Iconic Monsters (Like Strahd, Eclavdra, Acererak)

[Kaodi]

I think there might have been a thread on this at one point, but I surely do not remember its name if there was.

There have been whole threads just on iconic dragons, and some creatures are easy, like Acererak and Vecna for liches, Driz'zt and Eclavdra for drow, Strahd von Zarovich for the vampires.

But some are a little sketchier, like Doresain for the ghouls, and Vhalantru and Xanathar for beholders. And some I just have no idea about, for instance, werewolves, minotaurs, medusa, giants, merfolk, and the like.

Would it be possible to make a (relatively) complete list of iconic monsters, to see where the holes are?

 

[Stormonu]

Probably not - generally only the intelligent monsters are going to have "named" versions (and I think Doresain is, at the least, a demigod). Still, might be interesting to see if we can get a who's who roster of (in)famous D&D villains.

Some named dragons from D&D are listed here.

 

[Kaodi]

I still think of Doresain as he first appeared in the original Kingdom of the Ghouls, because all this exarch weirdness.

In any case:

Beholder - Xanathar (Eye of the Beholder), Vhalantru (The Shackled City)
Death Knight - Lord Soth (Dragonlance, Ravenloft)
Drow - Driz'zt Do'Urden (Icewind Dale et al.), Eclavdra (Vault of the Drow)
Fire Giant - Snurre (Hall of the Fire Giant King)
Githyank - Vlaakith, the Lich-Queen
Githzerai - Zerthimon
Ghoul - Doresain (Kingdom of the Ghouls)
Hag - Baba Yaga
Kobold - Meepo (The Sunless Citadel)
Lich - Acererak (Tomb of Horrors), Vecna (Greyhawk)
Minotaur - Kaz (Dragonlance)
Vampire - Strahd von Zarovich (Ravenloft)

That is a place to start. Are there any that should perhaps be removed from that list either?

 

[Darkness]

Kobold - Meepo (The Sunless Citadel)

Hm. Does Pun-Pun count as an iconic kobold?

 

[hafrogman]

Deesix, the iconic Gelatinous Cube

 

[Kaodi]

Hm. Does Pun-Pun count as an iconic kobold?

Does Pun-Pun exist anywhere other than the optimization boards?

 

[was]

I always liked the Ankheg as a classic DnD monster.

 

[Kaodi]

I probably should not have missed this one:

Troll - Skurge Dwarfbane

 

[Alzrius]

I probably should not have missed this one:

Troll - Skurge Dwarfbane

What's he from?

I take "ironic" individuals of a certain monster race to be those that have made a large impression on the public (of gamers') consciousness. In this regard, appearing in multiple products tends to help a lot (though it's not absolutely necessary). Hence, I nominate Tasslehoff Burrfoot as the iconic kender.

 

[amerigoV]

Carrion Crawlers - Bob and Tom...

Ok, that is only from my campaign. But they are very well known amongst my circle of gamers.