Hexmage-EN
Legend
Moving right along into the C's:
Cambion
The first and most surprising difference between cambion lore in the Monster Manuals is that 2025 explicitly states they are made from transformed mortals, whereas the 2014 Monster Manual says they are the offspring of a fiend and humanoid. In both 2014 and 2025 they are inherently evil, the former “born to be bad” and the latter supernaturally compelled. The new Monster Manual 2025 is less specific about how they fit into fiendish plans. MM2014 has a section describing how the demon lord Graz'zt has sired many cambions through copulating with women who made pacts with him, which MM2025 omits in place of referencing Iuz of Greyhawk as a notorious cambion. It is accompanied by a 1d6 table of Cambion Origins that includes being resurrected by an evil spellcaster or making a bargain with a fiend.
Carrion Crawler
The MM2025 entry is mostly the same info as 2014, albeit without some of the specifics from 2014 about how long a carrion crawler will follow a light source and where they drag their meals to eat them.
Centaur
The centaur got a new statblock in 2025, so of course it has a lot less lore text (I like the new statblocks, BTW, but it's weird to me how many monsters now have less descriptive text than Awakened Plants do now). I imagine the reduced lore is partially because the description in the 2014 Monster Manual paints them all as being reclusive and nomadic hunter-gatherers who leave behind centaurs that can't keep up. What lore we do have in the new book is about them being Fey warriors who defend nature sites of primal power.
Chain Devil
The MM2014 describes Chain Devils solely as jailers and torturers. MM2025 only adds that chain devils encourage mortals to learn forbidden magic along with a 1d4 table of chain devil disguises.
Chasme
MM2014 states that chasmes are interrogators, tasmasters, and torturers that capture demons who have deserted their masters. Unlike the other fiends so far they don't really have anything new lorewise in MM2025.
Chimera
MM2014 tells us that Demogorgon mashed some creatures together to create the first chimeras, whereas MM2025 gives no origin for the monster. Like the bulette entry earlier, specifics on the creature like the size of its territory and how it interacts with certain creatures noted in 2014 are absent in 2025, though both agree they can be appeased with treasure and food.
Chuul
MM2014 states that chuuls were created to serve aboleths and collect magic items, doing the latter on instinct and waiting on a new aboleth to continue doing the former. MM2025 sums all this up much more succinctly than 2014 did while also adding that other intelligent aberrations can command them now, as well.
Clay Golem
In 2014 golems were grouped together and had a half-page of general information that boiled down to them being powered by earth elementals and commanded by special amulets. Concerning clay golems in particular, we're told that they are created by priests but go berserk if the bound elemental tries to break free. In 2025 the general entry has been omitted, as have references to elementals and priests. Instead we are told that they are created to guard places and communities using special clay sourced from those places. A table of 1d4 Clay Golem Orders is included.
Cloaker
MM2014 details cloaker hunting habits and that they communicate through subsonic moans, both details omitted in MM2025. Both entries agree on them being largely solitary and only rarely and temporarily congregating. New to MM2025 is that cloakers terrorize their prey and “whisper eerie riddles to those they're about to consume”.
Cloud Giant
The 2014 entry for Cloud Giants details how they interact with giants below them in the Ordning, that they keep aeries of flying monsters, pay homage to the deity Memnor, earn their place in the Ordning via wealth, and wager money on the outcomes of wars. All of this is missing from the 2025 entry (as is the general information on giants), which only states that they view themselves highly and either consider the affairs of the world below something to interfere in or something to watch from afar.
Cockatrice
Both the 2014 and 2025 Monster Manuals describe cockatrices as ornery. 2014 states that they eat nuts, berries, and small animals, but these dietary details are omitted in 2025 to instead tell us they like to lair in abandoned structures.
Cambion
The first and most surprising difference between cambion lore in the Monster Manuals is that 2025 explicitly states they are made from transformed mortals, whereas the 2014 Monster Manual says they are the offspring of a fiend and humanoid. In both 2014 and 2025 they are inherently evil, the former “born to be bad” and the latter supernaturally compelled. The new Monster Manual 2025 is less specific about how they fit into fiendish plans. MM2014 has a section describing how the demon lord Graz'zt has sired many cambions through copulating with women who made pacts with him, which MM2025 omits in place of referencing Iuz of Greyhawk as a notorious cambion. It is accompanied by a 1d6 table of Cambion Origins that includes being resurrected by an evil spellcaster or making a bargain with a fiend.
Carrion Crawler
The MM2025 entry is mostly the same info as 2014, albeit without some of the specifics from 2014 about how long a carrion crawler will follow a light source and where they drag their meals to eat them.
Centaur
The centaur got a new statblock in 2025, so of course it has a lot less lore text (I like the new statblocks, BTW, but it's weird to me how many monsters now have less descriptive text than Awakened Plants do now). I imagine the reduced lore is partially because the description in the 2014 Monster Manual paints them all as being reclusive and nomadic hunter-gatherers who leave behind centaurs that can't keep up. What lore we do have in the new book is about them being Fey warriors who defend nature sites of primal power.
Chain Devil
The MM2014 describes Chain Devils solely as jailers and torturers. MM2025 only adds that chain devils encourage mortals to learn forbidden magic along with a 1d4 table of chain devil disguises.
Chasme
MM2014 states that chasmes are interrogators, tasmasters, and torturers that capture demons who have deserted their masters. Unlike the other fiends so far they don't really have anything new lorewise in MM2025.
Chimera
MM2014 tells us that Demogorgon mashed some creatures together to create the first chimeras, whereas MM2025 gives no origin for the monster. Like the bulette entry earlier, specifics on the creature like the size of its territory and how it interacts with certain creatures noted in 2014 are absent in 2025, though both agree they can be appeased with treasure and food.
Chuul
MM2014 states that chuuls were created to serve aboleths and collect magic items, doing the latter on instinct and waiting on a new aboleth to continue doing the former. MM2025 sums all this up much more succinctly than 2014 did while also adding that other intelligent aberrations can command them now, as well.
Clay Golem
In 2014 golems were grouped together and had a half-page of general information that boiled down to them being powered by earth elementals and commanded by special amulets. Concerning clay golems in particular, we're told that they are created by priests but go berserk if the bound elemental tries to break free. In 2025 the general entry has been omitted, as have references to elementals and priests. Instead we are told that they are created to guard places and communities using special clay sourced from those places. A table of 1d4 Clay Golem Orders is included.
Cloaker
MM2014 details cloaker hunting habits and that they communicate through subsonic moans, both details omitted in MM2025. Both entries agree on them being largely solitary and only rarely and temporarily congregating. New to MM2025 is that cloakers terrorize their prey and “whisper eerie riddles to those they're about to consume”.
Cloud Giant
The 2014 entry for Cloud Giants details how they interact with giants below them in the Ordning, that they keep aeries of flying monsters, pay homage to the deity Memnor, earn their place in the Ordning via wealth, and wager money on the outcomes of wars. All of this is missing from the 2025 entry (as is the general information on giants), which only states that they view themselves highly and either consider the affairs of the world below something to interfere in or something to watch from afar.
Cockatrice
Both the 2014 and 2025 Monster Manuals describe cockatrices as ornery. 2014 states that they eat nuts, berries, and small animals, but these dietary details are omitted in 2025 to instead tell us they like to lair in abandoned structures.
