Dungeons & Dragonsfeatures a plethora of powerful and deadly monsters, ranging from dragons - as the name suggests - to liches, mind flayers, demons, and devils, as well as the notorious Tarrasque. It also has cute creatures, silly monsters, and some plain old wacky concepts here and there. Still, there are some instances where silliness and deadliness combine.
Veterans might be aware of the dangers that lie ahead here. Still, for newcomers, it can be an interesting shock that a fungus or a big gelatin-looking monster is actually dangerous. Thus, we’re here to share some of the monsters whose appearance can be quite deceptive, as they are more dangerous than they seem based on their looks and Challenge Rating (CR).
10Sphinx Of Wonder
Here Kitty Kitty
Sphinxes are beautiful creatures,and they’re also quite dangerous. A recent introduction from the 2025 Monster Manual is the CR one Sphinx of Wonder, a small, winged cat. Luckily for the players, it’s a good-aligned creature, so it’d be hard to get into an actual fight against one.
That said, it has a few damage resistances (along with Magic Resistance) and an attack that deals two types of damage. It also deals an average of 12 damage per turn, a high number for a creature that is meant to fight level-one players.
9Gelatinous Cube
The Perfect Trap
The Gelatinous Cubemight be taken seriously due to how famous it is now, but this CR two monster has one of the strangest designs of all: a simple, big, transparent cube waiting for someone to mess up.
From the DM’s perspective, they can be a perilous trap to use on players, which can lead to an intense moment of dread to save the poor soul that got stuck inside the Gelatinous Cube.
8Mimic
Fight Everything
Let’s go with one more very famous example that scares both veterans and those caught by surprise. Mimics are famous creatures for being able to look like anything. They’re commonly chests or doors, catching explorers unaware.
Their damage is pretty good for their CR of two, and if your DM is particularly creative, mimics can be extremely random objects and appear in pairs or small groups. This can make it a fun, unorthodox fight, which can be a laugh and a challenge - if your character doesn’t die in the process of course.
7Modron
Caretakers Of The Multiverse
Modrons are weird-looking constructs with abstract forms mixed with humanoid eyes and mouths. They’re neutral and usually minding their own business, so it’s also difficult to get into a fight with one of them. Still, some can be dangerous.
Their CR is relatively low, so there is not much dread overall against the weaker ones. Still, they can make a lot of attacks per turn, each matching their name - for example, the pentadrone can make five attacks, indicated by the ‘penta’ prefix. Attacking one of those while being level one or two can end your character.
6Intellect Devourer
Body Stealers
A brain with feet is something that new players will probably either laugh about or feel creeped out by. However, this strange, walking brain is a mere facade for a dangerous creature that can cause decent damage and stun. But there’s more.
Once a target is incapacitated, they can get inside their skull and take control of the body, effectively killing the person. Running away is also difficult, since they can sense intelligent creatures from 300ft (91m) away - and yes, your eight-intelligence barbarian still counts.
5Demilich
Off With Your Head
Between all the zombies, skeletons, vampires, and many other undead, a group might not take seriously an undead that is just a flying skull. That said, the demilich (and the flameskull, by the way) is very dangerous, despite just being a flying head decorated with gems.
With a CR of 18, its basic attack causes an average of 24 damage (with three attacks per turn, plus legendary actions); it can damage and frighten at the same time blind people and reduce their maximum health. And if you destroy it, it’ll just come back in a few days.
4Gas Spore Fungus
Killing It Is Not The End
Of all our picks here, the gas spore fungus might be the only one that is actually weak, even amongits fungi friends.Why is it here then? Well, even though this silly fungus is easy to kill, even at low levels, the consequence of its death is where the challenge actually begins.
Once it dies, it bursts, potentially infecting all nearby creatures. They’ll be poisoned for a few hours, and if they can’t remove the condition, this poison will kill them, making other spore fungi grow inside the victim.
3Grell
Great Abductors
Going back to brain-looking monsters a bit, we have another one (though it looks like a brain, but it isn’t one, we think). Grells are flying creatures with tentacles and a beak, which is certainly a unique design choice.
That said, they can grapple and simultaneously paralyze people, are great for flying away with them, make some melee attacks that are automatic critical hits, and can even drop you for some fall damage if the DM is feeling naughty.
2Animated Object
Fight Everything, Round Two
Going back to facing the furniture, animated objects offer some fun challenges against regular objects, such as flying swords, brooms, and armor, which can all be deadly against a low-level group. But one of them is a true menage: the rug.
The rug of smoldering can grapple someone, blinding, restraining, hurting, and suffocating them in the process, and if anyone else attacks the rug, the grappled target takes half the damage, so you have to be careful when saving your friend from this nefarious rug.
1Cockatrice
Stone-Cold Killer
Unless you’ve tangled with one of these before - or with a real-life, angry rooster - you may not expect how dangerous they are. With a whooping 1/2 for their CR, they’re quite healthy for their level, and their bite can restrain you. If you fail a second saving throw after being restrained, you’re then petrified.
If that wasn’t scary enough, Wizards of the Coast introduced the Cockatrice Regent, a stronger CR eight version in the 2025 Monster Manual, with the same petrifying ability and more, making it quite a challenge for your party.
