A wight is an undead

Undead (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, undead is a classification of monsters that can be encountered by player characters. Undead creatures are most often once-living creatures, which have been animated by spiritual or supernatural forces....

 creature in the Dungeons & Dragons

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...

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

.

Publication history

The wight takes its inspiration from the barrow-wight

Barrow-wight

Barrow-wights are wraith-like creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, based on the Old Norse Draugr. Barrow refers to the burial mounds they inhabited and wight is a Middle English word for "living being" or "creature", especially "human being"...

s in the world of Middle-earth

Middle-earth

Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

 created by J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The wight was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set

Dungeons & Dragons (1974)

The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It initially included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...

 (1974), where they were described as being able to drain away energy levels on a touch.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The wight appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as an undead human that inhabits barrow mounds or catacombs, evil and hateful, seeking to destroy all life it encounters.

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the wight, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set

Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set

The original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed set was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1977, and comprised a separate edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, distinct from the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, which was initially published in the same...

(1977, 1981, 1983). The wight was also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991), the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The wight appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).

The wight undead dragon appears in Dragon #234 (October 1996).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The wight appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).

The lavawight appears in the Epic Level Handbook

Epic Level Handbook

The Epic Level Handbook is a rulebook by Wizards of the Coast for the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons.-Contents:This books contained rules for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition characters to attain levels above 20, the limit in the core rulebooks...

(2002). The vilewight appeared in the Book of Vile Darkness

Book of Vile Darkness

Book of Vile Darkness is an optional supplemental sourcebook for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The book was written by Monte Cook and published by Wizards of the Coast in October 2002. Described as a "detailed look at the nature of evil," it was the first Dungeons &...

(2002).

The wight template appeared in Dragon #300 (October 2002), and included the troglodyte wight as a sample creature.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The wight appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The wight was presented as a player character class in Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead

Libris Mortis

Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead is a book which is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game...

(2004). The slaughter wight also appeared in this book.

The dust wight appears in Monster Manual III (2004).

The wight was detailed in Dragon #348 (October 2006), in the "Ecology of the Wight".

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The wight appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008).

Description

A wight is given a semblance of life through sheer violence and hatred. A wight can drain the life energy out of victims by touch, turning them into new wights upon death.

A wight appears as a weird and twisted reflection of the form it had in life. Wights are always lawful evil.

Variant Wights

• Dust Wights - Undead formed by a conjunction of elemental earth and negative energy. They destroy all creations of stone and metal. Dust Wights are always chaotic evil.

• Vilewight - Has exposed innards which flail out like serpents, each ending in a bile-dripping mouth. Vilewights are always neutral evil.