List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters

This is a list of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd-edition monsters, an important element of that role-playing game. This list only includes monsters from official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition supplements published by TSR, Inc. or Wizards of the Coast, not licensed or unlicensed third-party products such as video games or unlicensed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition manuals.
The second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game featured both a higher number of books of monsters – "many tied to their growing stable of campaign worlds" – and more extensive monster descriptions than both earlier and later editions, with usually one page in length. Next to a description, monster entries in this edition contained standardized sections covering combat, their habit and society, and their role in the eco-system. While later editions gave the various creatures all the attributes which player characters had, 2nd edition only listed intelligence, a characteristic important for creating challenging encounters in the game.
The 2nd edition also used a unique format in the form of Monstrous Compendiums of loose sheets that could be collected in a folder, and allowed the combination of monster books together with individual monster pages from boxed sets. This "unruly" format was abandoned again in 1993 in favor of bound books. In parallel with this change, the 2nd edition introduced colored images for each monster, which became standard in later editions of the game. Referencing Wizards of the Coast art director Dawn Murin, GameSpy author Allan Rausch found that until the 2nd edition the artwork depicting monsters was influenced by the popular culture of the late 1970s. As a result, creatures that were fearsome by description were not taken seriously due to ill-suited visuals. Likewise, humanoid monsters too closely resembled humans to be compelling. In the view of Rausch as well as Backstab reviewer Michaël Croitoriu, the Planescape setting marked a turning point for these shortcomings, which also had a significant impact on the presentation of the 3rd edition.
The second edition's monsters were based on original inventions, fantasy literature, and mythologies from various cultures. Many monsters were updated from earlier editions, but the 2nd edition also introduced a great number of new creatures.
Some types, such as devils and demons, were initially removed by TSR in response to a moral panic promoted by Patricia Pulling's advocacy group Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD). These were later reintroduced, sometimes with different names to avoid complaints.
Monstrous Compendium Annuals collected and updated monsters published in a variety of sources. Creatures listed under the heading of earlier publications are not repeated here.
This section lists fictional creatures for AD&D 2nd Edition from various sources not explicitly dedicated to presenting monsters. Primarily, these are the separate sourcebooks and expansions for the Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim and other campaign settings produced by TSR.
The Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space Spelljammer campaign setting boxed set contained 11 new creatures in the standard Monstrous Compendium format, on pages 67–86 of the Lorebook of the Void.
ISBN 0-88038-762-9
The Spelljammer game accessory Lost Ships, by Ed Greenwood, contained several new creatures on pages 84–96.
ISBN 0-88038-831-5
The Legend of Spelljammer boxed set added four new creatures on pages 60–64 of The Grand Tour sourcebook.
ISBN 1-56076-083-4
The Spelljammer game accessory Krynnspace, by Jean Rabe, contained two new creatures.
ISBN 1-56076-560-7
The Forgotten Realms Ruins of Undermountain boxed set included 8 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.
ISBN 1-56076-061-3
The Maztica Campaign Set boxed set contained 4 new creatures in the standard Monstrous Compendium format, on pages 59–62 of the Maztica Alive booklet.
ISBN 1-56076-084-2
This 128-page softbound book provided additional details on the history, culture and society of the dark elves, and included 9 additional creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format on pages 113–127.
ISBN 1-56076-132-6
The Forgotten Realms adventure Fires of Zatal for the Maztica setting by Jeff Grubb and Tim Beach contained three new fictional creatures.
ISBN 1-56076-139-3
The Forgotten Realms Menzoberranzan boxed set included 7 pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format, bound into the first book of the set (The City) on pages 88–94.
ISBN 1-56076-460-0
The Forgotten Realms The Ruins of Myth Drannor boxed set included 8 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.
ISBN 1-56076-569-0
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2nd edition) boxed set included 8 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.
ISBN 1560766174
The Forgotten Realms City of Splendors boxed set included unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages of creature descriptions in Monstrous Compendium format.
ISBN 1-56076-868-1
The Forgotten Realms campaign expansion Powers & Pantheons by Eric L. Boyd contained next to the description of many deities also new creatures.
ISBN 0-7869-0657-X
The Dragonlance adventure Dragon's Rest by Rick Swan contained three new fictional creatures.
ISBN 0-88038-869-2
The Dragonlance adventure Wild Elves by Scott Bennie contained six new fictional creatures.
ISBN 1-56076-140-7
The Dragonlance game accessory Taladas: The Minotaurs by Colin McComb contained several new creatures.
ISBN 1-56076-150-4
The Dragonlance adventure Flint's Axe by Tim Beach contained a new creature.
ISBN 1-56076-422-8
The Al-Qadim Land of Fate boxed set contained 8 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format.
ISBN 1-56076-329-9
The Al-Qadim Golden Voyages boxed set, by David "Zeb" Cook, contained 4 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format, each with a full-page image of the creature described on the back.
ISBN 1-56076-331-0
The Al-Qadim City of Delights boxed set contained 8 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format.
ISBN 1-56076-589-5
The Al-Qadim Assassin Mountain boxed set contained 4 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format. ISBN 1-56076-564-X
The Al-Qadim Secrets of the Lamp boxed set contained 4 unnumbered 5-hole punched loose-leaf pages in Monstrous Compendium format. ISBN 1-56076-647-6
The Al-Qadim Ruined Kingdoms boxed set, by Steven Kurtz, contained an 8-page booklet with non-player characters and monsters.
ISBN 1-56076-815-0
The Al-Qadim Corsairs of the Great Sea boxed set, by Nicky Rea, contained an 8-page booklet with monsters. ISBN 1-56076-867-3
The Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.
ISBN 1-56076-834-7
The Planescape Planes of Chaos boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.
ISBN 1-56076-874-6
The Planescape Planes of Law boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.
ISBN 0-7869-0093-8
The Planescape Planes of Conflict boxed set contained a 32-page Monstrous Supplement booklet.
ISBN 0-7869-0309-0
The original Dark Sun Boxed Set for the Dark Sun campaign setting contains several pages of monster description in The Wanderer's Journal book, as well as in the A Little Knowledge adventure booklet.
ISBN 0-7869-0162-4
The City by the Silt Sea campaign expansion box for the Dark Sun campaign setting by Shane Lacy Hensley contains a 32-page Monstrous Supplement.
ISBN 1-56076-882-7
The Dark Sun campaign setting accessory Thri-Kreen of Athas by Tim Beach and Dori Hein contained three monster descriptions.
ISBN 0-7869-0125-X
The expanded and revised Campaign setting boxed set for Dark Sun contained several pages of monster description in The Wanderer's Chronicle booklet.
ISBN 0-7869-0162-4
The Wanderer's Chronicle: Mind Lords of the Last Sea by Matt Forbeck contained ten pages of descriptions of NPCs and monsters.
ISBN 0-7869-0367-8
Within the Birthright Campaign Setting box were a set of cardsheets, separate from the books. Beyond rules summaries and handy charts, several unique monsters were presented.
The Greyhawk campaign setting accessory The Scarlet Brotherhood, by Sean Reynolds, contained the descriptions of seven monsters.
The Chronomancer game accessory, by Loren Coleman, contained 7 pages of monsters living on Temporal Prime, a fictitious dimension that allows time travel.
ISBN 0-7869-0325-2
The Sea Devils game accessory by Skip Williams, detailing the sahuagin in the Monstrous Arcana series, contained two pages detailing new aquatic monsters.
ISBN 0-7869-0643-X
The Illithiad game accessory by Bruce R. Cordell, in the Monstrous Arcana series, contained 7 pages of monsters linked to the illithids.
ISBN 0-7869-1206-5
Dragon Magazine introduced many new monsters to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It functioned as "a creative safe haven for a diverse stable of talents – creators, amateur and professional alike – to" among other things "envision exotic monsters".