Template:Short description Template:Infobox fictional race 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.
DescriptionEdit
A displacer beast is a magical six-legged black panther-like feline with a pair of tentacles growing from its shoulders. The beast's name comes from its innate "displacement" ability whereby it magically bends light to create the illusion that it is a short distance away from its actual location.<ref name=KA>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=MR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "These mighty predators are typically found in the Feywild",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "an alternate plane of existence" home to D&D's version of fairies.<ref name=JG19>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Publication historyEdit
Dungeons & Dragons (1974–1976)Edit
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."<ref>Gygax, Gary and Robert J. Kuntz. Supplement I: Greyhawk (TSR, 1975)</ref> 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.<ref name=Ash>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="aa">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Van Vogt later incorporated the coeurl into the novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988)Edit
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.<ref name="1eMM">Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)</ref> 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".<ref name=ODaM>Template:Cite book</ref>
The displacer beast was detailed in Dragon #109 (May 1986), in the "Ecology of the Displacer Beast".<ref>Mickelson, Bill. "Ecology of the Displacer Beast." Dragon Magazine #109 (TSR, 1986)</ref>
Dungeons & Dragons (1977–1999)Edit
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the displacer beast, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977),<ref>Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by J. Eric Holmes. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1977)</ref> and Expert Set (1981 & 1983),<ref>Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Dave Cook. Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set (TSR, 1981)</ref><ref>Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Frank Mentzer. Dungeons & Dragons Set 2: Expert Rules (TSR, 1983)</ref> and was also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991),<ref>Allston, Aaron, Steven E. Schend, Jon Pickens, and Dori Watry. Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (TSR, 1991)</ref> the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).<ref>Slavicsek, Bill. Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (TSR, 1999)</ref>
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989–1999)Edit
The displacer beast appears in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),<ref>Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)</ref> and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).<ref>Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1994)</ref>
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 & 3.5 editions (2000–2007)Edit
The displacer beast appears in the 3rd edition Monster Manual (2000)<ref>Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008–2013)Edit
The displacer beast appears in the 4th edition Monster Manual (2008), and again a description is included for the displacer beast pack lord.<ref>Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)</ref>
Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (2014)Edit
The displacer beast appears in the 5th edition Monster Manual (2014). It is considered a copyrighted original creation for the Dungeons & Dragons game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Other mediaEdit
A displacer beast appears in the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=wired>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A displacer beast kitten is a Magic: The Gathering card created as part of the Baldur's Gate crossover.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReceptionEdit
Rob Bricken from io9 named the displacer beast as the 2nd most memorable D&D monster.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Reviewers also counted it among the "most iconic"<ref name=MR/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and "fan-favorite" monsters of the game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was considered an "old-school"<ref name=KA/> and "most enduring" monster,<ref name=MR/> having been part of the game from its earliest stages.<ref name=KA/><ref name=ODaM/><ref name=MR/> 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".<ref name=wired/> David M. Marshall remarked that the displacer beast is one of the elements "which disrupts the roughly period [medieval] atmosphere of the game".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Other marketing: D&D MiniaturesEdit
- Harbinger set #41 (2003)
- War of the Dragon Queen set #29 (2006) (Displacer Beast Pack Lord)
- Unhallowed set #37 (2007) (Displacer Beast Manhunter)