oldschooler said:
Hi Gary,
I've a general question regarding many of your creature concepts, as far as how they came about and/or changed over the years.
Kobolds: did they always look like lil' dog-lizards, or were they originally just a lesser form of goblin?
Hobgoblins: I've always known hobgoblins as being "good guys" in a way. How did you come up with them as larger, meaner goblins?
Gnolls: originally described as a cross between 'gnomes and trolls'... How did they become the hyena-men we know and love today?
Gorgons: I would have pictured a hideous snake-lady with asps for hair, but you split the creature into the Medusa (named for the popular gorgon) and Gorgon (an iron-clad bull)? How did that happen?
Hydra: why mention the snake-like original (Monsters & Treasure), then give it dinosaur-like legs?
Troll: I know you like the regenerating, green, rubber dude; but what ever happened to true trolls (of Scandinavian myth)?
Where did the concept for the 'dungeon cleaning crew' come from (some of my favorite critters by the way)? I'm guessing the old classic horror flick The Blob but...
Sigh...
Kobolds are humanoid, mainly forest-dwelling creatures that Dave Sutherland gave the canine visage and scaley skin.
I made hobgoblins larger, although the prefix "hob" indicates little" because goblins had been made too small and weak for challenging higher-level characters. goblins and hobgoblins are treated in various ways from mischiveous to darkly malign in folklore. I went with the latter for game purposes.
Who says a cross between a gnome and a troll can't have a hyena-live visage? After all, it was me that mentioned the origination of the species. I just decided it was too bland and needed something more evil. I dislike hyenas intensly...
You clearly are not steeped in medieval bestiary lore

In that regard the gorgon is a scaled bull, so rather than having only three sisters the D&D game had a rade of medusas and a race of gorgons.
As for me giving a hydra legs, where do you see my name in the illustration?
Scandanavian trolls are pretty borinng, and who needs such critters when they can't go into sunlight? So I used Poul Anderson's model for a more challenging and fearsome monster.
Because of the large and varied ecology of the D&D dungeons and underground, it was necessary to have scavengers of all sorts, so I made up the gelatinous cube, carrion crawler, ocher jelly, etc. There was no particular inspiration save for nature--amobeas, insect larva, and imagination.
Gary