D&D 5E Here's Our Favourite (and least favourite) D&D Monsters!

Last week I took a poll to determine which D&D monsters were the most loved, and which languished unliked in the back of the cupboard. The poll was limited to the D&D 5E Monster Manual, specifically the main monsters section (so not the NPCs or animals).

Aboleth from Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, by Kim Van Deun​

Let's start with the monsters that nobody liked. Well, to be accurate, there were none that scored 0 votes, but the poor empyrean only squeezed in with a single vote. If there's any monster in need of some love, the empyrean is it. It's the least-liked monster in the Monster Manual.

Joining it at the bottom, though, are some other unpopular critters -- the magmin (spellchecker PLEASE let me type that word - even my OS doesn't like the magma .. err.. magma ... umm .. magmin!), darkmantle, sprite, satyr, quaggoth, and merrow.

The top of the chart was a little more predictable. The iconic mind flayer led the pack, followed closely by dragons and beholders. A little way behind those three, we had some other D&D staples in the form of skeletons, the lich, goblins, and the troll.

Demons are more popular than devils. Liches are loved more than vampires. Death knights are in the middle of the pack, neither loved nor disliked. The 'iconic' D&D monsters (i.e. the mind flayers and beholders, which D&D created) are very well loved.

Anyway, I should stop talking about it and just show you it. Here's the full list, in descending order.

1. Mind Flayer
2. Dragons
3. Beholders
4. Skeletons
5. Lich
6. Goblins
7. Troll
8. Demons
9. Ghouls
10. Giants
11. Owlbear
12. Ogres
13. Zombies
14. Vampires
15. Devils
16. Displacer Beast
17. Kobolds
18. Wraith
19. Rust Monster
20. Gnolls
21. Orcs
22. Elementals
23. Hags
24. Umber Hulk
25. Carrion Crawler
26. Golems
27. Wight
28. Death Knight
29. Hobgoblins
30. Lycanthropes
31. Mummies
32. Minotaur
33. Lizardfolk
34. Rakshasa
35. Bugbears
36. Bulette
37. Manticore
38. Wyvern
39. Shambling Mound
40. Yuan-Ti
41. Elves (Inc. Drow)
42. Gargoyle
43. Shadow
44. Hydra
45. Mimic
46. Oozes
47. Dracolich
48. Griffon
49. Modrons
50. Aboleth
51. Chimera
52. Flameskull
53. Hell Hound
54. Purple Worm
55. Medusa
56. Oni
57. Roper
58. Basilisk
59. Otyugh
60. Stirge
61. Intellect Devourer
62. Ankheg
63. Dinosaurs
64. Ghost
65. Hook Horror
66. Doppelganger
67. Genies
68. Harpy
69. Pseudodragon
70. Demilich
71. Drider
72. Gibbering Mouther
73. Animated Objects
74. Grell
75. Nightmare
76. Thri-Kreen
77. Banshee
78. Behir
79. Bullywug
80. Nagas
81. Revenant
82. Will-O'-Wisp
83. Dragon Turtle
84. Faerie Dragon
85. Flumph
86. Gith
87. Mephits
88. Sahuagin
89. Slaadi
90. Tarrasque
91. Treant
92. Cockatrice
93. Kuo-Toa
94. Myconids
95. Scarecrow
96. Specter
97. Sphinxes
98. Ettin
99. Nothic
100. Remorhazes
101. Succubus/Incubus
102. Water Weird
103. Gorgon
104. Roc
105. Troglodyte
106. Unicorn
107. Angels
108. Couatl
109. Kraken
110. Peryton
111. Crawling Claw
112. Helmed Horror
113. Salamanders
114. Yugoloths
115. Centaur
116. Dryad
117. Duergar
118. Grick
119. Kenku
120. Lamia
121. Shield Guardian
122. Xorn
123. Cambion
124. Cloaker
125. Cyclops
126. Fomorian
127. Gnome (Inc Svirfneblin)
128. Hippogriff
129. Invisible Stalker
130. Yetis
131. Ettercap
132. Fungi
133. Jackalwere
134. Grimlock
135. Half-Dragon
136. Homunculus
137. Azer
138. Chuul
139. Merfolk
140. Pegasus
141. Pixie
142. Aarakocra
143. Blights
144. Galeb Duhr
145. Piercer
146. Merrow
147. Quaggoth
148. Satyr
149. Sprite
150. Darkmantle
151. Magmin
152. Empyrean

 

[GuyBoy]

I’ll leave it to @Morrus to tell that roper in the caverns Below Forge of Fury that it only came in at number 57.

 

[steeldragons]

Cool list.

Not really surprising to see creatures that are neutral or good, the potential npc ally or helpful creature types: pixies, sprites, merfolk and pegasi, and tita-I-mean-"empyrean"...hell, even a unicorn doesn't come in until #106 (with actual Angels [!] following up at 107), all fall in the bottom of the list.

Faerie Dragons are something of an outlier, all the way up at 84?! But I suspect that's more to do with the,"they're so qwoot!" response and can be "pesky/disruptive annoyances," than "they're good guy monsters!"

I don't think I was under the impression the poll was asking what monsters we "liked/don't like."

It asked what we used [often?] in the games. "...returned to..." I believe was part of the query. So, seems obvious, "things the party can/will need to fight" are going to have outsized responses over the "beneficial encounter."

In that respect, I guess, it is the list of monsters we "like... to throw at PCs."

 

[Morrus]

I don't think I was under the impression the poll was asking what monsters we "liked/don't like."

It asked what we used [often?] in the games. "...returned to..." I believe was part of the query.

"What are your favorite D&D monsters? The ones you go back to time and time again? The ones you love to use to terrify your players, or the ones you love to slay with wild abandon? They don't have to be the biggest, or the most awe-inspiring; they might just be something you find incredibly useful, thematic, or which appeals to you directly. Perhaps they've been the ones you use from every edition. Perhaps you used one recently and just had so much fun with it."

 

[Yora]

1. Mind Flayer
3. Beholder
50. Aboleths

What's wrong with people?! Seriously, it's the eldritch trinity!

 

[Lyxen]

1. Mind Flayer
3. Beholder
50. Aboleths

What's wrong with people?! Seriously, it's the eldritch trinity!

Indeed, I was surprised that Aboleths were so far down the list.

 

[Yora]

I imagine a good portion of the ettercap, grimlock, quaggoth votes are from my picks. Bit surprised these guys are such outliers. But I guess that will make them more memorable when I use them prominently as the main underworld humanoids.

But big respect for all the skeleton love. Really didn't expect that. Super generic and pretty bland bare bones by default, but they can be so much fun when you make an effort to go crazy with them.

 

[el-remmen]

1. Mind Flayer
3. Beholder
50. Aboleths

What's wrong with people?! Seriously, it's the eldritch trinity!

I have never in 39 years of playing D&D used any of those three in games I've run and have only run into #1 once as a player.

 

[Omand]

I cry for the Darkmantle. I love those little guys.

I know the lore got changed around in either 4E or 5E making them part of the life cycle of the Piercer (along with the Roper), which is a bit goofy. But I loved when they were introduced in 3E. I had some nice battles with them, and almost killed a PC in the first encounter I ever ran with them. In 3E they had an envelop attack where they could cover the head of a PC and strangle/suffocate them. That. paired with their ability to create magical darkness, was pretty potent. Got a PC down to single digit HPs when they were 3rd level If I am recalling correctly, the player was shocked, but we had fun with the encounter and laughed afterwards.

Cheers

 

[Omand]

1. Mind Flayer
3. Beholder
50. Aboleths

What's wrong with people?! Seriously, it's the eldritch trinity!

Not a fan generally of these three. Perhaps like the Beholder the most (and I have used it maybe twice since the 1E days).

I have also used the Mind Flayer, it showed up in several official modules back in the 1E days. Psionics were never quite my thing (and we did use the random tables in 1E at first, before deciding not to). So, the concept is OK, but not something I follow up on.

As to the Aboleth, far too Lovecraftian for my tastes. I generally don't go for the horror side of the genre, so body horror (mucus changing you to Skum et al) and eldritch evil is just off the table.

YMMV of course.

Cheers

 

[el-remmen]

making them part of the life cycle of the Piercer (along with the Roper),

News to me!