D&D General What is the Quintissential D&D Mascot Monster?

[Reynard]

EDIT FOR CLARITY: THE QUESTION IS NOT WHAT MONSTER(S) SHOULD BE ON THE COVER OF THE NEW MM. NOR IS IT A QUESTION BETWEEN RED DRAGON AND BEHOLDER. THOSE ARE JUST MY CHOICES.

Inspired by folks discussing possible themes for the alt cover of the 2024 Monster Manual (but not limited to that).

If you had to pick a single monster that represents D&D -- to you, to the market, to the fandom, to the public, whatever you want -- what would it be? What is, in your opinion, the quintessential D&D mascot monster?

I waffle between a Red Dragon, and a Beholder. I can't decide which one is MORE D&D. What about you?

 

[Cadence]

The Moldvay Basic Kobold would be the one I want on the special cover.

 

[Shardstone]

Beholder. Dragons are one step too "generic" IMO, but Beholder is SPECIAL.

 

[TheSword]

Beholder. Without doubt. Unique to D&D whereas dragons are dime a dozen.

I do have a fondness for the Mind Flayer too and the Aboleth but the Beholder is so distinctive.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I love kobolds, especially old school looks with modern lore, but they aren't terribly well known outside D&D circles.

Dragons aren't specific enough to D&D. And red dragons are basically just Smaug variants.

Displacer beasts are infamously a rip-off of Voyage of the Space Beagle/Marvel Comics.

Nothing that appears in LotR is distinctly D&D.

I'd say it's beholders or mimics, but both are extremely good and iconic critters. (Rust monsters are great, too, but suffer from the same awareness issue that kobolds do.)

 

[Scribe]

I think a Red Dragon stands in for the whole lineage of D&D, but that includes Pathfinder, or other 'not 5e' games at this point.

Therefore, Beholder is what I would go with.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

Red Dragon!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Flumph.

 

[payn]

Beholder.

 

[billd91]

Owlbear