Beholder (Dungeons & Dragons)

A beholder

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the beholder (or "eye tyrant") is a fictional monster comprised of a floating spheroid body with a large fanged mouth and single eye on the front and many flexible eyestalks on the top; it was once described as "a big eye with a bunch of little eyes that eats adventurers for breakfast".

A beholder's eyes each possess a different magical ability; the main eye projects an anti-magical cone, and the other eyes use different spell-like abilities (for example, they can disintegrate objects and transmute flesh to stone). Many variant beholder species exist, such as "observers", "spectators", "eyes of the deep", "elder orbs", "hive mothers", and "death tyrants". In addition, some rare beholders can use their eyes for non-standard spell-like abilities; these mutant beholders are often killed or exiled by their peers. Beholders wishing to cast spells like ordinary wizards relinquish the traditional use of their eyestalks, and put out their central anti-magic eye, making these beholder mages immediate outcasts.

A similar creature is a gas spore, which superficially resembles a beholder, but has no magical ability and explodes violently when punctured. Gas spores were deliberately created by the beholders.

The beholder was introduced to the game in its first supplement, Greyhawk (1975), and is depicted on its cover. Second edition supplements to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, especially those of the Spelljammer campaign setting, added further details about these classic creatures' societies and culture. In Spelljammer, beholders were described as piloting large ships of their own kind between solar systems. These ships were powered and navigated by the "orbus" (plural "orbii") race of beholders, who are stunted, albino, and very weak in combat.

Beholders are extremely xenophobic, to the point of being engaged in a violent intra-species war with others of their kind who differ even slightly in appearance. They will sometimes take members of other, non-beholder races as slaves. Beholder communities in the Underdark often wage war on any and all nearby settlements, finding the most resistance from the drow and illithids.

Beholders worship their insane, controlling goddess known as the Great Mother, though some also, or instead, follow her rebel offspring, Gzemnid, the beholder god of gases, who is allied with the illithid god Ilsensine.

In the Forgotten Realms

Beholders are especially prominent in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, where they infiltrate and seek to control many sectors of society—many beholders are allied to the Zhentarim, some work with the Red Wizards of Thay, and a particularly powerful beholder, known as "The Eye" or "Xanathar" controls Skullport's influential Xanathar's Thieves Guild. Beholders also compete to control the Underdark from where most of them originate, with their base of power in the City of the Eye Tyrants, Ooltul.

Beholders in other media

A beholder appears in the interactive movie Scourge of Worlds: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure.
Two beholders are seen briefly in the 2000 motion picture Dungeons & Dragons.
The Dungeons & Dragons TV cartoon series featured a beholder in the 1983 episode, Eye of the Beholder.
Beholders appear in a number of Dungeons & Dragons computer and video games, most notably the Eye of the Beholder series.
The movie Big Trouble in Little China has a floating monster that resembles a beholder, though it is not described as such.
Beholders are also present in the Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic series but tend to differ a little in form. Generally represented with tentacles for legs and a smaller body than in Dungeons & Dragons.
In the Ultima computer role-playing games, there exists a beholder-like monster called a gazer; when slain, it explodes into a cloud of bees (possibly a pun on "bee holder").
The very similar Cacodemon from the Doom series of first-person shooters was inspired by D&D's beholders and by the cyclopean astral dreadnaught from the Manual of the Planes.
The "digdogger" creature in the original Legend of Zelda game is likely inspired by the beholder.
In Dungeon Siege there are creatures named Furies that closely resemble beholders.
In NetHack there are creatures named 'floating eyes' that stalk the dungeon, paralysing all who look at them.
In various Final Fantasy games, a monster called a Malboro appears. This creature resembles a beholder that stands on a number of tentacles and magically induces numerous negative status effects, such as poison and confusion. Other monsters like Ahriman and Bomb share some beholder traits. Given that its primary attack is called "Bad Breath," it is likely that the Malboro's name is derived from the popular Marlboro brand of cigarettes, in reference to the malodorous breath that smoking typically imparts upon the smoker.
In Age of Wonders, the Azraks can train beholder units. Also, beholders sometimes guard caves, castles, prisons, etc.
In Westwood's Nox, Beholders guard an underground temple. They can partially paralyze the hero, making it slow to walk.
The Futurama episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" features a beholder who "guards" the head office. It is a Grade 11 bureaucrat.
In the anime Bastard!!, Dark Schneider defeats a beholder referred to as a Dogezaimon.
The online comic Planescape Survival Guide features a beholder as one of the main characters.

References

Baker, Rich, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter. Lords of Madness (Wizards of the Coast, 2005).
Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III v.3.5. Renton, Washington: Wizards of the Coast, Inc. See also previous editions.
Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1994).
Dragon #76 "Ecology of the Beholder
I, Tyrant (1996).