Displacer beast

Displacer beast
First appearanceSupplement I - Greyhawk (1975)
Based onthe Coeurl
In-universe information
TypeMagical beast
AlignmentLawful Evil

A displacer beast is a fictional evil feline creature created for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game in 1975; it has subsequently been included in every edition of the game to the present day.

Description

A displacer beast is a magical six-legged black panther-like feline with a pair of tentacles growing from its shoulders; the beast has an innate "displacement" ability, causing it appear to be several feet away from its actual location.[1][2] "These mighty predators are typically found in the Feywild",[3] "an alternate plane of existence" home to D&D's version of fairies.[4]

Publication history

Dungeons & Dragons (1974–1976)

The displacer beast was created for Dungeons & Dragons, first introduced in the game's supplement, Greyhawk (1975), as "a puma-like creature with six legs and a pair of tentacles which grow from its shoulders."[5] The concept of the creature was borrowed from A. E. van Vogt's 1939 science fiction story "Black Destroyer", which described a feline-like creature called a coeurl.[6][7]: 71  Van Vogt later incorporated the coeurl into the novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950).[8]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988)

The displacer beast appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a vaguely puma-like beast that always appears to be three feet away from its actual position.[9] David M. Ewalt, in his book Of Dice and Men, discussed several monsters appearing in the original Monster Manual, describing displacer beasts as looking like "pumas with thorn-covered tentacles growing out of their shoulders".[10]

The displacer beast was detailed in Dragon #109 (May 1986), in the "Ecology of the Displacer Beast".[11]

Dungeons & Dragons (1977–1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the displacer beast, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977),[12] and Expert Set (1981 & 1983),[13][14] and was also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991),[15] the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).[16]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989–1999)

The displacer beast appears in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),[17] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).[18]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 & 3.5 editions (2000–2007)

The displacer beast appears in the 3rd edition Monster Manual (2000)[19] and then in the 3.5 edition Monster Manual (2003). This edition also described the displacer beast pack lord. For this edition, Wizards of the Coast considered the displacer beast to be an original product of D&D and was therefore categorized as a "Product Identity"; as such it was not released under its Open Game License.[20]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008–2013)

The displacer beast appears in the 4th edition Monster Manual (2008), and again a description is included for the displacer beast pack lord.[21]

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (2014)

The displacer beast appears in the 5th edition Monster Manual (2014). It is considered a copyrighted original creation for the Dungeons & Dragons game.[22]

Other media

A displacer beast appears in the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.[23][24][25][26][27] A displacer beast kitten is a Magic: The Gathering card created as part of the Baldur's Gate crossover.[28]

Reception

Rob Bricken from io9 named the displacer beast as the 2nd most memorable D&D monster.[29] Reviewers also counted it among the "most iconic"[2][30][31] and "fan-favorite" monsters of the game.[32] It was considered an "old-school"[1] and "most enduring" monster,[2] having been part of the game from its earliest stages.[1][10][2] Author Ben Riggs remarked on the movie version of the displacer beast: "The design of the creature is just so fantastic. It's creepy. Even though it's a panther with a couple tentacles, at first you're creeped out".[27] David M. Marshall remarked that the displacer beast is one of the elements "which disrupts the roughly period [medieval] atmosphere of the game".[33]

Other marketing: D&D Miniatures

  • Harbinger set #41 (2003)
  • War of the Dragon Queen set #29 (2006) (Displacer Beast Pack Lord)
  • Unhallowed set #37 (2007) (Displacer Beast Manhunter)

References

  1. ^ a b c Ammann, Keith (2019). The Monsters Know What They're Doing. Saga Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-1982122669.
  2. ^ a b c d Russell, Mollie (2022). "DnD Displacer Beast 5e monster guide". Wargamer.com. Retrieved 16 May 2023. The DnD Displacer Beast 5e is one of Wizards of the Coast's most enduring TTRPG monsters
  3. ^ Kemner, Louis (12 April 2023). "10 Strongest D&D Monsters In Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  4. ^ Grebey, James (7 June 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons' next book is a wicked, whimsical exploration into the Feywild". SyfyWire. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  5. ^ Gygax, Gary and Robert J. Kuntz. Supplement I: Greyhawk (TSR, 1975)
  6. ^ Forest, Richard W. (2014). "Dungeons & Dragons, Monsters in". In Weinstock, Jeffrey (ed.). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Ashgate Publishing.
  7. ^ Witwer, Michael; Newman, Kyle; Witwer, Sam (2018). Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 9780399580949.
  8. ^ Dragon Monster Ecologies. Paizo Publishing. 2007.
  9. ^ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
  10. ^ a b Ewalt, David M. (2013). Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It. Scribner. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4516-4052-6.
  11. ^ Mickelson, Bill. "Ecology of the Displacer Beast." Dragon Magazine #109 (TSR, 1986)
  12. ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by J. Eric Holmes. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1977)
  13. ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Dave Cook. Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set (TSR, 1981)
  14. ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Frank Mentzer. Dungeons & Dragons Set 2: Expert Rules (TSR, 1983)
  15. ^ Allston, Aaron, Steven E. Schend, Jon Pickens, and Dori Watry. Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (TSR, 1991)
  16. ^ Slavicsek, Bill. Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (TSR, 1999)
  17. ^ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
  18. ^ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1994)
  19. ^ Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
  20. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". D20srd.org. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  21. ^ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
  22. ^ Bair, Scott (24 May 2020). "These Monsters Are Legally Owned By Dungeons & Dragons (So You Can't Steal Them)". The Gamer. Retrieved 19 May 2023. there are some monsters that are considered to be copyrighted parts of Dungeons & Dragons and cannot be used in other games
  23. ^ "Here Are All the Menacing Monsters in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES".
  24. ^ "'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves': Every Humanoid Race Explained". Collider. April 2023.
  25. ^ "The Monsters of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Gelatinous Cube, Owlbear, Mimic, and More!". 31 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons Movie Reportedly Includes Classic D&D Monster".
  27. ^ a b "The Dungeons & Dragons Movie Is a First-Rate Comedy". Wired. 7 April 2023.
  28. ^ "Dungeons and Dragons' Best Monsters and Villains Ever". Den of Geek. 18 March 2023.
  29. ^ Bricken, Rob (September 16, 2013). "The 10 Most Memorable Dungeons & Dragons Monsters". Io9. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  30. ^ Hoffer, Christian (21 July 2022). "Dungeons & Dragons Movie Poster Shows Off Iconic Monsters". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  31. ^ Woinski, Bart (1 December 2022). "Dungeons & Dragons Movie Recreated Classic Monsters As Gorgeous Statues". Screen Rant. Retrieved 7 June 2023. features detailed statues depicting two iconic franchise monsters [...] the displacer beast and mimic
  32. ^ "The New Dungeons & Dragons Movie Had Me at Owlbear". 29 July 2022.
  33. ^ Marshall, David W. (2007). "A World unto Itself: Autopoietic Systems and Secondary Worlds in Dungeons & Dragons". Mass Market Medieval: Essays on the Middle Ages in Popular Culture. McFarland & Company. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7864-2922-6.