Monster Manual (1977) The
Monster Manual (1977) was the initial monster book for the
first edition of the
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, published by
TSR, Inc. in 1977.
Gary Gygax wrote much of the work himself, having included and expanded most of the monsters from the previous
D&D supplements. Also included are monsters originally printed in
The Strategic Review, as well as some originally found in early issues of
The Dragon and other early game materials. This book expanded on the original monster format by including the stat lines on the same page as the monsters' descriptions and introducing more stats, expanding the length of most monster descriptions, and featuring illustrations for most of the monsters.
Fiend Folio (1981) The
Fiend Folio: Tome of Creatures Malevolent and Benign was the second monster book for the first edition of
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1981. The
Fiend Folio consisted mostly of monsters submitted to
White Dwarfs "Fiend Factory" column. The monsters in this book are presented in the same format as those in the previous
Monster Manual work, and most featured illustrations of the monsters.
Monster Manual II (1983) Monster Manual II was the third and final monster book for the first edition of
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1983, and has the largest page count of the three. As with the
Monster Manual, this book was written primarily by
Gary Gygax. This book contains a number of monsters that previously appeared in limited circulation and a large amount of its contents was entirely new at publication. The monsters in this book are presented in the same format as the
Monster Manual and
Fiend Folio.
Fiends Fiend is a term used in the
Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game to refer to any malicious otherworldly creatures within the
Dungeons & Dragons universe. These include various races of demons and
devils that are of an
evil alignment and hail from the
Lower Planes. All fiends are extraplanar
outsiders. Fiends have been considered among "D&D's most classic monsters".
Demons Demons are a
chaotic evil race native to the
Abyss; these "magical and occult" creatures
Demogorgon, Juiblex, Zuggtmoy, Graz'zt, and countless others are said to rule over the demons of their individual layers of the Abyss, as much as the chaotic demons can be ruled over.
Devils The
devils, of which the ruling type are called baatezu (), are
lawful evil natives of the
Nine Hells of Baator; they are said to subjugate the weak and rule tyrannically over their domains. Pit fiends are the most powerful baatezu, though even the strongest pit fiends are surpassed by the
Lords of the Nine, or Archdevils, whose ranks include
Baalzebul,
Mephistopheles, and
Asmodeus. Unlike the demons, the devils are described as arranged in a strict hierarchy. Like the demons, the devils are scheming backstabbers; while a demon only keeps its words when it is convenient for it, a devil keeps its word all too well—they are said to be used to exploiting repressive bureaucratic machinations to the fullest and thus always know all ways around the letter of a contract to begin with. The tanar'ri and the baatezu hold an eternal enmity for one another and wage the
Blood War against one another.
Yugoloths The yugoloths (called
daemons in 1st edition
D&D) are
neutral evil natives of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna and the
Gray Wastes of Hades; they are neutral to the affairs of the other fiendish races, interfering only when they see a situation that may be profitable or a potential for the advancement of their own schemes. The yugoloths are portrayed as manipulative, secretive, and mercenary by nature, often acting as soldiers for deities in their own private wars, or even at times aiding both sides of the Blood War. In 4th Edition, the yugoloths are considered to be demons, and their previously standard naming convention of "loth" is replaced by "demon" (e.g. the Mezzoloth is the 4e Mezzodemon). In fifth edition, yugoloths are listed as neutral evil fiends under their original names.
Other fiends Demodands The demodands are race of evil fiends that live on the plane of
Carceri (Tarterus in 1st edition
D&D). Demodands were introduced in the 1st edition supplement
Monster Manual II, renamed as
gehreleths in the 2nd edition
Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix, and reintroduced as demodands in the 3rd edition sourcebook
Fiend Folio. In 1st edition
D&D, the three types of demodands from weakest to strongest were tarry, slime, and shaggy. In 2nd and 3rd editions, the three types are farastu, kelubar, and shator.
Hordlings The
hordlings are fiends that form the hordes of the
Gray Waste of Hades. They first appeared in the 1st edition supplement
Monster Manual II. Hordlings wander the Gray Waste preying upon everything they come across, even other hordlings. Hordlings vary greatly in appearance. It is said that hordlings evolved from larvae whose hatred was so unique, their souls became individual. The hordlings can be summoned using an artifact known as the
Bringer of Doom, which was created around the time of the
Invoked Devastation of
Greyhawk. Hordlings are the most common inhabitants of the Gray Waste. They also occasionally roam the other Lower Planes as well.
Kython The kythons (not to be confused with kytons, which are a subtype of
baatezu known as "chain devils") are distinct from the other fiends in that they did not originate on any of the lower planes. When a group of fiends (the Galchutt, from
Monte Cook's
Chaositech and
Ptolus) were trapped on the
Material Plane, they tried creating more of their own kind through magical means. The results were eyeless reptilian creatures with insectoid features and neutral evil traits. As the kythons matured, they took on varied forms. None of them were loyal to the fiends that created them. Because kythons originated on the Material Plane instead of the
Abyss (or another lower plane), they are also called earth-bound demons. Kythons are only interested in eating and breeding. They have spread rapidly across the
Material Plane. The current hierarchy of kythons, from the weakest to the strongest is: broodlings, juveniles, adults, impalers, slaymasters, and slaughterkings. Eventually, with more time, kythons will grow into newer and more powerful forms. Kythons closely resemble
xenomorphs. Cook considered renaming them to avoid confusion with "kytons".
Lycanthrope Lycanthropes are humans able transform into animal form during night time. Every type has their own language and any humanoid bitten by a lycanthrope will be infected with the disease of lycanthropy. Types of lycanthropes include the werebear, wereboar, wererat, weretiger and werewolf.
Night hags Night hags are fiends from the Gray Wastes of Hades that traffic in the souls of mortals in 3rd edition sources. In 5th edition they come from the
Feywild and are exiled to the
Gray Wastes of Hades.
Rakshasas Rakshasas are fiends (often tiger-headed) that may have originated on
Acheron according to 3rd edition sources. In 5th edition they originated in the
Nine Hells.
Slaad In the 4th edition game, Slaadi are chaotic evil and originate out of the Elemental Chaos. This is markedly different from the portrayal of Slaadi in all prior editions of the game, when they were chaotic neutral natives of Limbo and thus not fiends.
Half-fiends and fiendish creatures The
cambions (whose name comes from a different kind of mythological, demonic creature) are simply half-fiends;
hybrids of fiends and non-fiendish creatures, often humans or other humanoids. Cambions are typically created through fiends raping mortals or seducing them after
shape-shifting, although some of the most depraved beings actually participate willingly. Those cambions that actually survive birth typically look like grotesque, hellish variants of their mortal progenitors, having wings, claws, fangs and often many other features that reveal their fiendish origins. Cambions are usually outcast, being feared and hated in mortal societies for their fiendish origins and being derided by pure-blooded fiends for their impure heritage. A variant of cambion called durzagon is described in 3.5 edition of the
Monster Manual II and is the hybrid of a devil and an unsuspecting
duergar. The fiendish creatures are simply fiendish versions of other species in Dungeons & Dragons. They typically look like fearsome travesties of beings from the
Material Plane. Most fiendish species are divided into a number of variants, usually in a
hierarchy of increasing power and cunning.
Hecatoncheires The hecatoncheires in the game is based on the
creature with the same name from
Greek mythology. In later editions their description was changed to "abominations that are formed from the fusion of one-hundred beings." Marley King from
Screen Rant recommended the hecatoncheires for Dungeons Masters to pit against high-level parties as a monster that is not "too cliché". He commented that - aside from the monster's many attacks, and high perception - it was given "incredible martial prowess" in the game, hearkening back to the importance of
skill in battle in the culture it was taken from. Nicholas Montegriffo from
The Gamer called them "worthy foes for epic heroes" and found the down-scaling of offensively usable arms sad. Trenton Webb of
Arcane magazine wrote, "the fate of all the planes hangs on its outcome". The Blood War was thoroughly detailed in various books throughout the
Planescape setting, particularly the 1996 boxed set
Hellbound: The Blood War. The
Guide to Hell instead portrays the Blood War as a distraction by Asmodeus to hide his true goal of usurping divine power and reshaping the multiverse. Later official materials claim Asmodeus possesses a piece of the pure elemental chaos
Tharizdun used to create the Abyss. The demons are drawn to this and seek to reclaim it. while
Bleeding Cool editor Gavin Sheehan called it "one of the most glorified battles in all of D&D" and praised the in-depth look into its cause and background given by a
Ken Burns–style narrative in ''
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Black Gate'' reviewer Andrew Zimmerman Jones described it as the "eternal" conflict "for who gets claim on being more evil" and praised the Blood War as a background for adventures putting the player characters between the fronts.
Controversy and related changes between editions The inclusion of demons and devils proved controversial among critics of
Dungeons & Dragons.
TSR eliminated most references to
occult symbols, demons, and devils from the second edition of the game. When the creatures were reintroduced after a few year in the
Monstrous Compendium supplement
MC8: The Outer Planes, the terms "baatezu", "tanar'ri", "yugoloth", and "gehreleth" were introduced and were used exclusively in place of the terms "devil", "demon", "daemon", and "demodand", respectively, but without changing the creatures fundamentally.
Black Gate reviewer Andrew Zimmerman Jones positively contrasted the extended description provided in ''
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes'' (2018) as compared to earlier material: "It's easy to treat demons and devils as villains just there to be killed, but after reading this chapter [on the Blood War], you'll be more inclined to treat them as unique creatures, with their own goals and motivations." The tarrasque was introduced in 1983 in the
Monster Manual II, in the first edition of
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. where they feed upon the native Imbul, a lizard-like creature. In the 4th edition of the game, the tarrasque is listed as an "abomination" and classed as a "Gargantuan elemental magical beast"—a living engine of death and destruction created by a primordial race for use as a weapon against the gods. The tarrasque has been called "a creature that embodies wanton destruction" and "singularly deadly" and been compared to a
kaiju.
Inverse reviewer Corey Plante identified the tarrasque as the most powerful creature in the 5th edition of the game next to the
aspects of
Bahamut and
Tiamat. ==See also==