Unicorn
A Unicorn is a magical beast that generally resembles a particularly well-formed horse with a long, spiralling horn emerging from its forehead. The unicorn is most commonly associated with the powers of goodness, purity and life, although some real-world myths actually describe it as being a fierce and proud monster. By most accounts, the original stories--and it should be emphasized that the Unicorn was originally thought of as a real, breathing animal, not a mythological figure; in fact, it's suspected that the most likely origin of the Unicorn myth is slightly misunderstood descriptions of the Rhinosaurus-- just had them be wild, killer beasts who were weirdly gentle around (female) virgins for some reason. The virgin part got more and more emphasized over time, and unicorns also got caught up in the romanticizing of horses, and slowly morphed into something you see on rainbow stickers along with puppies and kittens.
Dungeons & Dragons
In Dungeons & Dragons, the unicorn is one of the oldest monsters in the game, having first appeared in "The White Box" in 1974, where it was described as merely a creature favored as a steed by warrior-maidens. It then went on to appear in every single Monster Manual for every single edition, as well as the D&D Basic Set and Expert Set.
Starting in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977), the unicorn became a fairy-aligned creature; a Chaotic Good resident of temperate woodlands that shuns contact with most creatures, except for the various sylvan races, such as dryads, fairies, sprites, pixies, treants, and benevolent woodland elves. Their primary purpose, first and foremost, is the protection of their forest homes from destruction, especially by creatures of evil such as orcs and goblinoids. They will sometimes deign to serve as mounts for females of great spiritual purity, almost always elven, but sometimes human.
The Forgotten Realms are home to a species of evil Black Unicorns, bred by the Red Wizards of Thay and serving only evil human or drow maidens. Fiend-blooded, they are vicious, sadistic carnivores.
Ravenloft is home to a race of malevolent, gloom-magic-wielding monsters known as Shadow Unicorns, the offspring of the fallen unicorn Darklord Addar and his nightmare lover.
Dragon Magazine #190 featured multiple variants of the unicorn, outlined below. "Ecology of the Unicorn" had appeared in Dragon #77.
- Alicorns are a more powerful version of the common "sylvan" unicorn, distinguishable only by their gnarled, twisted horns. They can Charm Person and "fly" by walking on thin air.
- Bay Unicorns, also known as "Pyrocorns", are chestnut-colored, Neutral Evil unicorns with fire elementalism magic who favor underground environments.
- Black Unicorns are Chaotic Evil, jet-black unicorns who broadcast magical silence, can generate magical darkness, can become invisible, teleport in darkness and wield poisonous horns in their hunt for flesh.
- Brown Unicorns, or "Roanicorns", are Neutral-aligned desert-dwelling unicorns.
- Pinto Unicorns, also called "Chromacorns", are many-colored Neutral Good unicorns who can cast Prismatic Spray and Advanced Illusion spells.
- Cunnequines are Lawful Good unicorns who can forcibly change alignments with a touch of their horn and turn undead.
- Faerie Unicorns are small, Neutral-aligned, green-colored unicorns who possess mystical stealth abilities and the ability to charm people & summon animals. They shed their horns once per century, and these shed horns are useful in creating Cloaks of Elvenkind.
- Palamino Unicorns, or "Criocorns", are Lawful Evil unicorns with ice elementalism magic.
- Gray Unicorns, or "Graycorns", are Neutral unicorns who can reflect damage they take back at their attacker.
- Sea Unicorns are aquatic Lawful Neutral unicorns who can shapeshift into sea-horse and narwhal forms.
- Zebracorns are zebra-striped Neutral unicorns who can polymorph and cast Color Spray.
- A Unisus is a winged unicorn, the crossbreed of a unicorn and a pegasus.
Warhammer Fantasy
Unicorn are rare and magical creatures living deep in Athel Loren. Its horn is so valuable that some jackass from Bretonnia decided to hunt them, only to have it disappeared in front of him when cornered and proceed to get ganked by vengeful forest spirit and vigilant wood elves way watchers. Unicorns drawn to spell casters like a flame, and was tamed by them as a mount due to their excellent protection against magic. Wood Elves Spellsingers and Bretonnian Damsels are known to ride Unicorn to battle, with Fay Enchantress being the most notable example of all, having a named Unicorn called "Silvaron".
In oldschool Warhammer lore, like back in one of the stories featuring Genevieve Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné, unicorns were given a more grimdark flavor; in that particular story, "Unicorn Ivory", it's stated that it's the rare unicorn mares who are the true powerhouses of the race, that mares are hunted for trophies (only mare unicorn horns last after the animal's death) and stallions for their semen (prized as an aphrodisiac and magical drug), and that they live in polyandrous, incestuous herds, with the longer-lived female keeping a harem of stallions - including her increasingly inbred sons - to fuck her, and that female unicorns are rarer in no small part because their jealous mothers try to kill them when they are foaled.
What? Don't believe us? Fine, here's the quote (page 212 of "Genevieve Undead"): "As you know, only the female unicorn yields ivory. The stallions we saw today were poor things beside a unicorn mare. They are taller, swifter, beardless, possessed of an almost human intelligence. Among unicorns, things are different than among men. Each tribe consists of a mare and six or eight stallions. Lusty bitches, unicorn mares. Mothers gore their female foals at birth. Only the strongest survive to adulthood, to gather their own tribes. Unicorn mares are the longest-lived of natural animals, surviving several generations of stallions to tup with their grandsons and great-grandsons."
See also
- Nightmare, another equine monstrosity popularized by Dungeons & Dragons
- Al'miraj, a carnivorous bunny monster identified by its unicorn-like horn.
Trivia
- A gathering of unicorns is known as a blessing