#illithids

My wonderful dream. My first love.

LIES! LIES! LIES!

of course! I threw this together pretty quickly, so it's not exactly comprehensive, but I hope it helps (and please, feel free to ask if you need clarification on anything)

I take a fair amount of creative leeway with how I draw illithids (and god knows that has been a process, please know I'm honored that anyone would ask this lmao), but also keep in mind that no two are the same. For example, I draw Thyneron and the Emperor broadly similarly, but some key differences that I keep in mind are that Thyneron is both shorter and more slender than the Emperor, and in turn, I prefer to draw the Emperor slightly more built (larger biceps, broader shoulders, etc).

However--I do also have a ripped model from the game that I use for reference. It's a fully configured fbx file (shoutout to @arcandoria for both supplying me the model, and helping me figure out how to get it to work in clip studio!), so below I've included some basic head angles, as well as a few trickier ones

The relative lack of brain extraction technicalities by illithids in DnD canon inspired me to share some ideas.

What if we held tentacles and hands 😳❓and we were both illithids 🦑🧠🤔💖💕

D&D Stained Glass Bestiary

["The illithids had to dominate not only to achieve their goals, but to fulfill certain basic needs of their own. Without a mind to control, a mind flayer would feel incomplete. They actually had an intimate relationship with their own thralls, suffering when they died (whether by sickness, age, or physical harm) and sometimes going mad from loneliness without their constant companionship. Illithids were known to postpone their other goals just to renew an emptied retinue of thralls..."]

[Art credit: Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast]

Note from Mod Ghoul: Listen. We've all seen at least some hentai. We know where those tentacles are gonna go. ;) You can't deny it~