hedonistic and unpredictable water genies are perhaps the strongest of geniekind. Marids are fond of stories, especially ones that make them look good, and all claim some sort of noble title.
----
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Marids are slave-takers, but they don't work their slaves like the dao or the efreeti do, and will combat efreet on sight - which, given their elemental advantage (and, depending on the edition, their outright superior overall power) are fights they tend to win. They also keep the peace on the Elemental Plane of Water, which is very much a good thing considering the prevalence of [[EldritchAbomination aboleths]] in the plane.
* ArtEvolution: Up until 4th edition, marids looked like any other genies, humanoids with skin colored like their elements. The 5th edition marid instead looks like a giant, humanoid toad-fish. They are shapeshifters, though, so it could easily be both.
* MakingASplash: Naturally. They draw their power from the Elemental Plane of Water and have innate magical abilities associated with their connection to water.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Giant]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_giants_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fire, storm and frost giants, with human for scale (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E, 5E), Humanoid (4E)

Towering figures of great physical might. Though their grand empire is now lost to the ages, the giants continue to follow its ancient social ranking, the Ordning. Giants can be divided into a number of subraces, based on their physical characteristics, preferred homelands, and distinct abilities, though the most iconic are the cloud, fire, frost, hill, stone, and storm giants.
----
* BilingualBonus: The Giant language is generally taken from Norwegian and Icelandic, though some are changed around just a bit. Even the Ordning is just Norwegian for "the Order".
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: While some giants, particularly storm and some cloud giants, live by standard morality, most giants are guided the Ordning and the concepts of ''maat'' and ''maug''. ''Maat'' is anything that advances you through the Ordning, while ''maug'' is anything that takes you down. This means that for frost giants, raiding and pillaging is ''maat'' because that's what frost giants are supposed to do, while a hill giant deciding not to eat a halfling would be ''maug.''
* BoulderBludgeon: Giants love to throw rocks at distant enemies. In 5th edition they can hit someone from up to 240 feet away, inflicting a hefty amount of damage in the process.
* FantasticCasteSystem: Giants have a complex social structure called The Ordning, which tells a giant which other giants are superior or inferior to it and gives each of the giant sub-races a set of goals based on their culture. The Storm giants sit at the top of the Ordning, followed by cloud giants, fire giants, frost giants, stone giants, hill giants, and giantkin (trolls, ogres, and other races the "true" giants regard as distant cousins).
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Giants rarely practice magic in the traditional sense. While magic itself isn't ''maug'', practicing magic takes time away from doing things that are ''maat'', and it's thus considered a waste of time. As such, giant mages generally get no respect. The exception is runecarving, an esoteric type of magic that rare members of other races may pick up.
* LongLived: Giants live for centuries. Even the shortest-lived among them, the hill giants, can live for up to 200 years, while the longest-lived, the stone giants, can live to be up to 800.
* OurGiantsAreBigger: ''D&D'' offers a wide variety of giants, including the stereotypically brutish hill giants, shy and reclusive stone giants, the fire giants (who look like gigantic evil dwarves), and the Norse-inspired frost giants. Storm giants lean more toward the GentleGiant side of the archetype. Also quite literally bigger: giants range from Large-sized (about twice as tall as an average human) to Colossal-sized (about 16 times larger than a human).
* {{Precursors}}: In several settings the giants created one of the world's first major civilizations, if not ''the'' first, and its grandeur often eclipses that of the humanoid civilizations which sprang up in its wake. These ancient giant civilizations have invariably collapsed and been forgotten by the present day, usually because they got embroiled in a great war against a powerful foe like the dragons or the [[EldritchAbomination Quori]] and came out of it with a PyrrhicVictory at best.
* SmashMook: Hill, stone, frost, and fire giants generally have two ways to attack: hitting you with a melee weapon or chucking a rock at you from afar. Considering how tough and strong they are, this is generally all they need. Cloud and storm giants have a bit more versatility thanks to their magical powers.

!!Bog Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_bog_giant_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Reclusive swamp-dwellers who are among the smallest of giant-kin, standing only 10 feet tall. They're ugly and crude, but more concerned with hunting and scavenging than causing trouble for others, and are on friendly terms with lizardfolk (at least until there's a food shortage).
----
* FluffyTamer: Bog giants both hunt and venerate crocodiles, alligators and other giant reptiles, and their settlements are often guarded by "pet" crocs on tethers.
* FrogMen: These giants have mottled frog-like skin and webbed fingers and toes.
* NemeanSkinning: Bog giants usually wear hide made from crocodile skin.
* SinisterSuffocation: Some bog giants have learned to emulate crocodiles by grabbing and dragging opponents into the water to drown them.

!!Cloud Giant
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cloud_giant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3.5E); 9, 11 (smiling one) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood (50%), NeutralEvil (50%)

Reclusive, aristocratic giants resembling pale, finely formed humans around eighteen feet in height, cloud giants make their homes in castles on high mountains peaks and rarely deign to interact much with either smaller humanoids or lesser giants, which in the cloud giants' minds includes all but storm giants. Cloud giant Ordnings are based on their wealth.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Cloud giant skin tones range into light sky-blues.
* BackStab: A smiling one's weapon attacks inflict extra damage whenever the smiling one has advantage on the attack roll. They also have the power to turn invisible, which grants them advantage on attack rolls.
* TheBeastmaster: Cloud giants often tame flying monsters such as griffons, perytons and wyverns like humans tame falcons, and terrestrial beasts such as owlbears and lions to patrol their keeps and grounds.
* ConspicuousConsumption: A cloud giant's standing in the Ordning is based on two things: how wealthy it is, and how much it flaunts that wealth. The most powerful cloud giants display their wealth in ostentatious ways like decorating their homes with ridiculously expensive works of art and giving lavish gifts to their peers.
* FloatingContinent: According to legend, some cloud giants live in floating castles that drift amidst the clouds.
* MagicKnight: Cloud giant smiling ones are more resilient than the typical cloud giant, just as deadly when it comes to physical combat, and more magically inclined to boot. They wield an arsenal of bardic spells on top of their kind’s innate magical abilities.
* MasterOfIllusion: Cloud giant smiling ones can cast a variety of illusion spells like ''disguise self'', ''invisibility'', and ''major image''.
* TwoFaced: Smiling ones wear masks that display a white sneering face on one side and a black scowling face on the other. These masks reflect the mercurial and duplicitous nature of the cloud giants' god Memnor, whom the smiling ones emulate.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Cloud giant smiling ones can magically take on the forms of beasts and humanoids, implicitly shrinking when they do so.
* WitchSpecies: Cloud giants have innate magical powers which most other giants lack. While the spells they can cast vary by edition, they usually have the power to make things levitate and summon patches of dense fog.

!!Craa'ghoran Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_craaghoran_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Millennia ago, a group of stone giants attempted to infuse themselves with elemental energy, and while their efforts granted them additional powers, it also left them warped and deformed, with jagged rock formations jutting from their bodies. Craa'ghoran giants are isolationist like their stone giant progenitors, but they are also malevolent, extorting tribute from those trespassers they choose not to capture and enslave.
----
* BodyHorror: They're mash-ups of giants and earth elementals, and look the part.
* ConstructionIsAwesome: Craa'ghoran giants derive status by the stone structures they create (and force slaves to help create), and their domains are often marked by beautiful architecture, bas reliefs and statuary quite at odds with the twisted giants who crafed them. It's mentioned that many dungeons or other monster-infested complexes were originally built by craa'ghoran giants as a demonstration of their talents.
* DishingOutDirt: Craa'ghoran giants can use ''stone spike'' and ''wall of stone'' each three times per day, and can be quite clever about using their abilities to split up opponents.
* DungeonBypass: Their "earth glide" ability lets them pass through stone and dirt as easily as a fish moves through water, though metal still obstructs them. Craa'ghoran giants use this to ambush victims moving through tight, twisty corridors, or to silently stalk them in conjunction with their tremorsense.
* EatDirtCheap: Craa'ghoran giants subsist on rocks and dirt, and particularly enjoy the texture of worked stone. Precious metals and gems are kept as ornaments and trophies, rather than snacks.
* MadeASlave: Similar to fire giants, craa'ghoran giants prize dwarf slaves for their craftsmanship, and they'll also conscript local orcs, ogres and goblinoids as guards and scouts.
* SuperSenses: They have tremorsense out to 60 feet, letting them detect anything in contact with the ground.

!!Death Giant
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_death_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 16 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Giants who bound their souls to the Negative Energy Plane in an attempt to save their empire. While this has damned their souls to oblivion, it has granted them terrible powers, and death giants stride into combat surrounded by tormented, screaming souls.
----
* BaldOfEvil: Death giants are a race of evil, hairless giants.
* CessationOfExistence: After death, a death giant's soul is utterly destroyed on the Negative Energy Plane, and thus they can't be resurrected or reincarnated.
* DealWithTheDevil: In order to preserve their empire, the death giants' ancestors sold of the souls of their entire species in exchange for unholy power. The death giants now live with the mistake of their ancestors.
* GuardianEntity: The captive souls surrounding a death giant fulfil this role, granting it bonuses on various rolls, and allowing negative energy attacks like the ''inflict wounds'' line to instead heal a death giant.
* MagicKnight: Unlike most giants, death giants can wield spell-like abilities such as ''greater dispel magic'' or ''flame strike'' a few times per day.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: The vortex of shrieking spirits that constantly surrounds death giants force those who draw near to save against fear.
* YourSoulIsMine: The soul of any creature that dies within 15 feet is sucked up into the souls that swirl around and protect the death giant, preventing resurrection. Such creatures are freed when the death giant is dead.

!!Eldritch Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_eldritch_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 15 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Unusually for their kind, eldritch giants are fascinated by arcane magic, items of power, and the art of spellcrafting. Though cruel and selfish by nature, they are generally too focused on the pursuit of magical power to bother with other creatures, and smart enough to bargain fairly when necessary.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: An eldritch giant's skin is tinged faint purple.
* MagicKnight: Eldritch giants are just as capable in combat as most of their kind, but can also wield magic like ''greater dispel magic'' and ''magic missile'' at will, or ''dimension door'' and ''globe of invulnerability'' three times per day.
* PowerTattoo: Their bodies are covered with tattoos of arcane symbols, which presumably contribute to their spellcasting.
* VillainsOutShopping: Eldritch giants are certifiably Evil, but their entry mentions that they'll occasionally have to leave their isolated lairs and visit the settlements of the smaller races in order to purchase paper, ink and rare components for their scrolls and magic item construction projects.
* WitchSpecies: An eldritch giant has an extensive familiarity with and an intuitive grasp of arcane magic, allowing them to use items like scrolls and magic wands as if they had the necessary ranks in the wizard class.

!!Fire Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fire_giant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3.5E), 18 (4E), 9 (5E), 14 (dreadnought, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Tyrannical, militaristic giants who live in the mountains, preferably volcanic ones, fire giants resemble 18-foot-tall dwarves with dark skin and fiery hair. Their societies are run like immense military camps, and they spend much of their time trying to subjugate and enslave their neighbors. Fire Giant Ordnings are based on strength and engineering talent. Giants with no engineering talent can instead become a Dreadnought, heavily armored warriors who guard the forges.
----
* ElementalHairComposition: Fire giants typically have bright orange or -- often literally -- fiery red hair.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Fire giants are the only true giants which wear heavy armor on a regular basis, giving them a much higher Armor Class than other giants. Fire giant dreadnoughts take it even further by dual-wielding shields in addition to wearing plate armor.
* HotBlade: The shields of a fire giant dreadnought are hollow. When the dreadnought sees trouble coming, it dumps lots of hot coals into the shields so that every strike will burn its opponents as well as batter them.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: A fire giant dreadnought dual-wields a pair of spiked tower shields as its weapons of choice.
* MadeASlave: Fire giants are enthusiastic slavers, and habitually take captive from societies they subjugated or war against to toil for them in their fortresses.
* ShieldBash: A fire giant dreadnought fights by smacking its opponents around with its spiked, superheated tower shields.
* VolcanoLair: Fire giants like to make their homes within volcanoes or volcanic caverns -- active ones, by preference, and ones who live in less tectonically active real estate can go through quite a lot of wood and coal to make their lairs feel more homey.

!!Fog Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_fog_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 11 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood or NeutralEvil

Unusually stealthy for 24-foot-tall creatures, these pallid, white-haired giants are also more intelligent than their simplistic equipment would suggest. They prefer to live in caves and thickets in the most inaccessible coasts, forests or marshes, and hunt in groups under the cover of heavy fog or mist.
----
* BadWithTheBone[=/=]CarryABigStick: When they aren't wielding bleached tree trunks as simple clubs, fog giants like to use massive polished bones as weapons.
* NemeanSkinning: Most fog giants go without armor, since it interferes with their stealth, but at least one clan is known for crafting white dragon hide armor.
* RiteOfPassage: Fog giants greatly value silver, and traditionally young fog giants aren't allowed to mate until they've acquired at least one large silver ornament. Young adults sometimes go off on quests to find such goods, or will barter goods and services for silver from other races.
* SapientEatSapient: Their entry notes that they're fond of roast hoofed animals: horses, cows, deer, elk, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick centaurs...]]
* StealthyColossus: Fog giants are Huge creatures with the extraordinary ability to blend in with heavy fog, gaining a bonus on their Hide checks that nearly counteracts their size-based penalty.
* SweetTooth: They have a fondness for fruit and sugary confections.

!!Forest Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_forest_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

These lanky giants stand at 18 feet tall but weigh only 3,000 pounds. They're avid hunters and ravenous meat-eaters.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Their skin is earth-yellow, while their unkempt hair is pale green.
* ArcherArchetype: They're stealthy hunters who live in the wilderness, and happen to wield Gargantuan-sized composite longbows.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: If fire giants are Huge dwarves, then forest giants are Huge elves, and their artwork even depicts them with PointyEars. And while forest giants aren't quite Chaotic Good, they get along well with fey creatures and other primitive woodland peoples who share their hunting lifestyle.
* PoisonedWeapons: They typically coat their arrows with a poison that induces unconsciousness.
* ScaryTeeth: It's mentioned that forest giants who live in hotter climes (i.e. "jungle giants") like to file their teeth to appear more intimidating
* StealthyColossus: Downplayed; forest giants like to hide among trees to ambush prey, and get a racial bonus on Hide checks that increases in woodland areas, but that still amounts to a paltry +5 base bonus on their rolls due to the negative modifiers from their size.

!!Frost Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frost_giant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3.5E), 8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Savage, barbaric raiders of the far north, frost giants live in scattered tribes that sustain themselves through hunting and by raiding their neighbors. Frost Giant Ordnings are based on sheer physical strength, which some try to cheat by becoming an Everlasting One.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Frost giants have skin the blue of glacial ice.
* AnAxeToGrind: They almost universally favor enormous battle axes.
* TheBeastmaster: Frost giants often capture and bully cold-weather animals into their service, using them as beasts of burden and attack beasts. They often use creatures such as polar bears, winter wolves and mammoths, but especially prize remorhazes.
* BodyHorror: Though an everlasting one's regeneration heals all its wounds, those wounds may not heal properly if it does not pay proper homage to Vaprak the Destroyer. Everlasting ones who fail to show him due respect end up with grotesque deformities and vestigial limbs, occasionally even growing extra heads.
* CannibalismSuperpower: An everlasting one is a frost giant who gained a regenerative HealingFactor by ritualistically devouring a troll.
* DealWithTheDevil: Frost Giant Everlasting Ones are made from giants who strike a deal with Vaprak, the Troll deity.
* ElementalHairColors: Frost giants have white or ice-blue hair.
* GrimUpNorth: Frost giants are reavers and barbarians who make their home amidst the snowy wildernesses and glaciers of the utmost north of the world, sallying south only to raid settled civilizations.
* HealingFactor: Frost giant everlasting ones have the same regenerative powers as a troll, complete with the same [[KillItWithFire limitations]].
* HornsOfBarbarism: They're typically depicted with helmets adorned with elaborate horns.
* HornyVikings: They're essentially land-bound vikings, complete with Norse-style helmets often decorated with horns, lifestyles of constant raiding, and tribal societies ruled by jarls.
* MightMakesRight: Frost giants firmly believe that might makes right, and determine status within their society through how many foes they've killed and through their ability to outfight each other.

!!Hill Giant
[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hill_giant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:330:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 13 (4E), 5 (5E), 6 (Mouth of Grolantor, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Primitive brutes who lurk on the fringes of civilization, and often associate with ogres and orcs. At 16 feet tall, hill giants are among the shortest of the true giants, and are certainly the dumbest.\\\
Hill giants have endless appetites and cast-iron stomachs, letting them chow down on rotting corpses or spoiled vegetables without complaint. Even they can get sick, however, and healthy hill giants view their sickly kin as an omen from their god Grolantor. Any giant that cannot keep its food down is kept isolated and restrained to starve. Those who recover can rejoin their society, while the ones that don't are starved to the point of madness. Such hill giants are called mouths of Grolantor.
----
* BigEater: Giants have appropriately giant-sized appetites, but hill giants especially, to the point where their whole lives and motivations revolve around eating and gathering food, regardless of how poisonous, rotten, or alive it is.
* FrazettaMan: Hill giants are in many ways supersized and less hairy versions of this, being brutish primitives with stooped postures, overlong arms and sloping foreheads, which all together make for a very simian, knuckle-dragging profile. They particularly play this role when compared to the other giant types, which are uniformly more intelligent, more technologically and magically advanced, and physically upright.
* InsanityImmunity: A mouth of Grolantor is immune to the ''confusion'' spell and any other magical effect that would drive it mad because it is already crazy. Its madness also makes it immune to being frightened.
* LargeAndInCharge: This about sums up hill giant political philosophy -- if you're big, you can boss about tinier things. Consequently, hill giants figure they've got free rein to rob and kill smaller humanoids, while their tribes are ruled by the tallest and fattest individuals who can still walk independently and all hill giants defer to the other, taller and mightier strains of giantkind.
* LifeDrain: A mouth of Grolantor magically regains hit points whenever it damages someone with its bite attack.
* PrimitiveClubs: Typically, when hill giants are shown using any weapons at all, these tend to be giant clubs made from tree limbs or entire trees, sometimes enhanced with metal spikes and similar touches, which make good use of their wielder's immense strength without being held back by their general lack of intelligence.
* SanityHasAdvantages: A mouth of Grolantor is violently insane, which is reflected in gameplay by the fact that it acts completely at random. The one consistent thing it will do is move toward the nearest creature[=/=]food object it can see: beyond that, it might lash out at everything within reach or focus its attacks on a single target. If there's nothing within reach to attack, it might fly into a rage and get advantage on its attack rolls next turn... or it might stand there in a stupor, or punch itself.

!!Mountain Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mountain_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 26 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Usually Chaotic

These creatures are essentially titanic hill giants, standing 40 feet tall and weighing 50,000 pounds. They're fairly primitive, solitary, and dislike intruders.
----
* EnemySummoner: For all their primitism, mountain giants have the magical ability to potentially summon a handful of ogres, trolls or hill giants, once per day.
* HumanPet: It's mentioned that some mountain giants like to keep a few dwarves or humans in their lairs as pets.
* ThrowTheMookAtThem: Their favorite tactic in battle is to snatch up a Huge or smaller enemy and throw them up to 120 feet. If this poor sap hits another creature, both it and the thing it crashes into take damage, but mountain giants are just as happy flinging a victim into (or over) the side of a cliff.
* TrampledUnderfoot: Mountain giants are big enough to squash things underfoot, and can make a trample attack by moving through an enemy's space, or jump 20 feet into the air to crush everything beneath them.

!!Ocean Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ocean_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 19 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Usually Good

These deep-sea dwellers appear something like 16-foot-long merfolk in their natural, hybrid forms, but can magically shift into a legged form to walk on land. Though noble and essentially good, ocean giants are quick to anger, and get along poorly with storm giants and merfolk, who accuse them of plundering the ocean's treasures.
----
* NoSell: Ocean giants are wholly immune to bludgeoning damage.
* UnderwaterBase: They usually dwell in magnificent undersea mansions near barrier reefs, and sustain themselves by harvesting aquatic plants and shellfish. This may indicate that ocean giants and the "reef giants" mentioned in some sources are one and the same, and observers simply never saw the latter shift into the hybrid forms of the former.
* UnscaledMerfolk: In their natural forms, ocean giants' bottom halves resemble whales rather than fish.

!!Sand Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_sand_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

These 12-foot-tall desert-dwellers are squat and broad for giants, and try to avoid wearing metal armor in their home climes. Sand giants are disciplined and prefer the stability of hereditary monarchies, and tend to build their communities into shielding terrain like mesas. They are by no means isolationists, and often profit by making their communities important caravan stops, or selling their services as guides through the desert.
----
* DigAttack: Sand giants have a pretty slow burrowing speed, which they use to bury themselves in the sand in preparation of an ambush.
* MagicKnight: They can use ''meld into stone'' and ''statue'' once per day, or create a shimmering heat effect around them at will to duplicate the effects of a ''blur'' spell.
* SandBlaster: Sand giants' signature weapon is the aptly-named sand blaster, a long, hollow tube they pack with five pounds of sand. Not only does getting blasted by the thing hurt, victims also have to save or be tormented by itching skin and burning eyes, imposing a penalty on attack rolls and Armor Class for three rounds.
* SinisterScimitar: They prefer Large-sized scimitars in close combat, though as Lawful Neutral beings, they aren't too sinister.

!!Shadow Giant
[[quoteright:301:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_shadow_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:301:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 18 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Perhaps the most subtle and certainly the most stealthy of their kind, shadow giants stand 20 feet tall, with gaunt but fit frames and a preference for elegant but grim clothing. They are xenophobic, solitary and cerebral, but have no compunctions about murder, and are known to sell their services to kill other giants. As a result, most giants attack shadow giants on sight, and storm giants in particular despise them.
----
* BackStab: They can not only deal Sneak Attack damage like a rogue, they can also make Death Attacks like an assassin, giving them a chance to inflict a OneHitKill on unawares targets they've spent a few turns studying.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Their eyes have been compared to starless voids.
* CastingAShadow: Their stealth skills are enhanced by their ability to cast spells like ''deeper darkness'', ''shadow evocation'', and ''shadow walk'' at will.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Shadow giant females have universally black hair.
* StealthExpert: They have a lot of ranks in the Hide still, as well as the "Hide in Plain Sight" ability.
* StealthyColossus: As Huge creatures with a +16 natural Hide bonus (rising to +20 in shadowy areas), shadow giants qualify.
* SuperSenses: Shadow giants can use hearing and smell to detect nearby creatures, giving them blindsight.
* WeakenedByTheLight: They are however sensitive to bright light, and take penalties on rolls in natural or magical sunlight.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Male shadow giants have universally white hair.

!!Stone Giant
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stone_giant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8, 9 (elder) (3E); 7, 10 (Dreamwalker) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Reclusive cave-dwellers whose isolationist natures belie lively social lives. They see the surface world as a dream, where nothing is quite real and there are no consequences.
----
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Stone giants view the surface world as something otherworldly and unreal, and treat venturing aboveground like stepping into a lucid dream. They act with far less inhibition aboveground than they do below, because they consider anything they do up on the surface to be unreal and of no lasting consequence. So a stone giant who is normally honest and peaceful would lie and kill without a second thought up there.
* CombatAestheticist: Stone giants believe that everything must be done with artistry and grace. Even the simple act of hurling a boulder at an intruder must display graceful athleticism.
* InfectiousInsanity: The very presence of a stone giant dreamwalker forces nearby creatures to make a Wisdom saving throw, with those who fail becoming charmed by the dreamwalker.
* PowerBornOfMadness: Dreamwalkers are stone giants who have spent so long on the surface that they have gone mad. Somehow, this madness gives them the power to warp reality on a small scale, letting them turn whatever they touch to stone and beguile nearby creatures with their very presence.
* SuperToughness: A stone giant's rocky hide acts like a form of natural armor. In 5th edition, the Armor Class of a naked stone giant trumps that of any armored giant except the [[HeavilyArmoredMook plate-wearing fire giants]].
* TakenForGranite: A stone giant dreamwalker can turn other creatures to stone just by touching them. Its victims cannot be unpetrified until the dreamwalker is dead.

!!Storm Giant
[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/storm_giant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:330:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 13 (3E, 5E), 16 (quintessent, 5E), 24 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood

Amphibious, green-skinned giants who dwell on mountain peaks and in submerged castles, storm giants often ally with cloud giants, bronze and copper dragons, and merfolk. These are the highest on the Ordning, being oracles and former philosopher-kings.

Storm giants may have incredibly long lifespans, but they are not immortal, and there are those among them who fear death. Quintessents are storm giants which have tried to forestall the inevitable by transforming themselves into living storms.
----
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: A storm giant quintessent's wind javelin attack never misses its target.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Most storm giants have green skin, and a rare few have violet skin instead.
* ElementalShapeshifting: Storm giant quintessents can dissipate into raw elemental energy at will, becoming living storms.
* TheHermit: Storm giants are very solitary beings, spending most of their lives in seclusion from each other, other giants and smaller humanoids alike.
* {{Seers}}: All storm giants can perceive mystical omens of the future in the world around them. Their standing in the Ordning is based on how well they can perceive these omens, and how serious these omens are.
* SpontaneousWeaponCreation: A storm giant quintessent has no need to carry weapons, for it can shape swords out of lightning and javelins out of wind.
* WeatherManipulation: All storm giants have the innate ability to control localized weather and cast lightning bolts.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Most storm giants have dark green hair, and a rare few have violet or blue-back hair instead.

!!Sun Giant
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_sun_giant_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

These giants stand 16 feet tall, with parched skin and brittle hair from centuries spent living in harsh, arid lands. Self-interested nomads, sun giants think nothing of leading their herds to graze on other creatures' fields, stripping the land bare.
----
* BadassLongRobe: They habitually wear loose, light-colored burnooses to protect themselves from the desert sun.
* DesertBandits: They're not described as raiders, but sun giants have little respect for their neighbors' territory, and will lead their herds onto others' land.
* DishingOutDirt: They can use ''spike stones'', ''stone shape'' and ''wall of stone'' at will, despite having the Fire subtype rather than Earth.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Sun giants always go barefoot, no matter how much they try to wrap up the rest of their bodies, and even when they're riding something.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Since horses are obviously not an option, sun giants make use of Gargantuan riding lizards or [[RocBirds rocs]] as mounts. Sun giants are also pragmatic enough to use necromancy to create enormous undead steeds, as needed.
* TakenForGranite: The desert giants of the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms look so craggy and weathered because they are literally cursed by the gods to gradually petrify. But some of their number also have the power to temporarily summon their ancestors from stone for a time, after which they collapsed into dust and rubble.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gibbering Mouther]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gibbering_mouther_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gibbering_mouther_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Protean blobs of flesh with far too many eyes and jabbering mouths.
----
* BlobMonster: It's a seething, constantly shifting blob studded with toothy maws and staring eyeballs.
* BrownNote: The constant babbling of a gibbering mouther does weird things to the mind. People who hear the creature's gibbering might run away in terror, lash out randomly at anything within reach, or stand transfixed as the mouther creeps forward to devour them.
* ExtraEyes: A gibbering mouther is covered in eyes, and it gains more every time it devours a hapless victim.
* LifeDrain: In 3rd Edition, a gibbering mouther's toothy pseudopods can latch on and drain blood from victims, dealing [[NonHealthDamage Constitution damage]] until the mouth is wrestled or ripped off, or the victim expires.
* StickySituation: They can cause the ground around them to become a morass similar to quicksand, creating difficult terrain in 3rd Edition or potentially keeping creatures from moving in 5th Edition.
* SuperSpit: Its spittle explodes like a flashbang upon striking a solid surface, blinding any creature caught in the blast.
* SwallowedWhole: 5th Edition gibbering mouthers do this automatically to anything they kill, while in 3rd Edition they can do this to still-living creatures grabbed by three or more of their mouths. While engulfed this way, a creature is attacked by twelve mouths at once until they escape or are slain.
* TooManyMouths: Countless mouths constantly form and disappear all over a gibbering mouther's body.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gibberling]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gibberlings_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Small, furred, hunched, monstrous humanoids that occasionally erupt from the underground to rampage across the surface, killing and consuming everything they come across.
----
* KillItWithFire: They have a phobia of fire, and while an individual bearing a torch won't dissuade them, bonfires or magical flames can keep them at bay or deflect a horde's path.
* TheMorlocks: Savage humanoids that dwell underground. If they can't make it back to their caves before sunrise, sometimes they'll burrow deep enough to make a concealed sleeping spot, then burst out of the ground when it's night again.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Their namesake gibbering can frighten low-level opponents and impair Concentration checks, with the tradeoff that [[LogicalWeakness it's impossible for gibberlings to surprise opponents.]]
* TheSwarm: It's rare to encounter a single gibberling, they're usually found in hordes numbering in the hundreds. They even have special rules in 3rd Edition allowing up to three gibberlings to occupy the same space on a battle map.
* TheUsualAdversaries: Gibberlings have no society, only communicate by gibbering, and all they do is attack whatever's in their path. As their ''AD&D'' write-up concludes, "gibberlings serve no purpose and no known master, save random death in the night."
* WeakenedByTheLight: Natural or magical daylight cripples gibberlings, inflicting a ''slow'' effect with NoSavingThrow.
* ZergRush: Individually, gibberlings are pretty puny, but that's little solace when literally hundreds of them are attacking at once.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Giff]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_giff_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:2e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

Hippo-headed humanoids with a love for gunpowder, who serve as interplanar mercenaries. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Girallon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_girallon_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E), 4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Four-armed, white-furred great apes with a taste for human flesh.
----
* AttackAnimal: Due to their affinity for human structures and obvious unnatural nature, sages speculate that girallons were magically created by some ancient empire, and spread across the world after that culture collapsed. They can be bribed with food or trained from childhood to serve as guards, but girallons should never be considered tamed.
* KillerGorilla: Girallons are particularly savage cousins of the gorilla, and attack everything that enters their territory.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Among other things, a girallon's four arms set it apart from a normal ape, and can allow it to make rend attacks against enemies they hit with several claw attacks in a round.
* VerticalKidnapping: One of their hunting methods is to wait hidden on an overlooking branch or ruin, climb down low enough to grab a choice victim with one set of limbs, and use the rest to climb up out of reach of their target's comrades.
* WallCrawl: Their four arms make them excellent climbers, though girallons have an easier time getting around in overgrown ruins than in the jungle proper, since only the oldest, strongest trees can support their weight.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gith]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gith_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Githyanki (left) and githzerai (right), (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E); 3 (githyanki warrior) to 14 (githyanki supreme commander), and 2 (githzerai monk) to 16 (githzerai anarch) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (githyanki), LawfulNeutral (githzerai)

A race of humanoids that developed psionic powers during their enslavement by the mind flayers, overthrew their captors, but then fell into a bitter civil war that split them into two subraces. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gloom]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gloom_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 25 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Grinning, eyeless humanoids that use their magical abilities to ply their trade as assassins.
----
* BackStab: They can deal sneak attack damage like a 25th-level rogue.
* EyelessFace: A gloom has no eyes, but seems to have no trouble seeing.
* KnifeNut: Their signature weapon is a ''+10 keen dagger of human dread''.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: A gloom's distended, exaggerated mouth is full of jagged black teeth.
* ProfessionalKiller: Their choice vocation.
* ShadowWalker: A gloom can reach its prey by moving from shadow to shadow — literally.
* StealthExpert: Glooms naturally generate a ''silence'' effect that affects only themselves, enjoy the spell-like ability to move from shadow to shadow at will, and have an epic-level rogue's worth of ranks in Hide and Move Silently. At most a victim might think they saw something in their peripheral vision, presumably only because the gloom wants to be seen.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Anyone who meets a gloom's eyeless gaze has to save against ''fear''.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Played with in that a gloom's dagger can be looted, but it only operates as a ''+5 keen dagger'' in the hands of anyone else.
* WidowsWeeds: Glooms usually dress in dark, somber clothing, or whatever's appropriate for their operating area's funerary customs. The twist is that the gloom's presence ''precedes'' the funeral...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gnoll]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gnoll_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E), 1/2 (standard gnoll) to 4 (Fang of Yeenoghu) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Bipedal hyenas with a demonic heritage, a thirst for destruction, and an insatiable hunger for the flesh of other humanoids. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gnome]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gnome_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:2e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Small humanoids with a love for knowledge and a natural curiosity, whether regarding magic, the natural world, or technology. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Goblin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_goblin_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3 (3E), 1/4 (standard goblin) to 1 (goblin boss) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Small, craven and cruel, individually weak but dangerous in numbers, goblins are the least of the goblinoid races. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Golem]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), Unaligned (5E)

Animated humanoid figures created by spellcasters as servants. They're tireless workers and obedient when carefully supervised, but the elemental spirits that give them a semblance of life can go berserk in the heat of combat, or when their orders become difficult to fulfil. The iconic four varieties are the clay, flesh, steel and stone golems, but there are nearly as many types of golems as there are materials from which to build them.
----
* AntiMagic: Golems are generally highly resistant, if not outright immune to, most spells and magical effects. Some forms of offensive magic will even [[FeedItWithFire heal them]] instead of harming them.
* TheBerserker: Under certain conditions, usually if the golem has taken heavy damage or a combat has dragged on for a while, golems enter a berserk state, attacking anything nearby heedless of their creator's orders.
* {{Golem}}: The TropeCodifier for modern fantasy.
* NoSell: Beyond being resistant to magic, 5th Edition golems are explicitly immune to any attempts to alter their forms.
* NonIndicativeName: Besides being constructs usually built to serve as workers or guardians, they are not otherwise particularly similar to the Jewish Golem.

!!Adamantine Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_adamantine_golem_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 25 (3E)

These gigantic golems are constructed of one of the hardest substances known, and each ponderous step they take makes the ground shake for a hundred feet in all directions.
----
* NighInvulnerable: Adamantine golems have the highest DamageReduction of their kind.
* NoSell: Adamantine golems are immune to any magic spells or supernatural effects, no exceptions, no special interactions with certain spells.
* TrampledUnderfoot: They can trample smaller opponents for heavy bludgeoning damage.

!!Alchemical Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_alchemical_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)

A construct of toxic chemicals held within a transparent, man-shaped membrane.
----
* AchillesHeel: ''Neutralize poison'' will ''slow'' an alchemical golem, while conversely, a ''poison'' spell will completely heal it.
* AcidAttack: An alchemical golem's outer membrace is covered in acid, dealing extra damage to anything it strikes or gets into a grapple with it.
* BloodyMurder: Any attack that deals at least 10 points of damage to an alchemical golem briefly ruptures its skin, spraying acid in the direction of the attack.
* BreathWeapon: They can spray a cone of acid every few rounds.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: When an alchemical golem hits 0 hit points, its membrane collapses and it drenches a 15-foot radius in acid.
* HealingPotion: The only way an alchemical golem can recover health is by consuming a barrel's worth of a special alchemical mixture. Most of these golems' creators are smart enough to leave a barrel or two of the stuff around for the golem to use as needed.

!!Brass Golem
[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_brass_golem_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:299:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)

These golems are usually crafted in the image of a minotaur, and are built for a single purpose rather than as a general servitor.
----
* AchillesHeel: Electricty effects ''slow'' them for several rounds, without a saving throw.
* AnAxeToGrind: Usually equipped with a Huge enchanted greataxe.
* FeedItWithFire: Fire attacks heal brass golems.
* LivingStatue: They are all but indistinguishable from one at rest, then they activate to fulfil their purpose. Once that mission is complete - such as if the temple they were made to defend no longer exists - the brass golem loses its enchantment and becomes a lifeless statue again.
* ALoadOfBull: Brass golems share traits with the minotaurs they resemble, and can make headbutt attacks, are {{Scarily Competent Tracker}}s, and can use the ''maze'' spell once per day.

!!Chain Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_chain_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)

Created by the kytons of the Nine Hells of Baator, these clinking constructions appear as a vaguely humanoid mass of razor-sharp lengths of chain studded with wicked hooks and barbs.
----
* AchillesHeel: Electricity effects ''slow'' chain golems.
* ChainPain: They attack by lashing foes with sharpened, spiked chains.
* DamageOverTime: Each attack by a chain golem deals cumulative bleeding damage that persists until the victim is healed.
* FeedItWithFire: Like steel golems, they are healed by fire attacks.
* SpinAttack: Chain golems can have their component chains whirl and lash at everything that comes close, dealing heavy damage similar to the ''blade barrier'' spell.

!!Clay Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_clay_golem_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E), 9 (5E)

Crude, mis-proportioned humanoid figures made from clay, which is noted to be a weak vessel for life force, explaining why these golems are more erratic than others.
----
* AchillesHeel: In 3rd Edition, they're distinctly susceptible to the ''move earth'', ''disintegrate'' and ''earthquake'' spells, which damage the golem and disrupt its movement.
* ExtraTurn: They can use ''haste'' on themselves for extra actions and other bonuses during their turns.
* FeedItWithFire: Clay golems are healed by acid damage.
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: In past editions, clay golems' slam attacks caused [[DamageOverTime bleeding damage]], while in 5th Edition they reduce the target's maximum hit points until the condition is healed by ''greater restoration.''

!!Dragonbone Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_dragonbone_golem_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E), 11 (5E)

Though easily confused for an undead creature, these wired-together draconic skeletons are in fact constructs.
----
* SupernaturalFearInducer: They have a frightful presense just like true dragons.
* WingsDoNothing: Like actual skeletal dragons, dragonbone golems' wings are useless for flight, but can at least be used to [[RazorWings attack in close combat.]]

!!Dragonflesh Golem
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_dragonflesh_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 13 (3E)

Sometimes called "drolems," these are grotesque patchworks of mismatched dragon parts crudely stitched together.
----
* AchillesHeel: Fire and cold damage ''slow''s drolems.
* BerserkButton: Their existence is one to dragons, who absolutely despise drolems and destroy them whenever possible, then hunt down the things' creators.
* FeedItWithFire: Like standard flesh golems, dragonflesh golems are healed by electricity.
* FleshGolem: A non-human example.
* LiteralMinded: It's noted that drolems are capable of remembering more complex commands than normal golems, but will obey commands to the letter instead of fulfilling the intent of the order. This has led some drolems to kill their creators due to overly-complex or badly-worded commands.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: They have a frightful presense just like true dragons.

!!Drakestone Golem
[[quoteright:301:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_drakestone_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:301:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 15 (3E)

These constructs appear to be beautifully-crafted statues of dragons, up until the moment they animate and attack.
----
* AchillesHeel: ''Transmute rock to mud'' will ''slow'' them with NoSavingThrow, though on the flipside, ''transmute mud to rock'' will heal them.
* BreathWeapon: They can breathe a cone of [[TakenForGranite petrifying gas]].
* LivingStatue: A draconic variant.

!!Equine Golem
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)

These horse-shaped constructs are crafted out of thick hardwood, and are animated by a bound air elemental rather than the usual earth elemental.
----
* AchillesHeel: Equine golems are ''slow''ed by spells such as ''warp wood'' and ''wood shape''.
* AutomatonHorses: A justified example, due to their magical nature. Equine golems don't need food and never tire, potentially crossing 180 miles in a day at a constant gallop. Their ''riders'', however, may find themselves exhausted if they try to ride one for more than eight hours a day, since the golem horses don't flex with their riders like normal steeds.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Three times per day, an equine golem can let out an ear-splitting whinny that replicates a ''shatter'' spell.
* MechanicalHorse: A magical example.
* NoSell: Despite their wooden construction, equine golems ignore the effects of fire and electricity spells, apart from some light charring.

!!Fang Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_fang_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)

A literal ton of teeth, tusks and claws shaped into a bestial form, constructed by amoral fey creatures and evil druids as guardians and warriors.
----
* AchillesHeel: They're suceptible to ''shout'' spells, as well as ''orb of sound''.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: When destroyed, fang golems detonate into a cloud of flying teeth, dealing heavy damage to everything within a 20-foot radius.
* FeedItWithFire: Cold damage instead heals fang golems.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: They are literally nothing ''but'' teeth and claws. This means creating a fang golem involves harvesting a huge amount of fangs and tusks from animals, which is why non-evil druids find the very idea of fang golems to be abhorrent.
* SpikeShooter: Five times per day, they can fire a volley of spikes at targets within a 30-foot area.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Fang golems' "Verdant Surge" ability means anything damaged by them takes a penalty on saving throws against the magic of fey creatures or druidic magic.

!!Flesh Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_flesh_golem_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 5 (5E)

A collection of humanoid corpses stitched into a lurching whole.
----
* FeedItWithFire: Flesh golems are healed by lightning damage.
* FleshGolem: They're cobbled together from humanoid body parts stitched into a single form.
* KillItWithFire: Flesh golems have a strong aversion to fire, and will have disadvantage on attack rolls and checks if they take fire damage. In past editions, fire attacks even hit them with a ''slow'' effect.

!!Force Golem
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_force_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E)

Constructs whose metal forms appear bent and warped by the forces at their command.
----
* AchillesHeel: Despite their mastery of force effects, force golems are not only wholly vulnerable to such magic, they take extra damage from force attacks.
* ItCanThink: Force golems are unusually smart for golems, and are clever enough to use their abilities to knock foes into hazards. Appropriately, they debuted in the same ''Monster Manual'' as magmacore golems, which can create such hazards.
* MindOverMatter: They can release 30-foot-radius bursts of force that deal damage and knock enemies off their feet, or use targeted pulses of force to shove targets 10 feet into new positions, potentially dealing damage if this makes them hit an obstacle.
* NonElemental: All those force effects deal nonspecific damage that ignores most forms of DamageReduction and can affect incorporeal creatures.

!!Glasswork Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_glasswork_golem_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 2 (5E)

Beautiful and deadly, these human-sized stained glass figures flash and flicker as they move through light, make a tinkling sound like wind chimes, and are capable of slicing threats to ribbons with their razor-sharp limbs and swords.
----
* AchillesHeel: 3rd Edition stained glass golems' immunity to magic does not protect them from the ''shatter'' spell, or sonic attacks.
* BlindedByTheLight: Glasswork golems can blast opponents with a cone of blinding, multicolored light.
* HealingFactor: Glasswork golems constantly regenerate, unless they've taken blugeoning or thunder damage that turn.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: These golems are usually crafted to blend in with a site's stained glass artwork, but step out of their frames to confront intruders.
* PaperPeople: As flat as a sheet of glass.

!!Gloom Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gloom_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Constructs from the Gray Wastes of Hades, gloom golems are misshapen brutes with gaping holes where their faces should be, and tormented visages pressing against the inside of their bodies. Unlike most golems, their alignment matches that of their fiendish creators.
----
* ChainPain: If a gloom golem isn't using its claw attacks, it's wielding a spiked chain.
* EmotionBomb: A gloom golem constantly howls in pain and misery, filling those nearby with despair that manifests as penalties on various rolls.
* GhostlyGape: Their heads are little more than the rims of their gaping, howling mouths.
* NonHealthDamage: Their melee attacks deal Charisma drain as victims grow more withdrawn and miserable with every blow, until they collapse into a nightmarish coma when their Charisma hits 0.

!!Grave Dirt Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_grave_dirt_golem_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)

Roughly-humanoid masses of muddy earth studded with skulls and other bones.
----
* EliteMooks: A variant of this creature is the tombstone golem, which is Challenge Rating 13 and has the ability to use ''[[OneHitKill slay living]]'' every 2 rounds.
* MakeThemRot: Grave dirt golems' attacks deal negative energy damage due to the supernaturally soiled wounds they cause.

!!Hangman Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hangman_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 13 (3E)

Human-shaped masses of twisted ropes, also known as rope golems for obvious reasons.
----
* AchillesHeel: Besides being vulnerable to fire, the ''rope trick'' spell paralyzes a rope golem, with no saving throw. On the flipside, ''animate rope'' grants it a ''haste'' effect.
* KnowsTheRopes: Whether its using its long-reach slam attack or flailing in a ropey whirlwind, a rope golem is whacking targets with ropes.
* OneToMillionToOne: Once per day, a rope golem can collapse into a tangle of ropes, rendering it unable to move or attack, but granting it Fast Healing 10 until it decides to reform itself.
* SinisterSuffocation: Anything grappled by a hangman golem ends up strangled by it, and on a successful opposed check the golem also forces the air from its victim's lungs, dazing them.
* SpinAttack: Once every few rounds, a rope golem can extend multiple ropes from its body and whirl around, making slam attacks against everything within 10 feet.

!!Iron Golem
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_iron_golem_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 13 (3E), 16 (5E)

These mighty constructs are usually crafted to resemble enormous armored figures, and are equipped for combat
----
* AchillesHeel: Their iron bodies make them distinctly vulnerable to spells and effects that cause magical rusting, and in 3rd Edition, any amount of lightning damage would ''slow'' them.
* {{BFS}}: They usually carry enormous swords into combat.
* BreathWeapon: Iron golems can breathe a cloud of toxic gas.
* FeedItWithFire: Fire attacks instead heal iron golems, and in past editions removed any ''slow'' effects on them.

!!Ironwyrm Golem
[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ironwyrm_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:299:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 17 (3E)

A variant of iron golem that is essentially a walking, dragon-shaped furnace.
----
* AchillesHeel: Any spells that create cold effects ''slow'' ironwyrm golems.
* BreathWeapon: They can blast foes with a cone of flame as dangerous as the breath attack of an ancient red dragon.
* FeedItWithFire: Any fire attacks instead heal the ironwyrm golem and lift any ''slow'' effect on it from cold magic. This includes its own breath weapon, which it's smart enough to use on itself as needed.

!!Magmacore Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_magmacore_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E)

Constructs whose armored forms ripple with heat, encasing a figure of molten rock.
----
* AchillesHeel: Cold magic, as might be predicted, gets through these golems' magic immunity to deal full damage.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: When destroyed, a magmacore golem detonates and uses its "Molten Step" ability one last time on the terrain beneath and around it.
* GeoEffects: Their signature "Molten Step" can be used every three rounds to cause two adjacent battle map squares to burst into flame, becoming difficult terrain that damages anything passing through them. This effect lasts for two minutes, or until the affected squares are subjected to at least 10 points of cold damage.
* LivingLava: Their forms beneath their armor.
* TurnsRed: When its health falls below 50%, a magmacore golem's armor shatters to reveal its molten core. This decreases its Armor Class and removes its DamageReduction, but the golem gains a ''blur'' effect that can cause attacks to miss, and anything that touches or makes a melee attack against the golem takes a bit of fire damage.

!!Mithral Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mithral_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 21 (3E)

These giant-sized constructs are sleek and surprisingly graceful and agile.
----
* AchillesHeel: The ''slow'' spell temporarily nullifies a mithral golem's alacrity ability, negating their extra partial action. A ''haste'' spell will restore that ability, or heal the golem if it isn't ''slow''ed.
* LightningBruiser: They don't just have twice the movement speed as most golems, mithral golems can also take an extra partial action during their turns.

!!Mud Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mud_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)

Among the crudest of constructs, masses of slippery mud that stand twice the height of a man.
----
* AchillesHeel: The ''transmute mud to rock'' spell ''slows'' a mud golem for up to 12 rounds, with no save, and ''stone to flesh'' temporarily shuts down its DamageReduction. On the flipside, ''transmute mud to rock'' completely heals a mud golem.
* BreathWeapon: Mud golems can spray a short-ranged cone of mud that does no damage, but [[AHandfulForAnEye can blind victims for a few rounds.]]
* SwallowedWhole: A variant; a mud golem can simply engulf a grappled opponent smaller than it. This renders the victim unable to breathe, and any damage the mud golem receives while someone's trapped within it is split between the golem and its victim.

!!Prismatic Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_prismatic_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 18 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Constructs from the Blessed Fields of Elysium, these hovering ten-foot spheres of scintilating colors are crafted from gems containing the glorious light of the plane of pure Good. Unlike most golems, their alignment matches that of their celestial creators.
----
* BlindedByTheLight: Any creatures with less than 8 Hit Die that come within 20 feet of a prismatic golem are blinded, with no saving throw.
* FeedItWithFire: They're healed by ''prismatic spray'' spells, and can top off their health and cancel a ''prismatic sphere'' or ''prismatic wall'' by moving into its effect.
* {{Intangibility}}: As constructs of pure light, prismatic golems are incorporeal.
* RandomizedDamageAttack: Prismatic golems can lash out with incorporeal tendrils that deal a random type of damage, similar to spells like ''prismatic spray''. The "green" result deals twice as much damage as the other colors and hits similar to the ''[[DisintegratorRay disintegrate]]'' spell.
* ThreeLawsCompliant: A fantastic variant; prismatic golems are imprinted with the Neutral Good moral code of their creators, and will refuse to obey any orders that conflict with that, even if their creator's ethics change.

!!Shadesteel Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_shadesteel_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (standard) 14 (greater) (3E)

Constructed from metal mined and forged on the Plane of Shadow, these dark and sinister golems are easy to mistake for an undead creature.
----
* FeedItWithFire: Any light-based spells do no damage to a shadesteel golem, but grant it a ''haste'' effect for a few rounds. The same thing happens if a shadesteel golem is subjected to positive energy, such as the TurnUndead attempt of [[WrongGenreSavvy a cleric who mistook it for an undead creature.]]
* MakeThemRot: Every few rounds, a shadesteel golem can generate a 40-foot pulse of negative energy that deals heavy damage to living creatures, and heals undead by an equal amount. This makes shadesteel golems extremely dangerous when their creators deploy them with undead minions.
* PowerFloats: Shadesteel golems have a perfect flying speed, allowing them to hover and drift about at will.
* SkeleBot9000: A fantastic example; shadesteel golems have skeletal frames and skull-shaped heads.
* StealthExpert: Shadesteel golems move in total silence while levitating, they have an impressive bonus to their Hide checks, and they have the supernatural ability to blend into shadows to gain concealment. [[StealthyColossus These all apply even to the Large-sized greater shadesteel golems.]]

!!Snow Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_snow_golem_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (5E)
----
* AchillesHeel: Being made of snow, snow golems are very vulnerable to heat.
* {{Snowlems}}: Golems, made of snow.

!!Stone Golem
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_stone_golem_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (stone golem), 16 (greater stone golem) (3E), 10 (5E)

These walking statues are as impressive as they are durable.
----
* AchillesHeel: Stone golems are traditionally vulnerable to spells like ''trasnmute rock to mud'', which slows them, and ''stone to flesh'', which doesn't actually turn the creature into a fleshy figure, but removes the stone golem's damage reduction and immunity to magic for a round.
* LivingStatue: It's mentioned that contemporary stone golems are usually carved to resemble statues of humanoids, while those left over from ancient civilizations are sometimes made in the shape of animals.
* StatusEffects: They can use ''slow'' on opponents.

!!Web Golem
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_web_golem_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)

Creations of the drow, these golems resemble oversized humanoids wrapped in webbing, with heads featuring the mutliple eyes and fangs of a spider.
----
* AchillesHeel: The ''grease'' spell ''slows'' a web golem for up to twelve rounds.
* AllWebbedUp: Web golems are basically this, just without the person wrapped inside.
* NonHealthDamage: Their poisonous bite attacks can deal Strength damage.
* ProjectileWebbing: They can use the ''web'' spell three times per day to entrap foes at a distance.
* WallCrawl: They're also under a continuous ''spider climb'' effect.
* YouHaveToBurnTheWeb: Web golems take extra damage from fire.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gorgon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gorgon_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Elemental Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Armor-plated bulls that can gore or trample foes, or turn them to stone with a blast of their noxious breath.
----
* BrutishBulls: They're extremely bad-tempered, attacking other creatures on sight and attempting to gore, trample or petrify them, and are noted to be utterly impossible to tame or domesticate.
* CallAPegasusAHippogriff: The classical Greek "gorgon" is the name for the creature type of which Medusa is the most infamous example, with no reference to bulls. The only thing ''D&D'''s gorgons have in common with their namesake is the ability to petrify victims, and it works entirely differently from a proper medusa's. Overall, they bear a greater similarity to the classical catoblepas than to mythical gorgons.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgons' BreathWeapon is a cloud of green vapor that petrifies those it touches.
* TrampledUnderfoot: They're big and heavy enough to trample smaller enemies they move over.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gray Render]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_gray_render_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Humanoid (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 12 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), ChaoticEvil (4E), ChaoticNeutral (5E)

Bestial, hulking humanoids that may rend apart other creatures with their fearsome claws, or inexplicably decide to "adopt" them as things to be protected and cared for.
----
* AllAnimalsAreDogs: 5th Edition provides a table of quirks for a gray render ally that are distinctly dog-like behaviors: compulsive digging, chasing after and attacking carts and wagons, burying treasure, whining piteously in the dark, etc.
* TheBerserker: When injured, a gray render may CounterAttack by lashing out blindly against a random creature within its reach - but never its "master."
* {{Protectorate}}: Gray renders often bond with, protect and provide for other creatures. Whether accepted or not, gray renders always remain close, watch over their charge(s), and never harm them.
* TrulySingleParent: Gray renders reproduce by forming nodules on their bodies that break off as young gray renders.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Grell]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grell_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3.5-5E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 7 (4E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (3.5-5E), Evil (4E)

Bizarre monsters that resemble floating, beaked brains with spiny tentacles hanging beneath.
----
* BizarreAlienSenses: Though blind, grell have keen hearing and can also sense the faint electrical energy produced by living beings, giving grell the benefit of blindsight out to 60 feet. This also makes "blinding" them difficult, requiring both a spell or attack to disable a grell's hearing as well as a heavy shock of electricity to temporarily shut down their electro-sense for a few rounds.
* BrainMonster: Subverted. Grell visually resemble floating brains and are often described as such in-universe, but in truth simply happen to have globular bodies with pink-gray and wrinkled skin that outwardly resemble brains -- they have a fairly straightforward internal anatomy otherwise, only lacking bones and eyes.
* DimensionalTraveler: The ''Lords of Madness'' supplement explains that grell hail from an alternate Material Plane, and have crossed over relatively recently via the Plane of Shadow in search of new hunting grounds.
* MightMakesRight: The core of grell philosophy is very simple -- if something is powerful enough to eat something else, then it is its right and privilege to do exactly that, and if something cannot prevent itself from being eaten then its natural place is in the greater being's belly.
* NayTheist: Grell are not particularly religious beings -- they acknowledge the gods' existence, but simply perceive them as beings of great personal power to be treated with respect and caution instead of something truly divine and to be revered.
* NoSell: They're immune to the damaging effects of electrical attacks, though a big enough shock may temporarily shut down their electro-sense.
* TheParalyzer: The prick of a grell's venomous tentacles induces paralysis, allowing the grell to drag its helpless victims away and devour them.
* StarfishLanguage: The grell language makes minimal use of vocal components, instead consisting chiefly of delicate manipulations of the speaker's bioelectric field -- non-electrosensitive creatures are fundamentally incapable of "speaking" or understanding it.
* TentacleRope: A grell wraps its tentacles around its prey and floats away to its lair with the paralysed creature in its clutches.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Grick]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_grick_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E); 2 (grick), 7 (grick alpha) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Serpentine, tentacled ambush predators that infest caverns, dungeons or dark forests.
----
* CombatTentacles: A grick attacks with its four barbed tentacles in addition to its snapping beak.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Their coloration allows them to blend in with rocky terrain.
* LargeAndInCharge: The largest, most well-fed member of a pack becomes the other gricks' alpha.
* WallCrawl: Gricks are perfectly capable of scaling sheer walls and clinging to ceilings.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Griffon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_griffon_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 7 (4E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), Unaligned (4E-5E)

Griffons are powerful aerial hunters with the forequarters of eagles, heads topped by tufted ears, and the hindquarters of lions. Griffons roost in high crags and mountains with access to wide plains where they can hunt. They have a voracious appetite for horses, which they favor above all other prey -- it's not unknown for them to unhorse riders to eat their steeds -- and extend this rapaciousness to horselike and part-equine beings such as pegasi, hippogriffs and centaurs.
----
* BerserkButton: ''Ecology of the Griffon'' describes how, while griffons are otherwise immune to the effects of a harpy's song, hearing it will drive them into a homicidal rage towards its source, something that generally ends very poorly for the harpies.
* FoodChainOfEvil: Griffons often hunt and eat hippogriffs as a result of their obsession with horse meat, and also readily prey on harpies.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Griffons can be trained to bear a rider, and are prized as mounts capable of flight and of being fearsome combatants in their own right. However, there are a few complications to keeping griffons as steeds, besides their rarity. Griffons aren't domesticated and need to be tamed individually and, even when tamed, dislike the company of large crowds or other animals (unlike horses, which have been bred to tolerate them). They also bob up and down a lot when flying, unlike the steadier gait of pegasi, which can make for rather uncomfortable rides. They also refuse to bear tack, bridles and branding, and require special saddles to fit their wider frames and not to impede their wings.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: Griffons are intelligent creatures capable of either speaking human languages or at least understanding them. They sometimes consent to be used as mounts, but only if their rider accepts them as equals rather than mere steeds. Griffons prey on horses, often resulting in enmity between them and intelligent horse-like creatures such as asperi, and in some settings this includes a sense of animosity towards hippogriffs as well.

!!Rimefire Griffon
->'''Classification:''' Elemental Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 20 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned (4E)

Griffons native to the Elemental Chaos, which often ally with the elementals that share their home.
----
* BreathWeapon: Rimefire griffons can breathe fire.
* EnergyAbsorption: A rimefire griffon's bite siphons heat from its target's body; in game terms, this resolves as it dealing cold damage.
* OxymoronicBeing: Rimefire griffons combine within themselves the essences of elemental heat and cold.
* TechnicolorFire: When a rimefire griffon sucks heat from a victim, its nasal horn burns with blue flame.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Grimlock]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_grimlock_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Natural Humanoid (4E), Humanoid (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E), 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (1E-3E, 5E), Evil (4E)

Dumb, blind creatures who were once humans twisted by the illithids. What culture they have still revolves around illithid reverence, and illithids usually tolerate grimlock colonies as a combination defense and food source.
----
* DumbMuscle: They often serve as this for various Underdark nasties, since they're none too bright and easy to coax along with promises of violence.
* EyelessFace: Grimlocks' eyes withered away and eyelids sealed, leaving only covered eye sockets behind.
* TheMorlocks: Grimlocks are descended from subterranean humans who worshipped illithids and eventually evolved into blind, monstrous, degenerate cannibals.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Grung]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_grung_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Evil frog people patterned after poison dart frogs. They're all brightly colored, and each color of grung has a different type of poison.
----
* FrogMen: Grungs are froglike humanoids found in rain forests and tropical jungles.
* HiveCasteSystem: Grung society is a caste system. Juvenile grungs join their caste upon emergence from the hatchery, and take on said caste's colour as they mature. A grung normally remains in its caste for life, except for individuals that accomplish great deeds and earn an invitation to a higher caste.
* PoisonedWeapons: Grungs often coat their weapons with their own poisonous mucous.
* PoisonousPerson: Their bodies secrete a venomous mucous, making it difficult for a non-grung to touch one without getting poisoned.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Guardinal]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_avoral_leonal_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An avoral and leonal (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Celestials that combine the features of handsome humans and noble animals, native to the Blessed Fields of Elysium, the realm of pure Good. On their home plane they are peaceful, quick to laugh and slow to anger, but the guardinals can be just as fierce as any archon or eladrin when battling evil, and often roam the planes on righteous crusades.
----
* BeastMan: They resemble humans with prominent animal traits.
* CelestialParagonsAndArchangels: The guardinals are led by Talisid and the Five Companions, six immensely powerful and benevolent beings who protect Elysium from evil. They're often compared to an epic-level, divine adventuring party.
* HealingHands: As per a paladin's "Lay on Hands" class feature, most guardinals can heal other creatures a certain number of hit points each day.
* NoSell: They are immune to lightning damage and cannot be petrified by any means.
* {{Omniglot}}: Like other celestials, guardinals know all languages and can communicate with any creature that has a language.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Guardinals are perhaps the least conventional-looking of the celestials, resembling various types of mammalian and avian beastfolk. They can almost be considered divine lycanthropes, as they have an affinity for animals, hybrid forms blending human and beast, and are vulnerable to silvered weapons.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Guardinals can communicate telepathically with animals.

!!Avoral
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)

The far-sighted flyers of Elysium.
----
* BirdPeople: They have feathery hair, wings instead of arms, and clawed feet.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use ''lightning bolt'' three times per day.
* SuperSenses: Avorals, being essentially angelic anthropomorphic eagles, have incredibly sharp eyesight and can make out fine details on an object from miles away. They have innate magical powers which further enhance their eyesight, such as ''see invisibility'' and ''[[TrueSight true seeing]]''.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Avorals can project an aura of magical fear once per day.

!!Cervidal
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lupinal_cervidal_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A cervidal (right) and lupinal (left). (3e)]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E)

Among the most numerous of the guardinals, the horned and hoofed cervidals usually defend the layer of Amoria from invaders, but will serve as footsoldiers in the celestial hosts when necessary.
----
* FaunsAndSatyrs: The cervidal is a satyr-like creature with short, dark red fur, a pair of long, curved horns atop its head, and hooves instead of feet.
* HealingHands: Instead of a "Lay on Hands" ability, a cervidal can deliver several effects with a touch of their horns: ''neutralize poison'', ''remove disease'', ''{{dispel magic}}'', or even ''[[BanishingRitual dismissal]]''.
* InASingleBound: They have powerful legs, resulting in a bonus on Jump checks.
* UseYourHead: Cervidals prefer to open a fight by charging in with their horned heads for extra damage, and continue to headbutt foes in melee.

!!Equinal
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_equinal_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)

Strong, rowdy but good-natured, equinals are eight-foot-tall humanoids with horse-like features.
----
* BoisterousBruiser: Equinals embrace any opportunity to beat down evil creatures, and never back down from a fight, even when obviously outmatched.
* FeatherFingers: They have true hooves for feet, but equinals' hands end in thick, iron-hard fingers that can be used for manipulation or set into a hoof-like fist.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Equinals disdain weapons, preferring to fight with their fists.
* MakeMeWannaShout: They can let loose an ear-splitting whinny that can deafen or stun any nearby creatures.

!!Leonal
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)

The most powerful of the guardinals, the lion-headed leonals are regal in peace and terrible in battle.
----
* CatFolk: Humanoids with feline faces and claws.
* CombatMedic: Leonals possess powerful innate healing magic like ''cure critical wounds'', ''remove disease'', and ''heal''. They are also superhumanly strong lion men who can rip their enemies to shreds with tooth and claw, and they can sling the ''fireball'' spell at will.
* DeadlyLunge: Like lions, leonals can make pounce attacks on a charge, raking foes with their claws.
* KingOfBeasts: The lionlike leonals are the mightiest type of guardinal much like how a solar is the mightiest type of angel. In turn the leonals are led by Talisid the Celestial Lion, the mightiest of all guardinals.
* MakeMeWannaShout[=/=]WordsCanBreakMyBones: A leonal's roar simultaneously does sonic damage and replicates a ''holy word'' spell, which can deafen, blind, paralyze or even kill nongood creatures, depending on how much weaker they are than the leonal.
* StatusBuff: They're surrounded by a protective aura that replicates the effects of ''magic circle against evil'' and a ''lesser globe of invulnerability''.

!!Lupinal
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)

The wolflike lupinals are constantly on the prowl for incursions of evil, whether into Elysium or parts of the Material Plane they have decided to protect.
----
* NobleWolf: Lupinals are half-wolf creatures that oppose evil, and are among the most likely guardinals to assist other beings against dark forces. They're also noted to have Lawful tendencies due to their pack mentality and preference for cooperation and harmony.
* SuperReflexes: They can dodge incoming missile fire similarly to how the Deflect Arrows feat works.
* SuperSenses: Like mundane wolves, lupinals can detect other creatures by scent, or track with their sense of smell.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: A lupinal's howl can cause any non-celestial creature that hears it to panic in fear.
* WolfMan: They can easily be mistaken for werewolves, until the observer notes the lupinal's intelligence and regal poise.

!!Musteval
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_musteval_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E)

The small, ferret-faced mustevals are the weakest of the guardinals, but serve Elysium as spies and messengers, and often aid mortal heroes by delivering crucial information about powerful evil threats.
----
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Mustevals use their ''disguise self'' ability to hide their animalistic features when dealing with other creatures.
* FriskyFerret: Mustevals are noted to be agile and seldom sit still for very long.
* HitAndRunTactics: They have the ability to take actions at any point during their movement, which wasn't the norm for 3rd Edition.
* {{Invisibility}}: They can use it as a spell-like ability once per day.
* TheResenter: Mustevals resent how they are not represented among the Five Companions of Talisid, and believe that this oversight must be corrected soon.

!!Ursinal
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ursinal_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)

The big, burly scholars and philosophers of Elysium, who serve as the guardinals' record-keepers and as advisors to the leonals.
----
* BearyFriendly: They're bear-like humanoids from the plane of pure Good, about as friendly as can be... towards other good beings. [[BearsAreBadNews Evil creatures will find that ursinals are essentially intelligent, bipedal dire bears that know magic.]]
* TheGoodChancellor: One of their roles in guardinal society.
* InsufferableGenius: Ursinals are very knowledgeable, love to share that knowledge, and will go on endless digressions while doing so.
* MagicKnight: Ursinals are both 12th-level wizards and pretty capable in close combat.
* MartialPacifist: Ursinals dislike combat and try hard to avoid physical confrontations, but are as fierce as any bear when forced to fight.
* SuperReflexes: On Elysium, ursinals can react to danger faster than their senses should allow them to, granting them the benefits of the "Uncanny Dodge" class ability.
[[/folder]]

!!H

[[folder:Hag]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Fey Humanoid (4E), Fey (5E)
->''Want to know a dark secret? Ask a hag. The trick lies in getting the truth out of her.''
-->'''Volo'''

Malevolent crones that resemble elderly humanoid women, hags are cunning and ancient creatures that use their intellect and magical power to sow misery and destruction.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Hags come in a wide variety of colors. Annis hags are bluish-purple, bheur hags are pale blue, night hags are dark purple, sea hags have green or blue scales, and green hags are... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin green]].
* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: In fifth edition, hags "perceive ugliness as beauty, and vice versa". They revel in having a hideous appearance and sometimes go out of their way "improve" upon it by picking at sores, wearing skins and bones as decoration, and rubbing refuse and dirt into their hair and clothing.
* BizarreAlienReproduction: In fifth edition, hags propagate by snatching and devouring human infants. After stealing a baby from its cradle or its mother's womb, [[EatsBabies the hag consumes the child]]. A week later, the hag gives birth to a daughter who looks human until her thirteenth birthday, whereupon the child transforms into the spitting image of her hag mother.
* ChangelingTale: A hag's child, conceived after stealing and eating a human infant, looks like a normal humanoid until she transforms into a hag on adulthood. Hag mothers often take advantage of this by "returning" the infants to the families from which they stole the original baby, watching from the shadows to enjoy the family's shock and dismay as their child grows into a wicked monster.
* TheCorrupter: There are few things a hag loves more than to see the righteous fall from grace, and will often use both magical and mundane manipulation to turn others against each other or force good people to compromise their principles.
* DealWithTheDevil: Over their long lives, hags accumulate much knowledge of local lore, dark creatures, and magic, which they are pleased to sell. The terms of such bargains typically involve demands to compromise principles or give up something dear, especially if the thing lost diminishes or negates the knowledge gained through the bargain. Unlike devils, who make bargains to corrupt the other person so that the devil will get their soul, [[ForTheEvulz hags mostly just do this to make people miserable]].
* EatsBabies: They have a taste for the flesh of infants, and in fifth edition eating a baby is actually [[BizarreAlienReproduction part of their reproductive cycle]].
* TheFairFolk: Older editions had hags as a type of MonstrousHumanoid, but fourth edition reimagined them as a kind of fae that embodies nature's capacity for cruelty and ugliness.
* HandshakeOfDoom: The lore for hags in "Volo's Guide to Monsters" suggests they enjoy sealing deals by shaking hands, which drops whatever illusion they have up (even if the character can't see through it, they can feel the clawlike hand itself). Hags almost always make deals with the aim of twisting them to make the unfortunate soul in question (or someone else) as miserable as possible (be it through their price or twisting the service they provide).
* MasterOfIllusion: Green hags and sea hags have the innate ability to disguise themselves with an illusory appearance. This illusion won't hold up to physical inspection but is otherwise very convincing, more so in the former's case than in the latter's.
* {{Metamorphosis}}: Under somewhat unclear circumstances, hags can transform from one type of their kind into another -- a bheur into a green hag, for instance, or a sea into an annis hag. Some make a point of spending at least a portion of their lives as each kind of hag.
* OneGenderRace: There are no male Hags, though earlier editions did have hag-spawn, male HalfHumanHybrids of a hag and a male humanoid.
* TimeAbyss: Hags are effectively immortal unless killed, and their oldest "grandmothers" are incredibly ancient beings who have seen mortal empires rise and fall.
* WickedWitch: Hags are largely based on the monstrous, cackling witch of folklore and fairytales. They appear as hideously ugly old women who use their dark magical skills to cause suffering amongst mortals for kicks, and also like to eat children.
* WolverineClaws: Many types of hags attack with their claws, and annis hags in particular have long iron talons growing out of their fingers, which are used alongside their iron fangs to tear their enemies apart.

!! Annis Hag
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/annis_hag_d&d_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Annis hags are the largest and strongest of their species, as well as the most monstrous in appearance. They tend to associate the most with giant-kin, such as ogres and trolls, often ruling over them with a combination of brute strength, verbal abuse, and superstition. They are less magically adept than other types of hag, but they're hard to kill and well-suited for rending victims limb from limb.
----
* CorruptionOfAMinor: An annis hag may present itself to a lonely child as a kind old woman and give the child a magical token through which they can speak to each other. The hag will then encourage the child to do bad things which start out relatively harmless but get progressively more wicked and dangerous.
* GenuineHumanHide: They enjoy making leather out of the skins of children.
* KillerBearHug: An annis hag can kill someone by pulling them into a bear hug and crushing the life out of them. They can even kill trolls and ogres this way.
* MonsterLord: It's not uncommon for annises to use their strength, magic and reputation to take control of tribes of ogres, trolls and other powerful, stupid humanoids.
* WolverineClaws: An annis hag's claws and teeth are made of iron and incredibly sharp.
* WouldHurtAChild: All hags [[EatsBabies eat infants]] as part of their twisted reproductive cycle, but annis hags prefer to hunt children over adults. Not only do annis hags like the taste of children, but they find that the skin of children makes such supple leather.

!!Bheur Hag
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bheur_hag_d&d_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Bheur hags live in wintry lands, favoring snow-covered mountains. They become more active during winter, using their ice and weather magic to make life miserable for nearby settlements.
----
* ColorCodedElements: A bheur hag has blue skin and white hair, matching her affinity for ice magic.
* AnIcePerson: Bheur hags have multiple cold-related spells, which allow them to do things like shoot rays of freezing energy or whip up storms of ice and snow. They also love to conjure blizzards over isolated villages, hoping that the villagers will be driven to evil acts out of desperation.
* ImAHumanitarian: If a bheur hag kills someone in combat, she may stop attacking for a moment as she rips the victim's corpse apart and devours the remains. This gruesome display is so horrific that it can drive nearby creatures who witness the act temporarily insane.
* MagicStaff: Bheur Hags carry a "greystaff", a length of wood that they can ride on to fly around and which allows them to cast additional spells.

!!Green Hag
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/green_hag_d&d_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil (3E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Green hags are the most "stereotypical" of the hags, with the general focus on spellcasting and shapeshifting. Their abilities often tend towards either the obvious enchanter route or towards evil druidism, and they have a particular focus on using their powers of shapechanging and illusions to make lives miserable.
----
* InvisibleMonsters: 5th edition green hags have a unique form of personal invisibility which lasts indefinitely and prevents the hag from leaving footprints or any other trace of her presence.
* TheLostWoods: Green hags prefer to lair with dark and dismal woods, and as they grow in power they can make them increasingly angled, malignant and dangerous to traverse.
* VoiceChangeling: They can mimic both humanoid voices and the sounds of animals, which they normally use to lure victims to them or to scare off unwanted visitors.

!!Night Hag
''See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends "Fiends"]]''

!!Sea Hag
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sea_hag_d&d_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Sea hags are by said to be the ugliest of all hags, with slimy scales covering their pallid skin, hair like seaweed, fish-like faces, and emaciated bodies. Sea hags live in dismal and polluted underwater lairs, surrounded by merrow and other aquatic monsters.
----
* DeadlyGaze: A sea hag's Death Glare can instantly drop a creature to 0 hit points. It only works on creatures who are frightened of her, and the target can make a saving throw to resist the effect.
* FishPeople: They have scales and very fish-like faces.
* {{Gonk}}: Sea hags are said to be the ugliest of all hags. Even if they use illusion magic to hide their true appearance, their illusory appearance will still be relatively ugly.
* PlantHair: Their 5th Edition art depicts them with hair literally made out of strands of dripping seaweed.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: The mere sight of a sea hag's true form is horrific enough to frighten nearby creatures, making those creatures easy prey for her DeathGlare.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hagunemnon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hagunemnon_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 29 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Also known as proteans, these creatures were infused with chaos during their race's creation, and as such are constantly in flux, only rarely able to hold a given shape for more than a minute.
----
* FantasticRacism: They're homicidally bigoted towards all non-shapeshifters, and treat non-hagunemnon shapeshifters with a great deal of condescension and snobbery.
* {{Omniglot}}: When they aren't speaking their own incomprehensible tongue, proteans can speak and understand every other creature's language.
* PerpetuallyProtean: Like their inspiration, they are constantly taking on new shapes, mutating at a moment's notice beyond recognition. More worryingly, they are known to travel extensively in search of new shapes to copy -- and they prefer to kill their targets once they've finished acquiring their forms...
* ShapeshifterWeapon: Proteans can make up to five attacks per round, using either their own slam attacks or adopting the bite, claw, tail, etc. attacks of one or more other creatures. They can also take advantage of the extraordinary abilities of up to four creatures at once, though not spell-like or supernatural abilities.
* ShoutOut: A reference to the Haggunenons of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy.''
* StarfishLanguage: Like their speakers, the proteans' language is constantly changing, so that only other hagunemnons can understand it.
* TransformationHorror: Their slam attacks destabilize their opponent's form, causing heavy hit point and [[NonHealthDamage Constitution damage]] as their victim's body seethes and boils. Any creature whose Constitution is reduced to 0 by these attacks is reduced to a puddle of clear fluid.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: On the one hand, a protean can freely assume the form of any non-divine being no smaller than a flea and no bigger than 200 feet in its largest dimension, or mix-and-match body parts from several different creatures. On the other hand, they have to take a move-equivalent action each round to ''keep'' holding the same shape they were in the previous round.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Halfling]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_halfling_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:2e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), LawfulGood (5E)

Short but nimble humanoids known for their love of simple pleasures, natural good luck, and surprising courage in the face of evil. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hammerclaw]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hammerclaw_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Lobster-like monsters the size of horses, which subdue prey with the help of sonic attacks fired from their claws.
----
* GiantEnemyCrab: Large predatory crustaceans known to attack even when not hungry, simply for the pleasure of harming others.
* ItCanThink: Downplayed; hammerclaws can manage a few words of Aquan, and have enough vicious cunning to be successful hunters, but their Intelligence is only 4, making them dumber than ogres.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Hammerclaws can snap their oversized claws to create a cone of sonic energy that deals damage and can stun those caught in its effect.
* PowerPincers: Their claws deal damage, and can grab and constrict foes they hit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Harpoon Spider]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_harpoon_spider_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4, 9 (dread harpoon spider) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Arachnoid aberrations that reel in prey with organic harpoons, then impale victims upon their spiny carapaces for later consumption.
----
* GiantSpider: A harpoon spider superficially resembles a black widow that measures around 8 feet long and weighs nearly 1400 pounds. "Dread" harpoon spiders are even larger, certifiably Huge monsters 18 feet long weighing in at 7200 pounds.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The spines covering harpoon spiders will damage foes that attack them in melee, but their primary purpose is to secure prey. Harpoon spiders can impale a helpless victim upon their spiny bodies, dealing damage and letting the monster carry on normally without having to maintain a grapple.
* NonIndicativeName: Harpoon spiders are not spiders at all, possessing ten legs, human eyes, and hundreds of razor-sharp spines covering its body.
* PoisonousPerson: Their bites carry a poison that deals [[NonHealthDamage Dexterity damage]], potentially paralyzing victims who succumb to it.
* {{Sadist}}: They're fully sentient, capable of speech in Common and Undercommon, and have a morbid sense of humor as they play with victims "ripening" on their spines.
* WallCrawl: As spider-like creatures, harpoon spiders can move along webs without getting stuck, and scale sheer surfaces, but their climb speed is only half their standard movement speed.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: A harpoon spider can launch its fangs up to 20 feet, then use leathery tendrils to drag any prey it catches straight to its maw.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Harpy]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harpy_d&d.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:4e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 1 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Bird-elf women with a supernaturally alluring song, but evil natures.
----
* CompellingVoice: No matter their physical form, harpies have long had the ability to lure victims closer with an enthralling song, overlapping these harpies with mythological [[OurSirensAreDifferent sirens.]] Their 1st Edition ''Monster Manaul'' simply states that sirens ''are'' harpies that happen to live along coasts and prey upon sailors.
* FanDisservice: Their 3rd Edition ''Monster Manual'' art depicts them topless, but with the sagging bosom of an old woman.
* HarpingOnAboutHarpies: ''D&D'' has had harpies throughout its history as evil {{Monstrous Humanoid}}s with hypnotic singing voices, though their appearance has varied considerably. Similarly, their status as an AlwaysFemale OneGenderRace has fluctuated, from being always female and depending on parthenogenesis/crossbreeding with humanoid men/a combination of the two, to having males who are simply less common and/or expected to StayInTheKitchen.
** 2e harpies are ugly, resembling nasty-looking crone-like women who have the lower bodies and wings of vultures, but with beautiful, enrapturing voices.
** 3e harpies are, similarly, ugly creatures who combined the worst aspects of crones and vultures and contrast them with hypnotic voices. In 3.5, they become fully inhuman monsters with draconic legs and wings.
** 4e harpies take a swing into the GorgeousGorgon territory, with bird wings and claws but otherwise regular humanoid appearances. In the default ''TabletopGame/NentirVale'' setting, they’re given an origin as the descendants of an evil elf queen whose family misused magic to [[VoluntaryShapeshifting assume the form of birds]] in order to spy upon their tyrannized subjects. When their people revolted, the magic went haywire and trapped them as half-elf, half-bird beings.
** In 5th edition, harpies keep the CuteMonsterGirl looks, with human-like bodies but monstrous claws. They're also given a new origin story as an elven maiden who learned a beautiful song to woo the god Fenmarel Mestarine. When her trick didn't work, she got mad and used magic to turn herself into the first harpy, corrupting her love into a predatory hunger for the flesh of others.
* WingedHumanoid: Harpies largely resemble monstrous women with functional wings -- these are usually avian, but in 3.5 they're draconic instead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hell Hound]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hell_hound_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Elemental Beast (4E), Fiend (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E, 5E), 9 (Nessian warhound) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Fiendish dogs that serve the devils of Baator.
----
* BreathWeapon: They breathe fire.
* EliteMook: Nessian warhounds, a particularly nasty breed of Hell hounds the size of draft horses, which were bred in the depths of Nessus at Asmodeus' command.
* {{Hellhound}}: Hell hounds are huge, fire-breathing dogs literally from [[{{Hell}} the Nine Hells of Baator]], used by devils to hunt mortals or summoned by evil spellcasters as minions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hellwasp]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hellwasp_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Fiend (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (hellwasp swarm) (3E), 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Intelligent and malevolent fiendish insects from the Lower Planes.
----
* TheParalyzer: The hellwasp's venom carries a paralytic enzyme that renders the victim helpless long enough for the hellwasp to grab its prey and flee.
* GrandTheftMe[=/=]PossessingADeadBody: Gehennan hellwasp swarms are capable of entering a dead or helpless creature [[OrificeInvasion via its mouth and other orifices]] and taking it over, animating it similarly to a zombie. An unfortunate creature inhabited this way is easy to spot due to how their skin crawls from the insects beneath it, leading the swarm to adopt loose clothing or cloaks to disguise itself. A living creature with a hellwasp swarm inside it will take Constitution damage each hour as they're EatenAlive.
* {{Retcon}}: 3rd Edition hellwasps are Diminutive insects native to Gehenna, and only gain a basic intelligence when forming a HiveMind with each other in a swarm. Later hellwasps are Large-sized, full-on devils native to Baator, and are intelligent as individuals.
* TheSwarm: Their 3rd Edition incarnation.
* WickedWasps: They're literally wasps from Hell, so yes.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Their revised lore paints hellwasps as former demons who joined the Archduchess Glasya after she killed their demon lord. After being reforged into devils, they were accepted as part of the Nine Hells.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Helmed Horror]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_helmed_horror_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E), 4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Warrior constructs with uncommon intelligence and magical power.
----
* AIIsACrapshoot: Their 3rd Edition write-up notes that helmed horrors frequently outlive their masters and continue following their final orders, but keep interpreting those orders wider and wider as their creators' binding magics fade.
* AnimatedArmor: A helmed horror is an intelligent construct resembling a suit of plate armor, the gaps of which reveal occasional flares of PureEnergy.
* ExactWords: Averted according to the 5E ''Monster Manual'', with states that a helmed horror is intelligent enough to understand the difference between an order's intent and its exact wording, seeking to fulfill the former instead of slavishly following the latter like most other constructs.
* {{Flight}}: They enjoy the benefit of a permanent ''air walk'' spell.
* LostTechnology: In the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms, helmed horrors are relics of the fallen kingdoms of Imaskar and Netheril, and the secrets of their construction have been lost. A sufficiently powerful evil wizard might have the resources to rediscover the method, but it is said that only the evilest of souls would be willing to pay the price for it.
* NoSell: They're resistant to magic in general, and furthermore, a helmed horror's creator can make the construct fully immune to three specific spells while building it.
* SpellBlade: In 3rd Edition, helmed horrors can use a free action to imbue their swords with a set combat enchantment: ''flaming burst'', ''keen'', ''speed'', etc.
* SuperSenses: 3rd Edition helmed horrors are under a constant ''see invisibility'' effect. 5th Edition instead gives them blindsight out to 60 feet, with the caveat that they're blind beyond this radius.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hippocampus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hippocamp_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hippocamp_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E), 1/2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood (3E), NeutralGood (5E)

Intelligent aquatic horses prized as underwater mounts, and who gladly serve good causes.
----
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Hippocampi feature in countless tales as guides and mounts for ocean-faring heroes.
* OurHippocampsAreDifferent: Hippocampi are aquatic equines that travel in herds and can breath both air and water, and hold valued places in triton society.
* SapientSteed: They have human-level intelligence and can speak Aquan, but they're fairly simple creatures that want little more than to speed through the open water.
* SpiritedCompetitor: Hippcampi like to make challenges out of everyday events, and among themselves pass the time with marathon relay races or long-distance scavenger hunts. Winning is secondary to the joy of striving, for these creatures.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hippogriff]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hippogriff_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hippogriff_3e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E), 5 (4E), 1 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), Unaligned (4E-5E)

Flying creatures that combine the features of horses and giant eagles.
----
* ArtEvolution: 3rd edition gave them a more physically unified look, with hooves that are modified bird claws and manes and tails of feathers, but later editions go back to the traditional "eagle in front and horse behind" version.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Hippogriffs can be trained to bear a rider, and are prized as mounts capable of flight and of being fearsome combatants in their own right. Their physical prowess and relatively even disposition and lower intelligence compared to a griffon or pegasus makes them particularly attractive for this role, and they're the most common flying mounts seen among civilized races.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The classic creature with an eagle's claws, head and wings and a horse's hindquarters. Unlike the sapient griffons, hippogriffs are animals, and griffons sometimes prey on them. They're also popular flying mounts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hoard Scarab]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hoard_scarab_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Vermin (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (individual), 5 (swarm) (3E); 1/8 (individual), 2 (swarm) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Beetle-like creatures with a strong resemblance to coins when dormant, and who have a symbiotic relationship with dragons.
----
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: With their lugs tucked in against their carapaces, hoard scarabs can be mistaken for gold coins, and thus camouflage themselves amongst a dragon's other treasures.
* OrificeInvasion: 3rd Edition hoard scarabs can burrow into an opponent's flesh, dealing Constitution damage each round (more if it's a swarm making the attack). Unless the stricken victim is given a ''remove disease'' or ''heal'' spell, death is inevitable.
* SeeTheInvisible: Creatures outlined by a hoard scarab's magical glittering dust constantly shed blue light and cannot become invisible.
* TheSwarm: These tiny creatures are most dangerous as swarms of crawling, biting insects.
* TheSymbiote: Hoard scrabs have a mutually beneficial relationship with dragons. The scarabs clean the dragon's scales as they eat other vermin on the larger creature's hide (which doesn't hurt the dragon, due to their natural armor), and share the dragon's lair, acting as an additional layer of defense.
* TrackingSpell: Hoard scarabs in 5th Edition produce a magical dust that sticks to intruders and allows dragons to sense their location.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hobgoblin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hobgoblin_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E, 5E) to 6 (warlord, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Cunning, disciplined and warlike, hobgoblins exist to subjugate others, and frequently bully their fellow goblinoids, the lesser goblins and bugbears, into serving with their legions as they march to their next conquest. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hollyphant]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hollyphant_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hollyphant_3e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Celestial (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood

Celestials from the Wilderness of the Beastlands with the unlikely appearance of two-foot-long, gold-furred, winged elephants. They can be found throughout the Upper Planes, serving as messengers and helpers for good deities, or assisting other celestial agents with their tasks.
----
* EnemySummoner: Once per day, a hollphant can try to summon another hollyphant, an asura, or an avoral guardinal, with a 45% chance of success.
* GoodWingsEvilWings: Averted; hollyphants have feathered or iridescent insect wings in their Small form, and leathery wings in their Large mastodon form, but remain celestials no matter their shape.
* KillerRabbit: They look harmless or even comical, which has led to the downfall of countless evil creatures.
* MakeMeWannaShout: A hollyphant can unleash a trumpeting blast through its trunk to either deal sonic damage and stun those in a 60-foot-cone, or fill an equivalent space with sparkles of sunlight that deal heavy damage to fiends, undead and anything else vulnerable to holy water.
* NoSell: 3rd Edition hollyphants in their Small form gain a ''globe of invulnerability'' effect, rendering them immune to all spells or spell-like abilities of 4th level or lower, but they lose this benefit in their mastodon form.
* PsychicPowers: 3rd Edition hollyphants have both an array of spell-like abilities and psionic powers like ''blessed sight'', ''invisibility'', and ''suggestion''.
* SizeShifter: In 3rd Edition, a hollyphant can switch between two forms, a Small golden-furred elephant that weighs 60 pounds and a Large biepdal mastodon that weighs 1200 pounds.
* {{Telepathy}}: Hollyphants can't speak, but can communicate telepathically with any creature that has a language.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Homunculus]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_homunculus_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E), 0 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Same as creator (3E), TrueNeutral (5E)

Tiny winged constructs created by mages as helpers or spies.
----
* ForcedSleep: Their bite attack does ScratchDamage at best, but carries a poison that can render an opponent unconscious.
* OurHomunculiAreDifferent: Homunculi are made by an expensive alchemical recipe from clay, ash, mandrake root, spring water and the wizard's own blood and are living tools linked to their makers much like a {{Familiar}}.
* PsychicLink: A homunculus knows everything its creator does, and likewise its master senses everything a homunculus sees or hears, regardless of the distance between them, provided they're on the same plane of existence.
* {{Synchronization}}: A homonculus will expire if its master dies, and in 3rd Edition, the destruction of a homonculus dealt damage to its creator.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hook Horror]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hook_horror_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E), Natural Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Intelligent pack hunters of the Underdark feared for their hook-like claws.
----
* AndroclesLion: Pointedly averted in their ''AD&D'' write-up, which notes that hook horrors [[LanguageEqualsThought don't even have a concept for "indebtness" or "gratitude."]] Other creatures are just meat, whatever they've done for the hook horror.
* MixAndMatchCritters: A hook horror has a head resembling a vulture's and the torso of an enormous beetle.
* MooksAteMyEquipment: In 3rd Edition, hook horrors can attempt to sunder a character's armor or shield without provoking an attack of opportunity.
* StarfishLanguage: Hook horrors communicate with one another by clacking and scraping their claws against stone, which sounds unintelligible to other creatures, but forms a complex language that can echo for miles through their home cave systems.
* SuperSenses: A hook horror has short-ranged darkvision, but their keen hearing gives them blindsight out to 60 feet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hound of the Gloom]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hound_of_the_gloom_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Large, tentacled quadrupeds that have emerged from deep underground in the past decade to menace Underdark races.
----
* BeastOfBattle: Some evil subterranean races have taken up the practice of capturing young hounds to raise and train. If a pup is taken young enough, it accepts its new world easily, especially if it's well fed and allowed to fight.
* CombatTentacles: In addition to their bite and foreclaws, hounds of the gloom can attack with two large tentacles surrounding their heads, which have a reach of 10 feet and end in five-fingered hands with strong, sharp claws.
* ItCanThink: They have human-level intelligence, make cunning use of terrain in battle, and even have their own language.
* TheParalyzer: Their tentacle attacks carry a [[NonHealthDamage Dexterity-damaging]] poison that can potentially leave victims paralyzed and helpless.
* WallCrawl: They can climb surfaces at half their normal speed, which they use to drop down on prey.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Howler]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_howler_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_howler_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Fiend (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Wailing pack hunters from the Windswept Depths of Pandemonium, whose howls can drive prey mad with fear.
----
* BeastOfBattle: Howlers are often employed as hunting dogs by demons and Abyssal orcs.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Alternatively, howlers are large enough to serve as steeds for Medium-sized riders, though an exotic saddle is needed due to the spines on a howler's back.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Their signature howl floods the minds of their victims, making complex thought impossible. In 3rd Edition, anyone without hearing range of the creatures' howling has to save or take [[NonHealthDamage Wisdom damage]], while in 5th Edition, a howler's keening howl is a SupernaturalFearInducer that reduces victims' speed and incapacitates them.
* SpikesOfVillainy: Howlers sport quills on their backs, particularly in 3rd Edition, in which howlers could even attack with them, dealing damage and imposing penalties on victims after the quills got lodged in their flesh.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hydra]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_hydra_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4+ (3E), 8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned
Many-headed reptiles famous for their regenerative powers, hydras mostly live as bestial predators in swamps.
----
* BreathWeapon: Pyrohydras breathe fire, while cryohydras breathe freezing wind.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The elemental hydra variants are easy to identify -- pyrohydras are red, while cryohydras are purple.
* FireKeepsItDead: Searing a hydra's neck stump prevents it from growing two heads to replace the severed one.
* FoodChainOfEvil: Dragons find hydras to be incredibly delicious, and will go to great lengths to kill and devour the lesser monsters should they become aware of their presence.
* HealingFactor: In addition to growing back lost heads, hydras have very rapid healing and quickly heal over damage done to their main body.
* HorrorHunger: Hydras are ruled by a constant hunger for flesh that eventually strips their surroundings bare of food, forcing the beast to find new hunting grounds. If a hydra goes for too long without prey, its hunger will become too strong for it to bear and its head will turn upon each other as the maddened creature eats itself alive.
* HydraProblem: A hydra will grow two heads for every severed one, a process which requires one to four rounds in combat, unless the stump is seared with fire or acid. The supernumerary heads will all wither and drop off within a day or so, but in the heat of combat this doesn't do hydra-slayers much good. Mechanically, hydras exist to stymie players who rely on basic melee combat -- beating a hydra requires outside-the-box tactics, such as a greater reliance on elementally-infused weapons, magic, or skills that let you sever multiple heads at a time. Notably, in early editions, most hydras could not actually regrow lost heads -- this characteristic was unique to Leranean hydras, a stronger breed of the creatures.
* MultipleHeadCase: A typical hydra starts with five to twelve heads, and can grow up to twice as many as its original number over a battle. They put these extra heads to good use, both for the additional attacks and for the extra sensory input when needing to spot foes.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: Hydras are large, four-legged reptiles and can have anywhere from five to twelve heads, with two new ones growing in whenever one is lost. They inhabit swamps and other areas of stagnant water and are some of the most dangerous things living there short of black dragons, with whom they often compete when they coexist.
** While hydras aren't dragons, some scholars believe that they share a common ancestor -- a minor scholarly tradition that believes dragons to descend from wyvern-like creatures rather than having been created by the gods holds that certain ancient skeletons of multi-headed reptiles are the remains of mutated proto-dragons who later evolved into modern hydras.
** A couple of variants exist, including [[AnIcePerson cryohydras]], which can breathe out clouds of icy mist, and [[PlayingWithFire pyrohydras]], which breathe fire instead.
* MainliningTheMonster: Hydra body parts have a surprising number of uses. Hydra tongues hung from a pole, for instance, will change color rather dramatically depending on the approaching weather, while hydra fat mixed with corn meal makes for extremely effective rat bait and powdered hydra bone is a potent desiccant.

!!Dracohydra
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dracohydra_5e.png]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Dracohydras are artificial creatures born from attempts to recreate Tiamat's power by combining hydra blood with the magic of chromatic dragons. They resemble dragons with the heads of multiple types of chromatic dragons and many snakelike tails. They can sometimes be found serving their creators; in the wild, they're voracious predators entirely capable of stripping countrysides of animal life.
----
* ArtificialHybrid: The dracohydra is the result of amalgamating the magic of chromatic dragons with the blood of a hydra.
* BigEater: Dracohydrae feed relentlessly, with each head demanding a feast of its own. If left alone, they can hunt fauna almost to extinction.
* BreathWeapon: A dracohydra can exhale a polychromatic mass of energy that contains the essence of a chromatic dragon's elemental power.
* MultipleTailedBeast: A dracohydra has multiple snake-like tails.
[[/folder]]

!!I

[[folder:Ice Toad]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ice_toad_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 1 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

8-foot-long amphibians with an uncharacteristic affinity for cold.
----
* AmphibianAtLarge: This toad is the size of a horse.
* AnIcePerson: An ice toad is immune to cold, and can exude a sphere of numbing cold from its body, dealing damage to all who draw close. On the flipside, this leaves them WeakToFire.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Unlike normal toads, the ice toad has a mouth filled with small, sharp teeth.
* OverlyLongTongue: They can use their 10-foot tongus to reel in creatures of Medium size or smaller, and potentially [[SwallowedWhole swallow whole]] Small-sized creatures.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Inevitable]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_inevitables_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:From left to right, a zelekhut, kolyarut and marut (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (3E, 5E), Immortal Humanoid (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral (3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Constructs created by Primus to enforce cosmic laws. Several kinds of inevitable exist, each intended to enforce a basic principle of cosmic order such as "lawbreakers should be punished", "bargains should be kept" and "everyone dies eventually".
----
* ClockworkCreature: Most inevitables resemble humanoids made out of complex clockwork mechanisms.
* ImplacableMan: Inevitables are obsessive and single-minded in their pursuit of transgressors. They never rest, give up or compromise, and even if a foe escapes them in the short term they will simply keep following them, never stopping, until -- even if years down the line -- they finally catch up and resume combat. Inevitables who need to cross oceans have been known to simply walk into the waves and cross the ocean floor on foot.
* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: Inevitables pass judgement on transgressors, determine appropriate punishment -- often death -- and carry it out themselves. The primary exception are the zelekhuts -- because they exists to help enforce mortal laws, they typically just carry transgressors back for punishment unless they were already sentenced to a penalty like death or corporal punishment, in which case the zelekhut carries it out itself.

!!Anhydrut
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_anhydrut_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)

Crawling, insectoid constructions that defend deserts and the inevitability of the wasteland. They will usually overlook small communities of desert nomads, but those who try to change the wastes through irrigation and farming may find themselves targeted for termination.
----
* BewareMyStingerTail: Their tail attacks also deal fire damage.
* GlobalWarming: Once per century, a anhydrut can use the ''global warming'' epic-level spell to increase the temperature within a 100-mile radius, presumably to preserve a desert biome.
* ScaryScorpions: They're built to resemble mechanical scorpions on tank treads.

!!Kolyarut
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)

These mechanical humanoids punish those who knowingly and maliciously break contracts. They are among the most talkative of inevitables, and can attempt to pass themselves as a mortal when their missions call for subtlety, but when they reach their quarry they are ruthlessly efficient.
----
* {{Glamour}}: They can use ''disguise self'' at will.
* LevelDrain: Kolyaruts can fire black beams that replicate the ''enervation'' spell.
* LifeDrain: They make liberal use of their ''vampiric touch'' ability.
* WeHaveReserves: Kolyaruts are willing to work with other creatures to complete their mission, and just as willing to use ''vampiric touch'' on those allies if it needs the hit points.

!!Marut
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_marut_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 15 (3E), 25 (5E)

Maruts are hulking humanoids who can deal terrible damage with their bare fists. In 3rd Edition, they enforce the rule of mortality, hunting down the undead and those who unnaturally extend their lives. In 5th Edition, maruts are instead created to enforce contracts, serving as witnesses to the forging of agreements in the Hall of Concordance and carrying their terms on a sheet of gold on their chests.
----
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: In 5th edition, a marut always hits with its unerring slam attack, and its Blazing Edict ability does not allow a saving throw to reduce its damage.
* ArtEvolution: Their design has changed significantly over the years. In 2nd edition, they resemble [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/a/a7/Marut-2e.jpg muscular, lantern-jawed men in weird armor]]. In 3rd and 4th edition, they instead look like [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/7/73/Maruts-4e.jpg hulking obsidian statues dressed in Greco-Roman armor]]. 5th edition turns maruts into vaguely humanoid but utterly inhuman-looking robots with no heads, and a giant eyeball in the center of their torso.
* {{Cyclops}}: In 5th Edition, a marut's face consists of nothing but a single gigantic eye.
* ElementalPunch: In 3.5, a marut's fists are infused with thunder and lightning. A punch with the left hand will blow out your eardrums, while a punch with the right hand will shock and blind you.
* FixedDamageAttack: In 5th edition, a marut's attacks inflict fixed amounts of damage. Unerring Slam inflicts 60 force damage with every hit, and Blazing Edict inflicts 45 radiant damage to everything within its area-of-effect.
* {{Retcon}}: Previous editions established them as the enforcers of mortality, killing those who unnaturally extended their lives. In 4th edition onwards, they were turned into enforcers of contracts and oaths.

!!Quarut
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_varakhut_and_quarut_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A quarut (right) and varakhut (left) (3e)]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 17 (3E)

Quaruts enforce the laws of time and space, hunting down those whose meddling with the flow of time and the fabric of space poses a threat to reality. Quaruts appear as humanoids with hourglasses for heads, and with with powerful magic.
----
* ClockRoaches: The quaruts' task of enforcing the laws of physics mostly involves hunting down and neutralizing time travelers and people who cause temporal paradoxes.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Quaruts are highly disapproving of mortals who use spells such as ''miracle'', ''temporal stasis'', ''time stop'', and ''wish'', as they consider these dangerously disruptive to the balance of reality. This does not prevent them from using these same spells with impunity.
* TimeStandsStill: Quaruts prefer to deal with their foes by trapping them in bubbles of stopped time.

!!Varakhut
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 19 (3E)

Varakhuts enforce the laws of Divinity. Any being attempting to ascend to godhood will find themselves relentlessly pursued by these mighty enforcers of law.
----
* GodhoodSeeker: Not them, but their prey -- varakhuts hunt down those who would make themselves gods.
* KillTheGod: Subverted. By their nature, they don't kill gods. The being they do kill, however, are usually close enough to godhood that the difference is semantics.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Of a kind. If a being manages to evade the varakhuts and truly ascend to godhood, the varakhut will call off the pursuit, since the being now is part of the divinity they seek to protect.

!!Zelekhut
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)

Zelekhuts enforce the rule of law, hunting down those who would escape lawful punishment for their crimes.
----
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: A zelekhut can extend and retract bladed whips from its forearms at will.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Zelekhuts resemble mechanical centaurs with retractable wings.
* RetractableAppendages: A zelekhut's wings can be extended from and retracted into its body at will.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Invisible Stalker]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_invisible_stalker_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Elemental (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 6 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Creatures of elemental air summoned to the Material Plane for a specific task, typically to retrieve an item or assassinate a target.
----
* BlowYouAway: Their slam attacks are actually sudden, intense blasts of air that deal bludgeoning damage.
* ExactWords: They're resentful servants at best, and don't like complex missions or protracted duties. In such cases, an invisible stalker will attempt to pervert the intent of their summoner's command unless it's worded carefully.
* InvisibleMonsters: Invisible stalkers are composed of air and are naturally invisible, even when attacking. A spell that allows someone to see the invisible reveals only the invisible stalker's vague outline.
* PaintingTheMedium: Some of their older ''Monster Manual'' entries use [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1544814351000.png an empty frame for the picture of the stalker.]] It ''is'' invisible, after all.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Invisible stalkers are expert hunters, and have the Improved Tracking ability in 3rd Edition.
[[/folder]]

!!J

[[folder:Jackalwere]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_jackalwere_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Humanoid (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E), 1/2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

A shapeshifting jackal that can take humanoid form in order to lure in victims.
----
* ForcedSleep: Their gaze can put other creatures into a magical sleep, which they can use to kidnap victims for their lamia masters.
* PinocchioNose: Inverted; attentive onlookers might notice that a jackalwere winces in pain whenever it tells the truth.
* ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing: Varies by edition. 3rd Edition jackalweres have their equipment fuse with them when they take jackal form, which prevents them from using it until they shift to their hybrid or humanoid forms and their gear returns. In 5th Edition, a jackalwere's equipment explicitly isn't transformed along with them.
* ThisWasHisTrueForm: They revert to their true jackal forms when slain.
* UpliftedAnimal: Their 5th Edition lore paints them as once-ordinary jackals given the gift of speech and magical power by the demon lord Graz'zt, so they could better serve his lamia minions.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: A jackalwere has three physical forms that it shifts between: a true form, indistinguishable from a normal jackal; a human form, which often appears gaunt and wretched in order to attract sympathy from well-meaning passersby; and a human-sized hybrid form, a biped with the fur and head of a jackal, allowing the creature to make both bite attacks and strikes with held weapons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jermlaine]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_jermlaine_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E), 1/8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Tiny but malicious fey also known as jinxkin or bane-midges. They're sneaky subterranean brigands reviled for their foul dispositions and evil treatment of their victims.
----
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Some jermlaine tribes will allow themselves to be bribed into allying (or pretending to ally) with members of the bigger races, but will almost always turn on them at some point.
* GripingAboutGremlins: 2nd Edition classifies jermlaine as a type of gremlin, and notes their habit of stealthily cutting at the straps of a passersby's equipment so that it all comes apart after the jermlaine have scampered back into hiding. They also like to sneak into other creatures' camps to vandalize whatever they can't carry back to their lairs.
* GulliverTieDown: Should jermlaine come across a sleeping victim, or if someone succumbs to one of their traps, the little fey tie them up and proceed to strip them of clothes and valuables, shave off their body hair to make ropes, urinate in their water flasks, summon rodents to eat their food, and do other nasty things to them. When the jermlaine are finished, their victim is left naked and helpless for whatever happens upon them next.
* MolotovCocktail: They've caught on that would-be victims in heavy armor are hard to subdue, so jermlaine tend to attack such targets with firebombs, or dump acid on them.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: All jermlaine have the spell-like ability to speak with any form of rat.
* TrapMaster: They're fond of using traps like tripwires, nets or pits to incapacitate victims, then the jermlaine mob them, batter them unconscious, and tie them up.
[[/folder]]

!!K

[[folder:Kaorti]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kaorti_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Aberrant humanoids who were corrupted by the madness of the Far Realm, and now strive to subject the Material Plane to that dismal dimension's influence.
----
* AlienBlood: The kaorti's blood is a green fluid.
* HolyBurnsEvil: Kaortis have been so fully corrupted by the Far Realm that exposure to the Material Plane actually harms them, dealing subdual damage and fatiguing them for every hour they spend on it unprotected, until they pass out and start taking lethal damage. For this reason, they have to coat their hideouts in a resin they secrete from their palms, which shields them from the Material Plane's harmful effects.
* HumanoidAbomination: The kaorti is a completely alien creature, inherently wrong and evil, that is humanoid in shape only. Their features are like that of a melting spider, their fingers are boneless tendrils, even their translucent flesh seems to slither and run over their visible entrails.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: When leaving their cysts, kaortis don armor made of strips of alchemically-treated resin, which they wrap around themselves like a mummy's wrappings. They're time-consuming to make, though, so only exceptional kaortis are allowed to wear them.
* TheVirus: Kaortis can infuse humanoids with essence from the Far Realm, turning them into kaortis themselves. Sometimes the [[ViralTransformation subjects resist the psychological transformation,]] becoming rogue kaortis forced to struggle to survive in world that harms them.
* WasOnceAMan: The first kaortis were wizards who travelled to the Far Realm, fully expecting that their preparations would protect them from its influence. Instead they succumbed almost immediately, sensed their entry portal as a disturbance, and traveled back through to destroy it. Stranded on a now-hostile Material Plane, the kaorti resolved to feed the world around them into the Far Realm, by converting individual creatures one at a time if necessary.
* WitchSpecies: Kaorti have the innate ability to use spells like ''alter self'' or ''spider climb'', and generally respect and admire arcane magic, so that most of their leaders are mages. Kaorti sorcerers are common, while their wizards record their spells on long strips of resin.

!!Kaorti Creations

As part of their campaign to corrupt the Material Plane, the kaorti have created several breeds of servitor creatures they use as living war machines.

!!!Rukanyr
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_rukanyr_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

These warped monstrous scorpions can smash or blast apart anything they encounter, and were created by the kaorti to destroy regions they themselves fear to enter.
----
* BewareMyStingerTail: Instead of a conventional scorpion's stinger, rukanyrs have a massive, mace-like club that hits hard enough to stun victims.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Rukanyrs are awesome war beasts, but are so destructive that the kaorti don't allow them within their enclaves, instead leaving them to wander the periphery of a cyst.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Every few rounds, a rukanyr can let loose a devastating roar from one of its mouths, potentially deafening everything within 60 feet and dealing heavy sonic damage to the creature or object the monster is focusing this blast of sound upon.
* MooksAteMyEquipment: Their armor plating constantly shifts and scrapes against itself as the rukanyr moves in combat, which can potentially trap and crush the weapons of those who strike at it with a slashing or piercing weapon.
* TheParalyzer: Their bite attacks deal [[NonHealthDamage Dexterity damage]], potentially paralyzing victims whose Dexterity hits 0.
* ScaryScorpions: They have the general shape of one (assuming the scorpion is 15 feet long), but rukanyrs boast additional armor plating, a club-like tail rather than a stinger, several sets of claws around their tail, three toothy maws on their front, and a single staring eye.

!!!Skybleeder
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_skybleeder_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Huge masses of tentacles, claws and eyes normally hidden behind an unnautral mist, and which rain acidic red slime upon their victims.
----
* AcidAttack: Skybleeders' signature attack is the slimy red acid their tentacles constantly weep. This deals damage to anything beneath a skybleeder, though fortunately the acid goes inert quickly, so creatures who move out from under them stop taking damage.
* BeastOfBattle: Kaortis occasionally ride upon skybleeders by roping simple wooden platforms to the top of their amorphous bodies. Since skybleeders are fully intelligent, any rider who fails to show them the proper respect is likely to be attacked several miles above the ground.
* FogOfDoom: Skybleeders are constantly surrounded by a 60-foot radius of unnatural white mist. Not only does this grant the creatures concealment against outside attacks and help it hide, it grants the skybleeder and anything else within the mist Spell Resistance against druidic magic.
* NoSell: These monsters don't have anything resembling a conventional anatomy, so they aren't subject to flanking, {{Critical Hit}}s or BackStab attempts.
* TentacleRope: Anything grappled by their tentacles will take both constriction and acid damage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kaortic Hulk]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kaortic_hulk_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Giant quadrupedal predators clad in resin armor, usually found hunting Material Plane creatures on the fringes of a Far Realm incursion. Their connection to the kaorti is unconfirmed, but plausible.
----
* ArtificialInsolence: Kaortic hulks can be summoned with the appropriate spell, but they are reluctant servants at best, and have a cumulative 1% chance each round to turn on their summoner.
* BigEater: Kaortic hulks are hungry predators that devastate populations if they spend too much time in one place.
* ExtremeOmnivore: A kaortic hulk eats everything, including oozes, constructs and undead.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: The best theory concerning these huge monsters' origin is that they're descended from the feline familiar of a wizard who attempted to explore the Far Realm in ages past.
* ItCanThink: Downplayed. Kaortic hulks have animalistic intellects (Intelligence scores of 2), but are still smart enough to use their spell-like abilities - ''gaseous form'', ''spider climb'', ''invisbility'', ''silence'' - during their hunts.
* SuperSenses: They have no obvious eyes or ears, but enjoy blindsight out to 120 feet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Keeper]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_keeper_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

A race of strange creatures obsessed with gathering the secrets of other beings, and then ensuring that no one else can discover that information.
----
* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: All of a keeper's joints can bend in either direction.
* CyanidePill: A variant; if a keeper finds itself captured, pinned, or held helpless, it has 10 rounds to free itself before it automatically dissolves into a puddle of poison.
* DittoAliens: Keepers all look remarkably similar, and wear the same style of dark leather coat.
* EyelessFace: Keepers wear black goggles to hide their shallow, empty eye sockets, but can still see normally despite their lack of eyes.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Keepers are known to murder those who know secrets they desire or wish to erase. Fortunately, they can be bought off with offers of additional knowledge, deals that the keepers will honor.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: It's speculated that keepers were an attempt to create a race of spy-constructs, or guards for some secret knowledge. Instead the keepers began to be born free-willed, and now roam the planes looking for information to hoard.
* KnowledgeBroker: Averted; a keeper will never willingly divulge its secrets, they only accept offers of information, never trading knowledge for knowledge.
* HiveMind: Each keeper group shares a hive mind, which each individual functioning akin to a limb or extension.
* NoSell: They share a lot of traits with constructs (and would probably have been classified as extraplanar living constructs if their rules had come out after ''Eberron'''s release), and as such are immune to things like critical hits, poison, sleep, paralysis, necromantic effects, etc.
* PoisonousPerson: Keepers can vomit gouts of a nauseating poison to incapacitate enemies, and [[NoBodyLeftBehind dissolve into a puddle of that same poison when slain]].
* ShapeshifterWeapon: A keeper can form the malleable flesh and bone of its arms into any melee weapon.
* SuperSenses: They can track enemies via scent, and also boast an impressive 200-foot blindsight.
* SwapTeleportation: A keeper can use a standard action to ''teleport without error'' to another keeper's location within 500 feet, exchanging places with it. They frequently use this when attacking in groups, switching out with one another when an individual becomes too damaged to keep fighting.
* UncannyValley: In-universe, people find keepers disturbing, not just for their eyeless faces and identical appearances, but also their abrupt manner and intensity during interactions with other beings.
* YouAreNumberSix: Keepers do not have names, referring to themselves with a numerical designation within their own groups, plus a title referring to the type of secrets they were originally tasked to discover if necessary (an example being Third of the Colorless Pool).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kenku]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kenku_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E), 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (3E), ChaoticNeutral (5E)

A race of small, sneaky avian humanoids, flightless and speechless, but able to perfectly mimic any sounds they hear. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ki-rin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ki_rin_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ki_rin_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Celestial (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 29 (3E), 12 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood

Wise and noble creatures that share their wisdom and blessings with mortals, roaming the world in search of good-hearted people to reward and evildoers to punish.
----
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: They are as majestic as they are virtuous.
-->'''Volo:''' I was awed to tears at the mere sight of my first ki-rin, and I've met gods.
* FertileFeet: A ki-rin's very presence has numerous positive effects on the region surrounding its lair. These include such things as purifying nearby water sources, supressing the effects of poisons and diseases, and stimulating the growth of non-evil plants and animals.
* HermitGuru: Some ki-rin settle down in a difficult-to-reach spot like a forbidding mountain, offering their wisdom to those with the gumption to reach them. A few ki-rin end up attracting a following of monks this way.
* {{Kirin}}: Ki-rins are intelligent, celestial beasts with golden scales and manes, and coppery hooves and horns, though their exact appearance can vary - some resemble huge stags or horses, others have draconic features, some have one or two horns, others have a full set of antlers. All can fly by simply galloping on the air, and spend most of their lives high in the sky.
* KnightErrant: Other ki-rin spend their lives traveling the world in search of wrongs to right.
* MadeOfGood: They are living embodiments of the concept of good.
* {{Omniglot}}: Like most celestials, ki-rin can speak every language.
* {{Telepathy}}: They can also communicate telepathically.
* WhiteMage: A 5th edition ki-rin has the spellcasting abilities of an 18th-level cleric, allowing it to cast powerful healing spells like ''mass cure wounds'' and ''[[BackFromTheDead true resurrection]]''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kobold]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kobold_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (3E, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Small draconic humanoids often found in the service of dragons, or in warrens protected by clever traps. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Korred]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_korred_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Shy underground fey with an affinity for stone and truly fantastic hair.
----
* DishingOutDirt: Korreds can hurl boulders far larger than it seems they should be able to, shape stone as though it were clay, swim through rock, and summon earth elementals and other creatures.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Korreds can blend in with stony surroundings, gaining advantage on Stealth checks in rocky terrain.
* MagicHair: When a korred's hair is cut, it transforms itself into the same material as the cutting tool. Korreds traditionally cut their own hair with iron shears, weave their cut hair into iron wire, and craft it into snares. This trait has unfortunately led dwarves or treasure-hunters to seek out korreds to take advantage of their mutable hair.
-->'''Volo:''' There's a legend about a merchant who tried to cut a korred's hair with golden shears. The korred fed him those shears, from his swallow to his sitter.
* PrehensileHair: A variant; korreds can animate a rope of their hair and make it grapple and restrain a target.
* SuperSenses: Beyond boasting darkvision and tremorsense out to an impressive 120-foot range, korreds are said to be able to sniff out veins of metals or gems, and easily spot any secret doors in a dungeon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kraken]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kraken_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kraken_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E) Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E); 10 (sea), 25 (astral) (4E); 14 (juvenile), 23 (adult) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Immense, tentacled terrors of the deep.
----
* ArtEvolution: Krakens got a major makeover in 5th edition, where they go from being GiantSquid to finned, scaly vertebrates with tentacled hindquarters.
* GiantAnimalWorship: Krakens occasionally accrete cults of humanoids awestruck by the monsters' immense power and anxious not to find that power directed at themselves. Krakens pleased with their worshippers reward their flocks with clam seas and plentiful fish harvests, although they do not ultimately except them from their schemes to ruin all things.
* GiantSquid: For most of their history, krakens have tended to resemble colossal squids with tentacles thirty feet long. 5th edition bucks this trend, portraying them as vertebrate monsters with hind ends ending in tangles of tentacles.
* KrakenAndLeviathan: Immense, tentacled monsters that slumber in the deep, emerging only to ruin civilizations.
* OurTitansAreDifferent: In 5th edition, krakens have the titan tag. This edition reimagines them as creatures created by the gods themselves to fight their wars, only for the krakens to desert their divine masters once those wars ended.
* ShockAndAwe: 5th edition krakens can call down lightning bolts whenever they please, striking up to three creatures at a time. A kraken can also electrify the water of its lair to shock any creatures swimming in it. Even in death, a kraken's electrifying powers persist: tendrils of electricity will lash out at anything which disturbs the creature's final resting place.
* SupernaturallyMarkedGrave: The 5th edition sourcebook ''Ghosts of Saltmarsh'' states that dead krakens leave behind a supernatural stain on the seafloor called a kraken's grave. Anyone or anything which swims too close to a kraken's grave risks disturbing it and getting shocked by the kraken's residual magic.
* TentacledTerror: Evil, scheming cephalopods who rule over populations of enslaved humanoids trapped beneath the sea.
* TouchedByVorlons: 5th edition krakens can imbue people with supernatural powers, turning the recipients into loyal kraken priests. Krakens can also serve as warlock patrons.
* UndergroundMonkey: 4th Edition includes astral krakens, a stronger variant found in the Astral Sea.
* WeaksauceWeakness: 5th edition Krakens are notably one of the highest CR monsters not to have either the Legendary Resistance[[note]]can choose to auto-succeed on a failed saving throw[[/note]] or Magic Resistance[[note]]Advantage on saving throws against spells and similar magic effects[[/note]] traits. Because of this, despite their impressive base stats, it's a lot easier than you might expect to impose negative status effects on them.
* WeirdBeard: Their 5th edition art shows them with a "beard" made out tentacles.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Krenshar]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_krenshar_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1(3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Carnivores that use their unnatural control over their faces to spook their prey.
----
* AttackAnimal: Krenshars can be domesticated to serve as guard beasts and companions, though as social animals, they'll grow depressed in isolation to the point where their facial skin tightens, preventing them from pulling it back to scare opponents. Even if kept healthy and happy, krenshars like to playfully jump out and surprise their masters as often as possible; said masters attribute numerous gray hairs to this behavior.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Krenshars physically combine the worst features of a wolf and hyena, while their behavior is that of a big cat.
* SkullForAHead: The skin on the krenshar's head is so flexible that they can pull it back as a standard action, revealing the skull and musculature underneath. Mechanically this is treated as an attempt to Bluff during combat in order to scare an opponent, and normally a krenshar uses this ability to flush prey into an ambush.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: If a krenshar combines its skull-revealing face with a loud screech, the result is a supernatural effect replicating the ''scare'' spell.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kruthik]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kruthik_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (hatchling), 4 (adult), 6 (greater) (3E); 2 (hatchling, young), 4 (adult), 6 (hive lord) (4E); 1/8 (young), 2 (adult), 5 (hive lord) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (3E), Unaligned (4E-5E)

Insectoid-reptilian creatures that live in large, dangerous swarms.
----
* AcidAttack: A kruthik hive lord can spray digestive acid from its maw.
* BioweaponBeast: In ''TabletopGame/NentirVale'', they were created by the tiefling empire of Bael Turath to be living siege engines. They proved impossible to control, however, and escaped into the Underdark when Bael Turath fell.
* CraftedFromAnimals: Kruthik chitin, when properly treated, can be used to make strong and lightweight shields and armor.
* ItCanThink: Kruthiks are driven by instinct, but at least some hive mothers are capable of planing and strategy. In the [[ComicBook/DungeonsAndDragons 4e comic]], one asks Tisha (a tiefling, whom she recognizes as her creators) to take care of her spawn, as the mother is dying.
* MixAndMatchCritters: In-universe, they are hybrids of insect and drake.
* NonMaliciousMonster: They are Unaligned starting in 4th Edition, reflecting that they act on instinct alone with no true malice intended. Mordenkainen ponders if maybe their purpose in the natural order is to end civilizations.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: When two swarms meet, their leading hive lords battle to the death while the rest watch. The winner devours the loser's corpse and then takes control of its swarm.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kuo-toa]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kuo_toa_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Humanoid (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E), 1/4 (standard) to 6 (archpriest) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Insane fish-men who live in the Underdark and obsessively worship whatever catches their eye.
----
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: In 5th edition, the kuo-toa are constantly inventing new gods. If enough of them believe in a given god, that god becomes real, manifesting then and there as a PhysicalGod.
* EvilSmellsBad: The air around a kuo-toa always stinks of rotten fish.
* {{Expy}}: Kuo-toas are fish-like humanoids that lurk in half-sunken settlements and keep great knowledge of ancient, forgotten evils slumbering beneath the sea. It's not difficult to see how these guys were inspired by Creator/HPLovecraft's own Deep Ones.
* FishPerson: They resemble a humanoid cross between a frog and a particularly ugly fish, are naturally amphibious and live in settlements straddling the shores of underground seas.
* InfectiousInsanity: The result of centuries of inbreeding and the cruel regime of their patron deity. A kuo-toa who suddenly snaps during a religious rite or the stress of everyday life can inspire homicidal outbursts in its neighbors, so a special caste called Monitors closely watches a settlement's population for any signs of madness, and exiles those whose sanity begins to break. These crazed kuo-toa fend for themselves on the settlement's periphery and act as the first line of defense adventurers will encounter. In other cases, kuo-toa clerics, called Whips, will imprison insane kuo-toa in dungeons beneath the temples of Blibdoolpoolp, ready to unleash them upon any trespassers. The maddened howls of these prisoners add a unique flavor to religious services.
* SeeTheInvisible: Kuo-toa have otherworldly senses which let them detect the presence of nearby invisible-slash-ethereal creatures.
* ShockAndAwe: A pair of kuo-toa priests can work together to create powerful electric shocks.
* StickySituation: Kuo-toa coat their shields with their own alchemically-treated secretions, allowing them to catch any blows with the glue-covered shields and potentially disarm opponents.
* WeakenedByTheLight: The kuo-toa have spent ages living in the lightless depths of the Underdark, so sunlight — or any bright light, really — bothers them a great deal.
[[/folder]]

!!L

[[folder:Lamia]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:4e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_4e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Lamia, 3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Lamia noble, 3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_noble_3e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:2e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_2e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Fey (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E), 12 (4E), 4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Half-bestial hedonists who use their powers of illusion and seduction to enslave and corrupt humanoids.
----
* TheCorruptor: Lamias love seducing pure-hearted heroes into evil, and try to lure such potential victims to their lairs.
* GladiatorGames: They might amuse themselves by using ''geas'' spells to have their thralls fight to the death in front of them.
* MasterOfIllusion: They're potent illusionists, able to hide their bestial form with ''disguise self'', or make a desert ruin appear as a luxurious pleasure palace with ''major image''.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Lamias have the upper bodies of humans mounted on the torsos and legs of lions.
* ReligionOfEvil: Lamias have an affinity for the demon lord Graz'zt, who in some tellings actually creates lamias from mortal worshipers, and frequently lead cults dedicated to him on the Material Plane.
* {{Retcon}}: They've evolved over the editions. The earliest lamias could have the lower bodies of goats or deer in addition to leonine forms, and were a OneGenderRace of seductresses, but eventually they settled on being lion-taurs or snake-people, and male lamias were introduced. 4th Edition, as was its wont, radically redesigned lamias into fey that could shift between humanoid form and a swarm of beetles, then 5th Edition reverted to the previous model.
* SnakePeople: Lamia nobles have the lower bodies of serpents, rather than lions.
* StupidityInducingAttack: A lamia's touch intoxicates other creatures, giving them disadvantage on Wisdom checks (or inflicting [[NonHealthDamage Wisdom drain]], in previous editions) and thus making them more susceptible to a lamia's charms, magical and non-magical.
* TheWormThatWalks: The 4th edition lamia is a swarm of intelligent, magical insects occupying a hollowed-out humanoid corpse. Each time it kills a humanoid, another beetle appears in the swarm, until it grows large enough to split into two lamias.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lammasu]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lammasu_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood

These noble creatures appear as human-headed, winged lions, and are concerned with the well-being of all good people, but attack evil on sight.
----
* BreathWeapon: Lammasus can breathe a cone of fire.
* DeadlyLunge: Like a lion, a lammasu can pounce on foes during a charge to rake them with their claws.
* HermitGuru: They often live in ruins and abandoned temples in the desert, where they spend much of their time contemplating how to promote goodness and combat evil. They are often sought out for their wisdom, magic and power; they receive good-hearted people gladly, but tolerate no evil visitors.
* SheduAndLammasu: They fit the classical myth pretty closely, being noble, compassionate, AlwaysLawfulGood beings with human heads and winged leonine bodies. They're potent forces of good that can cast spells as if they were clerics, breathe fire, and are surrounded by a constant ''magic circle against evil''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Leskylor]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_leskylor_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (standard), 10 (three-headed) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Intelligent beasts usually found prowling Eronia, the rugged second layer of the Blessed Fields of Elysium, but they sometimes ally themselves with crusaders for good, serving as companions or mounts. Some leskylors have multiple heads, and are correspondingly more dangerous.
----
* BreathWeapon: They can blast foes with a [[AnIcePerson cone-shapd burst of frost]]. This is made worse in the case of three-headed leskylors, as they all breathe frost simulatenously, either hitting multiple targets at once or focusing on a single foe.
* DeadlyLunge: Like less-fantastic lions, leskylors can pounce during a charge to rake a target with their claws.
* GreatWhiteFeline: The leskylor is an intelligent snow-white, winged tiger, 10 feet long with a 30-foot wingspan, that protects mountainous regions and forests from evil.
* SapientSteed: Leskylors sometimes agree to serve as mounts for crusaders for good.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Leucrotta]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_leucrotta_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_leucrotta_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Greater leucrotta, 2e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_greater_leucrotta_2e.jpg[[/labelnote]] ]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Loathsome predators that are as cruelly intelligent as they are foul.
----
* CraftedFromAnimals: According to their 2nd Edition write-up, a standard leucrotta's hide can be made into ''boots of striding and springing'', while a shapeshifting greater leucrotta's hide can duplicate a ''cloak of elvenkind'', or their hooves used for ''boots of varied tracks''. "There are rumors that leucrotta saliva is an effective antidote to love philters, but so far there have been no volunteers to test this theory."
* TheCreon: 5th Edition leucrottas feel a strong bond with Yeenoghu, and are a welcome addition to a gnoll pack. They're also tougher, smarter and faster than a typical gnoll, but almost never try to usurp gnoll chieftains or lead the pack directly - instead, they are content to serve the chieftain as a pet and steed, and to offer them tactical advice during battle.
* EliteMook: The rare greater leucrottas are also known as changesteeds for being able to [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshift into any quadrupedal creature they have seen]], potentially taking even the fantastic forms of griffons, owlbears and pegasi. The catch is that [[MorphicResonance their teeth remain the same no matter what form they take.]] Changesteeds are feared for using this power to KillAndReplace a humanoid's mount, only to turn on their rider once they're alone. Unlike lesser leucrottas, changesteeds don't have a tell-tale stench that gives them away, but [[EvilDetectingCat cats can instinctively sense their presence and won't come near them.]]
* EvilSmellsBad: A leucrotta emits a stench so foul that only gnolls can tolerate their presence. The only smell worse is the thing's breath.
* MixAndMatchCritters: A leucrotta has the head of a giant badger, the legs (and tracks) of a deer, the body of a stag or hyena, and the tufted tail of a lion. In theory this combination of parts could be, if not handsome, then at least not hideous, but no such luck for the leucrotta.
* MooksAteMyEquipment: In past editions, leucrottas could apply their bone-breaking bites to heroes' armor or shields, potentially destroying them on a CriticalHit.
* PersonAsVerb: In [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms parts of the Realms]], "leucrotta!" has become a swear word indicating a situation where bad luck has turned a good plan into a bad idea.
* PragmaticVillainy: Leucrottas are happy to eat humanoids, but too smart to make a habit of it, preferring to go after prey that won't send vengeful relatives after them.
* {{Retcon}}: While in past editions leucrottas were simply nasty magical creatures, 5th Edition closely linked them with the gnolls and the demon lord Yeenoghu, even tweaking their bodies to give them hyena characteristics.
* {{Sadist}}: Whenever possible, a leucrotta will meticulously plan its kills in order to draw as much suffering from the victim as possible before their death. They also hunt for the joy of killing even when their bellies are full, depopulating the wildlife in a region and leaving behind carrion that only the foulest of scavengers will touch. As a result, [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the evilest of druids and rangers despise leucrottas as blights upon nature.]]
* VoiceChangeling: In addition to speaking normally, leucrottas can mimic the sounds of other animals or even humanoids, in order to lure victims into ambushes. They can also "replay" the sounds of their victims, particularly the ones they managed to keep alive for a long time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lillend]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lillend_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood

Winged, serpentine celestials from the Heroic Domains of Ysgard, the patrons of art and defenders of the unspoiled wilderness.
----
* ItsPersonal: Lillends are infamous for holding grudges and violently punishing those who go after their favorite arts or landscapes.
* MagicMusic: They have the bardic music and spellcasting abilities of a 6th-level bard.
* PersonalSpaceInvader: They can use their snake halves to wrap around and constrict enemies, holding them in place while the lillend's upper body is free to fight, if not move.
* SnakePeople: A lillend is somewhere between a WingedHumanoid and FeatheredSerpent.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Liondrake]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liondrake_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5E]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=3E=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_dragonne.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Magical Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Liondrakes, known as dragonnes before 4th Edition, are wild predators with the features of both lions and brass dragons.
----
* ArtEvolution: Their design tends to fluctuate significantly from edition to edition. 1st Edition's dragonnes are essentially dragons with leonine heads. 2nd Edition goes in the other direction, and depicts them as lions with scaly cheeks and dragon wings. 3rd goes for a more even blend, with fully scaly bodies that nonetheless have feline proportions; 4th uses a stockier version of this design. 5th Edition returns to a primarily feline appearance with a very long neck and tail, with the only truly draconic part being the wings -- which, instead of the previous versions' batlike wings, are the finlike limbs of brass dragons.
* CatlikeDragons: Liondrakes are chimeric creatures with features of lions and brass dragons. Depending on the edition, their appearance can vary between that of a dragon with a leonine head to that of a scaly lion with dragon wings.
* UndergroundMonkey: Uncommonly, dragonnes may have the features of other dragons besides brasses -- Mystaran ones are part-gold dragon, while Krynnian dragonnes may have the traits of any type of metallic dragon. Krynnian dragonnes may additionally be part-tiger or -puma instead of leonine.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: A liondrake's roar induces fear intense enough to paralyze those who hear it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Living Doll]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_living_doll_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

----
* TheCorruptor: Within each living doll is a mean spirit that encourage others to behave badly, and takes pleasure in tormenting the guilt-ridden and despondent.
* EvilLaugh: In battle, a living doll torments foes with a maniacal cackle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Living Spell]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_living_spell_burning_hands_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Living ''burning hands'' (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (3E), Construct (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' Varies (3E), 1 (living ''burning hands'') to 7 (living ''cloudkill'') (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Varies (3E), Unaligned (5E)

These magical anomalies are spells that, rather than resolving normally, linger and continue to affect their surroundings, indiscriminately attacking other creatures.
----
* BlobMonster: Their 3rd Edition stats lean into this, giving living spells an "engulf" attack and treating them like oozes.
* FusionDance: Some of the more dangerous living spells combine multiple spells, for example "glitterfire," a combination of ''glitterdust'' and ''fireball'', a spell combo often used on the battlefields of TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}.
* PureMagicBeing: Living spells are spell effects that become living beings and subsist on ambient magical energy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lizardfolk]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lizardfolk_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (standard and poison dusk), 3 (blackscale) (3E); 1/2 (standard) to 4 (lizard king/queen) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Primitive, swamp-dwelling, reptillian humanoids with a cold-bloodedly pragmatic approach to survival. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Locathah]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_locathah_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=3e=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_locathah_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E, 5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Nomadic fish folk who favor warm waters where they hunt crustaceans. Though not deranged like the kuo-toa nor vicious like the sahuagin, locathahs are wary of surface-dwellers due to the number of their kin who end up caught in fishing nets.
----
* ArtEvolution: Their 2nd Edition art is basically that of a less portly kuo-toa, while 3rd Edition gave them a much more distinct look, like bipedal angler fish, only for 5th edition to make them rounded and smoother.
* FishPerson: What kind of fish they resemble changes with each edition, but they remain bipedal piscine humanoids. Notable is that while they have legs, they are not explicitly amphibious like the kuo-toa, or able to survive out of the water for a few hours like the sahuagin.
* MadeASlave: They have a history of being enslaved by evil undersea races, contributing to their caution towards outsiders.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lycanthrope]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_werewolf_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:Werewolf (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' Varies by type\\
'''Alignment:''' Varies by type and edition

Accursed humanoids who transform into monstrous animals by the light of the full moon. Some lycanthropes try to resist the evil impulses of their animal forms, while others embrace them instead.
----
* AnAxeToGrind: In human and hybrid form, werebears prefer to fight with greataxes.
* TheBeastmaster: Lycanthropes can communicate with regular and dire variants of their base animals and, while they cannot truly command them, the regular beasts tend to be fairly well-disposed towards their lycanthropic counterparts.
* CatFolk: In hybrid form, weretigers resemble nine-foot-tall humanoid versions of their namesake, with fur, tails and powerful claws.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When in animal form, the main thing setting lycanthropes apart from regular animals is the fact that their eyes glow red.
* GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals: You can generally tell whether a lycanthrope is good or evil by what kind of animal it turns into. If it turns into something imposing, majestic or with generally positive cultural associations, like a bear or a tiger, it's good. If it turns into something ugly or despised like a boar, a wolf or a rat, it's evil.
* NonIndicativeName: "Lycanthrope" is strictly synonymous with "werewolf", being a construct of "lykos", "wolf", and "anthropos", "human". Despite this, a lycanthrope in ''D&D'' terms can belong to any humanoid or giant species and transform into any sort of animal.
* NoSell: Lycanthropes are highly resistant (and in some editions, outright immune) to the damage inflicted by any nonmagical weapon that is not made of [[SilverBullet silver]].
* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: Werebeasts are collectively (and inaccurately) lycanthropes. They can take three shapes -- human with a few odd traits (such as thick hair or claw-like nails), animal with glowing eyes, and humanoid animal. Lycanthropy can be spread by a lycanthrope biting a non-lycanthrope humanoid, and can also be something one is born with if at least one parent has it. In addition to werewolves, there werebears, werecats, wererats, wearboars, weretigers, dire wereboars (hill giants that turn into dire boars), and jackleweres, just to name a few. The 3.5 edition ''Monster Manual'' has rules for the use of any type of animal as template for a werebeast.
* PigMan: In hybrid form, wereboars are humanoids with short, stiff fur and boar-like tusks.
* RatMen: In hybrid form, wererats resemble wiry humanoid rodents.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: A wererat's animal form is a giant rat rather than a normal-sized one.
* SavageWolves: Werewolves are chaotic evil, making them the only main-list lycanthropes to be evil by default.
* SuperSenses: Many lycanthropes have sharper senses than those of ordinary humanoids.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Lycanthropes who choose to embrace their curse gain a measure of control over it, allowing them to assume hybrid or animal form at will.
* WolfMan: In hybrid form, werewolves sport humanoid frames with fur, tails, digitigrade legs, wolf heads and claws.
* YouDirtyRat: Wererats are almost always evil, and clans of them operate like thieves' guilds.

[[/folder]]

!!M

[[folder:Magen]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_magen_demos_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Demos magen (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (demos), 3 (galvan), 1 (hypnos) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
----
* ShockAndAwe: Galvan magen can store static electricity, which they discharge as lightning bolts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magmin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_magmin_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Elemental\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 1/2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Elemental beings from the Plane of Fire that resemble little gremlins made of magma.
----
* ActionBomb: Magmins explode when they die.
* LivingLava: They look like stumpy humanoids shaped from a black shell of lava.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Magmins aren't dedicated to evil like some elementals, but they love to watch things burn, and don't understand that other creatures find fire painful and deadly.
* PlayingWithFire: Their mere touch is hot enough to set people and flammable objects on fire.
* {{Pyromaniac}}: Magmins have a propensity for fire and havoc, viewing flammable objects as kindling. Only their summoners' control keeps them from setting everything ablaze.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manticore]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_manticore.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=3e=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_manticore_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Man-eating monsters that bring human cunning to their predations.
----
* AttackAnimal: They're willing to ally themselves with other creatures, serving as aerial support, hunting companions, or guards for locations or individuals.
* FoodChainOfEvil: By working as a pack, manticores can bring down rival aerial creatures like griffons, chimeras or wyverns, but they fear and avoid dragons.
* IShallTauntYou: They shout insults when attacking, or offer to kill their victims quickly should they beg for mercy.
* OurManticoresAreSpinier: Most editions have given manticores a fairly straightforward appearance with a lion body, batlike wings, a human head with three rows of shark-like teeth, and a tail tipped with a cluster of spines that they can launch like arrows, but the 3.5 ''Monster Manual'' depicts them with low-slung, leopard spotted bodies and heads resembling twisted, monstrous monkeys more than anything else. Regardless of appearance, they're evil, aggressive beings with a taste for human flesh.
* SpikeShooter: Manticores can snap their tails like whips to send the spikes there flying like arrows, and tend to open fights with such a volley before diving into melee.
* ToServeMan: Manticores enjoy humanoid flesh, but particularly relish humans above all other prey.
-->'''[[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Marthok Uldarr]]:''' Manticores love the taste of human flesh. That's why, on trips through the mountains, I always travel with human bodyguards.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meazel]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_meazel_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=3e=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_meazel_3e.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Humanoid (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 1 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Degenerate humanoids that lurk in dismal places while stalking prey.
----
* BackStab: 3rd Edition meazels can deal extra Sneak Attack damage to flanked or surprised foes.
* {{Curse}}: The 5th Edition meazels curse any creature they take through a shadow teleport, which allows undead and other Shadowfell creatures to sense the cursed victim from a distance of 300 feet.
* PoisonousPerson: Swamp-dwelling meazels carry an unslightly skin disease that doesn't affect them, but can infect those they hit with claw attacks, dealing [[NonHealthDamage Dexterity and Constitution damage.]]
* {{Retcon}}: In 3rd Edition, meazels are diseased, swamp-dwelling creatures that stalk and murder other humanoids with their stealth skills. In 5th Edition, meazels are debased creatures of the Shadowfell that murder other humanoids with their shadow magic.
* ShadowWalker: Stepping into a shadow allows a 5th Edition meazel to magically move to another one.
* SuperReflexes: 3rd Edition meazels share a rogue's Evasion ability, allowing them to fully avoid attacks with a Reflex saving throw.
* WasOnceAMan: As per their current lore, meazels are all that remain of people who fled into the Shadowfell to escape their mortal existence and ended up transformed by the darkness.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Medusa]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_medusa_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=3e=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/medusa_d&d.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 6 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Snake-haired women who can turn living beings to stone with their gaze.
----
* GorgeousGorgon: Besides the snakes and odd skin colors, many medusae are quite beautiful by humanoid standards. This is very much averted in second and third edition, where medusae look at best like hideous old crones and at worst like inhuman monsters with skin covered in thick scales, glowing red eyes, and gaunt faces with flatted, almost non-existent noses.
* {{Medusa}}: Medusas have always been a species, but they have undergone some changes between editions.
** In 2nd edition, medusas are a race resembling elven maidens with serpents for hair and the ability to petrify with their gaze, even affecting creatures on the Ethereal or Astral Planes (into which they can see). Approximately 10% of the females are "greater medusae", who have super-toxic blood and [[SnakePeople a giant snake's body in lieu of humanoid legs]]. There are also male medusas, called maedar, who appear as [[BizarreSexualDimorphism bald muscular elven men]]. Maedar are ridiculously rare; whereas female medusae produce 2-6 medusa daughters by [[InterspeciesRomance mating with human men]], the result of a medusa/maedar coupling is two to six offspring, with 25% being male and the remaining 75% being female. Only ''1%'' of the males are maedar; the rest of them, and ''all'' of the females, are pure human. In addition to lacking the hair-snakes, maedar have no petrifying gaze; instead, they are immune to petrification, paralysis and medusa venom, can walk through stone, and can undo petrification with a touch. Medusa/maedar pairs often use this to keep food fresh -- the medusa petrifies victims, they smash the statue, and the maedar turns chunks back to flesh when the pair wants to eat.
** In editions 3 and 3.5, medusas are an AlwaysFemale species with a humanoid body but scaly skin, glowing red eyes, and gaunt faces with flatted, almost non-existent noses. A petrifying gaze attack as well as poison bites from the hair snakes come with the package. Medusas can procreate with any humanoid species, with the offspring normally being medusae themselves. Petrification is permanent by default, but advanced magic can reverse it. In ''Savage Species'', several intelligent monsters including medusae are made into playable races. If you wanted to play a medusa under the standard rules you have to start at level 10 or higher, but with ''Savage Species'' you can start as a level 1 immature medusa who has not yet developed her full potential. The same expansions also introduces a feat that allows medusas to enable and disable their gaze attack at will or to focus it at specific opponents, allowing others to see their faces without being turned to stone unless the medusa wants to do so. Sadly, like most monsters in the book, medusas are CoolButInefficient due to losing so many class levels to normal player character races and because their two main powers (petrification and poison) are things that are extremely dangerous to normal PC races but something that [[UselessUsefulSpell many monsters are immune or highly resistant to]].
** In fourth edition, medusae are a species in the usual sense, with both males and females. The females are classic medusas, pretty much the same as in the previous edition except that they can now un-petrify their victims by applying a drop of their own blood. The males have different powers, in that they're bald (so no snake-hair attacks) and they can poison with their gaze rather than petrify, rather like certain mythological depictions of the basilisk. Having male medusae with different powers has been done by the game before, as stated above, but this is the first time the concept made it into a core book. Both sexes resemble the scaly humanoid from 3rd edition, though with less haggish features.
** In the fifth addition, medusae look like humans with snakes for hair, have males with identical powers and are cursed to turn into medusae on an individual basis.
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', medusae have a unique culture largely based around avoiding looking someone in the eyes -- they're not immune to the petrifying gaze of other medusae, so it's kind of the only choice. They were created by the [[EldritchAbomination daelkyr]], but broke free when the [[SealedEvilInACan creatures were sealed away]]. Oh, and there are explicitly males as well--where do you think all the baby medusae come from?
** In ''TabletopGame/ScarredLands'', medusae were created by the titan Mormo. In this setting, pretty much everything was created by the Titans, including the gods. Two centuries ago, the gods rose up against them in what came to be known as the Titanswar or the Divine War. The medusae were initially an important force at the titans' side, but they switched side to serve the Gods, particularly the neutral evil goddess Belsameth.
* TakenForGranite: A medusa's gaze will petrify anyone who looks into her eyes. Whether this is something they can control, and whether other medusas are or aren't immune to it, varies between settings and editions.
* VainSorceress: 5th edition medusas are formerly mortal individuals, male or female, who bargained with dark powers to gain eternal youth, beauty, and immortality. They got what they wanted, but the transformation into a medusa was the price each of them had to pay.
* WasOnceAMan: In 5th edition, every medusa was once a normal person. Their monstrous appearance and petrifying gaze are the result of a curse brought on by their vanity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meenlock]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E), Fey (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil
----
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Meenlocks give other creatures the creeps and project a supernatural aura that instills terror.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mephit]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Elemental (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 1/2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Mephits are a species of imp-like elemental monsters native to the Elemental Planes and Energy Planes. Coming in a vast array of subspecies based on particular elements, their appearances, abilities and personalities all differ depending on their precise elemental affinity. The one trait they share in common is that they are all incredibly annoying.

Come 5th edition, mephits were modified to fit the new variant of the Great Wheel, stripping them of most of their member species and reduced to only six variants: dust mephits, ice mephits, magma mephits, mud mephits, smoke mephits, and steam mephits. Their new lore is that mephits are only born when two (or possibly more) types of elemental energy interweave, which is also why they tend to be weaker than pure elementals.
----
* {{Conlang}}: In ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' lore, there's actually an established form of code language involving sending mephits, where the type(s) of mephit sent and the number of them sent conveys different responses or information. For obvious reasons, you only send mephits to rivals, enemies and other people you just don't like. For example, an ice mephit indicates that the recipient is now officially forbidden from entering the home of the sender, with the number of ice mephits sent roughly indicating just how harshly they will be punished if they try.
* TheImp: Mephits are small, devilish elementals with long noses, batlike wings, grating personalities and very low placement on the planar pecking order and food chain.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mercane]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mercane_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

Sometimes known as arcanes, these tall, blue humanoids are merchants who travel the Great Wheel, selling magical items and other exotic goods to anyone who can meet their prices.
----
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Big, bald and blue humanoids.
* ArmsDealer: Mercanes have been known to sell potent magic weapons to both sides of a war, uncaring that the result kills off all their potential customers and desolates a region.
* BadBoss: If a battle turns against them, mercanes are known to use ''dimension door'' or ''invisibility'' to ditch their bodyguards and make a run for it.
* CreepyLongFingers: Beyond their height and skin tone, another key mercane feature is that their fingers are long enough to have an extra joint on them.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Varies from the source material, with their early entries explaining that mercanes will never deal with fiends, genies and the neogi, while later information states that they'll hire appropriate bodyguards for a trade mission into the Abyss.
* IntrepidMerchant: It doesn't get more intrepid than forming a caravan to travel the Lower Planes.
* KnowWhenToFoldThem: Mercanes can cast ''Leomund's secret chest'' once per day, which they'll use to pull out a magic wand in an emergency... or just bribe a threat to go away.
* ProudMerchantRace: Every mercane encountered has been a merchant.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Merrow]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Brutish aquatic monsters which may or may not be related to ogres, depending on the edition.
----
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: 5th Edition merrow are inherently evil due to generations of demon worship and living in the Abyss, which has corrupted them in body and soul.
* {{Retcon}}: Merrow were an aquatic subspecies of ogre for the first three editions of the game. [=5E=] reimagines them as the corrupted, monstrous descendants of demon-worshipping merfolk.
* WasOnceAMan: Merrow are descended from merfolk who found an idol of Demogorgon at the bottom of the sea, became afflicted with madness, migrated to Demogorgon's layer of the Abyss, and were slowly transformed by Abyssal energies after generations.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: If a merrow nails someone with its harpoon, the unfortunate victim will be pulled up to 20 feet closer to the merrow unless they succeed on a Strength save.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Metallic Sentinel]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (warbler), 4 (sentinel) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood
----
* EmotionBomb: A metallic sentinel can release a gas that calms those who breathe in it.
* GuardianEntity: When a metallic dragon grows attached to a settlement of smaller folk, it might decide to create a metallic peacekeeper, which can protect the community for centuries, maintaining peace and order.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mimic]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E), Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
----
* ChestMonster: In many ways, the ''D&D'' mimic is the archetypal example of the stealthy monster that pretends to be loot and attacks players that come to investigate.

!!Hoard Mimic
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (5E)
----
* BlobMonster: A hoard mimic's true form is massive and amorphous, allowing it to take the form of a vast trove of treasures.
* DragonHoard: Many hoard mimics work with dragons, serving as a false hoard in a dragon's lair to draw unwitting thieves away from the real hoard and into the mimic's maw.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mind Flayers]]
!!True Illithids
!!!Illithid
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mind_flayer_5e.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Aberrant Humanoid (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 14 (4E), 7 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (3E, 5E), Evil (4E)

Humanoid creatures with tentacled faces, psionic powers, and a rather unique dietary requirement. They dwell in alien colonies within the Underdark, but regularly raid the surface world for captives, or send their agents to manipulate other civilizations.
----
* AntiMagicalFaction: Mind Flayers despise arcane magic, and deviant arcanists are shunned. The reason for this is twofold; Firstly, Illithids already have innate psionics, and consider arcane magic, which requires long periods of study and practice, to be inferior. Secondly, elder brains discourage arcane magic because it works independently of the psionic network, and empowers individual illithids to strike out on their own.
* BizarreAlienReproduction: Illithid reproduction is two-part; first, an adult illithid vomits up or lays (it depends on the sourcebook) a mass of gelatinous eggs in the elder brain's pool, which hatch into tadpole-like illithid larvae. Assuming they aren't eaten by others in the pond or the elder brain itself before maturing, they are then inserted into the ear of a helpless humanoid, whereupon they consume its brain and physically merge with its spinal column to become an adult illithid. Should the larva go for too long without implanting, which usually only happens if a mind flayer colony is destroyed and the larvae left to fend for themselves, it will grow into a massive, wormlike and largely mindless monster called a neothelid.
* BrainFood: An illithid needs to eat at least one humanoid brain per month, and ideally prefers one per week. ''Lords of Madness'' explains this as being due to ceremorphosis leaving illithids without a true brain integrated into the body -- instead, the skull is occupied by the original parasitic larva, which controls and is firmly rooted into the body but does not actually perform the metabolic functions of the organ it replaced. Thus, illithids cannot produce a number of important hormones, regulatory chemicals and psychic signals, and make do by consuming those of other beings.
* TheChessmaster: Illithids work to undermine the civilizations of the surface world, not because the mind flayers view them as a threat, but as a sort of political experiment. Every empire that collapses due to the illithids' machinations is providing them with data they can use to avoid making the same mistakes when they (re)establish their own empire.
* CoupDeGrace: In some rules, illithids can make an "extract brain" attack against a helpless or grappled foe, which for the vast majority of creatures is a OneHitKill. Combined with their ''Mind Blast'''s ability to stun targets for several rounds at a time, this makes mind flayers extremely dangerous even when they aren't using the rest of their psychic repertoire.
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: Humanoid shape; skin colored in shades of dark green, blue, or purple; and four tentacles emerging from their face, with a lamprey-like mouth in between them.
* OneHitKill: In 3rd Edition, if a mind flayer manages to extract an enemy's last or only brain, it dies instantly.
* OutsideContextProblem: As per their ''Lords of Madness'' background, the illithids originate from the far future, when their empire of dead and dying suns was facing catastrophe at the hands of an unknown aggressor. Using a psionic ritual, the mind flayers cast themselves back through the aeons to a relatively short period of time before the ''D&D'' "present" time. This is why aboleths, who can remember things from ''before'' the dawn of time, are [[HorrifyingTheHorror creeped out by the illithids]], which as far as they can tell just came out of nowhere.
* PeopleFarms: Downplayed. Illithids can and do keep and breed humanoid slaves in order to have ready access to brains to consume, but there are a number of issues that make this scheme impractical. Firstly, illithids thrive best on humanoid brains, and humanoids breed and mature slowly, requiring disproportionately large farms to compensate -- some illithids minimize this issue by farming quick-breeding and quick-growing species like goblins, orcs and grimlocks, but these still require a decade or more to grow to reproductive age and aren't actually as nutritious as slower-growing humans, dwarves or elves. Secondly, the "flavor" and nutrition of a brain are directly related to the complexity of its mind's experiences and emotions, which psychic thralldom strongly inhibits. Thus, while illithids keep some slaves as future food and even breed them, they chiefly rely on raiding independent settlements for food.
* PickyPeopleEater: Besides just eating brains, illithids are extremely discriminating about their food. Firstly, they prefer complex minds, packed with knowledge and experiences and as intelligent and emotionally rich as can be achieved -- typical peasants may just make do, experienced leaders and adventurers are relished, a sage or wizard is a rare treat. Secondly, they also have strong opinions about which species they most enjoy eating. Troglodytes are repulsive, and only eaten to avoid starvation. Goblinoids, orcs and ogres are acceptable, with surface-dwelling ones being preferred to their subterranean cousins, but are never a first choice. Humans, elves, drow, duergar and dwarves, being generally more intelligent and emotionally developed, are favored staples of the illithid diet. Grimlocks are a treat due to their lack of sight giving their brains a unique flavor. The long-lived, elusive and highly emotive fey are rare delicacies.
* PsychicPowers: Illithids have many psionic powers, the most infamous of which is their ''Mind Blast'', a cone-shaped psychic assault that stuns intelligent creatures long enough for the illithid to eat their brains.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
** Purple worms are one of the only creatures that the mind flayers outright fear universally.
** Illithids also have trouble with the undead, since they have no minds to dominate, can evade psionic detection, and aren't inconvenienced by having their brains bitten out of their skulls.

!!!Ulitharid
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ulitharid.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E), 9 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Very rarely, an implanted tadpole transforms an individual into an ulitharid, a larger and more potent mind flayer that boasts six tentacles. In 5th Edition, they're revealed to be nascent elder brains.
----
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The ulitharids' power over common illithids is rooted in two factors -- their great rarity, and their much greater physical strength and psychic powers.
* LargeAndInCharge: Ulitharids tower over common illithids, typically standing between seven and eight feet in height.
* {{Metamorphosis}}: In 5th Edition, after an ulitharid establishes a new illithid colony, it ritually opens its own skull to expose its brain. Its illithid servants then plant its brain in its body, which rapidly dissolves into a pool of ichor to sustain the ulitharid's development into an embryonic elder brain.
* MookLieutenant: Ulitharids are typically seconds-in-command in their cities, obeying the elder brain but commanding the smaller and weaker illithids.
* StaffOfAuthority: An ulitharid's status and authority are symbolized by the twisted black staff which it carries at all time.

!!!Elder Brain
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elder_brain.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 25 (3E), 14 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

The undisputed rulers of illithid colonies, the elder brains use their prodigious intellects to guide their subjects, and their formidable psychic powers to defend against any threats, whether external or internal.
----
* BigBrotherIsWatching: An elder brain provides constant psychic surveillance of a mind flayer colony. In addition to making it very difficult for enemies to infiltrate it, this allows the elder brain to detect any dissent among its illithid subordinates.
* BizarreAlienReproduction: Elder brains are the final stage of the mind flayer life cycle. Once an ulitharid reaches the end of its life, it removes its brain, which grows into an elder brain.
* BrainMonster: Illithid elder brains float in large brine pools in illithid cities. Each is made up of the combined brain matter of old illithids that sacrificed themselves to join it.
* {{Golem}}: Elder brains can "bud" a roughly-humanoid lump of gray matter simply called a brain golem, which they use as a last line of defense or to accomplish physical tasks that they don't trust to their illithid subjects. As such, mind flayers view the silent brain golems with some degree of awe as they go about their inscrutable work.
* MindHive: Illithids have no fear of death, as a dead mind flayer's brain can be removed from its body and placed into the elder brain's pool to be absorbed by the greater brain, thus allowing the mind flayer to join the mental gestalt of past illithids. But see below...
* ScamReligion: While an elder brain does absorb information from illithid brains it absorbs, and feeds off their psionic energy, no part of the original mind flayers' consciousness survives the elder brain's consumption. The elder brains are careful to keep the truth about this secret, to better manipulate and ensure the loyalty of the mind flayers.
* StrongerWithAge: Elder brains are immortal unless killed, and never enfeeble or grow senile -- they simply become wiser and stronger, their psychic power slowly but steadily increasing.

!!!Elder Brain Dragon
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 22 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil
----
* BreathWeapon: It breathes out ''illithid tadpoles''.
* TheSymbiote: When a mind flayer colony manages to capture a dragon, the elder brain latches onto the dragon's back and digs its tentacles into the dragon's brain, creating an elder brain dragon.
* WeaponizedOffspring: The elder brain dragon can release a stream of briny liquid roiling with illithid tadpoles, which can swiftly transform foes into mind flayers, allowing the elder brain dragon to grow its own roving colony.

!!Ceremorphs
Creatures created by inserting illithid tadpoles in creatures other than medium-sized humanoids.

!!!Brainstealer Dragon
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Dragons created when a tadpole infects a dragon, which thankfully happens rarely because dragons are usually too rare and powerful for illithids to easily find and subdue. Powerful and dangerous creatures, brainstealer dragons often prove too willful and independent for even the elder brains to control. For tropes pertaining to them, see Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons, under True Dragons.

!!!Gnome Ceremorph
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Any
----
* GadgeteerGenius: A gnome ceremorph retains fragmented memories of its previous life, including a penchant for invention.

!!!Gnome Squidling
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
----
* PowerFloats: A gnome squidling keeps its body aloft with levitation and uses its tentacles like legs.

!!!Mindwitness
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mindwitness.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Mindwitnesses are the result of a beholder being brought safely to the brine pool of the elder brain and converted through ceremorphosis. They're actually fairly docile, and if the mind flayers are removed from the equation they will just drift around looking for new masters.
----
* ClippedWingAngel: You'd think a ceremorphosed beholder would be absolutely ''terrifying'', but they are actually docile beasts of burden, and the illithid transformation robs the beholder of its most dangerous eye rays and AntiMagic cone. Justified, since an immensely powerful, intelligent and insane RealityWarper is the ''last'' thing a mind flayer colony would want running around.
* {{Oculothorax}}: A mindwitnesses resembles a fleshy, tentacled orb dominated by a single central eye.
* PsychicLink: A mindwitness is basically a psychic relay, and they have the ability to transmit any psionic message they receive to a number of other entitites within the mindwitness' sight.

!!!Uchuulon
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Also known as "slime chuuls," these creatures are technically failed ceremorphs since the illithid tadpole doesn't survive the implantation attempt, but the process reduces the chuul to a creature the illithids find a more tractable slave.
----
* ClippedWingAngel: The failed ceremorphosis makes uchuulons more sluggish than chuuls, and renders their carapace translucent.
* CoveredInGunge: The thick slime that uchuulons ooze gives them additional physical protection, and has even odds of negating a CriticalHit.
* TheParalyzer: An uchuulon's tentacles exude a paralytic secretion that renders prey helpless, allowing the illithids to easily take them captive, or for the uchuulon to feed.

!!!Urophion
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 13 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

A surprisingly viable roper ceremorph, these creatures are relegated to perimeter defense duty by their home colony.
----
* AndIMustScream: Urophions are thoroughly miserable creatures, with the intelligence of a mind flayer trapped in a nearly-immobile roper body, and are described as living lives of "desperate loneliness and frustration."
* PetTheDog: About the only thing a urophion can look forward to after a life of FantasticRacism and lonely servitude is the "honor" of joining the elder brain's pool upon death.
* PsychicPowers: They possess a base illithid's ''Mind Blast'' ability, and can use ''detect thoughts'' and ''suggestion'' at will.
* ThatsNoMoon: Like a standard roper, urophions are hard to distinguish from a normal stalagmite, but their improved tentacles and psychic powers make them even more dangerous when the ruse is up.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Urophions have the same tentacles and drag attack as a base roper, but can combine it with an "Extract Brain" attack once they reel prey in.

!!Related Creatures
!!!Cranium Rat
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Beast (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (small pack), 5 (medium pack), 11 (large pack) (3E); 0 (individual), 5 (swarm) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (4E), LawfulEvil (5E)

Rats imbued with psionic powers by the mind flayers. Individually they are no smarter than a normal rat, but swarms of cranium rats pool their powers to gain enhanced intelligence and dangerous abilities.
----
* AnimalEspionage: Illithids use cranium rats as spies, disseminating them in humanoid settlements and counting on the fact that humans don't generally pay much attention to rats to allow them to get anywhere and listen in to secret conversations.
* HiveMind: While an individual cranium rat is only as smart as a mundane rat, if enough cranium rats come together, they merge their minds into a single one with the accumulated memories of all constituents.
* PsychicPowers: Cranium rats are implanted with psychic powers by their mind flayer creators.
* SwarmOfRats: Cranium rats are at their most dangerous when in large swarms, as they can combine their intellects and coordinate very effectively with one another.

!!!Illithocyte
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral
----
* ZergRush: Illithocytes spend most of their time in large family masses, and are adept at fighting side-by-side in close quarters and coordinating their attacks against a single target.

!!!Intellect Devourer
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil (3E, 4E), LawfulEvil (5E)

Brain-like monsters created as guards by the illithids.
----
* BrainMonster: An intellect devourer basically a brain running around on four little legs. Its modus operandi is to crack a victim's skull open, remove the brain and take its place.
* PuppeteerParasite: Intellect devourers operate by killing victims, crawling inside their craniums and pupating their bodies to either exploit their size and strength or to impersonate them.

!!!Mind Worm
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 17 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil
----
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Living creatures struck by a mind worm's probe must succeed on a Will save or be shaken.

!!!Neothelid
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 15 (3E), 13 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Neothelids are extremely rare, dangerous creatures created when an illithid community is destroyed and the mind flayer life cycle goes horribly wrong. The untended illithid tadpoles, free of the elder brain's predations, eventually turn on each other for lack of food until only a single tadpole remains. This survivor, having absorbed its siblings' psychic potential, eventually crawls out into the wider world to find more brains to feed upon, slowly maturing into a colossal, tentacled, worm-like monster, brilliant but bestial. Illithids don't like acknowledging them.
----
* BrainFood: Neothelids first develop intelligence when they consume a thinking being's brain, and afterwards constantly hunger for brains.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: Illithids consider neothelids to be abhorrent abominations and a taboo subject.
* MonstrousCannibalism: Not only did each neothelid survive by feeding upon their fellow tadpoles, but they are oblivious of their mind flayer heritage and will happily feast upon illithid brains.
* SuperSpit: Neothelids can spray tissue-dissolving enzymes from their tentacle ducts that reduce prey to a puddle of slime but leaving the brain intact.

!!!Nerve Swimmer
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil
----
* PuppeteerParasite: Nerve swimmers burrow into the flesh and nerves of their victims, and control them to do the bidding of their masters.

!!Undead Illithids
!!!Alhoon
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alhoon_5e_5.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Undead (3E, 5E), Aberrant Humanoid Undead (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 18 (3E), 10 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Mind flayers that pursue arcane magic are exiled as deviants, and for them no eternal communion with an elder brain is possible. The road to lichdom offers a way to escape the permanency of death, but that path is long and solitary. Alhoons are mind flayers that use a shortcut.
----
* AndIMustScream: When an alhoon's body is destroyed, its mind gets sucked into its ''periapt of mind trapping''. It remains there, trapped alongside the souls of its previous victims, aware of its surroundings but powerless to do anything beyond telepathically ranting and raving at anyone who picks up the periapt.
* AnIcePerson: In 5th edition, their basic attack is a touch spell that inflicts cold damage.
* NonHumanUndead: They're the mind flayer equivalent of liches.
* NoSell: In 5E, an alhoon cannot be harmed by nonmagical weapons.
* {{Retcon}}: In older editions, the term "illithilich" is just a synonym for an alhoon. 5th edition draws a distinction between the two: an alhoon is a lesser form of lich with weaker spellcasting abilities and no ability to regenerate its body or suck out people's brains, whereas an illithilich has all the powers and abilities of a normal lich in addition to those of a mind flayer.
* SoulJar: Much like how a regular lich uses a phylactery to house its soul, an alhoon uses a ''periapt of mind trapping'' to store its mind if its body is destroyed.

!!!Vampire Illithid
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vampiric_illithid.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Undead (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E), 9 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Illithids who became vampires through an unknown process, which also destroyed their minds.
----
* FeralVampires: Vampiric illithids are mindless, predatory animals with no trace of their old genius -- whatever process gave them their unlife also destroyed their rationality and capacity for higher thought.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Pale grey, undead illithids who need to consume both blood and brain matter to survive. It's not known how they become vampires and they cannot produce spawn of their own, and the process of transformation leaves them feral beasts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Modron]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Immortal Animate (4E), Construct (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/8 (monodrone), 1/4 (doudrone), 1/2 (tridrone), 1 (quadrone), 2 (pentadrone) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

Clockwork creatures from the plane of Mechanus, modrons are living personifications of law and order. They follow a rigid hierarchical society where every modron interacts only with others of its own rank and with its immediate inferiors or superiors: anything further away is beyond their comprehension.
----
* EternalRecurrence: Every 289 years, when the gears of Mechanus complete seventeen cycles, Primus sends thousands of modrons to survey the Outer Planes of the Great Wheel. Given the extreme dangers involved, only a few survive to return to Mechanus.
* LawfulStupid: As personifications of Law without Good or Evil, this is essentially Modrons. They're essentially magic computers with zero individuality or ability to comprehend anything except basic logic.
* LivingPolyhedron: The more powerful and important the modron, the more sides they have. So monodrones are spheres, duodrones cubes, tridones tetrahedrons, and so on until the upper ranks look increasingly humanoid.
* NotSoStoic: In ''Planescape'', the lore states that Orcus slew Primus, the one and prime, and caused the greatest upheaval the modrons had ever faced. In 3e, Primus can be summoned by the Binder class as a vestige. ''He weeps''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mooncalf]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil
----
* CombatTentacles: A mooncalf has six short tentacles that it uses for close combat and two long tentacles that it uses to attack at a distance.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Examination of dead mooncalves reveals that their bodies are essentially alchemical laboratories, capable of distilling and dissolving nearly any substance. In effect, mooncalves can digest nearly anything that they eat.
* StarfishAliens: Mooncalves are giant flying cephalopod-like creatures, spawned by alien gods that exist in the void between worlds.
* WindsOfDestinyChange: Moonlords can tap into their moongod heritage, creating an aura centred around them that brings bad luck to other creatures.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Morkoth]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 11 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil
----
* ArtEvolution: Morkoths began in 1st Edition roughly humanoid generic sea creatures, with four tentacles arranged like legs and arms, a central torso, and a squid-like head with a prominent beak. 2nd Edition redesigned them fairly drastically to resemble gracile, weedy fishlike creatures with four slender arthropod legs and bodies ending in octopus-like tentacles on which the creature moved. 3rd modified the second design to be much bulkier and more intimidating, generally making all parts of it larger and more imposing and presenting the morkoth as a more active and dangerous hunter. 5th Edition revisits the original look, but again makes it much more frightening and imposing than the original, with multiple tentacles, a serrated beak and a "shell" made of trophies from past kills.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Morkoths resembles fishes with cephalopod tentacles and arthropod-like legs.
* PsychicPowers: Morkoths are natural hypnotists, and shape their lairs to naturally amplify their powers in order to lure and befuddle prey.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myconid]]
->'''Classification:''' Plant (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (junior worker), 1 (average worker), 2 (elder worker), 4 (guard), 6 (circle leader), 7 (sovereign) (3E); 0 (scout), 1/2 (adult), 2 (sovereign) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

One of the few non-evil races to inhabit the Underdark.
----
* AnimateDead: One type of myconid spore infests corpses, causing them to rise as mindless servants. They do whatever work there aren't enough myconids to carry out.
* LargeAndInCharge: Myconids grow over the course of their lives, but the sovereign is always the tallest myconid (eleven feet). If it dies, another myconid will grow to eleven feet tall and take over.
* MushroomMan: Myconids are intelligent, ambulatory fungi that live in the Underdark.
* MushroomSamba: Pun aside, myconids structure their days into three parts: eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, and eight hours of a mind-melding hallucinatory state caused by their spores.
* {{Telepathy}}: One type of spore myconids can emit allows for telepathic communication, both between themselves and with outsiders.
[[/folder]]

!!N

[[folder:Naga]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E); Monstrosity (all), Undead (bone) (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (dark), 9 (spirit), 10 (guardian), 22 (ha-naga) (3E); 4 (bone), 8 (dark, spirit), 10 (guardian) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood (guardian), LawfulEvil (bone, dark), ChaoticEvil (spirit, ha-naga)

Serpentine creatures with human faces.
----
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Most nagas are fairly large compared to humans, but the ha-naga is massive: the thing is a hundred feet long.
* ChameleonCamouflage: A ha-naga adapts the hues and shades of its scales to match its environment, much like a chameleon.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: A ha-naga colelcts the art, fine jewellery, and the recorded history of a civilisation it destroyed together as a tribute to its own prowess.
* ForcedSleep: A dark naga's bite forces its victims to lapse into a nightmare-haunted sleep.
* MultipleHeadCase: The primordial naga of 4th edition has five heads which are all on fire.
* NonHumanUndead: Bone nagas are skeletal undead servitors transformed by a necromantic ritual for the purpose of halting their resurrection. In 3rd edition, they are transformed by other dark nagas, while in 5th edition, this ritual was devised by the yuan-ti.
* PoisonousPerson: All nagas have a venomous bite.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: 5th edition nagas come back to life within days of being killed. Only powerful magic, such as a yuan-ti necromancy ritual or the ''wish'' spell, can prevent a slain naga's resurrection.
* SnakePeople: Nagas are at the far snake end of this, usually resembling giant snakes with human heads.
* {{Telepathy}}: Dark nagas can constantly detect the thoughts of nearby creatures.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nagpa]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nagpa_5e.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Elemental Humanoid (4E), Humanoid (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E), 17 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral (3E), Evil (4E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Nagpas have appeared sporadically throughout the game's history; their lore tends to fluctuate, but they're typically former humanoids who meddled with things they shouldn't have and were cursed by angry gods. In their most recent lore, they were a cabal of wizards who betrayed the elf mage who would become the Raven Queen, and were cursed to be able to learn nothing unless they plucked it from the ruins of civilizations.
----
* BalefulPolymorph: In most iterations of their lore, the nagpas were once humanoid beings who were cursed into twisted birdlike forms after offending divine powers.
* BirdPeople: Nagpas resemble hunched, wingless humanoid vultures.
* TheChessmaster: From the shadows, nagpas manipulate events to bring about ruin. Extremely patient, they have several plots working simultaneously, so if one plan goes awry, they can shift their focus to another.
* CreativeSterility: In 5th Edition, the Raven Queen cursed them to be unable to gather, expand or create new knowledge of their own or to learn it from the living, forcing them to scavenge tidbits of lore from the ruins of fallen civilizations.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Neogi]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3.5E, 5E), Magical Beast (4E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (hatchling), 4 (neogi), 6 (master) (3.5E); 1/8 (hatchling), 3 (neogi), 4 (master) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Spider-bodied, eel-like creatures who wander through and between the worlds of the Material Plane, the neogi are raiders and slavers, and hated by all those they meet. The neogi originated in the ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}'' setting, but have since spread to more general ''D&D'' cosmology.
----
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They cannot comprehend any social bond aside from master and slave.
* CharmPerson: Neogi have the ability to control minds, allowing them to subjugate physically superior beings.
* ChestBurster: Neogi reproduce by laying their eggs within another member of their species. The resulting spawn gestate within the adult neogi's body, eating it from the inside out before chewing their way to freedom.
* MadeASlave: Neogi are enthusiastic slavers, and measure their place in society by how many other sapients they have forced into their service -- they can even psychically dominate other beings to aid this endeavor. This makes dealing with them extremely dangerous, as even neogi who present a reasonable and mercantile facade will attempt to enslave their trading partners as soon as opportunity arises. Neogi who are enslaved are ''not'' forbidden from owning property, including slaves of their own, so the entire neogi culture is one giant chain of masters and slaves.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Neogi resemble eels sprouting from the bodies of giant spiders.
* SuperSpit: All neogi have venomous bites, but a few develop the ability to spit this venom as a ranged attack.
* WeaponizedOffspring: When attacked, great old masters -- the neogi reproductive stage -- can release clutches of aggressive, vicious spawn as a defense mechanism.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nightmare]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Fiend (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 3 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil
----
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: The 5th Edition ''Monster Manual'' states that nightmares aren't a naturally occurring species, but an evil creature can create one by subjecting a {{pegasus}} to a humiliating ritual in which its wings are amputated and its mind corrupted by evil.
* {{Flight}}: Nightmares are wingless, but can nonetheless fly at great speed.
* HellishHorse: A horse-like monster with black skin and a burning mane and fetlocks, often found serving evil beings as steeds.
* SummonARide: Nightmares can be bound using a magic item called "Infernal Tack", after which they must answer the summons of the tack's owner and serve them as a steed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nightseed]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (3E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 14 (3E)
->'''Alignment:''' Unaligned
----
* AcidAttack: A nightseed secretes a digestive acid that dissolves organic material except clothing.
* BlobMonster: A nightseed is a vast sack of pulsing hunger.
* HungryMenace: Nightseeds are driven by hunger and always move toward food, except when deterred by sunlight.
* WeakenedByTheLight: Natural sunlight slows down nightseeds and eventually causes them to evaporate entirely.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nilbog]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

A goblin possessed by a nameless trickster deity.
----
* DemonicPossession: A nilbog is an invisible spirit, the splintered form of a goblin trickster god, that possesses only goblins.
* SdrawkcabName: "Goblin" backwards.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nothic]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nothic_5e.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Aberrant Humanoid (4E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' Any Evil (3E), Unaligned (4E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Wretched, cyclopean creatures created when wizards delve too deeply into knowledge they shouldn't seek and powers they cannot control.
----
* {{Cyclops}}: A nothic's face is dominated by a single, immense, staring eye.
* DeadlyGaze: A nothic's gaze is its strongest weapon, as it's able to inflict necrosis on any creature it can fix its sight on.
* MakeThemRot: A nothic's gaze causes necrotic damage in beings caught in its line of sight, rotting away their flesh as they live.
* SeeingThroughAnothersEyes: Nothics have a strong psychic connection to Vecna that allows him to see through their eyes, and the god often uses them to keep tabs on his cults in this manner.
* {{Seers}}: A nothic can magically divine information about any creature it can see, becoming privy to a single secret or insight about them.
* WasOnceAMan: Nothics are creeping, tormented monsters transformed by Vecna's curse from wizards who devote their lives to unearthing arcane secrets. Nothics retain no awareness of their former selves, beyond a vague sense of having once been something greater.
[[/folder]]

!!O

[[folder:Oblex]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (spawn), 5 (adult), 10 (elder) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

An ooze that feeds on thoughts, and can manifest copies of its victims.
----
* GlamourFailure: An oblex's simulacra are near-perfect copies of its victims, looking, sounding, and even feeling exactly like them. However, they do not smell like whoever they're impersonating: these duplicates always carry a faint whiff of sulfur.
* IngestingKnowledge: Oblexes feed on thoughts and memories, leaving its prey befuddled and confused. The sharper the mind, the better the meal, so oblexes hunt obviously intelligent targets.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ogre]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ogre_d&d_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5E]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=3E=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ogre_d&d_3e.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:[=2E=]]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ogre_d&d_2e.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E, 5E), Natural Humanoid (4E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Hulking, dimwitted brutes with a taste for humanoid flesh. Fearsome as they may seem to humans, ogres are some of the smallest and least of the giant-kin, and occupy the absolute lowest rung of the Ordning -- lower even that the likes of hill giants and trolls -- and consequently are often found serving greater giants. When on their own, ogres mostly associate with orcs and goblinoids, where depending on the specific dynamics they may either use their size and strength to seize control of the smaller humanoids' tribes or be themselves bullied into serving as bruisers and war animals, and with their fellow low-ranking giant-kin the trolls.
----
* ArtEvolution: 1E and 2E ogres are essentially just big humans. 3E ogres have a much more monstrous, bestial appearance, with pronounced muzzles, thick manes, large ears, and arms dragging almost to the ground. 4E and 5E ogres take a middle road, being less animalistic than the 3E design but retaining thickly muscled bodies, hunched heads, and thick jaws filled with large fangs.
* DumbMuscle: It's mentioned that the majority of ogres can't count to ten even with their fingers in front of them. Their 5th Edition stats put them at Intelligence 5, meaning that ogres are exactly as smart as shambling mounds, non-sapient, predatory piles of compost.
* NonHumanHumanoidHybrid: In older materials, "ogrillons" are half-ogre variants produced from the union of a male ogre and female orc, and are always sterile, while "orogs" are born from male orcs and female ogres. Nowadays, "ogrillon" is just another name for "half-ogre", and can be born from ogres and humans, Medium-sized goblinoids or orcs, while orogs are orcs seemingly blessed by the goddess Luthic with enhanced strength and intelligence.
* OurOgresAreDifferent: Simple-minded, short-tempered, and always hungry. Ogre magi also exist, based on the oni. 4e decided there was no point hiding the truth and removed ogre magi in favor of an outright Oni monster category. While there are several types, such as the night haunter and the spirit master, they are all explicitly described as evil creatures with a vaguely ogre-like appearance and invariably some form of shapeshifting or illusion type power they used to deceive humanoids.
* PrimalStance: Ogres are typically depicted standing in a bow-legged, stoop-shouldered post, with their heads jutting forward and rarely above shoulder level and with their arms dragging low at their sides.
* PrimitiveClubs: Typically, when ogres are shown using any weapons at all, these tend to be giant clubs made from tree limbs or entire trees, sometimes enhanced with metal spikes and similar touches, which make good use of their wielder's immense strength without being held back by their general lack of intelligence.
* SmashMook: Big, strong, dim and with a marked tendency to fight smaller enemies with gigantic clubs, maces and similar blunt weapons, ogres are usually very straightforward bruisers with little tactical acumen or fancy tricks.
* WhoEvenNeedsABrain: The 3.5th Edition ''Monster Manual IV'' mentions an ogre variant dubbed a guard thrall. Ogres are in fact ''so'' stupid that the illithids discovered that an ogre can actually survive having most of its brain bitten out and eaten. While this leaves a basic ogre comatose, through breeding experiments the illithids were able to produce mindless ogre bodyguards that, with the help of a psionic crystal implanted in their mostly-empty skulls, will follow a nearby mind flayer's psychic commands. Even more dangerously, that crystal in the ogre thrall's skull will "echo" an illithid's ''mind blast'' attack (which the thrall is immune to, being mindless) if the thrall is in the area of effect, potentially stunning anything that shrugged off the initial psionic assault.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oni]]
->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E, 5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 7 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil
Sometimes called ogre mages, oni are cunning and fearsome giants that prey on humanoids using their great strength and magical powers.
----
* EatsBabies: The 5th edition Monster Manual notes that they find human babies delicious.
* {{Flight}}: They have the power to fly.
* HealingFactor: Oni often have regenerative powers. In older editions this regeneration could be halted by acid or fire, while in 5th edition they just keep regaining hit points on each of their turns as long as they're above 0 hp.
* MagicKnight: Oni have the strength and combat prowess you'd expect of a hulking ogre, and also have potent magical abilities. A lone oni can obliterate an entire party of low-level adventurers in one turn if it decides to cast ''cone of cold''.
* NonIndicativeName: Oni are sometimes called ogre mages because of their resemblance to ogres, even though they are only distantly related to true ogres.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Oni can take on the form of humanoids of Small to Medium size or of any Large-sized giant.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Otyugh]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Natural Beast (4E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 5 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Carrion-eaters who are often used as living garbage disposals in dungeons.
----
* BigEater: Otyughs require plenty of waste, carrion and meat. Would-be otyugh masters can easily underestimate the quantity of food necessary to keep an otyugh from wandering off.
* CombatTentacles: Otyughs shove food into their maw with two rubbery tentacles that end in spiky, leaf-like appendages.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Otyughs can eat almost all kinds of refuse.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Owlbear]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/owlbear.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Fey Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 3 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

A creature with the front half of a flightless owl and the hindquarters of a bear, originally inspired by figurine that Gary Gygax owned.
----
* BearsAreBadNews: Much like full bears, owlbears are known and feared for their ferocity, aggressiveness and foul tempers.
* MixAndMatchCritters: They have an owl's head, wings and claws and a bear's torso and legs.
* AWizardDidIt: In-universe scholars generally believe owlbears to have been created as a result of experimentation or some long-forgotten project by ancient wizards. This point is disputed by the fey, however, who claim that owlbears have always existed in the Feywild.
[[/folder]]

* ImAHumanitarian: Manticores enjoy humanoid flesh, but particularly relish humans.
-->'''[[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Marthok Uldarr]]:''' Manticores love the taste of human flesh. That's why, on trips through the mountains, I always travel with human bodyguards.

Nomadic fish folk who favor warm waters where they hunt crustaceans. Though not deranged like the kuo-toa or vicious like the sahuagin, locathahs are wary of surface-dwellers due to the number of their kin who end up caught in fishing nets.

Nomadic fish folk who favor warm waters where they hunt crustaceans. Though not deranged like the kuo-toa nor vicious as the sahuagin, locathahs are wary of surface-dwellers due to the number of their kin who ended up caught in fishing nets.

* FoodChainOfEvil: By working as a pack, manticores can bring down rival aerial creatures like griffons, chimeras or wyverns, but fear and avoid dragons.
* IShallTauntYou: They shout insults when attacking, or offer to kill their victims quickly should they beg.

-->'''[[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Marthok Uldarr]]:''' Manticores love the taste of human flesh. That's why, on trips through the mountains, I always travel with human bodyguards.

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Humanoid (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 1 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

* ShadowWalker: Stepping into a shadow allows a meazel to magically move to another one.
* WasOnceAMan: Meazels are all that remain of people who fled into the Shadowfell to escape their mortal existence and ended up transformed by the darkness.

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/medusa_d&d.png]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 6 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

->'''Classification:''' Construct (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (demos), 3 (galvan), 1 (hypnos) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

->'''Classification:''' Elemental (3E, 5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 1/2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Elemental beings from the Plane of Fire. They resemble little gremlins made of magma.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 3 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

* ImAHumanitarian: Manticores prize human flesh -- and human flesh specifically, not humanoids in general -- above all other foods. It's rumored that non-humans passing through manticore territory prefer to hire human guards specifically because they know that manticores will target them first.

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' Varies by type
->'''Alignment:''' Varies by type and edition

* VoiceChangeling: In addition to speaking, leucrottas can mimic the sounds of other animals, or even humanoid speech, in order to lure victims into ambushes. They can also "replay" the sounds of their victims, particularly the ones they managed to keep alive for a long time.

->'''Classification:''' Ooze (3E), Construct (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' Varies
->'''Alignment:''' Varies

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Magical Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E, 5E)
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

->'''Classification:''' Construct (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 2
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

* EliteMook: The rare "greater leucrottas" are also known as "changesteeds" for being able to [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshift into any quadrupedal creature they have seen]], potentially taking even the fantastic forms of griffons, owlbears and pegasi. The catch is that [[MorphicResonance their teeth remain the same no matter what form they take.]] Changesteeds are feared for using this power to KillAndReplace a humanoid's mount, only to turn on their rider once they're alone.
* EvilSmellsBad: A leucrotta oozes a stench so foul that only gnolls can tolerate their presence.
* MixAndMatchCritters: A leucrotta has the head of a giant badger, the legs of a deer, and the body of a stag or hyena, and the tufted tail of a lion. In theory this combination of parts could be, if not handsome, then at least not hideous, but no such luck for the leucrotta.

* {{Retcon}}: While in past editions leucrottas were simply nasty magical creaturees, 5th Edition closely linked them with the gnolls and the demon lord Yeenoghu, even tweaking their bodies to give them hyena characteristics.
* {{Sadist}}: Where possible, a leucrotta will meticulously plan its kills in order to draw as much suffering from the victim as possible before their death. They also hunt for the joy of killing even when their bellies are full, depopulating the wildlife in a region and leaving behind carrion that only the foulest of scavengers will touch. As a result, [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the evilest of druids and rangers despise leucrottas as blights upon nature.]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 3 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

* TheCreon: Leucrottas, like gnolls, feel a strong bond with Yeenoghu, and are a welcome addition to a gnoll pack. They're also tougher, smarter and faster than a typical gnoll, but almost never try to usurp gnoll chieftains or lead the pack directly - instead, they are content to serve the chieftain as a pet and steed, and to offer them tactical advice during battle.
* EvilSmellsBad: A leucrotta oozes a foul stench that only gnolls can tolerate their presence.
* MixAndMatchCritters: A leucrotta has the head of a giant badger, the legs of a deer, and the body of a hyena.
* {{Sadist}}: Where possible, a leucrotta will meticulously plan its kills in order to draw as much suffering from the victim as possible before their death.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

* GreatWhiteFeline: The leskylor is an intelligent great snow-white tiger that protects mountainous regions and forests from evil.
* AnIcePerson: Leskylors can breathe a cone-shaped burst of frost.

->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E)\\

Small reptilian humanoids often found in the service of dragons, or in warrens protected by clever traps. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E)
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood

* BreathWeapon: Lammasus can breathe fire.
* SheduAndLammasu: Lammasus, which resemble winged lions with human heads, are noble, compassionate, AlwaysLawfulGood beings who live in ruins and abandoned temples in the desert, where they spend much of their time contemplating how to promote goodness and combat evil. They are often sought out for their wisdom, magic and power; they receive good-hearted people gladly, but tolerate no evil visitors. They can cast spells as if they were clerics, and breathe fire.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\

'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

* NonIndicativeName: The classical Greek "gorgon" is the name for the creature type of which Medusa is the most infamous example, with no reference to bulls. The only thing ''D&D'''s gorgons have in common with their namesake is the ability to petrify victims, and it works entirely differently from a proper medusa's.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\

'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), ChaoticNeutral (5E)

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Humanoid (5E)\\

'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Fiend (5E)\\

'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

[[folder:Hippocamp]]

* HorseOfADifferentColor: Hippocamps feature in countless tales as guides and mounts for ocean-faring heroes.
* OurHippocampsAreDifferent: Hippocamps are aquatic equines that travel in herds and can breath both air and water, and hold valued places in triton society.

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)

->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Monstrosity (5E)

->'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

A bizarre creature born from some terrible figurine that Gary Gygax posessed.

* ReligionOfEvil: Lamias have an affinity for the demon lord Graz'zt, and frequently lead cults dedicated to him on the Material Plane.