Rediscovered Realms newsletter reconnects you with old-school heroic fantasy worlds of epic role-playing games, unearthed magazines, forgotten gamebooks and enchanting art.
Beholders are those beloved rancorous balls of ocular ire that everyone wishes they had for a pet (if you live in a rough neighborhood . . . and don’t mind your other pets going missing).
These 6’ diameter, floating orb-shaped beings have ten eyestalks and one central eye, each containing devastating magic. Powerful, intelligent, & hateful, Beholders were among the greatest threats to every world you find them in. I like to think of them kind of like “D&D Daleks” (Doctor Who fans know what I’m talkin’ about).
“Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!!!”
They have been around since the first version of Dungeons & Dragons (Greyhawk supplement of 1975) and continue to be fan’s most popular, iconic and favorite creatures. In fact, they beat the Lich, Gelatinous Cube, Mimic, and Timat in several 2019 Twitter polls!
Roper: “But what about me?! Aren’t I iconic too?”
For more about The Roper, and the unboxing of a D&D Monster Mini, check this out:
Beholders are one of the few monsters in D&D that are original creations with no known mythological predecessors. Gary Gygax (co-creator of D&D) adopted & adapted the Beholder from his friend and eventual TSR employee, Terry Kuntz - brother of D&D game designer, Rob Kuntz.
The O.G. Beholder from D&D Greyhawk supplement (1975)
"I can't take credit for the critter in question, as great a monster as it is. Terry Kuntz came up with the beholder after he had been playing in my campaign for about two months.
Where he got the idea I have no idea, but I latched onto it immediately, and with his kind permission made it an integral creature in the D&D roster of ugly customers to encounter" - Gary Gygax, ENWorld
Early Beholder by Erol Otus - btw, most Beholders’ big middle eye can shoot out a 150’ long anti-magic ray!
Over the decades, Beholders remain as one of the core Dungeons & Dragons monsters. I’ve seen them described as “the most D&Diest monster that ever D&Ded” (dmdave.com)
Beholder Attack by Stefan Poag
I remember the first time I encountered one of these spiteful sightful spheres in the appropriately titled episode of the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons show, “The Eye of the Beholder”.
To reminisce about the Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon Show & the awesome 1980s Saturday morning lineup, make sure to check this out:
It was a Tasmanian Devil of 20/20(x12) Destruction with its eye stalks a’blazin’ willy nilly trying to destroy beauty wherever it could. It was basically a real sonofabitch.
Beholders are also known as “Spheres of Many Eyes” or “Eye Tyrants” - not to be confused with “the Ol’ One Eye”. As an aside, I guess their anger stems from an incident that happened once in the deep woods of Georgia with a particular Beholder with a brown-colored central eye.
Over the years, Beholders’ biology, ecology, and even scatology have been fleshed out, and for those interested, you can learn about its digestive tract, mating rituals, pregnancy binge-eating habits, and more! through these resources:
Dragon Magazine #76 (Aug 1983) “Ecology of the Beholder”
There have been hundreds - if not thousands - of Beholder merchandising products over the years - miniatures, toys, t-shirts, stickers, keychains, necklaces, earrings, hats, coasters, aprons, coffee mugs, bed sheets, pillows, baby blankets & bibs, house flags, wrapping paper, writing pads, video games, Magic The Gathering cards, plushies, . . . leading up to my favorite 17 oz. stainless steel water bottle that I bring with me to work every day, along with my D&D lunch box.
Want to see where I got that lunchbox from (along with some other badass D&D action figures? Check this out:
They’re also a favorite subject of many artists. Of course, they’ve graced the official covers of D&D books & supplements for years, but there’s a lot of fan fiction art as well.
Jeff Easley especially does an amazing job with Beholders, and they seem to have a special place in his heart. Check out these recent illustrations he created!:
If I were to title this, I would call it: “Beauty is on the Behind of the Beholder” - I’ll ask Jeff what he thinks of that!
Thanks for joining me on this week’s Rediscovered Realms adventure. My 2 biggest takeaways:
There’s just something eternally special about Beholders that captures the imagination and immediately screams Dungeons & Dragons.
Beholders are cool (from a safe distance), but probably wouldn’t make great pets, even if you followed the tips from the ‘New Beholder’ Training Guide
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