History Characters / DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesJToO

->'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

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

!!!Gnome Ceremorph
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Any

* GadgeteerGenius: A gnome ceremorph retains fragmented memories of its previous life, including a penchant for invention.

!!!Gnome Squidling

'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

* AttackReflector: Any spell that a nerra saves against instead affects the caster, and they're similar immune to gaze effects, which affect the source creature instead.
* DoppelgangerSpin: Appropriately enough, all nerra can cast ''mirror image'' once per day.

* ExtraDimensionalShortcut: The nerra's home plane is one to begin with, and they can also magically jump between mirrors (or 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 that will deal additional damage each turn until a victim heals.
* InTheHood: Sillits distinguish themselves with varoots with their fine black silk robes.

[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]

* 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 follows the nerra's orders regardless of alignment.

[[folder:Nightseed]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_nightseed_3e.png]]

->'''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.

The result of unwise alchemical experiments, these animate masses of congealed dragon blood struggle to form a coherent shape, and instinctively attempt to use breath weapons they do not possess.

* BloodyMurder: Dragons don't normally spawn enemies when their blood is shed, but that's to some alchemist we now have a blob of animate dragon ichor that lashes out with corrosive pseudopods or spits itself at enemies.

Rarely, an ankheg egg produces an insectoid monster with a silvery carapace and dangerous intelligence. These mockery monarchs are able to spawn copies of humanoids they consume, and send those mockery drones to lure more victims to their lairs.

* 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 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: Downplayed; mockery monarchs can learn the languages of the creatures they eat, but not enough to speak them.
* 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.

* SwallowedWhole: Anything bitten and grappled by a mockery monarch is in dangerous of being swallowed whole, taking regular damage until their hit points reach zero, at which point the monarch can spawn a fresh mockery drone that looks like the victim.

[[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: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: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.
* 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:Nightmare]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightmare_d&d.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Shadow Magical Beast (4E), Fiend (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (1E-3E, 5E), Evil (4E)

Monstrous horses from the Lower Planes marked by jet-black coats and flaming manes and fetlocks, nightmares are favored as steeds by fiends and certain exceptionally evil mortals.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: The 5th Edition ''Monster Manual'' states that nightmares aren't a naturally occurring species, but an evil creature can create one by subjecting a {{pegasus}} to a humiliating ritual in which its wings are amputated and its mind corrupted by evil.
* FlamingHair: The equine version of this trope -- their manes, tails and fetlocks are depicted as being made of blazing flames.
* {{Flight}}: Nightmares are wingless, but can nonetheless fly at great speed.
* HellishHorse: A horse-like monster with black fur and a burning mane and fetlocks, often found serving evil beings as steeds.
* PunBasedCreature: Nightmares are evil supernatural horses named after bad dreams, as a riff on the last half of "nightmare" sounding like the word for a female horse.
* SummonARide: Nightmares can be bound using a magic item called "Infernal Tack", after which they must answer the summons of the tack's owner and serve them as a steed.

[[folder: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]]

* 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.

* 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 powers 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 those who pass through the Silent Hour join the powers they serve.

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Downplayed; maugs never ''intentionally'' fight each other, but sometimes will end up on opposite sides of a war, which 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.

'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (warbler), 4 (sentinel) (5E)\\

* EmotionBomb: A metallic sentinel can release a gas that calms those who breathe in it.
* GuardianEntity: When a metallic dragon grows attached to a settlement of smaller folk, it might decide to create a metallic peacekeeper, which can protect the community for centuries, maintaining peace and order.

* MysteryCult: Lillendi society 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.

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

[[folder: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: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''.

!!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: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: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: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.

!!K

[[folder:Kaorti]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_kaorti_3e.jpg]]

->'''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.

* OurHydrasAreDifferent: Nagahydras are a large variant of hydra 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.

'''Challenge Rating:''' 8 (dark), 9 (spirit), 10 (guardian), 22 (ha-naga) (3E); 4 (bone), 8 (dark, spirit), 10 (guardian) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood (guardian), LawfulEvil (bone, dark), ChaoticEvil (spirit, ha-naga)

* MultipleHeadCase: The primordial naga of 4th edition has five heads which are all on fire.

* ItsPersonal: Lillends are infamous for holding grudges and violently punishing those who go after their favorite arts or landscapes.

* NoSell: They're immune to poison and, in their ''AD&D'' rules, any music-based magic like a harpy's singing or a satyr's pipes.
* 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 their 3rd Edition rules forbid them from moving while constricting someone.

* {{Transgender}}: Lillends are all biologically female (and reproduce via parthenogenesis), but some are born with male torsos, and follow male dress patterns and customs.

* PersonalSpaceInvader: They can use their snake halves to wrap around and constrict enemies, holding them in place while the lillend's upper body is free to fight, if not move.

* BlobMonster: Most are mobile enough to pursue prey, but never quickly.

* HeWasRightThereAllAlong:

** Snowflake oozes look like an ordinary snowbank.
** Stunjellies are perhaps the most insidious, as these offshoots of gelatinous cubes were altered by a mage to look like a 10-foot stretch of stone wall, and only a close light source will reveal their slightly translucent nature.

!!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]]

->'''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

'''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)\\

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)\\

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: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.
* 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: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.
* 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: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)\\

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:Myconid]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_myconids_5e.jpeg]]

->'''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.

!!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), 9 (spirit), 10 (guardian), 22 (ha-naga) (3E); 4 (bone), 8 (dark, spirit), 10 (guardian) (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulGood (guardian), LawfulEvil (bone, dark), ChaoticEvil (spirit, ha-naga)

Serpentine creatures with human faces, 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.
* LargeAndInCharge: Ha-nagas are immense, towering above the lesser nagas that serve them and worship them as gods.
* MultipleHeadCase: The primordial naga of 4th edition has five heads which are all on fire.
* NonHumanUndead: Bone nagas are skeletal undead servitors transformed by a necromantic ritual for the purpose of halting their resurrection. In 3rd edition, they are transformed by other dark nagas, while in 5th edition, this ritual was devised by the yuan-ti.
* PoisonousPerson: All nagas have a venomous bite.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: 5th edition nagas come back to life within days of being killed. Only powerful magic, such as a yuan-ti necromancy ritual or the ''wish'' spell, can prevent a slain naga's resurrection.
* SnakePeople: Nagas are at the far snake end of this, usually resembling giant snakes with human heads or faces.
* {{Telepathy}}: Dark nagas can constantly detect the thoughts of nearby creatures.

[[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: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:Nightmare]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightmare_d&d.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Shadow Magical Beast (4E), Fiend (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil (1E-3E, 5E), Evil (4E)

Monstrous horses from the Lower Planes marked by jet-black coats and flaming manes and fetlocks, nightmares are favored as steeds by fiends and certain exceptionally evil mortals.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: The 5th Edition ''Monster Manual'' states that nightmares aren't a naturally occurring species, but an evil creature can create one by subjecting a {{pegasus}} to a humiliating ritual in which its wings are amputated and its mind corrupted by evil.
* FlamingHair: The equine version of this trope -- their manes, tails and fetlocks are depicted as being made of blazing flames.
* {{Flight}}: Nightmares are wingless, but can nonetheless fly at great speed.
* HellishHorse: A horse-like monster with black fur and a burning mane and fetlocks, often found serving evil beings as steeds.
* PunBasedCreature: Nightmares are evil supernatural horses named after bad dreams, as a riff on the last half of "nightmare" sounding like the word for a female horse.
* SummonARide: Nightmares can be bound using a magic item called "Infernal Tack", after which they must answer the summons of the tack's owner and serve them as a steed.

[[folder: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: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: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: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''.

!!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: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)\\

'''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: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: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.
* 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: Most are mobile enough to pursue prey, but never quickly.
* DeathFromAbove: Green slime is otherwise immobile, save for its practice of dropping down from ceilings or high walls on victims passing beneath it.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong:
** In dimly-lit passages, a black pudding looks much like a dark patch of shadow.
** 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 look like an ordinary snowbank.
** Stunjellies are perhaps the most insidious, as these offshoots of gelatinous cubes were altered by a mage to look like a 10-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.
* MooksAteMyEquipment: Black pudding and gray ooze both corrode metal, and will damage weapons used to strike at them.
* 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.

[[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:Otyugh]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_otyugh_5e.png]]

->'''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: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.

* AsteroidsMonster: Some oozes, such as the ochre jelly, split into multiple enemies when subjected to certain attacks, distributing their hit points between them.

* TheSymbiote: When a mind flayer colony manages to capture a dragon, the elder brain latches onto the dragon's back and digs its tentacles into the dragon's brain, creating an elder brain dragon.

->'''Classification:''' Fey\\

->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\

->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Fey\\

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:4e]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_lamia_4e.png[[/labelnote]] ]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Fey (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E), 12 (4E), 4 (5E)\\

* {{Retcon}}: They've evolved over the editions. The earliest lamias could have the lower bodies of goats or deer in addition to leonine forms, and were a OneGenderRace of seductresses, but eventually they settled on being lion-taurs or snake-people, and male lamias were introduced. 4th Edition, as was its wont, radically redesigned lamias into fey that could shift between humanoid form and a swarm of beetles, then 5th Edition reverted to the previous model.

* TheWormThatWalks: The 4th edition lamia is a swarm of intelligent, magical insects occupying a hollowed-out humanoid corpse. Each time it kills a humanoid, another beetle appears in the swarm, until it grows large enough to split into two lamias.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\

->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\

->'''Classification:''' Construct\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\

->'''Classification:''' Construct\\

->'''Classification:''' Elemental\\

->'''Classification:''' Construct\\

->'''Classification:''' Outsider\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Construct (5E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (warbler), 4 (sentinel) (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\

->'''Classificaction:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration\\

->'''Classification:''' Plant\\

->'''Classification:''' Ooze\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Fey\\

->'''Classification:''' Ooze\\

->'''Classification:''' Ooze\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid\\

->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E, 5E), Natural Humanoid (4E)
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 2 (5E)
->'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

* AttackAnimal: Goblins are known to use ogres as such, either by strapping themselves (or being strapped) to an ogre's back and using 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.

* PrimitiveClubs: Typically, when ogres are shown using any weapons at all, these tend to be giant clubs made from tree limbs or entire trees, sometimes enhanced with metal spikes and similar touches, which make good use of their wielder's immense strength without being held back by their general lack of intelligence.
* SmashMook: Big, strong, dim and with a marked tendency to fight smaller enemies with gigantic clubs, maces and similar blunt weapons, ogres are usually very straightforward bruisers with little tactical acumen or fancy tricks. That said, some work out how to use more interesting weapons on the battlefield: {{battering ram}}s, [[ChainPain huge iron chains]], or a ballista an ogre can carry as easily as a crossbow.

* {{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.

* DeathFromAbove: Green slime is otherwise immobile, save for its practice of dropping down on victims passing beneath it from ceilings or high walls.

** In dimly-lit passages, black pudding looks much like a dark patch of shadow.

** Stunjellies are perhaps the most insidious, as these offshoots of gelatinous cubes were altered by a mage to look like a 10-foot stretch of stone wall, only revealed when a light source gets close enough to reveal their slightly translucent nature.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Otyughs can eat almost all kinds of refuse.

* 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 revert to its savage nature the instant the spell wears off. Even trained, owlbears are hateful creatures 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.

* 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 Gary Gygax picked up for his ''Chainmail'' games, a "prehistoric monster" that was a knock-off {{Kaiju}} design.