So Much Art From the 2025 Monster Manual

Here's some preview art from the 2025 Monster Manual, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast's "Everything You Need to Know Video" on the new book.

A classic Faceless Stalker:

A demon of some kind:

Arch-Hags:

Some kobolds:

A Nalfeshnee, perhaps?

A revenant:

Blue dracolich:

Death Knight:

Death tyrant:

Chimera:

Githyanki (with the central warrior recreating a classic pose):

A mummy lord:

A marrow:

A balrog balor:

Mimics:

While I'm tempted to say a tressym, this actually might be a new sphinx design:

Bone fiend:

Sladd:

Rust monster:

Platinum(?) dragon:

Bronze dragon:

Hezrou, perhaps?

Fire giant, not Karlach:

Cloud giants:

Zombies:

Red dragon:

Hags (including a male hag):

Dryads (including a male dryad):

Horned devil:

Incubus and succubus:

Vampires:

Vampire:

Colossus:

Spirit naga:

Copper dragon:

White dragon:

Blue dragon:

Gold dragon:

Black dragon:

 

[mamba]

The issue I have is that, while the 2024 concept artist seems to have taken that idea on board, the other 2024 artists appear to have gone with more of a "bleached scales" look rather than an "exposed skull" look.

I always thought it was bleached scales, not liking it either way

 

[BB Shockwave]

Since when are Cloud Giants, vampires?

Nice art.

Since 1E!

They always had fangs in their upper jaws. I think only 3E omitted them - maybe 4E too. But 5E had them since 2014, too. Look at the original MM art, or some of the Bigby book art!
Probably comes from the whole cloud castle / eating people thing the species was based on originally.

 

[dave2008]

I always thought it was bleached scales, not liking it either way

I like the head of the 5e24 black much better, but don't see the need for the bleached scales myself.

 

[pukunui]

Wow, the opening article somehow got most of the Dragons wrong. Like, totally.

OK if we're going to be pedantic then ...

That's not a "Platinum Dragon" - that'd be Bahamut and he doesn't associate with Wraiths last I checked. That's a Red Shadow Dragon. See the shadowy breath?
View attachment 391920

It is apparently not a red shadow dragon either, as the shadow dragon is now its own thing, not a template.

View attachment 391927
Here is a pic of the Chimera not obscured by the two guys in the interview...

The previous image was obscured by the transition into the Death Tyrant image, not by the two guys in the interview.

If you're going to correct people, at least make sure your own corrections are correct!

 

[mamba]

I like the head of the 5e24 black much better, but don't see the need for the bleached scales myself.

yeah, it’s not like the red ones are blackened and so forth, not sure why they did this for the black one

 

[dave2008]

yeah, it’s not like the red ones are blackened and so forth, not sure why they did this for the black one

My total WAG: an artist painted it that way and the team liked it and decided to make it a thing.

 

[pukunui]

yeah, it’s not like the red ones are blackened and so forth, not sure why they did this for the black one

Yes, that is something they've gone for with the red. These are from the dragon art book:

Red wyrmling:

Adult red:

That says to me that a red dragon's feet and the front of its face blacken over time, probably due to fire coming out of its mouth and the fact it likes to walk around in lava or whatever.

Some of the concept art also mentioned it.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Here is a pic of the Chimera not obscured by the two guys in the interview...

I think what's getting missed in these videos? I wish I could find a friend that looks at me the way that Jeremy and Wes look at each other.

 

[Himbo_Jones]

You weren't the only one. The D&D movie creators must have thought so too, since the rust monsters in the movie are also little bugs. It's possible these are just meant to be juvenile ones, but I quite like them this size. I also like the way they look here and don't really understand why WotC has redesigned them to have shiny gold carapaces.

I completely forgot about this! I do like the little ones, too. It just seems to fit the aesthetic of a "metal eating pest" a little better.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The main problem being, people want to try to "justify" not liking something. It's never enough to simply say, "nope, not to my taste". It's always "Nope. I don't like this because it's bad" and then try to define why it's bad. If folks were far more content to just say, "Sorry, I don't like this" without trying to convince me why I shouldn't like it too, we'd be able to talk about art a lot more easily.

Look at the criticisms here - "too colorful", "not sharp or defined enough" and so on and so forth. All attempts to "prove" that the art is bad.

If you don't like something, why continuously try to convince others why you don't like it. You don't like it. Ok. Groovy. But, endless negativity won't actually make for better conversations.

While true, I will take a criticism like "too colorful" or "the lines are sharp enough" over something like "too cartoony"

Because, as was alluded to...

...What does that even mean? I wouldn't say these three art styles share a whole lot of similarities. Sure, none of them are black and white, but give me a minute and I could find some.