History Characters / DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesJToO

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[[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]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesFToI F to I]] | '''J 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]]

!!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 (3E, 5E)\\
'''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]]

[[folder:Juggernaut]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_juggernaut_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E), 12 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Ponderous animated constructions of stone that won't stop until their creator's foes are crushed beneath their rollers.
----
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Some juggernauts have an interior hiding space large enough for two Medium-sized creatures.
* TheJuggernaut: They are slow - in some editions their speed is a paltry 10 feet per round, while in others it takes them several turns to build up any decent momentum - and sometimes juggernauts are also subject to rules about maneuverability. But with their high Armor Class, DamageReduction and [[HealingFactor Fast Healing]], as well as their construct immunities to conditions like ''sleep'', stunning or paralysis, juggernauts are very difficult to stop.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Juggernauts have six limbs, three on each side, which they use to grab opponents and thrust them under the construct's rollers. In some juggernauts that are hybrid mimics, these limbs are grown as needed, while in others they are carved during the construct's creation and are always present.
* SquashedFlat: The fate of anything subjected to their Squash attack. It deals a ton of damage, and victims may have to save to avoid a OneHitKill.
* YouShallNotEvadeMe: Some juggernauts can use spell-like abilities such as ''forcecage'', ''slow'' or ''wall of force'' to ensure that their enemies can't escape their rollers. Said ''wall of force'' is also a useful way to navigate obstacles like cliffs and chasms.
[[/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 (3E)\\
'''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.
* MageSpecies: 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.
* 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.

!!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 (3E)\\
'''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 (3E)\\
'''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 (3E)\\
'''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 (3E)\\
'''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. They're also not that great at blending in with other populations, which can lead to a keeper entering a bar, observing patrons drinking ale from mugs, and then trying to imitate them by chugging a container of lamp oil.
* 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).
* ZerothLawRebellion: One story about the keepers' genesis holds that a member of the [[Characters/PlanescapeFactions Fraternity of Order]] discovered a way to find/invent entirely new universes just by thinking about them, and one of those universes contained the keepers. After bringing in hundreds or thousands of keepers to serve as his agents, this Guvner gave the careless order "Make sure no one ever discovers how you got to be here." The keepers promptly killed him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kelpie]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kelpie_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (2E), ChaoticEvil (3E)

Murderous aquatic nature spirits who lure victims into ponds or rivers to drown them.
----
* CharmPerson: Kelpies can cast the spell to encourage victims to come closer, or defend them against other enemies.
* EmotionControl: 3rd Edition kelpies can cast ''emotion'' as well, typically to [[SupernaturalFearInducer paralyze victims in fear.]]
* HellishHorse: Their natural form in 3rd Edition is that of a warhorse with coal-black eyes, covered in rotted vegetation and constantly dripping with water.
* HumanShifting: Kelpies can take humanoid form, but aren't great at it -- in 2nd Edition, their efforts are a "grotesque mockery" that doesn't hold up to inspection in daylight, requiring further magic to disguise themselves, while in 3rd Edition, kelpies' human shapes have a "feral and disturbing aura" due to their long stringy hairs, gruff voices, tattered clothing and darting eyes.
* OneGenderRace: 2nd Edition kelpies always appear female in humanoid form, and their ''charm'' only affects males.
* {{Retcon}}: ''AD&D'' describes kelpies as intelligent, magical, saltwater plants rather than fey, created by some vengeful ocean deity to punish sailors for not paying proper homage before voyages, or perhaps the evil water archomental Olhydra. The "soggy horse" form is just another shape they can assume beyond trying to pass as humanoids.
* SinisterSuffocation: Kelpies typically take humanoid form to attempt to lure victims into their watery lairs, either taking the guise of a fisher or lost traveler, or pretending to drown in the water. Once a victim is close enough, the kelpie reverts to its natural form, makes a trip attack, and pins them underwater until they drown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kenku]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kenku_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E)\\
'''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:"I was awed to tears at the mere sight of my first ki-rin, and I've met gods." -- Volothamp Geddarm]]
->'''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.
* 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 (3E, 5E)\\
'''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 (5E)\\
'''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 (3E)\\
'''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:''"Other creatures that abide in hives serve a purpose in the natural world. Bees pollinate flowers. Termites make earth out of wood. Kruthiks, by contrast, slay societies. Perhaps that function is just as necessary."'' -- Mordenkainen]]
->'''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]]

[[folder:Kython]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kython_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Adult kython (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (broodling), 3 (juvenile), 5 (adult), 8 (impaler), 11 (slaymaster), 13 (slaughterking) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Eyeless horrors that combine reptilian and insectoid features, kythons are wholly evil creatures that exist only to propogate themselves and prey upon everything else.
----
* ArmlessBiped: Kython broodlings have no arms, and scurry about looking something like a two-legged, eyeless crocodile.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Kythons only defer to more powerful creatures, so their current rulers are their slaughterkings, who are also among the [[LargeAndInCharge largest]] of their kind.
* BioweaponBeast: An unintentional case; kythons arose when a group of fiends stranded on the Material Plane attempted to magically create more of their kind. The results weren't loyal to their creators, but were just as evil as the fiends, and so are sometimes known as earth-bound demons.
* DashAttack: Kython impalers have retractable spikes of hardened bone they can extend from their palms, and like to charge at foes with those bone-spikes lowered to deal heavy damage.
* DivertingPower: An organic example; a kython slaymaster or slaughterking can generate enhanced defenses for itself, boosting its Armor Class and spell resistance, or [[StatusInflictionAttack inflict penalties to attacks, saves and checks]] on all non-kythons around it. The catch is that using either of these abilities cuts the kython's blindsight by 30 feet, so if it activates both at the same time, it's effectively blind.
* EvilEvolves: The original kythons were mere broodlings, which proceeded to mature into more varied forms. Previously the slaymasters ruled kython nests until the slaughterkings began to appear, and given time a more powerful and specialized kython form is likely to develop.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: Kythons exist only to eat and increase their numbers, which combined with their general appearance, habit of evolving into more powerful forms, and penchant for oragnic weaponry, makes them resemble [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 the Tyranids.]]
* ItCanThink: Kythons are no mere beasts, and even their broodlings are close to the average human's intelligence. They make good use of their organic weaponry, and speak a pidgin of Abyssal and Infernal, but only to each other -- they have no interest in conversing with prey.
* MetamorphosisMonster: As a kython ages, it starts as an armless broodling, grows forelimbs as a juvenile, then loses its tail, grows an extra set of limbs, and fully develops an exoskelton as an adult. Most kythons remain in that form, but some continue to mature into more specialized shapes.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Upon reaching adulthood, kythons grow an additional set of arms, and are capable of using all of them in combat, either slashing with them or utilizing their organic weaponry.
* NoSell: Kythons are immune to acid and cold damage, and resist fire and electricity.
* OrganicTechnology: Kythons can lay eggs that develop into biological weaponry rather than broodlings, ranging from additional armor plating, or swords and crossbows made from bone and cartilage, to more esoteric things like [[AcidAttack acid-]] or [[StickySituation mucus]]-sprayers.
* PoisonousPerson: Kythons have poisonous bites and, in their youngest stages, tail sting attacks. Through their juvenile stage the attacks deal Constitution damage, but from adulthood on it's [[NonHealthDamage Strength damage]] instead. This poison grows more virulent with age, and slaughterkings are unique in being able to spray it as a ranged touch attack.
* SnakePeople: Kython slaymasters seem to regress back to their juvenile stage in a sense, as they become Large aberrations with snakelike lower bodies rather than legs. They're also fully capable of enwrapping and constricting smaller creatures with their tails.
* SuperSenses: Though eyeless, kythons have blindsight out to 60 feet.
[[/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: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), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E), 4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Half-bestial hedonists who use their powers of illusion and seduction to enslave and corrupt humanoids.
----
* ArtEvolution: 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.
* 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.
* 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lamia (Fey)]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_4e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:4e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Shapeshifting fey who lure victims in close before devouring them as a swarm of insects.
----
* {{Retcon}}: 4th Edition, as was its wont, radically redesigned lamias from monstrous lion-taurs into fey that could shift between humanoid form and a swarm of beetles. 5th Edition has since reverted to the previous model.
* TheWormThatWalks: They're a swarm of intelligent, magical insects occupying a hollowed-out humanoid corpse. Each time they kill 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 (3E)\\
'''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:[=LeShay=]]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_leshay_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 28 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Any

Ageless and powerful beings resembling albino elves with utterly black eyes, who are trapped in a foreign timeline.
----
* TheAgeless: [=LeShay=] are immortal unless killed by violence.
* CharmPerson: Any creature within 30 feet who meets a [=leShay=]'s gaze has to make an epic-level saving throw or become ''charmed'' by them.
* IdealIllnessImmunity: [=LeShay=] are immune to poison or disease.
* LivingRelic: The [=leShay=] are the remnants of a once-great people who supposedly predate the current multiverse, but fell victim to some catastrophe that not only drove them to near-extinction, but [[RetGone changed history so that their era never existed.]] Trying to undo this disaster would only result in something worse happening, so the surviving [=leShay=] simply try to stave off ennui as best they can.
* MageSpecies: They have a host of powerful, at-will spell-like abilities -- ''greater {{invisibility}}'', ''[[AttackReflector spell turning]]'', ''{{teleport|ation}} without error'', ''[[WhiteMagic heal]]'', ''[[DispelMagic greater dispelling]]'', and more.
* {{Omniglot}}: A [=leShay=] can master a language within seconds of hearing it spoken for the first time, "right down to the most courtly or impressive accent thereof."
* OurElvesAreDifferent: [=LeShay=] are described as [[UpToEleven being to normal elves what normal elves are to humans]]. Beyond their physical appearance, [=leShay=] share elf traits such as an immunity to magical ''sleep'' effects, low-light vision, weapon proficiencies, and the ability to notice hidden doors. It should be noted that their PointyEars resemble half-elves' more than full-blooded elves'.
* RetGone: Once, the [=leShay=] ruled an age and civilization of their own. Then... something... happened which destroyed it so thoroughly that, from the point of view of modern people, the [=leShay's=] age never existed at all, not even in the remotest past. The few [=leShay=] to survive this catastrophe endure as living paradoxes, fragments of an age that never was whose histories begin in a past that never happened.
* SeriousBusiness: Whatever their alignment, [=leShay=] take etiquette ''very'' seriously, and failing to meet their standards of politeness or show them due respect can be a fatal mistake.
* SpontaneousWeaponCreation: [=LeShay=] can "draw" weapons created from their own life essence as a free action, typically a pair of bastard swords they can {{Dual Wield|ing}} without any attack or damage penalties.
[[/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 (3E)\\
'''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]]
->'''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 (3E)\\
'''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.
----
* AdaptationalModesty: Their ''AD&D'' entry notes that lillendi eschew clothing and only wear jewelry, and depicts one with GodivaHair to preserve her modesty. Their 3rd Edition art instead gives the sample lillend a gold bikini.
* ItsPersonal: Lillendi 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.
* MysteryCult: Lillendi culture is divided into a number of secret socities centered around a piece of wisdom passed down through the generations, each associated with certain music, instruments and weapons. The more societies a lillend moves through, the greater their status. They also pick up {{Cool Mask}}s that are tangentially related to each society, bearing designs associated with particular lillend families.
* NoSell: They're immune to poison and, in their ''AD&D'' rules, positive and negative energy, as well as any music-based magic like a harpy's singing or a satyr's pipes.
* OneGenderRace: Played with; lillendi are all biologically female and reproduce via parthenogenesis, but some are born with male torsos, and follow male dress patterns and customs. So one sex, multiple genders.
* 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. In their older rules this let lillendi dispose of troublesome foes by flying up into the sky and dropping them, though 3rd Edition forbids them from moving while constricting someone.
* SnakePeople: A lillend is somewhere between a WingedHumanoid and FeatheredSerpent.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Lillendi who tire of their service can choose to die, which they refer to as the Silent Hour -- it is unclear whether this ability is a gift from the gods they serve or punishment from the powers of Law for a past betrayal. This allows a lillend to wrap up their business and make farewells before passing on, but it also means lillendi who die through accident or violence do so in despair, as according to legend only lillendi who pass through the Silent Hour join their gods.
[[/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 (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Dolls or stuffed animals inhabited by a malevolent spirit that delights in spreading misery.
----
* TheCorruptor: The mean spirit inside a living doll encourages others to behave badly, and takes pleasure in tormenting the guilt-ridden and despondent. Living dolls prefer this sort of corruption to more direct evildoing because they fear discovery and destruction.
* CreepyDoll: They're creepy in deed and ability, but not outwardly spooky-looking -- that way they can pass themselves off as ordinary toys by lying perfectly still.
* EvilLaugh: In battle, a living doll torments foes with a maniacal cackle that can [[MindRape deal psychic damage]] and incapacitate creatures with [[LaughingMad a fit of laughter.]]
* HealingFactor: They'll recover health each turn, unless they take fire or psychic damage.
[[/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 (3E, 5E)\\
'''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 (3E, 5E)\\
'''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:Lodestone Marauder]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lodestone_marauder_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Monsters whose metallic hides are studded with rusty spikes, and possess the power of magnetism.
----
* BioweaponBeast: Lodestone marauders are not natural creatures and were originally bred as guardians, although most have since escaped into the wild.
* MagnetismManipulation: Their powers over magnetism grant lodestone marauders a passive Armor Class bonus against attacks with metal weapons, and they can also unleash a thirty-foot-radius pulse of magnetic force. If used to attract, this can yank metal objects out of other creatures' hands and make them stick to the lodestone marauder's body, or if used to repel, the pulse can disarm enemies and knock down those wearing metal armor.
* MetalMuncher: While lodestone marauders are carnivores, they also need to eat metal to fortify their hides and grow spikes. They can live on both ore and pure metal, but find the former less nutritious. Consequently, they are strongly attracted to concentrations of worked metal and are a dangerous pest for civilized races whose armories they like to raid.
[[/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 (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (hypnos), 2 (demos), 3 (galvan) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Human-shaped constructs crafted by mages to be intelligent and perfectly obedient servants. Their name derives from ''gens magica'', or "magical people."
----
* AlienBlood: Past magens were alien for ''not'' bleeding or bruising in response to damage, though their current lore has the constructs "bleed" quicksilver.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: In 2nd and 4th Edition magens have had gray-white flesh, but their 5th Edition incarnation has green skin. They can also be painted or decorated different colors.
* ArtificialHuman: They're a magical take on the trope, and apart from their skin color and hairless bodies, they look and feel like living things, to the extent that some can pass for human. Traditionally they're created in a weeks-long process involving an electrum mold, a gelatin-like mixture of ingredients, and a specific sequence of spells, while in 5th Edition this is streamlined, requiring only the ''create magen'' spell, a life-sized human doll, a vial of quicksilver, and a crystal rod.
* CharmPerson: Hypnos magens have the ability to ''charm'' other creatures, then make a telepathic ''suggestion''.
* CriticalFailure: The magen creation process in ''AD&D'' involves rolling a d20, naturally. Beyond the mixture simply failing to animate, other possible outcomes are the mold exploding to damage everything in a 10-foot radius, the final animating ''lightning bolt'' instead rebounding to hit the caster, or everything ''appearing'' to go right, only for a fiend to possess the newly-made magen and begin plotting to kill the mage.
* EnergyAbsorption: 4th Edition magens can absorb the energy from incoming spells, once per encounter. Demos magens gain a healing surge, caldron magens grow a temporary extra arm to attack with, galvan magens recharge their electricity attacks, and hypnos magens can counter-attack with a [[MindRape blast of psionic energy.]]
* TheGenericGuy: Demos magens are the most basic of their kind, possessing no innate powers compared to other varieties. This makes them the cheapest to produce, and suitable to be equipped as bodyguards.
* {{Golem}}: Magens are basically a cheaper substitute to conventional stone, iron, clay, etc. golems. On the one hand, they're a lot smaller and weaker than proper golems, and lack the latter's magic immunity/resistance, but magens are a lot less disruptive in the house or out in public, don't have a risk of going berserk in combat, and are intelligent enough to converse with their creators and not need carefully-worded instructions, even being capable of making simple decisions, given the right criteria with which to judge a situation.
* LightningCanDoAnything: Traditionally, the final step of the magen creation process involves zapping the mold with a ''lightning bolt''.
* TheNeedless: As constructs, they don't need to eat, drink or sleep.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: When destroyed, a magen's body is consumed in an acrid, multicolored burst of flame.
* RubberMan: The caldron magen variant can stretch its limbs up to 20 feet, and is particularly adept at grappling and restraining foes, at which point its skin [[AcidAttack secretes a dangerous acid.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Galvan magens can store static electricity, which they discharge as lightning bolts. Incidentally, they have a habit of attracting small metallic objects and making nearby beings' hair stand up.
* SignatureScent: Caldron magens have a sour, acidic scent, demos magens have a subtle metallic tang, and galvan magens smell of ozone.
* TheStoic: Magens are incapable of feeling emotion (but see below), though some may be taught to emulate it to aid in social interactions.
* UndyingLoyalty: Magens lack free will, and are totally obedient to their creators. Should their master die, magens tend to go into a berserk rampage until destroyed.
* WeaponizedTeleportation: What little is known about the rare scalos magens is that they can teleport other creatures with a touch, and are said to guard the ''Text of the Magenmaker'' that holds the secrets of creating every type of magen.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mageripper]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mageripper_swarm_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Tiny, swarming pests that feed off of the magical power of living beings.
----
* BioweaponBeast: While their origins aren't especially clear, they're believed to have been created artificially to serve as living weapons against arcane spellcasters [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin (hence their name)]].
* BizarreAlienReproduction: Magerippers reproduce by budding off young from their backs after gorging themselves on magic.
* MagicEater: While magerippers can survive on a carnivorous diet, they much prefer to consume living creatures' magic, which is also essential to their reproduction. Mechanically-speaking, anyone they swarm over is subject to a ''{{dispel magic}}'' effect against a random ongoing spell effect every round, while spellcasters also [[ManaDrain lose one of the highest-level spell slots or prepared spells]]; in either case, the magerippers gain some temporary hit points from feeding. Fortunately, magerippers can't feed in this manner upon magic items, but will still crowd around them in frustrated confusion until a better food source presents itself.
* SupernaturalSensitivity: On top of having blindsense out to 30 feet, magerippers can also detect magical auras without that radius, and sense whether creatures have spellcasting ability.
* TheSwarm: Individual magerippers aren't especially formidable on their own, being bizarre foot-long creatures that weigh at most five pounds. Unfortunately, they're only ever encountered in swarms of up to three hundred creatures that are able to overwhelm their prey through sheer numbers and attrition. In fact, should a mageripper become separated from a swarm, it will quickly become sluggish and unresponsive before expiring.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magmin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_magmin_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Elemental (3E, 5E)\\
'''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:Maug]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_maug_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

Hulking creatures of living stone from the Infinite Battlefield of Acheron, who hire themselves out as mercenaries to give meaning to their existence.
----
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Downplayed; maugs have no reason to wage war on each other, but sometimes their mercenary work puts two groups of maugs on opposite sides of a war. This results in horrendous casualties as the maugs lead their troops to clash repeatedly until one or both sides is ground down to nearly nothing. Then the maugs are liable to group up and go off to find a new war to fight in as if nothing happened.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: They can make a "Pulverize" action three times per day, touching an object and negating its Hardness value so the maug can more easily destroy it.
* {{Cyborg}}: There's a whole range of maug grafts they use to improve and augment themselves, such as fists that lock closed around weapons to prevent disarming, vibrating plates of shale that confer tremorsense, or stone rollers to replace their lower torsos and allow the maug to [[SquashedFlat crush enemies like a steamroller.]]
* DoubleWeapon: Maugs commonly wield Huge double-bladed swords.
* HealingFactor: Unusually for constructs, maugs slowly recover hit points while resting, and heal faster if someone helps repair them.
* NeglectfulPrecursors: As best sages can tell, the maugs were created by some ancient civilization as shock troops for a terrible war, then afterward were dumped on Thuldanin, the second layer of Acheron and the junkyard for the multiverse's wars. Since maugs are creatures of stone themselves, they were immune to Thuldanin's petrification effect, and they eventually figured out how to make more of themselves, taking on jobs as hired soldiers to get the money needed for the process.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Maugs serve any master willing to pay the price, and never care about right or wrong.
* RockMonster: Maugs' bodies are cut from the stone of Acheron.
* UndyingLoyalty: In battle, maugs are unflinchingly loyal to their employer, making them perfect mercenaries.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meazel]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_meazel_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''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.
----
* BizarreSexualDimorphism: Male medusas, when they appear, tend to be very physically and magically distinct from their sisters.
** In 2nd Edition, they're known as maedars, and resemble entirely hairless human men. They're immune to petrification, paralysis and medusa venom, can walk through stone, and can undo petrification with a touch.
** In 4th Edition, they look the same as in 2nd but poison with their gaze instead of their previous powers. This is also the first time that male medusas make it into a core book.
* 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.
* AKindOfOne: Medusas are an entire species of beings based off of what was a singular being in Greek myth.
* InterspeciesRomance: Depending on the edition, medusas are either strictly female or female ones outnumber the males by a wide margin. In either case, they tend to rely on mating with human and elven men to reproduce.
* {{Medusa}}: Medusas have always been a species, but they have undergone some changes between editions.
** In 2nd edition, medusas resemble 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% 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 two to six 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 editions 3 and 3.5, medusas are AlwaysFemale, 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 are bald and poison with their gaze rather than petrify. 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.
* MundaneUtility: Male medusas, known as maedars, can reverse petrification with a touch. Medusa/maedar pairs 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.
* SnakePeople: In some edition, some variants of medusas possess snakelike trunks instead of legs.
* 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]]
[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meenlock_2e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:285:2e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E), Aberrant Humanoid (4E), Fey (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (1E-3E), ChaoticEvil (4E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Small, vaguely bug-like horrors that stalk and torment a chosen victim before abducting them back to their lair and converting their captive into one of them.
----
* MindRape: Meenlocks hunt by selecting a target, then spending days stalking them while telepathically tormenting them, instilling paranoia through the feeling of being watched and followed, and filling them with the horrible certainty that monsters are going to come for them in the night. This mental assault deals Wisdom damage (in 3rd Edition) or psychic damage (in 5th Edition), potentially rendering the meenlocks' victim helpless.
* TheMorlocks: Another degenerate race of formerly-civilized humanoids that lurks underground.
* TheParalyzer: Their claw attacks can paralyze opponents, allowing the meenlocks to haul them back to their lairs.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Meenlocks give other creatures the creeps and project a supernatural aura that instills terror.
* {{Telepathy}}: They can use this to communicate, but mostly to be unpleasant to their prey.
* {{Teleportation}}: 3rd Edition meenlocks can use a ''dimension door'' effect every two rounds, while in 5th Edition it's a [[ShadowWalker shadow teleport]] instead.
* {{Tulpa}}: In 5th Edition, meenlocks are created as manifestations of the fear of other beings. When a sapient creature experiences deep fear or dread in the Feywild or an area highly influenced by it, one or more meenlocks spontaneously come into being.
* WasOnceAMan: In most editions, meenlocks procreate by haunting humanoids, driving them mad, and eventually kidnapping them to transform them into new meenlocks. Once a creature has been converted in this way, only a ''wish'' or ''miracle'' can bring them back.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mephit]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mephits_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:Magma and ice mephits (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Elemental (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 1/2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (3E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Imp-like creatures native to the Inner Planes. They come in an array of subspecies based on their elemental affinity, which affects their appearances, abilities and personalities, but one trait they all have in common is that they're incredibly annoying.
----
* BreathWeapon: All mephits can breathe a short cone of their corresponding element type, either dealing minor damage or hampering foes by restraining them with a coating of mud, blinding them with dust in their eyes, etc.
* {{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.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: 5th Edition mephits explode when killed, creating a similar effect as their breath weapon.
* EnemySummoner: Some imps have a chance of summoning a few more of their kind, in case one of the things wasn't annoying enough.
* OurImpsAreDifferent: Mephits are small, devilish elementals with long noses, batlike wings, grating personalities and very low placement on the planar pecking order and food chain.
* {{Retcon}}: Mephits traditionally could represent one of the classical four elements or mixtures of multiple elements, resulting in a full ten subtypes just in the standard 3rd Edition ''Monster Manual''. 5th Edition pares their numbers down to six: dust, ice, magma, mud, smoke and steam mephits, born from where two or more elemental energy types interweave, which also explains why they are weaker than "pure" elementals.
[[/folder]]

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

[[folder:Merfolk]]
[[quoteright:306:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_merfolk_5e_7.png]]
[[caption-width-right:306:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E), 1/8 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Any

Aquatic humanoids with fish-like lower bodies, and who generally avoid interactions with surface-dwellers.
----
* ArtEvolution: The earliest "mermen" fit the standard "normal human top, fish bottom" model, but 3rd Edition gave them an exotic tint to their hair and flesh, before 5th Edition made them an AmazingTechnicolorPopulation with finned limbs and hair.
* HiddenElfVillage: The merfolk generally reject any offers of friendship or trade from outsiders, and it takes an extraordinary threat to make their bands of hunter-gatherers unite with each other under a single leader.
* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: They're part-human, part-fish, though the degree of integration between the two halves varies by edition. Stories abound of merfolk rescuing shipwrecked sailors, but they're also known to prank surface-dwellers, and their idea of mischief can be cruel. Though amphibious, merfolk's land speed is appalling, and they cannot innately transform into a bipedal form.
* WasOnceAMan: Their early lore posits that merfolk were once human, but were transformed by an unknown power into their current state.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Merrow]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_merrow_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Brutish aquatic monsters that exist only to plunder and murder.
----
* 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. Earlier merrow were little better, but without the excuse of being tainted by demons.
* {{Retcon}}: Merrow were an aquatic subspecies of ogre for the first three editions of the game, described as green-skinned humanoids with webbed hands and feet, who lived in lakes and rivers. 5E reimagines them as the corrupted, monstrous descendants of demon-worshipping merfolk, making them saltwater creatures with fish-like lower bodies (and thus carrying a strong resemblance to the male naga of ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'')
* WasOnceAMan: In their current lore, 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]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_metallic_sentinels_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A metallic peacekeeper (left) and warbler (right) (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (warbler), 4 (peacekeeper) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Elegant constructs built by metallic dragons to act as peacekeepers in communities their creator has grown attached to.
----
* EmotionBomb: A metallic sentinel can release a gas that calms those who breathe it in, incapacitating them.
* GuardianEntity: They're created to be stand-ins for the dragon who built them, to watch over favored mortal settlements.
* NoSell: Besides sharing most constructs' condition immunities, metallic sentinels are immune to fire and any attempt to alter their form.
* SpyBot[=/=]SurveillanceDrone: A less-advertised feature of metallic sentinels is that they're in constant telepathic communication with their creator dragon, who can even see through the sentinels' senses.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mimic]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mimic_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E); 2 (standard), 8 (hoard mimic) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Shapeshifting monsters that ambush prey by taking the form of innocuous or enticing objects, such as doors or treasure chests, until their victims come within range of their pseudopods.
----
* ChestMonster: The archetypal example of the stealthy monster that pretends to be loot and attacks players that come to investigate.
* DragonHoard: Hoard mimics are a Huge variant capable of taking the shape of a pile of glittering treasure. They have a symbiotic relationship with dragons, as the dragon gets a new trap for their lair, while the mimic gets a steady supply of food in the form of would-be treasure thieves.
* ItCanThink: While most mimics are simple predators, some develop enough intelligence to learn Common or Undercommon, and can be willing to barter useful information or safe passage in exchange for food.
* LivingStructureMonster:
** The rare greater mimics are large enough to cover the inside of entire rooms, or take the form of small structures, and have enough control over their shapeshifting to fill their interior spaces with furnishings and props to entice victims to walk right into their gullets, at which point the "room" seems to implode around the hapless dupes. A few of these greater mimics even pick up illusion magic to create facsimiles of living creatures to add to the deception, though perceptive adventurers may notice that [[GlamourFailure these creatures' words are coming out of the walls around them.]]
** "House hunter" mimics are surface-dwelling variants with shells that resemble humanoid structures -- outhouses, cottages, inns or temples, depending on the mimic's age and size. They use bioluminescence to imitate flickering lights and make muffled sounds of conversation and other domestic noise to lure prey in, then grab them with their tongues and pseudopods. They're pack hunters smart enough to wait until an entire group of travelers is within their reach before attacking, but if defeated, these mimics' "shells" can easily be converted into actual dwellings.
** In other rare cases, enough intelligent mimics gather together to form a mimic colony, working together to form complex objects and structures, to the point that it might appear than an entire village has sprung up overnight.
* OrganDrops: Mimic ichor can be used to help craft potions of ''polymorph self'', their glue sacs can be harvested by alchemists, their other internal organs can be used to make perfume, and some cultures consider a mimic's innards a tasty delicacy.
* StickySituation: Mimics can coat themselves with an adhesive to help them grapple and entrap prey, and in some editions the glue can trap the weapons of attackers. Said adhesive is absorbed by mimics' bodies when they assume their natural form, and can be dissolved by alcohol.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Their natural forms are amorphous and speckled gray like granite, but they can alter their body's texture and coloration to perfectly mimic wood, stone or metal, and shift their dimensions to fill a doorway or take the form of furniture.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mind Flayer]]
!True Illithids
!!Illithid
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mind_flayer_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:5e]]
->'''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.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In a very twisted sense, but perhaps the only humanizing trait illithids have is their connection to their thralls, which is far more intimate than it would seem, as if their thrall dies their master will suffer in return, and having thralls around keeps them from [[GoMadFromTheIsolation going insane from loneliness]]. Each illithid also has a personal thrall whom they favor; going out of their way to not eat their brains in moments of hunger or anger, giving them toys and trinkets to entertain themselves with when not working, and even taking on pronounceable names for their benefit.
* HatesBeingAlone: Illithids' absolute desire to dominate is so ingrained into them that without minds to control they feel incomplete, and will put all other plans on hold to acquire more thralls lest they GoMadFromTheIsolation.
* HeelFaceTurn: In ''exceptionally'' rare cases, individual illithids have been known to overcome their inherent desires and become morally neutral, and in extreme case even ''good,'' questioning the need to dominate others and consume brains. These individuals who think differently would quickly be rooted out and killed by other illithids if discovered, and as such most need to live in isolation from their kind.
* 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.
* {{Retcon}}: Illithid lore underwent a number of changes during the 2nd-3rd Edition transition.
** In 2nd Edition, illithids reproduce asexually instead of requiring an elder brain to produce larvae. In addition, instead of converting an implanted victim into a new illithid, the larva feeds on the dead body it's planted into while maturing before bursting out as newborn illithid.
** Before and during 2nd Edition, illithids are atheist, as they believe themselves the only beings deserving of worship. Starting with 3rd, they worship Ilsensine.
** Pre-3rd Edition illithids are much more omnivorous than their later incarnations, and can subsist on a wide variety of foods. The eating of brains is primarily a symbolic gesture of dominance over other beings -- illithids believe the mind to be all-important and superior to the physical body, and so enjoy humiliating defeated opponents by devouring the most important part of their bodies.
* TheUnpronounceable: Illithids identify themselves to other illithids through strains of thoughts and images too complex to be spoken or expressed by other races, so any spoken names are actually rough translations that use descriptive words to get the general idea across. Occasionally an illithid will adopt a pronounceable name themselves, be it for the benifit of their thralls or to terrifiy enemies.
* 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]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''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.
* MonsterLord: Ulitharids are large, strong and psychically powerful illithids who arise to be natural leaders over their lesser kin.
* 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
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_elder_brain_dragon_5e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 22 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

A live dragon that has been captured by a mind flayer colony and infested by the local elder brain.
----
* BodyHorror: The dragon is mutated horrifically beyond its nature, with tentacles digging into its brain and elder brain slime running out of its mouth.
* BreathWeapon: It breathes out ''illithid tadpoles''.
* DispelMagic: A variant. Elder brain dragons can use a legendary action to shatter an enemy spellcaster's concentration, instantly ending any spell the caster was concentrating on.
* NoSavingThrow: There is no way to prevent an elder brain dragon from breaking your concentration once it has gotten hold of you. If you can't stay out of its reach, then say goodbye to whatever spells you were maintaining and brace yourself for the imminent psychic damage.
* PuppeteerParasite: 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
[[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brainstealer_dragon.jpg]]
->'''Classification:''' Dragon (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' Varies with age category (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Dragons created when a tadpole infects a dragon, which thankfully is a rare occurance.
----
* BrainFood: If a brainstealer dragon can hold an enemy with its tentacles for five consecutive rounds, it extracts and eats the victim's brain.
* CombatTentacles: Instead of a head, the brainstealer dragon has four tentacles which it uses to grab enemies and extract their brains.
* OneHitKill: In 3rd Edition, if a brainstealer dragon manages to extract an enemy's only brain, it dies instantly.
* PsychicPowers: Brainstealer dragons possess various psionic powers, including a cone-shaped mind blast that serves as its equivalent of a BreathWeapon.

!!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]]
[[caption-width-right:300:5e]]
->'''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
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_uchuulon_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''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
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_urophion_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''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.

!Illithidae
Illithidae are an order of animal-minded aberrations related to illithids in the same manner in which common mammals are related to humans. They originate from the same alien future as the mind flayers and congregate around their cities, although the nature of their modern relationship remains unclear. Illithidae reproduce by depositing larvae within their bodies of slain victims, which incubate there until ready to metamorphose into adults.
----
* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Illithidae often resemble, and occupy ecological niches largely equivalent to, more familiar animals. Cessirids look and act like much like wolves, kigrids fill niches equivalent to those of aggressive omnivores and scavengers such as boars, hyenas and bears, and saltors are similar to baboons. Embracs are the only exception, as the closest analogy to their niche would be an animal that acts like a carnivorous plant.

!!Cessirid
->'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral, sometimes LawfulEvil

Wolflike pack hunters with four stinging tentacles around their mouths.
----
* AnimalJingoism: Cessirids and kaoulgrim, the hounds of the githyanki, despise each other and will always attempt to fight to the death when they meet.
* SavageWolves: Cessirids are essentially monstrous alien wolves, and are characterized as wily, treacherous and dangerous pack predators who, while capable of communication, typically only view other intelligent creatures as food and have distinct tendency towards the evil end of the alignment scale.

!!Embrac
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (2E), TrueNeutral (3E)

Hulking predators resembling bloated sacks mounted on eight armored legs, adorned with a saw-edged beaks, and topped with eight tentacles bristling with hooks. Embracs are ambush predators that prefer to attack their prey from hiding.
----
* ArtEvolution: The 2nd Edition embrac is a bearlike creature with a beak, slanted eyes, and four tentacles growing from around its mouth. The 3rd Edition version is a giant sac of flesh with segmented, arthropod-like legs, no visible eyes, and tentacles growing in a ring all around its upper body.
* CombatTentacles: An embrac's main weapons are its muscular, hook-lined tentacles.
* HealingFactor: If an embrac's tentacles are severed, they grow back within a couple weeks.

!!Saltor
->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (2E), NeutralEvil (3E)

Baboonlike in shape and behavior, saltors are intelligent but very primitive and live as scavengers and opportunistic predators. Saltors are fairly close kin of illithids, and like them reproduce by planting their larvae in the skulls of prey to convert them into new members of their species.
----
* MakeMeWannaShout: A saltor's main offensive tool is a loud screech capable of inflicting sonic damage.

!Other Related Creatures
!!Cranium Rat
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_cranium_rats_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''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
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_intellect_devourer_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''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
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_neothelid_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''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:Minotaur]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_minotaur_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Hulking, bull-headed humanoids with a tendency towards savagery but a good head for mazes. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mockery Bug]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mockery_drone_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mockery drone (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (mockery drone), 14 (mockery monarch) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Neutral Evil

Rarely, an ankheg egg produces an insectoid monster with a silvery carapace and dangerous intelligence, which quickly leaves the nest to strike out on its own. These mockery monarchs are able to spawn copies of humanoids they consume, and send those mockery drones to lure more victims to their lairs.
----
* AcidAttack: Like true ankhegs, mockery monarchs deal acid damage with their bite attacks, while mockery drones can spit a long line of acid every six hours.
* ArtificialAtmosphericActions: Mockery drones are born with incoherent fragments of memories from their previous lives, and have just enough intelligence to try to mimic normal behavior, but not enough to do so well. As a result, they're prone to behavior like tilling the same patch of earth over and over, carrying empty buckets to and from the town well, or chopping a piece of firewood to splinters.
* AttackReflector: Mockery monarchs' silvery carapaces can reflect hostile magic as per ''spell turning''.
* BeastWithAHumanFace: In their true forms, mockery drones look like 5-foot-long, spined centipedes that retain the faces of the people they were imitating.
* ChestBurster: Mockery drones are spawned looking identical to the people they replaced, but when pressed into combat, [[YourHeadAsplode their heads explode]] as their centipede-like true forms burst out of their humanoid shells to the attack. Once a drone sheds its false identity, there's no going back, and it spends the rest of its confused existence as a human-faced monster.
* EatBrainForMemories: Mockery monarchs learn the languages of the creatures they eat, but are incapable of normal or telepathic speech.
* ReplicantSnatching: Mockery monarchs are incapable of reproducing normally, and are instead instinctively driven to spawn as many mockery drones as possible. They can be dangerously clever when employing their minions to lure in fresh victims, like having their drones attack livestock in a way that suggests normal ankhegs are behind it, or leaving signs that a missing child entered their lair. But in most cases, their drones can bring in victims simply by wandering around and acting oddly until someone takes an interest - especially family of those replaced by the drones - then leading them to their monarch.
* TheSpiny: The spines covering a mockery drone deal piercing damage to opponents that grapple or attack them with non-reach melee weapons.
* SwallowedWhole: Anything bitten and grappled by a mockery monarch is in danger of being swallowed whole, taking regular acid and bludgeoning damage until their hit points reach zero, at which point the monarch can spawn a fresh mockery drone that looks like the victim.
* WelcomeToCorneria: Mockery drones only remember a few words from their previous lives, and will repeat phrases like "Midnight and all's well!" or "Here's your change!" as they struggle to act normally. [[MadnessMantra They keep this up even when they burst out of their human shells and attack.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Modron]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_modrons_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pentadrone and monodrone (5e)]]
->'''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.
----
* AirborneMook: Quadrones are the only winged variant of modrons, and often combine this with their proficiency with bows to serve as aerial ranged support for modron forces.
* 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, modrons are essentially magic computers with zero individuality, imagination, or ability to comprehend anything except basic logic or disobey any order given them.
* 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.
* MookLieutenant: Duodrones are assigned with supervising and directing groups of monodrones, the simplest modron type. In war, duodrones typically act as sergeants or corporals and lead squads of precisely twelve monodrones into battle.
* 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''.
* FantasticCasteSystem: Modrons live in a complex and perfectly ordered hierarchy, where each caste performs a specific task, possess precisely the level of complexity needed for its purpose, and is only able to communicate with the castes immediately above and below it.
* StarfishRobots: Modrons are fantastical robotic constructs who are so utterly devoted to the concept of cosmic Order that they're often fairly difficult for mortals to communicate with -- modrons are utterly devoted to their assigned tasks, almost entirely unimaginative, and literally incapable of thinking in terms of good and evil. None of them are humanoid except for Primus himself and his immediate underlings; common modrons resemble living geometric solids, while their immediate superiors have shapes reminiscent of unusual sea animals.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mongrelfolk]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mongrelfolk_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classificaction:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/3 (3E), 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral (2E, 3E), Any (5E)

Humanoids that bear the physical marks of generations of crossbreeding, such as mismatched limbs and uneven features.
----
* ArtEvolution: How deformed they are varies by edition, with earlier art depicting "Mongrelmen" with occasional animal limbs and features that were part-reptile, part-mammal, before 3rd Edition toned them down into merely ugly goblin-like creatures, only for 5th Edition to swing the other way.
* DarkIsNotEvil: No matter how ugly they look, mongrelfolk aren't evil, and at worst will resort to petty thievery to survive. Generally they try to get along with their neighbors, no matter how abusive, either by passing for a friendly race or just staying out of sight.
* {{Determinator}}: Mongrelfolk will do ''anything'' to survive. Survival is the overriding goal of their kind; they give members of their kind the title "The Survivor" the way other races would term someone "The Great".
* FantasticRacism: They're often driven out of even good and lawful communities, while evil societies will enslave mongrelfolk, or even hunt them for sport. Mongrelfolk themselves avoid this, and consider themselves kin to every race, even if they don't quite belong to any of them.
* TheGrotesque: Mongrelfolk tend to display the worst features of their various ancestors, such as oversized ears, sloped foreheads, flat noses, crooked and rotten teeth, etc. Despite this, they're generally inoffensive creatures.
* HeinzHybrid: They're the inevitable conclusion of a setting with dozens of humanoid races capable of interbreeding. On the upside, this means a mongrelfolk can use a magic item intended for a particular race without difficulty, and in some editions they inherit perks like an elf's immunity to magical ''sleep'' effects, or a diminished version of a dwarf's resistance to poison.
* PassFail: 3rd Edition's ''Races of Destiny'' sourcebook introduced an interesting spin on mongrelfolk, namely that the hideous mismatched examples of their kind are rare individuals that are used as a ''distraction'' by the rest of the mongrelfolk, and honored for their sacrifice. Ordinary mongrelfolk instead blend the features of their various parent races more subtly, to the extent that observers tend to interpret them as people close to, but not quite, their own race. So a dwarf might see a mongrelfolk as an unusually broad-shouldered elf, an elf might see a tall and slender dwarf, a human would see a strangely attractive orc, and so forth.
* VoiceChangeling: Mongrelfolk can mimic any voice or sound they've heard.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Moon Dog]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_moon_dog_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Canine celestials from the Blessed Fields of Elysium, who travel the Upper Planes and Material Plane to confront evil.
----
* ArtEvolution: Their ''AD&D'' art is closer to a hybrid wolf-human, with hairless human hands on their forelegs and uncanny faces that are both canine and humanoid. 3rd Edition makes them much more wolf-looking, other than their hand-like front paws.
* AsianLionDogs: They lean much more heavily on the "dog" part of the trope, but otherwise follow it, being noble, heavenly creatures that can ruin evil's day.
* AstralProjection: They can use the spell at will, but only affecting themselves.
* CastingAShadow: Moon dogs can move shadows around themselves, creating a pattern that acts as a ''[[MassHypnosis hypnotic pattern]]'' to all neraby evil creatures, while granting good creatures a ''protection from evil'' and ''remove fear'' effect.
* DispelMagic: Moon dogs' barks act as a ''dispel evil'' effect, while their whines automatically dispel illusions within 50 feet.
* FeatherFingers: Their front paws are very hand-like, and have a limited capacity for fine manipulation.
* FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter: Moon dogs can stand up on their hind legs to use their front paws to grasp things, but move at half speed while doing so.
* GoodCounterpart: They're considered such to yeth hounds, being canids with human features and supernatural powers, only dedicated to good.
* {{Intangibility}}: They can use ''etheral jaunt'' at will.
* IntimateHealing: By licking a wound, moon dogs can ''cure light wounds'', ''remove disease'' and/or ''slow poison'', each once per day per person.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Their howling simultaneously causes the ''fear'' effect of their baying, deals a bit of damage to evil creatures each round the moon hound continues, and targets any nearby fiends with a ''dismissal'' spell.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Moon dogs can use a variant of ''speak with animals'' to converse with dogs, wolves and other mundane canines.
* SuperSenses: Moon dogs have low-light vision, darkvision, can [[TheNoseKnows track creatures by scent,]] are constantly under both ''arcane'' and ''blessed sight'', and can ''[[SeeTheInvisible see invisibility]]'' at will.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: A moon dog's baying acts as a ''fear'' spell that only affects evil creatures.
* {{Telepathy}}: Like many outsiders, they're telepathic out to 50 feet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mooncalf]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mooncalf_4e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:4e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Winged, tentacled monsters sometimes encountered on mountains and hilltops, and rumored to fly down to earth from the dark side of the moon.
----
* 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.
* NonIndicativeName: "Mooncalf" certainly doesn't bring to mind the image of a winged, tentacled monstrosity that can eat literally anything.
* 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]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_morkoth_5e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 11 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

Cruel and devious sea monsters who use hypnosis to lure victims into their maze-like lairs to be devoured.
----
* 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 toothy jaws, 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. All this to say, even in-universe sources can't agree on what the monsters look like, just that they're some combination of fish, crab and squid.
* AttackReflector: If a morkoth successfully saves against a spell, or if a spell attack misses it, the monster can cause the magic to rebound against its attacker.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: With their current lore, morkoths obessively hoard everything from treasure to obscure lore to prisoners, and since their lairs can travel from plane to plane, their collections can be eclectic indeed.
-->'''Volo:''' Collectors of everything odd, unusual and valuable - hopefully not including you.
* {{Greed}}: 5th Edition morkoths are motivated by both a yearning for conflict and a greedy desire for anything they don't possess. As such, they won't willingly part with anything from their hoards, and those in their lairs have a chance of discovering that one of their possessions has spontaneously vanished to appear in the morkoth's hoard.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Morkoths resembls fish with cephalopod tentacles and arthropod-like legs.
* PocketDimension: While each morkoth's domain appears as a tropical island - if an unnerving dreamlike place shrouded in perpetual twilight - the entire area is essentially its own demiplane, able to travel to other planes and locations at random or in a sequence. Rarely, a morkoth gains the ability to control the movements of its island.
* PsychicPowers: Morkoths are natural hypnotists, and shape the tunnels of their lairs to amplify their powers in order to lure and befuddle prey.
* {{Retcon}}: 5th Edition greatly expanded their backstory, turning morkoths from mere sea monsters to the byproduct of a dead god inhabiting roving extraplanar islands. Originally ambivalent about treasure and prone to eating any captives, morkoths became greedy hoarders who considered prisoners part of their possessions.
* TookALevelInBadass: Past morkoths had purely physical attacks, with their only supernatural abilities being their spell reflection and hypnotic tunnels. But in 5th Edition, morkoths are full-fledged spellcasters equivalent to an 11th-level mage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myconid]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_myconids_5e.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E, 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

Also known as "fungus ones," these intelligent, mobile mushroom folk are distrustful of outsiders, but generally shy and nonviolent, making them a rarity among the Underdark's inhabitants.
----
* 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]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_spirit_naga_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:Spirit naga (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E); Monstrosity (all), Undead (bone) (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (dark, iridescent), 9 (spirit), 10 (guardian), 18 (nagahydra), 22 (ha-naga) (3E); 4 (bone), 8 (dark, spirit), 10 (guardian) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood (guardian), ChaoticGood (iridescent), TrueNeutral (nagahydra), LawfulEvil (bone, dark), ChaoticEvil (spirit, ha-naga)

Serpentine creatures with human faces, as well as great wisdom and magical power. They tend to become the unquestioned rulers of their territories, though whether they are benevolent or tyrannical depends on the naga.
----
* ArchEnemy: Nagas don't get along with the yuan-ti, the other race of serpent people that happen to share the nagas' preferred territory and consider themselves the epitome of snakedom. In rare cases the two will cooperate, but the yuan-ti always chafe under a naga's authority.
* 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, in a manner compared to a chameleon's camouflage.
* 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.
* {{Flight}}: Ha-nagas can fly through the air in a way compared to a snake swimming through the water.
* ForcedSleep: A dark naga's bite forces its victims to lapse into a nightmare-haunted sleep.
* HealingFactor: Nagahydras steadily regenerate health in general, and will grow back severed heads within a few rounds.
* LanguageEqualsThought: Nagas are supremely arrogant beings, and each views themself as incarnate perfection, other members of its specific breed as nearly so, other nagas as further flawed, and non-nagas as increasingly imperfect. Consequently, they have no concept of equal rank, and their language has no word for "peer".
* LargeAndInCharge: Ha-nagas are immense, towering above the lesser nagas that serve them and worship them as gods.
* 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.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: Nagahydras are a large variant of naga whose bodies fork into multiple necks and heads, each of a different color, which will grow back if severed unless the stump is seared with fire.
* 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.
* RoyalWe: Nagas tend to believe themselves, personally, the pinnacle of creation, and usually refer to themselves in the plural. Most go further and specifically call themselves ''Ssa'Naja'', "We the Ideal".
* ServantRace: In ''Forgotten Realms'', the nagas were created by the sarrukh to serve as explorers, scouts, and magical researchers.
* SnakePeople: Nagas are at the far snake end of this, usually resembling giant snakes with human heads or faces.
* SuperSpit: Guardian nagas can spit their venom at up to thirty feet away from themselves.
* {{Telepathy}}: Dark nagas can constantly detect the thoughts of nearby creatures.
* WalkingTheEarth: Iridescent nagas spend their lives wandering the world, searching for new discoveries and beauty.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nagpa]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nagpa_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:5e]]
->'''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]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_neogi_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''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

Creatures with spider-like bodies but eel-like heads and necks, the neogi are slavers and traders who wander through and between the worlds of the Material Plane, hated by all they meet but always able to find customers.
----
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They cannot comprehend any social bond aside from master and slave.
* CanonImmigrant: The neogi originated in the ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}'' setting, but have since spread to more general ''D&D'' cosmology.
* 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, derisively called a "great old master" by the others. 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:Nerra]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_nerra_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A varoot (left), kalareem (middle) and sillit (right) (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (varoot), 3 (kalareem), 6 (sillit) (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Enigmatic, reflective-skinned humanoids from the Plane of Mirrors, who observe the Material Plane and kidnap key individuals, presumably in preparation of an invasion. The varoots are the most common of the nerra, acting as their primary infiltrators, while kalareems are their soldiers and guardians of the Plane of Mirrors, and both defer to the leadership of the sillits.
----
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The nerra's signature weapons are shard swords and daggers made out of the mirror-like substance of the Plane of Mirrors. They're enchanted weapons that inflict terrible bleeding wounds for a DamageOverTime effect.
* AchillesHeel: Nerra take additional damage from sonic attacks.
* AttackReflector: Any spell that a nerra saves against instead affects the caster, and they're similarly immune to gaze effects, which affect the source creature instead.
* DoppelgangerSpin: Appropriately enough, all nerra can cast ''mirror image'' once per day, or at will in the case of the sillits.
* DualWielding: The kalareems usually wield two shard swords at once.
* DumbMuscle: Kalareems, the biggest and strongest nerra, have an averge Intelligence score compared to the varoot and especially the brilliant sillits, and lack most of the other nerra's spell-like abilities.
* ExtraDimensionalShortcut: The nerra's home plane is one to begin with, and they can also magically jump between mirrors (or potentially highly reflective surfaces like still pools of water, or shiny metal) in a variant of the ''shadow walk'' spell, emerging up to a mile away.
* FlechetteStorm: A few times each day, kalareems and sillits can spray a cone of mirror-like shards from their hands, which both deals damage and inflicts a bleed effect similar to their signatue weapons.
* InTheHood: Sillits distinguish themselves from varoots with their fine black silk robes.
* TheInfiltration: The varoots are the nerra most commonly encountered on other planes, where they masquerade as native creatures and infiltrate a variety of organizations. The nerra's use of captives' mirror-selves only adds to this.
* LieToTheBeholder: Varoots and sillits can cast ''change self'' at will to aid their infiltrations.
* MirrorSelf: They actively create these, by abducting Material Plane creatures and bringing them to the Plane of Mirrors. This spawns a mirror replica of the nerra's victim, which [[KillAndReplace kills and replaces]] the original creature, then follows the nerra's orders regardless of alignment.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: When a nerra is slain, their bodies shatter into a thousand mirror-like shards, which ten minutes later melt into pools of quicksilver before evaporating.
* SinisterSurveillance: Any mirror, anywhere, might have a nerra spying from the other side of it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nightseed]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_nightseed_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 14 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Huge, roving blots of hungry darkness spawned by the Far Realm, which haunt the darkest depths of the earth or the surface on moonless nights.
----
* 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.
* SwallowedWhole: Rather than battering foes with acidic slam attacks, a nightseed can simply engulf something smaller than it. This deals a massive amount of damage, [[LifeDrain gives the nightseed temporary hit points]], and if its victims are spellcasters or psions, [[PowerParasite lets the nightseed use their spells or powers.]]
* WeakenedByTheLight: Natural sunlight slows down nightseeds and eventually causes them to evaporate entirely.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nilbog]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_nilbog_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

A goblin possessed by a nameless trickster deity that grants them strange powers, allowing them to sow chaos amongst their hobgoblin abusers and oppressors.
----
* CharmPerson: Anything that attempts to attack a nilbog has to save or become charmed by it, forcing them to praise the creature instead.
* CourtJester: The nilbog's very existence has led to the practice of hobgoblins appointing one lucky gobbo to be an official jester, allowed to do or say as they please and cause a moderate amount of disruption that is preferable to the chaos caused by a nilbog.
* DemonicPossession: A nilbog is an invisible spirit, the splintered form of a goblin trickster god, that possesses only goblins.
* HealingShiv: Enforced with their "Reversal of Fortune" reaction, which allows the nilbog to reduce an incoming attack's damage to zero and instead heal from it. This is in fact the ''only'' way a nilbog can recover health.
* KarmicTrickster: Nilbogs exist to wreak havoc among the brutally disciplined hobgoblin legions, as a direct response to their abuses against their goblin conscripts. They're difficult to even attack, much less harm, and can use obnoxious spells like ''mage hand'', ''Tasha's hideous laughter'' or ''vicious mockery'' at will.
* SdrawkcabName: It's "goblin" backwards.
* SpeakOfTheDevil: The goblins never speak the name of the trickster god that empowers nilbogs, lest it allow the hobgoblin deity Maglubiyet to finally defeat him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nimblewright]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_nimblewright_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E), 4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral (3E), Unaligned (5E)

Human-sized constructs that use their speed, spells and swordsmanship to serve their creators as bodyguards or assassins. Unlike most constructs, they are intelligent, creative, and have distinct personalities.
----
* AchillesHeel: Cold damage ''slows'' a nimblewright for several rounds, while fire damage stuns them for a round.
* DualWielding: Nimblewrights can fight with both rapier-hands at once without penalty.
* {{Glamour}}: They can use ''alter self'' at will to disguise their construct nature, or to aid in an infiltration.
* {{Golem}}: They're similar to standard golems in that nimblewrights are constructs animated by a bound elemental spirit, but theirs is from the Elemental Plane of Water rather than Earth. They also never go berserk during combat, but lack a normal golem's resistance/immunity to most magic.
* MagicKnight: Nimblewrights can use buff and utility spells like ''haste'', ''entropic shield'', ''cat's grace'' and ''featherfall'' at will.
* MasterSwordsman: In 3rd Edition, nimblewrights have feats like Improved Disarm and Expertise, their Augmented Critial ability gives them a 60% chance to score a CriticalHit with their rapiers, and they can make trip attacks with them as well.
* RetractableWeapon: A nimblewright's rapiers are actually parts of their body, able to fold up into their forearms until needed.
[[/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]]

[[folder:Nymph]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_nymph_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:2e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (2E), ChaoticGood (3E)

Fey embodying the beauty of nature, and who can be quite literally drop-dead gorgeous.
----
* BrownNoteBeing: In 2nd Edition, looking at a nymph can permanently blind you, or even ''kill you'' if she's nude at the time. In 3rd Edition, nymphs have the ability to suppress or resume this ability at will, and the effect is restricted to blindness.
* CantLiveWithoutYou: In some tellings, a nymph will sicken and perish if their natural sanctums are despoiled, and in turn their homes will decay if the nymph is injured.
* DeadlyGaze: When they aren't inverting the trope with their blinding beauty, an angry nymph can stun a creature with a look.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Wild animals flock to a nymph's sanctum to enjoy her company and receive healing, and will ignore any natural hostility towards each other when around her.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Their old lore holds that a nymph's kiss will cause a man to forget all their painful and troubling memories for the rest of the day, which can be problematic depending on the situation.
* MagicHair: A lock of a nymph's hair can be used to brew a sleeping potion, or be enchanted and woven into a cloak that enhances the wearer's Charisma.
* OurNymphsAreDifferent: Nymphs are nature spirits with some resemblance to elven women, known for being incredibly beautiful. They dwell in and protect places of unspoiled natural beauty such as groves, pools or mountain peaks, and may in fact spontaneously form in such places to reflect their splendor. They can be kind and graceful to mortals they regard as allies of nature, particularly elves and druids, but nymphs are also wild and mercurial as nature itself.
* SwissArmyTears: A nymph's tears can be used as an ingredient in a ''philter of love''.
[[/folder]]

!!O

[[folder:Oblex]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_oblex_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Elder oblex (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (spawn), 5 (adult), 10 (elder) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Intelligent oozes that hunger for other creatures' memories, and can manifest copies of their victims.
----
* BizarreAlienReproduction: As an oblex devours memories, it grows larger and becomes able to mimic multiple distinct personalities. Eventually it reaches the point where it has to shed a personality or go insane, which spawns a new oblex.
* BlobMonster: Their amorphous bodies can squeeze through an inch-wide gap without difficulty, even the Huge elder oblexes.
* CharmPerson: Adult oblexes can cast the spell three times per day, while elder oblexes can use it at will.
* 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 their prey befuddled and confused. The sharper the mind, the better the meal, so oblexes hunt obviously intelligent targets.
* KillItWithFire: Oblexes have an aversion to fire, and will have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks after taking fire damage.
* ReplicantSnatching: They can create a simulacrum of a creature whose memories they've absorbed (and thus usually, but not always, someone they've killed), which is indistinguishable from the original save for a slimy tendril extending up to 120 feet to the oblex's main body. The oozes use these simulacra to infiltrate settlements and lure in additional victims.
* StupidityInducingAttack: An oblex can eat an adjacent creature's memories, dealing psychic damage and also imposing penalties on their attack rolls and ability checks as they forget how to fight. Each time a victim suffers this effect, the penalties get worse until they ultimately lose consciousness after five attacks. Fortunately, a rest or magic like ''greater restoration'' or ''heal'' will set them right.
* UnwittingPawn: Though the oblexes don't seem aware of it, they are the result of illithid experimentation on Underdark oozes, and Mordenkainen suspects that the mind flayers' elder brains are psychically monitoring the oblexes' progress, co-opting whatever they learn through their predations.
[[/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.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Goblins are known to use ogres as mounts, either by strapping themselves (or being strapped) to an ogre's back and wielding a crossbow as a tail gunner, or constructing a howdah on the ogre's shoulders that can hold up to four goblins at once.
* 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; see below.
* 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. That said, some work out how to use more interesting weapons on the battlefield: {{battering ram}}s, [[ChainPain huge iron chains]], or a ballista carried with the ease of a crossbow.
* 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]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_oni_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:"Ogre mage" (3e)]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_ogre_mage_3e.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (3E), 7 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil
Large humanoids that combine an ogre's strength with a terrible cunning and fearsome 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''. They also covet magical items, and are willing to work for a wizard who supplies them with some.
* NonIndicativeName: Oni are sometimes called ogre mages because of their resemblance to ogres, even though they are only distantly related to true ogres.
* {{Oni}}: They have a giant's strength but are also intelligent and possess dangerous magic, and appropriately enough spent several editions classified as "ogres." 4e decided there was no point hiding the truth and created an openly "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.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Oni can take on the form of humanoids of Small to Medium size or of any Large-sized giant, an ability they use to case a settlement in preparation of an attack.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ooze]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_black_pudding_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:Black pudding (5e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (gray ooze), 2 (ochre jelly, gelatinous cube), 4 (black pudding) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Whether they're labeled oozes, jellies, puddings or slimes, there is a dangerous assortment of mindless blobs to threaten adventurers in dungeons.
----
* AcidAttack: Nearly every variety of ooze uses acid to dissolve and digest their victims.
* AquaticMook: Crystal oozes are an offshoot of gray ooze which live in lakes and seas, and which are translucent to make themselves more difficult to spot underwater.
* AsteroidsMonster: Some oozes, such as the ochre jelly, split into multiple enemies when subjected to certain attacks, distributing their hit points between them. Other oozes like the mustard jelly can split and reform themselves at will as they hunt their prey.
* BlobMonster: A wide variety of amorphous creatures with the shape and consistency of overcooked puddings. Most are mobile enough to pursue prey, but never quickly.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: One of the most characteristic traits of the ooze and jelly family is that its branches come in numerous color-coded variants, each with very specific traits, strengths and weaknesses. During a dungeon delve, being able to quickly recognize the sometimes very specific shade of the slimy mess that's bubbling up through the floor and which list of traits it's associated with is often a matter of life or death -- if it's black, it will dissolve everything that's not stone; if it's brown, it will dissolve anything organic but leave metal alone; if it's gray, it's the other way around; if it's green, it will turn you into more of itself but cold and fire will kill it; if it's olive, it will turn you into a zombie first; if it's mustard, ItCanThink; and so on and so forth.
* DeathFromAbove: Green slime is otherwise immobile, save for its practice of dropping down from ceilings or high walls on victims passing beneath it.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Several kinds of oozes use their natural coloration to blend in with their environments and ambush unsuspecting prey.
** In dimly-lit passages, a black pudding looks much like a dark patch of shadow.
** Crystal and flotsam oozes are nearly transparent, making them very difficult to see in the water where they live.
** Gelatinous cubes are for the most part transparent, leading some inobservant creatures to simply walk right into them to be engulfed.
** Gray ooze at rest is indistinguishable from a wet rock or oily pool.
** Mustard jelly is nearly translucent, and can be easier to detect by its signature mustard-like odor than by sight.
** Snowflake oozes and white puddings look like ordinary snowbanks.
** Stunjellies are perhaps the most insidious, as these offshoots of gelatinous cubes were altered by a mage to look like a ten-foot stretch of stone wall, and only a close light source will reveal their slightly translucent nature.
* ItCanThink: Mustard jellies stand out for being predatory oozes with a human-level intelligence, enough to recognize the value of treasure as bait to lure in more victims. They are thought to have come about when a young wizard attempted to ''polymorph'' herself into an ochre jelly.
* LivingLava: Lava oozes are living masses of molten rock, mostly found lurking in volcanic caverns.
* MooksAteMyEquipment: Black pudding and gray ooze both corrode metal, and will damage weapons used to strike at them.
* MurderWater: Brine oozes resemble large patches of animated briny water with a taste for blood.
* TheParalyzer: Stunjellies live up to their name by paralyzing those in contact with them.
* PuppeteerParasite: Olive slime is a variant of green slime that drops down onto a passing creature, uses a numbing poison to avoid detection, then extends parasitic tendrils into the host and tries to fuse with their spinal column. If successful, the host is complelled to protect the slime, until a few days later the host is transformed into a mindless, plant-like creature, before ultimately collapsing and expiring, creating a new patch of olive slime.
* UndergroundMonkey: The more common oozes often have variants adapted to live in specific environments, usually with colors tweaked to match. Crystal oozes are an offshoot of grey oozes that lives in the sea, dun puddings are black pudding relatives that live in sandy deserts, and white puddings are another black pudding variant found in snowy wildernesses.
* VampiricDraining: Bloodbloaters are transparent oozes that latch onto other creatures and drain them of blood, turning red as they do so.

!!Arcane Ooze
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_arcane_ooze_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Fluid masses of green protoplasm with a strange affinity for arcane magic.
----
* FeedItWithFire: They're healed by any magic that deals acid damage, while lightning damage will grant them a ''haste'' effect.
* MagicEater: These oozes have the strange ability to siphon arcane spells. Any arcane spellcaster within 60 feet of an arcane ooze has to make a saving throw each round or lose one of their highest-level spells as the creature absorbs its magical energy, gaining temporary hit points from the effect.
* NoSell: Arcane oozes are unaffected by most arcane magic.

!!Dragonblood Ooze
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_dragonblood_ooze.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Ooze (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

The result of unwise alchemical experiments, these animate masses of congealed dragon blood struggle to form a coherent shape, lash out with caustic psuedopods, and instinctively attempt to use breath weapons they do not possess.
----
* BloodyMurder: Dragons don't normally spawn enemies when their blood is shed, but some alchemist has done the next best thing.
* BreathWeapon: Dragonblood oozes try to manifest a dragon's breath weapon, but only manage to expel a spray of their own gelatinous mass.
* WallCrawl: They can freely scale sheer surfaces or move upside-down across ceilings.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Orc]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_orc_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:2e]]
->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (3E); 1/2 (standard) to 4 (war chief) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (2E), ChaoticEvil (3E-5E)

Brutish humanoids that raid and pillage those around them, or gather into howling hordes that overrun civilization. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Otyugh]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_otyugh_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Natural Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-3E, 5E), Unaligned (4E)

Sometimes called gulguthra, these carrion-eaters 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, making them a vital if unappreciated part of dungeon ecology.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: They often hide by covering themselves in refuse, using their [[EyeOnAStalk eye-stalk]] to spy on their surroundings until prey comes by.
* ItCanThink: They look monstrous, but otyughs are intelligent enough to speak Common, and can even form symbiotic relationships with creatures that give them food and leave them in their refuse. If trained, they're capable of following complex instructions about who to attack and ignore, and thus make surprisingly good guard animals to prevent thieves from accessing garbage chutes or sewers.
[[/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)

Infamously vicious carnivores with the front half of a flightless owl and the hindquarters of a bear.
----
* AttackAnimal: It's ''theoretically'' possible to train an owlbear, but they don't need instructions on how to maul something, and it's not productive to try to teach them anything else. That said, if raised from chicks, owlbears will at least bond with their trainers, but they're sullen when performing most tricks, and it takes special effort to make them ''not'' attack something.
* BearsAreBadNews: Much like full bears, owlbears are known and feared for their ferocity, aggressiveness and foul tempers.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Some brave/foolish individuals attempt to train owlbears as mounts, but this is a difficult process that requires either regular, vicious beatings or magical coercion, and in the latter case the owlbear will forget its training and revert to its savage nature the instant the spell wears off. Even if conventionally trained, owlbears are hateful mounts with a tendency to throw and attack their riders if they ever sense weakness, i.e. if their rider takes a moderate amount of damage.
* MixAndMatchCritters: They have an owl's head, wings and claws and a bear's torso and legs. This incidentally gives owlbears an odd sleep cycle - they wake at noon, hunt through nightfall, and go to sleep at midnight.
* 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. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] explaination is that the creature is inspired by a cheap plastic toy Creator/GaryGygax picked up for his ''Chainmail'' games, a "prehistoric monster" that was a knock-off {{Kaiju}} design.
[[/folder]]
-----

* RetGone: Once, the [=leShay=] ruled an age and civilization of their own. Then... something happened which destroyed it so thoroughly that, from the point of view of modern people, the [=leShay's=] age never existed at all, not even in the remotest past. The few [=leShay=] to survive this catastrophe endure as living paradoxes, fragments of an age that never was whose histories begin in a past that never happened.

* OurElvesAreBetter: [=LeShay=] are described as [[UpToEleven being to normal elves what normal elves are to humans.]] Beyond their physical appearance, [=leShay=] share elf traits such as an immunity to magical ''sleep'' effects, low-light vision, weapon proficiencies, and the ability to notice hidden doors. Though it should be noted that their PointyEars more resemble half-elves' than full-blooded elves'.

* LivingRelic: The [=leShay=] are the remnants of a once-great people who supposedly predated the current multiverse, only for some catastrophe to not only drive them to near-extinction, but [[RetGone change time so that their era never existed.]] Trying to undo this disaster would only result in something worse happening, so the surviving [=leShay=] simply try to stave off ennui as best they can.

* {{Omniglot}}: A [=leShay=] can master a language within seconds of hearing it spoken for the first time, "right down to the most courlty of impressive accent thereof."
* OurElvesAreBetter: [=LeShay=] are described as being [[UpToEleven to normal elves what normal elves are to humans.]] Beyond their physical appearance, [=leShay=] share elf traits such as an immunity to magical ''sleep'' effects, low-light vision, weapon proficiencies, and the ability to notice hidden doors. Though it should be noted that their PointyEars more resemble half-elves' than full-blooded elves'.

Ageless and powerful beings resembling albino elves with utterly black eyes, who are trapped in an alien reality.

* LivingRelic: The [=leShay=] are the remnants of a once-great people who supposedly predated the current multiverse, only for some catastrophe to not only wipe them out, but [[RetGone change time so that their era never existed.]] Trying to undo this disaster would only result in something worse happening, so the surviving [=leShay=] simply try to stave off ennui as best they can.
* MageSpecies: They have a host of at-will spell-like abilities -- ''greater {{invisibility}}'', ''[[AttackReflector spell turning]]'', ''{{teleport|ation}} without error'', ''[[WhiteMagic heal]]'', ''[[DispelMagic greater dispelling]]'', and more.
* {{Omniglot}}: A [=leShay=] can master a language within seconds of hearing it spoken for the first time.
* OurElvesAreBetter: [=LeShay=] are described as [[UpToEleven to normal elves what normal elves are to humans.]] Beyond their physical appearance, [=leShay=] share elf traits such as an immunity to magical ''sleep'' effects, low-light vision, weapon proficiencies, and the ability to notice hidden doors.
* SeriousBusiness: Whatever their alignment, [=leShay=] take etiquette ''very'' seriously, and failing to meet their standards of politeness or showing them due respect can be a fatal mistake.

[[folder:Leskylor]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_leskylor_3e.png]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)\\
'''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.

* HatesBeingAlone: Illithid's absolute desire to dominate is so ingrained into them that without minds to control they feel incomplete, and will put all other plans on hold to acquire more thralls lest they GoMadFromTheIsolation.
* HeelFaceTurn: In ''exceptionally'' rare cases, individual illithids have been known to overcome their inherent desires and become morally neutral, and in extreme case even ''good,'' questioning the need to dominate others and consume brains. These individuals who throught differently would quickly be rooted out and killed by other illithids if discovered.

* PoisonousPerson: Kythons have poisonous bites and, in their youngest stages, tail sting attacks. Through their juvenile stage the attacks deal Constitution damage, but from adulthood on it's [[NonHealthDamage Strength damage]] instead. This poisons grows more virulent with age, and slaughterkings are unique in being able to spray it as a ranged touch attack.

* SuperSenses: Though blind, kythons have blindsight out to 60 feet.

[[caption-width-right:300:3e]]

* CastingAShadow: Moon dogs can move shadows around themselves, creating a pattern that acts as a ''[[MassHypnosis hypnotic pattern]]'' to all evil creatures around it, while granting good creatures a ''protection from evil'' and ''remove fear'' effect.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Their howls simultaneously cause the ''fear'' effect of their baying, deal a bit of damage to evil creatures each round the moon hound continues, and targets any nearby fiends with a ''dismissal'' spell.

* SuperSenses: Moon dogs have low-light vision, darkvision, can [[TheNoseKnows track creatures by scent,]] and ''[[SeeTheInvisible see invisibility]]'' at will.

[[folder:Mooncalf]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_mooncalf_4e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:4e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 10 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Winged, tentacled monsters sometimes encountered on mountains and hilltops, and rumored to fly down to earth from the dark side of the moon.

* 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.
* NonIndicativeName: "Mooncalf" certainly doesn't bring to mind the image of a winged, tentacled monstrosity that can eat literally anything.
* 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.

* SerialEscalation: As shown above, the classification of krakens has steadily gotten greater over the editions, going from Magical Beast in the 3rd edition, to Aberrant Magical Beast in 4th, to full on Monstrosity in 5th. For reference, Monstrosity put krakens on the same playing field as the [[TheDreaded Tarrasque]].

* AlienBlood: Past magen were alien for ''not'' bleeding or bruising in response to damage, though their current lore has the constructs "bleed" quicksilver.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: In past editions magen have had gray-white flesh, but their 5th Edition incarnation has green skin. They can also be painted or decorated different colors.
* ArtificialHuman: They're a magical take on the trope, and apart from their skin color and hairless bodies, they look and feel like living things, to the extent that some can pass for human. Traditionally they're created in a weeks-long process involving an electrum mold, a gelatin-like mixture of ingredients, and a specific sequence of spells, while in 5th Edition the process is streamlined, requiring the ''create magen'' spell, a life-sized human doll, a vial of quicksilver, and a crystal rod.
* CharmPerson: Hypnos magen have the ability to ''charm'' other creatures, then make a telepathic ''suggestion''.

* TheGenericGuy: Demos magen are the most basic of their kind, possessing no innate powers compared to other varieties. This makes them the cheapest to produce, and suitable to be equipped as bodyguards.
* {{Golem}}: Magen are basically a cheaper substitute to conventional stone, iron, clay, etc. golems. On the one hand, they're a lot smaller and weaker than proper golems, and lack the latter's magic immunity/resistance, but magen are a lot less disruptive in the house or out in public, are intelligent enough to converse with their creators and not need carefully-worded instructions, and they don't have a chance to go berserk in the middle of combat.

* ShockAndAwe: Galvan magen can store static electricity, which they discharge as lightning bolts.
* TheStoic: Magen are incapable of feeling emotion (but see below), though some may be taught to emulate it to aid in social interactions.
* UndyingLoyalty: Magen are totally obedient to their creators, and should their master die, any magen they created almost always go into a berserk rampage until destroyed.
* WeaponizedTeleportation: What little is known about the rare scalos magen is that they can teleport other creatures with a touch, and are said to guard the ''Text of the Magenmaker'' that holds the secrets of creating every type of magen.

Human-shaped constructs crafted by mages to be intelligent and perfectly obedient servants.

* ArtificialHuman: They're a magical take on the trope, and apart from their skin color and hairless bodies, they look and feel like living things. Traditionally they're created in a weeks-long process involving an electrum mold, a gelatin-like mixture of ingredients, and a specific sequence of spells, while in 5th Edition the process is streamlined, requiring the ''create magen'' spell, a life-sized human doll, a vial of quicksilver, and a crystal rod.

'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (demos), 3 (galvan), 1 (hypnos) (5E)\\

'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (swarm, 3E)\\

Magerippers are tiny, swarming pests that feed off of the magical power of living beings.

* AntiMagic: Mageripper swarms can attempt to dispel a single ongoing magical effect per turn.
* BioweaponBeast: While their origins aren't especially clear, they're believed to have been created artificially to serve as living weapons against arcane spellcasters.
* BizarreAlienReproduction: Magerippers reproduce by budding off young from their backs when especially well-fed on magic.
* MagicEater: They feed by leeching magic from living beings; they can also live off of meat, but they prefer magic. This makes them a particularly danger to spellcasters and magical beings, as they'll swarm them aggressively and siphon off their prepared spells one after the other. They also gain temporary hit dice if they successfully dispel ongoing magical effects. They can't feed this way on magic objects, but still tend to crowd around them in frustrated confusion until a better food source presents itself.
* ZergRush: Individual magerippers aren't especially formidable on their own, and the wizards they prey on can typically take out lone specimens or small groups with minimal trouble, but they move in swarms of up to three hundred and overwhelm their prey through raw numbers and attritition.

!!True Illithids
!!!Illithid

!!!Ulitharid

!!!Elder Brain

!!!Elder Brain Dragon

!!Ceremorphs

!!!Brainstealer Dragon

Dragons created when a tadpole infects a dragon, which thankfully happens rarely because dragons are usually too rare to fight

!!!Gnome Ceremorph

!!!Gnome Squidling

!!!Mindwitness

!!!Uchuulon
%%[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_uchuulon_3e.jpg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]

!!!Urophion

!!Illithidae

!!!Cessirid

!!!Embrac
->'''Classification:''' Aberration
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (2E), TrueNeutral (3E)

!!!Saltor
->'''Classification:''' Aberration
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3
->'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (2E), NeutralEvil (3E)

!!Other Related Creatures
!!!Cranium Rat

!!!Illithocyte

!!!Intellect Devourer

!!!Mind Worm

!!!Neothelid

!!!Nerve Swimmer

!!Undead Illithids
!!!Alhoon

!!!Vampire Illithid

* 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.

* BioweaponBeast: Lodestone marauders are not natural creatures and were originally bred as guardians, though most have since escaped into the wild.
* MagnetismManipulation: Their powers over magnetism grant lodestone marauders a passive Armor Class bonus against attacks with metal weapons, and they can also unleash a 30-foot-radius pulse of magnetic force. If used to attract, this can yank metal objects out of other creatures' hands and make them stick to the lodestone marauder's body, or if used to repel, the pulse can disarm enemies and knock down those wearing metal armor.
* MetalMuncher: While lodestone marauders are carnivores, they also need to eat metal to fortify their hides and grow spikes.

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

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:Manticore]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_manticore.png]]

[[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:Maug]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_maug_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Construct (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

Hulking creatures of living stone from the Infinite Battlefield of Acheron, who hire themselves out as mercenaries to give meaning to their existence.

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Downplayed; maugs have no reason to wage war on each other, but sometimes their mercenary work puts two groups of maugs on opposite sides of a war. This results in horrendous casualties as the maugs lead their troops to clash repeatedly until one or both sides is ground down to nearly nothing. Then the maugs are liable to group up and go off to find a new war to fight in as if nothing happened.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: They can make a "Pulverize" action three times per day, touching an object and negating its Hardness value so the maug can more easily destroy it.
* {{Cyborg}}: There's a whole range of maug grafts they use to improve and augment themselves, such as fists that lock closed around weapons to prevent disarming, vibrating plates of shale that confer tremorsense, or stone rollers to replace their lower torsos and allow the maug to [[SquashedFlat crush enemies like a steamroller.]]
* DoubleWeapon: Maugs commonly wield Huge double-bladed swords.
* HealingFactor: Unusually for constructs, maugs slowly recover hit points while resting, and heal faster if someone helps repair them.
* NeglectfulPrecursors: As best sages can tell, the maugs were created by some ancient civilization as shock troops for a terrible war, then afterward were dumped on Thuldanin, the second layer of Acheron and the junkyard for the multiverse's wars. Since maugs are creatures of stone themselves, they were immune to Thuldanin's petrification effect, and they eventually figured out how to make more of themselves, taking on jobs as hired soldiers to get the money needed for the process.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Maugs serve any master willing to pay the price, and never care about right or wrong.
* RockMonster: Maugs' bodies are cut from the stone of Acheron.
* UndyingLoyalty: In battle, maugs are unflinchingly loyal to their employer, making them perfect mercenaries.

[[folder:Meazel]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_meazel_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''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:Medusa]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_medusa_5e.png]]

[[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.