The Evolutionary Divergence of Kobolds in Fantasy

Hello Adventurers,

When the Delicious in Dungeon or Dungeon Meshi anime released on Netflix 2024 many fantasy lovers noticed an interesting difference between this Japanese fantasy story and Western ones.

The Kobolds.

What are Kobolds?

Kobolds in Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition are small reptilian humanoids with long tails They are distantly related to dragons and inhabit caves and dungeons. They are a common low-level enemy in D&D similar to Goblins and an uncommon playable race but in Japanese media Kobolds are an anthropomorphic dog species.

From Mythology Kobolds are likely inspired by the German folklore trickster spirits of the same name. These household spirits similar to household fey of other folklore were either unseen or invisible and may do house chores or cause minor chaos through pranks such as disarranging rooms.

Where did they come from?

Kobolds were original introduced as a fantasy monster in the 1977 AD&D Monster Manual for the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons. In this book their description reads, "The hide of kobolds runs from very dark rusty brown to a rusty black. They have no hair. Their eyes are reddish and their small horns are tan to white. They favour red or orange garb, Kobolds Live for up to 135 years."

These Kobolds hide in the dark due to their sunlight sensitivities and their evil nature leads them to hate most other life forms, brownies, pixies, sprites and gnomes in particular.

The Kobald Patron God

Kurtulmak, the lesser god and patron deity of Kobolds, his first appearance is in Deities and Demigods, from the first edition of D&D. In this book he is described as "giant kobold (5'6' tall) with scales of steel and a tail with a poisonous stinger." He hates all aspects of life apart from his kobolds and taught the first kobolds the skills of mining, ambushing and looting.

How did they evolve into dog people?

while their previous depictions ranged from more canine designs to more humanoid or more reptilian. the D&D rules basics set from First Edition Advanced describe Kobolds as " small, evil dog-like men" that usually live underground. This is the first example of Kobolds being described as dog-like. other changes are minimal such as their alignment shifting from lawful evil to chaotic and their infra-red vision developing from 60 ft to 90ft.

In second edition the kobolds are more rat-like in appearance but they are described as smelling of wet dog, and the kobold language is said to sound like small dog yapping. I believe this yapping language was one of the cornerstones for the development of dog style kobolds.

Starting from third edition Dungeons and Dragons Kobolds went back to a more reptilian design which later evolved into their draconic species.

Dog Kobolds in Japanese Media

I believe it was the elements that described kobolds as dog-like that inspired Japanese TTRPGs to take kobolds this direction as opposed to their reptilian version, some examples of Japanese canine kobolds include:

In the TTRPG Sword World Kobolds as the lowest humanoids of society and as such they are sometimes hired as underlings for other humanoids serving in roles such as cooks or language interpreters.

In the Anime/ manga Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeons) Kobolds are humanoids with dog heads from the deserts of the western world. They are not great at communicating the common language due to their difference in vocal cords. The Kobold we meet is Kuro who works under the Halfling Mickbell.

In the Record of Lodoss War franchise Kobolds are small humanoids with canine-like faces and tails that have the ability to rust silver leading dwarves to hating them. In the Anime, Kobolds are often slaves to Goblins.

If you are a fan of Kobolds and would like art of either your reptilian or canine kobold, check out my character commissions here.