It is said that people fear what they do not understand. If this adage holds true, then there's nothing more fearsome than aberrations in Dungeons and DragonsMonsters that fall under the category of aberrations are beings from beyond the cosmos or ones that predate all historical records. Their origins are unknown, but that's just part of what makes them so terrifying.

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Aberrations also possess innate magical abilities derived from their alien nature. Unlike most magic users who need to devote time to study and contemplation in order to achieve magical enlightenment, aberrations are simply born this way. As anyone might have already guessed, aberrations are among the most powerful types of monsters a player can encounter.

10 Aboleth

Aboleths are said to have existed before even the time of the gods. When the world was still a mass of primordial material, aboleths ruled as kings over all unfortunate enough to be subjected to their cruel empires. But everything changed when Ao birthed the first true deities. Aboleths pass their memories from generation to generation, so their defeat by the gods remains fresh in their minds.

Consequently, they plot over millennia to eventually take their revenge and assume their position as overlords of the world once again. The aboleth's most notable attack is the enslave ability, which allows it to take full control of a target who fails a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw.

9 Death Slaad

The Slaadi hail from the Chaos of Limbo and personify what it is to be chaos incarnate. They come from a device known as the Spawning Stone. The stone was originally created by Primus to bring order to the Chaos of Limbo. While it worked to an extent,  the stone birthed the first slaadi as a side effect. Death slaad are the penultimate form of this race.

They lead companies of lesser slaad into other planes, seeking to find more humanoid hosts from which to propagate their race. Death slaad are potent enemies that deal magical damage with their greatswords, have access to spells like fireball and cloudkill, and sport resistance to magic, acid, cold, fire, lightning, and thunder damage.

8 Star Spawn Hulk

The star spawn come from realms better left undisturbed. These are the realms inhabited by the Elder Evils, beings far older than any mortal race that hunger to consume everything in their madness. Hulks are but one of their many footsoldiers, though they are by far the largest. These dim-witted brutes don't really have minds of their own. Their primary purpose is to ensure the protection of elder evil lieutenants.

Hulks have a number of interesting abilities, including psychic mirror which reflects any psychic damage a hulk takes to all creatures within 10 feet of it. On consecutive hits, a hulk's multiattack will also stun its target if they fail a DC 17 constitution saving throw.

7 Balhannoth

Balhannoth are heartless predators native to the Shadowfell that lure prey in through the use of their reality-warping powers. A balhannoth possesses telepathy that allows it to see into the wishes and desires of any creature within 1 mile. Using the knowledge of its prey's desires, the balhannoth alters its lair into the fulfillment of the prey's wildest dreams.

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It's a perfectly irresistible trap made from a creature dreamt up from nightmare fuel. The balhannoth attacks using its four tentacles, immediately grappling and restraining any creature hit by one of them and pulling it towards its sharp-fanged maw. To make things even more difficult, balhannoths can teleport up to 60 feet, as well as turn invisible if they ever feel overwhelmed.

6 Morkoth

Morkoths are like baby krakens. They roam the depths, looking to hypnotize any creatures they come across to make an easy meal out of them. Morkoths are primarily interested in food, though they will collect treasure and magic items as a means of attracting more.

The one thing to know when facing down a morkoth is that their skin has a spell-reflective quality. Be careful when targeting a morkoth with any spell, as you might find yourself in the line of sight instead.

5 Beholder

Beholders are the most iconic of their kind. Even those with a passing familiarity of Dungeons and Dragons may be familiar with the beholder: one of the game's most memorable monsters. Beholders believe that they themselves, not their entire kind, are the apex of intelligence and evolution. Consequently, they see all other creatures as inferior playthings that only serve to provide them with some small amount of entertainment.

Beholders attack by using their deadly eye rays, each of which is capable of a different effect. These effects include petrification, confusion, paralyzation, telekinesis, disintegration, and death. Needless to say, characters want to avoid the gaze of a beholder's eyes. Unfortunately, it's got eleven of them.

4 Neothelid

Neothelids are anathema to mind flayer society, yet they are born from the same tadpoles that mind flayers begin life as. A neothelid is a gargantuan worm-like creature with a head shaped like a four-petaled flower and tentacles that extend from its voracious mouth. Unlike the rest of mind flayer kind, neothelids are not too bright. Instead, their existence is consumed by a hunger to feast on more brains.

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Neothelids develop an acidic breath weapon that deals 10d6 acid damage on a failed DC 19 dexterity saving throw, or half on a success. Furthermore, they attack using the acid-slick tentacles from their mouths and will immediately swallow any creature hit with them whole if they fail a DC 18 Strength saving throw. Spellcasters should also beware of the neothelid's access to the spell feeblemind.

3 Star Spawn Seer

These are the higher-ups that star spawn hulks live to protect. A star spawn seer is most often at the head of a larger cult devoted to serving the Elder Evils, and it's only the seers who truly understand the full extent of what it is the cult serves. Seers find their way into the material plane by stealing the body of any spellcaster bold enough to try and communicate with the far realms of the multiverse.

Seers deal psychic damage with all of their attacks, and they often use a hulk's psychic mirror feature to their advantage. Their reaction, bend space, provides them with mobility and protection. Lastly, their recharge 6 ability collapse distance allows them to place an opponent anywhere they desire while simultaneously dealing 6d12 psychic damage to any allies that were standing near him.

2 Elder Brain

The elder brain is the entity that a colony of mind flayers serves. This brain communicates with each of the colony's members telepathically and can handle multiple conversations simultaneously. It also senses the location of any creature with an intelligence above 4 within 5 miles of itself. While they may just be giant pink brains inside even gianter brine-filled vats, elder brains are nothing to sneeze at. They can sense out any incoming enemy long before it arrives, establish a psychic link, and make the enemy convince itself of anything the elder brain desires.

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Elder brains have tentacles to grapple any would be attackers, a mind blast ability that makes the mind flayer's own mind blast look like a cheap trick, and access to the spell dominate monster. No matter how prepared your character might be to face an elder brain, the elder brain is ten times more prepared to face any group of pesky adventurers.

1 Star Spawn Larva Mage

When a powerful cultist of a wormlike entity, such as Kyuss, makes contact with an elder evil servant from the far realm, the cultist's body undergoes a transformation. The body's flesh splits into hundreds of writhing worms that attempt to maintain a humanoid form. The larva mage can cast eldritch blast with 3 beams, dominate monster, and circle of death.

Though the larva mage is a spellcaster, its most dangerous ability affects creatures within 10 feet of it: plague of worms requires all nearby creatures to make a DC 19 dexterity saving throw or take 5d8 necrotic damage and be blinded and restrained by masses of swarming worms. Any restrained creature takes this damage again at the start of each of its turns. Hopefully, your character always dreamed of becoming fertilizer.

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