Gnoll

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Not to be confused with knoll.
For the sports ground in Neath, see The Gnoll
Dungeons & Dragons creature
Gnolls battle adventurers on the cover of Return to the Keep on the Borderlands.
Gnoll
Alignment
Type Humanoid
Source books
First appearance Dungeons & Dragons (1974)
Image Wizards.com image
Stats OGL stats

Gnolls are a fictional race of humanoid creatures, usually described as anthropomorphic hyenas. They are strongly associated with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, but while that is the origin of their appearance and character, the name is based on an undescribed Fairy creature in the works of Lord Dunsany[citation needed].

Contents

[edit] Gnolls in Dungeons & Dragons

[edit] Physical description

Gnolls appear as anthropomorphic hyenas. They are usually around seven feet tall and use armor made of horn, metal plates, and leather, and large weapons. Gnolls are generally depicted as savage, barbaric creatures that often practice cannibalism, and enjoy eating the flesh of other sentient species. Gnolls are not especially strong or intelligent, but they are cunning and, when pressed, will fight to death[original research?].

[edit] Subraces

Within the context of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, one notable subrace of gnoll is the flind (alternately spelled flynd), which is shorter, broader, and stronger than other gnolls; flinds are often found leading a tribe or settlement of gnolls. Flinds use a nunchaku-like weapon called a flindbar, which consists of a pair of metal rods linked together by a chain.

[edit] Society

Gnolls were usually depicted by Gygax in Original and Advanced Dungeons And Dragons as primitive demon-worshippers. In recent years, however, other authors[who?] have depicted gnolls more and more often as "noble savages," hyena-like scavengers, as opposed to monstrous killers. Additionally, in Monster Manual IV, it is stated[who?] that gnolls possess a female-dominated society, comparable to the hyenas they are related to.

[edit] Religion

Gnolls in most Dungeons & Dragons settings are worshippers of the demon lord Yeenoghu, who also rules over ghouls (which explains the gnolls' taste for humanoid flesh[who?]). Some gnolls also worship the evil Erythnul, god of slaughter. The gnolls' vile disposition is most likely due to the influence of their demonic patron.

The original deity of gnolls was known as Gorellik, but years of Yeenoghu stealing his followers has left Gorellik with little command of his people.

[edit] Gnolls in general

[edit] Gnolls in folklore and literature

Gnolls are similar to the were-hyenas of African bushman folklore, and the tall dog men (Cynocephales) of early European travellers logs and bestiaries. Hyenas were associated with death because they dug up and ate human corpses.

Gnolls in the Discworld series are small, matted and dirty enough to sprout fungi and grasses on their hides (and seem to relate to soil as trolls relate to rock), and act as street-cleaners in cities like Ankh-Morpork; as Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson puts it, they "pick up this, pick up that, maybe bang it against the wall until it stops struggling..." In the case of at least Stoolie, if not every gnoll on the Discworld, there seems to be a tendency to drop the vowels in words, reflecting a croaking sort of voice.

Wolflike creatures called gnawls exist in the novel The Scions of Shannara by Terry Brooks[citation needed].

[edit] Gnolls in games

Gnolls are included in the Warcraft universe in the strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, where it is said that 'if they ever stopped fighting amongst themselves they could form a formidable army' and in the MMORPG World of Warcraft in many of the mid-level areas.

Gnolls are featured prominently in the western part of the continent of Antonica in the MMORPG EverQuest and in EverQuest II.

Gnolls appear as enemies in Final Fantasy IX and XI (Wings of the Goddess expansion).

Gnolls appear as minor enemies in Tales of Phantasia.

Gnolls appear as level 1 creatures for the "Fortress" castle in Heroes of Might and Magic III.

Gnolls are in the game Kingdom of Loathing, as a civilised race of humanoids.

Gnolls appear in the MMORPG Lineage II under the name "Ol Mahum."

Gnolls are a player race in Maelstrom, a UK based live action roleplaying game. Maelstom's gnolls are represented as anthropomorphic hyenas and have a matriarchal culture marked by Swahili loan words.

Gnolls In the Baldur's Gate RPG series are often hostile NPCs that travel around in packs and will attack the party on sight. Armed with Halberds, they are a low-level monster, but Gnolls magically summoned by a wizard in the player's party can have their abilities enhanced by the same spells used on the party, making them fairly decent backup in combat.

The Skath in Dungeon Siege 2 are also very similar to gnolls

Master of Magic by Microprose allows Gnolls as a starting race.

Gnolls appear with the name "Hyena Men" in the fantasy tabletop wargame "Song of Blades and Heroes"

[edit] Creative origins

Gnolls are the literary descendants of Lord Dunsany's "gnoles", who were clever, evil and nonhuman. This connection is evidenced by Gary Gygax's description in the first edition of "Dungeons & Dragons" (1974): "A cross between gnomes and trolls (...perhaps, Lord Dunsany did not really make it all that clear) with +2 morale. Otherwise they are similar to hobgoblins..." With the 1977 publication of Gygax's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual gnolls were described in greater detail as hyena-men, a characterization that continues to the present.

[edit] References

  • Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989).
  • Jones, Spike Y. "The Sociology of the Flind." Dragon #173 (TSR, 1991).

[edit] External links


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