D&D General Graz'zt Petition

[Henry]

Eh, what the Hell.. er, I mean, Abyss.

 

[billd91]

I am talking about the "5e style", because from "Rage of Demons" I can see that in manuals or illustrations, Graz'zt started to appear with white eyes, purple skin, a goatee and terribly marked cheekbones, as if he were starving.

What? Did heroin chic come back in style again? Maybe it’s time to put some Stone Temple Pilots or Peter Murphy on?

 

[Graz'zt's Lawyer]

Seriously, am I really the only person to have signed his petition after 55 responses?

Come on people. A fellow D&D geek has asked for our help with his weird obscure lore issue. It is our duty to have the backs of our peers. Sign his friggen petition. And some day, others will lend you support for your weird obscure lore issue. Because this is what we do. We take joy in unusual things like this because it brings fulfillment to our lives.

And because I know those reading this are lazy, here is the link again: this

Wow, thanks for your support. I'm really glad you want to support me

 

[Lycurgon]

Fantasy world problems. Lol.

 

[grimslade]

"My father was slaughtered by a six-fingered man. He was a great swordmaker, my father. When the six-fingered man appeared and requested a special sword, my father took the job. He slaved a year before it was done.
The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one tenth his promised price, my father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart. I loved my father. So naturally, I challenged his murderer to a duel. I failed. The six-fingered man left me alive, but he gave me these.
I was eleven years old. And when I was strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of fencing. So the next time we meet, I will not fail."

I do think the art has kind of blurred the line between depictions of Asmodeus and Graz'zt over the years. It seems they are favoring a more bestial raw attraction look for Graz'zt to blend in with the other demons. I like to see a more varied look to Graz'zt. It is not like you can change up Demogorgon too much, he will always look like Demogorgon. Orcus too. Graz'zt is the most accessible Demon Lord, but he is still a demon.

 

[AmerginLiath]

Clearly, the enemies of Graz’zt have substituted less-beautiful imagery of him over recent years to lessen his appeal to potential followers and thus bolster their own cases. It’s all a story hook in the making...

 

[jgsugden]

.... It is not like you can change up Demogorgon too much, he will always look like Demogorgon...

Considering he has had both ape-ish (type subject to argument) and hyena heads - Demogorgon has been through a lot of change. Or maybe he just drove us all mad and made us think he changed.

 

[grimslade]

Considering he has had both ape-ish (type subject to argument) and hyena heads - Demogorgon has been through a lot of change. Or maybe he just drove us all mad and made us think he changed.

He is always stated to have baboon or mandrill-like heads and tentacle arms. In the end, Graz'zt is supposed to be a six fingered, ebony skinned, handsome humanoid demon. Horns and cloven feet are new interpretations adding a bestial element to him. I don't see a similar effort to make Demogorgon more urbane.

 

[Voadam]

He is always stated to have baboon or mandrill-like heads and tentacle arms.

Check out 2002's Book of Vile Darkness pages 125-126 "Demogorgon is 18 feet tall and bizarre in appearance even by demonic standards. He has two heads, each like that of a hyena."


and the accompanying picture:

In that same book Graz'zt has horns and weird legs but six toes. On page 130 it describes him as "One of the most powerful demons in all the Abyss, Graz’zt is lord of three layers of that plane. He is a tall, darkly handsome demon with shiny black skin and green, glowing eyes. Graz’zt dresses in regal finery, but his slightly pointed ears and yellow fangs mark him for the demon he is. Most striking of all are his digits: He has six ebony fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot."

So the horns are about 18 years and going.

For

For the full cloven feet you need to go to the 2006 3.5 Fiendish Codex

 

[jgsugden]

If you're looking for consistency in any of the renditions of these figures, you need to remember that we've had a half century for these beings to be introduced and for them to evolve - and some of them based upon prior lore have a lot more evolution than that over the years.

It is one of the reasons I wish they'd separate the lore and the mechanics. There should be lore and setting books with no game statistics in them - a book that is edition agnostic and will not be changed between editions, and then a separate set of books for each edition that have the 'crunch' statistics for the referenced NPCs, monsters, magic items, spells, etc... Then we would have consistency in who and what these being are and represent, even if their capabilities take a shift.