Marilith

Marilith
A marilith in the original Monster Manual.
Characteristics
Alignment	Chaotic Evil
Type	Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar, Evil)
Image	Wizards.com image
Stats	Open Game License stats
Publication history
First appearance	Monster Manual, 1st Edition (1977)

A marilith is a fictional creature in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A marilith is depicted as a powerful, six-armed female demon with the lower body of a snake.

Mariliths are inspired by Hindu mythology, where gods and demons frequently have multiple heads and arms.

In their first appearance, as part of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, mariliths were known as type V demons, with marilith being a sample name. From second edition AD&D and onwards they are listed as mariliths.

The type V demon appeared under the demon entry in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement (1976).

The type V demon (marilith, etc.) appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977). A list of monster stats in the 1979 Dungeon Master Guide lists the names of type V demons as: Aishapra, Kevokulli, Marilith and Rehnaremme.

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the type V demon, which is known as the hissing demon, first appearing in the Immortal Rules set, in the DM's Guide to Immortals (1986). The hissing lesser fiend appeared in the Wrath of the Immortals set, in "Book One: Codex of the Immortals" (1992).

In this edition, demons became known as tanar'ri, and this creature officially became known as the marilith, a "true tanar'ri", appearing first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix (1991), and then reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).

The marilith true tanar'ri also appeared for the Planescape campaign setting in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994).

The marilith (tanar'ri) appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000); in this edition, the name demon is resumed, and tanar'ri are now considered a sub-type of demon.