The diversity of kobolds

Kobolds are one of those monsters that changes noticeably in different media.

The diversity of kobolds in media

Originally kobolds were a German pixie equivalent to the brownie, dwarf and similar fairies in other European folklore. An episode of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World depicted them as humans with stony skin who lived underground. TV Tropes classifies them as a type of goblin.

In D&D, their name was applied to short, dog- or rodent-like humanoids with scales who were similar to the folkloric kobold only in their small stature and dwelling underground. In later editions their mammalian features were lost and they became subterranean counterparts of lizardfolk with a connection to dragons.

In games like WarCraft, EverQuest or Spiral Knights, kobolds (aka gremlins) are depicted as mammalian humanoids and typically based on rodents or canines. They are generally short and live underground, like furry dwarves.

I wanted to unify these diverse portrayals to make kobolds more interesting than they otherwise would be. Explaining that came fairly easily to me: kobolds started out as a kind of fey family known as pucks, including the brownies, pixies and sprites. At some point during a transition into mortal forms, they picked up animal features. Some became furry, others scaly, and a few grew downy feathers and scales on their legs.

Examples of kobold diversity

German folklore kobold

EverQuest kobold

Old school kobold

New school kobold

Final Fantasy XIV kobold