Most Dangerous Monsters In DND’s 2025 Monster Manual

Sometimes you just want to put your high-level Dungeons & Dragons party through the wringer or throw them into a deadly encounter in a fun one-shot. Or, perhaps, you’re just seeking a quick TPK so you can escape the role of forever Dungeon Master for once.

Whatever the case, the 2025 Monster Manual has a lot of monsters to offer, and some are deadlier than others. High CR’s are a great way to determine how fatal something could be, but it’s also important to look at their alignments – something that’s evil or is neutral is far more likely to bring death and destruction onto an adventuring party than something good.

10

Lich

Challenge Rating 21

That’s right, for once the Lich isn’t the baddest thing around – in fact, it only barely clears it into the top ten deadliest monsters in Dungeons & Dragons. An Ancient Lich is still a force to be messed with, but it’s going to take an entire party of them if they want to take down some of the more dangerous monsters out there in the world.

Of course, you probably don’t want to taunt them with that fact because, chances are, you can’t take those other horrifically dangerous things down with ease either.

9

Arch-hag

Challenge Rating 21

If you’ve heard of Baba Yaga, then you’ve heard of an Arch-hag before, congratulations! Or… probably not. In fact, this is a creature you probably wish you’d never heard of. Not only are they deadly, but the closer you get to their lair, the more dangerous they become, because you have to subtract 1d10 from any ability checks your party chooses to make.

They can dispel magic at will and the only way to take an Arch-hag down permanently is if it’s within 30 feet of its most hated thing – So… good luck, you’re going to need it.

8

Solar

Challenge Rating 21

Sure, this angelic protector is technically lawful good, but given that most Dungeons & Dragons parties tend to anything but Lawful Good, you might run into a few issues with a Solar – especially because it has telepathy and it can tell, instinctually, when you are lying to it.

They are protectors of the multiverse and trying to deceive them to your own benefit will not end well… at all. Realistically, these things don’t even need to kill you to be deadly, and if you try to kill it, it’ll just revive on Mount Celestia and then it can come back for revenge, which makes it extra deadly. As such, testing them and trying to kill these deadly angels is not recommended.

7

Elemental Cataclysm

Challenge Rating 22

Thankfully the natural habitat of the Elemental Cataclysm is planar, because if this force of nature showed up in the material planes it would, essentially, be game over. This elemental Titan is immune to almost every type of damage (aside from melee damage, at least), and controls the weather to the point where they can just… spawn natural disasters.

The Elemental Cataclysm is, genuinely, an incredibly dangerous adversary because how do you fight natural disasters? With a lot of hope, legendary magic items, and possibly an entire army in your party, because otherwise, nobody is making it out of this fight alive.

6

Blob Of Annihilation

Challenge Rating 23

When you first look at the page for the Blob of Annihilation in the 2025 Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, you may notice it is quite literally saying that, if you see a Blob of Annihilation, you better hope you can run fast or you can die fast. This deadly monster easily consumes cities and annihilates everything in its wake.

If you want to get out of an encounter with this deadly monster alive, you’re going to need a lot of healing – and frankly, you won’t have enough potions for that. As such, it’s probably time to put your party’s last will together and send off your beloved NPC to a top tier protection service.

5

Empyrean

Challenge Rating 23

Empyreans are beings of godly might and power, which makes them incredibly dangerous, be they fiend or celestial in nature. They are not true gods, but they can certainly walk the land and be seen as such, especially if you are confronted with their deadly amounts of strength.

Some are incredibly loyal to their creators, while others seek to escape whatever house they belong to. If it just so happens that an Empyrean your party finds is of fiendish origin, perhaps you should pretend that you are completely devoted to whatever fiendish thing gave them life.

4

Kraken

Challenge Rating 23

Is a Kraken really all that dangerous and deadly if you just never get on a boat and never venture into the sea? Yes, but is that completely avoidable in every single campaign? No, probably not.

Where the water gets deep and the further from land you move, the more dangerous it becomes and the more likely you are to face the deadly Kraken. There are some dragons that, if they settled on the water, could very easily find themselves becoming prey to this deadly squid.

3

Ancient Dragon

Challenge Rating 20 – 24

Although Ancient Dragons can vary in how powerful they actually are, by and large, they’re some of the most dangerous creatures that you can come across. At the bottom of the list, there’s the Ancient Brass and White Dragons at CR 20 and at the top of the list are the Gold and Red Dragons at CR 24.

While it might be better to run across one of the weaker Ancient Dragons, you’re still in for an incredibly challenging fight if you plan to take any of them on – more so if they just so happen to be named. Thankfully, however, most metallic dragons are open to conversation first, whereas the chromatic dragons are pretty much bite-first-ask-questions-later.

2

Colossus

Challenge Rating 25

This absolutely massive construct dominates the landscape and is a remarkable feat of arcane engineering. Colossi are dedicated to deities, created by their most devout worshippers, and they reflect that deity in kind.

Some can be kind guardians, meant to protect a deity’s flock and other innocents, whereas others could be evil, set to destroy the non-worshippers in the name of whatever deity they belong to. Your chances of taking one of these mountainous figures down are small, but their chances of being fatal (via accidental crushing or otherwise) are monumental.

1

Tarrasque

Challenge Rating 30

There’s nothing quite like the world-ending threat that is the Tarrasque. If one of these wakes up, it’s basically a doomsday event, because the chances of you stopping it without a world’s worth of army at your beck and call is basically zero.

However, if you had an army of Ancient Lichs who were willing to save the world from this world-eating monster, you might stand more of a chance. Either way, the Tarrasque is, by far, the most dangerous monster in the 2025 Monster Manual.