D&D Basic Monsters: Giant Boar

Another gigantic version of a real animal, the Giant Boar has deep roots in mythology. For instance, one of the twelve labours of Hercules was to subdue and bring back the monstrous Erythmanian Boar, a massive beast living on Mount Erythmanthos, who allegedly killed Adonis.


Not surprisingly a prehistoric boar, the Daeodon once roamed North America between 29 and 19 million years ago. The Deadon's skull alone was about 3 feet long, and the creature was almost 6 feet tall at the shoulders and 10 feet from snout to tail, though it had remarkably small tusks for its size.

In fantasy games and films, giant boars have frequently been  used as mounts both for dwarfs and orcs. The boar it seems, has no qualms about serving either side.

In D&D terms, the giant boar has been with the game since the original Monster Manual, where they were referred to as Elothere, a common out-dated term for a family of large pig-like creatures that roamed the world between 32 and 16 million years ago (these days the term Entelodonts is more commonly used).

Since its debut, the Giant Boar been it's been known as either Giant Boar or Dire Boar depending on edition.