Yugoloths Part 2: Designs

Power. We all crave it, but only a select few of us deserve it.

Shemeshka the marauder, arcanaloth in Sigil

Buckle up, folks. We’ve got four designs to talk about here. None of which have anything in common with the others. What fun!

Arcanaloth

Alright, our first yugoloth. What have we got?

Ah, the nerd. My kinda creature from the depths of hell.

This is a fine design. It doesn’t exactly scream “Hell spawn!” like the others do. But it still gets the gist of the monster across perfectly. You could forgo the lore entirely and just look at this design and you’ll get what it’s all about.

Honestly, I could just say “Look at it’s tiny spectacles,” and call it a day. I mean, just look at them!

Not a bad note to start out on. A bit plain, but effective. Let’s see what we’ve got next.

Mezzoloth

Alright, what animal do we have next? A wolf? Maybe some kinda cat?

Well. That escalated quickly.

It definitely looks more like a creature from the Hells than the previous entry. Pitchfork, glowing evil eyes, it’s got it all. Plus, it fits its lore pretty well. That’s a foot soldier demon thing if I’ve ever seen one.

But it just doesn’t strike me as particularly interesting or memorable. It’s a bug-looking monster thing. We’ve seen plenty of those done better.

Still, it’s a solid look. Not a remarkable one, but it does its job and does it well.

Next up, we have…

Nycaloth

Alright. We had a wolf and a bug. What’s next?

See that? Now that’s a demon monster!

In terms of clarity, this is by far the strongest monster of the four. It’s a heavy-hitting flying soldier, and you can glean all of that without ever reading the lore just by looking at him. Plus, he’s intimidating as hell. Just imagine this flying at you, screaming bloody murder, it’s axe raised over its head.

However, in terms of originality, this really isn’t anything unique. It’s a green demon imp monster thing. I swear we’ve seen half a dozen monsters that look just like it throughout the Monster Manual.

Is it bad? No. But it feels kinda cookie-cutter.

Finally, last but not least…

Ultroloth

We’ve been everywhere at this point. Animals? Check. Bugs? Check. Actual demons? Check. What could possibly come next?

Okay, that’s just a god damn alien!

It’s certainly a unique design. Bug-eyed alien from a 60’s B sci-fi movie isn’t exactly what I think of when I think hell monsters. It’s very striking as well; its flowing and refined clothes, the sword, its figure, it’s got a hell of a figure.

In terms of clarity, however, it’s a step down from the others. It doesn’t look like a powerful general of hell or a lazy schemer. It looks like a recycled Starcraft asset. Like he’s in the wrong place and the wrong costume, but is too polite to say anything about it.

I’ll stop referencing Blizzard games now, it’s starting to bum me out.

Conclusion

On their own, these designs are fine. Not especially exceptional, but they get the job done. They’ve each got unique properties that work and stuff that doesn’t.

But together? As one packaged unit? The sheer variety on display here is insane! They literally could not be any more different from one another, and that is awesome! It’s insane and it’s delightful!

We’re in the home stretch now. Can these guys stick their landing? We’ll find out…

Next week. I’m tired.