Check out D&D's redesign of Bahamut

Bahamut is sporting a new look in several Dungeons & Dragons-related material. Earlier this month, Wizards of the Coast released Arcana Unleashed, a magic-themed rulebook that included a chapter on magical patrons. One example given as a patron was Bahamut, who received a nifty piece of new artwork. While Bahamut has traditionally been depicted as a massive metallic dragon, this new version depicts Bahamut as having an overwhelming magical aura that radiates from his body.

Earlier this month, Polygon previewed several variant covers to the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons comic series, which included another new look at Bahamut, as illustrated by Antonio José Manzanedo. This shows off Bahamut's magical aura wings and aura, along with a scale of how large the dragon god is compared to its gold dragon servants, which look miniscule by comparison.

The upcoming Dungeons & Dragons comic will feature a statblock of Bahamut, which will likely be one of the more powerful creature statblocks ever created for D&D 5.5E. Several other iconic dragon statblocks will also be featured as extra content in the comic.

 

[jmartkdr2]

He’s looking rather pointy here.

 

[Chaltab]

So are the gold dragons that surround him in those images the seven ancient gold dragons that act as his typical retinue?

Cuz if those are ancient golds then this Bahamut is truly massive.

 

[aco175]

Cool picture, better than the old one.

Tas looks like he is cooling his fingers off since he touched him and he is so hot.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It'll be interesting to see what they intend to do with him. I don't recall him ever doing anything other than showing up (or not showing up, depending on who you listen to) in Dragonlance, subverting his image.

But after Weis and Hickman did that, I don't know how much more one could do with him that's particularly interesting and couldn't be done by an ancient silver or gold dragon.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Is that platinum? Looks more like steel.

 

[Corinnguard]

Is that platinum? Looks more like steel.

You might be right. Platinum is a light, grayish white while Steel is typically bluish gray. This dragon has bluish highlights. Steel Dragon stand-in?

We could be looking at a Steel Dragon that is going to appear in Melf's Guide to Greyhawk.

 

[saviirkad]

Cuz if those are ancient golds then this Bahamut is truly massive.

Even bigger if they're golden greatwyrms.

I, for one, welcome our new Bahamut ZERO overlord.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

You might be right. Platinum is a light, grayish white while Steel is typically bluish gray. This dragon has bluish highlights. Steel Dragon stand-in?

We could be looking at a Steel Dragon that is going to appear in Melf's Guide to Greyhawk.

I suspect the bluish tones are there because of the "magic aura" wings and features. They're clearly giving off a pale blue-purple light. In places where the body isn't reflecting those colors, it looks more like the very gently yellow-toned, slightly muted refection of platinum (relative to something like silver).

 

[Dire Bare]

Both images are nice! But I really like the second, Manzanedo's work.