Stranger Things fans might only know the tabletop gameDungeons & Dragons from Netflix's mega-popular TV series.But in reality, the fantasty role-playing gamehas been around since 1974, continuously evolving and amassing an enormous fanbase over the years. As it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024, Dungeons & Dragons has become the world’s best-known and best-selling role-playing game, with an estimated 50 million fans worldwide.
The franchise has also expanded into video games, books, and a 2023 live-action film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. And now, there's an eight-episode live-action series reportedly in the works for Paramount+, which won't have any connection to the 2023 film. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it's always fun to speculate over which villains might appear in the series. D&D has no shortage of powerful and iconic villains to choose from. Here are 10 famous D&D villains that we'd love to see wreak havoc upon the world.
10 Vecna
Even for those who aren't
Dungeons & Dragons
fans, this is probably a recognizable name.
Vecna is the moniker given to the main antagonist of
Stranger Things,
taken from the
D&D
character of the same name (as many things are in the show). Similar to his
Stranger Things
counterpart, the Vecna of
D&D
was a human (a king in this case), who became corrupted by dark magic.He became a lich: an evil, undead spellcaster. In fact, Vecna became the god of
all
liches, and is the most powerful one within the
D&D
universe. He can cast evil spells, paralyze others with his touch, and alter reality at will. Vecna also possesses the Book of Vile Darkness, an evil artifact (if you can't tell by its name) that was compiled by some of the most powerful and malevolent entities in the multiverse.Vecna's considered the scourge of all civilization and is one of the most iconic villains of the franchise. Since Vecna is the central antagonist of
Stranger Things,
the live-action series may want to stay away from him and focus on other villains instead. But still, it would be cool to see the character in his true form, even if it's just in a supporting role.
9 Demogorgon
Demogorgon is another name that you probably recognize from Stranger Things. It's the moniker given to the monster from season 1, though that's where the similarities between the two characters end. Within D&D, he's a demon lord and lesser deity, the embodiment of madness and destruction. He proclaimed himself the Prince of Demons. Many demons have challenged him to claim this title; none have been able to defeat him.
His appearance also varies significantly from his D&D counterpart. Demogorgon stands at a towering 18 feet. He has two monstrous heads, each with its own name and personality, and writhing tentacles instead of hands. This is another one that the Paramount+ show might shy away from, thanks to the monster from Stranger Things. But the characters are so different that the Demogorgon could definitely work, and would be an absolute treat to see in a live-action series.
8 Zariel
Zariel is a female villain, which makes her a breath of fresh air among the most powerful D&D antagonists. She once was a beautiful angel from the Seven Heavens. But she's since transformed into an archdevil, an exceptionally powerful type of devil within the D&D universe, altering her appearance into a more diabolical form that includes a blazing halo.
She fell into the Nine Hells, the realm of devils, and became the ruler of its first layer, Avernus. Zariel is known for her martial prowess and for her fire-themed abilities. The Warlord of Avernus can create fireballs and walls of fire, and her weapons are covered with hellish flames, which would make for some cool visuals in a live-action series.
7 Xanathar
A Beholder is a monster that looks like a floating orb of flesh with a fanged mouth and a large central eye. They are powerful magic users, and have become popular villains within D&D. And no Beholder is more infamous than Xanathar.
Similar to Jabba the Hutt, Xanathar is a crime lord. He can gather information on everything and everyone in the multiverse, making him quite the formidable adversary. He loathes most living things, aside from his pet goldfish, and views humanoid races as inferior beings that should be enslaved.
Xanathar is a recurring antagonist in Forgotten Realms. And in the adventure book, Waterdeep Dragon Heist, he serves as one of the main antagonists. It seems almost inevitable that such a popular villain would make an appearance in a live-action series, especially given his fantastical appearance.
6 Acererak
Once a wizard of a long-forgotten time, Acererak has since transformed into a powerful lich. The Lord of Unlife, as he's often called, is one of the greatest wizards and one of the most devious geniuses in the multiverse. A master of the undead, he is exceptionally powerful and has slaughtered minor gods within the D&D universe.
Acererak is also the creator of the infamous Tomb of Horrors, a deadly dungeon that's claimed the lives of many adventurers. He's a typical arrogant villain, who likes to leave clues for those attempting to escape his dungeons, thinking that it'll enhance his victory in the end. Some stories even suggest that he was an apprentice to another lich: Vecna. If D&D wanted to steer clear of Vecna, then Acererak would be a great villain to portray instead.
5 Asmodeus
The Lord of Lies. Lord of the Nine. Dark Lord of Nessus. Prince of Evil. The Cloven. Old Hoof and Horn. This character goes by many aliases, but his true name is Asmodeus. He's the equivalent of Satan in the D&D universe. Like Zariel, he's an archdevil, the most powerful one in D&D, and stands at a whopping 13 feet tall.
Asmodeus is the ultimate ruler of the Nine Hells, and governs from its deepest layer, Nessus. One of the mightiest beings in D&D, he wields a divine and godlike power. Most worlds worship him as a deity, while others view him as something even more ancient, dating back to the very beginnings of the multiverse. His true form is a massive serpent hundreds of miles long, though very few have seen him in this form. The chance to catch a glimpse of it in Paramount's live-action series is tantalizing.
4 Lolth
Lolth is many things: a wicked goddess, a demon lord, and a Chaotic Evil of great power. In D&D vernacular, Chaotic Evil characters are malevolent entities that would sooner destroy the world than conquer it. Legend has it, Lolth was once a goddess who was transformed into a demon. Through deceit and force, the Queen of Spiders established herself as the chief deity among the drow, a dark-skinned race of elves, and manufactured a society where her worshipers are the strongest individuals.
To even question her is a sin. Aside from her affection for spiders, Lolth has little love for other life forms. She revels in cruelty and bloodshed, and thrives on torture and destruction. She might appear as a tall, beautiful, female drow — or as a monstrous black widow spider. If she were to appear in a live-action series, then viewers should expect lots of death whenever Lolth is on-screen.
3 Lord Soth
Lord Soth is one of the most badass and compelling villains in Dungeons & Dragons. Once an honorable Knight of the Rose, he made some questionable decisions (like refusing to save his newborn child) that prompted his wife to curse him with her dying breath. The curse transformed him into the undead. He was then known as a death knight, a fallen knight — the Knight of the Black Rose.
His knight's armor is damaged from his many battles, leaving only the charred black rose on his breastplate that would eventually become Soth's symbol. His appearance beneath the armor is a mystery; you can only see the two fiery eyes within his helm. Soth possesses inhuman strength, can cast spells, and wields a sword that's turned black with the blood of his victims.
He can kill a red dragon, the most wicked kind of dragon in D&D, with just a single word. Despite his evil nature and hatred for life, he retains the honorable ways of a knight in combat. He will never attack from behind nor strike an unarmed enemy. Lord Soth has been hailed as one of the greatest villains in D&D, and his popularity has defined the term 'death knight' within the D&D universe.
2 Count Strahd von Zarovich
The title of Count usually makes you think of vampires. And in this case, that is spot on: Count Strahd von Zarovich is Dungeon & Dragons' very own Count Dracula, the most evil vampire in the multiverse. Strahd was once a prince and a conqueror, who settled down in the valley of Barovia. Fearing the inevitability of time, he made a pact with the Dark Powers of the Shadowfell to achieve immortality. He became an undead vampire, neither alive nor dead.
The valley was swept then into the Shadowfell, and Strahd became the dark lord of the region. He's considered the signature villain of the Ravenloft campaign, and one of the greatest villains in D&D. If you're going to have a live-action Dungeons & Dragon series, then Strahd is definitely one villain that fans would love to see.
1 Tiamat
You can't have Dungeons & Dragons without, well, dragons. And no dragon within the D&D multiverse is more evil or iconic than Tiamat. She's literally the queen of evil dragons. As the goddess of greed, Tiamat is obsessed with accumulating treasure, and is arrogant and vain. She was also once a servant of the aforementioned Asmodeus, before paving her own wicked path.
Tiamat has five heads that can operate independently of each other, each one representing a different species of chromatic dragon: black, blue, green, red, white. Each head also wields the powers of its respective species: acid, lightning, poisonous gas, fire, and ice. Just imagine it: an enormous, well-designed (like Game of Thrones level), five-headed dragon on the screen, wreaking havoc and causing destruction with all those different powers. Given the popularity of dragons within the fantasy genre, adding Tiamat to the live-action series would be a sure way to attract viewers.
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