Orcus (Dungeons & Dragons)

Orcus

Orcus, from the 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, illustration by David C. Sutherland III
Game background
Title(s)	Prince of the Undead, Prince of Undeath, The Blood Lord
Home plane	Abyss
Power level	Demon lord
Alignment	Chaotic Evil
Portfolio	Undead
Design details

Orcus is a fictional demon prince and lord of the undead in many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He is named after Orcus of Roman mythology. His symbol is a mace with a human skull as the head. Orcus is one of the most detailed demon lords of the Dungeons & Dragons game and one of a small handful to be detailed in every edition of the game. Orcus was also named as one of the greatest villains in D&D history by the final print issue of Dragon.Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition for Dummies describes Orcus as "the most monstrous evil in the game".

Orcus was first presented in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement in 1976, by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, for the original (white box) Dungeons & Dragons game. Although the book states that there are several such demon Princes, only Orcus and Demogorgon are detailed, "two of the greatest of these exceptional demon lords". Game statistics for Orcus appear on page 27, while a description of Orcus appears on page 35 with an accompanying illustration, and a description for his Wand of Orcus appears on page 42 under the section for artifacts.

In 1977, Orcus (Prince of the Undead) was included in the first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual by Gary Gygax. First edition AD&D game statistics and a description for Orcus appeared in pages 17–18 under the "demon" section, with an illustration of Orcus by David C. Sutherland III on page 17 and an illustration of the Wand of Orcus on page 18. The Wand of Orcus was detailed on page 162 of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide, also by Gygax, in the section on treasure (artifacts and relics).