In the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 roleplaying game, the vargouille is a foul, disgusting, vampiric outsider

Outsider (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, an outsider is a type of creature, or "creature type". Outsiders are at least partially composed of the essence of a plane other than the Prime Material Plane....

  from evil-aligned planes.

Publication history

The vargouille first appeared in first edition in the original Monster Manual II (1983).

The vargouille appeared in second edition for the Al-Qadim

Al-Qadim

Al-Qadim is an Arabian Nights-themed campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The setting was developed by Jeff Grubb for TSR, Inc., and was first released in 1992. Al-Qadim is set in the land of Zakhara, called the Land of Fate...

 setting in City of Delights (1993), and appeared for the Planescape

Planescape

Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...

 setting in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994).

The vargouille appeared in the third edition Monster Manual

Monster Manual

The Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It includes monsters derived from mythology, and folklore, as well as creatures created for D&D specifically...

(2000), and in the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003).

Physical description

A vargouille resembles a human head attached to a small, limbless, tentacled central body. Bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

 wings grow slightly behind the ears. Vargouilles are usually red in color.

The original 1st edition Advanced D&D version of the monster was a vampire variant. To hunt or feed, it would detach its head from its body. The internal organs remained attached to the flying head, trailing behind as the creature flew.

Society

The vargouille is an evil beast which attacks and kills in a number of horrible and sadistic ways. For a start, there is its bite. In addition to being highly painful and often involving the sucking of blood, a vargouille bite is extremely poisonous. Secondly, there is the vargouille screech. After weakening opponents with biting, the vargouille likes to unleash a paralyzing, high-pitched wail. This squeal renders those who hear it paralyzed with fear. Last, and worst of all, there is the vargouille kiss. After paralyzing victims with the screech, the vargouille will often come and give victims a foul, smelly kiss. This kiss gradually causes its victims to become vargouilles themselves. First the hair falls out, then the skin turns red and tentacles sprout, and finally the head separates from the body and grows wings. Daylight disrupts this process, and some disease-curing spells are known to completely reverse the effect.

Vargouilles speak Infernal, and are neutral evil in alignment.

The concept of the vargouille is likely derived from the Malaysian Penanggalan.