Hydra

The hydra is a massive reptilian creature, some fifteen feet long, bearing a scaled crocodile-like body, four legs, and five necks and heads. Each of the heads has a row of sharp teeth, and each one can bit a different target in combat. When a head is cut off, the hydra is capable, under some circumstances, of re-growing them out of the end of its severed neck -- usually, two smaller heads will replace each one that was cut off. As the saying goes, when fighting a hydra, "Cut off one head, and two shall take its place."

A rapacious and gluttonous monster, a hydra snatches and tears apart its prey in a frenzy of feeding. When a hydra has cleared a territory of food and driven off any creatures smart enough to avoid it, it moves on to seek its meals elsewhere. -- Monster Manual

Basic Information

Anatomy

The hydra has the body of a tetrapod reptile, with four massive legs, and a large, bloated torso, covered in scales. Extending from the torso are five long, serpentine necks, each terminating in a reptilian head containing rows of teeth.

Ecology and Habitats

Hydras tend to inhabit dark, wet places, and are at home underwater, much like a crocodile or alligator. They often lurk under the water and then ambush passing prey.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

Low -- animal-like

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

A hydra is able to look in many directions at once, owing to its many (usually five) heads. Consequently, it has the equivalent of full 360-degree vision.

Average Height

15'

Average Weight

4-6 tons

Average Length

15'

First encountered

Sewers near Lugdunum