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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 7806736" data-attributes="member: 3285">Dungeons & Dragons has adopted many different beasts into from folklore and legend into its bestiaries, but some diverge considerably from common lore. For a hint at what likely inspired co-creator Gary Gygax to uniquely represent certain monsters in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, we look to Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings. [ATTACH=full]113922[/ATTACH]There are surely a wide variety of sources that inspired Gygax to pepper his Monster Manual with beasts fantastic and imagined, but the <a href="https://amzn.to/306wZph" target="_blank">Book of Imaginary Beings</a> has a hidden easter egg of sorts that reveals its influence: the peryton.[ATTACH=full]113950[/ATTACH]The PerytonHere's what Borges has to say about perytons:The peryton is an oddball creature, even by D&D's standards. Ecohawk <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/monster-encyclopedia-peryton.664771/" target="_blank">traces their lineage</a> throughout D&D in his Monster ENCyclopedia series:There's just one detail that Borges left out: he made it all up. Before Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, there were no perytons. He invented them, creating his own mythology along with other creatures borrowed from literature and myth. The peryton's inclusion in the Monster Manual makes it very likely that Gygax was inspired by the book to create his own bestiary. Reviewing the monsters in the volume reveal other influences.[ATTACH=full]113951[/ATTACH]The BasiliskD&D's basilisk is not like the typical cock/snake hybrid. Instead, <a href="https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Basilisk" target="_blank">it's a reptilian monster with multiple legs</a> -- a far cry from the serpentine monster of typical myth. Borges mentions this:[ATTACH=full]113952[/ATTACH]The CatoblepasThe catoblepas' inclusion in the Monster Manual is curious; mechanically, it's one of the "horrendous gaze" monsters but a lot clumsier. <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/monster-encyclopedia-catoblepas.662425/" target="_blank">Echohawk explains</a>:This description is quite close to the second description of the catoblepas in Borges' work:[ATTACH=full]113953[/ATTACH]The ChimeraLike the basilisk, the D&D chimera is a very specific interpretation of the legend. Most representations show the chimera as a lion- and goat-headed beast with a snake tail. But D&D has a lion, goat, and dragon head. Borges seems like an inspiration:The three heads, the fire breath, and the dragon head all appear in Borges' description.[ATTACH=full]113955[/ATTACH]The DoppelgangerDoppelgangers are an interesting case. The name seems to more exotic than "Double" (Borges' entry) or the more mythologically-common "Fetch." Borges explains them as:[ATTACH=full]113956[/ATTACH]The GolemThe golem is traditionally associated with a very specific legend. Borges succinctly summarizes how the golem worked, which are both included by Gygax -- a construct made of clay and its propensity for going berserk:Beyond the clay golem, Borges provides fertile ground for the iron golem under the talos entry:[ATTACH=full]113957[/ATTACH]The ManticoreLike the chimera, the manticore is traditionally shown as a human-headed tiger-like monster with a scorpion's tail. D&D's manticore instead throws spikes. Borges might be why:Perhaps the most powerful influence of Borges isn't on the monsters themselves, but the Monster Manual. Gygax's somewhat academic approach to monsters reads a lot like Borges' work, which is filled with tantalizing bits of lore that are left to the imagination. <a href="http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-peryton-other-monster-manual-for.html?_sm_au_=iWHBr0nnZWhJSjDP" target="_blank">As Swords & Stitchery explains</a>:In many ways, Gygax's Monster Manual and its descendants are continuing Borges' work. Borges claims that:Thanks to D&D and its influence on popular culture, several of the other "ephemeral or accidental" creatures can now claim to be "necessary monsters."</blockquote>

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