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As his body was warped by the Far Realm, the Mangler's arms split at the elbows, turning him into the horrid creature you see today.
It's only logical. Scimitar-wielding skeletons are wizard-standard since The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, so somebody was bound to find a way to improve on the design! The four-armed skeletal Tomb Guardians are less like swordfighting guards and more like bony blenders, though. You don't want to duel one without help or ranged support.
Originally developed for the D&D toyline and then later appearing in the cartoon, Warduke eventually became a real RPG character!
Part of the Horned Society, Warduke is a vicious, ruthless bounty hunter in the world of Greyhawk. He is so legendary that the mere sight of his mask has been known to cause entire armies to flee.
(There's a red gem on that helmet, but the paint flaked off. d'oh!)
No, this is not the Titan version of a Stone Giant! Stone Giants were missing from the first 4th Edition Monster Manual, with Hill Giants as the early "earth" giant stand-ins. Hill Giants are basically big cavemen, but Earth Titans are walking mountains of stone and dirt. I love the detail on this one - and yes, it is meant to also sub for a huge Earth Elemental if you want. Some minis are like that.
Swordwings and Crownwings (small and large) have one defining feature, to quote the Monster Manual:
"Swordwings are supreme collectors, gathering rare items and arranging them in galleries within their cavernous lairs. A swordwing’s collection defines it as an individual. A typical swordwing favors one particular collectable, while crownwings keep multiple collections. Typical “collectables” include skulls, weapons, gems, magic items, books, monster eggs, and victims’ hearts."
They infest the underdark, but those wings imply that they also survive on the surface, as well. They are aberrant, and that includes mentality as well as appearance - Swordwings are alien. They know Deep Speech, although I doubt that their mouths can form the words. The collector aspect of a Swordwing is important. It isn't just that they pile skulls or tear hearts out of people. Perhaps a Swordwing is fascinated by your wizard's staff, or wants the cleric's shiny necklace. Maybe it just wants all those little figures your artificer keeps making. Yes, essentially, Swordwings are DDM consumers. Therefore, not every encounter should be an immediate mugging, although who's to say that it won't turn violent when your people say "no?" A Swordwing needs to be a little more consistent than a Crownwing - essentially, Swordwings like to collect DDM, whereas Crownwings also collect Monsterpocalypse, WoW minis, Star Wars Miniatures, Dreamblade, and they like to paint Reaper in their spare time. If they want something, it's a compulsion. The creature can't help it without a deliberate act of will.
So basically, they are me.
This figure is a D&D Fomorian, actually. Based on the ancient pre-fairy titans from Celtic mythology, Fomorians in D&D were, for many years, just particularly ugly and deformed giants. In 4th Edition, they were revisited and moved a little closer to their roots, now appearing as deformed and insane titanic lords of the evil fairies. And hey, that's cool!
One would think that air elementals are invisible, but the gusts and breezes that make up their bodies often take tangible shape just from moisture and impurities in the air.
The Runelord Karzoug has a gigantic statue in his own likeness, but it isn't just for show - he can control it as an animated stone golem, and often wills it to serve as the last line of defense in his lair.
Illithids are known for enthralling weak-minded beings to do their dirty work, and the slow, savage Quaggoths are perfect for this.
As much as people like to rag on H. P. Lovecraft for being racist, the only group he actually called "The Great Race" were these weirdos!
Kind of similar in concept to the Elder Things, the Great Race of Yith was a pre-human sentient species that ruled earth millions and millions of years ago.
So, what makes them so "great?" The Yithians are the only creatures to have mastered time travel, of a sort. They could transport their minds throughout history, swapping with the bodies of anything else with sufficient intelligence. In fact, when the time came for their species to finally go extinct (at the hands of the Flying Polyps), the Great Race of Yith simply projected themselves billions of years into the future, swapping with the bodies of the beetle-like Coleopterous race, which will dominate the earth after humanity is gone.
The Yithians appeared most prominently in The Shadow Out of Time, in which they swapped with a professor for a period of several years, simply to learn more about human culture. He, in turn, learned about the Great Race of Yith.
In the 1600s, Jewish persecution was at its height, particularly the infamous Blood Libel (claiming that the jEws mix the blood of young boys in their food. wtf?!?!). Rabbi Lowe of Prague wanted to protect his people, and so he created a man of clay, wrote a holy word on its forehead, and sent it out to do battle. Unfortunately, it eventually went out of control, forcing the rabbi to erase its magical words and kill his beloved creation.
Actually, this is from a 1909 novel that purported to be based on 1600s legend. Crazy, eh?
Oh yeah, uh, co-opted by D&D, blah blah blah, etc.
Although usually identified as a creation of August Derleth, the byakhees first appeared in Lovecraft's story, "The Festival," though they were unnamed. Freakish, semi-insectile gargoyles, they serve the Yellow King Hastur and can fly in space, often offering hapless travellers transport beyond the realms of sanity.
Many giants are themed according to element, and based on the particular D&D edition, this may or may not mean much. Fire Giants are a famous old sgtandbye, as basically huge dwarves that can live in a volcano. You'll notice that this fellow has shoulder armor made from hardened lava, though it's the same color as his skin.
Who knows what kind of creature they were trying to bring into the world...
A typical scene from anything based on H. P. Lovecraft's work, but not at all from anything he actually wrote.
Ever since the first movie to introduce the idea of mummies as monsters, they have (almost) always been depicted as intelligent, mystical priests. Quite different frmo your average zombie, a mummy priest works the magic of the dark curses protecting his tomb.
It's Orcus Vs. Durin's Bane! These two big, beefy demons are gonna have a wrestliong match, and we'll just pretend that Orcus's death wand doesn't have an effect on the other demon. But hey... Happy Halloween!
Despite its appearance, this guy isn't REALLY a demon of gluttony! He is obese, though. Obese with SOULS! Solamiths devour people's souls, which they can then digest for nutrients or use as weapons... by tearing out parts of their tummies and tossing 'em. Yes, I said tummy. Yes, they use exploding tummy bombs. BABOOM!
The Draconians were created by an evil dragon god, and tend to explode, melt, or petrify when they die. Aurak Draconians are spellcasters, able to conjure flames in their hands... or worse.
There are a few kinds of larger-than-usual Umber Hulks, including the Truly Horrid umber Hulks, and the darker-colored Shadow Hulks. Either way, it's a burrowing bug the size of an elephant!
When three Vrocks get together, they can perform a dance ritual - it takes a few rounds to complete, but once it's pulled off, it pretty much blows up every non-demon in the area.
In old english, "Lich" simply meant "corpse." In fact, cemetary gates are also known as lichgates.
In D&D, partly drawn from legends such as Koschei the Deathless, a Lich is a sorcerer who made himself undead and stored his soul in a separate object known as a phylactery. Yes, yes, I know Voldemort did the same thing, but he did it like twenty years later.
Liches are some of the ultimate D&D villains for many reasons, the most immediately obvious one being that you can't permanently kill them unless you find that phylactery, which could be anything. but there's a bigger one, too. Most baddies are confronted at the end of their very own dungeon or fortress or traphouse or what-have-you. A Lich is no different. But see, a Lich is the kind of guy who is so desperate to cling to life that he will kill himself and tear out his soul just to fend off the reaper a little longer. And you are storming his fortress, with the type of protection he thinks is adequate.
You are so doomed.
It doesn't quite show in this picture, but this guy is easily twice the size of the other Earth Elemental. He's big, he's bad, and he's not gonna budge!
Gnolls are a type of hyena-esque humanoid. Often savage and vicious, this is less an issue of their canid nature than it is their culture - they mostly worship Yeenoghu, a demon lord.
Green slaads (slaadi) are known for something very specific (aside from looking like KErmit or Godzilla). They are the most prodigious spellcasters of the species, only their magic is not entirely consistent. A slaad might TRY to cast a fireball, but instead fill the place with poison gas and then reverse gravity! Well, they are chaos monsters.
He kills because he believes he is already dead...
Introduced in 3rd edition's Red Hand of Doom super-adventure (Which was awesome. It involved whole armies!), Blood Ghost Berserkers are a special sub-faction of bugbears who are even more vicious than their ordinary brethren - they are berserkers in the true viking sense of the term, meaning that they are quite bloodthirsty and man. In fact, they even dye their fur white to symbolize that they believe themselves to be already dead, or as good as. They hit very, very, very hard, and they never give up until they are dead.
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/03/13/life-in-plastic-obscure-toy-lines...
This piece is taken from Mansions of Madness, an Arkham Horror adaptation - and it represents a more surreal view of the Hounds of Tindalos. They are called "hounds" not because of their appearance, but instead due to their implacable, vicious nature. When one of these creatures springs from the Angles of Time, it means that it has your scent. You will never be safe.
No one knows how giants got that far underground in the first place, but they somehow make do with their cramped living arrangements.
So you wanna make your skeleton warirors more intimidating? Set them on fire! Teach them the power of HADOKEN! And make it purple flames. Gotta be purple. Won't work if it's not purple.
Professor Albert N. Wilmarth once scoffed at the supernatural, especially when people began to panic about strange supposed alien sightings. But then one day, a local named Henry Akeley sent Wilmarth a letter, claiming to have absolute proof of the supernatural - and why Wilmarth should stop discussing it. When Wilmarth finds Akeley, the old man explains the ecistence of the Mi-Go, insectoid fungi creatures from the depths of space. The Mi-Go, he says, have been on earth since the beginning of time, and wish to take humans with them to explore the cosmos - preserving their lives by removing their brains and placing them into jars before the journey. Akeley even showed a jar meant for his brain, and his upcoming trip. He assured WIlmarth that not only was this real, but the Mi-Go were benevolent aliens.
That night, Akeley investigated further after hearing strange, strange whispers. And then he made a discovery that not only proved the existence of the Mi-Go, but also scared him enough to flee, run home, and never speak of it again - he found a mask and fake hands, resembling Akeley. By the time WIlmarth had arrived, Akeley had already been replaced by a Mi-Go!
So, monster scorpions in Dungeons 7 Dragons's 4th Edition can also shock you with electricity. Did somebody play Golden Axe 2?
D&D's answer to the Frankenstein Monster, Flesh Golems are brutish constructs made from pieces of corpses, and typically twice the size of a normal human. You do not want to get on the its maker's bad side.
Beholders go way back in D&D, and have become so tied with the game that you can't even rip them off and get away with it! They also have many, many variahnts, from crablike Eyes of the Deep to Overseers, which resemble fleshy trees. The Eye of FLame and Eye of Frost are pretty vanilla variations, but they make sense - rather than the massive variety of spell effects usually offered bya beholder's eyestalks, these ones stick with various elemental themes. They are indeed quite nasty even with those limitations, though.
Shy, reclusive giants, Stone Giants are more willing to camouflage themselves in the mountains than rampage, but they can attack when they need to be. Also, some of them look a lot like Dhalsim.
(actually, yes - that RUnecarver way in the back row was nicknamed "Aspect of Dhalsim")
Pathfinder took Stone Giants and kept them as-is, so those minis can fit in with D&D ones juuuuust fine.
Automatons of rusted metal powered by steam, Cannon Golems pack a hefty wallop with their apparently inexhaustible ammunition supplies.
Because Pathfinder is really clearly Dungeons & Dragons with the file numbers shaved off, it's no surprise that they have not only their own demiliches, but a very clear Acererak ripoff named Mesmalatu. Funny thing is, this makes him the first "official" demilich mini.
It looks like a cyclopean H. R. Giger Xenomorph. It's actually a robot, sort of.
Shardsoul Slayers are created when a D&D crazy magic person takes an elemental (or primal spirit), splits its soul into multiple parts, and invests each soul shard into a different construct. Each Shardsoul Slayer looks like a living creature - underneath the armor plating it is made of a supernaturally flexible, smooth metal that seems to be flesh. Each one is also totally insane because of how its soul is split,and can spread this madness to its victims. Also, they're covered in razors. Because that's kind of important.
Scan from the 1961 book "Karlsruhe - Ein Bildband" by Erich Bauer - rare thing, given I found this at an English house in 2014..
This version of a D&D wraith is very, veyr clearly based ona certain someone (or nine someones) from The Lord of the Rings. Can YOU tell who?
The biggest of the big, baddest of the bad, and ultimate D&D villain: VECNA! But he wasn't always like that - in fact, for the longest time, Vecna couldn't do anything!
It's really too bad that his miniature has such a poor paint job. Bear with me, here. in fact, look up artwork of Vecna on-line. Got it now? Okay!
Vecna is a lich - a human sorcerer who stored his soul in another object (called a phylactery) and made himself undead so he could cheat death. Yeah, he came before Voldemort. And some older artwork of him LOOKS like Voldemort... before Harry Potter was popular.
Way back during his normal tenure as a lich, Vecna was betrayed by his right-hand man, Kas the Betrayer (he really should've seen that one coming), and was thought destroyed - all that remained of him were his left eye and hand! But actually, Vecna had plans, and this was a part of it. The Eye of Vecna and Hand of Vecna went on to become major artifacts - in fact, long before Vecna himself ever showed up in D&D, his eye and hand were there. Each one gives you massive powers if you replace your body part with it (eye for an eye, hand for a hand). Of course, it also slowly corrupts you. But that's to be expected. But then Vecna returned, using his vast knowledge and experience to ascent to godhood, gaining the domains of magic and secrets. He later threatened all the planes in a scheme that actually CAUSED THE SHIFT FROM SECOND TO THIRD EDITION (well, it's the in-universe explanation). He now resides merrily as a god, still plotting in the background.
Vecna is one of the more personable D&D supervillains, in that maybe you can prove useful, or maybe you can give him more secrets, so he isn't necessarily going to go berserk on you - but his influence is slow-acting, long-lasting, and highly-corrupting. He really has become the greatest D&D villain, and I kinda wish they made a better mini of him. Hey, he fits Halloween, though!
This is the Large Water Elemental from D&D miniatures, in 2006 or so. I love how it's easy to take it off its base and just stick it on some water terrain!
These were originally monsters specific to Eberron who pre-existed Foulspawn, but soon got rolled into the category.
Dolgaunts are mutated hobgoblins, transformed into blind, tentacled creatures covered in cilia. They live underground, and often practice meditative martial arts - what better to do when you have so many limbs?
He's the biggest! He's the strongest! He's the boss! An orc chief takes no guff and shows no mercy, because any other way would end with the other orcs trampling him.