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MonsterMythology| Dungeons&Dragons

ARTICLE

MONSTER MYTHOLOGY
Though monsters have worshiped many gods over the years, Tiamat was
the \rst.
Tiamat has made a big return in Tyranny of Dragons, but monstrous deities have been a
central element of D&D since its earliest days. There were three great sources of
monstrous deities in the 1970s and '80s: the dragons, the demons and devils, and the
world of Greyhawk. Since then, monstrous deities have proliferated.

THE PRIMAL DRAGON DEITIES: 19751987

You wont \nd any references to deities in either Chainmail (1971) or OD&D (1974).
Instead, they quietly slipped into the game in Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975). There, the
dragons acquired two rulers. The platinum dragon, king of lawful (and neutral)
dragons, is said to live in a great palace behind the east wind; while the chromatic
dragon, queen of the chaotic dragons, receives no geographic detail, but gets plenty
of descriptionrevealing her as a \ve-headed creature, striped in the colors of the \ve
chaotic dragons, with the tail of a wyvern.
These two draconic rulers returned in the AD&D Monster Manual (1977), which gives
more description including their names: Bahamut and Tiamat. Though they continued
to be described as monsters, it became obvious that these two rulers were actually
draconic deities, as Tiamat is reported to rule the \rst layer of the Nine Hells. Bahamut
had to wait until the Manual of the Planes (1987) to get a de\nitive and dei\c extraplanar
home, but it was worth the wait because he got two: one in the Seven Heavens and one
in the Plane of Air.
Both of these draconic deities received good attention throughout the 80s. Tiamat
appeared as a recurring villain in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon (19831985).
Meanwhile, both Bahamut and Tiamat appeared prominently in the Dragonlance
Chronicles adventures (19841986) under the new names of Paladine and Takhisis. The

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Chronicles adventures (19841986) under the new names of Paladine and Takhisis. The
last two Chronicles adventures even spotlighted the deities: in DL13 Dragons of Truth
(1986) the Companions journey to the Glitterpalace of Paladine, while in DL14 Dragons
of Triumph (1986) they invade the temple of Takhisis.
After the 80s, Bahamut and Tiamat continued to appear in a variety of deity and
monster books, but theyd never again reach the prominence theyd seen in the 80s . . .
until now.
In the meantime, many other monstrous deities arose.

FIENDISH LORDS: 19761997

The demon princes were the second set of monstrous deities to appear in D&D. They
\rst were revealed in Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976), which detailed
Demogorgon and Orcus. The AD&D Monster Manual (1977) supplemented the demon
princes numbers with Juiblex and Yeenoghu and also premiered the arch-devils:
Asmodeus, Baalzebul, Dispater, and Geryon. Many more have appeared over the years,
such as the demons Baphomet, Fraz-Urb'luu, Grazzt, and Pazuzu and the devils Belial,
Mammon, and Molochall of whom were found in Monster Manual II (1983).
Just as the draconic deities got to play a major role in Dragonlance, the demon lord
Orcus got his \rst chance to shine in another of AD&Ds classic adventures. Though
the Bloodstone Pass (19851988) series began as a military adventure that highlighted
Battlesystem (1985), it ended with the PCs \ghting Orcus and stealing his wand!
Unfortunately for those who enjoyed these monsters, demons, devils, and their deities
all faced a major setback with the publication of AD&D second edition (1989). They
didnt appear until MC8: Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991) and then
their names were changed: the demons had become tanarri and the devils had
become baatezu.
In later second edition days, they got to play a larger role thanks to the Planescape

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In later second edition days, they got to play a larger role thanks to the Planescape
Campaign Setting (1994). Hellbound: The Blood War (1996) revealed an ancient enmity
between the \endish races, while Faces of Evil: The Fiends (1997) provided even more
details on devils, demons, and their lords alike. Then Dead Gods (1997) shook things up
when the drow goddess Kiaransalee killed Orcus, who was reborn as Tenebrous!
Dead Gods was a delightful mash-up of multiple monstrous deities that showed how
important they had become to the D&D mythology following two decades of detailed
evolution. As for Kiaransalee, this wasnt her \rst appearance: well return to that after
a short digression through the World of Greyhawk.

THE EVIL GODS OF GREYHAWK: 19762000

The world of Greyhawk was the third major source of monstrous deities for the D&D
game. That settings anity for evil deities dates back to the earliest days of Gary
Gygaxs Castle Greyhawk campaign, where players accidently set free the malevolent
demigod Iuzwho had been imprisoned by the mad wizard Zagig. Similarly, many of
the demon lords in Monster Manual II (1983) came from Gary Gygaxs The Forgotten
Temple of Tharizdun (1982).
At least a half-dozen other important evil or monstrous deities appeared in Greyhawk
supplements of the 70s, 80s, and 90s; today, they continue to be some of the most
evocative entities in D&D lore.
Lolth, the spidery goddess of the drow, was the \rst major evil deity to appear in print
Greyhawk supplements. She was \rst mentioned in the Descent adventure series
(1978) and then came fully onstage in Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980). Shes since
become one of D&Ds best-known monster deitiesespecially in the stories of the
Forgotten Realms Underdark. Ironically, Lolth wasnt supposed to be the major villain
of the GDQ series at all: it appears that the Elder Elemental God was intended for the
role, but things changed when Dave Sutherland took over the writing of Q1.
Zuggtmoy, the fungus goddess, is best known for being the Big Bad of The Temple of
Elemental Evil (1985), though once more Gary Gygax had apparently intended the Elder
Elemental God to be the boss monster. However, things changed when he passed his

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Elemental God to be the boss monster. However, things changed when he passed his
adventure o to another designerthis time Frank Mentzer. Zuggtmoy has never had
another starring role, but shes appeared in various articles and codexes over the year.
Tharizdun, a Lovecraftian god of nothingness, premiered in The Forgotten Temple of
Tharizdun (1982). He would not return to prominence until after the AD&D second
edition era.
Iuz, the cambion demigod, made his \rst major appearance in Dragon 67 (November
1982), which detailed his stats and background. Though he was mentioned in Temple of
Elemental Evil (1985) and the Gord the Rogue novels (19851988), he only came into his
own in Greyhawks From the Ashes era (19921993). Thats when he got his own country,
as detailed in the eponymous Iuz the Evil (1993).
Iggwilv, Iuzs witchy mom, was \rst mentioned in The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1982)
where another of her children appears: the vampiric Drelzna. Iggwilv stayed mostly in
the background for decades but was still a name players would recognize.
Vecna, the one-eyed, one-handed lich, was \rst alluded to in Supplement III: Eldritch
Wizardry (1976). However, he \nally got to appear in some adventures in AD&Ds
second edition days: Vecna Lives (1990), Vecna Reborn (1998), and Die Vecna Die! (2000).
The last was a notable adventure because it was a grand \nale for AD&D second
edition that featured both Iuz and Vecna as villainsmaking it another of the biggest
monstrous deity mash-ups in D&D history.

CODIFYING THE MYTHOLOGY: 19801992

The monstrous deities that appeared during the 70s, 80s, and 90s were scattered:
demonic, devilish, and draconic deities could be found in various monster manuals,
while the male\cent gods of Greyhawk were spread across numerous adventures.
However, a few more concerted attempts to detail monstrous deities appeared over
the years.
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/monstermythology
It began with AD&Ds Deities &

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It began with AD&Ds Deities &

Demigods (1980). Though the
book mainly focused on
historical pantheons, Lawrence
Schick detailed a number of
monstrous deities. Lolth
reappeared, and several
humanoid deities were
revealed for the \rst time ever,
including Vaprak the god of
ogres and Gruumsh the god of
orcs.
Roger E. Moore then wrote a
series of articles for Dragon 58
63 (FebruaryJuly 1982) that
focused on humanoid and
demihuman deities. New gods
appeared for the kobolds, orcs,
goblins, hobgoblins, and
gnolls.
The biggest sourcebook ever
for monstrous deities was Carl
Sargents aptly named Monster Mythology (1992). Though it didnt feature \endish
deities or the evil gods of Greyhawk, almost everyone else was there. Among the
names that appeared were Bahamut, Tiamat, Kiaransalee (the future assassin of
Orcus), Gruumsh, Vaprak, and many more.
If you were to pick out the monstrous deity highlights during the age of AD&D, the
dei\c battles found in Dead Gods and Die Vecna Die! would be two of them, but Monster
Mythology with its collection of about one hundred monstrous deities would clearly be
the third.

LATTER-DAY DEITIES: 2000PRESENT

During AD&Ds second edition era (19892000), a mythology that dated back to the 70s
\nally came together into a rich and expansive whole. Since then, the monstrous
deities of D&D have been extensively referenced and occasionally used in adventures.
In D&D third edition days, monstrous deities mainly appeared in major sourcebooks,
including Deities and Demigods (2002), Faiths and Pantheons (2002), Book of Vile Darkness
(2002), Libris Mortis (2004), Complete Divine (2004), Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
(2006) and Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006). Meanwhile Elder Evils (2007)
presented new alien monstrosities to expand the world of monstrous deities, while
The Demonomicon of Iggwilv (20052009) extensively described many \endish deities
in Dragon and Dungeon magazines.
Monstrous deities also appeared in D&D third edition in a series of nostalgic

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Monstrous deities also appeared in D&D third edition in a series of nostalgic

adventures. Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007) featured Lolth, while Expedition to the
Ruins of Greyhawk (2007) included both Iuz and Iggwilv. The most interesting dei\c
adventure of the third edition era might have been Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
(2001), which now starred Tharizdun. In that adventure, the Elder Elemental God \nally
turned up... but he was revealed as a mask for Tharizdun, not an entity of his own.
D&D fourth edition included one of the biggest monster deity campaigns ever. Orcus
was back and he was the ultimate enemy of Wizards mammoth 9-book HPE
adventure path (20082009), which ended with Prince of Death (2009).
Finally with \fth edition, its back to the basics: Tiamat was the \rst monstrous deity to
ever appear, in Supplement I: Greyhawk, and now shes the most recent monstrosity as
well, thanks to her starring role in the Tyranny of Dragons adventure series (2014).

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With the classic feel of \fth edition, could other monstrous deities be around the
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