Canon:List of Dungeons & Dragons monsters (1977–1999)

TSR 1001 - Dungeons & Dragons - Basic Rulebook (1977)
The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set was printed in 1977, as the initial book for the basic Dungeons & Dragons game, and was based upon the original work published in 1974 and three of the supplementary booklets to the original set. Much like the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, also printed in 1977, this book collected many of the monsters from the previous D&D supplements, and included the stat lines on the same page as the monsters' descriptions. The monster descriptions are found on pages 22–33 of the book. Most descriptions do not feature illustrations.

TSR 2014 - Dungeons & Dragons - Basic Rulebook (1981)
TSR 2014, the fourth edition of the D&D Basic Rules, was first printed in 1981, and is generally known as the "red book". The page numbers are prefixed with B; creature descriptions are found on pages B30 through B44. Few of the descriptions include illustrations, and most descriptions are limited to one paragraph. (ISBN 0-935696-48-2).

TSR 2015 - Dungeons & Dragons - Expert Rulebook (1981)
The D&D Expert Rules were first printed in 1981, and is generally known as the "blue book". The new rules allowed for outdoor, wilderness-based adventures (over and above dungeon adventures), and for characters up to 14th level. The page numbers are prefixed with X; creature descriptions are found on pages X28 through X42. Again, few of the descriptions include illustrations, and most descriptions are limited to one paragraph. (ISBN 0-935696-29-6).

TSR 1011B - Dungeons & Dragons - Basic Set (1983)
A fifth edition of the Basic Rules was printed in 1983. This version split the rules into two books, the Player's Manual and the Dungeon Master's Rulebook, and was sold as a boxed set. Creature descriptions are provided on pages 25–39 of the Dungeon Master's Rulebook; with some minor changes to order and naming conventions and some removals, they duplicate the entries found in the 1981 edition. Once again the descriptions are generally limited to one paragraph, with few illustrations.

TSR 1012B - Dungeons & Dragons - Expert Set (1983)
A second edition of the Expert Rules was printed in 1983, and again was sold as a boxed set. Creature descriptions are provided on pages 46–57 of the Expert Rulebook; with some minor changes to order and naming conventions and several removals, they duplicate the entries found in the 1981 edition. Once again the descriptions are generally limited to one paragraph, with few illustrations.

TSR 1013 - Dungeons & Dragons - Companion Rules, Dungeon Master's Companion (1984)
The Dungeon Master's Companion divides creatures into two groups: those from the Prime Plane and those from Other Planes. These are listed separately below. The creature descriptions are found on pages 28–42 of the book; again, most descriptions do not include illustrations. Notably, the first list of creatures is not presented in alphabetical order. Neither the Companion Set nor its individual books (Player's and Dungeon Master's Companions) have an ISBN.

TSR 9044 - D&D Basic Module B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (1981)
The Palace of the Silver Princess has the dubious honour of being the only D&D module ever published by TSR to be recalled immediately after distribution, ostensibly for editorial issues and questionable artwork. Two versions of the module exist: the extremely rare orange-cover original printing (available for download as a PDF from Wizards of the Coast), and the more common green-cover revised edition. The original version added 13 new creatures; at least two of these survived in the revised edition, but the majority were removed. The original version of the module was issued as ISBN 0-935696-31-8. (Page numbers provided below are from the Wizards of the Coast PDF download.)

TSR 9049 - D&D Basic Module B4 The Lost City (1982)
The Lost City module, published in 1982, adds 4 new creatures, on pages 25–27 of the module booklet, with limited illustrations and short descriptions.

ISBN 0-935696-55-5

TSR 9078 - D&D Basic Module B5 Horror on the Hill (1983)
Horror on the Hill, published in 1983, added three new creatures, on pages 31 and 32 of the module booklet. The descriptions included illustrations of all three new monsters.

ISBN 0-88038-046-2

TSR 9078 - D&D Basic Module B6 The Veiled Society (1984)
The Veiled Society module, published in 1984, added a single new creature, with illustration.

ISBN 0-88038-085-3

TSR 9115 - D&D Basic Module B7 Rahasia (1984)
Rahasia, published in 1984, added three new or previously published creatures on page 28, and three additional NPC characters on page 29. The three additional creatures are listed below.

ISBN 0-88038-113-2

TSR 9106 - D&D Basic Module B8 Journey to the Rock (1984)
Journey to the Rock, published in 1984, added seven new or previously published creatures on pages 31 and 32.

ISBN 0-88038-158-2

TSR 9149 - D&D Basic Module B10 Night's Dark Terror (1986)
Night's Dark Terror, published in 1986, was billed as a special Basic/Expert transition module from the United Kingdom. It added nine new or previously published creatures, with illustrations, on pages 54–56.

ISBN 394-55412-4

TSR 9190 - D&D Basic Module B1-9 In Search of Adventure (1987)
In Search of Adventure, published in 1987, was an abridged 160-page compilation module containing the majority of elements from modules B1 through B9. "New" monsters, previously published in modules B1 through B9 or in the D&D Expert Rules, were included in a section on pages 124-128.

ISBN 0-88038-388-7

TSR 9043 - D&D Expert Module X1 The Isle of Dread (1981, 1983)
The Isle of Dread was the first module published for use with the D&D Expert Rules, in 1981. It contained a New Monsters section on pages 28–30, containing 15 previously unpublished creatures. This module was included in the Expert Rules boxed set. It was reprinted in 1983, and issued in the boxed set with the 1983 version of the Expert Rules. The 1983 version included all the creatures from the original 1981 edition (on pages 30–32), and added one more. The creatures from both versions are listed in the table below. Page numbers in are those for the 1983 edition.

ISBN 0-935696-30-X. (1981 edition)

ISBN 0-88038-053-5. (1983 edition)

TSR 9051 - D&D Expert Module X2 Castle Amber (1981)
Castle Amber was the second module published for use with the D&D Expert Rules, in 1981. It contained a New Monsters section on pages 24–27, adding 17 new monsters either previously unseen or published in D&D Expert Module X1. ISBN 0-935696-51-2.

TSR 9056 - D&D Expert Module X3 Curse of Xanathon (1982)
Curse of Xanathon, published in 1982, added a single new creature on page 30.

ISBN 0-935696-56-3

TSR 9056 - D&D Expert Module X4 Master of the Desert Nomads (1983)
The first of a two-part series, Master of the Desert Nomads, was published in 1983 and included a New Monsters section on pages 29–31 of the module, containing five new creature descriptions with illustrations.

ISBN 0-88038-016-0

TSR 9069 - D&D Expert Module X5 Temple of Death (1983)
The conclusion to the series started with module X4, Temple of Death was published in 1983 and included a New Monsters section on pages 27–29, containing five previously unpublished creatures, with illustrations.

ISBN 0-88038-017-9

TSR 9079 - D&D Expert Module X7 The War Rafts of Kron (1984)
The War Rafts of Kron was published in 1984 and included a New Monsters section on pages 29–31, containing 14 new or previously published creatures.

ISBN 0-88038-114-0

TSR 9127 - D&D Expert Module X8 Drums on Fire Mountain (1984)
Drums on Fire Mountain was published in 1984 and included a New Monsters section on pages 27–28, containing 5 previously unpublished creatures.

ISBN 0-88038-181-7

TSR 9173 - AC9 - Creature Catalogue (1986)
Creature Catalogue was the first full book of monsters for the basic edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game, published in 1986 after the Basic, Expert, Companion, and Master sets. In this book is collected all the creatures first presented in the official Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules to that time, plus many new creatures. Pages 3–7 contain an Introduction, pages 8–10 contains a comprehensive index of all D&D monsters found in this book, and the Basic, Expert, Companion and Master rule sets, pages 11–89 contain the monster descriptions, pages 90–91 contain a creature "type" index, and pages 92–96 contain an index to creatures by habitat. The monsters are divided into six sections, arranged by creature type: Animals (pages 11–21), Conjurations (pages 22–31), Humanoids (pages 32–48), Lowlifes (pages 49–58), Monsters (pages 59–81), and Undead (pages 82–87).

ISBN 0-88038-315-1

TSR 1071 - Rules Cyclopedia (1991)
The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia was published in 1991. It was intended as an encyclopedia of all the major rules for the basic Dungeons & Dragons game up to that point, including most of the information appearing in the previous boxed set. Chapter 14 of the book, pages 152-218, presents most of the monsters used in the basic D&D game once again. Several pages of that chapter describe how to use the statistics, as well as providing suggestions on how to use the monsters. The actual monster descriptions are found on pages 156-213 of the book.

ISBN 1-56076-085-0