D&D General The abandoned core monsters of D&D

[pawsplay]

They certainly count as distinct from the earlier versions of the archon! But it is true that monsters called "archons" weren't new to D&D (it was in fact the third time the name was used - besides the AD&D line there was also a Basic "archon", all of which were planar monsters).

Same goes for "angels" and "lamia" and "sorrowsworn" - absolutely distinctive in their 4e incarnation, but still not completely novel in the way swordwings were. (Though I think the 4e lamia is prime for a return as a renamed monster in 5e, rather like a version of the 4e archons snuck in as the "elemental myrmidons".)

A Lawful Good avenging outsider versus a titan-spawned elemental that may be entirely hostile to lesser beings is an entirely different creature. They just recycled the name because they decided to do something else with celestials.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I don't know how I can go on in life without the Human Transmuter in my monster palette.

 

[JEB]

FYI - just did a major update to the core monster spreadsheet, with the following changes:

• Added extra "other sources" columns for each edition that had more than one core monster book. For example, you can now see where 2e monsters appeared before being in the Monstrous Manual. As much as I could confirm, I also noted MM3 math versions of 4e MM monsters (when not updated in MV).
• Added columns for 3.0, 3.5, and 5.1 OGL releases (to include the Tome of Horrors series, if confirmed to be based on the official monster).
• Added a column for the Original Adventures Reincarnated series (when not appearing in an official 5e release).
• Added appearances of monsters as hazards, diseases, terrain, or magic items.
• Split some listings (such as bandit vs. brigand, or the various foulspawn).
• Consolidated some listings (such as shifters and whales).
• Made various other minor adjustments and corrections.

Thanks again to @Echohawk, whose lists were super helpful here for the 2e and 3e "other sources".