D&D (2024) D&D Marilith Is Far More Bestial In 2025

The new 2025 Monster Manual has all-new art, and one major change is the depiction of the marilith. Up until now, the marilith has been depicted as a six-armed humanish female from the waist up; while in the 2025 book, the picture is far more bestial in nature.

Not only is the imagery more demonic, it also features the creature in action, simultaneously beheading, stabbing, and entwining its foes with its six arms and snake-like tail.

Left 2025 Marilith / Right 2014 Marilith​

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because they don’t want a clean break. They just want you to buy new books.

Yeah, and I can't respect such a sweeping decision regarding a creative product not made for creative reasons unless that decision is absolutely necessary, and it isn't. It just isn't.

 

[Demetrios1453]

2024 wyvern looks cartoony, goofy, and dumb. And...I think it's kind of adorable? I love its big dumb smile.


I kind of disagree, because this is THE Monster Manual, ostensibly released during the game's 50th anniversary. This isn't where I would expect to see variants or alternate takes on classic creatures. Elswhere in the book they are taking the opportunity to crystallize their vision for the game (the male hag and medusa, for example), which suggest to me this is going to be the new standard for the marilith moving forward.

And that's not a big deal, or even an issue really. There are 50 years worth of original recipe mariliths out there, and I don't have to use this one if I don't want to. I am just confused as to why a classic monster got such a drastic and seemingly arbitrary redesign. I'd love to hear from either the artist or wotc what prompted the change.

But that's all just your speculation. I could, just as logically, speculate just the opposite - that we've seen art of monsters that vary wildly from their MM illustration in past products, thus the MM version isn't necessarily the final word on the matter.

Just to give an example using another subject you mentioned, the wyvern on page 6 of the 2024 PHB looks massively different than the one on page 337 of the 2025 MM.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But that's all just your speculation. I could, just as logically, speculate just the opposite - that we've seen art of monsters that vary wildly from their MM illustration in past products, thus the MM version isn't necessarily the final word on the matter.

You don't think the 5.5 MM, explicitly designed to replace the previous 5e version, is supposed to be what they want as the D&D standard?

 

[Corinnguard]

You don't think the 5.5 MM, explicitly designed to replace the previous 5e version, is supposed to be what they want as the D&D standard?

If replacing were so easy.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The two wyverns compared:

2025 MM:

2024 PHB:

If the same creature in the same set of core rule books can look so markedly different, then there's no reason that any, or all, of the other monsters can't as well.

 

[Chaltab]

Agreed, and besides, it's just an illustration by one illustrator. The fluff description doesn't explicitly describe them as anything except "seprentlike". That can be interpreted in many ways.

However, if past products are any indication, WotC may actually release miniatures of the Marilith that resemble the illustration. The good news is... there are Marilith miniatures and paraphernalia from dozens of other companies that you can use instead (eg I'm betting that the Pathfinder mini will not look like this, but more "traditional").

Again, I'll reiterate how much I despise the Wyvern illustration in this book. It's perhaps the single image that I actually find distractingly awful. You can bet that I'm ignoring that interpretation, even if it becomes "canon".

Will Pathfinder even use Mariliths anymore? I thought their 2E Revised nixed SRD monsters that aren't found in folklore.

 

[Chaltab]

Yeah, and I can't respect such a sweeping decision regarding a creative product not made for creative reasons unless that decision is absolutely necessary, and it isn't. It just isn't.

I mean there's a level of commercialism in any TTRPG revision. We could still be playing 1E after all.

But the original decade-old core rules for 5E have some pain points and even if the revision was corporate-mandate, I also don't doubt that the writers made a sincere attempt to improve and revise the game in ways they think make it better. You can tell that the new art is something Crawford is very happy with.

Granted, whether it's actually an upgrade, a sidegrade, or a downgrade is a matter of opinion. Like I said: I'm not a fan of this marilith design, but there's plenty of monster designs I've felt that way about and it never really impacted my enjoyment of the game.

 

[npick03]

But that's all just your speculation. I could, just as logically, speculate just the opposite - that we've seen art of monsters that vary wildly from their MM illustration in past products, thus the MM version isn't necessarily the final word on the matter.

Just to give an example using another subject you mentioned, the wyvern on page 6 of the 2024 PHB looks massively different than the one on page 337 of the 2025 MM.

I would assume the core monster book would show creatures in their factory default state, for branding purposes if nothing else. Anything after that is a variation on the theme, and I would expect the Monster Manual to BE the theme. As the foundational monster book for the edition, that's its whole purpose. I think we can safely assume the 2024 marilith to be the new default, baseline design. We might get High Femme mariliths in Volo's Guide 2: Electric Boogaloo, but those would be variants of the 2024 MM default.

As for the 2024 wyvern, to my eyes both images depict the same creature, just in different art styles. They aren't different enough for me to consider them two separate creatures designs, which isn't the case with the marilith.

Edit:

I'm not a fan of this marilith design, but there's plenty of monster designs I've felt that way about and it never really impacted my enjoyment of the game.

 

[TiQuinn]

Yeah, and I can't respect such a sweeping decision regarding a creative product not made for creative reasons unless that decision is absolutely necessary, and it isn't. It just isn't.

It’s a corpo-creative endeavor to capitalize on the intellectual property’s 50th anniversary in the hopes that nostalgia will create an emotional response to give them money.

 

[TiQuinn]

The two wyverns compared:

2025 MM:
View attachment 398248

2024 PHB:
View attachment 398249

If the same creature in the same set of core rule books can look so markedly different, then there's no reason that any, or all, of the other monsters can't as well.

Seeing these two pics side by side, I don’t get what the fuss is about.