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​

 

[Hussar]

I’d say it looks more monstrous. But I don’t think brutishness is something that can be discerned from its body shape. Sleekly-shaped bodies can be very brutish, and large, muscular, and corpulent bodies can be very graceful.

Ok. Monstrous. Whatever floats your boat. You already talk about it being less sleek and whatnot so we agree here. I’m more than willing to use monstrous than brutish.

 

[Charlaquin]

No. Not a clue based on the picture.

Both the picture and the lore have been deliberately changed to remove female. Therefore it isn't what it has been for the last 50 years, which shows and says female. It's super easy to see the change.

Were it still female, the lore wouldn't have been changed to remove female.

Presumably the description was changed because they didn’t want every single marilith to be female, just as hags, satyrs, and many other formerly mono-gendered creatures were changed to be dual-gendered. This seems to be an across-the-board change, that monsters are not being limited to one gender any more. But art-wise, this design doesn’t tell us the creature’s gender or its sex.

 

[Iry]

Lack of smooth skin really causes the dissonance for me. A demon can look like anything, but I would be dramatically more accepting of a smooth skinned male elf on top of the snake tail, than this fully scaled thing. As a default representation of Mariliths everywhere, I would want the traditional smooth skin look.

I would also appreciate a tactical commander vibe, instead of a savage battle vibe. Smashing into battle was the Balor's job, while handling logistics/herding demonic cats was the Marilith's job. But that's just me.

 

[dave2008]

It's no longer what the marilith has been for 50 years, which is female.

You keep saying that, but that is not the truth (or at least not objectively 100% true). The new marilith could be female (both I and @Charlaquin read it that way) or not. In many (possibly most) life-forms sex is not clear. What the new marilith is not is human/elf upper body female-like. However, having a human/elf upper body doesn't make a marilith any more a less female. It just makes it potentially easier to read as female.

When people don't acknowledge this is really feels like, to me, they are dancing around the facts and don't want to admit the truth. That may not be the truth, but it is the impression it gives (at least to me).

 

[dave2008]

Lack of smooth skin really causes the dissonance for me. A demon can look like anything, but I would be dramatically more accepting of a smooth skinned male elf on top of the snake tail, than this fully scaled thing. As a default representation of Mariliths everywhere, I would want the traditional smooth skin look.

I would also appreciate a tactical commander vibe, instead of a savage battle vibe. Smashing into battle was the Balor's job, while handling logistics/herding demonic cats was the Marilith's job. But that's just me.

I will note that mariliths were covered in scales in 3e too (in the MM art at least). The 4e MM art also had scales on the upper body too, but in patches. So there is a several decades tradition of mariliths with scaled upper bodies.

 

[dave2008]

Yes. It looks male to me. It's very hard to draw something that looks neither male, nor female.

Not really. Draw an iguana, or an alligator, or wolverine, or a snake, or a turtle or a squirrel, etc. Then tell me if is male or female.

I will remind you a marilith is not a human/elf. It has 6-arms and a tail. Part of its body may look superficially human, but it is not. Heck, looking like a human/elf female could all be a canard (and is IMO) just like some caterpillars looks like snakes, insects look like twigs, non-venomous snakes look like venomous ones, etc.

 

[Charlaquin]

Lack of smooth skin really causes the dissonance for me. A demon can look like anything, but I would be dramatically more accepting of a smooth skinned male elf on top of the snake tail, than this fully scaled thing. As a default representation of Mariliths everywhere, I would want the traditional smooth skin look.

Did you get that same sense of dissonance from the 3e design?

I would also appreciate a tactical commander vibe, instead of a savage battle vibe. Smashing into battle was the Balor's job, while handling logistics/herding demonic cats was the Marilith's job. But that's just me.

What about this design says “not a tactical commander”?

 

[dave2008]

I would also appreciate a tactical commander vibe, instead of a savage battle vibe. Smashing into battle was the Balor's job, while handling logistics/herding demonic cats was the Marilith's job. But that's just me.

Wait, so having six swords was just to point to were its subordinates should go?

Seriously, has any marilith MM art provided the tactical commander vibe? The only one I can think of is possibly 2014 5e with the armor. For some reason armor makes it seem more tactical to me. No armor or little armor (all other versions of MM marilith) gives it a barbarian-like, brutal warrior to me.

 

[Maxperson]

Presumably the description was changed because they didn’t want every single marilith to be female, just as hags, satyrs, and many other formerly mono-gendered creatures were changed to be dual-gendered. This seems to be an across-the-board change, that monsters are not being limited to one gender any more. But art-wise, this design doesn’t tell us the creature’s gender or its sex.

Let's look at those.

Dryad: Picture of both male and female.
Hag: Picture of both male and female.
Satyr: Picture of both male and female.
Medsa: Picture of both male and female.
Marilith: Only male.

The description wasn't changed just like hags, medusas, satyrs and dryads. It was changed to remove female.

 

[Maxperson]

You keep saying that, but that is not the truth (or at least not objectively 100% true). The new marilith could be female (both I and @Charlaquin read it that way) or not. In many (possibly most) life-forms sex is not clear. What the new marilith is not is human/elf upper body female-like. However, having a human/elf upper body doesn't make a marilith any more a less female. It just makes it potentially easier to read as female.

When people don't acknowledge this is really feels like, to me, they are dancing around the facts and don't want to admit the truth. That may not be the truth, but it is the impression it gives (at least to me).

So why is every other creature that I've seen that has been changed like that showing both male and female, but not marilith?