The Writers’ Dog-Earred Monster Manual

At this point, it is not shocking that yet another staple enemy from Dungeons & Dragons becomes the naming inspiration for Season 4’s antagonist. The monstrous demogorgon, the domineering mind flayer, and now the god-like lich Vecna have lended their names to extra-dimensional beings with some passing similarities. Makes you wonder if there will be any more, and if there are, what will they be? We can wait, or we can just come up with them ourselves. For example…

The Displacer Beast! A new foe opening short-lived gates from the Upside Down anywhere and everywhere to easily travel between dimensions. People on both sides want it for their own nefarious purposes, but they’ll need to catch it first. Kind of a Roadrunner - Wile E. Coyote situation in a way. Watch Steve run into the side of a cliff face with a tunnel painted on.

The Owlbear! It’s a bear. It’s an owl. Where did it come from? How did it happen? Nobody knows. Sometimes you need a fresh mystery, and we already know a whole lot about the Mind Flayer, Vecna, the Upside Down… time for something new that doesn’t make sense for us to postulate over!

Gelatinous Cube! Seeping out of the fault lines in town, the Mind Flayer possesses the organic waste matter that was flowing in the sewers and congeals it into an ever-growing blob that absorbs any other organic objects. Also it predictably smells absolutely awful. Wait a second, it’s kinda like… You know the slime in Ghostbusters II? Voila, there’s a reference to 80’s pop culture just baked right in! Almost writes itself.

What do you mean Ghostbusters II barely counts as 80’s? Middle of 1989? Bah, we’ll leave the handwringing about that to the nerds on Internet forums.

More Great Designs!

-By Land or By Air by Arinesart
-Milky Way DNA by TobiasFonseca
-The Baconing by Acraigl
-Random Mediocritees by honestly your guess is as good as mine
-Am I…a sandwich? by popcornpunk
-Outmoded by NathanielF
-It Starts With You by reduane