One of the original monsters in Dungeons and Dragons, this creature comes from the minds of the creators of the game, Rob Kuntz and Gary Gygax - though the creature was imagined by Rob’s brother Theron Kuntz, and fleshed out by Gygax. There is no myth or legend that the Beholder is born from and is solely a creation from the minds of these gentlemen, which just makes you wonder how many drugs they were doing. This monster is a floating sphere with a giant eyeball in the center, a mouth full of teeth, and little eyestalks on the top of it. That alone would scare off most reasonable people, and then you find out that the eyes can all shoot rays of various magic at you and your friends, all sane people will flee as quickly as possible.

With over 20 variants of the Beholder throughout the editions, the floating eyeball of doom brings with it a long and storied history. From the giant Elder Orb, a massive Beholder skilled in the art of arcane magic, to the Doomsphere, an undead beholder created from the energy of powerful explosions to many other strange forms. The Beholder has a wealth of information and history behind it, and this is going to be a deep and long look into their history.

OD&D - Beholder

No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 4/2
Move: 3”
Hit Dice: Special
% in Lair: 90%
No. of Attacks: 1 bite
Damage/Attack: 2-5 plus special

The Beholder makes its debut in the Greyhawk Supplement (1975) where they are also called Eye Tyrants and Spheres of Many Eyes - both monikers are apt titles for the creature. They are 3’ diameter, they have one big ugly eye in the middle of its round body, and ten little stalks with eyes atop it. They float very slowly and are known to be neutral with a bent towards chaos. We are given a single piece of artwork on them and it is the front cover of the supplement and it is pretty badass. It’s of a ferocious fight between a fighter and a beholder and you can really tell that there are action and heroics involved!

Greyhawk Supplement, 1975 TSR Inc. — **Greyhawk Supplement**, 1975 TSR Inc.

Greyhawk Supplement - Premium, 2013 WotC — **Greyhawk Supplement - Premium**, 2013 WotC

Well, maybe not so much action as a fat balloon looking stoned out of its mind and a warrior unsure if the monster is just a prank or if he is about to be killed. Luckily, the White Box set of Dungeons & Dragons was reprinted in 2013 by WotC and while every book stayed the same, each one got new and awesome cover art. Now, it truly is a fearsome battle to the death against the Eye Tyrant!

Going back to the mechanics of the Beholder, it has three components that make up this monster. The body, the main eye, and the eyestalks each have their different armor classes and hit points. The body has the most at 40 HP and an Armor Class of 0. The main eye can take up to 20 points of damage and has an Armor Class of 7, while the eyestalks have the lowest amount of sitting at only 10 HP, though they have an Armor Class of 2. We assume this is due to the stalks being made out of the same “material” as the body itself and that due to how small they are, they are harder to hit. That big giant eye in the middle of the beholder makes a nice target and their eyes must be just a squishy as ours. It’s unclear what happens if you kill the body first, does the Beholder just drift aimlessly in the air or does it sink to the ground? Either way, we assume its movement drops to zero and hopefully its eyes stop shooting at you.

As with all the Beholders, it is the eye rays that make the creature so interesting. In this edition, it can fire off 1d4 eyes per round. The eye rays are as follows:

Charm Person
Charm Monster
Sleep Spell
Telekinesis
Flesh to Stone Ray
Disintegrate Ray
Fear Ray
Slow Spell
Serious Wound Ray
Death Ray
Anti-Magic Ray

It’s worth noting a few things about the various abilities the eyes have, most of them are based on the spell by the same name, and finding out what it does is straightforward. A couple, however, don’t correspond directly to a spell of the same name, so the DM had to figure out what to do. One of the hardest to locate, we assume for most DMs, was figuring out what a Death Ray did. Luckily, if you opened up the Dungeons & Dragons Boxed Set (1974) and went to the first book, Men & Magic and then stumble upon the Finger of Death spell, it clarifies that it acts like a Death Ray. As far as we can tell, beyond the Death Ray save table, that is the only spot in the Original Dungeons & Dragons box set that has anything to do with Death Rays. We feel for the DMs of old who had to remember that there was a term used twice in another book and had to scrounge that up whenever they were trying to prepare a balloon with eyeballs to kill off their party in a beautiful TPK.

AD&D - Beholder

Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 0/2/7
Move: 3”
Hit Dice: 45-75 hit point
% in Lair: 80%
Treasure Type: I, S, T
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 2-8
Special Attacks: Magic
Special Defenses: Anti-magic ray
Magic Resistance: Special
Intelligence: Exceptional
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Size: L (4’-6’ diameter)
Psionic Ability: Nil

Monster Manual, 1977 TSR Inc. — **Monster Manual**, 1977 TSR Inc.

The Beholder graces us with their presence in the Monster Manual (1977) and they no longer look like an awkward balloon! Instead, they look like a weird insect with plates of chitin and stupid hair. The Beholder is usually found lurking in underground dungeons and is filled with such hate that it will attack you on sight. If you happen to find a Beholder and you are suitably powerful, it may try to negotiate with you, but you should still just plan on fighting it as it really, really wants to eat you.

If you recall from the previous edition, there was a big question of what happens when you attack a Beholder and destroy its eye versus destroying the body versus just the eyestalks. We are given answers to all of that and what percentage chance you have of actually striking specific parts of the Beholder. A Beholder has two-thirds of it’s hit points in its body and if you knock the body to 0 hit points, the Beholder dies and you have a 75% chance every attack of striking the body. Pretty simple. After that, the main eye has the other third of hit points and you have a 10% chance of striking it, once it is depleted to 0 hit points it can no longer use its main eye on you. The last 15% chance of your hits will be directed at the eyestalks and eyes of the Beholder with a 10% chance of striking the eyestalks and only a 5% chance of hitting the small eyes. Each eyestalk has its own set of hit points, 8 to 12, and if you knock an eyestalk to 0 hit points, it destroys that eyestalk, any hit against the small eyes instantly destroys it and you determine which eyestalk or eye was hit by rolling a d10.

Of course, that begs the question, what happens when you destroy an eyestalk and the Beholder TPKs the party and you encounter it a few months later with a brand new set of characters. Will it still have a destroyed eyestalk? Luckily, Dragon Magazine #76 (1983) provides an Ecology of the Beholder article and it provides clarifications, descriptions, and the answers to all the important questions about eyestalks, baby beholders, and more. The answer to the eyestalk question is that they regrow 1 eyestalk per week, so yes, that Beholder will have all their eyestalks back when you try to kill them with a new set of characters.

Dragon Magazine #76, 1983 TSR Inc. — **Dragon Magazine #76**, 1983 TSR Inc.

The article also goes on to provide a new description of the center eye and its anti-magic ray. Characters can now see the ray, as it gives off a dull grey light, and more importantly, we now know that the anti-magic ray extends 140 ft. from the middle eye in a cone shape. The Beholder will focus this ray on one target at a time and is intelligent enough to look for spellcaster or, failing that, will target a creature wearing little to no armor as experience has taught them magic-users can’t wear armor and cast their spells.

Beholders don’t like other creatures, attacking and eating them on sight though that doesn’t mean they don’t have minions to do their bidding. Gargoyles are the minion of choice for Beholders, apparently cause they are too stupid to know any better and too weak to be an actual threat to the Beholder. These minions will serve out their Eye Tyrant’s will, whether it be guarding the treasure hoard, putting into action a devastating trap or simply gathering up a huge amount of food for the Beholder every day.

As noted previously, the Beholder levitates in the air and can slowly fly in any direction of its choice. This is possible as the Beholder has a magical organ call the levator magnus, which is found in the center of the Beholder with its brain wrapped around the organ to protect it. Nothing can dispel this magical flight of the Beholder, not even another Beholder, and so they make their lairs and homes in complex tunnels that make use of vertical space. One drawback of having this magical organ is that a Beholder is incredibly susceptible to a strong wind pushing them around, and thus the main reason why Beholders make their home underground away from the wind that will knock them around.

We also get an answer to the burning question that has been on everyone’s mind, how do these spheres of destruction reproduce? Beholders are asexual and lay 1-4 eggs per year as an instinctual habit. When we say “lay” what we really mean is they vomit the foot-long eggs out of their mouths. These eggs are an ugly, pasty white color and smell horrible, thus keeping predators away. Once disgorged from their mouth in some secluded location picked by the Beholder, the eggs will take 2-12 months to hatch. Like the poor sea turtles who are abandoned on a sandy beach, the Beholder eggs are abandoned by its parent to fend for themselves. Of course once the eggs hatch, the Beholder babies can defend themselves a little bit better than a sea turtle. The young will eat the eggshells they hatched from and will have the use of all their eye powers. While a newborn’s bite is nowhere as powerful as an adult’s, their eye ray effects are described as reduced but no mention is made as to how it is reduced. Within a year, they are fully grown and ready to kill you and then feast on your corpse.

As mentioned before, Beholders eat a massive amount and are omnivores, sitting atop the food chain, eating whoever and whatever they please. Human flesh is one of their favorites and, with a cast-iron stomach, they can eat just about anything. What they can’t eat, they just spit out and they use rocks to help their digestion. Due to their hunger being nearly insatiable, Beholders are found few and far between so as to have a large enough hunting ground to satisfy their diets.

Basic D&D

Armor Class: 0/2/7
Hit Dice: 14**** (see below)
Move: 30' (10')
Attacks: 1 bite + special
Damage: 2-16 + special
No. Appearing: 1(0)
Save As: Magic-user: 11
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: L, N, O
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 5100

Dungeon Master’s Companion: Book 2, 1984 TSR Inc. — **Dungeon Master’s Companion: Book 2**, 1984 TSR Inc.

In the Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Companion: Book 2 (1984) the Beholder is reintroduced and given a greater description about its abilities and life compared to the previous Monster Manual entries, though the best part about it is that they no longer look like a sad balloon or a weird insect, now they look fearsome and ready to kill. There are a variety of clarifications and simplifications in this new version of the Beholder, ranging from them traveling with their young babies for a year to how far each eye ray’s range is.

The anti-magic ray, projected from it’s central and large eye, is a continuous beam and has a range of 60 feet. If the Beholder sees someone getting ready to cast a spell, it will turn towards that individual to disrupt the spell, though it’s small eyes can not shoot their rays at that person as the anti-magic ray also disrupts their abilities. Another issue for the Beholder is that it cannot turn its main eye up or down as the description states that the ray cannot be aimed above or below the Beholder.

Unlike in the previous edition, the Basic version eliminates random chances of hitting different body parts and instead you must declare what you are attacking before you make an attack. Any damage you deal to the eyestalks does not hurt the Beholder, though if you are able to cut an eyestalk off, the DM rolls to determine which eyestalk and the Beholder can no longer use that magical ray against you anymore. Unfortunately for you, the Beholder has a faster recovery time when it comes to regrowing eyestalks and it only takes 2 to 8 days to grow a new one.

The first variant of the Beholder makes an appearance in the Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules (1985) and is known simply as the Undead Beholder. This abomination resembles a normal Beholder and only a cleric of 25th level or higher can see it for the undead creature that it is. The Undead Beholder is a horror to behold, it has almost double hit points for each part of the creature and it’s Armor Class is even lower than before, making it incredibly difficult to actually hit.

Not only does it have more health and a better AC, but it can also only be hurt by magical weapons of +2 or better, has all the normal undead immunities, and its main body will regenerate 3 hit points per round. If that isn’t enough, it can change into gaseous form at will and if it is dropped to 0 hit points, it is forced to assume a gaseous form and can not regenerate hit points. If it is forced to take this form due to dropping to 0 hit points, it will hide in complete darkness, and the Undead Beholder keeps many places permanently dark inside of its lair for this purpose, once it is in darkness it can start to regenerate after an hour. There actually is no mention of completely destroying this Undead Beholder, you just have to keep dropping it to 0 hit points and hope you can get in and out inside of an hour.

Another major change for the Undead Beholder is that the abilities of its eyes are changed. The center eye no longer projects an anti-magic field and while you may be thinking how great that is, it gets replaced by something that is arguably much worse. The Undead Beholder’s main eye now produces a ray of reflection, meaning this ray bounces back a spell onto the individual that casts it, and if your cleric tries to turn undead, they must make a saving throw or run away screaming in fear. So before you think about casting that meteor swarm at the BBEG, take a moment and ponder if you might be killing yourself and all the rest of your party.

Most of the eyestalks all have new abilities and they mostly have to do with undeath and necrotic energy. These new functions include animate dead, continual darkness, two different energy drain rays, a paralysis ray, and before you ask, yes, it still has one little eyestalk that shoots a death spell at you.

2e - Beholder

Climate/Terrain: Subterranean
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Omnivore
Intelligence: Exceptional (15-16)
Treasure: I,S,T
Alignment: Lawful Evil
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 0/2/7
Movement: Fly 3(B)
Hit Dice: 45-75 hp
THAC0: 45-49 hp: 11
50-59 hp: 9
60-69 hp: 7
70+ hp: 5
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 2-8
Special Attacks: Magic
Special Defenses: Anti-magic ray
Magic Resistance: Special
Size: M (4’-6’ diamtere)
Morale: Fanatic (18)
XP Value: 14,000

Monstrous Manual, 1993 TSR Inc. — **Monstrous Manual**, 1993 TSR Inc.

The Beholder explodes into 2nd edition starting with its appearance in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989) and in the Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space Box Set (1989). Various types of Beholder and Beholder-kin are developed throughout this edition and the paranoia that Beholders are well known for is born into their lore. The largest group of Beholders are those created for the Spelljammer setting with vast numbers of different species of Beholders sailing through the Void on their ships, and each Beholder assumes that they are the pinnacle of their species and all other Beholders are disabled or abominations. By our count, there are at least 20 plus different Beholders introduced in 2nd edition and we are going to attempt to talk about as many as we can before we go mad.

Monstrous Compendium Volume One, 1989 TSR Inc. — **Monstrous Compendium Volume One**, 1989 TSR Inc.

Starting with the Monstrous Compendium, we are introduced to the typical Beholder and the Eye of the Deep, precious little changes for our Beholder except now their anti-magic field extends out from their main eye in a 90-degree cone, making it far more effective when dropping it on their enemies and preventing spellcasters from spell casting. The art is pretty disappointing for such a fearsome creature and looks more goofy than terrifying. The next type introduced is the Eye of the Deep, this is a Beholder that lives deep in the oceans and resembles a Beholder if you squint really hard at it. It has a spherical body and a central main eye, and that is the extent of what it shares with others of its kind. It has two large oversized lobster claws it uses to attack it’s prey and has two eyestalks that shoot out rays of hold person and hold monster. Instead of creating an aura of anti-magic, it’s main eye shoots out a blinding light that stuns prey so it can swim up and start biting and tearing with its claws. As if we need more reason to never go into the ocean again.

Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space Box Set, 1989 TSR Inc. — **Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space Box Set**, 1989 TSR Inc.

Jumping over to the Spelljammers setting, we are introduced to the Hive Mother and the Orbi, both of whom are critical to the Beholder’s ability to travel through the void of space. The Orbus Beholders, known as Orbi, are strange white spheres that many assume to be stunted Beholders. They have no functional eyes, an oversized central eye that is milky white, and a small mouth void of teeth. The Orbi are incredibly weak compared to common Beholders, though it is the Orbi that allows the Beholder race to travel through space. The Orbi are the conduit through which the energy of the other Beholders on the ship passes through, channeling the energy into a force that can move the ship through the void, they are an organic spelljammer helm. These Orbi will always be in the deepest, most protected parts of their spelljammer ships with the Hive Mother.

The Hive Mother is a massive creature, twice the size of a common Beholder with a mouth large enough to swallow a medium-sized humanoid in one bite. The Hive Mother does not have any eyestalks, but rather has all the eyes as small modules across their body and its central eye is hooded and well protected from attack. This Beholder is essentially the ship’s captain, as it alone has the ability to control all the others on the ship. This creature becomes one with its ship, allowing it to control it and guide it through the void of space.

The next group of Beholders are introduced in the Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1990) and this is the beginning of how Beholders take over the Spelljammer setting and you get phrases in the campaign setting books that specifically say things like “If you characters are sick to death of beholders…”. The first Beholder-kin introduced in the appendix are the Directors, followed by the Examiners, Lensmen, Overseer, and finally the Watcher. These Beholder-kin take the typical and normal form of the Beholder and change and morph them into something you may not even recognize as a Beholder.

The Directors are the warrior-caste of Beholders and are smaller with three tendrils on its bottom side that allows it to cling to a mount, like a massive centipede, and ride it valiantly into battle. The special eye power it gets is that its main eye can deflect all attacks that take place in front of it, this reduces damage and gives bonuses to its saving throws. It also can retract it’s eyestalks and shoots out different rays like magic missile, burning eye, wall of ice, and other offensive spells.

Examiners are the tool wielding works of the Beholder race, their primary function is the study and creation of magic items. They have no middle eye with a small mouth flanked by four spindly appendages which can be used to grab tools to assist in their work. It has only four spindly eyestalks that can: enlarge/reduce, identify/legend lore, transmute form, and spell reflection.

The Lensmen have a starfish-like, almost humanoid, body with five limbs and it’s main eye and mouth on the ‘chest’ of this creature. Four of its limbs have hands at the end of them, while the fifth is a long tentacle. It uses these hands to wield weapons, preferably some type of polearm, and they are used for cannon fodder and labor. The middle eye will have only one of the following abilities: emotion, heal, dispel magic, tongues, phantasmal force or protections.

Overseers are one of the strangest variations of the Beholder and they take on the appearance of giant trees with thirteen eyestalks that appear to be branches, three mouths that wrap around the main body, and eight thorn-covered limbs used to hold tools or strike out with. These Beholders are second only to the Hive Mother in the Beholder hierarchy and their eyestalk powers are: Cone of Cold, Dispel Magic, Paralysis, Chain Lightning, Telekinesis, Emotion, Mass Charm, Domination, Mass Suggestion, Major Creation, Spell Turning, Serten’s Spell Immunity, and Temporal Stasis.

The last group are the Watchers and they are the information brokers and the least brave of the Beholder race. They are considered barely above the Lensmen, making them very low in the hierarchy and are renowned for fleeing from battles and using their powers to misdirect would-be attackers. They have a six-foot diameter with three large eyes that circle around its body and on the top of its spherical body is a compound eye with a ring of six eyespots. They are incredibly hard to sneak up on, as you might have guessed with so many eyeballs. The bottom of their sphere body ends in a prehensile pad right behind its mouth and its rasp-like tongue. It’s middle eye powers are true seeing and ESP, advanced illusion and demi-shadow magic, and telekinesis and teleport. The compound eye can cast message, tongues, and suggestion.

Wildspace, 1990 TSR Inc. — **Wildspace**, 1990 TSR Inc.

The next Beholder comes from the Spelljammer’s book Wildspace (1990) and they are known as the Beholder Mage who was born without the ability of its central eye or was once a Beholder who destroyed their central eye. Beholders are known to be powerfully intelligent, but unable to cast magic due to the anti-magic ray of their central eye, crippling them from being able to cast spells. Once that eye no longer functions, a Beholder can begin learning and casting spells to become more powerful than a regular Beholder, though they are often exiled from their societies for being so different.

Lost Ships, 1990 TSR Inc. — **Lost Ships**, 1990 TSR Inc.

Followed closely behind, the Death Tyrant from the Lost Ships (1990) finally shambles to life in this edition and has the same abilities as it did in 1st edition. They are created from a dying Beholder when a powerful spell is cast, transforming them from life and into undeath, though this is not something that any Beholder seeks out as they become mindless and forced to follow the set instructions of whoever changed them.

The Monstrous Manual (1993) consolidates all the Beholders before it and introduces three new Beholders into the family, the Death Kiss, the Gauth, and the Spectator. The Death Kiss, also known as the Eye of Terror, has only a middle eye and in place of eyestalks, it has ten tentacles that attack and latch onto its targets where it drains them of blood. Every time the Death Kiss drains and hurts a creature, it gains electric charges that it can then use on itself to heal lost hit points.

Next is the Gauth, which can eat the magical essence of an item by either consuming it or by using one of its new tentacle abilities that allow it to drain the magical power of nearby magical items. Items with charges lose a single charge when this ability is activated, whereas permanent magic items like a +1 sword have their magical properties subdued for 1 round. The other abilities it gains for its eyestalks are repulsion, cone of cold, lightning bolt, paralyzation, and cause serious wounds.

Spectators are the last to be introduced and they may be one of the more straightforward of the Beholders, they lack the aggressive xenophobia of other Beholders and can be summoned to act as guards and protect treasure hoards. They have a singular focus and will serve that role for 101 years, though this binding can end early by taking the item being guarded by the Spectator. The Spectator resorts to violence only if given no choice, but otherwise acts very friendly and will try to communicate with others and try to warn them off from taking anything it was summoned to guard, though it doesn’t care if they take something else from the pile that the Spectator was not ordered to guard. They have only four eyestalks and they have the following powers: create food and water, cause serious wounds, paralyzation, and telepathy.

The Monstrous Manual leaves off with the final bit of information stating that given the plastic nature of the Beholder, mutations are common and abominations are constantly leading to new types of Beholders never seen before. A few more known types of Beholders are the Doomspheres, ghostly undead created by explosions, the Astereater, a boulder-like creature with no eyes, the Gorbel, a beholder that explodes when struck, and several other variations.

I, Tyrant, 1996 TSR Inc. — **I, Tyrant**, 1996 TSR Inc.

The final bit of information we will leave on for 2nd edition is that in the book I, Tyrant (1996), it is revealed that there was once a massive city of 2,000 plus Beholders that resided far below the surface. For thousands of years, they existed together, constantly fighting and politicking against each other until eventually, they destroyed each other through civil unrest and their extreme xenophobia of not only other races but of each other. The city was lost for hundreds of years, though a Hive Mother has discovered the city and is attempting to restore it to its former glory.

3e/3.5e Beholder

Large Aberration
Initiative +6
HP 11d8+44 (93 hp)
Armor Class 26 (-1 size,+2 Dex, +15 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 24
Speed 5 ft. (1 square), fly 20 ft. (Good)
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+12
Attack: Eye rays +9 ranged touch and bite +2 melee (2d4)
Full Attack: Eye rays +9 ranged touch and bite +2 melee (2d4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Eye rays
Special Qualities: All around vision, anti magic cone, darkvision 60 ft., flight
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +11
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 15
Skills: Hide +12, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Listen +18, Search +21, Spot +22, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks)
Feats: Alertness, Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will
Climate/Terrain: Cold Hills
Orgnization: Solitary, pair or cluster (3-6)
Challenge Rating: 13
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Usually lawful evil
Advancement: 12-16 HD (Large); 17-33 HD (Huge)

Monster Manual, 2000 WotC — **Monster Manual**, 2000 WotC

The Beholder is brought into the next edition in the Monster Manual (2000/2003) and introduces the Gauth alongside the common Beholder in the 3.5 version of the Monster Manual. Later, the Beholder appears in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001) and then makes an appearance in the Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Fearun (2001) with the release of the Death Tyrant, the Death Kiss, the Eyeball, the Gouger, and the Beholder Mage.

Without getting too far into the weeds about each and every Beholder like in 2nd edition, let’s briefly go over these new types and how they operate.

Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Fearun, 2001 WotC — **Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Fearun,** 2001 WotC

The Eyeball Beholder is a tiny version of the common Beholder that lives in the wild and travels in packs so that they can hunt larger creatures. They have one middle eye and four eyestalks, the middle eye has no powers and the eyestalks powers are as follows: cause fear, daze, mage hand, and ray of frost. Evil spellcasters will venture into the wild to capture one and train it to be a familiar, transforming an eyestalk into a spellstalk and it then can deliver touch spells with it.

The Gouger Beholder-kin was created long ago by the Phaerimm, a race of incredibly powerful and very evil aberrations that wanted to wipe out all other life on the planes. To defeat the Beholder, the Phaerimm created their own Beholders known as Gouger, who’s sole purpose was to hunt down and kill other types of Beholders. At ten feet wide, they are much larger than normal Beholder and they have long disgusting tongues that hang out of their huge mouths, from which constant screaming is produced. It has ten eyestalks that are constantly twitching and looking around, darting from one thing to the next. The Gouger’s eyestalks have none of the powers that a common Beholder does, but the middle eye does emit the same anti-magic ray.

In 2005, the Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations was released and includes a fascinating look at many of the greatest aberrations to ever visit the Material Plane, we mentioned this book in our past Deep Dives concerning the Aboleth and the Grell. As you might have guessed, the Beholders are also considered one of the greatest aberrations and have a chapter concerning them and their society. The book also provides information for some of our old favorites like the Hive Mother, the Director, the Eye of the Deep, the Overseer, and the Spectator.

There is a ton of useful information on the Beholder, and we aren’t going to be able to touch on all of it, though we are going to let you in on a little secret that we discovered while reading the book. The most important thing you will ever need to know about the Beholder is summed up in one, perfect sentence found in the middle of the chapter.

Beholders are, by any definition of the word, insane.

Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations, 2005 WotC — **Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations**, 2005 WotC

To fully understand how that sentence can be so perfect, let’s go into the Beholder and their anatomy. Let’s start with the main eye of the Beholder, which traditionally has always been fairly weak, it is actually quite hard and made up of a number of lenses with the iris being constructed in a crystal-like structure. The construction and unique shapes of the eyes on a Beholder allow it to exude magical auras and that just by a Beholder reading a scroll or gazing on a magical artifact, the Beholder can ‘suck’ some of that magical energy into itself. While no organ is specifically the reason for the Beholder’s ability to float, as the organs in the Beholder are far too mysterious for anyone to accurately understand, many of the organs will still float after the body has died for several hours.

So far, the anatomy seems perfectly reasonable for a floating eyeball, but some of the insanity doesn’t really start until you start learning how the Beholders reproduce. Because Beholders hate each other, they are xenophobics to a crazy degree, the race would have no chance of continuing on because all Beholders assume they are the perfection of the race and all others are horrible slights against their goddess and should be destroyed. The way Beholders reproduce is that they have a strange organ that grows underneath their tongue and over the course of 6 months, the babies grow inside of that womb. This becomes so painful that a Beholder is unable to actually work their jaw and their tongue hangs out of their mouth during the last few months. Once the babies are ready to fly free, the Beholder expels them from its mouth and bites off the womb organ, this makes it so the Beholder can not reproduce again and that the baby Beholders, there are typically a dozen in there, must bite and tear their way through this gory mess.

In Basic edition, the Beholders can actually be found with up to 4 of their young floating through their lair, in 1st edition, the Beholders just left their children upon a rocky ledge and wished them all the best with life. 3rd edition also has its own ideas about how to raise a baby Beholder, and it includes the ‘mother’ Beholder watching their children chew their way out of the floating womb, and then gazes up at them and deciding which ones are the ugliest Beholders. Because the mother Beholder is comparing the newborns against herself, as she is the perfect version of a Beholder and all others are horrible slights against the Great Mother, any newborn that looks too different from her is immediately eaten shortly followed by her own womb that she devours. The rest of the newborns are then chased out of her lair within an hour and they must go and fend for themselves. Their eyestalks don’t work, they only have their floating ability, and somehow the Beholder race is still around to this very day.

This entire experience would lead one to assume that Beholders don’t really care for their parent, but that isn’t completely true. Beholders are not the evil, atheistic creatures everyone assumes they are as they all respect the Great Mother, a strange elder god that exists in a far off realm. Every Beholder assumes they were actually born from the Great Mother and that they are the spitting image of the Great Mother. While they don’t worship the Great Mother, as they find it almost impossible to think beyond themselves in such a way, they do treat the idea of her with respect and go about killing all other Beholders because they are a horrible slight against the Great Mother due to how deformed and hideous they look. It’s probably the nicest Mother’s Day gift we could ever think to give our mother as well.

Much like in the previous editions, Beholders don’t really get along though there are very rare circumstances when you can find them in groups. Sometimes, two Beholders might become friends, we aren’t saying it’s a long-lasting friendship, but they get along until one gets a bit too paranoid by the other simply existing… then they attack each other with vicious bites and a mouthpick weapon. You might be asking yourself, what’s a mouthpick weapon, and it’s exactly what you think it is. It is a great weapon that a Beholder wields with their mouth, their tongue then is able to manipulate the magic in the weapon to operate a pincer, have it do magical effects and more. It’s awesome to imagine these two floating balls each with a mouthpick lance in their mouth jousting at each other and screaming in their garbled, drooling tongue that they are the only perfect Beholder.

But, groups of Beholders aren’t restricted to just a few friendly acquaintances, but also to entire cities that are overseen by either the Overseer or the Hive Mother. These Beholders are watched over and pretty much forced to work together by the magic of the other two Beholders, and they always have a set purpose. Typically, it’s too destroy the world, but it could also be a focus on going out into the spelljammer space or constructing a new magical artifact for the Great Mother. The Overseer, the strange Beholder that looks more like a tree, can only control about a dozen Beholders while the Hive Mother can control pretty much as many she wants, including individual Overseers that can then control more Beholders for her. The Hive Mothers ensure that the Beholders don’t end up murdering each other in her hive, but instead makes them paranoid about other hives and their Hive Mothers, often creating overly complicated battle strategies to kill off other hives.

4e - Beholder Eye Tyrant

Large aberrant magical beast / Level 19 Solo Artillery
Initiative +16
Senses Perception +16; all around vision, darkvision
Eyes of the Beholder aura 5; at the start of each enemy’s turn, if that creature is within the aura and the eye tyrant’s and line of sight, the eye tyrant uses one one random eye ray power against that creature
HP 900 Bloodied 450
AC 33; Fortitude 30; Reflex 32; Will 34
Saving Throws +5
Speed fly 4 (hover)
Action Points 2
Bite (standard; at will) +24 vs. AC; 2d6+1 damage
Central Eye (minor; at will) Ranged 20; +25 vs Will: the target is dazed until the end of the beholder’s next turn.
Eye Rays (standard; at will) The eye of flame can use up to two eye ray powers (chosen from the list below). Each power must target a different creature. Using Eye rays does not provoke opportunity attacks.
1 - Searing Ray (Radiant): Ranged 10; +22 vs Reflex; 2d8+9 radiant damage.
2 - Withering Ray (Necrotic): Ranged 10; +22 vs Fortitude; 1d8+9 damage, and ongoing 10 necrotic damage (save ends).
3 - Sleep Ray (Sleep): Ranged 10; +22 vs Will; the target falls unconscious (save ends).
4 - Telekinesis Ray: Ranged 10; +22 vs Fortitude; the target slides 4 squares.
5 - Hold Ray: Ranged 10; +22 vs Reflex; the target is restrained (save ends).
6 - Confusion Ray (Charm): Ranged 10; +22 vs Will; the target charges its nearest ally and makes a melee basic attack against it.
7 - Fear Ray (Fear, Psychic): Ranged 10; +22 vs Will; 1d8+9 psychic damage, and the target moves its speed away from the eye of flame by the safest route possible and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends).
8 - Petrifying Ray: Ranged 10; +22 vs Fortitude; the target is slowed (save ends). First Failed Save: The target is immobilized instead of slowed (save ends). Second Failed Save: The target is petrified (no save).
9 - Death Ray (Necrotic): Ranged 10; +22 vs Fortitude; 1d8+9 necrotic damage, and if the target is bloodied it is dazed (save ends). First Failed Save: The target is dazed and weakened (save ends). Second Failed Save: The target dies.
10 - Disintegrate Ray: Ranged 10; +22 vs Fortitude; 2d10+9 damage, and the ongoing 2d20 damage (save ends). Aftereffect: Ongoing 2d6 damage (save ends).
Eye Ray Frenzy (standard, usable only when bloodied; recharge 6. See below. As eye rays above, except the eye tyrant makes four eye ray attacks.
Alignment Evil Languages Deep Speech
Str 12 (+10) Dex 24 (+16) Wis 17 (12) Con 20 (+14) Int 22 (+15) Cha 28 (+18)

Monster Manual, 2008 WotC — **Monster Manual,** 2008 WotC

The Beholder and its many variants show up in numerous books in 4th Edition, starting with the Eye of the Flame and the Eye Tyrant, the common type of Beholder, in the Monster Manual (2008). While 4th edition is short on description, it does follow in the grand tradition of providing numerous Beholders to throw at a party. Each new Beholder builds on the previous lore and thus we learn that the Beholders are not of this world but rather come from the Far Realm, a place of madness and insanity. They have arrived in the planes in order to decimate and control all, but first, they must kill the Beholders who think they run the place.

The first variant we are introduced to is the Eye of the Flame and is a small Beholder with the strange ability of lighting people on fire. Its main eye causes a target to become susceptible to fire, then it uses one of its eyestalks to shoot fire, lighting you are on fire. If that isn’t enough, it has two more rays at its disposal, telekinesis, and fear. This Beholder is the lowest on the food chain for its kind and has grown accustomed to working for other Beholders, even if it doesn’t like it.

The Eye Tyrant is the common type of Beholder and while a few changes exist in its eye rays, they largely stay the same except for its main eye. No longer does it create an anti-magic cone, now it simply dazes you, which isn’t a very powerful condition in 4e. The biggest boon to the Eye Tyrant is that not only does it have 900 hit points, but it also gets to shoot eye rays at anyone who starts their turn within about 25 feet of it, meaning if it is fighting a group of 4 adventurers and is really close to them, it gets a chance to shoot its eye rays 6 times a round until it gets a bit hurt, then the Eye Tyrant gets furious and can fire even more of its rays at those who would mar its perfect Beholder form.

Monster Manual 2, 2009 WotC — **Monster Manual 2**, 2009 WotC

In the Monster Manual 2 (2009) four more Beholder variants are unleashed with the return of the Gauth, the new Eye of Frost, the Eye of Chaos, and the Ultimate Tyrant. The Gauth is now the weakest of all the Beholders and the book goes on to point out it is a complete coward and will use all of its allies as a meatshield. Up next is the Eye of Frost and lives in areas of ice and snow and, you guessed it, has a freeze ray and a cold ray at its disposal. Following that is The Eye of Chaos, which takes insanity to a whole new level. It is the embodiment of wanton destruction for no other reason than to watch the fallout it causes, it is the spawnling of a Beholder who ventured into the Abyss and came back more fiend than aberration.

The last Beholder is the Ultimate Tyrant and now sits atop the food chain in the world of the Beholder. It is a massive creature with new powers, ten eyestalk abilities and over 1000 hit points, the Ultimate Tyrant is not to be taken lightly. A quick rundown of its abilities makes you realize that these creatures are a perfect time to try out those new running shoes and take off in the opposite direction. The middle eye can daze and slow a creature, with each failed saving throw bringing more misery upon the unfortunate target and it can fire off rays at anyone who starts their turn just a little too close. New to the scene this edition is the Spasmodic Ray and if our floating ball of death gets hurt too much, it will start shooting random eye rays against everyone that is even slightly in the same ballpark as it. Not only does it do that after it's taken a bit of damage, but as a final fuck you, it shoots out those rays again as its last shuddering death rattle. I don’t know about you, but maybe just… don’t interact with them and have a really strong wall between you and it.

Monster Manual, 2010 WotC — **Monster Manual**, 2010 WotC

The Monster Manual 3 (2010) is chock full of things that keep us awake at night, including the final three Beholders for 4th edition; the Beholder Spawn, The Eye of Shadow and the Ghost Beholder. The Beholder Spawn is a baby Beholder and the text goes on to say that you don’t want to know how they are created because it will drive you insane and you will fall into madness, which after reading 3e’s graphic description of baby-making, we agree.

Following the baby Beholder, we are given the Eye of the Shadow who are cruel and twisted Beholders that have lost themselves by spending to much time in the Shadowfell. Lurking in the shadows and dealing damage in the darkness, these Beholders are corrupted and wish to spread darkness and the dismal workings of the Plane of Shadows. Finally, we have the Ghost Beholder and it is an ending that only the evilest and stubbornest of Beholders will ever meet. While most Beholders, when killed, will finally accept their fate, these Beholders are so evil and twisted that they refuse to fully die and form as spirits. Due to this experience, these Beholders are actually fairly cautious considering who they once were in life, and will hide inside of walls and just poke a single eyestalk out to spy on parties and attacks at the most inopportune times.

5e - Beholder

Beholder / Large aberration, lawful evil
Armor Class 18 (natural armor) / Hit Points 180 (19d10 + 76)
Speed 0 ft., fly 20 ft. (Hover)
Str 10 (+0) | Dex 14 (+2) | Con 18 (+4), | Int 17 (+3) | Wis 15 (+2) | Cha 17 (+3)
Saving Throws lnt +8, Wis +7, Cha +8.
Skills Perception +12
Condition Immunities prone
Senses darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 22
Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon
Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)
Antimagic Cone. The beholder's central eye creates an area of antimagic, as in the antimagic field spell, in a 150-foot cone. At the start of each of its turns, the beholder decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. The area works against the beholder's own eye rays.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit : 14 (4d6) piercing damage.
Eye Rays. The beholder shoots three of the following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 feet of it:
1. Charm Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by the beholder for 1 hour, or until the beholder harms the creature.
2. Paralyzing Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
3. Fear Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
4. Slowing Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target's speed is halved for1 minute. In addition, the creature can't take reactions, and it can take either an action or a bonus action on its turn, not both. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
5. Enervation Ray. The targeted creature must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
6. Telekinetic Ray. If the target is a creature , it must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or the beholder moves it up to 30 feet in any direction. It is restrained by the ray's telekinetic grip until the start of the beholder's next turn or until the beholder is incapacitated. If the target is an object weighing 300 pounds or less that isn't being worn or carried, it is moved up to 30 feet in any direction. The beholder can also exert fine control on objects with this ray, such as manipulating a simple tool or opening a door or a container.
7. Sleep Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep and remain unconscious for 1 minute. The target awakens if it takes damage or another creature takes an action to wake it. This ray has no effect on constructs and undead.
8. Petrification Ray. The targeted creature must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature begins to turn to stone and is restrained. It must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn. On a success, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is petrified until freed by the greater rest.oration spell or other magic.
9. Disintegration Ray. Ifthe target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 45 (10d8) force damage. If this damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, its body becomes a pile offine gray dust. If the target is a Large or smaller non magical object or creation of magical force, it is disintegrated without a saving throw. If the target is a Huge or larger object or creation of magical force, this ray disintegrates a 10-foot cube of it.
10. Death Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 55 (10d10) necrotic damage. The target dies ifthe ray reduces it to 0 hit points.
Legendary Actions. The beholder can take 3 legendary actions, using the Eye Ray option below. It can take only one legendary action at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The beholder regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Eye Ray. The beholder uses one random eye ray.

Monster Manual, 2014 WotC — **Monster Manual**, 2014 WotC

5th edition carries on the philosophy that more Beholders is better and we are re-introduced to four types of Beholders in the Monster Manual (2014) before getting introduced to four more in Volo’s Guide to Monsters (2016). The Monster Manual provides information on the Death Tyrant, the Beholder, the Spectator, and a Zombie Beholder while Volo’s has an expanded section of lore as well as the Death Kiss, the Gauth, the Gazer, and the Mindwitness.

Before talking about the new lore surrounding the Beholders let’s quickly go over the new variations and any interesting abilities they get. The only new Beholder in the Monster Manual is the Zombie Beholder and it’s about what you’d expect from something named that. It is a mindless undead, much like how the original Death Tyrants were written back in 2nd edition, and has several broken eyestalks and thus has a reduced number of eye ray attacks it can use and has no main eye ability. The suggested eye rays it has in undeath are Paralyzing Ray, Fear Ray, Enervation Ray, and Disintegration Ray… which just happen to be our favorites!

Volo’s Guide to Monsters, 2016 WotC — **Volo’s Guide to Monsters**, 2016 WotC

The only new Beholder featured in Volo’s, as the Gazer is just a different name for the Eyeball Beholder from 3rd edition, is the Mindwitness and while it was mentioned in 3rd edition, it was talked about only as a template for a half-illithid [Mindflayer] and wasn’t given the respect or lore it deserved. The Mindwitness is a Beholder that has been stripped of its identity and imprinted on by an Elder Brain, the ruler of a Mindflayer colony. The Mindflayers use the Mindwitness as a distributor of communications, relying on its vast intelligence to help spread orders and keep a colony running smoothly. The Beholder is transformed from this process and loses a number of its eyestalks as they transform into tentacles and the Beholder loses its paranoia and xenophobia but gains an intrinsic need to give orders and commands. We are at a point where we are actually starting to feel bad for a Beholder… Let’s jump over to something horrifying that all Beholders do.

Reproduction is a horrifying act that Beholders perform in the previous editions, and it only gets worse every edition. In 5th edition, Beholders dream of themselves and another Beholder spawns into reality… Well, that’s a bit… That’s not even a little horrifying! Oh wait, the two Beholders then fight to the death most of the time, thats more like it. The reproduction cycle of the Beholders is a bit more sporadic of an event and relies on dreaming Beholders to have feverish dreams of themselves, of course, if something haunts their dreams, like say a lot of blood or magic, they may produce a Death Kiss or a Gauth instead of another Beholder. If that happens, sometimes a Beholder might keep them around as pets, other times they run away in fear. Beholders can also dream of creating a hive, a colony of sorts where they are the masters and then they spawn up to a dozen small little Gazers, or Eyeballs as they were previously known, and they treat the Gazers as spoiled pets. If they have any wizard minions, they’ll force the wizard to accept a Gazer as a familiar as a ‘parent’ Beholder can see through their Gazer as if they are there.

Xenophobia and paranoia are taken to an extreme for our Beholders and their defining trait is that they are constantly assuming they are under attack by other Beholders, creatures or the entire planes themselves. Every Beholder knows they are the perfection of Beholder-kind and everyone else is trying to kill them due to how perfect they are, a Beholder has no way of understanding that maybe, just maybe, it isn’t the end-all, be-all of what it means to be a floating eyeball. No one knows where these Beholders hail from, and if they have a god or deity they worship or assume they are the perfect form of, no one has ever learned about it. Beholders rarely talk to others as if equals, and if they deign to do so, it usually means they are about to pull a trap and kill you.

Beholders, due to just how massively intelligent they are, are always forming plans and many have found their home below a city where it can control the city using its minions and servants. A Beholder might become a crime lord, using its evil tendencies to create massive amounts of wealth that it can gain power with or it might get involved in politics using its minions to help keep the laws the same in a city for whatever insane plan it has coming up in the world. Beholders have a plan for every eventuality and many claim that a Beholder can never be surprised as it has a plan for anything you could be thinking of, and we know what weird shit you could be thinking of!

We should make one last honorable mention to one of the most well-known of the Beholders, Xanathar. This Beholder is a powerful crime lord in the city of Waterdeep and is actually more of a title than a name, though it didn’t start out the way. The Xanathar has been around since Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and several Beholders have come in and killed the previous holder of the name, gaining its title and its control of the Xanathar’s Guild. Zushaxx is the latest Xanathar and is well known for his absolute paranoid love for his goldfish Sylgar. Rumors are, Sylgar has to be constantly replaced without Zushaxx noticing as goldfish don’t really live that long, no one wants to see a bereaved Beholder ruining everyone’s day.

The Beholder is a tyrant of eyes, imposing its will on all, for it is what perfection is and doesn’t everyone want to serve perfection? They are a terror of paranoia and xenophobia, constantly making plans, constantly distrusting minions and allies, and always ready for whatever you could think of. If you ever see a sphere floating in the air with 10 tentacles, don’t stop to count the tentacles, just run.

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