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Origins

While many "bizarre and grotesque creatures" are original creations of Dungeons & Dragons, the inspiration for others includes real-world fauna, mythology, "bestiaries of the later Middle Ages", science-fiction, fantasy literature, and film. Mauricio Rangel Jiménez goes so far to say that a basic knowledge of mythology, religion and fantasy is required to keep pace with the game, although the "creatures were unbound by time or place" of their original sources and co-creator Gary Gygax "made them coexist in a single aggregate world". With regard to pre-modern sources, scholar Laurent Di Filippo remarked that game creators often do not rely directly on original texts. Rather the material undergoes "cultural processes of transmission which go from medieval sources to the productions of contemporary cultural industries [...]. These transformations may be the result of translations or adaptations. This process of continuous evolution which involves both permanence and change is called 'work on myth [Arbeit am Mythos]' by the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg."

Because of their broad, inclusive background, D&D monsters have been called a pastiche of sources. In some cases, this has resulted in legal battles, such as when names taken from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien had to be changed due to copyright disputes.

In game books, monsters are typically presented with illustrations, game statistics, and a detailed description. Monsters may be adapted to fit the needs of the game's writers and publishers, such as by describing combat abilities that may have been absent or only implied by an original source. Artistic renderings of various creatures have been a central tool for immersion in the game from the point of its creation.

Influence and criticism

The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have significantly influenced modern fantasy fiction, ranging from licensed fiction to how monsters are portrayed in fantasy fiction generally. The scope of this influence has been compared to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. In a 2005 interview, author China Miéville stated,

I use AD&D-type fascination with teratology in a lot of my books, and I have the original Monster Manual, and the Monster Manual 2, and the Fiend Folio. I still collect role-playing game bestiaries, because I find that kind of fascination with the creation of the monstrous tremendously inspiring.

References and homages to Dungeons & Dragons monsters can be found in works such as Adventure Time, and the game's monsters have inspired tributes that both celebrate and mock various creatures. A 2013 io9 retrospective detailed memorable monsters, and in 2018 SyFy Wire published a list of "The 9 Scariest, Most Unforgettable Monsters From Dungeons & Dragons", and in the same year Screen Rant published a list of the game's "10 Most Powerful (and 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked". Other writers have highlighted the game's more odd or eccentric creations, such as Geek.com's list of "The most underrated monsters of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", The Escapist's list of "The Dumbest Dungeons & Dragons Monsters Ever (And How To Use Them)", and Cracked.com's "The 15 Most Idiotic Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons History". D&D's monsters have also been licensed as toys, like in LJN's action figures, and even candy.

The number and variety of different monsters contributes to keeping the game interesting and forces players to think about employing diverse strategies.

The monsters of Dungeons & Dragons have received criticism from multiple sources. In addition to other game elements, the presence of magical or demonic monsters has provoked moral panics among religious conservatives. While some of the presented creatures are friendly or harmless, the game's emphasis on slaying monsters has also elicited negative commentary. As monsters have traditionally been defined by the number of "experience points" they award when killed, the game has been said to promote a "sociopathic" violence where the dungeon master "merely referees one imagined slaughter after another." Nicholas J. Mizer, in contrast, suggested that experience through combat was an in-game variation on Thorstein Veblen's theory that application of the "predatory spirit" of humans to warfare could lead to high standing in society. Environmental humanities scholar Matthew Chrulew summarized that the impact of "such violent imaginings and enactments" has "long been a matter of dispute", and has variously been judged "inciting or cathartic".

Monster types

Many kinds of monsters can be classified into typologies based on their common characteristics, and various books and game guides have been produced focusing on specific kinds of monsters. Such groupings include humanoids, monstrosities, dragons, giants, undead, aberrations, fiends, celestials, fey, elementals, constructs, oozes and plants; and beasts. There is some flexibility within these groupings. For example, many kinds of creatures can become undead or can be used to form magical constructs.

The 3rd edition of the game also used a broader type named "outsiders", encompassing any creature from the Outer Planes or Inner Planes.

Notable monsters

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. The book contains a treasure chart and an index of major listings.

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 Dwarf's "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 are a chaotic evil race native to the Abyss; these "magical and occult" creatures are rapacious, cruel and arbitrary. They are also portrayed as more widespread than other races of fiends, as the Abyss and its population are both theoretically infinite in size. The dominant race of demons is the tanar'ri (). "True" tanar'ri such as the balors (originally called Balrogs) and the six-armed serpentine mariliths push other weaker tanar'ri around and organize them into makeshift armies for battle. Demon lords and demon princes such as Orcus, 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.

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.

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.

Tarrasque

The tarrasque is a gigantic lizard-like creature which exists only to eat, kill, and destroy, "the most dreaded monster native to the Prime Material plane". The tarrasque was introduced in 1983 in the Monster Manual II, in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It is very loosely based upon the French legend of the tarasque.

It is very large, 50 feet (15 meters) tall and 70 feet (21 meters) long, and has a Tyrannosaurus rex–like form, although it is much more broad and muscular, with a differently shaped head, and with larger and more developed front arms. It has brown skin, with scabs and warts and bits of encrusted dung all over it which are grey in color. Protecting its back and tail is a thick, glossy caramel-colored shell or carapace. It has spikes coming from its chin, the sides of the mouth, the underside of its neck, the elbows of its front arms, and its shell. The creature also has two horns projecting forwards from the top of its head.

The tarrasque's skin is very hard and thick, and provides excellent armor. It is immune or resistant to most offensive magic, and regenerates damage quickly.

The second edition of the game included rules for extracting treasure from the creature's carcass. In the Spelljammer series, the accessory Practical Planetology suggests the tarrasques originate from the planet Falx. Several hundred tarrasques live there, 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. It was ranked No. 2 on the list of the ten best high-level monsters in Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies. Rob Bricken from io9 named the tarrasque as the 10th most memorable D&D monster. Screen Rant compiled a list of the game's "10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked" in 2018, calling this one of the strongest, saying "There are a lot of giant monsters that roam the various Dungeons & Dragons worlds, but none is more feared than the Tarrasque. This creature is an engine of destruction and it can crush entire cities in a single rampage." Backstab reviewer Michaël Croitoriu highlights the tarrasque among the monsters rated upwards from 2nd to 3rd edition, and wishes good luck to the adventurers having the temerity to attack it. 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.