Editing Monster Manual (section)

== Early ''Dungeons & Dragons'' ==
The first [[Dungeons & Dragons (1974)|''D&D'' boxed set]] did not have a separate ''Monster Manual'' but provided listings for monsters in ''Book 2: Monsters and Treasure'', one of the included booklets. After the series was separated into basic and advanced games, the basic game continued to be published in level-based boxes. Monsters of the appropriate level were included in the rulebooks for the various basic game sets (the [[Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set|''Basic'']], [[Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set|''Expert'']], [[Dungeons & Dragons Companion Set|''Companion'']], [[Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules|''Master'']], and [[Dungeons & Dragons Immortals Rules|''Immortal'']] sets). These monsters were later collected in the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia|Rules Cyclopedia]]'', which replaced higher-level the boxed sets, and the ''[[Creature Catalogue]]''.

=== Creative origins ===
Games scholar Jaroslav Švelch saw the ''Monster Manual'' modeled after "medieval bestiaries, only with more precise figures": "Whereas medieval bestiaries attempted to situate unknown creatures within what was the known system of nature, games like ''Dungeons & Dragons'' created simulated natures of their own and populated them with creatures that followed their artificial laws and conditions."<ref>{{cite book |last=Švelch |first=Jaroslav |title=Monster Culture in the 21st Century: A Reader |date=2013 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4411-9326-1 |editor-last1=Levina |editor-first1=Marina |page=197 |chapter=Monsters by the numbers: Controlling monstrosity in video games |editor-last2=T. Bui |editor-first2=Diem-My}}</ref>