Hook horror
Encyclopedia
In the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
roleplaying game, a hook horror is a bipedal, subterranean monster
that looks like a vulture
-like humanoid
with bony hooks in place of hands.
#12 (April/May 1979), in the "Fiend Factory" column, originally submitted by Ian Livingstone
, which was later reprinted in Best of White Dwarf Articles (1980). The hook horror then appears in 1981 in the first edition Fiend Folio
(1981).
The hook horror was detailed in Dragon
#131 (March 1988), in the "Ecology of the Hook Horror".
(1984), and then appeared as a type of hook beast, in Creature Catalogue (1986), and the Creature Catalog (1993).
The hook horror appeared in the Blackmoor
campaign setting
in the module City of the Gods (1987).
The hook horror also appears in the Greyhawk
setting in the module Flames of the Falcon (1993).
that stands about nine feet (274 cm) tall and weighs almost 350 pounds
(160 kg). It has a mottled grey exoskeleton
, which is extremely thick and dense, and as difficult to breach as metal armor. Instead of hands/paws/claws, its front limbs end in 12-inch-long (30 cm) razor-sharp, blade-like hooks. These hooks are, of course, the hook horror's primary method of combat. Its legs are similar to those of a bird
, and its head is shaped like that of a vulture, including the hooked beak. Its eyes, however, are multifaceted like that of an insect
. It is thought that the hook horror is distantly related to the cockroach
, despite its bird-like qualities.
Hook horrors have their own language
, communicating in a series of clicks and clacks. In a cave
, this eerie sound can echo a long way and can be used to estimate cavern sizes and distances, much like the sonar
of a bat
.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
roleplaying game, a hook horror is a bipedal, subterranean monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
that looks like a vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
-like humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
with bony hooks in place of hands.
Publication history
The hook horror was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The hook horror was first published in White DwarfWhite Dwarf (magazine)
White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...
#12 (April/May 1979), in the "Fiend Factory" column, originally submitted by Ian Livingstone
Ian Livingstone
Ian Livingstone OBE is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. He is a co-writer of the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and co-founder of Games Workshop....
, which was later reprinted in Best of White Dwarf Articles (1980). The hook horror then appears in 1981 in the first edition Fiend Folio
Fiend Folio
Fiend Folio is the title shared by three products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
(1981).
The hook horror was detailed in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#131 (March 1988), in the "Ecology of the Hook Horror".
Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the hook horror, which first appeared in the module Quest for the HeartstoneQuest for the Heartstone
Quest for the Heartstone is a 1984 adventure module for the Basic Rules of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
(1984), and then appeared as a type of hook beast, in Creature Catalogue (1986), and the Creature Catalog (1993).
The hook horror appeared in the Blackmoor
Blackmoor
Blackmoor is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting generally associated with the game Dungeons & Dragons. It originally evolved in the early 1970s as the personal setting of Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, first as a setting for Arneson's miniature wargames, then as an...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
in the module City of the Gods (1987).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The hook horror appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990), and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).The hook horror also appears in the Greyhawk
Greyhawk
Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
setting in the module Flames of the Falcon (1993).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
The hook horror appears in the Monster Manual II for this edition (2002).Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
The hook horror appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008).Description
The hook horror is an aberrationAberration (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, aberration is a type of creature, or "creature type". Aberrations generally all have bizarre anatomies, strange abilities, alien mindsets, or any combination thereof....
that stands about nine feet (274 cm) tall and weighs almost 350 pounds
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
(160 kg). It has a mottled grey exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
, which is extremely thick and dense, and as difficult to breach as metal armor. Instead of hands/paws/claws, its front limbs end in 12-inch-long (30 cm) razor-sharp, blade-like hooks. These hooks are, of course, the hook horror's primary method of combat. Its legs are similar to those of a bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, and its head is shaped like that of a vulture, including the hooked beak. Its eyes, however, are multifaceted like that of an insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
. It is thought that the hook horror is distantly related to the cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
, despite its bird-like qualities.
Hook horrors have their own language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, communicating in a series of clicks and clacks. In a cave
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
, this eerie sound can echo a long way and can be used to estimate cavern sizes and distances, much like the sonar
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...
of a bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
.