| Owl Bears | |
|---|---|
 Composite Image Created from Public Domain Wikimedia Commons Images | |
|
Real Name |
Owl Bear |
|
First Appearance |
Greyhawk (1975) |
|
Original Publisher |
TSR, Inc. |
|
Created by |
Gary Gygax |
Origin[]
An owl bear is hybrid creature most commonly consisting of the head an owl and the body of a bear. It is known to "hug" like a bear and attacks with its beak. Owl Bears, or similar beasts, also appear in many fantasy role-playing games, video games and other media.
Notes[]
- It was originally created for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was inspired by a plastic toy made in Hong Kong, Gary Gygax created the owl bear and introduced the creature to the game in the 1975 Greyhawk supplement; the creature has since appeared in every subsequent edition of the game.
- As only the design of a role-playing game, not the rules are protected by U.S. copyright law, it is possible for third-party publishers to release RPG systems based on the rules of Dungeons & Dragons without using the actual name or trademarks associated with the brand. These systems are referred to as "retro-clones" or "simulacra". Games not directly using rules of a Dungeons & Dragons edition but claiming to capture the style are often called Old School Renaissance (OSR) games.
- Owl Bears are considered an Open Game License element of the Dungeons & Dragons board game - however, all illustrations from Wizards of the Coast material remain under copyright, hence the use of a generic image on this page.