Gorgon (Dungeons & Dragons)

Overview

The familiar D&D form is bovine, with horns and a dark metallic exterior. Its defining petrification comes from exhaled gas, rather than a gaze or the snake-haired anatomy associated with a medusa. In the legacy block, a victim caught by the breath first risks restraint and then permanent petrification after another failed save. Powerful restorative magic can undo the final transformation. The gorgon is itself immune to petrification, and its darkvision supports hunting beyond daylight. Forest, grassland and hill listings provide the legacy encounter environments; they do not establish a universal manufactured origin or a diet of stone.

The bull form also has a physical combat sequence. Under the 2014 rules, a straight charge followed by a successful horn attack can knock a victim prone after a Strength save, creating an opening for a separate hoof attack. The revised rules make a sufficiently long charging gore automatically knock down a target within the stated size limit; the subsequent Trample instead permits a Dexterity save. Its petrifying breath still proceeds through restraint to stone, with a different saving difficulty. Most strikingly, the older Monstrosity classification becomes Construct in the 2025 record. That is a real published category change, but the accessible block does not explain a universal forge, inventor or ritual that produces every gorgon. An edition’s combat taxonomy should not be expanded into an unsupported creation story.

First appearances & development

This profile compares the 2014 and 2025 Monster Manuals and uses a specialist reference only for the recognizable metallic bovine appearance. It does not settle the monster’s earliest D&D publication or equate its name with all Greek gorgons. The revised Construct category belongs specifically to the newer selected rules.

Canon & continuity

Publisher records directly establish the gas cone, staged petrification, charge, gore and trample procedures, together with the changed category. The specialist article supplies the visual identification rather than unverified old-edition physiology. Its mixed historical claims and proposed classical design genealogy were not adopted as independently confirmed facts.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Monster Manual (2014)

   Wizards of the Coast · 2014

   Monstrosity category, saving throw against knockdown and staged gas petrification.

2. 02

   Monster Manual (2025)

   Wizards of the Coast · 2025

   Construct category and revised Gore/Trample sequence.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. OfficialGorgon — legacy monster recordResearch access: 2026-10-05
2. OfficialGorgon — revised monster recordResearch access: 2026-10-05
3. ReferenceGorgon — Forgotten Realms specialist referenceResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

Blue armoured bull miniature with long curved horns, plated flanks and dorsal spines on a round base over a grey grid.

mz4250’s Gorgon model shown as a tabletop miniature. Fan-made tabletop illustration, not official franchise artwork. This armoured bull is the tabletop Gorgon, distinct from the Greek Gorgons.