At long last we reach the letter Z, and in the search for forgotten and overlooked creatures we find the
zorbo - a strange koala-like creature that can absorb protective properties from its surroundings, as well as draining protective magical items.

The zorbo first appeared in the Monster Manual II for first edition AD&D, then later in the Monstrous Compendium Annual volume two...

... and that was it I thought, only to find out that it actually appeared in the Tomb of Annihilation adventure for fifth edition, which strictly speaking means it's disqualified for this list (the locathah appeared in Secrets of Saltmarsh AFTER it appeared here), so maybe it'll be replaced later... we'll have to see.

Guardian Daemons or Yugoloth are extra planar beings summoned to protect (or guard if you will) items or places. They come in three different sizes, tall, venti and grande... eh...that is... least, lesser and greater, sharing many traits, though unlike the greater, which always appears as a large, horned and winged bear, with eagle talons for feet and claws, the two lesser variants are not as defined in shape or size.

A bit of a cheat this one, since these monstrosities were originally called Guardian Daemons when they first appeared in the  Fiend Folio for first edition AD&D and the Monstrous compendium volume two, for second edition. Only when reappearing in the second edition Monstrous Manual., were they defined as yugoloth, but with so few good monsters on y I'll grasp at any straw.

The DC for the save against the breath weapon should of course be 15, NOT 115(!).

The xill are a race of cruel and strange, four armed, flame red alien creatures, native to the Ethereal Plane, that travel to the Material Plane to hunt for potential hosts for their eggs, usually in the form of adventurers. Sometimes they also hire out their expertise as mercenaries and men-at-arms, probably requiring double pay due to their extra set of arms.

In D&D the xill first appeared in the Fiend Folio for first edition AD&D and then in the Monstrous compendium, Fiend Folio appendix, for second edition. In third edition they got prime billing, appearing in the original Monster Manual.

Wemics for all intents and purposes lion centaurs. Lion-human hybrid creatures are abundant throughout ancient mythology like the sphinx and the shedu. While creatures similar to the wemic figure in both ancient Assyrian carvings and medieval heraldic devices, it has never really attained the same popularity in myth and fantasy as its equine cousin.

In D&D the wemic first appeared in a set of monster cards printed in 1982. It was then reprinted in the Monster Manual II for first edition AD&D the following year. For second edition it was first printed in the Monstrous compendium, Forgotten Realms appendix, and although it reappeared in the "generic" second edition Monstrous Manual , for the third edition it was printed in the Monsters of Faerun supplement.

The vodyanoi is a creature from Slavic folklore, residing in rivers and lakes. It is usually described as a humanoid figure with a frog-like face, a long beard, greenish black mucky, scaly skin with webbed hands and feet and a fish tail. Largely a malevolent creature it is known to drown people, overturn boats and smash dams and water mills.

In D&D the vodyanoi has usually been described as the aquatic cousin of the umber hulk, sharing most of its stats, save for the umber hulk's gaze attacks. It first appeared in the Fiend Folio for first edition AD&D, then alongside the umber hulk in the Monstrous Manual for the second edition. An alternative take appeared in the 3rd edition source book Frostburn.

The thoqqua, or rockworm, is a worm-like creature from the elemental plane of earth and/or fire, and it is suspected to be the larva stage of some terrible elemental creature, though no-one knows exactly which. They are said to burrow into this realm of existence from the elemental planes, or the center of the earth itself, melting and devouring rock as it goes.

It originally appeared in the Fiend Folio for first edition AD&D, then in the Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III for the second edition, and finally in the Monster Manual for third (and 3.5) edition.

The Spriggan is a nasty creature from Cornish mythology. They were depicted as grotesquely ugly, wizened old men with childlike heads. They were known for being unpleasant and mischievous, frightening travelers, destroying crops and stealing children. Normally they were small in size, but it was sometimes thought that they were the ghosts of giants, and so able to swell massively in size.

In D&D, a spriggan in small form is depicted as an unusually ugly gnome, that when it feels the need, can grow in size from small to a massive brute. They first appeared in the Monster Manual II for AD&D first edition, then later in the Greyhawk Appendix to the Monstrous Compendium and the Monstrous Manual for second edition, and finally the Fiend Folio for third edition.

You'd think finding a good monster for the letter R would be easy, it being the fourth most frequently used consonant in the alphabet, but as it turns out there were actually few good candidates on R. The final choice actually fell on this critter, the Rock Reptile, which again you'd be forgiven if you've never heard about. It only appeared in the Monster Manual II for first edition AD&D, and then a third party monster book for third edition (Sword & Sorcery - Tome of Horrors from Necromancer Games), and that's it.

They are described as horse sized lizards, living underground, with lumpy, warty hide and chameleon like powers.

Q was an especially difficult letter to find a monster for, so the solution became the Lightning Quasielemental, and even that by stretching it a bit. Quasielementals are composite or near elementals that don't fit snugly into the classical distinction of the four base elements.

The lightning quasielemental first appeared as the only quasielemental in the Monster Manual II for first edition AD&D, and then again, this time along with the whole family in the third Monstrous Compendium for the Planescape setting for second edition.

For those interested, the whole family of quasielementals are divided into positive and negative , and include the ash, dust, salt, vacuum, lightning, mineral, radiance and steam elementals.

This lovely lady is a penanggalan, a type of female vampire from Malaysian mythology. At night these women (they can only be women apparently) can detach their head and innards from their body, and fly around in search of prey, preferably other young women. After a night of hunting they return to their headless body, but their entrails are so engorged that they have to be soak them in vinegar for about an hour before they can fit within the cavity of the body.

The osquip is described as a large, hairless, dog sized rodent, that looks something like a massive hairless mole rat with six legs and teeth the size of shovel blades. Most specimens have six feet, but they have been known to have as many as eight or even ten feet in some cases.

Like so many of the weird monstrosities covered in this little alphabet, the osquip first appeared in the Fiend Folio. It was later featured in the second edition Monstrous Compendium (vol. 2) and Monstrous Manual. It made a brief appearance in third edition in the sourcebook Races of Faerun (not as a playable race), until disappearing into obscurity.

Another old obscurity, the norker is a small goblinoid, said to be a distant cousin of the hobgoblin. They have thick hide, though its form and nature varies a bit depending on which source you look at. Regardless, this thick hide means the norker will eschew armor.

They first appeared in the Fiend Folio for first edition AD&D, then in the Greyhawk appendix of the Monstrous Compendium for the second edition, missing third edition altogether, and being reinvented as a race with deep ties to the elemental plane of earth for the fourth edition.

In real life, a moon dog is a rare bright spot on the halo of the moon, caused by the refraction of moonlight by ice crystals in clouds.

In D&D they are strange, benevolent dog, with dark shaggy fur, opposable thumbs on their forepaws, and the ability to travel on either two or four. Kind and intelligent, these dogs are truly any good man's best friend.

They first appeared in the Monster Manual II for first edition AD&D, then later in various releases for later editions.

The Locathah is a real classic of D&D beast. It first appeared in the original D&D supplement Blackmoor all the way back in 1975, then later in the first edition Monster Manual, the Monstrous compendium (volum 2) and Monstrous Manual for second edition and the Monster Manual for third edition, and then, despite its prominent placement in the first three versions, all but disappeared.

Described as a race of  aquatic humanoids, that live in nomadic, civilized societies, roaming shallow warm waters, hunting and gathering food.

Quite why they suddenly went into obscurity is unclear, but it is probable they were just competing for an already over crowed niche of aquatic fish-like humanoids, competing with other, more "exciting" races, such as the sahuagina and the kuo toa.

Still, the Locathah is the creature that most closely resembles the iconic Gill Man, best known as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and given a new renaissance in Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water.

The Kappa is a strange being from Japanese folklore. A type of spirit, demon, or imp they inhabit lakes and rivers. They are about the size of a child, roughly human in appearance, with scaly  greenish skin, webbed and clawed hands and feet and a turtle shell on its back. They are said to be fond of cucumbers and sumo wrestling, as well as looking up women's kimonos.

The most peculiar trait of the Kappa is the indentation at the top of their skull. This is filled with water from the body of water where the Kappa resides, and should it ever be emptied or dried out, the kappa will loose its power, and might even die.

The kappa first appeared in the Oriental Adventures book, and then later in the Kara-Tur Monstrous Compendium for second edition, and the newer Oriental Adventures for 3rd edition.