Tharizdun

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Tharizdun (/θɑːrˈɪz.dʌn/ thahr-IZ-dunn) is the god of Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity, and Cold.

He was imprisoned ages ago by a coalition of deities to prevent the destruction of existence itself. Although imprisoned, Tharizdun still has a degree of his original multiverse-threatening power: he is officially a Divine Rank 11 (out of 20) deity, as of Dragon #294. His holy symbols are a dark spiral rune and a two-tiered inverted ziggurat known as an obex. His holy number is 333.

Publication history

Created by Gary Gygax based on Robert J. Kuntz's dark god "Tharzduun", Tharizdun first appeared in the module Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. He would later appear in Gygax's series of Gord novels. Perhaps inspired by Clark Ashton Smith's Demon Lord and ruler of the Seven Hells, Thasaidon, who appeared first in The Tomb-Spawn, Weird Tales, Vol. 23, No. 5, May 1934.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)